Disclosure: I participated in this program on behalf of ConAgra Foods and The Motherhood. All opinions are my own.

More than one in five children, including more than one in four Latino children, in the U.S. may not know where their next meal is coming from. That’s nearly 16 million children, a number that could fill 8,000 playgrounds.

Children who experience even intermittent struggles with hunger may suffer serious, long-term consequences to their health, well-being and educational achievement. What’s more, being hungry robs kids of the promise of childhood – the ability to play, grow and learn.

At ConAgra Foods finds this unacceptable. That’s why they partnered with P&G to build a community of people to make a difference and help donate up to 7 million meals through the Child Hunger Ends Here campaign.

• Enter Codes to Trigger Donations. It’s easy to make a difference: Look for the red pushpin on participating product packaging for a code found on these specially marked ConAgra Foods and P&G products. For each 8-digit code entered at www.ChildHungerEndsHere.com from March-August 2014, ConAgra Foods or P&G, respectively, will donate the monetary equivalent of one meal to Feeding America.

  

• Join the Community and Get Involved. One of the easiest ways to learn how to get involved is to join the Child Hunger Ends Here Facebook community at Facebook.com/ChildHungerEndsHere or follow the news on Twitter and Instagram at @ChildHungerEnds.

• Community Food Donations. ConAgra Foods is donating 50,000 meals to community food banks on behalf of Meijer, in appreciation for their fantastic partnership to end child hunger!

2) Deals at Meijer for ConAgra Foods Products and P&G Products Eligible for Child Hunger Ends Here Code Entry:

Active Offers	Start Date	End Date
Banquet Homestyle Bakes: Buy 1 for $2.99	4/6	6/1
*Orville Redenbacher’s (6pk or larger): Buy 1, Save $1.00	4/13	5/31
*Hunt’s Ketchup (24oz): Buy 2, Save $1.00	5/1	5/31
Parkay (41 oz tub): Buy 2 for $5.00	5/4	5/24
*Healthy Choice Modern or Traditional Classics, Café Steamers, Baked Entrees or Greek Yogurt: Buy 6, Save $1.50	5/4	5/31
*Lofthouse Cookies: Buy 1, Save $0.75	5/11	5/31
Egg Beaters (16 oz): Buy 2 for $5.00	5/18	5/24
Hunt’s Tomato Paste (12oz): Buy 4 for $5.00	5/18	5/24
*Chef Boyardee (15oz): Buy 5, Save $1.00 Heads up: Chef Boyardee Easy Open Lids are coming back! Look for the Chef Easy Open Lids beginning to appear on shelf at Meijer this month!	5/18	5/31
*Snack Pack (4-pk): Buy 5, Save $1.00	5/18	5/31
Hunt’s Tomato Sauce (15 oz): Buy 4 for $5.00	5/19	6/15

*Must be an mPerks Member to Enjoy These Deals

I love using mPerks to save money at Meijer, but it's even better if I can save on products I already use PLUS enter the code for donations.  I know money is tight for a lot of people, so being able to contribute by buying foods you already use is SO helpful.

The twins are officially done with preschool (*tear*) and are headed to kindergarten in the fall.  I cannot wait to help out in their school.  I hope to help with the Kids' Food Basket program near our school to help provide meals for kids after they leave school.  I know with my coupon savvy skills, I can revamp the program and help more families than ever! 

Although the mPerks deals end soon, you can always find coupons for your favorite ConAgra products in the Sunday paper and enter codes through August!

Let's help them reach their goal of 7 million meals!

How to Make Turkey Tacos {Plus a Stuffed Pepper Recipe!}

I thought I might write a few recipes focused on ground turkey.  In our house, we don't eat too much ground beef--it's all turkey.  Once you know how to season and cook with it, you'll be a fan too!  It's cheaper, healthier and can replace any meal made with beef. 

To start off, I thought I would give some tips for buying ground turkey.

• Most packages are 1.25 lbs.  It's a bit of adjustment to season if you're used to just 1 pound packages of beef.  When seasoning ground turkey, you do need to add a bit more than you would for other ground meat. 
• Start off with "Lean" labeled packages (or 93/7).  Extra lean is quite dry if you don't know how to cook it.  Sometimes premade burger patties will use both dark and white meat and they will be a fattier variety.  I prefer just making my own burgers.
• Keep your eyes peeled on the Sunday paper coupons or on Coupons.com....very frequent coupons lately!  Pair with a sale and stock up!

Our favorite recipe: tacos!  Serve with some pantry salsa and you have dinner in less than 20 minutes! 

What you'll need:

• 1 package of Lean ground turkey
• 1 can (4 oz) of green chiles
• 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons taco seasoning (about 1.5 packets)
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 cup onion, chopped
• 1 teaspoon Cumin powder
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• Optional: 1 can rinsed black beans + 1/2 cup frozen corn

1.  In a large pan, heat 1 teaspoon of oil over medium heat.  Add onions, green chiles and garlic. (Also corn, if wanted) Cook 3-4 minutes, until soft.  Add package of ground turkey.  Use a spatula to break up turkey as it's browning.
2. Season with cumin and taco seasoning about halfway through cooking.  (Since you don't drain it, you can season early).  Cook about 3-4 minutes longer.  Add water and turn to low heat.   
3. Optional: Add black beans.  Cook on low for 5 minutes. 
4. Serve on taco shells or in a taco salad!

Tired of tacos?  Make some stuffed peppers!  I love to make these when I find markdown produce pepper bags and I'll freeze half of the batch!

This recipe is perfect for a quick and healthy dinner.  I added quinoa instead of rice to keep it light.

Here's what you need:

• 1 cup of quinoa, cooked as directed with 2 cups chicken stock
• Turkey taco meat (see recipe above) making with black beans and corn- I used about 2 cups for my peppers and had plenty left over
• 1 cup shredded Mexican Cheese
• 5-6 green peppers- poblanos or red peppers work great too!
• Garnish: cilantro, salsa, guacamole, green onion, sour cream/Greek yogurt

Let's Cook!

1. Cook 1 cup of quinoa as directed with 2 cups chicken stock (there will be some leftover)
2. Preheat oven to 400*.
3. Cut peppers in half and seed them.  Place in a sprayed 9x13 pan.
4. In a large bowl, mix 1 cup cooked quinoa with about 2 cups taco mixture.
5. Fill peppers generously.  Top with a sprinkle of cheese.
6. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until cheese is melted and peppers are browning. 
7. Top with favorite garnishes and serve with a salad!

What's your favorite way to enjoy turkey? Head on over to my FB page to answer that question and I'll draw one lucky winner on Thursday (5/15/14) to get 4 FREE product coupons for Jennie-O Turkey products!

Stonyfield Yogurt Pouches {Road-Trip Friendly Snacks!} #Sponsored

DISCLAIMER: I participated in a Blogger Activation on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for Stonyfield. I received coupons to facilitate my shopping trip and a promotional item to thank me for participating.

Next week we are headed on our first family roadtrip to Hilton Head Island, SC.  Just call us the Griswalds! 17 hours in the car with two 5 year olds and a 2 year old should be...interesting.  When we made this trip pre-kids, we would blast our favorite music and have a nice relaxing road trip.  Now, I have a feeling we will be stopping more and hearing quite a bit more chatter-- or "are we there yet?"   I'm trying to stay optimistic!

Since we are staying at my parent's condo, we can come prepared.  I'm planning on bringing cereal and other breakfast goodies, plus plenty of beach friendly snacks.  For the car ride, I want healthy, yet filling snacks for us to grab easily.  My go-to product so far has been from our beloved Stonyfield yogurt.

We are loving the new Stonyfield organic yogurt pouches and they are actually quite road-trip friendly! I'm freezing a bunch for our cooler. They will also double as ice packs!  These come in great flavors for everyone...not gonna lie, I have tried a few myself while driving.  Our favorite is the Strawberry Beet Berry.  They are perfect for healthy snacking and almost mess free. 

Aside from the yogurt pouches, I'm making up a few batches of Greek yogurt banana bread and muffins.  The protein will keep us full, without being stuffed.  I really don't want to have to stop for fast food.  Another snack I'll be packing is some veggie dip made with Stonyfield Greek yogurt, dill and lemon for some crudites.  I'm sure I'll get get some major eye-rolls from the Mr. for my healthy snacks...but he'll thank me when his stomach starts growling around hour 2.  His version of snacks are a case of sugar free Red Bull and Munchies snack mix. (Let's be honest, that Munchies snack mix is ah-mazing...but doesn't make you feel so hot a few hours later)

If you want more information about Stonyfield organic yogurt products, check out their website.  They have coupons to print too! 

Other ways to connect:

• Stonyfield Facebook
• Keep up on Instagram to watch their fun adventures!
• Twitter
• Pinterest

Do you have any fun trips planned this summer? What's your go-to snack?

Quick Tip: Keep Those Strawberries Fresh!

**I shared this tip a couple of years ago, but I thought I would bring it back since prime strawberry season is coming up. YAY!**

Gotta love Pinterest.  Some things are hit or miss, but I found a strawberry tip a few summers ago and it WORKS!  Don't you hate when you buy berries and they are moldy by the next day?! I love to use this tip especially when they go on sale for $1 at Meijer.

How to keep your berries fresh!

1. Fill a large mixing bowl with cold water and 1/2 cup of vinegar.
2. Place berries in the bowl and move around for a minute. I like to put a colander inside of my bowl for easy draining.DO NOT RINSE!
3. In the bottom of the berry container, place a folded paper towel.
4. Put the berries back in their original container or chop up and put in a covered bowl in the fridge.

They stay fresh so much longer!  Don't worry, you can't taste the vinegar... it just kills all of the mold spores.  I do this before I freeze my berries, as well.  This is a great tip for markdown fruit!  This works well with blueberries too! I also use it to wash off waxy fruits like apples or cucumbers.

Have you tried this before?

UPDATE: Don't forget to sign up for the Driscolls Rewards for berry coupons!  You simply enter a code from the bottom of the package and take a quick survey--helps save SO much!