I love saving money! The other night I made tacos for dinner. About 1/4 of the tacos were steak and the rest was chicken. The two meats cost me $30.00. The cheese I used was almost $10.00. That’s already $40.00 for dinner, not including the other ingredients. I was so frustrated. There weren’t even any leftovers! Of course we have to eat, but I try to be very budget conscious when grocery shopping for my big family. If you all recall, I recently stocked up on macaroni & cheese because there were some great #PackedWithSavings digital Kraft Coupons. I was able to print at home. Mac & cheese makes for a great snack, lunch, or side dish for dinner, but the husband (and the kids) really enjoy a meat entree for dinner.
So, after the very expensive taco dinner, I told the older kids that I might have to feed them macaroni and cheese for dinner, for the rest of their lives! They thought it was funny, but I was feeling kind of serious at that moment! I need affordable meals. That’s always important. Before I knew it, they were talking about their favorite summer fruits and asking me to stock up. They are forever asking me to buy stuff!
Please mom! Strawberry season is almost over! We need strawberries! What, you don’t want us to eat fruit?
They’re very clever. Of course I want them to eat fresh fruit, and I love strawberries as much as they do. Since the season is almost over, I decided to use some of the Kraft coupons to make a Strawberry Serenade! Strawberry. Strawberry. More Strawberry. Topped off with a bit of Strawberry!
Coupon prints are limited on these great savings, so I headed over to Walmart to get everything I’d need to make the ultimate adios Serenade to Strawberries. For the cupcakes, I used a moist pudding-in-the-mix strawberry cake mix. I used Kool Aid strawberry-kiwi juice instead of water. I used the marshmallows to make fondant bows. With the strawberry cream cheese spread, I made a delicious filling. I froze drops of the left over filling to garnish the plates. It tasted like a delicious frozen yogurt!
The cake mix was ready in 10 minutes flat! The cupcakes fit perfectly into the waffle cone bowls. I put the cupcakes in the oven (without the waffle bowls) and they cooked in about 15 minutes.
I made the marshmallow fondant the night before. This was kind of scary because I’d never done it before. It turned out great! 
I added food coloring to the (microwave) melted marshmallows. I stirred. Then I stirred in the powdered sugar and a tiny bit of water. I kneaded it for about 10 minutes. I put the fondant in a double clear plastic bag and left in in the fridge over night. In the morning I rolled some out, sliced some strips, then folded each strip into a teardrop shapes. When placed next to each other in a circle figure they looked like flowers. When I used just four folded teardrops, they looked like bows.
I whipped up the filling and injected some into the center of each cooled cupcake.
I am always looking for new and fun activities to enjoy during the summer, but costs can start to add up quickly! Saving money whenever and wherever I can is important, especially during the summer months. Kraft Foods wants to help you save money without sacrificing on great taste and quality by offering multiple HIGH value coupons worth $16.25. If you can cut back your grocery bill, that opens up the possibility for fun activities with your family and friends all summer long! Be sure to download these coupons now to begin saving! You can find all of these great deals on http://cbi.as/copy #CollectiveBias
Ready to try this out for yourself?
Here is the 24-7 Modern Mom Strawberry Serenade Downloadable Recipe!
Feeling inspired? Find more delicious recipes on the Kraft Recipes Website!
Aw, I’m probably going to try to make this with the boys at home!