A Quick, Cheap Date Night Meal

In the area where we live, a baby sitter for one child can run upwards of $10. Now that we have two, I am guessing it is higher. What is the point of date night if you have to pay $50 or 60 for a sitter plus the cost of the date?

My husband and my date nights are reserved for times when grandma is in town or we are visiting grandma. However, we still make it a point to spend time together, even if it has to be an in-house date night after the kids are asleep.

One of our favorite meals is bacon wrapped scallops. I buy the scallops at Aldi when they are on sale for $6.99 a bag. We can get three meal servings out of the bag. Then, I simply take some pieces of bacon and cut the strips in thirds. I wrap one piece of bacon around a scallop, secure with a toothpick and saute in a non-stick pan until the bacon is cooked to our liking.

In the above picture, we had bacon wrapped scallops, sugar snap peas in a soy mustard sauce and zucchini muffins. It is quick to fix, reasonably inexpensive, and a little fancier than our standard fare.

I shared this post at Tempt My Tummy Tuesday & Friday Feasts.

Spring Cleaning Update--The Bedroom Closet

One of my goals to complete before I go back to work in a few weeks is to have the house decluttered. So far I have cleaned the kid's room (that needs a revisit now), the kitchen, and the bathroom.


BEFORE AFTER

Our bedroom is still messy, but we did clean the closet. I did a serious purge and removed clothes that I have been saving for the time I can fit in them again.

As we would like to expand our family in the very near future, I have resigned myself to the fact that I will not likely fit in these clothes again any time soon. Another fact to face is that many of the clothes are over 10 years old. By the time I get pregnant again and lose the baby weight plus the additional, well, the clothes will be really old. So, off to Goodwill they went. Two trash bags full!

The other bags below are miscellaneous clothes still in good condition and not out of style and craft goods and fabrics to put in our garage sale pile. It is amazing we got all this extra stuff out!

Blueberries, Blueberries!!

We LOVE blueberries. Every year we buy a lot and freeze them. We use them all winter in blueberry waffles, pancakes, muffins and smoothies or in yogurt or oatmeal.

This week we bought a 10 pound box and then 18 pints at the grocery store. (I think that is rougly 25 pounds.) We froze 20 sandwich bags full of them. If you haven't done that before, it is very simple.

Run the blueberries under water. Then try to get as much moisture off as possible. I pat them dry with a paper towel.


Lay them out on a cookie sheet and freeze for a few hours. Scoop them up and bag them. (We put ours in sandwich bags and then put 4 full sandwich bags inside a gallon size freezer bag to keep them fresh.)

This year I also got adventurous and made homemade syrup. I used this recipe which was quite simple.


I had the syrup made before my husband had finished making the blueberry waffles. Yum!

Since I had good luck making strawberry jam this year (my rasperry jam, on the other hand, was a disaster), I decided to try blueberry jam. I bought a package of dry pectin and followed the directions. It took about 2.5 pints of blueberries and I got five small containers of jam. This will taste so good in the winter!

Here is a picture of what we did with 25 pounds of blueberries, minus the many that we ate:

We will enjoy these all winter long at a fraction of the winter price.

I shared this post at Life as Mom.

Food Waste Wednesday, Early Edition, 7/28/09

No picture this week because hubby was trying to be efficient (actually he was efficient, too efficient) and threw out our only food waste--one tiny bowl of boxed macaroni and cheese.

I wanted to take a picture this week because we barely had any waste! Now I guess I should thank him for cleaning up.

Grocery Shopping Sunday, Late Edition, 7/27/09

It is blueberry season here, and that means lots of blueberries to stock the freezer for the winter! There are also some road trip items for our upcoming vacation.


Food4Less:


2 cans Manwich = 1.98
2 pkgs cookies = 5.00
1 pkg. Goldfish = 2.19
1 bag cheetos = 1.69
1 container cottage cheese = 1.00
1 bag carrots = 1.00
6 apples = 4.98
1 pkg paper plates = .79
Total = 19.72

Blueberry Farm:

10 lbs. blueberries = 25.00 (this is probably a bit expensive, but as we were travelling, we didn't have time to pick them ourselves, and they are so yummy!)

Dominicks:

1 carton ice cream = 2.99 - 1.00 Q = 1.99

1 loaf cinnamon bread = 2.29

2 pkgs lunch meat, B1G1 = 2.69

5 nectarines = 4.72 (ouch! DH picked the wrong ones that weren't on sale)

1 cantaloupe = 2.49 - 1.50 Q = .99

1 green pepper = .99

12 pints blueberries = 11.88

Total = 26.12

Grand Total = 70.84 + 15.60 CVS trip = 86.44

Total for the month = 404.29

To see the staycation meals (in the slow cooker) we will make for the week, go here.

Menu Planning Monday, 7/27/09

A large portion of our vacation this week is a staycation. I certainly don't want to be cooking during vacation, even if most of the vacation is at home, so I will be relying heavily (once again) on my slow cooker. (To see the slow cooker recipes I have used for the last few weeks, go to my posts here and here.

Monday--Dinner Out
Tuesday--Slow Cooker Shrimp & Sausage Jumbalaya
Wednesday--Slow Cooker Cheesy Broccoli Chicken Casserole
Thursday--Slow Cooker Taco Soup
Friday--Slow Cooker Burrito Enchilada Filling
Saturday--Paula Deen's Slow Cooker Macaroni & Cheese with Veggie
Sunday--Dinner Out

Lunches will be quick--sandwiches, etc.

Breakfasts will be zucchini muffins, breakfast museli, oatmeal & cereal.

To see the groceries we bought for the week, go here.

CVS, 7/26/09

We were out of town this weekend, but we got back early enough to get some of the free back to school items. I stopped at the store before we went home, so I was not able to print out any electronic coupons, but I still had a good trip. I saved 82%, and every thing I bought we will use.

2 pks copy paper = 10.00, earned 5.00 ECBs
3 - 3 pks Irish Springs soap = 5.97
1 Maxwell House coffee = 6.99
1 Lady Speed Stick deodorant = 1.99 - 1.50 CVS Q = .49
6 Soft Soap bottles = 5.94
1 pkg. CVS tampons = 1.89, earned 1.89 ECBs
2 composition books = 1.98, earned 1.98 ECBs
2 pkgs sticky notes = 1.98, earned 1.98 ECBs
2 pkgs erasers = 1.98, earned 1.98 ECBs
1 Colgate Total = 2.88 - 1.00 Q = 1.88, earned 2.00 ECBs
1 Huggies box wipes = 3.49, -2.00 CVS Q, -1.00 Q = .49 (not pictured)
1 pkg bottled water = 2.98
1 paper (ours was stolen again) = 1.99

Total = 50.07

I used a CVS Q for $10 off a $50 order and $20.88 in ECBs.
I paid $15.60 OOP and saved 69.57 or 82%.

I earned $14.83 in ECBs.

I shared this post at Money Saving Mom and Saving Cents with Sense.

Zucchini Muffins

I got this recipe from my Holly Clegg cookbook. I altered it some because it was originally for Chocolate Zucchini Bread.

1 c. white flour
½ c. whole wheat flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
¼ tsp. baking powder
¾ cup sugar
2 large eggs
1/3 c. canola oil
1 tsp. vanilla
2 c. shredded zucchini

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray.

In a bowl, mix the flours, baking soda, cinnamon, and baking powder; set aside. In a medium bowl, mix the sugar, eggs, oil and vanilla until well blended. Stir in the zucchini. Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until just moistened. Pour the batter into the muffin pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan.

Monthly Goals Update

I have one month left for my leave of absence. It is time to check in and see how I am doing on the goals I have set for myself to achieve by the end of August.

Only use up 50% of our savings while on leave. We have reached this goal, which isn’t a good thing! So far we have spent 51% of our savings, and we still have a vacation to take and 3 more weeks without a paycheck. I am guessing that we will spend 75% of our savings. I do not want to spend more than that. In our defense, we had some unexpected expenses this month. Our windshield cracked and the crack just kept snaking across the windshield, so we had to get it repaired. That was $475 dollars. My son also decided to take a dance class, so the class, pants and shoes were $115. Also, I needed two new pairs of shoes for work, so that was $100, and my son needed an eye exam to enter kindergarten in the fall and that was $45.

Get grocery bill down to at least $300/month. I am still spending roughly $350 for groceries. This continues to be a challenge, but we are VERY stocked up now, so hopefully it will be attainable in August.

Create a list of 50-90 meals we enjoy and organize the recipes for them. I have 70 recipes in a binder, organized by category with an index, so technically this goal is complete. However, I want to aim for 90 instead of 50, so I will mark this goal 78% completed.

Grow my eBay business to 2700-2800 items. Well, sadly, it is time to face the reality that this is just not going to happen. I did get up to 2609 items early this month, but then I started selling quite a bit, which is a good thing—yeah for back to school sales! Also, they have changed some procedures at work during the 10 months I have been gone, so I have been spending several of my evenings updating my files for work. It is a big job, but hopefully it will save me time when I am actually back to work. This means, though, that I don’t have as much time to list on eBay. I am going to change this goal to 2600 items listed by next month.

Declutter the house!! I cleaned and decluttered the kitchen, bathroom and kids’ room. The dining room/living room is next. (I expect the dining room to be done by the end of the week. I will post pictures when done.) I also cleaned out my side of our bedroom closet. I am just waiting for my husband to clean his side, and then I will post pictures of that.

Sell $300 to $500 worth of household items on eBay that we no longer use. This has really fallen by the wayside. I haven’t listed anything new this month, and I only sold one of the 3 items I had listed (for $7.) Thus far I have sold $173, so I am 57% of the way to this goal.

Lose 25 to 30 pounds. This is another goal that got pushed aside as I got busier. I am changing the goal to 10 pounds lost by the end of August. I have a weight loss ticker on my side bar to monitor my progress.

Get a dishwasher. Done.

Get a full night’s sleep. Every month we are getting closer to this one. Several nights a week she sleeps from 7 pm to 4 am. Yesterday she slept from 7 p.m to 5 a.m. Woo-hoo. She is almost 9 months old, so it should hopefully continue to improve.

Have 15 to 30 meals made & in the freezer. I worked hard on this one in July. I now have 20 meals in the freezer, so this goal is technically complete, but I want to have 30 meals, so I will call this goal 66% complete. I will write a post about this when I have all the meals made.

I am hoping to complete these goals before I return to work in a little more than 4 short weeks! See my post here about how else I am planning for my return back to work.

An Interesting Article

I saw this article tonight on Yahoo.com about a man, Daniel Suelo, who has lived without spending money for the last 9 years. I venture to guess that nearly none of us would go that far to save money, but the article does make one think.

One of the most interesting parts of the article is Suelo's observation when he was working for the Peace Corp. He noticed, "The more [the villagers] spent . . . the more their health declined. He could measure the deterioration on his charts. 'It looked' he says,'like money was impoverishing them.'"

It is a good article, check it out and think about the way you are living your own life. It sure made me think.

Food Waste Wednesday, 7/22/09

This week's food waste wasn't as bad. (It looks like a lot, but it isn't.) Included are--

1/4 container of chocolate pudding. (No idea how that ended up here as I am a chocolate fiend!)

2 tbsp. cheese spread

1/4 block of tofu (we are putting this in my daughter's food now, and she can't eat it all up. I will need to remember to add it to smoothies so it doesn't end up as waste again.)

I am still striving for another no waste week, but overall, this week wasn't too bad.

How I Plan To Survive My Return To Work

In about a month (can it be true?!) I will rejoin the ranks of the full-time employed. In addition to my full-time job, I am also a wife and the mom of a five year old and a 9 month old. I have two side passions at home--my eBay store and this blog. Put it all together and it is alot to juggle.

Here are the ways I am preparing myself (and family) so the transition is a smooth one:

--Put myself on my work schedule beginning in August. I plan to exercise before work, so starting in about 2 weeks, I will begin getting up around 5:30 or 6 a.m., the time I will need to get up when I am back to work. (It also means I have to start going to bed earlier.)

--Finish decluttering and deep cleaning the house. A clean, clutter free house is easier to maintain when time is at a minimum, so some of my effort next month will go to finishing the job I started in May.

--Finish my monthly goals I set several months ago.

--Create new monthly goals when I return to work. My husband and I need to manage our time and money wisely during this next period of life so he can graduate with his Ph.D and I can become a stay-at-home mom.

--Learn to become more organized. I am currently reading Organize Your Life by Ronni Eisenberg. I plan to implement many of the strategies to best utilize my time daily.

--Continue to make freezer meals and find new slow cooker recipes. I have been busy making freezer meals and plan to continue that for the next few weeks. It will be such a blessing to have meals I can just pull from the freezer when I am busy and/or stressed. In addition, these last two weeks I have been relying heavily on my slow cooker and have loved it! Having a meal in the slow cooker means I can avoid the 4:30-5 p.m. craziness that always seems to surround the time right before dinner. I plan to use my slow cooker A LOT this fall.

So, those are my activities so far to try to make the return to work smoother. With any luck, by next May, I will be able to be a stay-at-home mom.

Menu Planning Monday, 7/20/09

Just like last week, this week will be a busy one, so I am relying on the slow cooker again.

Monday--Slow Cooker Lima Beans, Mixed Greens saute
Tuesday--Slow Cooker Pork Chops & Green Beans in Dijon Mustard Sauce
Wednesday--Slow Cooker Lentil Chili (I am making it with yellow split peas instead) & baby spinach saute
Thursday--Slow Cooker Hamburger Soup & greens
Friday--Slow Cooker Chicken Burrito Dinner
Saturday--left overs
Sunday--dinner out

For lunches we will have Veggie Stuffed Pitas, leftovers, sandwiches & Weight Watchers meals

We will have zucchini muffins, french toast, oatmeal & breakfast mueseli for breakfast.

To see the groceries we bought for the week, go here.

Grocery Shopping Sunday, 7/19/09

It was a busy shopping week! Unfortunately it was expensive too, as I continued to buy extra food to prepare freezer meals for when I go back to work (in just a few short weeks!) and supplies for our upcoming vacation. Here is what we bought:

Target:

Desitin = 2.99 - 1.00 Q = 1.99
24 jars baby food & 1-4 pk juice = 23.14 - 1.00 Q (for our vacation. Can't bring along homemade baby food for that!) = 22.14
Kudos granola bars = 2.00
10 Weight Watchers meals = 19.90 - 4.00 Q & 6--1.00 Qs = 9.90

Total = 35.72

Irv & Shelly's Fresh Picks:

This was a total splurge! We bought this food online. It is all organic and comes from local farms. Best of all, it was delivered right to our door. It was expensive for veggies, but the taste difference was amazing! It helps make us want to eat more veggies as I continue to try to lose weight.
Cost = 25.00 + 5.50 delivery fee = 30.50

Tony's Finer Foods:

I can't find my itemized receipt for this one, but the total was $57.04.

Total = 123.26 + other Target trip = 12.70 + CVS trip = 2.61

Total for the week = 138.57

Total for the month = 317.85

To see the meals (all slow cooker!) we will make for the week, go here.

I shared this post at the Grocery Cart Challenge.

CVS Trip, 7/19/09

I am loving the free school supplies! For all of the above, I paid just $2.61 and I saved $20.36 or 89%.

1 gallon 2% milk = 1.99, earn 1.00 ECB
1 gallon skim milk = 2.59, - 2.59 CVS coupon
2 filler papers = 4.00, earned 4.00 ECBs
1 CVS panty shield = .89, earned .89 ECBs
2 pkgs pens = 1.98, earned 1.98 ECBs
2 memo pads = 1.98, earned 1.98 ECBs
1-4 pack batteries = 2.99 - 1.00 coupon = 1.99, earned 1.00 ECBs

I went in with $10.49 ECBs (these were the ones I wrote about last week that I could not find. I found them just in time; they were to expire on 7/21.) I earned $10.85 ECBs.

I shared this post at Money Saving Mom, Saving Cents with Sense and To Save a Penny.

A Great Target Trip!

I did a quick run to Target and got all of this for $12.70. The Smart Ones were .60 each after coupons, the Finish dishwasher detergent was .99 after coupons, and the Kudos were $2 each.

See Money Saving Mom's post for all of the details and the coupon links. Thanks Money Saving Mom!

Veggie Stuffed Pita Sandwich

I got this recipe years ago at a Weight Watchers meeting, and I still love it! It makes a great lunch or a light dinner. I just dump ingredients; really, make this to your own taste.

2 heads of broccoli, cut into small pieces
3-4 carrots, peeled, cut into small pieces
Ranch dressing (to taste)
Shredded cheddar cheese (to taste)
Chicken, cubed and cooked (optional)

Steam the broccoli and carrots until they are the consistency you like.

Stir the veggies up with the ranch dressing. I am not a huge fan of dressing, so I just use enough to coat them; you might like to add more.

Stir in the shredded cheese.

Stuff in the pita. Voila. A quick and tasty lunch or dinner.

To make it more substantial, add cooked, cubed chicken.

This should make 3 to 4 pita half sandwiches.

I shared this post at the Grocery Cart Challenge, $5 Dinners, Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays, and Life as Mom.

A Creative Birthday Cake Idea

My son's birthday is in June, and we always try to create a special cake for him. Neither I nor my husband have much artistic talent, so creating the cake is always interesting.

We found this Pool Party Cake in an issue of Simple & Delicious and made it for his birthday last year. He liked it because it had so many candies on it. The only problem we had was making the lounge chairs. For some reason they would not keep their shape.

See Life As Mom for more great cake ideas!

Gymboree Gymbucks Redemption Online Now

Did you earn Gymbucks during the last earning period, which ended July 12th? If so, they are allowing you to redeem them early online tonight. (Officially redemption doesn't begin until tomorrow.) Best of all, shipping is free. Have fun!

Food Waste Wednesday, 7/15/09

Well, the last few weeks it has been just downright embarrassing posting food waste. Maybe it is something about summer. . .



The waste here includes 1 carrot stick cut up, about 1/3 bag of spinach that was WAY beyond saving, a little bit of brown rice and a serving of chili. We made the chili at my mom's when we were on vacation, carted it back to our house when it was about 3 days old, and then it sat in the refrigerator for quite awhile longer, so it was time to toss.

I can live with that food waste. What made me sick though, was the hamburger buns. I bought them last Monday planning on using them for a hamburger recipe on Thursday. By Thursday, 3 days later!, they had already molded. I guess it is because of the summer and our terrible windows that don't keep humidity out, even when our window units are working. (It wasn't total waste because we fed it to the birds, but I was not planning on spending $2, which the buns cost, to feed the birds!)

My husband and I sat down and decided that for the rest of the summer I will do our grocery shopping twice a week to avoid waste like this.

Homemade Baby Food Part IV--Yogurt

I first learned to make homemade yogurt when reading The Tightwad Gazette, (see my side bar at the spinning carousel), long before I had children. I had it perfected by the time my son came along, which was a good thing because that boy can eat some serious yogurt!

Here are the steps:

1. Pour milk into a quart jar. (I use an old canning jar.) If you are making this for your baby, choose whole or 2% milk.



2. Heat slowly on the stove. Use a candy thermometer. Stir frequently in the beginning and continuously once the thermometer reaches 150 degrees. Continue to stir continuously and cook until the milk reaches 180 degrees. Remove from heat once it reaches 180 degrees.




3. Meanwhile, have two tbsps. of yogurt sitting out, warming to room temperature while the milk is cooking. I tend to buy a large container of yogurt and freeze it in ice cube trays, each ice cube formation holding 1 tbsp. of yogurt. Take 2 out and let them unthaw in the refrigerator the night before and then on the stove when you start to cook the milk.





4. After the milk has reached 180 degrees and you have removed it from heat, add some of the cooked milk to the yogurt and stir. Then, add the yogurt starter mixed with some of the milk to the pot of milk. If you would like to sweeten it, add some honey. (Do NOT do this if you are making yogurt for baby.) Some people like to add plain gelatin to the milk to make the yogurt thicker. I don't usually do this, and I would recommend NOT doing it for baby.




5. Let the milk/yogurt mixture cool to 115 degrees. I know that it takes about 30 minutes for mine to cool to that temperature, so I set the timer and do other things around the house while waiting.

6. When the milk/yogurt reaches 115 degrees, transfer it back to the canning jar and put on a plastic lid. I then wrap it in a heating pad. (Our heating pad is very old, so I put it on the highest setting 75 degrees. You may put yours on a lower temperature if it functions properly, unlike mine.)

7. I then wrap it all in a towel to retain the heat and let it sit on the counter incubating for 8 to 10 hours.

This yogurt will stay good for a week, though it tastes tangier after 5 days. You can also keep out 2 tbsp. of homemade yogurt to use as starter for the next batch you make, but the next batch will be runnier and tangier. I like to use new freezer cubes for each batch. It is still a good deal if you can find yogurt on sale cheap to use as starter.

Ruth Yaron in Super Baby Food recommends feeding your baby one yogurt meal a day (if the baby is six months or older) mixed with fresh, pureed fruits or vegetables. I just started my baby on yogurt yesterday.

To see my other posts on homemade baby food, go here, and here and here.

Menu Planning Monday, 7/13/09

This is going to be a very busy week as I contine to try to check things off my Goal List before I return to work. I only have about 6 weeks left before I return to work, and I am frantically trying to get everything done. So, this week my recipes are all slow cooker recipes. (I love the slow cooker!!)

Monday--Crockery Pot Meatballs (I plan to double this recipe and freeze one portion for a later meal)
Tuesday--Impossibly Easy Sweet Pulled Pork (served with lettuce in a burrito)
Wednesday--Slow Cooker Beans & Rice (I will also double this one and freeze one portion)
Thursday--Vegetarian Hearty Soup
Friday--Emily's Mongolian Beef in the Slow Cooker
Saturday--Unstuffed Cabbage Roll Soup
Sunday--grilling salmon & polish sausage

To see the groceries we bought for the week, go here.

Grocery Shopping Sunday, 7/12/09

We had alot of fruit leftover from last week, so we didn't have to buy much of that. What I bought included enough ingredients to make our meals for the week and make at least 4 freezer meals as I plan for my return back to work in a little over a month. Here is what we bought:

Tony's Finer Foods:

2 pkgs. burrito tortillas = 3.29/ea
Nestle chocolate chips = 2.99
2 cans cranberry jelly = 1.69/ea
2 pkgs manicotti = 1.79/ea
1 box crackers = 3.50 (ridiculous, I know!)
1 pkg. mushrooms = 1.50
1 green pepper = .37
1 bunch parsley = .99
1 box frozen spinach = 1.49
2 bags frozen corn = .99/bag
32 oz. ricotta cheese = 4.99
1 bag cheddar cheese = .99
2 bags mozarella cheese = 2.00/ea
3 lb. pkg polish sausage = 3.99

Total =41.30

Target:

2 boxes Kashi cereal bars = 2.50/ea -(2) 1.50 Q & 1.00 Q
Total = 1.03

Aldi:

1 gallon milk = 1.49
1 bag sea scallops = 6.49
2 bags salmon = 3.99/ea
1 pkg. bacon = 2.49

Total = 18.89

Grand Total = 61.22 + 7.69 CVS = 68.91

Total for July =179.28

To see the meals we will make for the week (all slow cooker recipes), go here.

CVS, 7/12/09

I am loving the free school supplies at CVS! I went in with $9.99 in ECBs. (I am sure I have another large ECB around my house. I must find it soon before it expires!)

2 pkgs. PaperMate Grip pens = 1.98, earned 1.98 ECBs
1 Gain Liquid Detergent = 5.99, earned 2.00 ECBs
1 Dean's Milk = 1.99, earned 1.00 ECB
2 1 Subject notebooks = 1.98, earned 1.98 ECBs
1 ruler = .99, earned .99 ECBs
2 bottles glue = 1.98, earned 1.98 ECBs
1 newspaper (mine was stolen, AGAIN!) = 1.99
Used 10 ECBs

Total OOP = 7.69, saved 18.79 or 71%.
Earned 9.93 ECBs

I shared this post at Money Saving Mom and Saving Cents with Sense.

BLT Pasta Salad

I was looking for lighter recipes, so I got this recipe off RecipeZaar. We altered it a bit to make it more suitable to our tastes. We served it with grilled cheese sandwiches for a frugal, tasty dinner.

2/3 c. whole wheat pasta, cooked

4 tomatoes, cut up

6 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled

3 cups of chopped Romaine lettuce

1 tsp. sugar

2 tsp. cider vinegar

1/2 c. fat free mayonaise

1 tbsp. Dijon mustard

In a large bowl, mix together the first 4 ingredients.

In a small bowl mix the sugar, vinegar, mayo, and mustard, (and if you like) salt and pepper to taste.

Pour over shell mixture, stir and chill. Enjoy!

I shared this recipe at the Grocery Cart Challenge, $5 Dinners, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, Delicious Dishes, Life as Mom and Tasty Tuesday.

Homemade Baby Food Part III--Grains

My son used to love a good bowl of Super Porridge. He ate it until he was at least 1.5 years old. What is Super Porridge? A bowl of ground whole grains cooked on the stove, and combined, after cooking, with a multitude of ingredients such as beans, tahini, tofu, hard-boiled egg yolk, etc. It didn’t look pretty, but it was a power house nutritionally, and I think it helped keep my son very healthy during his early years.

My daughter is a little fussier than her brother, but she is getting better the more often I feed her homemade baby food. Today I mixed her up 3 tbsp. of millet and ¼ cup of brown rice. I blended it in the blender for a full two minutes until it looked like a fine powder.

Then, I added it to two cups boiling water, covered and stirred frequently for 10 minutes. Voila, my daughter’s grain.

The best part is that the grain required for this cost less than 25 cents. It made a full tray of freezer cubes, or about 7 to 10 days worth of grains.
She likes it when I mix it with some pureed veggie or fruit (See my posts about those homemade baby foods here and here.)

She is a little too young for beans and tahini, but she has been introduced to hard-boiled egg yolk and tofu. Once she gets completely used to homemade mixed grains, I will add those ingredients and she will be on her way to Super Porridge. (For more specific details about making homemade baby food, I highly recommend Super Baby Food. You can see the book in my side bar on the Amazon carousel.)

Next week I will have my last installment of the baby food series—homemade yogurt.

Enjoying a Frugal Birthday Present

Here is a picture of my son enjoying his $15 birthday bike. My cousin thought it was brand new. My son loved it!

I shared this post at Life as Mom.

Food Waste Wednesday, 7/8/09

We forgot to clean the refrigerator before our 5 day trip out of town last week. We came home to this--3 banana muffins, 1 section of peanut butter oatmeal and some gucamole salad. The smell was none too pleasant as they had already been in the refrigerator 4 to 5 days before we left.

Cooking Day Is Finally Done!

Ah, I am tired but so happy I got so many meals stocked in my freezer. It is a good start to my 30 meals I am aiming for.

Here is what I cooked today:

Wrapped in foil are 2 pans of lasagna (each cut in half to make 4 meals total for us) and 2 meatloafs. In the front bag is Anita's Chili, in the two little bags are the taco mix and the sloppy joe mix, and in the two little bags behind them is vegetable soup that I made yesterday. I froze half of it. This is a total of 11 meals for when I return to work.

I also took some pictures of the lasagna and meatloaf. (Notice how the lasagna is missing a strip in the middle. My husband insisted on "trying" every dish because he says they always tastes better fresh. But he is good about eating the freezer meals too.)

To see the links for the recipes I used, go here.

I shared this post on Life as Mom.

Cooking Day Update

Well, I have put two hours into my cooking day and have thus far:

--cooked and pureed my daughter's pears and put them up in the freezer,
--made one pan of lasagna (surprisingly I had enough ingredients to make two, so after a quick trip to the store to buy more ricotta and cheese, I will make the other pan tonight,
--made the sloppy joe mix
--made the taco mix
--put the chili in the slow cooker

Tonight I plan to make the other pan of lasagna, make two meatloafs and put all of said meals in freezer containers.

I'll post pictures tonight!

Cooking Day Tomorrow!

Tomorrow is supposed to be a cool day here, so I am going to cook some meals to put in the freezer for when I return to work and life gets very crazy. This is what I have on the agenda:

Lighter Meatloaf (I found this recipe in a Weight Watchers magazine that I can't find now. I typed some of the ingredients in recipezaar.com and got this. It looks like the recipe I use, but I am not sure. I am keeping my fingers crossed!)
Beef & Cheese Lasagna
Anita's Slow Cooked Chili
Beef Tacos
Sloppy Joe Sandwiches

In addition, I will continue to process and freeze baby food for my daughter. Sounds like a busy day!

Grocery Shopping Sunday, 7/5/09 (Late Edition)

I have been frustrated lately with the $350 I am spending a month on groceries. Some time this month, I plan to look over previous month's groceries and see where the money is going.

Meanwhile, since we need to stock up on disposable diapers and baby food (for our vacation later this month) instead of using cloth and serving homemade baby food and one of my goals this month is to make at least 15 freezer meals in preparation for my return to work, we have decided to up the grocery budget to $450 this month. Hopefully all this hard work will pay off in September and October when we eat out of the freezer instead of going out to eat.

Tony's Finer Foods:

3 pkgs ground turkey (not pictured) @ 2.99/ea = 8.97
1 seedless watermelon (not pictured) = 2.99
1 cantaloupe = 2.00
1 bag carrots = .69
8 oz. mushrooms = 1.50
1 cabbage = 1.05
2 onions = .49
1 head broccoli = .45
1 bag grapes = 3.06
1 bag cherries = 4.22
1 pkg blueberries = .99
6 tomatoes = 3.82
1 head romaine lettuce = 1.37
5 limes = .50
1 green pepper = .68
1 pkg hamburger buns = 2.75
1/4 lb. deli turkey meat = 1.84
3/4 lb. deli ham = 2.29
1/2 lb. provolone cheese = .80
1/2 lb. mozzarella cheese = 1.88
Total = 43.49

Whole Foods:

This is all organic and for my daughter's homemade baby food. (I wrote about it here and here.)
1 bag frozen asparagus = 1.99
1 bag frozen green peas = 1.69
1 acorn squash = 2.76
3 black plums = 2.34
2 carrots = .54
4 pears = 4.20
1 pkg. green beans = 2.32
3 pluots = 1.62
millet = .10
long brown rice = .14
2 yellow squash = 3.36
3 nectarines = 5.27
Total = 27.16

Walgreens:

2 Starbucks ice cream = 2.90 (had a 2.00 Q)

Grand Total = 73.55 + CVS trip (36.82) = 110.37

To see the meals we will make this week, go here.

I shared this post at The Grocery Cart Challenge.

Menu Planning Monday, 7/6/09

This week I will continue to try to cook lighter, healthier recipes. I really enjoyed some of the desserts I tried last week.

For breakfast, we will have oatmeal, omelets, cereal, Baked Oatmeal, Breakfast Museli

Dinners will be:
Monday-- Monte Cristo Sandwiches and Vegetable Soup
Tuesday--Chicken Marsala
Wednesday--BLT Pata Salad
Thursday--Juicy Hamburger
Friday--Tuna Puttanesca
Saturday--Cold Sesame Noodles
Sunday--leftovers

Some desserts we will try include:
Weight Watchers Strawberry Pie
Weight Watchers Gob Cake

CVS 7/5/09

Why is it that every time I am out of town CVS has great sales?


When I got to the store, most of their free after ECBs items were gone. Bummer. The good news is that everything I bought we needed.


2 Dawn Ultra = 2.00 - .50 Q & .25 Q ($1.00 ECB earned)
1 CVS panty shield .89 (.99 ECB earned)
2 Dean's Milk = 3.98
2 Head & Shoulders 9.98 -4.99 Q (B1G1) ($4.00 ECBs earned)
3 Pampers = 26.97 -2.00 Q, -2.00 Q, 1.00 Q
1 Duracell battery 4-pack (free after Pampers purchase)
1 watch battery = 4.49
1 box Tampax = 6.00 - 1.00 Q
1 box Tampax = 8.49 - 1.00 Q (I thought I picked 2 boxes that were each $6.00 and would print out $4.00 ECBs, but apparently that is not the case. I will have to look into this further.)


Used 16.00 ECBs and only earned $5.99 ECBs because of the Tampax issue.

Total = 36.82
I saved $49.93 or 58%.

I shared this post at Money Saving Mom and Saving Cents with Sense.