Week 6 - Kitchen Remodel

So, here we are in to week 6 of the remodel.  Still about two or three weeks to go.

 The neighbor surprised me while we were gone for Christmas and installed the new window.  Still have to do some trim work on it but man is it nice being able to look out and see things once again.  Last week we had some warmer weather during the day, so it was nice to be able to open the window for a change and let some fresh air in.  Well, fresh as can be for our area. Ha Ha

We are slowly getting there.  The stove in the photo has been replaced.  The dishwasher is hooked up and working so I can at least wash dishes.  Still have to take them to the bath tub to rinse them off. LOL  The vent has been replaced as well.  This past Tuesday the guy came and did the final measure for the counter tops.  That paper work hit the New Year holiday, so was finalized this past Friday.  I was waiting for the call from Home Depot, knew that I would have to go pay a bunch more before they could start on them.  I originally paid for a color A price (A being the lowest price) and top mount sink.  Decided however to go with an under mount sink, which is an additional charge.  Then changed my mind several times on the color, ending up with one that was in color D price range (the most expensive group) but was on sale for the color B price, so knew that I would have to pay about $400.00 difference.  Well, after he did the measure, found out my designer measured heavy, then find out that the price of the counter top has gone down even more, I ended up getting about $25.00 refunded.  YIPPEE!

I had purchased a Hamilton Beach Toastation (is a toaster oven with a slotted toaster on top) thinking it would save counter space having two devices in one so to speak.  It was great when I first used it, the first few times actually.  Toaster slots worked well, had to do two cycles to toast a bagel, so was okay with that part.  The oven part worked great the first few times, then, the door quit working and became very difficult to open or close.  Best I can figure out, the brackets that move the shelf in and out as the door opens and closes was not made of metal strong enough to endure prolonged (more than 3-5 minutes) of higher heat temperature.  It would warp or bend just enough to keep the door from functioning.  I took it back and purchased just a toaster over.  Half the price, works ten times better.  Now to figure out if I am going to keep the big Faberware Toaster oven that I originally bought.  It works really well, has a rotisserie function, but am having a devil of a time finding bake ware to fit in it.  It is really too large for the regular toaster oven bake ware, but about a half inch short of smaller pans for a regular oven.  I guess I really should take it back and get my money back, but am really wanting to try that rotisserie function first.  OH MAN, would it be great to be able to cook rotisserie style chicken at home.  Although, they are really cheap to buy already cooked from Costco.  At under $5 bucks, can hardly buy the hen and spices for that.  AND, they are sooo good.

Actually, I have several small appliances that I am waiting for my counter tops to come in and the back splash installed to determine what I will be leaving on the counters.  Once I have that figured out, I will then determine where to store the rest and then possible get rid of some.  I am a gadget obsessed hoarder to be sure.  I have grills, waffle stick makers, processors, pressure cookers, rice cooker, steamer, I even have a slider grill that I have used twice.  It works really well, as I love those little burgers, but it is heck to clean up and since I am the only one that likes them I just wait until we eat out to have them. I swore I wouldn't buy any more such appliance gadgets, but during Christmas Walmart put out there odd little things, like chocolate fountains, for customers to purchase as gifts.  NO...I did not buy the fountain.  Thought about it, but knew that it would sure be a bear to clean.  I did however buy a doughnut maker (makes four cake doughnuts) because it seemed healthier than fried ones.  But then I bought a funnel cake fryer.  I will be taking it back, no one eats them around here, we are trying to cut back on fried food, but it is so cute in it's little blue size.  Besides, Miss Z would probably have fun using to make up some funnel cakes during a super bowl party or something.  If I ever get counter tops and sink back in the kitchen.

Oh, and we won't talk about the new deep fryer and bread maker that I bought and hid in the RV until the kitchen is finished.  I know it is terribly wasteful, but I did buy them just because I wanted new stainless steel ones for my kitchen.  I know, fried food, but some times a girl just has to have her fried okra and tater tots are so much better fried than baked. 

We have all been sick with the crud, even the grand babies - poor things, and thought we were getting over it, had a few nice days, then BAM! it has all come back.  Miss Zebra is done down with it in a huge way.  I am still, after four weeks of this battle, coughing like I smoke and those coughing fits lead to little accidents which lead to a load of pants being washed each night.  I am really seriously thinking about wearing a pad, if it weren't for the fact that the stupid things break me out.  Bad enough during "that time" but just not wanting to add fuel to the fire so to speak.

Since I only have a partially functioning kitchen, my meal planning has been put on hold.  While I can cook anything I want now, cleaning up and prep work is holding that back.  Am cooking very simple things, not many pans, not a lot of prep.  Hubby was sweet and has temporarily gotten me a piece of plywood over the dishwasher, so that helps some, plus we needed it to keep the dishwasher from tipping when we opened the door.  I took some old shelves and have then placed around the stove, they are not very big, but it at least gives me something to work on, leave a spoon on and such.

I am still in a quandary as to where to put everything back in the cabinets.  Not to mention all the Pampered Chef serving ware I went a little crazy on when it hit the clearance price. I have way too much stuff and as I posted earlier, the new cabinets are only 12 inches deep where the old ones were 15.  Makes some of my platters not fit and I am having a hard time figuring out where to put plastic left over dishes.  That is in the works for today, to empty a few more boxes of kitchen ware and then take what I am not using to storage for a time.  You see, I have two children going in to an apartment possibly in the fall and I just can't let go of some of this stuff until I see if they will be needing it or not.

Thanks for stopping in,  please come back again.  If I can get myself organized, I will be posting at least once a week here.  That is the goal anyway.  See you next time.

Fall, Football, Cakes...Craziness!

Hello all.  I have been so busy lately that I have really neglected menu planning.  It shows in the household too.  I have been making more clutter and mess than I am getting cleaned up.  Oh well, nothing but a thing I guess.  I will eventually get my house totally clean, fixed just like I like it, meals planned, projects finished, and then just fall over dead from shock.

I will once again try...no will...hook up with Organizing Junkie and link this post to her Meal Plan Monday.  Great place to get some ideas.  I am doing my meal plan a little differently for a while. So here is what is cooking this week.

Ground beef, round steak, chicken, pork chops and steaks with various side dishes.

I know you are thinking that this is not a plan, but it is.  Let me explain.  By the end of the week I will have finalized plans for the grand kitchen remodel, in other words will have paid the money and it will be starting.  I have for months gone back and forth over cabinet style and color, countertop material and color, paint color, tile color.  It is now time to put it all together in a contract and get it going.  So...this means that I will be cooking out of my pantry in an attempt to downsize my inventory so that I will have less to deal with when I have to empty out all the cabinets so we can demo the current cabinets and counter top.  I have no idea what to do with all of my kitchen stuff while we are in the middle of this, or just how I am going to cook even.  But it will SO BE WORTH IT.  I will post photos along the way of course.

In fact, one set of cabinets is going to have clear glass in the door so that I will be able to put my collection of mom's glassware in there to be stored and still show off a little.  Some of her crock bowls as well.  I have a hall storage closet that I am working on emptying out so that I can put some food stores in there along with the every day pots and pans. All the extra stuff, that isn't used every day, along with all my cookbooks and small red appliance collection will go to the storage unit.  When we are completely finished, I will just bring back a box at a time and see just how much I can actually get rid of.  I mean really...do I need 18 coffee cups...in a house that only one person drinks coffee and he has his travel mug that he uses?  No I don't.  Do I need 7 glass pie plates?  No, but 4 or 5 where my mom's.  Do I need 5 sets of mixing bowls?  No, but one is from my grandmother that I never knew and one can be put up for youngest daughter Miss Zebra for when she gets her first apartment.  The other three...I have to admit, I do use them regularly, depending on what I am making.

Speaking of Miss Zebra...we finished up our Wilton Basic Cake Decorating Course 1.

This is her cake for the final class.  I think she did extremely well.  Even if she did jack my denim blue icing. I know the photos are kind of yellow tinted, but that is what my kitchen does to things for some reason. In fact, Miss Zebra was so proud of herself that she has now approached her school club leader to have a bake sale for their fundraising. She has offered to make decorated cupcakes...10 dozen...lots of cupcakes.  Pretty sure I will end up helping to finish them up.  At least cupcakes ice our quickly.

This is mine.  We were late getting to class because Miss Zebra had play rehearsal so the instructor asked another student to let me use her icing for the border.  I had a terribly time with crumbs on these two cakes for some reason.  At any rate, that course is done and Monday we start course 2 which is gum past and fondant.  Am really looking forward to that one.

Got to go meet for another design session for the kitchen.  Wish me luck.  Thanks for stopping by and come back soon.

Good Intentions - Yeah Right.

I really did have the best of intentions.  Long about Thursday or so I keep thinking that I need to get my menu plan for the week done.  I start looking over Facebook, Pinterest and various blogs for inspiration, which I get, and by the time I figure out a few things to cook it is 2 in the morning.  Then, something inevitably comes up over the week end that seems to prevent me from putting that illusive menu plan on paper.

This past week end for example.

We kept the youngest grand babies so that our son and daughter-in-law could have a little anniversary trip over the week end.  Obviously with a two year old and a two month old in the house, my attention was better spent on other things as opposed to menu plans.

Along with all of this, I did get started cleaning out kitchen cabinets.  My pantry just absolutely looked bare once I got it cleaned out and organized up.  I had to go get a few groceries, just couldn't stand it any longer.  I then started on the other cabinets, trying to force myself to purge as much as I possibly can...regardless of sentimental attachments.  Actually, once I cleaned out some clutter (plastic cups, glass jars) I am amazed at how much room I am finding.

See that little open cabinet in the back...to the left of the stove?  That is my biggest peeve with the kitchen.  Storage space I cannot use well.  That little cabinet door has a opening of 9 inches.  NINE inches.  The storage space is 24 inches door to wall and 36 inches from stove back to other wall.  Yes you get the picture.  Huge space, all of this plastic ware was stuffed up in there, along with about a half dozen glass jars.  Not to mention I found a single serve blender, complete with travel lid so I can take that healthy smoothie with me, still in the plastic wrap.  I hate the new trend of green smoothies.  Rave about it all you want, but throwing some spinach and avocado together with ice cubes, flax seed oil and fruit, does not make a tasty drink.  Un uh, no way.  There is also a brand new in the box mix and go battery powdered gizmo that makes drinks using protein powder.  Do we use protein powder?  No, hot hardly.  But this is the type of crap I find lurking around the house.  The harder part is the bake ware and glasses.  Some of them I got for a wedding gift, just can't seem to make myself let go of them.  I know, if it has a chip in it then it is dangerous.  I am working on it.  At any rate, the cabinets all have to be cleaned out so I know what I have, before the remodel starts.

Speaking of the great remodel...it hasn't even started yet.  I have gone through several layout designs, and have finally settled on one that I believe will give me all I want from the kitchen.  Plenty of storage, should say useable storage, flows easier, and more room.  Just a few final decisions remain.  One being whether or not I will get a stove or built in range and oven.  I would like to upgrade to five burners, and if we go with the built in's that will change counter space and lay out a bit.  Also have a wall that I am wanting to open up a little bit by putting a pass thru counter top that could function as additional sitting for a eating, or just as a space to prep dishes.  Would also be where we put the food out when there is a big family meal.  We kind of eat buffet style for most meals.  Every one fills their own plate and then sits at the table to eat.  I am really excited about finally get to make this kitchen not only look better but function better for my type of cooking.  I am no where near what would be considered gourmet or chef style, I cook home style meat and potatoes type of dishes.  But...I would like to be able to chop my onions and such close to the stove, not have to set something on a bar at the other end of the kitchen to cool.  No, the kitchen is not that large, only about 12 x 10.  Am hoping to increase that about six inches on the length part by moving things around. My hubby was going to do a quick fix job to the RV and then clean out the garage so we would have a place to work on things or put things while we worked.  Then we could start removing the existing kitchen.

HOWEVER...some lazy little ass wipe stole his pick up last week.  Now, he is having to work on a little truck that wasn't running to see if he can get it going to drive back and forth to work in.  Effectively putting the kitchen remodel pushed back about two weeks.  Or more.

My daughter and I are taking cake decorating classes together.  I am not really interesting in the first part of the courses, but you have to take them in order to do the course on gum paste and fondant, which I would really love to learn.  Daughter is however extremely excited by all of it.  For an early birthday present I bought her the Wilton deluxe kit, got to use a 40% off coupon which made it even better.  It was expensive, but the best value in the long run because it has all the equipment needed for all four courses and then some, plus a big tote to carry it all. 

This is my class work from last night.  Flowers on cupcakes.  Their was a slight mishap with the carrier, so a couple of them are squished.  Now, I don't have any grand designs or plans for becoming a paid cake decorator on the side, that's for sure.  I was talking to a lady that now has her own cake business that she runs from her house.  She has a booth at the local farmer's market where she sells cupcakes, cake pops and the cakes in the push pop things.  She has cookies and brownies as well.  He stuff was nice, but not a WOW kind of thing.  I am sure that what she does on special orders would be.  She was talking to my daughter and  I about how taking the classes got her started.  My daughter mentioned that she likes decorating and has the patience for it, I mentioned that it drives me crazy to take so long decorating one cake.  The cake lady then told us that it takes about three days to do a small wedding cake.  I am not going to spend three days to decorate some cake, not even for my own daughter's wedding.  Well, unless she asks me to when the time comes.  I just want to take cute cupcakes to the church carnival, for my turn at bible study, a nice birthday cake for a family member's birthday or holiday.  That is all.  I just don't want to spend $20 dollars for a dozen cupcakes that only have a fancy swirl on top.  Or, $3.50 a piece for some rich decadent little cupcake that I can make myself.    As you can see by the photo, I have a lot of practice to do.  But the main thing, the one thing I hadn't really considered, was how good it feels to just spend a little time with my daughter.  Just the two of us doing something together.  You should see the way her face, her whole face, lights up when she clicks with something the instructor has shown her.

Next week is a cake.

As for the budget plan, it has worked fairly well so far.  The last few weeks was pretty tough, only because my youngest son, Joe College, has been staying with us over his school's summer break.  He and his cat.  They went home, back to college, last night.  Now, as soon as I can finish up some major cleaning projects, my house is back to being my own.  Don't get me wrong, I love having my son here, would even be fine if he had to live here again.  It is just that with the grand baby, I had gotten in to our comfortable little routine.  Then came the baby (his sister and a girl), his mom went on maternity leave about a week before the birth.  We went on this huge vacation, expensive vacation, worth every penny too. So, things are now finally feeling like things are ready to settle down.  My daughter's cat is going through mourning and depression...running around here trying to find to find him.  At least now I can clean up and the creator of massive hair balls, wads of hair, every where.  Not to mention the worst litter box there ever was.  But hey, at least it was in a litter box.

I have got to get something to eat in me, I am literally dozing off as I type.  Thanks for stopping by and check in with me again...in a few weeks.

Cooking up Pink

The last few months have been totally crazy.  First of all, let me show off.

 My newest grand baby arrived.  Pink this time.  She was just hours old in this photo.

I am so happy, so thankful to God that everything turned out so well.  She was full term, healthy, and her mom is doing great as well.

Miss C arrived July 14, 2013 weighing 7 lbs. 12 oz. and 21 inches long.  She has lovely long fingers and long toes and a long little foot as well.  Not sure if the hair will be blonde or brown yet, but she has quite a bit.  After three grandsons, am so happy to have a grand daughter to dress up.

Life is still really busy around here with all the cleaning, remodeling and catching up I have to do from being sick and some dental work that went a little wrong.  We are soon to be heading out on our big vacation adventure as well.

We are hosting a small dinner party in August.  Since we are soon to start the kitchen remodel we wanted to have our turn as host since it will be a few months before it will all be worked over. It will be a kind of good bye to the old kitchen and then on with the new so when we host again the couples will get to see the before and after experience.  OH I AM SO EXCITED to get this project going.  I know it will take a long time as we are doing the work all our selves, but the savings will be well worth it since I am putting that savings toward some new appliances.  Hubby doesn't think I am capable of doing any physical work, but I will be PROVING him wrong because I can, if nothing else, be cleaning up behind him while he is at work.  My dad was the world's best handy man and taught me to swing a hammer and such so I know that I can be of help.  Besides, the new design is all in my head anyway.

Some of the cabinets will be repurposed for the new laundry room and storage/pantry room.  But otherwise, we will be gutting the entire kitchen and putting all new cabinets and countertops in, new back splashes and a new window as well.  Not much has to change with the flooring, but little does change we still have boxes of tile left over from when we did the kitchen floor so matching and repairing will be simple.

I made a Churro Cheesecake, which was very good but not much eaten.  I really need to work on learning to half a recipe or find somewhere to take the other half. LOL

I will be working on getting back on track with my budgeting and menu planning when we get back home.  My oldest grandson Mr. T has been visiting us for the last few weeks.  He lives in Texas with is his little brother Mr. W and his mom (my oldest daughter) and dad.  Since I normally get to see him once a year, for about 3 or 4 days, this month with him has been a real treat.  However, not being around him often, it is hard to know what he likes for meals so menu planning went totally by the wayside.  But, since I am really determined to start cut our spending...every where...and since I can make the biggest difference or cut the easiest with the grocery and household spending that is where I will start.  That and cutting out the eating out.  I am terrible about wanting to eat out because it is my favorite thing to do.  But I will just have to think about the big picture, which is the money saved, and I will be able to do it.  It is just insane that any more for our family to all go out to eat it cost close to $200.00 including a tip of course.  But, then again when we usually go out to eat, we usually go out with our oldest son and his family and usually pay for them as well.  Still, it is obscene to think that I am enjoying one meal for what I can feed us on for at the very least two to three weeks.  Healthier food as well.  I will also be taking advantage of the week before oldest daughter starts back to school that she can watch the little guy for me so I can do some bulk cooking sessions.  This has one obstacle to achieving, that is the freezer is stuffed with meat.  I am hoping that the spaced freed up by cooking the meat will generate enough space for the meals I am cooking ahead.  I have also purchases some aids in organizing the menu plans to make them a little more easily accessed.  I just need to make myself sit down, plan it and implement it.  That is my number one goal, actually doing it for a change.

Also forcing myself back in to weight management mode as well.  I plan to schedule some gym time, just like I would schedule a manicure.  I need to renew my efforts to control my portions, cut my sweets and boredom snacking, and get moving.  I am not taking all my recipes and such to menu plan, but will be taking some notebooks to work on creating cleaning schedules to actually make myself clean, and an activity schedule for my bible study, writing, computer time (blogging and facebooking) and sewing.  I find that I tend to get focused in on one thing or one project and neglect all else until I finish it.  In fact, I also get so easily distracted by one thing or another, that I wonder if I don't have adult ADD.  Have to add that I also have to get myself better organized as to my Pampered Chef business and getting my Etsy site up and running and actually some things to offer in it.  WOW, I am overloaded, but I need to be more productive and less Facebook gaming.

Got to go for now, so will be back in August and hopefully in full swing with all my sewing and crafting. Wish me luck and check back in August.  Thanks for stopping in and come back soon.

MPM 6/17 - 6/23

Wow, this is going to be a really crazy week.  I have had the last two weeks meals planned out, has not worked out for one reason or another.  However, I have stayed on budget and have for the most part only used what I had already on hand.  Honestly, I have not really cooked in several days.  Mainly because I had some dental work done and that has not turned out well at all.  I have been on a very soft diet, hardly eating much at all.  Hubby has been great at helping out with the cooking.  You know it has to be bad if I don't want to even thing about going out to eat or even think about food.

So, here is the plan for this week.

Mon: burgers and dogs, chips, dips, brownies, cookies (daughter is hosting a Stanley Cup party)
Tue: C.O.R.N - Cleaning out refrigerator night.
Wed: Del Monte Hamburger Upside Down Bake
Thu: Chicken and Dumplings, salad
Fri: Depends on how my mouth is doing, get the stitches out.
Sat: Eating out - picking up grandson from airport.
Sun: Eating out brunch.

The Del Monte Hamburger Upside Down Bake is a vintage recipe from 1956.  It is a  new recipe from McCallumVintageRecipeDivas on Facebook.  If you are in to Facebook, this is a fabulous page.

Since my cast iron skillets are in the RV, I have to go buy one for the house before I can make this.  Am pretty sure I can use a baking dish, but want to make it with the recommended pan the first time.  Of course, what kitchen from those days, and earlier for that matter, didn't have an iron skillet in their kitchen.  My grandmother had several sizes, a dutch oven as well.


Hoping that this week works out a little better. 

My beautiful youngest daughter, 16, Miss Zebra.  She had an ice skating competition this past Saturday. She received a 2nd place medal, best of all she made it through with out falling.  This was a first.  She is so beautiful and graceful out on the ice.

The song she performed to was Red High Heels by Kelly Pickler.

Also on Saturday, my youngest grand son, Mr. M, had his 2nd birthday party.

His birthday is actually in July, but since his little sister Miss C is scheduled to arrive in July as well, they went ahead and held the party a little early.  We have entered in to new territory here, since Mr. M came 7 weeks early, she is going through things that didn't get a chance to happen before.  She is due July 16, and we have to leave for our vacation on July 20, so am praying that she does not come late.  I will be very sad if I miss her arrival.  We have two other grand sons as well.  The oldest Mr. T is flying in on June 20th to stay a few weeks with us and going on vacation with us.

Today, since the swelling had gone down a bit, and was feeling a little better, I went to the local farmer's market.  I went to just buy some berries.  I came home with blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, orange honey, plums and duck eggs.  Have been told that duck eggs are very rich, buttery and velvety when cooked.  We will see how it comes out.

I did receive my "new" old cookbook.  This was my second choice, my first choice was a different cookbook that I had purchased from a seller on Amazon.  The seller had accidentally mixed up the shipment, sending another buyer's book in my package and my book to that person in his package.  I did the right thing and sent the book to the correct buyer, but unfortunately that person has not done the same.  The seller made it right, giving me not only a refund for my payment but also refunded me the cost for shipping the book to the correct buyer.

Thanks for stopping buy for a visit.  Menu planning is very important to help you organize your time, save you money, and help to plan better meals.  I am linking up with Meal Plan Monday over at Organizing Junkie.  Hundreds of readers post their menu plans to her site and it is great inspiration when I get stuck.  Come back soon, tomorrow I hope to do some baking, or as soon as I am feeling a little stronger, will post when I do.

MPM For Week 5/20

Hello all, changes are taking place whether the family wants it or not.  For health reasons, it just has to be, mainly for my sake.  I have been diagnosed as diabetic, my doctor has told me that we can try controlling it by diet for a while.  So, I told hubby that we really have to change some things, and of course most of the changes are mine to make, such as better healthier eating and portion control.  Hubby told me that he wasn't the diabetic one, to that I replied that his cook is.

It has been a long time since I posted to Menu Plan Monday so am trying to get back on track.  Organizing Junkie has a great website and all the other great cooks that post their menu plans for the week are great inspiration.  This has been a really hectic week so I have yet to finalize my menu plan, but it is looking a little like this.

Monday - crock pot chicken - not decided on the recipe yet, veggies will depend on the recipe.
Tuesday - baked burrito casserole, Spanish rice, and Mexican salad
Wednesday - crock pot Tri-tip, cheesy baked corn, green beans
Thursday - Smothered pork chops, English pea salad, rice
Friday - Salmon patties, fried potatoes, coleslaw
Saturday - Something grilled - not sure about our schedule for the week end yet.
Sunday - Will be something from ground beef, depends on what I find at the farmer's market.

So...I do my menu planning a little differently than most.  I have decided to do two tried and true meals a week, new recipes the rest of the week.  My biggest challenge is to make sure I don't make the same kind of meat two days in a row.  I am pulling some of my older cookbooks and going to go through them for some good "Home Style" cooking.  My family just doesn't go in for sun dried tomatoes, gourmet mushrooms,  or any other of those types of ingredients.  We are a meat and potatoes family and don't apologize for it.  I am not really and advocate of organic or natural foods, however, that being said, I am slowly attempting to do more scratch cooking and less processed items.  I have a hectic schedule, just as many of you have, so I try to use the crock pots on days I know are going to very busy or short on time.  Today is a great example of that, I have a late doctor's appointment so am using the crock pot for the main dish.

I will also be baking some breads and desserts.  Although I can't have them, my nutrition class told me that having a small helping, like just a taste, doesn't hurt.  I will be trying some recipes that are more diabetic friendly.  I just finished a few weeks of cleaning and purging my pantry and freezers, along with an inventory of items, in an attempt to better utilize what I have on hand.  I have a well stocked kitchen.  As I posted Friday, I am getting tough with our budget.  I am going to be so tight with the wallet that it may just rust shut. Wish me luck as I endeavor to get back in the gym, this depends on what the doctor tells me at my visit.  I would not classify myself as morbidly obese, but probably am.  My goal is to loose a total of 80 pounds.  The first goal is to begin an exercise routine.  My first weight goal is to loose 20 pounds by July 19.  That is two months, or 8 weeks, and the recommended amount of weight to safely loose is 2.5 pounds a week. Which equals 20.  That is the day we leave for our family reunion slash vacation.  I would like to be a little lighter in order to better keep up with the activities.

In future post for MPM I will strive to include recipes or links to recipes.  If you see something you find interesting and I didn't post the recipe, feel free to leave a request in the comments.

Thanks for stopping by, come back and visit soon.

Hit The Dirt Running...Fall Flat Fast

Wow!  Did I ever have the greatest of plans when I created this blog.  I hit the dirt running with all the grand plans for an organized simplified better running life and fell horribly bodily face first into four feet of life's dirt and gunk.  In fact, having to admit this a little  okay, a lot red faced at the moment, but I had totally forgotten that I had gotten this blog established and was already planning to create an additional blog for the cooking and the house stuff.  Yes, I know, I have visions of grandeur. Every one has to have their quirks.

So, with that being said, it is on to bringing the blog up to date.

The SAVING PLAN:  I have actually kept up with that fairly well until the last month or so.  I will be catching that up on Monday though.  Plans have changed and my daughter is no longer planning on going on the church trip, however the goal amount is still in place and will be going to the cost of my new sewing machine instead.  I am using some special funds to go ahead and pay for the machine now, but am going to use the saving plan to pay that fund back.  I also helped a friend of mine out with a small loan and am praying that it doesn't end up biting me in the butt.  At any rate, that part is still fairly on track.

On another front, MEALS, I have been doing some serious thinking about that as well. I have one large freezer to empty out and defrost tomorrow, then the freezer section of two fridges.  Once I have it all pulled out and can organize it, I will then know exactly what I have on hand.  The inventory of my freezer will be the last part I need to once again start the process of menu planning.  I recently caught some great buys on meat so they are really stuffed in there.  I know there is some items that really need to be thrown away as well.  I absolutely HATE wasting food, but there is things in there that are either A) Way past their prime, B) Freezer burnt beyond hope of ever having any usefulness, or C) Just will never be eaten by this family.  Brussel sprouts comes to mind.

Thanks to Facebook, I have a stack of printed recipes that is literally inches thick ready to try. Most of them are desserts, so won't end up daily on the menu as realistically I don't plan to bake a cake or such each night.  However, the way the family ate the blackberry cobbler I made recently I might have to plan on it all being gone the night I make it.  Along with the stack of print outs, I have about two months of recipes bookmarked, another few months of recipes copied to Word and saved in a folder as well.  Not to mention the metal file cabinet full of printed recipe pages that are all neatly organized by dish type (vegetable, salad, fruit and such) along with blank menus.  All ready for me to create menu plans.

So...why menu plan you ask?  There are several benefits of menu planning.  It makes meal time more organized because you know ahead of time what you are going to be cooking so the mystery is gone and you can work the meals around the family plans. Such as sports events, scouts, school events, meetings and such.  In my case, this means planning meals around the days I have the grand son, Mr. M.  Now, also in my personal circumstances, I don't really plan for each day as much as plan meals to make for a set amount of days.  Our schedule is so varied and subject to change at the drop of hat that it works better for us that way and plan meals that can easily be moved from day to day.  For instance, hubby some times forgets (most of the time) that he has a meeting or that we are going to a company dinner.  Then, there are the days when my medical issues kick in and make it totally impossible for me get a darn thing done, much less cook an extensive meal. I will join back up with Meal Plan Monday, but it will work best for me to post a menu of what we had the previous week as opposed to the majority of the group that post menu for the week to come.  On a side note, that is why I am planning on doing a small freezer session, once I can get the room in the freezer for it.  For me though, the biggest reason for menu planning is that it SAVES A TON OF MONEY.  Yes, you have heard it before, but it really is true.  I can cut 30 - 40 percent of my spending by planning out the meals.  Why you ask? Because I know what I will be cooking which cuts down on impulse buying.  Fewer trips to the store as well.  Also, with planning out the recipes for the meals, a person can easily take advantage of weekly sales and loss leaders.  For instance, your local grocery has put ground beef on huge mark down, and also have a buy one get one free or 10 for $10 of soups,  pasta sauces, pasta and rice.  There you have some cheap fixings.  In my case, I have now stockpiled enough inventory in my pantry and freezer that I will be able to use my budgeted grocery money for stocking up when I need to again and find a good sale.  Actually, I am pretty well set to just put the bulk of my budget in to savings for a couple of months.

The small kink, very small, to the whole plan is that my oldest grand son, Mr. T who is 10 years old, is coming to visit for a few weeks (about 6 actually) and we will be taking him with us to hubby's family's reunion.  We are taking our RV for this, and will then do a few days in Yellowstone as we head to Texas to take him home and then I get to my other grand son (and brother to Mr. T) Mr. W who is 3 years old.  I AM SO EXCITED about this.  That will be two full weeks away from the house so not sure how I will handle the menu planning for that yet.  Also, we will be on baby watch for our first grand DAUGHTER to arrive as well.  They live here in town, I get the big brother Mr. M during the day already while they work. Mr. M will be two in July and Miss C is expected in July as well. LOVING that since the other two grand sons live in Texas and I only get to see them about once a year.

Speaking of budget, I am making a few changes to ours.  For one, accountability is non existent at the moment.  I have gotten to the point now where I can actually start tracking not only our purchases but also the cash spending as well.  I can honestly admit, since I am in the mood to make some changes, that we spend a huge amount of money on eating out.  That has to stop and I am the guilty one that wants it most.  My hubby eats out every day at lunch with his job.  I can document what he spends on his own, but it will be up to him to change that.  We have done all we can to cut down our other living expenses so that is done as well. In fact, I used some inheritance I received to pay off our second mortgage in order to end that payment.  Of course, we are still putting that money out there in the form of improvements on the house.  New paint job to outside of house, new cable lines, pool equipment (which replaced what was original to the house when built in 1985), some new carpet in two rooms so far.  In the planning stages are two bathroom make-overs (gutting and new fixtures) and moving the current small laundry room (which will be turned in to a large pantry/storage room) out to a larger space in the garage and a total kitchen make-over.  The kitchen will be out of commission for close to four months.  I will still be able to use the stove and fridge, but not sure where I will put all my pantry and cookware stuff.  I am so looking forward to getting the kitchen done.

Guess that pretty much winds things up for the moment. Now hopefully I will be getting myself back on track over the week end.  Although, Sunday will be spent in a class to learn how to use my new sewing machine.  I have never had a machine that I had to learn how to use before.  I just looked over the quick start manual and starting sewing.  This machine however is a different matter.  It has built in quilting options, does regular sewing, built in embroidery stitches and comes with and embroidery unit.  Pretty sure I am going to be investing an additional $200 for a proper case for it as well.  At this point, not really planning on hauling this caliber of machine back in forth for sew-in sessions or quilt classes, but I will need some type of protection for the embroidery unit as I won't be using it on a regular basis.  However, once I learn how to use it, that may change.

So...the plan is to get the menu planned for at least two months, schedule or chart made to organize house hold chores, schedule made for doctor appointments, meetings and gym time, scheduling time for sewing as well.  With every thing going on over part of the summer, I will however have about a month with daughter Miss Zebra out of school and my daughter in law will be on maternity leave for a few weeks and I will be taking advantage of that time to hopefully jump start my two new business ventures.  One is Pampered Chef, the other is opening up an Etsy store for selling some vintage items as well as some hand made items (quilts, pillow cases, crochet and such).  I make a lot of items I donate to charity and with the change in the babysitting coming I hope to get some items stocked up until I see how the my time is going to work out this fall.

That is it, once again big plans, check back and see how I'm doing with it all.