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.

Collections

Every one has a collection of some type.  It makes us feel good to gather the things we like.  I find this a fascinating insight as I watch my youngest grand son, Mr. M, not quite 2 year old yet.  He will sit on our couch and pull all of his little toys on to the couch around him.  Like he is holding court over all of his little cars, stuffed animals, action figures and such.  It is so cute.

At any rate, from an early age we have this desire to collect the things that touch us in a special way.  Be that silly giddy feeling we have by just seeing an item, or maybe a particular item causes a smile to cross our face for no apparent reason.  My mom collected decorative plates from all the places she travelled.  She also collected photos, lots and lots of photos, of all kinds of things, for years and years.  I had one aunt that enjoyed the beach and collected all kinds of things that she would find on her walks.  One aunt collected salt and pepper shakers.  I would love to collect them, have absolutely no room or way of displaying them.

I have random collections.  Depending on the mood I am in during that phase of my life.  At one time I collected cows, angels, thimbles, miniatures and such.  The last two I still pick up from time to time when ever we go on a vacation. Thimbles, like shot glasses, are small to carry and display and also cheap as far as souvenirs go.  One thing that I have always collected as been cookbooks.  All kinds of cookbooks.  Loose recipes, printed recipes, internet recipes, hand written recipes.  My favorite kinds of cookbooks are actually the fundraiser kind.  Like for a church or school or club.  Members submit their favorite recipes, then they are published with their name in the book.  I have a weakness for church congregational cookbooks.  I have lost count of how many cookbooks I actually have.  I am so excited that when we remodel the kitchen I will have some shelves to display all my books.  At the moment, they are tucked away in a closet, very hard to get to when I want one. 

I have over the years been really fascinated in old cookbooks.  The older the better.  My mother's side of the family comes from Germany and it is rumored that her father's family were Pennsylvania Amish.  This hasn't been proven by genealogy but based on the amount of family recipes with Amish influence, it would seem to be true.  My dad's side of the family all cooked what you would call "home-style" or "country".  Both sides of the family were farmers.  Different crops as they were in different parts of the state, but they still cooked with recipes that were carried down to them, and they grew up and started their families during the depression era so going to their home was like eating a meal from the old days. At the moment cookbooks, recipes from the 30's and 40's are of great interest to me.  More on that later.

So...on with my story.  Recently I had purchased a copy of "My Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook" that had been published in 1936, the seller described it as having loose hand written pages with recipes on it included in the book as well as some handwritten notes on some of the book's recipes.  Those are the best kind.  My mom would write in her cookbooks "Good" or "Never Again" or "Excellent" depending on how the recipe turned out.  Back to the story though.  I received my package, all excited, only to open it and find the wrong book inside.  The seller had accidentally mixed up the two shipments, sending my book to another buyer and his book to me.  Doing the right thing, I repackaged the book and sent it to the correct buyer.  Sadly, the other buyer has not been so kind.  He has refused to send me my book, has ignored repeated email request to do so.  Thankfully the seller was a very honest person and not only refunded my initial payment, but refunded me the cost of shipping for my sending the other buyer his book.  I was understandably disappointed as it is really difficult to find the old cookbooks still in decent shape, when you do, they are sometimes pricey.  I am not willing to put a lot of money in to my addiction.  I was however fortunate to find a copy of the same book that had been listed, but published in 1938.  I really didn't care, it was still in the time period I was looking for.  I purchased it quickly, and it was even cheaper than the first book I had ordered.

It arrived today.  I was pleasantly surprised that the book was in such excellent condition for its age.  Some water damage has caused the last few pages to stick together, but they are all blank pages included in the book for writing notes or recipes in.  I don't really need them.  The biggest surprise however was when I opened up the cover to find that the book was published in 1930, not 1938. So happy.

The thing that I am drawn to the most about recipes from this time period is the simplicity of them.  No fancy techniques, no expensive ingredients, no bias toward red meat or for organic.  Things weren't processed back then the way they are these days.  Especially looking at where my family roots come from, farmers, they were working families that lived in rural areas.  They needed meals that fed their body.  They ate to live.  Now days it seems that people live to eat.

Here is a part of one of the pages in the cookbook, it explains how to plan a meal that is nutritious.  Yes, the food pyramid or what ever they call it these days, has changed over the years but to look at it makes total sense.  I love that they suggested a quart of milk a day per person.  Of course, now a days about the same amount is suggested, if you add up the consumption of all things dairy...milks, cheese, yogurt.  Also included are some suggested menus. 

Once again, the simplicity strikes me as appealing.  Their life style is reflective as well.  Dinner or supper is the main meal.  Fresh fruits, vegetables were the norm for daytime.  The dishes prepared for a meal was also reflective of the season.  They were experts at making use of the growing seasons.  Remember, they didn't have chemically preserved foods.  They canned and preserved the vegetables while they were fresh and in season to have during the months that wouldn't be available.  Total pioneers of "sustainable" food sources long before it was the fad.

I wish often that I could back to that time and live there.  As long as I could take my electric washer/dryer, mixer, computer and sewing machine to name a few.  Life and all it's expectations were more simple, purer, back then.  Families took care of families, people had morals, had ethics, believed in church and country.

Enough of my ramblings.  I have to get to the store to pick up a 10 inch iron skillet to make a recipe I found from the 50's for tonight.  I had something else planned for tonight, but have a lot of ground beef left over from the party last night since only a third of the invited showed up.  So...off I go. Thanks for stopping by and come back often.

 

 

 

 

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.

Menu - 6/10 - 6/16

Well...best laid plans and all.  I was so proud of myself to actually get not one, but three weeks of meals planned out.  Posted it to my blog and to Meal Plan Monday early on Monday morning so was at least in the top half of the list of postings.  Every thing was going swimmingly along, the family loved the tamale casserole.  Although, since I had a meeting on that night, I had the meal all ready to just plate up. Got home from meeting only to find that hubby had just eaten left over pizza. The Frito salad didn't quite turn out as well as it could have because I went cheap and quick on the dressing, buying the Great Value or Walmart brand.  It is just not the same as Catalina.  However, it was all eaten.  Day one a success.

Then it all went south. LOL

After cleaning all the dishes up, was putting away the crock pot, looked like some food had stuck to the liner - even though I use disposal liners (thank you to Reynold's company for coming out with those babies) - so grabbed my little scrubber sponge to see if I could get it off.  It wasn't food, it was a crack all the way down the side in to the middle of the ceramic liner.  Once they get a crack it is very difficult for the unit to regulate the temperature properly while in use.  I know this from years of experience.  This is one of those cases that considering the cost of shipping, it would cost more to purchase a replacement liner than to just purchase a new unit.  Off to Walmart I went, of course they did not have the same unit any longer as I had.  OH WHY won't these companies just leave well enough alone, wouldn't it be easier to just make the same unit instead of changing out the manufacturing plant for a little different look?  My unit was not that old either, only a couple of years. 

I carefully considered my type of cooking with the crockpot.  I knew that I wanted automatic shut off, programmable time and temperature settings and a warm function.  In the aisle of small appliances, I was carefully looking over each unit.  Is that one big enough, too big?  How are the controls? How much is that one?   You get the idea.  I find the one I think I want, naturally it is on the top shelf.  Pulling the unit down, it falls on me, leaving a nasty bruise from the box.  I bring it home, pull it out of the box, put a liner in, then forged ahead with the Tamale Casserole for Monday's meal. 

After it was already cooking, I figured out that according to this manufacturer, programmable equates digital display.  It has preset settings for 4 hour 6 hour, both on high temperature and 8 hour 10 hour, both on low.  No way to adjust either for time or temperature setting.  The recipe I was using called for 4 1/2 hours on low setting, which I couldn't make the unit perform.   The unit worked well, for what it cooked.  All I had to do was set it for 8 hours so it would cook on low, then set a kitchen timer for 4 hours at which time changed the crockpot setting to warm.  I knew that I would not be keeping this unit, but, even though I had used a liner and could not tell it have ever been cooked in, I could NOT in good conscience return it for a refund or exchange. 

I have donated it to our church for the children's ministry to use as they were in need of one and the settings and such are fine for their use.

Things got busy and it was few days before I was able to go back to the store...even though the menu for the week was pretty much all recipes for the crock pot.  Finally, I was able to get to the store and after looking over all the available models, decided on a Faberware brand.

It doesn't quite work the same, as far as the settings, as my old unit, but it truly is programmable.  When you turn it on, it automatically defaults to 4 hours and high.  With the touch of a couple of buttons you can then choose between low, high and warm settings and the timer from a little as 30 minutes up to 12 hours.  After it has cooked for the designated time, during the last minute of cooking the unit gives a long beep and then switches to warm function.  The maximum amount of time that unit will function on warm setting is 4 hours.  It really is a great little unit.  I am disappointed however that the liner is metal and there is a thick rubber seal around the lid that feels a little awkward to use.  The metal attachment on the back (reminds me of old time TV antennae) is a lid holder.  I have however removed it as it takes up a lot a space that I don't really have.  It also has sliding locks on the either handle to lock the lid in place while transporting.  With that seal the way it is, not sure I would trust it, but will be giving it a try before making a final conclusion.  I did use it yesterday, for a very quick throw together main dish.  I just made it on the fly, but it was so tasty so am sharing the recipe.

Meatball Goulash

24 mini Italian meatballs (about, I figured 8 per person and it was really two many, 6 would be fine)
1 jar savory beef gravy (in the glass jar, not a can - there is a difference)
1 can roasted diced tomatoes
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 envelope onion soup mix
1 can mushroom pieces

I used prepared frozen Italian meatballs, they are already cooked.  If you make your own, at least brown them first, especially if you don't have time for them to cook a long time and browning them makes them hold their shape better.

Load all the ingredients in to a crockpot, cook on high for 4 hours (best if you cook on low for about 6 hours, I had forgot about dinner and didn't have time for low).  Mix a few times while cooking.  That's all there is too it.  Easy and tasty.  I served it over rice with a salad.  Not much left overs, but enough for my lunch tomorrow.

Hint/tip
Use a disposable liner for super easy clean up.

For the rest of the week, the meal plan will look pretty much the same as last week, since I didn't get around to cooking most of those dinners. 

Mon: pan grilled fish, new potatoes mix, salad
Tue: pulled pork, potato salad, baked beans
Wed: bacon wrapped chicken, carrots, green beans
Thu: Cajun sausage and rice, buttermilk biscuits
Fri: cowboy casserole, rice,
Sat: have grandson's birthday party and youngest daughter's ice skating completion
Sun: Father's Day - may cook some ribs.

The great thing about my menu plans, they are totally flexible.  So thankfully, I have all the ingredients I need on hand since some of the dinners were not cooked.  Fish wasn't planned for tonight, but was a great mark down price at the store today and it won't keep long so am using it first.

That's all for now, thank you for stopping in and feel free to leave a comment.  Visit again soon.

 

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.

New Year...New Plan

Here we go.  Another new year, another new plan.  This time, I am following the KISS strategy. Keep It Simple Stupid.  I have started this blog as a way to organize my cooking a bit.  I will post my meal plans, recipes, successful dishes, not so successful as well.

I have got to get things together, cannot afford to keep eating out or buying already cooked dishes to heat up. I didn't do resolutions because they never get any where, never turn out.  Therefore, I am determined to make myself accountable for my home and hearth so to speak. That is what this blog will be about.  I will also post about the budget, what is working and what isn't. 

I am not a coupon queen, they just don't work in area.  We have no stores that double or triple the value, most coupons are for processed food and ridiculously expensive personal products. I have worked the angles every way I can, I can't even get the coupons to come out when the items are on sale.  With a lot of research, and watching that stupid show "Extreme Couponer" I have gained some great knowledge.  I now work the sales, planning meals around loss leaders.  Have also found that I can get store brands cheaper than using coupons for the name brands.  Due to some circumstances brought about by our idiotic uninformed clueless about real life government, I am really working on cutting our expenses.  I won't get on my soap box, at least not tonight, but I am pretty sure there are several in the same boat with us.  Now, hubby got word, the new changes in social security taxes will cause us to loose $200.00 a month from our take home.  I am pretty sure I got this covered for this year, but won't be able to keep it up so I must...absolutely must...find more permanent ways of easing our spending.

My biggest obstacle, the family, mainly my hubby.  He wants meat and potatoes, two higher priced items at the grocery lately.  To keep this simple and to the point, he doesn't like ground beef except as a burger.  No pasta, tolerates rice...on occasion which are the cheaper eats.  He gets to eat out every day at lunch with his job.  I only get out if we go eat in the evening.  I keep my grandson during the week, Mr. M is 18 months, I am not exactly winning any prizes in the "handling the whole house" department between following him around and trying to get this house cleaned up.  So...long and short of it.  I am determined to get back to menu planning, strict household budgeting and more simple home cooking.  Oh, and did I mention that hubby never had to eat left overs growing up so won't eat them now?  He didn't eat them because there was never any left. 

Also, our youngest daughter, Miss Zebra, will be going on a trip with our church this summer so we have to come up with about $1,500.00 dollars for it.  Now, thanks to a small inheritance I have this money put back for this, but I came across a plan to save the money with out us feeling it, and with out it coming out of my money.  At least the bulk of it anyway.  Here's the plan.

Someone posted this to my Facebook page.

A man name James Fortune came up this from what I read about it.

I am taking this as a challenge.  The later half of the year may get a little tough, as that is a big amount for a week. That being said, realistically that amount is less than it cost us to eat out one meal, especially if it is when we take the whole family, not just the three of us living in this house.  Sometimes we do take our oldest son and his family and on rare but wonderful occasions our youngest son, Mr. College, is home visiting and we go out some where then as well.  However, I have come up with my own plan, using this as a guide so to speak.

That being said, here is my plan.  I will deposit the suggested amount each week.  IN ADDITION, I will be shopping sales and will also deposit any monies that I do not use from my household budget.  In other words, I have a set amount that I get each pay day for groceries.  We get paid twice a month.  Any left over money from pay day to pay day that I didn't use on groceries or household items will also be deposited, in addition to the weekly deposit.  When I think about it, $40 - $50 is the amount I sneak in for craft purchases.  Since I am going on a craft spending diet, I might as well sock the money away.  I also have a coin jar started, fed from change found in laundry or left behind from hubby because he hates to carry coins that will go in to this savings fund as well.

You would be surprised how fast that change adds up. Also, plan to add in the money I get from my occasional trips to the recycle center.  Will have to see how it goes, but that is the plan at this time.

So, as I stated, this blog is for all things house hold.  Cooking, cleaning, saving, budgeting and just getting by.  Like so many others.  Follow along with me on this journey.