Pinterest

I've talked about pinterest before. We had some failures this weekend. We failed to make a flashlight from a bottle of Mt. Dew, we're having quite a time making bath crayons that work and my glow in the dark jello apparently required more specific ingredients than I had on hand.  However, we did have two great successes this weekend.

The first was putting a few drops of food coloring into shaving cream and letting them put it on the bathtub walls. I put it in a bowl that floated around (plastic or metal will work) and it was super easy to clean the walls off afterwards.  The other success was making our own Butterfinger bars  OMG... so incredibly yummy. And easy. 3 ingredients, people. The hardest part was finding Candy Corn in the dead of winter.

Date Night

I was recently asked how Paul and I fit in date night. I'm posting my response in case it helps someone else out and I'd love comments on how my friends make it work!

We try for once a month. Sometimes my parents will watch them, but more frequently we trade with another couple. I'm also part of a co-op. We have an online spreadsheet that tracks hours and there's a formula for how many kids you have, so:

I watch Amanda's 2 kids for 4 hours on Friday I get 6 points (4hrs +2kids)
Amanda watches Gloria's 4 kids for 2 hours and gets 6 points(2 hrs + 4 kids = 6 points)
Gloria watches my 3 kids for 3 hours (3 hrs + 3 kids).

So even if Amanda isn't available to swap directly with me, someone else is. This is also how I do daytime appts since I'm a SAHM with no childcare available.

We'll also go to lunch rather than dinner, see a matinee rather than at night and we'll use a coupon from an Entertainment book to get BOGO movie tickets or buy tickets at Costco. Or we go somewhere with big portions and share (we like the same types of food)

Lately we've also started watching a TV program with episodes for the entire season on Netflix. After we put the kids to bed, we head downstairs and snuggle for a couple of episodes. It feels like Datenight and is totally free and gives us something to discuss.

Still cooking

Today's breakfast was an easier version of my usual Rhodes frozen dinner roll monkey bread recipe and dinner was a Crockpot Sesame Chicken I threw over some rice. I used chicken thighs I got at a great price and had put in the freezer after pulling off the skin. Maybe 99 cents a pound? Anyways, so delish and came right off the bone. 

Valerie's been talking up a storm, mostly DAAAAADDYYYYYY! and Hi.. I've been doing all this cooking and baking by hooking up her seat to the countertop so she can watch me.

Sick and stuck

The kids and I have had an awful cold and been stuck at home with a little less than a foot of snow

last week...

This week...

it's almost all melted now, so we've gotten out of the house, but haven't visited anyone because our cold seems quite harsh, lasting a long time, and VERY contagious.

We've had houseguests, so I've been trying recipes on them and I got in on a deal for 20 pounds of chicken at 1.69 a pound from Zaycon Foods , so I've been cooking that up for meal swaps.

I cooked 7 pounds for this awesome cheesy penne dish  in my crockpot. I put in as many breasts as would fit, as much water as would fit and cut up 2 carrots and 2 celery on the top. High for 2 hours, cooked overnight. In the morning, I had 6 cups of chicken broth for the freezer and 7 pounds of cooked chicken.  This recipe was awesome because it makes 2 8x8 pans, which is what we swap, so I just had to double it twice and I had the 8 pans I needed for swapping.  I chopped up the chicken with my food processor slicing blade. I also used the blade to slice up 2 big 40 ounce containers of mushrooms from Costco and then the cheese grating blade to do 1.5 pounds of parmesan from Costco.

Tip of the day: slicing/shredding, etc. in the food processor usually saves me $2 or more per pound of ingredient.

I also used 4 boxes of whole wheat pasta I got for $1/box last week (I never pay more than that. Sometimes I can get it .75 if I also have a coupon).  I also used a jar of sundried tomatoes and a package of sliced provolone that I just cut up to melt in the sauce.  I probably could have gotten an even better price on the provolone at the Business Costco in Lynnwood, which carries bulk meats and cheeses I think in 3-6 pound minimums for deli counters that have slicers (or people willing to cut up and put through their food processor) but I didn't have any other reason to trek that way, so there you go.

I also shredded some for freezer burritos for this month. I've been using beef & chicken I've gotten on sale, mixed with black beans (I used dried beans cooked for 2 hours on the stove for this batch, cheaper than canned) ; brown rice; shredded cheese and I either seasoned the meat with spices (online recipe for taco seasoning-cheaper than the packet) or added some mild salsa. Roll in large burrito tortillas (now have a recipe, so can make them myself in the future) and then foil. You can microwave them 2 minutes from frozen for a quick lunch or dinner and I'll bet for sure they are cheaper than even the $1 crappy ones with preservatives you get on sale at the grocery store.

My other meal swap meal this time was Asian Chicken in 1 gallon freezer bags from my Once a Month Cooking cookbook  I don't do the program because we are pretty picky and I also have found the swapping better for my food budget rather than doing their grocery list because I can buy stuff in bulk on sale. But I love that they are all tried in the freezer and tell what to package them in, etc.  I then put 1 cup of brown rice in baggies with instructions on cooking in sandwhich bags to go with.

Now I'm ready to swap for January, February and March. I try not to do more than 3 months not only for storage, but also the fact that most meals start deteriorating after 3 months. Most of us eat our meals the month we get them, so I don't worry that my March meal will not be good, but I don't want anything going bad. I aso recommend making sure you are using Freezer bags rather than just storage bags. I've been having a lot of leaks in the fridge when defrosting and I think we have some inferior bags going around....

My other experiment this week was Drunken Noodles which I've never tasted let alone made. Paul wanted me to try it, so I found a recipe and got ingredients as best I could.  We used thinly sliced chicken breast, green peppers and we couldn't find the Thai chilies so we used dried red chili peppers. I added 8. 2-4 would have been plenty, but my cold appreciated the extra spice!  It was quite good, esp considering I'd never made them before but the recipe does feed a crowd, my wok was filled to the brim, so next time I'd either 1/2 it or make it when we have company.


the other new addition to our family this week was a Keurig coffee maker. Paul's friends decided since I'm the only one who drinks coffee, it would make more sense to have $150 coffee maker that only brews one cup than my free coffee maker that brews 10... but I digress. It's fancy and I appreciate it and it's fun to brew stuff quickly. anyways, it comes with a "make your own" K-cup so I'll be experimenting with cocoa, coffee & tea in the coming weeks I'm sure.  They went to Costco for butter and cheese and came home with that. This is why Costco is so evil. and fun.

We also made a mind jar when I got bored and pulled all the arts & crafts stuff out on the table during the snow and we also made a crockpot brunch casserole. It's an entire crockpot. Make it if you have a houseful or a brunch to go to (I'm thinking our next MOPs meeting?)  as well as a crockpot Mac & cheese that was creamy and delish.


We're home today to hopefully finish off being sick and Monday we'll begin school again and hopefully get back on track. It's a busy week and then we'll have to add in making up all the things we missed from last week. I predict there will be more crockpot and timesaving recipes coming....

Getting my craft on... with an addiction to Pinterest on the side

Have you heard of Pinterest yet? No? You live under a rock? Oh, I see... well, it's a website that basically is a way to organize your favorites by pictures, which is great for us visual people.  You know how you tear out an article in a magazine and think, "oh, I want to do that someday!" well, this website sets up virtual bulletin boards for you and "pins" those websites/ideas for you on whatever board you like. For instance, I have one for recipes, one for home stuff (organization, make your own cleaners, etc) and one for paper crafts and one for other crafts.  The best part is you don't even have to go and find stuff because it reads your Facebook friends and if they pinned it, you can see their (or strangers') bulletin boards and repin the idea to your own board.  Awesome, right?

Well, it's addicting. I have 700 pins. And I can't stop. That means I have to do 2 every day to do what I already have pinned by the end of the year.  Yeah, I know. Anyway, I'm trying, because it all has to do with my Proverbs 31 focus this year, doing more stuff myself. I've made some really yummy recipes so far and have about 7-10 more planned over the next 2 weeks. We have company coming which means I have fresh meat for guinea pigs.... um, I mean, taste testers. 

So far I've done Paula Deen's sweet french onion soup in a crockpot (yum! Paul's opinion: too many onions); I also did a yummy lasagna soup as well as a sausage & cheese pie . 

I organized my foil & plastic wrap a new way:

Made blackboard paint (I'll review when I use it as well as a link to directions); made these ADORABLE Valentine's for Carter's class:

Other things I've been doing?  A Kinect dust cover: ie: a box with fun game paper on it...

I'm moving up to making my own bread, but I'm scared, so I've been making Rhodes frozen dough for my bread. $1 a loaf with coupon and fresh made. I put it in an oiled bread pan either right before going to bed or right when I get up as it takes about 9 hours in my house to rise enough to bake:

Also, I've been using "leftovers" from paper kits to make cards in advance, I gave sets of cards to lots of people for Christmas:

So that's what I'm up to! More projects as they come to completion. I've been shopping for ingredients/supplies....

Snow Day!

Henri wins the award for bravest sledder, Valerie for most die-hard snow fan (she was pretty mad she had to come in after almost 2 hours in the snow)

2012 focus: Proverbs 31

The goal for this year is to work on myself, which it usually is, but I'm basing this year's goals on Proverbs 31 of the bible, starting with verse 10:

A wife of noble character who can find?

She is worth far more than rubies.

11Her husband has full confidence in her

and lacks nothing of value.

12She brings him good, not harm,

all the days of her life.

13She selects wool and flax

and works with eager hands.

14She is like the merchant ships,

bringing her food from afar.

15She gets up while it is still dark;

she provides food for her family

and portions for her servant girls.

16She considers a field and buys it;

out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.

17She sets about her work vigorously;

her arms are strong for her tasks.

18She sees that her trading is profitable,

and her lamp does not go out at night.

19In her hand she holds the distaff

and grasps the spindle with her fingers.

20She opens her arms to the poor

and extends her hands to the needy.

21When it snows, she has no fear for her household;

for all of them are clothed in scarlet.

22She makes coverings for her bed;

she is clothed in fine linen and purple.

23Her husband is respected at the city gate,

where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.

24She makes linen garments and sells them,

and supplies the merchants with sashes.

25She is clothed with strength and dignity;

she can laugh at the days to come.

26She speaks with wisdom,

and faithful instruction is on her tongue.

27She watches over the affairs of her household

and does not eat the bread of idleness.

28Her children arise and call her blessed;

her husband also, and he praises her:

29“Many women do noble things,

but you surpass them all.”

30Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;

but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.

31Give her the reward she has earned,

and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.

What does this all mean exactly?  Well, I'm spending more time at home, for one; with the kids for two.  I'm dropping my intensive bible study for a daily devotional, which frees up a lot of time. Bible study,while I loved it was 3 hours a week, then all the homework, etc.

Part of it is that I'm trying to make more from scratch this year. Aided by my new obsession with Pinterest. I'm cooking from scratch, including trying to replace a lot of the convenience foods we eat with homemade. I'm also using up my stash of cleaning products and trying to find homemade, healthier alternatives. Not only will these changes (I'm hoping) save money, be healthier, and hopefully be yummier, but I'm hoping we'll also lesson our impact on the environment. We already use cloth diapers, so we trash less than the average two-diaper family, but I'd love to do only 1/2 can of trash each week (we have the small can).

So far, we've tried onion soup from Paula Dean http://www.pauladeen.com/recipes/recipe_view/slow_cooker_apple_onion_soup_with_cinnamon_cheese_toast/  so yummy! It's got apples in it which sweetens it even more.

I also made waffles to freeze as Henri eats a frozen waffle EVERY DAY.  Besides the cardboard it comes in, there's also the plastic bag and the expense.  So Sunday I made a whole batch. I made them small so they'd fit in the toaster like Eggos.  With suggestions from my mom I cooled completely on my cookie cooling racks (Pampered Chef) and froze them with parchment paper (sorry mom, I don't have wax paper) between them in a gallon baggie. This morning we tried them. Worked AWESOME! Henri & Valerie gobbled them down, the size fit in the toaster and I kept my parchment paper in the freezer bag and plan to reuse at least 2 more times before starting again.

Last night was lasagna soup http://www.afarmgirlsdabbles.com/2011/03/24/lasagna-soup/  you make a cheesy concoction which you put in the bottom of a bowl, then put the lasagna soup over it to melt the cheese. Yum!  I was glad I did it on a Sunday night while Paul kept the kids busy as there are several preparation steps, and with the size of ingredients, I was able to also make a small pan of lasagna for the freezer for another night.

Keep tuned in for more dabbling in making things myself!