Its been WAY TOO LONG!

I haven't done much on this blog for the last several months.  Life takes over and as I am busy in other pursuits as well, I let this slide. 

Our family schematics changed this summer... my two college-aged daughters came home for the summer and that kept us all busy... I have two teenage sons as well.... and two beagles... yeah, it's been crazy at my house.

We went on a week-long Orlando vactation with my siblings and parents... that was fun and since my husband has kept the finances this last year, the trip was paid off the moment we got back and that included the $200 in Disney t-shirts we bought.  Can you say "rip off?"

I "work" with our state PTA for about 30 hours each week as a volunteer so that has kept me very busy. I also do mystery shopping which brings in some money and pays for some fun times at the movies.  It paid for Batman & Spiderman & The Avengers.  It's been a superhero summer.

Expenses changed this summer.  Our grocery bill skyrocketed but I did get more help preparing meals which was a huge blessing.  Once my girls leave it is back to me cooking a lot more.  I let my couponing slide as I was so busy I just did what I had to do to get by.  If I had been less busy outside of the home I would not have let dinner happen last night the way it did... Mandarin Chicken (SO YUMMY!) but NO RICE ANYWHERE!  We have had buckets and buckets of rice in our home and this summer - abracadabra - it is ALL GONE!  Thank heavens for Macey's grocery store and their case-lot sale this week.

Both girls have kitchens at college this fall so I am going shopping today to get them some staples to start the semester off right with.  They just have to promise me that they will use the money for groceries on fresh fruits and vegetables.  I need healthy children!

I have even backed off Bountiful Baskets the last two months as I am so tired that I haven't wanted to get up early on Saturdays to go pick them up.  But I start again this Saturday.  I'm looking forward to having some new fruit and vegetable options.

August 18, 2012 ... That is our 23 year anniversary and the day it goes back to four in my household.  Me and my homeboys.  Don't get me wrong, I love my daughters, but once they start leaving the nest, I am rather content with them roosting somewhere else permanently and coming home for visits.  Yes Mom, I totally understand what you have been saying all these years and now you will hear these words from me "You were right."

Love Making Dinner!

Just had to share that it really makes me feel good when I make dinner for my family and both my teenage boys come and give me a hug afterwards and thank me for making a great dinner.  Last night was Hawaiian Beef... YUMMY!

Photos of Food Prep Day

Tonight's Dinner: Bacon, Cheese & Potato Chowder

Tuesday Night (made today because I have a busy day tomorrow): Quick & Easy Zesty Sausage Pasta

My favorite soup to put in freezer for a quick meal sometime: Chicken Gnocchi Soup!

Dinner sometime this week: Lasagne, ready and going in the freezer. 

• I also chopped green onion, carrots, broccoli, celery and radishes that were used in some of the meals as well as ready for use in later recipes.
• I would have had one more full meal (Shepherd's Pie) done and in the freezer but I don't have ANY mashed potatoes of any kind, nor regular potatoes.  I still put the meat mixture together with the beans on top and put that in the freezer.  I will pick those up sometime this week at the store.
• Pork roast is ready to be marinated tomorrow so that it goes in the crock pot on Wednesday night.

Whew!  I'm beat, but ready for a busy week and no-stress meal time!!

Food Prep Day!

I have a busy week coming up so this morning I am doing all the prep work for dinners for the week.  My menu is:

• Bacon, Cheese & Potato Chowder - Monday
• Quick & Easy Zesty Sausage Pasta - Tuesday
• Kaluah Pork - Wednesday
• Hawaiian Beef - Thursday
• Lasagne - Friday

Tonight's dinner is easy and can be put together in 30 minutes.  This morning I will make the Sausage Pasta for tomorrow night's dinner and we can reheat tomorrow night.  Wednesday is a crock-pot meal so I will throw that in the crock-pot on Wednesday morning.  Thursday I will prepare the lasagne and put it in the fridge so it is ready to throw in the oven on Friday evening.  Thursday night will be the Hawaiian Beef and I will be home in time to prep that meal on that day.

If you want the recipes, comment on my post and I will post the recipes with photos. 

Recipe Book

So I mentioned earlier in the week that I worked on creating a recipe book for my neighbors.  It was a lot of work but am I reaping the rewards.  Here is what the cover looked like (Thanks to Megan Burnside who created that)

The pages look like this: 

I used the computer software that my business partner, Donna, and I created to do it.  You can make your own recipe book with your family's favorites as well!  Wouldn't that make a wonderful Christmas gift for your family! 

Fun with Dinner!

So, simple ham and cheesy (funeral) potatoes for dinner tonight, but I took it to a new level.  Sometimes I want to be a bit more creative so I decided to serve dog, owl and bear for dinner.

Yup.  That's right.  I took cookie cutters and made shapes.  My boys laughed at me (because they are teenagers) but it was a fun twist on dinner. 

I thought I would share as you can do this with lots of different foods.  And... as Sandra Lee says... Round Two (and Round Three) Recipes:

All the scraps aren't going to waste!  I took them and chopped them into cubes and am going to make ham & beans one night and fried rice with ham another night.

Now that's thrifty!

New Recipes this Week

I am trying out a bunch of new recipes this week for dinner.  I was lucky enough (if you call it that) to compile a recipe book for the ladies in my neighborhood as a Christmas gift.  I got to test out a lot of them as I went along and now have a few more to try this week.  I will post pictures and the recipes as I do them so you can share in the fun!  Shopping for ingredients today... simple ham and funeral potatoes tonight.  I;ll keep you posted!

Sunday Dinner & Bountiful Basket

Have I told you about Bountiful Baskets?  It is a co-op of fruit & vegetable buying that costs $16.50 a week to participate.  For my family of 5 (since one child is at college) I get it every other week.  This week we had the following bounty:

Fruits: Mangos, bananas, plums, blackberries, Crenshaw & nectarines
Vegetables: Cucumber, green onion, tomato, broccoli, kale, cauliflower

We ate the blackberries immediately and are gradually eating the nectarines, plums, bananas and mangoes.  My sous chef cut up the Crenshaw into bite size pieces.  What is a Crenshaw you ask?  Well when a mommy honeydew and a daddy cantaloupe love each other very very much, they produce a Crenshaw.  Seriously, if you close your eyes you aren't quite sure what you are eating.  It is DELICIOUS!

My almost-college daughter said she likes cutting up vegetables so we think maybe she will be a sous chef someday.  She has problems with baking and cooking sometimes so a sous chef would be a great job for her to have.  So, sous chef then cut up the broccoli (which we used in Broccoli Beef for Sunday dinner) and cauliflower for easy snacking.  I cut up the green onion and put it in a Ziploc bag in the fridge and used some in the Orange Chicken for Sunday dinner. 

Oh, and while prepping all the food yesterday I made Kale Chips.  Found the recipe here: Kale Chips

So we had Broccoli Beef & Orange Chicken with rice and the leftover Crenshaw fruit cut up.  It was a most delicious dinner and with the help of my 16-year-old son, who loves to help me cook and the help of my neighbor that had vegetable oil for me to borrow (sometimes my prepared pantry is missing an item) we ate in mighty fine style.

As we were prepping the food yesterday, my girl said that since starting the bountiful baskets we eat healthier than we did before.  She said she loves having the fresh food on hand.  I agree.  See if your neighborhood has a Bountiful Basket co-op!

Busy, Busy, Busy!

Too much to do and so little time to do it!  Have I shared how I do my meals and shopping plan for summer?

1. Make list of 14 dinners and put it on the fridge
2. Make sure all ingredients are on hand to make those items
3. When kid asks "what's for dinner?" tell them to look at the list and start making whichever meal they want

This works well for teens... or they go grab a pack of ramen noodles.  Either way I do a lot less work during the summer.

Another fun experience with Food!

Yes, it has been awhile.  Things happen, life goes on... mom has a lot of things to do!

I got myself into another one of the "House Parties" to provide fun goodies and food for friends so I decided to make a luncheon out of it and hosted my friends on the Finance Committee of Utah PTA.  After all, the Utah PTA office in Murray is my home away from home!

This was for Philly Cooking Creme Cheese.  I decided to make a one-pot pasta... a Pampered Chef recipe I like.  Since the meeting was 2 hours long, though, I made the dish the night before and put it in a casserole dish to warm in the oven during the meeting so it would be ready to go.  I honestly was sad that it was a bit dry. Not the product's fault, but mine.

Kraft sent all kinds of goodies for the guests: a wooding cooking spoon, notepad, fridge magnet, coupon for the product and recipe book!  As the host I got a new fry pan (that my 16-year-old son says is the best pan ever!) and a cute oven mitt!  You should sign up to do a house party!  I have done Oscar Mayer and Chex Mix ones. House Party!

I am sharing the recipe with you along with a fun picture of the food and our cute receptionist at the office who keeps us smiling and laughing... Candace!!

Pampered Chef's One-Pot Pasta (adapted by Lisa Anderson)

Ingredients:

4	garlic cloves, peeled
1	jar (7 oz or 210 mL) sun-dried tomatoes in oil, undrained (DID NOT USE - I cut up cherry tomatoes and guests added them if they wished)
3	cans (14.5 oz each) vegetable broth (5¼ cups/1.25 L)
1	lb (450 g) uncooked penne pasta (I used bowtie)
1	head broccoli (2 cups/500 mL small florets)
2	medium carrots, peeled
4	oz (125 g) reduced-fat cream cheese (Neufchâtel) (I used the new Philadelphia Italian Cheese and Herb Cooking Creme)
1/2	tsp (2 mL) coarsely ground black pepper (did not use)
1/4	tsp (1 mL) salt (did not use)
	Grated fresh Parmesan cheese and snipped fresh basil leaves (optional)

I doubled the recipe and used the entire 10 oz. container of the Philly Italian Cheese and Herb Cooking Creme.

Original Directions (I am not affiliated with Pampered Chef or their products, though I love using them):

1. Slice garlic using Garlic Slicer. Place garlic and 1 tbsp (15 mL) oil from sun-dried tomatoes into (8-qt./7.6-L) Stockpot; cook over medium heat 2-3 minutes or until garlic is golden brown, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat; add broth. Return Stockpot to burner; increase heat to high. Cover and bring to a boil. Add pasta; cover and simmer vigorously 8-10 minutes or until pasta is almost cooked but still firm, stirring occasionally using Mega Scraper.
2. Meanwhile, cut broccoli into small florets; place into Classic Batter Bowl. Cut carrots in half lengthwise; thinly slice crosswise on a bias. Drain tomatoes; pat dry and slice into thin strips.
3. Cut cream cheese into cubes. Add vegetables, cream cheese, black pepper and salt to pasta; stir until cream cheese is melted and fully incorporated. Reduce heat to medium; cover and cook an additional 2-4 minutes or until vegetables are tender. If desired, top with Parmesan cheese and basil.

Yield: 6 servings

Our FABULOUS receptionist Candace!

Shauna made the best chocolate carrot cake with creme cheese frosting!  Ginger was getting her plate ready to be dished up.

This photo shows the Philly cooking creme cheese tubs.  They have 4 varieties and I found them at Macey's with all the other creme cheese.

I casually asked guests to bring desserts... and we had 4 kinds of chocolate desserts... OH BABY they were ALL good!!!

It's good to get free stuff... especially FOOD!!!!

Saving Money - Yes!

A few months ago we went to a cash-only system for groceries and household supplies.  It has worked out pretty darn good so I am going to give my husband kudos for that idea. 

It forces me to really purchase the essentials we need every two weeks and then if I save enough I use the leftovers to stock up my prepared pantry.  Last pay period it was meat... pork roasts and beef roasts.

Speaking of pork roast, I took one of the ones I purchased last week and cut it up to make sweet and sour pork for dinner.  The family loved it... I had issues with the sweet and sour sauce - it just didn't taste right to me.  I'm still sharing because 4 people did like the sweet and sour sauce.  Must be that I am weaning off caffeine so things taste weird to me.

Sweet & Sour Chicken - Courtesy of Judi Bulkley (thanks Aunt Judi!)
7 oz chicken or pork
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
4 carrots
2 onion, quartered
1 green pepper
30 oz pineapple, chunks
1 garlic clove
1 egg
1 tablespoon flour
1 pint oil, cooking

3 tablespoons ketchup
3 tablespoons vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
¼ pint water

Cut meat into 1 inch squares. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Set aside. Boil carrots until tender, cut onions, peppers, pineapple and chop garlic. Coat meat with the mixture of eggs & flour. Heat the oil in saucepan.  Deep fry meat until crisp. Drain. Mix the catsup, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar & cornstarch. Cook until thick and boiling.  Add pork and vegetables.  Serve with rice.

Grilled Pork Chops & Scalloped Potatoes

Easy shmeasy dinner tonight.  My 15-year-old son asked what was for dinner about 4:30.  I had planned broiled pork chops and Betty Crocker Scalloped (yes, from a box... can't be from scratch every night) Potatoes and canned green beans.  Simple, fast and relatively nutritious.

He asked if he could grill the pork chops for me on the barbecue.  I was hesitant but agreed to let him do it.  All we added was seasoned salt to the chops.

After quickly scarfing down dinner (he is in charge of young men's stake basketball tonight) My HUSBAND said "juicy, flavorful chops tonight".  I would say my son has a new job.  He is going to be my official griller. 

Kalua Pork - YUM-O!

We have this about once a month.  This past Sunday I set the crock pot for 4 hours.  This really needs to go 6-8 hours in order to become pull apart/fall apart pork.  The flavor was still delicious!  I took the drippings and made a delicious gravy adding cornstarch & water as a thickener.

Kalua Pork Roast
4 pound pork shoulder or butt roast
4 tablespoons salt, sea or kosher
4 tablespoons liquid smoke
2 tablespoon ginger, grated
4 garlic cloves, crushed (We like more garlic so I tend to add 6 cloves)
4 tablespoons soy sauce

Sometimes I take the mixture and inject it with a big meat injector I have into the pork roast to give more flavor. 

Oven: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Rub meat with salt, liquid smoke, ginger, garlic and soy sauce. Wrap securely in foil. Roast about 3 hours or until very tender. Remove from oven; let stand about 15 minutes. Shred, removing slabs of fat, and serve.
Crock Pot: Set for 6 or 8 hours. 

Yummy Dinner Recipe!

Here is the recipe I made for dinner tonight:

Baked Chicken-Bacon Alfredo
16 oz. Bow tie pasta
16 oz. Alfredo Sauce
2 chicken breasts, grilled and chopped (about 2 c. chopped chicken)
6 oz. (1/2 package) cooked bacon, chopped
1/2 c. chopped green onions (about 1 decent-sized bunch)
1 c. shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
Salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 350.

Prepare pasta according to package directions.

While pasta is cooking, prepare Alfredo sauce. When pasta is done, drain and add to the sauce. Toss with chopped chicken, bacon, green onions, and 1/2 c. mozzarella. Season to taste.

Transfer mixture to an 9x13" baking dish and sprinkle with remaining 1/2 c. mozzarella cheese. Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until heated through and cheese is bubbly.

Serve with a green salad and bread sticks or a loaf of garlic bread made with Garlic Bread Seasoning.

Meal Plans & Recipe

Having a family meal plan is just that, a plan.  A good plan does take time to develop in order for it to work.  My last blog post I gave the list of meals I planned for the two first weeks of January and the prep work I did in order to make it go smoothly.  I am happy to report that it was fantastic!  The only glitch was I didn't make beef stew one day and we ate "whatever".  That usually means Ramen Noodles or Nachoes for the family but everyone could pick their own.  I just opened a can of Progresso Italian Wedding Soup. 

So the next two weeks' plans have been set.  Here are the next two weeks:

• Creamy One Pot Pasta
• Kalua Pork & Rice
• Chicken Bacon Alfredo 
• Hamburger Helper (need an easy night)
• Chicken Enchiladas
• Pork Chops & Scalloped Potatoes
• Beefy Vegetable Soup
• Frito Casserole
• Hawaiian Haystacks (Others call it Chinese Sundaes)
• Garlic Pasta
• Sweet & Sour Pork
• Taco Bake
• Lasagne
• Potato Chowder

This two weeks I have three recipes that are new to our family.  I have either eaten them at one time or saw the recipe and saved it thinking it sounded good.  Last night was Creamy One Pot Pasta.  I think I had it at a Pampered Chef party years ago.  It reminded me of the Bird's Eye Chicken Voila! Garlic Chicken but since I made it from scratch (well, I did use bagged pasta spirals from Costco) I felt really good about it!

Here's the recipe:

4 cloves garlic peeled

1 T olive oil

6 cups chicken broth

1 pound penne rigate uncooked (I used a 17 oz. pasta bag from Costco)

1 head broccoli (2 cups small florets)

2 medium carrots peeled

8 oz regular cream cheese

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Grated Parmesan cheese

Fresh basil snipped

Thinly slice garlic using paring knife.  Place garlic and oil into an 8-qt stockpot.  Cook garlic over medium heat 2-3 minutes or until garlic is golden brown, stirring occasionally.  Remove from heat; add broth.  Return to burner; increase heat to high.  Cover and bring to a boil.  Stir in pasta; cover and simmer vigorously 8-10 minutes or until pasta is almost cooked but still firm, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, cut broccoli into small florets; place into bowl.  Cut carrots in half lengthwise; thinly slice crosswise on a bias using knife; add to bowl.

Cut cream cheese into cubes.  Add vegetables, cream cheese, salt and black pepper to stockpot.  Stir until cream cheese is melted and fully incorporated.  Reduce heat to medium; cover and cook an additional 2-4 minutes or until vegetables are tender.  Serve immediately.  If desired, top with grated fresh Parmesan cheese and snipped fresh basil.

New Year - New Resolution!

My January starts with an extremely busy 2 weeks.  Kids go back to school, PTA meetings start up again, a friend in town for a week visiting my college daughter, basketball starting for my boys... busy times!

I have my menu ready and did the shopping today for the next 2 weeks (and I added to my prepared pantry as well) and then I did food prep!

Here are my meals:

• Finnish Meatballs
• Vegetable Soup
• Tacos
• Chicken Roll Ups
• Lasagne
• Tator Tot Casserole
• Mexican Dip
• Mandarin Chicken & Rice
• Pot Roast
• Beef Stew
• Take-out Pizza
• Sweet & Sour Chicken
• Spaghetti
• Leftovers

I spent the last 3 hours getting several things prepped so that I am ready to throw it in the oven on timer if I am not home or the kids can put it in.  I did the following:

• Mixed the meatballs and froze them individually on a cookie sheet.  I will put them in a freezer bag and they will be ready to cook when I want to make them.
• Cut up into small chunks and cooked 2 pounds of chicken breasts in olive oil and seasoned salt in a fry pan.  I then took half the chicken and shredded it for the chicken roll ups and the other half I just put in the freezer for the mandarin chicken.
• I cooked up 1 pound ground beef and made a lasagna in a 10x14 pan.  It is in the freezer.  I will pull the pan out and cook it in the pan.  I don't need the pan this week so it is good to stay in the freezer.
• I cooked up 2 pounds ground beef and made the tator tot casserole.  It is in the freezer.  I put aluminum foil in the bottom of the pan and prepared it on top of the foil.  As soon as it is frozen I can take it out of the 9x13 pan and use the pan for something else.  I will then put it back in the pan when I am ready to cook it.
• Loaded and unloaded the dishwasher 3 times plus hand washed the dishes that can't go into the dishwasher.
• Watched 3 episodes of the Next Food Network Star and dreamed that someday I can be on the show.  I have no idea what my focus would be... maybe casserole cooking?

My goal is to do this twice a month and stay on top of my shopping, coupon clipping, saving money and easy, healthy meals for my family.

Happy New Year to you! 

Chex Mix Get-Together

I had fun a couple of weeks ago when we got together with friends and hosted a Chex Mix Get-Together.  We were planning on playing volleyball as couples for a date night and had Chex Mix as a snack.  I had signed up through the Pssst... Network through General Mills.  I like getting the free coupons and this party included 3 bags of Chex Mix - Traditional (my favorite),  Turtle (a second favorite) and Honey Nut. 

Geneal Wilson & Kelly Porter with Turtle Chex

Reed Wilson with Honey Nut Chex Mix

They also provided cute plates & napkins with a football theme and a Chex Mix bowl.  The only problem with the bowl is that it is magical!  When I put Chex Mix in it and walk out of the room the Chex Mix disappears!  My kids say they know nothing about it but I am not sure.

Day 3 and I am already failing

I have a list in my head of meals to fix but not written down so no one can help me with that.  I have a busy day tomorrow and am trying to finish the coupons so I can get some fantastic deals.  I did get the lasagne frozen and 8 pounds of ground beef cooked and frozen.  Quick dinners could be Shepherd's Pie, Hamburger Helper, or a veggie beef stew... I had a yummy corn chowder the other day with bits of beef in it... I need to find the recipe.

Monday - it was rough, nothing got complete but the list has grown.  However; we did take phenomenal photos of Brianna for her Senior Pictures.  We should have them back in a few days.  She is to beautiful and it will be great to have that put together for her.

Goal on Tuesday is to finish inventorying and get the master menu list ready to use.  Let's see if I make that goal.

Rough Days Ahead

Life with teenagers sure can be interesting.  Just when I thought things would slow down just a bit because my #1 headed to college, our #2 got injured when she was square dancing in Wyoming back in July and #3 15-year old got injured after being shot on the bridge of a space ship in September (yeah, you read that right).  Let's just say life is never dull in our home.  Oh, and #4 has now decided to start playing Lacrosse so I am just holding my breath on that one.

So now we have official diagnoses (right labrael hip tear #2, right knee meniscus tear #3) which involve surgeries to fix both children.  #2's surgery is on the 28th and #3's will be scheduled at our appointment this Thursday... I am looking towards the 2nd week of November to give me just a little breathing room but hey, if one is having surgery and down, why not 2?

This means I lose a driver for 4 weeks and with my husband working 40 minutes away from home now instead of 5 minutes (yea for a job, I am NOT complaining about that one) I will be extremely busy as taxi driver for physical therapy, doctor's appointments and just the normal errands.

TIME TO GET MORE ORGANIZED!  So, I really have to plan ahead for meals and shopping and all that is going to happen.  I am going to chronicle the events as they unfold so that hopefully others can learn from this experience.  I hope no one has the exact same experience (teenagers, surgery, pain does not for a happy family make) but maybe you will have experiences that you will need to be prepared for as well.

Day 1:  Saturday
Inventory Pantry & Plan menus through end of November 
Fry 8 pounds of hamburger to use in future meals
Make & freeze a lasagne for future dinner

Day 2: Sunday
Get caught up on clipping coupons


Wish me luck on this... we'll call it an adventure.

Our 5 year Anniversary!

Donna and I are celebrating Prospering Families' 5 year anniversary!  We can't believe how fast it has gone by and how many experiences have happened to us the past 5 years.  We have both experienced spouses with job loss, I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, Donna went from a full-time working mother to a stay-at-home mother, I have one child living on her own at college, Donna has all kids in school... the list goes on and on!

To celebrate the good we are wanting everyone to get our Feed 5 for 50 software for only $10!  We feel it has been such a valuable tool for both our families and both can personally testify that the concepts we teach have helped our families not only to survive the changes over the past 5 years, but they have thrived!

Get your copy today... Feed 5 for $50