Part 3: Save Money, Eat Better

This is the third installment of  my four part series on saving money and eating healthier.  I have challenged myself to stay under 100 dollars each week and to completely eliminate high fructose corn syrup from our diet.  I am three weeks in and I have to say, it is getting easier.  This week is going to be the best yet.  Mostly because we are having enchiladas, the red ones.  Yum. It has been so long since I have had these little guys.  My mouth is watering just thinking about these little guys (that is for another post).  Tracy and Kaya have been out of town for the past couple of days visiting family in NYC.

Kale and I have stayed busy but we are excited to have our family in tact.  It calls for a celebration - enchiladas.  Well, I have to say, we are not just celebrating their return.  We are also making the move to Casa Grande (our new house).  We get the keys on Tuesday.(!)  Then the moving happens.  (That is the part that I do not want to think or talk about.)  Hopefully next time, I will be writing (and cooking enchiladas) from my new kitchen.

Because of the move, this week we are eating a lot of frozen stuff that I have stashed away and anything that does not require a ton of work... 

This Week's Menu:
 Dinners -
 Frozen Pot Pies
Quesidillas 
Red enchiladas, rice, beans
Breakfast for Dinner
Pizza ((moving day))
sandwiches

Lunches -
sandwiches

Snacks -
trail mix
chocolate chip cookies
popcorn

fruit

Bisquick 
(from budget101.com)
8 cups all purpose flour
4 tbs baking powder
1 tbs salt
2 cups shortening

Mix all ingredients together and use a mixer to incorporate.   Use as a substitute for Bisquick.
Wasn't that easy? 

That's what it looks like when you are done.


 This post is linked to :
Simple Lives Thursday
 

 

Weekend In Pictures

Yakima Raceway

Yakima Raceway

Dinosaur Kale

Some Chicken Love

Naches

Pickled Asparagus (from a generous friend)

Pizza

See Spot Run, Run

Friends

After the race

Well deserved hot dog

A Cleansing Meal

Last weekend I went to Alabama for a friend's wedding. As a southern girl, I love me some good home-cooking and barbecue. Unfortunately, we were only in Tuscaloosa for two days and I had one day to eat the local cuisine. SO, on Friday I had ribs and sausage for lunch with banana pudding for dessert, then at the rehearsal dinner had fried pickles and artichoke dip for an appetizer, then fried catfish, hushpuppies and squash casserole for dinner with bread pudding for dessert. Oh man... When you read that, please dont judge me as a glutton. Well, ok, maybe I am just a little gluttonous when it comes to food I rarely get to eat. Typically I eat extremely healthy, and here in Washington good barbecue is hard to come by. So, when I got home on Sunday I was craving veggies and something tasty, but also quite healthy. I decided to make a quinoa salad I created last summer when my garden was in full bloom. The beauty of this dish is it's quite versatile. Use any veggies you have, cooked or raw, any meat you like or none at all, and any herbs you have on hand.

Summer Quinoa Salad
1 cup quinoa
3 cups chicken broth
1 can diced tomatoes, or 1 lb fresh tomatoes, diced
1 medium zucchini or yellow squash, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
salad greens
sliced steak, chicken, or fish optional


Salad Dressing
2 garlic cloves, chopped roughly
1 cup unpacked basil (or any fresh herb you have)
1 tbsp fresh mint, washed
1 tbsp fresh oregano, washed
3 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp red wine vinegar

1. Put chicken broth and quinoa in stock pot. Bring to boil. Cover, reduce to simmer, and cook 15 minutes. Remove lid, and continue simmering until liquid is gone, about 5 more minutes.

2. Put all salad dressing ingredients in blender or food processor, and puree until smooth.

3. In large bowl, place cooked quinoa, tomatoes, zucchini, garlic, and meat, if using. Add dressing, and mix well. Place over salad greens.

Enjoy with a slice of homemade bread.

This post is linked to: Whole Food Wednesdays, Simple Lives Thursday, RemodelAholic Fridays

What would you do?

Today I had off.  It was a lucky surprise and a gorgeous day.  Naturally, Kale and I headed straight to our local park.

We saw some geese and when we walked up to them noticed one poor little guy had a plastic piece of trash wrapped around his neck.  (Wish I could have gotten a picture but he was a grumpy little sucker and chased us away and HISSED at us.)

After that, when we were walking around I noticed a TON of trash.  It was everywhere.  We picked some up, but there was so much more.

It was so sad.  An otherwise beautiful day at a beautiful park was completely trashed.  What can we do to stop this?  What would you do?

There are so many things that we take for granted.  It's the small things that really count. It is worth it to take a good look at what we use and think about what we really need.  I have been thinking about this more and more lately.  We can start in the simplest ways.  Today I have a recipe for the easiest facial cleanser you will ever make.  (It is pretty darn cheap, too.  Did I mention that it is all natural and Eco friendly?)  I have recently switched to this and it has worked like a charm.

Facial Cleanser
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp water

Mix baking soda with warm water.  Dampen face. Rub the paste on face in a circular motion (steer clear of eyes). Rinse well. Pat dry with clean towel.

Give it a try and see what you think.  It is an easy step in the "green" direction.

This post is linked to:

Part 2: Save Money, Eat Better

Here is the second week of my four part series: Save Money, Eat Better.  I have challenged myself to rid our family completely of High Fructose Corn Syrup and maintain a monthly budget of 100 dollars each week.  Last week, I posted my menu and had high hopes that I would stay on budget.  Ahem... I did not.  I went over by 20 dollars.  Well, in all honesty, I did not count the dollar amounts.  I pretty much shopped the same as usual and paid the same amount.  So, I guess that is no surprise.  This week, I am starting new. I have resolved to be a better shopper and yes, make more food myself.   I know that I can do it.

Menu: 
(some are a repeat from last week because we did not end up eating them..)
Dinners -
(all dinners have a side of salad or veggies)
Moe's Burritos
Pizza (we always have a pizza day)
Pesto Pasta Bake
Hamburgers and Potato Salad
Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup
Mac and Cheese and Broccoli (Frozen from last week)
Lunches -
Hot Dogs
Left overs
peanut butter and jelly sandwiches
Snacks/Breakfast -
granola
peanut butter cookies
popcorn
scones
chocolate chip cookies
frozen banana + grape bites


And you know, the more I read about what we eat... the more I make.  It keeps me busy, that's for sure!  Today I wanted to share a recipe for queso.  This recipe goes on top of our "Moe's Burritos".  I happened upon this one by accident.  I normally bought queso from the store.  One faithful day, I forgot it.  This recipe was born from laziness (not wanting to go to the store) and creativity.  Here you go...

Queso:
1 1/2 cup milk
2 tbsp of corn starch
3 handfuls of cup shredded cheese (I like sharp cheddar)
a spoon full (or two) of salsa (to taste)

Bring milk to boil in a medium sauce pan.  Add in your corn starch. Blend with spoon until thickened.  Reduce heat and stir in cheese.  Simmer. until ready to use.

Stop right there and it is good as gold for macaroni.  Yum.

But we are heading toward a favorite one of my favorite Mexican treats: Queso.
Add a spoon full of your favorite salsa.  Done.

This post is linked to:  Delicious Dishes
Slightly Indulgent Tuesday, What's Cooking Wednesday
Real Food Wednesday .

Just Another Day...

Have you ever had one of those days? The type of days that are just swell?  I've had plenty of the other kind of days...  Most of my school days are marked by me running around like nuts, never quite getting everything done - but today was great.  I had the rare opportunity to get out and about on a school day for a field trip with my teaching team. 

Played a little Candy Land.

Made some Peanut Butter Cookie Sandwiches.

And that is not too shabby for a Tuesday!   Hope yours was great!

-Erika

Part 1: Save Money, Eat Better

Frozen Yogurt Grape Bite

This week brings a new outlook for me: SIMPLIFY.  I really need to simplify things around here.  I recently read an article from a lovely blog: The Peaceful Mom.  This article detailed how this busy mom dealt with money and life with a family of six (!).  It is very inspirational.  This really made me think about my own budgeting. Her budget for groceries is $100 a week.  Well, we have a family of four and it is hard to make it under $100.  Actually, we always go over $100 by $40 (or more) each week.  So, this month I am inspired.  I am going to chop that bill.  Goal: $100 budget for groceries.  Here we go!

I always make a grocery list.  I am a list-maker at heart and the grocery list seems a natural place for me to indulge.  The grocery list has a twin - the Menu list.  While I make a grocery list, I simultaneously make my menu for the week.  When I am done, I plop the menu on the fridge.  There is no order to the menu, just a list of things that we can make (and I know that I will have the ingredients for them) after a long day of work.

Here is the kicker - we are also cutting out High Fructose Corn Syrup.  Completely.  That's right - I said it.  It is in everything.  Well, everything that is cheap.  So my challenge is to stay under $100 and be healthy, starting now. I think I can do it. 

Menu for the week:

Breakfast:
Biscuits and jam or Nutella
oatmeal
Breakfast in a cup

Lunches:
leftovers
peanut butter and jelly sammys
chicken nuggets

Dinners:
Taco Salad
Moe's Burritos with carrots and dip
Sloppy Joe's and salad
Mediterranean Tuna Salad
Pizza and salad
Baked Mac and Cheese with broccoli and French Bread

Snacks:
Oatmeal Cookies
Frozen Nutella Banana bites
Cookie Balls
Crackers
Pop Corn
Frozen Yogurt Fruit bites

It seems like staying on a staying on a budget, like this, is all in the snacks.  You can either buy them or make them.  This week I am going to try to make them...

Frozen Yogurt Fruit Bites
 (This fast and easy snack is something that I found somewhere, I did not think of it on my own.  For the life of me, I can not remember where I found it...)

Fruit (I chose grapes and bananas)
Yogurt (any flavor will do - I chose vanilla)
Cookie sheet
Freezer

Dip fruit pieces into yogurt and place on  cookie sheet.  Freeze.  Store in a Ziploc baggie. Eat all day long as a snack!

Frozen Nutella Banana Bites

Nutella
Sliced bananas
cookie sheet
Freezer

Cut bananas and put a small amount of Nutella on top of each slice and place on cookie sheet.  Freeze. Store in Ziploc bag for easy access.

 This is the first of a four part series.

This post is linked to: My Meatless Monday, Melt in your Mouth Monday, Creative Monday's, Slightly Indulgent Tuesday,  Real Food Wednesday's, Whole Foods Wednesday's, Simple Lives Thursday, Simply Delish,

Perfection

What is perfection? To me, around here, it can be any number of things. A smile. A nap. Stacking blocks on the floor. The hour before everyone wakes. That moment everyone wakes. So many things. Every day. Today, right now, it's this:

Natalie taught me the wonderful, life changing skill of frothing milk without any fancy equipment. I don't pull this bad boy out every day but every once and a while (weekends), I go ahead and bring out the big guns. Yum. This is easy as pie. And to think - all you need is your handy dandy coffee press, milk, and coffee.

 Heat milk up (I just pop the glass canister in the microwave). Pump coffee press,pour into strong coffee, and - BINGO! You have a faux cappuccino.

 Ahhh... the taste of perfection.

What is perfection, to you?

 Happy Easter!


Linking to: For the Fun of it Linky Party,  
Tempt My Tummy, 
Time Out Tuesday.
Simple Lives Thursday
Miz Helen's Full Plate Thursday
Feed Your Soul Friday