Menu Plan

M: Hamburger Helper / Spaghetti + Garlic Bread

T: Beef Roast + Mashed Potatoes and Gravy

W: “Wow” Chicken + Sweet Potato Fries

R: Ham Roast + Mac & Cheese

F: Alfredo Pizza

S: Leftovers

S: Shorts Ribs + Rice

The Hamburger Helper was in our pantry for Brian to have on nights I was gone but I’m rarely gone and it needed to go.  I made a double batch of it and froze the rest for his lunches.  I’m going to shred up the Beef Roast leftovers for Roast Beef Sandwiches (thanks for the idea Melinda!).  “Wow” Chicken is from Pinterest, it just says 1/2 cup of yogurt + 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese spread over chicken breasts and baked.  The Ham Roast leftovers will get shredded and frozen for Pulled Pork Sandwiches later.  I have a great Short Ribs recipe to post someday.  Can you tell I’m trying to get a lot better about using up leftovers?  I’m tired of throwing them out when they’re molding in the fridge!

How do you handle leftovers?

Menu Plan / Baking Day

M: Ham & Cheese Macaroni Bake

T: Homemade Chicken Patty Sandwiches + Ranch rice

W: Beef Tacos

R: Pork Loin Cutlets + Roasted Potato Wedges

F: Pizza + breadsticks

S: Leftover Buffet

S: Potluck – take dish!

All meals include salad for me, a veggie or two for Kent, and usually a little fruit or yogurt at the end for him.

Every Monday is baking day for me.  Today I pulled a loaf of cinnamon raisin bread out of the freezer and made frosting to top it with.  I dished out 8 parfaits for snacking on and I made a double batch of Avocado Chocolate Pudding.  It sounds gross but that stuff is SO good and a little better for you than the regular kind.

What are you cooking and baking this week?

 

Money Story Update

I updated Our Money Story just now.  Check it out if you’re new here or have been following our progress.  We’re not quite debt free except the mortgage yet but we’re definitely on the right track.

Goal:  debt free except the mortgage by the end of 2012!

As it says in my little disclaimer at the top of the money page: we share this because we hope to inspire you and help you.  When you’re having a rough time look back at how far we’ve come.  You CAN do this, too!  If you have specific questions or need help we’ll be happy to assist you the best we can.

First Garden Picture and 2011 Archives

I updated the “Garden” page and hope/plan to do a better job keeping it updated this year.  So far I’ve started 3 flats of tomatoes in the house and planted peas in the garden.  I’ve copied and pasted all the old information from the 2011 Garden page here to archive it.

Here’s the garden as of February 2, 2012, long before anything was started.  Current pic to come!

 

———

2011 Garden Archive

Harvesting 2010

Various dates: Cucumbers approx. 3#
8/6/10: Potatoes 6.9 oz.
8/6/10: Tomatoes 3# 14.6 oz.
8/9/10: Tomatoes 5# 10.6 oz.
8/11/10: Tomatoes 13# 13.2 oz.
8/11/10: Cucumbers 7.9 oz.
8/12/10: Tomatoes 7# 12.1 oz.
8/14: Tomatoes 7# 2 oz.
8/15: Tomatoes 2# 14.8 oz.
8/16: Tomatoes 3# 6.4 oz.
8/17: Tomatoes 10# 5.5 oz.
8/18: Tomatoes 14# 5.4 oz.
8/19: Tomatoes 9# 11.3 oz.
8/20: Tomatoes 13# 3.3 oz.
8/22: Tomatoes 10# 9.5 oz.
8/24: Tomatoes 19# 10.6 oz.
8/25: Tomatoes 16# 13.5 oz.
Running totals: Cucumbers 3# 7.9 oz., Potatoes 6.9 oz., Tomatoes 108# 7.8 oz.

Planting 2010

6/20/10: Purple Podded Pole Beans – 1 package (east half)
Kentucky Wonder Pole Beans – 1 package (west half)

6/22/10: True Gold Sweet Corn – 1 package of minimum 125 seeds (far south)

Eggs 2010

8/11/10: 8  (7 – cracked one)
8/17/10: 4
8/18/10: 4
8/19/10: 7
8/20/10: 2
8/25/10: 4

____

Is your garden still in the planning stage?  If you’re already playing in the dirt what are you planting?

It All Starts With A Butter Knife

So… last week I asked my dear husband to haul our dishwasher out to the road.  He obliged.  I’m pretty sure someone took it before the garage men came.

It wasn’t broken.  Okay, it did have a hiccup where it didn’t always run water when the element got hot so I only used it when I was home, just in case it decided to go dry and start smoking.  That’s not why I wanted it gone though.

Truthfully, after being so happy to get that thing, I hardly used it.  I can say with confidence that it hadn’t been used more than half a dozen times since I went down to part-time at work… so for well over a year.  I found myself running it from time to time just so it didn’t start to smell, and we used it when we had guests for Thanksgiving.  Other than that it just sat there taking up valuable space.

So, do we have piles of dishes sitting everywhere?  Do we constantly bicker over who’s turn it is to wash them?  Nope and nope.  Our sink is usually shiny, clean, and empty!  Here’s a warning in case I never told you:  if you happen to drop in for a visit and there are dirty dishes in the sink – run!  It’s a sure sign of a bad or crazy day around here!

What do we do?  We use a dish wand.  It’s always loaded with soap and sits right behind the faucet.

Have a dirty dish or cup?  Run a bit of water over it.  Grab dish wand.  Scrub.  Flip.  Repeat.  Run a bit of water over it.  Place in drying rack.  Whoa, like 5 seconds went by.

Now I know what you’re thinking… what about hot water.  Our tap gets hot pretty fast so if we have a few dishes to wash in a row, even over several minutes, we still get some hot in there.  If it’s just one random cup the water is mostly cold.  It still cleans well and is not a big deal.  We soak anything that’s seriously stuck on anyway.

There is a trick to making this system work.  It all starts with a butter knife, thus the title.  It is very tempting to just drop that thing in the sink and walk away.  I’ll catch it the next time.  Riiiight.  Except guess what happens?  I come back with a cup and think, oh, there’s already a knife to wash and Kent is mad and I really don’t have time to wash two things so I’ll do it later.  Or, Brian comes along and sees the knife and figures I’ll be back to wash it so he’ll leave his cup there, too.

Really, it’s amazing.  I’ve tried it both ways.  No one wants to be the first one to put a dirty dish in a nice clean sink!  Usually for something as small as a knife the dish wand is wet enough to just scrub it and then use a little trickle of cold water to rinse it.

On baking day I make an exception and fill the sink with soapy water so I can drop the measuring cups and things in as I go and scrub them while things rise or bake.  Other than that we each just wash our plates and things as we go.

This is what works for us.  How do you handle dishes in your house?

This post is linked to:

Thankful Homemaker’s Weekly Link-Up

Homestead Barn Hop

DIY Accomplished Link-Up

Spring Tree Sale Order

For reference, and because tomorrow is the last day so if you’re local you might want to order! Access it at tuscolacd.com.

Tuscola Conservation District Spring Tree Sale Order:

Concord Seedless Grapes – 5

Fameuse (Snowapple) Apple Tree – 1

Granny Smith Apple Tree – 1

Rubel Blueberry – 5

Heritage Everbearing Red Raspberry – 10

In a few years we’ll have so much yummy food!

Weekly Wrap Up

We’ve entered the very last hour of this week so it’s a fine time to tell you about it.  This was the best, most successful week I’ve had since Kent was born.  I stayed on task and accomplished what I set out to do all week long.  I cooked, we ate, we played, we had visitors, we had fun.  It was lovely!  The best part?  It only took me 8 months to get here.  The worst part?  It took me 8 months to get here!!

That’s not to say I have it all figured out, obviously.  Just like any other kid Kent changes things up about every 5 minutes.  It was true what my friend Michelle told me – just when you have it figured out they’ll do something different and you’ll have to start all over.

Anyway, the point of this post isn’t to ramble on about parenting… I want to share bits and pieces of life from this past week.

We had a set of twin lambs born.  They’re the last of this group.  It was fun for me because I was there right after she had the first one.  I went back in the house before the second one was born but it was still fun to watch her with the newborn.  The second one isn’t as vigorous as the first but so far so good.

In other lamb news our lambs are going up to the local photographer on St. Patrick’s Day to pose with kids in Easter pictures!  I can’t wait to see how cute these pictures turn out.

I started planning my garden today.  I sorted through the seeds that I have on hand but then I got overwhelmed so that’s as far as I got.  Last year I planted the bare essentials:  tomatoes and potatoes.  This year I want/need to do more variety again.  Now that Kent is eating I’m trying to include a lot of vegetables in our diet so there are more things I want to grow.  Romaine lettuce, spinach, and broccoli to name a few.  I am so excited to plant sugar snap peas for him.  One summer I babysat for a toddler and he loved to pick snap peas and eat them right out of the garden.  I can’t believe my own kid will be able to do that this year!

I started a sewing project tonight so I’ll share more details and a picture if it turns out.  It’s a skirt for me for Easter.  I always envision lovely Easter outfits and never make them reality so this year I’m trying harder.

That reminds me, I need to post some pictures of my desk.  I made it out of reclaimed lumber and I love it.

Our house is kind of frustrating me.  We’ve been through the whole main floor now and made cosmetic changes and small fixes.  I’m kind of stuck because I have so many good ideas for organizing and decorating but we’ll eventually be remodeling most of the rooms so it seems like a waste to do any more work on them now.  I’ve become a big fan of the Nate Berkus show now that I can DVR it and watch it a few minutes at a time.  There are so many great ideas on that show!

I’m trying to think of what we did this week…not a lot is coming to mind.  Maybe that’s why it seemed like such a manageable week!

Time for bed!

I need some advice.  If I do make this skirt for Easter what is the appropriate thing to wear with it?  Nylons?  Tights?  What kind of shoes?  It’s been a long time since I’ve worn a dress except a sundress.  It’s about knee length if that helps.

Do you wear something special for Easter?  How was your week?  Tell me about it, I’d love to hear!

Not taking time to proofread so please disregard my typos!

Baking Day 2/6/10

I tried two new recipes, both courtesy of Pinterest:

• Totally Addictive Cornbread from Chocolate-Covered Katie
  I like the taste.  I followed the recipe pretty much exactly except I always add maple syrup to my cornbread.  I pour the batter in the pan and then drizzle it heavily with the syrup.  Once baked it has some of that maple goodness throughout.  I didn’t like the gritty texture but that could be from the cornmeal itself.  I didn’t have any of the local, stone-ground stuff I’m used to so I has to use store-bought Aunt Jemima brand instead.

• Oatmeal Chocolate PB No-bake Bars from New Nostalgia
  These were good.  I’ll probably make them again.  They are firm and hard to cut in the fridge and really gooey at room temperature.  I don’t mind them gooey, it’s like eating a warm no-bake except… not warm.  Next time I’ll leave out the cranberries, I love them but not in this recipe.  DH didn’t love them but I think it might be the cranberries.

Have any new recipes you want to pass along?

Recipe: Cast Iron Quesadillas

Here’s a simple recipe that comes in really handy when you need something fast and can’t stomach the thought of another grilled cheese sandwich.  I tend to make really good food accidentally and then forget how I did it.  The first time I made these Brian told me to write it down so I wouldn’t forget what I did.  That was a big compliment coming from him!  Lucky for both of us they’re pretty easy…

Ingredients:

• Tortilla shells (store bought or homemade)
• Shredded cheese
• Taco Seasoning
• Meat of choice: Leftover chicken, turkey, or browned ground beef or lamb (optional)

I use a cast iron skillet for this, thus the name, but any large frying pan will work.  Heat a little oil, butter, or leftover bacon grease in the skillet on medium heat.  Lay your tortilla in the pan.  Sprinkle with cheese.  Top with shredded or crumbled meat.  The meat should be precooked, not raw!  Sprinkle generously with taco seasoning.

If you’d like, smear some sour cream on top with the back of a spoon.  This makes the filling nice and creamy, adds flavor, and saves the mess of adding sour cream on top later.

Lay a second tortilla on top and press it down firmly with a spatula.  As soon as the cheese melts enough to hold it together flip the whole thing.  Let it brown slightly on the bottom.  If you’re just making one a pizza cutter works well for cutting.

TIP:  If you’re making these for a large crowd stack the finished quesadillas on a flat plate or cutting board.  Use a large knife to cut down through the whole pile, creating triangles.  Stack on a platter for serving.

You could make a healthier version of these with veggies.  I was thinking mozzarella cheese and broccoli would be nice.

Wordless Wednesday: Around Here…

Around here, Spring sounds like laughter…