Helpful Blogs

Our recent efforts to be better stewards of our money have been helped out by a few women who take the time each week to share the wisdom they have been given. Here are a few blogs I would recommend that you take a minute to look at.
Southernsavers.com (read her guides to shopping at Walgreens and CVS. If you have any questions about it feel free to email me!)
Faithfulprovisions.com (She lives in Nashville and has such an encouraging perspective on her roles within her family)
hip2save.blogspot.com (She finds just about every deal there is to be had each day)

I hope this helps you to navigate this crazy blogging world and that you find some helpful info!

He Works Hard for the Money...

...So I am going to work hard to spend it wisely and here is one of my most recent attempts. I am taking a cue from the Duggars of the TLC show "17 Kids and Counting". They have offered me a bit of inspiration lately. Not because we are planning to have 18 children, but I'm incredibly impressed by the way they have managed their money. So when I heard that they make their own baby wipes I decided I would try it out, because with 2 in diapers we go through a lot and this would just be a small way to save some money. I'm very pleased! I will certainly continue to do this. So here is the how to taken from the Duggars.
-One roll of Bounty paper towels
-One-gallon ice-cream bucket (or I used a cylindrical Rubbermade container)
-Two cups water
-Two tablespoons baby oil
-One tablespoon rubbing alcohol
-One tablespoon baby bath (optional, though I did use it)
Cut a whole roll of Bounty paper towels into thirds. (The Duggars found that Bounty is the only brand that works...I trust them. Use an electric knife for best results.)
Place one of the halved rolls vertically into an empty and thoroughly cleaned one-gallon ice cream bucket (or whatever container. You could probably use your wipes warmer if you have one, though I'm not positive because I haven't tried). In a large measuring pitcher, mix two cups water, two tablespoons baby oil, and one tablespoon rubbing alcohol. (and one tablespoon of baby bath if preferred.)
Pour the liquid over the halved roll of paper towels in the ice cream bucket, and soak for 30 minutes. Remove the cardboard center. Feed the top corner of the paper towels, starting in the center, through an X-shaped slit you've cut in the lid of the ice-cream bucket so you can pull out and tear off one "wipe" at a time.
My next endeavor, taken from the Duggars, is homemade laundry detergent. I'm thinking I will try this tomorrow so I will let you know!

Instant Frozen Yogurt

This may be nothing new to any of you, but I did this completely on accident the other day, and well...I've done it on purpose three more times since. Mac can take down a homemade smoothie, and he has gotten into the habit of asking for one almost every afternoon. "Yummy Fmooie?" he says, meaning, "Can I have a yummy smoothie?" So I stored up some sliced fruit and fresh squeezed orange juice cubes in the freezer for a quick mix with some plain yogurt in the blender. Well you may have known this, but blending frozen fruit with yogurt comes out of the blender as frozen yogurt. Of course this sounds like common sense, I just never thought of it. So give this a try because its a great treat for little ones and big ones alike!
1/3 cup sliced frozen strawberries
1/2 cup frozen sliced bananas
2 cubes frozen orange juice (I squeeze it fresh and freeze it in ice cube trays.)
1/3 cup plain yogurt (I use low fat, but whatever you like)
A touch of honey for sweetness

Blend it all up and there you go! It makes two large servings that are hardly any calories and good for you to boot!
You could make this with any frozen fruit you like. My next try is going to be some frozen pineapple chunks with some frozen cubes of coconut milk. If you know some reason why this would not work, let me know...otherwise, I'll let you know how it goes!

Slow Cookin' Goodness

Don't know about you, but I love using my crock pot. It just does the trick, and if you haven't gathered, my favorite kind of meals to eat and make are the kind where everything is all mixed together in one pot or bowl of goodness. Here are two of my favorite one pot, slow-cooking recipes I have found of late...

Slow Cooker Lasagna
1 lb uncooked lean ground beef
1 small onion, chopped
2 medium garlic cloves, minced
28 oz can fire-roasted crushed tomatoes (fire-roasted are sometimes hard to find, so plain will d0)
15 oz can tomato sauce
1 tsp salt
1 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (or more if you like the heat)
1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
Parsley (fresh or dried)
1 1/2 cups part-skim mozzarella cheese, shredded, divided
6 dry lasagna noodles, no-cook
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese, (Romano is good)

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add beef, onion and garlic; cook, stirring frequently, breaking up meat with a wooden spoon as it cooks, about 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, salt, oregano, basil, and red pepper flakes; simmer 5 minutes to allow flavors to blend.
Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, stir together ricotta cheese and 1 cup mozzarella cheese. Mix in parsley (just eyeball it)
Spoon 1/3 of beef mixture into a 5-quart slow cooker. Break 3 lasagna sheets in half and arrange over beef mixture; top with half ricotta cheese mixture. Repeat with another layer and finish with remaining 1/3 of beef mixture.
Cover slow cooker and cook on low setting for 4-6 hours. Remove cover; turn off heat and season to taste if desired.
In a small bowl, combine remaining 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese and Parmesan cheese; sprinkle over beef mixture. Cover and set aside until cheese melts and lasagna firms up, about 10 minutes. Yields 1/6th of dish per serving.

Cuban-Style Pork and Sweet Potato Stew

1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch dice (about 1 lb)
1 pound lean pork loin, cut into 1-inch pieces
14 1/2 oz canned diced tomatoes, with green chilies
2 medium garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup orange juice
2 medium scallions, chopped (green parts only)
1/2 tsp table salt
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 1/2 tbsp fresh lime juice
2 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped

Place potato, pork, tomatoes, garlic, orange juice, scallions, salt, cumin, and pepper in a 4 to 5 quart slow cooker; cover and cook on low setting for 7 hours
Stir in lime juice and cilantro; cover slow cooker and cook for 5 minutes more. (I like to throw in a little Louisiana hot sauce here as well...but be careful- it brings the heat!)
Yields about 1 1/2 cups per serving.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

My husband is building a garden in our backyard. I had planned on visually chronicling our vegetatious adventures, but my camera has suddenly decided to stop working. So to paint a picture for you, we have a big pile of dirt in our backyard. It is good dirt though (can you picture it?). And it is surrounded by logs. But in any case, does anyone know anything about gardening? Because I don't know the first thing and I could certainly use some help. One of Jonathan's fantastic clients has offered to teach me all about canning vegetables, so look forward to that being an interesting endeavor. Any words of wisdom on all things gardening and vegetables is appreciated.

For Meg

My Sweet friend Megan came to visit us when we were in CS over the holidays. Mac hadn't seen her since he was a few months old and she was the first "new" female that he would have anything to do with all week.

Successes in the Kitchen

If you know me well, you know that as much as I love to cook, I'm not always great at it. Baking I can do-always have been able to, and always loved it. Regular ole week night meals on the other hand-hit or miss. But I'm getting better! The problem is I always thought cooking was boring until sometime late in college, and then it was up to the Food Network to teach me everything I needed to know. Fortunately my husband is a fantastic cook so he has provided us with many restaurant worthy meals, and also taught me a lot about cooking. So its taken a lot of time to get here and now my successful meals are certainly a celebration, and I've been celebrating a lot lately! So I thought I'd share some of the better meals I have made over the past couple of weeks. I promise not to post any that are not also husband approved (and husband has high expectations of food!)

Cuban Black Beans and Rice
8 servings
-2 cups uncooked white rice
-2 Tbs olive oil
-2 yellow onions, thinly sliced
-1 red bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
-1 green bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
-1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
-6 cloves of garlic minced
-2 14 oz cans of diced tomatoes, drained
-4 Tbs sherry cooking wine
-2 tsp ground cumin
-2 tsp ground coriander
-2 tsp dried oregano
-2 tsp hot pepper sauce (I use Louisiana)
-4 15.5 ounce cans black beans, drained
-black pepper

1. Cook rice according to package directions (I HIGHLY RECOMMEND the PAMPERED CHEF RICE COOKER . It is in my top 5 kitchen essentials!)
2. Heat a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Swirl in the oil, then add the onion, bell peppers, and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, vinegar, cumin, coriander, oregano, and pepper sauce; cook 2 minutes. Add the beans, reduce the heat to medium, cover and simmer until thickened, about 10 minutes. Season with the pepper and serve with rice. Top with a little sour cream. (A serving is about 1 cup beans of 1/2 cup of rice)

Turkey Taco Soup
-a bit of Olive Oil
-2 lbs Extra Lean ground turkey (I promise you can not tell the difference between this and regular ole ground beef in this soup)
-1 onion, chopped
-A couple of cloves of garlic minced
-1 pkg. taco seasoning mix
-1 pkg. ranch dressing mix
-1 can each of:
white corn
yellow corn
pinto beans
red kidney beans (new orleans style are best if you can find them)
-rotel tomatoes
-1 small can of tomato sauce, when empty filled with water.

1. Heat olive oil and stir in onions and garlic. Add the ground turkey and cook through.
2. Add all other ingredients, stir and simmer for 30 minutes.

Easy as pie! Serve with some Mexican blend cheese, sour cream, and maybe fritos.