Don't make it harder than it has to be...

When I first started our grocery project in August of 2008, it took several weeks to build up a freezer and pantry stock. A lot of nights, we just kind of opened up the fridge and grazed on what we had because I wouldn't have everything I needed to make a real meal. We discovered that it wasn't painful, that we were eating less and more healthfully and that sometimes we enjoyed the freedom to decide for ourselves what sounded good. I decided to save orange juice chicken for tomorrow night, so tonight, we went back to that old tradition.

For dinner, my big girl grazed on raw veggies and hummus, a peanut butter sandwich and half an orange. I had a mini bagel with cream cheese, the other half of an orange and a few pita chips with hummus. My husband and my little girl are having a mini confetti chicken casserole that I had in the freezer.

Don't worry -- the goal of a pantry challenge doesn't have to be making the fanciest and most elaborate meal you can concoct from your overstock. You don't have to over think it -- just open up the fridge and have at it! That being said, wait until you see what I have planned for our New Years Eve dinner tomorrow (day 13 of the pantry challenge (sort of)) night!

Tuesday's Eat from the Pantry Experience

Yesterday when I got home from work, I came home to a super picked up and clean house -- especially considering that I had still left it in somewhat of a Christmas mess. Without thinking, I said to my husband, "Maybe I'll bring home Chipotle tomorrow night as a thank you." I tried to get out of it, but I couldn't! Soooooo, dinner was not from the pantry but out of a Chipotle bag. We'll make the orange juice chicken pencilled in for tonight's dinner for dinner tomorrow night instead.



My husband's lunch are always a particular challenge for me. They have to be breakfast AND lunch, not need to be heated or refrigerated, not be too crunchy for the crown on his front tooth, and not need require more than one hand. See my problem??? Pretty much all of his lunches are "pantry challenges!" Since I try to otherwise feed us a good variety of whole foods, it can be a little hard for me to keep a decent stock of lunch-worth food. I got lucky this time around in that we still had some Christmas foods around that would work for his lunch. Tomorrow he'll have two mini bagels with cream cheese, a Honeybaked ham and cheese sandwich, cashews, an orange, raspberry applesauce and a few piece of Andes toffee candy. He usually buys a drink on the road with his own spending money unless I have something I can send him easily. It's his special splurge, but I do keep thinking I should get some money from him in advance and buy him a case of some sort of bottled drinks. I am pretty on top of things, but that is one thing I can just never manage to think about ahead of time.

Pumpkin Brownies

I know I said "no baking" due to an egg and milk shortage...but...I forgot about this pumpkin brownie recipe I've been meaning to try. I had a brownie mix that desperately needed to be used, so I gave it a shot! The brownie recipe is not so much of a recipe as it is a brownie mix and a can of pumpkin. It's basically the same principle as substituting applesauce for oil, but when you sub pumpkin, that's all you need! The health benefits are even better as the pumpkin provides more fiber and is a good source of vitamins A and C, among others.

I was a little bummed because I thought we were out of ice cream. Alas, I found two Klondike bars shoved in the back of the freezer. We dined on big ol' brownie sundaes for dessert, and we didn't even feel bad about it because we were using stuff up!

And, just in case you are thinking eating from the pantry week is looking not so healthy, here's what we had for dinner:



We haven't had tuna noodles in a LONG time, but boy was my hubby happy! Plus, I am always happy to feed my girls a good dose of omega 3s AND greens (brain foods!) This is a great recipe for making sure some essential nutrients find their way in to your kid's diet. To make this, I just mixed a family pack of tuna, about 1/2 cup of light mayo, 1/4 cup of sweet pickle relish, some chopped celery and peas and salt and pepper. Then, I stirred cooled Ronzoni Smart Taste noodles in to it, and voila! Super easy and just like my mom used to make for me!

Mini Eat-From-The-Pantry Challenge

What a crazy, busy weekend it's been. I feel like my four days off flew by with barely a chance to catch a breath -- even with being stuck at home all day yesterday!

The grocery store ads weren't great this week, so I decided it wasn't worth making an extra trip out in the snow and cold. Instead, we're going to try eating what we've already got and adding our extra $50 to the principal on our car loan! Thankfully, due to the Holidays, what we've already got to eat includes delicious Honey Baked Ham, Hickory Farms and all kinds of other random goodies. It will still be a little bit of a challenge though, as I will be working M-Th this week. I am pretty good at just getting by with whatever we've got, but I feel bad about leaving my husband in that predicament. I'll write out a short menu plan for him, so he won't have to "think" about what to feed everyone.

For breakfast/lunch/dinner, we'll be eating...

Monday - biscuits and jelly / ham sandwiches and oranges / tuna noodles and apples

Tuesday - cinnamon sugar whole wheat toast and blueberries/ ham sandwiches and steamed veggies / confetti chicken casserole

Other breakfasts this week will ikely be baby's favorite. Lunches will likely be ham sandwiches all week long. For dinner, I'm planning on really easy things like spaghetti and orange juice chicken. One thing that is kind of a bummer is that I only have about a half gallon of milk and one egg. I'll have to ration those items, so that will mean no baking or breakfast for dinner! Bummer! If all else fails, well, I've got about 5 Mrs. Smith's pies and 10 tubs of Cool Whip. We may be in a sugar coma by Friday, but surely we won't starve!

See also www.orgjunkie.com.

Snow Ice Cream

Wow. We have more snow than I have ever seen at one time in my 28 years living in Kansas City. It's both a blessing and a curse, but we're making the most of it! I am thankful I am organized enough that we have everything we need to be stuck at home for a few days. None of those snowy diaper or milk runs around here! We're just fine!

There is even enough snow that I got to try SNOW ICE CREAM for the first time! I was skeptical, but YUM. Even my husband went back for seconds. Here is how we did it.

1 gallon of snow (I filled a big mixing bowl.)
2 cups of milk
1 cup of white sugar
1 tablespoon of vanilla
1/2 teaspoon of almond extract

Basically, you just pour everything in to the mixing bowl with the snow and mix! I did go slowly with the milk to make sure I didn't make the mixture too soggy! The addition of the almond extract was my idea. Another idea would be to sub the almond extract for peppermint extract and to crush up candy canes for a topping. YUM!

Balancing Beauty and Bedlam, Vintage Recipe Thursday, Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays, Tuesdays at the Table, LifeasMom, Krazy Kitchen and Mouthwatering Monday.

Christmas Angels

Sadly, I lost all of our Christmas Eve pictures, including a wonderful set that I took of my oldest decorating Jesus' birthday cake. (And, not to mention pictures from my last two grocery store trips that I hadn't shared yet!) I'm super sad about it, but such is life!

We'll have to scrape by with a picture of my very own Christmas Angels from yesterday morning. Aren't they the sweetest??? We are so blessed!


I hope everyone had a great Christmas!

Cranberry Almond Bars

Yes, yes, I borrowed another recipe from my favorite baking site Bakeat350. (Check out her cookies. They are insanely gorgeous.) These cranberry bars just looked so delicious and festive, I had to try them! I made them last night with the intent to take them to my food day at work this morning.

Aren't they pretty???


Incidentally, I ended up taking my last personal day at work today, so they're begging for me to eat them. I did try a little bite, and they are DELICIOUS. The cranberries make the sweet bars so zippy and flavorful. Although, my husband DID say it was basically a "fruit cake." Truth be told, I don't think he's ever HAD fruit cake.

Cranberry Almond Bars

3/4 cup unsalted butter, plus more for pan
1 & 1/2 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp pure almond extract
1 & 1/2 c. unbleached, all-purpose flour
1/8 tsp coarse salt
2 c. fresh cranberries
1/3 c. slivered almonds

Melt the 3/4 c butter and set aside (or in the fridge) to cool.

Reserve 2 TBSP of the almonds for the top of the batter and chop the remaining. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350. Line an 8x 8" pan with foil (for easy removal later!)

Beat the sugar and eggs for 3 minutes.

Add the cooled melted butter and almond extract; beat until combined.

Whisk together the flour & salt. Add to the sugar/butter mixture and mix on low until combined.

Stir in the cranberries and chopped almonds.

Pour the mixture into the prepared pan...spread evenly over the pan. Sprinkle with the reserved almonds.

Bake for about 50 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with crumbs but not wet. (Cover with foil the last 5 minutes of baking to prevent over-browning, if necessary.)

Life the foil and bars out of the pan once cool!

For other recipes, see Grocery Cart Challenge.

Christmas Shopping Trip #1

I have to make a few stops this weekend, but this is the first of them. Here is what we got...

1 box of Good and Plenty
2 Pillsbury cinnamon roll bites
2 half gallons of Roberts OJ
1 Earthgrains Thin Bun 100% whole wheat
3 cans of generic corn
1 can can of generic green beans
1 can of generic pumpkin
3 Jello pudding mixes
3 Jello mixes
1 box of Cinnabon bars
1 Old Orchard juice
1 loaf of Orowheat 100% whole wheat
1 can of Swanson chicken broth
1 bottle of Triaminic
1 bag of Stacy's pita chips
200 feet of generic plastic wrap
3 8oz bags of Kraft cheese
1 big bag of baby carrots
1 lb of celery
2 bags of Ocean Spray cranberries
2.9 lbs of navel oranges
1 bag of organic yellow onions

My pre-tax total was right around $30.00. I saved around $8.00 with coupons.

We were not at home a lot this weekend, and I don't anticipate that we will be much through the course of the week either. I did, however, make a big batch of pumpkin baby's favorite and chicken noodle soup. Tonight, I'm making a cranberry almond bars for a party at work. For Christmas, I am responsible for yummy double-spiced pumpkin pie, a birthday cake for Jesus and a veggie tray. I won't be doing all of the cooking that I did for Thanksgiving, but I'm really ok with that. I've been feeling overwhelmingly busy!

See last week's shipping trip here.

See also orgjunkie.com.

Red Hot Cookies

This is definitely a great Christmas recipe! An old family favorite!

1 cup of raisins
3/4 cup of water
1 teaspoon of baking soda

Boil the water and cool. Add the raisins and 1 teaspoon of soda.

Then, cream together:

1 stick of softened butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg

Once these ingredients are incorporated, add in raisin mixture.

Then, add to mixture:

1 v. osymrsl ((Translation - 1 cup of oatmeal) My recipe card ACTUALLY says this. I believe my great aunt typed it up, and made my mom a copy who made me a copy. A typo that stands the test of time.)
2 cups of flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup of nuts (I omitted.)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 package of red hots

(Isn't this the most gorgeous dough???)

Bake for 12-13 minutes at 350.

This was actually the first time I've made these! I intentionally made these bigger and softer than my mom usually does. I discovered they were pretty hard to get off the cookie sheet in one piece! After I finished baking these, I called my mom and told her I thought I could improve this recipe. I realized after I talked to her that if I changed it, it wouldn't be Aunt Lila's Red Hot Cookie recipe. Maybe I won't change it. I hope my girls love the ORIGINAL Red Hot Cookies as much as the last three generations.

See also Vintage Recipe Thursday and Ultimate Recipe Swap.

Why buy consignment? Part 3

I'm a little late on this, but this was my other major Black Friday purchase. Gymboree always has really great Black Friday sales, and you can pair them with a coupon. I believe I saved 60% off retail here, and I only bought stuff that was on a super great sale. You will notice some duplicates because I also bought for my nieces for Christmas. My pre-tax total was $89.44. Incidentally, I was in the middle of cooking Thanksgiving desserts when I placed my order and didn't realize that I fell below the $100 free shipping threshold AND missed out on some Gymbucks. Not everyone is perfect -- yet I try so hard!

I purchased 1 jacket, 1 swimming suit, 15 shirts and 4 pairs of underwear. Even if you factor out the underwear, I spent an average of $5.26 per item. Several of the items actually cost less than that, but I splurged a little on the two shirts on the bottom left with the adorable Christmas prints!

Now, I know I could spend less than this to clothe my children, but with such quality and style? I haven't had such luck.

See other installments of "Why Buy Consignment?" here.

Christmas Tour

Sooooooooo, I love Christmas decorations, but I'll be honest. I totally DON'T have time for the decorating. In fact, this isn't even our tree from THIS year. It's from two years ago when I had one kid that I could keep out of it. It is certainly looking a little sparse, but it does have several of my childhood ornaments on it -- a teddy bear with my name on it, an 8 from the year of my jubilee birthday. Of course, it also includes my favorite ornament of my mom's that she gave to me -- a little tiny cookie sheet with gingerbread men. Also, ever since we had our oldest daughter, I've framed at least one picture of each of our children for them to have some day (unless I decide to keep them!) Ideally, I'd love to have a whole tree decorated in family photos. Could it get any better than that???

I'm dreaming that maybe we'll go all out with the tree and decorations next year. Of course, my real hope is that maybe I'll be too pregnant! Ha!

Confetti Chicken Casserole

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This is one of our favorite recipes, but I haven't made it in quite some time. I got this recipe from a friend when she brought it to me after I had our oldest daughter. Incidentally, she got the recipe from someone that brought it to her when she had her first son. I have also taken it to friends when they have had a baby. It's just a good dish for that sort of thing.

Ingredients -

1 lb of egg noodles
1/2 red onion - diced
1 red pepper - diced
1 green pepper - diced
1 cup of mayo
1 lemon, juiced
1 8 oz bag of cheese ( 4 oz for mixture and 4 oz to top)
salt and pepper to taste
2 chicken breasts or one box of pre-cooked chicken strips

In a large mixing bowl combine all ingredients except for the noodles. Cook noodles to a firm al dente and stir in to mixture while the noodles are still piping hot. Transfer to casserole dish. Bake covered at 350 for about 20 minuets. Remove cover and top with remaining cheese. Bake for another 5 minutes. Serve and enjoy!

Note - I changed the recipe up a little today. I used 1/2 of each color pepper, white onion and fresh baby spinach. The best thing about this recipe is that you can changed it up based on the produce sales. It will always be delicious!

Balancing Beauty and Bedlam, Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays, Tuesdays at the Table, LifeasMom and Mouthwatering Monday.

Holy Exhaustion. It's 10:59, and we've just returned from our only grocery store trip this week. Thank God for the nice man that opened up a box of my children's choice of cookies for them to snack on. What a life saver. And while we're at it, God Bless Hy-Vee too. They're seriously always so nice to us there.

I wasn't so excited about my grocery store trip this week. The sale ads weren't that exciting. I didn't have time to look at my coupons before we got to the store. My husband's been complaining about what food we have/don't have. What's a mom to do?

Here is what we got --

1 lb of generic butter
2 Earthgrains sandwich thins
1 can of generic kidney beans
2 cans of generic black beans
2 cans of generic pumpkin
1 box of Little Debbie cupcakes (free)
1 bag of generic flour
1 4 lb bag of generic white sugar
1 Mazola cooking spray
1 small bag of generic slivered almonds
2 packages of Musselman's Health something or other applesauce
1 bag of Nestle chocolate chips
1 Orowheat 100% whole wheat loaf
1 Pepperidge Farm box of crackers
2 family sized tuna packages
1 bag of 100% whole wheat mini bagels
1 box of Kashi Island Vanilla (This is SO good.)
3.86 lbs of pears
3 8 oz generic cheddar bricks
1 package of Dole baby spinach
1 green bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
4.15 lbs of locally grown Macintosh apples
1 bag of Stacy's pita chips
1 Marzetti's hummus
1 gallon of hormone free milk
1 gallon of Hy-Vee orange juice (grabbed the one not on sale, oops)

I also bought a package of diapers that cost about $5 after coupons and rebate. My pre-tax total then came to right about $50. I saved about $17.50 with coupons, and I'm realizing that I ALSO forgot to give them my Upromise card, which sucks. I would have gotten a little more from that also. I'm definitely remembering why it is NOT a good idea to go to the grocery store when you're less than at the top of my game. Regardless, I did a pretty good job especially considering all of the other things I had on my plate this week.

Since the sale ads weren't that great this week, I was really focused on trying to get some different things that what we normally eat. We're all getting a little bored of the usual, so I'm working extra hard to think outside of the box. As far as what we'll be eating this week is concerned, the girls and I are going to be staying home tomorrow to do some cooking, relaxing and cuddling. We'll also focusing on refueling our bodies with not only rest but good homemade food. I'm planning on making confetti chicken casserole and red hot oatmeal cookies. Later this week, I'm hoping to bake some pumpkin bread and make some apple/pumpkin "baby's favorite."

See last week's trip here. See also LifeAsMom.

Join in the menu planning fun at www.orgjunkie.com.

A fabulous cup of coffee...

I totally love a good cup of coffee. Every morning on my way to work, I pass by the dreaded Starbucks drive-thru, and I want to stop SO BAD. Alas, my pocketbook prevents it. Recently, I combined a couple of "tricks" to make a pretty cravable cup of coffee here at home. What's the trick??? Vanilla beans! It was about time I found a way to use the one I've had in pantry from two Christmas's ago. (Thanks mom for the brilliant stocking stuffer!)

So what's the trick?

I made vanilla bean whipped cream for Thanksgiving, but I had quite a bit left over. Igot the idea from my favorite baking blog, Bakeat350, to freeze it in dollops on a cookie sheet, and they froze up just fine! I stuck the remaining vanilla bean pod in a small food storage tub and added some white sugar. Voila - my own vanilla sugar! Who can argue with a cup of coffee doctored up with homemade whipped cream and vanilla sugar? Does it get any better???

I know whole vanilla beans aren't the cheapest ingredient, but I'll be able to use and add to this little tub of sugar for a very long time! I once heard Martha Stewart say she'd been using the same jar with vanilla bean pods for years! She just keeps topping it off. Works for me!

See Beingfrugal.net and WorksForMeWednesday.

Hammy's Sugar Cookies

My mom makes the most INSANELY good sugar cookies every year for Christmas Eve. After spending an entire year looking forward to Hammy's cookies, family and friends plan to stop by her house on the way home from church or to other Christmas Eve gatherings.

I will be honest -- I have not made these on my own. (Although I did decorate these.) I just don't have the patience for the rolling and cutting. Perhaps when my girls are older. Even still, I thought I should share the recipe. I think you will find it to be outstanding.

Hammy's Sugar Cookies

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup sugar

Cream together.

Then add,

1 egg
1 teaspoon of vanilla
2 cups of flour.

Mix together.

Then add,

1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of cream of tartar

That's it!

These will bake at 400 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

FYI, my mom says the key is to not roll to thin.

For the frosting, we like to use a mixture of powdered sugar, a little milk or cream and vanilla or almond. If you have not tried this glaze recipe before, it's super easy. Just go easy on the liquid. It will take less than you think!

See also Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays, Vintage Recipe Thursday and Ultimate Recipe Swap.

Patient Hope in New Snow

See also 5MinutesforMom.

"Baby's Favorite" -- delicious and easy homemade baby food

I write this coming off of a grocery purchase where I just bought baby food. This is hilarious to me considering the fact that both of my girls have maybe eaten a collective five jars of baby food in their entire lifetime. I've always thought that people would make more homemade baby food if they had any idea how easy it really is. I mean, if I can find time to make it, anyone can. I've tried many different ways -- steaming, baking, crockpot, etc. I still really like the baking method for stone fruits, squash and the steaming method for vegetables, but the recipe I have really perfected is homemade baby applesauce in a variety of flavors. (My kids really like a combination of apple pear and pumpkin the best.) My 16 month old still has this homemade applesauce puree EVERY morning with baby oatmeal. My nearly 4 year old has it several times a week for a bed time snack. I love that they love eating it so much. Even on a day where I feel like we have not eaten as nutritiously as we should, I can at least know that they've both downed a huge bowl of something homemade and super healthy.

After making this about a thousand time, I have it down to a science. Here's how you do it...

1. Fill crockpot with your favorite fruits (canned pumpkin is a great addition) and spices.



(Here I have used apples, pears and cinnamon. It honestly improves the flavor if you use a variety of different apple and pear types, but don't worry about it if you only have one variety. I aso threw in a banana that my kid didn't finish eating at the last minute. Some other things to try are just apples, apples and peaches, peaches and pears, apple and pumpkin.)

2. Let cook on low until the fruit is very tender. (Apples take the longest.)

3. Transfer to blender or food processor and puree.

4. Freeze individual servings in ice cube trays or muffin tins. (I actually find that silicone muffin wrappers are BY FAR the easiest to deal with.)


5. Transfer to food storage bag and store in freezer until ready to use.

The finished product!

This morning's trip to the store was a little crazy. It was just SO crowded. At least they had really good samples. The girls and I dined on smoked salmon and ham, mashed potatoes, pizza, pears, brie and eggnog (or eggmog as my three year old calls it!) Who can complain!

Our trip didn't work out as exactly as planned. They were out of the buy 1 get 1 free fish sticks. They offered to sub out the bigger boxes, which was great, but it put me over budget. Looks like they also forgot to ring one of my four coupons for a free 2 liter of Coke. Not cool. For some reason my transaction alone at the store took a good 20 minutes. I thought I was watching pretty closely, but the missed coupon got by me!

Here is what we got --

4 Beechnut baby foods (free + profit from UPromise)
4 big boxes of fish sticks (2 were free)
2 cans of Rotel
4 2 litres of Coke (3 were free)
2 2 liters of Mountain Dew
1 1/2 gallon of hormone free milk
18 eggs
1 1/2 gallon of Ruby Red grapefruit juice (My favorite!)
1 bag of Ore-Ida fries
3.5 lbs of organic pears*
2.82 lbs of bananas
2.10 lbs of Granny Smith's

*One of the best (and easiest) "ideas" I've read for saving money on your grocery bill is to buy produce in bulk and to actually WEIGH the bags. I've tried this several times now. Not only do the bags typically weigh more than the specified amount, but you can also choose one sometimes that weighs significantly more. I've bought three lb bags of apples that actually weigh in at about 5 lbs more than once. Effectively, this reduces the amount you're really paying per pound. Try it out.

My pre-tax total came in at $30.00 even. I had a $10.00 gift card, I was $20 out of pocket. Over-budget by $10. I'm not going to beat myself up over it. I did good on the self-control factor. I just got taken by oversized boxes of fish sticks and a careless checker. I still saved about $29.00.

We have kind of an usual week coming up. I have Mon-Wed off work, but I will be studying very seriously for a continuing ed-type of exam on Thursday. The only days I'll really be working are Thursday afternoon and for a few hours Friday morning. (How did I get so lucky???) I'm not entirely sure what is on the menu for the week. I am making and FINALLY documenting "baby's favorite" as I write this. I also know we'll be having salsa soup tomorrow. Since we'll be home all day, we'll likely bake something. Aside from that, I'm going to be studying away from home, so daddy and the girls will be on their own for the better part of Mon-Wed. We have a a LOT of food right now, but it's sort of a strange conglomeration of things. Oh well. At least we have a lot of chicken and fish sticks.

See this week's other trip here.

For other frugal tips, see LifeAsMom. Join in the menu planning fun at orgjunkie.com.

Answered prayers look a little bit like frozen chicken...

We don't eat a lot of chicken around here, but I'd had ONE package of frozen chicken for about three weeks. I used the last one on Tuesday when I made cranberry chicken, and I literally prayed for a chicken sale. Who would guess that ALL three of my favorite stores would have chicken breasts on sale this week! God and His sense of humor...I tell ya what. Anyway, I decided to buy frozen on sale instead of fresh on sale for the first time. I hope I don't regret it.

Here's what I got on tonight's trip --

2 Kraft Singles
1 Pumpkin Spice milk
11ish lbs of frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 Blue Bunny Coffee Break ice cream (I lovvvvvvve this flavor!)
2 Stove Top stuffings
1 Gingerbread cookie mix
4 Organic Ragu sauces
2 Oroweat 100% whole wheat loaves
2 cans of Libby's vegetables
2 16 oz bags of egg noodles (free)

My purchase tonight was was $37.90 pretax. I saved $45.00 or (if my math is right, 64%.) The total made me gulp a little. I don't buy much meat, but it sure did catch up with me tonight.

This week's sales were actually really good. I wanted to go to all three of my regular stores, but I knew there was no way I could do that without going over budget. Instead, we're just going to go to a one day sale tomorrow to pick up a few things on sale, eggs and milk. I have a $10 gift card that I've been forgetting to use, so we'll be trying to stay right at $20 total. It will be an exercise in self-control...which I will likely fail. LOL.

See this week's other trip here.

See last week here.

Summer Dreamin'