Fall Fun!

Baked Potato Soup

I was thinking this is almost more like Twice Baked Potato Chowder! It's so thick and rich, it really ends up being like twice baked potato filling!

This is my mom's recipe. The base is very basic, so when we make it, we serve it with a bunch of dump-ins so people can make it to their liking. Here is the base recipe:

2/3 cup butter
2/3 cup flour
6 cups of whole milk
5 lbs of baked potatoes
12 oz sour cream
4 oz of grated cheese
a handful of bacon bits (I omit.)
Salt and Pepper to taste (It takes a lot.)

You start by making a rue (browning the butter and flour together, so the flour cooks.) Add 6 cups of milk Then, scrape the potatoes out of the skin in to your stock pot. The soup will immediately thicken from the potato starch. Next, you stir in the sour cream and cheese and salt and pepper to taste, and you're good to go! (The recipe is very flexible. If the soup is too thick for you, add less potatoes or more milk. If you want more sour cream and cheese, go for it! The cheese will also make it very thick though.)

Then, I always serve with an extra bowl of grated cheese, sour cream, bacon and green onions. That way everyone can season exactly how they like it. I just like mine with tons of cheese (see above!)

The soup it's self is super hearty and filling. People always really like it -- especially a carb lover like me! It reheats really well and freezes beautifully. Enjoy!

Feelin' a little better...

I'm FINALLY feeling more functional this week. Thank goodness!

I've made to small grocery purchases this week. The first trip included the ingredients to make baked potato soup (I'll share the recipe later today.) and chips and dip. The total came in at about $12. The second purchase is what's pictured above. I got 2 2.5 lb bags of peaches, 2 Yoplait plus, 2 Yoplait Simply Gogurt and a Digiorio pizza also for right around $12. (Note, both of these prices are after tax. In KS, we now pay nearly 9% on all of our food purchases. Scary!) We'll make another trip at some point in the next few days.

The other lovely item that you see pictured are FREE APPLES! Last week on my way home from work, I saw a lady walking across the street between an abandoned parking lot and a bunch of apartments with a big trash bag full of apples. I could tell she had picked them somewhere, but WHERE?!?!?! Yesterday, I spent about 10 minutes driving around in the general vicinity, and I FOUND IT. I was so stoked. There are about 4 Granny Smith trees that are ripe and another red apple variety that is not quite ripe yet. I'm guessing I picked about 6 lbs.My girls have been getting way in to baby's favorite again, so I was VERY HAPPY for the free supply of apples. Even at apples at less than $1/ lb, it gets expensive when they eat a whole crockpot full a week. So, last night, I whipped up a batch of apple pear sauce and now I'm waiting for my nectarines to get ripe, so I can make some apple nectarine sauce. You can bet I'll be doing some serious baby's favorite freezing while I watch these trees over the next few weeks or so.

I did it!

Finally, a shopping trip. I will admit, it is far from impressive, but it's real. We're moving in to week 16 of barely hanging on here, peeps. ; ) Anyway, the sale ads were equally unimpressive this week, and I didn't get my coupons pulled together. Instead of being in their (formerly) normal baseball card sheets, they are in a ziplock bag. Fail.

Here is what we got:
1 Hershey bar
1 dozen eggs
1 Corning pie plate (No, you can't eat that.)
1 loaf of Earthgrains bread
6 boxes of GM cereal
2 bottles of generic apple juice
1 tub of Planters cashews
1 bag of Sara Lee bagels
1 package of Ball Park hotdogs
1 package of Hormel Naturals ham
1 big box of State Fair corndogs
1 gallon of 2% milk
1 tub of Philadelphia whipped cream cheese
2.22 lbs of Bartlett pears
2.39 lbs of peaches
1.96 lbs of apples
2.6 lbs of bananas

My pre-tax total was about $43.00, and I got a $6 catalina for the GM cereals.

There isn't a whole lot to work with here, but we've all (especially me) been eating a lot of fruit and cereal. Since I'm just not excited about food right now, I don't really care what I eat. Daddy and the girls will be happy to eat sandwiches, hot dogs and fruit for the time being. There is also a fairly decent stash of things in the freezer and pantry if they're really needing some adventure.

Also, I was planning on sharing my French Silk pie recipe this weekend. I still am hoping to, but I forgot to buy whipping cream. Boo! I might have to hide the Hershey bar and try again next week.

Nice shot, Sis...

Another reason I've been EXHAUSTED by the time I get home from the grocery store is because I have an OFFICIAL and REARING TO GO 2 year old! She is a great girl, but she has decided that sitting in the cart is NOT for her, and there is NO BRIBE good enough to convince her otherwise.

We tried getting the little cart at Hy-Vee a few weeks ago and BOY she had fun! By the time we left, it was overflowing with marshmallows, Silly Bandz and Hot Wheels. I was honestly mortified because there was no way we could put everything back. She was cute and hilarious, but NAUGHTY. I made her apologize to the people at customer service for the work she created. What a handful!

Debt Free!

I know, I know -- still pretty MIA. Every week I keep thinking I'll be able to post about our grocery trip, and every week I am exhausted by the time I get this far. Not to mention that my trips have not been that impressive. Just GETTING to the store is good for me. I'm definitely lacking in the preparation department as much of my planning time has been re-dedicated to sleeping. I usually use my lunch time to plan our grocery shopping, but I have taken a nap in my car instead nearly every day for the last 10 weeks or so! Even still, I am feeling a little improved, and I am down to one kid this weekend! I MAY make a grocery shopping trip return! Maybe I'll even whip a new recipe! Oh my!

My reason for posting is that I did want to share that we finally made our goal! We're debt free (except for our mortgage again!) We paid off our Town & Country last week! We paid it off in exactly one year with less than 7K miles. I'm so proud! You can read more about our decision to buy a new minivan here. It was a lot of work to pay it off, but it was WORTH IT! And, now we have Baby #3 on the way, and a PAID FOR car that we will all fit in. Planning (and saving!) is a good thing!

Opinion Outpost

I know I've been completely absent lately. I can explain. Really. I'm the worst pregnant lady ever. I can barely look at or even think about right food now. So, the blog just...makes me want to puke. LOL.

BUT, I have discovered something interesting lately -- Opinion Outpost! It's a really great survey site. I've made $17 in the last 10 days or so by completing surveys that have mostly taken 10 minutes or less per survey. I'm so stoked! I am just so thrilled to be able to easily earn an extra few bucks here and there with little effort. At first I was thinking I would just use the extra cash to pad our checking account, but at the rate I'm going, I'm wondering if I couldn't do something more significant like fund our Christmas Club account. What a blessing!

If you want to join, click on this link.

http://OpinionOutpost.com/join/8360138

(I will add that I occasionally will NOT qualify for a survey. In fact, I don't think I qualified one for the first two weeks after I joined! Don't lose heart. You'll qualify for lots!)