I’ve been drinking green smoothies for a while now.  Full of vitamins and low in calories, they are a great way to pack a good nutrition punch in a fun package.  My girls have been begging for a purple smoothie for a few days and I finally gave in this morning.  They called them Fairy Smoothies and have declared them awesome.  And they are good for them too!

Fairy Smoothies

1 to 2 cups of frozen berries (strawberries, rasberries, blueberries, blackberries, etc)

1 cup of plain yogurt

2 cups Silk Vanilla Almond Milk

2 handfuls of fresh baby spinach

1 banana

I layer the ingredients in my Ninja blender starting with 1 cup of berries, yogurt, spinach, and the banana.  I pour the almond milk over the top.  I start blending on speed 1 to get it going and then kick it up to 2 briefly and then 3 to really liquefy the spinach.  When it’s all blended together you’ll have a thick, creamy smoothie that you can’t even see the spinach in.  Makes about 4 cups.

It’s snowy and cold outside.  A stark contrast from the unseasonably warm weather we’ve had in Indiana lately.  The natural thing to do is to turn on the oven.  I have some chex mix in there right now and it smells delicious.  Paired with some fruit, it will make an excellent snack here in a little bit.  Since I like to live on the wild side I just threw it all together.  Melted butter in a roasting pan then added worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, onion powder, and seasoning salt.  Then added pretzels, pecans, chex cereal and cheerios.  Stirred it all together.  If you don’t like to live quite as crazy as myself, I’ve added the recipe from Chex.  Enjoy!

The Original Chex Party Mix

3 cups Corn Chex® cereal
3 cups Rice Chex® cereal
3 cups Wheat Chex® cereal
1 cup mixed nuts
1 cup bite-size pretzels
1 cup garlic-flavor bite-size bagel chips or regular-size bagel chips, broken into 1-inch pieces
6 tablespoons butter or margarine
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons seasoned salt
3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder

Oven Directions Heat oven to 250°F. In large bowl, mix cereals, nuts, pretzels and bagel chips; set aside. In ungreased large roasting pan, melt butter in oven. Stir in seasonings. Gradually stir in cereal mixture until evenly coated. Bake 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Spread on paper towels to cool, about 15 minutes. Store in airtight container.

I have a love/ hate relationship with eating out.  I love to eat out.  I hate eating out with kids because it’s so expensive.  And when we are finished I always feel like the cost was way to high.  But some days, cooking isn’t feasible.  Maybe you were out all day running errands, or you had a field trip, or maybe the baby demanded you sit on the couch and nurse him lest he protest and tell the entire neighborhood that you want to feed those other children and not him.  That’s when the freezer can work for you.  Simply by making double of a meal (like lasagna) or having a massive cooking day, your freezer can hold meals ready to heat and eat.    You’ll save valuable dollars by not heading out to a restaurant and they will be more nutritious than packaged meals from the grocery store.

Recently I made a big batch of Twice Baked Potatoes.  Well, they were a big batch until all of my children declared them the best thing they had ever eaten and ate their body weight in potatoes before I could freeze them.  Thankfully, I was able to freeze some!  And they are super easy.  They make a nice side dish depending on the size of your potato, or a quick lunch.  Add a salad and you are good to go.  Or don’t add the salad, I won’t tell.

Twice Baked Potatoes   

Sack of russet potatoes

bacon, cooked and crumbled

cream cheese, softened

sour cream

shredded cheese

butter, softened

olive oil and salt

Preheat your oven to 450*.  Wash all of your potatoes, poke holes in them, rub them with olive oil and some salt, and wrap in foil.  Stick them in the oven until they are perfect baked potatoes: when you squeeze them they feel a bit squishy.  When done (probably in 1.5 – 2 hours depending on the size of your potato), pull them out of the oven, take off the foil, and let them cool until you can handle them.

When they are cool, cut all of them in half lengthwise and scoop out the insides into a big bowl.  You want to create a little potatoe boat.  Be sure to not scoop to much or your potato boat will collapse.  Once you have all the potatoe insides scooped into the bowl, it’s time to make the worlds best mashed potatoes.  I wish I could give you exact amounts, but I just guesstimate my way through.  I start by throwing in half a stick of butter and mashing it all together.  then I add an 8oz package of softened cream cheese and mix that thoroughly.  Last I add a bit of sour cream to get the right consistency, and then add salt and pepper to taste. Finish by adding shredded cheese and the crumbled bacon.

Now fill your potato boats full of the wonderful mashed potato mixture.  Set on a cookie sheet.  After you are done filling all the potatoes you could sprinkle more shredded cheese if you want.  Stick the cookie sheet in the freezer and let the potatoes freeze up.  When they are completely frozen, put them into a freezer ziploc bag and label.  When you are hungry, you can grab one (0r 5 if you have an army like mine) and place in the oven on 400* until warmed through.  You could also microwave them, though I’ll admit I haven’t tried that.

Thanks to Pinterest I’ve been trying  a lot of new recipes.  And homeschooling ideas. And decorating ideas.  And… I’ll spare the list.  It’ s a fun little place to organize your online creativity for sure!  I recently made this Poppyseed Chicken recipe.  I made it just like the recipe stated the first time.  The second time I already had chicken breasts cut into pieces, portioned out, and frozen in the freezer.  Since I didn’t have it thawed ahead, instead of poaching the chicken, I threw the frozen chicken into a hot skillet with olive oil and worcestershire sauce. When it was completely cooked and soft, I poured it all into the casserole dish and finished with the sauce (sour cream, cream of mush soup, poppyseed)  and cracker topping.  It was delicious!  We served this over brown rice.  We don’t keep white rice in the house in an effort to eat more whole grains.  It worked perfectly!  It’s not the most photogenic casserole in the world, so I don’t have a picture of my own creation.  But trust me, what it lacks in presentation it makes up for in taste!

I never really truly knew what the windowpane test was when it came to bread.  You’d see it everywhere, “when the dough passes the windowpane test, it’s ready”  But what was the importance?  When it comes to whole wheat bread, the windowpane test is extremely important.  When you make your bread dough and start kneading it, gluten is developed.  The more it develops the more stretch the bread will get.  When dough passes the windowpane test, we know that the gluten is developed and strong enough to “stand up” in the bread.  What does that mean for your bread?  It means that your whole wheat bread will be fluffier, lighter, with more air holes.  It will give you that store bought sandwich feel, not the heavy dense bread a lot have come to associate with homemade whole wheat bread.  It’s really important!  But what does it look like?  What are you looking for?

To perform the windowpane test, break off a gumball size of dough after kneading.  Work the dough and gently begin stretching.  When you can stretch it without breaking, almost like bubble gum, and almost see through it, your gluten is developed and you can move on to your first rise.

Did you know you can make your own tortilla chips at home using a fryer?

We use a Oster 4-Liter Cool Touch Deep Fryer because it saves us time when deep frying chicken, appetizers, or chips for our family. We actually save money on chips by making our own, but we use it for more than just chips.

Here’s what one reviewer on Amazon said, “This met all my needs, the large capacity is double the amount of my 10 year old deep fryer and it had the mechanism to raise the basket out of the oil without opening the lid…The black and stainless steel is relatively easy to keep clean between uses. It heats up pretty fast, which I love!”

Another reviewer said, “If you love to fry, love fried foods, and want crispy delicious foods without a buttload of grease because your fryer does not make heat, then you NEED this fryer.”

Features

• Extra large 4 liter oil opacity
• Rise and fall fry basket with folding handle
• 60 Minute digital timer
• Adjustable thermostat
• Locking lid with dual filters

Description

Make a variety of fried-food favorites at home with this easy-to-use electric deep fryer from Make a variety of fried-food favorites at home with this easy-to-use electric deep fryer from the Oster brand. Equipped with a 1600-watt immersion heating element, the machine delivers fast heat-up times and consistently crispy, delicious results. The unit also provides an extra-large 4-liter oil capacity, which means it can cook just enough for two people or up to 1-1/2 pounds of food at a time-great when cooking for a crowd. Use the fryer to make anything from French fries, battered onion rings, deep-fried cheese sticks, and fish fillets to doughnuts, apple fritters, and funnel cakes-or less popular but equally delicious recipes like fried okra, shrimp fritters, and sweet potato croquettes. The appliance features a rise and fall frying basket with a cool-touch folding handle for safe operation, as well as an adjustable thermostat and a 60-minute digital timer with a signal bell. Other thoughtful design details include durable steel housing that stays cool to the touch, a locking lid with dual filters to help reduce odors, and a Sure-release power cord. This Oster 4-liter deep fryer has a one-year limited warranty.

This sourdough sandwich bread from Whole Foods is awesome.  Recently, they were on sale so I wanted to buy multiple loaves knowing that we had company coming over and it makes a really great sandwich or panini. The bakery case was empty so I asked the lady in the bakery if she had more coming.  She explained to me that they arrive at the store par baked and frozen.  So then the store finishes baking and puts them out in the cases.  I told her I wanted about 4 of them and she gladly retrieved them for me, packaged in tie up plastic bags.  She also commented on how smart it was to buy multiple loaves while they are on sale and throw them in the freezer.  I agree!

This is a great way to save money at Whole Foods.  It is possible to eat whole, natural, foods on a small budget!  You just have to plan plan plan ahead!

In an effort to try and curb costs around here I’ve been trying to meal plan every two weeks and do one big grocery shop.  Buying in bulk and visiting multiple stores  in one day seems to give us the best bang for our buck.  Little grocery shops are NEVER less than $20 and add up quickly!  Buying in bulk seems to save us the most cash possible.  Yesterday we did shopping at Sams Club (mostly cheese and meats), Aldi, and GFS.  We buy no prepackaged foods.  We grind our own wheat and make all of our own bread and pasta (well, half pasta.  I’m trying to get it so I make ALL of our pasta).  We buy all our tomato products from the scratch and dent outlet store (locally grown and canned for the fraction of the price it would cost me!) and try to be frugal with eating.

Here is the meal plans for the next two weeks.
Breakfasts

eggs

granola

waffles

pancakes

french toast

english muffin sandwiches

breakfast tacos

bran muffins

Lunches

quesadillas

sandwiches

mac n cheese

grilled cheese and tomato soup

PB& Jelly sandwiches
Dinners

steak burritos

hamburgers corn and zucchini (friends are coming over for a BBQ)

tomato cream pasta

enchiladas

pot roast

spaghetti & meatballs

beef with peppers

BBQ chicken

lasagna

chili & baked potatoes

french dip sandwiches

beef noodles

pizza

Recently, we have been doing research and developing web sites about cookware, tools, and appliances used in the kitchen. We felt there was a need to help people find more information about certain items that weren’t being covered very well with existing websites. Take grain mills for example. When trying to figure out the best wheat grinder for our lifestyle, we went to many different websites, but couldn’t find one that had all of the information we needed to compare and contrast different models. We saw a need for a new site that could bring all the major grain mixers into one place. We called it Wheat Grinders and it was just the start.

We found similar circumstances to the wheat mill when searching for kitchen stand mixers. It seemed that there were a lot of sites about the products themselves, but not a lot of content different than what was already offered at the stores. We really wanted to compare and contrast the models in an analytical way so for our next site we wrote about sales on KitchenAid stand mixers, pointing out the best mixers for your dollar and how they compare to other models, for example. We believe Mixer Sales is now a great place to find the best mixers for your kitchen.

And finally, there was real need more in-depth knowledge about cast-iron cookware and specifically, cast-iron skillets. Sure, lots of people have frying pans that they’ve inherited from their parents or grandparents, got as wedding gifts, or bought on their own – but many people don’t know the health benefits or how to season and clean them. Also, many people are now buying the enamled cast-iron cookware not knowing that they cook much differently than aluminum pans. Cast Pots and Iron Skillets set out to help people find better cast-iron cookware and how to take care of it and use it once they had it.

With rising gas and grocery prices, everybody has the same thing on their minds… what do I cut from my expenses so we can handle these rising costs?  For us, I’ve really tried to focus on our groceries and eating out.  Since having added our fourth child, I fell a bit lazy in the kitchen.  I’d be teaching all day and nursing the baby and all of a sudden it was 6pm and my husband was home and ready to eat.  With nothing ready, we’d just head out to the local restaurant.  And at the beginning of the day, after a long night of nursing the baby and tending to everyone’s nighttime needs, I’d be too tired to get up and make a proper breakfast.  So he’d pick breakfast on the way out the door usually Mcdonalds.   $3 for breakfast feels like a real bargain in the moment but when you step back and look at it, you can easily spend $60 on breakfast for one person every month!

But we all like eating out.  And everyone loves a good egg mcmuffin now and then, so I tried to recreate them at home.  The problem turned out to be the egg.  How do you get the perfect shaped egg to sit on top of your english muffin?  So I bought a tiny skillet like this. For years I would see those in the store and say “who buys those silly little kitchen gadgets?”  Well, as it turns out… me.  And the funny thing is, I LOVE this skillet!  It’s the perfect size for lots of things like melting butter to go on top of popcorn. And it makes the perfect size egg to go on top of your english muffin.

Recently, I’ve been frustrated with the amount of food that my children were consuming in between meals.  More than that there was a lot of waste associated with this snacking.  Whole loaves of bread, entire packages of cheese, and big bags of apples disappearing in 24 hours.  While snacking is fine, uncontrollable snacking is just not an option in our budget.  Especially if they want to eat meals!  Not to mention I’d go in to make a meal I had planned for only to find that they had eaten all the cheese making it impossible to make mac n’ cheese and leaving me without a dinner plan.  Not good.

So after talking with my husband who said that we just needed to expect it and maybe I should shop for meals daily (ack!  not only does that make me shudder at the thought of going to the grocery store everyday with all of our children, it is most definitely not budget friendly!)  I came up with the idea of the snack basket.  Each morning I put out a new basket full of snacks on the dining room table.  They are welcome to eat anything in the snack basket that they desire during the day, but when the basket it’s empty – that’s it.  No more snacks.  So far I haven’t had anybody whining at 3pm because they’ve eaten all the snacks.  Somehow knowing how much they all have keeps them from binging.  Also they have been pretty good about making sure not to eat everything of one thing except the cookies.  My son has a cookie problem.   The contents of the basket are subject to change.  There is healthy in there was well as “treat” foods.  Currently in this basket there are 3 PB&J oatmeal cookies (found at the bread thrift store for an excellent price!), 3 apples, 6 individual portions of peanut butter, 3 individually packaged pieces of 9 grain bread, 3 individually packaged slices of cranberry cinnamon swirl bread, & 3 portions of colby jack cheese, and 3 little baggies of stick pretzels.  Now some might think “she’s leaving CHEESE on the table all day?” I reassure you that these were gone first thing.  Also, included in the basket is 3 IKEA kids knives and 3 IKEA kids spoons.  The reason is that you need a little knife for the PB to put on the bread.  And you also need spoons to eat the PB out of the little cups (a trick my husband taught them).  The “re-user” in me does cringe a bit at the packaging waste, but I thought it the best way to keep everything fresh (no hard bread) as well as making them realize how much one portion is.  And the cost of the baggies/cups still make it a savings over the entire fridge binging they were doing.  I also set out 3 IKEA cups on the table and they can fill those with water from the fridge door as often as they please.

And so far it has worked!  I think their snacking has actually been cut down a bit which is good because to much snacking is just not good.  They have control over what they are snacking on and when they are snacking.  I have a bit more control over the contents of the kitchen and freedom to meal plan again.  It’s something we all feel good about and they eagerly look forward to what is in the basket each morning.

Rising grocery prices are a huge concern for everyone, but especially those with larger families.  My family consumes food at a growing rate faster than the food budget.  Therefore I’ve recently started to really pay attention to what I buy.  We rarely buy any packaged products like mac n cheese or hamburger helper.  We’ve found we can make those meals cheaper, healthier, and tastier at home.  I’ve been asked before, so then what do you buy?  We buy fresh produce, dairy, milk, meat, pastas and canned goods.  I have a budget that I get in cash every payday and I use that to stock up on necessities we go through every day such as milk and cheese and I also use it to shop sales and stock up on things like sausage and canned goods when they are practically giving them away.  I do browse the coupons weekly, but I find that unless you are buying packaged goods, coupons really aren’t that handy.

I’ve started shopping about 5 stores routinely.  The first one that I don’t go to often is the Red Gold Factory Outlet.  Red Gold is a major manufacturer of tomato products here in the Indiana area.  They have an outlet store where you can buy first quality goods but also buy missing label and dented cans.  You buy by the case but it is worth the investment!  A big can of whole tomatoes, something I use frequently, is less than 60cents per can.  Considering that a can of whole tomatoes (28oz size) is well over a $1 at the store even on sale, this is a good deal!  I also buy ketchup, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, and crushed tomatoes there as well.

The second store that I frequently shop is the Aunt Millie Thrift Shop While I can and have often baked most of our bread, with summer approaching it’s to hot to run the stove.  And the three amigos and Erich also eat copious amounts of raisin bread, whole wheat bagels, and english muffins.  I enjoy Aunt Millie’s bread because most of their products are HFCS free.  The $2/loaf bread only costs .89cents at the thrift shop.  This last week I bought bagels buy one get one free. And the english muffins were buy 1 get 2 free! They also sell Amish egg noodles. Yum.  If you have a freezer and/or use a lot of bread (we can easily go through 3 loaves a week!) then look for a bakery thrift store near you!

The third store I frequent is Sams Club.  I like to get there first thing when they open and head straight to the meat case.  I buy up hamburger, stew meat, roasts, pork chops, and steaks there when they are “reduced for quick sale.”  It’s the only way to roll my friends.  We also buy my husbands Monster drinks there.  He often drinks these at work in the afternoon.  If he runs to the gas station the price is $2.80.  At Sams we buy them buy the case and they come to roughly $1.33 each.  We also buy Mountain Dew there for the same reasons (though I will buy those at other places when they start “giving” them away at bargain prices!)    I also buy all of my milk at Sams.  At $2/gallon, it’s a good deal.  And Sams Club milk is now RBST free – a huge bonus in my book!  Considering the price is around $2.50-$3.00 per gallon at the grocery store, the savings is significant considering we can go through 12-15 gallons of milk every 2 weeks!  Other things I buy there are apples, bananas, grapefruit, strawberries, raspberries, potatoes, yogurt, tubs of magarine, cheddar cheese, and mozzarella cheese.  I also buy dry spaghetti and macaroni there as well.  You do have to buy a lot of food at once, but when you use a lot of food it doesn’t really matter.   At least that’s what I tell myself.

The fourth place I shop is Aldi.  There I buy eggs, cream cheese, cottage cheese, chicken and beef broth,  sour cream, fresh mozzarella balls, pickles, bbq sauce, assorted baking supplies like flour and sugar, butter in stick form, and various canned goods such as green beans and corn.  I also buy cereal here as well as ramen noodles.  My kids and husband love ramen and it makes for a quick, cheap, easy meal once in a while.

The fifth place is a combo of Marsh (local Indiana grocery store) and Meijer.  I rarely ever shop Kroger, I’m just not a Kroger fan.  Though I do peruse those ads.  I only ever buy from the front page of the sale ads in these stores.  These are the “loss leader” sales.  They discount this food to entice you to come in to the store where they will then try and get you to buy lots of other things!  This week I’m headed there for the 10 for $10 sales.  They have sausage on sale and $1 for a pound of it is a good deal!  I also go into Marsh for things I have forgotten or can only get there (like beef consumme).  I try to limit these trips as they can start to drain my budget.  But sometimes leaving town (I live in a very small town and Marsh is the only option for grocery in town) is not an option or the price of the trip is more than the savings!

It sounds like a lot of shopping, and it is.  My 6 year old always comments on all the food we buy. But we try to make it a fun trip and also work together to put things away. And the three amigos are usually dying to get home and eat some of the yummy fruit or yogurt they got to buy at the store.  I generally treat them to lunch out at Sams Club while we are out as well.

As grocery prices go up, I know Erich and I have looked for ways to make sure we plan to make our meals healthy, nutritious, and budget friendly.  We’ve learned that planning our menus accomplishes that. Having the menu prepped ahead of time all answers the age old question: “what’s for dinner?”

I know though that meal planning can be tedious.  It takes a lot of thought to plan so that we aren’t eating the same things over and over each week. Plus, the same old stuff bores me and loses my interest to cook.  And as we our activities like homeschooling, tumbling, and art lessons start to take up more and more time, having a plan already made is priceless.  I recently found E-Mealz.  Recommended by Dave Ramsey, they call themselves your “mental maid”.  E-Mealz appealed to me because unlike other meal planning services, the meals are simple family friendly dinners.  Nothing gourmet and not a lot of time consuming meals.  The categorized shopping list also easily references what ingredients go with each meal, so it’s easy to cross off a meal that our family won’t enjoy. (Okay okay, I’m the picky eater in this family!) They also list the staples you’ll need for each meal such as flour, honey, or ketchup- so you don’t find yourself buying a new bottle every week. Each weeks menu involves different prep methods such as meals you make the night before and crockpot meals.  While some meals will repeat a few times in 6 months, each week is packed with a brand new plan so you are sure to have plenty of variety making meal time fun again.

And again, the recipe are delicious!  Tonight I made a simple grilled garlic ham and cheese sandwich and Magdalena declared it “better than Subway!” That’s what I call two thumbs up!  They have a variety of different meal plans including low fat, 2 person menu, points menu, and the standard family menu that serves 4-6.   They also have menus based on the sales ads of Kroger, Walmart, and Aldi.  I choose the “any store” menu since I like to shop at different stores for different things.

And last but not least, it’s affordable!  $1.25 a week and you don’t have to think about “what’s for dinner?” Please use my link to the right and go find your very own mental maid – you’ll be glad you did!

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Probably in front of the TV eating. I have this hunger that can not be satisfied. It’s starting to get annoying. And if you are wondering the kinds of things I’ve eaten today? I made beef stew and cream cheese muffins. If you knew me, you’d know that I’m really not one for beef stew. In fact, my mom asked me why I was making beef stew since I don’t like it. **shrugs** It sounded good. And it was okay. And the muffins were okay too. The cantaloupe was great but the salsa con queso was a bit salty. I’m already a big girl so all of this eating probably isn’t helping. I had fully intended to walk to the PO today (yk, to off set the eating) but it was 95 degrees today. No sir, I won’t walk in that heat. So either I’m getting ready for AF, or there is a baby who is jumping on the eating bandwagon.

And unlike last month where I had a definite feeling that things didn’t work, I’m lost this month. Some moments I think “nah” and other moments I feel “maybe?” Is it Friday yet?

I’ll be canning for the next few days. Look for me then.

Cooking dinner, chicken on the left, mac n cheese on the right.