My newest addiction...

I have found a website that lets you mail in your child's clothes that no longer fit for credit.  You can either cash out your credit, or you can use it to purchase gently worn clothing in the size your child now wears.  They will send you a bag for mailing the clothes, with postage already on it!!  Sometimes they require a deposit for the bag, which you get back when you mail the bag full of clothes to them.  Right now, they are running a special where there is no deposit for the bags!!  They accept clothes sizes 18 months to kids size 20.  All clothes have to be in like new condition, no holes or stains, etc.  They inspect each item when it comes in to make sure it is quality, then they price it, and award your credit.  I have mailed in two bags of clothes that my girls have outgrown, and I have another bag on the way to me....  I do have to say, I could not wait for the first credit, I bought some stuff before I got it.  I am very pleased with the things I got for the girls.  Name brand, like new, for a fraction of the cost of buying it at the store!  The website is Threadup.com, go and check it out!

OAMC -Once A Month Cooking #2

Last night we had lasagna.  This was one of the casseroles that I had made last week and frozen.  It was not completely thawed by the time I stuck it in the oven, so I put it in the oven while the oven was preheating (an extra 15 min).  When I made the recipe, I bought two boxes of lasagna noodles, which were a couple shy of what I needed, so you need three boxes for three casseroles.  Also, if you are not a fan of cheese, this one is not for you.  Or, you can make a little more meat sauce to add to it.  My four year old licked her plate clean!  We also ate some bread that I made in the bread machine.  It was really good too!  This is also an OAMC recipe, which I will include at the bottom of the page.

Simply Lasagna

1 lb ground beef  (I used ground turkey because it is cheaper and you can't really tell the difference)
1 egg, beaten
2 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
1 container (15 oz) ricotta cheese
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese, divided
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped (I omitted this)
1 jar (26 oz) spaghetti sauce
1 cup water
12 lasagna noodles, uncooked (finally a recipe I don't have to cook the noodles first for!)

Brown meat, drain, then add spaghetti sauce and water.

In a separate bowl, mix egg, 1 1/4 cups mozzarella cheese, ricotta cheese, 1/4 cup parmesan cheese and parsley, until well blended.

Spread 1 cup of meat sauce onto bottom of 13x9 in baking dish, top with layers of 3 lasagna noodles, one-third of the cheese mixture, and one cup of the sauce.  Repeat the layers twice.  Top with remaining 3 noodles and the remaining meat sauce.  Sprinkle with the remaining mozzarella and parmesan cheese.  Cover with foil.

Freeze, or heat oven to 350 degrees and bake for 45 minutes.  Remove foil and bake for additional 15 min, or until heated through.  Let stand 15 min, before cutting to serve.  Makes 12 servings.

This is the bread recipe.  I stored my mix in a recycled plastic ice cream bucket (one of the larger ones).

Bread Machine Mix for White Bread

5 lbs bread flour  (make sure to get bread flour!)
1 cup powdered milk  (I bought  the ones in envelopes, one envelope equals 1 cup)
2/3 cup sugar
2 1/2 Tbsp salt

You will also need:  water, butter, and bread machine yeast.

1)  Stir together flour, powdered milk, sugar, and salt in a big bowl.
2)  Store in a tightly covered container in a cool place. (I keep mine in the refrigerator)
3)  To make 1 1/2 lb loaf:  use 3 cups mix, 1 1/4 cup water, 2 tbsp softened butter, and 1 1/4 tsp bread machine yeaste.
4)  To make 2 lb loaf:  use 4 1/3 cups mix, 1 1/3 cup water, 2 tbsp softened butter, and 1 1/2 tsp bread machine yeast.
5)  Place ingredients in machine, select basic or white bread cycle, with a medium or light crust.
6)  When done, remove from machine and cool on rack (I ate mine straight out of the machine with butter!)

OAMC - Once A Month Cooking #1

In the middle of everything that was going on last week, I also started on my OAMC.  Once A Month Cooking is a great idea, if you have time to do it!  The idea is to do as much prep work as you can and freeze the dishes, so all you have to do is thaw them out and warm them up.  I have done this once before and it was a lot of work, but worth it if you are really busy and don't have time most nights to cook a good meal.  While my kiddos would be fine with hamburger helper and mac-n-cheese, my hubby prefers a little more substance to his meals.  I have been too busy to do all of the cooking in one day, but I did manage to get quite a few meals done in down time over the week.  I did not take pictures of the process, like I wanted to, but I was in a hurry :)

This is some of the stockpile I have been working on.  What I did was one or two meals at a time that had the same meat.  That way I could prepare the meat all at once and then divide it up with the other ingredients.  I would serve one of the meals I cooked that night, and put the rest in the freezer.  Some of them can go in ziplock baggies and some of them have to go in casserole pans (because they are layered or have toppings).  All of the meat and noodles are cooked, so they can be thawed the night before and just popped in the oven for 45 minutes.  I don't have to spend all of my time in the kitchen!  I can focus more time on my kiddos and hubby :)  I am going to post the recipes that I found and used.  I have not had any negative responses from the family on any that we have tried so far.  Brianna is not crazy about the chicken packets, but she eats them, and this is one of my favorites!  If you don't like these recipes, you can look up OAMC and find tons of sites with recipes that work for freezing.  I usually double, triple, or quadruple a recipe (depending on how much we like it) and make several meals at one time.

Chicken Packets

40 min/ 20 min prep

Serves 8/ 8 packets

2 cups chopped cooked chicken

1 (6-8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

1 Tbsp chives, chopped

2 Tbsp milk

salt

1/2 cup seasoned croutons, crushed to crumbs

2 (8 ounce) packages refrigerated crescent dinner rolls

1/4 cup melted margarine

1)  Mix chicken, cream cheese, chives, milk, and salt in a medium bowl to make filling, and store in a 1 quart freezer bag.  (I just put everything in the bag, seal it, and mix it in the bag).

2)  Put crouton crumbs in another 1 quart bag, attach it to the bag of chicken filling, and freeze.

3)  Refrigerate crescent rolls.

4)  To prepare for serving, thaw chicken mixture.

5)  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

6)  Unroll crescent rolls.  Each tube contains 4 rectangles of dough with a diagonal perforation. Press dough along each perforation so that the rectangle halves do not separate.  

7)  Place about 1/4 cup of the chicken mixture into the center of each rectangle.

8)  Fold dough over the filling,k and pinch the edges to seal tightly.

9)  Dip each packet in melted margarine, and coat with crouton crumbs.

10)  Place packets on baking sheet.

11)  Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

12)  Packets can be eaten hot or cold.

This is another chicken recipe that I made (we have not tried this one yet, but it looks yummy!)  I made this at the same time as I made the chicken packets, so I wouldn't have to cook chicken twice!  This time I cooked the chicken in the crock pot, so I wouldn't have to stand over it.  This makes the chicken more shredded when you cut it up, which works in both recipes.  However, I liked the chicken packets better with cubed chicken....

Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole

4 cups boneless chicken, cooked and cubed

2 (10 1/2 ounce) cans cream of celery soup

8 ounces of sour cream

2 cups cubed ham

1 1/2 cups Swiss cheese, shredded

1 (6 ounce) seasoned stuffing mix

1)  Mix all ingredients but stuffing mix together.

2)  Place in freezer bag and freeze.

3)  To serve, thaw in refrigerator over night.

4)  Put mixture in the bottom of a casserole dish.

5)  Fix stuffing, and spread on top of soup mixture.

6)  Cover with foil.  Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

I did not read all of the directions and fixed the stuffing mix.  So, I put mine in a foil casserole pan and went ahead and put on the stuffing and froze it.  I will let you know when we eat it if it turns out ok.

I will post some more recipes soon!

Happy cooking!!

Fancy Hair

Short post!  I found this great hair blog on Pinterest!  www.cute2tryhairdos.blogspot.com.  It has how to's on a lot of really cute hair styles for little girls.  Some of them are easier than others.  I tried out a few on Allie and Brianna.  Brianna's hair is still a little short for many of them, but Allie's turned out well.  I just have to invest in some smaller ponytail holders!

Organized Chaos

I haven't blogged in the last week and a half because our family has been on the go.  Last week, Sunday through Tuesday, our church had a big event going on.  We had Steve Carrier of MegaForce visiting.  I worked on his team that went around to area schools during the day on Monday and Tuesday.  We got to go to five local schools!  Steve gave motivational messages at the schools about making good choices and then he was able to invite the children back to our church for evening services.  He broke a couple of things at the schools to get the children interested enough to come at night.  At the night services he broke concrete, bent bars, rolled pans, ripped license plates and phone books, and exploded cans of sprite, then he talked to the congregation about Jesus.  So much fun!!

On Wednesday night our church invited back all of the visitors that made decisions for Christ for a dinner and to tell them about our baptism service on the next Sunday.

Thursday night a group from our ministry (my husband and mine's), Radical Christian Outreach, went to BDCC prison.  The prison was having a revival all week, and TJ was preaching the message that night.  As soon as we got there I got sick and had to rush home.  Ugh, and the sick has been in our house all week!  Pray for it to leave, please!!

After such a whirlwind week, we were looking forward to our family reunion that was to be this past weekend.  We found out last minute that it had to be rescheduled due to pine beetles!  Apparently they had made many of the trees in the camp we use sick and they had to be cut down.  The clean  up crew had not finished getting all of the dead trees out....  Well, we were in much need of a rest, and we had already made arrangements for others to fill for us in our regular obligations, so we decided to take off to Tyler, Texas to our timeshare.  This is a picture of the girls on the way to Texas!  They were already worn out from the busy week!!

It rained all day Saturday, so we went to the mall in Tyler.  I took the girls to Build-A-Bear, while the boys and TJ wandered around.

Then we ate at Chick-Fil-A (love them!!) and went to see the new movie Transylvania Hotel, which was very cute.  We then went back to the resort and ate ice cream at the A&W and played a game of bingo.

After ice cream, we went back to the condo, relaxed, and played a couple of games while dinner cooked.  It was so nice just to get some quality family time in!!

Hmmm, that actually worked!

So, in my last post I was talking about how I had to come up with something new for dinner, because what I had planned ended up being pretty close to what we ate at lunch at church...  I had some chicken breasts thawed out that I needed to use, so I threw them in the crock pot.  I was going to peel some potatoes into it also, but there was one that had gone rotten and was starting to infect the others in the bag, sooooooo I threw the whole thing away (Gross!).  HMMMM.... what to do?  I found a box of those augratin potatoes in the cabinet and put the dry potatoes on top of the chicken, then added a can of carrots (minus the juice), and the cheese package from the potatoes on top of that.  Then I added the water and milk that the potatoes called for, covered it up, turned it on, and left it to cook while I ran to night service.  I was a little worried about how that would turn out, would it be edible?

 

It turned out pretty good, actually.  My family loved it!  Definitely putting this on the "do again" list.  Easy Peasy recipe that I don't have to stand over the stove for, can't beat that!

Ideas for Losing It!

First of all, I posted earlier in the week that I was trying the 5 meals, 1 bag recipes.  We did eat the Cheesy meatball subs that were listed, but I did not take pictures.  The other two recipes got changed as the week progressed.  We were going to try the other meatball recipe, but we ended up having company, so I quickly changed it to spaghetti and meatballs, so I would have enough.  The other recipe was a kind of a chicken alfredo recipe, which I was going to cook tonight, because we had company again yesterday and ended up getting pizza.  We eat with some other families for lunch after church and take turns cooking the main meal and bringing sides.  The family that cooked this week brought cheesy chicken spaghetti (so good!!!).  I didn't think it would be fair to subject my husband to something so similar again for dinner.  So, anyway, I put the chicken in the crock pot with some other stuff I had, and I will let you know about it tomorrow (if it turns out any good!).

I have been working on losing weight.  I re-joined Weight Watchers online and did very good for the first two weeks.  Then I kind of got a little less strict with it.  I found a couple of things on Pinterest today that might help a little.  One post pointed out a site that has the point calculator that Weight Watchers uses, so now I can ditch my $18/month membership fee and just track it on my own (woo hoo!).  I am always looking for ways to save money, so this was a bonus.  The site is http://www.calculatorcat.com/free_calculators/weight_watchers_calculator.phtml.  I know how many points I am allowed for each day and the extra for the week, and I also know how many points I am given for when I walk, so I should be able to track it on my own.  As for the weight tracker, I found another pin that inspired me.  I had some pickle jars and a ton of those clear glass rocks, so I made some jars to keep track of my weight.  You just move the rocks from one jar to the other depending on what you lose or gain.

I also thought, this would be a great idea for the kiddos.  My little ones are terrible at saving money.  Brianna wants to spend hers as soon as she gets it, and Allie does good if she can keep money long enough to spend it.  I usually find hers laying on the floor somewhere.  I can take a picture of what they are saving for and put it in a jar.  Put rocks in another jar for how much they need to save, and move them over as they earn the money.  This way I can give them the whole amount when they reach their goal, and they won't risk spending it or losing it.  We will make "need" and "have" jars.

Travel Chalk Boards

I found a great idea on Pinterest the other day and thought I would try it out!  I loved the idea of making a personalized chalk board for the girls that they can carry in the car with them.  The pin on pinterest used new cookie sheets.  I have been needing new cookie sheets, so I repurposed my old, worn out ones instead, I got the new ones to cook on!  Here is how you do it!

1)  You have to paint your pans with primer, I tried putting the chalk board paint directly on the pans, and it did not work!  You can get cheap spray primer at WalMart.



2)  Once the primer dries, you can paint the pans with chalk board paint.  They make it in a spray can, which would be much easier, however, I had some left over from another project, so I had to brush it on.  I did use a roller for the open parts.

The chalk board paint has to dry for a while before you do anything else.  I waited 30 minutes to put on a second coat.  It says to let it dry for four hours before recoating and even longer before you chalk on it.... make sure and read your paint's instructions. 

3)  I did this over three days, because I had to do it inbetween other things, and these are for gifts, so I didn't want them out when the girls came home.  Step three is painting on the Initials.  I just pained on their first initial, you can do it any way you like.  I used the acrylic paint in Walmart, it is in small bottles and costs from fifty cents to a dollar.  I painted on three or four coats of this.

4)  While I waited for the paint to dry, I made the bows to tie at the top of the pan.  I also tied a long piece of ribbon to the bows to tie on the eraser for the chalk board.

5)  The bows were attached at the top (there was already a hole in my pan, so it made it easier).  If you don't have a hole, you can drill one, or you can try hot gluing the bow on, however, this will probably not stay long.  The eraser is a fuzzy finger.  You can find these on the cleaning isle.  I got mine at Fred's.  They were only a couple of dollars each.

This is the finished product!  So cute, can't wait to give them to the girls.  I also found some printable pins on pinterest where you can print out worksheets to use with magnetic letters!  And these will be great for the magnetic paper dolls we have!

Terrific Tuesday and my Pesto experience

Well, in my last post I talked about the Kraft Website and their "1 Bag, 5 Dinners" menus.  http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/dinner/1bag5dinners/main.aspx#.  Tuesday I started with the Pesto Chicken recipe.  It is actually day 2, but I skipped and will come back to day 1 later.  This was an extremely easy recipe and did not take much time to prepare.  Here it goes:

Crispy Baked Pesto Chicken

4 small boneless skinless chicken breasts (I used six and did not need to increase the amount of the other ingredients.)

1 pouch Shake 'n Bake (the recipe says original, I used parmesan and it was great!)

2 Tbsp. pesto

1/4 cup Kraft Shredded Mozzarella Cheese (I did use a little more cheese, but I always do!)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

1)  Coat chicken with Shake n' Bake and place in baking dish.

2)  Bake until chicken is cooked through (I cooked mine for about 45 minutes).

3)  Top chicken with pesto.  Then sprinkle with cheese.

 



4)  Bake an additional 5 minutes or until cheese is melted and lightly browned.  This time I served it with rice and creamed corn.  I have made this chicken before and paired it up with manicotti and it was great!

I will try the next recipe on Thursday!  Can't wait :)

Manic Monday

On the Kraft Website, http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/dinner/1bag5dinners/main.aspx#, there are recipe lists called "1Bag 5 Dinners".  It gives you recipes for five days of dinner that only take ingredients that will fit in one bag at the grocery store (the big brown bags, not the little plastic bags).  Anyway, I have used a couple of these before, but they have added quite a few since then.  You can print out the recipes and a shopping list for the whole week.  I got my list and went to the store intending on trying one out this week.  I am only going to try out the first four days, because the last day is just mac-n-cheese, and seeing as how my husband thinks we eat too much cheese (as if you could!), I didn't think he would appreciate having only mac-n-cheese for dinner.  Also, we are eating dinner at church on Wednesday nights this month, so I really only need four anyway.  Well, Monday I was supposed to cook meatball subs, but my day went kind of crazy and I just threw something quick together.  One of my dogs, Dexter, hurt himself somehow and has been limping around for a couple of weeks.  I took him to the vet last week and he would not cooperate, so  they said if it did not get better to bring him back and they would sedate him to look at him.  Monday morning he was hopping around crying, so I decided it was time to take him back to the vet.  So, there went a big chunk of my day.  The good news is that he doesn't have cancer (yes, they had to do a biopsy), he does have a very small fracture on his shoulder, and a lump that seems to be making his leg temporarily paralyzed.  He should get better soon.  As ornery as he is, I went ahead and had them shave him down and clean his teeth while he was out, he is a whole new pup now!

So, instead of trying out the first recipe on my list, I just threw together some stir fry.  I had some beef tips, frozen broccoli, and red bell pepper, so I just cooked it all together and put in on top of rice... the fam loved it.  I'm not crazy about broccoli (hate it, won't eat it), which was ok, because I had so gone off my diet at lunch, that all I ate for dinner was a boiled egg and a bananna.  I'm doing the weight watchers online program, which works if you stick to it :)  However, I find that the more we walk in the morning, the hungrier I am when I get home.  Monday, I picked up a bowl of white queso from the restaurant down the street and had that for lunch with some tortilla chips.  Turns out it is quite a few (quite a lot, actually) of points and so, yeah....

.... This is a picture of my four year old, Allie.  She had confiscated my Kindle Fire to watch cartoons and when I checked back in on her I noticed that she was no longer watching cartoons.  I asked her what she was watching and she said a cooking show!  She found a show all about cupcakes on Netflix... too cute!

Who would have thought!

So, one of my good friends has started selling AVON, and her aunt found this list of uses for the bubble bath that they sell.  I love their bubble bath!  I never would have thought to use it as anything but bubble bath.  It just so happened that I had three bottles stockpiled in my stash..... so I thought I would try out some of these "other" uses.  Today I tried it in my laundry.  The list claims that you can use one to two caps of it for detergent and you don't even need fabric softner.  I used two caps because I like to wash large loads.  Well, my towels came out smelling good, soft, and not full of static!  Next time AVON has a sale on bubble bath, here I come!  Can't wait to try out some of the other things on the list... my friend told me she tried it as floor cleaner and it worked great!

Here are some of the things on the list:

1.Zillions of bubbles that leave NO bath tub ring.
2. Does a beautiful job on washing cars, mobile homes, caravans, trailers and boats.Leaves a protective wax like coating - water marks wash off!
3. Laundry Detergent: Use one capful on regular loads, 2 capfuls if washing greasywork clothes. You won't need fabric softener.
4. Use for hand washing delicates.
5. Pretreatment for Laundry: Use your old spray and wash bottle. Mix 1/2 bubblebath and 1/2 water. Pretreat stains with a spray. For set in stains, dab on directly,scrub stain with an old toothbrush, then wash. Great for ring around the collar andgreasy work clothes.
6. Use to wash windows. Windshield Washer Solvent: Use when freezingtemperatures are not a threat. 1 1/2 capfuls per gallon.
7. Use to wash outside of appliances to cut kitchen grease.
8. Use to wash floors (but not wax floors).
9.Sink-dishwashing Soap: Your dishes will sparkle as well as your coffee pot, glassesand cook-wear
10. Use to give pets a bath (along with SSS).
11. Clean mirrors.
12. Use to shampoo carpets (whole room or a spot). Carpet Cleaning: Add 2 capfulsto large carpet shampoo machines it will even take out red wine stains.
13. Use to wash walls and ceilings.
14. Use bubbles and sponge to shampoo vehicle interiors.

15. Cleans chandeliers and light fixtures.

16. Cleans china

17. Dissolve 1/2 a capful in water to wash your plant leaves, they will shine. Thenpour into soil as a fertilizer.

18. Upholstery stains come out by rubbing with a damp cloth dipped in full strengthbubble bath. Do not wet the sponge with water. Water may leave a stain, thebubble bath won't. Upholstery Cleaner: Use 1 capful for a 24 oz spray bottlefilled with water. Scrub with brush against nap. Let dry. Vacuum and allowit to dry.

19. Clean your jewelry - even costume jewelry.

20. Splatter grease, oil or butter on a good blouse? Put straight bubble bath on thespot, let sit a few minutes and wash. No spots!

21. Wash Venetian blinds.

22. Wash paneling - no rinsing, no streaks.

23. Clean your eye glasses.

24. Put some bubble bath and a bit of water in your potpourri burner.

25. Clean your painted or real wood cupboards.

26. Refill for liquid soap, mild on hands (add a touch of Skin So Soft Bath Oil).

27. Hair Shampoo.

28, Inside and outside the refrigerator - easy to wipe off and gets rid of odors.

29. Polishes all chrome household fixtures - because it's alkali it won't mark.

30. Cleans bathroom vanity and ceramic tiles - No water marks. Kitchen/Bathroomfloor: Add 1 capful to 2 gallons of water to mop floors. Add 1/2 capfuls extra forvery soiled floors.

31. Toilet Bowl and Tanks: Add a capful to tank occasionally to help reduce build up.

32. Cleans combs and brushes - leaves no residue.

33. Add to the children's wading pool makes for great summer fun and keeps the pooland the kids clean too!!

A little something tasty for dinner...

Well, I'm back, got kind of busy for a while there.... who has time to blog anyway?  Oh, wait, I do!  Now that all of my kiddos are in school, I am finding myself with extra time.  I have recently become obsessed with Pinterest... LOVE IT!  And that reminded me of my blog that I had dropped a year or so ago.  I thought, I can do that!  Instead of just repinning other people's pins, I started pinning things I found outside of Pinterest, and then I thought, why don't I start back my blog, and pin my own stuff?  So, I am starting with a recipe that I fixed for dinner tonight.

So good, my kiddos love it, even the picky one!  It's kind of a cross between chili and that Dorito casserole I've seen around, and it is very forgiving.  I've never made it exactly the same twice, I use whatever is around.

Tonight I started with taco flavored ground turkey.  We like the turkey meat, you can't really taste the difference between it and hamburger because of all the flavor from the other stuff, and it's cheaper.  Cook the meat in a large pot, this way you only have to use two pans for cooking. 

 

 

Cook rice in a separate pan.  I prepared 1 1/2 cups (uncooked) rice.  While rice cooks, add one can of beans to the meat.  Tonight I used a can of pork and beans, because that was all I had.  You can use chili beans, red beans, black beans, etc. 

I also added some chili, because we had some left over from chili dogs.  I have used in the past diced tomatoes and that worked nicely also.



When the rice gets through cooking add that to the pan also.  Mix everything together well.

Then add cheese and smashed up Doritos on top!  I only have a picture of the cheese, my Doritos picture did not come out (and we already ate, so I can't take another one!)

Enjoy!!