Go to:
"Safely Gathered In"
They have wonderful ideas, free printables and easy lists to follow.
My friend, Trisha, recommended this site. It's fantastic.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Frugality
There is an excellent post over at The Pantry Panel:
"In case you are freaking out about the economy: How to be frugal"
I found this blog while checking out another blog - you know the drill. Anyway, love it!!!
Keep up the excellent work, ladies!
"In case you are freaking out about the economy: How to be frugal"
I found this blog while checking out another blog - you know the drill. Anyway, love it!!!
Keep up the excellent work, ladies!
Texas Caviar
This is my recipe for Texas Caviar. I got it from my cousin, Camille, and it is YUMMY!
1 bell pepper, diced
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped (I used the dried parsley#)
1 can jalapenos, diced
1 can black-eyed peas, drained
1 medium white onion, chopped
2 bunches green onions, chopped
1 can hominy, gold or white, drained
1 120z Zesty Italian Dressing (can use generic brand but not fat free)
3 -4 chopped tomatoes, depending on what you like (alright, I've cheated here too and put in two cans of petite diced tomatoes)
Marinate all of the above ingredients except for the tomatoes for at least one hour. Add tomatoes before serving.
**I have also added chopped cucumbers and diced avocado**
#According to the Food Network, if you use dried herbs in place of fresh it is a 1 to 3 ration - so 1/3 of 1/2 is ???, I just cheated and looked on my handy dandy Equivalent Measurements chart I purchased at the dollar store - 1/3 of 1/2 EQUALS 1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp or 1/8 cup.
Disclaimer: I am not a math genius :)
1 bell pepper, diced
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped (I used the dried parsley#)
1 can jalapenos, diced
1 can black-eyed peas, drained
1 medium white onion, chopped
2 bunches green onions, chopped
1 can hominy, gold or white, drained
1 120z Zesty Italian Dressing (can use generic brand but not fat free)
3 -4 chopped tomatoes, depending on what you like (alright, I've cheated here too and put in two cans of petite diced tomatoes)
Marinate all of the above ingredients except for the tomatoes for at least one hour. Add tomatoes before serving.
**I have also added chopped cucumbers and diced avocado**
#According to the Food Network, if you use dried herbs in place of fresh it is a 1 to 3 ration - so 1/3 of 1/2 is ???, I just cheated and looked on my handy dandy Equivalent Measurements chart I purchased at the dollar store - 1/3 of 1/2 EQUALS 1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp or 1/8 cup.
Disclaimer: I am not a math genius :)
Giveaway at Pennies in my Pocket
Go over and enter this contest... The bags are so cute!
(click on the title of this post and it will take you right over to Pennies in my Pocket)
(click on the title of this post and it will take you right over to Pennies in my Pocket)
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
BBQ Meatball Sauce
This is a recipe I found in a local cookbook, from the town of Waverly, Illinois. I have taken this to potlucks, parties, served it at home - It always gets great reviews!
Barbequed Meatball Sauce
2 cups ketchup
1 ½ cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons liquid smoke
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ cup minced onion
I buy a bag of frozen meatballs (from Wally World), cook according to directions in oven. I then mix up the ingredients for the sauce. I then place both sauce and meatballs in crockpot on high for 30 - 45 minutes and then turn to low. They are ready to serve and delicious.
Food Storage: I bought a small bottle of liquid smoke and it has lasted me forever. All the other ingredients I use frequently for cooking or already have in food storage. If you were invited last minute, you could cook the meatballs in the microwave, make the sauce on the stovetop and then take it in the crockpot. Easy.
Boiled Eggs
I love boiled eggs. They are a fabulous snack - they have just 78 calories and .6 grams of fat per egg. They take the edge off when I need something to eat - they are loaded with protein - 6.3 grams per serving. They do have 5.3 grams of fat - if you are watching that. I have to watch my calories and carbs because of being insulin resistant so I figure the fat gets watched along with it.
Anyhow, this is what I do and they always turn out well.
1. Put as many eggs as you want to boil in a pan.
2. Fill with cold water about an inch above the eggs.
3. Place the pan on the stove to high.
4. Bring water to a rolling boil.
5. Take pan off of hot stove plate and cover with lid.
6. Let sit for 18 minutes.
7. Remove lid and as you are dumping the hot water, cover the eggs with cold water.
8. Let sit until you are ready to peel.
9. I peel all of my eggs at once! This way when I want one for a snack or I want to make a quick egg salad for lunch, they are ready to go. I place them in a plastic bag and write the date, one week from the preparation day so that I know when the week is up. I have never had any left! I always use them before the week is over. They are as moist the first day as the last. YUMMY!
10. One other tip I just read at GoodEgg.com, is that the older the egg, the easier it will peel. It said if you are going to hard cook an egg, the eggs need to be at least two weeks old. I had this happen to me once - I bought some eggs and hard-boiled them - for the life of me, I could not get the peels off without destroying the eggs. I didn't realize at the time that they were too fresh. I thought I had not boiled them long enough! Little did I know!
11. I usually buy a lot of eggs with five children and so lately, when they are close to or just past their expiration date, I end up boiling all of them, so none of them go to waste.
Anyhow, this is what I do and they always turn out well.
1. Put as many eggs as you want to boil in a pan.
2. Fill with cold water about an inch above the eggs.
3. Place the pan on the stove to high.
4. Bring water to a rolling boil.
5. Take pan off of hot stove plate and cover with lid.
6. Let sit for 18 minutes.
7. Remove lid and as you are dumping the hot water, cover the eggs with cold water.
8. Let sit until you are ready to peel.
9. I peel all of my eggs at once! This way when I want one for a snack or I want to make a quick egg salad for lunch, they are ready to go. I place them in a plastic bag and write the date, one week from the preparation day so that I know when the week is up. I have never had any left! I always use them before the week is over. They are as moist the first day as the last. YUMMY!
10. One other tip I just read at GoodEgg.com, is that the older the egg, the easier it will peel. It said if you are going to hard cook an egg, the eggs need to be at least two weeks old. I had this happen to me once - I bought some eggs and hard-boiled them - for the life of me, I could not get the peels off without destroying the eggs. I didn't realize at the time that they were too fresh. I thought I had not boiled them long enough! Little did I know!
11. I usually buy a lot of eggs with five children and so lately, when they are close to or just past their expiration date, I end up boiling all of them, so none of them go to waste.
Monday, October 20, 2008
My new blog...
I have been thinking about this for awhile and decided I needed a new blog for me. This is going to be about things that I am interested in, things I love, things I want to find out more about, things that I do and sometimes how I feel about it all!
I have been married for five years now. I have learned a lot in those five years. Before I was married, I really liked to cook (or thought I did!), but when you have to cook every single meal - it is somewhat tedious. I have developed some short cuts that I would like to share with anyone who wants to know.
I have been trying to learn more about food storage. We have five children (yeah, I know you are thinking, you have been married for only five years, hmmmmmmmm and that will be answered later), some of whom love to eat and some are so picky, it doesn't matter what I make, they are NOT going to eat it. We have always lived on a tight budget since the beginning of our marriage and so I have tried to accumulate along the way, a food storage. I have some ideas; however, I have found some wonderful blogs that I will share with you. I do believe, why reinvent the wheel if someone else is already doing it. My one twist on this is that I do not live in Utah, Idaho or anywhere in the West. I am an Idahoan who now lives near the corn fields of... Illinois. I am smack dab in the middle of the state in the middle of the Midwest. We do not have the same opportunities for food storage - like case lot sales and an LDS Cannery down the street from us. If I want to go the cannery, it is in St. Louis, which is about an hour and 45 minute drive for me, I have to make an appointment, find someone to watch my kids - meaning I'll have to probably pay someone to watch them, so I can go get some food storage. Now, believe me, living here in the Midwest has it's perks - we have something they don't have in the West, a wonderful grocery store, Aldi's, that I will take more time to blog about in the future.
I do like to do crafty things although I don't have as much time as I would like to do such things. I actually love scapbooking and photography. I love to sew, although I am not an expert at all, in any way.
Finally, I am a wife to a sports-addicted, I mean sports-enthused husband, a mother of two, a stepmother of three, a sister, a daughter, a friend, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, a part-time accountant, an overwhelmed procrastinator and a blog addict. This is going to be fun!
I have been married for five years now. I have learned a lot in those five years. Before I was married, I really liked to cook (or thought I did!), but when you have to cook every single meal - it is somewhat tedious. I have developed some short cuts that I would like to share with anyone who wants to know.
I have been trying to learn more about food storage. We have five children (yeah, I know you are thinking, you have been married for only five years, hmmmmmmmm and that will be answered later), some of whom love to eat and some are so picky, it doesn't matter what I make, they are NOT going to eat it. We have always lived on a tight budget since the beginning of our marriage and so I have tried to accumulate along the way, a food storage. I have some ideas; however, I have found some wonderful blogs that I will share with you. I do believe, why reinvent the wheel if someone else is already doing it. My one twist on this is that I do not live in Utah, Idaho or anywhere in the West. I am an Idahoan who now lives near the corn fields of... Illinois. I am smack dab in the middle of the state in the middle of the Midwest. We do not have the same opportunities for food storage - like case lot sales and an LDS Cannery down the street from us. If I want to go the cannery, it is in St. Louis, which is about an hour and 45 minute drive for me, I have to make an appointment, find someone to watch my kids - meaning I'll have to probably pay someone to watch them, so I can go get some food storage. Now, believe me, living here in the Midwest has it's perks - we have something they don't have in the West, a wonderful grocery store, Aldi's, that I will take more time to blog about in the future.
I do like to do crafty things although I don't have as much time as I would like to do such things. I actually love scapbooking and photography. I love to sew, although I am not an expert at all, in any way.
Finally, I am a wife to a sports-addicted, I mean sports-enthused husband, a mother of two, a stepmother of three, a sister, a daughter, a friend, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, a part-time accountant, an overwhelmed procrastinator and a blog addict. This is going to be fun!
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