Friday, February 22, 2013
Bread
I found a $100 Oster bread maker on a rummage sale site on Face Book for $35. I started my own Amish bread starter 11days ago and today I made my first loaf of white bread! It turned out great, looks wise. I really hope it tastes good too. I really love that its all natural ingredients well except for the bleached flour that is! LOL
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Endorsements
Almost as difficult as it is to find food my kids will eat, is figuring out how to customize Blogger! Finally I think I have my layout figured out and managed to add my two favorite endorsements... DAVE RAMSEY and EMEALS.
For the money conscious and especially those like myself who weren't ever taught how to save a dime, Dave Ramsey is a lifesaver. When Daddy Bear and I took the class it wasn't because we were so far in debt we were drowning. We actually had very little debt because we didn't have any credit! LOL We'd been living with a very low middle income from day one. The we added 4 kids and very little in raises. But things were starting to look up, Daddy Bear finished college and earned his MBA. He got a wonderful job with the feds with great potential to move up (at least monetarily!)
What in the world was I going to do with more money? Sounds like a fun question but I was filled with dread knowing that I'd just spend spend spend and while we'd have double or tripled our income we'd still never get ahead. I couldn't save a penny to save my life but I didn't want to have 50K, 75K, or 100K+ coming in and nothing to show for it. I NEEDED to change and learn how. I signed us up for FPU and let me just say that in just a little over a year since graduating from the class, facilitating a class of my own and getting ready to facilitate a 2nd class, we've paid off over $37K in debt which really has wiped out about $300K (gotta make deals!) All of that was old business debt except for less than $5K in credit cards and a couple thousand in current and past medical bills.
In addition we've been able to install new carpet and furniture in our living room, new carpet and solid wood bunk-beds in one of the kids rooms, buy some new appliances for the kitchen etc...
So if could use a little help getting out of debt, learning how to save money etc, give Financial Peace University a try. It will be the best $90-100 you'll spend all year!!
My next endorsement is EMEALS. One of our biggest expenditures was food. I'd spend however much at the grocery store, double that by eating out then throwing away rotten food that I'd never got around to cooking! I was tired of wrangling 4 kids all day and I can't figure out what to make for dinner. Doesn't help having the picky ones either. But emeals tells you whats for dinner this week, easy recipes to make it and a complete shopping list to boot. Now you can save more money by shopping with a list rather than winging it and buying everything you don't need and forgetting what you do! $5 a month, and they do all the work! The recipes are very easy and very tasty too. The ladies at emeals work to find recipes that include in-season foods. They use the sales adds for some of the store based lists to help save you even more money (providing you shop the recipe on time). I've been using them forever. They've since added on a lunch plan and breakfast too. I added on the lunch plan for a year but it's not working for my picky people. Emeals is just too darn healthy for them! I've also strayed from the dinner menu to work on the kids pickiness. I think they need to see "normal" foods like taco's and meatloaf, sloppy joes and spaghetti more often and i'll try to add on the more gourmet looking meals once I get them eating. I don't want to stop using them though so I've keep up my subscription and just save my menus each weeks to my computer for later use :)
For the money conscious and especially those like myself who weren't ever taught how to save a dime, Dave Ramsey is a lifesaver. When Daddy Bear and I took the class it wasn't because we were so far in debt we were drowning. We actually had very little debt because we didn't have any credit! LOL We'd been living with a very low middle income from day one. The we added 4 kids and very little in raises. But things were starting to look up, Daddy Bear finished college and earned his MBA. He got a wonderful job with the feds with great potential to move up (at least monetarily!)
What in the world was I going to do with more money? Sounds like a fun question but I was filled with dread knowing that I'd just spend spend spend and while we'd have double or tripled our income we'd still never get ahead. I couldn't save a penny to save my life but I didn't want to have 50K, 75K, or 100K+ coming in and nothing to show for it. I NEEDED to change and learn how. I signed us up for FPU and let me just say that in just a little over a year since graduating from the class, facilitating a class of my own and getting ready to facilitate a 2nd class, we've paid off over $37K in debt which really has wiped out about $300K (gotta make deals!) All of that was old business debt except for less than $5K in credit cards and a couple thousand in current and past medical bills.
In addition we've been able to install new carpet and furniture in our living room, new carpet and solid wood bunk-beds in one of the kids rooms, buy some new appliances for the kitchen etc...
So if could use a little help getting out of debt, learning how to save money etc, give Financial Peace University a try. It will be the best $90-100 you'll spend all year!!
My next endorsement is EMEALS. One of our biggest expenditures was food. I'd spend however much at the grocery store, double that by eating out then throwing away rotten food that I'd never got around to cooking! I was tired of wrangling 4 kids all day and I can't figure out what to make for dinner. Doesn't help having the picky ones either. But emeals tells you whats for dinner this week, easy recipes to make it and a complete shopping list to boot. Now you can save more money by shopping with a list rather than winging it and buying everything you don't need and forgetting what you do! $5 a month, and they do all the work! The recipes are very easy and very tasty too. The ladies at emeals work to find recipes that include in-season foods. They use the sales adds for some of the store based lists to help save you even more money (providing you shop the recipe on time). I've been using them forever. They've since added on a lunch plan and breakfast too. I added on the lunch plan for a year but it's not working for my picky people. Emeals is just too darn healthy for them! I've also strayed from the dinner menu to work on the kids pickiness. I think they need to see "normal" foods like taco's and meatloaf, sloppy joes and spaghetti more often and i'll try to add on the more gourmet looking meals once I get them eating. I don't want to stop using them though so I've keep up my subscription and just save my menus each weeks to my computer for later use :)
Speciality grilled cheese
I needed lunch ideas and I asked the kids how they like cold/left over grilled cheese sandwiches. Sir Picky actually stated they were BETTER that way, he loved them! So we make this one especially for Sir Picky.
Specialty Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
1 box of frozen Texas Toast garlic bread
small package of pepperoni
2 cups shredded cheese (we used co/jack)
I decided that two pieces of toast was too much so I'd cut each piece in half. Frozen, in my very cold freezer, was too much to handle (see broken piece below) so I had to stick them in the oven for a couple minutes to thaw. Once thawed they were way too soft to cut with a bread knife so I pulled out my electric knife. Voila it was perfect with the electric knife and I'm excited to have more uses for it which only sees the light of day at Thanksgiving!!!
Once they were cut in half I added some cheese, 5 slices of pepperoni (it's just for flavor really) and put the tops back on. Put into the oven at 425 F for 3 minutes then flipped them over. Put back in for another 5 minutes and they were done!
This is Mr. Confusion's lunch for school. All he had left was some of the tomato!
The extra's I put into a bag and for this week, into the fridge. In the future I will revise this to making my own bread and 'garlic toast' and then freezing a bulk of them. I also plan to try out ham, turkey, chicken and some way to put some veggies like spinach in there!
BEWARE THE DADDY BEAR WHO RAIDS THE FRIDGE AT 4:30AM BEFORE WORK.... MISSING MY EXTRAS SO KIDS ARE EATING HOT LUNCH TODAY :(
This was a WIN for Sir Picky. The Master wasn't too sure of it and didn't try it. Once I explained to him what it was he's willing to give it a TRY tomorrow. Mr. Confusing was a WIN and Mr. Lovey Dovey was sick with a cold and refused to look at any foods. Poor thing!!
Specialty Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
1 box of frozen Texas Toast garlic bread
small package of pepperoni
2 cups shredded cheese (we used co/jack)
I decided that two pieces of toast was too much so I'd cut each piece in half. Frozen, in my very cold freezer, was too much to handle (see broken piece below) so I had to stick them in the oven for a couple minutes to thaw. Once thawed they were way too soft to cut with a bread knife so I pulled out my electric knife. Voila it was perfect with the electric knife and I'm excited to have more uses for it which only sees the light of day at Thanksgiving!!!
Once they were cut in half I added some cheese, 5 slices of pepperoni (it's just for flavor really) and put the tops back on. Put into the oven at 425 F for 3 minutes then flipped them over. Put back in for another 5 minutes and they were done!
This is Mr. Confusion's lunch for school. All he had left was some of the tomato!The extra's I put into a bag and for this week, into the fridge. In the future I will revise this to making my own bread and 'garlic toast' and then freezing a bulk of them. I also plan to try out ham, turkey, chicken and some way to put some veggies like spinach in there!
BEWARE THE DADDY BEAR WHO RAIDS THE FRIDGE AT 4:30AM BEFORE WORK.... MISSING MY EXTRAS SO KIDS ARE EATING HOT LUNCH TODAY :(
This was a WIN for Sir Picky. The Master wasn't too sure of it and didn't try it. Once I explained to him what it was he's willing to give it a TRY tomorrow. Mr. Confusing was a WIN and Mr. Lovey Dovey was sick with a cold and refused to look at any foods. Poor thing!!
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Breakfast sandwiches
I found out that you can cook eggs and freeze them!! Better yet that you can cook eggs, in a muffin pan, in the OVEN!!
So how easy is making breakfast sandwiches ahead of time? Making them at home, from scratch is even more healthy.
To give it a first try, I bought store bought English muffins. I need to experiment how to freeze biscuits so i can make those from scratch and how to make English muffins from scratch.
Freezer Breakfast Sandwiches
INGREDIENTS
1 dozen eggs
1 lb bacon -or- 1 lb breakfast sausage
1 1/2 -2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 doz english muffins
plastic wrap
freezer bags
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Using a muffin tin, spray/butter each cup. Either break each egg into each cup or scramble first and ladle in equal parts into each cup. I added about 1/3 cup water to the eggs to make them more fluffy.
Stick these in a 350 degree oven for about 10-15 minutes. Inspite of the spray butter I used (not a fan of Pam) they left a lot of reside behind on the pan. I found a scrubby at Walmart for less than $3 and it worked great. Fit nicely into the cups and got the entire sides!
2. Cut each bacon slice in half and fry in oven, microwave or oven until crisp.
3. Place muffins on a cookie sheet and toast in oven until toasted through. Add cheese to one half or both sides, up to you and put back into oven until melted.
4. Once muffins, eggs and bacon are cooked put sandwiches together. One muffin, two
half slices bacon or one sausage patty. Let cool, wrap in plastic wrap and place
in freezer bag. Freeze until ready to serve.
5. To heat and eat, remove all plastic wrap. Wrap sandwich in paper towel and microwave OR put on cookie sheet and put in preheated 350 oven for 25mins. I will edit the time for microwaving from freezing. I was using mine the next day so I just refrigerated them and 30 secs was a great temperature for the kids.
You can choose to save some time and make more eggs or bacon. After cooled I put the eggs into a freezer bag and into the freezer for later use. I layered the bacon onto papertowels and put into a plastic bag. My very own and much cheaper premade, ready to heat bacon! I'm looking forward to some fast BLT's!
This was a WIN, WIN, WIN, WIN!! None of the kids had any issues with any part of it!!!!
So how easy is making breakfast sandwiches ahead of time? Making them at home, from scratch is even more healthy.
To give it a first try, I bought store bought English muffins. I need to experiment how to freeze biscuits so i can make those from scratch and how to make English muffins from scratch.
Freezer Breakfast Sandwiches
INGREDIENTS
1 dozen eggs
1 lb bacon -or- 1 lb breakfast sausage
1 1/2 -2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 doz english muffins
plastic wrap
freezer bags
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Using a muffin tin, spray/butter each cup. Either break each egg into each cup or scramble first and ladle in equal parts into each cup. I added about 1/3 cup water to the eggs to make them more fluffy.
Stick these in a 350 degree oven for about 10-15 minutes. Inspite of the spray butter I used (not a fan of Pam) they left a lot of reside behind on the pan. I found a scrubby at Walmart for less than $3 and it worked great. Fit nicely into the cups and got the entire sides!
half slices bacon or one sausage patty. Let cool, wrap in plastic wrap and place
in freezer bag. Freeze until ready to serve.
You can choose to save some time and make more eggs or bacon. After cooled I put the eggs into a freezer bag and into the freezer for later use. I layered the bacon onto papertowels and put into a plastic bag. My very own and much cheaper premade, ready to heat bacon! I'm looking forward to some fast BLT's!
This was a WIN, WIN, WIN, WIN!! None of the kids had any issues with any part of it!!!!
Because I have 3 other blogs I can't keep up with
I decided to blog/record this journey that I'm taking much more seriously. How to feed my 4 sons when my eldest and youngest are so picky I could have screamed!!!
More matter of fact (and pictures), less chatter from me, will keep this blog rolling.
Sir Picky is 7 and his list of healthy foods he'll eat consists of apples, mandarin oranges and grapes. No veggies and the only meats are the ones you get at fast food places or junk (hot dogs, pepperoni) no matter where you get them.
The Master is almost 6 and his biggest "hates" are junk foods! This kid orders spaghetti at Red Robin, loves ham subs with lettuce, tomato and pickles. He eats most any dinner I make at home. At the very least he will TRY the food.
Mr. Confusion will be 5 soon. He loves a lot of foods, hates a lot of foods and I think he changes his mind from day to day because I can't keep up it seems.
Last but certainly not least:
Mr. Lovey Dove is 3 and he is living off the air and what sweet cereal and crackers I'll give him. I can't even feed him junk food to keep going. He'll eat the top part of the bun off a cheeseburger. Chicken nuggets are my only fall back.
So, here it goes...
More matter of fact (and pictures), less chatter from me, will keep this blog rolling.
Sir Picky is 7 and his list of healthy foods he'll eat consists of apples, mandarin oranges and grapes. No veggies and the only meats are the ones you get at fast food places or junk (hot dogs, pepperoni) no matter where you get them.
The Master is almost 6 and his biggest "hates" are junk foods! This kid orders spaghetti at Red Robin, loves ham subs with lettuce, tomato and pickles. He eats most any dinner I make at home. At the very least he will TRY the food.
Mr. Confusion will be 5 soon. He loves a lot of foods, hates a lot of foods and I think he changes his mind from day to day because I can't keep up it seems.
Last but certainly not least:
Mr. Lovey Dove is 3 and he is living off the air and what sweet cereal and crackers I'll give him. I can't even feed him junk food to keep going. He'll eat the top part of the bun off a cheeseburger. Chicken nuggets are my only fall back.
So, here it goes...
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