eat from the pantry challenge

well, my goal was not to spend more than $120 this month on food... not going to make it... to my defense...

1) I don't think I had as much in my pantry as I thought 2) the son is sick so I ran out and picked up sprite, jello, etc... foods that I thought he might eat while he isn't feeling well 3) I have used a lot of items that have needed to be used up.

For example, last night I made spaghetti - which I had to buy pasta for... but I did use up the meatballs that had been sitting in the freezer for a while. Every meal has included something that needed to be used up... so I do feel good about that.

Tonight we are having shrimp with rice... need to look for a recipe! Which leads me to a fun little website I found...http://tomsdomain.com/index.htm It has some recipes with good pictures and funny other little tidbits about Tom's travels and life...

Have a great day!

monday - hurry up and get here!

I never thought I would be sooo excited for a monday... but any of you from KC know... that we have had a ton of snow... well over 240 hours of temperatures under 32 degrees.... and therefore; our kids have not gone back to school yet from Christmas break.......... ugh! really ugh... Love my kids dearly.... but mom has got to have a break....

Cleaning out the pantry.... actually, it has gone pretty well... we have had chicken pot pie, macaroni and cheese, quiche, tuna noodle casserole (kids weren't too crazy about this one), pork chops, meatloaf, ham and bean soup, left overs one night....we did have friends over on Jan. 2nd.... so I made a regular lasagna and a mushroom lasagna... (which was amazing! - let me know if you want the recipe!)

I did cheat a little.... December 30th or 31st (can't remember which) I did a huge grocery run and picked up stuff for the evening with our friends. But since then, I have spent probably about $90 in groceries... a little more than I planned.... but not as much as I usually spend. This means I only have about $30 to spend for the rest of the month...not too worried about it until the last week... next week we are having spaghetti, chicken sandwiches, hamburger helper (remember we are cleaning out the pantry - for some reason we have a box of hamburger helper...) shrimp with rice, chicken curry....

the spouse says we have been eating better than we usually do...I think he is stretching it a bit on that one.... but it does feel good to know I am using up what we have around the house! Although we may all gain 10 pounds from this experiment... we never eat this many desserts... but I had cookie dough, cake mix, cheesecake mix, angel food cake mix, etc..... that needed to be used!

Alright, I hear the timer buzzing on the oven.... gotta run.... but one final note... the quiche I made is from Julia Child's cook book - and let me tell you - it was fabulous! If you want that recipe - let me know!

Will try to include some pictures next time!

Goal for January!

Hope everyone had a great Christmas.... we sure enjoyed our time with our family!

I have set a goal for January and a New Year's Resolution... I will start by sharing the New Year's Resolution....clean my house. Not just clean my house, organize my house, clean out cabinets and closets... I want to feel like I have decluttered and dejunked by January 1st of 2011... yes, we have that much stuff...

the goal for January....


Eat From the Pantry Challenge

Check out the moneysavingmom.com site for the details... but basically the scoop is to clean out the pantry... spend the month grocery shopping as little as possible. Most of the moms are hoping to only pick up eggs and milk... I think the goal for her is to spend only $75 the whole month on groceries.... there were over 100 moms signed up on her site. All are supposed to blog about their experience...

My goal is to not eat out more than 4 times in the month and I am upping my grocery bill to $30 a week so $120 for the month. Which would save me about $400 for the month! Wow - that would be exciting! I think it will be okay the first two weeks of the month... it's the last two weeks that could be challenging!

Join me on this adventure! Let me know if you are going to accept the challenge!

Happy New Year! I look forward to sharing the details of this challenge with you!

white christmas?

it isn't looking like a white Christmas this year here in Kansas City... what a bummer. It is the only time of year that I like a little snow.... and actually, what I like more than those wet, cold flakes falling from the sky... is the sound. I am not sure I have the words to describe the sound... and you don't get it during the day.... usually Christmas Eve is best because there isn't much traffic... but I love to open the front door and hear the sound of snow falling. Such a peaceful tranquil sound.

So, Ginger had her tonsils taken out on Friday (today is Tuesday). It has been a very very long 5 days. In fact, I texted my husband today and told him to please choose a nice insane asylum for me...she is lucky I love her because she has been pushing my patience the past couple of days.

But you all do not tune in to hear about my children woes....I think you all come to read about new recipes.... which alas, I do not have any. But you will have to check in after Christmas! Christmas Eve I am trying bread pudding recipe... it is a lower calorie version of Paula Deen's Krispy Kreme Bread Pudding....I would love to hear if you are making anything special for the holidays! Love new recipes!

Thank you all for your friendships the past year... I wish you the merriest of Christmases! Love to all!

ah... the kids have gone to school

one of my favorite times of the day... the kids have left for school, the hubster has gone to work... I have a cup of chai tea latte... life is good!

What has happened in the 12 days since I last posted....the son had his 12th birthday! Seven boys came over, ran around, had a firepit in the driveway, made smores and did "boy stuff"... spent the night... apparently they did not go to bed until 5 a.m.! Yikes!

Since we made smores... we did not have a birthday cake.... so in the goodie bags, I included Cake Balls. Cake balls are truly a little piece of heaven.... ohhh yummm... and a gazillion trillion calories!



I think I made mine a little too big... they were falling off of the lollipop sticks... which you do not have to use... I just thought they would be a little easier to dip in the white chocolate...I will definitely include the recipe - you have to try making them at least once!

We spent Thanksgiving up in Minnesota with my husband's family - and had a great time, of course! Now we are back trying to play catch-up and get ready for Christmas! I really wish there was more time between Thanksgiving and Christmas... I don't feel that I really get to take the time and appreciate each holiday... rush rush rush....

Speaking of rush, rush, rush.... off to clean house I go!

Cake Balls

Will need to refridgerate a couple of times throughout the process so it takes a little time. Not a last minute recipe.

Cake Mix
Frosting
Almond Bark

Make your favorite cake according to the recipe or the box...I made a confetti cake in a 9X13 pan. Let cool about 45 minutes... won't be 100% cool but will be cool enough to not melt the frosting. Break up the cake into a bowl and add a can of frosting... (I used the confetti frosting). Mix all up well. Put in the fridge for about an hour. Scoop into balls onto wax paper. Can stick lollipop sticks in if desired. Put in the freezer for about 2 hours. Melt the almond bark - can use either vanilla or chocolate (can use those colored chips you can get at Amish stores or in the cake area of Michael's or JoAnn's). Dip the balls... can add sprinkles or such... let the almond bark harden and enjoy!

turkey day!

Ginger is still fighting some virus with her throat (actually went to the ENT and she is getting her tonsils out over Christmas vacation...) and then we will be leaving for Minnesota for Thanksgiving so this will probably be the only blog I get written before we get back.

A week from today, we will all be cranking up our ovens...fixing turkey, stuffing, potatoes, etc.

I have a confession to make. We don't LOVE turkey. I have a recipe for dry brining a turkey which number one is easy and number two is very good! That is probably the only way we like turkey...the recipe is at the bottom.

We like to have a Thanksgiving day dinner that actually is probably a little more what the pilgrims had.... this year we are having: turkey and stuffing, lobster, oysters, crab legs, sausage stuffed butternut squash (see October 8th posting for recipe), and other goodies....I am looking forward to this feast! Driving up to Minnesota with a husband, two kids, a dog, a ton of luggage and a partridge in a pear tree - now that is another story...

and so I can tell PMan that I wrote about him in the blog.... he turned 12 on Tuesday. Saturday, we are having 96 boys over to have pizza, play flashlight tag, hang out by the fire pit and spend the night.....okay 96 might be a slight exaggeration... (8 total but I am sure it is going to feel like 96). This will probably be his last "birthday party" so I relented and am letting him have more people than usual.... now I am trying to come up with fun (cheap) party favors....
off to Target I go....

I will leave you with the recipe for the Dry Brine Turkey!

1 (12-14lb) turkey - either fresh or completely thawed
1/4 cup kosher salt mixed with lemon pepper and herbs such as sage, rosemary and thyme
2 medium onions unpeeled and cut into eighths
2 medium carrots unpeeled and cut into 1 inch chunks
2 medium celery ribs cut into 1 inch chunks
1 1/2 cups water (or more if needed)

The night before: remove the giblets from the turkey, cut off the tail if attached, and reserve for making turkey broth if wanted. Rinse turkey thoroughly. Tie the legs together with kitchen twine. Sprinkle the salt all over it, starting on the back side, and then the cavity and finally the breast. Put the turkey on a wire rack set over a rimmed pan or platter and refrigerate, uncovered, overnight.

One hour before roasting: remove the turkey from the refrigerator and let stand at room temperature. (will not be "pretty") If any juices or salt have fallen into the pan - rinse the bottom of the pan if using that pan for roasting. 15-20 minutes before roasting, position a rack in the lowest part of the oven and heat the oven to 400 degrees. Put half the onions, carrots and celery in the turkey cavity. Tuck the wings behind the neck and under the turkey and place bird in a large flameproof heavy-duty roasting pan (if not already). Scatter the remaining onions, carrots and celry around the turkey.

Roast for 30 minutes. Pour 1 cup of water into the roasting pan and roast for another 30 minutes. Add the remaining 1/2 cup water to the roasting pan and continue to roast until the little thing pops or an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh away from the bone, registeres 170 degrees and the juices run clear when you remove the thermometer, about another hour for a 12 pounder. Vegetables should be kept dry enough to brown but moist enough to keep from burning - may need to add more water.

Because of all of the salt - may not want to use the vegetables.... will just need to test for taste. Also do not put stuffing in the turkey because of the salt!

If anyone tries this - please please comment and let me know what you think of it! I thought it was absolutely the moistest turkey I have ever had!

where oh where has melissa gone

I haven't run away.... although it has been rather tempting...just busy. Not a good busy, not a bad busy... just busy....needless to say, I haven't cooked much (not good for the waist line...)

The daughter has been fighting strep throat, a virus, and has a cheerleading competition coming up. The son has had yearbook club and a birthday coming up. The hubbie... has been enjoying our beautiful fall weather - which means that people want to play golf. So he has been working...

I started volunteering at our church office two mornings a week which has turned into 3 days a week. I think I finally have things figured out and can get serious about keeping it to two mornings a week...

That's it in a nutshell.... just busy... but I do need to start thinking about Thanksgiving... which I have a wonderful dry brine recipe for turkey....I will post that soon!

For now, just know I haven't fallen off the face of the earth...