We're going to eat better, dang it!

In the last couple of years, I really thought I was shopping smart.  And I was...if I'd been properly planning on how to use what I was buying.  And I wasn't.  I'm ashamed to admit, I wasted a lot.  And we ate out far too much!

At one point, I even went out and bought one of those FoodSaver machines to stop the waste.  Yes, it is wonderful for preserving food in the freezer and preventing freezer burn, but if you don't use that food, it's still not truly helping.  I mean the food isn't going bad but it still wasn't being used.  The FoodSaver is great for things besides meat.  As with Ziplocs or anything else that goes in the freezer, label and date everything!

I was off work between Christmas and New Year's and really put a lot of thought into how I was going to fix things.  I bounced a lot of ideas off of my husband.  I did a lot of Pinterest-ing.  I came to the conclusion that I really couldn't do anything until I knew what I had.  Do you dread going to dig in the upright deep freezers because you know if you touch something, it's all gonna fall out on your feet?  No?  Just me?  I put on good shoes and went in....

I just started with the big freezer because I knew the little one was where I put the "overflow" and knew it was the newest stuff.  I did not do a full clean out but I did toss some things as I came across those items that had dates I didn't like.  I did have a package of ham hocks land on my foot but the turkey breast missed me!  Ha!  I ended up tossing a couple of kitchen trash bags worth of more wasted food.  I can assure you, that is going to stop!  

I did a quick run down on what meat was in there and then made a list of some meals that I know we like, that in all honesty is what part of that meat was bought for.  I looked over the things I'd pinned on Pinterest and made a list.  

Side note, I love a good list!  Here is the list of meals I came up with:

Yes, I'm old school to a point....paper and pencil lists!  What you see crossed off is what we have used to date.  I figured out what i needed to complete the meals and went to the grocery for pretty much dairy and produce and a few canned goods.  Oh, and I made sure that I had plenty of FoodSaver bags.  

Every Sunday, I make a menu...having the food prep done will definitely help us stick to it.  Here is this weeks:

The Meatloaf isn't really a recipe, it's just something I make.  I used 2 pounds of 80/20 ground beef and 1 pound of ground pork, not sausage just pork.  With that, I add a diced onion, a little garlic, 4 slices potato bread (we use Aunt Millie's 35 calorie potato bread around here so that's what goes in this) torn into little pieces and soaked in about 1/2 cup give or take of milk, 2 eggs, about 6 strips off uncooked bacon cut into little pieces (use scissors, it's easier) and some tomato sauce, about half a can.  Of course there is salt and pepper and some paprika.  I used the other half can of tomato sauce to mix with brown sugar and salt and put on top of the meatloaf.  This made two meatloaves.  I liked the meatloaf pans with cling wrap and put half the meatloaf in each pan and put them in the freezer.  Once they were frozen, I lifted them out of the pan with the Cling wrap and then wrapped the cling wrap around it and then two layers of aluminum foil.  Back to the freezer until ready to use.  When you take the wrap off it just drops back into the pan to cook it.  Bake it for about an hour at 350 or until a thermometer is at 165 degrees.

The French Dip sandwiches are made with some shaved beef I bought at Kroger, it fries up really quickly, like a cheese steak meat.  I toast Ciabatta buns in the broiler.  I put the meat on the bread with provolone on top and back in the broiler to warm the cheese.  Make a packet of au jus and you have a meal in like 15-20 minutes.  We made french fries in the air fryer and I'd made up a batch of Coleslaw on Sunday for two meals this week.  

Gotta be honest, the Chicken Tortilla soup was bought at Sam's for a night that we needed quick...I just tossed it in the freezer so I set it out the night before and it warms up by the time you have grilled cheese made.

The Honey Garlic Chicken was shared by a friend, it's so easy.  The marinade is 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 2 tablespoons honey, 1/2 clove minced garlic and 2 tablespoons water for every 1/2 pound of chicken.  Mix the marinade right in the Ziploc (FoodSaver bags aren't for liquid unless you freeze it first and then it won't lay flat) then put in the chicken.  Get as much air as you can out of it and seal it lay it flat in the freezer.  This allows you to stack them and it thaws quicker if it's flat.  Move from freezer to fridge the night before and bake at 425 degrees for about 25 minutes.

The taco meat I made, I added some veggies in it to add some health benefits to it.  I used the frozen mix of carrots, onions and celery...not a lot but every bit helps.  I also add black beans to it.  When I made it, I doubled the batch and divided in FoodSaver bags.  

Finally, the slow cooker cheese chicken spaghetti is an experiment.  It sounds good and I hope we like it, but it's one of those that make you go hmmmm....Here's the recipe:

16 ounces spaghetti-cooked
1 pound Velvetta Light cheese
2 cups cooked chopped chicken
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can petite diced tomatoes
1 4 ounce cans mild green chilies
1 cup mushrooms chopped
1/2 cup water
1 small onion diced

Combine all in a gallon Ziploc bag, seal, flatten (as you can, it's a lot in that bag) and freeze.  When ready to use, thaw for 24 hours then pour in a crock pot for 2-3 hours.  Stir before serving.

Now, I didn't use cream of soups....I made a white sauce (equal parts butter & flour and instead of milk, I used chicken broth) it's healthier.  

There is week one of the menu.  I worked about 5 hours on Sunday to put together 29 meals that should not take long to make on a week night.  

This is longer than I expected but I wanted to at least share where I started.  I'm going to be as brutally honest as I can in reclaiming our home and diet!  This whole journey of balancing working these particular full-time hours, eating decent meals, and trying to keep my house somewhat decent is going to be a process.  Let's hope this makes it not so painful!  Thank you for reading!

I'm back!

Hello again!  It's been a while since I posted, but there's been a lot of 'life' happening to myself and my family.  Some good, some not so much, but all of it made us stronger individually and as a family.  
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In the last three years, I think my biggest accomplishment was beating cancer!  I took a simple genetic test for one of my daughters because of a medical condition she has.  That test not only showed a rare cancer gene but I subsequently found out I had two different kinds of breast cancer.  Seven surgeries in twenty-seven months and all the other treatments involved and I am currently cancer-free!  

Let me get up on my soapbox for a moment here...if you think something is wrong, fight to find out what.  I had mammograms every year, none of them picked up one of the types of cancer I had.  Additionally, one of my surgeries was botched and the doctor made it seem as if I was looking at it wrong.  I gathered my courage and asked for a second opinion which was probably one of the hardest things I did because I felt as though I was questioning a medical professional.  And I was.  And that's ok.  I learned that it's ok to advocate for yourself!  It took five surgeries to fix the mistake but if I hadn't advocated for myself, I would have still been living with that mistake.

I also learned that I am surrounded by a wonderful group of friends. They enveloped my family with love and support throughout every bit of the cancer journey!  

Some pretty great things happened along the way too.  I earned my Masters degree and a Graduate level Teaching College Writing Certificate.  My husband was also promoted to the Program Chair for his department at the college where he works.  He was also the Master of his Masonic Lodge and our son was Master Councilor of his DeMolay group.  And I got a new job at IUPUI.  

Ahhh, the new job.  I miss my work with TRIO Student Support Services, but I absolutely love what I am doing now.  The work is very similar, just at a four-year institution.  When I made the change, the new hours were 8:00 am - 5:00 pm.  I haven't worked those hours in more than 20 years!  Given my choice, I always took the earlier hours to be able to take care of errands, handle kid pick up, and have dinner at a decent hour.  I'll be honest, the first month was a hot mess around here.  The house was a disaster, sometimes we didn't eat until 7 or even 8 o'clock.  

Years ago, when I was a single mom, I did pretty intensive meal prep every Sunday for the upcoming week.  I had gotten away from that in the last few years...and it showed.  Since we now spend a lot of time at our place at the lake most weekends between April and October, I have to rethink how I meal prep for the work week so we can stay at the lake until Sunday afternoon.  Afterall, who wants to leave Nature's beauty to come back to reality any earlier than they have too?  LOL

Over Christmas, I did some research and planned out some meal prep.  I worked from what I had in the freezer and supplemented what I needed to create meals.  The amount of food I had stockpiled in my freezers was ridiculous.  Yesterday, I was able to put together 25 dinners.  I mixed them up, some are crock pot meals, some Power Pressure Pot meals, some oven meals.  I'll write more about this in the next post.  

I want to...no need to...get back to writing for me.  I hope you will follow along.  I'll always work to be frugal but I'll also be working on time saving work night ideas and now, ideas for when we're at the lake!  It's my happy place!  

Thank you for indulging my ramblings...talk to you soon!

Winter Recharging

Hello everyone!  I hope everyone is safe and warm in this first 'snow event' here.  

I love how 2" of snow is a 'snow event'.  I am always somewhat shocked at how people behave when it snows in Indiana.  It's shocking the number of people who run red lights or stop signs, even more so in the snow.  It's as though they don't care whether or not they are in, or simply cause, an accident.  I don't get that.  Then you have what we lovingly refer to as the "French Toast Preppers".  You know, the people who, at the first snowflake, run to the grocery and clear out the milk, bread and eggs.  Personally, I keep at least one half gallon of milk in the freezer and a loaf of bread.  I freeze the half gallons because they're easier to thaw out.  Just make sure you set them out soon enough to thaw for when you need them.  And shake it well before using it.  You can also freeze eggs if you scramble them first.  Well, don't fry them, just whisk them...LOL.  But once you whisk them, you can freeze them in ice cube trays and then when frozen, pop them out and put in a good Ziploc bag.    

I know we're all busy but even though we haven't had a bad Winter, this one seems to be wearing me down.  We have a lot going on and I was just telling my husband that I really need to find a way to recharge.  For me, I think that means I need to bake something.  Actually, that would require being home long enough to bake.  I'll get there.  

I should probably add sleep to that list as well.  Sleep would be good.  I'll get on that just as soon as my reading for my grad school class is done......LOL

As always, please check on your neighbors, the elderly and the shut-ins.  Make sure they're alright and not in need of any help.

Winter finally showed up!

Good morning everyone!  

Up until Saturday, it was about 50 degrees here in Indianapolis.  And at not quite 11 am on Monday, it's 9.  NINE!  I know, we've been lucky so far this year with such a minor Winter.  Mother Nature was being kind to us.  Evidently, our luck has run out and she's no longer in a generous mood.  Welcome to Winter!  Not just Winter snow but she sent ICE.  

As is my usual, I want to first and foremost, remind you all to check in on your neighbors, the elderly and the shut-ins.  Shovel a walkway, their steps to the house, clear a path in front of their home in case someone stops by to check in on them they can park.  Let's make sure those who may not be able to do as much anymore have the help they need.  

It's supposed to be colder tonight with the possibility of 2-5 inches of more snow.  Just a few hints, some you should already have had done but don't fret, every little bit will help!

Remember to change your furnace filters monthly.  My hubby is an HVAC/R professor and insists we use the cheap throw-away-monthly filters....something about what our furnace was designed to work with.  Check yours out and make sure you're using the right ones.  You should have had your furnace serviced before Winter, but sometimes you miss it, even if you are married to an HVAC/R professor...so no judgments here.  

Leave the cabinet doors open under sinks to help prevent freezing.  I leave a trickle of water running too, not a lot but just to keep the water moving.  

I know this if something we did in the country, just in case of power outages which I know don't happen in the city as often, but I put an extra heavy quilt at the bottom of each bed so that if there is an outage (or you just get cold and your hubby won't let you warm your feet on him), you have that extra blanket at the ready.

Speaking of blankets, I keep one in each car, in case of a break down, or in my case last Winter, when I ran out of gas on a dark highway.  Just be prepared.  Oh, and it's a good idea to keep a bit of drinking water in the car but not soda.  Don't ask me how I know this, just trust me here!

It's also a good idea (and not too late) to check the fluids on your car.  Make sure the window washer fluid is filled up and, if you're like me, have an extra gallon in the trunk.  I average about 3 gallons a Winter.  Hey, what can I say?  I can't stand a filthy windshield!

Don't forget our furry friends .  Thank goodness that Indianapolis now has a new law that you just can't leave the poor animals outside in this weather.  Do NOT be afraid to call someone if you see a dog tied to a tree or just out in this weather.  

Please, also remember our homeless.  If you're not comfortable giving to the directly, at least think about donating to a shelter, they'll welcome blankets, socks, gloves, hats, scarves, etc.  

Bottom line, we often think of taking care of ourselves, but let's remember that no matter how little we have, there are those out there with less than we have.  As my Dear Mother used to say, "We're all in this together!'

Stay warm!  Stay safe! Check on your neighbors!

Tis the Season

With the holidays quickly approaching, we are all working to get everything ready in preparation for a wonderful time with our families.  I know I'm running around like a crazy person trying to work, finish my semester in school, prepare for Christmas and 412 other things that are on my to-do list.  I also know I am not alone in this.

As I was going through my son's 'take home folder' from school, there was a flyer in there reminding us that his school was sponsoring families through the Servant's Heart pantry in Beech Grove, where my son goes to school.  They are a wonderful organization, they do great things in our area.  HERE is the link to Servant's Heart if you'd like to learn more about them.  They always welcome volunteers as well, my son's first time volunteering there was when he was 5.  We worked in the store room and he sorted canned goods by item.  So, even the young people are welcomed to help!

Back on topic.....we are blessed to have enough for the holidays.  Not everyone is as fortunate.  I would encourage you to donate to your local food pantry, shelter or other organization that helps families in need.  They need food, clothing, presents for children, money and manpower!  

Regardless of where you live, please find an organization that assists those in need.  Consider helping an organization that works with families.  Even if you can't give anything but your time, please consider giving something.  Every little bit helps.  

We're all in this together!

Did-ya-know

Good morning all!  I hope everyone is enjoying this very unseasonably warm weather we're having.  How often, in Indiana, do you get to have your windows open two weeks before Christmas?  I won't lie, it's making me a bit nervous about February's weather...LOL

I was talking with some Mom-friends about getting the kids to discuss school.  We all know how asking "How was your day?" works.  The only answers I ever got from my kids to that question was "Fine" or "OK".  Getting information from them was like pulling teeth.

That's when we came up with "Did-ya-know".  After school, my kids have to give me two "Did-ya-knows".  This simply means they have to start the sentence with "Did you know..." and tell me something about their day that they think I might not know.

Sometimes, my Short Dude will get cute and try something like "Did you know for lunch we had pizza and it's my favorite?"  Yea, he knows that won't work yet he will try it.  He's cute...LOL

But most of the time, I get to really know about what he's doing in class.  He'll share what is happening in the novel they're reading.  Or that in Math, he got an 80% on a quiz and it would have been a 100% but he forgot to simplify.  Just last week, I got a Science did-ya-know that was a very detailed breakdown of how a popcorn kernel has a small drop of water in it and the process that happens when that kernel is popped.  He also described the differences in reactions in cooking.  That cooking involves a physical change and baking involves a chemical change in the foods.

I learn far more about what my child is doing in school from him with the "Did-ya-know" system.  There are even days where he can't wait for me to say "Lay some did-ya-knows on me"!  

It took us a week or so to get in the habit of doing this daily and a little while longer for the kids to really get into the spirit of doing it.  But several years later, and it has become a great way to initiate a conversation with my son and really allows us to spend some time just talking about his day.  

I love how excited he gets when he is discussing something like a Science experiment they're doing.

And some days, I get things like "Did you know that (insert friend's name here) farted during Math?"

Oh, the joys of boys!

Anyway, try it, ask your kids to give you a couple of "did-ya-knows" about their day...you never know what you may learn!

Fried biscuits and apple butter

This morning in Indiana, we have our first snow flakes falling of the season.  November 21st and we're just now seeing snow, not anything accumulating but a few flakes here and there.  We're lucky we've gotten this far into the season without seeing more!

In our home, there are only a couple of things that truly say breakfast comfort food, biscuits and gravy and fried biscuits and apple butter.  We find there are a lot of people who haven't had the wonderful luck to experience fried biscuits and apple butter.  If you are one of these people, you should correct that situation, immediately!

The best thing about this, besides the warm & fuzzy childhood memories, is that it is quick and easy and the kids absolutely love it!

Usually, I make homemade biscuits for everything except fried biscuits and monkey bread.  They both seem to have a better end result if you use the canned biscuits.  And usually, the cheaper the can of biscuits, the better.  

I generally get whatever is cheapest, I had a coupon so I started with these biscuits today.

That is apple butter that I make, you certainly can use store-bought apple butter but, honestly, if you can get your hands on homemade apple butter (even if it's not Gram's Jams), please do so!  You'll thank me.

Other than oil, that IS the ingredient list.  Biscuits, Apple Butter and Oil.  You don't even have to measure.  You do have to cut the biscuits into little pieces.  Well, you don't have to, but there is more crispy surface to the biscuits if you do.

You can use a deep fryer and I do if I have mine out but a skillet will do the same job.  As always, I highly endorse cast iron, but any skillet will do.  Place about 1/2"-3/4" oil in the pan.  Be careful doing this, if you have a shallower skillet, go with the smaller amount of oil.

Before you start frying, get a plate or I use a pie pan, with a paper towel in it to drain them on.  You can use a sheet pan with a cooling rack on it to drain the oil if you like.  I do both, depending on the mood.

Start heating the oil in the skillet, get your tongs, spider, slotted spoon, whatever you want to use to pull them out of the oil when they're done.  Get all this together before you start frying as it will move quickly once you start.

Once the oil is hot, I cook just one just like when you make pancakes and make that one little one first.  This is just to make sure the oil is hot enough but not too hot.

Once this is done and your oil is good to go, carefully put the biscuits in the oil.  Be careful to not overload the pan.  They'll cook quick enough without having to put too much in the skillet.

They will cook quickly

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While they cook, put the apple butter in dishes that let you dip in them.  You can heat the apple butter a bit in the microwave.

Let the first batch drain while you cook the second.

Then just plate and serve.

The amount of pictures make this seem time consuming, but it really isn't.  I made these for breakfast in about 10-15 minutes. 

They are sooooo yummy!