Monday, July 29, 2013
Friday, July 19, 2013
Getting back on a food budget
I wrote a post the other day about how I'm spending an unbelievable amount on groceries lately and how I need to get "back on the wagon".
Weeks ago I signed up with Jessica @Allshecooks.com and actually have been signed up with her 52 weeks of no repeat dinners since the beginning. I don't know How I found it, but I'm glad I did and it has helped get me back on track, but the problem with going off someone else's menu is you don't always like the choices or you have allergies or whatever the case may be. This week's menu had shrimp, I'm allergic so I kinda poo pooed the whole menu she had up this week without bothering to check the rest. I know that's bad and I have a tendency of checking out once something fails to appeal to me (I'm sure the kid would have liked it, but I can't even handle shrimp to cook it).
Anyway.... Being the girl on a mission that I am and getting nothing but frustrated by google I went to where I should have gone in the first place...
Pinterest
Search Pinterest for Budget Friendly meals and HOLY COW!! There was a Ton of stuff! I made up a board of budget friendly meals and there are meal plans and recipes and So many things (can you tell I'm excited about this?) I'm still adding things to it and before making a grocery list this week I'm gonna pick seven recipes and go with it. There are SO many other people in the same situation that I'm in. We've all gotta eat, some of us have giant teenage boys to feed (and seriously, where does all that food go?) Most have more than one kid to feed.
It's not easy to stick to a food budget but with a little planning it's a LOT easier :)
Weeks ago I signed up with Jessica @Allshecooks.com and actually have been signed up with her 52 weeks of no repeat dinners since the beginning. I don't know How I found it, but I'm glad I did and it has helped get me back on track, but the problem with going off someone else's menu is you don't always like the choices or you have allergies or whatever the case may be. This week's menu had shrimp, I'm allergic so I kinda poo pooed the whole menu she had up this week without bothering to check the rest. I know that's bad and I have a tendency of checking out once something fails to appeal to me (I'm sure the kid would have liked it, but I can't even handle shrimp to cook it).
Anyway.... Being the girl on a mission that I am and getting nothing but frustrated by google I went to where I should have gone in the first place...
Search Pinterest for Budget Friendly meals and HOLY COW!! There was a Ton of stuff! I made up a board of budget friendly meals and there are meal plans and recipes and So many things (can you tell I'm excited about this?) I'm still adding things to it and before making a grocery list this week I'm gonna pick seven recipes and go with it. There are SO many other people in the same situation that I'm in. We've all gotta eat, some of us have giant teenage boys to feed (and seriously, where does all that food go?) Most have more than one kid to feed.
It's not easy to stick to a food budget but with a little planning it's a LOT easier :)
Thursday, July 18, 2013
It's really HOT!! Lets cool down with some ice cream :)
I get an insane amount of emails daily.I'm really trying better to get through these emails daily... or at least a few times a week. I came across an email from cookingchannel.com last week and flagged it to keep it on the list of stuff I need to read.
I finally got around to reading it on Sunday night when I sat down to get through the mass of email in my inbox and make an effort to get the number of unread emails to under 1,000. (Yeah, you read that right)
We're having an incredibly hot week, the longest heatwave since 2002. By 9am it was already 91° outside my office (now it says 97°). It’s too hot to cook, it’s too hot to eat.. It’s almost too hot to even be outside for any amount of time. The Kid hasn't been to the park all week. It’s just too hot.
So... back to this email with the recipes. It was Their best summer and grilling recipes so I clicked through and stopped at the recipe for Cornstarch Ice Cream.
I have an ice cream maker, I use it maybe 3-4 times a year. I can’t seem to get the hang of making ice cream. I don't like to use full fat milk and heavy cream, it always melts too fast and it always rock hard when I take it out of my freezer. This seemed like a very different approach instead of custard ice cream (which, admittedly is wonderful, but Sooo fattening and I've been so good at eating healthy and not just losing the weight that I battled with for years but keeping it off too.)
Okay, so Cornstarch... I have that on hand and I grabbed a quart of light cream at the store, I can do this.
And so I did.
And...
It was WONDERFUL!
I was a little hesitant while cooking it up, it looked a little... gloopy? Gluey?
I left it to cool for a bit and then set up the ice cream maker (I have a cuisinart with the freezer bowl that I always keep handy in the freezer) and churned it for 30 minutes, put it into a covered container and sat it in the freezer overnight.
I like it, the kid liked it. I followed the recipe exactly with the vanilla bean and all and I'd like to try it again with cherries and almond extract. Being a base recipe, just about anything can be added to this.
Cornstarch Ice Cream
I finally got around to reading it on Sunday night when I sat down to get through the mass of email in my inbox and make an effort to get the number of unread emails to under 1,000. (Yeah, you read that right)
We're having an incredibly hot week, the longest heatwave since 2002. By 9am it was already 91° outside my office (now it says 97°). It’s too hot to cook, it’s too hot to eat.. It’s almost too hot to even be outside for any amount of time. The Kid hasn't been to the park all week. It’s just too hot.
So... back to this email with the recipes. It was Their best summer and grilling recipes so I clicked through and stopped at the recipe for Cornstarch Ice Cream.
I have an ice cream maker, I use it maybe 3-4 times a year. I can’t seem to get the hang of making ice cream. I don't like to use full fat milk and heavy cream, it always melts too fast and it always rock hard when I take it out of my freezer. This seemed like a very different approach instead of custard ice cream (which, admittedly is wonderful, but Sooo fattening and I've been so good at eating healthy and not just losing the weight that I battled with for years but keeping it off too.)
Okay, so Cornstarch... I have that on hand and I grabbed a quart of light cream at the store, I can do this.
And so I did.
And...
It was WONDERFUL!
I was a little hesitant while cooking it up, it looked a little... gloopy? Gluey?
I left it to cool for a bit and then set up the ice cream maker (I have a cuisinart with the freezer bowl that I always keep handy in the freezer) and churned it for 30 minutes, put it into a covered container and sat it in the freezer overnight.
I like it, the kid liked it. I followed the recipe exactly with the vanilla bean and all and I'd like to try it again with cherries and almond extract. Being a base recipe, just about anything can be added to this.
Cornstarch Ice Cream
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
I am a woman on a mission and I need your help!!
My mission is to get my food budget in check.
No more trips to the grocery store just because I need something, we're out of something or there's nothing for dinner.
I've really fallen off the wagon here... I was so good with keeping on my $50/week budget and I have no idea where I've steered off this path, but I need to get back on it.
I've signed up for meal planning lists, I've pinned myself all these budget friendly meals. I have a plan.
But I need to really get back to making lists, making a weekly menu and get myself on task here.
My only saving grace right now is with the kid working as a counselor at his old summer camp he's not eating me out of house and home being home all day (at least not for the next 5 weeks, lol).
Are you on a weekly food budget?
Do you make meal plans or you just a go with it kind of person?
I need some feedback here, some tips and ideas for planning meals and lists.
No more trips to the grocery store just because I need something, we're out of something or there's nothing for dinner.
I've really fallen off the wagon here... I was so good with keeping on my $50/week budget and I have no idea where I've steered off this path, but I need to get back on it.
I've signed up for meal planning lists, I've pinned myself all these budget friendly meals. I have a plan.
But I need to really get back to making lists, making a weekly menu and get myself on task here.
My only saving grace right now is with the kid working as a counselor at his old summer camp he's not eating me out of house and home being home all day (at least not for the next 5 weeks, lol).
Are you on a weekly food budget?
Do you make meal plans or you just a go with it kind of person?
I need some feedback here, some tips and ideas for planning meals and lists.
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
First Birthdays, cake, and ordering things from Etsy...
We celebrated my Nephew Noah’s first birthday this past weekend. I was in charge of the cake and I wanted to do something special. I did some poking around and decided to order a custom cake topper from a seller on Etsy. I really try to purchase things like this from independent sellers, you usually get personal service and things are shipped quickly. I have an Etsy shop and whenever I get an order things are done in the time frame I give and I always, always, ALWAYS ship priority mail. Always.
I ordered this custom topper on May 28th, I needed it by June 7th at the very latest and let the shop owner know this. After not hearing anything for a few days I contacted her again on June 3 and she asks me what the order was for again, so I send it to her again. I emailed her again on June 5th asking her WTH was going on with my order because I needed it by Friday and get a message back that it was shipped Monday followed by another message with the tracking #. My order, which came from Illinois was shipped first class mail and she was under the impression it would arrive Wednesday or Thursday. Thursday night I'm in a panic when I return home from work and there’s nothing from her in the mail, the tracking information is saying the package is somewhere in NJ and I’m in full on panic mode.
Friday it rained cats and dogs, I had the day off work so I could work on last minute things for the birthday party before I have to pick up The Kid from school and get over to my cousin’s so I can help her set up and get these cakes baked off.. I busied myself in the morning getting ingredients together and packing up weekend stuff for myself and the kid and straightening up.
Noon rolls around and no mail yet, finally I check my email around 2 and just after 1pm I got a message from the USPA that the mail was delivered. I ran outside in the pouring rain to get the mail and my landlord and his wife were pulling into the driveway. As I'm rummaging through the mailbox and he tells me that a package was left on the porch in the rain and he brought it inside, and there it is.
Granted, it was perfect. It was just what I wanted. But I will Never ever order from this seller again. There is nothing more frustrating than having to wait for something you ordered well in advance.
The cake came out fantastic with a vanilla layer on the bottom Chocolate on top and a layer of smooth eggless cookie dough in the middle.
I wish I had some pictures of Noah gobbling up that cake, it was awesome.
Noah's Big Brother's birthday party is next month, I want to order another topper, but this time I'll order it from ebay where I can rely on seller ratings and order well in advance just for good measure.
I ordered this custom topper on May 28th, I needed it by June 7th at the very latest and let the shop owner know this. After not hearing anything for a few days I contacted her again on June 3 and she asks me what the order was for again, so I send it to her again. I emailed her again on June 5th asking her WTH was going on with my order because I needed it by Friday and get a message back that it was shipped Monday followed by another message with the tracking #. My order, which came from Illinois was shipped first class mail and she was under the impression it would arrive Wednesday or Thursday. Thursday night I'm in a panic when I return home from work and there’s nothing from her in the mail, the tracking information is saying the package is somewhere in NJ and I’m in full on panic mode.
Friday it rained cats and dogs, I had the day off work so I could work on last minute things for the birthday party before I have to pick up The Kid from school and get over to my cousin’s so I can help her set up and get these cakes baked off.. I busied myself in the morning getting ingredients together and packing up weekend stuff for myself and the kid and straightening up.
Noon rolls around and no mail yet, finally I check my email around 2 and just after 1pm I got a message from the USPA that the mail was delivered. I ran outside in the pouring rain to get the mail and my landlord and his wife were pulling into the driveway. As I'm rummaging through the mailbox and he tells me that a package was left on the porch in the rain and he brought it inside, and there it is.
Granted, it was perfect. It was just what I wanted. But I will Never ever order from this seller again. There is nothing more frustrating than having to wait for something you ordered well in advance.
The cake came out fantastic with a vanilla layer on the bottom Chocolate on top and a layer of smooth eggless cookie dough in the middle.
I wish I had some pictures of Noah gobbling up that cake, it was awesome.
Noah's Big Brother's birthday party is next month, I want to order another topper, but this time I'll order it from ebay where I can rely on seller ratings and order well in advance just for good measure.
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