Produce Score!

My favorite time of day to grocery shop for markdowns is around 3:00, right after school lets out.  The reasoning is this:  at my local Bi-lo store, the morning shift leaves around 3:00.  Just before leaving, they mark down any items that need to sell right away.  This is the BEST time to find cheap meats and produce.  As long as you use / freeze them right away, they are still perfectly good items. 

Today, I was on the hunt for produce and Bi-lo did not dissapoint!  Today's haul:

Bagged Salad Mix - $0.99  (reg price $3.29)
2 Mushrooms - $0.99 each (reg price $2.99)
9 Blackberries - $0.50 each   (holy cow!!!  reg price $3.49, on sale for $2.50, had $2 mark down stickers)

I was planning on buying a salad mix and mushrooms anyways, so finding them on markdown was awesome.  I have wild blackberries growing my backyard that we pick, but they won't be ready for several weeks, so these will hold me over until then. 

Total Spent - $7.47
Regular Price - $40.68

Savings of $33.21

Confessions of a Fast Food Junkie

Lately, I've been doing a little too much of this.....

That would be the floor board of my van.  *ducking my head in shame now*

..... and not enough of this....

You see, first the kids were sick.  Then we went camping for Spring Break.  Then I was sick.  So, I had reasons for not stepping foot in the gym for almost 3 weeks.  Not good reasons, but reasons nonetheless. 

Let me tell you - 3 weeks of eating crap food and not working out make me feel like hell.  I'm not kidding you.  I had no energy, lots of headaches and was in a generally foul mood.  Sunday night, I said no more.  I've been to the gym every day this week and am finally starting to feel human again. 

"Brown" Rice the Gilbert Way

Growing up, my mom always made her family's "Brown Rice". Now, this is not actually brown rice. It is white rice baked into a state of deliciousness. There is nothing healthy about it, but it is truly comfort food at it's finest.

Brown Rice the Gilbert Way

makes a 9 x 13 casserole dish

 

Ingredients

1 cup converted rice, uncooked
2 tablespoons butter
1 can beef consomme
1 can beef broth
1 can sliced mushrooms
small onion, diced
splash of olive oil

Directions

1. Melt butter in casserole dish.
2. In a small skillet, saute the onion in a splash of olive oil until translucent.
3. Add rice, mushrooms, onions and liquids to casserole dish and stir.
3. Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour. 

Menu Plan Monday - 4/19 - 4/25

Weekly Menu Plan

April 19 - April 25

 Monday

Lunch: 

Leftovers Clean-up

Dinner:

Pork Chops on the grill (sundried tomato basil marinade)

Gilbert Family Brown Rice

Corn

Broccoli

Tuesday

Dinner:

Enchiladas

Taquitos w/ dipping sauce

Wednesday

Dinner:

    my kids love breakfast for dinner!

Pancakes & Turkey Sausage Links

Thursday

Dinner Out at Osaka!

(Mom's spending the night, so we can do some early Friday morning thrift store hunting!)

Friday

Lunch:

with Mom before she leaves town

Dinner:

~ we'll be camping! ~
Smoked Sausage

Baked Beans (crock pot item)

Corn on the Cob

S’mores

Saturday

~ we'll be camping! ~

Breakfast: 

Bacon, Scrambled Eggs, Cheese Grits

Lunch:

Hot Dogs, Chips, Salsa, Fruit

Dinner:

Flat Iron Steaks

Baked Potatoes for the guys / Baked Sweet Potatoes for the girls

Big bowl of Salad

Apple Pie a la mode

Sunday

~ more camping! ~

Breakfast: 

Pancakes, Sausage Links

Lunch: 

Hot Dogs / Sandwiches

Dinner: 

Chicken on the grill

Great big bowl of Salad

Oh how I love French Bread Pizzas

The plan was to make Italian Beef Sandwiches tonight, but I decided to switch it up.  French Bread Pizzas were just what we needed!  In fact, we were so happy to be having them for dinner that we made them at 3:00, instead of waiting until the "normal" dinnertime.  And you know what?  We do that a LOT!  When it's just me and the kids home for dinner, we'll eat dinner around 3:30 when everyone gets home from work / school and then just have a snack around 6:00 before they start the whole bath/bedtime thing.  Reversing snack and dinner works just great for us. 

I'm sure everyone knows how to make French Bread Pizza, but in case you don't.... here's how we do it. 

French Bread Pizza

Ingredients

French Bread (we used french rolls, since we had planned to do sandwiches)

Pizza Sauce  (you can get a huge #10 can at Sam's for less than $2.50)

Cheeses

Italian Seasoning

Toppings of your choice

Directions

1.  Preheat Oven to 375 degrees.

2.  Slice your bread the long way, like you would to make a sandwich. 

3.  Hand over the bread to each family member to make their own.  (I LOVE dinners like this!)

4.  Everyone can spread sauce, cheeses, seasoning, toppings to their liking.  Once they've loaded up their pizzas, plop them all on a baking sheet and toss into the oven for about 12 minutes, or until hot and bubbly. 

Enjoy!

See that one with huge chunks of pineapple?  That's Taylor's.  :)

Tater Tot making her pizza

Mr. Mudpie pouting on the couch.  He thought when I said "come to the table!" that dinner was already done.  haha!!  Apparently make-your-own is not his thing.

TJ waiting for his to be done

Sorry, there are no pictures of the finished pizzas.  Oops!  We were all really hungry and I didn't think to take a picture until it was too late. 

Weekly Menu Plan - 3/29 - 4/2

Weekly Menu Plan

3/29 - 4/2

Monday  (use it up night!)

Italian Beef Sandwiches**, Edamame Salad, Strawberries, Pineapple

** Italian Beef Sandwiches:  Shredded pot roast (from the freezer) and grilled onions piled on an italian bread roll and smothered in melted cheese. 


Tuesday

Spaghetti, Garlic Bread, Salad


Wednesday

Firehouse Subs - Kids Eat Free Night!


Thursday

Orange Chicken, Sticky Rice, Broccoli, Dessert Wontons**  

** Dessert Wontons:  I take pre-made wonton wrappers and fill with a quickie apple pie filling (finely chopped apple, sugar, cinnamon, ginger).  Fill wontons, fold into a triangle, deep fry until crispy and dust with powdered sugar.  sooooo delicious!


Friday                 

Dinner at the cabin! 

Weekly Menu Plan - 3/21 - 3/26

Weekly Meal Plan

3/21 - 3/26

Sunday

I've got a house full of stomach virus people (except me for now), so it will be crackers and applesauce for them and Chicken Lettuce Wraps for me.


Monday

Pork Chops, Twice Baked Potatoes, Kids Choice of Veggies


Tuesday

Eat on the road.  Going to visit my new niece Bryce!!!


Wednesday

Easy Baked Tilapia, Breaded Shrimp, Red Lobster Cheddar Bay Biscuits, Kid's Choice Veggies


Thursday

Pioneer Woman's "Marlboro Man's Favorite Sandwich"    sooooo good!  you MUST try this one!  


Friday

Go Out! to celebrate our anniversary that was last weekend.  Anyone want to babysit??? 

Friday Night Sew-in Accomplishments

As expected, I didn't get nearly as much as I wanted to done.  I'm happy though -- I got the 3 items I needed for today done.  Here's a look at them...

Crayon Roll for Barak:

Owl Pillowcase for Abby:

Horse Pillowcase for Aly:

Effortless Pot Roast

By request, here is my favorite Pot Roast recipe for the crock pot.  I haven't made this in a while... I'll have to make it next time roasts go on sale!

Effortless Pot Roast

Ingredients


2 (10 3/4 ounce) cans condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 (1 ounce) package dry onion soup mix
1 1/4 cups water
5 - 6 lb pot roast

*** If you have a small family and only want to do a 2 - 3 lb roast, just use 1 can of soup, 3/4 cup water and the onion soup packet.  Although, I don't know why anyone would cook a 3 lb roast, when they could cook a 6 lb roast in the same amount of time.  Leftovers can be frozen and are awesome used instead of ground beef in some tacos the next day.  But then, I've said before that I'm a cook-in-big-batches kind of girl. 


Directions


1.  In a bowl, mix cream of mushroom soup, dry onion soup mix and water.

2.  Place pot roast in slow cooker and coat with soup mixture.

3.  Cook on Low setting for 8 to 9 hours - the longer the better. 

If you like a thick gravy, you can thicken the juices with a little cornstarch/water mixture right before serving. 

Friday Night Sew-In!

Tonight, the girls at Handmade by Heidi and Crafty Vegas Mom are hosting "Friday Night Sew-In".  It's a night, once a month where you dedicate the evening to working on some projects on your crafty to-do list.... sewing, knitting, crocheting, scrapbooking, whatever.

The plan is this:   tonight you work on your projects, Saturday you post pics or blog about them, and Sunday they are giving away some goodies!  Want to join in too?  Go HERE to sign up. 






My Sewing List for tonight, in order of importance:

• Owl Pillowcase   (Abby's birthday - need for tomorrow!)
• Horse Pillowcase (Aly's birthday - need for tomorrow!)
• Crayon Roll  (Barak's birthday - need for tomorrow!)    are you noticing a procrastination trend, here??
• Cushion Reupholstery Project
• Hooded towel

Since I won't be starting until around 7:30, I'm guessing this is where I will run out of steam.  If I have enough energy, I want to work on these:

• Finish cutting fabric for Cabin Quilt
• Baby Shoes (2 pair boy)
• Burp Cloth (3 boy)
• Prep supplies for some hand sewing projects to take on our camping trip

Crock Pot Taco Soup (Just for you Lara!)

I don't know about the rest of you, but I *heart* my crock pot.  It gets used and abused a lot around here.  Today, the crock pot was kind enough to cook a pork roast for me so that I could turn it into Cuban Sandwiches. 

At 5:00 I arrived home to a cranky husband and two hungry kiddos.  Because I had taken 5 minutes earlier in the day to load the crock pot, I had homemade Cuban Sandwiches on the table within 15 minutes of arriving home.  (It would have only taken 10, but there were a couple meltdowns and one poop incident.)  And as a bonus.... I have leftover pork for tomorrow night!

One of my favorite crock pot soups to make is Taco Soup.  Quick, easy and cheap.  And if that's not good enough -- it freezes great.  Freeze any leftovers in individual servings for when you need a quick lunch or hearty snack. 


***** This is one of those meals that I consider a "pantry meal", meaning I almost always have all of these ingredients in my pantry.  Having about a dozen pantry meal recipes at the ready is crucial for every home kitchen.  You never know when you might get sick and not want to shop, have a sudden pay loss, or even a natural disaster.  This meal could easily be made over a camp stove (just omit the perishable garnishes).  As someone who grew up in the land of hurricanes, it is a survival instinct to have food on hand to feed my family in any situtation.  I'll step off my soapbox now.  :)

TJ's Favorite Crock Pot Taco Soup

Serves 8

Ingredients


1 can pinto beans
1 can white beans or kidney beans
1 can yellow corn
1 can Rotel tomatoes & chilies (I like the one with lime)
1 big (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes ** in the summer time, dice up a few overripe tomatoes from the garden
1 (4 ounce) can diced green chilies
1 packet taco seasoning mix
1 packet hidden valley ranch dressing mix
1 lb shredded chicken, ground beef or any meat you have hanging out in the fridge

handful of chopped cilantro
handful of chopped green onions


*** Optional Garnishes:  tortilla chips, shredded cheese, sour cream, salsa, avocados, guacamole, etc.

Directions

1.  Cook meat and drain, if not using leftovers from fridge.

2.  Add all ingredients to crock pot except cilantro and green onions.  Do NOT drain cans of veggies.  Just open the cans and dump the entire contents of cans into the crock pot. 

3.  Stir it & cover it.

4.  Cook on low for 4 hours, or high for 2 hours. 
     Do NOT take the lid off!  Every time you take the lid off, it takes up to 30 mintues for the crock-pot to resume the temperature.

5.  If it's done before dinner, keep it on Warm or Low until serving time. 

6.  When ready to serve, add in cilantro and green onions.  yummy!  Let everyone add whatever garnishes they like to their bowls, and enjoy.  :) 

Broccoli Cheese Rice Casserole (with OAMC directions!)

This is one of those great standby recipes that you can throw together in a pinch.  Or even better, keep one assembled in the freezer, so all you do is throw it in the oven!  The best part is it doesn't contain any Velveeta or Cheese Whiz type fake cheeses.  I don't know about you, but those "cheese" products scare me. 

I usually add chicken to mine so I can make it a one-dish dinner.   But it's great as a side dish too!

Broccoli Cheese Rice Casserole

serves about 6

hmmm.... this is one of those not-so-pretty recipes.  it tastes great though!

Ingredients


2 (10 ounce) boxes frozen chopped broccoli, thawed
2 cups cooked rice (I use brown rice, but white is fine too)
8 ounces shredded cheddar or colby jack cheese
2 (10 3/4 ounce) cans cream of whatever soup
1 small onion, chopped
olive oil


Directions

1.  Cook onion in a little bit of olive oil in skillet until done.

2.  In a greased casserole dish, add all ingredients and mix well. 

3.  Bake at 350 for 1 hour or until hot and bubbly.



To make ahead and freeze: Mix all ingredients together in a bowl (cooked rice, not raw) and spoon into one or two casserole dishes, cover, label and freeze.
From frozen:  cook 1 hour and 10 minutes or so
Thawed:  cook for about an hour

Weekly Menu Plan

First let me say.... I never intended to take over a month off from blogging.  The whole family has been adjusting to Mr. Mudpie's new work schedule, and things have been a little off here.  But I'm back now and have lots of recipes and crafty goodness to post in the coming weeks! 

In an effort to get back to menu planning on a regular basis, I will be posting our weekly menu plans here.  In the plast when I've done weekly plans, I find that we stick to most of the plan each week.  You know what?  That's good enough for me!  I plan meals around what we have in the pantry / freezers, so if we don't eat a meal one week, it can easily be shifted to the next week. 

You'll notice too, that on some days I plan a lunch, but not all days.  I usually only plan lunches for days that I know I will be busy and tempted to get fast food.  If I have a plan, I am more likely to use it instead of hitting the drive thru.  

My intentions are to post as many of these recipes as possible, after making each dish.  I make no promises though!

Weekly Meal Plan

3/14 - 3/19

Sunday 
Lunch - Broccoli Chicken Cheese Rice Casserole
Dinner - Smoked Sausage, Grilled Onions, Au Gratin Potatoes, Broccoli

Monday
Lunch - Brown Rice Lentil Soup
Dinner - Whole Wheat Pasta with Scallops and veggies

Tuesday
Lunch - **little man's birthday, so he will get his favorite:  a drive thru cheeseburger with no pickles :)
Dinner -** birthday boy's choice **

Wednesday
Dinner - Firehouse Subs  (kids eat free night!)

Thursday
Dinner - Cuban Sandwiches, Edamame Salad

Friday
Lunch - ** no school for kiddos**  Picnic lunch at the park
Dinner - Giant Dinner Salad topped with Roast Pork

Jersey Ruffle Scarf

When I saw the Sew Much Ado: Jersey Ruffle Scarf Tutorial. I knew I had to make that scarf.  What really sealed the deal was the reminder that I had quite a bit of Jersey yardage in my stash.  I bought about 10 yards of jersey material about a year ago, but I have absolutely no idea why.  It is a total pain to sew and I definitely do not have the skills needed to tackle it.  Well, the regretted impulse jersey purchase has finally been put to use! 

As predicted, it was nowhere near easy to sew.  Not hard necessarily, just tempermental.  I will say though, that I love the fact that it does not fray.  This non-fray factor allows you to leave the edges unhemmed and gives it a really cool effect.  I see many more jersey projects in my future! 

Start to finish, the scarf took about 2 hours to make, which is entirely too long.  However, the moment I put it on, I was in love.  It is incredibly soft and silky feeling.  As I was sewing, I had every intention of giving the scarf as a Valentine's gift.  But.....I'm thinking I need to make a second one -- I do have PLENTY of fabric left afterall -- so I can keep this one for myself.  It is that luxurious feeling.  If I could figure out a way to sleep with this thing on and not wind up choking myself, I would. 

Adult Shirt ----> Child's Skirt

Last month my mom gave me a big bag of stuff to take to Goodwill.  Well..... I didn't.  I kept all of the clothing to use as fabric for other projects.  I like to think it's because I am "going green" but in reality it's because I'm cheap.  Have you seen the prices of fabrics lately? 

Project Stats
Total Cost:  $0.75
   (shirt was free, elastic was $0.75)
Time:    12 minutes
   (Yep, you read that right.  Only 12 minutes!  I actually timed it.)
 

BEFORE

AFTER

It's double layered gauzy material, which is the perfect amount of girliness for my little fashionista.  And that awesome bead work on top?  I have a project in mind for it too. 

I apologize for the crappy camera phone pics.  It was dark already, the lighting in the house sucks and my camera is broken.  I had everything going against me!  Oh yeah, and ignore all of the wrinkles!  It was past her bedtime, and I made her stay up so I could measure her, sew it and take pictures.  If I didn't make it right that second, it would have gone on the incredibly long "to make" list.... where project ideas go to die. 

Multi Purpose Seat Warmers

Do you have those great seat warmers in your car?  This is the first vehicle I have ever owned that has them.  Let me tell you... they rock!  The butt warmer is by far my favorite feature in my van.  Well, actually that and the built in dvd player that turns my kids into zombies.  Love that one too! 

I have found a great use for my passenger side butt warmer:

Butt Warmer on High = Pizza stays hot the WHOLE way home!

Just remember folks.... nothing says I love you like having the butt warmer on and ready for your loved one when they get in the car.  Unless it's summer time.  That's just wrong. 

And in case Mr. Mudpie is reading this..... "You gotta risk it for the biscuit!" Bonus points if anyone out there knows what movie that's from. 

A Story of A Failed Tooth Fairy

Let me tell you a little story about how I am officially the WORST tooth fairy in the world. 

We've been privileged to spend the past few weeks watching the Top Left Front Tooth slowly loosen.  Seriously, it took forever!  But Taylor got in the car yesterday afternoon and announced "My tooth is coming out tonight.  It's ready."  So I'm thinking, "ok.... I hope Mr. Mudpie has a dollar bill on hand, because all I have is my debit card".

We head to Firehouse Subs for dinner with friends, because it's Wednesday and kids eat free.  Hello cheap dinner!  We get there and somehow Taylor convinces our friend Ian to pull the tooth out.  At this point I'm thinking "hold the phone!  wimpy girl wants him to do what?"  So he pulled it and she didn't cry.  I was SHOCKED!  Let's face it... Taylor is pretty dramatic.  She must get it from her father. :)

So here's where I failed at my Tooth Fairy responsibilities:  I *forgot* to switch it out with the money.  I even helped her put the darn thing in the tooth fairy trinket box (from Tiffany's I might add) and put it under her pillow.  This morning I went in to wake the kids up and she was sitting in bed looking down at the box with the saddest face I have ever seen.  I have never felt like such a failure of a parent as I did this morning.  It was awful.  So I tell her.... "Taylor, it's still dark outside.  Maybe she just hasn't gotten here yet."  and she says "Sammy barked in the middle of the night.  Maybe she scared her away."  So I clung to her theory as I freaked out inside thinking that I had scarred my child for life. 

She got up to tell her daddy about her misfortune and I flung a dollar bill (thanks Mr. Mudpie) under the pillow.  When she came in, I pretended to make the bed (which we NEVER do) and asked her "Did you look under your pillow or just reach in for the box?"  So she climbs back into the top bunk and finds the dollar.  I'm thinking.... "YES!  You redeemed yourself!!!" 

Oh hell no.  Now she's upset about why the fairy left the tooth.  Mr. Mudpie comes up with the scenario that seals the deal.  You see, last night Taylor and Evelyn were talking about how Evelyn wrote the tooth fairy a letter asking if she could keep her teeth.  Mr. Mudpie figures the tooth fairy heard them talking and thought Taylor wanted to keep hers too.  She bought his theory a little, but left the tooth under her pillow in case the fairy came back for it while she was at school. 

She forgot about it this afternoon, and when she climbed into bed she found the tooth had been replaced with a Hershey's kiss in the trinket box.  I'm thinking, "Woo Hoo!  NOW I've redeemed myself!"  Nope.  Can't just let me have my moment....  She looks at me and says "Why would the tooth fairy leave me chocolate?  Does she just WANT all of my teeth to rot and fall out?!" 

~ Sigh ~ 

Olive Garden Salad Dressing

It was a happy day last week when I finally found the recipe for the Olive Garden's salad dressing.  I combined a few recipes and tweaked them and have come up with what we consider the closest possible version without going to the actual restaurant. 

To make make my discovery even more heavenly, the next morning I found breadsticks at Sam's that are almost identical to Olive Garden's.  Yeah baby!  Now I realize that Olive Garden is not exactly the most authentic Italian food out there, and I lovingly think of it as "generic Italian".  However, it is some pretty delicious food! 

Coming soon..... the copycat recipe of their Stuffed Mushrooms.  Go ahead and wipe the drool off your face.  I did. 

Copycat Olive Garden Salad Dressing

~ Serves about 6 ~

Ingredients

  1/3 cup white wine vinegar
  1/3 cup water
  1/3 cup vegetable oil
  1/4 cup corn syrup
  2 1/2 tablespoons shredded romano cheese 
  2 tablespoons dry pectin
  2 tablespoons Egg Beaters egg substitute
  1 1/4 teaspoons salt
  1 teaspoon lemon juice
  1 teaspoon minced garlic
  1 teaspoon italian seasoning blend (I use the one from Whole Foods) 
  1 pinch dried oregano
  1 pinch crushed red pepper flakes

Directions


Put all ingredients into a mason jar and shake like crazy for about at least one minute.  Refrigerate for at least 1 hour prior to serving.  Shake again right before using, to distribute the cheese again.

Tip for Serving
When you get ready to serve, the best thing to do is pour your dressing in the bottom of your salad bowl, then add in your salad ingredients.  You can then put the whole bowl into the fridge until serving time.  When you're ready to eat, use your salad tongs to turn the salad mix a few times and coat in dressing.  Voila!  Restaurant Salad on the cheap!

Enjoy!

The Nesting Quilt: Part 4

I know everyone is probably tired of seeing posts about this unfinished quilt.  It's almost done!  I promise!  I'm guessing I can get 2 more posts out of it before everyone starts boycotting my little blog.  :)  My goal is to get this little beauty done by January 31st so I can start my mom's quilt in February. 

Becky, Mr. Mudpie and myself headed over to our local library on Friday to lay out the quilt and have a good old fashioned Basting Party.  Mr. Mudpie of couse didn't help, but he did actually sit with us and I'm pretty sure I saw him watching the process a few times.  It makes me happy that he is taking an interest in this project.  

Basting took about an hour... 15 minutes of which was spent standing still and gossiping with a safety pin in our hands, until we remembered we were supposed to be pinning.  :)  That's how Becky and I work.  The only thing missing was our usual food and drinks.  Too bad the library doesn't allow that! 

We had planned on using one of the meeting rooms, but the librarian said to go ahead and push some tables together in the sitting area.  It was fun watching people walk by and peek at us.  We got a few odd looks and one older lady who kept looking and smiling our way. 

While I'm thinking about it, here are a few tips on Basting:

• Use LOTS of safety pins.  If you think you're done, go back and add a dozen more.  The more pins, the less puckers in your finished projects. 
• Tape the backing fabric to the tables (or floor) to keep it from shifting. 
• Have a friend help.  Another set of eyes is great, but the giggling and gossiping is better!

So here it is, in all of it's basted glory.  The quilting will commence tonight.  I know I was going to wait until after the class, but I really do want to start using it.  Plus, I really do think that grid quilting will look quite nice on this quilt. 

Next installment will be on the actual quilting process, and then hopefully a post this week of the quilt completed and in it's new home.  I can't wait! 

Potato Head Me

TJ's version of "Mommy".   Hmmm.... I know I look rough in the mornings, but really? Thanks son.  I love you too.