Friday, November 11, 2011
Bookin-it
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
"Soup"vember
Let me start by saying that I am a meal planner. I just have to. If I don't, I end up being totally unmotivated to fix dinner for my family. Which means that we either eat last-minute something or Andy has to deal with the pressure of fixing dinner after he's been at work all day. Neither of those scenarios are ones that I like to deal with on a daily basis. (Don't get me wrong, Andy is an awesome cook, I just don't think it's fair to him to get home from a long day of work and then deal with having to come up with/thaw out/prepare a meal.)
Therefore, I have to plan our meals. We are "weird" and only go grocery shopping once a month (except to pick up eggs, apples, etc. that we run out of), so at the beginning of each month, I sit down with either a recipe book or a cooking magazine and plan out 15-20 meals.
It works well for us on many levels. First off, it takes care of the perpetual "what's for dinner?" question. Secondly, it allows me to know what we need grocery-wise for the entire month. And lastly (and perhaps most importantly), it is a major budget-saver. #1 it seems like the more we go to the grocery store, the more we spend, so the once a month thing helps with that, #2 it allows me to plan a variety of meals, some with more-expensive ingredients and some with less-expensive ingredients all while staying within our overall monthly budget. Does that make sense?
Well, this month, the cupboards and the freezer were looking pretty bare, and I knew if we stocked up on everything we needed that we would go way over our grocery budget for the month. So, I decided that I would plan only soups for dinner this month (Dinner, by the way is the only meal I plan. Breakfast is usually cold cereal, oatmeal, or toast, and Lunch is usually sandwiches for the boys and leftovers for us girls.)
Soups are just economical in so many ways. Typically, you can use less and less-expensive meats, or even no meat at all, in which case you can use beans to meet your protein needs. You can also use a lot of canned/frozen vegetables, which are not only healthy, but a bargain as well!
So we're seeing a lot of this at our house lately:
Therefore, I have to plan our meals. We are "weird" and only go grocery shopping once a month (except to pick up eggs, apples, etc. that we run out of), so at the beginning of each month, I sit down with either a recipe book or a cooking magazine and plan out 15-20 meals.
It works well for us on many levels. First off, it takes care of the perpetual "what's for dinner?" question. Secondly, it allows me to know what we need grocery-wise for the entire month. And lastly (and perhaps most importantly), it is a major budget-saver. #1 it seems like the more we go to the grocery store, the more we spend, so the once a month thing helps with that, #2 it allows me to plan a variety of meals, some with more-expensive ingredients and some with less-expensive ingredients all while staying within our overall monthly budget. Does that make sense?
Well, this month, the cupboards and the freezer were looking pretty bare, and I knew if we stocked up on everything we needed that we would go way over our grocery budget for the month. So, I decided that I would plan only soups for dinner this month (Dinner, by the way is the only meal I plan. Breakfast is usually cold cereal, oatmeal, or toast, and Lunch is usually sandwiches for the boys and leftovers for us girls.)
Soups are just economical in so many ways. Typically, you can use less and less-expensive meats, or even no meat at all, in which case you can use beans to meet your protein needs. You can also use a lot of canned/frozen vegetables, which are not only healthy, but a bargain as well!
So we're seeing a lot of this at our house lately:
And quite honestly, it's been AWESOME to be able to get dinner ready in the morning and have minimal work to do in the evening during the dreaded "witching hour." You fellow moms know what I'm talking about... that last hour before daddy gets home... aaarrrggghhh
And just in case you were curious, here's our line-up of soups for the month. Let me know if you'd like me to share any of the recipes!
Lentil Soup
Mother's Nurturing Chicken Soup
Deb's Potato Vegetable Soup
Linda's Spicy Chicken Soup
Barley Beef Soup
Hamburger Vegetable Soup
Cream of Broccoli Soup
Meatball Soup
Split Pea Soup
Jambalaya
French Onion Soup
Minestrone
Cabbage Patch Stew
New England Clam Chowder
Mom's White Chicken Chili
Happy "Soup"vember!
Monday, November 7, 2011
All Hallows Eve, a week late
Goodness, it's been awhile since I blogged! I do have an excuse though!
It all started when we got a note from school saying that Ira would need a saint costume for the All Saints Day party at school. Being the over-achiever, can't-ever-do-anything-halfway type that I am, I decided I would make him a cassock for his St. John Baptist de la Salle costume. He also wanted me to make him a ghost costume for Halloween, which I thought would be easy enough... unless you're me who has to complicate everything...
Initially, I thought I could make up my own cassock, but after looking at more pictures of them online, I decided they were actually kind of complicated and I might want to go off an actual pattern. Problem being, there's not much of a market out there for size 5 cassocks... who would've guessed? I did find a Butterick pattern for a men's cassock, however, and I knew with Andy's mad spatial skills that he would be able to modify the pattern down to Ira's size. So I bought the pattern and fabric the same day as our zoo trip and Andy set to modifying the pattern that night. When he finished, he let me take care of shortening the pattern pieces to Ira's height. Now mind you, the only things I have ever sewn have been for myself, and you can guess that the direction I need to go with patterns is not shortening...ever. I lengthen... shortening is a whole different ballgame, and I obviously missed something, because although I tried to make it so that I had 6" to take out at the bottom and 4" at the sleeves (you know, so I don't have to go through this rigamarole every year) it ended up such that it just fit him this year, and unless he doesn't grow at all, it will most likely not fit him next year... grrrr.... See, I do not have mad spatial skills like my hubs does. I'm just special...
Cutting it out wasn't too awful bad, it's just my least favorite part of sewing. I just like to sew. Laying out, cutting out, lining up, pinning, blech... I mean, I deal with it, because you can't really sew without doing those things (I've tried. It doesn't work.) I just don't like it, and there might have been some cursing involved... Sewing it together went pretty well actually, modifications and all (which is crazy because we and by we
I mean my husband had to take 10" out all the way around) Some things were literally lost in the translation (like a lot of the notches and markings) and it was tough because there were pleats, which I've never done before and they were tiny because they were for someone with a 20" waist, but all in all, I'd say it turned out really well. The pattern definitely left some questions as far as finishing the sleeves and the bottom hem, but I figured it out well enough to make it look good.
Needless to say, it took about 2 weeks of finding time here and there during the day and after the kids went to bed to finish, then it took about a week afterwards to catch everything that I'd let slide (like housework, laundry, etc.) back up. Finally this week we're starting fresh with a clean house and not much on the to-do list, so I thought I'd catch up the old bloggeroo. I'm hoping to get back to the Photo of the Day type posts because they're just less overwhelming to me, but what do you all think of them? Are they too boring/uninformative?
In the meantime, here are some pictures from All Hallows Eve!
It all started when we got a note from school saying that Ira would need a saint costume for the All Saints Day party at school. Being the over-achiever, can't-ever-do-anything-halfway type that I am, I decided I would make him a cassock for his St. John Baptist de la Salle costume. He also wanted me to make him a ghost costume for Halloween, which I thought would be easy enough... unless you're me who has to complicate everything...
Initially, I thought I could make up my own cassock, but after looking at more pictures of them online, I decided they were actually kind of complicated and I might want to go off an actual pattern. Problem being, there's not much of a market out there for size 5 cassocks... who would've guessed? I did find a Butterick pattern for a men's cassock, however, and I knew with Andy's mad spatial skills that he would be able to modify the pattern down to Ira's size. So I bought the pattern and fabric the same day as our zoo trip and Andy set to modifying the pattern that night. When he finished, he let me take care of shortening the pattern pieces to Ira's height. Now mind you, the only things I have ever sewn have been for myself, and you can guess that the direction I need to go with patterns is not shortening...ever. I lengthen... shortening is a whole different ballgame, and I obviously missed something, because although I tried to make it so that I had 6" to take out at the bottom and 4" at the sleeves (you know, so I don't have to go through this rigamarole every year) it ended up such that it just fit him this year, and unless he doesn't grow at all, it will most likely not fit him next year... grrrr.... See, I do not have mad spatial skills like my hubs does. I'm just special...
Cutting it out wasn't too awful bad, it's just my least favorite part of sewing. I just like to sew. Laying out, cutting out, lining up, pinning, blech... I mean, I deal with it, because you can't really sew without doing those things (I've tried. It doesn't work.) I just don't like it, and there might have been some cursing involved... Sewing it together went pretty well actually, modifications and all (which is crazy because we and by we
I mean my husband had to take 10" out all the way around) Some things were literally lost in the translation (like a lot of the notches and markings) and it was tough because there were pleats, which I've never done before and they were tiny because they were for someone with a 20" waist, but all in all, I'd say it turned out really well. The pattern definitely left some questions as far as finishing the sleeves and the bottom hem, but I figured it out well enough to make it look good.
Needless to say, it took about 2 weeks of finding time here and there during the day and after the kids went to bed to finish, then it took about a week afterwards to catch everything that I'd let slide (like housework, laundry, etc.) back up. Finally this week we're starting fresh with a clean house and not much on the to-do list, so I thought I'd catch up the old bloggeroo. I'm hoping to get back to the Photo of the Day type posts because they're just less overwhelming to me, but what do you all think of them? Are they too boring/uninformative?
In the meantime, here are some pictures from All Hallows Eve!
 |
| Okay, this one isn't from All Hallow's Eve, this is Andy modifying one of the 6 pattern pieces |
 |
| St. John Baptist de la Salle was not acting very saintly while I was trying to take this picture... |
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| A back view so that you can see the pleats on which I worked SO diligently! |
 |
| Classic Ruby face. Pardon the red-eye. I don't have photo software on my laptop and did NOT feel like turning on the beast just to blip out a couple red eyes. And in case you're wondering what the red streaks are all over our pumpkin, those are Ira's doing. He said he wanted to put chicken pox on our pumpkin... not sure why, but who am I to stop him?! |
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| Ira ghost and Ruby "lily bug" (as she says it.) Ready to go trick-or-treating. |
Monday, October 24, 2011
Just like the good 'ole days
Ira was off school last Monday, so he, Ruby, and I headed to the Zoo for some animal fun. It was the first time Ruby'd been to the Zoo since she was like 6 months old, so really her first time of really experiencing it. She was pretty intrigued. She loved peeking over the railings and saying "boo" to the animals. She had a lion about 40 feet away (behind glass, obviously) drop some kind of animal it was eating to run and check her out. It was kinda creepy, but I guess they are still wild animals and they still appreciate an easy target.
Ira was also fun to watch since he could read all the informational signs about the animals. He was also very interested in the world maps showing where the animals are typically found. (He has a new-found interest in world-geography thanks to my uncle who sent him a huge world wall map.) We learned lots of cool facts. I sure hope he continues to have such a love for knowledge as he grows.
We had a wonderful time and it made me miss those days of having him around all the time. Both kiddos were troopers, walking around the zoo for several hours (Ruby insisted on walking, not riding in her stroller.) I guess I tired them out pretty good, because both of them fell asleep on the way home. Ruby woke up enough for me to change her diaper and get her a cup of milk when we got home, but then I laid her back down (around 4 o'clock) thinking she'd sleep for at least a little longer. Boy was I wrong! She slept until the NEXT MORNING! Didn't wake up 'till 6:45!!! I think it's the longest she's ever slept in her life. It was nuts! Ira woke up in time for dinner and then went back to bed. Who knew that the Zoo would be such a great sleep-generator! Maybe I'll start going everyday...
I was also thrilled to get some cute pictures.
Ira was also fun to watch since he could read all the informational signs about the animals. He was also very interested in the world maps showing where the animals are typically found. (He has a new-found interest in world-geography thanks to my uncle who sent him a huge world wall map.) We learned lots of cool facts. I sure hope he continues to have such a love for knowledge as he grows.
We had a wonderful time and it made me miss those days of having him around all the time. Both kiddos were troopers, walking around the zoo for several hours (Ruby insisted on walking, not riding in her stroller.) I guess I tired them out pretty good, because both of them fell asleep on the way home. Ruby woke up enough for me to change her diaper and get her a cup of milk when we got home, but then I laid her back down (around 4 o'clock) thinking she'd sleep for at least a little longer. Boy was I wrong! She slept until the NEXT MORNING! Didn't wake up 'till 6:45!!! I think it's the longest she's ever slept in her life. It was nuts! Ira woke up in time for dinner and then went back to bed. Who knew that the Zoo would be such a great sleep-generator! Maybe I'll start going everyday...
I was also thrilled to get some cute pictures.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
'Tis the Season
We're well into autumn now (actually having some cool/cold days even!) and you know what that means... It's time for PUMPKIN EVERYTHING.
I am really not typically a pumpkin-aholic, (just ask the three expired-two-years-ago cans of pumpkin in my pantry) but last weekend I was looking for a dessert recipe for having my sis's family over and found this utterly delicious recipe that I already had most of the ingredients for. So I set about making "Luscious Four-Layer Pumpkin Cake" out of the Kraft Foods Busy Family Recipes cookbook that my MIL gave me for my b-day.
It was ri.dic.u.lous.ly good. I would eat it any day over pumpkin pie. Don't get me wrong, I like pumpkin pie and everything, but it can be so heavy and rich. And although this cake was plenty rich, it just sat very lightly in the 'ole tum-tum. I'm hoping to make this again to share at Thanksgiving!
Here is the recipe:
Luscious Four-Layer Pumpkin Cake
Prep: 20 min
Total: 1 hr. 50min. (including cooling)
Makes: 16 servings (or four generous ones...)
Ingredients:
1 pkg. (2 layer size) yellow cake mix
1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin, divided
1/2 c. milk
1/3 c. oil
4 eggs
1.5 tsp. pumpkin pie spice, divided (I made my own)
1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1 c. powdered sugar
1 tub (8 oz.) whipped topping, thawed
1/4 c. caramel ice cream topping (again, made my own)
1/4 c. pecan halves
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit
2. Beat cake mix, 1 cup pumpkin, milk, oil, eggs, and 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice in large bowl with mixer until well blended. Pour into 2 greased and floured 9-inch round pans. (I only have 8"x1.5" pans, so I just divided it evenly between the two and it worked great.) Bake 28-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool in pans about 5 minutes. Remove from pans to wire racks; cool completely.
3. Beat cream cheese in medium bowl with mixer until creamy. Add sugar, remaining pumpkin and spices; mix well. Gently fold in whipped topping.
4. Cut each cake layer horizontally in half with serrated knife (I used my awesome cake-leveler); stack on serving plate, spreading cream cheese filling between layers (you can be pretty generous.) Do not frost top layer. Drizzle with caramel topping and top with nuts just before serving. Refrigerate leftovers.
5. Heartily enjoy!
This isn't the greatest picture of it, but we were all ready to dive in, so I just quickly snapped a picture for all you devoted readers. HA!
I am really not typically a pumpkin-aholic, (just ask the three expired-two-years-ago cans of pumpkin in my pantry) but last weekend I was looking for a dessert recipe for having my sis's family over and found this utterly delicious recipe that I already had most of the ingredients for. So I set about making "Luscious Four-Layer Pumpkin Cake" out of the Kraft Foods Busy Family Recipes cookbook that my MIL gave me for my b-day.
It was ri.dic.u.lous.ly good. I would eat it any day over pumpkin pie. Don't get me wrong, I like pumpkin pie and everything, but it can be so heavy and rich. And although this cake was plenty rich, it just sat very lightly in the 'ole tum-tum. I'm hoping to make this again to share at Thanksgiving!
Here is the recipe:
Luscious Four-Layer Pumpkin Cake
Prep: 20 min
Total: 1 hr. 50min. (including cooling)
Makes: 16 servings (or four generous ones...)
Ingredients:
1 pkg. (2 layer size) yellow cake mix
1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin, divided
1/2 c. milk
1/3 c. oil
4 eggs
1.5 tsp. pumpkin pie spice, divided (I made my own)
1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1 c. powdered sugar
1 tub (8 oz.) whipped topping, thawed
1/4 c. caramel ice cream topping (again, made my own)
1/4 c. pecan halves
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit
2. Beat cake mix, 1 cup pumpkin, milk, oil, eggs, and 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice in large bowl with mixer until well blended. Pour into 2 greased and floured 9-inch round pans. (I only have 8"x1.5" pans, so I just divided it evenly between the two and it worked great.) Bake 28-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool in pans about 5 minutes. Remove from pans to wire racks; cool completely.
3. Beat cream cheese in medium bowl with mixer until creamy. Add sugar, remaining pumpkin and spices; mix well. Gently fold in whipped topping.
4. Cut each cake layer horizontally in half with serrated knife (I used my awesome cake-leveler); stack on serving plate, spreading cream cheese filling between layers (you can be pretty generous.) Do not frost top layer. Drizzle with caramel topping and top with nuts just before serving. Refrigerate leftovers.
5. Heartily enjoy!
This isn't the greatest picture of it, but we were all ready to dive in, so I just quickly snapped a picture for all you devoted readers. HA!
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Great day
Seriously, how can you not have a great day when this is what you find upon taking the lid off of the unopened container of marshmallow cream? Wishing you a smiley, marshmallow-creamy kind of day!
Friday, October 14, 2011
Make your own Swiffer Wet-Jet resusable cover
So, after using the Wet-Jet covers in this post for about two weeks, I decided I could make something a little better on my own. I recently got new towels for my kitchen but couldn't bear to just throw the old ones out. They are nice, absorbent bar-mop-type towels, and I thought they might be good candidates for Wet-Jet covers. I am thrilled with how these covers turned out, and thought I would share my process with you.
First off, my Wet-Jet is fairly old, and I'm not certain they're made exactly like this anymore. It has a "bump" on one side of the head that originally had a scrubber on it. It makes making the cover a little more difficult than if it were flat (as I suspect the more recent models are) but really, it wasn't hard to work around. So, check your Swiffer Wet-Jet first, because if it's different than the one I have, your directions will vary from these slightly.
My old dish towels measured 18.25" by 16." I wanted to utilize as many of the finished edges as possible, so my only cut was to make a rectangle 18.25" by 6.75" (You will be able to make two covers with each towel!)
Next, so that you don't have fraying when you wash them, turn the cut edge under (about 0.5") and iron, and then under again and iron. I chose to use the "terry" side of the towel to be the bottom (the part that will scrub the floor.)
First off, my Wet-Jet is fairly old, and I'm not certain they're made exactly like this anymore. It has a "bump" on one side of the head that originally had a scrubber on it. It makes making the cover a little more difficult than if it were flat (as I suspect the more recent models are) but really, it wasn't hard to work around. So, check your Swiffer Wet-Jet first, because if it's different than the one I have, your directions will vary from these slightly.
 | ||
| See the little "bump" on the right side of the head? |
 |
| I LOVE my Gingher brand scissors. They were a little pricey (I got them half price for 18 dollars) but they cut through everything as if it were butter! Well worth the money! |
Using the rick-rack stitch on my machine, I sewed along the turned-under edge to secure it down.
Then I folded up one side 3.25" to make a "pocket" to go over the "bump" side of the Wet-Jet head.
Now, if your Wet-Jet head is like mine (with the bump) you'll want to just tack the corners of the pocket down so that it can easily slide over the bump. (If yours doesn't have a bump, you could just sew along the edges of the pocket.) My machine has a cool star stitch that worked really well for making a nice strong stitch here.
For the other side, fold under 2" than under again (just so you don't have to cut and make another hem.) This will make the pocket for the flat side of the Wet-Jet head.
Using a zig-zag stitch, sew down both sides of the pocket, making sure to catch all 3 layers of fabric.
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| Pardon my messy zig-zag. My machine wasn't very happy with me for sewing through 3 layers of finished edges. |
And voila, you're done! You now have a cheap, easy, reusable solution to those expensive disposable Wet-Jet covers.
P.S. If you're like me and hate to pay for the bottles of Wet-Jet solution sold by Swiffer, use a vise-grip to take the cap off of one of your existing bottles and clip off the little flanges around the inside of the lid with a fingernail clippers. You will now be able to easily remove the cap in the future. Fill it with your favorite floor cleaning solution. I use 1 quart of hot water and 1.5 teaspoons of borax on my linoleum for a great clean shine.
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