Getting Creative

For a good challenge, I'm trying to refrain from spend any more money on groceries until our next pay period begins on the fifth. The FIFTH, ladies! Five more days and though the pantry is quite full the pickings seem slim. Why is that? Oh, I know... it's because we eat all of our favorite food right away, which means any leftover food is left over for a reason. Quinoa, anyone? Cabbage? Let the fun begin!

I took an inventory of the usable ingredients in our kitchen and have begun searching for creative ways to use these random items. I turn to trusty old google and ask...

"things to do with stale bread"
"meals that hide the taste of black beans"
"is there another use for canned tuna besides casserole?"
"i love top ramen but am shamed by my friends for its msg content. what do i do?"

Chow.com had a great answer to the first question in its list of 10 uses for stale bread. My favorite is, not surprisingly, number 6: Bread and Chocolate... "A great snack or an informal dessert that is especially good when made with a baguette. Top the bread with a piece of bittersweet chocolate, and toast it until it the bread is golden brown and the chocolate starts to melt. Drizzle with good extra-virgin olive oil and sea salt, and serve."

I put off the other questions for now because today, happily, was my day to make blueberry scones (see earlier post). Full Circle Farms blessed us with blueberries on last Thursday and I've been excited to make them ever since. Breakfast tomorrow is going to be absolutely decadent!

Not exactly homemade but...

We are leaving for camping tomorrow, so I have been stocking up for the trip this week. I am thrilled to have found Vitamin Water Zero! I cannot in good conscience let my children drink gatorade, but inevitably we run into this issue when we are vacationing with other families, they pull out gatorade and my kids want some! So, I was super excited to find vitamin water zero. It is sweetened with stevia, so when I am abstaining from sugar I can even have it! All the good stuff about gatorade, none of the bad! I am enjoying a squeezed lemonade flavor tonight and it is yummy! This will be my one to grab for trips, hoping to find it at Costco soon.

On a homemade note, I have really been into making my own lemonade and limeade this summer and sweetening it with stevia of course. Here is a recipe that I really like:
http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/2008/07/best-lemonade.html
I even made some up at youth camp last week, delicious and good for you!
Have a good weekend everyone.

Food: Chicken Tetrazzini

Hello all!

I'm Sharla. 21 years old, married to my highschool sweetheart, and obsessed with homemaking and cooking. I've learned a lot in the past year that I've been married (our anniversary is on August 9th WAHOO!) and Lacey asked me to contribute to this blog. so here I am, contributing I'm excited to help other wives like myself, and also be helped by all of you!! I've decided to post a recipe that my mom always made when we didnt have a ton of money, or she needed some leftovers for the next day because of busy lives, etc. It freezes awesome, is great when you're making a meal for someone, It's my ultimate comfort food. You know that thing you ask for when you go to visit your parents house?.... this is mine! It's basically fool proof as long as you can cube chicken and chop an onion :-)

Chicken Tetrazzini:

Ingredients:

1 lb of spaghetti

3 chicken breasts, cubed

1/4 stick of butter , or equivalent amount of olive oil

1 onion diced

1 mini jar of pimentos ( find by the olives at the store)

3 cans of evaporated milk

2 cans of cream of mushroom soup

1 can of cream of chicken soup

salt and pepper to taste

parmesan cheese to top

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Cook spaghetti until "Al Dente" and place in 9X13 dish

Sautee onion in butter or olive oil in large pot on medium heat until tender

Add cubed chicken and cook until done (sorry i forgot to take a picture of this part)

Add evaporated milk, cream of chicken soup and cream of mushroom soup to pot, stir until mixed well

Add pimentos and Salt and Pepper to taste ( if you use organic soups, you'll probably need to add a little more salt, but if you use the canned Campbells soups, you wont need to add much at all)


Cook 15 minutes stirring occasionally on medium heat or until it starts to thicken and get "bubbly and yummy" (as my mom says)



Poor or Ladle thickened mixture over spaghetti in 9X13 dish

I also use the ladle or a fork to move the noodles around so the sauce can make its way through to the bottom

Here is what it should look like before topping with parmesan cheese:

Cover with parmesan cheese

Place in heated oven for 30-45 minutes or until just starts to brown on top

Serve with sourdough bread and salad! Enjoy!

P.S. It's even better the next day for leftovers!

You can also double the recipe and make enough for 2 casseroles and put one in the freezer for a night that you don't want to cook. I do this a lot!

Cheers!

Sharla

"Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a fattened ox and hatred with it. " (Proverbs 15:17)

Food: Barefoot Contessa

I've been pretty much obsessed with Ina Garten cooking since Stacy T. loaned me "Barefoot Contessa at Home" this weekend. I actually walked in the house and got happier just because I saw the book sitting in our living room. So great.

This is her website, which not only has recipes but full menu ideas for special occasions (like an Anniversary Breakfast). It's borderline gourmet, perfect for where I'm at in my chef-life right now.

Read the following quote for some homemaking encouragement. It inspired me to leave a lamp on and some jazzy a.m. radio station playing for Charlie when he got home late last night. He was happy and surprised!

"I didn't always know how to make a home. It took time and lots of experimentation. Over the thirty-eight years we've been married, I've tried everything - the good, the bad, and the ugly. But I've evolved a style that seems to work for me: big sofas for a nap on Sunday afternoon; comfy reading chairs with good light and a view out the window for daydreaming; great CDs piled up by the stereo; and my favorite old videos next to the television. I like knowing that there are twenty new magazines on the coffee table, delicious French teas in the pantry, and expensive bath bubbles next to the tub.

A good home should gather you up in its arms like a warm cashmere blanket, soothe your hurt feelings, and prepare you to go back out into that big bad world tomorrow all ready to fight the dragons."

Here you go Lace

So I really have nothing helpful to say, but Lacey wants me to blog so here I go- I'm blogging. :) I do have a question for the Momma's out there (apparently just Carla, at this point). We pray with Bekah every night before bed and lately she's been saying she doesn't want to pray. Have you dealt with that with your kids? If so, what did you say? We are struggling with telling her that she has to pray because we want her to want to do it and not do it out of obligation. So any wisdom that anyone has on that would be lovely!

I am also excited to see how this blog develops and I hope we're all able to help each other serve our husbands and families through this. Thank you dear Lacey, for starting this fun adventure!

Free Redbox Movies

Two Redbox promo codes that have worked well for us:

DVDONME (seems to work once per credit/debit card)

BREAKROOM (don't know how reliable it is but I think it worked for us last time)

Yay for free entertainment! Charlie and I have spent far too much money lately so we're tightening our belts and searching for free dates the rest of the month. We're so excited ;)

Three Cheers for Lacey!

This is a really fun idea Lacey, bravo :) To jump right in I thought I would share another fun website : http://www.savvyhousekeeping.com/
And then one of the first sites I found, the one that gave me the laundry soap recipe :) http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com/index.html
I have made a lot of her food recipes and she has some really great ideas for saving money.
I am really looking forward to watching this blog develop!

Food: City Fruit Tree Map

Charlie showed me this awesome map that tells you where all of the fruit trees are in the greater Seattle area.

Technically you're supposed to ask the owner before harvesting any fruit, but who am I to hinder your fun? Just the messenger.

Fruit Tree Map

While we're on the subject of fruit, I have been craving lemon blueberry scones recently. They sound perfectly delicious for some of the beautiful summer mornings we've been having. Here's a recipe that sounds great:

Blueberry Scones with Lemon Glaze

Any thoughts on where to get inexpensive blueberries? I was at QFC and sadly left empty-handed because of how much they cost. Input appreciated.

--Lacey

Nutrition Myths Debunked

I found the following article in an attempt to determine whether brown sugar is better for us than white sugar. Turns out it's not. At least according to this article. Has anyone heard something different?

Other interesting myths busted: apparently brown eggs don't differ in either taste nor nutritional value. I think that will save me some money next time. But the brown eggs do make me feel so farm-y.

Top 10 Diet and Nutrition Myths Debunked

Food: Tortilla Chips!

Alright, domesticity is achieved step by step, and I am here to tell you about one of my victorious first achievements in things homemade... delicious tortilla chips. It's quite easy and I think doing it this way might be cheaper than buying the real thing. And less salty too, if you choose. Fabulous.

I got this mini-recipe from AllRecipes.com, a site I highly recommend. They offer so many (sometimes too many?) reviews and revisions. For example, 83,000 people reviewed this particular recipe. Really? 83,000? It's extreme. Anyway, here you go!

1. Lightly brush both sides of tortillas with oil. Cut tortillas into strips, then spread on a baking sheet.
2. Bake in preheated oven until crisp, about 10 to 15 minutes.
   

So simple.

--Lacey

Awesome Blog

I just thought I'd share this article from one of my favorite blogs. I hope you all enjoy it and find it as convicting as I did. :) www.passionatehomemaking.com/2010/04/what-is-the-purpose-of-the-home.html

Date: Canoes at UW Arboretum

Charlie and I rented a canoe at the Waterfront Activities Center (next to Husky Stadium) after dinner last week. You can canoe underneath the 520 bridge, through lily pads and into lagoons and jungles. It was adventurous and super fun! We only had an hour to canoe because the rental office closes at 8:30 p.m. (not 9 p.m. like it says on the website), but it was enough time - we had a lot of fun and didn't feel too rushed. Plus, being on the lake with the sun going down was completely gorgeous.

Parking: there's construction in front of the Waterfront Activities Center building but you can turn off Montlake just south of the stadium and follow the make-shift road to the parking lot. Costs about $5.00 an hour to park, but there are side streets on the southeast side of Montlake Bridge where I think you could find parking for free and just walk over to the bridge to the building. Follow signs to the canoe rental window and you should be good to go!

COST:
Canoe rental for one hour: $5 with UW student discount, $8 without
Parking for one hour: $5 to park in front of the building

--Lacey

this blog is for you, lady!

My hope for this site is that it will inspire and aid us in this incredible and daunting task of taming our hearts and ordering our homes so that we might know and share Jesus more in our families and in all of our daily tasks.

Please feel free to post anything you stumble across that might help bring joy, fun, and much-needed wisdom into the lives of other young wives and mothers. Share date ideas, recipes, verses, homemaking tips, and any other gosh-darned thing that might help us help our husbands, our marriages, our (future) children, and improve everyone's overall sanity and well-being. All to the glory of God!

With love,
Lacey