Saturday, July 31, 2010

Hippo Stew! Enjoy!!!

HIPPOPOTAMUS STEW

1 med. sized hippo
1 ton salt
Pepper to taste
500 bushels potatoes
1000 gals. brown gravy
200 bushels carrots
400 sprigs parsley
2 sm. rabbits (optional)

Cut hippo meat into bite sized pieces. This will take about 2 months. Cut vegetables into cubes (another 2 months). Place meat into large pan and cover with gravy. Simmer for 4 weeks. Shovel in salt and pepper to taste. When meat is tender, add vegetables. A steam shovel is useful for this. Simmer slowly for 4 more weeks. Garnish with parsley.
Will serve 2, 700 people. If more are expected, add 2 small rabbits - this is not recommended as very few people like hare in their stew



http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,1748,150189-251195,00.html

LAST DAY~!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Day 31

This month has been lots of fun! A real eye opener! I cant wait for next year's No Spend July!!
I definitely would like to do this every july. This morning I made Blueberry Muffins to celebrate! We have decided to grill out all weekend to use up some more of the meat that we have. I plan on starting a Menu calendar. That way I can figure out the things I will make before heading to the store and I can make a list rather then wing'in it!

I would LOVE LOVE LOVE for anyone who tries the No Spend month to share their results and obstacles with me.

I am counting down the minutes until August 1st YAY!!!!!!!!

Thursday, July 29, 2010

day 29.. 11.00

We are so close to finishing this month off! We ate philly cheesesteaks yesterday and it was soo good. Unfortunately we didnt take pics of it.. But i can give you the recipe!


Philly Cheesesteaks


Ribeye/new york strip/sirloin/tenderloin
Green pepper
Onion
provolone
hoagie buns
mushrooms
salt and pepper


slice the steak as thin as possible. Remember the better the cut of meat, the more tender it will be!
Cook in a saute pan until medium well. Sprinkle Salt and pepper. In another pan add onions, green peppers, and mushrooms. Saute until done. Heat the hoagie bun in the oven or the microwave. Add provolone to the steak and once its melted scoop it right into the bun! Add onion and pepper and mushrooms.

A look into my fridge.. LAST WEEK OF CHALLENGE!






Its amazing what you find when you eat all the good stuff out of the freezer! The things left in the bottom or back of the freezer are still good! lol

Day 28 Potato Pancakes!


Potato Pancakes!

This is my grandmothers recipe



Potato Pancakes
4 medium potatoes
2 eggs
1/2 cup flour
salt
pepper
2 tbsp garlic
Oil

Peel and Grate the potatoes. Squeeze out the water from the potatoes. Add the egg and potatoes in a bowl. Salt, pepper and garlic can be added. Start to add the flour 1/4 cup and then stir. Add additional flour and shape the potatoes into patties. Heat Oil and fry until golden brown. SOOO YUMMY!





This is what it looked like before i added the rest of the flour.

Day25, 26 and 27 Pumpkin Cream Chese Muffins

Its day 27!!! We are almost there! Just a few more and I can go grocery shopping! I plan on going alone, and im gonna be gone for HOURS just shopping wisely lol. I definitely learned this month to make a list before I leave, and plan on what I am going to make before I go to the store. We have so much food (had) that we bought and never did anything with! And now that we found it in the back of the cabinet, its not appealing anymore! We have a TON of pasta noodles. Any kind you can think of we probly have!
My freezer is almost empty other than A big Ham that belongs to my parents, and insert to an ice cream machine, and a pork roast. There is frozen raspberries and strawberries also. I had picked them at peak season and froze the left overs after I made jam. We make a lot of smoothies, the fruit comes in handy! And i picked it with my own 2 hands!

I really wanted to post as many recipes as I could this month. As I searched through the recipes I was missing a ton of items. And if I go to the store, I know I will go over the budget. Therefore, I will skip those recipes and make them next month! I did think about possibly just posting recipes with no pictures. But what fun is that???



Today I made Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins. I made these around halloween and they were a big hit!
Unfortunately I have no clue where I found this recipe so I can't give that person credit. But if I come across it I will update.




Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

3 cups Flour
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tbsp and 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
4 eggs
1 1/4 c vegetable oil
2 cups sugar
2 cups pumpkin puree

Filling:
8 oz cream cheese
1 cup powdered sugar


Prepare filling first. In a mixer add cream cheese and powdered sugar and beat until smooth.  The original directions say to roll it into a log and freeze. But i found this to be a pain. My directions are to put into a bowl and set in fridge.

For the muffin batter: Combine flour, spices, salt and naking soda in a bowl. Mix and set aside. In another bowl combine eggs, vegetable oil, sugar and pumpkin puree. Mix until well combined. Add dry ingredients and mix with a hand mixer.

Preheat oven to 350. Line 2 muffin pans with paper liners. (i didnt line mine)
Fill each tin half way with batter*. Add a teaspoon of filling.** (its in the fridge!)
Split the remaining batter between the 24 cupcakes and make sure it covers the filling.
Bake 20-25 minutes

*(using an ice cream scoop is the EASIEST way to scoop batter!)
** most people dont have pastry bags in there homes. BUT if you do, this would be easiest to put the filling into the muffin.

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Did you know??

I was reading the book: Industrial Organic Food by Michael Pollan and in the book it tells you all about organic food and farms etc.
I came across this page that shows some brands who are owned by other  major companies. Here is a list!

Coca Cola owns: Honest Tea, Odwalla
Dean owns: Horizon, White wave/Silk
Danon owns : Stonyfield Farms
General Mills owns: Cascadian Farm, Muir Glenn
Hain Celestial (Heinz and cargill) owns: Sunspire Spectrum Organics, Garden of Eatin', Imagine/Rice Dream/Soy Dream, Celestial Seasonings.
Kellogg owns: Bear naked, Kashi, Morningstar Farms/natural touch
Kraft owns: Boca Foods, Back to Nature
Pepsi owns: Naked Juice
Unilever owns: Ben & Jerry's

The following companies have refused buyout from larger companies:
Amy's Kitchen
Clif bar
Newman's Own
Applegate Farms
Eden Foods

This just makes me wonder why Pepsi, Coca Cola, Kraft and Kellogg don't make their signature products healthier! They have the knowledge to do so.

Day 22, 23 and 24

Weekends are tough for me to keep up with this blog! Between the list of never ending chores, and the kids I find time in the evenings to write. Unless we have nights like last night. My kids hate going to bed. They think they will miss something exciting. After sitting in their room for 45 minutes they finally were both asleep. Then I was so tired I didnt want to do anything anyways! Oh and we started a netflix subscription... so that doesn't help with my laziness.

I don't really cook much on the weekends. Between chores, and quick meals for the kids I don't have the time I used to. On Thursday night my dad took the kids and I out to dinner at my FAVORITE Italian place.. Buca Di Beppo!  And Saturday he took the kids and I to a festival, so we ate there. And today (Sunday) he called and said to come over around 5 because he was making us a surprise.. Surprises can go either way. They can be Excellent food, home cooking, comfort food. OR it could be like my grandma who thinks that you can substitute Lettuce for fruit cocktail when you make Jello! My dad comes up with different foods, mostly good. So we went over in caution. We knew if it wasn't something edible I would just make the kids pasta or we would scoot out early and come home and eat before the kids were super cranky. Lucky enough he made Pasta with a cream sauce and chicken and carrots for the kids and I, and Pasta and a cream sauce with scallops and shrimp for my husband and himself.  I don't eat seafood so I'm glad he made a different one for us.  It was pretty good, other than my husband thinks it was too salty.

My mom is out of town so my dad is spending lots of time with us. We enjoy his company. I told my mom I expect to receive reimbursement for babysitting him.

Sadly, this is our last week of no spend month. I think we have done pretty well so far. I would make some changes next time. But overall for our first time we have pretty much stayed on budget.

In celebration of our last week I will be cooking and baking ALOT! My husband took pepperoni rolls in two times this past week, along with rice krispies, and something else but my memory isn't helping right now.

This week I will attempt Fudge Skillet Brownies. Granola bars, Loaded Baked Potato Soup, Peppermint Patties, and a few different varieties of Kolachky (kolace, kolacky, kolache)

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Cream Cheese Recipes

Whats better then a home made Herb Cream cheese??? Or a home made Chive cream cheese?? NOTHING! Knowing you made it yourself and saved tons of money on cream cheese spreads is the best feeling..
The best way to make these recipes are to soften the cream cheese to room temperature. Then with a fork mix in the ingredients and the refrigerate again. The buttermilk helps make the cream cheese a little runnier.

Chive Cream Cheese
1 pkg cream cheese
2 tbsp buttermilk optional
1/2 c finely chopped fresh chives

Herb Cream Cheese
1pkg cream cheese
2 tbsp buttermilk optional
1/4 c fresh herbs, (basil, dill, parsley, cilantro etc..)

Raspberry Cream Cheese
1 pkg cream cheese
2 tbsp buttermilk optional
2 tbsp raspberry jam

Honey Cream Cheese
1 pkg cream cheese
2 tbsp buttermilk optional
2 tbsp honey

Strawberry Cream Cheese
1 pkg cream cheese
1/2 cup crushed strawberries

Pineapple Coconut Cream Cheese
8 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/3 cup crushed pineapple
½ teaspoon pineapple juice (use the juice you drain from the crushed pineapple)
1 tablespoon shredded coconut

Whipped Cream Cheese
1 pkg cream cheese, put it in the cuisinart or in a bowl with a hand mixer and beat it until its light and fluffy!

Day 21 Banana Bread recipe, Butter recipe

Nights are the busiest time for me. We have dinner, bath time, play time, bed time, and then after the kids go to bed I clean a little and find the extra time to bake. Last night I just took it easy and made pepperoni rolls. Super simple! Tonight I am making another Pepperoni Roll, Peanut Butter Rice Krispies, and banana Bread. My mom is going to Florida tomorrow to visit my sister so I thought I would be nice and send some goodies with her!

Printer Friendly Version

Banana Bread Recipe

3-4 Over Ripe bananas
1 1/4 cups Sugar
1/2 cup butter - unsalted and melted
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp Salt
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
OPTIONAL
1/2 cup walnuts

Preheat oven 350 degrees, butter a 9x5 loaf pan.
Put bananas, sugar and egg into a mixer. Whip until smooth about 3 minutes
Add butter and vanilla.
Scrape the sides of the bowl. Add flour, salt, baking soda and nuts. Mix until moistened.
Pour batter into pan and bake until golden brown. About 45 minutes.

I like to rub butter on top right before the bread is done and put cinnamon, sugar and nutmeg on top and bake it until the bread is fully cooked in the middle.






Banana bread is simple. Anyone can make it. Almost any ingredients can be added. Zucchini, raisins, chocolate chips, cocoa powder, poppy seeds... etc.

I was looking through a cookbook earlier today while my kids were napping and I came across recipes for Butter spreads.. I couldn't believe that they needed a whole section on butter. This brought me back to my culinary school days. We made TONS of butter. Before every dinner service we had to make butter to go with the rolls. It sucked. It was the suckiest job in the whole kitchen. Other than the mixer was in a different room and you could screw around by walking the halls or chatting with people.. I know I'm a slacker. Some of my favorite butter days were when my best friend and I got to make it together. It was fun. She always made up songs about ingredients. It helped us remember things for our big tests! Anyways.. she was the maid of honor in my wedding and I have some really great memories.

I decided to pass on Butter recipes to all my followers.... yeah that's you! lol

Printer Friendly Version - All Butter Recipes

Honey Butter
1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
3 tablespoons Honey
1/4 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Beat all of this together in a mixer. Then mold into either a log with parchment paper, or just a mound

Apricot Butter
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 teaspoons apricot jam

Cinnamon Sugar Butter
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons light brown sugar


Herb Butter
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 tablespoons herbs (parsley, oregano, rosemary, etc)

Garlic Butter
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 tablespoons chopped garlic
1 teaspoon garlic powder


These butters can be used in recipes, on wings, on garlic bread, toast, English muffins, really whatever you want!
My favorite recipe for butter came from a restaurant I worked at while in high school. We used this Hot Wing butter that we made. It rocked!

1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 teaspoons Hot sauce *red hot*
2 teaspoons Tabasco


*another culinary school story*
While in school, we sometimes would make multi flavored butter logs. So we would mold it all together in one log but in different sections. That way the diners didn't have to have just garlic butter, or just honey butter. My only suggestion from experience is..... DON'T PUT THE GARLIC BUTTER next to the HONEY BUTTER ... Put the sweet butters next to each other and put the garlic butter on one end with a hunk of regular non flavored butter in the middle.  I made the mistake of putting a Hot Butter next to a Apricot butter and got my butt chewed out by one of the chefs.. so refrain from doing that!

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Traditional Czech Restaurant

Tonight my husband and I decided to grab food while my mom was watching the kids. I came across the website last night of a little restaurant called Marta's. I started looking through the menu and knew that I had to eat there!

http://www.martasrestaurant.com/

It is located on E 222nd in Euclid Ohio. Hours are 4-9pm Monday thru Saturday.

We had Home made Dumplings, Pierogis, Potato Pancakes, Strudel and Pork and Sauerkraut.

The potato pancakes were garlicky just like what my great grandmothers used to be. Eating Czech food brings back SO many childhood memories. I can't get enough of it!

I really hope some of you will check it out. The owner said business is kinda slow due to the economy so I told her i would try to get the word out and maybe help her out a little bit.

Czech beer is AWESOME as well! So GOO!!!!!!!

Crockpot Website

Im always looking for new recipes. ESPECIALLY crockpot ones! I love throwing stuff in the crockpot and in 6 hours i have dinner.

I came across this site a few weeks ago. Check it out, it has EVERYTHING!!!
Click on the link to check it out!
crockpot recipes

Day 20 - $0 Pepperoni Rolls

Yesterday I checked out a library about 20 minutes from my house. It was a nice library but I really prefer mine because there is a drive through to pick up your books that you reserve lol. Im lazy and dont want to take the kids out of the car and yell at them while i am searching for books. And I never walk out of the library with just one book. Yesterday I went right to the Cooking Section and found 8 books!
 I picked up a book on Czech Cuisine, Slovak cuisine, Slovenian cuisine, and a few other books. I am currently applying to the Slovenian Club to be a member! Im super excited. I know most people would not be, but its a family thing. Ever since i was could remember, my grandmother would take us to the Slovenian Club for dinners or just to listen to the Polka bands. Now that I am an adult, I can become a member! Im SOOOOO excited! lol

Ok, Ok on to the cooking....

Im running out of butter! Oh NO! Thats ok, I only bake with real butter. I usually don't use in it every day cooking.  Today we made Pepperoni Rolls!

This recipe is SUPER simple!
You can make it a few different ways. Either buy premade frozen bread dough, pillsbury french loaf bread, or make your own bread dough. You can even use pizza dough!

So this time, i used frozen bread dough because that was in my freezer and I wanted to use it up!







                       Dough rolled out, home made pasta sauce on top in the middle of the dough.


                                        Pepperoni and Mozzarella Cheese on top of the sauce



      All rolled up. The ends are tucked in. A little bit of italian seasoning on top and off to the oven
                                                        Bake for about 20 minutes


                                                                         All Done!


                                Cut into pieces for my husband to take to work. If these stick around
                                                                at our house, i will eat them all!!

Monday, July 19, 2010

July No spend month Notes

I guess I didnt do my research before starting this project. Now that we are more than 1/2 way through the month I read that you are supposed to allow $100 per person for the month lol.. Because we are a family of 2 adults and 2 kids it should have been 100 per adult and 50 per child. So i set the amount $50 under but oh well! We will be fine!

I noticed we are eating left overs, and the left overs that we don't eat, we are using in other dishes!
Its definitely a learning experience!!!

Day 19 - $4.00 Blueberry Coffee Cake!!!



(This is what the bottom of the cake looks like. As soon as it was done in the oven, i flipped it out of the pan)

Blueberry Coffee Cake was on my brain! I had the most amazing coffee cake at Heinens once and  I was in the mood for one. Unfortunately this one wasnt AS good.. But it was good enough! The recipe calls for buttermilk and like most people I didnt have buttermilk, so i used 1 cup of milk and 1 Tablespoon of Lemon Juice.  I also freeze blueberries when they are in season.. So I used frozen blueberries in this recipe and it worked out fine! Another side note... If you dont have Pastry flour, by all means use regular everyday flour.

Printer Friendly Version

Blueberry Coffee Cake

adapted from Cooking Light
1-1/2 cups pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup granulated sugar
6 Tablespoons butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 large egg white
1-1/3 cups buttermilk ( 1 cup of milk, 1 tbsp Lemon juice. double it so you have the 1 1/3 cups)
Cooking Spray
2 cups fresh blueberries
2 Tablespoons turbinado sugar (coarse sugar)


In a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl add butter and granulated sugar, beat with a mixer for about two minutes. Add vanilla, egg and egg white; mix well. Add flour mixture and buttermilk alternately to sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture; mix after each addition.

Spoon half the batter into a 9-inch round baking pan coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle evenly with 1 cup blueberries. Spoon remaining batter over the blueberries; sprinkle evenly with remaining 1 cup blueberries. (Do not add extra blueberries.) Sprinkle the top evenly with 2 Tablespoons turbinado sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes on a wire rack; remove from pan by running a knife around the edges and flipping the cake onto a plate. The bottom of the cake now becomes the top, do not flip it back over.

Day 18 - $0 Chocolate Beer Cake

Because I never made it over to my friend Sarah's house to drop off the Steamed Chocolate Cake, I decided to make a Chocolate Beer Cake for her.
It was super simple other than I didnt have all the ingredients. I had to improvise. I ran out of sour cream, so I used unflavored Yogurt. The end result was AMAZING. It was Super moist, chocolatey and it really had an amazing smell to it.
My husband and I are NOT beer drinkers, but we buy it for parties. For some reason when people come to our parties they prefer to drink "Happy Juice" rather than beer. The beer is usually never touched and we are stuck with it at the end of the party. I sometimes wish they would leave jello shots for us instead lol.

Of course the recipe I found needed to be converted from Grams to cups. No biggie.. I found the PERFECT site for converting recipes.... check it out if you ever need to convert recipies
Conversion Calculator!
I will be nice and post the converted recipe for you.




                                            (the cake wasnt done yet, But the cupcakes were!!!)


Printer Friendly Version

Chocolate Beer Cake

YOU WILL NEED
2  8 inch round cake pans 
1 cup beer
2 sticks Butter
3/4 cup Cocoa Powder
2 1/8 cup Pastry Flour
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
2/3 cup sour cream (or plain un flavored yogurt)



DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 Grease your cake/muffin tin well.
Simmer the beer and butter in a medium sized pan over medium heat, then whisk cocoa powder through until fully combined.
In a large bowl, sift the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt together and stir to combine.
In a medium bowl, hand-beat the eggs and sour cream, then stir the warm chocolate mix in.
Make a well in the dry ingredients and gently hand-fold in the wet mix with a rubber spatula until combine.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 15 minutes for cupcakes or 20-25 minutes for cake, or until the cake comes away from the sides of the pan and a skewer comes out clean.
Leave the cakes to completely cool before trying to remove from the pan. Dust with icing sugar to finish.

Keeps very well in an airtight container for at least three days. Don’t microwave the cake to reheat it, as the beer flavour becomes much more pronounced and it will taste a bit funk

Day 16 and 17 ($14.87)

I combined these two days because not much was going on to tell you guys about. We went to dinner with my parents one night so i didnt cook, and i didnt pay either! YAY!!! lol

I can't believe how FAST this month is going! I surely can't wait until next month with all the trips we have going on!

Friday, July 16, 2010

Crockpot Chicken

A year ago or so, i came across an amazing crockpot chicken recipe. This is my absolute favorite chicken. It beats rotisserie chicken. And its a lot cheaper! I buy organic chicken and the whole chickens were 99 cents a pound. This chicken cost 3.28 for the whole chicken. So dinner was less then 4 dollars that night for all 4 of us!

First, take the chicken out of the bag. Rinse it with water. Pat the chicken dry and rub seasonings on top of the breast side. I like the garlic and herb mix that i buy.

Ball up 4 large pieces of aluminum foil. Set them in the bottom of the crockpot. The chicken will be set on top of these balls of aluminum foil. Try to make sure the chicken is elevated.

Please don't look at how stained my crock pot is.... I promise i whitened it after i was done cooking!

The chicken cooked completely. Sooo Juicy!

It took two pairs of tongs to get it out of the crockpot. It literally just fell apart.

The chicken breast on the left, and thigh/leg sections on the right.

Do you see how easily the breasts were seperated? A quick slide with the knife and it came right off the bone.


This is what is left over after cooking. Some people would throw this out. I make chicken stock! Add the bones and carcass back into the "juices"

 I dont have a picture but after i added the bones back in, i added carrots and celery. Then i filled it to the top with water. Cooked it on low for about 4 hours.
Its well worth it. I NEVER buy chicken stock/broth from the store. I save the bones from meats that we eat and freeze them until i have enough. The same with carrots, celery, herbs, and garlic. From this crock pot full of bones and veggies, I was able to make about 1 gallon of stock! I then split it into containers and after it cooled, i skimmed off the fat and froze the containers. That will last me about a month. And then i will make another chicken and do it again!
                          

Day 15 - $0 Steamed Chocolate Cake!

I decided to make a cake for my friend Sarah. She just had a little  baby boy. He is precious! But i wanted to make them something special. Not just a regular cake! I found a recipe on another blog that i stumbled upon. It was a Steamed chocolate cake. When i first read the recipe it was in grams so i was kinda bummed. I absolutely HATE converting recipes. But it was totally worth it!

The recipe tells you to steam the cake in a steamer. I started thinking of different ways to steam it. In my rice cooker, my double boiler steamer, or in a pan of water in the oven. I ended up using the double boiler method.  The only part that was tough, was getting the cake pan out of the double boilers top basket. It kinda stuck. So i will work on a different way to steam this cake. I would LOVE to make it with my rice cooker. So i will get back to you about the progress..

Here is the recipe....

Printer Friendly Version

Steamed Chocolate Moist Cake (adapted from Cooking Crave with slight modification)

1.5 sticks butter (or 3/4 c)
3/4 c. caster sugar*
3/4 c. plus 1 Tbsp and 1 tsp evaporated milk
2 eggs
1 cup cake flour **
1/2 c cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp vanilla extract


1.Combine caster sugar, evaporated milk, vanilla extract and butter in a saucepan.
2.Stir over low heat until sugar is dissolved and butter is melted, turn off the fire and keep warm.
3.Add the beaten eggs into the slightly cold evaporated milk mixture and stir till well mix.
4.Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and baking soda into a large mixing bowl, then pour the eggs mixture over the flour and stir till well mix (cake batter should be runny)
5.Heat up the steamer.
6.Lined or grease a rectangular pan or a 8 inch round baking pan.
7.Pour the batter into the lined pan and place the pan into the steamer and cover the top of the pan loosely with a piece of aluminium foil.
8.Cover the steamer and steam over medium heat for 45 mins.
9.Cool the cake in pan before turning out for further decoration.


* Caster sugar is superfine sugar. Take granulated sugar and put it in a coffee grinder. Grind until it turns into powder

** Cake flour is my flour of choice. It works much nicer when making cakes. Unbleached flour is fine if you dont have cake flour.







this is what the cake should look like when done.


I trimmed off a piece from the top to check it out...
Do you see the bubbles that formed? The steam pockets?
I think its pretty cool!


This cake is not the thick cake that you might be used to. Instead is soft and fluffy and very airey.
I made a quick cream cheese frosting. With cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla to top the cake.
I didn't have time to drop the it off yet. So I'm thinking about eating it and making another one for them lol.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Day 14 - 4.79

Today we did a little bit of running around. I stopped by Dunkin to get coffee.. Because i look through the junk mail that comes every other day, i found coupons for this month and every Wednesday with the coupon card you get a free iced coffee medium size! So after getting my coffee, we headed to a few towns over to return library books and pick up other books. And we stopped by a food establishment to grab a snack. Because we are members of the YMCA they were running a promotion for members. I didn't want what they were offering because it was fried, they let me upgrade to grilled and all i had to pay was 53 cents! YAY! and on the receipt if i take the survey we get a free sandwich! I love free stuff. Then we ran to Old Navy where i had a gift card and i picked up a few t shirts for the kids. They had 4th of July tshirts for 2.50!!! Plus i had a 10% off coupon. It was a day of savings!!!

After the old navy trip we stopped by Gale's Garden Center. For anyone who has lived in a cave for the last few years, there is a farmers market right in the parking lot.. and it ROCKS!
They have fresh produce, a lot of it is locally grown produce.  We bought organic plums and organic peaches, and seedless cucumbers were 25cents each!!! The Big long seedless ones! We spent $4.79 !!!


One of my favorite things to do with fresh produce is, Cut cucumbers, and tomatoes... put them in a bowl add a little salt, fresh ground pepper and.... Malt Vinegar! YUMMMMO!

I decided if i was ever leaving the USA for good and could never buy products from here again, but i could take one item... it would be Heinz Malt Vinegar! I eat it on salads, pasta, in salad dressings, french fries, pickles, fresh veggies.. Love it!!

My next recipe will be for the Steamed Chocolate Cake that I am making tomorrow for my friends Sarah and Doug. I'm super excited about it.. So stay posted for the recipe!

Day 13 - $0

I'm a few days late posting. I got off track.... so enjoy my small posts of random thoughts. They all started out as blog postings, then i saved them as drafts.. and i just decided i wasn't going anywhere with them so I posted it. Lol..

I haven't been baking lately, because i am out of like everything. I'm out of eggs, baking soda, baking powder, sugar is getting low, chocolate chips, and heavy cream. Therefore I will post a recipe that i have made in the past. Minus the picture.. Sorry guys... This is one of my favorite quick dessert recipes.

It uses a box of devils food cake mix. Any brand will do. I love making other things out of cake mixes.
You can also add oreos to this. I broke oreos in half and stuck them in the brownie mix before baking. It makes it easier to cut the brownies into squares also.   (sameera, this recipe is for you!)




Printer Friendly Version

Brownies  with caramel

1 package German Chocolate Cake Mix
3/4 cup melted butter
2/3 cup evaporated milk, divided
1 cup chocolate chips
Caramel sauce

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9 x 13 pan.
2. Combine cake mix, melted butter, and 1/3 cup evaporated milk. Mix well and pour 1/2 the batter into the pan.  Bake for 8 minutes and remove from oven.
3. Pour caramel sauce in a thin layer over the brownies.
4. Sprinkle chocolate chips over the caramel. Top with spoonfuls of remaining batter and carefully spread to cover caramel. If including oreos, break the oreos in half and stick them flat side down into the batter.
Bake for 20 minutes.
5. Remove from oven and allow to cool at least half an hour before cutting.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Organic vs Non-organic chicken

This picture really doesnt show a big difference... My scale isnt working so i can't give weight...
And the NON organic chicken was cooked by the time i was able to take a picture..
THe raw piece is about half of the size and weight of the cooked piece.
Its a HUGE difference.

A Look into my fridge.. Week 3


Still have a lot of food to try to finish off!

The wine is still there!

Day 12 - $14 Awesome Italian Store info!

Today we went over to a friends to see the new baby. Hes ADORABLE! Makes me want another... but i know I don't want anymore children!! So I will just visit more often and hold other peoples babies :)

When we left my friends house we headed over to an Italian Grocery Store that Sarah told us about. I was super excited about it.

http://www.alescifoods.com/

440-585-1112

29730 Lake Shore Blvd
Eastlake, OH 44095

This store is AMAZING!!!! From the outside, you might think it is a restaurant. As soon as you walk through the doors, the smell of spaghetti sauce surrounds you. It is such a welcoming scent. I had the kids with me, therefore i couldn't spend as much time as I wanted there. But here are a few things i found...


Look how cool these noodles are!!



Look how cheap this Phyllo dough is!!!! $2.49!!!

a ravioli press for the edges! So exciting!!!!



70 cents for pizza dough!!!!!!




and my FAVORITE ITEM so far.....

i could eat this entire jar in one sitting. They are the perfect balance of vinegar and pepper. I'm gonna stock up on August 1st lol


If you are in the area, check this place out! Its well worth the drive!

Day 11 - $12

Sunday is always the busiest day of the week for me. I usually start projects on Sunday and then rush to get them done before my husband returns to work Monday. Not really sure why..
Today's project was to take all of the ABC foam mats up off the kids floor clean them all, mop the hardwood floor underneath, put up a full size bed for my son, take down the crib and put all the mats back. As you can guess it all didn't get done.  I decided to leave the chore of putting the mats back down and moving all the toys and playhouse and slide back in for Monday. 
Id like to add my 1 yr old daughter is now in a toddler bed, AND my 2 yr old son is in a big bed now! NO MORE CRIB!!!!! WOOHOO!!!!

As i was sitting on the floor talking to my husband i was thinking about how sad it is to not have the crib in the room anymore. I mentioned it to him and he said your not thinking about more kids are you? I was like no, HECK no! I'm good!  But it is sad. We spent a little more than $500 on this crib and i hate taking it down. It does turn into a full size bed but i didn't buy the railing for it yet.. I figure Ill do that in the next year and then put it up for my daughter when she is ready.

Now on to the recipe!
As i did all of the research on Mac n Cheese and the preservatives in that little packet of cheese, it appalled me. I knew that it wasn't necessary to make a good product. And for the sake of my children, I need to find a good home made mac n cheese recipe.
You know i wouldn't want them to go a lifetime without it :P

This is what i came up with....

Printer Friendly Version

Mac N Cheese

1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 pound fusilli (corkscrew) or other pasta,  3/4 pound bacon, diced
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup milk
2 cups firmly packed shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Cook pasta until al dente. Strain the pasta and set aside.
 Add the heavy cream and milk to a saucepan, bring to a boil, Stir so it doesn't burn. Lower the heat to medium and continue to simmer until the cream is reduced slightly, about 3 minutes.
Add the Cheddar cheese. Stir well and cook over medium-high heat, stirring now and then, until the cheese has melted and the mixture thickens, about 3 minutes. Season with the salt and pepper.
Stir the sauce into the cooked and drained pasta in the pot. Place over medium heat and simmer for 1 to 2 minutes to thicken the sauce and allow the pasta to absorb the flavors, stirring now and then.

If you want to add meat you can. Add cooked bacon, ground beef, chicken strips etc.
I like to add broccoli with the pasta while its boiling. Or cauliflower.





The $12 I spent today was for a movie. My son and I went to see Toy Story 3 at the Dollar theatre. We spent 6 dollars on tickets, 3 dollars on popcorn. 2 dollars on drink, and 2 dollars on 2 pieces of candy.

It was totally worth it!

Chik Fil A- Chicken!

I got SO much accomplished today! Oh and I was a good Samaritan and reported a hit and run and even got the license plate. GO me!
I finally got the cooking closet cleaned and made a pile for a garage sale. Its so hard getting rid of kitchen items. I feel like i need to keep them forever and pass them down or something lol

This month has been a real eye opener for me. I always cared about what was in my food and what i feed the children. Now i am even more into researching it. A friend of mine said they stopped eating at Chik Fil A because they wont disclose where they buy their chicken and if it is hormone free/antibiotic free.  I started writing emails and letters until i get an answer.
Here is a copy of the messages including responses.

We love chik fil a. But recently we have decided to start eating

only organic non hormone/antibiotic free chicken. Can you tell me if the
chicken at your restaurants are hormone and antibiotic free? Thank you

Thank you for taking the time to contact Chick-fil-A. You are very

important to us, and we are grateful to know that you love Chick-fil-A. We
appreciate your inquiry regarding hormones and antibiotics, and we hope the
following information will be helpful.
No, there are no artificial or added hormones used in the production of any
poultry in the United States. Regulations of the Food & Drug Association
prohibit the use of such hormones.
Again, thank you for your time and interest in Chick-fil-A.
Sincerely,
Tamara


Is the chicken free range and antibiotic free ?


Thank you again for taking the time to contact Chick-fil-A.

We purchase our chicken from several suppliers, and each has its own proprietary feed formula. In general, the feed provided to the chickens contains from 68 percent to 82 percent grain (corn, soy, wheat, etc.) with the balance comprised of vitamins, minerals, and protein-based products. The U.S. government strictly regulates all feed additives and does not permit any type of hormones to be added to feed or otherwise given to chickens.
All of our chicken comes from chickens that are processed under the continuous USDA inspection program. For further information, visit the U.S. Department of Agriculture Web site, Focus on Chicken at, http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Fact_Sheets/Chicken_Food_Safety_Focus/index.asp.
Again, thank you for your time and interest in Chick-fil-A.


I really don't think this answered my questions. I as quickly replying with questions, therefore i didn't get everything i wanted in the email. But i plan on emailing back soon.

July List of Chores.... 1/2 way through the month, 1/2 way through the chores!

Fix the broken water pipe in the extra shower **
Fix the flower beds outside **
Get items together for a garage sale
Paint small bathroom
Put shelves in closet for blanket storage**
Plant grass in flower bed**

These are all of the things we have left to accomplish this month! The list is getting smaller and smaller!!!
On saturday I'm sending Jerry to Lowe's to buy grass seed and shelving for the blanket closet and a few bags of mulch.. He WILL get something done this month! lol.

Saturday, July 10, 2010

Day 10 - $0

Saturdays are my favorite day of the week! I can fill my day with finishing small projects around the house. Other than us going to a birthday party and having our pictures taken by a good friend of mine. She takes amazing pictures and I can NOT wait to see our edited pictures. She inspired me today to take pictures of my kids. Here is my favorite picture i took today



and my second favorite



I don't have any food tips or info today. So I will throw a few wedding tips out there. My sister is getting married next year and shes always looking for ways to cut down on costs. Like most brides, shes up for all suggestions.. Here are some things that could help...

Instead of a Big tiered cake, Do a small wedding cake to cut into and either cupcakes for guests or sheet cakes. Sheet cakes are pretty reasonable and will be way more cost efficient.  When i worked in a bakery, sheet cakes were a big seller when it comes to weddings.

Unity Candles: Borrow the unity candle stand from someone and buy your own candles. Most people use their stand one time and then never look at it again! I know i spent close to $50 for mine. I have loaned it out to 3 other brides in the past 5 years and it still looks brand new and shiny!

Make the centerpieces yourself. Ask all your bridesmaids or a group of friends to come over a week or more before the wedding and make an evening of putting together the center pieces. You will save tons of money by making them yourself.

When it is time to toast at the wedding, only pour champagne for the Bride, Groom and parents of the bride and groom. Everyone else can use the drinks they already have.

Buffet Style is always cheaper no matter what. Variety is key! Remember there will be people of all walks of life at a wedding from children to the elderly. Lots of choices help to keep your guests full. The worst thing you can do is have people leave feeling hungry still!

The bride and Groom can cut the first piece of cake and then walk away after pictures, let someone else cut and serve the cake. This could be the wedding party, or staff at the reception hall. Deliver the cake to the guests rather than forming a long line.

Disposable cameras on Tables are a fun way to get pictures of funny things that the guests are doing that the photographer might not see.  Tie a ribbon to each camera asking kindly to leave the cameras at the table after using them.

The card Box should be in a place where someone can keep an eye on it. Most of the time guests will give money or checks to the bride and groom rather than gifts.

Wedding favors can be set at each place setting ahead of time so the guests can munch on the snacks before the bride and groom get there.

Have Hor D'oeuvres or cheese and crackers, or a fruit buffet for people to eat before the bride and groom arrive. Often the bride and groom and wedding party have pictures taken before going to the reception and this can take a really long time for people who are already seated and waiting to eat!

Friday weddings are cheaper. They are becoming more common now that the economy isn't as good.

Start a Wedding website and let guests RSVP through the site rather than a mail in invitation.

If you don't have the budget for a big reception, have a Saturday wedding and a Sunday brunch type reception for family.

Many people skip the cake at the end of the reception because they are so full from eating all night. Try something fun like a Chocolate fountain with fresh fruit! This could save you money on cake!

Talk with other brides, ask about splitting costs for altar decorations and center pieces. These are things you use once and get rid of. Why not save money by reusing!

The Knot has GREAT advice for weddings!

                 The average wedding costs $23,657 (not including the engagement ring or the honeymoon).

When choosing your wedding cake, ask the bakery to make the very bottom layer out of Styrofoam. You will cut into the middle layer and save the top one for your 1st anniversary.. which is DISGUSTING after a year... we never ate ours.. my mom saved it and tried to force it on us..  GROSS!

Friday, July 9, 2010

Day 9 - $25

Today's food of the day is...................
Burger King's BK Big Fish sandwich and fries..
1000 calories, 52 g fat, 10.5 g saturated fat, 2040 mg sodium
Instead eat
Whopper JR without Mayo and Garden Salad
365 calories, 12 g fat, 4.5 f saturated fat, 1230 mg sodium
17 grams of fat you can save by replacing the Mayo on a whopper with barbecue sauce.

The sodium in fast food is unreal!

Tonight we visited an Asian supermarket.  (spent $25 of veggies and dumplings) We make a trip to the store a few times a month. And i find it quite entertaining. Things are constantly misspelled and it makes me laugh. Tonight i came across a turtle they were selling.
the sign is a bit blurry. I took it with my phone. It says Soft Shell Turtle. Please ask for assistants, 8.99/lb
It was a full size turtle. The Rubbermaid storage container is what he was being stored in. They were selling him per pound.  I kinda felt like it was animal cruelty. Most of the weight is in the shell and I'm not sure if there even is any meat in there.

Poor animal! I really hope no one buys him and they let him go. I doubt it but it would be nice!


A year ago, I met a group of moms who became great friends of mine, and helped me through what seemed the loneliest times of motherhood! I was stressed and needed an outlet. They were and still are my outlet! I remember when i first started going to play dates, i heard a lot of people talk about buying organic and how important it was. I never considered it really. In the past while I was at school, I had done some research on the hormones and antibiotics in chicken and beef but never the effect of food additives and chemicals on fresh fruit and vegetables. Once the topic came up I started looking into it slowly. What I have discovered in the past year has changed my way of buying food and where we eat.  I urge all of you to look into what your putting in your stomach and your families stomachs. I do understand that all foods have to pass safety tests and that a lot of the chemicals in food are used in small amounts, and will not harm us as much in small doses. But if you are eating a lot of processed and pre packaged foods, chances are you are getting many small doses of the same chemicals, which in turn can take a toll on your system. Our bodies are not designed to ingest chemicals and un natural additives and preservatives. This is most likely why the main cause of death is cancer or organ failure. So please please please take a few minutes a day to look at what you are buying.

A great book to buy and use as reference is:

"A consumer's dictionary of food additives"   by: Ruth Winter

The 7th edition is the best. I'm contemplating taking this to the grocery store next time I go.. without the kids of course. And check the labels of the food i purchase and look up the chemicals i am unfamiliar with. That way i can make a healthier decision. And if its not healthy, I can most likely find a substitute of that product.

Aspartame.... what is it?

Its 3pm.. kid are sleeping and I decide to open up a Dictionary of Food additives called "What's in YOUR food".... The first item i flip to is Aspartame... something i avoid at all costs. I don't like the taste of it and it gives me headaches...

Aspartame: about 200 times sweeter than sugar: prepared from phenylalanine and aspartic acid: breakdown products include methanol, formaldehyde and formic acid...
function: Artificial Sweetener, Flavor Enhancer
Potential Effects: Health problems reported to authorities include fatigue, irritability, headache, MS-like symptoms, depression, anxiety, vision problems, dizziness, memory loss, hyperactivity, migraine, aggression and insomnia. Not recommended for children or women during pregnancy.
Used in: table top sweeteners, breakfast cereals, beverages, chewing gum, confections, may be added to anything which is "sugar-free" or without added sugar... Also used in medications including those for children!


So aspartame break down includes methanol? and formaldehyde??? What the heck!

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Day 8 - $0

The library books are taking over my brain! Today we stayed home and did our usual routine. So no money was spent :)

I borrowed a book about food additives from the library. It is a dictionary of lots of things that are added to foods that we have no clue about.  I decided to take my last box of mac n cheese and disect the ingredients today. The kids decided to be a handful so I only picked a few ingredients out. And BOY did i pick the right ones!

The box lists tons of ingredients.. i wont bore you by typing them all.. so here are the ones I decided to look up...

Sodium Tripolyphosphate:  Many people find STPP to add an unpleasant taste to food, particularly delicate seafood. The taste tends to be slightly sharp and soapy and is particularly detectable in mild-tasting foods. The increased water holding properties can also lead to a more diluted flavor in the food. If too much is ingested it can cause violent purging.... ..

Can cause violent purging??

The other ingredient was Yellow #5
Yellow #5 is a bright orange yellow powder. Those allergic to aspirin are often allergic to tartrazine (Why is this not listed on the label?????)  It is used in sweet corn, soft drinks, crackers etc... It is derived from coal tar. (YUCK!) British and European Union Parliament want to ban it because they believe it exacerbates hyperactivity in children.....

So in a simple box of mac n cheese we have a derivative of coal tar. YUM! My food pantry is getting bare.. so we are eating all of the things that Im planning on not buying again. This is a great experiment. Its amazing what types of meals you can come up with when you have to use only the food you have at home. I still have 3 weeks left and im not completely sure what we will be eating that week.. I guess we will eat the ice cream cake that has been in there forever. LOL.. I also have a bottle of wine that i am saving for some unknown occasion.

Todays picture is from the treat that i made for jerrys work for tomorrow.. I found a bag of marshmallows and a bag of chocolate cheerios.  So guess what i made??





                                                           YUM!





My list of things to do this month minus this items we completed.....

Fix the broken water pipe in the extra shower **

Clean out my cooking closet
clean my desk and keep it that way
Convert the upstairs BIG room to Jerry's Office **
Pick up all floor mats in kids room, wash and mop floor
Fix the flower beds outside **
Get items together for a garage sale
Paint small bathroom
Put shelves in closet for blanket storage**
Plant grass in flower bed** (this won't get done this month.. BOO!)

Ive gotten a lot done so far. I just asked my husband if he would help with a few chores this weekend and I got the puzzled look, like we never talked about any of this stuff! Men... grrr..