Tomorrow starts DAY 1 of NO spend month!!

I'm getting super excited about starting the month of no spending! The only thing i realized today as i was looking through the cabinet is...... i only have 1 bag of coffee left! So if i am a bit cranky by the end of the month, bare with me! I might have to drink the million types of tea that i have bought over the last few years!

When i first discovered the no spend month i decided i wanted to do try it. But i wanted to make my no spend month a little more challenging. I am home with the kids all day, therefore not buying things is easy. I just don't leave the house!

I decided to make a list of things to get done during the month of July. Here is my list... (If the item is for Jerry it will have a ** by it!)


Fix the broken water pipe in the extra shower **
Clean out my cooking closet
Finish the blankets that i started making
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**
(like how i made all Jerry's chores BOLD?? hopefully he will read this lol)


I wanted to put a star next to the floor mat chore, but i figure it will just end up me yelling at Jerry telling him hes doing it wrong. So, i should just do it myself!

I still plan on baking for my husbands work. Don't worry guys, you will still get lots of desserts throughout the month. In fact, I'm planning on baking at least once a week to help empty my cabinets and freezers! If the desserts include green beans, or pretzel sticks... don't blame me! I'm doing the best i can with what i have lol

~*Pineapple Strawberry Cupcakes*~

These cupcakes were made especially for my husbands co-workers.

Hopefully a few of them will visit this site to see what flavors the frosting!

Pineapple Cupcake with Strawberry Filling

I used a box cake mix for this.. i know i know... i cheated. before the cupcakes were placed in the oven i piped in strawberry filling. YUMM!

I HATE butter cream frosting and anything too sweet.

Therefore i made a cream cheese frosting with a special ingredient

To make the frosting Pink i used.....

.....

....

..

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Strawberry Nesquik powder!!

 I wanted to flavor the frosting but i didn't want to use food coloring and experiment with the

oils that i have. It turned out really good i think!

Leave me comments if you tried these ,

i would love to know if this is something i should make again!

Greek Chicken Pita... YUMMO! *grilled peaches*

Tonight's dinner is Greek Chicken on pitas with lettuce and tomatoes and a side of home made ranch. I have been looking forward to this meal all day! I absolutely love this and could eat it every day.
I started out with Chicken breast, lemon juice, yogurt, salt, pepper, garlic powder, oregano and a Ziploc bag.

I mixed everything together and put it in the Ziploc bag and let it sit in the fridge for a few hours. I suggest letting it marinate over night. This time i put the chicken breast in whole to marinate. Normally if i wasn't in a hurry i would've cut the chicken into strips and then marinated.

After about 6 hours i turned the grill on and cooked the chicken. I prefer to use the broiler on my stove but the smoke detector and i already got into it once this week. Therefore the grill was my optimal choice.

After letting the meat rest for a few minutes, i cut into it and OMG was it juicy! I always heat my pitas before I load it with veggies. I like black olives and home made ranch so i put that on it along with the tomatoes and lettuce. I also like Feta cheese on it. But I'm out!

While i was grilling chicken I looked over my shoulder and saw peaches that i just got from my parents. They weren't ripe on Sunday when i got them, so i brought the peaches home and placed them in a brown paper lunch bag. On Monday i tried one and it was ready to eat! So tonight, because the grill was already on i decided to grill peaches for dessert. All i have to say is OMG they are the most amazing thing. It reminds you of a hot peach pie straight from the oven!!

I cut two peaches in half, took the seed out and placed the peaches on the grill flesh side down. After a few minutes i turned the peaches to get pretty grill marks. Then sprinkled cinnamon and sugar on top.. closed the grill and let the sugar melt and start to bubble. When I took the first bite i was in peach heaven! This is a MUST TRY!!!!!!!

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Greek Chicken Pita

1 tsp Oregano
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Pepper
1 tsp Garlic Powder
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Cup Non flavored Yogurt
2 chicken breasts sliced into strips
Romaine or iceberg lettuce *you can use any type your heart desires :)*
Tomatoes


Mix oregano, salt, pepper, garlic powder, lemon juice and yogurt together. Place Chicken in a Ziploc bag and add yogurt mixture. Seal tightly and squish the bag a bit to make sure the chicken is completely covered in yogurty goodness.

I recommend letting this marinate over night. If this is not possible then at least 6 hours.

Grill, pan fry, broil, bake the chicken.. I like to grill it or broil. Once chicken is cooked thoroughly prepare the pita with all the toppings you like and add chicken. The next step is super easy... DEVOUR it~!!!

I like tzatziki sauce with my pita but i haven't found a recipe i love yet. So i settle for home made ranch and feta cheese!

My obsession with researching Organic food....

I have been researching Organic food for awhile now. The things i learned have been amazing. Today i was reading one blog which led me to another which led me to a link....Its called: Getting Real about the High Price of Cheap Food...
Its definately a MUST read for everyone who wants to know what they are eating.. When i was in Culinary school i did a paper on steroids and hormones in food. This was 7 years ago or so, and back at that time Organic food wasnt big yet. I remember doing the research on the effects on children and i was amazed. I told myself at that time i would do everything i could to figure out what is best for my children. That is when i really decided i wanted a Food Science degree..... if i can ever get Jerry to move to Indiana so i can go to Purdue, or back to SC so i could go to Clemson, i will definately go back to school to get my masters...
Ok i got off the subject.... so as i was looking through blogs i found this list of things your kids shouldnt eat. Here it is.


What Not to Eat
1.Kid Cuisine All Star Chicken Breast Nuggets
2.Pepperidge Farm Goldfish Crackers
3.Kudos Chocolate Chip Granola Bars
4.Betty Crocker Fruit By The Foot
5.Campbell Soup Cars Souper Shapes Condensed Soup
6.Kraft Scooby-Doo! Macaroni & Cheese Dinner
7.Oscar Mayer Lunchables Mini Tacos
8.Sunny Delight9.Earth's Best Organic Mini Waffles


I have to admit my kids eat Goldfish crackers. But not everyday. I think i might have to cut those out all together. The sodium is so high it should be banned!

I am still unsure about organic milk. Only because of the price. My kids go through close to 3 gallons a week between the two of them. And if i am buying organic that is a little less then 3 dollars more per gallon... So we are talking close to 40 dollars more a month on just milk!
Until my kids are drinking less milk i plan on buying regular 2% milk.
I did switch our meat over though. When i buy chicken i am buying Gerbers brand.


Gerber's chicken is alot smaller which makes you understand the difference between the supermarket chicken that is HUGE and the all natural grass fed chicken's breasts. When i buy chicken at a big store like Sams one chicken breast can feed 2 people. Gerbers chicken one person per breast is plenty.

I buy it at heinens. Today when i was there i bought chicken thighs for 1.19/lb and when i buy thighs for jerry that arent all natural no hormone etc.. i pay 99cents a pound. So its not really that big of a difference. I bought a whole chicken for 99 cents a pound as well. And that was pretty good i thought. I was at sams club tonight and saw their chicken was 78 cents a pound but it is tyson brand and im iffy about tyson chicken. I SAW there farms and chicken processing establishment and it changed my mind about buying their product.

Im planning on going to Gerber's farm and store to buy the product straight from there. But if i dont make it before the 1st i cant go until august lol.

Remember No Spending July starts in 3 days!!

Join me in No-Spend July!!!

Well this is my first post! Yay im a BLOGGER!
A friend showed me a site called stumbleupon.com It truly is my new obsession. I can sit for hours stumbling from site to site! I found a site called smallnotebook.org and then have a no spend challenge. It intrigued me! I told my husband in July we will try to have a no spend month.
The details of No spend month are:
Details:
a total budget of $250 to spend on anything we would buy for ourselves this month.

Included:

•Groceries & eating out
•Gas
•Clothing
•Household items
•Entertainment

Not included:

•Rent, insurance, and bills
•Health expenses
•Work expenses
•Savings and investments
•Tithes and gifts

On the website the Blogger started with gas in her car and the weeks groceries that she bought. The whole point is to use up what you have and to realize that spending money is not a necessity.

There are alot of good tips on how to start. At the beginning try not to spend any money for as long as you can. Just use up what you have.
July 1st is approaching quickly. And the more i think about it, the more i feel like i need to prepare for this no spend month. Its gonna be a tough one for us. We have 4 birthdays this month, 1 july 4th party that we are throwing, a good friends birthday we will go out for dinner, and this is a long month!!!

I am more then ready. I feel like $250 for a spending budget will be plenty! So i am going to make this challenge harder. We will cut back on doing other things and commit more time to unfinished projects. Jerry will LOVE the Honey Do list this month. We have a extra bathroom that has no running water in the shower because of a burst pipe from 2 winters ago! So that will be the start to my husbands list. Yes we know we will have to buy supplies but that will be minimal.

I have a TON of sewing to do just to finish the projects that i started and havent had time to do. I would love to DE-clutter our home. With that in mind, im thinking about having a garage sale towards the end of this month. That way we can get all the old out before the end of the month. And that can help pay off more bills! I would be so happy to be debt free... (student loans are killing me!)

I would love for other people to join me with the no spend month. I think it will be a real eye opener on how much you buy that you dont really need! My husband and i dont go out much due to the lack of a babysitter... Jerry does spend money on going out to eat with co workers.. so this month he might have a tough time with this one.. The only necessities we need to spend on is... Gas for his car, milk for the kids, fresh veggies and possibly diapers... Lets start off July on a good foot!