update

We stopped the Pantry Clean out last weekend... this week the hubster and I are on the serious "eat healthy" binge! With our main goal of losing weight... but also just getting in the habit of smaller portions and being more conscious of what we are eating! I have done pretty well, lost about 5 pounds so far... I know that probably won't continue...but it certainly gives you encouragement to keep up with the healthy eating! The hubbie - I think has lost 3.

Used my icecream maker a couple of time... made a pistachio gelato which was good.... I think maybe a few too many pistachios... but we ate it all! and made a coconut banana ice cream from the Cooking Light book. It is good also... although the bananas are starting to turn a little brown so it doesn't look as good as it did when I first made it...ice cream is only supposed to be brown if it has chocolate in it!

I started this last week and then was distracted by my messy living room, so stopped blogging, cleaned, rearranged furniture (I am that type of person - can't leave anything in the same place for too long) and watered the plants. Now I can't remember where I was going with the blog. Usually, I sit down and kind of have in my mind the basics of what I want to say...no clue as to what I was going to share... hum.... old age??? Please no comments on that one!

I will share with you the Banana-Coconut Ice Cream recipe because it was so easy! Hopefully, you have an ice cream maker....

1 1/2 cups 2% milk
1 cup cream of coconut
1/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (about 3 bananas)

Combine first 3 ingredients in a medium bowl, stirring until sugar dissolves. Stir in banana; cover and chill (I didn't chill mine but maybe 5 minutes)

Pour mixture into ice cream maker and make according to your manufacturer's directions.

I liked it a lot... I might use less bananas or add a few coconut flakes just to give it a little stronger coconut flavor.

Ya'll have a great week!

beauty is in the eye of the beholder

as the old saying goes... beauty is in the eye of the beholder.... well, how about... success is in the eye of the beholder.... or success is in the eye of the mother? we each measure success differently. I know I still have a little over a week to go on the pantry challenge... but I am deeming it successful....I went to look for a can of tomato sauce... and lo and behold... the cupboards were bare.... I have very few canned goods in my cabinet....3 cans of refried beans left... what am I going to do with 3 cans of refried beans?? why did I buy 3 cans of refried beans?? do we like refried beans??

Enough about beans.... I just ordered a new cookbook (because the 45 I have, just aren't enough). I am going to try and hold off going to the grocery store until it arrives in the mail! I am going on 13 months of not working... so I need to look at some areas to start saving money and groceries is definitely an area I could use some help! How much tooting would 3 cans of refried beans bring on?? Stay on track, Melissa!

I just put the ingredients for Barbecue Bean Stew in the crockpot... (I had a steak that needed to be used and I added a can of pinto beans to the recipe so I am still cleaning out the pantry.) I will be anxious to let you all know how it turns out. And if the picky kids will eat it? This month of trying to stay away from the grocery, I have made some things that I rarely make or have never made and I have to admit, I have been impressed.... my picky P-Man has tried (and even liked) some things I would never have imagined... meatloaf! Pork patties (who can resist something that is fried?) and pork chops... I am not a big meatloaf fan.... but the recipe I have is pretty good.... make your basic meatloaf recipe and add some italian seasonings to it.... then instead of making a "loaf" - roll it out to about an inch thick square.... put mozzarella cheese inside..roll it up into the loaf, pinch up your ends.... and bake 45 min... pour tomato sauce over it and then let it finish cooking another 15-30 min! When you cut it open the cheese will ooze out... the kids like this!

Okay, I need to sort through the huge pile of papers on my kitchen counter and right now, I am chatting on and on so I can procrastinate....
get moving Melissa!

Have a great day!

eat from the pantry challenge

well, my goal was not to spend more than $120 this month on food... not going to make it... to my defense...

1) I don't think I had as much in my pantry as I thought 2) the son is sick so I ran out and picked up sprite, jello, etc... foods that I thought he might eat while he isn't feeling well 3) I have used a lot of items that have needed to be used up.

For example, last night I made spaghetti - which I had to buy pasta for... but I did use up the meatballs that had been sitting in the freezer for a while. Every meal has included something that needed to be used up... so I do feel good about that.

Tonight we are having shrimp with rice... need to look for a recipe! Which leads me to a fun little website I found...http://tomsdomain.com/index.htm It has some recipes with good pictures and funny other little tidbits about Tom's travels and life...

Have a great day!

monday - hurry up and get here!

I never thought I would be sooo excited for a monday... but any of you from KC know... that we have had a ton of snow... well over 240 hours of temperatures under 32 degrees.... and therefore; our kids have not gone back to school yet from Christmas break.......... ugh! really ugh... Love my kids dearly.... but mom has got to have a break....

Cleaning out the pantry.... actually, it has gone pretty well... we have had chicken pot pie, macaroni and cheese, quiche, tuna noodle casserole (kids weren't too crazy about this one), pork chops, meatloaf, ham and bean soup, left overs one night....we did have friends over on Jan. 2nd.... so I made a regular lasagna and a mushroom lasagna... (which was amazing! - let me know if you want the recipe!)

I did cheat a little.... December 30th or 31st (can't remember which) I did a huge grocery run and picked up stuff for the evening with our friends. But since then, I have spent probably about $90 in groceries... a little more than I planned.... but not as much as I usually spend. This means I only have about $30 to spend for the rest of the month...not too worried about it until the last week... next week we are having spaghetti, chicken sandwiches, hamburger helper (remember we are cleaning out the pantry - for some reason we have a box of hamburger helper...) shrimp with rice, chicken curry....

the spouse says we have been eating better than we usually do...I think he is stretching it a bit on that one.... but it does feel good to know I am using up what we have around the house! Although we may all gain 10 pounds from this experiment... we never eat this many desserts... but I had cookie dough, cake mix, cheesecake mix, angel food cake mix, etc..... that needed to be used!

Alright, I hear the timer buzzing on the oven.... gotta run.... but one final note... the quiche I made is from Julia Child's cook book - and let me tell you - it was fabulous! If you want that recipe - let me know!

Will try to include some pictures next time!

Goal for January!

Hope everyone had a great Christmas.... we sure enjoyed our time with our family!

I have set a goal for January and a New Year's Resolution... I will start by sharing the New Year's Resolution....clean my house. Not just clean my house, organize my house, clean out cabinets and closets... I want to feel like I have decluttered and dejunked by January 1st of 2011... yes, we have that much stuff...

the goal for January....


Eat From the Pantry Challenge

Check out the moneysavingmom.com site for the details... but basically the scoop is to clean out the pantry... spend the month grocery shopping as little as possible. Most of the moms are hoping to only pick up eggs and milk... I think the goal for her is to spend only $75 the whole month on groceries.... there were over 100 moms signed up on her site. All are supposed to blog about their experience...

My goal is to not eat out more than 4 times in the month and I am upping my grocery bill to $30 a week so $120 for the month. Which would save me about $400 for the month! Wow - that would be exciting! I think it will be okay the first two weeks of the month... it's the last two weeks that could be challenging!

Join me on this adventure! Let me know if you are going to accept the challenge!

Happy New Year! I look forward to sharing the details of this challenge with you!

white christmas?

it isn't looking like a white Christmas this year here in Kansas City... what a bummer. It is the only time of year that I like a little snow.... and actually, what I like more than those wet, cold flakes falling from the sky... is the sound. I am not sure I have the words to describe the sound... and you don't get it during the day.... usually Christmas Eve is best because there isn't much traffic... but I love to open the front door and hear the sound of snow falling. Such a peaceful tranquil sound.

So, Ginger had her tonsils taken out on Friday (today is Tuesday). It has been a very very long 5 days. In fact, I texted my husband today and told him to please choose a nice insane asylum for me...she is lucky I love her because she has been pushing my patience the past couple of days.

But you all do not tune in to hear about my children woes....I think you all come to read about new recipes.... which alas, I do not have any. But you will have to check in after Christmas! Christmas Eve I am trying bread pudding recipe... it is a lower calorie version of Paula Deen's Krispy Kreme Bread Pudding....I would love to hear if you are making anything special for the holidays! Love new recipes!

Thank you all for your friendships the past year... I wish you the merriest of Christmases! Love to all!

ah... the kids have gone to school

one of my favorite times of the day... the kids have left for school, the hubster has gone to work... I have a cup of chai tea latte... life is good!

What has happened in the 12 days since I last posted....the son had his 12th birthday! Seven boys came over, ran around, had a firepit in the driveway, made smores and did "boy stuff"... spent the night... apparently they did not go to bed until 5 a.m.! Yikes!

Since we made smores... we did not have a birthday cake.... so in the goodie bags, I included Cake Balls. Cake balls are truly a little piece of heaven.... ohhh yummm... and a gazillion trillion calories!



I think I made mine a little too big... they were falling off of the lollipop sticks... which you do not have to use... I just thought they would be a little easier to dip in the white chocolate...I will definitely include the recipe - you have to try making them at least once!

We spent Thanksgiving up in Minnesota with my husband's family - and had a great time, of course! Now we are back trying to play catch-up and get ready for Christmas! I really wish there was more time between Thanksgiving and Christmas... I don't feel that I really get to take the time and appreciate each holiday... rush rush rush....

Speaking of rush, rush, rush.... off to clean house I go!

Cake Balls

Will need to refridgerate a couple of times throughout the process so it takes a little time. Not a last minute recipe.

Cake Mix
Frosting
Almond Bark

Make your favorite cake according to the recipe or the box...I made a confetti cake in a 9X13 pan. Let cool about 45 minutes... won't be 100% cool but will be cool enough to not melt the frosting. Break up the cake into a bowl and add a can of frosting... (I used the confetti frosting). Mix all up well. Put in the fridge for about an hour. Scoop into balls onto wax paper. Can stick lollipop sticks in if desired. Put in the freezer for about 2 hours. Melt the almond bark - can use either vanilla or chocolate (can use those colored chips you can get at Amish stores or in the cake area of Michael's or JoAnn's). Dip the balls... can add sprinkles or such... let the almond bark harden and enjoy!