Day 16 and counting

So far so good.  We did go out to eat, but we had a gift card.  What was so sad is that we did not enjoy the meal.  We wanted to go to Bella Luna at Bradly Fair, but they were closed for remodeling.  We had to stay at Bradley Fair so we thought okay On the Border.  I don't think we will be going back.  The food was similar to Chili's and so was the menu.  I tried their new items using Hatch Chilies, they were tasteless.  Our waiter was great and the service was fine, but the food was not worth the money.  We will not be returning.....

So this weekend I have been cooking.  I have made Free Style Nachos for 15 Teenagers Friday night.  Scrambled eggs (from our chicken's) Sat. morning, leftover chili for lunch....home made Clam Chowder for dinner and a home made yellow cake.  Today I made Swiss Steak with mashed potatoes for lunch.  It was good.  Tonight I am making The Pioneer Woman's Chicken Tortilla Soup.  With all this snow still on the ground it looks colder than it really feels.  Recipes to follow.

I have seen a lot more money in the ole' bank account and a lot less of it walking away.  So much so that I went and got my nails done at Mani Pedi.  Kelly has been doing my nails on and off for the last year.  I started out with fake ones, but was not happy with the fact that they only looked great for one week.  Now they have a new thing called shellac and it is great.  My nails are all real and they look so good.  With a little care this will last 4 weeks easy. I love the way my hands look now.  I feel pretty!

What a cold week....

Well I have a long weekend coming up and I can not wait.  Off Friday and Monday!  I am hoping to get a lot done.  We have been cooking at home, but we did go out last night on a gift card.  Emily's making a ton of round cakes for two seperate birthdays this weekend and I could not even find the kitchen last night.  But we still roasted a chicken and the kids ate that and I have left overs.  But with even this little trip out we have cut our going out by 3/4 at least.  I have beans and hamhocks in the crock pot for tonight.

This is my new endevor....cooking once a month....kind of.  Mimi Wilson and Mary Beth Lagerborg have put together a new book with more family friendly meals.  I admit to being a food snob and I hate cooking with cream of what ever soup...but they have a section in this new cookbook for more upscale recipes if you want to call them that.  They have several menu plans that are for two weeks of meals.  I believe that this is much more doable for me than an entire month.  So I am going to give that a try and see how we benefit from it.  I know it will do great for the weekends and Sunday dinner. 

My mom always cooked a huge, yummy, wonderful Sunday Dinner every single Sunday.  I look back on it now in total amazment that she did this.  And she was not the only one, many women did.  Mom would get up at the crack of dawn or earlier...she would fix a big breakfast from scratch-biscuits, gravy, fried eggs, potatoes and bacon.  Clean that up and get dinner in the oven.  Round bone roast with potatoes, carrots and onions, huge salad or some type of green veggies, corn, and home made dinner rolls and gravy.  Sometimes it would be a pork roast or sauerkraut and kielbasa, or Fried Steak and gravy.  I stand in awe of what my mom did, I struggle with sandwiches after church!  So I am hoping that this will help me recreate some of those famiy favorites for after church.

So tomorrow is shopping day and then Sat. is cooking day with Emily.  I will post more details tomorrow.

Day Six-Rose Above!

Last night would have been one of those nights that I would chuck dinner and go out for something simple.  I spent more time than I wanted to at the Doc. office, ran around looking for a blue mail box to mail a huge amount of invitations, had to circle back to the grocery store to drop off the prescriptions I got at the doctors office, Ethan had taken Clare to the Ortho and they were closest to Kent and Emily so he picked them.  Headed home beat, and found out that Kent's dad was admitted to the heart hospital for his procedure today. We were planning on going up to visit him for a bit (it is only 4 miles from our house).  Also we had to go buy donkey food at Tractor Supply Co.  So I thought okay here it is...
Let the day run me over and chuck my family challenge out the door or develop a simple plan for dinner....So when I got home I went out to help Kent with the animals the girls started dinner-Spaghetti with meat sauce and bread-then all three kids cleaned the kitchen while Kent and I ran up to the hospital and talked to Kent's dad. 
Kent's dad is a WWII vet-a Marine in the sniper division.  He was telling us some great stories about his early days in the corp before he saw battle.  It was a fun time listening to him talk about his young days.

We made it back home and I was exhausted!  But we ate at home!!!

The Best Meat Loaf Ever!

I love the Pioneer Woman and how she has brought back the fun to cooking.  http://www.thepioneerwoman.com/
I made her meatloaf last night and it was perfect. 

2 lbs of good ground meat
6 slices of white bread
1 cup of milk
4 eggs
1 c. of Parmesan cheese shredded
1/3 cup of chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
1/4 t. of season salt
3/4 t. of kosher salt
1 t. of fresh ground black pepper
For the Top of the meat loaf so reserve
10 slices of good thick bacon

Soak the bread in the milk while you are getting the rest together.
Mix the eggs then in a large bowl place everything including the milk soaked bread.  Make two free form loaves.  Place them on top of your broiler pan with the bottom pan being lined with foil to prevent a messing disaster.  Cut your bacon in half and lay 10 half strips on top of each meat loaf.  Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour and 15 minutes.  Check with an internal thermometer, 160 degrees.  Remove and let rest for about 5 minutes.  It will smell so good!
I make two loaves so they cook faster.  You can also make them into 1/2 cup balls, flatten slightly and place 2 half pieces of bacon over the top and they will cook even faster.  I made bake potatoes in the oven so I new I had time since they take about an hour.

This makes great leaf overs for lunch the next day and great sandwiches. 

Day Five

Last night's dinner was a big hit with the family.  All sat at the table and talked and laughed. We had the Pioneer Woman's Best Meatloaf, baked potatoes, corn and a simple fruit salad.  Tonight we are having spaghetti with home made meat sauce, home made bread and a spinach salad.  Recipes to follow.

Challenge-No eating out for one month- Day Four

I am re-issuing my challenge to all.  It is a good time to jump on board no matter what.  I figure even a week can make a little difference and a month can make a big difference.
We are not going out to eat for one month.  I want to see how much money we walk through with out even realizing it.  I want to break the hold that restaurants have on me, and they do.  So I will post here and include recipes of what I make.

Jan. 3

Good Morning,
I am going to go into a bit more detail on the New Year Challenge I have laid our for my family.  The invitation to join us still stands, no matter what the date.

We have crazy lives...Ethan is working and playing (19 and knows everything), Emily is going to Trinity and studies very hard.  She also has a very active social life.  Clare studies hard at Trinity also, writes all the time, does face book and truly believes she will wither up if she is not with her friends 24 seven.  My hubby is a teacher (very long hours) and I work full time.  Kent is also the Scholars Bowl Coach and has two matches a week-some in town some out.  Clare is also on the team, but I think she may be done. 
We also have 12 chickens, 2 dogs and one very playful donkey to take care of.  We are also getting ready to start our market farm.  So when I say we are busy I really mean it.

We wanted to take better control of our money and giving up going out to eat is just the tip of the iceberg.  I wanted to bring our entire family into this and show how that if we partner together we can save money.  I wanted everyone involved including the men in our family.  Here is the game plan:
A clean kitchen allows me to cook dinner.  If I come home and the kitchen is a disaster for what ever reason, I most likely will not cook.  I hate that I take an hour clean the kitchen, then cook and then listen to the kids gripe about cleaning it up and not doing a good job of it.  But maybe if they saw a goal-less going out to eat more clothes in their closet?-  they would help out.  So we talked about it....how could we keep the kitchen clean and ready for me to cook?  It will take some practice, and some oversight from me, but it can be down.  The girls had some suggestions and we are doing them. 
1. When we are down eating everyone take up their own plate; scrapes it, and stack it on the left of the sink.  Sounds simple enough.
2. While I am cooking the girls set the table and dry the pots and pans as I wash them.  I will even let them  listen to their quieter music.
3. Ethan clears the table and takes the trash out.  The following morning he unloads the dishwasher before heading to work. 
4. Before bed there is a call for all dishes, get them in and run the dishwasher nightly.

All of these simple things allows the kitchen to stay clean.  I do some of the nitty gritty stuff like keeping my black stove clean and wiped down.  I am also developing a list of what I want done in the kitchen daily so that everyone can stay on the same page. 

We are trying to think through this and see the benefits to our family.  I believe we get caught up being busy and not taking the time to be a family.  I have seen it spliter our own family and I am declaring war.  My first battle is dinner, on the table, with everyone home during the week.