Hey September! Hey Fall! Hey Rambling!

Hello my woefully neglected little blog.  I'm too scattered right now to type out a decent length and entirely coherent post.  So, I'll just give a you a little peak into my current stream of ideas. 

Well, that whole make up hiatus didn't last long.  I tend to rebel against any harsh rulings and decrees even when self imposed.  I'm back to the reigning it in portion of my rebellion.  Yesterday I took my oldest to Dollar Tree to get poster board for a project and picked up some Physician's Formula organic lip veil.  For one dollar in a pretty neutral color- how could I resist?  Well, sometimes stuff ends up at the Dollar Tree when it should go to the dumpster.  This stuff was gross and rough. 

We have been so busy with the school year that I am constantly thwarted in my pantry clean out quest.  We have martial arts twice a week, and soccer practice, and confirmations classes and scouts and whatever else happens upon us.  I am really missing family dinners.  It's either a quickly scrambled microwave meal or a drive thru dinner in the backseat.  I really look forward to Friday nights so I can see my family together.  Of course, not this Friday as DH has plans but I get the kids to myself!  Last week I did manage to make homemade pizza and hamburger buns with my bread machine though.  I need to figure out some scratch freezable make ahead meals for our busy nights.  I am quite sick of Taco Bell, Little Caesars and BK veggie burgers.  I just ran across Heather's post on Make Ahead Mixes and I'm inspired to make some mixes of corn bread and cookies for the cold weather.   I did not order premade cookie mix from the school fund raiser because I rationalized I could make the cookies for a tenth of the cost.  I'd love to load up my freezer with bags of ready to go scratch mix for gingerbread, chocolate chip, and snickerdoodle cookies for Christmas.

I've been doing a bit more couponing.  But, mostly I'm going to coupons.com before I shop so I can print out what's on my shopping list.  It beats clipping every coupon I might use and sorting them and dragging the hole binder to the store.  I might miss out on a few deals with way but I can't see the back of my pantry right now anyway.  I haven't been in Target for a few months.  I got burned out on the whole cartwheel app, plus Target printable coupons, plus text coupons, plus MFR coupons combo.  I can save a ton of money but it takes a lot of time and effort.  If you're interested, check out Hip2Save.com. 

Thredup.com is now on ebates.com for 7.5% back.   If you haven't used Ebates and you shop online it's such an easy way to get money back!  All you have to do is go through their website and look for the shop you want and use that link.  I get a nice check from them every few months.  If you haven't used Thredup.com before it's a nice way to shop for second hand clothes.  Some of them even have the tags still attached.  I sent my son to school today in a brand new pair of Kitestrings khakis that cost me $9.   If you're interested in trying Thredup.com go through my link and you'll get $10 to spend.  Also, use the code 40SNP and get 40% off your purchase.  Combine that with 7.5% back on ebates, and it's quite a deal.  I've been stocking up on winter clothes for my son.  You get free shipping if you spend more than $50.  They also have women's clothing and accessories.  I haven't had the best of luck in selling my items there but I did make $28 on a Nieman Marcus cashmere sweater (Goodwill) that I never wore.

I'm behind on laundry and my house needs a quick clean.  See you in a few months?  ; )

Pancakes the Eggless Way

The pantry is not empty yet. But the fridge contents are paltry. How many things can I make with one wrinkled apple, some homemade pickles, and a few yogurts?
Next week we begin moving and I am loathe to reload our fridge. I am out of homemade baking mix and just add water pancake mix. Betty Crocker and the Joy of Cooking did not provide a good eggless pancake recipe. Then I remembered the copy of Henry's Pancake Mix that I taped inside the pantry.
 Here's the recipe from Jon and Kate Plus 8

Henry's Pancake Mix
 1 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
2 tbsp. oil
1 1/2 cup milk *or more

 No eggs needed. I used half a cup of whole wheat flour.

Pantry Challenge: Fridge Food

When we're not eating out, I'm trying really hard to cook what we have here. Supplies on anything handy and quick are running low my friends. But, I've found an awesome new website that will definitely help me get creative with what I have on hand. It's called My Fridge Food and lists tons of recipes based on what ingredients you click on.

Good Eats and The Pantry Challenge

I admit I am not html savvy. I can't figure out how to make paragraphs yet on the new blogger. So pardon the jammed together sentences until I get a minute of my nerdy brilliant husband's time. We ate out last night because we had soccer practice. For breakfast we celebrated National Donut Day with a free donut from Krispy Kreme. Lunch was veggie sausages and orange slices. Snacks were cheese crackers and homemade wheat bread. For dinner we're having a tofu stir fry- which I need to get started on.

Pantry Challenge: Eat it, Don't move it

Our offer has been accepted and except for the final inspections, it looks like we're getting a new house in a month. So, I have a month in which to try to use up all the food in the house before we have to start moving. I'm still buying milk, eggs, and fresh fruit but I that's about it. We'll still eat out occasionally too. Because we can and because we like it. Today we've had- Scratch blueberry pancakes with banana slices and honey Yogurt Popcorn Apple slices and peanut butter dip Tonight we're having Biscuits and Gravy and orange slices. My next pantry will be half the size of our current one. So, I really want to eat as much as we can from our stores. We'll be eating lots of baked goods since I have so many mixes and flours and frozen fruit purees. Oh darn. If I remember correctly I seem to think that pantry challenge eating is pretty yummy.

Consolidation How I love Thee

Hubby cleaned out the pantry last weekend and you would not believe how much nicer it looks.
I can find our food again.
I did throw away an embarrassing amount of old sauces and crackers that were expired. Another reason why I should not stockpile! I found two cans of instant coffee in the pantry after I'd spent $5 a day before for a new can. Grrrr.
I know most of you are gagging at the idea of instant coffee but I love it mixed with chocolate powder and creamer. It's become my substitute for pricey International Foods. I mix whatever I have available that sounds good. I like it as well as Starbucks and I don't have to make a whole pot of coffee so I have hot water ready for cocoa and oatmeal for the rest of the family.
Because I am messy and have organizational problems (and also a mini hoarding problem I'm trying to conquer) my mix cans have been on the kitchen counter for forever. That's four or five cans of flavorings and coffee at any given time. It's a waste of space.
Today I had a fourth of a jar of Ovaltine, most of a container of vanilla Nesquick, a jar of mixed coffee creamer and vanilla flavored sugar, and a new 4 oz. jar of instant coffee. So, I got out my blender and mixed them all together and put them back in the Ovaltine jar since it's the biggest. Now I have one jar to keep and only one jar to mess with in the morning.
I kept one glass jar for future use and recycled the rest. I love to keep old salsa, spaghetti sauce and peanut butter jars to use as clear storage in my pantry. But, my cabinets are full and I will always have a supply of jars as long as I keep grocery shopping.

While I was doing that I was also mixing up a batch of onion bread and cleaning my stinky disposal (and also watching the Nate Berkus show on my mini kitchen tube). I have so far to go to get this house back to any decent kind of order. It's been about 18 months since my in-laws were here and that's the last time every room in my house was clean at once. That's sad. They are coming in a month and I have a lot of work to do.

We seemed to have permanently misplaced our camera since our trip from Houston last month. I really miss being able to post pictures on my blog. Maybe I can get a new (easier to use one) for my birthday next month.

Free After Rebate Links and What's For Dinner Tonight

Kellogg's Fiber Plus Cereal

Kellogg's Wheatables Crackers


Today is my 14th wedding anniversary. But, we're not really doing anything special tonight. Instead my Mom came up on Saturday to sit on our kids so we could escape to a local Drury for a staycation night. The one benefit of Hubby's frequent work travel is perks like free flights and free hotel stays. So, tonight is pretty low key. And I promised I'd cook tonight since we ate out a lot this weekend (Chinese take out, pizza, taco bell).

I wasn't exactly feeling inspired and was scrambling around to find something to put together.
So we're having-
Sliced avocado (on sale for .69 cents each) and sliced tomato (on sale for .99 a pound)
A bag of meatless "chicken" finger things (new brand I'm going to try
A box of au gratin potatoes I found in the pantry
Baked sugar snap peas (baking them with some spike, nutmeg, a bit of butter and some veggie broth)

I'm ready for another pantry challenge to clean out old stuff and work on new recipes. I'm ready to start making my own protein substitutes also. We're definitely in a food rut and I need to shake things up make it a bit healthier too by making more vegan foods. Vegan cooking is amazingly pantry friendly.

Make it do- Pizza

This is my kind of convenience food- frozen balls of scratch pizza dough made into pizza using whatever ingredients I can come up with in my fridge.

Tonight we're having pizza topped with:

A can of tomato sauce with a bit of sugar and spice sprinkled in
1/4 cup of sprinkle Parmesan cheese
Last 2 slices of provolone

1 aging piece of Gouda- grated

1 aging pepper from the crisper (veggie crisper is now officially empty)
1 can of Aldi mushrooms (juice drained and frozen for soup broth)
1 can of olives rummaged from the back of the pantry
Basil leaves from my window plant
Morningstar sausage sprinkles


We're following it up with a Impossibly Easy Cobbler made with Aldi baking mix and a combination of foraged dewberries, frozen blackberries, and salvaged cherries from the fruit bin.
I had no eggs for the pie mix so I used two tbs of soy flour/water combo. It worked.
We have no ice cream but I found a frozen container of Cool Whip leftover from Easter.
How come I'm always so surprised that we can eat this well when I don't go grocery shopping?

Still haven't made it to the grocery store

Breakfast- Instant (store brand) oatmeal packets & organic pop tarts from basement pantry. Cherry limeade (out of juice & milk), cocoa, and instant latte mix to drink.

I think I have some powdered milk in the basement. I'm tempted to go a few more days and see what I can come up with for meals. I can always make baked goods using soy flour/water instead of eggs.

This recipe for Scottish Oat Cakes does not need eggs and might be a suitable replacement for bread with our meals. I have everything in my pantry to whip this up.

There are a few pieces of fruit left in the fridge and I have some clearance/dent&ding cans of fruit when we run out of that.

We have half a jar of peanut butter (my kids favorite protein snack) left. When we run out I have half a jar of roasted peanuts that I could whir in my blender and make more spread.

We're out of pop. I'm not going to cry about it though. I plan on making some sun tea and kool-aid when we run out of limeade.

Update: I found three cans of pop in the garage and dry milk in the basement. My Mom is bringing my girl home today and is bringing some dew berries they picked off a wild bush growing by her yard. We're making a crumble top pie with a no roll pie crust. I'm thawing a frozen chunk of pizza crust for dinner. I think we're having crackers, bread, cheese, chopped fruit and a homemade creamy spread for lunch. I'm making this recipe I found in Yankee Magazine's Living Well on a Shoestring.

Herb Cheese Spread:
4 ounces cream cheese
1 tbs. butter
1 tbs. white wine or balsamic vinegar
2 cloves of minced and mashed garlic
Fresh herbs
Black pepper to taste

Mix it all together and serve.

I'm out of garlic so I have to use powdered. I do have fresh basil growing in my windowsill though.

Does anyone know if dewberry bushes transplant well? I'd like to move one to my backyard.

Trips and Pantry Eating

I've been gone for the past week with Hubby on a business trip to KC. While I was gone I:

Watched way too much Bravo tv in the hotel
Swam with my boy
Spent a great day catching up with a friend and her children
Cleaned out the clearance racks at a Gymboree Outlet (lots of school clothes!)
Finished reading a book
Napped a lot
Ate at our favorite restaurant

Last night we attended a wake for a friend's grandma. I know it's wrong to have a great time at a "funeral" but there was lots of story telling and raising our glasses to the departed. I think Nana would have been pleased with her memorial.

Anyway, this morning I woke up to a kitchen pretty empty of our standard perishables. I made a grocery list but I have to say that I have not been inspired to shop at all today. In fact, it's 6:30 and I haven't showered and am still in my pajamas. I have done a lot of laundry, dishes, cleaning, and hanging out with my two men. My Big Girl is with her Grandma this week and she comes home tomorrow. I'll go grocery shopping then.

I've had to get creative with our food as we ate the last of our eggs last week, our milk was sour, and our last piece of bread was moldy.

Breakfast: Little Guy had a packet of instant oatmeal. Hubby ate peanut butter on graham crackers. I had a bowl of veggie soup and crackers.
I made a loaf of whole wheat onion bread in the bread machine.

Snacks- more graham crackers and yogurt. Slices of onion bread with pepper jack cheese.

Lunch- Mac N Cheese with four chopped up hot dogs. I was out of milk so I had to use Italian dressing for the sauce. It worked okay but I prefer milk.

Dinner- I had two organic potatoes. I cleaned out the crisper too. We had wilted celery, half an onion, a red pepper going soft, and a package of firm tofu. I chopped them all up and fried them in a little butter, water, olive oil, and seasoning salt. It made for a pretty satisfying meal.

Now I've got to finish folding laundry and work on cleaning out Big Girls disastrous room while she's gone.

Better Living Through Pantry Planning

Other than the brief grocery stop for milk, bread, eggs, bananas and dog food I am avoiding shopping this week. I can see the back of my pantry and know that all of the food in there is fresh and will be used. It is a relief.

Monday- stir fry with crisper veg and ginger tempeh. Leftovers got sent with Hubby today.

Tuesday- Tofu and crisper veg soup made using drained, saved, and frozen canned vegetable juice from canned tomatoes, mushrooms, and corn. I threw in half a box of whole wheat noodles and it was yummy. There are leftovers in the freezer for Hubby's lunch next week.

Wednesday- Breakfast- pancakes made from a box of corn muffin mix and served with peanut butter the last dollops of syrup from the pantry.
Dinner is homemade pizza topped with leftover sauce and whatever cheese bits need to be used up in the fridge. I know there is some gouda, Irish cheddar, and parmesan. There's one last can of mushrooms in the pantry too. I made a double batch of wheaty pizza crust dough so I can freeze some for later.

I think we're eating better this way and no one is complaining about not having another meal out.

Pantry Challenge Day 28

Breakfast- Pancakes made from the last of the corn muffin mix.
Lunch- Little Guy is eating a packed lunch at preschool. Big Girl is eating a school lunch. Hubby took leftovers. I will probably have tomato soup from a can.
Dinner- Something simple like spaghetti. Side of corn. I'll make a garlic butter spread for the leftover french bread. Rest of pudding pie for dessert.

Pantry Fog & Pet Loss Grief

Monday I took my kitty to the vet for the last time and said goodbye. I'm still second guessing that decision and remembering the last few seconds of her life and watching the light go out of her scared eyes. It has not been a happy time here. I keep thinking I see her out of the corner of my eye. I had a dream about her last night and she was not the thin sick kitty she had become. She was the fat, spunky, silky fur ball from a few months ago. Some part of me thinks that I can fix my grief by immediately adopting a kitten who seems exactly like her. But that is not an option as Hubby really(!) doesn't want another pet. I've been through this before with two of my dogs and I know the grief eventually goes away but the love and affection stay. It will just take a little while to get to that part.

I've been fighting two of my major stress relievers. Eating tons of junk food and shopping for pleasure are so appealing to me when I'm emotional. At first I had to remind myself that food is not a cure for grief nor is it a shoulder to cry on. Food is simply fuel for our bodies. That was difficult to think about when all I wanted to do was crawl into a box of donuts.
And I've been trying my best to stay out of any store unless I have a need to buy something specific. We have too much clutter already and I would like to see our stagnant checking account numbers rise.

So far this week I have shopped at Aldi and spent $11 on staples and snacks for preschool. Yesterday I succumbed to my desire to shop and went into a new Dollar Tree. I spent $27 on toys for my kids, party favors, and groceries. This particular store has a small freezer section. I found a big bag of Green Giant white shoepeg corn and a bag of frozen blueberries. I'll go back again when I need to grocery shop.

As far as the pantry challenge goes I am committed to finishing the month and going into February. My in-laws will be here on the 10th so I will have to shop for them. Even though I didn't stick to just eating from my pantry I think I did a pretty good job of eating from our pantry so far. I think we've saved money.

Breakfast- veggie sausages and banana slices
Lunch- Soup, cheese and crackers for me and little guy. Hubby has leftovers. Big Girl is buying today (cheese pizza day)
Dinner- Pickle burger using old homemade pickles, a box of augratin potatoes I found in the pantry, green beans from the freezer, french bread that's in the bread machine right now. A chocolate pudding pie using things I found in the pantry.

Pantry Challenge Day 24 + 25 And not a happy day for me.

We've made the decision to put our sick kitty down. She has no interest in food and even dry heaved at the smell of her canned food. It's time. We said our goodbyes this morning. I have to say that I'm really not that interested in cooking or cleaning today at all. And I feel incredibly guilty about making this decision but I can't face the alternative.

Day 24-

Breakfast- the rest of the fruit pie and cereal
Lunch- Taco Bell on the way to Grandma's
Dinner- Kids ate at Grandmas while Hubby and I snuck off for a special 13th anniversary dinner.

Day 25-
Breakfast- pb toast and milk
Lunch- ? Maybe grilled cheese. Maybe yogurt.
Dinner- Hamburger helper made with boca patties.

It's time for another grocery trip. But, I just don't feel up to it. I think I'll throw some flour, water, oil, and salt in the bread machine and let it make us some bread.

Pantry Challenge Day 23

Weekends are hard for eating out of our pantry. In the future, I see us trimming our budget by trying to eat out only on weekends. We'd still save a nice amount.

Breakfast- Kids and I had cereal. Hubby had fruit pie.
Lunch- Fast food. It's been a busy day. Birthday parties, preschool previews, haircuts, etc.
Dinner- I think we're going out for dinner too. I'm not sure.

Pantry Challenge Day 22

Breakfast- whole grain pancakes and veg. sausage for the whole family.
Lunch- Big Girl has tofurky & cheese sandwich, pretzels, carrot sticks and a juice box. I'm having soup. Little Guy is having pbj and mandarin orange slices. Hubby is going out to lunch.
Dinner- Homemade veggie pizza.

I made a fruit pie with a few slightly outdated cans of fruit from the pantry. Now that I know how to make an easy crust I am no longer afraid of making pie. I just whip up a crumb topping with some baking mix, oats, a little butter and some sugar and we're good to go. I didn't add any sugar to the pie as the syrup was sugary enough. I did add 1/2 tsp. of baking soda to the filling to make it a little sweeter. It turned out great. Next time I would add a little cornstarch to the syrup to make it thicker though.

Pantry Challenge Day 21

Seriously starting to get sick of my own food.

Breakfast- Kids had cereal, Hubby had a veggie burger, I haven't eaten yet- have upset stomach.
Lunch- Meeting Hubby for a much anticipated lunch out! Big Girl has pbj, pudding, cheese, and a fruit juice.
Dinner- Thawing boca burgers to shred, soaking the last of the tvp crumbles in water and seasoning for a meatloaf. I have some homemade bread hunks that I'll shred to go into it. Making instant mashed potatoes (because we are out of fresh) and probably heating a can of corn or frozen green beans.

I wish I could say our pantry is about empty. I'm waiting for that burst of delicious creativity that people say comes with a limited food supply. I'm craving boc choy, red cabbage, kiwi fruit, endive and other delicious fresh food items that we don't have. I have one sad apple and a handful of carrots left in the produce bin.

Gonna go fill up a bag of kids clothes and toys to drop off at the thrift store. I think next month's goal will be to focus on de-cluttering and cleaning.

Pantry Challenge Day 20

Breakfast- Hubby had a veggie burger, kids had cereal and I ate some cake with my coffee (bad, but at least I ate something!).

Lunch- Little Guy and I are having tomato soup, grilled cheese and applesauce. Hubby is having leftovers from the freezer. Big Girl is having a tofurkey/cheese sandwich, pretzels, cake, fruit roll and juice box.

Dinner- Am seriously considering getting a $5 from Little Caesars. If I can find our old movie tickets we will get free bread sticks with it. No it's not nutritious but tonight is going to be busy and we have a lot of homework to do tonight. Anyone else have a first grader with a lot of homework? If we weren't struggling to catch her up I might complain but as it is I think every bit of extra work we do helps. Tomorrow night I'll put on my apron and make something full of vitamins and veggies. Maybe soup? Maybe a "meat"loaf with mashed potatoes and steamed veggies?

Little Caesars had a deal over Christmas where you get a free $5 gift card when you buy $25 in gift cards. We did a few of those deals.

P.S. The pantry saves the day again. My daughter said she wanted ramens and chic patty for dinner. Luckily we had one patty left in the freezer and Daddy is at a meeting tonight. It's just enough for the three of us.


Looks a lot like what we had for dinner last night but whatever. I'll take it.

I had some leftover frosting in the fridge so I made chocolate cake yesterday so we're having that as snacks and dessert.

Pantry Challenge Day 19

Pantry Challenge-

Breakfast- Kids had the last of the instant oatmeal and shared a breakfast sausage. Hubby had a veggie burger. I had a piece of toast. (I'm doing much better at eating breakfast!)
Lunch- Little Guy and I had scrambled eggs with cheese and buttered toast. Apple Juice.
Dinner- I am seriously craving take out Chinese food. And I can never manage to recreate the same dishes when I try at home. So, I don't know if I'll end up having Hubby pick up dinner or not. Maybe we have a coupon. Maybe I'll just cook some noodles and throw some broccoli, peanuts and hoisin sauce on them and pretend.

(p.s. I made dinner after all. This is the end product.)



Whew. Tired after multiple errand stops this morning. I don't have my receipts handy so I'll have to guess at how much I spent.

Shop N Save- spent about $34 on the gift card we bought last November with our Entertainment guide coupons. Bought eggs, milk, clearance apple sauce, cheese, Gatorade, light bulbs, pain reliever, bread, a sale book for a gift, contact lens solution, and a new contact case. I had coupons for the pain reliever, Gatorade and contact solution.

Deal$- two bags of candy for b-day goody bags and a pack of Diego sandwich bags for the lunch box- Spent $3

Famous Footwear- We had our first desire for a popular fad clothing item- Skechers Twinkle Toes shoes. While I don't think I need to buy my child everything she wants (in fact I plan not to) I made a decision to please her. I spent part of yesterday shopping online doing research on prices and I checked our shoe inventory to see if we needed shoes. She asked at the right time as she is starting to outgrow the shoes we bought her for the beginning of the school year. So, I handed over my rewards card and spent 29.00 on her new shoes. I hope she likes them.
Michaels- Another birthday party invitation came this week. My budget limit for kid's birthday party gifts is $10. I typically spend around $7.50. I put my 40% store coupon in my pocket and went in search of a present or goody bag favors. I found a toob of pirates and a copy of Robinson Crusoe for the birthday boy, two plain gold after Christmas clearance baskets (for Easter), a .50 cent fridge magnet to do list/calendar for me, and a $1 clearance flash light for Little Guy's Easter basket. I love the "Toob" toys. I found Jamestown settlers along with Egyptian Pharaohs. I'll be going back with another 40% off coupon to get some for Big Girl's Easter basket.

Library- Our standard books and dvds for the weeks entertainment. I also spent $3 on books and magazines from the sale table to give as a gift.

And now we're home and I plan on doing some housework before I settle down with a fresh library book.

Grocery Shopping Time & Freezer Soup Tip

We're low on milk and sandwich bread. For some reason my homemade bread doesn't last long enough for sandwich bread.

I also need a few other non grocery items that I have been putting off buying.

You guys, I have been dreading shopping. Is that weird? I used to look forward to it and now I'm afraid I'll mess up my pantry challenge.

If I were more organized I could tell how much I had saved this month on food by eating more of what we have but I am not. I don't think we are saving that much on the eating out spectrum. But maybe we are as I have turned down multiple dinners out for the sake of the pantry challenge. Hmm.
I can't even total up how much we've spent on groceries this month because the weird bulk stuff from Costco always screws up the total.

This will be my third trip to the grocery store this month. And I spent less than $20 each time I shopped. So, I'll take that as encouragement.

Two nights ago I made wonderful freezer soup. The broth was made from the saved and frozen drained off juice from canned beans, corn, and mushroom slices. I threw in one onion bouillon cube and it was great. I don't have room for a big freezer soup container (yet) so I've just been draining my vegetables into little plastic containers and labeling them for the freezer. Why waste that good flavor?