Let the Recipes Begin!!!

Ok guys! Here is one of the recipes I have used with OAMC (once a month cooking). Got it from a book called Frozen Assets by Deborah Taylor-Hough.

Meatloaf and meatballs!!!

With this recipe you will have 2 meatloaves, 1 meal of salisbury steak, and three different meaball meals!

*Preheat oven to 350

24 oz. tomato sauce
3 c. dry bread crumbs
7 eggs, lightly beaten
1 c. onion, finely chopped
1/2 c. green pepper
tsp. of Italian seasoning
8 lbs. ground beef
Mix everything but meat together. Add meat. Then.....

Make your meatloaves. bake for 30 minutes. Cool before freezing. I also added a few slices of bacon on top of the meatloaves before I baked them. SOOOOO yummy!

Make your meatballs. I used parchment paper on my cookie sheets so that I would have less clean up! Bake for 30 minutes. Put the entire cookie sheet in the freezer once it has cooled. This is to freeze the meatballs individually. Once frozen, you can put them all in a ziplock bag until you are ready to use them!

You can also use this meat mixture to make salisbury steak patties. Just fry them on both sides for a few minutes and then cool. once cool, freeze in a ziplock bag.

How to use this new cooking method:
Our favorite meal so far has been the meatball subs. Put a big can or jar of spaghetti sauce in a saucepan. Add enough meatballs to feed your family. Heat until the meatballs are hot. (You could put the sauce and meatballs in a crockpot in the morning. When you come home from work, dinner is ready!) Spoon the sauce and meatballs on hoagie rolls. Top with cheese. SOOOOO yummy!

You can buy (or make) sweet and sour sauce. Heat up the meatballs in the sauce. Spoon over rice. Voila! Dinner is served.

Since our family is still pretty small, I froze our meatloaves in halves. This is a perfect portion for us.

I have not tried this meal yet, but it is on the list for this month: Salisbury steaks. Re-heat the patties that you made earlier in the month. Top with hot, cream-of-mushroom soup. You can serve this over rice if you want.

So far, none of these meals have tasted like leftovers! I have been pleasantly suprised. Check out the book from the library and give it a try. Sure makes dinner a lot easier!

Meals in Minutes!

We got home from Pastor's School Saturday at 2:00 P.M. As soon as we got home, I grabbed my shopping list and headed for the grocery store. I had used the 4 hr. road trip to plan out 4 weeks worth of meals, using the "Once a Month Cooking" method. It only cost me $89.00 to buy all of the food for 30 dinners. I was pretty excited about that! Once I got home and unloaded my carload of groceries, I started to cook my meals. 4 1/2 hours later I had enough meals in my freezer to last me a month, and I even had cleaned my kitchen and washed the dishes. The next thirty days would prove weather or not this was going to be a way of life for me.

Tonight we tried the first "freezer meal." I was a little afraid that it would taste like left-overs, but to my delight, it didn't! The meal I chose for tonight was Meatball Subs. The meatballs were already cooked and frozen, so all I had to do was put them in a saucepan with marinara sauce and toast the bread. They were DELICIOUS! Total time to prepare dinner tonight: 5 min. of preparation, 10 minutes of cooking. So far, this "Once A Month Cooking" is a lifesaver! Can't wait to see how the rest of the meals in my freezer turn out!

Frozen Dinners Again?

What a busy time of year! We have a youth conference, we are moving, my parents are coming to visit, Pastor's School..... the list goes on and on! I have been so extremely busy this month that the majority of my meals have been "Healthy Request" microwave meals. Knowing that these are full of preservatives and way more expensive than cooking at home, I decided that as soon as I get home from our trip, I am going to make my own frozen meals. After spending some time researching online, I can across a great meal preparation idea. It is called OAMC, or Once A Month Cooking. The idea is to spend a day cooking and freezing so that you will only have to cook once a month. Anybody that knows me knows that I LOVE to cook, so the idea of only cooking once a month disinterested me at first. Then I decided that it would actually be nice to have a couple of weeks worth of meals ready for times when my schedule is hectic. I found a website that I LOVE, and it features a bunch of OAMC recipes. You can also find all sorts of great household tips and ideas. After looking at the site I immediately added it to my list of favorites. I can't wait to try out some of the new recipes. I will post the good ones for you to try!

The Scrappy Frog!

Hi Guys! My friend, Jeanette, has the cutest kids crafting blog. If you have little ones and are looking for great ideas, look no further! I also noticed that she just started selling her custom artwork online. Many of you have seen the custom art that she made for Kyndra's baby shower... It is AMAZING! If you are looking for a one-of-a-kind baby shower gift, send some business her way. You won't regret it! To check out her blog, go to www.thescrappyfrog.blogspot.com. There is a link for her online store.
Above is the art that she made for Kyndra's room. Behind the art is the blanket that she used to match the colors and stuff. AMAZING work!!!!

Annette's AMAZING Frappuccinos

Here is Annette's great recipe that she gave me! Girls, I could drink these all day long!!!!

1 cup milk
enough ice to make 3 cups with milk
1 box of instant pudding
1 cup cool whip
1 tbs. instant coffee (I like a little more to make it stronger!)

Blend away!

You can also add peppermint extract, chocolate chips, cinnamon, or vanilla.

ENJOY!!

My Festive Table

I am one of those people who believes in the expression, "Less is More," especially when it comes to decorating. I do, however, really love to decorate for every holiday. The solution I have found in decorating for a special day without going overboard is to use my table. I Have found that if my table looks special, my husband always notices! Here are some pics of my Valentine's Day table.

Please don't ask to use my bathroom!

Have you ever had somebody stop by unannounced, and the whole time they are there you are thinking.... "Please don't ask to use my bathroom!" When Saturday is your house cleaning day, Friday's bathroom is probably a little scary! Here is a quick, easy way to keep your bathroom clean all week.
I keep a bunch of cleaning rags, a disinfecting cleaner, and shower spray (the kind you just spray... no scrubbing required) in my bathroom under the sink. After I am done getting ready each morning, I spray the shower. Then I use the bleach spray to quickly wipe down the sink and toilet. It takes me about 1-2 minutes total. I can't tell you what a relief it is to know that when somebody does drop it, my bathroom won't embarrass me!

Save your $4.00!

Nearly everyday I find myself wishing for a Starbucks latte. The problem is that, first, I don't usually have $4.00 to blow on a cup of coffee, and second, the nearest Starbucks is a half hour away. Want a cheap alternative that you can make at home in no time?

I got a milk frother (pictured at right) a few months ago, and it has made my coffee seem extra special. I buy whatever flavored creamer I am in the mood for. The tiramisu creamer is super yummy. I microwave it in my mug for about 20 seconds. This is where the frother comes in. Use it for about 20 seconds and the creamer will turn into a froth. Pour in strong coffee, and you will have a DELISH treat that is very cheap. Enjoy!

The frothers can be bought on Ebay for $2.50. Just type in "milk frother". Ikea makes one very similar to the one I have.

Money Saving Ideas

I am ALWAYS looking for ways to be frugal so that I can be lavish in other areas! For instance, I would rate a good haircut as a necessity in my life. The cheap ones never really work with my hair! So, I am willing to be a penny pincher when I grocery shop in order to have a great haircut. All that to say, I love to be creative with my budget and shopping.

Recently a friend told me of a book where she got recipes to make home-made baby wipes, laundry detergent, and dishwasher detergent. I have to admit that I was skeptical at first. "I am too busy to make baby wipes," I told her. Well, I was too busy until I found something at Goodwill that I wanted and needed a couple of dollars more that I had. Maybe I could try the baby wipe thing....

A roll of paper towels and an 1/8 cup of baby shampoo later, I decided that this wasn't such a bad idea. It was a LOT cheaper than the cheapest wipes I have found at the store so far. They weren't quite as good as the store bought ones, but the money I saved made it worth it. I am eager to try the laundry detergent when I run out of the bottle I already have!

If you are on a tight budget, look for recipes for all of these items (and more) on google.

One other tip that my friend, Heather, gave me was a great one! A lot of people drink 2% or skim milk. Buy a gallon of whole milk and water it down. It will taste about the same as the milk with less fat, and it is practically like getting a gallon of milk for free!

If you have any great tips for me, please leave me a comment below! I would LOVE some more fresh ideas!

Get Your Crockpot Out!!!!

Learning to cook in a crockpot literally revolutionized my Sundays! Everyone knows the Sunday Rush. We rush to get ourselves ready, the kids ready, (our husbands ready!), breakfast ready, the diaper bag ready, and then we RUSH to church. Half way through the sermon, you feel your stomach growling and instead of listening to the preaching, you are trying to figure out what in the world you are gonna fix for lunch. By the time you get home and cook a meal, it is almost time for supper! This is where your crockpot will change your life (or at least your Sundays!)

Saturday night you can get your meal ready in the crockpot. Put all of your ingredients in there and stick it in the fridge. Before you leave for church, simply take it out of the fridge and plug it in. When you get home, a healthy, tasty meal will be waiting for you! Now you don't have an excuse for not paying attention during church!!!

Here are a couple of my FAVE recipes!!!

Throw a bag of chicken breasts and a bottle of Italian dressing in the crockpot. Cook on high 4-6 hrs. You can use the drippings to make gravy by whisking the drippings and a few teaspoons of cornstarch in a saucepan if you want. Talk about easy!!!

Put a lg. can of enchillada sauce and a bag of chicken breasts in the crockpot and cook several hrs. until the chicken shreds easily. add a bag of cheese. spoon into tortillas and cover with more sauce and cheese. bake at 350 degrees until the cheese is browned a little. These are the easiest and best enchilladas I have every had!

Cover a can of sweetened condensed milk in the crockpot with water. Make sure it is completely covered with water. Cook for about 8 hrs on high and you will have the most amazing caramel dip ever! Cheap and easy!!!

Why Entertain?

I really enjoy having people over to our house for a meal. We have folks over nearly every week. It seems as though people today are too busy to take the time to entertain. Let me share a few reasons why I feel you should go ahead and open your home up to others.

1) You will have a cleaner home. If you know that friends are coming over for dinner, it is amazing how much cleaner your house will be. I have found that company is a great motivator! The more often company comes, the more often I make sure our home is CLEAN!

2) It is a creative outlet. I am always trying some new recipe, learning a new way to fold fabric napkins, or changing up my table decor. Entertaining is a great way to channel your creativity! I am always searching Goodwill for tableware and centerpieces so that I can create a "homey" environment for my family and guests.

3) It is biblical! The Bible tells us over and over to be friendly and hospitable. Why not invite a family that is having trouble making ends meet? This is a great way to show others that you care.

4) It is FUN! Recently we had some friends over and we played "Who wants to be a Millionaire" after dinner. Boy were people surprised when we were using them as our life-line and "phoning and friend"! Thanks, Veronica for helping me on my question! What I am saying is that it is a lot of fun to hang out with people. Instead of spending a fortune at Olive Garden, get a game at the thrift store and have somebody over. Cheaper and probably more fun!

5)You will really get to know people. Because my husband is a youth director at our church, it is our job to know the teens we work with and their families. When they come for a meal, these teens and their families know that they are loved.

Some tips to make entertaining easier.....
*Use meals that you are comfortable with. I love crockpot meals because they are ready whenever we are. If company is late... no problem!
*Do as much early in the day as you can. Make the salad, dessert, etc. early so that you won't be scrambling later.
*If they offer to bring something, let them! It saves you time and preparation and makes them feel like they are contributing.

*Don't stress out! If you hate cooking, do a pre-made lasagna. Better to use store-bought food and be calm!

The finishing touches....
*I love to use fabric napkins. Nobody does this anymore! I have a million ways to fold them. This little finishing touch really makes your table look great!
*I like to dip the rims of the drink glasses in sugar. A quick, easy step that makes a great impression.