Smoke and Mirrors!

I had meant to make it over to Costco on Christmas Eve to pick up pies. I knew exactly what I wanted, but just couldn’t find the time for the trip over. So, at the last minute I ran over to Vons, picked up 2 pumpkin pies, 2 apple pies, whipped cream and some vanilla ice cream. It all sounded good, but the apple pies looked a little pathetic…just too…Store-Bought.

Solution!

I sent Kateri to the internet to pull up a crumble topping recipe and make those pies our own! Seriously, it made all the difference!

Running short on time? Wanna perk up a store-bought apple or berry pie? Add your own crumble topping, bake until golden and ENJOY!

Doing the Dance of Children With the Help of Smoke and Mirrors~

I brought the stock home, broke off the amount of sprouts I wanted to use (starting at the bottom of the stalk), washed them, removed any yellowing leaves, cut them in half, laid them in a rectangular, stone pan, drizzled olive oil and balsamic vinegar on them, crushed 3 cloves of garlic over them, sprinkled with sea salt and roasted them for 45 minutes at 500. Yum! Next time I’ll roast for 60-75 mins, so they’re a little crisper on the outside.

So…the recipe is;

Preheat oven to 500

2 lbs brussel sprouts
1/4 cup Olive Oil
4 Tablespoons Balsamic Vinegar
a sprinkling of Sea Salt

Wash sprouts. Cut them in 1/2 and lay them in a 9×13 baking pan. Drizzle with the olive oil. Drizzle with the balsamic vinegar. Crush the cloves of garlic over the top of the sprouts. Sprinkle with sea salt. Toss until all sprouts are covered.

Place in your preheated oven for 45 minutes to an hour, turning sprouts in the pan every 15 minutes.

Enjoy!

Oh! If you have unused sprouts that are still on the stalk, store them in water.

Doing the Dance of the Children and Getting Them to Eat Their Sprouts~

Asian Chicken Salad

2 chicken breasts
2 cloves garlic
olive oil
2 (small) cans mandarins
sliced almonds
white wine vinegar (seasoned)
sesame oil

heat a pan with a couple tablespoons of olive oil. Crush the garlic cloves and add them to the oil. Cook the chicken breasts in the oil and garlic until done. Set aside.

Rinse, cut and drain lettuce. Place in large salad bowl. Drain both cans of mandarins, setting aside 1/2 of the juice. Add drained mandarins to the lettuce. Cut up chicken and add to the lettuce and mandarins. Add sliced almonds. I like to use a couple hands full. (I’m not an exact measurer when it comes to taste).

Pour reserved mandarin juice into a mixing bowl or large measuring cup. Add seasoned rice wine vinegar, a tablespoon at a time. Mix after each tablespoon and taste. I add about 4. Add sesame oil (about 1 tablespoon). Whisk together and pour over salad.

Toss and enjoy!

Heat oven to 350

1 lb ground beef
1/2 bag spinach
1/2 a medium onion (chopped)
2 cloves of garlic (crushed)
2 cans chopped tomatoes (drained)
Shredded sharp cheddar cheese (amount to your taste)
Shredded parmesan (amount to your taste)

2 Tbls honey

Italian spices (to taste)

1 pkg pasta (I used veggie rotini)

Boil pasta according to pkg directions. Set aside
Put a little olive oil in pan and cook onion and garlic till tender
Add ground beef or turkey and cook until done
Add spinach. Cook until tender
Add both cans of tomatoes. Heat through.
Season with italian spices and honey

Put the pasta into an 9×13 baking dish

Add the meat and spinach mixture

Mix the parmesan cheese through

Top with cheddar

Bake for 25 minutes

Yum!

Enjoy~

Yesterday I put 4 frozen chicken breasts into the crock, added 1/2 a jar of pesto from Costco, a few sun dried tomatoes and turned it on. I cooked pasta and served the chicken over it. Veggies were served on the side and there you have it! A super easy crock pot meal!

(never mind that when my 11 yr old looked into the crock pot, he asked why we were having pesto chicken with prunes!)

Doing the Dance of the Children With a Few Tricks Up My Sleeve~

A little improv turned into a tasty meal.

Have a great day~

1 pkg Jiffy corn muffin mix
1 can cream-style corn
1 can whole-kernel corn, drained
1 cup sour cream
1 stick butter, softened
1 egg

Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients. Mix well. Pour into a 2-quart casserole dish. Cover and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 30 minutes or until top is golden brown.

Enjoy!

Good night~

Mexican Lasagna…Mommy of Many Style

1 can black beans
1 can refried beans
1 can corn
1 can chopped tomatoes w/ garlic and onion
6 tortillas
shredded cheese (I like to use sharp cheddar)
salsa (optional)
sour cream (optional)
olives (optional)
avocado (optional)

drain black beans and dump into a large bowl. Add the can of refried beans (and unless you are Amelia Bedelia I’m going to assume you know to open the cans before placing the contents into the bowl). Drain the can of corn and add to the bowl. Add the can of tomatoes. Mix together.

Line a 9×13 dish with 3 of the tortillas. I tear one of them in half to cover each end of the bottom. Spread the bean mixture evenly over the tortillas. Top with the other 3 tortillas and sprinkle the cheese to cover.

Cover and bake at 350 for 35 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 10 minutes.

Slice and serve. I like to let the kids decide which *optional* items they want to top their portions with.

Enjoy!

Take one coffee filter and add coffee grounds

Place the filter (with the grounds in it) into the brewing basket

Fill coffee carafe with water to desired level

Pour the water into the water chamber

Place carafe onto the heating portion of the coffee maker

Push the on/off button

Fool proof instructions!

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2 methods that DON’T work for brewing coffee with a KitchenAid coffee maker;

1.Take a coffee filter and scoop coffee grounds into it.
Place the filled coffee filter into the brewing basket
Press the on/off button
Wait for 1/2 hr, wondering why the heck no coffee is actually being made

2. Take one coffee filter, scoop coffee grounds into it
Place filled coffee filter into brewing basket
Fill carafe with desired amount of water
Pour the water into the proper place on the coffee maker
Forget to press the on/off button
Wait 1/2 hr wondering why the heck no coffee is being brewed.

This morning I chose method #2. From now on, I’m hoping to refer to my own directions on proper brewing and to be able to enjoy my coffee 1/2 hr earlier.

Have a great day~

JJ requested this tonight and I realized I had forgotten about it.  For awhile it was a staple around the Lang house.  Having Kateri and JJ home for a little while in the summer brings back some of the things I used to do and have just let get dusty in the back of my memory. So, here’s a simple recipe that serves 8-10 but, as with every recipe I post, it can easily be modified to serve fewer or even MORE!

Tortillas

1 can refried beans

1 can black beans

1 can cut tomatoes (you can use any type or even substitute a chunky salsa or Rotel if that’s what you have on hand)

1 can corn

Cheese, sour cream, salsa, olives, avocado….whatever you want to top it with after it’s been cooked

Preheat oven to 350

In a large bowl dump the refried beans, black beans (drain first), can of tomatoes (do not drain) and the can of corn (drain first).

Mix well

Line the bottom of a 9 x 13 pan with tortillas. I use 3-4

Top tortillas with mixture from the bowl

Top mixture with tortillas (again, 3-4)

Cover pan with foil and bake for 35 minutes

Uncover, top with cheese and bake for 5 more minutes or until cheese is melted

Cut and serve with chosen toppings

Done!

EASY and INEXPENSIVE!

Let me know how you like it or if you modify it and, as always, feel free to share your recipe ideas.

Good night~

I suddenly feel a great responsibility! Wow! I’m nervous that you guys will try these and think they’re terrible!

Well, here goes-

A Make-It-Up-As-You-Go dinner

This is a twist on a recipe that one of my favorite bloggers posted about a year ago.  In her’s she added chicken and when I went to make it, either we were in a seasonal fast or I didn’t feel like messing with the  chicken and decided to use beans instead and this is what it’s transformed into.

Tortilla Chips (I like to use what’s left at the bottom of the bag or the ones that are stale b/c kiddos opened a bag, didn’t close it and left it in the cupboard for a few days)

One can refried beans

One can black beans

One can broth (chicken or veggie)

One can cream of chicken soup

Cheese

Crush the tortilla chips and create a layer on the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish (I like a thick layer)

Dump refried beans, can of crm soup and broth into a bowl

Drain and rinse the black beans and add them to the bowl of other ingredients

Mix everything together and pour it on top of the crushed tortilla chips

Bake, uncovered, for about 45 minutes at 350.

Top with shredded cheese, cool and serve. Of course, you could go all out and top it with salsa, sour cream, or avocado, but I’ve kept it simple and just added cheese. The bottom layer should take on a consistency that reminds me of corn bread or stuffing. Yum!

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Colorful and Easy Radiatore

I threw this together one night about a year ago and it’s become one of my favorite pastas. It can be served hot or cold.

1 bag of veggie radiatore

1 jar alfredo sauce

2 bags of krab rounds (I like the rounds because then the pieces don’t break up as easily and aren’t *lost* in the pasta)

pine nuts (I buy a bag at Costco and use about 2 handfuls)

julienned, sun dried tomatoes in olive oil

garlic

olive oil

Cook pasta according to pkg directions, drain, dump back into pot and set aside

Add a small amount of olive oil to pan

Add crushed garlic to warmed olive oil (I use 2 cloves)

Add krab pieces and toss with garlic, just to warm

Pour alfredo sauce over pasta

Add krab and garlic

Toast pine nuts and add to pasta, sauce and krab

warm sun dried tomatoes and add to pasta mixture (use as much or as little as you like. They can be omitted all together if you’re not a fan of tomatoes)

Toss and serve

I LOVE this pasta! I have some kids who LOVE it and some who just want to pick the krab pieces out to eat.  But it’s a colorful and flavorful dish!

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There you have it! 2 easy dishes to serve a crowd, or just a large family!

Have a favorite dish to share? Post it!

Have a great day~

Warm a croissant

Cut it open and spread some Nutella inside

Top with sliced strawberries and  freshly whipped cream

Try it!

Good night~

Yep, those are my 3 youngest boys asleep on the floor. Never mind the piles of clothing or junk on the floor or that they each have a perfectly good bed waiting for them.

They are little roamers who sometimes sleep UNDER the beds. I never know where I’m going to find a little body in the middle of the night, to trip over. Sometimes one will be asleep in the doorway or completely in the hall. Why the beds aren’t appealing I don’t know. The thing that cracked me up about last night was that Luke-Xavier has now joined in the fun. Baby no more!

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I wanted to say thank you to all of you who sent recipes for easy and inexpensive meals that can be stretched. I received some GREAT recipes! So far, they’ve been tasty, easy and enjoyed.

Thanks!

Have a great day~

A few years ago (4 or 5) we went “all cellular”. When we looked at our phone bills and what kind of calling we were doing, we decided that we didn’t need a land-line and that we would save $ by just having the cell phones. It took a few months of tweaking everything so that our plan fit our usage, but it’s worked well for us for years. Fast forward to 2007…………..now we have 6 cell phones, 1 for each of the 3 oldest kiddos, 1 for Clay, 1 for me and 1 that is the “home phone”. When I got the bill, due for January, I wanted to fall over. We paid almost $200 for texting, alone! I went to the cell phone store and fixed the plan so that it won’t happen that way, again, but it still leaves me with a HEFTY phone bill, right after Christmas. YIKES!

Now, if you were to ask members of the family, under 30, how to pay for the extra large phone bill, you might get answers involving “magic money” or “the money tree”. Ask Clay or me and you’ll hear this; Well the only place to really pull “extra” from would be the food budget. So, the only way to pay for all those SUPER, important texts that HAD to be made, is to shave off of the food budget. So, yesterday I armed myself with pen and paper and sat down to write out meal plans for the next 14 days. Now, breakfast is easy because you can always have hot cereal or cold cereal and everyone feels like they’ve had a choice. And lunch, well PBnJ for 2 weeks will have to do. It’s the dinner-time plan that’s the most challenging. I was able to come up with 9 dinners, using mostly what is in the cupboards and freezer. Now the really challenging part is picking my brain for the other 5 meals and trying to keep it all under $150. Here’s where I get to revisit the past. (memory sequence………………..)

It’s 1994, we’re living in military housing at Camp Pendleton. We have 3 kiddos (and depending on how far into the year we are, we have one on the way) and we are now living on one income and have one vehicle. I suddenly went from working full time to being a full-time stay-at-home mom. We had sat down with the budget the year before and made the decision that putting 3 kiddos into daycare and buying a second car, for me to continue working, would not pay. So, we decided on complete breast-feeding (I was about to deliver Baby #3), cloth diapers, stick with one car and agree to watch the soon-to-be new baby across the street when that mom went back to work. Whew! But the budget was still VERY tight. I had $300 every month for food. The real kicker was that the budget only allowed for the money on the 15th. I couldn’t use ANY of the money from the 1st paycheck of the month for food. I learned by trial and error, what foods could be successfully frozen and how long things kept in the fridge. BTW-don’t freeze oranges. But, I have to say that we were never hungry and our meals weren’t terribly boring (however, looking at old photos, we were all much thinner). Times were simpler. We couldn’t just jump in the car and run errands or pull into a fast-food restaurant because it was easy. I took walks with the kids and they played, happily with what they had. There are times that I miss the way it was (ok, I don’t REALLY want to have to give up Starbucks or putting exciting new foods into the basket, but the simplicity was nice).

So, I feel confident that I can pull from my memory and whip together a few, well-planned, meals. And a couple of weeks of “light” meals won’t hurt any of us (check the pictures!)

Have some great, simple meal ideas? Share them!

Have a great day~

Dehydrated Baby Carrots:
1 handful of baby carrots
Child’s’ pants with pockets
Clothing dryer

Place handful of baby carrots in the pocket of the child’s pants. Wash pants with a large, colored load of laundry. Put pants and rest of load into dryer. Dry on high temp for 45 minutes. Viola! Dehydrated baby carrots. Enjoy!