There are so many websites on the internet that are designed to help you at little or no cost. Below are 3 websites that once you try them, I know you won't be able to live without.
The first is Flylady.net. Oh how I love my Flylady. Through her website you will learn that making your house a HOME can be done 15 minutes at a time and through routines you can be free. I'm telling you my whole household is designed around the Flylady principles, from how I clean my home to how dinner makes it to the table. If you are at a loss for how to get started on your house, especially if you have NO IDEA where to start, please check her website out. I promise you, you'll be forever grateful you did yourself this favor.
Through the Flylady I found out about the Dinner Diva. Savingdinner.com is a website designed to help you get dinner on the table every night. It costs a mere $10 for 3 months worth. Leanne is a nutritionist who plans for you a healthy menu for 6 nights of the week, including a grocery list. The recipes are healthy, tasty, and they sure can help you get out of a dinner rut. She also plans the meals based on the season. Plus if you have health issues or want to change how you eat, she has meal options for these changes in lifestyle too. Want to just check her out without commitment? Go to her website and she has a free weeks menu for you to sample.
And finally there is the Coupon Lady. http://moneysavingmom.com This website can help you to see what specials are going on at your grocery store before you even hit the entrance. I don't know about you, but my favorite grocery store does not send out circulars as a practice. But I can go to moneysavingmom and find out what my store has on sale and plan a grocery list based on that information. Takes the guess work out of my grocery list. Plus I can match up my coupons to her list and get some GREAT deals.
Stay tuned for additional websites I will review on occasion. They must be websites that make everyone's life easier to make it to my list.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Monday, April 19, 2010
1 Week of Easy Dinner Meals (even your kids will like)
I know how hard it is to get dinner on the table especially when there are practices, church nights, and just plain trying to make it through the evening. Below are five easy dinner ideas that can make it to the table quickly and even your kids will like them. Trust me, my kids do and they can be rather picky!
Night 1
Creamy Lemon Shrimp Pasta
8 oz. angel hair pasta
1/2 to 1 lb. of already cooked deveined and shelled shrimp (whatever size is cheapest)
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1 lemon
olive oil or canola oil
1 clove garlic
salt and pepper
Cook pasta according to directions on package. In large skillet heat oil. Drop finally minced clove of garlic and let sautee for a minute. Don't let the garlic overcook. Combine zest of lemon and juice of lemon, heavy whipping cream in with garlic. Heat up mixture but do not bring to boil. Add shrimp and warm through. Salt and pepper to taste. Add cooked pasta and toss. Serve with simple salad.
Serves 4
Night 2
Crockpot Cowboy Casserole
1 lb ground hamburger
1 tspn oregano
1 tspn garlic salt
1 can 28 oz. enchilada sauce
1 lb tomatillos
olive oil or canola oil
1/2 med. onion chopped
2 gloves garlic
1 cup cornmeal
2 tblspns sugar
1 1/2 tspn salt
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
In a skillet warm oil. Add onions and garlic and let them sautee for one minute. Add ground hamburger, oregano, and garlic salt. Cook meat until all the meat is brown. Drain off any fat. Cut the tomatillos into small bite size pieces. In large crockpot add meat mixture and tomatillos. Cover with enchilada sauce. Cook in crockpot on low for 2-3 hours.
Next turn crockpot up to highest setting. Bring two cups of water to a boil. Add salt and sugar to boiling water then cornmeal. Cook at a boil stirring constantly for 1 minute, will get VERY thick. Then take a large spoon and drop cornmeal dumplings into the crockpot, on top of the enchilada and meat mixture.
Cover and let cook for 1/2 hour. Now add cheese to top and again place the lid on top of the crockpot until cheese melts. Serve.
Serves 4-6
Night 3
Sheppard's Pie
Instant Mashed potatoes - prepared by package instructions
1 lb ground hamburger
1 tsp. garlic salt
canned corn - drained
3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 onion
2 carrots
olive oil or canola oil
Preheat oven @ 400 degrees
Dice onion and carrots into like sizes. Preheat oil. Add carrots and onion. Cook till onions are translucent. Add hamburger. Season with garlic salt. Break up hamburger and brown until cooked all through out.
In 8X8 baking dish layer potatoes first, hamburger mixture 2nd, corn third, and cover with cheese. Bake for 20 minutes or until cheese is melted. For super fast stick under the broiler for a few minutes to melt the cheese.
Night 4
Baked Tilapia
4 tilapia fish steaks
onion
1 lemon
garlic clove
2 tblspns butter
salt and pepper
Preheat Oven to 425 degrees
Cut onion into thing rings and lay at the bottom of 8X13 casserole dish. Lay fish on top of onions. salt and pepper to taste. divide butter into for portions and lay 1 portion on top of each piece of fish. cut lemon into thin slices and lay two on each piece of fish. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Fish will flake easily with a for when done. Serves 4. Serve with some easy lipton rice and a bag of prepared steam able veggies found in the frozen section @ the store.
Night 5
Homemade Mac & Cheese
Prepare this earlier in the day and pop in the oven when your ready to eat.
Elbow Macaroni - 1 lb
16 oz. sharp cheddar cheese - shredded
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup shredded asiago cheese
2 slices of cooked bacon strips cut or tore into small pieces
1 cup of milk
3 tblspns butter
3 tblspns flour
1 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp. pepper
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Prepare macaroni according to package directions. In large pot (5 qts.) melt butter on med. heat, then add flour, whisking to incorpate into butter. Let cook for about a minute to take raw flour taste out. While whisking briskly slowly add in milk, whisk until the mixture is smooth. Turn heat down to med. low heat and season with salt and pepper. Mixture will thicken, do not let it come to boil. you will know it is ready when you stick a spoon in it and the spoon is coated in the mixture and does not drip off. Add cheddar into the milk mixture and let melt. Now add the pasta to the cheese and milk and toss. Pour into a 8X13 casserole dish. Top with bread crumbs, asiago cheese, and bacon. Cook for 20 minutes, bread crumbs and cheese on top should be golden brown. Serves 6.
Night 1
Creamy Lemon Shrimp Pasta
8 oz. angel hair pasta
1/2 to 1 lb. of already cooked deveined and shelled shrimp (whatever size is cheapest)
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1 lemon
olive oil or canola oil
1 clove garlic
salt and pepper
Cook pasta according to directions on package. In large skillet heat oil. Drop finally minced clove of garlic and let sautee for a minute. Don't let the garlic overcook. Combine zest of lemon and juice of lemon, heavy whipping cream in with garlic. Heat up mixture but do not bring to boil. Add shrimp and warm through. Salt and pepper to taste. Add cooked pasta and toss. Serve with simple salad.
Serves 4
Night 2
Crockpot Cowboy Casserole
1 lb ground hamburger
1 tspn oregano
1 tspn garlic salt
1 can 28 oz. enchilada sauce
1 lb tomatillos
olive oil or canola oil
1/2 med. onion chopped
2 gloves garlic
1 cup cornmeal
2 tblspns sugar
1 1/2 tspn salt
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
In a skillet warm oil. Add onions and garlic and let them sautee for one minute. Add ground hamburger, oregano, and garlic salt. Cook meat until all the meat is brown. Drain off any fat. Cut the tomatillos into small bite size pieces. In large crockpot add meat mixture and tomatillos. Cover with enchilada sauce. Cook in crockpot on low for 2-3 hours.
Next turn crockpot up to highest setting. Bring two cups of water to a boil. Add salt and sugar to boiling water then cornmeal. Cook at a boil stirring constantly for 1 minute, will get VERY thick. Then take a large spoon and drop cornmeal dumplings into the crockpot, on top of the enchilada and meat mixture.
Cover and let cook for 1/2 hour. Now add cheese to top and again place the lid on top of the crockpot until cheese melts. Serve.
Serves 4-6
Night 3
Sheppard's Pie
Instant Mashed potatoes - prepared by package instructions
1 lb ground hamburger
1 tsp. garlic salt
canned corn - drained
3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 onion
2 carrots
olive oil or canola oil
Preheat oven @ 400 degrees
Dice onion and carrots into like sizes. Preheat oil. Add carrots and onion. Cook till onions are translucent. Add hamburger. Season with garlic salt. Break up hamburger and brown until cooked all through out.
In 8X8 baking dish layer potatoes first, hamburger mixture 2nd, corn third, and cover with cheese. Bake for 20 minutes or until cheese is melted. For super fast stick under the broiler for a few minutes to melt the cheese.
Night 4
Baked Tilapia
4 tilapia fish steaks
onion
1 lemon
garlic clove
2 tblspns butter
salt and pepper
Preheat Oven to 425 degrees
Cut onion into thing rings and lay at the bottom of 8X13 casserole dish. Lay fish on top of onions. salt and pepper to taste. divide butter into for portions and lay 1 portion on top of each piece of fish. cut lemon into thin slices and lay two on each piece of fish. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Fish will flake easily with a for when done. Serves 4. Serve with some easy lipton rice and a bag of prepared steam able veggies found in the frozen section @ the store.
Night 5
Homemade Mac & Cheese
Prepare this earlier in the day and pop in the oven when your ready to eat.
Elbow Macaroni - 1 lb
16 oz. sharp cheddar cheese - shredded
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup shredded asiago cheese
2 slices of cooked bacon strips cut or tore into small pieces
1 cup of milk
3 tblspns butter
3 tblspns flour
1 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp. pepper
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Prepare macaroni according to package directions. In large pot (5 qts.) melt butter on med. heat, then add flour, whisking to incorpate into butter. Let cook for about a minute to take raw flour taste out. While whisking briskly slowly add in milk, whisk until the mixture is smooth. Turn heat down to med. low heat and season with salt and pepper. Mixture will thicken, do not let it come to boil. you will know it is ready when you stick a spoon in it and the spoon is coated in the mixture and does not drip off. Add cheddar into the milk mixture and let melt. Now add the pasta to the cheese and milk and toss. Pour into a 8X13 casserole dish. Top with bread crumbs, asiago cheese, and bacon. Cook for 20 minutes, bread crumbs and cheese on top should be golden brown. Serves 6.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Get Ready for Halloween
Do you feel unready for Halloween? I know, it is hard to believe that Halloween is just 5 short days away. If you are feeling a little overwhelmed these are the 3 things I would concern myself most with and in this order...1. costumes for the kids, 2. Food, 3. Decorations. All can be accomplished quickly and in a budget friendly manner.
Costumes - costumes are very important to our little ones and even our big ones. If you have been out to the stores in the last couple of days like myself you can see that costumes are becoming scarce in the big stores like Walmart, Target, & K-Mart. If you are set in buying a complete costume (which I admit I did myself this year) you may want to skip these stores until last and try smaller stores like Walgreens, CVS, or Riteaid. I actually purchased a very cute unicorn costume for my five year old at Walgreens and at a very competitive price.
However, if you are in a financial pinch these ideas are great for costumes as well. How about opening up your and/or spouse's wardrobe up to the kids. Much fun could be had. Gypsies, prom queens, tourists, sports fans, and much more can be made from the contents for your closet. If anything boys can dress up as a housewife, with curlers or shower cap and girls can dress like their dads for work. There of course is always the old stand by old sheet with holes cut out!
Food - Ok, the last thing you need to be worrying about is what to have for dinner while you are getting the kids ready. I have 1 suggestion for you: CROCKPOT! My personal favorite is homemade chili (see instructions below), but soups, stews, and roasts are just as convienent. You can also pre-assemble a 7 layer dip as a snack while you hand out candy. The most important thing is to plan so you aren't running out to a fast food joint to buy junk for your babies who already will be gorging themselves on candy through out the night.
Chili
brown 1 lb hamburger meat seasoned with garlic salt
combine hamburger, 4 15 oz. cans of pinto beans (or your favorite beans), 2 15 oz. cans of tomato sauce, 1 15 oz. can of diced tomatos, and your favorite chili seasoning packet in large crockpot. Simmer on low for 2 hours and then keep warm. Serve with some cornbread.
Decorations - And then there are decorations. Well my personal favorite is natural. I love to buy lots of mini pumpkins and gourds to arrange around the house. These are available in produce sections of grocery stores, pumpkin patches, and farmers markets. Or the faux option is available at craft stores. The above picture if of mini pumpkins placed on my fireplace mantel with a leaf vine draped around it. Very simple and transitions into Thanksgiving quite well. We of course will have our carved pumpkins out by our front door for the big night as well. Another fun decorating trick is to use black construction paper to cut shapes of spiders, cats, ghosts, what ever your fancy and tape them in your front window, then take yellow tissue paper and tape that behind the cutouts covering the whole window...at night turn a light on behind it and you have spooky shadows looking out your window.
Well I hope this helps those who may feel as though they are behind. Feel free to post any ideas you may have in the comment section! Look for my next blog a few days!
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