Making A Home

"Poverty Barn" (Style for Poor Folk)

I have a LOT of projects that need to get done around here.  So, inspired by some fellow-bloggers, I intend to have a "project of the week."  Now, a project of the day would be MORE productive, but not realistic!  Maybe I can swing an "organizational project of the day."  I'd certainly never run out!  Ooh... but then you'd get to see my disgusting messes hidden in drawers, cupboards and closets.  <shudder!> Oh, the shame of it all.  OK.  Taking a break to go organize something, all for the sake of the blog (ok, and my home and family.) 

Alright.  Done.  This cupboard in our kitchen holds our "beverage and sandwich supplies" (tea, cocoa, peanut butter... that sort of thing.)  It's above the coffee maker and toaster.  A reorganization was long overdue.  Here's the before:

And after:

The cans are covered with fun vinyl I picked up on clearance at Lowe's this week for $0.25 a pack!  Used in my cricut machine, the vinyl (5 - 13x13" squares) or 6.5" x 16' strips, can be cut to shapes or letters for labels or wall words!  (I'll be labeling EVERYTHING in my house in the weeks to come, I'm sure.  See?

 

If you aren't familar with vinyl, it can be cut to any shape, is self-adhesive (like a sticker), but is repositionable and can later be removed with no residue.  It just peels right off like a window-cling. 

OK... back to my project of the week:  Re-paint Hallie's furniture.  We got this dresser and bedside table from a friend that was getting rid of them.  Free Furniture!  Woo hoo!  (Wish I'd taken a "before" shot.) The only problem was, they looked like hand-me-downs, - different styles, different colors, one more beat up than the other.  So this week I painted them and gave them new knobs.  I'm really happy with how they came out.  I have one more piece I'm going to do in the same colors... but that's for another week.

Furniture: Free

Quart of "Bistro White" Paint: $12.95

Sample size "Hint of Cherry" Paint: $3.95

8 Knobs @ $0.57 each: $4.56

Grand Total: $21.46

THIS WEEK:

Monday: Brian is getting an oil change done on his dinner break tonight (thanks honey!), so it's just me and the kids.  We'll be having sliced Ham, Mashed Potatoes, and Carrots.

Tuesday:  Sam has another appointment in Bellevue.  Hmm... wonder if I can squeeze in another trip to Teriyaki Madness!  Other options include the Wingdome (we used to have one here, but they went out of business - there is one in Kirkland), or Burgermaster.  We'll play it by ear.  His appointment is at 5, so it will already be deep in the heart of rush hour when we leave Bellevue.  If we grab dinner before heading out, we'll make it to Mill Creek just in time for the Drive-In Movie!  We're going to see "Wall-E", then either head home, or bed down the kids in the back of the van temporarily while Brian and I watch "Get Smart" for the rest of the Double Feature. 

Wednesday: I'm hoping to send Brian and the kids Strawberry picking that morning while I get some things done around here.  That afternoon I'll be cleaning berries for the freezer, to make jam next week (we just opened our last jar that I made last year - perfect timing!)  So we'll HAVE to have Strawberry Shortcake for dessert.  For dinner... something hearty, but easy.  Meatloaf (in freezer) and Baked Potatoes, Broccoli.

Thursday:  Brian has the 4th off from work, so we'll be heading out to Lummi Island early this weekend.  Thursday night will be a smaller crowd, so we'll have a hot dog "bar" - with topping options of the usual condiments or chili, cheese, onions or saurkraut.

Friday (the 4th):  Picnic (burgers, dogs, macaroni salad, baked beans, etc.), followed by s'mores and fireworks on the beach! 

Saturday: Brian has to head back to town that morning to be at work, but we are loaning our second car to my brother (dropping it off in Mukilteo when we head down Tuesday) so we'll have 2 vehicles and the kids and I will stay at the cabins until Saturday night, then be home before Brian gets home from work.  Dinner that night is BBQ Chicken, Cabbage Rolls, Rolls, Devilled Eggs and Salads. 

Sunday: Canadian Bacon and Pineapple Pizza.  We haven't figured out a good night for an established pizza night since Brian started working Friday nights, but we try to squeeze it in once a week.  Oh!  I should mention, our garden is growing pretty well (despite being in desperate need of weeding.)  I even made a caesar salad last week with fresh Romaine lettuce from our garden!

Crossing Over (+ Menus)

The beginning of this month was Sam's crossover meeting for Cub Scouts.  Remember that Monday night with the torrential downpour?  And lightning?  Yes, that's the one.  We were shivering and getting drenched at Lake Padden.

In just a few hours time Sam went from being a little Tiger Cub

crossed over a bridge

And became a BIG Wolf!

Congratulations, Sam... you've grown so much in this year of Cub Scouts!  At the beginning of the year, you had no idea what was going on at the meetings... by the end, you were anxiously asking if you had earned any awards that month, receiving them with a smile of pride.  You've worked hard and we are so pround of all you've accomplished in your first year of Scouts.  Next year should be even better!

Now, a few menus...

Monday: Enchiladas

Tuesday: Chicken Cacciatore (actually, just leftover chicken, pasta, zesty red sauce and cheese, baked and given a fancy name).

Wednesday: Flank Steak and Veggie Stir Fry with Rice

Thursday: Pizza Day!

Friday: (Scrapbooking) Mac & Cheese

Saturday: Chicken Curry with Rice

Sunday: (Church Family Picnic) Chicken Salad Sandwiches, Macaroni Salad, Raw Veggies, Oranges

In the Kitchen

Well, mostly in the kitchen I need to do some cleaning... but besides that, it's time to post a few more menus. 

Dinner tonight:  Spaghetti with Butter and Mizithra Cheese, Salad with Chicken and Creamy Pesto dressing.

Wednesday: (Went to Costco... couldn't resist the roasted chickens!)  Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, Gravy, Corn.

Thursday: (Hallie's Dance Recital) Fettuccini Alfredo, Broccoli

Friday: Penne Pasta with Meat Sauce, Garlic Bread, Salad.

Saturday: (Lummi Island)  French Dip Sandwiches, Tater Tots, Salad

Sunday: Soft Tacos, Veggies

Chicken Nugget Factory

I love when we can come up with homemade versions of the fast food items our kids love - but make them healthy and even better tasting!  One such creation recently... chicken nuggets!

We've made homemade chicken strips in the past, and they are delicious, but my daughter is oddly picky about meat -  like it's far too much work for her to chew "real" meat.  (Our son went through the same stage for a few years and only recently grew out of it.)  She seems to love chicken nuggets because they are soft and easy to chew.  My solution?  Ground chicken!  I picked up chicken breast tenders for $1.88 a lb at Cost Cutter a few weeks ago, and put them through the meat grinder attachment on my KitchenAid Mixer. 

 

Then we scooped up the ground chicken (using a cookie scoop for even portions), rolled them in flour, then egg, then seasoned (pepper and garlic salt) bread crumbs and froze them on cookie sheets before transferring to ziplock bags.  They bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes.  All fresh and pure ingredients (no mystery meat), low fat, homemade, and CHEAP!  Just think... for the price of 8 chicken nuggets at McDonalds, we were able to make a whole POUND of nuggets! 

Yes, I got tired of making them myself... so I set my family to work on them!  The kids loved helping and we got a lot of nuggets packed away in the freezer for quick, easy dinners!  I have to remember to utilize my crew of happy, willing workers more often!   The leftover ground chicken (I did buy 10 lbs of meat), we cooked up in a frying pan and froze in 12 oz portions to use in quick meals.  I do that quite often with ground beef but hadn't yet with chicken.  It's been great - we've made chicken taco Quesadillas, chicken country gravy over mashed potatoes, a chicken and stuffing bake... and the chicken was all cooked and ready to go, saving me a lot of time and mess in the kitchen. 

Dentist and Meal Plans

I have dental anxiety.  That's why I sought out a special dentist that specializes in "people like me."  I have a right to have dental anxiety... our family dentist growing up used to drill without waiting for the novacaine to start working, then yell at me for complaining.  His only reassurance (as he continues to drill away) was to tell me Big Bird was in the next room and he wouldn't want to hear me crying.  (Um... even at such a young age, I knew Big Bird was just a costume and birds don't have teeth.)

After a root canal in college that took 3 visits, I didn't go back to that dentist... or any other... until last fall.  More than 12 years.  I had a filling fall out when Hallie was a baby (she's almost 5 now) and the tooth was starting to hurt, so it was time to get it taken care of.  Yep... big old root canal, but my new dentist introduced me to nitrous.  I'm hooked.  After 12 years with no dental care, I think it's pretty amazing I only had three cavities.  Two of them got fixed today and I took advantage of the full treatment - a movie with wireless headphones, big furry blanket, heated massage chair, and vanilla-scented nitrous oxide.  Seriously, I think I fell asleep for part of the second filling.  That's the way to visit the dentist.  My other filling will be in 2 weeks.  Our dental insurance turns over (to the new year) on June 1st, and I have to get all these visits in before then since I'll be using up my full insurance maximum to get my lower wisdom teeth removed on June 3rd.  Sounds like Brian will be joining me soon after.  He had his first visit in about 10 years today.  In the next month he'll have to have 2 sessions (2 hours each) for cleanings, 2 fillings, and once June comes, he'll be having his upper wisdom teeth removed.  Fun for all.

Dinners this week:

Sunday: Chicken Curry, Rice, Corn

Monday: Taco Salad

Tuesday: Chili Dogs (for the kids), date night for Brian and I (I'll post more on that when I get around to uploading the pictures)

Wednesday: Cheesy Tuna Pasta Bake

Thursday: Spaghetti, Garlic Bread, Caesar Salad

Friday: Pizza

Saturday: Philly Cheesesteaks

I made a new batch of Red Sauce from "Fix Freeze, Feast" today.  I also inventoried my freezers and figured out I have over 100 meals in there.  Love meat sales.  Love freezer meals.  Love Cash & Carry... even if they WERE out of rice when I was there this week.   

Honey Mustard Dressing

My persistence has paid off.  We have created a Honey Mustard dressing (and dipping sauce) that we love. 

1/2 cup Mayonnaise (Slightly more for a dipping sauce). 

1 1/2 Tbsp Spicy Brown Mustard

2 Tbsp Honey

Whisk together all ingredients.

   

Yum.  Looking forward to some of this with our chicken strips tonight!

We have names! (+ Menus)

OK... we've named the chickens!  Many thanks for all of your suggestions.  We got a quite a chuckle over some of them!

The first one, we chose on our own.  Our Red Star has been named Penelope, but will be called Henny Penny (or maybe just Penny).  That name, of course comes from the story of Chicken Little.  But the name Penelope goes back to my childhood - it was the full name of Punky Brewster (my favorite show as a kid), and I also convinced my best friend in first grade that it was in fact my real name.  More practically... she's going to be a hen.  And her red color will be like a bright copper penny.

And the other two... were suggestions from Christine.  I just couldn't resist the cuteness of two of her suggestions.

This is Noodle.  (Chicken Noodle).

And this is Dumpling.  She's our only white egg layer (the others are all variations of brown).

Congratulations Christine!  Look forward to those eggs this fall!

How long has it been since I posted a menu?  Far too long.  We've had more of those "just pick something up" days - which I hate and feel guilty for.  And even a day when I picked up boxed Mac & Cheese while we were at the store.  The thought makes me shudder.  We ate one box and after my guilt became too much to bear (seriously... feeding that junk to my kids?), we donated the rest to a family in need. 

Is that awful?  I rounded up most of my boxed items from our pantry and passed them on to a family that needed food to get through the rest of the month.  I have mixed feelings about that... it would have been much more generous to share healthy, substantial food with this family.  But I didn't want this food to go in the garbage, and giving it to a family who needs it seemed like a logical solution.  Besides, non-perishables make more sense in a lot of ways... right?  I did throw in several cans of tuna and so forth, too. 

There are some foods that come in boxes that we really like - but it's more the convenience than the taste.  Macaroni and Cheese is a kid-favorite, of course.  But it's just as easy, more tasty, cheaper, and a LOT more healthy to just boil some noodles, stir in a bit of butter, cheese and a splash of milk.  Brian and I like Rice-a-Roni as a side dish with some meals.  But I've discovered I can make that from scratch, too - again, tastier, cheaper and WAY more healthy - prep time is increased by maybe a minute when you make it from scratch.  (I'll share the recipe in a future post if anyone is interested.)  I just feel better about knowing I have personally chosen every ingredient that went into each meal, fully evaluated for health and expense.  OK... off of those tangents and onto the meal plans!

Monday: French Bread Pizza Sandwich, Ceasar Salad

Tuesday: Meatloaf (I made 4 for the freezer while I was at it.)  Cheesy Garlic Bread, Salad with Homemade Honey Mustard Dressing.

Wednesday: Ginger Beef, Rice, Stir-Fried Carrots, Oranges

Thursday: Chicken Strips, Mashed Red Potatoes, Country Gravy, Corn

Friday: Teriyaki Chicken, Rice, Marinated Cucumbers

Saturday: Margarita Pork Gyros, Parmesan Pasta, Carrots

Sunday: Chicken Curry, Rice, Corn

I buy meat on sale.  I refuse to pay more than $2 a pound for meat unless it's an extreme circumstance.  This week I went to Cost Cutter and bought 10+ lbs each of chicken tenderloins for $1.89 a pound, boneless, skinless chicken thighs for $1.99 a lb, and ground beef for $1.99 a lb.  From that, I made dinner on Monday and Tuesday (see above), as well as an additional 4 meatloaves in the freezer, 4 more lbs of cooked ground beef (for quick easy dinners), 6 meals of teriyaki chicken, 6 meals of peanut satay, 6 meals of chicken curry, 6 meals of sweet asian chicken, and 3 meals of chicken tenders.  3 Packs of meat - about $65, and 37 meals in my freezer.  That comes to about $1.75 per dinner, or 44 cents per serving.  Tonight, I'm going back for 12 lbs of roast at  $1.99 a lb out of which I'll get 6 meals of ginger beef and 6 meals of philly cheesesteaks.  Next week, I have my eye on the boneless pork ribs someone has on sale for $1.49 (or was it $1.79?)... anyway, that makes more meals and more variety!  Gotta love tasty cheap eating.

Because You Care

I picked up this book at the library...

Mostly, I just thought the title was too funny to NOT look at the book.  There are a few good ideas, but many I've already blogged about, and most... seem to be tailored more to the single, no-kids, 30-something crowd.  And besides, I know deep down, you DO care what I had for lunch.  Or for breakfast...

Like these, for instance.  Wehani & Sausage Burritos.  Inside was this lovely concoction.

I got the basic idea from another blog, but I altered it a bit.  The mixture consists of Wehani rice (a yummy variety of brown rice I picked up at the food co-op), breakfast sausage (links I cooked, then cut up), corn, and scrambled eggs.  I wrapped it up in tortillas with some cheddar cheese, and baked until the cheese melted.  We dipped them in salsa, though I might mix that right in next time.  They were a big hit with the whole family (except that little one... she's kinda picky lately!  But she did eat it eventually.)  I went ahead and rolled up the rest of the mixture into burritos, put them in the fridge and baked them the next morning... just as good the second day.   

   

Breakfast Pizza

On Thursday, my dear sweet husband offered to make breakfast.

Here's what he came up with...

A breakfast pizza!  It was delicious!  He made the dough, spread it out on the preheated pizza stone, topped it with homemade sausage country gravy, then added scrambled eggs, bacon, topped it with cheese and baked it just like a regular pizza.

  Try it... you'll like it! 

Pizza

For about a year now, we've had homemade pizza once a week.  On Brian's new work schedule, he hasnt' been able to join us for our usual pizza night, so we're considering moving it to another night.  Family traditions are just more fun with the WHOLE family present. 

While enjoying our pizza last week, (and just coming out of Pioneer month) Hallie asked me if Pizza was the same during the 1840s.  Ah, interesting question, my daughter.

Knowing ethnic foods were uncommon during our country's early years, (and that what we consider "pizza" was thought to have been invented in Chicago) I grabbed my computer to find out when modern pizza was "invented."  I have to admit, the answer surprised even me a bit.  Although real Italian pizza was eaten by Italian immigrants in the early 1900s, the first pizzeria in Chicago (credited with inventing the modern pizza) opened in 1943!  My mom was born in 1955, which put an interesting perspective on things - that the pizza craze began well into my grandma's lifetime.  So... I picked up the phone and called her for some insight. 

She said she had her first pizza in the 1950's, at the World's Fair (that would actually make it 1962, if I'm not mistaken.)  She said she remembered her daughters (my mother and aunts) giggling at their grandmother trying to re-heat leftover pizza on the stovetop in a double-boiler.  By her recollection, it was about that same time that frozen pizzas (of the "Jeno's" variety - that my family refers to as "cardboard pizzas") appeared in stores.  And the rest, as they say... is history. 

For the record, I also asked her about other ethnic foods - like Chinese or Mexican.  She says they came into American households about the same time, and even things like Spaghetti were uncommon before that.  (Pasta was served in the forms of Macaroni & Cheese and Tuna Noodle Casserole, but that was about all.)  Prior to that era, meals were of the old "Meat and Potatoes" variety, which I must admit, are still some of my favorite meals.