Meals out of boxes and cans

We all know how busy our daily lives are so we tend to buy what is cheap (or sometimes not so cheap) and easy. We hit the fast food lane or when we go grocery shopping we stock up on frozen pizzas, processed foods, and meals that you can prepare from a box or a can. I can feel some people nodding just while they are reading this;) Well, our house has been guilty of that in the past (not horribly) BUT, I am very happy to say that I have been cooking alot more home made/healthier meals for my family!

Home made doesn't necessarily mean that you have to make each and every ingredient from "scratch". To me it just means using ALOT more fresh ingredients and putting a healthy meal together and LESS use of canned meals or boxed meals. Technically in the dictionary home made means, to make in your home, by yourself and simply made. Well, if you look at it that way....if you make a box of mac and cheese(cheap and easy), I guess you could call that home made based on the definition...BUT wouldn't it be so much better to buy a box of pasta (or make your own pasta) and take a block of your favorite cheese, some milk, butter and flour and make your own?? That sounds so much more appealing to me. (Let me just say, there WILL be use of some canned good items and boxed items as we cannot make EVERY thing from scratch.) Have I mentioned that when you make more meals home made that you are also saving money and may actually be getting more bang for your buck! Take for instance a bag of french fries at the store.... probably will cost you around $3.00 or so (which would last for one meal)....where as you can buy a bag of potatoes for around the same price and cut them up and make your own home made french fries and ALOT more servings out of the bag of potatoes! This is great for other meals for more fries or use the other ones for hashbrowns, or potato salad, or a baked potato! You can't get that from a bag of fries;)!!  Get my drift??

Anyhow, I have vowed to make home made meals as much as possible. I have my dvr set to record lots of cooking shows that I like for some new ideas and recipes. My top favorite right now is Rachael Ray's Week in a Day. She makes 5 meals in ONE day!!  What about the other two days you ask? Well, that is what I said but when you factor in the recipes you already know, there is no issue. I am sure we all have our "favorite" things we make! To help out I am going to be adding recipes on here occasionally that are favorites of mine. We can all do this, if you just take some time to put into it! Most of us have children.( I have 3. Ages 7,5, and 17 months) so I am a very busy momma! A friend of mine said the other day at Bible Study that you are only going to get out of it, what you put into it (meaning the study) however,  I believe this refers to EVERY aspect of our lives (even our cooking). Too many of us throw around the excuse of "being too busy" to NOT do something. Whether it be calling our friends, going out with our friends, cooking, etc. We all have something in our lives that keep us busy!  FIND the time if it's important to you!! So don't wait any longer! Get cooking:) Of course I would LOVE to hear from those of you who try these recipes and also please feel free to share some of your own! The recipe I am sharing today is a favorite in my household and amongst some of my friends that I have shared it with! I hope you try it and enjoy!

Stuffed Pepper Soup

Ingredients:
-2lbs. ground chuck (turkey does not taste the same in this recipe, I tried it;)
-(2)-15 oz. cans of tomato sauce (see I am using some canned goods)
-(2)-14.5 oz cans of diced tomatoes
-3.5 cups water
-2 cups diced green bell peppers
-2 beef boullion cubes
-1 cup uncooked white rice
-1 tsp. salt
-1/2 tsp. pepper
1/4 cup packed brown sugar

Directions:
Brown meat in skillet and drain. Add all ingredients to the pot and cook until peppers are tender. More water may be added as soup cooks to make the proper consistency. (I always double this recipe and freeze some for another meal.) Hope you enjoy it!

What's For Dinner??

In our every day attempt to eat better we constantly find ourselves struggling with the cost of healthy foods and then not knowing what to prepare once we buy the ingredients. That seems to be a problem for all of us at some point in time no matter what we buy. Who likes to eat the same thing every week?? Not me!!  We also face issues like, not having alot of time to prepare something healthy with our busy schedules so instead many take the "fast food" approach which really isn't healthy but rather "convenient". I will periodically be posting recipes that are good and good for you, recipes that kids will love, lunchbox ideas, etc....... so try them out and let me know what you think!!

Tutu's and a Clogged Toilet

You may be wondering what in the world these two things have to do with one another, well, you shall soon find out! Here is a little insight to my past week.. So just like every year with every child I have been in search for that "special" birthday outfit, esp. with Lilyan's 1st birthday just around the corner and getting ready to take her to have pictures done. I came up with having her wear a tutu and a cute birthday shirt. So as the search goes, I have been to some boutiques that have really cute tutu outfits but of course they want over $100.00 for them which I am NOT about to pay, so out to the mall I ventured last week to look and see what I could find there. I went into Crazy 8's and saw a really cute hot pink tutu that I wanted to get (and was glad when they actually had it in her size) but since we were awaiting pay day and scrounging by until then, I couldn't afford to get it. *Sigh* I was really disappointed because for one, I was really glad that I had found what I wanted and it matched the shirt I had already picked out, and for two, I knew that when I would have the money to come back and get it, it wouldn't be there (because that is just my luck!) Sure enough I go back a couple of days later and wouldn't you know... they are all sold out of her size! So I figured I would just get a size bigger and pin it to fit but the lady says they only have a 3-6 months and a 3t, so no can do! I was going to order it online with a cute headband but with shipping and all it would have been close to 30.00 so I figured for that price I could try to find something of better quality and might as well go and try to look at a dance shop downtown that I thought may have what I was looking for. Which finally brings me to the highlight of my story!
So after lunch the other day I decided to pack up everyone and go see what the dance store had. We get to the store and I tell the lady what I am looking for and she shows me several options that would work, which I of course was thrilled about and LOVED!! I found one I liked and almost choked at the price of $40.00, esp. considering all the bills awaiting me at home! The battle began in my head over should I get it, or shouldn't I. So as the debate is going on my two oldest kids say they have to go to the bathroom....ok, no big deal right.... WRONG!! Allison goes in and comes back out and I thought Jonathan went at that time as well so everyone was happy.

At this time I had decided to go ahead and get the skirt since I am sure it will be well worth it for pictures and I can re-sell it later on. I am in the process of paying when Jonathan says he has to go to the bathroom and that he didn’t go before. So in he goes…. 5 minutes went by and he was still not out of the bathroom! I go in to check on him and he says "I need help wiping my butt" and I tell him " You are almost 7 and you can do it just like you always do" so he says "okay mom, get out of here", a couple minutes later....still not out of the bathroom, so I go back in and help him at this point because he is taking his sweet time and I am ready to get the heck out of this place and the baby is starting to fuss. As I flush the toilet I realize that it looks like it is going to overflow so I start plunging which is not working...keep in mind I am also holding my 11 month old on one hip and plunging with one hand! NOT EASY!! So I call my 15 yr. old sister in to take the baby and give me two free hands to work with on this nasty mess my son has just made!! After or so minutes of plunging this nasty, stinky toilet, I had gotten no wear! It wasn't budging!! I finally had to go out and tell the lady that I am sorry but the toilet is clogged and I cannot get it to unclog. I asked her if it clogs alot considering it was an old toilet and she says "only when kids use the papertowels instead of the toilet paper" GREAT!!! Allison didnt flush the toilet beforehand and I guess she used the papertowels (which were right beside the toilet on a roll like toilet paper) plus the toilet paper I used on Jonathan so you can imagine how much paper was in that toilet! So at this point in time I feel so embarrased and apologize ALOT but am also wondering why in the world they would put paper towels on a roll dispenser right beside the toilet and expect the toilet not to get clogged by young children!! Use your head people!! So a trip that should have taken approx. 10 minutes turned into a 30 min. + trip! Needless to say I was glad to get out of there and feel semi bad for the lady whom I am assuming had to put on some really long gloves and dig up in there to get all that paper out( amongst the other things)! I know you guys are probably saying “EWWWW” LOL! Hopefully I didn't loose you all in the scheme of things and you all found that half as ammusing as I did! Welcome to my world:)

Up and Running

So.....

My first post is going to be rather short considering I have been recovering from yet another migraine since yesterday. Those who know me, know my battle!! Anyhow, I think I have got off to a good start seeing that I actually have my blog up and I posted some pictures! While I cannot always promise something "amazing" to read about, I hope to give laughs and some "I can relate to that" or some "I am glad I am not the only one" or even "I am glad it's you and not me" as you follow along with my posts of hodge podge! LOL!! So on that note welcome to Sticky Fingers and Eskimo Kisses!!!