Our Window Sill Garden!

     I didn’t realize it had been so long since I wrote a post for this blog. I’ve been sick (and taking care of sick ‘ens ) so I’ve spent my time catching up the family blog. But let’s have some fun on here today, okay? :)

     I think I’ll start with our most recent project (and we’ll work backwards in future posts :) ) -- Our Window Sill Garden!

     The girls and I were at Target some time back and decided to walk through the seasonal springtime stuff. We found the displays of seed packets and of course the girls just HAD to get some. So we did. :) But where were we going to plant them? Yea, I didn’t think that part through when I told them they could each pick a packet. So we brought the seeds home and they got put on the counter. And that’s where they sat. And sat. And sat. Well some time went by and the seeds were still on the counter when Abby brought home a bean in a baggie with dirt and a wet cotton ball from preschool. She taped it to the sliding glass doors and that is where it stayed. A few days later we noticed it was growing really well! Especially for just a bean.

Having Fun with Gak!

      You ever go on a pinning spree? Yea, I did too. Yesterday I somehow ended up doing searches for ‘science experiments’ and looking at other people’s boards about kids’ science stuff and projects and experiments. Wow. There are endless boards and even more pins. It’s kind of crazy the amount of time I spent looking at this stuff and, yes, I even made my own board for science experiments and projects to do with the girls. J

 

      The girls have been asking me to make Cloud Dough again and I was going to, but I hadn’t been to the store yet. So while I was looking at all the pins and sites, I found some cool things to do with the girls with stuff I already had on hand. I was thinking about Oobleck but ended up going with Gak. Man, there are a bunch of people who have done this and now I have too. J I went off of Laura’s blog ‘Come Together Kids’. Wow. If you have a whole lot of time and want something to read, go check out her blog and click on the Crafts and Activities tab. Pretty cool stuff. J

 

Anyway, back to the goo. Here’s what you’ll need:

Meals For The Next 2 Weeks

M.O.M. ~ Mom On a Mission – One mom’s mission to feed healthy foods to a family of four for under $400 a month. Can it be done? Let’s find out!

 

   Payday time again. That means it’s time to plan out dinners and write up the grocery list again.

   When making up the menus, I was trying to keep in mind what I already had in my pantry and freezer to keep costs low. Here’s what I came up with:

Taco Casserole -- More Freezer Cooking

 

 

     So on the menu for last night was the frozen Pasta Bake. Well I, being who I am, forgot that it needed to be pulled out of the freezer the night before or morning of. I didn’t remember this until about 3 o’clock. J So I decided to use this time in the kitchen to put together the Twice Baked Potatoes for the freezer and also put together the Taco Casserole – one for dinner last night and one to put in the freezer.

     The girls and I had spent the afternoon playing Lego stories and then some time playing on the Wii (MarioKart, tennis, golf and then I introduced them to the boxing haha) while I had a chicken boiling on the stove…so it was time for them to go play together so I could spend some time in the kitchen.

Freezer Cooking -- Pasta Bake!

     Last week I had planned on making a double batch of baked pasta to have one for dinner that night and freezing the other for another night. But the scheduled day came and that day my oldest was home sick from school and no one was in the mood for pasta. We were feeling like having pancakes…so we had leftover pancakes for dinner. But I still wanted to make the pasta so it would be ready for another time.

     First I started another batch of bread. (It really is wonderful – I promise I’ll do a post on this soon!) While the bread is doing it’s thing, I go ahead and get a pot of water boiling. Then I cook the spaghetti according to the package directions.

     While the pasta is cooking up, I go ahead and grab two bowls and empty a can of diced tomatoes into each. Then I add in the spices: pepper, oregano, garlic powder, onion powder, basil, ground mustard, and salt. And then it gets all stirred up with a fork.

Homemade Fish Sticks for dinner!

     On the menu for Tuesday was Homemade Fish Sticks. Now, I’m really not a fish-sticks-kind of person. My husband is actually the fish-stick-lover of the house. But seeing as how I really can’t remember the last time we had fish sticks (and I’m pretty sure they weren’t homemade…) and I had come across this homemade recipe before planning out meals, I figured it was a good time to do it for my husband again.

     I found this recipe at PenniesAndPancakes.blogspot.com. I found this blog thru a pin on Pinterest for homemade white bread. (I’ve just pulled my third batch of this bread out of the oven. It is absolutely wonderful!) So after my first success, I started reading through the blog and found the Homemade Fish Sticks. And it uses the homemade bread for breadcrumbs. Cool. J

     I had planned on making mashed potatoes to go with this, but the timing didn't work out so we had a salad with our fish sticks. (I went ahead with the potatoes to freeze them to be a side with another dinner. I added that in after the fish sticks.)

Homemade Fish Sticks

1 lb frozen white fish fillets, such as cod 1 c. all-purpose flour 3 eggs, beaten 1 c. homemade bread crumbs*

¾ tsp salt ¾ tsp paprika 1 Tbsp lemon juice

 

Freezer Cooking on a Budget with a Small Freezer...

*Warning – This is a long post but seriously chocked full of good recipes and such. It’s totally worth reading all the way through!...despite the lack of pictures. J *

Have you been on Pinterest lately? There have been a good number of posts about freezer cooking and budget meal planning.  (I’m guessing it has to do with the start of the New Year and lots of resolutions to eat healthier and save money.) If you’re like me, you pin these things (and let’s face it, a ton of other things too) and they are never to be seen again.

But then I found a really cool blog through a post abouthomemade bread. I have really enjoyed reading through Andrea’s blog Pennies & Pancakes. Her angle seems to be making things yourself that you normally buy at the store either because it’s healthier that way or it saves you money or even both. I love this point of view and happen to completely agree with her. The first post I read was about making homemade bread – get this – without a bread maker! Woah now. I only ever make quick breads (like pumpkin bread, zucchini bread, banana bread, etc) and have never ventured anywhere near other breads because I thought you needed a bread maker…which I don’t have. This lady not only makes it without a bread maker, but she completely took away the intimidation factor. I’ll do a post on this later as I’m planning on tackling her homemade granola bars next. J  (But spoiler alert: The bread is delicious!!)

Maybe it was because I was feeling unstoppable after successfully making this bread (twice) that I felt I could attempt freezer cooking and a better budget meal plan. I feel I should take a moment to explain that I’ve read posts, lots of posts, about freezer cooking and how fantabulous it is. But these people have very nice very large freezers. They have room to prep 30-some meals in one afternoon and then freeze it all. I live in an apartment and barely have room for my usual freezer stuff. So after reading how awesome freezer cooking is, I move on without giving it any serious thought. And as for budgeting the meals – well, I do have a twice-a-month budget I have to stick to. And I did do a few posts about meal planning and all that. But then it fell to the wayside.