one more meal

At our house, we like to make the most of our money. Call it being cheap, being frugal, or being smart. We really strive to be good stewards of what God as blessed us with. One way that we do that is with the money we spend on food. We almost ALWAYS eat at home. We also make sure that we use up all of our leftovers.

I got a tip recently from my cousin Amanda, to use whole chickens. You can by a 5 lb chicken for a little less than $5 and feed at least 4 people. We have enough for 2 adults and 1 toddler to eat two meals.

I'll cut up the chicken and prepare one meal with it, and we'll have enough leftover for the next day. Then I'll boil the bones that are left and save it for seasoning green beans, or make chicken and rice. There is always chicken left on the bones after cutting the thighs, legs, wings, and breasts off. It's enough to use for chicken and rice.

To make the chicken and rice I boil the chicken and then pull the meat of the bone and add it back to the broth. Add brown rice, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder. I add frozen peas to make it a complete meal. It's a great way to squeeze one more meal out of your $5 chicken!

I could just buy them but....

Everything is better when it's homemade....even croutons. We were out of croutons recently and everyone knows that no salad is complete without croutons. So what's a girl to do??? Make them herself of course! So that's what I did, and I haven't brought croutons since. They are really easy to make using ingredients that you almost always have on hand: bread, spices, and olive oil. I also like the fact that I can make them 100% whole wheat.

Here we go......

Start with a few pieces of bread. Whatever you have will work just fine.

Cut the bread into 1/2 inch pieces.

Pour 1/4 cup olive oil into a bowl, and add whatever spices you want. I used italian seasoning, garlic salt, pepper, salt, onion powder and garlic powder.

Put the bread in the bowl and toss to coat it with the oil and spices.

Spread onto baking sheet. I use a Pampered Chef Stone. LOVE IT!

Bake for 15-20 minutes at 325 degrees. They need to bake at a low temp. for a longer time because you want all of the oil to cook out without toasting them too much.

When they're finished they should be golden brown and crispy!!!

I know it takes a little more effort than just opening a bag of croutons, but it is well worth it. Everything is better when its homemade!

Which one's hot???

Recently, my wonderful husband was being super sweet and running some bath water for me.

He asked me which faucet was hot because he said he didn't feel like thinking! I told him, "when you're looking at it, it's the one on the right". He turns it on, and checks in a few minutes only to discover that the water was ice cold. It turns out that he wasn't "looking at it" from the same direction that I was. He was "looking at it" as if he was in the tub, while I was "looking at it" from outside of the tub.

Obviously this wasn't a big deal, because it was a misunderstanding about something very insignificant. This just got me thinking about communication in relationships. It's really funny (and kind of scary) how two people can hear the exact same thing, and interpret it completely differently. As important as communication is in marriage and parenting we really need to make sure were are very clear when it comes the the important thoughts that we are trying to convey.

c is for cookie

And what's better than a cookie??? A cookie pop, of course!! Well, it's basically just a cookie on a stick, but the stick somehow makes it just a little more exciting! I used this recipe from all recipes.

I heart moby

My moby wrap that is!!! It really is a necessity with two little ones. It's so much more comfortable than other baby carriers that I've tried and the baby feels really secure. It's made grocery shopping SO much easier. I no longer have to get two carts---one for the kids and one for the groceries, or endure looks of sympathy from complete strangers! You can buy a moby wrap for about $40 if you really like spending more money than you need to. Or... you can be a a recessionista and make your own. It's super easy. Just pick out a stretchy cotton fabric, and have 6 yards cut. If the bolt of fabric is wide, you can cut the fabric in half, so that you have 2 wraps. You can easily do this for under $15!!

BTW....that's not me or my baby!!! But doesn't he look snug as a bug???

Blogs

I think what I really like about blogs is getting a little peak into someone else's life. I like to see the dynamics of families. Whether big or small, they are all interesting and each one is so different! Join me as I record what is going on in my home as we live our lives and do what we do!