Frugal Fail

In life we really try to live within our means, better yet we try to live below our means. My family and I live pay check to pay check and they only come every two weeks. It gets hard,  but for the most part we make do and have a very happy unstressed life. However this weekend our spending went a little over bored.

This weekend was the first weekend my husband and I have had totally alone for about six months now. We got very lazy and really just wanted to sit at home and relax with no worries of cooking or cleaning up. Well that let to eating out two meals over the weekend, and now we are well over budget. We also had to make a five hour drive to drop and pick up our little ones. So the extra gas price already cut into our budget the eating out demolished it. While all the bills are paid, we will not be eating very fancy this week.

Veggie Stuffed Bell Peppers

Veggie Stuffed Bell Peppers

Ingredients:

    4 bell peppers (we used green, yellow, & red)
    1 (15 oz) can of black beans, drained and rinsed
    1/2 cup shredded mexican cheese blend
    1 cup salsa
    1/2 cup uncooked long grain rice
    1 (4 oz) can chopped green chilis
    1 teaspoon chili powder
    1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
    1/4 cup hot sauce (cholula or franks)
    optional: 1/2 cup frozen corn

Method:

    Wash each bell pepper well and then carefully cut the tops off each bell pepper. Remove the seeds and membrane from the pepper while leaving the pepper whole.
    In a large mixing bowl, mix together the rest of the ingredients: black beans, cheese, salsa, rice, green chilis, chili powder, cumin, hot sauce, and corn (if using).
    With a spoon, fill each bell pepper to the brim with the black bean mixture. Place each filled bell pepper into a medium to large sized crock pot and cover. Cook on low for 4 to 6 hours. Serve with hot sauce, salsa, sour cream or your favorite garnish. (I think some Black Bean & Corn Salad would be really yummy as a side dish)

Homemade Leg Wax

 Being frugal does not always mean  you have to give up anything, actually in the end the more frugal I live, the more I get. I use to wax all the time, but then just could not afford it anymore. I found this recipe a while back and it works great.





Homemade Leg Wax

(This is the same as the stuff you can buy in the store.)
1 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
2 Tbsp. water

Mix ingredients in a saucepan and boil for 8-15 minutes, or until mixture reaches 250° (soft ball stage). Then pour it into a container and let it cool down. Keep refrigerated. Heat in the microwave just until warm. Be careful not to make it too hot so that you don’t burn yourself. Test on your hand first. Lightly powder the area you wish to wax. Pull skin taut and spread wax on using a tongue depressor or popsicle stick. Place a 3×5 piece of cotton cloth* over the area to remove hair. Pull off quickly against the grain of the hair. Cloths may be re-used simply by washing in hot water.

Family Fun Weekend

This weekend we really paid a lot of attention to spending time together outside. We took my daughter hiking at a state park called Cloudland Canyon. It was great even though we somehow got on one of the hardest trails they had. We spend about two hours walking around the woods seeing what all nature had to offer. My daughter loved getting to try out her new bathing suit, but was a bit sad when we did not find a place for her to swim.

Food Waste Friday

I am so proud of myself this week. I planed out just what everyone was eating, and did not waste much of anything. I did have to throw out an apply earlier in the week because my daughter only ate half of the one I sent to school with her, and I had a few mushrooms go bad because the zip lock bag they were in did not get closed all the way. I am so happy that I took the time to plan everything out, breakfast, lunch, and dinner this week. It made the whole week easier.

Thoughs of School

I have been highly considering going back to school. I have held a job down since I was fourteen, and while I do enjoy being at home more with my family, I am starting to go stir crazy. I tend to combat this type of feeling by reading, a lot. I have been reading Psychology books and I find it all fascinating. I want more.

I have always had a nack for this, and the more I learn the more I want to know. It seems that everyone in my family is on board for this, except for a few fears from my daughter. She is worried that things will go back to the way they were when I was working. She loves having all the extra time, and she has loved me not being so stressed out. I think that in the end, as long as I make sure there is enough time in the day for her, that she will come around a bit more. I can take morning classes, and should be able to be home before she gets off the school bus. I can do homework between her doing homework and her spending time with my husband, then I can do the bulk of my studies while she is sleeping.

I think this will not only help my stir crazy, but in the end it could really help my writing, and help me better deal with life in general. I love the idea and the more I think about it the more I want it.

Do you think that going back to school is to much of a burden on a family, or is there hope it can work without taking time away from your child or children?

Spicy Pepper Noodles

1 package of posta noodles
1 cut up smoked sausage
Peppercorn to taste
Black Pepper to taste
White Pepper to taste
Chili Powder to taste
Crushed red peppers to taste
Ground Red Cayenne Pepper to taste
1/2 onion chopped
Mushrooms
I also use a spicy sauce that I pick up from the store. I use a spicy steak sauce


Boil and cook pepper noodles, Add spicy and all other ingredients to frying pan while noddles cook. Once noddles are done, mix everything together and add sauce. Cook for another 5 minuets.


I did not put the exact amount of the spices because I know that everyone tolerance to this is different. My family has a high tolerance because we cook everything spicy. You can also add other types of vegetables like bell peppers, beans, or even corn. I usually add peppers and call it a one stop meal.

Mother's Day Weekend

I got lucky for the second weekend in a row, my daughter's father once again did not come and get her when he was suppose to, and I got to have her for the whole weekend. We had a bit of an electronic shut down this weekend. This is the first time I have been on the computer since Friday.

Our plans for the weekend got rained out, so we are going to attempt them again next weekend, but we did get a lot of family time in. A trip to the used book store we all loved resulted in everyone getting something new, and I found a lot of psychology books that I have been needing to read. My daughter found her a new journal that she loves, and my husband found him a new game that he loves.

All in all this was a great weekend, and I am glad that I got to spend it all together.

Sunday gave me great omelets made by my cousin who has been living with us and who seems like a daughter in so many ways. My daughter got me a card about not monkeying around on Mother's Day, but then later she apologized because that was just something she could not do. I also got a dozen of Tulips from them as well. Our night and day ended with a spicy recipe that I will be sharing later in the week, and a silent film.

Food Waste Friday

Another week has come and gone and it is time to clean out the bad food once again. Last week I did really well, not so much this week though. I had to throw out some old hot dogs that had been stuffed in one of my bottom shelves and forgotten about. The package was about half way full, and each one was covered in slim. It was so gross. I also lost a forgotten onion. It to had went the way of the slim. I said goodbye to some salad dressing and egg whites that had well reached there expiration date.

I have to admit I am a little worried about next week. It seems that everyone in my house wanted different types of fruit when we went shopping, so now I have strawberries, grapes, blueberries, oranges, and apples and I just don't know if they will get eaten before then go bad. I plan on using some of them in nightly meals, like last night I made Mexican Stuffed Veggie Peppers and we have Mexican Fruit Salad on the side. We also baked a Peach Pie, which proved to be very good. With some luck and planning I should be able to save and use all of the fruit.

Food Shopping

I do the bulk of my shopping on two different days of the week. Thursdays are usually spent buying food, and Mondays are usually spent buying everything else. Both of these use to be done on the same day, until I noticed that I would not plan or stick to a plan, but instead I would just go to the closest store and buy everything all at once. This made my shopping bill way over what it could have been.

Now I stick to about three different stores, two for food and one for other stuff. I plan ahead on the day before I go. I look through the flyers and compare what is on sale with what coupons I have printed over the week or clipped from the paper. I now only spend about 300 a month to feed four, and less then 100 on other household items that last the whole month. I do not however buy everything all at once.

I plan out each meal and give us a few choices for snacks throughout the day. We tend to limit our

soda intake and we drink a lot of flavored water and tea.

All of this has been one of the biggest things that have saved me money. I am not an extreme coupon person by any means, but I have went to the store and walked about with more stuff then I paid for. Last week I had a trip to CVS where I spent 11 and got 30 worth. I like those days, and do try to make sure I get that at least once a week. I also stay away from Wal Mart, and can sometimes go months without even seeing the place, it is usually just reserved for gas because of the 3 cents off with a gift card. I just keep my gas budget placed on a gift card and most of the time can get gas cheaper that way.

I am still learning new ways to save money and cut cost and would love to hear how others do this.

Cheddar Bay Biscuits

 I just recently learned that my husband grew up with some type of bread each night with dinner. So I have been trying new things to give him something from his childhood. While these come close to the biscuits you can get from Red Lobster, they are a bit different, but just as good.


Biscuits:
2 1/2 cups Bisquick
4 Tbsp cold butter
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
3/4 cup milk
1/4 tsp garlic powder

Butter Glaze:
3 Tbsp butter
1/2 tsp garlic powder
3/4 tsp dried parsley flakes

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease or line one cookie sheet with parchment; set aside.

Combine Bisquick with cold butter in a medium bowl using a pastry cutter (I just used 2 forks). Don't worry about mixing too thoroughly; there will be small chunks of butter in the mix about the size of peas. Add cheddar cheese, milk, and garlic powder. Mix by hand until combined, but don't over mix.

Drop 1/4 cup portions of the dough onto the lightly greased or parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake for 11-13 minutes in preheated oven or until the tops of the biscuits begin to turn light brown.

While the biscuits are baking, melt butter is a small bowl in the microwave. Stir in garlic powder and dried parsley flakes. Use a brush to spread the garlic butter over the tops of all the biscuits. Sprinkle a little kosher salt on the freshly coated biscuits. Makes one dozen.

Weekend Suprise

My daughter's father gets her the 1st, 2nd, and 4th weekend of each month, which in turns only leaves me one weekend a month on average. I love when I get to have her for an extra weekend. So I was super happy when last Thursday he called and said that he would not be able to make the 2 and a half hour drive down to get her. That unplanned extra weekend was great.

On Saturday we went to our friends collage graduation. I am so proud of him, it was a long road, but in the end I think it was good for him to take a little time off, that way he could get back into the game with his head in it.

Sunday was left all to us, and we spend the whole day together. It was nice to have the whole family together for the whole day. I know that her spending time with her dad is important, but sometimes it seems that all we get to do is be the involved school parents, so extra fun time is awesome.

Food Waste Friday

Today I am so happy to say that I somehow managed to have no food waste at all. I have had such a hectic week, but somehow managed to use up everything that I knew was going to go bad this week. I had a red onion that I baked in a little bit of butter and made a spring salad out of with cucumbers and tomato, sent the yogurt that was almost bad to lunch with my husband, and my daughter ate the last of the muffins for breakfast yesterday. I also got creative with some peppers and added them to homemade hamburger helper. The fruit went fast this week, everyone seemed to be in a huge fruit mood, I think it is the season.

Missed Post and Oversleeping

I am not sure why my post from yesterday is not showing up, I want to say sorry to all my readers for that.

This morning is proving to be a busy one. My alarm clock at some point last night decided to stop working, and by chance I woke up in time to get my daughter off to school on time. In the hurry to get going, I made her a fast breakfast of blueberry breakfast cookies. She loved them, and has requested that we have them more often. I always try to keep something really fast and easy ready for breakfast just in case something like this happens.

What are some ideas that you have to keep things running smoothly when behind?

Cooking Fun For The Whole Family.

 This was a huge hit at my house last night. It was easy and very fun to make. I made up regular meatball sauce and added noodles and broccoli and cheese for the side. Easy and was done within 20 minuets.


Meatball Bubble Biscuits

1 can Pillsbury golden layers biscuits - each pulled into 2 layers
10 frozen fully cooked italian style meatballs - thawed and cut in half
2 sticks string cheese - cut each into 10 pieces
1 T. parm cheese
1/2 t. Italian seasoning
1/4 t. garlic powder
1 c. marinara sauce

Heat oven to 375. Separate biscuits into 2 layers. Place 1 meatball half and one piece of cheese into each biscuit, wrap dough around it and seal edges. Place seam side down into 9 inch round cake pan. Sprinkle with parm cheese, garlic pwd. and italian seasoning. Bake 18-20 min or until golden brown. Serve warm with warm sauce.