December CHALLENGE

 A few days ago I talked about the big topics of conversation in my home lately - eating healthy but also staying within our budget.  Although I am just cooking for two, the rising cost of groceries is definitely noticable and has required both of us to be flexible (and creative!) 

I was reflecting back on a series of conversations I had 2 years ago with several friends and family members. I was taking an informal poll on the weekly grocery bill. Some ate organically, some had 4 mouths to feed, and some lived in remote areas with few grocery stores to choose from. Overall, I was feeling good about my spending - because I was consistently spending at least $20-$50 less than what i had deemed to be an average weekly grocery bill.  Fast forward to 2011 - I am now spending at least $20 more per week on food than I was two years ago - and that is even with the occasional coupon and shopping at more than one store.

I have been mulling over an idea for the past few weeks and have done quite a bit of research online - and I have decided to pose an experiment.  In an effort to reduce my grocery bill, I will evaulate my grocery list and not purchase processed/premade foods that I can make for myself at a cheaper price. This includes items such as pasta, bread, hummus, sauces, granola and munchies (like trail mix, crackers, cookies, etc.)  I have set a few ground rules for myself:

1) If, after research and consideration, a particular item is cheaper to be purchased and a healthy version is available, it is allowed. For example, with the high price for nuts lately - it may be cheaper to purchase natural peanut butter in lieu of making my own. Another thing is cereal. Randy eats this for breakfast and I don't plan on making home made Cheerios.

2) I don't typically use a lot of canned fruits/vegetables, but I do use canned tomatoes, tomato paste all the time. It is considerably cheaper to continue doing so - purchasing tomatoes out of season is not particularly budge-friendly. Frozen vegetables are also OK.

3) Frozen fruits and veggies are allowed. So are staples - such as butter (although I could tecnically try to churn some!)

4) If I have a premade version of something already in use (I'm thinking salad dressing or a condiment) we can finish using the processed version, as opposed to making a homemade version.  No use in wasting perfectly good food for this experiment!

5) I am allowed to add additional rules as I go along if needed!

I will be sharing recipes, lessons learned along the way. Wish me luck as I try to mix good eats with being cheap!

*NOTE: I actually wrote this post last week but forgot to save it!  I started this yesterday and my first grocery trip is planned for Saturday!

A homemade Thanksgiving

Surely I am not the only person in the blogosphere who is posting about the Thanksgiving meal that awaits our families in a few days' time.  But I am really excited about Thanksgiving this year and I just have to share!  Unfortunately Randy & I are not able to spend the holiday with our families - but I jumped at the chance to make a Thanksgiving meal (albeit, scaled down for 2!)

I also made the decision to make the meal 100% from scratch. Not just avoiding heat-and-eat meals, but making an effort to make everything homemade.  I really want to make this meal memorable and hopefully make our own traditions!

Our menu:
Turkey
Mashed Potatoes & Gravy
Challah, Wild Mushroom & Herb Stuffing (recipe here)
Rolls (curteousy of my mom's favorite 1970s Betty Crocker cookbook)
Corn
Roasted Root Vegetables
Mini Chocolate Cheesecakes

I found an amazing-looking recipe for stuffing, which happens to be my most favorite Thanksgiving food item. I knew that I wanted to make the bread from scratch - so this weekend I spent an entire day making Challah bread (and the rolls).   While it was rather time consuming, the results were phenominal and it was well worth the effort.  I can't wait to make this into stuffing!

And I decided to make a chocolate cheesecake for dessert. (I've never made a cheesecake before! I have cute mini cheesecake pans so I am at least limiting the amount of rich dessert we have in the house over the holiday weekend). My mother-in-law shared a recipe with me to try out - and she makes a mean cheesecake!

I realize the last post was all about healthy eating and wellness - so don't be mislead. I am doing my best to make the meal as healthy as possible - including using whole wheat flour in the breads, and limiting butter by cooking with olive oil. Every little bit helps!

Happy cooking and happy Thanksgiving!

New look, new focus!

I obviously took a bit of a hiatus from blogging - but have been thinking quite a bit lately about starting up again. So here I am. But with a new look and a new focus on what I'll be sharing.

Over the past few months there have been many changes in our house - namely the hubby transitioning to being a full-time student / slash / full-time puppy caretaker.  Although my world has been spinning, I haven't felt very interesting. I have been working a lot (which has taken me on travels to UK, Panama, and a few domestic trips) and worked weird hours on different projects.  And I felt like I didn't really have a focus on what I wanted to share.

There has been one theme in particular that has been a topic of thought (and conversation) with several members of my family and friends - health. I have been rather inconsistent with my efforts to be healthy. Like any other woman, my weight has fluctuated and I have been on more diets than I can count. (Like the egg diet in college. Did I mention that I detest hard boiled eggs??) There have been some spurts where I have been pretty diligent about going to the gym - but tend to fall off the bandwagon (often in a big way!)  For the past month or so I have been trying out a "clean eating" lifestyle, which focuses on eating loads of whole foods (fresh veggies and fruits), and avoiding processed foods, white flour, and sugar.  I also joined the gym down the street from my house and am really excited to have a spinning class that is literally 2 minutes from me. But finding the time to stick to my health goals has been a bit of a challenge - and to be honest I have not worked as hard as I can.

Another topic that has been on my mind lately is sticking to a budget. Going from 2 incomes to 1 has been an adjustment, as you can imagine. I have tried to be a smart shopper - and dabbled in couponing - but am simply flabbergasted about how much prices have gone up.  The place I see this most is in the kitchen. It's taken a bit of creativity (and a lot of planning) to try and keep our grocery bill as low as possible, while still eating well.

So having said all that, I would really like to see my blog as a place where to share my journey to living happy and healthy, living within our means - and enjoying the process.

Vanilla

When I told my hubby that I wanted to make homemade vanilla, he thought I was a bit odd.  But he shrugged it off and I think that he chalked it up to me reading foodie blogs...

So I ran to Southern Season (and by "ran" I mean, drove 45 minutes each way) and picked up a vanilla bean and 2 glass jars - one for the vanilla and one for vanilla sugar. (Waste not, want not, right)

I read about this on a foodie blog (yes, my hubby knows me so well!) and supposedly homemade vanilla has a much richer flavor - and also it has the appeal of a bread starter (if you start to run low, you can "replenish" your supply very easily with ingredients on hand.)

So here are the needed ingredients: Vodka. Vanilla bean. Jar.  Sounds simple enough, right?

The rest of the directions are as simple: scrape out the seeds from the vanilla bean - add to the jar, and add one cup of vodka. Cover tightly and place in a dark cupboard for 6-8 weeks (shaking the bottle once or twice per week) - and VOILA! the end result should be vanilla extract. 

And just so I didn't waste one speck of the $3 I spent on the vanilla bean, I added the pod to white sugar to make vanilla sugar. (I have a few recipes that call for vanilla sugar, and I've never made any before)

So it appears that I am my own personal test kitchen this week. I'll let yall know how my vanilla experiment turns out.  If this works I will be a convert!

Pigs in a blanket

I remember the first time Randy ever told me about his family's holiday celebrations. We were dating long-distance at that time and it was during one of our marathon phone calls.  I told him all about my family's Christmas ham, turdunkins, and my aunt's famous orange salad. And when it was his turn, he mentioned turkey gravy and waffles and pigs in a blanket. I am sure I had a very perplexed look on my face - because to me, a pig in a blanket is sausage wrapped in a croissant or pancake. But to him and his family, this is what they call "stuffed cabbage rolls."  When his mom makes these it's an all-day affair - and it's worth it - they are seriously SO good.  Since we're only able to have these 1 or 2 times a year when we make the trek up to PA, I've tried to recreate them. My first 2 attempts were unsuccessful - but I found a recipe in my mom's 1970s Better Homes & Garden cookbook that hits the spot!  I made these last night and they are definite winners!

Stuffed Cabbage Rolls
1 beaten egg
1/2 c. milk
1/4 c. finely chopped onion
1 tsp. Worchestershire sauce
3/4 tsp. salt
dash of pepper
1/2 pound ground pork & 1/2 pound ground beef
3/4 c. cooked rice
12 medium cabbage leaves
1 can condensed tomato soup
1 Tbsp. dark brown sugar
1 Tbsp. lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, combine first 6 ingredients, mix well. Add pork/beef and rice, mix well.
Remove center vein of cabbage leaves, keeping each leaf in one piece. Imerse leaves in boiling water about 3 minutes (until limp) drain. Place 1/4 c. meat mixture on each leaf, fold in sides. starting at unfolded edge, roll up each leaf, making sure any folded sides are included in roll. Arrange seam down in baking dish. Stir together remaining ingredients, pour over cabbage rolls. bake, uncovered for 1 hour, 15 minutes, basting once or twice with sauce.

I served these with mashed potatoes. We LOVE the sauce, so next time I may double the sauce if I'm feeling crazy.  Try these - - they're sooo good!

Adventures in meal planning..

Awhile back, I did an informal poll with a few friends and family about how much they spent at the grocery store. The results were pretty varied - considering I asked organic eaters, families with small children, single women, and my parents. But overall at the time I felt like I did pretty good - I was about 5 minutes from a grocery store with great deals AND I used coupons every now and then. And my weekly grocery bill was around $60.

Fast forward a year and a half - - I am still cooking for 2, doing all of the shopping - but now gas is $3.50 a gallon and food prices are going up. Also consider the fact that we live about 20 min away from the closest Kroger and the store that is closest for our house is notorious for being pricey.  And - I have to admit, I'd not been quite as good at mapping out our meals - and that meant that some of our food was going to waste. Overall I was spending around $75-80 per week and I'm ashamed to say - eating out a few times a week even though there was perfectly good food in the refrigerator.

So today I decided to experiment. I made the 20 minute hike to Kroger, armed with a shopping list and a plan - - to stretch out the food I bought over 2 weeks.  I haven't really been using my freezer up until this point to make meat last longer so I'm going to employ that tactic.  One area that I see food going to waste is leftovers - - there is no way Randy and I can eat 4 hamburgers - so there is usually some waste involved. (And - sadly - I am not married to a man that loves eating leftovers, with a few exceptions). Another component of the plan is to use less meat in my recipes and going meatless one day a week.  So here is our meal plan for dinners over the next 12 days:

Pigs in a blanket (aka stuffed cabbage) and mashed potatoes
Crockpot Italian chicken with penne pasta
Honey chicken with broccoli, sugar peas, and brown rice
Asparagus linguine (a staple in my house growing up)
Spaghetti and meatballs w/garlic bread
Sloppy joes and pierogies
Roasted chicken breasts with brussels sprouts
Shepherd's pie
Bacon fettuccini
Sun-dried tomato and chicken pitas with side salad
Pork chops w/homemade mac & cheese
Tortilla espanola (basically a potato and egg omelette)

And Randy has class once per week, so that night will be leftovers night...so that will make 2 weeks of dinners. I also got supplies for breakfast/lunch (and I have no shame in eating odd combination of foods for lunch or just noshing through the day - so I think I can make it). Lastly - - instead of buying a lot of prepared snacks I have ingredients on hand to make up a few munchies if the mood strikes. All in all, I spent $120 on the "supplies" for the above.

So if I can pull this off - I will not only save myself a trip to the store every week (not to mention the gas) - but have bragging rights to my husband who thinks we can't pull this off AND be back in my $60/week range. If I can't - - I'll be wasting a lot of food (and money) on this little experiement. Since I'm a bit of a cheapskate, I hope that thought alone will help us stick with it.

Anyone else have any tips for budgeting, grocery shopping, etc?

Miscellany Monday

I am taking a tip from Lindsay and participating in Miscellany Monday!

* I get onto food kicks - - I have apparently come full circle because I am on the same snack kick as I was my sophomore year of high school - - cooked carrots. I season them with I Can't Believe It's Not Butter spray and salt/pepper. I have to watch out, because I OD'd back in 1999 and avoided them for about 12 years. But for now - - I'm baaack!

* I used to be SO addicted to Grey's Anatomy - and although I've DVR'd it all season I think I've only watched 1 or 2 episodes. I keep planning to catch up but haven't had 12 hours to dedicate to this task quite yet.

* For Christmas Randy got me three pairs of fluffy house slippers with grips on the bottom. I love them. I'm wearing the purple stripey pair right now!

* The first time I was ever in the Atlantic Ocean, I was stung by a jellyfish. Twice. It pretty much turned me off from going into the water. Which is a pity, considering it's only a short roadtrip to the beach.

* I wear flats every day of the week. I own some high heels - don't get me wrong - but I hardly ever wear them. I'm a flats girl.

* I have about 10 boxes of pasta in my pantry - mostly thin spaghetti. I always think I'm running low on pasta, for some reason, and end up picking it up at the grocery. I never seem to remember that I have enough to last me a year.

That's it for today - - HAPPY MONDAY!

Cooking Light

My hubby will tell you - - one of the best days of the month is the one where my bright & shining COOKING LIGHT magazine arrives. I've been a subscriber to the magazine since 2004 and haven't missed an issue!  I have some great memories from college, going over to Lindsay's house and cooking great recipes out of the newest edition (I miss that!)  But nowadays, I have developed a little system to squeeze every pinch of enjoyment out of its arrival:

First, there is the "preliminary glance" - I thumb through the magazine to get an idea of what kind of recipes and features await me. I don't linger on any of the pages or really read through the recipes or articles.

Then, there is the second read through. Now I start to be a bit more detailed. I read the articles and evaluate the recipes to see if any of them will make an upcoming appearance on our dinner table.  (I read through the ingredients, how to prepare the dish, and try to decide if it's binder-worthy).

I leave the magazine intact for a few weeks so that I can look through it during my down time - then afterwards comes the last step: extraction. I go through and tear out the pages that feature recipes to add to my collection. I used to just clip recipes that "looked good" but then didn't really consider whether or not I'd actually make them. Now that I'm married - I know there are some things that my hubby doesn't like or will particulary want on a Tuesday night - so I've scaled it down a bit. Then the recipes get added to my binder...and I've even created an index so it's easy to find the recipes I've been longing for!

About a year ago, the magazine went through a facelift and my new favorite section is the "Editor's Dozen" - where they feature 12 gadgets or kitchen tools and where to get them. I actually got some of my wish-list items around the holidays from these few pages.

Here are a few of my all-time favorite recipes from over the years:

Walnut crusted pork chops 
Basil and three-cheese thin-crust pizza with the Pizza sauce
Sausage-stuffed chicken breasts
Italian creme cake
Yankee pot roast
Crab cakes with roasted veggies
Crisp mashed potato cakes
Pear crisp

Wow, it was hard to narrow those down! Am I the only one who is seriously in love with a cooking magazine (enough to blog about it)? :)

Chocolate chip pound cake balls

The way to a man's heart is his stomach - so I knew that in order win over my hubby on Valentine's Day I had to make something special and chocolatey. So I took one of Randy's favorite desserts and kicked it up a notch - and created these bite-sized treats. This is a spin on the cake balls I made a few months ago - and I promise, these won't disappoint.

Choco chip pound cake:

1 Duncan Hines yellow cake mix
1 small box instant vanilla pudding
1 small box instant chocolate pudding
2 eggs
1 1/4 c. water
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1 cup chocolate chips (I used mini chips in this recipe)
1 tub of vanilla frosting
1 package chocolate bark

Mix together ingredients, then stir in chocolate chips. Pour into greased bundt pan, bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Let cool on racks.

When cooled, break cakes into small pieces and stir in 3/4 container of frosting. (I also stirred in some extra chocolate chips - just for good measure). Form cake mixture into 1" balls. Place on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and refrigerate several hours (or in the freezer if you're in a rush).

Melt chocolate bark in microwave according to package directions. One at a time, dip the balls in chocolate and let set. You can decorate the balls with sprinkles - or more mini chocolate chips, like I did. The result is pure, bite-sized bliss.

Practically Picasso

A few weeks ago a few girls from work and I went to a place in Raleigh called Wine & Design. The premise is that you can BYOW and paint for a few hours with your girlfriends. There is an instructor who decides the theme of the evening and does a bit of instruction along the way - everything from a creating still-life art to a portrait of your home or pet.  The class we attended was painting happy little owls perched on a tree.  Except, I unknowingly painted my owls' mouths upside down, so they resemble the Angry Birds iPhone app.

Regardless of my [lack of] artistic abilities - I have been in a painting/crafty mood ever since.  Lucky for me, I have a home to decorate, so I had a great excuse to be a crafty, creative homemaker.

My first project was adding some decor to our bedroom. We have abstract art over our bed - and I created a trio of paintings to coordinate with it. (I actually used a blending technique that I learned at the painting class, which made me feel pretty darn cool.)  These went over the TV in our bedroom.  Just call me Mark Rothko.

My other project was for the guest bathroom. I recently bought a wall hanging that features a damask pattern and decided that another trio of paintings would help tie things together.  I am actually pretty proud of these little guys.

Sadly, I think I am out of areas that I can add my own artistic flare to. For now, at least. But I think I've been bit by the crafty bug. Not only do we have unique, one of a kind decor in our home - but I did it on a dime. Not too shabby.

There she goes...

This past week I got the biggest piece of flattery I've had in ages.  I got a letter informing me that I have been nominated to try out for the Miss North Carolina pageant.  They're only about 10 years too late.

On traveling solo...

I've done a bit of solo sightseeing in my day. According to a recent statistic, 45% of solo travelers are women - and 79% of those travelers wished they had someone traveling with them. I have to agree with that. Solo travel just isn't all it's cracked up to be.

A definite perk of taking a trip alone is that you get to plan the itinerary - and there's no need to compromise on what activities you do.  You have the freedom to explore back streets, wander into little shops, and maybe even blend in with the locals. 

Both Randy and I felt that our trips to the UK were good - but that it would have been a lot more enjoyable if we had experienced London together.  Before I went, he gave me some tips on things to see and do - he knows that I'm a cornball tourist, so the suggestions that he had were definitely up my alley.  Oh the man knows me so well.  Numero uno on my list was going to see Big Ben. It is quintessential London, after all.  So I made it a point on my one free afternoon to go visit downtown London.

This brings me to my main reason for disliking traveling alone - photo ops are scarce. You may get some great scenery photos - but it can be a hassle to try and get yourself in the photo. Sure, you can ask a bystander to take a photo for you - but most of the time, you end up with either a blurry photo, one that cuts off part of your head, or one so far away you blend in with the scenery.  Your last resort as a solo tourist is taking the dreaded self-portrait. These photos end up worse than if you had a fellow tourist snap it for you - plus it is pretty dang obvious that you're a tourist - and you look like a goofball.

So - below is the one photo that I have to prove that I was in London.  Mind you, it ain't pretty - but it's all I have.

Before my next solo trip I should probably practice the art of taking self-portraits. Oh, and do my sightseeing on a day that it's not raining. But I'll focus on one thing at a time.

Remember the time I had a blog?

Oh gheez. I have literally fallen off of the blogosphere. I can't believe how quickly time has passed - and that I've not blogged since DECEMBER! I always have big aspirations to blog, but I've not followed through. 

I have a few blogs up my sleeve - - watch for those this week!