Helping Haiti

Is it in your heart to help the people of Haiti? I would love nothing more than to donate money to the relief efforts…but, for our family, that just isn’t reality. I’ve been thinking and asking about different ways I can help with what I have.  Everytime I talk to someone or make a phone call, I hear the same thing, “Send money.”

Finally, here is a way to help with what I already have! For those that take advantage of the great deals at stores like CVS, Target, Wal-Mart and Rite-Aide (and other like stores),  you have a stockpile of toothpaste, toothbrushes, soap, shampoo and deodorant.  What better way to use up your excess than to donate to those in need?

Convoy of Hope is collecting Hygiene Kits filled with shampoo, soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes, hand towels & combs. I know I’m going to be pulling together a few bags and working with some friends to see how many we can fill. If you don’t have a stockpile, but still want to help, a $5 donation can be given to help toward the cost of buying these items in bulk.

Let’s see how many we can collect! Leave a comment and let us know how many you can get together.

Thanks For the Mommas for sharing this!

Menu 1-18-10

Guess I’m a little late for Menu Planning Monday, but here is what I have planned for this week:

Breakfasts

• Cereal
• Banana Muffins
• Omelets & Toast
• Applesauce Muffins
• Bagels

Lunch

• Soup & Biscuits (x2)
• Black Bean & Cheese Quesidillas & applesauce
• Open-Faced Meatloaf Sandwich, fruit & carrot sticks
• leftovers

Supper

• Pan Fried Chicken w/ Mac & Cheese, Green Beans
• Beef Roast w/ potatoes & carrots
• Roast Chicken, Rice & Buttered Corn w/ HM Bread
• BBQ Meatloaf, Twice Baked Potatoes & carrots
• Chicken Divan w/ salad & biscuits

That takes me to Saturday after breakfast. I’ll need to make a quick trip to the store of meat , dairy, fruit and veggies… then I’m ready to finish cleaning out the pantry!

What’s on your plate this week?

Cleaning out the Pantry…

In order to save some grocery money to do a OAMC day, I’ve decided to clean out the panty/freezer/fridge. I made a quick trip to the store last night for milk, veggies, fruit and a few pieces of meat.

Here is what I have to work with:

• 20 lb turkey
• 5 lb whole chicken
• 3 lbs bs chicken
• 2 lbs ground beef
• 3 lb beef roast
• frozen veggies
• applesauce
• rice
• whole wheat tortillas
• dry red beans
• canned tomatoes
• canned veggies
• potatoes
• frozen hash browns
• eggs
• shredded cheese
• baking goods to make some yummy treats
• lots of odds and ends too!

Hopefully by the end of the day, I’ll have some kind of menu worked up! I think this is going to be fun…want to join me?

Aeropostale Deal

Thanks to Amy for sharing this awesome deal! $9.79 for a pair of teen/tween jeans…Awesome!

Head on over to Aeropostale for details

Whew…

As much as I love blogging here, I’m finding it very hard to get organized enough to post regularly. I will, however, try to post something once a week starting next week.

Most of you know my obsession with couponing, and although I’ve taken a break from it over the last few months, I’m ready to jump back it! I will be posting and linking some of the best deals I find…in-store and online.

Have a wonderful weekend!

OMA – Mid-day Update

Everything is going great! By lunch time we had more than 1/2 done and the kitchen was not in bad shape. I have pictures to share, but I’ll have to do that tonight…still have lots to do before bed, so I better get moving!

Here’s the list so far:

2 Turkey and Stuffing Casseroles
2 Turkey and Broccoli Casseroles
1 crockpot full of Spaghetti Sauce
2 Peanut Butter Asian Pork
1 big batch Swiss Steak

Left to do:
Meatloaf
Lasagna
Quiche
Turkey Noodles
Cranberry Cream Cheese French Toast
Bacon Brunch Bites

Back to work…

OAM Cooking Day – Beginning the day

Ok…here we go! If you are just joining us, HERE is the link to find out what we’re doing. I thought I would give a little Good Morning to anyone joining us for the day. I’m sitting here finishing my coffee and then it’s off to start cooking. My mom will be here in an hour and I hope to have most of the prep work done by then. Because life happens, I didn’t get everything I wanted to accomplish done yesterday AND because I sometimes forget to write things down…I’ll be cooking by myself for awhile this afternoon. I’m very thankful that my mom is coming down to help and that she is willing to take my oldest to an orthodontist appt that I forgot about! I may even see if she’ll take my son too, because he LOVES going and playing there (it doesn’t hurt that they have a kiddie movie room with little kid recliners, a plasma TV and snacks)!

Anyway…slow start to my morning and I’ve had to switch some things up a bit as far as recipes go. I’ll be posting bits and pieces and hopefully some pictures, throughout the day. Don’t forget to leave a link to your OAM cooking day!

Money Saving Mom is also hosting a cooking day…check it out!

Update…

Just an FYI…the Game Plan link for the Cookie Baking Day has been fixed. Sorry about the mixup. This is my first time using Google Documents.

Pumpkin Pie

With Thanksgiving right around the corner, it’s time to start thinking pie! Pumpkin Pie that is! With all the pumpkin puree I made last week, I’m ready to start baking! While the filling is very important in a pie, I think having a good crust recipe is the key. I’m going to share my Grandmother’s recipe with you as well as a good filling recipe. I’m also going to give you  my favorite Impossible Pumpkin Pie Recipe…it’s a crustless version.

Happy baking…and I’ll post some pictures after I’ve baked mine on Tuesday.

Double Crust Recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 2/3 cup shortening
• 2 Tabls. sugar
• 7 Tabls. ice cold water

Directions:

1. Mix flour & sugar in large bowl
2. Cut in shortening until pieces are pea size or smaller
3. Add water 1 T. at a time as you toss with a fork.
4. Add enough water until the dough is the consistency of play-doh (not the softer stuff…the “harder” play-doh)
5. Divide in 2 and chill for 1 hour
6. Roll out each half on a lightly floured surface and place in pie plates.
7. Follow pie directions for baking.

Pumpkin Pie Filling

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1.5 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice
• one half teaspoon ground ginger
• one half teaspoon salt (optional)
• 4 large eggs
• 3 cups pumpkin puree
• 1.5 cans (12oz each) of evaporated milk

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl (the mixture may be runny…it will become firm as you bake it)
2. Fill crusts about 2/3 full
3. Cover edges with foil to prevent  crust from getting too brown.
4. Bake in a 425 oven for 15 minutes
5. Turn oven down to 350 and continue to bake for 45 – 60 minutes until knife inserted into center comes out clean.
6. ENJOY!!

Notes: this will make a light fluffy pie. If you like a more dense pie, use only 3 eggs and 1 can of evaporated milk.

Crustless Pie Recipe

Ok…this is simple! Pour the pie filling into a greased baking dish and bake as directed above.  This turns out very nicely and even those that aren’t big pie fans will love it!

Pumpkins!!

We love pumpkin in our house! Pumpkin Muffins, Pumpkin Pancakes, Pumpkin Pie…pumpkin everything. I haven’t been able to find any great sales on cans of pumpkin lately, so when I saw this post…I was ready to get busy.

Wal-Mart has Pie Pumpkins for $.33/lb right now, so I picked up 3 to see what I could get. I was very surprise at what I ended up with. For $3 , I ended up with about 11 cups of pumpkin puree! That’s about 5 cans worth. At $1.19 a can, I think I did pretty well. I’m going to pick up 5 more this weekend and freeze up enough to last the winter.

Step 1 : cut washed pumpkin in half

Step 2: scoop out seeds (you can save the seed for roasting)

Step 3: place pumpkins in a bowl with some water and cover with a damp towel. Microwave for 30 minutes.

Step 4: Remove skins. They will slip right off! Be careful…it’s very hot.

Step 5: Using a food processor, puree the pumpkin until smooth

Step 6: Freeze in 2 cup amounts or amounts that will suit your needs.

I love fresh pumpkin! It was so nice to use and tasted so much better than the canned stuff! I’ll post some pictures of the baked goods soon…and I’ll even post the disaster bread…it happens!