Homemade Brown Sugar

In the process of all my holiday baking I ran out of brown sugar.  Not wanting to brave the crowds, I simply made my own.  It is incredibly easy and having made it, I actually prefer it over store bought.  Homemade brown sugar is quite fluffy and light.  The best part is you can make as much or as little as you need--no having to store it and having it get hard and lumpy.

You will need two ingredients:
regular granulated sugar
molasses

For every 1 cup of sugar, mix in 1 Tablespoon of molasses (more if you want a bolder flavor) with a fork.  Keep mixing with the fork until it becomes light and fluffy. 

The end.

Chocolate Sugar Cookies

One of the reason I love the holidays is because it gives me an excuse to bake lots and lots of cookies (not that I really need a reason).

Ingredients:

2 c. melted butter (4 sticks)

4 one-ounce squares semi-sweet chocolate

2 c. powdered sugar

1 c. white sugar

2 eggs

2 t. vanilla

1 t. orange zest (I left this out)

1 t. baking soda

1 t. cream of tartar (critical)

1 t. salt

4 1/2 c. flour

1/2 c. white sugar in small bowl (set aside)

Melt the butter and chocolate squares (3 min in microwave).  Once melted, stir them smooth, transfer to a large mixing bowl, and add the powdered and white sugars.  Stir thoroughly and set the mixture aside to cool.

When mixture is cool enough so it won't cook the eggs, add the eggs, one at a time, stirring after each addition.  Mix in vanilla, orange zest, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt.  Mix.

Add flour in half-cup increments, mixing after each addition.  Once flour has been thoroughly mixed, roll into one-inch balls.  Dip balls into bowl of white sugar to coat.

Place the dough balls on a greased cookie sheet and flatten with the palm of your hand.

Bake at 325 degrees for 10-15 minutes. 

Makes approx. 7-8 dozen

*This recipe is out of Joanne Flukes Apple Turnover Murder.

Breakfast Sandwich

If you're looking for an easy and delicious breakfast, or a simple and healthy afternoon snack, I highly recommend these.

You need: whole wheat mini-bagels (or bagel of your choice), cream cheese (or peanut butter), thinly sliced apple.

Split your bagel, spread both sides with cream cheese and top with apple slices. 

My girls really liked these and using the mini-bagels made them just the right size for them. 

Enjoy!

Breaking the Fast Food Cycle

When I first started this blog it was a way for me to track how much my family was eating out.  We had gotten into the habit of eating out 3-4 times a week for lunch and 4-5 times a week for dinner.  Not only were we spending hundreds of dollars on fast food but I was also still spending all of our allotted grocery budget each week on food that eventually just went bad in my fridge, thus wasting even more money.  At one point I realized that all our discretionary money was being spent on eating out and that simply had to change.

It's been a little over a year and a hard struggle, but I'm happy to report that our eating out has curbed dramatically.  We still eat out on occasion, but it is typically planned and put into our monthly budget.  Since I have become much more aware of just how much bad food costs, I am less tempted to eat out just because.  Why spend $30 on fast food when I can make something much better for way less?  Also, there is just many more things I would rather do with that $30. 

Here are a few of the things that helped my family break the fast food cycle:

• Desire--This may seems lame, but you really have to want to stop.  For us, it came from realizing just how much we were spending on food that really was not good for us.  It also helps to have a reason or a goal.  We wanted to buy a house and in order to make that work, we needed the extra money eating out was taking.
• Budget--Each pay period I sit down and write out a zero balance budget.  This means that every dollar is accounted for--there is no "free money" sitting in my account.  After tithing, bills, groceries, household items and fuel, I look at what money I have left and assign it a category.  I typically plan one or two days each pay period for eating out.  If we eat out more than that then that money comes out of my grocery budget (my grocery budget is $100/wk for a family of 6).  This makes me less tempted to eat out, since it typically costs us around $25-30 and I know that I can feed my family dinner at home for around $3-7. 
• Meal Plan--Each week I create a meal plan that includes breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks based on the weekly grocery ads, coupons, and what I have in my pantry/fridge/freezer.  I also include a night for left overs. 
• Fall Back Meals--These are meals that your family likes that are quick and easy to make and you always have on hand.  For us they are: spaghetti, eggs, and cheater shepherds pie (can of Dinty Moore and a packet of instant mashed potatoes.)
• Don't Give Up--Occasionally, we'd fall back into bad habits having periods were we eat out more than necessary.  Instead of giving up, we just resolve to do better again.

Now that I feel we have our eating out under control it's on to our next food goal, which is to eat healthier.  I've noticed lately that our meals have become very centered around meat so I've been trying to have more fresh fruits and vegetables with each meal and less meat. I'm also trying to introduce more whole grains and fiber into our diet. 

So, onto the next adventure!

Semi-Homemade Apple Blueberry Cobbler

 

Life with a new baby doesn’t leave me much time for creating new things, like dessert for instance. So, I was happy that I could just throw this together last minute.

What you need:

• 2 cans apple pie filling
• 1 pint fresh or frozen blueberries
• granola
• just add water instant pancake mix

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Add cans of pie filling and blueberries to 9x13 dish.  Mix pancake mix according to directions for lowest serving size.  Drop pancake mix by spoonfuls into pie filling.  Top with granola.

Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until pancake mix has cooked through.  Serve warm with ice cream.

Cheesy Taco Soup

This recipe is for taco soup, which is great in cold weather. We don't really have cold weather where I live, but it's still yummy.
Ingredients: 2 cans chicken broth (more if you want it more soupy instead of hearty), 1 can corn or hominy, 1 can diced tomatos, 1 can diced green chiles, 1 can tomato sauce, 1 can olives, 1 packet cheesy taco seasonings, 1 can chicken or chopped leftover chicken (hamburger could also be used), 1 can kidney, black, or pinto beans--your choice.

Add all ingredients to crockpot and cook on low 6 to 8 hours or on high 3 to 4 hours. Serve with chips or tortillas. Top with cheese, sour cream, avacado--be creative!

You can also heat this in a stock pot on the stove. Add all ingredients (brown hamburger first, if using) and bring to a boil. Turn to low and simmer for 10 minutes.

This. This is the reason I've been absent. (Isn't he handsome?)

And the reason we've been doing so awful at not eating out.

My little guy seems to think that the perfect time to get cranky and need mommy is right when dinner needs to be started. We've started pulling back from the fast food restaurants once again. We bought a grill a week ago and my husband has been ecstatic, so he's been grilling. Nothing fancy yet, but when we do, I'll be sure to post it.