Pancakes in a jar

Found this at allrecipes - just made a few changes

In a mason jar combine 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, 3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 tablespoon white sugar.

On the outside of the jar, write - Simply add  1 egg and 1 1/4 cups milk.

When you are ready to make pancakes all you need is your jar of mix and the egg and milk and you are ready to go.  These pancakes are so yummy and definitely beat bisquick!

I often put this together in a pretty jar and add a jar of homemade syrup for a yummy gift.

Queso Dip

This is such a quick and easy dip.  I make it all the time.  I think one of the reasons I like it so much is because it is so versatile.  2 ingredients is all you need,

Take a large box of Velveeta (I usually use the store brand) and a can of Rotel (undrained) and put them in a crock pot.  The cheese will melt better if you cut it up into cubes first.  Stir often.

I stir with a pretzel, bread stick, or tortilla chip - but I guess a spoon would work too.

To make this a little more creamier I add in a whole block of cream cheese (again the store brand works just fine).





Add ins - pick one, not all of them.

•  Can of chili
• Can of chili beans
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 lb ground sausage (like a roll of Jimmy Dean)
• 1 lb taco meat and sautéed onion (I have also heard of people adding a can of corn)
• chopped onion, 2 chopped jalapeños,  1 roll sausage
• bag of frozen spinach, cream cheese, 8-12 slices cooked bacon

There really is no way to go wrong.  If it is good cheesy, it will probably go well in this dip.  Enjoy!

Fruit Crisp

This is the yummiest and easiest fruit crisp ever.  You can use any flavor of pie filling that sounds yummy (or that is on clearance)



1 (21 oz) can pie filling
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup oatmeal
2/3 cup brown sugar
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 cup chopped pecans (optional)
1/3 cup melted butter


Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Pour pie filling into 2 qt baking dish
3. In a medium sized bowl mix the flour, oats, sugar cinnamon and nutmeg
4. Add melted better
5. Mix until butter has all ingredients gooey
6. spread over pie filling
7. Sprinkle pecans on top (optional)
8. Bake for 30 minutes or until topping is a golden brown
9. Cool 15 minutes

We have also made minis in cupcake tins (use the paper liners!) to take to parties.

Yummy Lasagna

Yummy Lasagna

                      

3 cups ricotta cheese

                       

3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

           

2 eggs                                                    

                       

1 pound ground beef                                                    

                

1 (48 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce                                                   

                     

12 cooked lasagna noodles

                       

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Boil the noodles according to the box.
2. Mix ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese and eggs.
3. Cook beef in saucepan until browned. Pour off fat. Stir in pasta sauce.
4. Spread 1 cup beef mixture in each of 2 2-quart shallow baking dishes. Top each with 2 lasagna noodles and 1 cup ricotta cheese mixture. Repeat layers. Top each with 2 lasagna noodles, remaining beef mixture and Parmesan cheese.
5. Bake at 400 degrees F for 30 minutes or until hot. Let stand 10 minutes.

This freezes great!  I quadrupled the recipe to have a few on hand for busy nights or to bless a friend.

If cooking from frozen, it will take an hour or more to cook



UPDATE - try using no bake noodles!  Makes the entire process easier and faster!  

UPDATE 2 - I used regular noodles, but didn't boil them - that worked too!

Expired Coupons

I love watching the shows on TLC (and many other talk shows) that show the crazy ladies paying only a few dollars for an entire grocery cart (or 2!) full of food and household items.  I will never be that person.  I am thrilled when I can save $30. 

Alas, many of my coupons expire before I actually get a chance to use them.  I had heard many times that military families could use them, but had a hard time finding a place that I could send them to.  Not all military bases, or military families here in the USA can use expired coupons.  Then, I found an article on the Krazy coupon ladies website that told me:

Please join us in sending in your coupons to one of our many adopted bases.
Eligible Coupons:

• Send only Manufacturer Coupons; Do NOT send store or restaurant coupons.
• Coupons must be Clipped and Sorted into Food and Non-food (explained below).
• Do NOT send coupons that are over 30 days expired.

How do I sort the coupons?

Separate your clipped coupons into two categories: Food and Non-Food
Most military bases have 2 stores. One is called the “Commissary” which is a grocery store and the other is the PX or BX which is a department store. We therefore ask you to sort the coupons into “food” and “non-food” bundles so that they can more easily be placed in the correct venue once they arrive at the base.

Label the Bundles
Try to use a baggie to separate your coupons instead of paper clips or rubber bands.

What’s Food & Non-Food?
Here’s the rule of thumb: It’s food if it can be eaten by humans, is usually eaten by humans, and is normally eaten to provide calories. For example, dog & cat food would be “Non-Food,” but Ensure or Slim-Fast would be “Food.” Vitamins would be non-food. Chewing Gum and Mints are food.

Is there a minimum donation?

No! Please send any coupons you may have. We only ask that you mail them only once a month. It will just be easier business this way!

May my family or community organization adopt our own base?

Yes! If you prefer to send your coupons directly to the overseas military base of your choice, you can read all the details on how to do this at OCPnet.org.

If you would like to donate your coupons to one our adopted bases, please send your coupons to our volunteer, Amanda Brumbaugh, currently heading up our donations! Amanda packages many boxes each month for shipment overseas and takes care of the customs forms so you don’t have to!
If you live West of the Mississippi:

KCL Overseas Coupon Program
Amanda Brumbaugh
10960 W Bridgetower Dr
Boise, ID 83709

If you live East of the Mississippi:

KCL Overseas Coupon Program
Brandy McDowell
2930 Aubrey Dr
Paducah, KY 42003

Unfortunately, due to the mass number of packages received each month, those sent with insufficient postage must be returned to sender.

Mr. Yuck

Mr. Yuk

I remember seeing the bright green and black stickers with a yucky face telling you to stay away from something dangerous.  14 years ago when my son was little, I had some of those stickers.  Now that my children are older I have run out, but still feel that it is important to label cleaners and such for the sake of my friend's children.

Here is some information from the UPMC website.

To promote poison prevention and the poison center, the iconic symbol Mr. Yuk™  was created by the Pittsburgh Poison Center and was the first recognized poison prevention/poison center awareness symbol in the U.S. Since then, Mr. Yuk has been used to educate children and adults in the U.S. and internationally about poison prevention and to promote poison center awareness.
Mr. Yuk has raised the awareness that poison centers are available 24 hours-a-day, every day of the year to assist in the management of poisoning emergencies and to provide poison information. Every Mr. Yuk sticker contains the name of the nearest poison center and the national toll-free “Poison Help” telephone number: 1-800-222-1222.  Regardless of your location in the U.S. or its territories, dialing that number will direct your call to the nearest regional poison center.

Vist the Mr. Yuk online store. 
                                                                                                               
Visit UPMC

To request a free sheet of Mr. Yuk stickers, please send a self-addressed stamped business size envelope to:
Mr. Yuk
Pittsburgh Poison Center
UPMC
200 Lothrop Street
BIR 010701
Pittsburgh, PA 15213

Pinterest Project - Pizza Appe-teezers

Yes, that says appe-teezer.  That's because if you truly make this an appetizer, it is a tease!  I made these for a small get together at my house, then I had to make more - for dinner.  The kids loved them.   So simple, but..... there are a few things to make it easier.

This is what I will start calling my Pinterest project.  I spend time looking at crafts and recipes and all kinds of fun stuff - it's time to actually start trying it!  Here we go!

4 Simple ingredients: 

crescent rolls (I usually buy store brand, but these were on sale and I had coupons....)

Pizza sauce - left over from making pizza 2 weeks ago

pepperoni

string mozzarella cheese

Roll out the crescents into triangles.  Spread on sauce.  After actually making these and eating them, and making them again, I left out the sauce and put it on the side for dipping.  Much better - leave the sauce out - too messy.

Cut the string cheese in half

Put the string cheese at the largest part of the triangle

Add pepperoni - we like a lot of pepperoni, but add a little at a time

I started rolling.....

And added more pepperoni

Forgot to take more photos - hard to roll messy pizza rolls and take photos.

Hint 1:  Leave off the sauce.  Use it for dipping

Hint 2:  PULL and roll.  If you dont pull, the crescent fluffs and you end up with a lot of roll and not much pepperoni.

Bake 325 degrees about 10 minutes.

Hint 3: Serve hot.  I made these for an event and they were cold by the time I got around to eating (with company).  They were ok, but much better fresh from the oven.

Hint 4:  Do not over bake.  Crescents are sensitive anyhow, if you over bake, you loose cheese - not cool when you are making pizza.

Mint Floor Cleaner

Keeping a clean floor is not always easy or fun.  When I moved into this house I loved the white tile.  After sweeping/mopping multiple times a day to keep it pretty, I have decided that dirt brown tile would be MUCH better!

Years ago my grandmother had a "Roomba".  Loud, obnoxious, and expensive is what those are.  So, I started looking around.  I tried multiple swiffers, swiffer sweeper, battery powered stick vacuums, etc.  Nothing worked well for a long period of time.  They all work for a short amount of time, but with 3 dogs, 3 kids, a husband and an active life, I need something that will work well for a long time.

Enter Mint

After months of looking at reviews on Amazon and looking at videos on YouTube,  I decided that I liked the Mint floor cleaner.  After lots of hints, my mom got me one for Christmas 2011.  Now it is mid May 2012.   5 months later I still love this thing.

It comes with 3 floor pads, and I found 2 that work at the Dollar Tree.  I use it 2-3 times a day and people always comment on how clean the floor is with all the stuff that always goes on in my house.

This thing is so quiet you can forget that it is even on.

With all the activity in my house I never run it and the pad comes of nearly clean like some people say in their reviews, but I see a pad full of dirt and dog hair and shine on my floor, so I am happy.

I have found though, that I do not like the swiffer pads on it.  They don't seem to keep the floor as clean.  I believe that this is due to the deep grout lines that I have, but I will not know any different until the floors are changed to hard wood.  Also, I haven't had much luck with the mopping part of the mint - again probably because of the grout.

I am ok with my little dislikes (all due to the floor, not the equipment) because when I normal "sweep" with the mint I am so thrilled with the results.

Check the links I provided and let me know if you try it and like it as much - or more!  When the floors are redone I will post an update :)

Chore Chart

I have come to the conclusion that my house will never be fully "settled".  Why? Because I have children.

When we moved into this place 17 months ago, my husband and I said that we didn't want to move again for many years (we move about every 18-24 months).  For the last year we have been trying to sign on this place so that we can own it and do work to it to personalize it and make this our home.  In the last 17 months we have had 3 birthday parties, one Christmas party, one housewarming party, bought 2 new beds, rearranged bedrooms once, switched the playroom and classroom, and are currently in the process of adopting.  To top it off, this week I had an exterminator come and had to empty out the kitchen and bathrooms.  Since this had to be done I figured that would be a great time to start spring cleaning!  Every time I think I am done moving things around, it's time to move something else.  God has a funny sense of humor :)

In order to keep things somewhat tidy and in order I have created this chore sheet to help keep the kids on track.  This is filled out daily (laminated and marked with dry erase markers) and then when chores have been 'mom approved' they are submitted to my job chart so they can earn their allowance, tv time, etc...

I am also working on detailed job cards to instruct the kids on EXACTLY what to do when they clean their room, mop the floor, etc.  That will be in a later post

Health Tracker

I really don't like when I take one of the kids to the doctor and she asks, "How long has this been going on?"  I don't know!  I don't take a daily inventory of my children's health unless they specify that something is wrong.  On those busy days I may not get to ask how they slept or how they feel today.  We home school, but that doesn't mean that I see everything that is going on with their health.  Unfortunately, when you see someone every single day you miss some of the little things.

Occasionally, when I watch the news or Dr. Oz, I will see how important it is to watch closely for little signs that can help prevent something big.  So, that lead me to create a daily health log.  Everyone of us is supposed to fill this out every morning and every night.

One side is only for 3 days, so it fills up quickly.  I recommend printing this double sided.  With my son's asthma, I am able to have a place for his daily lung capacity tests, meds, and even the pollen count and what we did so I know his triggers.

I have this in excel, so if you want a copy, email me.

This has really big a big help.  The kids fill it out and when they are sick enough to take to the doc, I just grab my little note book and take it along.  This way the doc can see what their diet is like, how they have been sleeping and how they felt up to bringing them in!

Update - We still use this (almost) daily, but for other records I found these 2 great websites.  It will be a HUGE help in keeping track of my mom and grandmas info - for some odd reason I cant remember every date of every surgery for my 3 kids, hubby, myself AND mom and gma....

http://www.chartjungle.com/health.html

http://www.freeprintablemedicalforms.com/click2.php

Freezer Meals pt 4 - Sausage and Apples

First off, let me apologize for the lack of photos.  Whenever I make this the kids attack the pan!  This is a very simple 2 ingredient, one pan recipe.  I typically triple (or make 10 single batches and freeze in 5 bags) of this dish.  It is a favorite at our house and with anyone who tries it.

Sausage and Apples

Ingredients:

Jimmy Dean ground breakfast sausage

Can of Apple Pie Filling

To prepare:

There are two ways to prepare the meat: 1) ground  2) patties.

Cook your meat, drain the grease and cool

Combine apple pie filling with sausage and place in Ziploc bag

Freeze

To Heat:

Remove contents from bag and place in slow cooker.

Heat on low 2-4  hours, or heat until desired temperature.

If you do not freeze this, just heat until the apple pie filling is bubbly

This has been a family favorite for many years.  It is great for any meal and I never have left overs.  It sounds strange, but the sweet and savory go together very well.  My mom prepares the meat in patties, I however, ground the meat.  I have found that with 3 kids, the meat goes a bit further when ground.

Menu Planner

I am forever reading blogs and books and such about home organization.  It is a full -time job to keep a house full of kids, dogs, and friends organized!

One of the suggestions that always comes up, is to create a weekly menu.  This doesn't sound so tough, until you realize that it's difficult to come up with one from scratch that makes sense, is easy for everyone to read, and easy for mom to use weekly.  I have found a few, but they are all in pdf format and I like to personalize my lists (I have a lot!).  So, I am going to share my copy - it is in excel and open for you to alter and change as you see fit for your house :)  This is a photo of it, if you would like a copy, feel free to email me (I don't know how to upload an .xlsx file)

Cheerios

Remember when we were kids and eating bowls of sugary sweet cereal EVERY morning? Yum!   

Well, now that I am a mom (and paying the doctor and dentist bills) I am more careful about what the kids and I eat.  I used to live off Cookie crisp and Reese's puffs cereal. I still buy those, but its rare and only as a snack, never a meal.

Well back in February, after a "lock in" at my house, a boy left a box of chocolate Cheerios at my house. 

I thought, hmmm, chocolate cheerios?  The kids and I tried them, they were ok. Not something I would eat every morning. Then I saw an ad for peanut butter Cheerios!   

 Whoah!  It took me about 3 weeks to find a store that actually had them in stock, but when I did we were very excited!  We went home and mixed the box of chocolate and the box of peanut butter cheerios. WOW! 

Cheerios is a brand we all know and love. We give cheerios to our toddlers as a first food. We know they are healthy and are full of whole grains.  Now, they taste like recesses puffs!  Since that first mixing, we have bought 4 boxes of each flavor :)   My kids eat this stuff like they have never had yummy cereal before!  It is sweet, but not so overly sweet that I cant handle 1 or 2 (or 3) bowls at 6 am :)

I also found some yummy recipes at http://www.cheerios.com/Products/Chocolate-Cheerios using Chocolate Cheerios.  I bet if I mixed the two flavors together I could create pure bliss!

Update 6/29/12 -

I just bought 4 more boxes each of the choco and pb cheerios, and all over the choco box is "MAKE YOUR CHEERIOS MIX!"  They are giving us flavor combos besides (it wasn't even included!:{ ) chocolate.  I got most of the ideas from their facebook page

Banana Nut + Chocolate = 

Cinnamon burst + Frosted =













Banana nut + Fruity = 

Freezer meals pt 3 - Chicken Tortilla Soup

Chicken Tortilla Soup

 

Ingredients:

1lb chicken breast, cooked and shredded

15oz can sweet whole corn kernels, drained

15oz can diced tomatoes, drained

5 cups chicken stock

3/4 cup onion, chopped

3/4 cup green pepper, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 tsp chili powder

1 1/2 tsp salt, divided

1 tsp ground pepper, divided

Monterey Jack cheese, shredded

Seasoned tortilla strips - Keep these separate until time to serve

Directions:

To a large pot add all of your ingredients, mix well.  Scoop into Ziploc freezer bag.  Freeze.

To serve:

Defrost in refrigerator overnight

Add contents of bag to crock pot and cook on low 6-8 hours or high for 3-4.

When ready to eat:

Top off with a generous helping of shredded cheese and seasoned tortilla strips. Soup may be stored in the fridge for up to several days. 

Lysol Touchless Soap Dispenser

We do a lot of hand washing in this house.  After picking up dog poo, using the bathroom, touching raw meat, sneezing, coughing, after we have been out anywhere else....  Hands are gross.  When this soap dispenser first came out, I thought "just another thing for the bathrooms."  Gotta say - I kinda like it.  I don't have to wash the soap dispenser every couple of days any more.  The only problem is that I am always buying refills.  They are expensive and hard to find.  I am really surprised at how hard refills are to find.  I can find dispensers all day long, but not refills.  My solution - refill it myself with a cheaper soap.

In order to do this, take the soap container off the dispenser, turn it upside down and CAREFULLY take a butter knife and insert it under the rim of the soap container.  It pops right off.

 

I take this time to clean the entire thing.  The dispenser and the residue from the lid of the soap container. 

I have noticed that the area where the soap comes out can get clogged when using a thick soap - like sofsoap.  If the dispenser is flashing red, has newer batteries, but wont dispense soap, make sure that the area where the soap comes out is clean and residue free. 

Put in the new soap (I am using a .10 bottle of Palmolive I got on clearance

When the bottle is full again, simply put the lid back on.  Notice where the white sticker thing is.

Make sure that the white sticker is on top of the red-orange spot on the dispenser.

Now your soap dispenser is ready to go.  I wouldn't do this every time, but it works for a few refills.  It is a bugger to get off, but really saves a lot of money.

  

Ice Cream Cupcakes

For my grand and great-grandmothers birthdays we decided to make them a less-sugary, unconventional treat;  So we decided on Ice cream Cupcakes!

Ingredients:  

 1 container of strawberries

 1 tub vanilla ice cream

 1 box chocolate cake 

 1 box fancy cupcake holders

 1 bag cheap cupcake holders

 1 box strawberry JELL-O pudding mix

 1 tub strawberry cream cheese

1 individual size container strawberry yogurt

1 tub strawberry or original Cool Whip

 Ingredients on back of cake box

 Make cake batter according to package directions - stir until smooth

Scoop the batter into the cheap cup cake holders.

  

  You are making the top and bottom of the cupcakes.

                                                    

 

MMM! Yummy!

Bake Cupcakes according to the package directions and allow to cool.

While cupcakes are cooking - use a separate cupcake tin to make the ice cream molds.  We lined the tins with foil so the ice cream would be easy to remove.

We tried two different ways with the ice cream - 

1. Use an apple core-er and take the center of the cooled cucake out and then fill the hole with ice cream

 

  

This worked ok, but there wasn't much ice cream.  So, we thought about option 2 - a layer of ice cream

1st - cut the cup cake in half (like a layer cake) and put the (previously made and frozen) ice cream patty in the middle

Which ever way you decide to put the ice cream in works.  Then we made the icing!

This part was super yummy!

Mix together the yogurt, cool whip, cream cheese, and pudding mix.  Just for kicks we also added freshly chopped strawberries.

The strawberries helped enhance the flavor!

Then we put the icing on top in  large dollops

Just for fun, on some of these we also added sliced berries to the middle.

This one had the ice cream in the center  ;)

Now, I love DIY, and I love baking, but this WAS an experiment.

These tasted really yummy - when they were fresh.  After freezing for a few hours, we discovered the flaws.

1 - frozen strawberries are hard to eat

2 - frozen cake isn't very yummy

3 - the icing freezes

Now, the solution to the problem..... Well, we came up with 2 of them.

1.  Leave the ice cream out.  Now since this just isn't possible - THEY'RE ICE CREAM CUPCAKES! This was not going to happen.  This is a possibility if  we were going to take them to church and there was no way to freeze them, but otherwise, they have to have ice cream!

2.  Put the cupcakes together right before serving them.  Seems like a simple thing, why didn't we think of that before......

Freezer meals pt 2 - chili

I love making homemade chili - this stuff makes it yummy and super easy.



Tonight I made 18 quarts and put it into 9 gallon sized freezer bags (obviously not completely filled - that would be way more than 1 meal).  I'm glad my kids like my chili.  This is a very easy recipe to make since you have only 4 ingredients.  You can minimize dishes by simply mixing everything in the bag.  You don't even have to mix it because when you cook it, it will mix.

Important - make sure the meat is cooled before putting it in the bag or you can melt the bag.

Chili

1 pound ground beef (or turkey) cooked, drained, and cooled
1 can Hunts Dinner Starters for Chili
1 can Bush's Best Chili Beans
1 onion - diced

Put everything in a gallon sized Ziploc bag and freeze flat.

To cook

Defrost overnight in the refrigerator
Place contents in a crock pot and cook on low for 6 hours