New Year's Resolutions Part 2

My third resolution is to keep a strict budget. Neither Chris or I are accountant minded, therefore at the end of the month we say, "Where did our money go?" So Chris has made out a strict budget and we are going to stick to it.

As part of this we are going to save at least $400 each month. In order to do this I am going to have more meals planned, so there is no stopping on your way home to pick up dinner. This also goes with eating better. We are also switching our cable to Dish network. I am also going to open an Etsy store. I have been making beaded crosses that I am going to sell in the store along with any other crafty thing I come up with. I love to be crafty and this will give me a way to make some money on my crafts.

I have not figured out exactly how I am going to accomplish my last resolution. It is to spend more time with God. I am not a morning person, so getting up before the kids to have a quiet time is really hard. Also as soon as I get up early, Seth gets up. So I have to figure out a better time of the day to accomplish this.

This morning it hit me that I have to put all of this into action now. This is January 2nd and that means it is time to start acting on these. We have some PW Apple Cake in an Iron Skillet leftover from lunch at Chris's parents house. I started to have that for breakfast and then I remembered that now is the time to start cutting out the sugar. If I eat one bite of sugar in the morning I will crave it all day. I also woke up with a sinus headache. I want a coke so bad. It would knock this headache out, but no cokes for me today.

Well here is the recipe for the Apple cake for anyone that wants it. http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/09/apple-cake-in-an-iron-skillet/

New Blog

I have started a new blog call Mom, What is for Dinner? It can be found at MomWhatisforDinner.blogspot.com

It is going to be a place to keep my recipes and review what we have for dinner each night.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars

With the start of fall today, I thought I would share one of my favorite pumpkin recipes. This is from my husband's family's cookbook.

1 (16 oz.) pkg. pound cake mix
3 eggs
2 Tbs butter, melted
4 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 (8oz.) pkg. cream cheese
1 (14oz.) can condensed milk (Eagle Brand)
1 (16 oz.) can pumpkin
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 350. In a large mixer bowl, on low speed, combine cake mix, 1 egg, butter, and 2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice, until crumbly. Press into bottom of 15 x 10 - inch jellyroll pan. Set aside.

In a large mixer bowl, beat cream cheese until fluffy. Gradually add sweetened condensed milk, then eggs, pumpkin, remaining pumpkin pie spice and salt. Mix well. Pour over crust. Sprinkle nuts on top. Bake 30 minutes or until set. Cool, then cut in bars. Store in fridge.

You can leave the nuts off if you are allergic or do not like nuts.

Fruit Smoothies

Last night I had a bad night with baby. I do not know how many times I got up to put his pacifier in his mouth and pat his back. When he got up at his normal wake up time of 7:00 I nursed him and put him back to bed. He was so tired from his night that he went back to sleep.

My wonderful husband got up with the other two kids and they had planned to go pick up Chick-fil-A breakfast. Well, they got sidetracked and when baby and I got up at 9:00 they were still home. I suggested we put some biscuits in the oven and make fruit smoothies. I have never made fruit smoothies, but I figured it could not be hard and I was right.

So here is what I did:
1 small container of frozen sweetened strawberries
1 banana
1/2 lg container of plain yogurt
a little milk

I put 1/2 of the strawberries in the blender and pureed them. I then added a banana and mixed them together well. Then I added the yogurt and a splash of milk and mixed well. I wanted a more strawberry flavor so I added the rest of the strawberries at this point. Then we poured it into glasses and enjoyed!!

It was much cheaper than Chick-fil-A and probably healthier. Of course the canned biscuits with butter are not that healthy, but they were good.

Black Bean Salsa

I just returned from my weekend away. Well, it was kind of away. It was only 30 minutes away and baby went with me. It was still a good time and break. There was no house to be cleaned, no dinner to be cooked, no laundry to be washed, and someone else cooked for me. I had girl time all weekend long. It is nice to have time to just spend with friends.

We all bring snacks and I had a request to bring this dip. Everyone always want the recipe for this, so I thought I would post it.

2 cans black beans, rinsed
1 can white shoe peg corn
1 can rotel
1/2 red onion chopped
6 tbs olive oil
6 tbs lime juice
6 tbs Italian dressing
1 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup chopped cilantro (optional)

Combine all ingredients and mix well. Refrigerate overnight and serve with chips or wrap in soft tortillas.

baked oatmeal

My family loves this baked oatmeal. I found the recipe over at Money Saving Mom. I thought I would put a link to it on my blog, because I can never seem to remember if it is at Money Saving Mom or Biblical Womanhood.

http://www.moneysavingmom.com/money_saving_mom/2008/08/frugal-breakfas.html

Recipe flops

I tried some new recipes last night. They did not get quite the praise I was hoping for. Chris and I liked them, but the kids did not. Chris said they may not be keepers because we couldn't get the kids to eat.

This month's issue of Southern living has some recipes for vegetable plates. I thought I would try them because I keep reading that one way to cut your grocery bill is to not have meat every meal. I made Not Yo' Mamma's Mac and Cheese, Squash Casserole, and green beans.

The Mac and Cheese is very rich!! The kids did not like it at all. It makes a big casserole size dish. So with Chris and I being the only one eating it, we have a whole lot of mac and cheese left.

The kids did like the squash casserole, but not the green beans.

We usually eat leftovers every other night, so tonight the kids will have sandwiches with squash casserole. Chris and I will have a whole lot of mac and cheese!

Blueberry biscuits

We just had the best blueberry biscuits for breakfast this morning. I found the recipe on one of my favorite blogs Biblical Womanhood. Here is the recipe:

2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp salt
3 tsp. baking powder
1/4tsp baking soda
mix together in a bowl

cut in 4 tbs butter

add in
1 cup milk

Stir until lightly combined, then fold in
1 cup blueberries

Pat out carefully on a heavily floured surface until 3/4 inch thick. Cut out biscuits with a biscuit cutter and place on a heavily buttered baking sheet. Bake at 425 for 10 - 15 min. or until lightly golden.

While biscuits are baking stir together the following ingredients for a glaze:
1 cup confectioners sugar
2 -4 tbs milk
1/4 tsp vanilla

Drizzle glaze over biscuits as soon as you pull them out of the oven. Serve hot with butter.