Chocolate Chip Cookies

How hard can chocolate chip cookies be?! Well I have the worst time making them. I always screw them up. Today I made a recipe that was so delicious and fool - proof that I had to share!

1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup of sucanat or brown sugar
1/4 cup of rapadura or white sugar
1 package instant vanilla pudding mix
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups of semi sweet chocolate chips

Cream butter and sugars. Add remaining ingredients. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet for 10 minutes at 375 degrees.

That's all! Enjoy!

Sick Kids and Chaos

We have a lot going on right now. Sick kids, house needs and more. I need just plain ol' time off the computer.

With that being sad, I wanted to let you know that we will be eating at home still but I just need a week or so to get things back together. After I get things caught up, I'm turning off the computer and spending time savoring my blessings.

So I will be back, I just need a break.

I need a week to renew and refresh and get back into some good habits.

I cannot wait until the next time we "meet"!

Blessings!

Sausage Gravy

Day 20 of 366... 

On of the biggest fears I had about this challenge was that I LOVE food and there are certain restaurants which have food that I crave All. The. Time.... 

Panera has soups and sandwiches that I love... 

A local family-owned restaurant has the best sausage gravy...

And the list continues on...

Learning how to make some of your favorite foods at home can be a big cost savings. Today I calculated just how much I was saving by making the sausage gravy from home... I was astonished!

But first - the recipe... :) 

Homemade Sausage Gravy

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup flour

2 cups milk

1/2 pound sausage

salt and pepper

Brown sausage in a pan. Take sausage out of pan with slotted spoon. Leave grease in pan. 

Add the 1/4 cup of butter. Melt on medium heat. 

As butter is melting, add the 1/4 cup of flour. 

Stir. It will be extremely liquid-y. Stir constantly until it begins to boil. Turn heat to simmer/low for 10 minutes and stir occasionally. Add sausage. Stir and serve.

This is a super easy and quick recipe. Almost always we have the ingredients on hand for a quick and easy dinner. We pair it with hashbrown potatoes and eggs. Delightful!

Now for the "break-down":

• 1/4 cup of butter- that is half a $.69 item - we'll say 35 cents! :)
• 1/4 cup of flour - there are 30 1/4 cups in a 5 lb. bag of flour - Bag of flour (not on sale) is $2.99 / 30 is about 10 cents rounded up as well. We are out to 45 cents.
• 2 cups of milk - 16 cups on a gallon - milk is $2.50 around here. $2.50/16 is about 15 cents times 2 - 30 cents - up to 75 cents!
• sausage - We pay about $2 for our sausage where we buy it. We used half. So that's $1 - up to $1.75.
• bread to eat it on - We only get bread when it's on sale. We paid $1 and used half a loaf - 50 cents - up to $2.25.

$2.25! 

Now granted a lot of times we have eggs and potatoes with them but the eggs come from the chickens on family farm and are given to us at no cost and the potatoes are raised in the garden so no cost for them. BUT we often have leftovers and have at times just eaten the sausage gravy alone. It's rich and fills my family's tummies! :)

Now let's compare the cost of the sausage gravy at the local family restaurant to that of the gravy made at home. We generally had to buy three plates of the sausage gravy and biscuit plate to feed our crew. Each one of the plates cost $5 and then you add drinks and tax and tip. Let's just go on the sausage gravy - at the restaurant we would have paid $15 plus tax and at home I fed my family for $2.25 and tax free! That is at least a $13.75 savings!

Finding "copycat" recipes of some of your restaurant foods could be a great way to get you back to the family table. 

How about you? Do you have any good "copycat" recipes?

I hope you have a blessed weekend and see you Monday!

*This post is linked to Frugal Fridays.*

No Dining Out Diary - Jan. 19, 2012

We are now almost three weeks into our eating at home challenge. To be honest, I never in a million years thought it'd be going this well. I thought I'd be having cravings and I'd be throwing a hissy - crying, whining and stomping my feet - about not going out to eat. Nothing like that has happened.

Today was the first time when I had to tell myself "no". I was sitting waiting on my oil change to be finished and I looked over at McDonalds and thought, "I'd really like a hot chocolate and sausage biscuit. I forgot to eat breakfast."

I honestly think a lot of my over eating and dining out stems from boredom. I wasn't "starving" but I had nothing to do or think about so I thought about walking over. After I laid down the law and told myself "NO!",  it wasn't even an issue.

I have already seen a couple of HUGE positives from us eating at home...

Before when we were dining out regularly, I had horrible stomach problems. Every time I ate, I threw up and was miserable - whether I ate at home or dining out. Those problems are no longer existent. It is amazing!

AND

I have lost  8 pounds in three weeks! Woot!!

Now I just need to be more diligent about cutting out soda and other sweets from our eating at home challenge. But if you ask me, I think we're doing pretty good! :)

Blessings to you on your journey!

Slow Cook Chicken and Dumplings

Day 17 out of ... 366 - We're making progress! :)

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, frozen
• 2 Tablespoons of salted butter
• 2 cans cream of chicken soup
• 2 1/2 cups of chicken stock
• 1/4 cup of white cooking wine
• 1 small onion, minced
• 2 teaspoon parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon chicken seasoning
• salt and pepper to taste 
• 1 batch of drop biscuits

1. Put frozen chicken in slow cooker, cover with soup, broth and wine. Add butter, seasoning, parsley, onion and salt and pepper to chicken.
2. Cover and cook on high for 5 to 6 hours on High heat.
3. An hour before serving, drop biscuits in by the spoonful. Stir and cover. Cook until dough is no longer raw.

Enjoy!

Eight Reasons to Get Your Kids Around the Table Tonight

Photo Credit

Andy and I are working really hard to get our family around the table each night...

But why? Why is it so important to us to bring our family back together around that wooden sanctuary?

1. Kids might learn to love veggies. A survey was found that 9 - 14 year old children, who ate dinner at the fa were eating more fruits and vegetables and not as much soda or fried foods. 
2. It's the perfect setting to try new foods. My kids will barely sit down in a restaurant much less eat something other than chicken and fries. I would be less likely to allow them to get something they may not like and pay for it than serving it at home. I would expect them to try it and if it was not a favorite, I would not have to order another meal.
3. You control how much they eat (portions). Restaurant portions are becoming larger than necessary. Often the kids eat too much and if they don't eat it all, it's considered waste. At home you can start as little or as large as you'd like.
4. Healthy meals mean happy kids. Studies have shown that kids who eat with their families frequently are less likely to get depressed, consider suicide, and develop an eating disorder. They are also more likely to delay sex and to report that their parents are proud of them. When a child is feeling down or depressed, family dinner can act as an intervention. You are more aware of how your child is feeling when you are sitting across a table and watching them for 30 minutes or so an evening.
5. Family dinners help kids “just say no.”  Eating family dinners at least five times a week drastically lowers a teen’s chance of smoking, drinking, and using drugs. Teens who have fewer than three family dinners a week are 3.5 times more likely to have abused prescription drugs and to have used illegal drugs other than marijuana, three times more likely to have used marijuana, more than 2.5 times more likely to have smoked cigarettes, and 1.5 times more likely to have tried alcohol, according to the CASA report.
6. Better food, better report card. Of teens who eat with their family fewer than three times a week, 20 percent get C’s or lower on their report cards, according to the CASA report. Only 9 percent of teens who eat frequently with their families do this poorly in school. Family meals give children an opportunity to have conversations with adults, as well as to pick up on how adults are using words with each other, which may explain why family dinnertime is also thought to build a child’s vocabulary.
7. Supper can be a stress reliever.  If you take the time to shrug off the day, let your worries slip away and sit down to dinner with your family - you'll probably relieve some tension and stress. Sit back and have a good time with your family.
8. Put a little cash in your pocket. It costs less! :)

These are all reasons that we think bringing back the table works for us. Do you have any other good reasons? It would awesome to compile I huge list! 


Uncover your table, make it inviting and bring dinner and your family to the table. It could have a huge impact on everyone sitting around it! 


Enjoy and Delight in Your Family!

Here are some posts to help you find your kitchen table and bring your family dinner back to it:

Put away the paper.

Put away the clutter and wipe off the table. 

Sweep up the crumbs

.Make the table exciting.

*This article was paraphrased from a Fox News article and linked to Works for Me Wednesday.*

Apples on sale "From The State Up North"

This past weekend as I walked through the grocery, I saw that apples were on sale for $.69/ pound. What an exciting and awesome deal to stumble across. As I gathered them up, my mind wondered back to my applesauce recipe. 


My family eats A LOT of applesauce. I make applesauce bread, pancakes and many other recipes with applesauce. It is also a much desired snack.


Today for Tempt Your Tummy Tuesday and Tasty Tuesday, I thought I would share my applesauce process with you. It's easy and everyone has the supplies on hand!

Remove stems, leaves and clean apples thoroughly. Core and slice. (You can peel them if you'd like. I have a Kitchen Aide mixer attachment that separates the apples from the skin after they are cooked. Sometimes, I also leave the skin on and use a potato masher. I then pull the skins out of applesauce. I, personally, feel like there are a lot of nutrients in the skin and I should keep them intact as long as possible. I might be right. I might be wrong but it makes me feel better! :) ) Put apples in pans and cover with water. Add 2 tablespoon lemon juice to keep the apples from turning brown.

On medium- high heat, slowly bring the apples to a boil. Boil for 25 minutes at a steady but not rolling boil. Cook apples until soft and apples are starting to fall off of skin. The next step is all up your personal preference. It really depends on my mood and what the kids have been eating. When the apples are of ample tenderness, assess the water level. Sometimes my kids like more fluid-y applesauce and sometimes that like chunky and think. If you like fluid-y, drain apples until water is just under the top layer of apples and mash using potatoes masher. If you like thicker applesauce, drain water to about two inches of liquid in pot and mash with potato masher. 

Spoon applesauce into clean and sanitized jars which have been expected for chips and nicks. Take a butter knife and press along side of jar to release air bubbles, wipe rim of jar mouth and wipe seal. Place on top and tighten ring around jar and seal.

After you put the applesauce in the jars, remove air bubbles, wipe jar rims, and put on lids and rings, the applesauce needs sealed. Some people freeze their applesauce. I choose to pressure "can" it. I don't really have a lot of freezer space so whatever I preserve through "canning" really helps.

Put the jars in a large stock pot or canning pot (needs a lid), cover with water (water needs to be one inch above jars) and bring water slowly to a rapid boil. 

When a rapid boil is reached, allow the boil continue for 15 minutes. After the 15 minutes, turn off heat and leave to sit. When the jars are cool (Mine sit overnight) remove rings and make sure lids sealed. Applesauce is good, if sealed properly, for three years.

So if you see apples on sale in your area, grab a few and head home to make applesauce. It isn't hard and it has a great, fresh taste! Also remember this recipe next fall as apple orchards are coming alive!

An apple a day keeps the dentist away. So go and find some good apples!