Mommiedom

We made it through day 1 and I know we will do well for the next few days but I worry about the weekend when I admit I hate to cook and I enjoy going out but we are going to did it especially since we are not going to be around much the following weekend so no cooking will be happening.

Day 2 led me to think what we have in there. I thought about making some panini's and tomato soup though I can't seem to remember where I stuck my panini maker in the house. I think it is in the one cabinet but I have been to lazy to actually look.

As I started working on the tomato soup, I thought I really don't feel like this and those panini's would make a nice lunch on Saturday for us, so I than decided on some homemade spaghetti sauce. I am so the person to just buy a jar and maybe add somethings to wow it up but today, I had everything.

I took one large of pureed tomatoes, one small can of tomato paste left over from my hubby who likes it with his mac and cheese (yeah I know how it sounds). I also diced some onions, tomatoes, zucchini and green peppers up as well. I had diced carrots as well and minced garlic.

I took some olive oil and sautéed the onions and than added in the peppers. As that was cooking, I realized I had thawed out a pound of ground beef, so I added that in and browned the meat. After the meat was browned I added in everything else as well as about 1 cup of vegetable stock and a can of mushrooms. I let this simmer on low for about two hours. I did add also some italian seasoning and garlic salt. I added a lot of garlic because I liked it. I also added some pepper as well but that is up to you. I served it over some thin spaghetti because that was what i had on hand but i thought that those big noodles would be good with it because this was more of a Bolognese sauce. If my cream wasn't bad, I would have added that in to to add some richness to the sauce.

It was really good. My daughter had to servings of it. Now I will need to come pack to this post in the future to remember what I did. The other good thing was that it was cheap. I used all store brands in making it which I find as good as the name brands but way cheaper.

My freezer and pantry are so full right now and I need to downsize so much. I have been finding it hard to put new stuff in or even find stuff in there to make. I do have my freezer list on the outside telling me but I admit I haven't been that good in updating it as needed.

So i was reading a story the other day about a woman who hasn't bought anything new in five years. I was impressed by how she worked the thrift stores, barters, and finds things. I honestly can't do that myself but I do want to use less, waste less, and stretch things more. So I am setting  a challenge for the next few weeks to empty to the freezer and use the food we have. I am only going to buy staples like milk, and butter as needed. I will still be getting fresh veggies from my co-op every other week which will help with that as well.

So here I am starting out on Day 1 making a pork tenderloin, crockpot cheesy potatoes and some carrots. I like to have the basics with dinner a meat, starch and veggie so this meal had it all. I had  basic pork tenderloin that I seasoned with garlic salt and italian seasoning. These are a stable I use all the time and I buy in the larger containers.

The cheesy potatoes were another super easy thing to make with minimal effort and they turned out great. I used one bag of frozen souther style potatoes which I let thaw for about an hour. I than took one can of cheese soup, mushroom soup, half a can of milk, and about 1/2 cup of shredded cheese. I mixed it all together in the crock pot and topped it off with another 1/2 cup of shredded cheese. I set it on low for about six hours. They were awesome and actually better than if I had stuck them in the oven.

I also had a can of carrots in the pantry which my daughter hated. She told me they tasted like olives and that wasn't a taste she wanted with her carrots. I thought they tasted fine and were a name brand but to each their own with preferred tastes.

So let's see how this go and se how long we last on it. I was also hoping to maybe go a month without buying craft items and use what I have on hand. I have lots of projects so I might fidge a little and buy a few things so I can finish some of them but than no buying. We will see how that goes as well.

So this is a sneak peek at the Halloween tabletop quilt I am working on. Once I have it done and the in place I will be taking lots of pictures. I plan on it being a big part of my Halloween decorations. Have I said how much  I love Halloween and have been getting ready for weeks with all of my fun projects I am making. I am so ghoulishly giddy with all the fun things I am planning. Stay tuned but for now a peek!

All about going back to school:http://leaguecity.macaronikid.com/article/344982/mommy-confessions

On Pinterest I keep seeing the Sharpie Mug- here is a version. I thought what a cute and SIMPLE idea. I love simple ideas by the way. So I bought a $1 mug from the Dollar store and went to town decorating it. I tried many designs and they easily wiped off and I restarted it. I wrote on them with just words and drew a flower as well but nothing looked right until I did a bee which I did twice on it. I finally settled on this design with the cute Bee and wrote Bee Happy! on it. I think it turned out really cute and I think my Girl Scouts could easily do this and this would be a cute Xmas present with some tea or coffee stuck in it.

Taco Bell and I have become friends the last few weeks with their new Cantina Bowls. I have had my fair share of them more due to the fact Taco Bell is like two minutes of the road but I know they can't be good for you. So I got a recipe off Relish Relish for Shredded Beef Tacos. I started out with that intent to make that but well one thing after another and well I didn't even come close to that but instead took a pork roast and made some of the best shredded pork. The key here is slow cooking (got to love the crock pot).

I took one 3lb pork roast and threw that along with 2 cups of water and a quarter cup of taco seasoning (one packet would work to) into the crock pot with it set to low for 8 hours.

At about 5 hours of cooking I did cut it up and start shredding but that could wait till the end as well.

So that is all you need to do with the meat- isn't that easy. You could use the same idea and make shredded BBQ Pork (take out the taco seasoning and add BBQ sauce the last three hours). I made that as well and just as good.

So the meat is so simple and well most of everything else is as well.

I took some brown rice (boil in the bag kind) and made per the directions. I did add about two teaspoons of dry chicken stock into the water. I than chopped up cilantro and one the rice was done added that in as well as some garlic salt and lime juice (about a teaspoon of each).

Homemade Guacamole- two medium avocados that are very ripe peeled, cored and diced up. One small Roma tomato diced up, cilantro, garlic salt, and some regular salt. I mashed that all together and let it macerate for a few minutes.

I than moved on some Homemade Pico De Gall which was two diced tomatoes, one quarter diced onion, one half of jalapeño (deseeded and diced), garlic salt and regular salt. I let that macerate as well.

Finally I took one can of black beans and added 1/4 cup of chunky salsa. I microwaved for three minutes or until it is hot.

Now I know that sounds like a lot of work but it was all really quick. You just need to chop and divide the items as you go.

I than took the rice layered with the beans, carnitas, cheese, guacamole, pico, and sour cream. Oh my was it good. I wish I would have taken a picture but honestly it would have looked like a clump of stuff on a plate. I guess if I ever write a cook book that I can have my food "designed".

Well home you enjoy and by the way it wasn't spicy at all (when I seeded the peppers, that took a bunch of the heat away from it).

Miss O had a birthday party to attend a few weeks ago and it was a Superhero party. The only superhero shirt she has is a Spiderman one that is way to small and has already found its way into little bro's closet. So I told her she could go pick out a shirt at the store to wear, The problem was their were no girly super hero shirts. We went lots of places to look for it.

So she found this red superman shirt and that was what she wanted.



I said okay and than she asked knowing full wellI would do it to girl it up for her. So we went to the fabric store and picked out some fabric that coordinated with the shirt. I than went to work trimming the bottom and adding on a two tiered hello and black skirt to it.

She was over the moon when it was done and loved it so much. She told me it was so cool (lucky she is 6 and I am still cool). The morning of the party, she came running into our room and asked if she could get dressed right away so of course we did.

The outfit was a hit at the party for her special friend who is super sweet (he wore a tie to her party because he wanted to look nice for her)!

So here she is in her Supergirl Dress!