Meatballs and Sauce

It is funny why we do certain things we do. How much of who we are and what we do is shaped by our parents. How we adopt different qualities and habits from them. Even ones we hated as children we find ourselves doing as adults.

Last night, my sister's family and mine sat down for dinner to remember our Daddy. Over the last 5 years we have frequented various restaurants in the area he enjoyed (the man loved a chinese buffet) but this year I decided to cook. For quite some time after I got married my daddy would have Spaghetti Sunday at his house. He would make sauce from scratch, roll meatballs and have some sort of pasta or spaghetti. He then would invite everyone he knew! You can after all always throw more pasta on the stove.

Sauce was a big deal to my daddy. He always made his own and he very rarely ate anything with a red sauce out. When we were visiting the venue for my wedding reception, he sat down at the bar to discuss some points with the owner of the club and promptly asked him to taste his sauce. This is something that had never been requested before but the owner graciously went to the back and brought out some sauce and bread. My daddy would deem the sauce acceptable and sign the contract for the venue. When we got outside I asked him what he really thought of the sauce and he said "Its pretty fucking good sauce."

One of my proudest moments was when my own sauce was declared "pretty fucking good sauce." But why would it not be I studied at the knee of the master. I loved cooking with and for my daddy. My pasta salad was called a taste adventure. I packed it so full of stuff that no two bites were the same. I was allowed to help with the preparations for La Vigilia (Feast of Seven Fishes) on Christmas Eve. And sometimes he would ask me to make him something I made for him before. (highest praise)

One afternoon I went over to make sauce and meatballs with him and while we were rolling the meatballs I asked him why he rolled his meatballs so big. When I say so big, I am talking a meatball the size of a regulation tennis ball.

Does it have to do with keeping them so moist? No
Do they hold their shape better in the sauce? No
Is it better for them when you are baking them in the oven? No.

Then why are you rolling them so big?

The answer was simple. He hated rolling meatballs. So instead of rolling 20-25 little ones, he made 10 big ones! And they were awesome!

He was also the pioneer of the Pink Scrambled Eggs and Poundcake and Pudding dessert, but those my dears are stories for another day.

Joseph Russo February 4, 1944 - October 11, 2008

It has been 5 years since you left us, suddenly and without warning. I don't think I will ever be used to the idea you are gone. I miss and love you. So lucky that I got to call you Daddy.

Death Is Nothing At All

Death is nothing at all.

I have only slipped away to the next room.

I am I and you are you.

Whatever we were to each other,

That, we still are.

Call me by my old familiar name.

Speak to me in the easy way

which you always used.

Put no difference into your tone.

Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow.

Laugh as we always laughed

at the little jokes we enjoyed together.

Play, smile, think of me. Pray for me.

Let my name be ever the household word

that it always was.

Let it be spoken without effect.

Without the trace of a shadow on it.

Life means all that it ever meant.

It is the same that it ever was.

There is absolute unbroken continuity.

Why should I be out of mind

because I am out of sight?

I am but waiting for you.

For an interval.

Somewhere. Very near.

Just around the corner.

All is well.

Henry Scott Holland ~ 1847-1918

Canon of St. Paul's Cathedral ~ London. UK 

Please stay tuned for more posts starting August 1.

A Camping We Will Go...

I am my daughter's Girl Scout Troop Leader.  It is a job that I love! I love the Girl Scout organization as a whole and everything it stands for. I love the confidence it instills our girls. I love the lessons it teaches and the principles it imparts.

I do NOT however love the thought of camping. I don't understand why this has to be part of the Girl Scout culture. I am not an outdoorsy person. I don't like to be dirty, I don't like bugs and in general I don't really care to be out in nature. I can appreciate the beauty of the world without getting all up in it. My general stand on camping is why when I have a nice little house and there are wonderful things in the world called hotels would I want to go out and pretend to be homeless.

Here at the foothills of the Adirondacks, camping seems to be a way of life. I have never encountered so many people who camp! And LOVE it. It seems to be something in their DNA. I am not talking slide out Class A RV camping. I am talking tent and pop-up camper camping.

I don't know if it because I am allergic to every type of tree and pollen in existence or because just the thought of campfire smoke sends my asthma into overdrive, the thought of camping makes me break out in a cold sweat.  I blame my mother for raising a girly girl who does not like to get dirty.  My one prior camping experience was when I was in college. It was a nice evening with the Sigma Nu's until I saw where I was expected to sleep.  I promptly walked out of the woods, got into my car, and drove back to Greensboro in the middle of the night. Back to my nice warm bed in my nice warm HOUSE.

Ok, so we get that I don't like to camp. The thought of it causes involuntary shudders to run up my spine. Well, this year...

 I took my girls camping. 

Here is a little bit of what my poor camping deprived child thought she would be doing.
Go ahead click the link. It is worth a good laugh.

I promised them we would go and we did. Two nights in the woods.  It could have been much worse. We were camping at a former Girl Scout camp called Camp Little Notch.  My troop was assigned to a cabin. So the big inconvenience there was that I did not bring an air mattress and we had to sleep on the floor.  But we did have power and running water, although no shower or bathroom.

My girls were in their glory. They loved every minute of it. We had lovely cabin mates who introduced me to something called a Banana Smore! The girls swam and sang and we had a dance.  In the week leading up to Encampment I cooked and froze 7 gallons of spaghetti sauce for our big spaghetti dinner in the dining hall on Saturday night. After which they had a dance.  There is nothing funnier than 75 little girls dancing Gangnam Style.

I know my Beauty had a wonderful time. On the way home in a very quiet voice I asked my little campers of they would like to do it again and was met with a resounding YES! I am not saying I will take them next year but I do have a tote of camping supplies and gear in the basement.

I found this recipe for Grilled S'more Banana Packets from Neighbor Food blog and I am totally stealing her picture so you can see it.

Ingredients

• 1 banana
• Handful of chocolate chips
• Handful of marshmallows
• 1 graham cracker
• Other additions, if desired: peanut butter, nuts, nutella, jam, etc.

Instructions

1. Heat a grill to about 350 degrees.
2. Using a knife, cut out a small strip of peel from the top of your banana, leaving one end intact. Pull back the strip, and use a knife or spoon to carve a shallow “canyon” down the center of your banana. Eat the piece of banana you carve out. 
3. Fill the canyon with chocolate chips and marshmallows and other mix ins if desired. Stuff it as full as you can! You can also smear some peanut butter or Biscoff spread on before you start.
4. Place the peel back into place then wrap a square of foil tightly around the banana.
5. Set foil packets directly on the grill, cover, and cook for 10-12 minutes or until marshmallows and chocolate are melted.
6. Remove from the grill and carefully pull away foil. It may take some marshmallow with it…don’t worry! Pull back the peel and dig in!

You call yourself Italian?

I am proud of my Italian heritage. In someways I am very Italian in others, not so much. I love pasta. I talk with my hands. I have an overwhelming desire to feed and mother everyone I come across.  

On the other hand, I don't drink coffee of any kind (latte, espresso, cappuccino me no likey). My cousins called me the hairless Ginny and....

I am not a big fan of pizza per say.  It is a little too bready for me and I never seem to get a take out pizza that has enough sauce on it for my taste. (I like a very saucy pizza!)  Often I am expecting one thing and receive a version I would not have anticipated. Burned broccoli on a white pizza. Sausage that looks more like rabbit pellets than sausage.  Crust burned on the bottom.  These are things that will ruin my night. 

This being said. I do enjoy making my own pizzas at home. I can control the ingredients and the sauce content.  I like a thin crispy crust but not burnt.  I also like to fool around with non traditional pizza ingredients on my pies.  BBQ chicken, Chicken Satay, Ruben, BLT.... 

One of my favorites is BBQ Chicken Pizza.  I love Sandra Lee's concept of semi homemade. Ingredients prepped for you by the store that you can then pull together to make your own dinner. 

On a recent trip to Florida I stocked up on Curly's Sauceless Pulled Chicken. I am not sure why but they stopped selling it up here by me.  I love to make myself little White BBQ pulled chicken sliders on King's Hawaiian Sweet rolls. But I digress.  I realized I had room in my cooler for more of the sauceless pulled chickens and sent my wonderful husband to Publix to get more.  HE came back with Curly's Pulled Barbecue Chicken. (I guess the universe was saying 9 packs of pulled sauceless chicken was enough!) No worries, I can use that too!  One of the things I can do with it is my yummy Almost Homemade BBQ Chicken Pizza. It is a favorite in our house. A little bit pizza, a little bit bbq summer. 

Almost Homemade BBQ Chicken Pizza

1 Pillsbury Thin Crust Pizza Crust

1/2 cup BBQ Sauce

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 cup shredded cheese pizza blend

1 container Curly's Pulled BBQ chicken

Pre heat oven to 350 degrees. Open Pizza crust and spread onto pizza stone or greased sheet pan.  Bake crust for 5-7 minutes until top is firm but not golden.  Remove from oven and spread BBQ sauce onto crust.  Next evenly spread BBQ Chicken onto crust in thin layer.  Sprinkle with cheddar cheese and then shredded pizza blend.  Return to oven for another 10-15 minutes watching so cheese does not form a hard crust but remains melty and bubbly. 

My Funny Gemini

Today we had my Beauty's birthday party. It thrills me to take a little peek into her social life.  I love to watch her with her friends.  In my eyes she is a true Gemini there is a duality to her that is so intriguing.

She is an incredibly social child. She has many friends and lots of acquaintances.  Much to the dismay of her father, she seems to be a magnet for little boys. It has been that way since nursery school. I wonder sometimes if it is because she does not talk, and there for does not talk back and is not bossy. Today at her party she had boys on either side of her at the theater four seats in each direction.  She was in her glory.

She is also a little person who needs her space. She has no problem entertaining herself and will sometimes even remove herself from a social situation for some alone time. I have no problem with that, in fact I have been known to do it myself. I love people and entertaining but there comes a time for me when that becomes overwhelming and I need to excuse myself for a moment.

I often joke about my delicate flower and her favorite movies and cartoon characters. They are not princesses... she had an extreme love for all things Avengers and Transformers.  On the other side of the coin, she does love horses and ponies. My Little Ponies and Horseland are a nice alternative to the Transformers Prime show that dominates our television.

Pink sparkly Christmas tree surrounded by Avengers

She has an affinity for technology and video games. Loud crashing racing games.  She also loves books. 

She loves to dress up. A twirly dress fills her with joy and pride.  On the other hand she has quite the collection of superhero t-shirts and has no problem getting dirty. (shudder) When asked what she wanted to be for halloween she chose... 

yes, Captain America. I asked her if she wanted me to make a tutu for her costume. She indignantly and quite clearly told me "Captain America does NOT wear a tutu".  (imagine that sentence spoke with a mouth full of marbles)
Just a couple years ago she was happy to be Pinkalicious. After that Penny from Bolt. In between I got to dress her as Hit Girl from Kick Ass.

As we come up on her tenth year I can't wait to see what my little Gemini has is store for me.  She is impulsive but set in routine.  She is dramatic and yet comedic. She is unique and yet just like every other third grader I know.

It is amazing to me that this bright, vivacious, social butterfly, as the doctors have repeatedly told me, never should have opened her eyes. She is a miracle on earth.

It's Kimsmas Day!

So I totally did not plan this but my 42nd post just so happens to be falling on my 42nd birthday.

Forty-two 

42

XVII 

Quarante-duex 

Cuarenta y dos 

I don't know how others feel about their birthdays but I love mine. I love it not in the way that I want the world to stop and celebrate with me. Ok, who am I kidding. I call my birthday Kimsmasday. And when Mother's Day falls on my birthday it is a Mother of a Kimsmasday! I don't mind aging. I freely tell people my age, much to my mother's dismay, mainly because I don't look my age. I love hearing how old people think I am and will kiss anyone on the mouth who guesses under 30.

So in order to celebrate my 42nd post on my 42nd year on earth, I thought I would post 42 things about me.  Think of it as a peek inside my brain.

1.  My favorite color is purple. 
2.  It was a good thing my favorite color is purple because it is the color of my sorority Sigma Sigma Sigma. 
3.  I have one sister who is younger than me. 
4. My sister and I live on the same block. 
5. I have 2 tattoos. 
6. I love to read, always have. 
7. I love to cook.
8. I am a terrible baker.
9. I read cookbooks like people read novels.
10. When my husband gave me my KitchenAid mixer for our first Valentine's Day after we were married, I kissed it. 
11. I have a degree in Social Work. 
12. I went to college in North Carolina.
13. If I could live anywhere in the world it would be in the South. 
14. I took sign language in college. 
15. My daughter is functionally non verbal and communicates with sign language and a communication device. (who knew?) 
16. I have a pathological need to return my cart to the cart corral. I NEVER leave it loose in the parking lot. Even in the rain.
17. I hate to get caught in the rain. 
18. My favorite Muppet is Pepe the King Prawn. 
19. I can't ever pass up Coal Miner's Daughter, Barefoot in the Park and Grease 2 when I come across them on television. 
20. If I had to choose between something sweet or something savory. I will always pick savory. 
21. Something sweet when eaten must always be followed by something savory. 
22. I love sushi. 
23. I hate spicy food. 
24. I am allergic to raw onions and strawberries. 
25. I love babies dressed in black. 
26. I also love skull prints especially on babies. 
27. I am very tactile. 
28. I won't eat Jell-o because of the texture. 
29. I won't eat bananas for the same reason but I love banana flavored food. 
30. Contrary to that, I love my Yonanas machine which makes ice cream out of frozen bananas. 
31. I don't eat foods that look like they need to shave. 
32. I only eat scrambled eggs I have cooked myself. 
33. My daughter is the greatest thing I have ever done. 
34. My biggest fear is losing my husband or my daughter. 
35. I have a one eyed Pekingnese named Leo. 
36. I have a love/hate relationship with my rescue dog, Brownie. 
37. I refuse to give up on him and return him to the shelter. 
38. I am a cynic at heart but my daughter has made me an optimist.
39. I make a mean gumbo. 
40. I love cartoons. 
41. I lost over 100 pounds. 
42. The last thing I do before I go to sleep at night is touch my husbands face. 

Holy Cheeseballs!

The weather has been so beautiful the last couple of days! Spring has finally arrived in the Adirondacks.  Everything has started sprouting and budding. I actually have some tulips and daffodils popping out of the ground.  I need to get outside and start getting my yard ready for planting and gardening.  There is raking to be done and it is not going to get done by itself. (But wouldn't that be nice!) I have a beautiful gardening board on my Pinterest, now I just need to cull it for ideas to put into practice.  My wonderful husband has promised me raised beds for my vegetables this year.

Because the weather has been so nice, I have been spending time outside with my Beauty. Once homework has been finished we head outside to ride her bike, scooter or play in the backyard. I have been looking for fun quick dinners.  I found this Grilled Cheese Pull Apart Bread by Oh Bite It on Pinterest a couple days ago and tonight I made it!

All I have to say is OMG!!!!!!!! This was super gooey, super yummy and SUPER bad for you.  It is definitely a "sometime" food to quote my good friend Cookie Monster.

There were a couple of little tweaks I made to this recipe to try to make it a little more healthful and cut down on the calories and fat.  Once I made it I realized that you could probably cut the butter down to 1/4 of a stick and still get the same effect and flavor.  It might even be possible to eliminate it completely from the bottom of the pan (spraying it of course with non stick spray or lining your pan with parchment paper) and just brush the tops of the biscuits.

The original recipe calls for you to use an entire biscuit for each dough ball.  I split each large biscuit into thirds. Also, the original calls for the use of 3/4 of the Velveeta and I cut it down to 12 ounces.

Grilled Cheese Pull-apart Biscuits

1 package Pillsbury Grands Flaky Layers Biscuits 8 biscuits

1/2 stick butter (1/4 cup) 

12 ounces Velveeta 2% Milk cut in 1/2 oz cubes

1 tsp garlic powder (optional) 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a 9 inch round cake pan melt 1/2 stick of butter.  Cube the Velveeta into approximately 1/2 oz portions you will need 24 cubes (I cut each 3 oz square into 6 cubes).  Split each using the layers into 3 portions.  Place a cube of cheese in the center of each biscuit round.  Draw the dough around the cheese like a little purse.  Place each dough ball in the pan.  You will have 24 dough balls.  

Once all the biscuit balls are in the pan.  Place in the oven and cook for 12 minutes.  After the 12 minutes take pan out of the oven and brush the tops with butter.  You will be able to use the butter from the bottom of the pan.  Sprinkle the tops with garlic powder if desired and return to the oven for another 12-15 minutes until biscuits are golden brown.  

Let cool 5 minutes before serving.  

This would be a fun recipe served after a day of playing out in the snow with a cup of tomato soup.  We had them with salad.  I can tell you that a little goes a long way.  Because of the butter and the Velveeta they are very rich.  I had enough for my family of 3 and then called my girlfriend to come get the rest to feed her family of 4 on her way home from softball.  

Paradise by the Magnalite

It's here! I finally have a Magnalite pot in my house! Generations of Guillory women in my family have and still cook with Magnalite cookware. My grandmother taught me how to make gumbo it one.  My mother taught me how to make chili in one.  Most recently, my wonderful cousin Patricia taught me how to make her easy crawfish etouffe recipe in one. (One of the biggest Magnalites I have ever seen by the way!)

Four generations of Guillory women. 

 I have seen its re release to the public but refused to use anything but vintage. (Yes, I am a pot snob.)  On my most recent visit to Louisiana and Florida I drooled over all the Magnalite being used to cook Easter dinner.  I tried like the dickens to sneak a pot or two out to our car (believe it or not we drove from New York to Louisiana!).  But to no avail, I left the Sportsman's Paradise Magnalite-less.

I had all but given up my quest when, on the last day in Florida, along with some hand-me-down wall hangings for my house...there it was. Quietly sitting at the bottom of the pile.  My mother's Magnalite GHC 5 quart stock pot. (squee!)  I could barely contain my joy.  OK, I didn't contain my joy. Truth be told I danced around the kitchen with it and then kissed it.

Now my Magnalite is home and sits on my stove.  I can't bring myself to put it away yet.  Tonight I am cooking Patricia's etouffee.  I know it is crazy but my Magnalite makes me feel connected to all the strong, beautiful Guillory women who have come before me. And one day soon, I will teach Keely how to cook her first meal in my Magnalite pot.

Sorry, forgot the Ro*tel. 

Patricia's Easy Crawfish Etouffee

1 lb crawfish tails with juices 

1 can Ro*tel (diced tomatoes) 

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can cream of celery soup

½ cup white wine

½ cup chicken stock

1 large onion (chopped)

1 green pepper (chopped)

2 or 3 garlic cloves (minced) to taste

2 or 3 Tbsp parsley (chopped) to taste

1 stick of butter

Tony Chachere’s Creole seasoning (to taste)

In a 4 quart pot over medium heat saute onions, green pepper in butter until soft (about 25 minutes).  Add garlic and cook another 3 minutes stirring constantly so garlic does not burn.

Stir in cream of celery, cream of mushroom, wine and chicken stock.

Increase heat and bring to a boil stirring constantly.

Reduce heat to medium and stir in crawfish and Tony's seasoning(to taste).

Cook for about 10 minutes and reduce heat to low. Sprinkle parsley on top.

Serve over hot rice. 

Being the Yankee Cajun that I am I do not like spicy food.  I put very little heat in my food when I cook it, so I serve this with a bottle of hot sauce. 

What to do for Lunch?

I have a confession to make.

I love cheese sticks. 

Not just any cheese sticks, they have to be Sargento Provolone Mozzarella cheese sticks. I can eat them three at a time.  It is my lunch of choice. It is my snack of choice and quite frankly it is my dessert of choice.  However, I won't eat them cold. They have to be room temperature or warmed slightly in the microwave (5 seconds).  Bump into  me out somewhere and ask to see a cheese stick.... chances are I will have at least one on me. (have cheese will travel)
I know that this is not a healthy lunch choice and really can't be done everyday with out some serious gastro-intestinal distress.  So I have a rotating line-up of quick and easy lunches that I make for myself.  All recipes serve 1.

Quick and Easy Shrimp Salad

5 boiled shrimp (16-20 count size)
1/2 Hass avocado
1 hard boiled egg
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp Hellmann's mayonnaise

Dice shrimp, avocado and hard boiled egg. In a small bowl toss diced shrimp, avocado and egg with lemon juice and mayo until well dressed.  Serve on bed of lettuce if desired.

California Roll Salad

4 oz Trans Ocean Shred Style Imitation Crab
1/4 Hass avocado diced
1/4 cup diced cucumber
1/4 cup white rice
2oz cream cheese (optional) cubed
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp ginger paste

In a small bowl combine imitation crab, avocado, cucumber, rice and diced cream cheese.  In an small bowl whisk together soy sauce, vinegar, lemon juice and ginger.  Pour dressing over salad ingredients and mix to combine.

Mozzarella Rollatini Salad

3oz Mozzarella Prosciutto rollatini  diced
     or 3oz mozzarella pearls and 1/8 cup diced prosciutto
1/4 cup diced roma tomatoes
1/4 garbanzo beans (optional)
1 tbsp balsamic glaze
1 tsp olive oil
1 cup chopped romaine lettuce

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Drizzle with glaze and olive oil.  Serve over 1 cup chopped romaine lettuce.

My current favorite lunch is a spinach and cheese stuffed pita. Sort of like a mini calzone with out the ricotta cheese.

Skinny Calzone

1 pita bread
1/2 cup baby spinach
1/4 cup tomato sauce (I used Classico Florentine)
1/4 cup Italian blend shredded cheese
6 pieces reduced fat pepperoni

On a microwave safe place place pita bread. Slice just the top of the pita and open.  Spoon 1/8 cup of sauce on bottom.  Stuff with Baby spinach. Spoon remaining sauce over top of spinach and add pepperoni.  Finish with cheese.

Cover plate and microwave for 2 minutes until cheese is melty and bubbly.

That is it. Simple and easy. I have even  made this with out the pita and just put everything in a shallow bowl.  Just a yummy and less carbs.

Dear St. Jude...

Dear St. Jude, I really would like to make chili.  I am not asking you to help me find the chili but rather my can opener that I need to get into the 7 cans that go into my chili.  Love, Kim

As you can see I have lost my can opener.  I did not realize how much I actually used my can opener until I found myself without it.  Every meal I have thought to cook this week requires said can opener. Chili being the worst offender. I did not realize it was missing until Tuesday.   I went to make the creamed corn to go with our tamales.  I got the corn out of the cabinet and looked where my can opener should be... no can opener. I glanced around the counters...no can opener. What the what?  Think Kim, when was the last time you used it?  Friday, self. I used it Friday to open a bazillion cans of sauce, crushed tomatoes and paste for me to make the 6 gallons of meat sauce for the Girl Scouts spaghetti supper. *HEAD SLAP* Oh no, I left my beloved and apparently hardest working kitchen tool at the spaghetti supper!

So I have been operating this week with one of those little poke and push can openers.  The creamed corn looked like something came and chewed the top off.  Wednesday we had chicken parm with spaghetti and I used a jar of Classico sauce (if I can't make my own sauce this is the only sauce I will use.  Right now one of the grocery stores around here has a great deal on Classico sauces so I have allotted $10 in my shopping budget to get 5 jars every time I go to the store until the special is over.).  Thursday we went out to eat after going to the movies (Jack the Giant Slayer at our second run theater in town.  Such a good movie.) My initial thought was to have chili waiting in the crock pot when we got home then I remembered my missing can opener. Tonight I made cheese enchiladas.  I am getting better with my poke and push can opener it only took me 10 minutes to open this can.  Hopefully someone picked up my can opener at the dinner. Until then my sister (who lives down the block) loaned me one, apparently she has 3!

It has been a little while since I posted a recipe (I have a bunch coming. I went to Louisiana over spring break and got to cook with my family!) So here is my Enchilada recipe from dinner tonight.

Easy Cheesy Enchiladas

8 - 6 inch flour tortillas
16 oz queso blanco
1 cup shredded cheese blend
28 ounce mild red enchilada sauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Spray the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray.  Pour just enchilada sauce to cover the bottom of the baking dish.
Cut the queso blanco cheese into 8 2 ounce strips.
Roll cheese tightly in tortillas placing them seam side down in baking dish.
Pour remaining enchilada sauce over of rolled tortillas and top with shredded cheese.

Cover dish and bake for 30 minutes until cheese is melted and sauce is bubbly.  Remove from oven and let sit for 5 minutes before serving.  Enchiladas will sort of flatten out.

Serve with spanish rice and refried beans.

Losing Myself in "Reality"

I found myself wishing in recent days for the time when I would get indignant over behaviors in people like trying to go through the drive thru at the bank without your transaction in order.  I worked in a bank for a while and it never ceased to amaze me the people who would pull up and not only ask for a deposit ticket but a pen as well! (I know, the nerve right?!) As the drive thru teller I would give them everything they asked for and if it was a Friday make them pull around the bank to the back of the line.

Another job I had was as a checker in a grocery store.  Again, I would marvel at how people would come through the express lane (10 items or less back then) with way more than the allotted number of items (30 cans of cat food does not count as 1 item) AND then want to write a check.  What part of express did you not catch?

Then Columbine was huge, Timothy McVeigh did the unthinkable, Susan Smith was a monster mother who drowned her own babies. My heart stopped during the Atlanta Olympics because I could not get ahold of my sister for a day and a half.  Slowly these events started happening more and more.  More school shootings, more bombings, more kidnappings, more acts of terror, more insanity, more and more and more.

There is a laundry list of things I have to worry about for my own child.  Will she be snatched out of my front yard?  Camps and counselors are thoroughly investigated before they get ahold of my precious beauty.  How are the children who have grown up with her going to accept her when they get into middle school?  How much do I tell her and how much do I keep from her?  We did not talk about Sandy Hook.  I did not have on regular TV after the Boston Marathon bombings.  Am I doing her a disservice or truly preserving the innocence of childhood in her?

With all this weighing heavy on my mind.  Between errands and chores today I thought I would get lost in a little reality television.  I decided on Wife Swap (I did not know this was even still on!) I pulled up the first episode On Demand and settled in.  It was a nice relaxing escape from the real world.  I am a reality TV JUNKIE.  I love it.  Scripted or not, I love peeking into other people's lives.  It is my true escape from the world at large.  I can forget everything that is going on and just focus on the train wreck that is reality television.

Now excuse me, I need to get back to Toy Hunter.

Why?

My thoughts and prayers go out to all in Boston in this time of sorrow and confusion. 

Food Prep

It is no secret I have been trying to save money this year.  My savings projects are going well. I am right on track with my 52 week savings plan and we all know my $5 project got a nice boost.

Cooking with fresh ingredients combined with my pantry is going well. We have cut our ordering out down to once a month and eating out by 75%. When we do go out to eat we try to make it a really big deal. Keely still gets her Monday Happy Meal after aqua therapy that is her reward for working hard. Saving at the grocery store is going well. Coupons combined with Ad Match is saving me $50-$75 from my bill each trip. I have been using my slow cooker quite a bit. One of the things about the slow cooker I hate is having to cook something on the stove before adding it to the slow cooker... My solution to that is precook and freeze. The biggest offender in this pet peeve is ground beef. So now I will buy 10 pounds of ground beef and cook it in 5 pound batches. I then pour the cooked ground beef into my over the sink strainer to let it drain and cool. (this also allows me to buy ground beef with a higher fat content = cheaper and not have to worry about the extra fat getting into my food) Once it has cooled I bag it in 1 pound portions and freeze them. I can get 7 portions out of 10 pounds of ground beef.

Another way I try to save a little is to buy my chicken with the bones still in it.   I don't cook with a lot of breast meat but when I buy it that is always boneless and skinless.  I can cut them into cutlets, tenders and nuggets but deboning a breast with all those ribs... my butchering stills are not that good.  However, I do use a lot of chicken thighs.   They are purchased with the bone and skin still intact.  I get my bulk package home and debone and remove the skin.  I then wrap them individually and freeze them in a zip bag.  I can then portion out what I need when I need it. The skin and bones are then frozen to add to the pot when I make my chicken stock. (Another money saving enterprise.) 

Sometimes I wonder if all this is really saving me money.  I am not working right now, so my job is to work at ways to cut costs and save money in my household.  

Last night I used some of my chicken to make Quick Chicken Marsala.  I used Campbell's Skillet Sauces Marsala packet.  (I got a great deal with my coupons plus I hit a sale.) 

Quick Chicken Marsala

1 pound Chicken Thighs

1/4 cup flour

2 tablespoons butter

1 package Campbell's Skillet Sauces Marsala 

Dredge chicken in flour and saute in butter until chicken is browned.  Stir in sauce and heat to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes until chicken is cooked through. 

Serve with sides of your choosing.  Pasta, rice or potatoes are all nice and the Marsala sauce tastes wonderful over any of them. 

Tiny Visitors

I found little visitors in my basement today.

I went down to start a load of laundry and get our dinner out of the freezer (stuffed flounder). There sitting on the little rug in front of chest freezer curled together were two baby mice.  After my initial heart attack of surprise and realizing that they were two little living mice and not one large dead mouse.  (It could happen that one might drop a heavy laundry basket on the floor and have it land on a mouse.)

They did not try to run.  They just lay there curled around each other.  I scooped them up with two little storage bins (speaking of storage bins, the Secret Shame Project is still working it is just more slow going because I got a delivery of over 1000 boxes of girl scout cookies the next day, which has taken residence in my back room.)  Matt just happened to come back to the house for something and I showed them to him.  He wanted to throw them away.  I could not bring myself to do it.  They are alive.

I checked all over the house and basement for any signs of mice and can't find any.  No droppings no nests, nothing chewed through in my pantry or basement. It seems so random to me that they were just sitting there in the middle of the floor.

I brought them upstairs and gave them residence in a medium size food container lined with a little burp cloth. All day they girls have been checking on them (did I mention we had a snow day).  Keely calls them "the babies".  I know we can't keep them but it was a nice break from the ordinary.

My Secret Shame

I try to keep up with the clutter in my house.  It makes me shaky when it gets out of control.  I can tell you with 5 girls here everyday and weekends filled with activities it does not take much to get out of control.  I have pretty well ingrained in my all my girls the clean up routine.  Things are put away when they are done playing with them. Everything is put away before the playroom is left.  Snack wrappers are thrown out when empty.  Cups put in the sink when drinks are finished.  Even the baby knows to pick up and throw away.  That is not the problem....

The problem is the day to day clutter that gathers on the counter and kitchen table. Magazines, papers, mail, projects you get the picture.  That all has to go some place before we can eat.  That place has somehow turned out to be my project space.

It is out of sight from visitors.  The kids know not to bother anything in that area and if am careful I can easily avoid it.... It is my hoarders corner, my secret shame.

My little space has gotten to the point where I stand on the one square foot of empty tile, look around, sigh and walk away.  I feel totally overwhelmed by my self created national disaster area.  I don't know where to begin.  Once I do begin, where the heck am I going to put everything.  It is a collection of girl scout materials, beading and paper crafting supplies, shoes AND storage containers.  Empty storage containers so I do have an inkling of an idea as to how I want things to turn out.  

Sunday I bought a set of banker boxes to make a transient item storage center that looks like this.  My boxes will be donate, sell, active projects and return.  I will set these up by the back door so everything is right there as I go out to run an errand and near my project space for when I need to pick up on my active project. 

I have been gathering totes for the storage of my holiday decorations.  Each one is themed for its own holiday.  Winter, Valentines day, St. Patrick's day, Easter you get the picture.  As each holiday passes my decorations have been going right into their respective totes and then down to a designated section of shelves in the basement. 

I am 100% committed to winning the Clutter Battle of 2013.  It is not that I don't have a problem purging (although you would be hard pressed to tell from my secret shame).  In fact I took a huge step last spring and actually got rid of some of Keely's artwork that I have been saving since preschool.  Wipe those looks of horror off your faces.  I kept anything that had a hand/foot print or incorporated a picture of her into it.  It was out of control.  Purging is cathartic.  

I have been looking for ways to keep the clutter at bay once control has been regained.  I am finding out that I have all the tricks in my knowledge base.  Sort your mail by the garbage, recycle magazine as soon as you are done with them. Scan pages you want to save.  Pick up and put away the small things every night.  It is just a matter of putting those tricks into practice and being consistent.  Consistency is my big issue.  

Here is what my dream basement would look like.  If I have my way, it will look like this by the end of May. 

My wonderful husband does read this blog, because I don't want to scare him with all the work that will be coming his way, I will wait to show you my garage ideas. 

OK, now accountability, I am going to get the secret shame under control this week by Friday I will have update pictures for you all to celebrate with me!