Easy come, Easy go

I like having money in the bank, but I hate when we to have to spend it on not so fun stuff.

Saturday, I went to Lowes to pay for our two replacement windows and associated repairs due to rotten window frames. We knew we would have to do these windows and planned on doing it in the spring. However, once we could see daylight through the top of the frame, we knew we had to do it now before the snow flies. Then on Sunday our water heater died (after our showers, thankfully). It's being replaced today. Ugh, almost $2k out the door for these repairs.

Don't the house gods know that Christmas is coming and we have a vacation we want to plan so that we can escape the snow this winter?

Thank God for Dave Ramsey and our emergency fund.

Thanksgiving

I'm excited to host Thanksgiving again this year. We'll have a few more people this year, so that will be fun. I love to have a house full of people. I follow the Dinner Diva's and Flylady's holiday menu plan with just few tweaks. I trade the green beans for peas and skip the cranberry sauce since we like my Mum's and the old stand by of the canned jellied stuff. This plan serves 12 people so it will be just right for us and will leave us with a few leftovers. Mum will do the turkey and gravy since I am challenged in that area (and the fact that I have the world's smallest oven) so that is a relief. She's also bringing her homemade cranberry relish. S is bringing yummy spinach balls and her pearl onions. Mmmmm!

Since I followed this plan last year, I know how long it will take for the set up and food prep and more importantly the cleanup. I can't have the sink full of pots and pans before we even sit down to dinner. ;) The plan is also great because it puts you on autopilot to get all the tasks done without being a frazzled mess.

I'll add these pecan pie bars to the dessert table. My coworker makes them for our annual cookie swap in December and they are soooo good. I can't wait make some. I just hope there will be some left for Turkey Day, LOL.

Do you have any special recipes or traditions that you do for Thanksgiving?

Next Week's Menu Plan

Here is next week's menu plan. Originally we were supposed to have house guests next weekend, but plans changed. I'll still keep with my plan, but just buy a smaller roast for Friday.

Sunday - Steak and Potatoes. I'm not sure what kind of steak, but I'll see what looks good (and is on sale) at the market when I go.

Monday - Tacos
Tuesday - Homemade Mac n Cheese with ham and broccoli recipe
Wednesday - Fish and Chips
Thursday - Chicken Bake recipe
Friday - Bella's Italian Beef recipe We'll have subs Friday with peppers and onions.
Saturday - Pizza
Sunday - Left over Bella's beef with taters and veggies

What are you planning?

Thursday

Hello out there!


I went to the dentist last week and it turns out I had a gum infection. Nice, huh? Well, the dentist gave me some ammoxicillin and a mouth rinse and it is clearing up nicely. I have to go back next week for a followup. Hopefully I will be all healed.

Anyway....

Last week's menu plan went pretty well despite Michael's crazy shifts and my sickly gum.

This week's plan is working out too. Here's what we've had/are having:

Sunday - Chicken and Dumplings - recipe
Monday- Mexican Mac and Cheese
Tuesday - Meatball Stoup recipe
Wednesday - Leftovers (was supposed to be a chicken casserole, but I was too tired)
Thursday - Fish and Chips
Friday - Red Beans and Rice recipe
Saturday - Not Your Mama's Tuna Casserole recipe

I'm working on next week's menu and will post that later on.

So what are you having?

Tooth Update

I'm sure you are all dying to know about my tooth, lol.

Well, I now suspect that the pain is not from my zillion dollar tooth, but my apparently no longer impacted wisdom tooth pushing down on it. I was feeling my gum last night and I can feel the tooth right under the gum and it's not even lined up right. It seems like it will come out on the cheek side. What the heck? I'm 33 years old, I'm not supposed to be teething!

I suppose it's time to call the dentist. =(

Ugh

I have a toothache, but I shouldn't. Grr! One of my back teeth which has had a full root canal and crown placed hurts and throbs. If there is not supposed to be a nerve there, why does it hurt?

I hope the Advil I just took kicks in soon.

OK, pity party over. ;)

Pizza Night

I had to change up the menu plan a bit for the week since there was a ground beef recall. I decided to throw out the beef we had just to be on the safe side even though I don't think it was part of the recall. So, last night we had the Sunday dinner left overs and tonight I made our pizza.

I used a store bought refrigerated dough, sauce, cheese, mushrooms, red pepper rings, black olives, minced garlic and a few pepperoni. This came out so tasty!

Sunday Dinner

As promised, here is our Sunday dinner. We had teriyaki pork tenderloin based on this recipe. I omitted the sweet potatoes.

I roasted some separate sweet potatoes with red onions from the Thanksgiving menu at SavingDinner.com. (Somehow my red onions look blue in this picture, but I assure you they were normal color in real life, LOL)

And we also had some fresh baked bread, yum!

It was a yummy meal and really nice since we actually sat in the dining room, not just at the kitchen table. I hope we can do this more often.

So what did you have?

Menu Plan for this week

Hi folks,

Last night I made a yummy Sunday dinner for us. We had teriyaki pork tenderlion with roasted sweet potatoes and onions and fresh baked bread. I'll post more on this later.

Tonight I'm making meatloaf with roasted red potatoes and broccoli.

Tuesday, we'll have the pork leftovers.

Wednesday, we'll have Cheeseburger Chicken with mashed taters.

Thursday, a veggie pizza with some store bought dough for the crust.

Friday will be fish and chips.

I hope that by putting this out there I will actually stick to my menu plan this week. I have all of the ingredients so there are not excuses. ;)

So, what are you making this week?

Oh, P.S. I just realized that menu planning is the monthly focus for Flybabies for November. It looks like I'm off to the right start!

Spider Cookies

Halloween is approaching and so I made some of my Aunt H's spider cookies for Michael and his work buddies. They were having a topping off day so I put some green peanut M&Ms on the top to be the (co. name) hardhats, LOL.

These are so easy to make.

Ingredients:
1 12oz bag of semisweet chocolate chips
1 can of crunchy chow mein noodles
Small candies or nonpareils (I used the green M&Ms this time) - totally optional


Directions:
1. Melt your chocolate chips in the microwave according to the directions on the package.
2. Once the chips are melted, stir in the chow mein noodles to coat them in the chocolate.
3. Using 2 spoons, scoop out some of the noodles and place the "spiders" on wax paper to cool and set.
4. If putting decorations on, do this before the chocolate sets so that the candies stick.

These cookies also look like nests so you could make them at Easter and use jelly beans for eggs.

Beef Roast Recipe

With the chilly weather coming, the crockpot is back in action. Here's a yummy beef recipe that I made last week. I hope you like it!

Bella's Crock Pot Italian Beef

Ingredients
3-4 lbs beef roast
8 ounces tomato sauce
2 1/2 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon basil
1 teaspoon parsley flakes
1 teaspoon oregano
1 ounce Good Seasonings Italian salad dressing mix

Directions
1. Place beef roast in crock pot.
2. Combine other ingredients in a saucepan, and cook over medium-high heat until it comes to a full boil. Pour over roast.
3. Cover and cook on high 6-8 hours.
4. Shred beef with a fork, and cook 30 more minutes.

This made a ton of meat for just the two of us so we got several meals out of it.

The first night, T was over for dinner and we made beef subs. I sauteed some onions, green pepper and garlic in olive oil and we had the meat, veggies and some cheese on sub rolls. Yummy!

Another night, I heated up some of the shredded meat with a little more tomato sauce and we had it tossed with some bowtie pasta.

This would also be great with some mashed potatoes and salad.

Try it out and let me know what you think and how you served it.

Monday

This past weekend was a nice fall weekend here. The air was crisp and the leaves are changing and then we got SNOW yesterday. I know I live the New England, but really, snow on October 18th? I think it's gonna be a long winter.

I just took it easy Friday night after work. Michael was out with B for a boys night, so I figured I'd take advantage and watch my girlie shows curled up on the couch.

Saturday I went out to get my hair done. I was in desperate need!!! Soo many white hairs were taking up residence on the top of my head. I guess that is the curse of being a redhead. Luckily, I have Donna to work her magic and make my hair beautiful again. =)

Saturday night was my brother's 40th birthday shindig. S did a wonderful job and the food was all delicious. I know that C had a great time! Happy Birthday to you again!!

Yesterday was a quiet day at our house. Just relaxing and watching TV. I didn't feel too much like doing my usual grocery run and it was snowing so we just ordered dinner in.

I'm working on my menu plan for this week. Any ideas?

Plants

So over the Labor Day weekend, we finally redid our foundation planting. I was finally able to make up my mind on what to get, thank goodness! As I mentioned before, we tore out all of the old bushes and have replaced them with dwarf varieties. We got a Dwarf Alberta Spruce, 2 Gumpo White Azaleas, 2 China Girl Holly, 1 China Boy Holly and we planted the 2 boxwood that S gave us. I think it turned out really well.



This is the before shot from around Easter this spring.







This is how it looks now. I really think it makes our house look "younger" and I'm so happy to have those big gnarly bushes gone.






We planted the China Boy Holly off to the side of the yard. We'll have to keep up with the pruning of these shrubs so since the boy holly dosesn't have any berries we figured it would be fine over in another part of the yard and we wouldn't have to worry about trimming it as often.

I'm really happy to finally have this project completed.

Now I just need to get my spring bulbs ordered and planted!

Have you done any garden projects lately?

A recipe for you

Hello all!

I've been slacking as usual with this blog. Now that summer is just about over, I think I'll be posting on here more.

Today I have a recipe to share that I made this weekend. It's based on a recipe I found in the Desperation Dinners cookbook by Beverly Mills and Alicia Ross. I tweaked it a bit and bulked up the veggies a bit more. Here's my version:

Quickie Turkey Chili
Serves 6

1 pound ground turkey
1 can black beans
1 can red kidney beans
1 small can sliced black olives
2 cans Mexican stewed tomatoes with green chiles
1 onion
4 stalks celery hearts
1 green pepper
1 carrot
1 clove garlic, minced
2T chili powder (I like it spicy so I did 3T)
1t cumin
1t garlic powder
Olive Oil

In a large soup pot, heat a couple turns of the pot of olive oil. Chop onion, carrot and celery and add to the pot as you chop. Saute those for a couple minutes then add the minced garlic. Then push the veggies to the side and add the turkey, breaking it up as you brown it. Meanwhile, chop the green pepper and add it to the pot. While the meat is starting to brown, drain and rinse the beans and olives. As the meat continues to brown add the beans, olives, chili powder, cumin and garlic powder. Mix that around and then add the two cans of tomatoes with juice.

Let that come up to a bubble and then simmer for 15 minutes or so. Serve with sour cream, cheese and tortilla chips.

We had this Saturday for supper and had the leftovers with some elbow pasta on Sunday. I had also made some ranch dip for the weekend snacking and it was quite tasty as a topper on this chili.

I hope you like it!

Monday

Hello all!

I can't believe I've neglected my blog for this long, Yikes!

We've been quite busy with our front landscaping project over the past month or so. There's still plenty to do, but I've come to like and actually be pretty good at gardening so I'm excited to keep puttering around.

Here are some pics from a few weeks ago:

These were my daffodils along our front fence. The came up quite nicely.







We also ripped out several old shrubs at the foundation, but it doesn't seem that I have a pic that actually shows that, doh! I'll get one tonight.

Now that the daffoldils are passing, my day lilies and hydrangeas are starting to green up and mask the dying foliage. It's almost like I planned it that way, ;).

We had a nice weekend. Our usual Thursday date night got moved to Friday last week, so Michael and I went out to Foley's for dinner. It was yummy. I strayed from my usual fish dish, since I made Garlic Talapia the night before, and got a pastrami sandwich. I was not disappointed.

Then Saturday, we did some yard saling. It was fun, but we really should have gotten out there earlier. Most of the ones we hit, mainly just had kids stuff left by the time we got there. Saturday afternoon we headed over to C and S's for some hot dogs and beer. S got C an early birthday present of a kegerator so we were all breaking it in. =)

Sunday, we just chilled. We had some of the pancakes I made Satuday for breakfast. (It was such a huge batch, I made them all up and put the leftovers in the freezer.) I used a recipe I found at The Pioneer Woman. They are to die for! Then I made meatloaf for Sunday dinner using a family friend's recipe that I had been meaning to try. It was also a winner! It too was a big one for just the two of us so I made up two loaves and froze one. It hope it will still be as good when I go to use it later on.

Grilled chicken, potato salad and corn on the cob for dinner tonight!

Well, I'm off to finish up some things before I head home. Have a great day!

Spring is gradually making it's way here, I hope

This past weekend was beautiful. Sunny and 60 degrees! Then it sleeted and snowed on Monday and is grey and drizzly today. Hurumph...

I took advantage of the nice weather while we had it. Though I had to shovel off the deck Saturday morning, it was well worth it. The sun was shining and Michael and I just sat and chilled in the great outdoors.

While enjoying our time on the deck, I got my seedlings started in their little seed condos. Now I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that they sprout and I can plant them outside come May.

It was nice to be able to get some of the windows opened to let the almost spring air come through the house.

The Cape weekend I mentioned in my previous post is this weekend! I am so excited! I've got my clothes pretty well organized so I just need to pop them in a bag and then I will be good to go Friday at lunchtime! The weather looks like it will be clear and in the 40s. Not too shabby.

I will report back and hopefully have some pictures to share with you next week.

Til next time!

Tuesday

Hello all!

I am happy to report that the weather here seems to have changed for the better. We are finally starting to see all of the snow melt. Granted, it's going to take a while given the piles that we have, but it's getting there. It's making it easier to really start thinking about my gardening plans for this year.

I picked up some seeds for my veggies and herbs. I can't wait to get started. I plan use the square foot gardening method for this garden. I got a book about it at the library and it seems really good and best of all you're supposed to have zero weeding to do! Gotta love that.

The February birthday run is about to start. Most of Michael's family have birthdays in the next couple of weeks. Happy Birthday everyone!

I'm excited about the weekend away Michael and I have planned with S and D. It's going to be so much fun! I need to go to IParty or something to get my St. Patty's gear.

OK, I'm off to check out OTC for some goodies. Talk to you soon!

Friday

I've made it through another week and realized I hadn't posted yet, oops!

I don't have too much to report other than we have more snow in from of our house that I care to have. All of these Sunday storms have been a bugger! At least this weekend, we are supposed to be snow free.

I think we'll be going out to eat tonight since I forgot to defrost anything for dinner, but that's OK. Our date night just got moved up a night. =)

I hope you all have a great weekend!

My 100th Post!

Hello all!

I noticed that today is my 100th post. Pretty cool! I noticed that today is actually our 900 day wedding anniversary too!

Just checking in for a weekly update. Nothing too exciting going on lately. I've just been getting back into the swing of work and life after the holidays and it's been going well.

I've been working on a perpetual meal plan. I set one up for January and hope to rotate it in future months as I find new recipes to try. I've been finding some awesome ones at http://www.kevinandamanda.com/. Last night I made the "Real Juicy Bacon Cheeseburgers." They were awesome! Tonight we're trying Amanda's "Alfredo Tortellini." I can't wait. I've tried a few other recipes and have yet to be let down. Check out her site and try some too. It's such a cute site and she does a lot of scrapbooking so her blog designs are super cute.

We've been doing pretty well with our budget and were able to send off a nice chunk to our credit card. I just love seeing that balance come down. We plan to have everything, including the truck, paid off by the spring. (That doesn't include the house of course). I'm really motivated to get this done and it's nice that come July, we will be debt free (except for the house) and can enjoy a nice long weekend on the Cape for our anniversary knowing we've paid cash for it. Woo hoo!

On another site I frequent, a forum was set up about getting back to basics. We're sharing recipes, home and garden tips and the like. I'm really excited about it. I'm especially looking forward to the gardening tips as Michael and I would like to set up a veggie garden for the summer.

Aaahhh, summer. Can you tell that I'm hating this Arctic cold and snow we've got going on here and am dreaming of the beauty of summer?

Well, that's all for now. 'Til next time, have a great week!

Happy New Year!

Hello all!

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and a Happy New Year!

We had a lovely few weeks and now we are back at work. Man, it was tough to get up this morning.

I've been reflecting the past few days on the last year. I'd say that all in all it was a pretty good year. I've been doing well with my Flying; we found our very first house and are loving it; I got myself better together so I'm not feeling like such a space shot. We've been doing well with our finances and were able to get a nice chunk of money saved back up after we bought the house.

This year, we're going to attack our debt. Other than the house, we don't have too much, but really we shouldn't have any given our income. Once we get the small stuff taken care of, we're going to throw as much money as we can at the mortgage and get that paid off as soon as we can. I've been looking at those online mortgage calculators and it's really amazing how much money you will save by paying it off early. I have delusions that we'll get it paid by the time we are 40. That may be a bit of a stretch, but worth a shot. Anything we do will get it paid off sooner than being 62, so why not dream.

I also want to get back to more regular blogging. I wish I could say I'll do one every day, but I know that probably won't happen. Therefore, my goal is at least once a week.

As usual, it's lunchtime, so I'm off to get something to eat. I think I'll go for a salad today.

Talk to you soon!

Tuesday

We had our office cookie swap yesterday and everyone brought such yummy cookies. My Tupperware was overflowing when I was bringing it home! I've only sampled a few, but so far they are delicious!

I went to Target last night to pick up a few things and was able to finish my Christmas shopping too. I just love that place. It's so dangerous because the one I go to is within five minutes from the house and is brand new so it is really well stocked. I can rarely get out of there without spending a small fortune. I was good last night and stuck to just what I went in there for and only spent $53.

We're going to start the Dave Ramsey plan in January, but have already started working on a cash only basis. I think that's what really kept me in check last night and I am very proud of myself. I hope the plan works well for us. I'm hoping to have our credit cards and the truck taken care of by the spring/early summer and then start putting the money we had been paying on credit cards toward our mortgage. It would be so awesome to get it paid off early. I keep saying to Michael that I want it paid off by the time we are 45, LOL. That may be wishful thinking, but it's a good kick in the pants to try to get to that goal.

Well, I'm off to lunch. Have a great day everyone!

Thursday

Hello all!

Thanksgiving went really well. Thank you Flylady and Leanne! We all had a yummy dinner and it was nice to be able to visit with everyone and not be stuck in the kitchen the whole time.

We've been doing really well with the cruising missions and Christmas shopping. The shopping is just about finished - I have just a couple more things to pick up. My vacation starts next week on Thursday so I'll do my wrapping then and then just wait for the big day.

My office is doing a cookie swap this coming Monday. I usually make these yummy chocolate crackle tops but my food processor bit the dust so I can't make them easily. I think I might try to make some spritz cookies this year instead.

On the baby front, we met with our new RE last week. She is awesome! I really like her and her plans for us. What a difference from my last RE -he was such a jerk! Anyway, she gave me a rx for progesterone that I started today so that means my test date will be Christmas eve. Fingers crossed! If this cycle works out, I will be soo happy. This is what I wanted to do last February, but Dr. Jerk wouldn't help me. Anyway, I'm being hopeful and taking it one step at a time.

I also wanted to send some hugs to SK. You know that Michael and I are here for you if you need anything! Love you!

I'm off to heat up leftovers for lunch - BBQ pork, baked beans and cole slaw. - Yum!

Have a great day!

Wednesday

Hi all!

Just a quick post today to wish everyone a safe and happy Thanksgiving!

I'm heading out of work early to finish up some last minute preparations for the big day. I'm really excited and know that it will all go well and even if it doesn't I'm sure it will still be fun.

Well that's all!

Have a great day and hopefully you all have a nice long weekend too!

TTYS!

Monday

Hello all,

The house was busy this weekend getting everything together for Thanksgiving. Michael had to work on Saturday so that gave me the day to dust and vacuum and move furniture to try out a new set up, and then move it back because I didn't like it, LOL. Well, it was all worth it as everything looks nice. Just a few things left to do tonight and then I can start the cooking on Tuesday. I set the table too, but I need to run a few things through the dishwasher since they got a little dusty in the china cabinet. I had time this morning to empty the dishwasher, so as soon as I get home I can load it up and then reset the table again tonight. It looks really nice, but I am wondering if I should put the other leaf in the table. With all the serving pieces it feels a little cramped so I think I will since I have to reset the table anyway.

If you're following the cruising missions, today is Clean and Fling day. I've already done a lot of the things in the mission over the weekend so that will be an easy one for me tonight. Maybe I can get my Christmas cards started instead? (Note to self: print out address list.)

That's all for now. I hope you all had a great weekend and Happy Monday!

Thursday

Hello all,

Things are finally getting back to normal at our house now that Michael is back on days. Yay!!

My domestic diva-ness is coming back and I'm loving it. I can cook dinner for us and we can sit down and really enjoy it together since he doesn't have to rush out the door to work. The bed can be made when I leave for work in the morning since he's not in it. I can put the house to bed at night and it still looks good when we get home from work since no one is there messing it up during the day. I know this all sounds kooky, but it's really nice to be back in the groove after being so twisted around for so long and the house just feels happy and peaceful again.

Continuing on the domestic front, we're hosting Thanksgiving! I'm really excited about it. I'm following the menu mailer from the Dinner Diva, one of Flylady's friends of course. It's been super. It has the menu all planned, the grocery list, the recipes and a timeline of everything you need to do from ironing my tablecloth to making the pumpkin cheesecake. The one deviation is that Mum is making the turkey. I really have this turkey cooking phobia since the one time I tried to do a turkey breast it was a disaster, so I'm so happy that I can guarantee at least a yummy turkey for dinner if all else fails. I have almost everything I need since I have been getting a few things each grocery order over the past couple of weeks. I just need to pick up the green beans closer to the day so they'll be nice and fresh.

Since I work outside the home, I've been doing a little bit each night so the house will be ready to go on Turkey Day and I won't be the frazzled hostess. I'll be setting the table this weekend and throwing a sheet over it to keep the dust away. Tuesday night I'll make my cheesecake. Wednesday night I'll be chopping my veggies for the stuffing and side dishes. Thursday morning I'll do my potatoes and then just pop everything in the oven to cook while I get the relish tray together. The fam is coming at 2 o'clock and I'll be all ready to greet them and visit, rather than be stuck in the kitchen.

Then, on Thanksgiving weekend, we can decorate for Christmas!!! YAY!! I'm thinking this would be a nice Sunday thing to do while we watch football. I can't wait to see our decorations in the new house. I think I might get us some new stockings this year. The ones we have are cute, but I'd like to get us some pretty, more grown up type ones now that we have the house and can start some new traditions. Also, Advent will be starting that Sunday, so I'd like to do an Advent wreath this year. I have the ring and will pick up some real greens to decorate it.

I've been doing the Cruising Through the Holidays with Flylady, surprise, surprise, LOL. I've got our Christmas cards and labels and stamps all ready to go. Our Christmas shopping is just about finished and for the things I still need to get, I know what they will be so I feel really good about it. We'll be hosting Christmas Eve and I know what I'll be making for dinner and who is coming so all and all, I really have been cruising and can enjoy the season!

Well, it's almost lunchtime and I'm starved so I'd better sign off. Happy Thursday!