It's Friday!

I always enjoy reading Lauren's High Five for Friday posts so I figured why not jump on the bandwagon and do one myself.  Right now my days are so jumbled and it's hard to even remember what day of the week it is so I figured a Friday post would at least help me remember that the week is almost over.

1. Papa J has been working 12-18 hour days at football camps the past couple of weeks so we haven't gotten to see much of him.  But we did go to a Kite & Bike Festival here in town for a few hours on Sunday and it was beautiful.  Baby J mostly enjoyed the sucker.  My mom conscious speaking: Are you supposed to give a 15 month old a sucker?  Shhh!  Don't tell.

2. We got our cow!  On Monday the meat locker called and our beef was ready for pick up so Baby J and I made the trip to pick up our beef.  Turns out it was not as much of an adventure as I thought it would be; it was pretty easy.  Full post coming soon.  

3. Since Papa J has been working so much, he's really been missing his time with Baby J, so he decided to take him to football camp one day.  I was both excited and nervous, but I decided to focus on the emotion of excitement because rarely do I get a few hours to myself.  What did I do with my free time?  First, I cleaned, then I went bargain sale shopping and had lunch with a friend.  I know I'm turning into my mom when I decide to use my free time for cleaning.  Many years ago I would have thought that a bad thing.  Now, not so much.  It's funny how you start to see your mom differently after you become one yourself.

4. This week I had a goal of using up all the produce in my fridge and not letting it go to waste (I way overbought at the farmer's market the last 2 weeks).  I'm slowly chipping away at it.  The beet greens went into a huge batch of Hulk pancakes.  The kale went into cheesy scrambled eggs (which was not very good and I won't make it again).  The sugar snap peas & asparagus went into a stir-fry.  The rest of the asparagus went into a chicken risotto. The beets went into another beet salad (it's so good!).  And the whole wheat bread went into cinnamon toast, french toast casserole and a few sandwiches. I can't forget about the garlic scapes!  I'm proud to report that they have also been used up and were delicious in the stir-fry and risotto.  They were not overly garlic as I expected and they turned out very tender after a few minutes of sauteing in a pan.  I'm still working on the lettuce, red bell pepper, purple "green" beans, tomato, watermelon, bananas and pluots.

5. Today we had planned to go strawberry picking with some friends but due to a flat tire and a surprise rain storm, it turned into a soggy visit to the tire store, an over-packed van, a visit to the children's museum and an impromptu lunch consisting of more processed foods than I'd like to admit to.  The kids survived, the adults survived and the tire is temporarily fixed so we'll just leave it at that.  

How was your week?

Food Challenge: Local Eating

According to the documentary Ingredients, 20% of the United States' natural fossil fuel consumption goes towards the packaging, processing and transporting of food.  People always say we are in an energy crisis but before now, I simply contributed the crisis to cars with bad gas mileage and long commutes to work.  Never did I realize that the food I put in my mouth could be contributing to the energy crisis as much as the miles I drive.  So I started to think, where is my food coming from?  How far is it traveling? What kind of life does it have before I buy it?  Who is growing my food?

Unfortunately I could not answer most of those questions.  Instead, I bought food because it was on sale.  I bought food that we're comfortable with eating.  I bought food that I grew up eating.  I bought food that was convenient to buy.  I bought food with no idea where it came from, not even if it was of U.S. origin.  In order to help with the energy crisis, support local farmers and eat food that has better nutrients (because it's picked based on ripeness, not based on it's ability to travel long distances), I am choosing to eat more food grown locally.

One of our grocery stores does sell some local produce on occasion, but I have found the easiest place to buy local produce is at the farmer's market.  It's open twice a week, Wednesday afternoons and Saturday mornings, and takes place in a parking lot here in town.  At the peak of the season, there are about 10 vendors who sell a variety of produce, meats and baked goods.  Not only is it convenient for finding fresh, local produce, but it's a great way to meet the farmers and develop a relationship.  The farmer's market is only open May - October so come November - April I am going to have to find another way to buy local produce.  At that point I think I'll dabble in the world of CSA's (Community Supported Agriculture).

Here is the bounty of produce I picked up the first time I went to the farmer's market this season: beets, loose leaf lettuce, sugar snap peas, kale, purple "green" beans, asparagus, whole wheat bread and cinnamon sugar apple flat bread.

The easy part for me is shopping for the food, and it's fun to try new things.  But remember when I told you that this wasn't going to be easy and that there are going to be challenges?  Well, I found a challenge.  The hard part for me is making sure all the food gets put to use and eaten before it goes bad.  I bought all of this on June 14th and I have already used the ingredients to make: salad, roasted beet salad, sauteed beet greens, kale chips, roasted green beans, chicken pesto lasagna, sweet beet cookies, "Hulk" pancakes (aka beet green pancakes but my husband thought Hulk pancakes was more appealing since they are green) and normal bread things like toast & sandwiches.

But now it's June 22, 8 days later, and I still have some of the lettuce, beets, sugar snap peas, kale, asparagus and whole wheat bread.  And beyond that, I went back to the farmer's market yesterday and loaded myself down with even more produce.

Why?  Because I got excited about strawberries & rhubarb because the two go together like chocolate & peanut butter.  They make the best desserts!  Within two hours of bringing them home I made strawberry-rhubarb scones and cherry-rhubarb crisp.  Yum!

My challenges for this week:

1. Use the remaining produce before it goes bad.  I'm thinking maybe a stir fry, soup and/or frittata will be on the menu.
2. Figure out how to cook with garlic scapes.  Before yesterday I had no idea what they were but one of the farmers had them in bulk and was handing them out for free.  I couldn't say no to something new. 
3. Try not to eat cherry-rhubarb crisp at every meal. :)

My sister is sweet enough to already call me a locavore, but I don't think I've earned the right to wear that badge quite yet, but I do appreciate the vote of confidence.

Food Challenge: We Bought A Cow

This is our first step to more sane, environmentally conscious and healthy eating.  We bought a cow.  Not a whole cow, but a quarter of a cow.  I still think that counts though.  If you didn't catch last week's post then you'll be a little behind on my train of thought for buying a cow.  Here's the link so you can catch up.

Disclaimer:  I classify myself as a city girl.  I grew up in a suburb of Oklahoma City, with a population of ~25,000 people and in a neighborhood with paved streets.  There was no farm, no animals, no garden, except for the occasional tomato plant my Mom tried to grow.  We had about 3 grocery stores in town and that's where I remember getting all of our food.  I have never known how to buy meat or produce anywhere else but a mainstream grocery store.

Living in South Dakota, where billboards like "Beef, it's our STEAK in the future" line the interstates, I figured it couldn't be hard to find good meat sources.  Our town has a farmer's market so I started my search there.  According to their website, they have a number of meat producers that sell at the market.  I visited the market for a couple of weeks in May hoping I could buy some of the locally produced meat, but they never came.  I took matters into my own hands and contacted one of them directly, Cliff Millsapps.  Cliff produces grass-fed, organic beef on a farm about 50 miles away.  I contacted him through his website, asking for basic information on how to buy his beef. We exchanged a number of emails and phone calls before deciding what would be best for us to buy, which is a custom order of quarter cow.  Translation for all you city folk like me, that means we are buying roughly 100 pounds of beef (which according to Cliff, fills a small chest freezer or the freezer compartment of a combination refrigerator/freezer) and we get to choose how we want it cut & packaged.

Okay, so we're buying a quarter cow, but what exactly does that mean?  These are the steps it's taking to get the beef from Cliff's ranch to our freezer:

1. Tell Cliff how much beef we want to buy. (We decided on a quarter b/c we think it can last our family of 3 for close to a year - but I could be wrong about that - AND we only have enough freezer space for a quarter cow)
2. Cliff takes the cow to the meat locker to get butchered.
3. Cliff calls me to say the cow is in the meat locker and the hanging weight of our quarter cow is __ lbs.  I then write him a check for ___ lbs x $3.15.  (FYI, if you buy a full cow, it's a bit cheaper, $3/lb)
4. I call the meat locker and tell them how I want the meat cut & packaged.  I was nervous about this part because I don't know that much about cuts of beef or what I prefer or not prefer.  I basically just took Cliff's advice, got the steaks 1.25" thick, the meat wrapped in paper (vs. vacuum packaging which raises the price significantly) and agreed to try cuts of meat such as short ribs, brisket, heart and liver (we had the option of tongue but I said no).  I also asked them to throw in some soup bones for making beef stock and some bones for the dogs. 
5. After butchering the cow, the meat locker ages the beef for 2 weeks then cuts it to our specifications.  During this process the beef will lose 60-70% of its weight due to evaporation (that's the difference between hanging weight and the actual weight).  In mainstream beef production, the beef is not aged as long so the weight gets lost during cooking, which is why a hamburger is so much smaller after cooking.  Apparently this beef will not shrink as much when it is cooked.  
6. The meat locker calls to tell me our quarter cow is cut, packaged, frozen and ready for pick up.  
7. I drive to the meat locker (about 20 miles), pay the locker for their butchering services (~ $0.80/lb) and bring our tasty beef treats home. :)

(Right now we are between step 5 and 6.  I anticipate step 6 to happen by the end of this week or early next week.)

Don't go running for the hills just because I've said we're accepting beef heart and liver.  It sounded gross to me too but I watched YouTube videos on how to prepare it, then asked 3-5 different people their thoughts on it.  They all agreed that heart is good (when cooked properly) and the majority said the same about liver.  Plus, my grandfather-in-law's favorite meal was fried cow heart so it can't be that bad, right?  I also figured it would make a good blog post - How to Cook Cow Heart. :)  Stay tuned.

In conclusion: we envision receiving a good mix of steaks, roasts and ground beef (plus the organs and bones).  We are anticipating the final cost to be ~$6.25/lb after it is butchered, dried, cut and packaged to our specifications. In comparison to store bought ground beef, that is expensive, but considering a steak or roast, it's comparable if not cheaper.  Plus, this is grass-fed, organic beef, sans hormones or antibiotics and humanely raised just 50 miles away.

This is a whole new world for me.  More expensive, less comfortable (I have never visited a meat locker or prepared most of these beef cuts), more personal (I'm really getting to know Cliff, turns out he's a great guy and has a dry humor like my Dad), and hopefully more tasty & healthy.  I just keep reminding myself of what they said in Ingredients: as an industrial nation we spend the least of our income on food and the most on medicine.  And I can't get this one out of my head: meat from 100-1000's of cows can go into one, one pound package of ground beef.  I will rest more soundly at night knowing I am eating meat from just one cow.

Food Challenge: What Am I Eating?

In summer 2011 while vacationing in NYC I bought a book called Food Matters by Mark Bittman.  Around that time of my life I became curious about food: what it is, where it comes from, how it grows, when it grows, who grows it and why we eat it.  I dabbled around with the book, planted my first garden, but didn't take it much farther.

Once Baby J approached the age to start solid foods (July 2013), the food curiosity came back around.  As I'm sure most first time moms are, I was over bearing, controlling and cautious about everything that went into his mouth.  Something occurred to me one day as I was preparing our oatmeal for breakfast.  After cooking the oatmeal and just before serving, I separated mine from Baby J's so that I could add brown sugar to mine and a fruit puree to his.  You see, I didn't want Baby J to have any sugar so that's why I sweetened his with a homemade fruit puree.  But then I realized how silly it was to be so concerned about his sugar intake and not my own.  If I don't want him to have it, then why should I have it?

About a month ago I stumbled upon a documentary called Ingredients.  The documentary brings to light the local food movement and reveals the crisis our food industry is approaching in America.  Here a few of the points that stuck with me the most (in paraphrase):

• As a country, we've been educated to believe that food is cheap.  As a result, we spend the least of our income on food than any other industrial nation.  We also spend the most on medicine (per capita). 
• 20% of the United State's natural fossil fuel consumption goes towards the packaging, processing and transporting of food.
• Although our population is growing, our farm land is shrinking.  We are losing one million acres of farm land a year.
• 33% of the children born in 2000 will be diagnosed with Type II diabetes.
• There can be beef from 100-1000's of cows in just one, 1 lb roll of ground beef from the grocery store.

Since watching Ingredients, I've been running into several articles, blogs, etc centered around the whole foods movement.  In a nutshell, its the idea of replacing processed foods with real, whole foods.  Here are a few of the blogs: 100 Days of Real Food and For The Love Of (I haven't read this one as much yet but I'm intrigued).

All of these things combined have made me think a lot about what I'm eating and what I'm feeding my family.  I do 98% of the grocery shopping and cooking for our household so I feel a huge responsibility in making sure I buy the right products and cook the healthiest foods for Papa J, Baby J and myself.  I also want to do right by our environment and this beautiful place called Earth that God has given us to live in.  

I am convicted.  I have been blindly eating, not concerning myself with where my food comes from, how animals are raised or butchered or processed, or even how our farmers are treated.  I want to AM GOING to change the way I eat.  I want to AM GOING to change how and where I get my food.  I want to AM GOING to eat more whole foods and less processed foods.  I want to AM GOING to spend more money on good wholesome food, knowing it's better for my family's health and the environment.

I know it's a long road ahead to make these goals a lifestyle but I intend to take it one day at a time.  I also intend to share the journey with you, in case you are also interested in doing the same thing.  I haven't been the best at keeping up with this blog but I think that's due mainly to the fact that I hadn't found my voice or what I wanted to gear the blog around.  I am passionate about this though so I am hoping it will drive me to be a better blogger.  Be patient with me though, I am first a Christian, a wife, a mother, a ... and somewhere down the line, I am a blogger, so it doesn't always get first priority. :)

Here's the tagline to keep you coming back for more...we bought a cow.

A Simple Appetizer: Bruschetta

When I think of bruschetta four things come to mind:

1. Emily.  One of my best friends and the person who introduced me to bruschetta.  (This is a picture from her wedding in October 2013, she now lives in Japan.)  Emily and I lived together after college and I remember coming home from work one day to find she and her brother Paul making bruschetta in the kitchen.  Not only was it the cutest thing that she was cooking with her little brother but it was absolutely delicious!  
   
2. The movie Julie & Julia.  I have a little obsession with Julia Child that all started with this movie.  There are very few movies that I'll watch more than once and this is one of them.  When I need motivation, I watch this movie.  In turn, when I watch this movie, I always crave bruschetta...and chocolate cream pie but we'll leave that for another day. 
   
3. Breakthrough.  My husband hates fresh tomatoes.  He avoids them at all cost.  He takes them off his salad at a restaurant and slides them onto my plate.  Despite this hatred of tomatoes, he devours bruschetta.  He even sings a little song "I love bruschetta..." and does a little jig as he eats it.  It's the funniest thing.
4. Blank.  To be honest, I started this blog several days ago and now I can't remember the last thing that comes to mind when I think of bruschetta.  I'll let you know if it comes back to me.

Bruschetta is a no rules kind of dish.  I find comfort in a recipe and usually follow them to a T but not with bruschetta.  All you need to know are the ingredients and then you can make it what you want.  

Ingredients:

• Fresh Tomatoes (whatever type is on sale)
• Fresh Basil
• Fresh Garlic
• Cheese (Feta, Parmesan, whatever floats your boat)
• Olive Oil
• Balsamic Vinegar
• Salt & Pepper
• French bread

The idea is to keep it fresh.  Fresh ingredients almost always make a recipe taste better and it's no exception with bruschetta.  If you've never made it before and need just a little more instruction, here's how I made the bruschetta you see in the picture above.

1. TOMATOES.  Chop 4-6 Roma tomates into 1/4-1/2 inch pieces.  Place the chopped tomatoes in a bowl and drain any residual juice.
2. BASIL. Chop approximately 10 large basil leaves and add to the chopped tomatoes. (Here is a good tutorial on how to chop fresh basil if you've never done it.)
3. GARLIC.  Mince 3 cloves of garlic (we're big fans of garlic so take it down to 1-2 cloves if you're not such a fan).  Heat a tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat and toast the minced garlic in the hot oil until brown.  This will take a couple of minutes; toss the garlic around every so often to toast it evenly.  Add to the tomatoes and basil.  *Toasting the garlic is not necessary, we just like the flavor.*
4. CHEESE.  Crumble feta cheese and add to the tomato mixture.  I used an entire 3.5oz package of feta cheese.
5. OLIVE OIL.  Drizzle in a tablespoon or two of extra virgin olive oil (no need to be precise, just do a couple of swirls around the bowl and call it good).
6. BALSAMIC VINEGAR.  Splash in a tablespoon or less; it completely depends on your preference.  Remember to start with very little; you can always add more, not take away.
7. SALT & PEPPER.  Sprinkle in a little at a time, stir and taste test to see if it needs more.
8. FRENCH BREAD.  Slice into 1/2 inch thick pieces and toast in hot olive oil/butter over medium heat.  It only takes 1-2 minutes on each side.  

Serving Suggestions:

• Bruschetta in a bowl with the toasted bread on the side.
• Pieces of toasted bread laid out on a plate with the bruschetta spooned on top (this can get a little messy but sometimes I think it makes for a better presentation).

My Favorite Salad

This is my favorite salad.  It's the creation of the wonderful Pioneer Woman.  It's simple, it's hearty and packed with flavor.  It starts with a bed of fresh crisp spinach, then is adorned with salty, crunchy bacon pieces and a boiled egg, then topped off with a sweet & savory bacon vinaigrette.  It's the type of salad I crave.  It's a salad manly enough for a guy.  Have I mentioned, it's my favorite salad?  Yum.

Speaking of spinach, I am going to plant spinach seeds today.  I soaked them overnight in a bowl of warm water with a drop of dish soap.  Why?  Because that's what the books told me to do.  Will it make a difference?  I have no clue.  This is my first year to plant spinach so it'll be an experiment.  I am going to plant some of the seeds in a pot and some in the above ground garden.

As I mentioned before I am notorious for being an over ambitious gardener.  I am trying to narrow down my list of things to plant this year but spinach was a keeper.  For one, I had already bought the seeds and I didn't want to return them, and two, a surplus of spinach from the garden will give me an excuse to eat my favorite salad as much as I want.  Let's hope it grows.

Back in Action

It's been a while since my last post and for that I do apologize.  We can either dwell on it or just move on.  I vote for option 2.  I see this blog thing as a long term relationship.  We're going to have break-ups, we're not always going to get along, but for the most part we're going to have fun, we'll enjoy some good food and we're going to get giddy when we see each other.  You're paying for the meals though right? :)

Spring is in the air.  It lifts my spirits and brings out my creative side.  Here are a few things that have been on my mind now that spring is rolling around.

1) Gardening.  My husband so kindly built me an above ground garden last weekend and I just established another garden on the SW corner of out lot.  With all these gardens around our house my mind is running wild with ideas on what I am going to plant.  I am consistently guilty of over planting and this year is no different.  Last night I made a list of all I want to plant: arugula, basil, borage, chives, cilantro, hosta, mint, nasturtium, oregano, parsley, peas, petunias, peppers, rosemary, sage, spinach, strawberries, tomato, thyme.  Ahhhhh!!! A little on the over ambitious side don't you think?  It's fun to plant the seed but it's the maintenance, weeding and harvesting that takes the real work.  I'll keep telling myself that and hopefully I can narrow down my list.  

2) Pool Season.  I can't tell you how excited we are for pool season.  Baby J is a fish and gravitates to water.  During the winter his water fun has been limited to the bath tub and the dogs' water bowl so he's really going to get a kick out of the community pool this summer.  We are in our 3rd week of swim lessons and he's doing great.  With pool season comes bathing suit season.  Since I quit nursing I've put on a few pounds which I'm okay with but I just need to tighten up a bit and maintain my current weight.  To help me along I've been tracking my calories using a free app called "Lose It!".  It's easy, fast to use, and serves as a guide to know how many calories certain foods contain as well as other nutrition content (protein, fat, carbs, etc).  I'm always surprised at how many calories fit in a small amount of food.  I've also been doing a lot of Jillian Michael's workouts too.  Thankfully many of her workout videos are free through Amazon Prime so it gives me some variation in my workouts and keeps me sweating.  Her workouts are some of the only at-home workout videos that truly give me a good workout.  My favorites right now are: No More Trouble Zones and 6-week Six Pack.

3) Paint.  I have plans to paint the living room and upstairs bathroom.  Right now the living room is a neutral tan and the bathroom is blue.  The living room is going to be a light olive green color and the bathroom will be a light green color, kind of like a light green crayon color but a little less limey.  A couple of months ago I bought some bathroom decor that I am anxiously waiting to display once the new color is on the walls.  And for the living room, a....

4) Gallery Wall. Once the living room is painted I plan to create a gallery wall.  I rummaged my Mom's house over Christmas and brought back frames of different sizes.  As you can tell they are also different colors so I plan to paint them and make them the pop of color in the living room.

The colors of the frames will coordinate with this blanket and pillows. 

A friend of mine gave me the idea of using painter's tape to visualize where to put the frames on the wall before you actually nail them.  It's such a simple idea but so helpful.  I simply lay the tape on the frame, one along the length, another along the width.  Then I cut the pieces of tape in half lengthwise and tape them back together on the wall.

The larger frames on the bottom left and top right are 8x10.  All my photos are 4x6 or 5x7 though so I plan to create some mats.  Right now my idea is to either use scrapbook paper (the kind that is thicker than a regular sheet of paper) or thin pieces of card board and cover it with a fun pattern.  Our Habitat for Humanity ReStore has cheap wall paper that might just work for the card board.

My mom is coming up to visit in 3 weeks so once she gets here the projects will commence!  What projects are you working on this spring?

Homemade Laundry Detergent

Once I had Baby J and quit my job, it didn't take long for me to start looking for ways to cut back and save money.  One of the ways I thought we could do that was by making our own laundry detergent.  It also appealed to me because I like knowing what goes into my detergent.  I did not know anyone who made their own detergent though so I turned to trusty Google.  Luckily I stumbled upon this recipe.  Their claim: you could save $0.16/load with the homemade detergent compared to commercial detergents.

*If you hate math then skip this paragraph*

I decided to give it a try but track the number of loads I got out of a batch of the detergent to see just how much I was paying per load.  I bought the ingredients at Walmart: Borax (76oz) for $3.96, Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda (55oz) for $3.24, and a bar of laundry soap (5.5oz) for $0.96.  I made a double batch of the detergent so I used $3.69 worth of detergent products ($0.83 Borax, $0.94 A&H soda, and $1.98 bar soap).  Most of the time I do large loads of laundry so I opted to use 2 tbsp per load (they said you could use just 1 tbsp).  Out of a double batch of detergent (meaning I doubled the recipe) and using 2 tbsp/load, I was able to do 67 loads of laundry.  That amounts to $0.06/load ($3.69/67 loads) which is a savings of $0.10/load in comparison to commercial detergents.  It seems like small savings at first but it adds up over time.

The website gives a great step-by-step tutorial on how to make the detergent but here are a few tips:

• They suggest many different types of bar soap.  I have tried Zote and Fels-Naptha.  I do not recommend Zote, I think it smells weird.  I do recommend Fels-Naptha, it has a nice scent that is not strong so it doesn't linger on the clothes.  I haven't tried any of the other soaps.
• They suggest grating the bar soap, I don't, it's a pain.  I recommend chopping it first with a knife as so: cut into 1/2 inch pieces across the width of the bar, then cut two sections along the length of the bar.
  
• After you have chopped the bar soap into 1/2 inch pieces, blend it in a food processor using the metal blade.  First blend for 30 seconds, stop, shake it up a bit to make sure all the pieces are at the bottom, blend for another 30 seconds, shake again, then pulse a few more times.  
  
• Once you've blended the soap, measure out the Borax & washing soda, pour on top and pulse about 5 times. 
  
• Once you have a nice distribution of white (borax + washing soda) and yellow (bar soap) in the mixture, stop pulsing and pour into an airtight container.
  
• Even if you are going to make multiple batches of the detergent (I usually make a triple batch), do it one batch at a time because it'll give you a better consistency.  Plus I can only fit about one batch of the detergent in my food processor at one time (I have a 12-cup food processor).  
  

Leave a comment if you have any questions.  Happy washing!

Closet Challenge

Let's be honest, I'm a stay at home mom and since most of my hours in a day are spent at home, my outfits usually consist of stretchy pants and a comfy top, or workout clothes.  On the days that I do get out of the house though, I like to move beyond stretchy and wear something else in my closet.  For the past 18 months my wardrobe has been defined by either a pregnant belly, post-birth baby weight and/or breast feeding. I am finally able to pick out an outfit with no agenda. Well I take that back, I'm a girl so there will always be an agenda. Let me rephrase. I am finally able to pick an outfit based solely on what mood I'm in, how fit I feel, what kind of hair day I'm having, where I'm going, oh yeah, and the weather.

Even with all this new found freedom, I'm stuck in a rut.  A clothes rut. I find myself gravitating towards the same clothes in my closet and I keep them on rotation every two to three weeks. It's easy, it's comfortable, but it's BORING.  That's no way to enjoy my freedom and no way to treat all the clothes in my closet (I like to imagine that inanimate objects have feelings too).

Beyond that, I am stricken with the moral bug that there are people in this world who are under dressed while I am living in excess.  Although I have not met them personally, I imagine them to be thankful to simply have one pair of pants, shoes and a shirt.  For some reason I keep thinking of the Somali pirates in the movie Captain Phillips (great movie, have you seen it?).  That's a terrible example because they're bad guys, but for those of you who've seen the movie, you know what I mean.  The point is, I have so many clothes in my closet that I don't even wear them all, while some people have none to wear.

Herein lies the challenge: wear all the shirts in my closet within 4 months.  I've chosen shirts because that's the article of clothing I have the most of in my wardrobe.  Why 4 months?  Because I figure I'll need that amount of time to have enough "non-stretchy pants occasions" on my calendar (aka days I get out of the house).  If a shirt in my closet doesn't get worn within 4 months, then it goes to charity, plain and simple.

I will keep track of the clothes I have worn by hanging them "backwards" in my closet. See the picture below to understand what I mean by backwards.

The only rule is that I cannot wear one of the backwards hanging shirts until 1) I've worn everything else, or 2) unless it is in conjunction with an unworn shirt in order to make an outfit.

Today is April 1st, the first day of the challenge.  The last day of the challenge will be July 31st.

Breaking the Code: The Real Deal

About a month ago I started a series titled "Breaking the Code" to help you save money at the grocery store. The first topic centered around helping you figure out what actually is a deal at the grocery store.  The second topic was all about coupons, where to find them, how to organize them and how to use them effectively.  Today I will marry the two together and show you how to use a great deal at the grocery store plus coupons to get The Real Deal.

DEAL #1: CEREAL
A local grocery store is running the following deal on select boxes of General Mills cereal.

To get the deal you have to use the following store coupon.

This alone is a great deal because the boxes normally cost $2.25 each.  With the store coupon alone, you're already in the ballpark to save $1 a box.  But why stop there, when you could use a manufacturer's coupon too?  I only had one General Mills cereal coupon in my collection which was $1 off 2 boxes.  There are always cereal coupons on the web though so I took a stroll around Coupons.com to see if I could find any more.  There I found coupons for $0.50 off one Chex cereal, and $0.50 off one Cinnamon Toast Crunch.  That's a double bonus because Tuesdays are double coupon days so the grocery store will double all coupons $0.50 and under.  That means I get $1 off the Chex ceral and $1 off the CTC.  

SUMMARY:

                                            Original $     Sale $      Store Cpn       Mfr Cpn        Final $       Total Savings

Cheerios (8.9oz)                     $2.25        n/a           - $1.00           - $0.50         $0.75         $1.50

Cinn. Tst. Crunch (12.2oz)     $2.99         n/a           - $1.00          - $1.00          $0.99         $2.00

Honey Nut Chex (13.8oz)      $3.28         n/a           - $1.00          - $1.00          $1.28         $2.00

I saved a total of $5.50 and walked out with 4 boxes of cereal for $3.77 (+ tax).  **I have to admit that I broke my cardinal rule because Cinnamon Toast Crunch is not a cereal that I normally buy, but I bought it because of the great deal.  I also knew it would earn me some brownie points with Papa J so I caved.**

DEAL #2: RITZ CRACKERS

Here is the advertised deal at the grocery store.

I've seen Ritz for as low as $1.88 so this is not the best deal but in combination with a coupon and double coupon day it turned out to be a great deal.  I had a coupon for $0.50 off one box of Nabisco crackers.  This coupon came from Coupons.com a couple of weeks ago.  Remember, the coupons on that website have a printing limit so once they reach their limit they are no longer available, or even visible.  I looked today and the coupon was no where to be seen.  The good ones go fast but the coupons refresh on the first day of the month so be ready to click & print come April 1st.

SUMMARY:

                                        Original $     Sale $      Store Cpn       Mfr Cpn        Final $       Total Savings

Ritz Crackers (13oz)         $2.88          $2.00       n/a                   - $1.00         $1.00         $1.88

The sale and coupon brough the price down to $1.00/box.  That is $1.88 off the original price.  I saved a total of $3.76 because I had two coupons and bought two boxes of Ritz.  Baby J loves Ritz so these are essential to keep on hand in our house.

DEAL #3: POPTARTS

Here is the advertised deal at the grocery store.

This is a pretty good deal on its own but as soon as I saw Kellogg's I thought to myself, "I wonder what coupons they have for Poptarts in the Kellogg's rewards program?"  I found two coupons in the rewards, $0.75 off one Poptarts (500 points) or $1.50 off one Poptarts (1,000).  I had 2,000 points in my account due to a St. Patrick's Day bonus and two extra bonus codes (EARNSWEETREWARDS and HOLLYJOLLYCOSTCO --> use them while you can!) so I splurged on the $1.50 coupon.  After printing once, I hit the back button in my browser, then refresh and amazingly it let me print the coupon twice.  I know, I know, it pinged my conscious to be able to use the coupon twice so the second box of Poptarts I bought are going to the local food pantry.  It's the Robin Hood theory, steal from rich (= Kellogg's) and give to the poor (= food pantry).  

SUMMARY:

                                  Original $     Sale $      Store Cpn       Mfr Cpn        Final $       Total Savings

Poptarts (13.5oz)        $2.18          $1.48       n/a                  - $1.50         +$0.02       $2.20

Believe it or not, they (whoever "they" is) paid me $0.02/box to buy these Poptarts today.  Again, this is not a product I always buy but when I am going to get paid to take home Poptarts, then I won't argue.  Plus I get to turn around and use the rewards points towards more Kellogg's Rewards and donate to the food pantry.

DEAL #4: SEATTLE'S BEST COFFEE

Here is the advertised deal at the grocery store.

 This alone is a not a good deal.  For example, Walmart sells the same bag of coffee for $5.88.  This grocery store has a gas rewards program though (the red circle in the upper right), so when you take that into account the amount you save on gas ($0.05/gallon and up to 20 gallons = $1 off gas), it brings the cost down to below Walmart's price (~$5.49).  What really makes it a good deal though is what I stumbled upon by chance.  Seattle's Best is giving away a free sample of coffee through the Facebook page.  Once you sign up for the free sample, they email you a coupon for $2 off one bag of coffee.  Again, using the back button, refresh method, I printed the coupon twice (hey, they're handing out free coffee, what's another $2 going to hurt?).

SUMMARY:

                                              Original $     Sale $      Store Cpn       Mfr Cpn        Final $       Total Savings

Seattle's Best Coffee (12oz)    $?               $6.48       n/a                  - $2.50         $4.48         $2.00+

All in all it was a good day at the grocery store.  Along with a few other deals and coupons that I didn't write about, I saved a total of $18.00 in coupons and even more in the sales of the week.  Just as I warned you before, don't be deceived by the advertisements.  Just below the Seattle's Best coffee, there was an advertisement for Tostito's chips.  This is NOT a deal.  Although it is a discount from the original price (which is crazy high!), the best sale is usually 3/$6 and it comes around every few months.  

Banana Muffin Recipe + Tip on Freezing Bananas

The title does no justice to these muffins.  Unfortunately I am all out of creative juice so the best I could come up with was 'banana muffin recipe'.  Although I'm guilty of judging a book by its cover or a blog post by its title, please do not judge this recipe by the title.  Keep reading, try the recipe and I promise you will not be disappointed.  Unless of course you don't like banana muffins, then I'll forgive you if you stop here.

I've been trying banana bread recipes for years, and I've never quite found one that keeps me coming back, until now.  These muffins are dense, yet full of fluff.  The banana flavor is outrageous.  And the nutrition?!  People, these muffins do not contain butter or sugar.  [pause to pick your jaw up because I know it just hit the floor]  

The recipe comes from the Weelicious cookbook by Catherine McCord (it was a Christmas present from my sister-in-law, much appreciated!).  She's also the author of a blog which is very useful for first time mothers trying to figure out what to feed their infant once they hit the solid food stage (4-6 months).  Here are a few other Weelicious recipes that are on my radar: graham crackers, sweet potato muffins and veggie nuggets. 

I buy bananas every week at the store.  Most of the time we eat them before they go bad, but sometimes we reach the point of brown spots and squishy centers.  At that point I just say no thanks and I stick them in the freezer, peel and all.  When I make a recipe that calls for 'very ripe' bananas, I pluck them from the freezer and depending on how fast I need them, I either 1) microwave them in 10-15 second intervals, just until you can easily press into the peel with your finger, or 2) set them on a plate in the refrigerator until again, you can easily press into the peel with your finger.  At this point, I take a knife and make a slit in the peeling along the length of the banana.  The slit should be deep enough to reach the flesh of the banana.  Once cut, I peel the peeling back and plop the banana out.  I then proceed with the recipe as normal.

Alterations / Specifications:

As I typed up the recipe card (below), I realized that I forgot to add baking powder, oops (how long can one claim preggo brain?).  I guess it didn't make much of a difference because they're delicious as is.  In fact, I'm a little hesitant to use the baking powder next time in fear that it might take away from my first impression.  

I only used one banana for the topping and cut them to be 1/8" slices.  Truthfully I think a 1/4" slice would be overpowering for the mini muffins but it would be okay for the regular muffins.

I made both the mini muffins and regular muffins. They're equally as delicious.  My regular muffins took 25 minutes to bake, whereas the recipe suggests 20 minutes.

I used the honey in lieu of agave nectar.  I've actually never bought or used agave nectar in cooking.  Has anyone else?  Thoughts?

Since this is a Weelicious recipe catered towards little ones, I had to ask Baby J his opinion.  See for yourself.

Download the recipe card below and enjoy!  Bon Appetit!

New Mom Confessions

Over at Oakland Avenue, Laura talks about her experiences as a new mom.  She down right says it all and about as bluntly as you can say it.  I think that's why I've come to appreciate the blogging community because you can say and read the honest truth.  As a new mom, I often need to hear the honest truth from other new moms.  I need to read that I'm not the only other mom who has let their baby fall off a bed, fall down the stairs or eat their eye shadow (all true).

I hate to admit that before I became a mom, I used to watch mothers in public places and judge their every move.  Little did I realize that being a mother would be the hardest job I have ever done, and the longest. When your child doesn't sleep, you don't sleep.  When your child cries incessantly, you cry.  When your child eats, you don't eat (because you're busy feeding them).  When your child plays, you play with them and then clean up after them.  When your child naps, you take a deep breath, make a batch of cookie dough, read uplifting blogs and write a blog post.  At least that's what I am doing today.

Last night while cruisin' on Bloglovin I ran across Erin at the Blue-Eyed Bride, particularly this post on Let Me Be Singing.  Over the past year I have felt drawn to the song 10,000 Reasons by Matt Redman but the lyrics never quite stood out to me until I read Erin's blog last night.  The sun comes up, it's a new day dawning, it's time to sing your song again.  Whatever may pass, and whatever lies before me, let me be singing when the evening comes.  What a beautiful thought.

The sun comes up, it's a new day dawning, I have a cup of coffee, read my Bible and pray.  I am uplifted, I am at peace, it's time to sing my song again.  As the day proceeds I feel the peace slowly chipped away by the stresses of life and the cries of my child.  That is not the way I want to live and the attitude I want to have.  Instead I want to say, whatever may pass and whatever lies before me, I will be singing when the evening comes.

I love my child, but being a mother is hard.  I love my child, but I can't bear the incessant crying.  I love my child, but I look forward to time by myself.  I love my child, but sometimes I question having another.

I love my child and so I will start every day fresh.  I love my child and so whatever lies before me in a day, I remember that it will pass.  I love my child and so I will sing when the evening comes.

Before I had a child, I did not know what love is.  "Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.  Love never fails."  1 Corinthians 13: 4-8

Before I had a child, I never felt so weak and mentally challenged, but I gain hope in the fact that God's grace is sufficient for me and His strength is made perfect in weakness." 2 Corinthians 12:9

Every day as a mother I am made stronger by God's grace.  I rely on Him more now than I ever have.  At some point we all realize that we can't do it alone and we need God to take the reigns.  It took me 28 years and motherhood to realize this.  Because God holds the reigns now, I know that some day I will look back on this time and smile.  I will forget all the sleepless nights, the times I broke down and cried, even the pain of childbirth.  Instead I will remember my child's first laugh, his first steps, his first words and the sight of him falling asleep as I sing him Amazing Grace.  Let me be singing when the evening comes...

Brioche Cinnamon Rolls for a Crowd

Most people have had a cinnamon roll in their life that sticks out as THE best.  From 1990-2009, THE best cinnamon roll in my life was from my elementary school cafeteria.  I know, I know, hard to believe, but they were better than your average cafeteria and at that time my idea of a cinnamon roll didn't go beyond Grands from a can.  In summer 2010, my cinnamon roll world changed completely.

My husband and I took a road trip to Yellowstone National Park and stayed at the Headwaters of the Yellowstone Bed & Breakfast in Gardiner, MT which sits at the north entrance to YNP.  It is a quaint B&B set along the Yellowstone River with a beautiful mountainside in the background.  The B&B is run by the Reid family.  They are extremely friendly, down to earth and knowledgeable about Yellowstone.  Mr. Reid is a Yellowstone Park Ranger so he knows the park like the back of his hand.  Every morning Charissa (Mrs. Reid) cooks a scrumptious breakfast and everyone sits around the large table with the family to talk about their plans in the park for the day.  During our time, there were also guests from NYC, England and Australia.  It was quite the conversation at the breakfast table that culminated in the idea that Americans don't take enough vacation time (I quite agree).

Although every breakfast we ate was absolutely delicious, the cinnamon roll breakfast was just the best.  I finally came to understand what a cinnamon roll is and what every cinnamon roll should be.  It was moist, full of sweet cinnamon layers.  It had chew, it had crunch, it had everything you could want in a cinnamon roll.  And it did NOT have raisins!  In my opinion, Charissa should never have let her recipe go public, but at the same time, I'm thankful she did. because I can continue to enjoy the best cinnamon roll in my very own home.  

Believe it or not, this recipe is actually possible for the novice baker to accomplish.  I do recommend using a stand mixer but I have done it once by hand and it is possible, just prepare for your arm to be sore the next day.  It's a good recipe to make when you have guests as it makes a lot of cinnamon rolls (if I cut the them to be about 2-3 inches then I can get 12-20 rolls out of one recipe).  It's also convenient that the dough has to rest in the refrigerator over night, because then it doesn't take you as long in the morning to finish it up.  I would say the recipe takes 2 hours total but only 1 hour of hands-on time.  Here are a few tips to help you along the way:

1. Add the yeast to the water then sprinkle the sugar on top.  Do not stir!  I am always tempted too, but trust me, the yeast will activate much better if you do not disturb them.  Those little buggers do not like to be pushed around.  The picture on the left is right after I've sprinkled the sugar on top.  The picture on the right is about 7 minutes later. 
   
2. In step 5, after I sprinkle the brown sugar/cinnamon mixture onto the buttered dough, I rub it around with the back of a spoon.  I think this creates a much more even cinnamon interior so that you get the same great flavors in every bite.
3. If you do not have a warm place for the cinnamon rolls to rest in step 6, you can place the pan on a heating pad set on Low.
4. My cinnamon rolls always tend to bake pretty fast, so I suggest starting to check them after 20 minutes.  This is how mine look when they are done.  Notice the bubbling butter on the side, yum! 
   

Some people might not like icing on their cinnamon rolls (I don't understand people like that) so you can serve them naked with icing on the side.  In my house we prefer icing so no naked rolls here.  Cream cheese icing is our favorite, any will do, as long as it's homemade, don't waste your time on the store bought stuff.  Serve with coffee and enjoy every bite!

Here is the handy dandy printable recipe card.  

Everyone Needs a Farm

I opened the door today and heard the sound of birds chirping.  It was a foreign sound.  I literally said, "Are those birds?".  Has it really been that long since I heard birds chirping?  Maybe they are just starting to make their way back home from a long winter down south.  Maybe my ears have been closed off to the sounds of nature.  I don't know, but I was glad to hear it.  Spring is finally on the horizon, temperatures have reached the 40s, we have spurts of sunshine and there is water dripping and draining in every direction from all the snow melt.  It's a beautiful sight.  

When I think of spring, I think of gardening.  When I think of gardening, I think of the family farms.  They are a place where time stands still, where cell phones don't work, where you can see all the stars in the sky, where you can feel God and where you can think about life and what it really means.  I think this world would be a better place if we all had a farm to escape to every now and then.    

What's your farm?  The place you can relax, be yourself and forget about the stresses of life for a little bit.  

Carrot Souffle

Over the last few months, carrots have been very cheap.  Not baby carrots, but whole carrots.  You know, the ones you have to peel and chop yourself.  

I think our generation considers whole carrots a bit old fashioned and frankly, a hassle.  They're not ready to eat as soon as you buy them and that's just unacceptable to some people.  Well my friends, that's part of the reason they're cheaper.  Plus, how well do they really wash the ready-to-eat veggies?  Wouldn't you trust your own washing better than the someone else's?  How do they even wash the vegetables?  I have no idea, do you?

Recently, I have been buying organic whole carrots for $0.88/lb (pictured above) and regular whole carrots for $0.49/lb.  The cheapest I have found baby carrots (regular, not organic) is $0.99/lb so it's quite a bit of savings if you can find the time to wash, peel and cut your own carrots.  

Since they have been such a good price I have been stocking up.  We eat them pretty regularly (raw, steamed, roasted, in soups, etc) but sometimes I still get too many in the refrigerator and I have to figure out what to do with them before they go bad.  One method to get them out of the fridge is to wash, peel, chop them into 1/2 inch pieces, transfer to a freezer bag and store them in the freezer.  Then they are ready to be used as a base for soups, stocks, sauces, etc.  Did you know that using a combination of chopped onions, celery and carrots is called a mirepoix?

This week I used some of my carrot surplus for a carrot souffle; this recipe uses 2 pounds of carrots so it put a good dent in my stock.  I have had it before at a restaurant but it's been a long time. I was pleasantly reminded of how delicious this souffle is.  It's creamy, it's sweet, it's just down right delicious.  It's almost more of a dessert than it is a side dish.  Don't be fooled by the fact that it's made from carrots, this recipe is not a healthy recipe.  It's chock full of butter and sugar and all things wonderful.  

**Do not serve parsley with the carrot souffle.  I simply used it as a prop.  Don't you think it makes the orange color of the carrot souffle pop?  I sure did!**