Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Mexican Lasagna

    Want something different to fix for your family for supper?  How about a Mexican Lasagna?  Our family loves it and it is just different enough.

Mexican Lasagna
                        1 lb. hamburger meat                            
                                      2/3 c. water                                          
1 envelope of taco seasoning
                   1 lg. can refried beans                          
6 flour tortillas
                              1 can corn, drained                              
1 can petite diced tomatoes, drained
 2 cups shredded cheese
(black olives, optional)
 
    Turn on the oven to 350 and let it preheat while you "assemble" the lasagna.  Cook the beef and onion together in a skillet.  Add in the water and taco seasoning and cook it according to the seasoning directions.  Once it is ready, stir in the tomatoes and corn.  
 
    In a regular sized cake pan (9x13), spray it with cooking spray and then place 2 tortillas in it.  Then top with half of the meat mixture and then a third of the can of beans, and then about 1/2 c. of cheese.  Repeat the layers.  Use the rest of the beans for the top layer and then top with cheese. Bake for 30 minutes.  
 
    This is a very filling meal.
 

 

 
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Friday, August 10, 2012

How to Make a Ball

     For my son's birthday yesterday, we did a variety of fun activities.  One of the things we did was make a ball.  There were several requests on how to do this so I am sharing this today.

How to make a Ball

warm water
1/2 tsp. Borax
food coloring
1 T. glue
1 T. corn starch
2 bowls and a spoon

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   In the first bowl, pour 2 T. of warm water in it and then stir in the Borax powder.  Borax is in the laundry aisle of most stores.  I use it to make my own homemade laundry detergent and dishwasher detergent so I always have a box on hand.  Next stir in 1-2 drops of food coloring.  I have 2 boys so I used blue.  
     In the other bowl, pour the glue in.  I used just plain old Elmer's school glue.  Then add 1/2 tsp. of the borax solution (stuff you mixed up in the 1st bowl) and the cornstarch. Wait 15 seconds before stirring.  Once 15 seconds has passed, start stirring it up.  Once it becomes impossible to stir, pick it up and start rolling it around in your hands to shape into a ball.  At first it is really sticky but that will change quickly.  Once it is no longer super sticky, you can bounce it.  
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     This ball will not do any super high bouncing or anything but we got ours to bounce off the floor about 2 feet and then it would do a bunch of little bounces from one drop.  For a ball you make out of household items, we were pleased.   Once you are through playing with it, store it in a ziplock bag.  


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Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Our 1st Fertilized Eggs

    We are so excited.  Remember back in March, we purchased some baby chicks.  Well, they grew up and one of them was a rooster.  :-)  Today, we had an egg in the nest.  This afternoon there was another one.  One of the Rhode Island Red's is a laying!  I can't wait for the baby chicks.
     We have had chickens for quite some time now.  We bought our starter flock from a family in Arkansas. In fact, today, August 7th, we have had these girls for exactly a year now.  They were all 18 months to 2 years old and were all layers.  They have given us some wonderful eggs this past year.  Actually for the past 2 weeks we have barely gotten an egg and found out why2 nights ago.  A 4 foot long poisonous, black and red snake was in the coop eating an egg.  It is now dead and we are getting eggs again.
      The daddy is a White Polish Crested Rooster and the momma is a Rhode Island Red.  We also have a Plymouth Rock female, another Rhode Island Red, and a Rhode Island White in with this rooster.  I am excited to see they babies to see their coloring.
     I will take some pictures soon and post them of how chickens.  Our blue silkie is soooo gorgeous and "Top Notch" the rooster is beautiful.  The cool thing about him is he has bright purple on his wattle.  Very cool.
 
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Pumpkin Flavored Coffee Cake recipe

    My hubby loves pumpkin.  I make him pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin pie in a bowl (for breakfast), pumpkin chocolate chip coffee cake, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin breakfast cookies, etc.  He loves this coffee cake.  It is not too sweet and is so delicious.  I made it for him again last night so decided to share the recipe with you all today.
 
 



Pumpkin Flavored Coffee Cake
 
 15 oz. can pumpkin puree
yellow cake mix
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/3 c. water
2 eggs
1 T. vanilla
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. cloves
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ginger
                      
                                                                                            
              

For the topping you will also need:  1/2 c. brown sugar, 1/2 c. flour and 4 T. melted margarine.  

   Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9x13 cake pan.  In a large mixing bowl, mix the ingredients together.  Do not over mix; just until blended.  Pour into the cake pan.  In a small bowl, mix the topping together.  Sprinkle it onto the cake batter.  
 
    Place it into the hot oven and let it cook for 28 minutes.  Test to see if it is done by sticking a toothpick into the middle and if it comes out clean it is ready.  If not, cook a few more minutes.  
 


     A nice cup of my Countrified French Vanilla Coffee would go great with this!
 
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Monday, August 6, 2012

Super good Chili Recipe

   I have several chili recipes but this is, by far, the best one I make.  It was over 100 degrees yesterday here in SE Oklahoma and I still made chili and we all tore it up.  In other words, it was delicious!







My Homemade Chili Recipe

12 oz. bottle of beer (I used Budweiser)
1 small can of tomato paste
1 can petite diced tomatoes, drained
2 lbs. ground beef
5 cans chili beans
15 oz. can tomato sauce
1 T. sugar
2 T. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 can carrots, mushed up

     Fry up your ground beef in a large soup pot until cooked thoroughly; do not drain.  Add the rest of the ingredients and cook on low for at least 30 minutes.  If you can wait, cook a total of 1 1/2 hours.  Our family usually gets to smelling it and can't wait so they dig into it after 30 minutes.  :-) 
 
 


     If you prefer a really hot and super spicy chili, then add some hot sauce and cayenne pepper.  I have medical issues and can't handle really hot foods so this is perfect for us. 




    Hope you enjoy it!

   And if you are looking for a great No-Bean Chili recipe, look no further.  
 
 
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Thursday, August 2, 2012

Homemade Fabric Softener

   I have had many requests from people wanting to know how to make your own fabric softener.  I have previously posted how to make your own laundry detergent and how we do laundry in the country (hint:  we do not use a washing machine).  Anyway, here is how I do it.  Let me tell you, it is VERY, very simple.  I love how soft my clothes come out and they smell so lovely too.
 
 
Homemade Fabric Softener

                                  6 cups of VERY hot water 
                                         3 c. white vinegar
            1 (16 oz.) bottle Suave Refreshing Waterfall Mist conditioner

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   You can use a different scent of conditioner but I have always used Suave and this scent.  

    Mix the conditioner and the hot water together and stir until the conditioner is completely dissolved.  Stir in the vinegar and mix well.  We store ours in a 2 liter bottle but you can use an old fabric softener bottle or whatever you have lying around the house.  Just be sure to mark the bottle accordingly.  
 
    Add the mix into a Downy ball or just add 2 T. into your rinse cycle.

   Be sure to check out my post about line drying in the winter time!

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Monthly Grocery Shopping in Pictures!

   I have blogged in the past about how I only shop once a month.  I have been asked a lot of questions but one people keep saying is "I would love to see that".  Well, here you go.

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Groceries on the bed
     This may not look like a lot of groceries but mind you, this is a KING sized bed and it is full from side-to-side and end-to-end.  I drive an older Mercury Sable and my trunk and back seat were full and I had to call my mother-in-law to meet us at the store because I had no more room in my car.  We filled up her trunk also.  I usually am not able to get this much but I found a LOT of sales.  I spent the exact same as always but got more (We live on a strict budget).

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Baking supplies

     These are the baking supplies I buy for a month.  Some months I buy more of one thing and other month's I buy less.  I actually ran out of brown sugar and powdered sugar last month so I bought 2 bags a piece this month.  I also bought a 25 lb. bag of flour and a 25 lb. bag of sugar this month.  Again, I usually do not buy that much but after all the good sales I found, I had extra money and I like to stock up when I can.


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Cabbage and leaf lettuce.

    I know that looks like very little produce but we do have a garden.  We also do our own canning and dehydrating so we did not buy much produce this month.


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Canned goods
    This is the canned goods we bought this month.  That is mainly soups, etc.  I did not buy any canned veggies this month.  I could not find any on sale and we have plenty still on the shelves.  If I had found some on sale, regardless of how many I had back stocked, I would have bought more.

once-a-month shopping, grocery shopping, grocery list, how to shop just once a month, frugal blog, frugal living,
Cereal
     We bought a total of 7 boxes of cereal.  I have one little one that does not eat omelets, breakfast burritos, breakfast quinoa, etc. so he eats a lot of cereal for breakfast instead.  Please do not write me and complain about the sugary cereals I purchased.  We try to eat healthy but if he won't eat it, I am not going to waste my money.


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Cheese
     There are 2 bags of mozzarella shredded cheese and 6 bags of shredded cheddar cheese and one pkg. of sliced cheese.  We use a lot of cheese in the baking that I do.  Cheese makes everything better.  :-)   I have at least 5 other packages of shredded cheddar already in my freezer because last month they had them 50 cents a bag (yes, you read that right) and I bought a BUNCH!


once-a-month shopping, grocery shopping, grocery list, how to shop just once a month, frugal blog, frugal living,
Potato Chips
    Again, I know potato chips are not the healthiest thing to buy but we do not eat them as a snack.  I have MS and we eat soup and sandwiches for one meal a day and I let everyone have potato chips with their sandwiches.  I bought 6 bags to last the month.


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Crackers...
     We do eat a lot of soup, yes, even in the summertime so we need crackers.  I bought 4 boxes of regular crackers and the oyster crackers are for when I cook chili.


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French fries and hashbrowns
      I use hashbrowns in a breakfast casserole and the french fries in a supper time casserole.



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The meats
     This is the meat I bought for the month.  Four packages of lunchmeat for our sandwiches.  Two whole chickens, lots of round steak (we make steak fingers, etc.), it was on sale.  I bought those packages you see on the left middle for $2.00 or less a package.  Three packages of sausage (on sale for $1.98 a pkg.) and misc. other things.  The corn dogs were an added purchase because of all the sales I could buy a treat for the family.


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Kraft Macaroni and Cheese
    Yes, I bought a lot.  Fifty-four boxes in fact.  They had these on sale again this month for 3 boxes for $1.00.  How can I pass that up?!  Add them to the ones we bought last month and did not eat all of we now have 92 boxes of the stuff.  They taste good and make a great side dish.  If we eat one a day, then we have enough for the next three months.  Good shopping I think.  (Yes, the store still had plenty when I left.  As I already said, they had these on sale since last month so people have had sufficient time to buy some if they wanted some).  Normally even generic brand costs 2 for a $1.00 so this is an awesome purchase.


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Juice
     Five bottles of juice and 2 things of grapefruit juice.  I normally don't buy grapefruit juice but these were on sale for 50 cents each.  Naturally, I bought 2 of them.  Not our favorite to drink but a coffee cup size for breakfast will be a nice change. I give my boys one glass of juice a day so these should last a month.


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Milk
     We normally do not buy soy milk but the store had these on sale for 50 cents a piece.  They are one quart size so basically just $2.00 a gallon.  WAY cheaper than regular milk.  Even if everyone in the house does not like the taste, I can still use it in cooking, etc.  There were actually 3 more of the Silk Milk that is not pictured here.  So I bought a total of four gallons.  We freeze our milk to last the month.  I have 2 more boxes of milk still from last month, another gallon in the refrigerator and 2 more in the freezer.  We also keep powdered milk on hand in case of emergencies.


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Misc. stuff
    This is a shot of misc. items.  Peanut butter, creamer, spices, beans, etc.  You get the idea.


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Potatoes
    We are Southerners and love our taters.  The smaller bags of small, new potatoes were on sale for 99 cents a bag.  I still have 5 lbs. of potatoes left over from last month.  We did not get too many taters from the garden this year so have to supplement it.


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Rice and quinoa
     A 5 lb. bag of rice and a bag of quinoa.  We use rice for burritos, side dishes, breakfast, etc.  The quinoa  I use to make breakfast quinoa.


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Ronny and Scooby Snacks
   My son was THRILLED that I bought him a box of "Scooby" snacks.  We had a little extra and he helped so much at the store I couldn't deny him this purchase.

   BTW, I realize that this is a lot of processed food but I am disabled (with MS) and am currently not able to make my own bread and cook properly.  If and when my health improves, I will go back to buying things differently.  Please refrain from harsh comments...

    Thanks for allowing me to share with you!

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Update on Ronny & Memorizing Memory Verses

As most of you know, Ronny is autistic. He is now 21 and besides being autistic he is also suffers from agoraphobia.  I am now bedbound due ...