Once a Month Cooking!

Well we did it!! Once a month cooking times 3!! Myself, Terry an Jen braved 6 hours of cooking all to save us time an money by doing a months worth of cooking in one day! All together we made about 50 meals! It actually went really smooth. The only major thing was we ran out of foil! Here is what we made:
Pulled pork, chicken spaghetti, lasagna, BBQ chicken, chili (2), spaghetti, Salisbury steak, meatloaf, meatballs, taco meat, pizza dough, pot pie, stroganoff, enchiladas, chicken packets, hamburgers, chicken an rice
We had a lot of fun doing it! I'm so thankful Terry allowed us to use her kitchen it gave us a ton of work room!
Hopefully I'll get around to posting recipes soon but for now I'm going to go enjoy some chili!

I'm including some pictures of us while cooking an one of my freezer AFTER its packed full!

My journey has started!

So as I told you in my last post I'm taking on the challenge of once a month cooking! I'm doing it with my two friends Terry an Jen! We are super excited! Today I did the shopping (in the middle of a winter storm warning mind you) Jen an Terry couldn't shop with me so I shopped for all three families!
I started my adventure two weeks ago by planning out the meals. 19 of them! Pretty bold for a newbie! Then last week I went with my list to Aldis to get an estimated price for my big shopping day! Without meat it totaled $50 per lady so $150 all together. I have a beef in my freezer so I asked each lady to provide 10pounds of ground anything an bring it cooking day.
Since my list had been made for two weeks shopping went very smooth! I ended up only spending $117 at Aldis! I did however decided not to get my spaghetti noodles or frozen mixed veggies there because I knew they'd be cheaper at SAMs club. So away to SAMs me an Teagan go! (It's starting to snow by this point) at SAMs I decided to go ahead an buy a roast for pulled pork it was a good price per pound roast, spaghetti noodles, mixed veggies and 30 foil pans to freeze things in for $48 (I got a 15lb roast that's why my total is to high). *Detour to pick Caleb up from school early snows coming down hard an school is 45 minutes from our house* back on the road again I need some chicken so I head over to the Simmons Chicken Store they sale wholesale to the public pick up 6 pounds of leg quarters an 5lbs of fajita meat for $17. I realized I forgot BBQ sauce ketchup,velveeta and freezer bags so I run to the dollar store spending $15. Making my grand total for the day $197 or, $65 per family! Not bad at all! I was very close to my $50 per family which was a non meat total so adding another $15 for roast an chicken is pretty amazing!
Just in case you missed it that's $197 spent in total providing a months worth of meals for not one but THREE families!!! Amazing! I've spent $197 on my one family of 4 for one weeks worth of meals.
Give Aldis a try there food is great priced an taste great too! Also stick to a list! An only shop at SAMs when you KNOW it's cheaper buying I'm bulk doesn't always save you money an if the other items in SAMs are tempting skip it all together! Also if you have a chicken plant, pork or beef plant in your area they are likely to open a few days of week to the public take advantage of this it's cheap meat that taste great!
Tomorrows cooking day an its still snowing with a chance of ice tonight. I might find myself cooking alone. Either way I'm so excited to share my outcome with you!

I'm posting a picture of my van full of food! It was so fun shopping g with a purpose!

Simple life

I've often found myself drawn to a simple way of living in fact if I'm honest a small part of me wants to be Amish. Ok maybe not so much but still "simple living" seems like the right thing to do. I've started my quest at living a more "simple" life. First let me explain my definition of simple living.
To me it's just that, simple. Sometimes we over do things, we pay money for things that we could just as easy do ourself an it would be better. Simple living is centered around your family an spending time with them not away from them. Creating fun activities for you to do rather then pay someone else to entertain you.
So yesterday I made bread! I'm 26 an it was a first for me! I enjoyed it. I enjoyed being able to make something that tasted better then bread you could buy in the store. I enjoyed it being a learning experience for not only me but my son Caleb. We were able to watch yeast do its magic! It's truly an amazing thing! We both stood beside the oven when I opened it to see our creation! An we where excited to taste test it! It was pretty yummy if I don't say so myself!

Tuesday I'm sitting aside a day to do once a month cooking. Also know as OAMC. I'm excited to take steps towards a simple life. Owing my own business keeping up with two small children doesn't leave much time but the fact I will have 21 homemade meals in my freezer to feed my family with gives me peace. No more stressing over what's for dinner. More time enjoying each other. I'm excited to share with you how this experience will go, but for now I leave you with bread! Make something from scratch this week!

I got my bread recipe from Blissful and domestic

http://www.blissfulanddomestic.com/p/ready-made-mixes.html

I made her ready made hot roll mix then followed her "good for you" bread recipe mix! It was super yummy I hope you try it!

Wrinkle Release Spray

After some searching I found a magic wand or spray that is, I don't iron unless its for a crafting project so here you have it:

1/3 cup liquid fabric softener (go cheap)
1/3 cup white vinegar
1/3 cup water
Mix your three ingredients and pour them into a spray bottle. Then take your wrinkled garment, place it on a hanger, spray it thoroughly (though not soaking), and give it a shake.

Helpful Hints For winter

Helpful Hints For Winter (I got this from www.homemademamas.net check this site out its great!)

*Ice-proof your windows...with vinegar! Frost on it's way? Just fill a spray bottle with three parts vinegar to one part water & spritz it on all your windows at night. In the morning, they'll be clear of icy mess. Vinegar contains acetic acid, which raises the melting point of water---preventing water from freezing! *

*Squeak-proof your wipers...with rubbing alcohol! Wipe the
wipers with a cloth saturated with rubbing alcohol or ammonia. This one trick can make badly streaking & squeaking wipers change to near perfect silence & clarity. *

*Prevent car doors from freezing shut...with cooking spray! Spritz cooking oil on the rubber seals around car doors & rub it in with a paper towel. The cooking spray prevents water from melting into the rubber!*

*De-ice your lock in seconds...with hand sanitizer! Just put some hand sanitizer gel on the key & the lock & the problems solved! *

*Fog-proof your windshield...with shaving cream! Spray some shaving cream on the inside of your windshield & wipe if off with paper towels. Shaving cream has many of the same ingredients found in commercial defoggers! *

*Keep your headlights clear...with car wax! Just wipe ordinary car wax on your headlights. It contains special water repellents that will prevent that messy mixture from accumulating on your lights - lasts 6 weeks. *

Homemade Goo/Silly Putty

Goo
1 cup water
1 cup cornstarch
4-5 drops fruit juice like blueberry or raspberry (combine a 1/4 cup of the food with 2 cups water, simmer for an hour. Cool, strain, and use as coloring).
Work the ingredients together and let your kids have fun with this gooey concoction.

Silly Putty
2 cups white school glue
1 cup liquid starch

Mix together and set aside until dry. Store in an airtight container.

Homemade Play Dough

COOKED FLOUR PLAY DOUGH
3 cups flour
1.5 cups salt
6 tsp cream of tarter
3 tbsp oil
3 cups water
Pour all ingredients into a large pot and stir constantly over medium heat until a ball forms. Knead the play dough until the texture matches conventional play dough (1-2 minutes). Add food coloring if you want colored play dough.
Store in plastic container. Should last for at least 3 months.

Peanut Butter Play Dough

18 oz. peanut butter
6 tbsps. honey
Non-fat dry milk
Cocoa for flavor

Mix all ingredients, adding enough dry milk to give make dough pliable. Shape, decorate with edible treats, and eat!

Salt Dough
Equal amounts salt and flour; then add enough water to make it doughy.

Dries hard in a couple of days and then you can paint it.