Week one of our "Eat from the pantry" challenge

Groceries for week one- plus 5 gallons of milk

We finished week one of our challenge. I found it was easy to use what I already had on hand, once I set my mind on the project (and of course, it is only our first week!). We bought about $30.00 worth of groceries, and about $15.00 of that was milk! I can see that I'm going to have to cut down on our children's milk consumption and have them drink water. We did use up our on-hand supply of juice, and I was at a loss of what to have to drink besides water or milk, so I decided to make tea. I used green tea bags, added raw sugar and a little honey, added some ice and voila!- variety!

Here is a break-down of what we had to eat, as well as some recipes that I modified to use what was in the pantry. The slow-cooker enchiladas were a huge hit and better than the originally recipe. The noodle bake was good too, but if I make it again, I need to add some type of seasoning to it. It was a little blah.

Creamy noodle bake: spaghetti, chicken, sour cream,
cream style corn, cream of chicken soup and
a little cheese

The boys really enjoyed it!

Sunday: We had some friends over for dinner and enjoyed spaghetti and meatballs, a veggie tray,
              garlic bread, and sausage and crackers.
Monday: We ate with friends at their house and feasted on some delicious soup
Tuesday: Slow-cooker enchiladas- delicious!
Wednesday: Get to church on-time night: Pizza (out of the freezer)
Thursday: Invited my parents to dinner and ate baked chicken, stir-fry veggies, and home-made
                Italian herb bread
Friday: Creamy noodle bake: used the leftover noodles from Sunday, leftover chicken from Thursday,
            and canned goods on hand
Saturday: Made a big pot of White Chicken Chili for the ice skating activity: No leftovers!

My recipes:
"Slow-cooker Enchiladas"
1 lb. meat (I used venison)
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 can (15 oz) red kidney beans (rinsed and drained)
1 can  (15 oz.) black beans (rinsed and drained)
1 can red enchilada sauce (I used a 15 oz. generic brand)
1/3 cup water
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup shredded Colby jack cheese
6 flour tortillas (I used whole wheat tortillas)

In a skillet, brown the meat and onion until browned and onion is soft. Drain off any excess fat and add the beans, enchilada sauce and water. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Combine cheeses. In a slow cooker (be sure to spray with non-stick spray) layer the beef mixture, one tortilla, a 1/3 cup cheese. Repeat layers. Cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours or until heated through. Enjoy.

White Chicken Chili:
2  packages white chicken chili seasoning  (McCormick’s)
4 - 15 oz. cans chicken broth
8 - 15 oz. cans great northern beans (can also use comb such as black beans                                      and/or kidney beans with the great northern)
2 – 15 oz. cans corn (can also use frozen)
1 – 15 oz. can Rotel (a spicy diced tomato product you can find in the   canned vegetable aisle)
Add cooked chicken of choice (you can use rotisserie or grilled-baked-boiled (about 4 breasts or equal amount of white/dark)

DIRECTIONS:
Put chicken broth in large soup pot.  Add seasoning.  Bring to boil, simmer 15 minutes.   Add rest of ingredients.  (I do drain the beans to reduce sodium, but it is not a necessity, I do not drain the corn.)   Simmer for additional 15-20 minutes.  (If using frozen corn, add 1 minute before removing from heat.) 
Serving suggestion:
Top with grated cheese, a dollop of sour cream and crumbled corn tortilla chips before serving.

Back to routine...our week in review

As much as I enjoyed having Roger home for the week between Christmas and New Year's and having Garett home from school, I was really looking forward to this week. I am kinda a routine oriented person, and I like to have a schedule. Besides, as Chandler said, "If daddy doesn't go to work, we don't get a paycheck!"..smart kid! It was a little difficult to get back into the schedule of getting up early, getting Garett ready for school, back to a regular nap schedule, and other such events, but the week has not been dull!

We started off the New Year with having some friends over for dinner on Sunday night. They have six kids and with our four, the house was quite noisy! But we enjoyed it. On Monday, the last day everyone had off, we met some friends at the YMCA, went ice skating, then to their house for dinner, card games, and lots of fun. The boys tried to go sledding, but the wind made the day bitterly cold. Tuesday we transitioned back into our regular schedule of school, work, nap times, etc.Of course, we also lost a matchbox car in the toilet. It will never return and yet Wyatt has asked for it repeatedly!!  On Wednesday, we had a trip to the YMCA, a few errands, and church. Thursday, we had my parents over for dinner and because we are eating from the pantry...the boys discovered again the thrill of the bread machine! They were fascinated by that "thing that mixes it all up". I just had to keep reminding them not to stir the ingredients as we were putting them in the bucket!

Today, the boys spent some time at Nana's house, and I was able to get in a run as well as drop into a few stores to see if there were any good Christmas items left. The best deals were at the Hallmark store as the Christmas was at 75% off and they had several shelves of nice gifts left. So, I finished up some more Christmas shopping for next year and I am over 1/2 done shopping for everyone!

Tomorrow, we planned on ice skating with some friends, but the weather has been unseasonably warm here! Today it was almost 50 degrees! So, I'm not sure about skating tomorrow but who wants to tell the kids we're not going?! I think we'll just play that one by ear. 

Everyone had to watch Dad try to fish the matchbox car out...
but it had already disappeared!

We enjoyed some delicious meals so far this week, and I'll be posting what we had tomorrow as well as what we spent on groceries. I've posted a few pictures of some of our adventures this week...enjoy!

The wonder of the bread machine!

My First Challenge for 2012

I've decided to start off the new year with a challenge to "eat from the pantry". I've gathered quite a bit of food through couponing, deer hunting, and my parents sharing a beef cow, so I've decided that I will challenge myself to eat from what we have. I plan to buy fresh fruits and vegetables, dairy, and bread, but other than that to eat what's "in store". To be sure, we'll have some interesting meals, so I'm trying to invite people for meals earlier in the month versus later!

Our overflowing pantry!

Lots to eat in here too!

I plan on not couponing at all in the month of January, other than diapers, and only shopping for "necessities". To those who know me...this is a huge challenge! I enjoy couponing and finding good deals, but we have enough shampoo, soaps, and toothpastes to last the month. My goal is to save money, and hopefully get a good start on saving for Roger's missions trip to Alaska. By staying out of the stores, and ignoring the money saving blogs I follow, I plan on spending more time with my family, cleaning and decluttering my house, and spending more time reading the books I'd like to and visiting with friends. I plan to blog weekly about what we ate from the pantry and what groceries we bought. It will be a challenge for sure, but I'm looking forward to it. What challenges do you have for yourself in the new year?

Happy New Year!

It's hard to believe that another year has come to a close. I'm getting older, my children seem to be growing up faster, I love my husband more than ever, and I'm one day closer to seeing my Lord, whether through death or through the Rapture.

2011 was a year that holds lots of memories, challenges, some fallen dreams, but I'm thankful for the lessons that I learned. It would be impossible to share all that has happened in our hearts in lives, but I'm happy for the memories created. We celebrated 6 years of marriage and our first anniversary that we were able to get away on our anniversary-the first time in six years that I have been pregnant, just given birth, or had a relatively new nursing infant! We enjoyed camping, canoeing, biking, and other various family activities. We traveled to North Carolina as a family and I had a quick getaway with my sisters in early December to South Carolina. Roger's mom came for a weekend in March while Roger and I attended a couples retreat. Garett started 4K, and Travis turned one! Chandler graduated to the big boy bike, and Wyatt took over the big wheel. Chandler celebrated becoming certified "potty trained", and I've discovered Wyatt has absolutely no interest! We treasure the memories, and I've been reminded again of how short life flies by!


We are looking forward to new adventures in 2012. For one, Garett will be starting kindergarten in the fall, and we will have to come to a decision about what to do about his schooling! Secondly, Roger will be taking  a missions trip to Alaska in March, Lord willing, and I am looking forward to seeing God work out the details on that. Thirdly, we will be coming to a cross-roads in our lives as far as some decisions to make about our house, vehicles, jobs, and some decisions that will impact and change our future. I can't wait to see what the Lord is going to do with us! Blessings on you all my friends and Happy New Year!

Oh, the wonder of it all!

"The wonder of wonders that thrills my soul, is the wonder that Jesus loves me..." This is a phrase from one of my favorite songs, and as I reflect back on the last few days I love the fact that Jesus loves me! The days have been busy as we've enjoyed time with extended family, our immediate family, ate lots of sweets, endured overwhelmed, over-stimulated children, laughed, and reflected on how wonderful it is that Jesus came to earth as a sweet baby and is now the exalted King.

I've learned a lot over this Christmas season, mostly through the eyes of my children. The following are some thoughts I've gathered over the last few busy days:
      1) Although the holidays are a busy time of year, my children are young and they still need to take a rest on a daily basis!
      2) "Shatter-proof" ornaments does NOT mean that they are unbreakable!
      3) Hearing the children sing "Away in a Manger" and tell me the Christmas story in their own words is better than any earthly present I could receive.
      4) I've learned that my children were too young to get the concept of shopping for each other at the dollar store! (It turned into quite the experience...when it came time to open the gifts, everything that Wyatt supposedly bought for his brothers, he wanted to keep!) But, we will continue to work on giving to others
      5) I've learned that my children don't like to put money in the salvation army buckets unless someone is there handing out candy! (I asked Chandler why he didn't put his coin in the bucket and he said, "I'm saving it for the next store, because there might be a man there handing out candy if I put it in!"...the mind of a child!)
     6) Reading the Christmas story every night for six nights straight really has helped them grasp more of the story than I thought they were comprehending
      7) Children really are easily over-whelmed and my day will go much easier if I don't try to fit in too many things in a day!
    8) I love this time of year, but I'm glad it only comes once a year!

Wyatt's Christmas present...a Bruder Fire Truck!

Memories

Mom and Travis

Chandler and Garett's Christmas presents

I trust that you have enjoyed time with your loved ones as well. It is truly a wonderful time of the year.

Christmas Chaos!

The days 'til Christmas are flying by a lightening speed, and I would love to put the days on hold so I can treasure the memories a little more. But since I can't do that, I guess I'll content myself with taking pictures and loving the chaos.

One of my goals for December was to read a Christmas story every day to my children. I can say that we failed miserably on that...but hey, it wasn't really my fault! I discovered that our local library has a huge lack of Christmas stories and the ones that they did have were boring even to me! So, I used my meager selection from home and we've been reading Luke 2 every night. On my list for after Christmas shopping is to look for and collect my own Christmas stories.

We still have a lack of snow in our neck of the woods, so while we did take a short drive to look at lights, it just isn't the same without snow on the ground. But we did enjoy our time, and we may attempt it again before Christmas...we'll see.

Today we are taking the children to the dollar store to select gifts for their siblings. They are excited about that, and I'll have to take pictures of the results. Also, this morning we are headed to the nursing home to sing for the Grandpas and Grandmas.  So that is sure to be fun!

I've so enjoyed these days with my sisters home, seeing the excitement on the children's faces, and loving the quiet EARLY mornings that I have crawled out of bed to spend my own time reflecting on the Christmas story.

I hope you all enjoy the remainder of the days before Christmas and treasure the memories. I'd love to write more and post a few pictures, but a little boy at my elbow is begging to play farm. So, I am off to play "farm". Have a blessed day!

12 days of Christmas...Day One!

One of our goals this Christmas season is to take homemade treats to our neighbors and friends. Tonight I am going to a cookie swap with some ladies from church, so I know that we'll get a great start on our treat baskets! However, I decided that the boys and I would make some chocolate covered pretzels both for the cookie swap and for our goodie baskets.

Crushing candy canes!

Chocolate, pretzels, and candy canes

Wyatt liked the chocolate!

Two helpers

First of all, I should've imagined what the kitchen would look like after working with melted chocolate, pretzels and crushed candy canes! WOW...what a mess! We started in on our cooking right after breakfast this morning. I started the boys smashing the candy canes with the rolling pin, which they thought was great fun! Then we unwrapped and melted the chocolates in the microwave. I had the boys look through the pretzel bag and pick out the ones that were whole and unbroken...I think they broke more than they saved! Anyways, we dipped the pretzels, placed them on waxed paper and then sprinkled the crushed candy canes on them. After it was all said and done, the kitchen was a disaster, the boys were dressed in chocolate, the floor was sticky, but I loved it! The pretzels turned out beautiful, in my opinion, and everything else can be cleaned up...eventually. I love the memories and the time spent with the boys, and I'm thankful for a dishwasher, hot water, and a washer and dryer! Blessings on your day, my friends.

Finished product!