Homemade Condiments

Ranch dressing is a popular condiment at my house.  That's usually the only salad dressing I'll buy simply because my kids won't eat any other kind.  Well, I get a little sick of the same thing over and over.  We were almost out of Ranch and it was time to do the grocery shopping again.  Looking through my pantry, I realized that I had two packets of Italian dressing mix.  OK, I have sour cream and mayo in the fridge.  I think I'll make some creamy Italian dressing.  Maybe the kids will like it since it looks like Ranch...

Creamy Italian Dressing

6T mayo (I used olive oil mayo)

2T reduced fat sour cream

2T lemon juice

2T white vinegar

1 packet Italian dressing mix

1/2 tsp dried oregano, crushed

Put all ingredients in a jar with a screw top.  Shake until well combined.  Refrigerate.  Makes about 1 cup.

I also remembered that I have a recipe for Russian dressing.  It's super easy to make and I bet you have all of the ingredients in your pantry and fridge already.  Plus, when you make these at home, you know what's going in the dressing and you'll probably save a buck or two. 

Russian Dressing 

1/4 cup canola oil

1/4 cup ketchup

1 T sugar

1 T vinegar

1 T lemon juice

1 tsp W-sauce

1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper

Place ingredients in a jar with a screw top.  Shake until well combined.  Refrigerate until ready to use. Makes about 2/3 cup. 

The Grocery Game

How much should I spend on groceries each month?  That question is ALWAYS on my mind.  Maybe I obsess about it a little too much... maybe I don't worry about it enough.  I don't know.  What I do know is that the grocery budget is the first thing I look at when I think we need to cut back our overall spending.  There's plenty of wiggle room there.  Monthly bills (car payments, mortgage, utilities) can't change like the grocery bill can.  


I read a couple of articles recently, one called "How To Eat When You Are Really Broke" and the other called "3 Meals Plus Snacks for $4 a Day".  Both are very interesting articles and give some tips on how to cut food costs and still eat nutritiously.  There are a couple of things from the articles that I want to point out.  


The first article, "How To Eat When You Are Really Broke", states that "the average American family of four spends around $730/month on food". Wow!  That's a lot!  I have a few questions about that statistic.  
1.  How old are the kids? Older kids, especially teenagers, eat a lot more than my two year old.  
2.  Does that include money spent on groceries and eating out?
3.  Does that include the cost of non-food items, (i.e., toilet paper, dish soap, toiletries, etc.)?




The second article, "3 Meals Plus Snacks for $4 a Day", was written by a woman who bought food for, my understanding, just herself.  So, over a month that would amount to $120 for one person.  That still seems fairly impressive.  However, I have some problems with this article...
1.  Again, does this include the cost of non-food items?
2.  She didn't buy any fresh green produce, because it's too expensive. Hmm...
3.  She went to multiple stores (grocery, Walgreen's, Dollar Store, Bakery Outlets, etc.) to find all of her grocery items.  I have 3 kids and not a lot of time to do that...
4.  How would this budget work for a family of 5?  I dont' think multiplying by 5 would be accurate.


As I said before, though, both articles have some good tips on how to cut grocery spending.  I think I have some pretty good ideas too.  So, I've combined all of them here...


1.  Look through the weekly sale ad.  Plan meals with things that are on sale.  Generally, my rule of thumb is that I won't purchase meat over $2/lb and fish over $4/lb.  There are some occasions when I will spend more. 
2.  Buy only what you need.  Even if your favorite toothpaste is on sale for 10/$10, do you really NEED to buy 10 tubes of toothpaste?! Spend $1 on one instead of $10.
3.  Buy produce that is in season, because it's generally cheaper.  Frozen veggies are generally inexpensive.
4.  Use coupons! No, I am NOT an extreme couponer... I do have a life!  However, I cut out the coupons that come in the free newspaper every Wednesday.  It doesn't take that much time. 
5.  Buy whole items as opposed to individually wrapped.  For example, instead of buying a box that contains 8 packages of Goldfish crackers, buy the big box of Goldfish.  Buy a big bag of chips instead of the box that contains 24 small bags of chips.  Buy a whole onion instead of a bag of chopped onions, a whole head of lettuce instead of the bag of pre-cut lettuce.  I think you get the idea!
6.  Don't be afraid to try new things even if it's not a name brand!  The grocery brand of some items are just as good as the name brand.  Check out the nutrition label, though, as some grocery brand items contain a lot more sodium than the name brand.  If the nutrition and ingredients are generally the same then why not try out the grocery brand.  You'll save! 


I suppose I ought to share what my monthly budget on groceries is to prove that my tips are helpful.  I have 5 members in my family, I include everything from food and beverages to toiletries to cleaning supplies to diapers in my budget, I shop at Fry's every two weeks, at Costco once/month, and I order Bountiful Baskets every other week for most of my fresh produce.  My average spending over the past year is $530 per month.  I continue to try to lower that amount.  It's sad but true... it's kind of a fun game for me. :)  




       

Build Your Own Salad

We are always trying to make sure our kids get enough fruits and vegetables throughout the week.  While my kids are great at eating fruits, vegetables are a little bit harder to work in.  Although, I will say our kids are pretty good eaters. 


One evening, I got the great idea to put out a bunch of salad fixings and let the kids "build their own salad".  Well, you would have thought it was pancake night in our house!  You would be amazed at how many and how quickly pancakes are eaten in our house.  The kids ate their dinner in 15 minutes flat!  Usually it takes around 30-45 minutes to pick at their food and eventually eat it.  This is definitely an idea worth keeping!

So, here's what I do...
I use the biggest cutting board I have and load it up with anything I can find in the fridge that would taste good on a salad.  Use your imagination and think outside the box!  The result may look something like this:

From Top Left: Honey Dijon, Lite Ranch, Italian Dressing, frozen corn, mini pepperonis, chopped tomatoes, shredded cheese, chopped green chiles, romaine lettuce, sunflower seeds, sliced cucumber, red onion 

Then, I let the kids come up and load up their plate with whatever they want and as much as they want.  There are a couple of rules, though...  They have to pick at least 2 veggies on top of the lettuce and if there is a protein, then they have to take some of that as well. 




I had told my good friend, Tracy, about this idea.  She makes a taco salad that her son, Zachary, never wanted to eat.  So, she followed the "Build Your Own Salad" idea and put all of the ingredients out separated.  Then she told Zachary that he can build his own salad like Ethan.  Well, that was so exciting for him that he put every ingredient on his plate and ate it up!  It's funny... Even the smallest amount of independence given to a kid can give a great result!


Not only is building your own salad great for kids, it's great for adults, too.  My sister, Candice, told her friends about the idea as well.  Their next playdate with the kids was at lunch time and guess what they had?  That's right!  Each mom brought a couple of their favorite things to toss into a salad and shared with the group.  How fun!


Try it out!  Maybe you'll turn your kids into salad lovers, too!   


Need some salad ideas?  Here are several:

• lettuce (romaine, spinach, iceberg, spring mix)
• proteins (cubed chicken, chicken nuggets, hard-boiled eggs, lunch meat, bacon, leftover steak, pepperoni, turkey, shrimp)
• veggies & fruit (tomatoes, cucumbers, celery, onion, shredded carrots, sliced mushrooms, avocado, corn, beans, jicama, peppers, mandarin oranges, apples, dried cranberries, raisins)
• other (nuts, seeds, crushed tortilla chips, croutons, goldfish crackers, salsa, bbq sauce)
• shredded, cubed, crumbled cheese 
• dressing (offer a variety... try mixing salsa or bbq sauce with Ranch dressing) 

Brown Thumb Turns Cucumber Green

I admit it.  I have a brown thumb.  In fact, it is so brown that I managed to kill a cactus. Seriously.  How difficult can it be to keep a cactus alive?!  Apparently, difficult enough for me. 


Well, I've been bound and determined to turn my thumb green.  For the past couple of years, Chad and I have thought it would be cool to have our own vegetable/fruit garden.  We would love to be able to grow enough produce to feed our family.  Maybe we would have to supplement with produce from the store as well. 

Last year I got the kids excited and involved with starting a garden from seeds.  I should mention that the orchids are fake. :)  We planted cherry and roma tomatoes, jalapenos, green chiles, sunflowers, and cucumbers.  They were off to a good start... I watered them daily.  Occasionally the kids would water them.  And then, oh, about a month into it, the watering came less and less until well, I think you can guess the ending of this story.  Why do I always start something and can't follow through to the end?


After about another month, I finally cleaned out the pots and put them back in the garage.  Darn!  I failed again! 


My dream of having a garden is still there.  I just need to quit being lazy with it and follow the Nike motto: Just Do It! 


During one of my trips to the grocery store I saw some seedlings for sale.  This time I'm going to do it right!  I bought a 6 pack of Anaheim chile peppers, a 6 pack of pickling cucumbers, and 4 packs of strawberries.  I brought them home, transplanted them, watered them, talked to them, etc.  :) 


I honestly don't remember how long ago I bought those seedlings... Maybe that's something I need to know?  However, I have managed to keep them alive!!  Not only are they alive, they are producing fruit!!  That's right.  Infact, there are 23 Anaheim chiles and 2 cucumbers.  I managed to keep the strawberry plant alive enough to produce a small handful, but let's face it, strawberries don't grow to well in the desert. 


I also decided that I wanted to try growing some plants from the leftover seeds from the last attempt.  Even those are doing well!  You know what my trick is?  I put all the pots under our big mesquite tree to get some shade and they are in the perfect spot to get water from the sprinklers every night.  Honestly, why didn't I think of that before?


Just today I picked the very first cucumber, which I didn't even know existed for the longest time.  It was growing behind the pot.  I had no idea it was there!  I researched online to see when cucumbers are ready to be picked.  Apparently, you should pick them when they are smaller as opposed to larger as they will lose flavor the bigger they get.  I also wondered why the cucumber was yellow.  Well, apparently, I didn't pick it soon enough.  OK.  I can handle that.  I still managed to grow a cucumber.  And I think that's pretty cool!  There's one more growing in the pot and now I know to pick it sooner.

As for the Anaheim's... they are beautiful.  As I wrote above, there are 23 chiles!  Oh, how I LOVE roasted green chiles.  Actually, I need to pick a couple of them because they are starting to turn red.  Maybe I should research a little more, but I'm fairly sure I should pick them before they turn colors.          

Pirate Cake and Pirate Blood

Pirate Cake
 
Ethan's birthday came and went!  Wow how time flies...  He had a great day playing with his friends and celebrating his 6th year of life.  He has really turned into a big kid... no longer a little kid. 


So, in my first blog, I wrote about Ethan's party menu (English Muffin Pizzas, Frozen Yogonanas, and Dirt Cake).  The dirt cake was made with Golden Oreos (instead of regular Oreos) and banana pudding (instead of vanilla or chocolate).  I wasn't entirely sure how to decorate the cake, though.  I knew frosting wouldn't stick to crumbs very well.  Actually, it would make a mess.  Not to mention that Ethan, apparently, no longer likes frosting.  I don't know what to say about that. 


I decided to go to Michael's to see what pirate themed stuff they had.  I was hoping for anything!  That's when I found a "pirate" chocolate mold and one that has the letters to spell out "happy birthday".  Maybe I won't use the pirate mold that often, but I'm sure I will get a lot of use out of the "happy birthday" one.


Chad came up with the idea to use the leftover blue melting chips for water on the cake.  The rest just fell into place!  Look at how cute this cake turned out.  Check out the birthday candles.  How perfect are those?  Black and white candles that were meant for an "over the hill" birthday worked out perfect for this pirate themed cake.

Pirate Blood
Ewww...  Haha!  This was a 6 year old BOY's birthday party.  What else would I call their drink?!  I have to admit, at first I thought it sounded a little... gross, graphic, etc.  But, I decided to go with it and of course, the kids LOVED it!  As a matter of fact, we went to a birthday party this evening and one of the boys, who attended Ethan's party, asked me if there was pirate blood to drink! 


I found the original recipe for Blue Slime Sipper on Better Homes and Gardens website and changed it up a bit.  I couldn't find blue jello, so I had to think of something else to use.  Ethan's favorite color is red, so I thought that red jello of some sort would work.  I bought raspberry jello and used raspberry lemonade that I already had at home.  Was it going to look pink?  Not if I add red food coloring.


Here's the Pirate Blood version of the Blue Slime Sipper:
1 (3oz) pkg raspberry jello
1 c boiling water
2 c cold water
Raspberry lemonade (I used Crystal Light)
Lemon-Lime Soda


Empty jello packet into a bowl.  Stir in boiling water until dissolved.  Stir in cold water.  Cover and refrigerate for 4 hours or more.  Whisk the jello until it has broken up.  Scoop about 1/4 c of jello into the bottom of a cup, pour some raspberry lemonade and soda to fill the cup.  Stir together and serve.     




   

Easter Cookies

On Tuesday, my sister-in-law, Wendy, came over to decorate Easter eggs with us.  So, of course, I felt that we needed to have a treat while we worked.  Haha! 


I found this recipe for Bird's Nest Cookies on the back of a bag of speckled Easter m&m's.  They looked really cute and perfect for an Easter treat.  


*Note: the recipe available through the website is slightly different than the one on the back of the m&m bag.   


As I was making the dough, I read that these cookies only called for 1/2 c of sugar.  That's it?!  Really?!  Chocolate chip cookies call for 1 1/2 cups.  Well, I didn't want to improvise on the recipe... I was running short on time.  Maybe the coconut would help sweeten the cookie.  I don't know. 



I finished baking the cookies, let them cool, and filled them with the eggs.  Adorable!  I took a bite of just the cookie, no m&m,... yeah, they weren't very sweet.  Definitely, not sweet enough for my taste.  The next bite I took, this time with an m&m, was MUCH better.  I'm guessing the creator of the recipe didn't want the cookies to be too sickening sweet if you eat it with the candy.


The kids ate the candies but only ate a few bites of the cookies.  Next time, I think I will make these with more sugar... maybe double the amount!  Who doesn't like a sweet cookie?!   

Roasted Green Chile Stuffed Pork Loin

I received 14 green chiles in the last Bountiful Basket that I purchased.  I love roasted green chiles!  Which reminds me... I have about 10 left that I need to roast.  Better get on that!  Anyway, my husband, Chad, and I were wanting to try a pork loin for dinner one night.  I had never cooked one before, honestly, because it's a big piece of meat ( a little intimidating) and it's pork (it could easily dry out).  But, I decided I could do it!  And, boy, did I!  That was one of the best meals I had had in a very long time!  Here's the recipe I came up with:


Roasted Green Chile Stuffed Pork Loin
4-5 green chiles
5-7 whole cloves garlic, peeled

Yes, I grilled that beauty! Delicious!

3-4 lbs boneless pork loin (note: NOT tenderloin, that's different)
1 T southwest spice rub (store bought or see recipe below)
1 bottle beer
your favorite bbq sauce


Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F.  Line a cookie sheet with enough foil to wrap around the edges.  Cut each chile in half lengthwise; remove seeds and membrane.  Place cut side down on cookie sheet.  Place peeled garlic cloves around the green chiles.  Roast for about 20 minutes or until skins are blistered.  Remove from oven and wrap the chiles and garlic in the foil, completely sealed to trap the steam.
 
Meanwhile, butterfly the pork loin (make a horizontal slit about 3/4 of the way through the loin); set aside.  Remove the skins from the green chiles and chop along with the garlic.  Spread the chiles and garlic on the butterflied pork loin.  Fold the top of the loin on top of the chile mixture.  Use 3 pieces of kitchen twine and tie the pork loin in three places.  This will help keep it closed while it cooks.  Sprinkle entire loin with the southwest spice rub and place in a roasting pan; pour beer around the pork loin.  (Use an aluminum pan for easy cleanup)


Set up your grill for indirect grilling (turn the grill on to med-low on one side of the grill use the other side of the grill for cooking).  Place the pan on the side of the grill that is off; close grill lid.  Cook for about 1 hour 15 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 140 degrees.  Remove loin from pan; place on hot grill over med-high heat.  Brush top with your favorite bbq sauce and grill for about 7-9 minutes.  Flip loin over and brush with bbq sauce; grill 5-7 minutes more.  Internal temperature should read 150 degrees.  Return loin to pan and cover with foil; let rest for about 15 minutes.  Serve with extra bbq sauce, if desired.  


Ok, so this recipe is a little time consuming, but I guarantee it'll be worth it!  I served this with twice baked potatoes and grilled onions.  Delicious!

Check out this cookbook for this spice rub
and several others! 

Southwest Spice Rub

2 tsps pure chile powder

2 tsps grannulated garlic

2 tsps paprika

2 tsps salt

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

  Mix ingredients and store in an airtight container.