I’m still working on the habit of meal planning for my husband and me. It’s a work in progress. Well, now I have to plan two weeks worth of meals for us and my two youngest stepdaughters. They are 13 and 17 years old. They are both picky eaters. It’s been a while since I’ve had to cook for both of them. So I have to figure out what to cook for me, my husband (who is also picky!) and our two girls. Oh boy.

At the same time, I have to keep our food costs as low as possible. With Christmas and paying $500 for brakes, we’re pinching our pennies. So I’m looking for some yummy and inexpensive recipes. The easier to make the better! Haha!

I’d love to get some ideas from my awesome readers! I’ll be posting a list of all the ideas later on. If you’d like me to link to your recipes, just let me know!

On Monday, I left my best friend’s house. Sad. I stopped at Starbucks to get my morning jolt and some nourishment. Yummy! As I was sitting in the drive thru line, I glanced at the menu. That hardly ever happens since I always order the same thing. A Venti mocha with non-fat milk and no whip. Yum.

So back to the menu. I glanced over and saw something new. “Cake Pops” The perfect amount of yummy sweetness. Easy to eat on the go. I loved the idea! And since my birthday is coming up soon, I decided to get one for myself. They have a “birthday cake” pop, but I went with the tiramisu. OH MY YUM!! It was so good. And it even came in it’s own little box! How cute is that.

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I had an awesome weekend. My sister and I hosted a Pampered Chef party on Saturday. (Orders are still open! HINT!!) We had invited a TON of people, but ended up with 3 guests. It was awesome though. Our Pampered Chef consultant made chicken fajitas, fresh pico de gallo, and chocolate molten cake! YUM! We were all impressed.

We had our best friend Cara, our neighbor Kelly, and her friend Vicky, plus our consultant Twana. And my sister and me, of course. We all had a blast, eating and laughing. It was so much fun. We are planning a game night with our neighbor and her friend, because we had so much fun!

On Sunday we went to the first service of The Fellowship at Two Rivers.

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This is such an exciting time for my church home. I’ve been a member my whole life. The past few years have been really hard on our church. Now we have a new pastor, a new name, a new service time and new Sunday school classes, that we call “Life Groups”. There will be more changes in the future.

It was so refreshing to walk in yesterday morning. The sanctuary was almost full for the service. I volunteered in the coffee shop until the service started and as I was walking into the sanctuary to my seat, I had chills. I felt the presence of God in that room. It was incredible.

The music was awesome, the sermon was foundational, the feeling was unimaginable. We had been looking forward to this day for so long. And it was so much better than we could have ever imagined. It’s incredible to see what God is doing in our church and the lives of our members. I can’t wait to see what happens next week!

Check them out online, on Facebook, and Twitter!

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In honor of St Patrick’s Day, Thursday I made Shepherd’s Pie. I haven’t made it in a while, so I did a Google search for recipes. Of course, there were tons that came up, but I went with one I found on All Recipes. The recipe itself looked ok, but I knew I could make it better! Here’s what I used:

1 lb ground beef
3 cloves of garlic (that’s right! I said 3)
1/2 cup of chopped onions
7 oz can of mushrooms (fresh would be much better!)
15-20 baby carrots, chopped
1 cup frozen baby peas, thawed out
2 tbsp all purpose flour
1 tbsp ketchup
3/4 cup beef broth
4 servings of instant mashed potatoes
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 tbsp italian bread crumbs

I started out with the ground beef in one skillet (since it was still kinda frozen). Then in another skillet, I put some olive oil in to heat. I added the 3 cloves of freshly minced garlic and the onions to the skillet. Talk about smelling yummy!

Next I added the mushrooms to the onions and garlic. While the meat finished I started chopping up the baby carrots. I boiled them for about 10 minutes. When the meat was finished, I added the onions, garlic and mushrooms to the meat. I let that cook for a couple of minutes. I then added the flour, ketchup and beef broth to the meat and let it cook for about 5 minutes.

When the meat was done and the carrots were done, I finished making my instant mashed potatoes. (follow directions on box) I added the cheddar cheese to the potatoes. Yum. Next I sprayed my casserole dish (my 2.75 qt Martha Stewart enamel cast iron casserole dish that I got for Christmas!!) with olive oil and started making my layers. First the meat mixture, then the baby carrots and peas, then the mashed potatoes. I added some more cheddar cheese on top and then the bread crumbs. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes.

Let me tell you, this was the most flavorful, delicious Shepherd’s Pie I have ever had! I was so impressed with myself! My sister, who hasn’t always been big on Shepherd’s Pie and is a picky eater, LOVED it! She kept looking at me and nodding her head “yes”. It was great!

I hope you try this recipe and let me know! Hopefully the next time I make it, I can use my husband’s made from scratch mashed potatoes. (His are the BEST!) That would make it even better!!

With my goal to lose weight, I am having to change my eating habits. There are lots of “fat free”, “reduced fat” and “diet” foods, but most of them don’t taste very yummy. I am so glad that I found this awesome website called Gina’s Skinny Recipes. There are tons and tons of recipes on there. Gina has put the nutritional information, as well as Weight Watchers Points, for each recipe. You can search for recipes by clicking on one of many categories listed. It’s so resourceful!

Last week I made this amazing dish. Chicken Divan, Lightened Up. I made it for dinner when we had a friend over. I was making it as part of our new healthy eating habits, and partly to show of my cooking skills. Haha. She was impressed!

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This stuff was so yummy! It was fresh ingredients, made from scratch wonderful food. I think I can get used to this healthy eating!

Do you have any healthy recipes that you love? Please share!

I am so excited! I am having a jewelry party next Friday. This stuff is so gorgeous! I am so excited! I am going to win lots and lots of free jewelry because I’m the hostess of the party. And I LOVE jewelry!!

I’m trying to figure out what food I want to serve. It’s just going to be finger foods, I know. I’m thinking mini cupcakes, veggies & dip, maybe fruit. And then I can’t decide if I want to have sausage balls (my sister wants those!!), mini quiches, chicken salad sandwiches, etc. I’m not sure.

Now I’m hungry! LOL!

How is everyone? I know I haven’t been posting much. Had a lot going on. Last night I tried yoga for the first time. I had to stop halfway through because I got dizzy and nauseous. Then I just felt like crying. (NO IDEA WHY!) I was fighting back tears the rest of the class. My friend and I went in the bathroom afterwards and I cried. It was so weird! It’s probably a combination of missing my love and missing 2 days of taking my St Johns Wort. But I got to talk to my love til 5am this morning so I’m having a great day!! Hehehe.

Well, I have a busy afternoon planned, so I better get going. I miss you all!

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After our week trip to North Carolina for Kristen’s graduation and to bring Carey & Callie back home with us, we had a yard sale. My parents’ neighborhood association was holding a neighborhood yard sale, so I decided to put some stuff out that we need to get rid of. We sold a few things, but I didn’t have the time before the sale to get prepared like I normally do. Next time I will be prepared! Here are some tips I use.

First Things First!

The number one must have for a successful yard sale is: STUFF! That’s right. If you don’t have items to sell, there is no point in having a yard sale! You can sell a variety of things from your kids old toys and clothes to the furniture that just doesn’t fit in your house anymore. From books to musical instruments. And don’t forget about your handmade items! Basically anything you don’t want and/or don’t have room for, you can sell. Remember, One person’s trash is another person’s treasure!

How Much Is This?

Now that you have your items to sell, you need to price them. I like to price things a little higher than I would like to actually get for them. Serious yard sale-ers will barter with you. So if you want to get $1 for that pair of tennis shoes, price them for $2. Most of the time you will actually get the price you mark it. But there will be those that ask if you’ll take much less than the marked price. That’s when you meet in the middle, which is the actual amount you want to get! Also, don’t expect to make much money on certain things. If you paid $75 for that surround sound system, don’t expect to get that amount or more back! It’s more like you’ll get MAYBE $25 for it! Price it for $30 and you’re good to go!

When Is The Best Day?

Most yard sales are on Saturdays. Many people will hold them on Friday and Saturday. Some will even do Thursdays or even Sundays. I personally have had more success on Thursdays. Sometimes you can do several days or only one. Whatever you choose, check your weather report for the day you are shooting for. It’s also a good idea to have a backup date in case of rain.

How Do I Get People To My Sale?

We’ve all seen them! The brightly colored, incredibly tacky looking signs pointing towards a yard sale. You can’t help but look at them and venture towards the sale. What is the best way to attract customers for your sale? Big, bright yellow signs with BLACK writing and ARROWS pointing towards your sale! Other colors might be more attractive but black on yellow is the easiest to read. I like to put my signs out a day or two before my sale. To make them waterproof, in case of rain, use packing tape and completely cover the signs. Write YARD SALE or GARAGE SALE or whatever you are calling your sale. Make sure you have the date and time listed, your street or nearest intersection and if you have room list a few of the big items. Be sure to make all the signs identical (except for the arrows) so that they are easier to spot. Make sure you have room for the arrow! If it’s possible, figure out how many arrows you will need pointing left and right and make signs with both. Then just put them on something you can stick in the ground, unless you are going to staple them up.

Another way to get people there is to place an ad in your local paper or online. Some papers will give you a bundle price for 2-3 days in the paper. Our local paper even gives you a “garage sale packet”! I’m kind of excited about that! Hehe. Use the same wording as your signs. Remember, don’t list your actual address or phone number. Use the nearest intersection and city name.

What Happens To The Leftovers?

It is rare to sell everything in your yard sale. For that reason, you should make a plan of what to do with the rest of the stuff after your sale. If you are planning to have another yard sale, then just box up the stuff or stack it neatly in your garage or somewhere else that will stay dry. You can also donate things to your local Goodwill or Salvation Army. That way, you get rid of stuff but you are also helping out a good cause.

Other Ways To Make Money

No one ever said you only had to sell your junk at a yard sale. When I was growing up we had many yard sales. My sister and I would always set up a lemonade stand, or in the cooler months a hot chocolate stand! You can make home made cookies or brownies to sell. Or if you really want to put a lot into it, you could do hot dogs for lunch! But let me tell you. Lemonade sells!

Happy Yard Sale!

Good luck with your yard sale-ing endeavors! My step-daughter and I will be making cookies this week to sell at our yard sale on Saturday! YAY! I’m excited. I’ll let you know how it goes.

I’ve had several people ask me about how they turned out yesterday. Let me tell you, it was soooo yummy!! I usually don’t like chicken and dumplings. Most of the times I’ve had it, it’s just kind of been blah. But this recipe is so good. So good that I’m making it again today! Haha. It’s not the healthiest meal in the world, but it’s cheap and extremely easy! Here’s some pics:

Now, I took these pics after we had both gotten some out. So you can see that it over flowed. HAHA! The recipe calls for you to put the chicken, butter, cream of chicken soup, and onion in and cover it with water. I forgot to put the water in. But I am GLAD I didn’t. My CrockPot is kinda small, so even before I put the biscuit dough in, it was full. It over flowed when the dough was put in. (Not too bad though) Also, since the dough couldn’t get down into the soup, it took longer than 30 minutes for it to cook. But once it was done, it was yummy! I’m only making half the recipe today. I need a bigger CrockPot!

(For those of you who know me, I registered for a new CrockPot for my wedding! HINT! LOL!)

Much Love,

So in the last couple of weeks I’ve been cooking more. I made some yummy banana nut bread.

                                     

Just wanted to post some pics!

Much Love,