Layered Strawberry Fool

So, this is the time of year where strawberries seem to be going on special relatively cheap at Carrs/Safeway, so I thought I'd share some of what I'm doing with the little red jewels.

Here's a dessert that takes a bit of prep work (I usually make the custard in the morning to let sit in the fridge until dinnertime), but it is so worth it as it is super yummy!

Just remember to macerate your strawberries (just add clean cut strawberries to a bowl and add a liberal amount of sugar or honey over the top and just let sit for a few hours or overnight.  Yum!) beforehand and you're set to go with this recipe.

Layered Strawberry Fool

• 1 1/4 cups milk
• 2 egg yolks
• 1/2 cup sugar
• a dash of vanilla extract
• Macerated strawberries (I usually make a pound or so for this recipe)
• 1 cup heavy cream, whipped to soft peaks

Procedure:

1.  The morning before, or at least a few hours before dinner, make the custard.  Whisk 2 tbs of the milk with the sugar, egg yolks and vanilla extract.  Whisk until the yolks have significantly lightened in color.

2.  Heat the remaining milk until just below the boiling point (bubbles should start breaking the surface of the mixture, but not tons of them).

3.  Stir milk SLOWLY into egg mixture, whisking constantly, until 1/2 of the milk is incorporated well and then you can add the rest of the milk all at once.  Whisk briskly to combine.

4.  Return mixture to pan and heat over medium low heat until the mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon (don't heat at too high of a heat or you'll scramble your eggs in the custard...not good eats!).  Let cool for 15 minutes and then transfer to a heat safe bowl.  Cover with plastic wrap and place in fridge to set.

To serve:  Place custard in bottom of some pretty glasses.  Spoon macerated strawberries on top and then finish off the layers with a good thick layer of whipped cream.

To eat:  Use a spoon and mix to combine all the layers and enjoy strawberry fool goodness!

Menu Plan Monday: Menu for week 2/9/15

There are several things to celebrate this week around here.

One:  Our tax return came in!  Which more on how I handle that soon, but it at least afforded us a bit of breathing room financially.  For me?  This is a big deal.

Two:  My friend Megan tuned me into a deal on apples (I posted about it on Facebook, so if you aren't following us on Facebook you might want to start.  I'll also be sharing any cool deals I find at the stores during the week and stuff on there) so I was able to get 2 cases of apples so cheap that I feel there must be a minor miracle involved.

Three:  Valentine's Day is this weekend.

Now, around here we don't "do" the normal Valentine's things, mainly because of my son's peanut allergy (kinda puts a downer on the holiday when every single Valentine's related treat contains peanuts).  So, I'll be making cookies and a new recipe for fudge for this weekend.  Here's hoping the kids enjoy it!

So, here's this week's menu plan.  There's a few shake ups to the norm, but nothing overly fancy.  By the way I do have some recipes from last week to share too.  Our power became possessed here, resulting in 1/2 of my house going through a strobe light effect all the time, the receptacles talking to us by making sputtering sounds, etc.  The other half of the house finally lost power, which resulted in my husband changing a main breaker for the house, that later turned out to be redundant since it wasn't on our end but our power company's end.  Turns out that a pole that directly feeds our main power pole for our block was shorting and since we were first in line of power for our road, we got to experience the wonders of it all.  It's fixed now...so I guess that's four things to be excited about this week *laugh*.  So, I do have some back blogging to get done for last week too.

Menu Plan for Week 2/9/15

• Monday:  Roast Chicken, Rice, Seasonal Salad (recipe coming soon)
• Tuesday:  Chicken Noodle Soup (use carcass from roast chicken for stock.  Reserve 2 cups for Wednesday).  The husband has finally caught the cold we've been fighting around here.  Poor guy.  Recipe for super easy home made noodles coming soon too.
• Wednesday:  Sausage "roll" with gravy (use reserved stock from Tuesday), steamed veggies and steamed pudding (this is a "one pot meal" concept that I was reading in an old cookbook and I'm intrigued to try it out).
•  Thursday:  Shrimp Cocktail with salad (have some shrimp in the freezer I was getting decently cheap at Three Bears on sale a few weeks ago).
• Friday:  Pancakes, bacon, eggs 
• Saturday:  Fish and Chips (Cod was 5.00 per lb on 5.00 Friday last week, so I picked up a pack for 6.00 and some change).  This will be a rare treat as we haven't had fish and chips in a long time.
• Sunday:  Yankee Style Beef Roast (recipe coming soon), roasted veggies, Never Fail Bread (recipe coming soon).

Breakfasts (outside of norm):

• Cinnamon Roll Baked Oatmeal

Desserts/Treats:

• Sugar Cookies, Chocolate Chip Cookies, Crumb Fudge (Valentine's Day)

Rebuilding a Pantry on 25.00 per week: Week 6

So, this week's 25.00 toward my pantry rebuild project went toward:

• 6 Pack Massel Beef Bouillon
• 1 can Bird's Custard Powder
• 1 container of wet wipes (5.00 on 5.00 Fridays at Carrs)
• 1 package Fruitables juice boxes (free with Just 4 U coupon)
• 1 box Nature Valley Breakfast Biscuits (free with Just 4 U coupon)
• 1 package of Ortega Taco Shells 1.57 (Just 4 U personalized price).    

The boullion:  I got my six tins for 13.57.  It's a bit higher now, but still worth it.

Yes, I consider bouillon a pantry staple.  What do I use it for?  Well, a few of my favorites are adding it into water before you cook rice in it, which makes an excellent change up to plain old rice.  I also like to cook some noodles and then add the noodles to some bouillon when I'm not feeling well.  Kind of my own version of ramen noodles, but better for you (as the Massel brand of bouillon is low sodium and more allergy friendly than traditional bouillon).  If you don't want to buy tins of bouillon and don't have allergies to worry about (or aren't concerned about sodium intake), you can look for bouillon cubes or powder at your local store and such.

The Custard Powder:  I have recipes from some recipe books I love that call for custard powder, so I ordered it online.  I got a can for 5.00 with free shipping (course it shipped from Great Britain, so it took a while to get here).  I think something like this would be a great pantry staple as it doesn't take much powder to make the custard.

The Wet Wipes:  We go through a lot of wet wipes around here with the kids, so I always grab these when they are on 5.00 special.

The Fruitables and Nature Valley Breakfast Biscuits:  These were free with Just 4 U Coupons I loaded on my shopping card.  Since my daughter has slowly lost a corn allergy/sensitivity she had, I figure trying her on this juice for lunches is worth a shot (especially since the Honest Kids juice pouches I have been buying her forever are now up to 6.00 and some change...she only likes the orange flavor.  Just ugh.).  The Breakfast Biscuits are going to just be used by my husband when he needs a quick breakfast for the road as my son isn't allowed NEAR them with his allergies.  Really, these are NOT normally things I'd have in my pantry, but since they were free and they ARE going in the pantry, I thought I'd include them.


The Taco Shells:  I keep at least a couple of boxes of these in the pantry, normally, for taco nights.  So, one box down. 

Total spent: 25.14

So, I still have 4.05 left over in my "overage cushion" and got an okay amount of things to go in the pantry this week.  While I love the bulk items to resupply the pantry, it does eat into a 25.00 per week budget.

Thrifty Thursday (Thrift Store Finds)

So, on Thursdays, I thought I'd share cool things I find at used stores or yard sales (if I find anything at all), just to show that saving money can be fun.

See, I LOVE thrift store shopping!  There is a thrill of the hunt type of vibe involved in used store shopping.  You never know what you are going to find when you walk through the door.  Sometimes you'll find nothing, sometimes you'll find something cool.

And, honestly, it's a "cheap date" for yourself if you go in with certain things you are looking for in mind, or with a budget in mind for what you want to spend.  I'll a lot of times walk in with whatever change I can gather up around the house (usually about 4.00 or so) and just see if I can find anything cool for that amount or less.  It's fun, it gets me out of the house, and in some cases like this week, it can save you a TON of money when you find the right things.

Case in point this week's finds.  My husband had gotten a pair of Wellington style boots from an old neighbor of ours a few years back and he loved them.  So much so that he plain wore them out.  When the seams split and the boots were barely holding together, I tried to repair them and quickly found that I am not a cobbler.  The boots are now super uncomfortable for him to wear.

So, we've been looking for over a year for a pair of Wellington boots for him and we were starting to think we were just plain going to have to spring for a new pair, which would cost well over 100.00, on sale.

I walked into the thrift stores this week actually seeking a new mixing bowl, as one of my two medium sized mixing bowls that I use ALL THE TIME got broken and made me cry a little as it was also one of two hand thrown bowls I had.  I'm making due without a second medium mixing bowl, but it does not work with the system I have going for baking.  And my bigger mixing bowl that I'm now using weighs a ton, which REALLY stinks when you are trying to scoop batter into a pan.

Anyway, so far I've not had a lot of luck on the mixing bowl front, but a pair of boots caught my eye as I was walking by a table.  Seeing they were in brand new shape almost, I flipped the boots over and was amazed to see that they would fit my husband.  So, I flagged down an employee as the boots were missing a price tag and he went and got them priced for me.  Honestly, I didn't hold out a lot of hope on the price because boots, especially good ones, tend to run expensive even at the used stores.

But, the boots came back with a 6.00 dollar price tag!  I was so thrilled I kept a death grip on those boots the entire time I was looking around the store *laugh*.
 
 I then discovered a couple of days later a few more finds.  My husband had a shaving mug that I'd found at, ironically enough, another used store ages ago and dropped it a few years back.  We've been looking for a replacement ever since.  And found one!  The shaving mug was 1.50, which from the Googling my husband did when we got home, we saved over 20.00 if we'd try to buy it new, and that was without shipping.  So woohoo!

I also found a Tupperware (I collect old Tupperware) container for crafts, which I've been using these for different sewing boxes and such when we run into them.  I'm going to turn this one into a segmented button box for different mending projects.  I scored this one for 2.00 and it's in nearly brand new shape.

So, there's our finds for this week.  Total spent:  9.50.  Total saved by buying used:  Probably close to 200.00, honestly.

Since I'd budgeted out 40.00 for new boots for my husband (as I knew he was going to need them sometime soon), I came out way ahead on that front this week.  Happy girl, am I!

Monthly Financial Goals (and Why They're Important)

One of the big things that people do NOT like to talk about with each other is money.  Heck, finances are linked as one of the leading causes of divorce.

Why is that?  Honestly, I think it's because we have this terrible habit of blaming the other party in a relationship for financial problems and it leads to resentment and in some cases the other party out and out lying about what they are doing financially so they don't have to get into a fight.

This, my friends, is destructive.  And counter productive if you are trying to get out of debt, recover from a financial pitfall or otherwise save money.

There MUST be financial accountability.  Otherwise, everything else you do?  It's going to be for naught.  Both parties, especially in a marriage NEED to know where that couple is standing finances wise or it's going to go badly at one point or another.  Least, that's my belief.

So, I make sure to give my husband a head's up, if nothing else, on where we are financially at all times.  And the last year I've tried really hard to schedule monthly financial "meetings" with him once the kids are in bed or on the weekend before the kids get up and can distract us.  I like mornings better, honestly, because then you don't go to bed with finances on the brain, which leads to, in my case a lot of times, anxiety attacks and not being able to sleep.

See, here's the big thing with finances.  They get away from you if you are not careful.  Especially credit cards (which we are down to two of them, one of which is a huge dental bill that we're getting taken care of for my husband slowly but surely and the other is a card we're paying off).  Sit down, pull out all your bills and list them for a few months.  Yes, it is probably going to be terrifying staring at your debt in plain black and white, but at the same time FACING it will also allow you to start to take control of it.  Before you can get yourself out of trouble, you need to realize you are in trouble to begin with.  The only way to do that is to track it and work out what you can do to get rid of it within your means.

Another thing I started doing was to sit down and start making mini "financial goals" that I want to accomplish that month.  For some odd reason I do better when I have things written down and can cross it off a list.  I mean even if your financial goal is, "Find a way to save five dollars.  Put five dollar bill in jar.  Repeat."  Keep doing that and then as you get better at it increase the amount.  You might be surprised how much money you can save that way.

So, here are my "financial goals" as they sit for this month.  I will get into more detail about some things later, maybe, but this is the "list" of things I want to check off this month.


February Financial Goals:

1.  Recharge cell phone. 

No, I do not have an I-Phone or other super smart phone.  Yup, I have a spiffy phone that needs to be recharged, usually due to my time running out, every three months.  Just to prove that it here you are...

Got it for 24.00 on Amazon (great place to purchase them) and got the case for like 4.00.  It works for what I need it for (mainly the multiple alarm function...I don't know what I'd do without that).   And yes, we're tight enough that I actually have to schedule a 30.00 recharge on my phone.  Sad, but true. 

2.  When tax refund comes in remove at least 80% and put in savings (more on that one later).

3.  Budget for gift and dinner for holidays.  

We have a birthday this month and Valentine's Day, so I'm figuring we're just going to do a "bulk" celebration for both.  It works :).

4.  Save at least 20.00 somewhere!

This one got accomplished already.  I'll share more on that later as well.

Gingerbread (Victory) Pudding

This is a recipe that intrigued me when I ran across it in old cookbooks.  There were many different varieties of the pudding (some called for eggs, some not, some called for cinnamon, some not, etc), but what they all had in common seemed to be two things.  One:  It was always sweetened and flavored (primarily) with molasses and Two:  The recipe would call for rolled wheat (???).

What I loved about the recipe when I'd see it though is that it seemed like a really nutritious recipe for breakfast. So, seeing the word "rolled" with the wheat, I subbed out old fashioned rolled oats and while I'm not sure if it tastes like the original recipe, it does taste good!  The pudding comes out with a light pudding on top and a chewy almost toffee-like consistency toward the bottom (but easier to chew).  And the pudding tastes like gingerbread! 

I cut the molasses in the recipe with maple syrup, because while I usually have molasses around, I tend to keep dark molasses (go hard or go home I say ;), but most recipes called for light molasses and also molasses is expensive, so I figured I'd go half with the maple syrup to see how it would turn out.  And it comes out great!  If your family can "do" maple flavored pancake syrup (we can't due to food issues) I'm sure you could use that in replacement of the maple syrup.  If you want to be lazy with the sweeteners, just pour the molasses in first, eyeball halfway up a 1/3 of a cup and then fill the rest of the way with maple syrup.  It works fine.

The best thing about this recipe, though, is that it gets rolled oats into you and you'd never know you were eating oatmeal.  Seriously, give it a try!

I like to reheat mine in the mornings and put a little cream on top.   It is so yummy!

Gingerbread (Victory) Pudding

• 2 Cups milk
• 2/3 cup old fashioned rolled oats
• 2 1/2 Tbs. molasses
• 2 1/2 Tbs. maple syrup
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1 tsp. ground ginger
• Pinch of salt

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Bring milk to JUST a boil in a heavy saucepan over medium-high heat (if watching) or low heat (if not watching very closely), stirring frequently (if medium high heat) or occasionally (if not watching too closely).

Meanwhile, grease a 1 1/2 quart baking dish (I like a casserole for this as the mixture does boil up a bit as it cooks in the oven).

Combine rolled oats, molasses, egg, ginger and salt in a heatproof bowl.  Take a ladle of milk and SLOWLY add to mixture while stirring hard (this will temper the egg in the mix so you don't end up with lumpy pudding).  Once the ladle of milk is added, grab the pot with the milk in it and CAREFULLY and slowly add the milk to the mixture, all the while stirring.  Once about 1/2 of the milk mixture is added to the oats, you can add the rest of the milk in all at once and stir well to combine.

Transfer mixture to casserole (it will be very liquidy, so don't worry about it). 

Bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes or until center is set.  Cool for 20 to 30 minutes at least.  I like to make mine the night before, put it in the fridge overnight and then microwave portions for about 20 seconds in the microwave (barely warm consistency) and then add a little cream to the top. 

Super yummy.  Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Menu Plan Monday: This Week's Menu (and a note on Menu Plans)

My Menu Plan Board

Okay, I know some out there are rolling their eyes and going, "Really?  Another menu plan blog?" because it seems that a LOT of blogs out there stress the importance of a menu plan.  And yes, I'm going to add my voice to the choir.  But, not for the reasons you might think.

See, some people stress the importance of shopping the sales and then figuring out your menu plan from that.  I'm not one of those people...well unless there's a fresh ingredient I get at the store on sale and need to use up (like prepare for some strawberry love this week as I have strawberries I got on sale at Carrs last week that will NOT go to waste).  Nor am I going to be one of those people who start showing you menu plans of lots of fresh produce and such and tell you how cheap it all is (I live in Alaska...yeah, produce is NOT cheap up here).  So, be prepared for pretty simple menu plans from me (not that I won't do new things every once in a while to "shake it up" as it were).

The main reason I do a menu plan?  Well, the honest to goodness reason?  Is because I got tired of me asking my husband, "What do you want for dinner tonight?" and him replying, "I don't know, what do you want?"  Fast forward fifteen minutes into the future and I'm going to the kitchen to make some mediocre fare and call it good before I throttle something.

So now, when my husband asks what is for dinner, I look over at the menu plan for the week and say, "We're having..." and voila!  No more indecisive nights.  Which also will lead to less eating out.  Which in turn saves money too.  Trust me, I know from experience.

So, here's our menu plan for this week.  Nothing too exciting, but I'm down to chicken (lots and LOTS of chicken) and hamburger in the freezer pretty much.  It's the countdown till tax refund comes in around here, so until then dinner excitement is in my court to make the mundane new again.

Menu plan for week 2/2/15

• Monday:  Chicken Alfredo (I threw in a handful of frozen vegetable medley I had in the freezer too that was slightly freezer burned, so double bonus on that one!)
• Tuesday:  Baked Fish (some slightly freezer burned pollock I found in the bottom of the freezer) in a some heavy type of sauce (to cover freezer burn), rice, salad (big things of salad were on sale 2 for 5.00 on Friday at Carrs, so I'm trying to use up the salad before it goes slimy)
• Wednesday:  Fried Chicken (to appease the daughter unit), mashed potatoes, baked beans.  Note:  Strain and save oil.
• Thursday:  Cheesburger Soup (tweaked to fit our needs, but it looks good)
• Friday:  Spaghetti, garlic bread, salad
• Saturday:  Chicken Fried "Steak" (recipe coming soon if it turns out good).  Use strained oil from fried chicken.
• Sunday:  Meatloaf (use leftover gravy from night before), leftover mashed potatoes (from Wednesday), some type of veggie.

Breakfast foods (non usual):

• Gingerbread/Victory Pudding (recipe coming soon)

Desserts:

• Strawberry something or other (imagination will be used)