Thinking outside the typical "box" meal.

There's not one person I know that doesn't have a
fond memory of those "Helper" meals Mom made for us kids
growing up.

Good OR bad.

When I first moved in with my husband and I was pregnant
and he was newly unemployed, I switched over to the clever
budgeting that I was taught basically from birth. One of the
cheapest meals we ate was a skillet meal, pretty close to the
"Helper" meals that all the other kids I knew ate. Sure,
Mom made them for us every once and a while. She particularly
liked to make Tuna Helper, one in particular that had a sort
of cornbread-pie topping that really made you vomit in your
mouth at the look and smell. Nevermind the taste.
Mom didn't buy those ready made mixes all too often because
she knew that she could make a better tasting meal and really
make the most basic ingredients stretch to feed the kids for
a couple days.

Living with two growing boys and one husband who works.......
construction and likes to eat big, I'm thankful for that lesson
darn near every day.

Now, having two growing boys and a hungry husband does have
it's setbacks, aside from the constant empty leg syndrome.
My boys can be a little picky, especially the youngest. I LOVE
vegetables.....sadly, they do not always share the love. Which
blows. BUT, I make it work.

I'm sneaky. I hide veggies, darn near every day. I serve a
veggie side along with the meal so they can see what they're
eating and try a whole array of textures and flavors BUT
I do sneak them into meals. And lemme tell you, I think my
kids are on to me. I KNOW my husband knows the score. I will
tell you after a while, they just kind of shrug now
and just chalk it up to me being "experimental" and eat it
anyway. (A few nights of You'll Eat What I Make Or You'll
Starve works well, too. Especially on the husband, who
can't really cook anything aside from BBQ or ramen noodles.)

You can do this, too. And it's really not going to cost any
more than what you're already paying for meat and a packaged meal.
And you're family will survive, even if they complain and tell you
that you're killing them with all these vegetables and
lack of processed ingredients. (My husband especially loves
to complain about this.)Tune it out and keep on keepin' on.

I come bearing a gift today. One of my own personal skillet meals
for you to try on your family, just to see what they think. I make
the basic formula with the WW noodles, tomato sauce and meat, but
it varies every time with what veggies I have in the fridge/what
I found on sale. Experiment. If you have another kind of fresh
veg that you think would be good, chop it up and throw it in.
Nine times out of ten, you'll like what you make. And
really, so will your kids. Don't we lead by example? Anyway.....
here is one I make about......twice each a month.

1 lg onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1# extra lean ground beef (or ground chicken/turkey)
2-3 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 can (14.5 oz.) low-salt canned tomatoes, rinsed and drained
3 cans (8 oz.) low salt tomato sauce
1/4 to 1/2 tsp. Liquid Smoke
2 tbsp. dijon mustard
3 tbsp. dill pickle juice
1 tbsp. worchestershire sauce
1/3 c. bacon bits (packaged or homemade)
1 1/2 c. uncooked whole wheat pasta
8 oz. lowfat sharp cheddar, shredded
Fresh ground pepper, to taste

In a large skillet, cook together onion, garlic and meat until
browned. Drain well. Add in diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, Liquid
Smoke, dijon mustard, dill pickle juice, worchestershire sauce
and bacon bits. Heat through. In seperate pot, cook pasta to
box instructions. Drain well. Stir into meat mixture.
Heat through. Serve with a sprinkle of cheese.

We like this with cornbread and a platter of fresh
veggies and my Zesty Ranch Dip.

Really only pennies to make these meals and a whole lot healthier
than the "Helper" meals.

I mean, they're great. Don't get me wrong. But it's always
a little tastier homemade.

And cheaper. Isn't it?

Happy Birthday! Guess what......You're old!

I've been fretting over this new blog entry.

Only because I'm not really in a writin' mood lately.

Not a lot has changed excepting my boys are getting older.
I'm getting older. We're all getting older. And the sense
of my own mortality has kind of gripped my psyche and hasn't let go.

(I go through this every Spring. My family members all
have birthdays right after the other and it's a constant
reminder that we're all maturing. Some of us faster than others,
in the case of my adolescent husband. You think I'm being too
hard on him? Great. Then you can come for dinner one night and
witness him both farting and burping without apologies, and
encouraging my boys to clap if he's beat last dinner's record.
Then, we'll see what you have to say. But, I digress.)

We're broke as heck. Worse than before. So, that single wide
budget has shrunk down to about the size of our Subaru. I'm
trying to remain positive. This means, I get to make the
boys' birthday cake this year instead of paying $25 for a bakery
cake that has a a**ton of dyes and artificial mess that make
my boys yak all over the carpet in a array of colors. I like
to bake and my boys like to eat cake. It all works out. We've
spent all our excess "fun" money on small gifts for the boys
and I'm researching on how to make my own party decorations on
the cheap. And, we're doing a "special" dinner at home instead
of dinner out. This means the birthday boy gets to pick out
their birthday dinner.......that I get to figure out how to make on
the cheap. They've all clammored to me with suggestions, and I'm
doing my best to figure out how I can do what they wish on the cheap.

I'm determined to keep a positive attitude. Even if I don't have
a lot to say on the matter.

So, anyway.....pretty soon, it'll be Happy Birthday to Me.
And when I blow out the candles on the cake I make for myself,
I will make sure to thank Whoever for the blessings I've
been given: Each new day I'm presented with to spend time with
the people that matter to me the most. The ability to do the best
for my family I can, no matter what the budget. The ingenuity I
was shown by my parent that you can do anything you set
your mind to. The friendships I've made that get me through
the hardest times. And the state of mind that I can just open
my mouth and tell anyone about it.

So, yes. I'm older. But, I think with each passing year,
I'm more thankful.

How's that for turning a heck of a negative into a shining positive?

Grocery Shopping with less than 40.00.

I'm feeling a little down this week. Nothing that won't be
fixed in a couple days and some good medication. Not me. My
youngest. Thought he was over his last humdinger of an ear
infection only to get him to the hospital last night and
find out that it was worse than before. Poor little man.
So.....after a couple rough night's sleep, I'm ready for a
comforting meal and a good night's sleep.

I digress.

I don't know if any of you live close to a Grocery Outlet.
I pray like heck you do. If it wasn't for them, I swear, I
would have gone broke buying groceries for my family AGES ago.
I hear Aldi is pretty close. I've never been to one, so
I can't swear on my firstborn. From what I've seen from the
receipt's of my friends, they're at least kissin' cousins.
(If you're in Washington, I've found that Tacoma
Boys is a good place to shop for good priced produce.
They especially rungreat sales during the summer.)

I had to get a week's worth of produce today, with a couple
extra's thrown in for lunches. I had some produce already
here that will work with what I bought,
I just needed to round it out.

For those of you who like reciepts, this is what I got today:
(2) 16 oz. packages fresh mushrooms
(4) 16 packages sharp cheddar
Large package roma tomatoes
(4) Small bags organic baby carrots
(4) Bags salad mix (with the cabbage, not lettuce)
(2) Boxes Wheatable Nut Crackers
Container sour cream
Milk
#3 Dole bananas
(4) Cans mandarin oranges
Red potatoes
Really nice big container of green grapes
Bag frozen chicken tenders
Couple big cukes
Bag of apples (just your basic apple, for applesauce)

Now. Dosen't look like a lot. But four big bags for around
thirty bucks is pretty sweet. And with the chicken tenders
in there, too.....those can be pretty pricey. Sometimes, I'll
get spinach there, too but I had a couple bags from an
excellent sale this week. You have to admit that at your
local grocery store, unless you're shopping from a circular,
you ain't getting $30 worth of groceries no way, no how.
I would much rather buy my produce from a local stand but
this week just wasn't possible. (Isn't it great buying all
that fresh fruit from an open stand? There's nothing
like it.)

Couple secrets for you. If you live close to a discount store,
sometimes you can get really great deals by signing up for an
e-mail list. Grocery Outlet is great because they'll do printable
coupons on reciepts, they'll have a drawing a couple times a
month to win what you save and you can even sometimes find
a coupon or two in your blue envelope with.....we'll.....most
of the coupons that you completely disregard and recycle.
(Come on. You know I'm right. I've done it in the past.) I've
found that Grocery Outlet even has a Facebook page! They'll
offer tips on how to extend your food bill, work on revamping
your leftovers and what the deal of the week is. The great
thing about Grocery Outlet is they've even started carrying
organic brands for about half the normal price is. If you
don't want to commit, just go in. Look around. See
what they have to offer. There's no charge for window shopping.

And there's something I have to tell you that I'm a little
ashamed to admit. I usedto be a brand name junkie. Anything
that was store brand would have never made it into my cart
before kids. Now, I can say that most of the time the store
brand is just as good as the name brand counterpart. I'll
happily grab a store brand over any name brand item hands down.
And it costs about half what the name brand does! Try to lower
your standards and embrace the person inside who misses
the white boxes with the black lettering!

I'm really tired, so I'm probably leaving some things out.

I'm sure you'll remind me later.

Tonight's dinner is Hamburger Stroganoff. This will use some
of the mushrooms I bought today, some of the sour cream and
I'll serve it over mashed potatoes. You can
make a very simple mushroom soup base from scratch:
(http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Homemade-Cream-Style-Soup-Mix/Detail.aspx< )
which is super cheap to make or you can use Cream of soup.
Or, you can just skip the middle man and just saute your
mushrooms in EVOO/butter and just salt/pepper and add a
little cream. Whichever is best for you. I tend to cook
the mushrooms in a seperate pan, then add it to the browned
hamburger and then add the milk, 1/3 c. lowfat sour cream,
little worchestershire sauce and sometimes, a little beef broth
if I'm low on milk. Almost all the ingredients (ground beef
aside, which I bought at Walmart last week and froze until
needed) were bought at Grocery Outlet. Served over mashed
potatoes with steamed broccoli or a side green salad is
really comfort at it's best for me. And it always seems to
make just enough for lunch the next day. Super cheap, and
really freaking tasty. For all you vegan's out there, there
is a portobello mushroom stroganoff
(http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Portobello-Mushroom-Stroganoff/Detail.aspx< )
that is to freaking die for and it uses vegetable broth.
And I know that they make vegan sour cream, too! (And you
also can get portobello mushrooms at Grocery Outlet!
They even sell big containers for about four bucks at Costco.)

And honestly, just because you bought your regular
groceries at somewhere a little cheaper, does it make it
any less tasty?

So, did that help any?

Come on people, now. Smile on your brother!

Normally, I'm quite the little pisher.

Got a smart remark for everything.

Today, I'm taking a break.

In times like this, we're all pinching pennies. Every one of
us. Some have it a little easier than others. I was not only
raised with a single parent that had a good eye for
budgeting and stretching money, but also a caring heart.
Because of this, I have a soft spot for other single parents
trying so hard to make ends meet.

Ah heckfire, I have a soft spot for almost anything. Shoot, I
saw a commercial yesterday that had me crying. I just bubble over
easy.

Today, while out getting something special to make with my
boys at my favoritediscount store, I saw a single mother of
three kids walking through the store. You could see her working
out her budget in her head and how she was going to feed
her kids this week with the deals that were offered this week.
I knew this face. And I silently followed her around, not
necessarily stalking, just.....being quiet and taking it in.

Her and I reached the checkout line within minutes, but she
stepped aside to look through her cart and kind of do the
math in her head. We've all done this. My heart just couldn't
take it. I took aside the cashier and quietly told her that I
wanted to pay for her groceries, because she had so little
and I just couldn't not help in some way. She smiled and said
it wasn't a problem. As I loaded up my car, I looked through
the glass of the doors and glanced at the surprize and....utter
relief on her face. I sat in my car and broke down. I
couldn't help it. I hope she was able to get just a little
bit more with the money she had budgeted that week.

I don't come to you asking for a pat on the back or to
say I'm a good person. I'm human and know that sometimes
everyone needs a little help. I've been there a time
or two and there's always been someone with a helping hand
and kind heart. I know you're struggling, but there's always
someone who's swimming upstream against a hell of a current
and just needs a chance to pause and take another big breath
before fighting the current again.

So, if you can, help. You don't have to do what I did. It
dosen't always have to cost money. It's the little things.
Think outside the box and really hone in on your surroundings.
There's a chance every day for greatness. I see it constantly
and soon, so will you.

That could be the hand up that changes the world.

Sloppy Joes. Completely unpretentious but really freaking awesome.

You ever learn to crochet?

I have. Several times. We'll....TRIED to learn. And you know

what, I'm terrible at it. I've bought magazines, how-to books,

watched tutorials on youtube and had several people try to sit

down and try to teach me step by step. I had a hair laying across

my backside a few months back and decided I needed a hobby. I

tried counted cross stitch and ended up throwing the whole mess
across the room over the inability to count and make tiny little

squares. Then, I decided that maybe I should try crocheting.

Again. After I couldn't get it the first time. I've put it down again

for the umpteenth time in.....three days and thought maybe I should

do something constructive instead of glaring at my yarn and

crochet hook and calling it foul names.

Yes, I did that. No, I'm not proud of it but gosh darn it, it's the truth.

So, anyway......yeah.

I've finally decided on my first recipe to go over with you. It's not

SUPER healthy but you can make a couple changes like I have to make it

a little better and kind of mask the changes you've made for the people

you love in your life. (If your family is anything like mine, you've got to

work to prove that vegetables and things like ground turkey and spices

are a good addition to food. It'll take some work but lemme tell you,

remind them that you love them and they will eventually fall in line.

A couple times of "eat what I cook or you go hungry" will make it go

a little quicker, trust me. If not, the Evil Eye works real well, too.)

Sloppy Joes aren't everyone's bag. They WEREN'T mine. The

canned sauce or the packet of seasoning just weren't for me. That's

putting it nicely. I made this recipe:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Ruby-Drive-Sloppy-Joes/Detail.aspx<

and I was converted. According to my husband, it was close

enough for him to the sauce but it was like a step up. My kids even

liked it.....and I HID VEGGIES IN IT. Shhhhhh. Don't tell. You

may say that it's not for you, but try it. You might find that you

actually like Sloppy Joes, only it's redefined the food for you. So,

for those of you who like bargains, pay attention. First

thing in the morning is usually when you find the best deals on meat.

Marked down meat does not always mean bad or rotten. Use your

bestjudgement....if it looks okay, then you're probably alright. If

you feel comfortable, call your local store and find out when they

mark down their meat. There's no shame in it. You aren't the first

person to do this. This morning, I paid $20 and got two weeks worth

of ground beef, ground turkey, BLSL chicken thighs, and pork

chops.....all for being their early. If you don't like that, maybe a

cost club is the way to go? Buying into a membership

like Costco is always a good thing to have just for meat. I find

that if I buy the large packages of ground beef or BLSL chicken

breasts, I can portion them out into ziploc bags and pull out the

right amount I need for my meal. (Great thing about Costco is

they sell the Foster Farms BLSL chicken breasts already vaccuum

packed in little packages....usually six or eight to a package. Two

of those breasts are big enough to use in one meal,

stretched out with vegetables and pasta.) It's really all about
what your budget can bend to. Try out what feels good to you.

I have a point.

I have a 1.5 package of extra lean ground beef that I bought marked

down from my local grocery store this morning. Take that and

brown it real nice and once it's cooked, drain it real good and set

it aside in a warmer or something so it's not just sitting there.

Chop up a couple carrots, a couple peppers, fresh garlic, a big onion

and if you're feeling adventurous, maybe grate some zucchini or

have a bunch of spinach ready to throw onto the Joes at the last.

It's all about what you have on hand. (Eye your

grocery store's ads for the week. It's really not all that expensive

to get the paper in your area on the days when they circulate their

weekly ads. Here, I usually see them on Wednesday and Sunday.

If you can, try to buy from your local produce stand. Usually the

produce can be a better quality, sometimes comes from your local

growers and is more reasonable in getting what you need for less

than you're paying at your grocery store. Find out where they are

and do a walk-thru. Dosen't really cost anything to look and you

can take notes. An informed shopper is the ruler of all. I think you

might even qualify for a tee-shirt.) Saute the veggies together in a

large skillet with a little oil, whatever you have is fine. Once they've

started to look "done", throw in the beef and mix it together.

Now, what I usually do is use half ketchup, half chili sauce.

Or even partial BBQ sauce. I'm one of those people who thinks the

flavor of hot ketchup is gag-worthy. You may not feel this way,

and that's okay. I still like you. I buy my ketchup in the BIG tubs

either from Costco or my local discount grocery store. Depending on

where I am financially for that month. BBQ sauce comes from the

same place. Chili sauce usually dosen't cost all much either to make

or buy so depending on how much time I have, I'll do either.

Same with BBQ sauce. There are some great recipes on this site,

all very simple that most ingredients are pretty cheap to acquire

and really make a fabulous product. I like to make my own salsa: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Ds-Famous-Salsa/Detail.aspx

because it's really freakin' simple and once you try homemade,

the jarred stuff just dosen't cut it anymore. I use that in this recipe.

I don't add the brown sugar. I feel that the ketchup is sweet enough

on it's own and my kids don't really need the added sugar. It's all

a personal preferance. You get excited over it, add it. This recipe

dosen't need much else....I like to add a little liquid smoke but I

love the stuff. If I could have it with ice cream, I probably would.

That's also pretty cheap to buy and good to have on hand when

you make your own sauces at home. With all of this said, if you

have a big family and you do use the amount of ground beef

I do and add in another healthy amount of chopped veggies, you

might want to double the sauce. Or at least make a recipe and a half

of the sauce part. Heck, the leftovers are just as good so you might as

well make extra. If you can't eat it all, it freezes well. Any kind of

veggies you want to throw in, go for it. I'm sure you could add corn

and have it come out well. Or use ground turkey. I've done it. You

could even use half black beans. Beans are always cheap and make

a great filler for almost any meal. Add a bit of shredded cheese on

top and a side salad, you've got a great filling meal. I've made

homemade jo-jo's or sweet potato fries and they make a good

side for this main dish as well. Potatoes cost next to nothing and

tossing them with a few choice spices and a little oil and baking

them.....really simple and just super comforting. I don't know if

I was able to help you in any way. I feel like I've been sitting here

rambling on about nothing for a half hour. If I was able to help,

lemme know. So at least I'll know if I was on the right track.

Now, I'm going to try to go back to trying to learn to crochet.

Pray for me.

Buying a car that was made in the last two decades.

Buying a car is always an experiance, no matter who you are.

I come here hoping to share my experiance with you so that maybe
you'll learn something, too. Maybe you'll laugh because you'll
understand the importance of leg room and coffee holders and LEATHER
INTERIOR. This is all new to me. I've NEVER had my name on a title EVER.
I've never bought a car. (This isn't new to my husband, but it's always
good for me to learn so that I can be the clearhead to his child-like
abandon.) And dosen't life experiance lend to a good story?

You know that it's Murphy's Law that when you FINALLY get the money
to pay something off or buy something new, something's gonna break.
You know this. And when you've started life at the bottom of the well
and are working your way out, you realize that you've got to scream to
the top of that well and tell the man yelling at you to "put the lotion
on the skin otherwise you'll get the hose again" that this is IT for you.
You're gonna learn from your mistakes and veer around the hole to that
well next time.

I digress.

So, as soon as we get the mobile paid off, our car gives us it's
notice. Hey, at least we taught it manners. She's got the courtesy to
say "please" before she dies. We're still hobbling her around, but
barely. So, we're looking for a new-to-us car. Something made in the
last two decades. Hey....we're working our way out of the well. The
first car D. and I bought together was an '84 Camry, I think. Then,
we moved up to a '89 Astrovan. Then, it was the '91 Subaru. (Don't
quote me on this. I stink at cars birthdays as well as make and model.
Forget it. I just notice the color and wether it smells like monkey
buttflap or not.) We set our eyes on a '96 Ford Expedition. (And I
had to ask my six year old boy to remind me what kind of car it was.
Like I said, I'm terrible at remembering.) And lemme tell you,
it's freaking GORGEOUS. I'm not one for pretty cars. Everything we've
bought has been to get us from Point A to Point B and really has been
about substance, not glamour. But, girls.....GOD. It's got LEATHER
INTERIOR. I've never had LEATHER INTERIOR. I'm movin' on up. (And I
know you all watch Roseanne like me. When her and Dan were going back
and forth about wanting to buy a car made in the last decade, he
guffawed. I GET it. Because, not everyone can set goals that high.
But.....in the last two decades, that's doable)

So, we go back today and hopefully get the thumbs up from the
finance company. I'm not getting my hopes up, but lord, it would be
nice to have a reliable car that's pretty. And for all you women who
have men who work in construction and have boys for children, you
KNOW what kind of havoc that they can wreck on a car. My Subaru
is hammered. I'd like to have a clean car for once. Something where
you can just wipe the seats and you're golden. And leg room. And
coffee holders inside the car, so you don't have to wedge it inbetween
the seat and the parking break and pray to God that it dosen't
dislodge on a turn and douche everything in it's wake. If we don't
get it, it's okay. We'll work it out. But, you know......I REALLY
want it to work out, you know?

This does tie into a Double Wide Skillet. Honest. Because, we're
going to have to make a hefty payment because of our credit. IF we
get approved, that is. And this is going to bring our budget tight
once again. And, you know, I think we can do it. I'm excited for this
new challenge because down deep, we've all got the inner Survivor to
climb out the well and really give it to the man holding the lotion.

Ain't it the TRUTH?

EDITED: Not quite enough down payment for the vehicle. So, no go for today.

Double Wide Skillet, Single Wide Budget

I've always identified as white trash.

Not that it's bad. I always thought it was kind of cool. Not the trashy
behavior, I mean. The whole laid back, no frills, genuine kind of people.
I mean, I'm sure I fit into the box of trashy....but we'll not go into that
here. Wait until I know you a little better.

When I moved into "The Park", I have to admit that I wasn't thrilled.
I'd kind of started out my life on the bottom and kind of wanted something
better when I was older. Living in a mobile home was always associated
with being trashy and poor and dirty. I've changed my opinion NOW,
six years later, and now have formed new opinions but that comes with
saddling up my big girl britches and grown up somewhat.

I have a point. I just go the roundabout way of getting to it.

Living in a mobile home park, you learn a few things. It's not
like buying a home. It's like buying a really big car you can live
in. The longer you live in it, it decreases in value, just like a car.
And if you sign a contract to buy a mobile home in a park, using
the owner as a bank, you might have a balloon payment in a couple
years for the remainder of the down payment they didn't get all
of up front. And, no lenders will loan for less than 10 grand
and even if you get someone who MIGHT lend you the money, they
won't lend against a "car" that's decreasing in value. With that said,
we were doing really well when we signed to buy our mobile home. We
thought we'd be sitting pretty, have it paid off in three years and
be able to move into a stick built home and use the money we paid for
the mobile home outright for a down payment.

Right. Didn't happen that way.

We could not get a loan for our balloon payment. We negotiated a
deal with the mobile home manager and owner to make double payments
on the mobile until it was paid off to save our butts from losing
the mobile. (Which wasn't put in our name the whole six years we'd
been paying on it, but that's a whole other can of worms. Lesson to
you, read your paperwork well. Pay a lawyer to help you if you can.
And if you ever buy a mobile, make sure it's not in a Park.)

Long story short, our budget for everything changed. No more date
nights. No more paid babysitters. No more extras. And our food budget
was cut in half. Then.....like everyone else, it was cut back in a third
when the economy tanked. And it SUCKS.

But....does it really?

So, back to this whole white trash way of thinking. I was raised on
welfare with a savvy parent who tried the best to make sure my sister
and I were fed well on a small budget. And he sure could stretch food
to make it work for whatever was needed. Sure, it was "trashy" but it
was healthy, too. You don't need a TON of money to eat well. It's really
all about the mindset that you can have a double-wide skillet on a
single-wide budget. And it. can. be. done. You'll find yourself buying
marked down meat, buying at discount grocery stores and perusing day
old bread racks. If you have no clue how to do this, no sweat.
I am pretty danged good at what I do. And I don't mind showing you. And,
it might turn out that you have a thing or two to learn me, too. Shoot,
as long as someone's getting something out of this, I'm a happy girl.

Who knows, you might have a little extra money at the end of the month
to live it up and go thriftin'. Or buy a latte that someone else makes.
Or whatever makes your skirt fly up.

Let's all have fun and keep a sense of humor in the kitchen.