Thanksgiving Weekend

Hope you all had a great weekend filled with yummy food and fun times with loved ones. We had a very low-key holiday. Cooking and eating on Thursday, packing and relaxing on Friday, and decorating on Saturday. Get ready for the photo dump!

Red Lobster biscuits

Pumpkin Pie

Turkey

Aaaaand Andrew ate none of this haha

Sparkling Juices

Starting out the cooking!

Homemade stuffing

Snicker Salad

Green Bean Casserole

Cheesy Potatoes

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

Father's Day 2015

SO LATE!! Sorry! But I'm saving up quite a few blogs to post and now that I have my computer back from a nasty virus that ate all my files, hopefully I'll be on top of things now.
Here is my crazy late Father's Day post! :)

Well, unfortunately Jesse has to work for Father's Day. Boo. BUT the weekend before he had off so I decided to make some of his favorite foods and have us take a road trip to a new place! We visited Caldesi Island State Park and while it definitely didn't have as much interesting things as I had hoped it would, it does have beautiful beaches and the water was clear and beautiful! Here are just a couple pictures:

You can also watch our vlog on it here

Hope all you Daddies feel special and loved this weekend. Happy Father's Day!!
TTFN <3 

Making a meal stretch

So, we certainly have a lot of blessings in our life but money is not one of those things, haha - and it's fine. We certainly make it work one way or another. A large part of our financial situation has to do with me being a stay-at-home mom and trust me, I rethink the situation at LEAST once a month. Honestly I just fell into it. 

We decided to move to FL the summer of 2012 and basically 2 months before we would be IN Tampa I started applying for jobs. Hubby found work within about 2 months of moving and my mother (who moved down with us) got a job a few months later. I, however, searched for TWO YEARS. Granted since our son was due in December, I stopped applying for the holiday season, but yeah. Two years. At least 3 jobs a month. I emailed, called, applied... and not even a word back from 98% of them. It sucked. 

But after two years I got fed up and asked Jesse what he thought of me just staying at home (I had already been doing that for about a year and a half at that point) and he basically said he thought it sounded fine. He wasn't super enthused, nor was I. 

Now, almost three years into it, neither of us can imagine it differently. I do still look into job openings and think about applying for jobs but until I finish my degree it really just doesn't make much sense. With the cost of daycare what it is I would be making probably under $100 by the end of the month and never see my husband, not to mention hardly seeing my son. Plus we want to have more kids so until I get my degree or can publish my book, etc., it looks like this is what I'll be doing. 

That being said, we definitely have found ways to make things stretch. One of them being meals.

Now, we are fortunate to have a Winn-Dixie nearby. We have a loyalty card there which gets us really great deals, they do have some organic stuff as well as all kinds of baby stuff we use and even has Seventh Generation products which we love. Also, we get fuel rewards points so after a weekly shopping trip, the next time we fill the tank we pay about 20 cents less a gallon or more. So it really pays to shop there.

For me, lunches are the hardest to buy for and plan. I honestly hate the idea of buying food specifically for lunches, I'd rather just eat leftovers. It's not quite as healthy all the time but it certainly helps save money.

If we have tacos for dinner Monday night, I usually make taco omelets (egg, meat, cheese, veggies) Tuesday morning and then taco salads Wednesday for lunch.

Say we have Fettucini Alfredo Thursday night - I will use some of the chicken I made for salads for another night and make chicken alfredo for lunch on Friday. And also I can use another portion of the chicken for a different night and pair it with rice and veggies.

When we buy hot dogs or brats we usually eat them for dinner one night and lunch another day. Often we will grill them for dinner and just boil them for lunch so that mixes the taste up a bit too. 

If I buy stuff for burritos I will usually use any leftover ingredients for breakfast burritos.

Even something like mac and cheese - if we also have leftover hot dogs, we can have mac and cheese for dinner on a night when hubby works and then for lunch I can cut up some hot dogs to go in it as well.

So, if I buy a package of hot dogs, a box of mac and cheese, 2 lbs hamburger, some alfredo sauce (we make our own pasta), tortillas and about 3 or 4 chicken breasts, I usually get more than 7 days of dinners and lunches (with some breakfasts covered as well). And depending on where you buy, that often only adds up to around $30, and for a family of three that's not bad. Now, I also usually buy juice, milk, applesauce, eggs, fruit/veggies and yogurts so that definitely makes the amount go up but for main ingredients it's not bad.

I'm definitely always looking for new ways to use leftovers so it's not the same old boring stuff day after day. And sometimes we don't have leftovers so we have sandwiches or eggs or toast and yogurt or whatever we have in the pantry or fridge. So anyhoo, if you have any other leftover suggestions, let me know!

Hopefully this was a bit interesting and not totally boring, haha! Just wanted to share some of my meal repurposing tips I've learned over the past few years ;)

TTFN <3

Yummy dinner recipe!

The other night we made fried Cod and sauteed Asparagus and it was DELICIOUS! So, we thought we'd share :)

Fried Cod:

• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 Large egg
• 4 6 -ounce cod or other white-fleshed fish fillets
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup cracker meal or crushed saltine crackers
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• Kosher salt
• Grapeseed Oil for frying

Whisk the egg and milk in a bowl, add the cod and set aside to soak. Mix the flour, cracker meal, cayenne pepper and salt in a bowl or on a plate.

Heat 1 inch of oil in a heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat. Remove the fish from the milk mixture and dredge in the flour mixture, turning to coat. Fry in the hot oil until golden, 2 to 4 minutes per side. Transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate to drain; season with salt and pepper. 

Asparagus:

Rinse the asparagus, trim the ends. Cut into pieces or keep whole. Heat oil in frying pan and then add asparagus. Once they are mostly cooked, add salt and lemon pepper and continue sauteing until you have some slightly charred pieces.

Our weekend!

Well, I didn't take many pictures but here's what I've got. 

This weekend we tried to relax a lot and just have fun. SO, Friday we stayed in with a movie, Saturday we grilled hot dogs and made s'mores at the pool, and Sunday we stayed out all day! 

First we went to Granny's house, helped her set up a few things and hung out, then we went to the mall which unfortunately was closing (sigh), and then out for pizza and watched some planes coming in.

Very low key but that's how we like it.

Hope you had a great weekend break! TTFN <3

We love soccer!

A while ago, Andrew started soccer classes - we were really worried about how he would be about participating but he surprised us at how well he did!

Backtracking... we really try, I swear, to get him interacting with other kids. Jesse tends not to spend much time with other parents/ doesn't have time to and I am a total hermit since moving here (I'm trying - joined a book club and once we have money we'll be dancing and I'll *hopefully* be doing this stroller strides group thing. Just not there quite yet, haha). So we try to take him to the playground and parks often, but I swear we never run into the same people twice. Our next door neighbors have two twin toddler boys which would be great, but again, we've only seen the parents twice. Sigh.

We take him to music class once a week which helps, but most of the kids are younger. And actually, we've noticed that if I am with, he's more clingy. So we've started making Tuesday mornings father/son time. I get two hours to catch up around the house, tackle something special or just chill which is AWESOME and it's great for them to be getting time one-on-one. Apparently Andrew is very comfortable wandering around and is a great cleaner-upper haha!

SO, back to the point, soccer. He worked with another kid to score a goal, ran all over, participated in all the activities, even ran an obstacle course which had a tunnel - and with barely a pause he crawled through a tunnel for the first time EVER. It was awesome.

Also, I am a snack coordinator for our group. When did I become a soccer mom? Where is my minivan? Ha ;)

Yummy banana bread recipe and Happy Easter Weekend!

Andrew helped me make banana bread last night and it's always SO yummy! I've only tried this recipe twice but so far I'm really loving it.

(P.S. I'm sure you can add nuts of some kind but as Andrew has a bad peanut allergy, we just don't put in any kind)

• 2-3 ripe bananas
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 1 cup of sugar 
• 1 beaten egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• Pinch of salt
• 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

• Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C), and butter a 4x8-inch loaf pan.
• In a mixing bowl, mash the ripe bananas until smooth. Stir in the melted butter.
• Mix in the baking soda and salt. Stir in the sugar, beaten egg, and vanilla extract and then mix in the flour.
• Pour the batter into your prepared loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour or until toothpick comes out clean.*I also take a stick of butter and coat the top of the loaf right after it comes out of the oven*
• Remove from oven and cool completely on a rack. Remove the banana bread from the pan. Slice and serve. 

Well, I hope y'all have a wonderful Easter weekend! Our plans are to find an Easter Bunny somewhere, get some stuff done around the house, go to church, and have a big yummy lunch at Granny's place!

Hope you get to spend lots of wonderful time with your loved ones and stay safe!

TTFN! <3

We have a Vlog channel!

So hubby and I decided to *gulp* Vlog. We made a family channel - The Schmittabels - thank my bestie for the name ;)

Take a look, let us know what you'd like to see more of  (or less of). It's new, we're both awkward as hell and have just the tiniest idea of what we're doing so help us out haha!

Our first video is just of a day at home/ getting groceries but I promise they'll get more interesting.

Crock Pot Pulled Pork

Yum. Seriously.

2 medium yellow onions, thinly sliced
4 medium garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 cup chicken stock or low-sodium chicken broth
1 tablespoon packed dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon kosher salt, plus more as needed
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 (4-1/2- to 5-pound) boneless or bone-in pork shoulder (also known as pork butt), twine or netting removed
2 cups barbecue sauce (optional)

1.) Place the onions and garlic in an even layer in the slow cooker and pour in the stock or broth. Combine the sugar, chili powder, measured salt, cumin, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Pat the pork dry with paper towels. Rub the spice mixture all over the pork and place the meat on top of the onions and garlic. Cover and cook until the pork is fork tender, about 6 to 8 hours on high or 8 to 10 hours on low.
2.) Turn off the slow cooker and remove the pork to a cutting board. Set a fine-mesh strainer over a medium heatproof bowl. Pour the onion mixture from the slow cooker through the strainer and return the solids to the slow cooker. Set the strained liquid aside.
3.) If the pork has a bone, remove and discard it. Using 2 forks, shred the meat into bite-sized pieces, discarding any large pieces of fat. Return the shredded meat to the slow cooker, add the barbecue sauce, if using, and mix to combine. If you’re not using barbecue sauce, use a spoon to skim and discard the fat from the surface of the strained cooking liquid, and then add 1/4 cup of the liquid at a time to the slow cooker until the pork is just moistened. Taste and season with salt as needed.

Saint Patricks Day 2015

Hope y'all had a wonderful day spent with your loved ones - safe and full of green stuff ;)

Andrew and I had some quick breakfast before waking Jesse up and heading out. This was our third year attending the Mayor's River O'Green Festival and by far, the most fun we've had.

We got a great spot to watch the river being dyed, shared a delicious orange-mango popsicle, had some food, some drinks, played in the sprinklers, got some fun free loot and I got a nice tan, haha!