A moth of a problem

Have you ever been to one of those butterfly houses? You know, the one that you walk through and then at the end you go into a room where they fan and sweep them off of you. Well, I am thinking of installing one of those fans in my laundry room! I don't have a butterfly problem, but I do have a moth problem!

When you walk into the laundry room at night, every stinking moth comes in right behind you. Hundreds! Well, maybe not that many, but enough to drive you crazy! Anyone else find them a nuisance or is it just me?!

Fake-out Take-out

Everyday for as long as I can remember, as soon as I pick the kids up from school, they asked the age old question.... "CAN WE HAVE A RESTAURANT FOR DINNER?". It isn't that we eat out all the time, but we have been known to be tired and not have a plan, so we would whip in the drive-thru or call something in more than we should. We have been a lot better about cooking at home, but sometimes, the kids ask for their favorites. I had a light buld moment! Not a Pinterest moment, but my very own ah-ha moment! We will make our own take-out! Each week we will pick on night and we will have fake-out take-out. Tonight was the inaugural night and went with one of my 9 year old's favorites! Taco Bell. I made Mexican pizzas and much to my surprise, they were quite tasty! Just layer a tortilla (I use corn and heated them, but flour would work too), refried beans, taco meat and cheese. Add another tortilla top with a spoonful of enchilada sauce and cheese. I baked them for 20 minutes. Cut in 4ths and serve. For mine and the hubby, I topped it with cilantro and lettuce, but the veggie haters went sans lettuce. You could add sour cream, which would be so good, but I just didn't have any.

Success!

Turn up the heat

Tonight for dinner, I thought I would try out a pinterest recipe. Sometimes they flop and other times they are soooo good! Tonight was a hit!! I made Coconut Chicken Strips. I altered the recipe a bit to try and keep them a little more in line with our eating plan. Instead of the mayo, I used plain greek yogurt and instead of flour, I used a few of my BAZILLION Panko breadcrumbs! Then, instead of frying them in oil, I baked them. Mmmm....mmm.... they turned out so good! Here's the link to the recipe: www.thecrazyapron.com

One thing that I have seemed to inherit from my mom, that she inherited from her mom and her mom inherited from her mom is the ability to forget at least one thing for dinner. Usually at one of their houses for holidays, everyone would just finish eating and all of the sudden one of them would jump up and say, "Oh no! I forgot the corn!" Or "Someone get the deviled eggs!" Or "The rolls are in the oven!". Tonight, I forgot my favorite part of the dip.... the Siracha! Halfway through I realized this terrible mistake, so I remedied that fast!!

That's better!!!

Panko, anyone?

Since we have downsized, we have been trying to cut back on what we spend. The one place that is so hard to cut back on is the grocery store. I have discovered a little scratch and dent store in town. It a lot of odds and ends, so sometimes it's hit or miss. The last time I stopped in, I had a hit! A serious hit! A hit so big that it came in the form of.....are you ready? 25 pounds of  Panko breadcrumbs! Do you know what you can do with that?! All of this crunchy goodness for just $5.00!

I carefully scooped cup after cup into Ziploc bags, trying my best not to spill any on the floor. I was successful! Of course, that was until I put them in the cabinet. One bag wasn't sealed all the way, so when I lay it on top of the other bags, it slipped and BAM! All over the floor!!!

Oh, well! I guess I can spare the 50 cents! :)

Pumkins days are here!

I LOVE fall! The trees changing colors. The crisp, cool air. The high school football games. It's my favorite time of year! One of my favorite treats this time of year is a Pumpkin Spice Latte. Now, when my hubby worked for a certain coffee establishment, he could get a discount. Well, not that he is no longer the man in charge there, we have to pay full price. Unacceptable! Not only is the high price my problem, we are also watching those pesky little calories! Reading the nutrition info for one of these bad boys will make you cringe! YOUCH!

 One night while combing through Pinterest, I found a recipe for Pumpkin Spice Latte syrup. WHAAAT?! Of course, I had to try it, so I made some yesterday. 2 words.... LIFE CHANGING!

I tweaked it just a bit and substituted half of the sugar for Splenda, simply for calorie purposes. I used less that I thought I would, so it really does cut down on the calorie intake for my coffee! I highly recommend that you head over to this blog and try this recipe ASAP! You won't regret it!!!

                                                            www.abeautifulmess.com

Fill 'er up

Did you know that you have to fill your propane tank? Well, I didn't really think about that when we moved out here! So, my husband asked if I would call the local gas companies and get quotes because we needed to fill the propane tank. Sure! No problem, right?? For someone that knows the drill, it wouldn't be an issue, but for someone that has NEVER bought propane in her life, it may be a little more interesting.

I got my little notepad out and was ready to get my quotes. How hard could this be? I fill my car up with gas all the time!
I called company #1 and told her that I needed a quote on gas. She tells me that the minimum if $289. I thought she meant $2.89, "WOW! That's awesome!" So I asked her one of the dumbest questions that I have ever asked a person....... "Great! That's per gallon? How much can I order". Her response, "Uh, ma'am, $289.00 the minimun amount of gas that you have to order. That might get your talk filled half way up". Conversation over! I thanked and proceeded to call the next company, which I used, simply because I too embarassed for them to know who I was! Don't worry.... any phone calls after that, I sounded like I knew what I was talking about!

Welcome to the Farm!

I grew up in town. We could run to the grocery store in a flash if we needed something. We could ride bikes on paved roads. We had neighborhood kids running around. The closest thing to an animal your could find was your pet dog or a scrawny cat prowling the streets. You get the idea! When I met my husband, I knew that he grew up on a farm, but didn't think that he would ever want to move out to "the middle of nowhere"! We were on vacation and he started telling me that he wanted to move to the country. WHAT?! Needless to say, I was relunctant. I hate bugs! I love convenience! I love going to Target when I want to! I hate driving behind REALLY sloooow tractors! As much as I love and hate those things, one thing I love everyday is that view! Gorgeous!! Long story short, we are here in our modest home with our dog and our garden and much to my surprise, it has been the best move that we could have ever made. This will be my little spot to share stories, adventures and, eh hem, lessons learned! I am looking forward to this adventure!