"It is not how much we have
but how much we enjoy, that makes happiness".
Charles Haddon Spurgeon
Picnics in our yard,
walks around the block,
laying on the trampoline looking at stars,
laying down and soaking up the sunshine,
hiking Cress Creek
walks around the park,
trying to keep cool on these hot summer days,
JOY in abundance...
this is what our past week was full of!
It was also full of yummy food and treats...
It was also full of yummy food and treats...
Here are the highlights of our week.
Our week started off by making another batch of Homemade Tortillas and Tracy cooked some Tilapia fish and we filled tortillas with fish, mangoes, cabbage, chives, radishes AND cilantro (that we grew in our garden) and we topped them with some homemade ranch dressing...
It was absolutely yummo!
It was absolutely yummo!
Summer time means LOTS of yummy salads
and I love pasta salad as it is so versatile with what you can add in it.
Such a great use for garden produce and boiled eggs.
and I love pasta salad as it is so versatile with what you can add in it.
Such a great use for garden produce and boiled eggs.
Definitely ALWAYS a hit with all of us when it is made up!
It felt like Christmas in July
with the yummy smell that these almonds filled our house with!
Jade had to go to a dinner at his friends house and so we made up a batch of Cinnamon Roasted Almonds for him to take...
we also took a bag of these to our neighbor who was celebrating a birthday.
So good!! I need to make these more often and not just at Christmas!
with the yummy smell that these almonds filled our house with!
Jade had to go to a dinner at his friends house and so we made up a batch of Cinnamon Roasted Almonds for him to take...
we also took a bag of these to our neighbor who was celebrating a birthday.
So good!! I need to make these more often and not just at Christmas!
Used whole wheat flour and
made up delicious peanut butter cookies!
Love the hearty, soft texture these cookies have. Used a tip from my neighbor and added in a Butterfinger candy bar all chopped up. (I usually buy $20.00 worth of candy bars from Maverick in the spring when they are on Sale 5 for $2.00 and put them away so when we take the kids swimming or on outings, we bring along a treat for them to enjoy afterwards).
made up delicious peanut butter cookies!
Love the hearty, soft texture these cookies have. Used a tip from my neighbor and added in a Butterfinger candy bar all chopped up. (I usually buy $20.00 worth of candy bars from Maverick in the spring when they are on Sale 5 for $2.00 and put them away so when we take the kids swimming or on outings, we bring along a treat for them to enjoy afterwards).
This week I decided to venture out and make
Homemade Vanilla Yogurt
from our food storage powdered milk.
Definitely, VERY easy to make.
Heat oven to 200 degrees, mix water/dry milk powder...heat on stove to 180 degrees, remove from heat and cool to 110 degrees, add in yogurt start (we also added in vanilla and maple syrup) I put mine in a pickle jar, put the lid on... turned off oven, and turned on oven light, put container in oven and let sit for 8-12 hours. I put mine in the oven at 6:30 pm and pulled it out at 5:00 am the next morning when I got up for work. It was still quite thin, but I put it in the fridge and when I pulled it out in the afternoon it was all set up. While the texture is nothing like it is in store bought yogurt, it is very tasty and if you make a lot of smoothies, or enjoy yogurt topped with fresh fruit, this is perfect for those uses.
Really reminds me of the texture/taste
of Greek Yogurt.
Homemade Vanilla Yogurt
from our food storage powdered milk.
Definitely, VERY easy to make.
Heat oven to 200 degrees, mix water/dry milk powder...heat on stove to 180 degrees, remove from heat and cool to 110 degrees, add in yogurt start (we also added in vanilla and maple syrup) I put mine in a pickle jar, put the lid on... turned off oven, and turned on oven light, put container in oven and let sit for 8-12 hours. I put mine in the oven at 6:30 pm and pulled it out at 5:00 am the next morning when I got up for work. It was still quite thin, but I put it in the fridge and when I pulled it out in the afternoon it was all set up. While the texture is nothing like it is in store bought yogurt, it is very tasty and if you make a lot of smoothies, or enjoy yogurt topped with fresh fruit, this is perfect for those uses.
Really reminds me of the texture/taste
of Greek Yogurt.
Jade has been begging me for Gingersnap cookies
and so I made a batch of these. Love these as you just chill the dough and then you make cookies as you need them.
These make your house smell SO good and they taste wonderful as well!
Neighborhood kids enjoyed these as they swam in the neighbors pool and rode around on their bicycles. Ethan told me that they kept saying to him...
and so I made a batch of these. Love these as you just chill the dough and then you make cookies as you need them.
These make your house smell SO good and they taste wonderful as well!
Neighborhood kids enjoyed these as they swam in the neighbors pool and rode around on their bicycles. Ethan told me that they kept saying to him...
"Hey Ethan, go and ask your mom if we can have more cookies"!
Jade also begged me to make up Lion House Rolls.
So light and fluffy and they were the perfect accompaniment to our Lemon Herbed Chicken and the leftover rolls made PERFECT sandwiches with our leftover chicken.
So light and fluffy and they were the perfect accompaniment to our Lemon Herbed Chicken and the leftover rolls made PERFECT sandwiches with our leftover chicken.
Ethan commented over and over how YUMMY they were
and “could you make those up again”!
I love that this recipe uses powdered milk!
I haven't made loaves of French Bread for awhile
as I have been making hoagie buns instead.
I made up French Bread for Jade to take to a dinner he was invited to. I sent him with a loaf and we enjoyed the other loaf.
SO yummy and good and it seriously makes the best sandwiches.
as I have been making hoagie buns instead.
I made up French Bread for Jade to take to a dinner he was invited to. I sent him with a loaf and we enjoyed the other loaf.
SO yummy and good and it seriously makes the best sandwiches.
When I made up potato salad for Tracy’s work luncheon, I boiled up extra eggs so we could make egg salad sandwiches the next day for lunch.
I think that is such a big thing about being frugal and thrifty,
is you are always thinking about tomorrow’s meals TODAY
and planning, planning, planning.
I think that is such a big thing about being frugal and thrifty,
is you are always thinking about tomorrow’s meals TODAY
and planning, planning, planning.
We felt like kings this week with cooking up a chicken and making potato casserole, rolls and steaming up some spinach from our garden!
WOW, we were SO spoiled!
Such a decadent meal that we all felt a little guilty and it was hard to not overeat, especially after Tracy and I had just discussed with our kids the starvation problem in Somalia and South Africa.
WOW, we were SO spoiled!
Such a decadent meal that we all felt a little guilty and it was hard to not overeat, especially after Tracy and I had just discussed with our kids the starvation problem in Somalia and South Africa.
The leftover chicken made sandwiches and we added it to salad greens from our garden.
I boiled up the carcass for an hour with water, drained off the yummy broth and made a batch of Cabbage Soup with the rest of our green cabbage, ½ head of purple cabbage and some leftover broccoli stem.
It was absolutely delicious!
Love making sure nothing goes to waste!
I boiled up the carcass for an hour with water, drained off the yummy broth and made a batch of Cabbage Soup with the rest of our green cabbage, ½ head of purple cabbage and some leftover broccoli stem.
It was absolutely delicious!
Love making sure nothing goes to waste!
Any chicken carcass that we have from Rotisserie Chickens, OR, chicken we make up ourselves, ALWAYS gets boiled and the broth gets made into one of our many yummy soup recipes!
Nuts about nuts!
We are a NUT loving family and many of my recipes use nuts of some kind.
SO, this is how I always have nuts on hand so any recipe can be made up at any time. I purchase large bags of nuts at Sam’s Club and the price ranges from $10 to $15 per bag (depending upon which nut) and then I store them in our cool food storage room. Most of them have a shelf life of at least a year and keeping them cool helps them last.
I have a large bag of pecans, walnuts, several bags of raw almonds and bags of sunflower seeds and cashews. Such a great way to save money and also wonderful to have it where we can make any recipe, any time we would like to.
Summer-Time is always FULL of smoothies...
my family would really like these for every meal if they could.
Refreshing, nutritious and each and every one is ENJOYED!
BUTTERMILK BISCUITS,
Cherries,
Garden greens, radishes and chives that we grew in our garden,
topped with the last of leftover chicken,
I never tire of salad...
and Buttermilk Biscuits have been a favorite of mine since college...
SO yummy!
and Buttermilk Biscuits have been a favorite of mine since college...
SO yummy!
Saturday night was hectic as we worked late in our yard and when it finally was way past dinner time the kids asked what we were going to have...
SO, I opened up 2 cans of white beans, dumped in some salsa and a can of green chilies and blended until smooth.
Put in a pan, topped with cheese, and melted, turned to low and let simmer 20-30 minutes.
Topped with a dollop of sour cream and garden chives and it was perfect!
Sunday
Green Smoothie, Zucchini Bread
Fish Tacos with garden fresh veggies on homemade tortillas
Huckleberry Floats (with Huckleberry Soda we had in our food storage)
Monday
Steel Cut Oats
Leftover Chow Mein, Bananas, Grapes, Zucchini Bread
Pasta Salad, Green Smoothie
(made homemade vanilla yogurt)
Tuesday
Steel Cut Oats
(Tracy) Pasta Salad, Banana, Apple Slices,
(Kids and I) Pasta Salad, Mango, Banana pineapple and homemade yogurt smoothie
(made Cinnamon Roasted Almonds and French Bread for Jade to take to his friends dinner party...also took a cellophane bag of Cinnamon Almonds to our neighbor for her birthday)
Peanut Butter Cookies
Jade went and had dinner at a friends house
We dropped him off and waited in Rexburg and so Ethan was hungry and we grabbed a "hot and ready" and went and enjoyed it at the park
(made Potato Salad for Tracy's work luncheon)
Wednesday
Steel Cut Oats
Boiled egg sandwiches on French Bread, grapes, lime drink, Peanut Butter Cookies
Tracy treated us to "Nacho Mucho" at our favorite local Mexican Restaurant "Mi Casa"...(aka Plum Loco)
(we both had the day off and worked hard in the house, took the kids to IF to walk the greenbelt and they were hungry and Tracy was a sweetie and treated us to dinner)
(made Gingersnap cookie dough)
Thursday
Steel Cut Oats
(Tracy) Tuna/Radish sandwich, Apple, Gingersnap cookies
(kids and I) Tuna/Radish sandwich (toasted with melted cheese), smoothie, Gingersnap cookies
Lemon and Herb Roasted Chicken (that cooked all day in my crock-pot), steamed spinach from our garden, potato casserole, Lime Drink, Lion House Rolls
Friday
Steel Cut Oats
(Tracy)Chicken Sandwiches on leftover rolls, Apples, Gingersnaps
(kids and I) Smoothie, Chicken Sandwiches on leftover rolls, Gingersnaps
Cabbage Soup, rolls
Saturday
Steel Cut Oats
Salad from fresh garden greens, radishes, chives and leftover chicken ,cherries, Buttermilk Biscuits
Homemade Bean Dip, topped with sour cream and fresh chives with Chips
Cherries
Links to recipes used this week
Every time I listen to the news lately
they are talking about the famine in Somalia and South Africa and
I truly feel an abundance of gratitude for everything I have in my life.
We are rich in all of the little things in life that sometimes are taken for granted...
nourishing food, clean water and air, sanitary living conditions, safety, clothing, a washing machine to wash our clothes, home that keeps us protected from the elements, able to grow fresh garden produce, Freedom, Happiness and the list goes on...
Life is wonderful
and I learned this week how true this quote really is:
"The difference between the impossible and the possible
lies in a person's determination"
Tommy Lasorda .So grateful for all of the HAPPINESS
that I enjoy each and every day of my life
Happy Life and Happy Week!
What a treat to have another "Kimmie Post" to peruse through this morning.
ReplyDelete(it's slow in the ER right now...shhhh, don't tell anyone)
I look forward to making your ginger cookies.
I haven't made the french bread but plan on doing that tomorrow (day off whoohoo).
I really enjoy everything you do to be frugal. You are so busy but you resist the temptation of so many to make shortcuts. Those shortcuts are so bad for family time, health and wealth.
You are my hero.
Kimmie,
ReplyDeleteI love the picture of you and Tracy on the trampoline! (I'm assuming it's the trampoline)
OK, where do I begin? You're amazing! That's all I can say. If I could be half the homemaker, chef, frugal mistress, optimist, wife, mother and friend that you are, I'd be one awesome lady!
Love your great recipes and your ideas for making your food storage go further. Amazing!
Have you ever tried to make almond milk? We have tried to limit dairy and make almond milk frequently. As nut lovers I think you guys would likr it!!!
ReplyDeleteTo Rachel at Our Paper Plates...YES, we have been making almond milk. Not sure if you have seen the post I did where I told how I did this, but here is a link to it: http://pinkcookieswithsprinkles.blogspot.com/2011/06/kimmie-in-real-life-week-3.html
ReplyDeleteI went to leave a comment on your blog to let you know this information, but there was no way to comment on your posts and I don't have your email address. I hope you get this comment and I hope it is helpful to you.