Family Savings - Groceries

Now you’re a family of 3, 4… maybe even 5 or more [you go girl!]? And you still want to cook and eat like the gourmet foodie you are at heart. That’s my life too. There are ways to feed everyone on a budget, and eat like a queen.

My Best Tips…

>>> Having a Second Freezer - you don’t have to get some big, expensive thing. We have an amazing one from Home Depot. It’s this awesome little GE 7.0 cu ft. white freezer that fits right in the corner of our garage, even with both cars parked inside. It was in store for less than $190.

>>> Costco - a membership will only run you $55 for the entire family, for a full year. Costco rocks. For $28 you can pick up 4 enormous ribeye steaks [the best cut!]. The same size and poundage would cost you at least $50 at your regular store. 4 pound bags of enormous scallops for only $30, bulk frozen meals, bottles of real champagne from Champagne, France and more...

>>> Divide, Divide, Divide - when you get home, split everything up to be frozen in regular eating increments. Freeze 2 steaks together, a pound of scallops, freeze whole chickens individually, etc… pull them out a couple days before use to defrost and whip up a gourmet meal.

>>> Catch Sales - when you see items go on sale at any supermarket, stock up. Constantly fill your freezer and cabinets with goodies.

There you go, my favorite tips. There are a trillion more to rake in the savings, but these are the top 4 I live by. If you shop like a pro, you can eat like royalty every day.

A Pleasant Surprise

Or so I thought…

I’ve been doing tons of little yard sprucing things the last month. Spring is the best time to start all of those outdoor projects. You get the best temp for hard labor, all the rain for new seeds. I was checking out one of the little bald spots in the yard where I planted grass, when I noticed my bird seeds were sprouting!

I was so excited thinking about roasting sunflowers with salt and olive oil this summer, when I looked a little to the left and realized...

I have a trillion sunflowers! The little patch that I prepped for perfect grassing, sprouted every single sunflower seed that hit the ground. Maybe my green thumb is stronger than I thought?

Now I don’t know what to do with the little guys. I already have a fun, bright yellow house. I don’t want to be the person with sunflowers lining the entire outside. That’s a little too whimsical for me. I don’t want to leave them in the middle of my new baby grass either. The only thing I can think to do, is line the fence in the back yard? People won’t really see that, just us.

Smoothie Recipes!

I looooooooove smoothies! Sometimes I have them late at night to keep me from binge eating junk [total sugar craving cure!], sometimes I spike them on the weekends [<<wink**wink>>], and sometimes I make a large one for a meal replacement. Nothing gets me going in the AM like an enormous glass of fruit and veggies.

Not all smoothies are not all created equal. I remember ordering at a mall in Virginia when I was pregnant. They were about to add a TON of sugar, when I freaked out. Ummmm… fruit is full of sugar. It’s sweet. Why more sugar? Now a big thing is adding extra powdered vitamins? No thank you again…

I stick to making them at home so I know what I’m getting. Plus, I can switch it up and go Lassi style by using yogurt, or tradish using ice. Here are some of my absolute favorite recipes...

For all the recipes, throw into your blender and blend until thoroughly smooth [approximately 1-2 minutes]. I always freeze my fruit for a few hours first, so I get a really good cold drink. It’s up to you. You can do room temp too if in a pinch.
 

Mango Smoothie
1 cup low-fat or fat free plain yogurt
1/2 cup low-fat or fat free milk
1 cup mango

Minty Mango Smoothie
1 cup mango
1 tablespoon fresh chopped mint
1 teaspoon lime juice
1 cup low-fat or fat free plain yogurt

Berry Blast Smoothie
8 ounces low-fat or fat free plain yogurt
3/4 cup blueberries
3/4 cup raspberries
3/4 cup strawberries
1 cup ice cubes

Sneaking in the Greens Coconut Smoothie
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup low-fat or fat free plain yogurt
1 cup spinach
1 cup diced pineapple
1 large banana
2 tablespoons fresh shaved coconut
1 cup ice

Peach Smoothie
2 large bananas
1 large peach
1 cup ice cubes
6 ounces low-fat or fat free plain yogurt

Fluffernutter Smoothie [this one’s naughty]
1 cup low-fat or fat free milk
2 tablespoons peanut butter
1 large banana
1 tablespoon marshmallow cream
1/2 cup ice

Apricot Apple Smoothie
8 ounces low-fat or fat free plain yogurt
1 large apple
1 large banana
2 medium size apricots
1 cup ice cubes

Kiwi Banana Smoothie
1 cup low-fat or fat free plain yogurt
1/2 cup low-fat or fat free milk
1 large banana
2 kiwi fruit

Melon Madness Smoothie
1 medium size cantaloupe
1 cup low-fat or fat free plain yogurt
1/2 cup low-fat or fat free milk

Watermelon Jalapeno Smoothie
1/2 small jalapeno
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 small seedless watermelon
8 ounces low-fat or fat free plain yogurt
1 cup ice cubes 

I had to Take them Down

My bird feeders…

I’m kind of sad about it, but I’ve been losing a constant battle with some sort of night bingers. I don’t know what kind of animal it could be. I just got sad all over again watching the cute little birds peck around for seeds where the feeder was.

A few weeks ago I put up a hummingbird feeder and regular bird seed feeder. It’s been mildly annoying attracting a slew of 5:00am singing birds and woodpeckers, but I love nature. I was dealing with it.

First the annoying squirrels came. I always let them eat for a while because they are animals too. They get there fill, then I shew them away so the birds can come out again. But now it’s this overnight thing…

I wake up every morning and the hummingbird juice is completely gone. It’s not tipped over, it’s not spilled - something just comes and drinks about a full 16 ounces of juice? The seed is always gone too. 

I moved the darn things before thinking we had raccoons that could get to the area it was, but here it is, happening again. I don’t know what else to do. I really wanted to put out a bird hotel house, but with the food issue, I’m thinking operation bird is a scrap. Is there anything I can do?

[recipes!] Scallops w/ Lemon Wine Sauce & Pasta and more…

I was so stoked to recently be re-introduced to Schwan’s. I was always so jealous growing up of my neighbor/boyfriend. Their family ordered Schwan’s all the time and it was SO GOOD!

In particular, they had these mint chocolate ice cream cones. I would actually wait for my boyfriend to jump in the shower, would run down to his freezer, eat one or two really fast and burry the trash in the bottom of the trashcan, so I wouldn’t get caught. They were so awesome, I was totally willing to lose a boyfriend for one.

They are still serving up incredible food at stellar prices and even more… they have tons of recipes for use with their products. If you’re in a food rut, you need to check out Schwan’s.

So, I was able to recreate a few recipes. I’m show/sharing one today + passing on another I’ve tried and some faves I’ve marked. Everything turned out so perfect and the menu change was much welcome…

SCALLOPS WITH LEMON WINE SAUCE AND PASTA
Prep Time: 5 min | Total Time: 22 min | Serves 4

Ingredients
12 SCHWAN’S® Scallop Sautés (532), frozen
2 Tbsp butter
2 tsp minced garlic
½ cup diced tomatoes
½ cup white wine
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 lb angel hair pasta, prepared
2 Tbsp chopped parsley

Directions
Add scallops to fry pan and cook over medium-high heat 10-12 minutes, turning over once until golden on each side.

Remove scallops from pan and set aside. Stir in butter, garlic and tomatoes and cook over medium heat 2 minutes.

Add wine and lemon juice, continue to cook 3-5 minutes or until liquid has reduced to half.

Toss sauce with pasta and scallops. Garnish with parsley and serve!

Tip: Garnish with shredded Parmesan  [I did... it rocked!]

More of my Faves from Schwan's...

The Perfect 20 Minute Full Body Workout

You can’t hit the gym and you don’t feel like popping in a video, or you can’t. We’ve all been there, and our fitness suffers because of it. The worse times for me, is when company is over, the kids have taken over the TV, or I’m traveling. I’m not going to exercise in front of people because it makes me feel weird, and I’m not traveling with an arsenal of videos.

This is an awesome, no thought to it, full body 20 minute workout. You can even adjust the time and easily shorten it 10 minutes, if you’re schedule is really cramped. You can also run through it 2-3 times and get a KILLER 1 hour full body workout.

You’re simply going to run through all of the exercises, performing each one for 1 minute. This will give you an incredible, full body, booty, leg, arm and core, 20 minute workout. 

Like I mentioned above, if you need to shorten it, do each move for 30 seconds and voila! You have a 10 minute body buster.  Brave it 2-3 times through, 1 minute per move, and you have a 40-60 minute workout. 

Small Garden Update

I had just put all of my very strong, house sprouted and grown plants, out in my little garden plot about 2 weeks ago WHEN…
 

We were hit with a freak snowstorm! I have never had snow in May. It was so unexpected. I didn’t look outside for 3 days because I was too scared to see what happened to our fruit and vegetables. I finally stepped out today and, well…it’s not so bad. I was really surprised.

Our tomatoes are still kicking and we have a ripe strawberry. It looks like all of those plants survived. I’m not so sure about the grape vine though. The leaves are brown. The stem and vine look okay. I’m hoping the shock of cold weather made the plant shed its leaves to put its energy and food into surviving at the core. We’ll see over the next few weeks when the little guy either perks up, or turns brown and withers away.

The basil is smoke. That poor thing, I’m afraid, is not going to make it. I’ll have to start all over again with my herbs, but that’s okay. Herbs are easy.
 

I hope everyone out there is having a successful growing season!