Holly Attempts Canning...

And succeeds!

Over the past two days, the hubby, our favorite Mary Poppins helper and I went through a giant basket of tomatoes and turned out the following:

3 quarts and 6 pints of tomato sauce and 4 pints of spicy salsa!  Oh, and two quarts of water, not pictured.  Yes, I canned water.  I did the salsa first, and there wasn't enough in the pot to keep everything from toppling over, so in a panic, I called my mom and asked what to do.  (By the way, I don't know how by the book it is, but it totally works!)  Phew, salsa saved!

Now, I need chips and noodles to put the end result to the test.  Mmm.

I am a Wannabe Minimalist

Part of my trek towards needing/having less has been slowly purging through each room.  Eventually, I will have to take on the basement.  That's a battle I'm really not looking forward to.  Recently, we revamped the entire living room.  We got rid of our bigger than life recliner couch and replaced it with a slim line futon.  We cleared out and moved a book shelf that was stacked full of sewing supplies and video game stuff.  It was so liberating to let go, which brings me to my next venture.

Project 333.  Have you heard of it?  Basically, you choose 33 items (clothing, accessories, jewelry, outerwear and shoes,) and that's all you wear for three months.  Sound scary?  I looked into it a little about six months ago, but never got up the nerve to try.  But, six months of slowly purging has left me with a bad taste in my mouth every time I open my stuffed to the brim dresser and closet.  So, while the wee one was napping, I went up and chose my 33 things, bagged up the rest, and tossed it out of sight.

My part of the closet looks so lonely!  Since it's my first time, there may be some swapping in and out of items as I suddenly panic and realize I have no shoes to wear to church or something.  But, I think I did pretty okay.

Want to join me?

My Name is Holly, and I am a Pinterest Addict

There.  I've said it.  My Pinterest account is full of pins that I want to bake, make or sew.  This one in particular, is quite lovely, and super duper fast.  It's a cinnamon sugar quick bread, and it's glorious.  Seriously.  I made it, then immediately posted to all of my Facebook friends that they needed to put down what they were doing, and go make it.  Like, now.  Seriously, it's that good, and so easy I could make it with my curious wee helper.

So, now I'm sharing it with you, and telling you, go and make this bread.  Right now.

Cinnamon Sugar Swirl Quick Bread

Ingredients1/3 cup white sugar2 teaspoons ground cinnamon2 cups all-purpose flour1 tablespoon baking powder1/2 teaspoon salt1 cup white sugar1 egg, beaten1 cup milk1/3 cup vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan. (My suggestion is to line the pan with parchment paper, the grease the paper.  The first time I made the recipe, the bread fell apart when I dumped it.)In large bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt and 1 cup sugar. Add egg, milk, and oil to flour mixture.Stir until just moistened.Pour half of the batter into pan.Sprinkle with cinnamon and 1/3 cup sugar.Cover with remaining batter.Top with more cinnamon/sugar if desired.Bake in preheated oven for 45 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean.Let cool in pan for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.Wrap in foil and let sit overnight before slicing.  (I don't know why this makes a difference, but it absolutely does.  So, really, wrap it and let it sit, you won't be disappointed.  Or, grab a slice, eat it, then wrap it up so you can see how much better it is the next day!)

Now go, dazzle your spouse, best friend, children or self.  I challenge you not to eat the whole loaf in one sitting.  ;)

Recipe and original blog post (complete with tutorial pics) found here.

Fresh 20

Have you heard of Fresh 20?  If not, consider looking into it.  I purchased the three month version to try it out.  I'm not sure if I'll keep it beyond that, some of the meals aren't really ones that my family would eat.  However, the idea behind it is awesome!

It gives you a list of pantry staples that will be used in that week's meals, five recipes and it even gives you the shopping list!  Outside of pantry staples, it only uses 20 ingredients, and the best part is... (I bet you can't guess, given the name...)  Yup!  Fresh ingredients!

This week, my grocery list is so short, it almost makes me nervous!

Freezer Cooking = Success

So, I called in the help of my mom and dad (dad to entertain my wee helper, and mom to help with the preparation!)  So, now sitting in my freezer are the following:

Chicken & Spinach
Beef Dip Sandwiches
Italian Sausages in Spaghetti Sauce
Chicken Fajitas
Casserole Spaghetti
Chicken Ranch Tacos
Peppered Steak (This one may not make the cut for crock potting, I may do it on the stove top.)
Beans and Rice
Taco Meat x 2

90% of the meat came from my freezer, which in hind sight, I probably wouldn't do again.  It was sort of a pain.  The chicken was easy, but ground beef and sausage take a lot longer when frozen.

I compared ingredients and made my grocery list, then I pulled out my handy, dandy notebook and penned all of the cooking instructions, and bag instructions for all of my bags.  One recipe I had planned on doing was Chipotle Tacos, but I couldn't find chipotle peppers.  Next time I will remember to check the canned veggies.  ;)

I chopped and diced and peeled while mom browned all of the meat.  Then, we began dumping everything into bags.  Of course, I'm new to this blog thing, so I forgot to take progress pictures... this will have to do!

So, my freezer is nicely stocked, as you can see!  In the future, I'm not sure that I'll do bulk freezing again, but will likely try making double recipes.  

To Make My Meal Plan Even More Complex

I'm going to go real food style.  No dressing packets, no spice packets, no cream of x soup.  I'm going to make my own.

Ranch dressing?  I've got a pin for that.  Taco seasoning?  One for that too.  Cream of anything soup?  Check.  Who needs apps when you've got pins?  (If you haven't been introduced to the world of pinterest, you should get acquainted.  It's a wonderful place.)

Seriously, check it out.  Here's my board.  ;)

You Know the Crazy Organized People...

... who super plan out their menu, and then spend a day grocery shopping followed by several days of meal prep and freezing and the like?  I'm about to join their ranks of crazy.  I'm going to spend the rest of the month planning for my first attempt at once a month cooking.  Although, I think I'll start with two weeks, but we'll see what sales are up and what I can come up with as far as recipes go.  I may go so far as to try for a month.

Since it's approaching summer, and the temps are finally soaring, my kitchen and I are no longer such great friends.  We're going to put the AC unit in the window this week, but, even that won't keep the temperature at the ideal level.  So, I'm thinking crock pot meals will be the way to go.  Really, I think that will be the easiest way to start too.  Gather ingredients, chop, toss in a freezer bag, and voila, insta-meal.

Interested in a sneak peak of a recipe or two?  I know you are, so here are a couple!

Chicken & Spinach
4- 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 jar Classico Three Cheese sauce
Onions
Bell peppers
Sliced zucchini & yellow squash
Bag of fresh spinach
1 lb cooked pasta

Layer chicken, onions, peppers and other veggies and top with spinach.  Cook on low, 6-8 hours.

I'll throw everything in a gallon freezer bag except the spinach and then just dump it in the crock pot and top it with the spinach

Beef Dip Sandwiches
4 lb beef chuck roast
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon dried rosemary
3 bay leaves
1 cup soy sauce
6 cups water

Place all ingredients except water in a gallon freezer bag and freeze.  When ready to prepare, defrost completely.  Put into crock pot and add water.  Cook on low 6-10 hours, the longer the better.  Dip sandwiches into jus from the remaining liquid.

I'm ready to get started cooking right now, yum!