Friday, August 31, 2012

Dinner For Two.

Preface.
So lately I've been wanting to share my Pintrest inspired dinner menus with the world.
Alex makes fun of my Pintrest obsession almost constantly but I really don't think he realizes how many times Pintrest has actually been solely responsible for us not eating the same thing four nights in a row.
I love to cook don't get me wrong, and I am pretty adventurous when it comes to cooking-if I do say so myself. The issue though is that I've run through all of our cookbooks. I'm a big fan of the REALSIMPLE magazine cookbook that they put out seasonally but honestly I can't bring myself to pay $13.99 for an over-grown magazine, even if it is full of delicious recipes. 
Pintrest however has become my new method of fabulous meal planning. And I can't lie I have been inspired by a friend's blog and her courage in experimenting in Pintrest DIY's.
"Meal Planning" has also become my new best friend in regards to dinner time. 
When we lived in Petersburg we lived really close to a Martin's grocery store. It was heavenly.I love love love grocery shopping, in a good environment that is...
Martin's was wonderful, the lighting wasn't harsh, the international section was HUGE. There was a fresh meat and fish section and then of course there was a gluten free section and an organic section. And the free samples....who could forget those?
At the risk of sounding like a food nerd I really could have just walked around in there all day!
Back to meal planning though, when we lived in Petersburg we had access to fabulous grocery stores (except Aldi) and I would make grocery shopping a daily event. Obviously I did not have a child then....
I also would not decide before the day of what I was going to make for dinner. Now that we live in the wilderness Kansas finding great places to shop was a little more challenging. At first I was visiting our local grocery store "Country Mart" (it's not that bad....) but it's prices were higher than Walmart and even though it was convenient it didn't have nearly the selection that Walmart has (and that isn't even great).
I then realized that about 25 miles up the road in Salina there was a Aldi. For those of you who have never experienced Aldi, I am terribly sorry for you. 
Salina is great because I can go twice a month grocery list in hand and visit all the necessary stores. It works like this. 
1. I make a menu from recipes I find on Pintrest
2. Make a list of ingredients I don't have
3. Go buy all the ingredients I can from Aldi
4. I then visit Walmart for ingredients not found at Aldi
5. If there are specialty items or Walmart's selection isn't good enough I visit Dillon's
6. For ground beef and any pork I go to Country Mart (those are the few things that are cheaper there,than anywhere else).
I know that sounds like a really big hassel and a lt of running around but keep in mind I do this twice a month and actually going to town is exciting these days. (listen to me , "going to town", I sound like this is little house on the prairie....)
At first buying food for two weeks felt like I was paying a lot of money and buying a whole lot of food but that's because that was exactly what I was doing. Going from buying one meal at a time to two weeks at a time is a big jump! It felt like the beginning of the Oregon Trail game, when you have to buy everything you could possibly need at the general store just in case little francis gets typhoid a fourth of the way through the game or you run out of food half way through which is a real concern here on the prairie..... So I had to get over feeling like I was buying too much and it really helped when I began breaking the price down meal by meal. And although it's not perfect I think I have a pretty rad system going and I am really excited to begin sharing with everyone the meals we are trying, how we using them to save us money and any special little tips and tricks of these recipes that I pick up along the way.

Okay now that I have given my long-winded explanation to this post let's get down to it....


Indonesian Peanut Saute
We love some Noodles & Co around here and we definitely love some Thai food or anything spicy for that matter and this is my fav from Noodles.
*Side Note* Even though we love Noodles & Co we don't eat a lot of carbs on the regular. I don't really like carbs too much, they make me feel sluggish and may or may not cause some issues of the bathroom variety.....however ever since Grayson has been around I've been feeling faint and dizzy like I'm going to pass out, so until we find the culprit of this we are going to keep me on the carbs.
I found a blog that shared a recipe  for the vegetarian version of this dish.

TIPS
To make it meat-eater friendly I just used chicken broth instead of vegetable broth in the peanut sauce and sautéed chicken breast to add. 
I use frozen veggies whenever possible because they are cheaper and honestly I don't have time to sit there cleaning a chopping exactly 1 cup of brocoli.
Another note about the chicken breast...
I buy the huge package of "Boneless Chicken Breast" at Walmart. It's not frozen and it isn't any certain brand it just comes on a yellow styrofoam carton with plastic wrap around it. The cool thing about these chicken breast in particular is that they are really thick. thick enough that I can cut them in half and end up with two chicken breasts and they are both thick and sustainable.
(was originally one chicken breast)
One more chicken tip, when I bring home that huge pack of chicken it usually has seven or eight chicken breasts. I wrap each one individually with plastic wrap and then just stack them in a tupperware container in the freezer that way I can take out one at a time to thaw.
A few over-all tips I would give on meal planning is to put a weeks worth of meals together that share similar items. This meal for instance only uses 1 cup of the brocoli so I found a recipe to make later in the week that will use the remainder of the brocoli, same deal with the cabbage and cilantro.
Also if you keep certain items on hand at all times you will find that brings down meal cost. for example....In my pantry I ALWAYS have beef, chicken and vegetable bullion, honey, peanut butter. We also eat a LOT of asian food so we has sriracha chili sauce and soy sauce.

Price Breakdown
1 pound rice noodles ....................................................................Annie Chun's (Dillon's) 3.49
Sauce
1 cup vegetable broth.........................................................Chicken bullion cube I already had
6 heaping tablespoons creamy peanut butter........................................................already had
4 teaspoons sriracha (I <3 Rooster Sauce)............................................................already had
3 tablespoons honey..............................................................................................already had
6 tablespoons soy sauce........................................................................................already had
3 tablespoons fresh minced ginger..............................................Used powdered, already had
5 cloves garlic minced...................................................................................8oz Jar(Aldi) 1.99
Veggies
1 cup chopped brocoli................................................................................................(Aldi)1.09
                                                                                                              -1/2
                                                                                                                                 about .54
1/2 of a red cabbage, sliced................................................................................(Walmart)1.42
                                                                                                             -1/2
                                                                                                                                            .71
1 cup shoestring carrots.........................................................................................already had
Toppings
limes wedges...............................................................................................................(Aldi).19
cilantro..................................................................................................................(Walmart).88
                                                                                                             -3/4
                                                                                                                                             .22
sprouts..........................................................................................................................Omitted
Chicken.................................................................................(Walmart, 9.99 for 7=) 1.42 each
                                                                                                                                       Total    
                                                                                                                                         $8.56





      

    Thursday, August 30, 2012

    Whoop-De-Do Guess Who's Two.......

    Two months that is.....
    And if you guessed this guy.....


    You'd be right.
    I can't believe Grayson is two months old!
    I'm so excited for all the fun things that he is doing and learning now but GEEZE he's growing up TOO fast, G way to rip your Mama's heart out!!!
    I want to keep him my tiny baby forever but even as he grows I am more and more excited about him.
    Lately he's been super interactive and that's really fun for Alex and I.
    Alex will sing the "wipe out" song and move G's legs like he's dancing and Grayson thinks it's the greatest thing in the world. He also loves the Na-na-na Batman song.
    Something Carrot does A LOT is talk back.
    When Ally and Emily were visiting Ally caught Grayson telling a story to Alex on her phone and it is really cute....


    Just in the past couple of days Carrot has started to SQUEAL REALLY LOUD at his toys on his play gym.
    It's really cool to hear his sweet little voice as he starts to be more vocal.
    As you can tell we LOVE this little boy so much and we are excited to watch him grow!

    Thursday, August 23, 2012

    I-O-WA and a Visit From Aunt Ally and Miss Em.

    WHEW!
    We have had a BUSY week/weekend! 
    This past weekend we ventured out to Iowa for a long-time friend's wedding and we got to see some family along the way.

                                 
    Carrot is a great traveler. 
    Hubby had a four day weekend so we couldn't have had better timing for our trip. Friday morning we left for Clarion IA, and we stayed with Alex's Great Aunt and Uncle at their lake cottage and boy did we have a good time. Their cottage was absolutely adorable!



    I had not yet met this little branch of the family and it was so wonderful to meet them and let them spoil our sweet boy.
    The weather was absolutely wonderful, low 50's!!!
    Here I am posing with my wrap that my friend Jess made me. It's super cute! A lady at Aldi had told me a few days before that I needed my husband to take a picture of me wearing it because she thought it was adorable. So, this one is for you Aldi-lady!


    Saturday afternoon we drove to Des Moines to meet more family and attend Mallory and Nick's adorable wedding!



     Mallory & Nick's wedding gift. I made them a sign featuring their initials, last name and wedding date.


    Updated version of every picture we took in high school :)



                                   


    Annnnnd of course after the wedding we had to hit the town and see Des Moines and all it has to offer at 10:30pm. It really is a beautiful city.It was so great for Hubby to finally meet another member of the posse that I have so many stories with!
    Ally and Emily followed us back to Kansas on Sunday morning and it has been so wonderful just to have them around. When we get back together it's like we never missed a beat. I love these girls.


    We got to go out and get chinese which was such a treat for me since it's about 30 miles to the nearest chinese food joint around here.
    Note: Ally's ridiculously FALSE fortune.

                                   

    Ally and Emily not only spoiled my sweet Grayson with gifts and attention but also spoiled me SEVERELY. I did not do the dishes the whole time they were here and they helped me clean the whole house yesterday! They also now have me ADDICTED to Friday Night Lights. 
    I love these girls!
    I'll be very very sad to see them leave but I know that we will see them again soon, ONLY 4 months until Christmas! WHOO!





    Monday, August 13, 2012

    DIY For The Little Mister.


    This summer we've been invited to two weddings. 
    I love weddings and all the fun to be had at them and I especially LOVE getting all dressed up for them. 
    I'm totally the type of person to pick out my outfits ahead of time especially for such fun events such as weddings. I had a pretty good idea about what I was going to be wearing but what about my little guy?!
    I've seen these super cute tie onesies around, and I decided to make my own. 
    some of the examples I've seen online were a little bit funny shaped or too big or too small. I experimented a little and came up with a simple pattern for a good shape. The size works well for a newborn or 0-3mo onesie. You could use it for a larger onesie, you would only need to elongate the tie.
    My DIY
    Little-Man Onesie PATTERN.
    SUPPLIES:
    Onesie, fabric & Heat&Bond.
    You don't need much fabric at all, this is a fabric scrap project. 
    I got my fabric from a stack of quilt squares.
    DIRECTIONS:
    {1}
    Use the pattern to cut out the appropriate sized pieces.

    {2}
    Use the guide on the pattern to determine where to fold and iron under the edges.
    Trace the pieces onto the Heat&Bond and cut out.
    Follow the Heat&Bond direction to bond the fabric pieces to the onesie.
    {3}
    Finally, sew around the edge. Sew about an eighth of an inch in from the edge of the pieces.
    Viola! Enjoy.

    Sunday, August 12, 2012

    A Year in Review.


    Just recently was mine and Alex's first Anniversary. WHOO! WHOO!
    July 30th to be exact. I love anniversaries and special dates that we keep track of because they remind us of a special event, but also because they remind us of how we got there.
    When Alex asked what I wanted to do for our anniversary, I just said "Surprise me". And that's what I wanted. I know it's often a joke that women say, surprise me or I don't care and really they want something specific and really is that the way to get what you want? No. But the Man delivered and I was surprised!
    I was left a sweet little note in the morning telling me that he was taking me out to a fancy dinner and to dress up nice in a dress (he knows I love things like this).
    When my sweetie came home from work he drove us to Harry's Uptown (I had no idea at the time) which is a very snazzy restaurant in Manhattan. When we got there some beautiful orchids were sitting on our table.
    Now,
    I love orchids, they are my favorite flower ever but I honestly thought that they were the table centerpiece(it was that kind of restaurant y'all. I mean, we weren't at outback steakhouse). So I said something really casually in passing like "Oh orchids, so pretty..." and then my husband was like "You like them?! Good, because they are yours."
    I was super shocked I mean how on earth did he get them here without me noticing? Had he actually set this up before hand? I'd seen these things happen before but not in real life and not to me! I was really impressed....and maybe it doesn't take a lot to impress me but I thought that was the sweetest, best anniversary ever and I can't wait for all the others!

    And that's not all....
    While we are on the subject of our anniversary I wanted to take a little bit to share our wedding photos(some of them).
    like I mentioned before I like anniversaries because they serve as a reminder of how we got to where we are now.
    Our anniversary reminds me of all hours, miles and speeding tickets clocked by Alex driving to see me every weekend. We dated for a year and two months before we got married and a year and one month of that time we were at least three hours apart. Alex drove every weekend to see me, sometimes just for a few hours and I can't even begin to express how grateful I am for that! 
    Our anniversary reminds me of all the hours I spent making every little detail for our wedding, planning it out and tracking costs.
    I started working hard as soon as we were engaged. My time when I wasn't at work (and even some time at work) was spent rolling silverware into napkins, ordering table cloths, pouring seeds into tiny seed packets for favors, and making all the other details for our special day.
    I'm not saying it wasn't fun, I had a Fabulous time planning my own wedding and providing the slave labor. WHO NEEDS A WEDDING PLANNER?!
    But, it was hard work and I'm so glad my husband spent the time, gas and money to see me and I'm so glad I worked as hard as I did because in my eyes our special day was absolutely perfect and I wouldn't change a thing.