EZ Meal Planning...On A Budget

Now that I have 'mostly' normal people hours, this leaves me time during the day to plan out meals that can be prepared quickly for when The Hubby gets home from work and I'm AT work. With a little prep and time, you can get what you need to get done around the house and feed the family at the same time without breaking a sweat, or the piggy bank.

The crockpot is one of our staple kitchen accessories around here obviously, just like Ronco says 'set it and forget it'. But what are you going to put IN it?

Beans are a big hit around here obviously, they're cheap, nutritious and filling and definitely Wee Man approved. At least 1 meal a week here is of the bean family. We buy the large bags of dried beans (pintos, northern, etc) rinse out about a pound and a half of them, dump them in the crockpot with about 6 to 8 cups of water, toss in half a package of ham pieces (for seasoning) as one full package is plenty to season two pots of beans. Set on low for 8-10 hours and voila!

The upfront cost for the beans will vary with type of bean and where you live but a 5 lb bag of pinto or northern beans typically runs us about 4 to 6 dollars, the ham pieces run about 1.99 a package here. The full pot will general make at least 2 meals worth with second helpings included, so you can have dinner one night and lunch the next day for a fraction of the cost.

We also typically serve some sort of cornbread or potatoes with this as well, which is perfect for these cold chilly nights.

So with a little thinking ahead dinner doesn't have to be a hassle. Trust me on this.

xoxo
Ouiser

Truvy's Goals for 2013

Because resolutions just scream to be broken, I'm just setting some nice goals.

1. Keep my kitchen clean enough to cook in.
Basically, my house is a war zone. It was looking decent...but then I worked 6 days in a row, and all hell broke loose.

2. Eat healthier.
If I set a weight loss goal, I'll just be bummed when I don't reach it. So I will just strive to make healthier decisions.

3. Be more aware of our finances.
We broke. Nuff said.

So there you have it. Wish me luck!

Now if only the dang UPS man will get here so I can start dinner that would be stupendous.

<3 Truvy

Moving on a Beer Budget...Take Two!

Yes!!!

Ouiser and Co. FINALLY left the HOUSE FROM HELL. No more spiders, no more wonky electricity, no e.coli infected water, no freezing our asses off...

Okay, so we actually moved BACK to the same trailer park (lovely ain't it?) that we lived in before, but this trailer is larger, MUCH nicer oh and everything works for the most part except that whole dishwasher actually DRYING the dishes thing, but we can live with that.

And yes, we DID manage it on a beer budget this time.

It took approximately 1000 dollars for deposits, etc but that's MUCH better than the almost THREE THOUSAND we spent to move INTO the House From Hell. Sadly, this really ate into the Yule budget and pbbbffffttt! I never got to send my cards and I have a package for Truvy that's been sitting here for damn near three weeks that I can't afford to send yet*lol* But she knows it's here and she knows it's coming, so no worries!

Since our brief hiatus turned into a many MONTHS hiatus (sounds like my writing career!) we have decreed NO MORE! We are back and we will be badder than ever. We've got lots of stuff planned this year, recipes, tips, freebie finds etc and stay tuned for a SPECIAL surprise later this year as I FINALLY publish my first novel!

Yup, lots of good stuff in store here at CM, so stick around!

XOXO
Ouiser