Eat From the Pantry Challenge

After finding no room in my freezer last month to put Christmas leftovers, I realized I needed to clean out my freezer. When I read about Money Saving Mom's Eat from the Pantry Challenge, I immediately decided I NEEDED to take on this challenge.

I am a bit embarrassed that I could probably eat from my pantry/freezers for at least three months without really challenging myself, but I'm committing to the challenge for the month. I took a complete inventory of my pantry and freezers and wrote up a list of meals.
I started out with one dinner per day, but already the 2nd day of doing the challenge, I realized I don't need a dinner for every day. My husband will be traveling for work for much of this month, so I will be able to take advantage of eating lots of leftovers.

I'm watching a friend's 20-month old son this month, so I'll be feeding him as well, but he doesn't quite make up for what my husband consumes!

Here are my rules for the challenge.
1. One grocery trip per week with the purchase only of dairy, produce (mostly fruit and lettuce), and as little bread as possible.
2. I will need to break one time from the challenge for an Indian potluck I'm hosting. I will spend no more than $15 on my dish for the potluck (hopefully less if I can find a recipe using mostly ingredients I have on hand).
3. Grocery budget for the month of January is $65 (includes $15 for Indian dish).


I'm looking forward to this challenge and seeing how well I can stick to it! Especially with my current pregnancy and making sure I don't always give into temptation. Like today, when I just HAD to have a milkshake, so I loaded both kids into the car and drove to Steak 'N Shake and arrived two minutes after Happy Hour. I begged the guy to give me the Happy Hour deal (because otherwise I would have left) and thankfully, he did. Then I was bummed because my shake didn't taste nearly as great as I thought it would in my head.

As I mentioned above, 15 dishes should cover the full month for me and if it doesn't I do have a backup list of meals. The first meal I made, quiche, fed us for dinner, lunch, and will be tomorrow's breakfast as well!

Breakfasts will be cereal, eggs, pancakes, etc. I have plenty of all of these items to last at least a month.

Lunches will be mostly leftovers or if necessary, quick meals that I already have in the freezer or pantry.

Here's my list of 15 dinners, in no particular order, because determining the day I'm going to eat a meal?? Well, let's just say Hell hasn't frozen over yet. We eat fruit with every meal, so that isn't listed.


Broccoli & Ham Quiche (mix is already in the freezer), salad
Homemade Veggie Pizza & Salad
Chicken Pot Pie & Cut veggies
Chalupa (pork and pinto beans already in freezer) served over shredded lettuce with tomatoes, avocado and Spanish Rice
Turkey Sausage & Eggs Florentine scramble
Spaghetti & Turkey Meatballs, Salad
Italian Wedding Soup, Homemade Bread
Turkey Tacos, corn
Crockpot Beef Roast and Veggies
Shepherd's Pie, salad
North Carolina BBQ Pork, Homemade Coleslaw, served on Buns
Spicy Pork, Vegetable Gumbo Soup served with Rice
Turkey Burgers, Oven Fries, Green Beans
Philly Cheesesteaks, Sweet Potato Fries
Hoisin Pork Stirfry (includes veggies), Rice

I'll let you know how I'm doing with the challenge. Unless I eat my arms from hunger...

I'm in a Rhubarb State of Mind...

My awesome Sister-in-law gave us four rhubarb roots to plant in our yard! I grew up eating lots and LOTS of rhubarb, as my grandma grew tons of it and both of my parents loved it. The hubby's Mom also has a GIGANTIC section of rhubarb in her garden (it's seriously huge--trust me, it's enormous), which is where my Sis-in-law got her roots from. These little plants will be huge in a few years!












Doesn't this scream "Feed Me Seymour!?!"













She also pulled some stalks off her plants and gave us a gallon ziploc stuffed full of rhubarb. Of course, I had to make some rhubarb sauce! I love eating it on Angel Food Cake. For any of you who've never eaten rhubarb, WHY IN SAM-HELLLLLLS NOT?? It is deliciously tart and is fantastic in quick breads and pairs especially well with goat cheese! Oh lordy lordy. It's so good!















Sugar Free Rhubarb Sauce

6 c rhubarb, diced
1/4 c water
1 .3 oz sugar-free raspberry gelatin (you could use strawberry, but I prefer raspberry)
1-1 1/2 c splenda

Place rhubarb and water in 2 qt saucepan. It will nearly fill the pan, but will break down quickly. Bring to a boil over high heat. Stir and turn heat down to medium-low and cover. Stir occasionally, simmering for 10-15 minutes until rhubarb has broken down. Turn heat down to low, add gelatin and 1 c splenda. Mix thoroughly and add remaining sugar to taste. Remove from heat and serve warm or cold.

Christmas Home Tour

Here's a quick tour of our Christmas Decorations! There are a million Christmas Home Tours that I'll be participating in just for fun!

Go Visit:
Boomama's Christmas Tour of Homes
Hooked on Houses Hooked on Holiday House Tours
Thrifty Decor Chick's Christmas Tree Par-tay
Southern Hospitality's Deck the Halls
Tip Junkie's Virtual Tour of Homes Holiday Edition
Kimba at A Soft Place to Land is having a Holiday Open House
The Lazy Organizer is having Talk About Tuesday
Melissa at The Inspired Room is having a Let it Snow Holiday Linky

The hubby is in charge of decorating outdoors, so this is all his handiwork.












My husband made this beautiful Nativity from a pattern he bought online. I ADORE IT!! You'll see I have a thing for Nativities. I never EVER want to forget why we celebrate on December 25th--my Lord and Savior was born on this day!! It is the most important birthday we celebrate every year!












When you walk in my house, you are greeted by the Candy Cane Tree, in its new spot. A red & white candy cane striped Welcome sign hangs underneath.















The stairs are wrapped in silver garland with candy canes and evergreen garland.












The Music Room houses the Keepsake Tree this year (to keep Midget from destroying the tree and presents).
















This Manger is an early memory of mine growing up. I remember playing with the porcelain baby Jesus as a little girl, which is probably why some of its fingers are broken! Now I will have to keep Midget's fingers off of it too, which is why it is sitting on top of the piano!












I can't say I love the placement of the Stockings this year. But you'll see why they aren't up on the mantle in just a few pictures!












This "present" covers up four large shelves on our built-in Entertainment Center. The hubby plans to make something to cover up the shelves so they look less messy. For now, this was SUPER easy! Hubby and I just cut a piece of cardboard to the right length and width. I wrapped one side of it and we stuck it up with Command Strips.












This is our mantle this year. I couldn't find exactly what I wanted, but it still turned out beautifully (Aubrey, next year I'll hire your hubby to make me the exact vinyl decal of what I want, but I couldn't get my "stuff" together early enough--big surprise). I bought this beautiful Nativity while I was in college. The Angel is a tree topper, but I think it works well with the set. The stars are ornaments that are tacked up with teeny tiny nails.















I hope you've enjoyed your tour of our Christmas decorations! If you're visiting from other sites, please take a look around and subscribe or follow my blog if you like what you see! I'd be glad to have you back anytime! Don't forget to leave me a comment, because I LOVE knowing who visited! I'll come by and say hi to you!

Romantic Keepsake Tree

I figured since I'm entering my Candy Cane Tree in Tip Junkie's Christmas Tree contest, I didn't want my real tree to feel left out! This is the tree I was talking about that was $300. Of course, I waited until after Christmas and sent out the hubby to buy it at 75% off.

















I've had the decorations on this tree for quite some time. I'm normally a bright color person, but I fell in love with the victorian-esque look of the gold, greens, pinks, and purples. I bought these all the day after Christmas and got them for next to nothing!

If you want to make a themed tree, that is the most frugal way to do it! Buy everything AFTER CHRISTMAS! It's so much less expensive and makes having different themed trees affordable. If you have a few different themes, you won't tire of them easily. I intend to go out the day after Christmas this year and look for a new theme for next year!

I put all of our special ornaments on this tree; My first Christmas ornament my Mom saved for me, our first married Christmas ornament, the midget's first Christmas ornament, and other special ornaments.

I think it turned out especially beautiful this year! If you do, GO VOTE FOR ME starting on 12/20/08!

The Candy Cane Tree

Okay folks, Tip Junkie is having a Christmas Tree contest, so I am doing a little bit of close-up on my Candy Cane (2nd floor) Christmas Tree (because I think it's cool means everyone else should, right?).

We moved to a new home last year and broke our artificial tree in the move. I didn't want to pay full price for a new tree, so I was a little unsure what to do. The only one I loved was $299! While I was walking down the aisle at Wal-Mart, I saw a 6 1/2 foot white pre-lit tree for less than $30!! I'd never considered a white tree before (actually kind of made fun of them *snicker*), but the price was right! By the way, Wal-Mart still has these trees, but they've gone up to $35. Still a bargain in my mind.

I decorated it with a red and white tree skirt, red garland, some red, white, and silver ornaments and a silver angel. I bought peppermint candy canes to hang on the branches and ta-daaaa, a Candy Cane Christmas Tree! Now I have a beautiful full-size tree to put up on our 2nd floor landing for years to come, and all for less than $50!

p.s. GO VOTE FOR ME starting on the 20th!!

Because One Wasn't Enough

Here's our Christmas Tree.















And because I could be classified as criminally insane, here's the second tree that is on our upstairs landing.















And since I tend to overdo everything, I'm going to be appearing pretty sparsely the rest of the week while I get ready to host a Christmas party on Saturday. My motivation to get everything done ahead of time is a friend's party on Friday night. I need a little Christmas cheer too, ifyaknowwhatimsayin...

A Tour of the Midget's Nursery

Lara at The Lazy Organizer is hosting a Home Tour for her Talk About Tuesday. Of course, she mentioned this long ago, but being that I am the lazy non-organizer, I forgot about it until I checked my Reader a few minutes ago!

I decided that I would share pictures of the midget's nursery, since I already had the pictures on my computer, er, I mean, since I know you're all dying to see her nursery! These are from before she was born, but the only difference is much, MUCH more mess! Actually, that isn't true, but only because I spent about two hours today packing up clothes that don't fit her anymore. I even organized all of the baby items in the basement today! Not sure what crawled up my hiney, but whatever it was sure wanted me to organize!

Without further ado, introducing the midget's bumblebee nursery!

The walls are called Aloe Essence and a friend of mine painted the bees on the wall for us. See that lamp? I covered a plain white shade with black and white gingham fabric and a little daisy border. I was pretty proud of myself!





I searched for months trying to find a bumblebee theme that didn't have cartoon-ey bumblebees or stupid corny phrases like "Bee Happy" or "I'm a busy bee!" We didn't find out the sex of our baby, so I wanted it to be understated.




We bought a few closet organizer pieces from Wal-Mart that cost about $40. I've found them very useful and a great alternative to more expensive closet systems.











One very inexpensive item I've loved is the Dresser Top Diaper Depot from Prince Lionheart. It holds diapers, wipes, buttcreams, and lotion! Love it! If you click on the picture to enlarge, it is directly behind the changing pad on the left.










The little rocking chair in this picture was mine when I was a little girl and it matches the furniture in the nursery perfectly! The diaper pail is a Diaper Dekor Plus and I do NOT recommend it. It worked fine before the midget started eating solid foods. When she started having stinkier diapers, it leaked smell something terrible! It is now replaced with a Diaper Champ, which works MUCH better!

I hope you've enjoyed the tour of the nursery! It sure is a happy place for our family!!

Happy Fall!!

Okay, so it's totally hokey, but I don't care. I think it's friggen cute! I wish I had the motivation to decorate for Halloween and then Thanksgiving, but I'm way too laaaaay-zeeeeee for that! Speaking of lazy, my neighbors will be lucky if this comes down before Christmas...

Pretty New Couch

We needed a new couch. The fabric on our old couch was splitting something terrible and it was beginning to slump in the middle. The loveseat was in okay condition, so we decided just to purchase a couch, as even that purchase was going to put a large strain on our budget.

Enter hubby's company and how much they appreciated hubby's ten years of employment--enough to give him a nice sized bonus!! So we decided to purchase what we really wanted in the first place--a sectional.

We found this gorgeous two piece sofa/chaise and wedge-shaped ottoman and we were smitten. Isn't it LOVELY!?!

Chair Wall

We are always in need of extra seating when we have company, but I got tired of running down into the basement to get extra chairs. We found these fold up chairs at IKEA for $14.99 each! What a bargain! The chairs don't exactly match our oak cabinets, but they looked alright. Maybe someday I'll stain them brown-black, but for now, they're just fine.

Hubby took pine, cut it to the right length, routed the edges, and stained them to match our cabinets. He mounted the hooks, which we purchased at IKEA also, to the boards and then screwed the boards into the wall using drywall anchors where he didn't hit studs.

The entire chair wall project cost under $80, including chairs!

Fixing an Ooops Paint Job

We have a print by Wassily Kandinsky that has been the inspiration for the colors we've painted our rooms on the ground floor. We have a green kitchen, a purple living room, and someday, we'll have a yellow music room (we've had the paint for this room for over a year, but moving the piano was not an option while I was pregnant and it's been pushed aside since the midget was born). When it comes time to sell our house, we'll be doing a LOT of painting!!

I'm not sure why we are drawn to this painting so deeply. Being a Concrete Random, perhaps it is the complete mess of very particular objects.

We've been meaning to paint the hallway that leads from our garage to the kitchen for a long time. We've lived in our house for over a year and there are lots of rooms that are still builder white. We use this entrance to our house the most, so it was dirty, scraped up, and UGLY! I knew I wanted to paint it orange-red (let's just say I'm not a very neutral person in ANY way), so we went off to the hardware store with the color in mind. We found what we thought was the perfect color, we bought it, and came home. I knew the moment hubby started painting the walls that the color was wrong, wrong, WRONG! It looked like circus tent orange!! Hubby thought it was fine--he'd apply a second coat and it would dry darker. But I knew it wasn't going to change that dramatically, even with another coat.

Once it dried, the hubbster asked if we could keep the hallway "Tony Stewart orange." By the way, do any of your husbands torture you with Nascar ALL weekend long? Seriously, it's basically a soap opera for men and all that noise gives me a headache!

I remembered seeing shows where glazes were applied to paint to tone down colors and started doing some research. I didn't want to have to re-tape the entire hall, so I decided to sponge on the glaze. While researching how to sponge, Lowe's website came up during my search and I found the perfect product! Lowe's Valspar Signature Collection Translucent Color Glaze required no mixing and would give me up to 45 minutes to work with it!

When I went to Lowe's, they had a nice section for faux finishes and had great brochures for "how-to" (I found their great brochure online here after I finished the project, but thought I'd share it with you because it has the best directions for using their product) and all the necessary tools were in one place! I did find it hard to choose the glaze because they didn't have any samples or examples of what the glaze would look like. I had brought along the paint chip of our color and what would have been quite helpful is tinted plastic to place over the top of the paint chip. But the two glazes I was choosing between happened to have their little tops popped (guess I wasn't the only one who had trouble figuring out what the glaze would look like), so I took my finger and dabbed each of the glazes on to the paint chip and let them dry for a while.

I bought the Burnt Sienna glaze, a sea sponge, two small disposable trays, latex disposable gloves, and four practice boards for $35. Granted I spent more than it would have cost for another gallon of paint, but I will have all the supplies I'll need for many more sponging projects.

I started the sponging right after I laid the midget down for her morning nap and was finished by the time she woke up (ninety minutes). I only had to do minimal taping on the places that were tight and used a trim shield for the rest. The glaze was easy to use and a snap to clean off when I made a mistake. I used a magic eraser to get a few splotches off the ceiling's flat white paint, but the glaze came off of the high-gloss trim with just a wet cloth.

Here's the color before and after. Pretty dramatic, eh?