Pantry Challenge Week #1 Shopping Trip

Today was the start of the Pantry Challenge over at Real Mom Nutrition as I posted about here

This morning I went over my menu made a list of all the things that were needed for this week. 

Checked in pantries, refrigerators and freezers. I made my list and headed off to Wal-Mart.

 I had my list in hand and price matched items that I could.

My total for the groceries for this week came to $34.08. There was an item (female item)that is not in this picture. 

Granted I have a good bit of supplies in my house already. 

Menu for October 28TH to Saturday  November 1ST.

Sunday: IHOP- Breakfast for dinner. Pancakes, eggs and bacon

Meatless Monday: Loaded Veggie & Blackbean Quesadilla , tortilla chips, corn on the cob

Tuesday Night: I will be the only one home this night so Something easy

Easy Peasy Wednesday:BLT's, veggie tray w/dip

Traditional Thursday: Stew & rolls

Crock-pot or Casserole Friday:Ground Turkey & Cabbage BBQ sands, veggies

Pizza Saturday: Pizza, salad & movie 

Super excited about how well I did today. I love that I know what we are having for dinner all this week too! 

 Hugs, Bobbi Jo

Menu Plan Monday

A while back when Coco was down to visit, she and I sat down and made up a 6 week menu. It was so fantastic to have this made and to know what we would be having each week. I continued to stock up on items that were on sale and using my coupons saving some money there too. 

I have recently been working on making a new Fall menu. Yes 6 weeks of yummy Fall foods using the wonderful bounty of fall squashes and veggies.

I am joining in on the Menu Plan Monday again with the Organized Junkie 

And in the Pantry Challenge with Real Mom Nutrition 

This week is not a typical week for us. On Tuesday night we usually have our date night but, hubs is going to the Temple with the youth. We would normally do pizza on Friday night but Faith is having friends over for a pizza pajama party late over so I switched it around. 

Also we have try to have a NO sugar during the week rule. This week on Wednesday there will be an exception to that rule. 

Since Wednesday is Halloween we are staying home having treats and watching a movie since we went to the trunk or treat. 

This weeks menu

Menu for October 28TH to Saturday  November 1ST.

Sunday: IHOP- Breakfast for dinner. Pancakes, eggs and bacon

Meatless Monday: Loaded Veggie & Blackbean Quesadilla , tortilla chips, corn on the cob

Tuesday Night: I will be the only one home this night so Something easy

Easy Peasy Wednesday:BLT's, veggie tray w/dip

Traditional Thursday: Stew & rolls

Crock-pot or Casserole Friday: Chicken & Cabbage BBQ sands, veggies

Pizza Saturday: Pizza, salad & movie 

I love to be organized and it isn't always easy but menu planning sure helps out not only with being organized but also in saving money. 

Hugs, Bobbi Jo

Autumn 2012 Pantry Challenge

As I was reading through blogs this afternoon a came upon this wonderful challenge over at Real Mom Nutrition. I love challenges! This one comes at a perfect time. Keeping it real here folks, money is TIGHT. On top of the regular bills that are normally due monthly I have my massage insurance due on November 11TH. So I need to cut corners where I can. So I am all over this challenge. If you want to join me it starts today October 28TH. This will be FUN! Her blog is amazing! Full of great ideas to feed our families and ourselves yummy nutritional food. 

I hope if you are joining that you will drop me a line on all the great things you are making, things you are using up and such. 

This is from the Real Mom Nutrition Blog  (copy & pasted) 

Autumn ’12 Pantry Challenge begins this Sunday October 28th and ends Sunday November 18th.

Want to join me? Here are the rules this time:

1. Spend $50 or less per week  for food*. Keep in mind that your weekly budget can be higher– the point is to significantly shrink your current grocery bill.
2. Draft weekly meal plans and try very hard to stick to them (I’ll be posting mine).

If you’re joining me, tell me in the comments section!

*This budget does not include toilet paper, cough drops and other non-food groceries–this also does not include trick-or-treat goodies, which I don’t purchase until Halloween.

Hugs, Bobbi Jo

General Conference 2012

This weekend was very relaxing and fun. I would have to say this is probably my favorite weekend of the year. This is the weekend of : 

I have been really excited about listening to conference this time. Not sure why but I was. Don't get me wrong I always enjoy it but I just felt the need to sit, watch, listen closely, take notes and soak it all in. 

On Saturday morning our sweet Prophet and President Monson gave the announcement that 2 more Temples were being built , another one in Arizona and that the age of young men to serve a mission has been lowered to 18 and for the young women to 19. 

So many good speakers giving us guidance for our daily lives. It was a wonderful weekend. Time to spend with the family. Although Faith left to go to California for the week with one of her friends. I miss her not being here. It was odd setting the table for only 4 of us tonight.

I made these for our Conference Treat 

Cinnamon Rolls

Side view

 Over view

 Close up on the side. They got really crazy big! 

If I must say they were really good too. It was such a wonderful weekend I hate for it to end.

This week the girls all have off from school. I am hoping to get them to go for walks with me and do some Fall decorating and maybe a craft or two.

 Hugs, Bobbi Jo

Part 2 and Giving Up

 Life has gone by so fast this past month. I can't believe that my last post was on June 7Th. With kiddos being out of school time has just flown by. I was sick for a little over a week, had my Birthday and now we are into July. 

 Do you remember my last post Why Not Just Eat It? Well this is the 2nd part to that post. I have been doing nutritional research and trying to figure out what my body needs, wants and what I am willing to do. In the reading I have done I found that another reason it is great to juice is that the body doesn't have to do so much work to break down the food for digestion. We as a people do not masticate (love this word) or chew   our food as much as we need to,  therefor it is a lot more work for our bodies to break down the food for elimination. 

 Now on to my new goals I have set. The day after my Birthday June 28Th I decided I was going to become a lacto-ovo-vegan. Meaning I will still consume some dairy like small amounts of cheese and maybe still egg whites but not much. I also decided to start eating about 85% to 90% raw foods. My body doesn't seem to like the meat products too much and I feel awful afterwards. The raw foods really make me feel better, I have more energy and don't feel as sluggish after a meal.

 My new goal for the month of July is to give up this:

Saturday I was giving a massage to a new client and friend Megan who was telling me about her running and that she gave up sugar 12 weeks ago. This inspired me to make this move now so thank you Megan! 

 I do have high blood pressure so I have to take medication for this (it is a very low dose) but still is something that if I don't take it I swell up like a blow fish if I eat too much salt. 

 This is a major weakness of mine. Hi I am Bobbi Jo Nichols and I am a salt addict. (HI BOBBI JO)

No I am not making fun of people in AA . My point is food can be an addiction for some people and for me there are certain foods that fall into that category.

Before I know it school will be starting again for my girls so we are planning a couple little get a ways. One of the soonest ones will be when Coco has her baby. I am so excited to meet this sweet little girl, Kylia .

 Then we are planing a camping trip soon after that. 

It has been a good summer so far and just now getting a little too hot for me and my liking. 

Well it is Sunday evening and it has been a good day. We attended church, came home, had lunch and a long discussion as a family. Now we are all just enjoying our evening. 

I'll check in a little later this week.

 Hugs, Bobbi Jo 

Request In Comment Section

 On Saturday May 26Th I posted about the Bountiful Baskets and my sweet friend Megan requested that I post about what I will be using all the veggies and fruit . I will do my best with this.
 I serve at least 2 veggies with dinner, cooked or raw depending on what we are having. Trying to add more colors to get the maximum of all the nutrients into my families diet.
 I have made a huge salad with the lettuce. I chop it, put it in a salad spinner and then add all the goodies to it. I place it in the refrigerator with a moist paper towel and cover with foil. It will last for almost a week this way. If I want it to last longer I would leave out all the added goodies (nuts, cheese, cucumbers, tomatoes, hard boiled eggs). Also since this is a darker green leaf lettuce I will also use these in my juice.
 Oranges I like chilled, skin cleaned off and then cut in sections in the fridge for snacks or put on the table for lunches & dinner.
 The cantaloupe cut up and ready to eat. Same with the pineapple.
Pineapple is great in smoothies or use them with Hawaiian Haystacks.
I use at least 2 apples a day in my juice, plus snacking on.
The artichokes will be boiled and eaten with dinner, dipped into some butter with a little garlic. Cooked and put on pizza or added to pasta .
Orange peppers are so yummy to be grilled, chopped and added to omelets, or my favorite is just cut up with a  little salt and dipped into ranch. I have some pre-cut for the week for snacking on. You could also stuff these with a meatloaf filling and cook. Alan doesn't like peppers so I don't make them for us.
 Potatoes will be used for home made fries. 1 potato per person is usually enough. Cut up in to wedges, dredge in oil, placed on a cooking sheet season or salt very well then cook at 450 for about 35 min. or more till done to your liking.
 I cooked up some of the corn for our cook-out on Memorial Day. I will be grilling the rest for dinner this week.
 Tomatoes I LOVE! I enjoy adding these to sandwiches when I have them, slicing them for salad, you can hallow these out saving the insides, make a chicken salad, add the insides to it and stuff the tomatoes with it. YUMMY! I like sliced tomato with a little sea salt and just munch on for a snack.
 I know this is a lot of basic things but I love having the fresh veggies and fruit.
 I have cut WAY back on having pre-made snack garbage in my house with more fruits and veggies. The family is getting use to having to make things to eat instead of just getting something from a box then being hungry 10 to 15 min. later.
 All of these micro nutrients that are in the fruit and veggies are so important.
 I suggest of those who have Netflix watching Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead. It is a great documentary. Now I am not a vegan but I am limiting my meat intake upping my veggies and fruit to a good portion of my daily intake.
 If anyone has any question, thoughts or suggestions I would love to hear from you. Hugs, Bobbi Jo

Bountiful Baskets

Have you heard of Bountiful Baskets? It is a food co-op that you order on Tuesday then later in the week it is delivered to a location where you go to pick it up. In our situation it is at our park in our community. 

The baskets contain 50% fruit & 50% vegetables and it is 100% yummy! The price is reasonable and it is actually kind of fun because you never know exactly what you will be getting. So what I do is after I pick up my basket (or in this case we bought 2) I take it home, go through it and then decide what meal it will be used for on the menu. Of course there is usually plenty for snacking.  Being that we are trying to eat less process foods this is perfect for us.

This is the basket that I took and filled up plus I had a large reusable shopping bag with items in it. 

Doesn't this just scream fun? I am a little weird and think it does. 

 Yummy corn for Mondays cook out

 Navel oranges, pineapples, cantaloupe,  2 bags of Fuji apples and bananas 

 Tomatoes 

 Artichokes and orange peppers

 2 heads of lettuce

 and last but not least potatoes 

So happy with all the great foods we got today. I brought it home made my list and prepped a bunch for meal and snacking .

Hugs, Bobbi Jo 

Clear It Out

 So I have been gradually working on clearing out my emails. Yes 5 emails! That is FIVE different emails that I was checking almost daily. I narrowed it down to 3 now, personal one, my business one and my Google ON SNAP I just remember one that I never check. Holy cow!! I will get rid of that one too. How embarrassing is that?

 I also have been unsubscribing from site, blogs and other such things that fill up my email to over 200 daily. Now it is much better to go check email and it get's cleaned out quickly. Happy dance over here.

 This morning I thought of an area that I don't look at too often and that is in our T.V. cabinet. There are doors on the bottom half that are closed a majority of the time but I know that even though you can't see it, it is still there taking up energy from our home. So I pulled over a box that I got from the Pet Club that they were happy to let me take and talk to the girls about what games they like & played with.

 This is the cabinet when I first opened the doors 

SCARY! 

 And after! Much better. 

I was reading about getting rid of your VHS videos and player but we still use and watch the movies

and I don't have the financing at this time to get the movies on DVD so I am keeping the VHS movies that we love and watch for now. 

 Considering my day was a little busy I was pleased with getting this done. I had a girls camp certification to do with the Beehives and Mimaids in our ward. There was 17 girls and 5 leaders. It was fun, nosy and I am so glad to check that off my list today too! 

On Sunday E'lyse, Faith and Gabby made red velvet cakes from scratch and decorated them. 

I am not sure who's cake is who's I just know that the pictures where on my camera when I loaded this on to my computer tonight. 

They are so pretty! At Fry's they have this amazingly terrible for you great tasting icing for .99 cents with a Fry's card and they girls were so excited to get to use them for other than squirting them into their mouths. 

 Hugs, Bobbi Jo 

Goodbye Tomato Stuff

Over the weekend I was reading articles and blogs and came across this article 7 Foods That Even Food Safety Experts Won't Eat on the blog ecokaren Smart Ideas For Green Living and Handmade Life. Well this morning I got rid of my canned tomato items.
Guess what I forgot to take pictures again! Snap! Sorry!!
So not worth keeping them and I like cooking from scratch most of the time anyway. So now you know why the post title is what it is. No I am not donating them.
 What is your victory for the day? Small or big I would love to hear what you have going! Hugs, Bobbi Jo

Doughnut or Donut

Checking the spelling on the tasty little round pastry you can spell it either way

(I've heard it either way~ Shaun Spencer of Psych)

Gabby and her BFF Ainsley decided to make a  little treat of doughnuts.

Our sweet neighbors JR. & Kim ( the people that make the AMAZING egg- rolls, bought this for our family at Christmas time.

 I think the girls used every kind of sprinkle I had for the Holidays on these little cuties.

Gabby munching out

 Ainsely enjoying her's 

 Doughnuts or donuts posing for a picture before the girls devoured them.

Not a dull moment between these two

Hugs, Bobbi Jo

Wheat Bread Recipe

This post is for sweet Ann of Annster's Domain, a fun blog with a lot of great pictures, who asked for the recipe for my wheat bread. Ann the recipe I am using is from Crystal's blog Everyday Food Storage . There are 2 videos showing how to make the bread. I have to tweak mine just a little due to it being a little too chewy. She lives in a much higher altitude than I do so I don't know if that has anything to do with it..
 Here is her recipe (Giving full credit to Crystal of Every Day Food Storage).

 EZ Wheat Bread recipe (I doubled this recipe in the video you watched)

1 1/4 cup warm water
1 Tblsp active dry yeast
1/4 cup honey or 1/3 cup sugar
2 3/4 cups whole wheat flour (or whatever combination white/wheat you like..I use 100% hard white wheat. To learn more about the different types of wheat, download my wheat handout)
1/4 cup wheat gluten
1 tsp salt
2 Tblsp nonfat non instant dry milk
1 Tblsp butter/margarine/oil
1 Tblsp vinegar
1/4 cup potato flakes (NOT potato pearls)

Mix ingredients in order listed in mixing bowl of mixer with dough hook attachment (like kitchen-aid) for 12-15 minutes. Let rise until double, 1- 1 1/2 hours. Punch down, and shape into loaf or rolls. Let rise again until double and bake 375 degrees for 20-30 minutes until golden brown and sounds hollow when lightly tapped.
If you are making this recipe in a bread machine, follow your bread machine’s directions for wheat or whole grain selection and add the ingredients in the order listed for their recommendations. (only one loaf will fit in a bread maker)

EZ White Bread

1 1/8 cups warm water
1 3/4 – 2 tsp active dry yeast
2 Tblsp sugar (you can use a little more sugar if you like your dough a little sweeter)
3 cups flour
1 Tblsp vital wheat gluten (remember you don’t need as much gluten if you’re not using whole wheat flour)
1 tsp salt
2 Tblsp nonfat dry milk
1 1/2 Tblsp butter/margarine or oil
1/4 cup potato flakes
(you don’t really need vinegar for white bread, remember the dough enhancers are primarily needed for whole wheat bread)

Add the ingredients in the order listed into a mixer bowl (like a kitchen-aid) with a dough hook attachment and mix on low for 10-12 minutes. Or mix it on the dough cycle in your bread machine.
After all the mixing is complete, if the dough still seems too gooey and you are unable to handle it, add 1 Tblsp flour at a time, and mix after each addition until the dough is manageable with your hands.

Let rise 45 mins -1 hour, punch down and use to make bread, cinnamon rolls, cookie sheet pizza, rolls, or anything else you can think of! Let rise after you have made your creation and bake according to the direction of the recipe you are making.
If you are making it into bread, form into a loaf at this time, place in a loaf pan, let rise in a warm place 45 min -1 hour and bake 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes until golden brown and sounds hollow when lightly tapped.
If you are making this recipe in a bread machine. Follow your bread machine’s directions and add the ingredients in the order listed in their recommendations. (only one loaf will fit in a bread maker)

 Ann I hope you will give it a try. It is really yummy and I will continue to make it weekly to replace the bread we buy at the store. I know everything that goes into it and it tastes so much better than store bought bread.  Hugs, Bobbi Jo

What I Have Been Up To

This week I have been crossing things off my TO DO list. It has felt pretty darn good too.

I made myself some washable make up remover pads out of flannel material. They aren't the prettiest thing but they work very well. I had made some homemade make up remover as part of my become self- sufficient a couple of weeks ago. This save money on buying the cotton throw away pads also helps the environment a little. 

 I decided to get back into a craft that I haven't done in a while and that is tole painting. So I went to the garage dusted off my saw and sander, found some patterns I liked (Autumn things) and went to work. I now have them cut out and ready to paint when I fit it in my days. 

 Last night (Friday) Faith asked if she could make cup cakes or a cake. I said sure of course with the old clean up your mess. 

She made this cake all by herself. It is a Confetti Cake with Cream Cheese frosting. The frosting is so YUMMY I could get really ill eating it all. he he 

She loves to make food. I wounder where she get's that from. 

Tonight (Saturday) we are having homemade pulled pork sandwiches, coleslaw, beans and yummy cake for dessert.

Hope everyone is have a great Saturday. Hugs, Bobbi Jo

4TH of July Meal

The 4TH of July was fun but very hot therefore our cookout came inside to be eaten.

This is the table. I was a little frustrated I couldn't find my special 4TH of July plates & serving bowls. Then I remember we had put them up in our space over our garage. I wasn't about to ask Alan to climb up there to get them after working outside all day. So I made due. 

 I made macaroni salad but didn't have green olives. Alan went to the store and I forgot to specify green and he brought me black. So I made it anyway and it was still good. 

 Of course what would the 4TH be without watermelon. It was super yummy! 

 Aren't these tortilla chips FUN? I think so. I bought them at Cost Plus World Market. I love things like these to add to the festivities of the day.

 My cook in training Faith Rose helped me make the deviled eggs. She got a little carried away with the paprika but they got eaten up any way. 

Later in the evening we went out front to see the fireworks and Schnepf Farms Alan surprised the girls by buying some of the firecrackers & sparklers for them they were so funny these 4 girls running up and down the street in their swimsuits.

In case you were wondering where the 4TH girl came from,  E'lyse had her friend Ashton Lewis spend the night. 

Unfortunately I didn't get pictures of this. Right before this happened I fell and and messed up my left leg and I was still pretty upset at myself for that. 

Hope everyone had a safe 4TH of July. Hugs, Bobbi Jo 

Sunday Meal

Gotta love Sunday meals

I woke up this morning around 5 and put a roast in the crock pot so it would be ready when we got home from church. 

So I decided to make some home made bread to go with it. 

 This is the yummy roast 

 What would a good roast be without mash potatoes and gravy. 

Made with golden potatoes and butter

 And for desert I made apple cobbler. 

It all turned out yummy and the family enjoyed it. 

Gotta love those Sunday meals.

You may ask why do I photograph my food.? Well not only is food a great model but,

 I think food is beautiful !

Hugs, Bobbi Jo

Food & Cheese balls

I do love food

I love fresh bright red strawberry's to nibble on, put in smoothies or make a jam with

 I like pale pink Himalayan Salt that I had to buy just because it was PINK 

 No-bake cookies make for hubby (his favorite) 

 Homemade buckwheat pancakes 

 Homemade chimichangas. Beef on the left/ chicken on the right

 Perfectly perfect chocolate cake with perfectly perfect chocolate icing. So yummy and moist and chocolatey 

 Homemade sauerkraut I made last week fermenting

 Three of my girly cheese balls stuffed their cheeks with cheese balls 

Faith, E'lyse and Gabby

Yes I love food. I like the looks of the different colors, textures and smells. I love preparing a nutritious meal for my family. I love hearing the Mom that was great I am stuffed from the family. 

I love food and all it's many way to prepare and eat it.

I love that food can make us feel better if we are eating the right things for our bodies to function. Remember moderation is the key.

Tonight for dinner spaghetti squash, polska kielbasi, bread and a salad.
What are you having?

 Hugs, Bobbi Jo  

Catch Up Four A Fruit Tip

Yummy Fruit 

You might look at this and think "That looks a little yucky!" Well it's not. My son, Dallas works in the produce department at Fry's. Since working there he has taught me the proper or easy way to cut fruit. He also has passed on how to tell if things are good or ripe. This watermelon would be considered super sweet due to this mark. It is wear the ants have much on the sugar that was released.

 As the saying goes " the proof is in the pudding" or in this case the melon. This was a super sweet and yummy watermelon. And everyone since I learned this trick has been the same. 

Hugs, Bobbi Jo

Sloppy Joes Recipe

This recipe was requested by Gabriela. Her blog is just beautiful, stop by and say hi to her.
This is an altered recipe from the cook book "Not Just Beans" by Tawra Jean Kellam. I recommend this book to everyone. You can order it here Living On A Dime .
This is also the name of the newer book that also has this recipe in it.

This is the Sloppy Joes simmering and my corn cooking.

Sloppy Joes
Hamburger buns or what ever kind of buns you prefer
1 lb. Ground beef ( since I have 8 people to feed I used 1-1/2 lb. beef and then Beef Flavored TVP) to make enough.
1 med. onion, chopped
1 T. garlic powder (or more) he he
1/2 T. ketchup
2 tsp. brown sugar
1/8 tsp. lemon juice
1 T. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp. salt
I also add chili sauce to it. If you can't find it in the store it is so easy to make. The recipe will follow this:
Brown meat and onion until onion is tender and meat is no longer pink. Drain fat. Add other ingredients and heat thoroughly. When done serve in the bun. YUM!
Homemade Chili Sauce:
1 cup tomato sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 T. vinegar
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
dash of ground cloves
dash of allspice
dash of red pepper flakes (or more). Mix all this together and use or store in a container for up to 2 weeks.
I don't like many pre-made sauces or pre-made much due to the taste of preservatives so I tend to make a lot of my mixes and sauces. Plus you know what is going into it.
As you see in the picture my corn pan (on the right) wasn't very big and I had 16 ears of corn to cook, my large pan is being used for the chicken for dinner for the rest of the weeks recipes. So I decided to cook the corn ahead of time. Preheat the oven to 170. I placed a jelly roll pan in the oven with a little bit of water and placed the corn in there to keep warm so it could all be served at one time. This worked out very well.
Hugs, Bobbi Jo

Lunch

I found this website through Cindy's Front Porch . It is a great way to plan out healthy lunches for your children if they go to school or are home schooled. I am thinking of using some of these for myself.

http://www.todaysparent.com/craftsactivities/article.jsp?content=20080725_143732_4104&page=1

Hugs, Bobbi Jo

Dinner time

Tonight for dinner we are having a turkey roast, stuffing, spinach and hot chocolate w/ mini marshmellows. Of course Dallas is at mutual. I am glad of that though he doesn't eat very well unless he is at home or I pack his lunch. Alan just called and he said to just eat with out him and save him a plate. WELL so in my evil mind I will have a plate saved and that is it. HEHEHEHE Okay of course I will have food for him but not on that plate. One thing I like to do is when the kiddos get up to use the bathroom or get something while we are eating is to hide what they were eating. It brings many great times of laughter for me some aggravation for them but it keeps them on their toes. So watch out if you come to visit don't get up from the table. LOL Hugs for now.