I Think I Can!

Ever since I moved up to NY, I have been interested in canning.  My (southern) family was never big on it, oddly enough... but it is a way of life up here.  With the amount of delicious fruits and veggies Kevin and I buy at the farmer's market, it seems silly not to try to preserve what we can to enjoy over the winter.  For some reason though, canning has always sort of intimidated me.  I'm just really afraid of screwing it up and wasting all of the yummy food.  Tonight, I decided to finally give it a go.

A coworker of mine brought in some delicious pickled beets a few weeks ago and I went crazy over them!  So, last Saturday I grabbed a huge bag full of fresh beets from the market.  I begged my coworker for her secret and decided to put my skills to the test.  As I type this, my canning project is sitting on the kitchen counter with strict instructions to be left alone for at least 24 hours... so the jury is still out on whether or not I actually made and canned something that is edible.  But... in the hopes that they turned out as delicious as my coworker's, I will go ahead and post the recipe.

Pickled Beets...  You will need:

• Fresh beets (I used about 1/2 a grocery bag full)
• 1 sweet/Vidalia onion 
• 2 cups Sugar
• 2 cups White Vinegar
• 2 cups Water
• Allspice berries or ground Allspice
• Whole Cloves
• 6 canning jars, lids and rings

This yielded 5 cans (pint size, I think?)... but definitely would have made 6 if I hadn't been umm... "quality control testing" the fresh beets while I was skinning them.  :/

Boil beets, whole, for about 10 minutes.  Then skin should easily peel off and they should be softened slightly.  Slice into 1/4 inch thick slices (or whichever size/shape you prefer... smaller ones can be left whole even)

While they are boiling, slice a sweet Vidalia onion into thin slices.

Also, while the beets are boiling, run your cans, lids and rings through the dishwasher (no soap!) on the highest heat setting.  Your jars should be hot when filling them.

In another pot, bring the following to a rolling boil:

• 2 cups sugar
• 2 cups white vinegar
• 2 cups water
• 1 tsp Allspice or 10-12 Allspice berries (I used whole berries)

Place 2-3 whole cloves in the bottom of each canning jar.  Then layer the beets and onions.

Slowly pour the hot pickling liquid over beets and slide a butter knife around the outside to make sure there are no air bubbles.

Place lid/ring on VERY tight.

Arrange sealed jars in a large stock pot.  And fill with water until the lids are covered.  Bring water up to a rolling boil for 10-12 minutes.  (The jars will rattle around and you will swear they are going to explode, but somehow... it's fine.  I don't get it!?)

Remove the jars and set them on a towel.  Once you have them on the countertop... DO NOT touch them.  At all.  Period.  For 24 hours.

That's it!

It really wasn't as complicated as I thought it would be.

Here's to hoping they are super yummy!!

Invite Picture Sneak Peek

A Pink Lemonade party!!  We are so excited!!

 Daddy made this adorable lemonade stand just for her... isn't it super cute?

DIY Baby Wipes/Cloth Wipe Solution

I borrowed this idea from a blog a month or two ago and now I can't find the original (sorry!)... I have tweaked their recipe a few times until I found something that works best for us.  This is a great home made alternative to store bought baby wipes (that usually contain drying alcohol).  

You can use the paper towels as baby wipes (much more gentle than it sounds, trust me.  These work awesome!) or you can just make the solution and pour over cloth wipes.  This also works wonderfully for facial cloths/makeup remover.  Love this stuff!

You will need:

 

Wipes:

• 1 roll of Bounty paper towels (cheap ones don't work, take my word for it)  
• The new Bounty Duratowels work especially well.  
• You will need to cut the roll in half THEN remove the cardboard center
• 1 plastic container (cylinder shaped works best) to hold the paper towels. 
•  Place the 1/2 roll, cut side down, into the container and pull up from the center.

Solution:

• 1-2 cups HOT water 
• I use closer to 2 cups because I like mine wet and soapy.  This works perfectly to clean those nasty, sticky baby poops.  Then I ring the excess liquid from another or grab a dry cloth wipe to dry her off.
• If you prefer your wipes to be damp, start with just 1 cup and adjust as needed.
• 1 tbsp Coconut oil
• 1 tbsp baby soap/shampoo
• I use Dr. Bronner's Unscented Baby-Mild Pure Castille Soap (available at Target or Wegmans)
• (optional) 2-4 drops of Tea Tree Oil

Stir the soap and oil(s) into the hot water until dissolved and pour over the paper towels.  They will absorb the solution and be ready for wiping cute little baby bums in just a few minutes.



I have also used this solution for my cloth wipes, however it does not work well in a sprayer (likely because of the coconut oil) so I just pour it over a stack of wipes in a warmer or use a squirt bottle.

Enjoy!

Crock Pot Craziness!!

For the past few weeks, like any expectant mother, I have been thinking about doing some prep work and planning ahead for when the baby arrives.  One of the ideas that I had was to plan out, shop for and prepare some crock pot meals that can be frozen then thawed and cooked with little time or effort on my part.  I spent some time browsing around online and found a few websites for inspiration.  My initial plan was to select several recipes, prepare a shopping list with all of the ingredients we will need then go from there.  However, since Kevin and I pretty much never cook from a recipe, we scrapped that idea and decided to just wing it.

Before I go any farther, I have to say that I have the absolute most awesome husband in the world.  When I told him about my plan, he was all about it and jumped in head first to help.  So... we made our plans for Saturday (mind you, we only get one out of every 6 weekends off together and this weekend was our last weekend off together before the baby arrives)... and Operation MakeAShitloadOfCrockpotMeals was born.  :)

Saturday morning, we went to the local farmer's market and stocked up on as many fresh veggies are we could.  Unfortunately, the selection wasn't too great this weekend, so we didn't end up with much.  I would love to buy our meats and such from the market, but the price is just unreasonable.  :(  

 So... next up was BJs (Similar to Sams Club or Costco)

We loaded up on meats- bought a HUGE beef chuck roast and pork roast, then asked to have them cut into smaller roasts and stew size pieces (less work for us later!).  We got 2 large packages of boneless skinless chicken, a large package of ground beef and a large package of hot sausage.  

We needed more vegetables, since the farmer's market wasn't so hot this week.  We were torn on what kind (fresh vs frozen) of veggies to get, but ended up going with frozen... less hassle/prep and BJ's prices were great on their organic bulk frozen veggies.

Last up, we bought a handful of popular spices/seasonings in bulk (Ranch dressing mix, Onion soup mix, Italian seasoning, BBQ seasoning/sauce) as well as a few marinades, everything else we had at home.

The prep...

When we got home, I began labeling gallon size Ziploc freezer bags and making index cards for each meal with the ingredients and the recipe.  I highlighted anything we will need to buy later.

Meanwhile, DH prepped all of the veggies that were not frozen (potatoes, onions, carrots, garlic), then put all veggies (fresh and frozen) in their own individual bowl.

Finally, we started preparing the bags.  DH worked on the meat, then I went through with a measuring cup and scooped the veggies into the bags.  Last, we added any necessary seasoning and sealed the bags.  Dropped them into the freezer and... voila!!  We were able to make 36 meals out of our ingredients, several of them large enough to yield seconds for sure.  I must say, we are quite proud of ourselves.  :)

The finished products!!  36 meals!!

I did a price breakdown,and the total came to about $200...

I did use several ingredients that I had in my pantry already (olive oil, hot sauce, different seasonings, etc) that I didn't account for... 

 

Also, a few of the meals will require some sort of dairy to be added prior to serving, but it makes no sense to buy it now because it will spoil before we need it.  We will just buy these as we need them.  As such, I did not account for this in the total, but it shouldn't add more than $10-$15.

Also, several of the meals will be served with pasta, rice or bread... which I also did not account for.  We have a ridiculous pasta/rice stash and will buy the bread as we need it.  These were not factored into the total, but shouldn't add more than $10-$15.

 That said, all in all I think the grand total is probably closer to $6/meal.

Below is the price breakdown and a list of the meals I made... If you are interested in any recipes, let me know.  They are all super super easy!!

We are soooooo very glad we did this today.  Not only did we take one hassle away from the hectic transition to parenthood and save a boatload of money... but it was actually a really fun day with the hubby.  Win win!!

Price Breakdown...

Meat:

Ground Beef: $2.75/lb, approximately 6 lbs- total $16.56

Beef Roast: $2.99/lb, approximately 15 lbs- total $45.60

Pork Loin: $2.49/lb, approximately 8 lbs- total $20.10

Boneless skinless chicken breast: $1.89/lb, approximately 11.5 lbs- total $21.90

Hot Italian Sausage: $2.99/lb, approximately 3 lbs, total- $9.12

Veggies:

Potatoes: $4.69 for 10 lbs (only used half, so $2.35)

Carrots: $5.58 for 6 lbs

Broccoli: $6.59

Corn: $6.39

Green Beans: $5.99

Peppers & Onions: $5.99

Peas: $6.39

Canned diced tomatoes: $5.39 for 8 cans

Canned tomato sauce: $6.59 for 12 cans

Onion: 3 at 3 for $1.00

Garlic: 3 at 3 for $2.00

Seasonings and Marinades:

Onion Soup Mix:  $3.49 for 12 packets (only used 2/3, so $2.33)

Italian dressing: $2.99

Ranch Dressing Mix: $2.99 for 4 packets

Basil & Garlic: $4.99

Various seasoning packets: 6 at $1.00/each- total $6.00

General Tso Marinade: $4.19

Teriyaki Marinade $1.99

Soy Sauce: $1.00

Ziploc Bags- Gallon Freezer- $11.99- $3.00 coupon (used ¼, so $2.25)

Total:  195.27

 Meals

1. Sausage with Peppers and Onions with sauce 
2. Sausage with Peppers and Onions without sauce
3. General Tso Chicken
4. General Tso Chicken
5. Crack Chicken
6. Italian Herb Chicken
7. Chicken Fajitas 
8. Chicken with Corn and Black Beans 
9. Teriyaki Chicken
10. Jerk Chicken
11. Chicken-n-Dumplings 
12. Chicken Noodle Soup
13. Brown Sugar Bourbon Chicken 
14.  Beef Stroganoff
15. Beef Stroganoff 
16. Beef Stew
17. Beef Stew 
18. Extra Veggie Beef Stew
19. Savory Beef Roast 
20. Italian Style Beef Roast 
21. Asian Beef and Broccoli 
22. Spicy Tomato Beef Roast 
23. 3 Envelope Beef Sliders
24. Philly Cheese Steak
25. Dino BBQ Pulled Pork
26. Paula Deen Pulled Pork
27. Savory Pork Roast 
28. Creamy Ranch Pork Roast
29. Asian Pork Roast 
30. Spicy Asian Pork Strips
31. Hawaiian Luau Pork
32. Beef Tacos
33. Spicy Ranch Burgers
34. Meat and Pepper Sauce (for Spaghetti/Ziti)
35. Meat and Pepper Sauce (for Spaghetti/Ziti)
36. Meat and Pepper Sauce (for Spaghetti/Ziti)

My first 30 x 30 check!!!

I am super excited that I finally get to officially check something off my list.  Our half anniversary is coming up this weekend and we FINALLY got our wedding pictures framed and hung.  I wanted to hang them in a gallery style pattern, which is a DIY project I believe I have mastered, so I thought I would post instructions.

First we took a laid a piece of wrapping paper out on the floor about the size of the wall space we intended to use.  I like to use the wrapping paper that has grid lines on the back (great for wrapping pretty presents, but also great to use as a template for hanging lots of pictures).  We laid out the picture frames on top of the paper in the design we wanted them to be on the wall, then we were able to use the grid lines to make sure the frames were level and evenly spaced.  We also grabbed some letters from Hobby Lobby that spelled "LOVE" and painted them to coordinate with the wall color and frames.

Next I used a marker to trace the outline of the frames.  Then I measured the back of the frames to find out where the hooks should go.  I used a marker to place dots on the wrapping paper as a guide.  Finally I removed all of the pictures and used thumb tacks to pin the wrapping paper onto the wall.

Using the dots I had marked on the paper as a guide, we drilled/hammered in the photo hangers (through the paper).  Once we had all of the holes drilled and photo hangers in place, we tore the paper off gently, leaving the photo hangers perfectly placed.  : )  Then we started from the center out and top down, hanging the pictures and letters up.  Here we are about 1/2 way done...

And the finished product... a perfectly placed, spaced, level gallery style photo spread... Voila!!!

I can't wait to check something else off my list.

A tisket, a tasket

I made an awesome basket... ta-daaa!!!

A coworker at the VA was diagnosed with Stage III Breast Cancer last month and next weekend a benefit will be held to raise funds for her treatment and recovery.  The ladies in my office decided that we would put together a basket for the auction... and by "we"... they meant "me".

TBH, I don't mind much, because I haven't had many crafty things to do since the wedding, so after collecting a few items and some $$, I put together this super fabulous "Cookie Monster" basket, complete with everything you could possibly need for some awesome cookie baking... recipe books, tools, cookie sheets, supplies, decorations and even a cookie scented candle and some Pepperidge Farm cookies (just in case you want the house to smell like you actually made the cookies).  I'm hoping it brings in big money for Crystal.

I also snagged this awesome canvas for our living room (please ignore the cardboard around the corners... I still have to ask DH to hang it).  I just love the sayings... it totally made me giggle in the store and I had to have it.  It isn't exactly the classiest piece of artwork, but you know what... if it makes me smile every day, then it was an awesome investment.  Take that, Picasso!

And finally... a fuzzy "Hello" from Lucy... she has been super cuddly all weekend.  Love her!