Grilled Cheese and Clearing out the Fridge

I will have to get a picture of the fridge over the next couple of days. I keep saying this because photos keep circulating on Facebook of 2 fridges side by side. One is supposedly of someone who is on public assistance and it is piled to the rafters with processed foods, the other is supposedly of someone who is middle class and it is empty. I have really always considered myself middle class, maybe lower middle class but middle class none the less. Food has really never been an issue and even right now we will not starve. The issue now is we might not be able to eat what we want or as much as we would like. I have to plan better and not make misjudgements or waste anything. Anyway, that photo is coming!

Last night I picked up the kids from the sitter as Phillip had 2 interviews yesterday, our fingers are crossed that something comes of one of them. Logan and I talked about dinner on the way home and he decided that grilled cheese with bacon on them sounded good. It did sound good especially since I had exactly 3 slices of cheese left and the partial package of bacon I needed to cook. This also helped use up some of the loaf of bread still on the counter. I am afraid it will start molding soon so I have been having toast for breakfast. Logan ended up wanting 2 sandwiches and I fixed Phillip 2 which for those who are keeping count equals more than the 3 cheese slices I had left, so I ended up slicing some off a block of colby jack cheese I had to use on the additional sandwiches. The boys were none the wiser and I really enjoyed my bacon filled grilled cheese. Poor Clark ended up having sweet potatoes and baby cereal although he did not seem too worried about it.

Getting ready to work on my list for this weekend and what I am going to cook for dinner tonight as I currently have no ideas and nothing thawing.

The list is done and listed below, now let's see how much of it actually gets done this weekend.

Creative Dinners Continue!

Ok , there was really no creative dinner on Tuesday night. It was a night of running in which I put nearly 100 miles on my car. I left work and went to my friend's house who happens to be a beekeeper. He had been called out to get a hive out of someone's way and it has a ton of honey in it so he was jarring it up and selling his wares. I picked up 1 jar for a coworker and traded him some of my homemade cranberry liqueur for mine. I will take a picture of the honey, it is amazing and rich. After leaving his house I went to pick up Logan who was at karate with his friend Loralee. He had spent the day with Loralee just having fun and then went to her karate class with her. I was curious whether he would like karate or not and thought this would be a good way to tell before we spend any money on it. Mind you this was 30+ miles from where I traded the honey and to a location I had never been before. I called and Loralee's dad told me the basics of how to get there which initially sounded easy enough. Take XXXX road to named road ( which turned out to be spelled wrong) make a left and then make another left when you get to the end of the black pole fence and we will be there in a building, you will see a bunch of trucks.  I got to the neighborhood which was in the middle of nowhere and after driving completely around the neighborhood (which it turns out was a loop) I called her dad back to say I can not find you! He said he would go out to the street with Logan so I could see them and then he was asking did you go left? Yes I went left but I passed 4 black pole fences so I am not sure if I went left at the right one! After circling around again I finally saw them and discovered I would never have found them if they did not come out to the street! The whole place was covered in trees, I could not see the cars/trucks parked and the building they were in. I am directionally challenged which he did not know. I need really specific directions with landmarks that are unique which a black pole fence in this part of the world is not! The dojo turned out to be an outdoor one so it was hot. Logan was not in the class but he did not want to leave, he was incredibly sad that he was not in the class and this made me think karate might be the thing for him. After a sad Logan and I left there we headed home which was another 30ish miles from this location. We got home about 8:30 with Logan eating a sandwich in the car which his quick thinking dada had packed for him. Once home Phillip had fed and bathed the tiny one and ate some leftovers himself so I had watermelon. I know it is not a complete meal but after that trek around the area watermelon tasted yummy.


Yesterday I spent a good part of the day trying to think of something I could make with the leftover pork loin without stopping for any more ingredients. The grocery budget for this month is done for and I really need to use what I already have at home. I finally gave in to the soft taco option since the only thing I "needed" was sour cream. I ended up getting sour cream and a can of black beans since I like more of a burrito instead of a taco. This was really the least expensive option I could come up with since we would be able to use the sour cream beyond last nights dinner.

Here is the before picture. I lucked out and had the Spanish rice I think from a trade in the cabinet. Originally I was going to fix just plain white rice but this gave it a good flavor. The cheese was purchased last month I believe on sale and with a coupon. Anyway, I started the rice first since I knew it would take the longest to get done. Next I sliced the pork up thin and put it in a pot with some teriyaki sauce and some water to steam/warm. I also put the black beans on the stove to cook while I grated the cheese and warmed the tortillas on the cast iron griddle I have. It turned out to be a really good dinner that I wanted to bring for lunch today but was eating up some older leftovers.

This is a bad picture again with my cell phone of the finished product. If we had lettuce it would have been more colorful but not sure that would have added much to the flavor.

As promised, here is a picture of the list from the weekend with most of the items still on it. I did finish one last night but that was 3 days after I was hoping to get it done.

Amazing Dinners From This Weekend....Pictures are not Good

Sooo considering how close to the end of the month and end of the food in the freezer we are at my house I think we had some pretty good meals over the weekend.

Saturday night we had teriyaki marinated grilled pork loin. I used this method for grilling the loin and it was amazing! It had a nice char to the exterior and the interior was moist and perfectly done. I served this with baked sweet potatoes. Below is a bad picture of the yummy dinner taken from my cell phone.

Sunday we had brunch at church to celebrate Father's day and tried to get naps when we got home but that did not work out. I worked on my list which I will post later to show how little of that I managed to get done. Dinner was a stir fry using up some of the leftover pork loin. I found these amazing noodles at Sprouts, they were listed here from my first of the month grocery shopping trip and they really made the meal.

I started with some butter and olive oil in the pan, once the butter was melted I threw in an egg and then "scrambled" it. After the egg I put some chopped baby carrots we had hanging out in the fridge on to cook since I knew they would take the longest. The next addition was some mushrooms that needed to be used up so they would sweat down. After those cooked for a little bit I added some leftover steamed broccoli and then the chopped up pork loin just to warm. Meanwhile the noodles were blanching in a pot of boiling water to soften them up. They were the next to last addition to the pan. Final addition was a little bit of teriyaki sauce and we had this yumminess! The left overs came to lunch with me the next day and disappeared quickly.

Last night I was trying to come up with something to use up the last of the pork loin and just had nothing. Looking at things I have made in the past and liked I came back to this recipe for baked gnocchi with bacon, tomatoes and mozzarella. There was some bacon leftover from the brinner we had a few nights ago, at least I thought. Once I got home and started looking for it I was told it was consumed. I was fixated on the recipe so I just got some more bacon out of the freezer and cooked up 4 more slices. The picture below is again not so great since it was taken with my cell phone.

The leftovers went in the fridge and if Phillip did not eat them today then they will be coming up here with me for lunches. Today I brought another of the leftover hotdogs trying to eat them all  before they need to be tossed.

I have been thinking about dinner tonight as I need to use up the remaining pork loin and over the next couple of nights I will have to cook the rest of the package of bacon I opened. There are also a few more mushrooms that need to be used and a smidge more tomato sauce that I do not want to waste.

It seems odd but when I need to get creative with dinners and ingredients we seem to eat better. Might be because I dig out recipes from books and pinterest or just that these are the type dishes we really like. All I know is I need to get 8 more dinners with the left over pork loin, 8 chicken thighs, a package of salmon and a package of hot dogs. Let the creative juices flow!

Father's Day and Loss

I avoided posting this one because I did not want to be depressing but then decided to go ahead with it. These are legitimate emotions and I am not the only person in the world to have lost my dad so I can not be the only one experiencing this. This year it may have been heavier than most because of the date but it is still the loss that is soo painful.

My kids have an awesome dad in Phillip although it will be years before they truly appreciate this. Right now they are secure in a swath of love and care unaware of any other possibilities. I also grew up loved without realizing it until it was no longer there. Admittedly I was an adult and had been on my own for quite some time when my dad died. He also had been ill for some time and while it felt sudden it was not completely unexpected. Even with these things there was still a feeling of being unmoored. Suddenly this person who was supposed to be there when I needed to call and run interference with my mom was not there. My sisters and I just did not realize how much of a buffer my dad had become in our lives. When we wanted to do something he is the one we would actually ask first.

What hurts is the moments that come up out of nowhere when I miss him. I miss that my kids will have no granddads to go fishing with, to "help" fix things with, to just be another male figure in their lives.

Sunday was really hard not necessarily because it was father's day but because it also marked 11 years since the day we buried my dad. The day he died is not as real to me because I was not living in the state and his body was already at the funeral home by the time I drove down there. Sunday marked 11 years since I said goodbye to my dad physically and listened to the 21 gun salute as they folded the flag off his casket for my mom.

Randomly this was also the first year in probably 8 that Phillip and I did not go to lunch with the we no longer have our dad's club on father's day. The church has switched things up and decided to have a bunch. This group of friends going through the same things on father's day always "normalized" my situation.

Dad, I will always miss you and I really wish my kids could have met you. They would have loved having a granddaddy. I want you to know that I am ok, no matter what happens in my life I bounce back and keep going.

Books June 9th through June 22nd

I am sad to say not too many books have been completed this time.

I completed The Job by listening some at home while cleaning up the boys' room. It was ok, it was interesting to hear about New York from a New York cop's perspective.  The more and more non fiction books I listen to about people's lives the more of them overlap. The officer who wrote this book worked the temporary morgue after 9/11 which overlapped another book I read from a medical examiner who also worked the temporary morgue working to ID remains. The book is not politically correct which put some people off. I am generally ok reading things I do not completely agree with, people come from all kinds of places.

The next book I completed by listening was Visiting Hours. I was not a huge fan of this book. I know the author was trying to come to terms with this event in her life but the book started feeling like her version of self help. There was really nothing I gained by listening to this book.

The book I started listening to yesterday was It's a Long Story by Willie Nelson. So far this has been pretty interesting, partly because he was raised close to my current home. The language is a little stronger than I originally expected but after listening to The Job it seems toned down.

Still working on The September Society which I like ok.

Also working on The Murder Room, the premise on this one seems better than the actual book. I am 100 pages in and have yet to figure the point out. It seems to be a ton of rambling right now which might be why it has garnered horrible reviews. We shall see if it gets any better of the next few days.

Taking Kroger off the List

I have been loyal to Kroger for a lot longer than I should have been. They were my first employer and I just felt a "kinship" with them. That has come to a painfully slow stop and I will not be shopping there anymore. The store in my neighborhood has just become more and more ridiculous and the policies do nothing to serve the customers. The service has been bad enough that I have written and called corporate only to have them throw a couple of dollars at it but nothing changes on the store level. Standing in line at customer service to get something fixed every time I go to the store is just a complete waste of my time. Also having the cashier announce out loud every time I check out that such and such was on WIC is just insulting and unnecessary. I know what is on WIC, that is why it was in my cart in the first place. Last night the nail in the coffin was being told I could not use a rebate check because I was not "paying" for the items. So because I am using SNAP I am not allowed to use rebate checks? Soo, I should spend more money than necessary because the cashier thinks it is not "my" money? This after the same cashier told me I could not use coupons on the sale items. Just done.

Want to also point out that when I say I am not going back somewhere I do not go back. I have not been to Auto Zone in 13 years, Best Buy in 12 and Wal-Mart in 5. Kroger has now been added to this list. There is no shortage of other stores to grocery shop at in my area so I will patronize them and the farmer's market in the future.

Pinterest Cleanup

I have decided to clean up my pinterest boards. Sounds simple enough except I have OCD and it makes it hard! I want them to be organized but have a hard time with some pins that could be in more than one category. There is also the busy mom in me that just wants to delete some of the junk I know I am not going to have time for or the recipes I will never get around to making. Let the stress begin.

Upcoming Weekend and Another Grocery Store Stop

I was really upset yesterday when I left Target. I had hit them up on the way home to get a couple of items. I had a $5 rebate check to use so I picked up puffs for the tiny one that were $1.99 and $2.99 worth of bread. My thought was I would come in 2 cents under which I could live with because that it really as close as I was going to be able to get without going over. Both items did not ring up as marked. It turns out the bread was on sale so it totaled $2.50 but the puffs rang up wrong also the other direction at $2.39. Once the cashier, doing the right thing gave me bag credit for having my own bags I came in 16 cents under. I hate wasting 16 cents and I did not get cash back because the rebate had no "cash" value.

Stewing over it is not really helping though so I need to let it go!

Once home I grilled hot dogs and served them with mac-n-cheese. This is always popular at the house so the boys and I enjoyed dinner. Phillip was meeting some friends to notarize documents for them. By the time he was home the boys and I had picked up some, put on a load of laundry, brought in clothes off the line, put up laundry, made the boys beds, got baths, and started a dance party to while watching a queen concert on youtube.  You would think after all the activity the boys would want to go to sleep but not so, they were in the mood to play all night! Finally was able to get them to bed and it was not but a few minutes later I was out for the count. Clark still had a few coughing jags overnight but mostly stayed asleep.

I brought a leftover hotdog today for lunch and enjoyed reading a bit and then a short stroll in the heat around campus. There are little free libraries around the area so I usually make a circuit of them to see if there is anything new I want to read available. This nets me new reading material and adds steps to my day which I need more of. Since getting back I have been working a bit on my to do list for the weekend. It looks like this weekend is going to be really busy

Will keep the 4 people who read this updated!

Dinner and Sick Kids

Both kids have been fighting illness for the past week. Logan rebounded pretty quickly once I started him back on his nightly zyrtec dose. I think he is going to be on allergy medicine long term and I am pretty sure the tiny one is headed down the same path. The issue right now is Clark is too small to give most of the medicines to so I am stuck doing nasal rinses and suctioning. This has meant many long nights for me and I am feeling the lack of sleep. This was the 4am fussy baby yesterday.

I need them both to be well and I need some sleep! I get really really short, impatient, angry and forgetful. Trying to overcome these flaws seems to not work for me when I am this tired. Clark did sleep a little better last night but he is coughing now which worries me more than the snotty nose.

Last night for dinner we had bacon and pancakes partly because brinner is always good, partly because it is easy, partly because it is cheap and mostly because Logan will help me when I let him flip the pancakes. It is admittedly a little messier than just doing it myself but it is nice to have help and something we can work on together.

Again, I was hoping to put something in the crockpot this morning but left the house without accomplishing this task so again I will be looking in the fridge, freezer and pantry hoping something jumps out at me. I say every month that I am going to plan better and I do not but I need to start.

More Solar Updates, The Bill Nye Invasion and Dinners From the Past Few Nights

I have been trying to squeeze this in all day but I have been exhausted and busy today.

The solar company has been great about answering our questions and yes we have had quite a few. We knew they were transferable to another house if we wanted them to move with us but we also have the option of transferring to the purchaser of our house. So if someone wants to buy our house and take over the contract on the panels that is an option. Another question was the difference in the rate we were told and the rate on the contract. The contract was actually less than we were quoted and it turns out that the contract is correct. They can put more panels on the roof than they originally thought so we will offset more of our electrical usage. Our other question left us with an answer we did not want to hear. We have used Green Mountain electric for about 10 years and I have loved them so when I called each year to check for lower rates they almost always found me one and I would agree to another contract. This means my contract is not up until January 8th, the solar company is their own electric company and so we can not use them until January 9th. We are still discussing this because the solar panels can still be installed and functioning but they would just be feeding the grid not our house. I obviously do not want to pay the penalty because it is essentially giving money away which is something I do not have to throw around. Something I am going to cost out though is the amount I would save by paying the penalty and going solar now. If I would say more than the penalty it might still be worth it. They are also giving a referral fee for anyone else who uses them for panels and this would also offset the cost of the penalty. It is something I need to weigh before making a final decision.

Will finish up the post later.....

As for Bill Nye invading my life. Logan is now obsessed with Bill Nye and is always wanting to do experiments. We have done the volcano, a geyser and most recently a flood plane model. 

The latest Bill Nye conversation was as follows:
Logan: Mama, your left lung is smaller than your right lung.
Me: What?
Logan: Your left lung is smaller than your right lung, it makes room for your heart.
Me: I have never heard this
Logan: Bill Nye told me

Soo I am always interested in what new facts I am going to learn when I get home. 

As a catch up on meals I can at least remember we had. Last Friday night I made these Original Ranch Pork Chops. They were not great, just ok. It is not something I would make again.  Saturday night I made Crock Pot Garlic Paprika Chicken. My review on this recipe is that it is good. I did cut the number of garlic cloves and will add more paprika next time. The chicken was deboned and served over steamed rice. I used the bones and garlic/onions from the recipe to start a rich stock overnight.  Sunday night I took the leftover chicken, some steamed broccoli, the end of my velveeta as well as the ends of 2 kinds of pasta and made a casserole. Monday night I grilled out a small steak we had and served this with corn on the cob. Last night was major cheat night and I went through the drive through at Rosa's for beans and tortillas. Logan had beans, I had a bean burrito and Phillip had tacos. I honestly have no idea what I am going to make tonight.

Solar Update and Dinner on Wednesday

So the update from Tuesday's solar visit. The technician stated our roof is in great condition and will hold the panels. He was going to send the specs to engineering and then they will call us to set up a time for installation. From there we have to have Oncor come out and inspect the panels. Crossing our fingers that this process is painless.

I picked up the kids yesterday and then headed home. The plan originally was to have pork chops from the crock pot but I did not put them on before I left, a mistake which I repeated today.  So after picking up the kids with a surprise for Logan which he turned out to not want we headed home to fix dinner. This happens no matter what the surprise is, the kids are no longer in the mood for the item or they no longer like that food item. This of course meant that Phillip ended up with 2 packages of Reese's Peanut Butter cups which did not hurt his feelings. Phillip and I talked about his day while I got the other 3 items I bought put up and the receipts loaded on the apps. I pulled 2 of the pork chops out of the package and put a marinade of olive oil and spices on them while the grill heated up. I am happy that Phillip was able to fix the ignition button on the grill so we could use it some more. While that was heating up and the pork chops marinating I shucked some corn and got that going on the stove top.

Dinner was good and fairly early which gave me time to play with the kids some and get a few more items listed on the trade group.

I am still on the fence as to whether Logan has pink eye or not. I second guess myself a ton when the kids have symptoms but no clear cut illness. It may be his allergies and it may be pink eye. They have been matted the last couple of mornings but they are not running, not pink and he has no pain so I am totally not sure. Tonight I am going to dose him with some kiddy zyrtec and see what they look like tomorrow.

I am also going to get a picture of Clark if he is still doing it tonight. He keeps finding the dogs bone and crawling around the house with it hanging out of his mouth.

Tuesday and Exhaustion Mixing Even Though They Should Not.

After work last night I was headed to pick up the kids when Phillip called to say he was out of his interview and already had them, perfect!!!
Once home I decided to go with an old stand by because once again I neglected to put something in the crock pot or out to thaw. We had pigs in a blanket and shells with cheese.

This is about the only portion of my evening where I did not want to scream. Logan started with being all brilliant and sweet. He did a science experiment making a geyser see the picture.

After this though he managed to call me a liar twice during the evening. The first time was for telling him the shells in his shells with cheddar were not the "big" shells. I am not even sure what the other one was about. I had to go without speaking to him for a bit or I was going to say some very naughty words. After a little bit we still had to discuss that yes Mama still loves you but she is not happy with you right now and REALLY does not want to speak to you. Then we had the tiny one who keeps waking up and wanting to play. He decided at 5:30 this morning that he was up for good and it did not matter what I was going to do he was going to pretend I was a jungle gym and not a tired mom ready to let him live somewhere else.

I did manage to pick up the items I want to trade because right as I was taking the first picture the battery on the camera died and I had to put it on the charger. Here is hoping that tonight I get dinner on the table, kids played with, baths, bed and some pictures posted before I collapse from the day.

I will also update tomorrow on what the solar company says about our roof being able to hold the panels.

The End of School and Dinner on Monday Night

Yesterday was the last day of school for Logan as well as his field day. Field day had been postponed twice due to soggy fields and so this was the last chance. It made for a very fun last day for the munchkin and that makes me happy. It was a sad day for me and I am not sure why. Mom hormones seem to have no bounds, I was not really sad on his first day.  I was mad that my phone deleted the picture but not sad that he was starting school. His last day on the other hand was emotional for me. Phillip did go to field day and took a ton of pictures. He posted them as quick as he could so I could see how the day went. I am going to post some of my favorites below because I know everyone wants to see how the day went also!

He convinced Phillip to take him home after field day even though he could have stayed until regular release time. They picked up Clark from the sitter and then went home for a day of naps and science shows. I checked out a science book from the library and discovered they have a youtube channel which Logan now watches obsessively.

When I got home last night I went with the plan and made nachos from the previous nights leftovers as well as a partial bag of tortilla chips I wanted to finish off in the cabinet.