Shred your meat....trust me.

Summer is too hot for the oven. I try to avoid it if I can. Also I'd rather spend my days at the beach and not in the kitchen. Here's a tip, shred your meat. But I've gotten ahead of myself.

Step 1: Pull out crock pot. Stop moaning, this is simple.

Step 2: Take 1 large chicken breast from the freezer and place in crock pot. (I buy the large packs of fresh chicken breasts at Sam's, usually about $1.88 lb. I bag each large breast in a separate freezer bag.)

Step 3: Add minced garlic (from jar in fridge) and pre-cut onions (from ziplock baggie in freezer) *when chopping onions I chop more than I need and throw the extra in a bag in the freezer. I keep adding to this bag each time I feel the need to chop a fresh onion and I'm set when it is time for a quick prep meal.

Step 4: Pour on the flavor and be generous about it. The following is a list of my fav easy additions:

• BBQ sauce
• Ranch dressing, Italian dressing, cumin, salt, pepper, chili powder
• cilantro, salsa
• sesame ginger marinade
• seriously, the possibilities are endless......

Step 5: VERY IMPORTANT! Plug in crock pot and turn it on and set lid in place! You laugh, but it has happened to the best of us. Then pick one-

• Cook on HIGH for 4-6 hours ( I prefer high for 5 hours)
• Cook on LOW for 8 hours

Step 6: Enjoy your day and forget about dinner.

Step 7: After your fun day return to your kitchen and the yummy smells it beholds.

Step 8: Prepare your side dishes. Remember these are what will fill your family's belly. Be generous with the veggies and the starches. The following are a list of my favs:

• White rice, spanish rice or fried rice
• Egg noodles or pasta
• salad (so many options here!)
• quesadillas
• black beans and corn

Step 9: Remove crock pot lid and grab 2 forks. Most likely the meat will shred with little effort. Your newly shredded meat will now begin to absorb the additional juices and sauce in the pot. Allow to sit for a few minutes while you plate the side dishes.

Step 10: Place a scoop of shredded chicken on top of ___________(insert side dish here) or inside a tortilla or bun. Remember the meat is meant to be an accent to your meal, not your main staple. The sides are truly what is meant to fill your belly. The meat provides the flavor.

Step 11: Enjoy your food and be amazed at how far shredded meat will stretch.


*note: I usually do this with chicken because it s the least expensive. Similar things can be done with beef and pork. Cook times may vary.

7-Up Biscuits are awesome!

Here's a rockin' 4 ingredient recipe that my family loves. They are soft and moist like a KFC biscuit. I don't make it too often just cause I worry about the calorie intake, but I've tried to improve that as well. And we don't drink tons of soda so I keep a few cans of lemon-lime soda in my pantry just for this recipe.

7 Up Biscuits


4 cups Bisquick
1 cup sour cream
1 cup 7-up
1/2 cup melted butter (to reduce caloric intake I tried it with 1/4 cup melted butter)

Heat oven to 425 degrees

Mix bisquick, sour cream and 7 up. Dough will be very soft.

Some recipes expect you to roll them out. Not really possible. Just allow them to be drop biscuits.

Melt butter in bottom  9x13 casserole dish. Using two spoons drop large spoonfuls of batter on top of melted butter and bake for 12-15 minutes or until brown, Yields about 15.

DELICIOUS! 

If you choose to use the full stick of butter they taste prebuttered.

ignore the empty space we had to taste test them :)

Enjoy!

Pantry Living Part 2 Starts NOW!

First, this happened....

...which meant it was time for this again!

Here's the deal. My rockin' hubby is a very talented special ed teacher. He works hard in school from Sept until end of June; 10 months of hard earned pay checks. During July and August he does summer school enrichment programs, but its not equal to his 10 month salary. This is my way to help our family survive the awesome summer months. I DO NOT GROCERY SHOP!
Here are my rules to follow:

1. No non-perishable food purchases
2. No meat
3. No paper goods
4. No toiletries and household cleaners (this includes diapers and wipes)
5. Cash only for family outings and excursions
6.  If I choose to splurge on a non-perishable food item (candy bar, bag of chips etc) I must use cash.

Allowable purchases with a credit card or cash:

1. Fresh veggies and fruit
2. Milk and dairy products
3. Eggs
4. Bread

I had an awesome experience last summer with this experiment. I discovered what foods we can't get enough of (peanut butter) and what foods we don't really eat that much(bbq sauce). I got clever with my meal prep and  was sure to go through our food storage preventing out of date items. I learned to gauge my wants vs my needs. I learned our parents are a valuable resource when I find myself in a bind. And this would never be possible without storage space and an extra fridge and freezer.

So let's get this party started and start living simply and efficiently. Pantry Living for the summer is a lovely life!

Best Bread Machine Recipe Ever

It is easy.
It has 7 ingredients.
It is delish.

Take bread machine bowl with paddle inserted. Fill it with following ingredients.
-1 cup warm water (110 degrees F)
-1.5 Tablespoons white sugar
-1 Tablespoon Honey
-1 package bread machine yeast or regular yeast (if you have the jar it is 2-1/4 tsp equal a package)
-1/4 cup softened butter
-1 teaspoon salt
-3 cups flour(sifted or not doesn't seem to matter)

Return bread machine bowl to bread machine.
Close lid.
My settings are: Basic or White Bread, 1.5lb, crust color light

In 3 hours and 18 minutes I have a perfect loaf of bread. It is delectable!

I also use this recipe for rolls. Only small difference are My settings: DOUGH. Remove after timer goes (mine is finished in about 1 hour and 38 mins).
Dump dough on lightly floured cutting board.
Use either pizza cutter or sharp knife to cut small stripes and then section it again.
Immediately place cut portions onto ungreased cookie sheet or glass pan.
 Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 mins. yields 12 rolls.

Only other variation I've tried to original recipe on setting: RAPID BAKE.
In 1 hour 18 mins, I have a smaller more dense loaf. It is still delicious, just doesn't rise like the original.
My 5 yr old prefers this loaf.

Happy Bread Baking!

Pantry Living Lessons Learned

 It is over! I am through, for now.

Pantry Living Before

Pantry Living After

I began with 31 unopened boxes of cereal.
I ended with  4 unopened boxes of cereal.

I had the pleasure of grocery shopping with just the baby. I spent an hour going aisle by aisle picking and choosing things we may need, things that we might like. It was nice. I may have gone a bit overboard with on sale cereals though. I bought 13 boxes :)

Anyway, I've learned much during this experiment. Here are a few:

1. I can't do it alone. Without the help of my mom and dad I would've struggled tons. They are so good to me. 
2. My husband and children are super supportive. My family rocks! David even helped with the cooking. He makes amazing crepes, homemade pancakes, stuffed manicotti, and pizza.
3. We don't eat as much BBQ sauce as I thought. 
4. We eat oodles and gobs of peanut butter. 
5. We eat approx 3 boxes of cereal a week. 
6. We eat more canned green beans than canned corn. 
7. Keeping extra loaves of bread in the freezer is a must for us. 
8. Sam's has the best and cheapest toilet paper. And it lasted all summer! 
9. We  make a lot of pancakes and syrup...I think in efforts to use less cereal.
10. If you cheat a rule once (which I did) its so tempting to cheat again (which I did NOT). Hold strong to your principles.
11. WANTS vs NEEDS This is the ultimate lesson for me. If we didn't have it I had to figure out a way to make it work. Most of the time I could do it. This lesson was demonstrated best with my goal of Cash Only, and credit cards just for gas and perishable foods.
12. I am a good shopper and saver. During the winter and spring months I was able to put away cash here and there for my summer spending. Yesterday I pulled out the last $20 from it. I believe I started in June with about $400. Yeah, I'm that good.
13. SUCCESS! I label the experiment a success. I loved it so much I may make it a summer tradition. Its a great way to work through food storage to ensure no food is being left too long on the shelf as well as to test our preparedness and resourcefulness. I would love to compare my current results with future results. If Max eats 2 bowls of cereal now....how much will he eat at age 15????

Thanks for following my progress! May this inspire you to be prepared, test your limits, and pinch your pennies! Happy Pantry Living!

Pantry Living: Week 9 and beyond

Okay. So week 9 ended two weeks ago. Here is the update.

I didn't shop for food. I actually did the opposite. I was taking my leftovers from the fridge to my mother's house and giving her food for a change. I needed to clean house and try to not leave anything sweet and sticky out for my neighborhood ants. We were preparing to leave on vacation.

At the end of week 9 my pantry looked like this

Unopened boxes of cereal: 7

I am dangerously low on many items and I've already started my shopping list for my first trip come Sept. I'm so excited to grocery shop again, but at the same time I've gotten such a thrill out of this experiment. I just might try it again next summer and see if I can improve my results.


WEEKS 10 & 11 UPDATE:

Okay, so the Pantry Living Experiment really only lasted 9 weeks because weeks 10 and 11 were spent enjoying life with my in-laws. They provided all the meals and groceries. I still stuck to my rules of no grocery shopping but that's cause they are so nice to us :)

We returned late last night. The pantry looks much as it does above minus one box of cereal my son opened this morning.

Unopened boxes of cereal: 6

I will refrain from grocery shopping until Sept 3rd when my husband officially returns to work. The end is in sight.


Happy Labor Day!

Pantry Living Weeks 7 & 8

I'm still here, avoiding the grocery store as much as possible. Summer company arrived and I cheated once to buy syrup for waffles at 8am. A friend sent me a recipe for homemade syrup, which I plan on trying but that also requires an ingredient I need to buy.

Pantry after 8 weeks

Unopened cereal box count: 10

 I'm on the home stretch of Pantry Living. It will last only 3 more weeks, 2 of which we'll be visiting family on vacation! In anticipation of our family vaca I set aside snacks for the plane ride weeks ago. So glad I did. The plane snacks include: 4 granola bars, 1 bag swedish fish, 4 fruit snacks, and 2 notebooks (not for consumption). 

My current concern is my baby and her food supply. She likes to feed herself, but she has only the beginnings of a first tooth. I struggle to find a variety of foods she can feed herself that are healthy. That search continues.

One more thing. I am out of bagged long grain rice. I do have a 20yr long term can of rice in my emergency food supply. Do I really save it for the next 20yrs waiting for a disaster? or do I rotate it through? Not gonna open it this summer but still not sure what to do.

I've begun my shopping list for the beginning of Sept. That will be fun!