We try to eat meatless dishes every Friday (year round) and during Lent we’ve decided to also do so on Wednesday.   In this quest I’ve been creating dishes seeing which dishes pass the husband and the kid test.  One such dish which has made the grade is Lentil Tomato Sauce with Spaghetti.  I altered my Tomato Basil Marina Sauce to come up with this delicious dish.  The lentils are not only highly nutritious but they also give those who want a meat-like texture in their sauce without the meat.  Personally, I just like them regardless & love working with them.  I’m lentil lover, I know how wild.

What You Need:

24 oz. Canned Crushed Tomatoes

1 Table­spoon of Tomato Paste

3 Cloves of minced (or finely chopped) Garlic

1 Small diced (or finely chopped) Onion

1/4 Cup Olive Oil

7 Leaves of Fresh Basil finely chopped

1/2 Tea­spoon Pepper

1/2 Tea­spoon Salt

Pinch of Sugar or 1/2 Cup of Finely Shredded Carrots

3/4 Cups of Lentils

1 Teaspoon Italian Seasoning

2 Cups of Water

How to Put it Together:

Put 3/4 cup of lentils into water with the 1 teaspoon of Italian seasoning. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer over a medium heat for 20 minutes.  Stir occasionally.

After this drain the lentils. You will add them to the sauce below.

To make the sauce:

Heat the olive oil in a pan on a low heat, then add in the minced gar­lic & the diced onion.  (Prep all the veggies while your lentils are cooking).  Cook garlic & onions for no more than 5 min­utes. Burn­ing gar­lic can make it taste bit­ter & you want the onions to simply become lightly translucent (see through).  After this add in the Table­spoon of pasta sauce.  Next step is to add in your toma­toes, salt, pep­per, sugar or carrots & basil.  Why carrots or sugar?  Well, carrots will provide the natural sweetness that sugar would provide to counterbalance the acidity of the tomatoes.  Carrots will also add an additional punch of nutrition to your dish.  Now add in your lentils (the ones you drained before starting your sauce).

Let it everything come together & sim­mer in the pan for about 30–40 min­utes.  Stir occasionally.

Top this sauce over spaghetti pasta.  Make sure when you make your spaghetti you season the sauce with salt & you cook the noodles al dente (firm but cooked through).  You don’t want to over cook the noodles & have mushy noodles.

Serve a hearty dish really perfect with a nice crusty thick garlic bread on the side.

Chicken has made many appearances in our home in a variety of different dishes. For Sunday dinner we decided to do something that is simple and succulent with the fragrant aroma of lemon wafting through the air. I love lemon by the way. More than most people. Lately it’s been my go to item. Lemon in baked goods, many a meal and even my various beverages. Lemon roasted chicken is a dish that is simple to make, fills the house with its beautifully melding flavors while it cooks, and is a family pleaser. If it can make my family clean their plates it can make anyone’s. Pair it with whipped sweet potatoes and a side salad and you’re in food heaven.

When you make it you will want to use bone-in chicken breasts. With the bone-in you receive a better flavor and moistness, can get a crispy skin for those that eat the skin, and you can save some money as bone-in is usually less money out of your pocket than deboned version.   Also, often they are huge making it easy to have leftovers & if you make extra (more than what you need to feed the family) the next day you can make roasted chicken salad sandwiches or add the chicken to a hearty salad with feta, tomatoes and olives by pulling the chicken off the bone. That’s good eatin’!

What You Need:

4 Bone-in Chicken Breasts

Olive Oil

Salt

Pepper

One Lemon

Exact measurements vary depending on size of chicken.

How to Put It Together:

Place your oven rack to the middle of the oven. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Pat chicken dry.  Place in a large baking dish, 9x13 should work.

Then rub olive oil on your chicken.  Salt & Pepper generously. You want to help bring out and enhance the flavors of your chicken.  Cut up one lemon into fours.

Cook for 30–45 minutes, checking to see if they are done around the 30–35 minute mark.  Remember to account for the size of the breast, the bigger it is the longer it takes to cook & the smaller the less time you need.

I don’t flip my breasts & place them breast side up. Why? Because I’m lazy. Really it’s the only reason.

However, some do the flip method.If you decide to flip start them breast side down, then at that the 15 minute mark flip them breast side up.

To check to see if they are done you want to place a thermometer into the thickest part of the meat, avoid the bone. You want the chicken breast meat to be 165 degrees internal temperature and for the chicken’s juices to run clear.

When you take it out, cover it with an aluminum tent & let sit for 10–15 minutes before cutting or serving.

Then plate the chicken, squeeze the roasted lemon over top, and pair with a great side.  Perfect for Sunday or any day of the week.  Once you go simple roast bone-in chicken you’ll never go back.  From here you can play with seasonings as well and oh the creations you can make.

After having Mujadara many times at local Middle Eastern, particularly Lebanese, restaurants my husband set off to learn how to make it himself. It has since become one of our go to dinners. It’s simple, easy and transports you to a far off land in one taste of this dish. I can feel the heat, smells the scents of spice markets and hear the sounds of people walking around throughout these lands that filter through with each bite.

What you need

1 Cup Lentils
1 Cup Rice
3 1/2 Cups Water
4 Onions
1 Teaspoon Cumin
1 Teaspoon Salt
1/2 Teaspoon Pepper
2 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil

Serves 4–6

How to put it together

Slice the onions. The onions should be sliced long, so they look like a rainbow versus diced into small pieces.

Heat pot on med-high heat. Add 1 Tablespoon of Vegetable Oil and 1/2 an onion. Cook until onion is caramelized.

Add lentils, water, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes, add rice and 1 Teaspoon Cumin. Cover and simmer for additional 20 minutes.

Heat a frying pan over med-high heat. Add the remaining 1 Tablespoon of Vegetable Oil and remaining onions. Cook until fully caramelized and blackened.

Also, he used green lentils & yellow onions for this dish.

We usually serve our Mujadara with hummus & pita. Let me tell you it goes fast. And it is a great meal to have when you are looking for something meatless, easy, and delicious.

Are the any Middle Eastern or Lebanese dishes that you enjoy?

Like everyone these days we’ve been finding ways to save money. There are sometimes easy ways we’ve found to help us save money. And we didn’t need to go living off the grid to do it, they were simple changes.

1. Cooking on a Budget: When I wrote the post about Cooking on a Budget I did so because I believe it is the easiest way to save money & the fastest way to spend it when you aren’t paying attention. Food can really eat up more of your money that you think it will. When we didn’t go in with a plan, budget, and cook more at home we spent tons of extra money. I swear we spent just as much if not more money BEFORE we had kids as we do now that we are a family of 6. Before we bought lots of frozen meals, didn’t plan or budget, & we ate out more. Changing those habits alone was a massive cost savings.

2. Utility Budget Plans: We realized that we had months were some utilities were higher and others were very low or nonexistent. We called & found out we could do a budget plan. This means we pay the same amount of money EVERY month & we know exactly how much to budget. If you aren’t able to do a budget plan with the company, then create your own budget plan & stick to it. Factor in paying the same amount every month & pay it.

3. Turn down the thermostat: OK, I know everyone says to do this, but seriously it can add up. We just turned it down by 3 degrees and we are still comfortable. No one is freezing his or her tushie off & we save money on our bill.

4. Turn off the TV: Not only does the TV use extra energy and that WILL add up on the electric bill increasing your utility costs but it also is a time sucker. Turning it off a few hours a day gives you more time to do things (like cook at home, read a book, get outside to enjoy some fresh air) and it saves money.

5. Check out your local libraries: I use to spend SO much money on books. Now I make use of the local libraries & don’t spend a penny. Our libraries also allow you to use your card at a variety of different public libraries. It’s great for the kids and creating a day out as well. Just make sure you are turning the books back in on time.

6. Drink Water: When you drink water more often you save money on filler drinks like soda/pop and you get to see if you are really hungry or if you are eating out of boredom saving money on extra food. It also helps you feel better to rehydrate & you might lose a few extra pounds that those drinks are adding on.

7. Cancel any unused memberships and extra services: If you are one of those folks who has a membership that is going to waste to the gym or some other service then cancel it. We had a service that was automatically billed and it was to have a debit card. But it was an account we don’t use, it’s only a savings, while it was a small fee a month it added up over the course of a year. Canceling that fee saved money that can now stay in our savings.

8. Distinguish a need from a want: Probably the hardest thing in our materialistic culture. I know I struggle with this but taking an extra two minutes can make a HUGE difference. Ask yourself if you need what you are buying? Do you already have something that would work? Could you wait to buy it and come back a week later? (often you’ll find that you don’t even want it a week later). It helps with impulse want buys to do this, Target & Costco were my places that I had the worse time with. I would see something, think it was a need when really it was a want. For Hubby it’s Home Depot, we all have our weak spots.

9. Shop with a list: We use this when shopping for groceries and anything else now. It is another tool to distinguish a need from a want & keep us on track. It only takes a few seconds to make a list but it can save hours of worry over a bill or shortage on cash later in the month.

10. Use Cash: A good way to save money because when you have cash, actual paper money in hand, you spend less. Handing over cold hard cash for purchases makes us think about the purchase more and we are more likely to shop within our means. Debit cards, even though they come out of our bank accounts, don’t have the same outcome for us. I know that for Hubby he didn’t think about the little purchases on that debit card (that add up!) but with cash in hand he does. We also think more about big purchases if we are using cash versus credit or even a debit card.

What easy ways do you save money?

I am starting to figure out to edit photos for this blog and just because I’d like to have more polished photos of our family memories.  I don’t have the ability to buy a program to edit photos right now.  I would love to get Adobe Photoshop and learn it in more detail. I have putzed around with PhotoShop in the past but never gone in depth with it. But as of now I’m learning on a free program until I finish saving for PhotoShop.

We also don’t have a fancy camera.  It would be AWESOME to get one like one of the many Nikon digital SLR cameras that I’ve been drooling over (seriously DROOLING–Costco is going to ban me from the camera section).  BUT currently we have a basic digital camera, I believe the picture I’ve been editing is with the current Canon PowerShot A530 we use. No fancy additional gadgets with it.

Anyway after playing around a bit I highly recommend giving Paint.Net a try if you are looking for a way to edit photos.  It is designed for Windows 7, Windows XP, or Windows Vista (SP2 or newer) or a Windows server (2003 SP1 or newer).  And while it is limited in comparison to Adobe’s PhotoShop, it’s still a pretty good program for free.

I decided to post it because I thought that it could be good for some of you who are looking for a frugal way to learn photo editing.

Reminder that I’ve ONLY been playing with it a LITTLE AND I ONLY have a basic digital camera.  I AM NOT A PRO.  In fact, I am sure others when looking at these initial attempts will think I could have done a little a lot better.  I don’t disagree because I AM STILL LEARNING!

Here is an original photo from when we took a family vacation 2 years ago.  We went up to the north of our state.  It is beautiful there.  We took a few pictures that were scenic.  I decided to play around with a photo that I loved because it has a beautiful scenery and simple farm in the shot. You all know how I love the simple life fantasy, even though I’m a city girl.

Then I played around a little with contrast, sharpening, and brightening the photo. I did crop it and straightened it.  I wanted to try to make the picture pop. The shot then looked like this:

After that I took the photo and played with the sepia function.  I wanted a feel of a newspaper photo, from the turn of the century, that had aged.  Capturing how the world has changed. That adjustment turned out like this:

I’m only beginning to figure out how to use the program and I’m really impressed with what it can do for free. And so I wanted to pass on the information to anyone out there who is interested in editing photos but may be cash strapped. I plan to adjust some of the family photos we have too. I’m looking forward to honing my creative skills.

We’ve been trying to stick a budget for our groceries and my back to school refocus on health will again be an essential part of that.  Our staycation this weekend in just another way to provide a lot of options to reduce costs–like camp outs, cook outs, & finding inexpensive local festivals. The joys of sharing food cannot be beat.  I really believe food has healing & bonding powers, so having good food to share as a family is essential to me.

Right now D-man is still on breastmilk only.  He is moving to cereal and then he’ll join the rest of us in eating baby versions of “regular” food.  Which means pretty soon that number will be 6 people eating in this house and let me tell you these kids can EAT!!  It’s insane how much their little bodies can pack in.  They already get SO hungry,  THEY ARE STARVING TO DEATH. Or at least that’s what they’ll lead you to believe even if they just at 10 minutes ago.  I tremble at the thought of their ability to pack it in as teens.

And then there’s me and grocery shopping.  With back to schools starting we’ll have to pack lunches, snacks, & prep more food for my evening classes away (Hubby & I trade off, I start dinner & he finishes on those nights). AND I have to admit with food it’s REALLY EASY for me to over spend.  Like seriously EASY. I can go in for 2 items, say bread and milk.  But I have shiny ball syndrome with food, I get easily distracted and want whatever is new.  I will find 122 items I think I *need* and end up spending way too much money.

Usually these are things that later I will regret.  And this is the issue with eating healthy, I know better but if I’m not focused it’s like I LOSE CONTROL.  I will buy anything and everything that is probably a transfat (oh transfats).  Leaving me to walk a food hall of shame the next morning after going town devouring an entire box of cookies. Not that I’ve ever actually eaten an entire box of cookies, but let’s just pretend I have.  (Please indulge me here, I know I should have stopped after the first 3 cookies, but they were so GOOD).

STICKING to budgeting

Not just doing it but sticking to it really is necessary for us so we can have a lot of good food available to eat for those starving kiddos.  And because there are times when I don’t get a paycheck due to the adjusting of the pay periods of the school semesters.  This means keeping money aside to cover that, if either myself or Hubby goes to the store & overspends we are SCREWED BIG TIME (& it’s not even any fun).  Really I don’t know anyone who hasn’t felt the pinch lately with the economy, where we live it’s been really tight & lots of people have been hit hard or worry about being out of a job even if they are OK right now.

Still, the difficulty sticking to a budget and eating healthy are problems for me, if I don’t keep them in check we could end up having lots of food but no house to put it in.  I mean really I can rake up a grocery bill like no tomorrow if I’m not focused going in.

We have to do some things to keep the shiny ball syndrome with food in check.  Hubby also has the same syndrome, it’s why we are a good fit.

Here are some ways we’ve found to keep it in check:

• Make a list & Check it twice: no list then I’m leaving with 122 items versus 2
• Shop sales: I’m not going to go all over God’s green earth to save a $1 but I will plan ahead & know what’s a good price
• Shop local: farmer’s markets are great for this
• Menu planning: we aren’t super strict but we make a loose menu plan that way we can move things around & we can menu plan around sales & good finds
• Veggie garden: we have done a small one for the last 2 years
• Stocking up the pantry & freezer: when prices are good & only do what we like, no sense in stocking up on items we hate
• Shop generics: most of the time a generic isn’t different than the brand name
• Don’t shop with the kids: really they try to sneak things & wear you down.  If I hear “Can I have this??” too many times then I’ll overspend on a bigger bottle of liquor.

We do shop at the local grocery store, but also check out Costco & Trader Joe’s. Those help a ton since Mr. J cannot have very much gluten and Mamacita cannot digest diary (cow’s milk products). Buying a few specialty items at Trader Joe’s really helps cut costs & Costco can have great bulk items (but a list is REALLY IMPORTANT or you can easily overspend).  I adore our local farmer’s market, it has some really great selections & the cost for fresh grown food cannot be beat.  There are also good deals on buying meat from a farmer in bulk, I’m talking the “good stuff” (hormone-free, grass feed, etc…).  A deep freezer is necessary if you decide to do that though, because buying meat in bulk takes up space.

I also LOVE having tips from others to help me. By far the cutest lady offering food tips out there is Clara and she is featured on Depression Cooking with Clara . She offers great stories with her food videos. I just adore her and have watched every one of her videos. She reminds me of my Grandmothers in a good way.  I picture her being that tough but loving Nana, I want to just go to her home & let her cook for me for hours & tell me all sorts of stories of her life.   She makes me ache from her adorableness.

And then there is a good general section on Allrecipes for Cooking on a Budget. The site overall is good for figuring out how to use pantry items, since you can enter in ingredients that you want to use and select those you don’t want in a recipe. And I’ve definitely been faced with a “WTF?” night on figuring out what to make out of random pantry items, this features kicks BUTT! The recipes also get a lot of feedback which helps when figuring out about trying something different, I also like being able to get other ideas for healthy food choices. We’ve been refocusing on adding in on extra veggies and fruits either to the meal or as snack items.

I’m hoping to continue to hone my skills at budgeting & offering good foods.  I get all giddy when I’ve managed to get a lot of delicious items but not gone broke.  It’s like a contact high.

And since I’m always looking for more tips, feel free to share your own tips on keeping shiny ball syndrome when food shopping in check. I’d love to read them & I’m sure others would too!!

Making an All Natural Kitchen Cleaner

Ingredients You need:

Baking Soda
Lemon Essential Oil
One Shaker

You will want to take ¾ full of a cup of baking soda. Put it into a bowl. Once it is there then mix the baking soda with 20–30 drops of Lemon Essential Oil. After you get it all mixed up you can fill up your shaker with the cleaner. To clean with it just shake cleaner onto the surface & wipe it clean with a sponge. If you get any baking soda residue then you can use a scented vinegar can be used to dissolve the residue.

Homemade Scented Vinegar Spray

White Vinegar
Lavender or Lemon Essential Oil
16 oz Spray Bottle

Fill the spray bottle with the white vinegar
Mix in 20–30 drops of Essential Oil of your choosing

Then you can just spray it on any surface that you have baking soda residue.

Enjoy! Especially since you can get the kids involved now & not worry about what they are cleaning with. Let them help, you can supervise

I was doing some back reading of articles I bookmarked last week & in my cue was a New York Times article, For Firstborns, Secondhand Fits the Bill. I had bookmarked it to read because I am looking for articles to give my students when school starts back up.  I’m trying to find some that deal with how changes in the economy can cause other social changes.

In this article the focus is a supposed increase in frugal choices when shopping for kids.  I know the NY Times has a pretty skewed audience, trending toward a higher income & higher educational level.  I get there are differences in cultural understandings about money & necessity based on socio-economic class. But PULEEZE if this is what money & education gets us then we are totally screwed on lessons of sensible economics. For example as the article points out that parents who have it “together” have realized this stunning fact:

No longer is it necessary to buy a thousand-dollar changing table in order to prove your parental savvy and breadth of love; if anything, the opposite is true.

I’m not sure anyone in my classes will be able to relate, no matter their age or if they have kids.  I know I can’t. Because really a grand?

Is this really a newsflash? I don’t know about anyone else, but I don’t think it was EVER necessary to buy a $1,000 changing table.   Not unless your kid is going to create literal diamonds on it, which I’m pretty sure is impossible.  Rainbows maybe, but diamonds nope.  No diamonds then no grand is going to be dropped so I can wipe a tush.

How to Make  Air Deodorizer

Ingredients you need:

Baking Soda
White Vinegar
Water
Lemon-Essential Oil
One 16 oz.Spray Bottle

Add 1 tsp Baking Soda into the bottle
Add 1tsp White Vinegar
Mix in 2 cups water
Then Mix in 10 drops Lemon- Essential Oil 

Similar to the homemade furniture polish you go to use it don’t forget to shake it well, then you are free to go on your deodorizing merry way.

I got some new cloth diaper covers for D-man in the mail the other day. They are Bummis SuperBrites, he needed to bump up to the mediums. They are now all clean & ready to go. They go over an Indian prefold that is diaper service quality, with a little snappi to hold it all in place.

I sometimes wonder if others think I’ve lost my mind by adding cloth diapers to the mix. Initially we started looking into cloth because Mamacita kept having bad reactions to all kinds of disposables & then we figured out that it was more cost effective to use them for D-man. Hubby & I figured if it saved money why not? I mean we are already up to our elbows in bodily functions anyway.

I must say that his little tush does look cute in the BumGenius One Size pocket diaper. We just stuff a slit in the back of the diaper with cloth inserts. He has a big ole diaper booty.