what's cooking wednesday - rice noodles in peanut sauce

Thai food is a bit of a new love for me. To be honest I only usually have it the odd time I pick up a frozen entree at the grocery store. So I was pretty excited to come across this recipe in Betty's cookbook.

Rice Noodles with Peanut Sauce

8 ounces rice noodles
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp grated gingerroot
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
1/2 cup chicken or vegetable brother
4 oz bean sprouts
1 small red bell pepper, cut into half inch strips
2 medium green onions, sliced
2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

Heat 2 quarts of water to boiling in a saucepan. Break the noodles in half and pull apart slightly. Drop into the boiling water and cook uncovered for one minute, drain. Rinse with cold water and drain.

In a bowl beat together peanut butter, soy sauce, gingerroot and crushed red pepper with a wire whisk until smooth. Gradually beat in the broth.

Place the noodles in a large bowl. Add the peanut sauce, red pepper, bean sprouts and onions. Toss to coat and sprinkle with cilantro.

Recipe Notes: Oh my gosh, Mike and I both loved this so much. This had a nice spicy heat to it. Nothing too crazy, just the right amount. I did forget to pick up green onions, so I chopped up a purple onion and instead of red bell pepper I grabbed some of the roasted red pepper out of the freezer than I did up last fall. I tossed them both in a pan for a quick little saute. Next time I may throw in some 'shrooms too. I also like that this was a super fast dish. In fact I mixed the sauce in the big bowl I put the noodles in. One less dish to clean.




What is What's Cooking Wednesday and how can I play?

What's cooking Wednesday was born out of a desire to get out of that what's for dinner rut. Playing is easy, on Wednesday post a recipe that has been tried and tested by you and then pop over here and add your name to the Mr. Linky. When entering your name also add the name of the recipe in brackets and make sure you link to your What's Cooking Wednesday post and not just your blog's front page.

*All front page links will be deleted!*
*Posts that aren't linked back will be deleted*
*Posts that don't include some sort of a recipe will be deleted*

Don't make me be a jerk. And don't forget to link back here, the home of What's Cooking Wednesday.

So for example I would write Shan (Speedy Chicken Stir Fry) in the name section. For the URL section I would post this: http://shanrev.blogspot.com/2007/10/whats-cooking-wednesday-speedy-chicken.html

I'll let you in on a little secret, my WCW recipes are almost never made on a Wednesday. So feel free to cook and photograph whenever you have time and join us posting on Wednesday

it is important

I've had this post rattling around in my brain for a little while now. In fact I was going to post it for Mother's Day, but it just didn't happen... turns out I was saving it for this week without even knowing it.

This week is Child Passenger Safety Week and never in a million years would I have thought that this would become a cause that is close to my heart. Heck, I didn't even know there was such a thing as a Child Passenger Safety Week.

Most of you already know that just over a month ago Grandma Sandi and Maya were in an accident. An army truck turned into them causing Grandma Sandi's jeep to rollover. Seeing that jeep, even though I had my baby girl safe and sound in my arms, ranks up there as one of the worst experiences of my life.



You look at that car... and that's not even the worst picture. Mike has pictures on his phone that show just how caved in the top of that car was. Thank goodness Papa Old Beard wasn't with them. I can't imagine how anyone in the passenger seat would have survived. You look at that car and it's hard to imagine that they walked away with some minor scrapes.



This is the picture Maya had me text to Auntie Mel the day after the accident. Uncle Dave and Auntie Mel live two hours away. It's hard to be geographically far away when there is a family crisis, so there were lots of text messages that went back and forth to keep them updated with what was going on. Auntie Mel had texted me asking how Maya was doing.... text her I'm okay, Maya told me and then she made me take this picture of her.

That's a scrape right there on her chin. She had a small cut on her hand, probably from climbing out of the car through the broken glass and some scrapes up near her hair line. That was it.

After the cops had finished talking to Grandma Sandi they pulled Mike aside and asked if Maya had been in a booster seat. Mike told the cop what we both knew to be true, Maya had been in a booster seat. I know without a shadow of a doubt that Grandma Sandi had her properly buckled in and in her booster seat. I am forever in her debt for that.

This accident happened minutes from her house. Their trip was only going to take them about 10 minutes. It's easy in those situations to think, oh it's only a short trip, it will be fine, it's no big deal. It is a big deal. It only takes seconds to make a decision that you could regret for the rest of your life. It's just not worth it. The article linked above claims that only 30% of children who should be using booster seats are actually using them. Can you believe that? Even though 78% of households support the idea of booster seat law. Are you kidding me?

For many nights I went to bed unable to stop thinking about my five year old daughter hanging upside down by her seatbelt. By her seatbelt. As disturbing as that image has been, it's a million times better than the alternative if she hadn't been properly belted in and on a booster seat.

Please. Please, take it from me, a booster seat is absolutely important every time you get in the car.

sunday randoms

I'm less than 100 posts away from 2000. Wow! That's crazy, yo.

Our community garage sale was this weekend. I love the yearly garage sale. With the kids growing out of things.... clothes, toys, books, etc... it's a great way to keep editing down our lives. We did fairly well, better than some years, but not as good as our best year. After paying off the kids we'll be donating to my Relay for Life team.



In the midst of the garage sale we had an ice cream truck appear in the village. That's never happened in the history of forever. You just don't see that kind of thing out here. Oh my gosh, kids came running from everywhere. Have you ever seen a stampede of kids? Very funny, also... it was pretty much the best day ever.

I'm already tired thinking about next weekend. It's the Abster's birthday and she's singing for a special music night at church and it's my cousin's buck and doe... he was the ring bearer in our wedding for goodness sake, how is old enough to get married..... and it's anniversary sunday at church and.... well I think that might be enough to cram into one weekend.

We had pancakes for dinner tonight. There was much rejoicing about "night breakfast".

Now that Maya's reading, it's getting more difficult to put one over on her. The day will soon be here that she is officially way smarter than me. Scary. I never thought she'd have figured that out by the time she was five.

My Relay for Life team is awesome times ten. For serious! I had set a somewhat lofty team goal of $3000 and I am happy to report that, with a little less than three weeks to go, we are 75% of the way there. I am still looking for 6 friends to sponsor me $10 to reach my own personal goal of $300. If you'd like to help, you can donate online or to me in person.

38

Contrary to Maya's belief I did turn 38 on my last birthday. Wow! When you say it out loud it's really kind of surprising. I'm not one that gets bothered by my age. I don't feel 38... I guess. I'm not sure. I've never been 38 before. Maybe this is what it feels like.

I like 38. I like it a lot. Life is crazy and full and busy and so much fun. Personally, spiritually, emotionally I feel the best I've ever felt. That's not to say that the years prior to 38 were anything to sneeze at.... it's just more.

I was thinking the other day about being 38, thinking that when I was a kid 38 seemed so old. My parents seemed so old. Then I realized that my Dad never got the chance to see 38. Then being 38 felt weird. I'm older than my parent. Weird. And a tad unsettling if you think about it.

And when I say old I don't mean ancient. I mean grown up. Together. They seemed to have it all together. Well clearly we know my Dad didn't have it all together, but my Mom sure did. The one who got left behind to pick up the pieces. To put us back together again. I've said many times in this very space how I think she's amazing for holding us together like she did. I admire and respect her for that more than I could put into words. I owe this awesomeness that is 38 to her.

Recently I had to be a grown up. I told Mike I didn't feel like a grown up and he didn't feel like a grown up either, but we had each other as we muddled our way through. My mind kept going back to my Mom, younger than I am now and newly on her own trying to figure out how to be a grown up on her own because I imagine she didn't feel any different than I did. I have to assume that what looked like being grown up and together was really just getting by on a wing and a prayer. It's always an interesting experience when you get a huge dose of perspective isn't it? Thanks a trillion Mom.

she's reading

Last night I sat down with the kids while they did their homework. We have Abby working on some extra homework about time. Of course she is less than thrilled with the extra couple pages of homework, but she's struggling a bit with the concepts of time, the am and pm, the big hand and the little hand and so on. Seems better to be proactive.

Maya on the other hand was begging for extra work. So I grabbed a first grade reading workbook from my stash (thanks ML!!) thinking there might be something in there I could modify for her to do. She whipped through the two pages she could do on her own and was asking me to find her more to do. So I sat with her, my intention being to read her the short story and help her answer the related questions. I put my finger under the first word on the page so she could follow along with what I was reading......... and....... she started reading it herself!!! With very minimal help from me.

Mike was loading the dishwasher and he stopped dead in his tracks when he realized it was Maya's voice he was hearing and not Abby's. Not only did she read the whole story (about 6 sentences) on her own, but she understood what she had read and could repeat the story back to me in her own words. I almost fell off my chair. Then she read and answered the questions that went along with it. And we did it all again tonight with the next story in the book. Two of the words in tonight's story were seahorse and octopus and she read them both with no help from me. It's been an amazing couple of days. I am insanely proud and blown away by my Little MyPie.

And then we have Abby, who put her head down on the kitchen table and had a little cry because even she could recognize how easy this school stuff is for Maya. And it just isn't fair. And are you proud of me too? Poor thing. I wish it all came easier to her and I know she wishes the same. I can already see it's going to be a delicate balance making sure they are both getting what they need to excel at school. I only hope I can figure out how to do that.

what's cooking wednesday - coffee cake

You may remember I'm spending this month trying out recipes from my Betty Crocker cookbook. Since I owed Papa a dessert I thought I'd see what I could find in here.



Sour Cream Coffee Cake

3 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups sour cream

Brown Sugar Filling
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup finely chopped nuts
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Vanilla Glaze
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla
2 - 3 tsp milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 12 cup bundt pan. Make the brown sugar filling and set aside. Mix flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together in medium bowl.

Beat sugar, butter, vanilla and eggs in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes. Stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl, occasionally. Beat one fourth of the flour mixture and sour cream at a time alternately into the sugar mixture on low speed.

Spread one third of the batter in the bundt pan. Sprinkle one third of the brown sugar filling, repeat twice. Bake for 1 hour. Remove from pan. Drizzle with vanilla glaze.

Recipe Notes: this was really great. I would certainly make it again. I used pecans and chopped them up pretty fine. Even I didn't mind the nuts in there and y'all know how I feel about nuts in my baking. Gag.




What is What's Cooking Wednesday and how can I play?

What's cooking Wednesday was born out of a desire to get out of that what's for dinner rut. Playing is easy, on Wednesday post a recipe that has been tried and tested by you and then pop over here and add your name to the Mr. Linky. When entering your name also add the name of the recipe in brackets and make sure you link to your What's Cooking Wednesday post and not just your blog's front page.

*All front page links will be deleted!*
*Posts that aren't linked back will be deleted*
*Posts that don't include some sort of a recipe will be deleted*

Don't make me be a jerk. And don't forget to link back here, the home of What's Cooking Wednesday.

So for example I would write Shan (Speedy Chicken Stir Fry) in the name section. For the URL section I would post this: http://shanrev.blogspot.com/2007/10/whats-cooking-wednesday-speedy-chicken.html

I'll let you in on a little secret, my WCW recipes are almost never made on a Wednesday. So feel free to cook and photograph whenever you have time and join us posting on Wednesday

jessie's girl

You know what I'd like? Maya asked me about a month ago. I'd like my very own Jessie doll with a hat that comes off.

She's been on a Toy Story 2 kick for the past few months and Jessie is her favouritest thing in the world right now.

That day I went out shopping with my girls friends we ended up at Toys R Us, because one of them is a prego and another is soon to be an aunt. So after we test drove gliders and chatted for 20 minutes... what.... it was research. Nobody wanted TC to get stuck with a crappy glider. Well after that I wandered over to the Toy Story area and found a real live Jessie doll. With a hat that comes off.



She was slightly disappointed that this Jessie doll was missing her string in the back... meaning she wasn't a talking Jessie doll like the one in the movie, but she got over that pretty quickly.



They've been pretty much inseparable this week. She even made Mike write her name in the bottom of the boot, just like Andy did in the movie.

sunday randoms

So where was Mike while I was having this fabulous vacation? He was here, but he worked some with his Dad and at the farm.

This past week at riding lessons Abby got to canter for the first time. I wasn't too sure how it was going to go over, but at the end all I heard from the other end of the arena was.... That was awesome!!!!! She's incredibly proud of herself.

Saturday night we went to a party that originated back when Mike was a kid. Maya managed to burn her fingers not once, but twice, the first time on a smoldering twig the second time on a just burnt out sparkler. Both blistered. Thankfully Mrs B used her mad nursing skillz to patch her back up.

I had a peach snapple yesterday. It was delicious.

My friends really are the best. I hope they know how thankful I am to have them in my life.

Somehow I've lost one knitting needle. I thinking Maya had something to do with it, but she's saying different. How can I knit cloths with only one needle. I can't. That's how.

I cannot wait to see The Hangover 2.

On June 17th I am walking in the Relay for Life. I am over half way to my goal of $300 and my team is 27% of the way to our goal of $3000. Please consider sponsoring my walk in memory of my Grandma Emily, Abby and Maya's Great Grandma, Papa Joyce and in honour of the girls' Great Grandpa, Papa Al. No donation is too small.

extreme couponing #7

I went over my grocery budget of $200 this week by about $20. So this week grocery shopping was backed up a day due to Mike working at the farm. There are some very cool developments happening at our friends dairy farm that makes me wish ML had a blogger because it would be very cool to watch this all unfold. Not only were we a day late, but we had both girls with us as well. We don't normally have the kids with us when we shop, so I'm sure that inflated the bill a little bit. That's my story anyway.

Actually I am not upset with the money we spent. I have some coupons that are due to expire and there was some really great deals to be had, so I went over to build up a little bit. For example Oil of Olay body wash was on sale for $3.99 and I had two $5 off coupons when you bought two. So that means I got two of the four bottles for free. I also picked up 6 deodorant for Mike that were on sale for $1.99 and I had a bunch of different coupons for those, $3 off when you buy 2 and $1 off one. I ended up paying $4 for all six. I also stocked up on some shampoo combining admatching with coupons.

I redeemed a lot of coupons this week. Mike almost fell over when the total bill rang up at $275, so only paying $219 for that was pretty awesome. Have I also mentioned that we pay for our groceries with our WalMart mastercard which I then pay off when I get home? We get 1.25% cash back when we shop at WalMart and 1% everywhere else. So far we have $120 on our card and we plan to leave it there until Christmas.

Beyond the stockpiling of toiletries groceries were pretty normal with a few extras. Like I mentioned the kids are never with us when we go shopping, so I don't mind allowing them to pick out a few treats.

As for the bottom line, it was out biggest savings yet....

Ad-match - $17.76
Discount - $24.60
Coupons - $30.71
Total - $73.07

Total Savings to date - $333.46

recharge

Mike and I have spent this past week on holidays. Typically we usually take holidays through the summer when the kids are off school, but Mike suggested now and I went with it. I loved this week off so much I can't even tell you.

Usually vacation is all about the kids and spending time together as a family, but this one was about me. The kids loved having us home, loved being able to sleep in and get the bus from home, but once they headed out.... well... party time.

I went clothes shopping with some girlfriends. I never do that. Ever. I took armloads into the change room with me and had ML grabbing whatever she saw that caught her eye for me to try on. I walked out of the mall with 2 skirts, a dress and half a dozen new tops. After shopping there was a lunch full of laughs and some borderline raunchy conversation.

I got all my hair chopped off and had lunch with my bestie. Both experiences were equally awesome. I pretty much ignored the laundry and the housework and finished reading Sweet Valley Confidential and then dove into Rhett Butler's People. I spent a day in my jammies playing hidden item games with Maya online. I finally say True Grit (loved it sooooo much) and Angels vs Demons (soooo behind in movie watching).

I went to a survivor party and had dinner with some girlfriends. I've flipped through Guy Fieri's new cookbook a dozen times. (Thanks Robin!!) I've slept in and stayed up late. I did some spring cleaning here and there. Little chunks at a time. I baked some cookies and some brownies and a coffee cake. Took the kids out to eat at my favourite restaurant and for ice cream. I knit a bunch of face cloths.

And the best part is I still have three days left!

well i did it

what's cooking wednesday - chicken a la king

So I think I'm going to take a page from my pal Karen's book and spend some time with my cook book's. I have a bunch, but I don't really use them all that often. Kind of seems like a waste of shelf space. And who gets to go first?



That's right... Betty does.

I do have a couple of go-to recipes from here already. My party punch, vanilla buttercream and broccoli salad recipes all come out of this book, but that's pretty much it. So what did I make from Betty's book?

This.....



Yes I know, it's a crap picture, but my rechargeable batteries for my camera are pooched...... just like the battery in my ipod..... and one of these days I will remember to replace them.

Chicken a la King

1/2 cup butter
1 small green bell pepper
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 1/2 cups pf milk
1 1/4 chicken broth
2 cups cooked cut up chicken
1 jar (2oz) diced pimentos, drained
3 cups hot cooked rice

Melt butter in a saucepan over medium high heat. Cook the green pepper and mushrooms in the butter until tender crisp. Stir in flour, salt, and pepper. Cook over medium heat stirring constantly until bubbly, remove from heat. Stir in the milk and the broth and heat until boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir for 1 minute. Stir in the chicken and pimentos, cook until warmed through and serve over rice.

Recipe Notes: Mike and I both really enjoyed this. I did leave out the green pepper because I didn't have one in the fridge. I probably had more than a cup of mushrooms though. I also couldn't find a jar of pimentos so I used some roasted red peppers I had in the freezer. It was really fantastic. I love chicken a la king, but had never made it before...who knew it was so easy!




What is What's Cooking Wednesday and how can I play?

What's cooking Wednesday was born out of a desire to get out of that what's for dinner rut. Playing is easy, on Wednesday post a recipe that has been tried and tested by you and then pop over here and add your name to the Mr. Linky. When entering your name also add the name of the recipe in brackets and make sure you link to your What's Cooking Wednesday post and not just your blog's front page.

*All front page links will be deleted!*
*Posts that aren't linked back will be deleted*
*Posts that don't include some sort of a recipe will be deleted*

Don't make me be a jerk. And don't forget to link back here, the home of What's Cooking Wednesday.

So for example I would write Shan (Speedy Chicken Stir Fry) in the name section. For the URL section I would post this: http://shanrev.blogspot.com/2007/10/whats-cooking-wednesday-speedy-chicken.html

I'll let you in on a little secret, my WCW recipes are almost never made on a Wednesday. So feel free to cook and photograph whenever you have time and join us posting on Wednesday

extreme couponing #6

Well this week was "good". I mean.... I went over budget... $210, but I was doing a little stockpiling, using up some coupons before they expired and I bought some non-food items, like a picture frame for MyPie's school picture. Abby's is framed and "up" if you count leaning up against the wall in the living room "up", but Maya's is still in the envelope it came home from school in.

No picture either this week, since grocery day was delayed by all the wingding festivities and my house looked like a bomb went off in it, but I'm good with that because wingding was up, almost a thousand more than last year. Boo-ya! I am immensely proud of that. Let the laundry pile up! That kind of news is just good for my soul.

So how did I do? I redeemed $17.04 in coupons and stock piled some shampoo and body wash before the coupons expired. I also had some free product coupons to use for vitamin water and yogurt. There wasn't much in the way of ad-matching, but I did ad-match some tp and then knocked a bit more off with a coupon. Yep, I've got a little toilet paper stock pile going. The chili master would be impressed with how much my cost per roll has been these past few weeks. Don't worry I haven't hit hoarder status or anything yet, my TP numbers are still in the low double digits. The freezer was also getting low, we don't have a big freezer, but just the one in our fridge, so I took the opportunity to fill that baby back up.

So what was the bottom line?

Coupons - $17.04
Ad-Match - $10.59
Discount - $23.55
Total saved - $51.18

After deducting all of that we spent $216.53 on groceries, a little over our $200 budget, but I'm good with what we got for that.

Total savings to date $260.39

sunday randoms

Well what a great wrap up to a great season of Survivor! Boston Rob played a perfect game and was totally deserving of his win. Heck yeah he was. Can't wait for the next season... I will not be surprised to see Matt back as one of the two returning players. Thoughts....

Abby found a woman's diamond in the pool at public swimming today. It had fallen out of her engagement ring earlier in the day. Abby and Grandma Sandi handed it back in.... very proud of my my girl, too bad the lady didn't have a thank you for her. That's just inviting some bad karma on yourself. I hope she's okay with that.

Mike made us watch True Grit last night. Oh my gosh what a great movie. I was not expecting to like it at all.

Have plans for breakfast with a couple of my besties tomorrow morning then we're hitting up the mall. Can't think of a better way to start a Monday.

I'm raised $145 towards my goal of $300 for the Relay for Life. Please consider donating to help me and my team reach our goal of $3000. No donation is too small. Let's kick cancer's ass!

best night ever

Today was the big day! The fundraiser for the girls' school that I've been working on for months was finally here. We were incredibly organized this time around, so the set up was quick and easy. Heck I even had time for a wee nap this afternoon before we headed back to the hall. The responses to our donation request letters was amazing. Best response yet! There was over 80 items on our silent auction table. Seeing it all out on the tables... wow... I was so proud of myself and the rest of our council ladies.

Really it was a pretty typical night... running off your feet trying to be several different places at once while making sure you stick to the "schedule" so all the events get done in good time. Somehow we always seem to manage to pull it off and have a bunch of fun doing it.

Big huge thank you to my girls ML & JB... my Relay for Life teammates and my Wing Ding partners in crime. We spent more than a few hours hunched over my kitchen table organizing this event. Thanks to Papa and Grandma Linda for taking my tired and in one case, teary, girls for a sleepover so I could finish everything up. Thanks to Michael for taking care of the MC duties. Thanks to all the fabulous peeps who bought tickets, bid on silent auction items, bought penny sale tickets, bought 50/50 tickets (really big thanks to the fantastic guy who donated his winnings back to the school!) and/or donated items for the auction. Thanks to my partner in 50/50 ticket selling! I've never had it all ready to go that quick. You're hired for next year. Thanks to everyone who made this the best wing ding yet. Every dime raised tonight goes right back to the school as reading materials, SMARTboards, computers, skating trips, MI Day, gym equipment and so much more.

Thank you!

Thank you!

Thank you!

random brain dump

We've had a few lovely days here and now they're saying the rain is coming. Of course it is!

Thinking about getting all my hair chopped off. Probably should make plans to do it before I talk myself out of it.

Survivor finale this weekend. Can Boston Rob win the whole thing? Oh gosh I hope so and I'm not saying that just because I have him in the pool.

I have been enjoying reading Sweet Valley Confidential, but I wish I could remember more about some of the characters. I could probably google it, but you know....... I never think to do it when I'm using the computer.

There is so much fun in my life right now I can barely stand it. So much to look forward too.

My Relay for Life team is rocking it with over $600 donated to our team. Our goal is $3000 in doantions and Dream Team status! Please consider sponsoring us to help us reach our goal.

what's cooking wednesday - high temperature roast

So I got a really good deal on a roast a week or so ago and had thought about tossing it on the old barbie when I stumbled upon this recipe instead.



high temperature roast

1 - 3 lb roast
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 500 degrees F for 20 minutes. Season the roast with salt and pepper to taste and put in a shallow roasting pan with no lid and no water. Lower temperature to 475 degrees F and cook the roast for 21 minutes (7 minutes per pound). Turn the oven off and leave the roast in the oven for 2.5 hours. Do not open the door. Roast's internal temperature should reach 145 degrees F. Cut into thin slices and serve.

Recipe Notes: This is one weird recipe huh? I took the time to read some reviews of this recipe and I am glad I did. Apparently this recipe doesn't work so great in a gas oven if you follow the instructions. What I did instead, after the 21 minutes I decreased the temperature again to 200 degrees F and left it alone for 2.5 hours. I usually do my roasts in the crock pot and they are good and cooked by the time we eat, so it was a nice change to have some pink in the middle. I would definitely make this again. The only change I would make was to use a rub on the meat. The high temperature forms a nice crust on the roast, the salt and pepper was good, but I think a rub would have made it even better.




What is What's Cooking Wednesday and how can I play?

What's cooking Wednesday was born out of a desire to get out of that what's for dinner rut. Playing is easy, on Wednesday post a recipe that has been tried and tested by you and then pop over here and add your name to the Mr. Linky. When entering your name also add the name of the recipe in brackets and make sure you link to your What's Cooking Wednesday post and not just your blog's front page.

*All front page links will be deleted!*
*Posts that aren't linked back will be deleted*
*Posts that don't include some sort of a recipe will be deleted*

Don't make me be a jerk. And don't forget to link back here, the home of What's Cooking Wednesday.

So for example I would write Shan (Speedy Chicken Stir Fry) in the name section. For the URL section I would post this: http://shanrev.blogspot.com/2007/10/whats-cooking-wednesday-speedy-chicken.html

I'll let you in on a little secret, my WCW recipes are almost never made on a Wednesday. So feel free to cook and photograph whenever you have time and join us posting on Wednesday

the cake raffle

I have said before that I think it's important that my kids see me volunteer and be active with causes that are meaningful to me. They have tagged along to various volunteering projects that Mike and I have taken on and we talk a lot about what kinds of things we do when we're away from home at meetings and work bees and the like. I have often wondered when they would take over the reins and really start being involved on their own and not just tagging along because they had to.

Last week the school was holding a Mother's Day cake raffle. Parents were asked to donate cakes and the kids could buy raffle tickets in the hopes of winning one. Usually a donate a cake... I know, you're all shocked, but I have been trying to strike some sort of a balance. Right now I'm in the midst of wrapping up preparations for the silent auction, organizing and motivating my Relay for Life team and in the planning stages of another big fundraiser at which I will help organize a fundraiser for the school... that's two fundraisers in one right there! So I had almost talked myself into not donating a cake when Abby came to me....

Abby: Mom, I don't want to buy raffle tickets for the cake raffle.
Me: Oh, why not?
Abby: Because the money should be going towards something.
Me: What do you mean?
Abby: Well we just collected money for the tsunami. The money from the raffle should be going to something. It's not, so I'm not buying a ticket.
Me: But the money is going into the school fund.
Abby: But it should go to something like the tsunami. So I won't buy a ticket.
Me: Okay, if that's how you feel I won't bake a cake for it either.

See how I did that... supported her, but allowed myself to do what I really kind of wanted to do anyway without feeling guilty.

Here's the deal though, the paying it forward/volunteering Mom in me was immensely proud of her. She had an opinion about something and decided to take a stand against it. I'm sure a lot of kids would be all..... wow cake! Who cares where the money goes as long as I get cake in my belly. Of course around here cake is not a hard commodity to come by... probably made it easier for her to take her stand. I kid, but gosh I am so proud of that kid. True to her word, she did not buy a single raffle ticket.

extreme couponing update #5

Oh my gosh this was my best week ever! Are you kidding me? I may have woohoo-ed out loud. At the register. For real life. Yeah I'm that crazy grocery lady. Lord help me... I am cool. A little bit. Sorta. My Mom says I am.



Picture taken with my phone since my rechargeable batteries for my camera have pooched out on me and I need new ones.

So it was a pretty standard shopping trip with a little stockpiling and a little treat or two that was too good of a deal to turn down. Even though I got 4 boxes of sandwich bags last week I picked up two more this week since another store had them on for $2.49 and I had a $2 off when you buy two coupon. So one of the boxes only cost me 50 cents. Also grabbed some more TP for a really great price. And drumsticks as a treat since I ad-matched them for over $4 off.

So what was the bottom line?

Coupons - $6.54
Ad-matching - $16.86
Discount - $17.73
Total Savings - $41.13

After deducting all of that we spent $166.23 that's $33.77 under our budget!

Total savings to date - $209.21

knowing me, knowing you - may 2011

Okay so it's time once again for that monthly interview project... knowing me, knowing you.

1. What was your wedding song?

So This is Love from Cinderella. Yes, the Disney cartoon. I may have had a Cinderella themed wedding. What? I was 23. I didn't know any better. Actually to be honest, I have no regrets. It was sweet and not terribly over the top. Just a few subtle touches here and there. There may have been a glass slipper.... you know, whatevs.

2. If you could guest star on any TV show which one would you pick?

No question The Office! Perhaps they could write me into the show as a new love interest for Jim.... huh.... huh. That would be awesome times ten. Mrs Halpert... holla.

3. What is your favourite children's book?

Well when I was a kid, family legend has me reading the hell out of the Animals of Farmer Jones. It's still a great book, but my favourite one to read to Maya these days is Charlie's Super Hero Underpants. Such a great funny book. I bought it solely on the picture of the yeti that 's in there.

4. Did you watch the Royal Wedding?

We did a bit as we got ready for work and then The Abster and I watched the replay that evening. Well I watched the whole thing, but Abby skipped in and out.

5. What is your favourite thing to have off the barbecue?

Oh my gosh, what to pick..... burgers, of course, but also stuffed mushrooms and macaroni and cheese.




So now the rules, they're pretty simple. Post your answers to these questions on your own blog in the next few days. Remember to link back here in your post and sign the Mr. Linky too, so we can all see what you have to say. Please make sure you link to your actual KMKY post and not your blog's front page. Any front page links will be deleted. And most importantly, have fun! Have suggestions for next months questions? Leave me a comment or send me an email and let me know.

friday high five - looking forward

I am pretty happy the weekend is finally here and in honour of it I give you the 5 things I am most looking forward too..

1. My bed. Oh my gosh I looking forward to sleep.
2. Crossing a lot of Silent Auction stuff of the to-do list... it's only 7 days away.
3. Reading Sweet Valley Confidential. It's such a fun read.
4. Tea, a nice warm mug of green tea.
5. Diners, Drive ins and Dives.

What are you looking forward to?

random

Very excited about organizing my team for the Relay for Life. I predict we will laugh our faces off all night long. Our team has already raised $50, thanks to my gal ML, but I'd like to see us hit Dream Team status which equals $3000 in pledges and 30 luminaries sold. I think we can do it..... with a little help. I hope you will donate if you are able.

I can't tell you how badly I want to see Bridesmaids. I heart Kristen Wiig.

Survivor just keeps getting better and better. I cannot wait for the finale. I think it calls for a little Survivor party... don't you?

Speaking of survivor parties... I think Abby wants another Survivor birthday party. Sitting here watching Minute to Win it and gathering challenge ideas.

I am part way through Sweet Valley Confidential... anybody else reading it or read it.

And now... to sleep

what's cooking wednesday

Hi gang. Things are bit hectic here at the moment, but I am so looking forward to seeing what you are cooking up in your kitchens. I'm in dire need of some recipes, so help a sister out.




What is What's Cooking Wednesday and how can I play?

What's cooking Wednesday was born out of a desire to get out of that what's for dinner rut. Playing is easy, on Wednesday post a recipe that has been tried and tested by you and then pop over here and add your name to the Mr. Linky. When entering your name also add the name of the recipe in brackets and make sure you link to your What's Cooking Wednesday post and not just your blog's front page.

*All front page links will be deleted!*
*Posts that aren't linked back will be deleted*
*Posts that don't include some sort of a recipe will be deleted*

Don't make me be a jerk. And don't forget to link back here, the home of What's Cooking Wednesday.

So for example I would write Shan (Speedy Chicken Stir Fry) in the name section. For the URL section I would post this: http://shanrev.blogspot.com/2007/10/whats-cooking-wednesday-speedy-chicken.html

I'll let you in on a little secret, my WCW recipes are almost never made on a Wednesday. So feel free to cook and photograph whenever you have time and join us posting on Wednesday

walking again

It's been three years since we participated in the relay for life. We had grand plans to keep participating each year, but.... well I really can't tell you what brought about this hiatus. To be honest I almost let this year slip by as well, but I wasn't willing to take another year off so I signed myself up before I could think of a reason not to.

This year I'll be walking with my Jammie Movie Night Crew. Mike has offered to be our one man support team. He better be ready to make a 3am coffee run, just sayin'. I am looking forward to spending this amazing night with some of my best girls.

I think that everyone's life has been touched by cancer in someway and I'm no different. I am dedicating my walk to my dear sweet Grandma, who died of cancer when I was 16 and for Papa Joyce, who passed away while I was pregnant with Maya, her great-granddaughter who we named after her and for Papa Al, who we are so lucky to have here still kicking. I'm walking for all the times that cancer has crept it's way into my circle. I'm walking to make sure it happens less and less.

If you would like to sponsor me on my walk please go to my personal fundraising page. Thank you.

happy birthday jmn

Last night was party time here at the blogmother ranch... which is not a ranch in any stretch of the imagination, but we like to live with illusions of grandeur. So last night was Jammie Movie Night, but a very special JMN... it was JMN's second birthday. Yep, for two years now my best girls have been meeting in my living room in their jammies to drink punch, eat junk and watch a movie.

The birth of JMN was a total accident. It started with an invitation to the movies which I didn't realize was an invitation to the movies because the words - hey would you like to go to the movies with me on Saturday were never actually uttered. So there was that mix up which led to plans to actually watch a movie at my house at which point I said... don't be alarmed, but when you show up I'll likely be in my jammies because y'all know I love my jammies. And it just sort of snowballed from there.

I was kind of surprised when I realized it had been two years since our first official JMN in which we watched Sex and the City. Doesn't seem like it's been that long. It's truly one of the best things I have given myself. I am so happy I get to call these ladies, some of my best girls, my Jersey Girls friends. I love that we have all promised ourselves one night a month when we get to take off our Mom hats, slip into our favourite comfort wear and watch a fun movie with a side order of catching up and connecting.... oh and killer punch.

I could go on and on about how JMN is good for my soul or how even my girls can tell it's an important evening for me or more increasingly sappy reasons it's the best thing ever, but I think you get the picture. I have said before that I hope one day the local paper is covering JMN's 50th anniversary as a human interest story...... 2 years down 48 to go.

Thanks ladies.

extreme couponing update #4*

Well I kind of missed last week's update in amongst the Easter/birthday festivities last week. Grocery shopping was thrown off too since we shopped a day early... Friday is usually grocery day, but all the stores were going to be closed due to Good Friday and most of the flyers didn't start until the Saturday and we were having company for the weekend and we were shopping off the cuff. Still it wasn't too bad, we spent $210, which is $10 over our budget, but still pretty good considering the extras that a holiday weekend with company comprises of. I was proud of that.

Now Thursday night is supposed to be my night to peruse the flyers and see what items I can ad match or, better yet, ad match in addition to using a coupon. This past Thursday night, however, I may have wasted away an entire evening playing two games of scrabble online with my pal TC. She's a horrible cheat, by the way, and I'm not just saying that because she's been handing my ass to me. So grocery shopping was a bit by the seat of my pants, but I did look over the flyers during my lunch and found some fantastic ad matches this week.

And I took a picture of my haul!



So this it what's going on here... I bought little in the way of produce since there was sit lots left over from last week. This weekend was Jammie Movie Night's second birthday, so there's some fun extras to celebrate that. I also indulged in some minor stockpiling. There was some great deals on at other stores so I took advantage of that.

The Jane's nuggets are $10.97, but another store had them on for $4.99. I had a great coupon for buy 2 ziploc products and get 2 free. Time to stock up on sandwich bags.... yes I know they are horrible, as are chicken nuggets, but if it makes you feel better I only buy Jane's nuggets and only if they are on sale. I eat the egg whites every morning for breakfast and since they were on for a dollar less at another store I bought a couple to store in the freezer. I would have bought more, but we only have the little freezer on top of our fridge and it's already at capacity. It took all of Mike's former big name shipping company mad plane packing skillz to get everything in there.

And now... the bottom line -

Coupons - $6.54
Ad Matching - $19.24
Discount - $19.04
Total Savings $44.82

After deducting all of that we spent $174.82. That's $25.18 under our budget.

Total savings to date - $167.86