This almost 30 year old is TIRED...

Make a Smilebox photobook

You shall now refer to Amelia as "Princess Glitter"

Amelia is such a girly girl - and as a girly girl she loves princesses and loves glitter!! So, what did she pick out as her "Indian" (I know, not really politically correct) name?? "Princess Glitter", of course! She got to enjoy a great Thanksgiving feast at school on Friday and has been wearing her headband and necklace ever since. When I was talking to her in the car today, she would not answer me( I can't tell you how much this bothers me when she does this!!!!) Finally, she told me her name was not "Amelia", it was now "Princess Glitter". As soon as I called her by her new name, she happily answered me! There's no doubt, she makes me laugh every day!!

Recipe Round Up - So far, so good!!

Here 's are few pictures of the dinners I have cooked this week - Roasted Pork Tenderloin with an Apple Cider Reduction, Braised Beef Short Ribs over Blue Cheese Grits, and Southwestern Pork Soup. When I went to the grocery, I only spent around $45.00! That was eight dinners worth of groceries! I will post the rest of the pictures and recipes this weekend! 

There are just no words.....

Step One... check

Items found when cleaning the pantry out :

-19 boxes of rice

-20 boxes of pasta

-13 boxes of expired pudding

-Bubbles

-Dot dot markers

Fire Extinguisher - hidden behind everything, helpful, huh?

-Bug Spray

-A dustbuster

-And.... a hairdryer, no joke

Everything comes with a price. In exchange for me cleaning the pantry out, I told my Mom that I would be calling her out on my blog and posting pictures. It's only fair, right??

The BIG Challenge - Me vs Myself

I am just getting back from church and am inspired, excited, and ready for the challenge!!! 

Craig Strickland, our pastor, has been preaching a wonderful series on getting out of debt and living financially free. The challenge? Spend less money. What do I spend the most money on? Groceries!! Like I said in my last post, I love food, love shopping for food,  love buying food.  Honestly, I don't think I go too crazy at the grocery. My average a week is somewhere around $100 - sometimes more, sometimes less. However, I'm not the only one that goes to the grocery every week. My Dad usually makes a trip to the grocery and to Costco. And, my Mom will venture there to grab a few things too. I'm sure it all really adds up. From church today, I headed to Costco to stock up on meat. I bought two whole chickens, four pork tenderloins, eight chicken breasts, and ten short ribs for $52.83. My plan? To see how many meals I can prepare with the meat I purchased. My goal is to make leftovers from one meal into a wonderful, completely different meal. I am about to clean out and organize the pantry to see what's in there I can use. I hope to only have to buy fresh vegetables at the grocery this week. I will keep up with my shopping lists and totals and will post that as well as the recipes. Here is my meal planning so far -

-Braised Beef Short Ribs over Blue Cheese Grits

-Shredded Beef Short Ribs and Roasted Vegetables over Egg Noodles

-Pan Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Thyme Apple Cider Reduction

-Southwestern Pork Soup

-Grilled Whole Chicken

-Ginger Chicken Wonton Soup

-Lemon and Garlic Roasted Chicken Breasts

-Chicken Enchiladas

This may be a tiny step, but I hope I'm headed in the right direction!!!

Recipe Round Up - Making a meal out of leftovers

Ok, so I know I haven't posted a recipe in a while. Actually it has been a few weeks ( at least that's what I was told by a friend :) Well, I have not made it to the grocery this week which is way out of the ordinary for me. I'm usually there a few times a week  - I love it, really... I  love to go grocery shopping. I'm telling ya, I am obsessed with food, even when its not cooked yet. I really wanted something good for dinner tonight, but did not want to spend an hour cooking. So,  I started thinking of what was in the fridge.... half a container of pesto, leftover roasted chicken (from my french roasted chicken), cherry tomatoes, and leftover green veggies ( a mixture of edamame beans, asparagus, & broccoli). I made a quick trip to the grocery and bought some fresh linguine. I sauteed the the cherry tomatoes, and green veggies in a little garlic and olive oil for about 10 minutes. Then added the shredded chicken. I cooked the fresh pasta, which only takes three minutes. After draining the pasta, I put it back in the pot and mixed in the pesto. Then I added all the veggies and chicken and topped it off with some freshly grated parmesan. Took me all of 10 minutes (maybe) and I spent $5.00 - not too bad!!! It was delicious!!

I'm a cowgirl, baby.....

This has been a great, fun week for Amelia - western day at school, ballet, play dates with friends, shopping and lunch with GiGi and Mom, and going to see Madagascar 2... twice!!!  I am pooped!! Apparently, she was too!!

Girls Trip to KY

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Ummm.... really??

This is what happens when you are enjoying a nice bath and thinking, "Wow, I am so lucky that Amelia is old enough to entertain herself when I take a bath and get ready......" Oh so cute and oh so hard to get off!!! Again, please click on the pictures to get the full effect!

Your wish is my command!

Amelia had picked out what she wanted to be for Halloween a couple of months ago. There was no doubt that she was going to be a princess, but she had some decision making to do when it came to picking which one. We got on the Disney website and looked through all the costumes. She very carefully made her choice - it would be Jasmine from the movie Aladdin. I ordered the costume, then hid it in my closet. Mean, I know. But, for one, I wanted it to be special for her, and second,  I knew if I were to open it and show it to her when it arrived she would be begging and pleading to wear it morning, noon, and night. Not a battle I wanted to take on!! She was SO excited when she got to wear it to school for her Halloween party. A couple of days before Halloween, her PawPaw really wanted to take her to the pumpkin patch and pick out one to carve. We picked out a good one and asked Amelia what she wanted to carve. Well, her answer was, of course, Jasmine. Not an easy task, but I must say between her PawPaw and myself, we created a masterpiece. You might want to click on the picture to see it in all its glory!!