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http://mysuburbanadventure.wordpress.com

Food Waste Friday - I Just Don't Like Egg Noodles

I have been following http://www.thefrugalgirl.com/ for quite some time now. One thing that has particularly inspired me are her "Food Waste Friday". Not only have I reduced the waste my family has been producing, but I am saving money (and time) by using up supper leftovers for lunches and snacks. Today is my first "Food Waste Friday" and I am hoping to keep up with it regularly.


We have Beef Stroganoff this week and I made some egg noodles to go with it. These were left over and I didn't get to use them. The truth is, I don't really like egg noodles. I would have served the beef with rice if my husband would not have considered it a crime (punishable by much subtle complaining).

sad, lonely egg noodles

Meal Plan - You Need It!

You can have a freezer full of awesome meals but if you don't make a meal plan you will probably end up ordering pizza anyway.

This is mine from last week. It isn't fancy (I got this pad from Michael's for $1.50) but it works. I tried all sorts of fancy forms but simple really is best.

Sometimes, despite having a meal plan, the day doesn't work out as it should and you end up feeding your toddler this for supper...

...and you end up eating this

At least I didn't have to resort to...

About Me

I have left the about me section of my blog blank for a long time. It's not that I don't think it is important, it is just that I have really struggled with what to write. I looked on a lot of other blogs I read for inspiration and realized that I am really "wishy-washsy". I think many of my friends realized this about me long before I did.

You see, I am a usually cloth diapering, often babywearing; sometimes organic food eating; occasionally co-sleeping; exclusively breastfeeding (because the boy refuses any supplementary formula) momma of 2 great kids.

When I came to my "wishy-washy" realization, I started to feel a little bad about myself. At this point I gave up on trying to write "About Me".

I am happy to report that I have finally completed this section. After much procrastinating and lots of thought I realized that I just do what works for me and my family and there is nothing wrong with that.

Wordless Wednesday - What Happens When Mommy Gets To Sleep In

I Love Chili!

Here is another installment in my "freezer cooking" series. This is my favorite chili recipe:

(I am currently searching for the website where I got this - I will post once I find it)

- 2 lbs. ground beef, browned and drained
- 4 (19 oz) cans of beans (I usually use red kidney beans but you can use what you like)
- 4 (19 oz) cans of tomatoes ( I used crushed because I don't like chunks of tomatoes)
- 2 green peppers, chopped
- 2 medium onions, chopped
- 1 tsp. garlic powder
- 3 Tbsp. chili powder
- 2 tsp. cumin
- 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
- 1 tsp. black pepper
- 1 tsp. salt

Instructions:

Dump all ingredients into a big bowl and mix.


Separate mixture into 3 large freezer zipper bags. I like to put my bag into some kind of tall container for this part (see pic) because it is easier and less messy.

Flatten bags and stack on a cookie sheet to freeze.

Once they are frozen you can stack them flat or file them like books in your freezer.

To Serve: Thaw in fridge overnight. In the morning dump it into your crock pot and turn on low for the day. If you forget to thaw overnight it's okay, you can crack the frozen chili on the corner of your counter into four pieces and fit it into the crock pot.

This is great in a bowl with some bread. I have also used it to make a salad, over iceberg lettuce with some cheddar cheese and crushed tortilla chips on top. We also used leftovers to make chili cheese nachos...yum!!

Technology.

This was the scene as I was making supper a few nights ago. Hubs got a new Blackberry and Miss K is playing games on the ipod touch (which she can now navigate better than I can).