Poor hot dog people

I swear I must have done a post on hot dog people in the past but I've been horrible about labeling my posts (not to self...need to always do that). Basically you cut the hot dog up the middle and up the sides and then cook it to make a hot dog person. This is how we always ate our hot dogs growing up.

Well with three boys in the house hot dog people are bound to get interesting. Today they took pretzel sticks (at their request) and tortured them. To my they looked like some kind of voodoo dolls. Well ate least they ate them! Boys will be boys!

Making bread

I recently started making my own bread. I don't do it all the time but when I do I always ask myself why in the world I ever buy bread. It's so simple to make it myself, cheaper....and MUCH MUCH better!! So try it I say. You will amaze yourself at what you can do. (pictured is the French bread I made last night)

I started after getting the book The Food Nanny. I've talked about her before on here, but trust me when I say it's the best cookbook I have ever gotten. I've used tons of her recipes and every single one is amazing! And the best part is there's not many ingredients and they are all very simple. So if you are in the market for more recipes or a change in your food, or a great system for staying organized when it comes to preparing food for your family, check out The Food Nanny!

Strawberry Lime Italian Ice

Today I made this Italian Ice and oh my goodness was it yummy. It will become a staple this hot hot summer!!

We have a BlendTec blender and these are directions from making it in my blender.

1 Lime peeled
2 Strawberries
6 oz sugar (but you can use less)
7 oz water
2 cups of Ice

Speed 1 for 50 sec
Speed 2 for 25 sec
Speed 10 for 25 sec

I had to add 2-4 cups more ice and blend longer so just play with it to get the consistency you prefer. I hope you enjoy....I know we all did!

Cricket's Semi Homemade Mac and Cheese

When in a hurry I sometimes put together this fast and easy mac and cheese that tastes more like homemade than box.

I use a box to start with. Personally I prefer one that is whole wheat and free of anything artificial. Then I grate up some cheddar cheese and asiago cheese. I cook the mac and cheese according to the box and mix it up. I saute up some onions and add it in with a little asiago cheese. Then I grease a 9x11 pan and put the mac and cheese in it. I add a little milk so it doesn't dry out in the oven. Top it off with the cheddar cheese and put in the oven for about 10 minutes. Then crank up the heat and broil it until it is bubbling and starting to get some brown on the top.
Yummy! Enjoy!!

$70/week update with Gingerbread Spice cake

Here's my update on my goal of spending $70 a week. I made a menu for the next 2 weeks of meals and snacks and Sean and I did all the shopping this weekend. We ended up spending a total of $190. So that's $95 a week. A good start. Hopefully we won't have to make anymore trips. (although I might have to send Sean for milk and bread but we will see). We shopped at Aldi's (a new store here that offers super low prices, Sams and Publix). I didn't use any coupons this time around because I didn't find time to organize that this time around, but I know that would have defiantly helped get me closer to my goal of $70/week. We'll see next time. I also bought some bulk items that will last me for several months (like meat, cheese, etc)

Everything I bought was free of artificial flavors, colors, preservatives and HFCS (high fructose corn syrup).

For dinner last night we had burgers, sweet potatoes, and salad. Tonight we had hot dogs, baked beans and corn on the cob. I also made homemade hummus and a Ginger spice cake (which looks more like bread-and it's SUPER yummy, AND healthy! And no one can tell there 1 cup of broccoli and 1/2 cup of carrots in it (pured of course). I got a huge smile and "this is great" from Sean. The kids were asleep so I'll have to test it on them in the morning.

Pink Pancakes

For lunch today I made some high protein pancakes called Pink Pancakes (we topped them with some powdered sugar I put in a shaker and some maple syrup). They are whole wheat pancakes with grated apple, pureed beets and ricotta cheese. Of course my main reason in changing the diet is for Dallas but I know that it will also benefit the other boys as well. Feeding Dallas is very difficult because he keeps getting pickier and pickier about his food. Although after having chatted with my girlfriend Jackie I'm realizing that Dallas is probably self limiting himself to the foods he should most likely be avoiding. So if I eliminate these foods then he will probably be more open to other foods.

So today I tried the pink pancakes today for lunch and they were a hit with Dallas. He ate them all up quickly. And he even asked for a banana afterward....and he NEVER does that!!!! Funny thing is that Boston and Asher (who aren't picky) hated them! (I too thought they were really gross.) But hey....Dallas liked them!

It was almost like a little God wink. I needed that encouragement because today I was feeling very overwhelmed with the changing of the diet in the house and baking everything homemade on top of everything else on my plate. That's what's happened all the other times I've tried to take this on (tried several times since last fall.) And I know that being overwhelmed and having anxiety is not from God but only from Satan....so I must be on the right track with this diet. With God's help (since He only gives you what He knows you can handle and the power of the Holy Spirit to get it done) I know I can do it!

Homemade Peanut Butter

Today I made homemade peanut butter for the first time. We usually go through 1 jar of the store bought kind in a week and since I buy the all natural kind it can get very costly. I figured what better way to be all natural than to make it myself AND save money!!

My recipe for it is 1/4 cup of peanuts to 1 teaspoon on Safflower oil. I got the recipe out of the Super Baby Food book. (Great recipes in there!)

You are supposed to use raw nuts but I never make it to Whole Foods often and Publix didn't have any so I used roasted.

At first I blended it up a little bit (we have a fancy BlendTec Blender) It didn't resemble peanut butter at all! Then I blended it more and more, but still wasn't in the least bit creamy. Finally I put it on the soups automatic mixer button and that did the trick. It blended at a very high speed for what was about 1 minute and whola I had peanut butter! I think if I'm going to make chunky I would just add a few at the end and blend for a few seconds. Boston wanted to try it right away and he LOVED IT! It tasted way better than the store bought brand. All the boys have had peanut butter and jelly (Boston peanut butter and banana) sandwiches and they devoured them. So it's a big hit here and I probably will never buy another jar of peanut butter from the store!

By the way...you have to store it in the fridge so it won't go bad.

Alien Pancakes...a fun Saturday morning

This morning as a special treat we took the boys to Denny's for breakfast. It's funny how little things like that make such a big deal in the life of a little one. The boys ordered Smiley Alien Pancakes and devoured every bite! They thought it was the "coolest" thing. Boston added that it's the "bestest thing he's ever eaten!" It was just so cute. And as crazy as going out to eat with 3 little ones sounds it actually was quiet pleasant. They played with the stash of cars and colors I have in my diaper bag...a good mom is always prepared! And then once breakfast came there was hardly a word out of them.

After eating we went to do some shopping at BJ's. They had a life size pirate that moved and the boys went crazy over it! We got the movie "Muppet Treasure Island" at the library this week and they have been all about pirates so it was a great surprise to see this animatronic. We also saw a bunk bed for sale and are considering buying it for the boys room. All in all it was a fun Saturday morning together as a family.