I bake everyday.

Every.single.day.

I don't particularly like baking.....okay I am going to be honest with you I hate it. I am 7 mths pregnant and spending that time in the kitchen baking leaves me with swollen legs, aching feet, and the overwhelming urge to take a nap. So why am I in the kitchen everyday baking up a storm? Because my kids like to eat, they are odd that way, and my youngest two can't have any processed baked goods due to their allergy to milk protein.

For a while we tried just reading the labels on things and buying baked goods that didn't have milk on the label. The result? One of them ended up head to toe hives and the other one ended up with such a bad digestive reaction her bottom was bleeding. Come to find out companies only have to list a ingredient if it is more than a certain % of the ingredients. So a product can have milk in it and not have it on the label. What a crock!

The result is that all the baked goods for the twins have to be made at home. You would think a dozen muffins would last a while right? Wrong, these kids can go through a dozen muffins in one day. One of these days I am going to get smart and make up 5 dozen at a time, but right now I am just too tired to spend that kind of time on my feet.

Anyways I thought I would share some of my kids favorite treats. Yes, they are all dairy free but you can change any listing of soy milk to regular milk. I am not crazy about the banana oat drops and the kids have yet to try them so I will hold off on sharing that recipe.

Here we have a picture of today's baking results:

Apple Muffins, Apple & Blueberry "wheat thins", and Banana Oat Drops.

Apple Muffins

***This recipe can be for any type of sweet muffin you like, just change the puree used. We have made this using applesauce, bananas, apples and carrots, etc. Just make sure you keep the amount the same***

1 1/2c Flour

3/4c. Sugar

1 tsp. Baking Powder

1tsp. Baking Soda

1/2tsp Salt

1 1/2c applesauce

1 egg

1/3c Vegetable Oil

1/4c Plain Soy milk

1 tsp Lemon juice

*Heat oven to 350. Combine all ingredients and pour into muffin pan. Bake 25-30 min.

Homemade "Wheat thins"

***You can make these any flavor you want by changing the plain oatmeal to a flavored one. I used Apple & Blueberry granola and they were a big hit***

3c. uncooked oatmeal

2c. unbleached white flour (or 1c. white and 1c. wheat)

1c. Wheat germ

3Tbsp. sugar

1tsp. Salt

3/4c Vegetable oil

1 c. water

*Heat oven to 350. Mix all ingredients together and roll out on to two cookie sheets. Cut into squares or diamonds using a pizza cutter. Bake for 15min.

Fruity Puree Cookies

***Again you can make these using any fruit puree you want, also I didn't have soy flour so I just replaced it with a equal amount of wheat flour and they worked out great***

3/4c Brown Sugar

3/4c Vegetable oil

1c. Applesauce

1/2tsp salt

1tsp Vanilla

1/2c. Oat bran

1/2c. Wheat Germ

1 1/2c. Wheat flour

1/2c. Soy flour

*Heat oven to 350. Combine sugar and oil and mix till smooth. Add the remaining ingredients and chill for 30min. Make into little balls and place on a greased cookie sheet, flatten slightly with a fork. Bake 12-14 min.

My Grandmother's Potato Soup Recipe

I am a strong believer that we can learn a great deal from our ancestors. Both of my Grandmothers lived through tough times and as a result learned a great deal. They both passed down some really frugal yet wonderful tasting recipes that they learned through out their lives. Who would I be not to take their knowledge and apply it to my life? My paternal grandmother raised 7 children, 6 of whom were growing boys, on a single seasonal income. She has a recipe for Potato Soup that is super cheap and I find to be the ultimate comfort food. My mother began making this soup when she married my father but being a true southerner she added my maternal grandmother's recipe for cornbread. Add the two together and you get a super filling dinner that costs next to nothing.

Potato Soup
Bring a pot of water up to a boil and add as many cubed bite size chunks of potatoes as your family will eat. Once the potatoes start to get tender add in 1/2 a stick of butter, 2-3 cups of milk (depends on the size of your pot, you want the water to turn white) and some salt and pepper. Continue boiling until the potatoes are tender.

Corn Bread
1 1/4c All purpose Flour
3/4c. Corn meal
1c Milk
1 egg
1/2tsp Salt

Combine all ingredients and bake at 400 for 25min.

I know not the most nutritious dinner in the world but it is hot, filling, and yummy! I find myself craving this dinner any time the weather gets cold or I am starting to get sick. I guess this is my version of Chicken Noodle Soup for colds.

The best homemade pizza EVER!

I have been trying out tons recipes over the years to try and find the right homemade pizza recipe. Either the crust was to thin and breakable or the sauce was to runny. Nothing seemed to work out right. Last night though we hit on the perfect pizza! If you like a thick and chewy crust this is the recipe for you!

Pizza Crust:
2 Tbsp active dry yeast
2 Tbsp sugar
4 cups hot water
1/4 cup vegetable or olive oil, plus 1 to 2 Tbsp for the pans
5 to 7 cups of all-purpose four
1/2 cup cornmeal

*In a large bowl, combine yeast, sugar, and water; let stand for 5 min to allow the yeast time to start working. If it is active it should start to foam.
* Add 1/4 cup oil, 4 cups flour, and cornmeal; stir. When the mixture gets too heavy to mix effectively with a wooden spoon, sprinkle about 1 cup flour onto a clean counter and oil your hands. Turn dough out onto the counter and begin kneading. Continue to knead adding more flour as long as the dough feels sticky.
*Rinse out your bowl and lightly oil. Place dough in center and cover with a clean cloth. Allow to rise for 20 to 30 min.
*Preheat oven to 550. Oil 2 pans. Using oiled fingers press dough gently out across pan. Spread desired toppings on crust and bake 10 to 15 min.

****I only wanted to make one pizza so I put the second dough ball into a freezer bag and froze. To defrost just leave it on the counter for a few hours and you are good to go. It works just as well if it has been frozen or not.****

Pizza Sauce:
8oz can of tomato sauce
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp basil
1/4 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder

Mix all ingredients in a small bowl and use to cover one pizza crust.

Creamy Mexican Pasta

A few days ago we tried another new recipe, Creamy Mexican Pasta. It was super yummy! Super simple to put together with cream cheese, salsa, chicken, some milk and chicken stock. The kids were SUPER excited to have macaroni for dinner and even hubby ate this twice in one day :)

As you know this week I am doing reviews of my new cookbook. So far we have like 3 out of 4! I think we would have liked the Jazzy Ramen more if we had used a different type of noodle. Something with a little bit of a bite would have been nice with all the soft veggies, I may try it next time with a spiral cut pasta instead. The chicken tortilla soup was incredible. I didn't get a pic of it but man was it good! Tonight I am making Chicken Fajitas and fried rice, I will be using the fajita seasoning recipe and the fried rice recipe out of my new cookbook. I am really hoping they are both hits :)

Attempting some new cheap meals

This week I am attempting some new recipes that are supposed to help you feed your family well on a budget. I started by finally reading a cookbook I have had in my pantry for over a year! I got this book "Family Feasts for $75 a week" back in November 2009. Needless to say I got a little busy soon after buying it since the twins were born in January 2010. The first half of the book is a breakdown of the authors methods for saving money. Since I have been working on cutting back my grocery bill for so long there really wasn't much there I didn't already know, but I could see how it would be helpful for someone just starting the road to cutting their grocery bill. My favorite section of the book was the chapter on making your own Sauces, mixes, dressings, etc. I am sure I will be looking through there more to pull out seasoning mixes to try! There were several recipes inside that I thought would be fun to try for our dinners this week. So far I have made a few of the recipes and thought I would share my experiences.

The first recipe I decided to work on was Pizza roll ups. Basically a Cinnamon roll made with pizza fillings instead of sugar and butter. We used cream cheese, tomato paste, mozzarella cheese, peperoni and seasonings. As you can see my homemade pizza dough rose very well! No need to worry my yeast wasn't fresh! For my personal taste the tomato paste was a little pasty. Next time I think I will either thin it out a little with some water or try a spaghetti or pizza sauce. The kiddos were not too sure of the rolls, my oldest was game and ate most of hers since she could see the peperoni, my 4yr old on the other hand was not too sure and didn't eat any. I personally liked them and had some for leftovers today. Hubby seemed to like them as well and even though I thought I had a ton leftover the container is almost empty.

Next up we have Jazzy Ramen. Now I am not a fan of Ramen, honestly I have not had Ramen since I was in college. I have never though of Ramen as being a healthy option so I don't cook with them. This recipe had a ton of veggies in it so I was willing to give it a try. In this recipe we had: carrots, onions, cabbage, and broccoli. It used 3 Ramen packets but only one of the seasoning packets mixed with some corn starch, soy sauce, and ginger. I made a vegetarian version for myself and the kiddos and added some ham to my husbands. I think I cooked to noodles for too long, they were kind of mushy and the texture just didn't work for me. I would be willing to try it again cooking the noodles for 2min instead of 3.... As for the leftover test no one was willing to eat the leftovers the next day.

So far we are one for two. Tonight is Creamy Mexican Pasta with Chicken....we shall see...

Attempting to satisfy pregnancy cravings without breaking the bank.

One thing I have learned through 8 pregnancies is that I LOVE FAST FOOD when knocked up! On a normal basis I can take or leave fast food no problem. Actually I usually like to cook and eat at home most of the time, but when pregnant that goes out the window. I want fried foods, cheese, and tons of butter! So in a attempt to satisfy my cravings and still leave some money in the grocery budget for the other people in the household I decided to try and make my own fast food.

First off we have fried Mozzarella balls. I want fried cheese BAD! So I attempted to make them myself. It really was pretty simple. Chunk up some mozzarella, dip it in flour, coat with egg, then into the bread crumbs, back to the egg, re-coat in more bread crumbs and then freeze for at least 20 min. Once frozen deep fry in vegetable oil till they turn golden brown. In a attempt to be more frugal I used one egg and equal parts water, homemade bread crumbs, and drained on a kitchen towel instead of a paper towel. Those little golden gems turned out wonderfully, and no I didn't share! Next up is my craving for Pizza Hut's Cheese Sticks. I have tried every recipe out there to try and recreate these Cheese Sticks and nothing came close. I finally stumbled on the perfect cheese sticks the other day. I make up several batches of this homemade bread each week. I got the idea of cutting the bread in half lengthwise, melting some butter, mixing in some garlic salt and brushing over the bread (OK maybe dumping the butter on is a more accurate term!). Then top with some shredded mozzarella and bake till the cheese is golden. I served it with some spaghetti sauce and I was in heaven. Seriously I could eat this every single night for dinner no problem!

Cleaning Supplies

Thought I would share some of my favorite recipes for cleaning supplies:

Powdered Laundry Detergent- Top load machine
1 Ivory soap bar1 Cup Washing Soda½ Cup Borax
¼ Cup Oxyclean
-Grate soap or break into pieces and process in a food processor until powdered. Mix all ingredients. For light load, use 1 Tablespoon. For heavy or heavily soiled load, use 2 Tablespoons. Yields: 3 Cups detergent. (Approx. 40 loads)

All Purpose Spray –
1/2 water, 1/2 white vinegar, 20 drops of essential oil (I like orange)

Dishwasher Powder-
1C borax
1C baking soda
1/4C salt (I used sea salt)
1/4C citric acid (I used 2 packets of unsweetened Lemonade Kool-Aid... has to be lemonade and un-sweeted or you'll dye your dishwasher.)
30 drops citrus essential oil (but I didn't add this to my mixture)
*put it all in a container and use 1T in each cup per load