Fruit and Veggie Popsicles

Today's recipe is so simple that I sort of feel silly even posting it. However, these popsicles are both super yummy and healthy! I don't hesitate to offer these to the kids on a warm day. What's even better is the kids -even my little Wyatt- can help make these. So, I'd be selfish not to share it with you.

All you need for these is some popsicle molds* and a fruit and vegetable juice like Tropicana Farmstand. BTW: This is NOT a sponsored post.  
They have four great flavors:

Orange Pineapple, Strawberry Banana, Peach Mango, and Pomegranate Blueberry. Yum!

Simply pour the juice into the molds and freeze for at least 4 hours. To remove popsicle from mold, run it under hot water from a few seconds. Enjoy!

*Let me tell you about these popsicle molds. I love Tovolo molds, they are easy to use, dishwasher safe, and durable. The molds shown here are great for my little ones, because they are a good size and have a little pocket that catches part of the juice before it can run down their hands.
Here's an affiliate link if you want to take a closer look or purchase them:

Meal Planning Part 5: Meal Inspiration

Lets take a couple steps back and look from a different angle at meal planning from a different angle. I still suggest going from your inventory and sales, but what if you're stuck? It happens to the best of us, so don't be discouraged. There are a few ways I have found to help get inspired when all you are seeing is lists of ingredients.

"Creole Chicken"

Use recipe searches. Going to a website such as allrecipes.com and typing in an ingredient can produce a nice variety of options to chose from. When I've wanted more ideas on how to use an ingredient, I've simply typed into a search engine "what can i make with ____?"

Another way to get the brain thinking is assigning theme nights.

Theme nights can be used in different ways, it can merely be a guide for which meals to pick, it can provide a way for your family to know approximately what's for dinner, or it can be a guide for what types of food to have on hand so that you can quickly pull dinner together at the last minute.

I periodically use theme nights to give myself a little direction and variety from day to day. Here are some themes I've used over the years: New/Special, Pasta, Chicken, International, Pizza, Grill, Leftovers/Easy. 

Allow me to explain:

• New/Special: I try a new recipe or something special that takes a little more time and attention. I might make this fabulous corn chowder I haven't made in a couple years, or I'll try that new recipe my friend has been raving about. I mainly have this category for things that don't fit into other categories or for when we have company over.
• Pasta: this is pretty straight forward, I make anything from spaghetti and meatballs to fettuccine alfredo to BLT mac n cheese
• Chicken: I guess technically this is poultry night, because sometimes I roast a turkey for this dinner, but again this is pretty straight forward- anything from chicken primavera to shredded chicken sandwiches to chicken pillows.
• International: This is the night I make stir fry, fried rice, gyros, tacos, enchiladas, anything that makes you think of a specific country.
• Pizza: This is David's favorite night of the week. I make a batch of my favorite pizza dough and then make pizza, strombolli, or calzones.
• Grill: This is usually my favorite night of the week. It also usually means that David is making at least part of dinner. We have something on the grill or over the fire pit, be it fish, chicken, steak, burgers, or hot dogs. 



"Quick and Easy Chow Mein"

• Leftovers/Easy: Most weeks we have at least one leftover meal that wasn't consumed for a lunch, but if we don't then we do something easy like a freezer meal, salad, soup, or sandwiches.  

Some additional ideas for a theme night include: Fish, soup/salad/sandwich, comfort food, southern, casserole, slow cooker, make your own take-out, and breakfast for dinner.

Click the following links for the other parts in this series:
part 1: inventory
part 2: check sales
part 3: pick meals
part 4: make a list
part 6: shopping day

How do you get inspired to cook?

I originally published this post on 10/28/11 @ oneincomefamilyliving.blogspot.com. I updated it and republished it here.

Quick and Easy Chow Mein

I love this Chow Mein. No joke, I could probably eat this a couple times a week without any issue. It's healthier and tastier than the stuff you'll find at many restaurants. Bonus: It's extremely quick and easy to put together too.

 Printable version

1/2 standard sized box whole wheat linguine noodles (spaghetti works too)
1/2 C frozen peas
1/4 C hoisin sauce
1/4 C broth (vegetable or chicken)
3 T soy sauce
2 tsp chili garlic sauce
vegetable oil
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
3 cloves minced garlic
1 tsp ground ginger
1 package rainbow slaw (matchsticked carrots, cauliflower heads, and cabbage with little broccoli florets)

Boil noodles according to package directions. Add peas to boiling water just before draining noodles. Drain and set aside.
Meanwhile, mix together hoisin, broth, soy sauce, and chili garlic sauce in a small bowl and set aside.
Saute oil and onion in a large skillet over medium-high heat until onion is soft.
Stir in garlic, ginger, and slaw and cook 2-3 minutes.
Stir in cooked noodles, peas, and prepared sauce until everything is warm and evenly coated in sauce.
Serve and enjoy!

A note on the ingredients: the ingredients should all be available at your local grocery (though maybe not walmart), but for best prices on hoisin and chili garlic sauces, check out an Asian market (if they are available- the closest for me is 40 minutes away)

Meal Planning Part 4: Make List

Taking the time to plan out your meals based on the sales and your inventory wouldn't do you much good if you couldn't remember what to buy when you got to the store. So next you'll need to make a list.

not an actual grocery list

If you've never made a list for the grocery store, now is the time to start. You will shop smarter and faster with a list than without. A list can avoid those last minute runs to the store and keep your budget in check.
A good list is very detailed: include the quantity you need, sale prices, and any coupons you have for each item. I also recommend dividing your list into sections- I divide mine by type of food, but you may find it beneficial to sort by aisle. Most stores have maps that can assist you with this task.

Here's how I make my lists:

• Go through each meal on my menu to make sure I have the needed ingredients and add any needed items to the list.
• Add good sale items that I want to stock up on.
• Add basic items that I have recently run out of or am running low on. 
• Mark the price of each item and note all coupons.
• Mark the quantity I want of each item.
• Calculate the cost for all my items.
• Compare the cost to my budget and remove any unnecessary items if over budget.

Making a detailed list can get difficult if you don't have exact prices for everything, so in these cases, I put a maximum price I can afford in place of the actual price.  Here's a sampling from an old grocery list of mine:

Pork loin (cut into 1/2 in chops) $1.99lb need at least 1 1/2 lbs -max price $10
Ground Turkey 20% off  need at least 3 lbs -max price $15
5 qt bucket ice cream $5.99 + $1/1 store coupon x1 =$4.99
boxed chopped spinach $1 + $.60/3 MF coupon (doubled) = $.60each x3 =$1.80 total

By putting in a maximum price for items like meat that you won't know the price for until you get to the store, it forces you to draw your line somewhere. When I got to the store, I only found a few packages of pork loin in my price range, so it made the decision easy.

Click the following links for the other parts in this series:
part 1: inventory
part 2: check for sales
part 3: pick meals
part 5: meal inspiration
part 6: shopping day

How do you organize your lists?

I originally posted this on 10/27/11 @ oneincomefamilyliving.blogspot.com. I have since revised it and moved it here. 

Chick Mix-up

If you followed me on the old site, you probably know we bought chickens this spring. If you're new, you only missed my thoughts on my first 5 weeks as a chicken owner.

We purchased 6 Buff Orpington chicks, but there was an error and we had 5 white birds. We hoped it was just a color error and not breed. As the weeks went by our buff began to look like a runt compared to the whites, so we felt pretty certain that they weren't the same breed. After a little search on backyardchickens.com it became blatantly obvious we had 5 Cornish Cross chickens.

We are still a bit heartbroken by the news. Cornish Cross are considered meat birds. They were bred to be table ready in as little as 6 weeks. Ours are closer to 9 weeks at this point.

From all the research we've done, we would be lucky if any of them lived to 18 months. They are prone to heart problems and have even been known to get so big so fast that their legs break.

Ours are doing extremely well because we have been feeding them a regular chicken diet instead of a boosted diet. Even so, you can tell they aren't always very comfortable. We certainly aren't opposed to raising meat birds, but we're mostly in it for the eggs and figured we wouldn't need to cull one for a couple years.

The store we bought them from only sells them for a limited time each year, so we looked around for various hatcheries and were pleasantly surprised to find a wonderful couple that is NPIP certified and only a little over an hour away from our house. David and I were both astounded by their setup and now have all sorts of ideas for the maybe-someday file. If you live in central Ohio and would like to buy some chickens, I highly recommend sending Darby Ridge Chicks an e-mail (jason@darbyridgechicks.com) for more information.

For a very reasonable price, we purchased 4 black Australorps (1 cockerel and 3 pullets) and 1 black sex-link pullet. The best part is that they are 8 weeks, so all of our chickens should be able to get along.

What's your favorite chicken breed?