Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Helpful How-To: Amazingly Cheap And HEALTHY Dinner

Despite what you might be thinking right now, I am not stealing from The Mommy Therapy's
weekly recipe-ish's.

Because, really, that's just a tough act to follow.

And I don't want to try.

But what I do want to do is brag about something that I:

1. Came up with on my own.  Call me Pioneer Woman. 

Actually, now that I think about it, I am sure she has done something like this on her blog, but then again, what hasn't she done? 

Also, I can't wait for her tv show to premiere, so I can figure out what exactly I can do with 121 lbs. of butter.

She's pretty much my hero.

And my best friend.

Don't believe me?

As if this isn't proof enough....



Look at the love she had for the unborn Little Man...

Ahhhhh.

2.  Can enjoy for less than 7 Weight Watchers points.

If you have ever done Weight Watchers, you know that it's almost impossible to make a pasta dish for less than a hundred bazillion points.

I mean, really, the Weight Watcher's frozen entree's have more points than that.

And less pasta than a steakhouse.

Just saying.

3.  I can make it for like $3 TOTAL.

You just can't beat that kind of deal.

So, I know you are now saying, how can I make this amazingly delicious and nutritious meal?

And this is where I bestow my wealth of information on you.

You should be thankful.

It goes something like this.

1 lb. roll of Italian Seasoned Jennie-O Ground Turkey ($1.78 at Wal-Mart)

1 box of Great Value Whole Wheat Pasta ($.98 at Wal-Mart)



1 can of Rotel tomatoes ($.87 at Walmart)




1 package of Green Giant Frozen Spinach ($1 at Wal-Mart)




A dab of olive oil and parmesan cheese, both of which I don't count the price of since I only buy them like once or twice per year. 

I am assuming that everyone else is the same as me and keeps this kind of thing in your pantry at all times....

First of all, brown the meat.

Then drain it.

Because even turkey leaves extra fat sitting in the pan....

Then divide it in half (we usually only use a quarter of it, because we're uber economical like that).

Save half of it for tomorrow's dinner.

And throw the rest back in your skillet with a little olive oil, half of your tomatoes (you can save the rest for tomorrow's dinner too...), and a quarter of your pack of frozen spinach.

(Look at all this food we are saving for future dinners!)

Stirring until the spinach is separated and cooked....hopefully you know what that means. 

Cause there really is no other way to describe it.

In the mean time, boil some water and cook your pasta.  (I would suggest only cooking half your box of pasta at most....  Who knows, you might like this meal so much you want to make it again tomorrow.  Especially since you have all your ingredients ready and available...not that I would ever...)

And while that's happening, you should probably play a few moves of Words with Friends with me (username's leahmpeck).

Then drain your noodles and toss with your meaty, tomatoey, spinachy mixture

And toss in a couple dabs of parmesan cheese, stir, and serve.

Your husband will think you are a Kitchen Goddess.

Not to mention a Money Saving Diva.

And you?

You get to eat your delish dinner, knowing that it's healthy and delicious.

And your hips will thank you in the end.

And then you can thank me.

And then maybe I can give some love to your unborn child....

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

The Black Hole of Books

So...I am at quite the impasse.

Having read the Hunger Games series through 2x in the last month...

And having just finished The Host...

I have no idea what to read next.

And since I am saving all my Swagbucks to buy a certain someone a very special birthday gift, I dare not waste any of my Amazon moolah on books.

Which is so sad.

But in the interim, I am reading some of the books that I downloaded for free thanks to Amazon and my Kindle app.

And let me tell you what I have learned....

Ready for this?

Good books are HARD TO COME BY.

I know.

It's pretty earth shattering.

Like the realization that Kermit and Piggy can't really procreate.

Despite all the smoke and mirrors that Jim Henson blew at us with A Muppet Christmas Carol...



Or the awareness that the Easter Bunny doesn't hop around delivering eggs and chocolate goodies....



Pretty devastating.

I'm at a loss.

A total loss.

Of course, I realize now that there is a reason why my current books were free....

They are total crap.

Predictable storylines.

Boring characters.

I have no idea where to go from here.

Nothing on the best seller list is even coming close to piquing my interest.

But mostly because I doing what they always tell you not to do...

I am judging books by their covers.

Someone help me!!!!

The problem is I have become a book snob.

A flurry of good books and I have become spoiled to exciting storylines, admirable characters, and sweaty-palm-inducing romance.

This so must be how people felt after reading Shakespeare.

You know, before he added all the unhappy endings.

Monday, June 13, 2011

Dear Disney, ALL of Your Films NEED to end With a Kiss from Prince Charming. Trust me...

This weekend my mom and I had a much needed opportunity to sit and talk.

And laugh.

Alot.

It was probably only an hour or two after everyone else had gone to bed, but it was wonderful.

We joked and laughed about things she never knew about me (like how my baby sister told me about the birds and the bees in the deli section of our local supermarket) and some things I never knew about her.  Like the time that she spoke at a County Boardmeeting about the need to stop rezoning the town so that our farmers would stop losing their land....  Who knew?!

But one fo the stories she told me made us both laugh so hard we were in tears.

Apparently, when she was about 11 years old, her teacher sent her home with a note about a Girl Scout's sponsored movie night at school for all the girls.

She assumed that they wouldn't go.

Because they never really participated in any of the extracurricular functions if sports weren't involved.

However, the next day, she went back to school with a signed permission slip. 

She AND her motherwould be going to the movie night.

And when she got to school, she found out that all of her friends were going too.

Along with all of their mothers.

She was so excited, she could hardly stand it.

Truthfully, they all were.

It was with much anticipation that they awaited this amazing bonding opportunity.

Finally, the day arrived.

They were all in their seats early.

And before you know it the Girl Scout leaders had turned off the lights and started the film....


At the end of the film, the scout leaders began tossing feminine napkins into the audience of 11 year old girls and their mothers.

Mom was horrified.

What had happened to the happy-go-lucky movie she had been looking forward to?

Because it ended with what is the equivalent of a death sentence to an 11 year old - the promise of bleeding from your crotch every 28 days and free-flying feminine napkins.

Good try, Disney and Girl Scouts of America.

But this is no fairy tale ending.

(I'm sharing this over at Serenity Now, because really, who wouldn't enjoy knowing that Disney made a period movie????)

Weekend Bloggy Reading

GROUNDED

Techy posted this on Facebook over the weekend.



Without my permission....

Just to clarify, I am justified in any recourse I choose, correct?

Thursday, June 9, 2011

No Margin For Error - WINNING

Um.  What a day. 

Today begins the craziness that is wedding season 2011 in the BTSW household.

Techy and I were up before the chickens.

It should be noted that we don't actually have any chickens.

Just 1 dog.

But we were up before him, so I can only assume that means that we would be up before any local, wandering fowl that may indeed find it's way to my house.

Although, now that I am thinking about it, wouldn't it be nice to have chickens? 

Free eggs....

A free alarm clock.

Plenty of fertilizer for my non-existant garden.

One thing I know for sure, I do not want geese.

Ugh.

Nasty geese.

What was I talking about?

Oh yeah.  Wedding season.

And Techy and I being up ultra megazoid early.

We had a long drive ahead of us today with said dog and one relatively independant toddler (thankfully no chickens or geese - can you imagine?!).

And only after Techy ran enough errands in such a whirlwind that he didn't know where he was going.

Although, one could argue that he never really knows where he is going, so what's the difference.

Let's skip ahead a few hours...

Getting out of work.

Oh, that's right, I didn't mention that I had to work half a day, right?

Ugh.

So yeah.  Got out of work...

Just in time to keep Techy pointed in the right direction for 6 hours.

And entertain the cranky child strapped down in his car seat in the backseat.

Only to skid into the church parking lot about 3 minutes before the rehearsal started.

But hey.

We made it.

When we had left ourself basically NO margin for error.

To be honest, I don't know how we did it.

But I'm soooooooooooooo thankful we did.

Because I got to play the role of Groom's grandma.

Let's just say, that's not something I would have wanted to miss anything!

ANYTHING.

Thankfully, I have been practicing the part, and I pretty much nailed it.

PRETTY.MUCH.

On the down side, I didn't workout, I had a slice of pizza, and about 3 cookies.

All things considered, I think I just about leveled things out. 

After all you can't win 'em all, right Charlie???



Nope, he's still WINNING!

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Helpful How-To: Motivational Version

Because some days we just don't feel like going to the gym.

Or eating right....

Here's a helpful little reminder.


Here's to Yoplait for giving me a little reminder! 

Helpful How-To: Relaxation

I don't know if you can sense it or not...

But I am stressed. 

So, so stressed.

This summer is gearing up quicker than I ever dreamed possible.

This weekend is a wedding.

Next weekend Techy has a photoshoot and I am hosting a party at my house.

The following weekend is a 2 photoshoot weekend.  I hate 2 photoshoot weekend's.

And the week after that, my brother is getting married.

If you are looking at a calendar, that would be 4th of July weekend.

And we're driving.

Joy....

The weekend after that is a 2 photoshoot weekend.  Again.

And finally, the weekend after that begins something almost too glorious to even think about right now.

VACATION.

To keep myself from getting too overwhelmed at the fact that there are so little downtime between then and now, I am focusing.

You can join me if you would like....

Closing my eyes....

Deep breath in.....

Now, open my eyes....

And I'm here...


And here.


This is my reward for all the ridiculousness that I have to endure between now and July 15.

If you need a little relaxation, you are more than welcome to focus on it as well.

I totally understand.

And I already know of at least 1 person who is participating.