Good to the Last Drop

I hate to see anything go to waste. I definitely inherited this from my father. He grew up with absolutely nothing and the habits he learned in his youth to get by carried over into his adult life. I remember him always making sure he got every penny's worth out of every single thing. He'd rinse the bottom of the spaghetti sauce jar out with a little water and pour it in the pot, just to make sure no sauce was wasted. Usually resorting to a spatula, you have never seen a man work so hard to get every single itty bitty last scrape of peanut butter or jelly out of the jar. He was freecycling way before anyone knew what that meant. He merrily accepted anything someone was getting rid and was constantly coming home with things people had set out on the curb marked as "trash." Okay, so maybe that second part is more dumpster diving than freecycling. Potato. Potahtoe. :) Some people snickered at his extreme efforts to save a dime or get something for nothing, but I always found it endearing.

A couple months ago, my husband came across an article in Readers Digest about ways to stretch your dollar in the kitchen. He chuckled when he showed me the article and said "This is so you!"

You bet your bottom dollar it was! One of the suggestions was to use the last bits of mustard in the bottle to make a vinaigrette salad dressing. Just because you can't squeeze anything else out doesn't mean there's nothing left!

You'll need:

• a jar of mustard you *thought* was empty
• balsamic vinegar
• seasonings and herbs to your liking (I used garlic powder, Italian seasoning & onion powder)

1. Remove the lid from your mustard container. Add in the desired amount of seasonings. (I used 2 teaspoons of each spice.)
I made a little funnel out of a leftover grocery list. This made adding the spices a lot easier and a whole lot less messy.


2.  Pour the balsamic vinegar into the mustard container. I added enough to nearly fill the jar, but not quite to the top so there was still room for everything to mix together.
3. Shake like crazy to combine all ingredients.
4.  Taste and add more spices as desired.

I'd also recommend labeling your creation. I don't know about you, but someone reaching in the fridge thinking they were getting mustard and accidentally putting vinaigrette on their sandwhich would NOT go over well in my house. :)

We usually buy our balsamic vinegar in bulk so that does help with the cost-effectiveness of this project. Otherwise, I don't think salad dressing really costs much more per ounce than the balsamic vinegar to make this version. Besides just price, I do like that it's using up leftover mustard that would normally go to waste and that there's more control over the flavor to suit personal tastes. I had a little of my creation on a salad at lunch today and it's really tasty!

Menu Plan Monday: 5/2 - 5/8

It's good to be back! We just wrapped up another round of meal swap with the families at church. It was a little different this time in that we didn't do a planning session at the beginning since we already knew likes/dislikes of the other families. It still worked well, but I couldn't really post my menus because I had no clue what we were getting until we got together to swap on Tuesdays.
I'm back to planning weekly menus for just our family and I'm hoping to keep up with posting them. Here's what we're having this week:

Monday: Spicy Beef Noodles

Tuesday: Ground Turkey Chili (recipe from The New Rules of Lifting for Women)

Wednesday: Weight Watchers Salmon Patties, Dijon-Roasted New Potatoes

Thursday: Tex-Mex Tostadas

Friday: cheeseburgers, chips

Saturday: dinner out before a concert at church

Sunday: leftovers
Hope everyone has a great start to the week!

Menu Plan Monday: 3/14 - 3/20

Usually the Spring Forward time change is difficult for me. Not this year! I woke up feeling rested and ready to tackle chores. That's a good thing because I have quite a bit I want to accomplish around the house today. I've made my to-do list and have already crossed a few things off the list so far this morning.

Anyone else feeling especially motivated today? What's on your to-do list?

Here's what's cooking in our house this week, most things thanks to our church meal swap. We've put a few in the freezer over the last couple of weeks when we had other dinner plans, but we're pulling some out this week and putting them into the rotation.

Monday: King Ranch Chicken (made by E), corn

Tuesday: Our Anniversary! :) We're grabbing pizza at the local parlor before bible study.

Wednesday: cheeseburgers, french fries
Thursday: Beef & Noodles (made by E), mashed potatoes, mixed veggies
Friday: Manicotti (made by J), green beans
Saturday:  TBA (whatever H made)

Sunday: TBA (something from Sunday meal-swap pickup)

My contribution to meal swap this week was a recipe from Kristan over at The Stepford Wife. It's called Dad's Pork Chops & Rice. A huge thanks to Kristan for sharing this recipe and for answering the questions I had along the way!

This recipe was really fun to make! It lends itself easily to the assembly line process, making it perfect for meal swap. Each batch made enough to feed 2 families in our group.

Menu Plan Monday: 3/7 - 3/13

Hey everyone! I've missed posting my Monday menu plans the last few weeks, but it was mostly because I had no idea what we were eating. :) I knew there'd be food on the table because we've started back up with our church meal swap. We didn't plan out the whole month like last time so it's a surprise at Tuesday's pickup day. Everything's been delicious so far, but I haven't known what we're having in time to post it for the link-up.

This week I do know so here's the plan:

Monday: late lunch, leftovers or sammies for late dinner after bible study

Tuesday: Greek Quinoa Salad

Wednesday: Spicy Beef Noodles (DH's request for belated b-day dinner)

Thursday: King Ranch Chicken (made by E)

Friday: Manicotti (made by J)

Saturday: Pecan-Crusted Chicken (made by H), Mashed Potatoes, Mixed Veggies

Sunday: homemade white pizza

My contribution this week is Tater Tot Casserole. Better get cooking and make some room in the fridge!

Finally Finished

I'm so excited to have finally finished this cross stitch! I just dropped it off to be framed this morning and, honestly, it felt a bit like leaving my child with a stranger. Obviously I get attached to my projects.

The pattern for this project came from a free brochure I found in the embroidery aisle at Hobby Lobby. You can also find the chart on the DMC website here. It's stitched on 14 ct. white aida and the finished piece measures 5" x 5". I loved working with Color Variations floss! The verigated affect really brought the design to life.

Menu Plan Monday: 2/7 - 2/13

Success! All three of the new recipes we tried last week were huge hits and will be going into regular rotation.

 Mexican-Style Brown Rice Casserole was hands down our biggest hit of the week. It's actually classified as a main dish, but I couldn't get my husband to bite (no pun intended) on that because it doesn't have any meat. Instead, we had it as a side dish with enchiladas. The recipe says it makes 6 servings as a main dish so I made it into 10 side-sized portions instead. That was plenty. The reheated leftovers are as good, if not better, than the first night.

The Dijon-Roasted New Potatoes were a fantastic side dish option. The Dijon mustard gave great flavor without overpowering the potatoes.

The Shrimp Macaroni and Cheese was delicious. I was afraid it would be too dense, but it wasn't super heavy. I did cut it into 8 servings rather than 6 as recommended in the original recipe. That was plenty for a portion. Instead of serving my broccoli on the side, I piled my mac & cheese right on top. It was great! My husband and I both think this would be great with some mixed vegetables added in before baking, even possibly subbing them for 1/2 the pasta.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

After so many new recipes last week, we're going back to mostly tried-and-true dishes for the upcoming week. Wednesday's Spicy Beef Noodles will be new to us, but the rest are pure comfort foods in anticipation of the cold temperatures this week.

Monday: Super Saver Sloppy Joes, Mixed Vegetables

Tuesday: White Bean Chili, Corn

Wednesday: Spicy Beef Noodles, Green Beans

Thursday: Smothered Buttermilk Chicken, Biscuits (for hubby), Brown Rice (for me), Salad

Friday: Leftovers

Saturday: Dining Out

Sunday: Cheeseburgers or Homemade Pizza

Snow Day = Sew Day

Actually, Tuesday was more of an ice day here in Southern Ohio, but that didn't rhyme quite as well. ;)

The January 2011 issue of Martha Stewart Living had a great article about log cabin quilting. As a novice to the sewing world, I haven't attempted any quilting yet, but it's something I'm really interested in learning. After reading the article, I was inspired to try a couple of the projects, starting with the iPod case.

I knew by the forecast that I'd likely spend most of the week indoors. So, I decided it would be a good idea to head to the craft store and get the few supplies I needed to work on the projects. Okay, who am I kidding? The only thing I didn't have was batting and I could just as easily have picked that up where I grocery shop. However, it was a good excuse to go to Joann's!

The iPod case in the original article was made of denim, but I decided to make it out of felt (like the eyeglass case in the same article) because I have a TON in my stash from a sale last year.

When I sat down to begin the project, I realized there were great instructions on how to create the log cabin pattern, but no step-by-step directions in the magazine or online for this particular project. The Type A side of me started to freak out a little bit. I've often said that I'm "crafty, but no creative." I like to be told EXACTLY what to do when it comes to most projects. After some deep breathing, I carefully examined the picture and came up with a plan.

Since there were no measurements given, I measured the iPod and then guesstimaed based on the picture. To start, I cut several 1.5" strips of the teal felt. Since the center piece wasn't a square, I started with a 3.5" section and built outward from there. I used 1/4" seam allowances throughout.

Sewing the front and back pieces together was by far the hardest part. I decided to add batting to both the front and back panels for a little extra padding. My machine made it through 4 layers of felt and the batting with only one broken needle. I'm calling that a success.

Then came the true test. Would the iPod fit? Like a glove! Height wise, the end of the iPod lines up exactly with the end of the case.

This was a fun 1st foray into quilting. Although it's not perfect, it helped me build my confidence to try more. I really like the process of the log cabin and I'm eager to create more with this newly-learned technique.
I'm linking up my project to this parties: