Olive Mill, Gelato, and a Friend

I had all Saturday to myself since Tyler went snowboarding this weekend with some family/friends. I would really love to learn how, but making the poor guy teach a wet, angry, impatient Kristina when he could be cruising down a mountain with people that acutally know what they are doing....is not the nicest thing to do. So, I was a good wife and let him have a little solo adventure and I volunteered to hang back, clean the house, and babysit our dog.

On my agenda for Saturday: Grocery Store, Exercise, Clean, Get Gelato at the Olive Mill

What happened on Saturday: Take My Sweet Time at the Grocery Store, Walk Around the Block with Lyndsey, Gelato at the Olive Mill, Cruise Around the Mall with Beth

As you can see...Saturday turned out much better than expected. :)

I took at least two hours at the grocery store and looked at every inch of the store, bought things I didn't need but wanted, and I picked up an easy read "Confessions of a Shopaholic"...I'm already in love.

My camera batteries died, so I couldn't capture Beth and I in all our glory digging into our mounding heaps of gelato....but here is a picture and link to the Olive Mill. I think everyone within 30 minutes HAS to go. Granted...you'll be there for 1 hour tops, but I'm all about the 'little guy'.

Queen Creek Olive Mill

Afterwards Beth and I went to San Tan Village, a mall just north of Queen Creek, and she splurged on some makeup, while I talked myself out of every cute piece of clothing I picked up...my usual routine.

Now it's the end of the day and I don't know where it dissapeared to, but Tyler will be home in an hour and church is at 2 o'clock tomorrow.....there is still time to party....I better live it up!

Some Concern About Our Digestion

Hi everyone! I just wanted to make a few clarifications about our monthly menu. A few people have expressed some concern about the health of our family with using the below menu. Crazy heads..look at this bod...it gets its veggies...hahaha...

1. Does your fruit really last that long?
YES! I usually just buy oranges and apples and store them in the fridge, so they last forever. We buy bannanas and grapes on occasion and those disappear at the beginning of the month and we use apples and oranges the rest of the time.

2. What about veggies? I don't see many of those on your menu...how do you make them last?
FROZEN!!! We usually buy fresh baby carrots and squash and use them toward the beginning of the month (carrots last for quite a while too). For the rest of the meals we eat frozen broccoli or corn, canned corn or beans, stir-fry veggies, etc. I don't list veggies under every meal because it is pretty much a given.....

Don't worry folks we get our fiber and vitamins with our menu plan :)

Please...get me off my keester!

This is what I found when I came home from work on Tuesday

Tyler was at cub scouts when I got home that evening, but I found this note perched on the pole of our stair banister. Tyler and I are going to run at least two times a week (he's convinced we'll go every other day, but I refuse to be so optimistic) SO...we went Tuesday, we went Thursday, and I am so proud of us!

I have not ran more than maybe a jaunt to the mailbox in over 4 years due to old shin fractures that I am terrified will return, but I have decided to try and build up my muscles, bones, and guts, and give it a try once again. Tuesday we ran about 0.5 a mile followed by some serious stretching and a 1.5 mile walk. Tyler would take Ruby and run to the corner and come back to meet me so he got some more mileage in. Thursday I ran about 0.75 of a mile and walked the rest of our 2 mile journey.

I am so thankful that Tyler is patient and doesn't make fun of me...because trust me...I would be easy to make fun of. It is so nice to have that time together and really do something and work for something together.

Feburary Shopping!

It's that time of the month! Hahaha...grocery shopping time! I've compiled a new monthly menu and an accompanying grocery shopping list:


February Meal Calendar


February Grocery Shopping List


This shopping list is tailored to Tyler and I so I left it fairly vague so you can customize it for the size and needs of your family. You may also look at the menu calendar and decide that you don't need that many meals or you may need more meals...that would require some customization too, but this combination should give you a fairly good start.

Please let me know if you have comments, questions, concerns, or think I'm crazy :) I'd love to hear your input.

Monday Night Dinner

Cheesburger Soup

Ingredients:
1/2 lb. ground beef
4 C. diced potatoes
3/4 C. diced celery
3 C. chicken broth
3/4 C. shredded carrots
1, 8oz package of Velveeta cheese, (use what you feel neccesary)
3/4 C. chopped onion
1 tsp. parsley & basil
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper

Directions:
Brown ground beef and set aside. Saute celery, carrots, and onions in 1tsp. butter until softened. Add ground beef, parsley, basil, salt, pepper, potatoes and broth. Cook on medium heat until potatoes are soft. Add cheese until melted.

Tip: I often put the potatoes in a micro-wave safe bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and cook them for about 5 minutes (or until soft) and then add them to the soup. This will cut your cooking time down dramatically.

Recipe courtesy of: My Mother In-Law

Baby's Tend to Draw Crowds

Several months ago I decided that it was probably a good idea to throw my sister a babyshower. One; because I am her sister and Two; because it didn't look like anyone was willing to jump on that train...except me. Rachael is my baby sister and I love her to death. She will be an amazing mom! Since her husband is over seas with the military, she's chillin' at mom's house and so I wanted her to be able to get everything that she needed.
I made about 40 invites and they turned out super-cute (Lime-green, glittery paper, with an overlay and a bow at the top) but they (Rachel and mom) were responsible for getting the word out. You know how you are throwing a party and your worst nightmare is that nobody shows? I am TERRIFIED of that happening! I want every party to be the best party...so basically, I set myself up for dissapointment :)
I drove down to Tucson early Saturday morning, decorated, set up my little table-scape (including my first crack at Chicken Salad) and waited for the crowd to arrive. I was expecting about 15 people..20 at the most.
There must have been over 40 lovely ladies at this babyshower!!!! I was so excited! We had such a good time, Rachel was literally "showered" with gifts, and we had enough food.........check, check, check = good party!

Tasting Baby Food

It got pretty serious....

The Guest of Honor

Babies, Babies, Oh My!

Everywhere we go these days it seem like Tyler and I are surrounded by youngins'! I was called to teach the 18-24 month olds in nursery at church, our wonderful friends the Bradys had their baby boy; Beckham, our other wonderful friends the Schaubs had their baby girl; Kaydence, my sister is due February 15th with a little boy; Emory, and Tyler and I tallied at least 5 other couples expecting within the next 6 months!
It is so exciting!

Dinner Tonight

So...I thought I would start following through on my promises and post a little bit about my monthly menu!

Tonight we had:

Chicken Crostada

Ingredients
1 roll Pillsbury Pie crust, thawed
2 cans chunk chicken or 1 1/2 Cups cooked shredded chicken
1 drained can Mild Rotel diced tomatoes with chilies
1/2 Cup fresh chopped cilantro leaves
1 Teaspoon Ranch dressing seasoning, from packet that makes the dip
1 teaspoon cumin
Pinch of salt and pepper
1/2 Cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon Lawry’s garlic salt with parsley

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Unroll pie crust and place onto a cookie sheet that has been sprayed with non stick cooking spray.

2. Place chicken, tomatoes, cilantro, ranch seasoning, cumin, salt and pepper into a large bowl. With a fork, stir and cut up chicken pieces until well combined. Pour chicken mixture into the center of pie crust and top with cheddar cheese, leaving about 1 ½ inch border around edges. Fold crust up over chicken forming little pleats every 2 inches or so pressing gently. Brush edges with olive oil and sprinkle crust with garlic salt.

3. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until crust is golden brown on edges. Let cool for 5 minutes then cut into wedges to serve.

Recipe courtesy of: www.Picky-Palate.com

Meal Calendar

I am so excited!

Below is a link to the meal calendar that I use. It's pretty simple and I update it at the end of each month to prepare for the next month's meals. Items that I know we love..we repeat. Things I want to try...I add.

Meal Calendar

*You need to sign into Google accounts...this should be the same as your blogger ID. If you're not a blogger..you may have to create a Google profile to see it. If you have a better way of posting it, please let me know!

I know you may think...where are all the fresh veggies!! Well...sorry folks, but we are on a budget. I buy fresh at the beginning of the month, use it before it spoils, and use frozen veggies the rest of the month. You don't have to be as intense, make it work for you.

We leave Saturdays blank for flexibility or date night, and after cooking every night, there are definitely leftovers so that is included as well. Oh, and sometimes we take vacations...so that is left blank, but I'll fill it out from now on to give everyone more options. I'll post recipes to things that are not so obvious so don't worry!

So, take a look at the link! Everything I post about meals this month will be based off of this calendar. We are into January already but I'm using this month to get everything rolling.

Only the Beginning

My holiday vacation was wonderful! I got back to work after a long 2 week break and Tyler only had to work 2 days of each week, so we were refreshed and prepared for the busy work schedule again. Busy is no exaggeration! Usually Tyler gets home by around 3pm, today he didn't get home until 6:30pm! I have some pretty intense planning sessions coming up with some customers at work...so of course that means some hard core days for me as well. It's all part of the deal I suppose!

So...I promised I would post about my grocery shopping process, and really, that is kind of what I want to eventually make this blog. I have had a ton of people ask me to copy my methods for them, share my recipes, and help them do what I do.....whoa...too much work ;) I barely do it for myself!

I think this blog will be a great way to do that. I am going to work on posting a few things:
1. My monthly menu plan as an easy to use attachment
2. The grocery shopping list
a. what to buy
b. the cheapest place to get it
c. the Kristina cheater way of getting it without going to 4 different stores :)
d. how much money you could have potentially saved!
3. Each recipe the night before it will be made (so you can make it with me if you choose)
4. Pictures of some of the food...what the heck..why not!

I have been able to save Tyler and I some serious money with this grocery plan and I have gathered some pretty good recipes and cooking skills in the process. I'll try and get some things posted by this weekend for sure...until then:

GET READY TO COOK YUMMY & CHEAP!