Pepperoni Rolls

This pay period has been quite long, and when that happens our kitchen is pretty bare. So one needs to be creative :)  I had Hormel Turkey Pepperoni Minis and some American cheese. I also ALWAYS have yeast. I buy the jar and keep it in the freezer(a tip from my brother!) so it lasts how ever long I need it to. Anyways, the idea popped into my head to make some sort of pepperoni bread. I decided to use THIS recipe for dinner rolls and tweaked it.

I added the pepperoni in the middle(about 5 pieces), then some cheese. I left a couple without cheese on purpose. 

My little guy was of course helping mommy :)

Then I pursed the top of each roll to cover the cheese and pepperoni. Cooking spray went on top, along with basil and oregano, followed by a little bit of shredded cheddar. 

12 minutes later....

Yumm! They turned out very tasty. The top of the rolls tasted like Subway's italian herb and cheese bread. I recommend using regular sized pepperoni though and some more cheese. 

Now for my son's fall and Halloween art because I love showing him off :)

Thanks for reading and have a great day all!!!

Halloween Decor

I am in the fall and Halloween spirit! Time to start decorating :)

Awhile back I found a picture that had empty wine and beer bottles with yarn wrapped around them. I decided to try it myself using modge podge. I wish I had a picture because they were really cool looking but my lovely son broke both of them :(

Anywho, I had a couple wine bottles saved and was gonna wrap them in fall colors. Then I saw this awesome idea: spray painted wine bottles that look like ghosts and pumpkins! I didn't have spray paint, but I had orange yarn and black felt. Ding ding ding! Here is what I came up with:

I love it!! The black felt just clings to the yarn, so no adhesive is needed. I am in the process of making a ghost one as well. I will post when it's finished :)  This took me only an hour to do.

Homemade Bread

                       I have been trying to make bread and I finally got a loaf that turned out good!

It's a recipe for Classic Sandwich Bread, and although it doesn't look much like the picture on the site, it tastes wonderful! I don't have a loaf pan so I had to use a rectangular dish. I gotta make sure I buy one! Be on the lookout for some more bread recipes...I am enjoying making it. 

We have started visiting restaurants that we can only go to here in El Paso. We won't be here for too much longer so we are really wanting to get everything in! The last place we went was Kiki's. It's a little Mexican restaurant that serves AMAZING food. We heard about it on Food Network's "The best thing I ever ate". David had the brisket machaca and I had the chicken machaca. It consists of rice, refried beans, lettuce, tomatoes, a cheesy yummy sauce, spicy peppers, meat, and a fried egg on a tortilla. We are gonna miss that for sure!! Chico's Tacos is also featured on that show so we gotta go there soon! 

Baked Potato Bar

It's no secret that I am very frugal when it comes to food. I HATE wasting it. So we have a big bag of potatoes and I decided we would have a baked potato bar for dinner :)  It worked out really well!

To choose from I put out: black olives, pizza sauce, provolone cheese, shredded colby jack cheese, sour cream, real bacon bits, dried chives, parmesan cheese, butter, and nacho cheese seasoning. I always microwave potatoes for 5-15 min depending on how many I have. Then I put olive oil on them and sprinkle the skin with garlic powder(learned from Brandi!) Then I put them in a preheated 475 degree oven or if you don't wanna wait just use your broiler...but watch the skin so it doesn't burn. I like it crispy on the outside.

We had fun putting our potatoes together and here are the finished products:

Ray(on top)had a pizza potato with black olives, shredded cheese, and sauce. David(lower left)had pretty much everything. lol. And I had sour cream, chives(I LOVE chives), bacon bits and cheese. YUMMMMY! 

What do YOU put on baked potatoes?

Julia Child does it right!!

So my hubby and I had the tv on as background noise while we were going about our day and playing with Ray. I noticed that it was PBS and there was an old episode of "The French Chef" on. It caught my attention immediately. She was making omelettes. I know, I know, omelettes?! But seriously the way she did it was fascinating. I watched the entire episode which really consisted of Julia making omelettes the whole time. I decided to try it the next morning and they came out Ahhhmazing! I beg you to try this technique. I now need to buy her book and DVD episodes :)

Here is a video of the episode I watched:

The French Chef...Omelette Show

Aaaand...a picture of one of the omelette's I made:

BON APPETIT!

Sour Patch Grapes

So I have been down lately because we are trying to have a 2nd child and it is just not happening. Well I decided not to stress out about it and take care of myself. So I am starting back at the gym and eating healthy again. I am also gonna make time to get my nails done, my hair cut, etc etc. Anyway, I had a recipe for Sour Patch Grapes on my Healthy Recipes board on Pinterest. You all NEED to make these. Seriously awesome! And simple too! Buy some melon fusion Jello. Roll green grapes in the powder. Refrigerate. Eat. Go make them. Now.

Been Awhile

Time to finally update! Thanks to Jen for reminding me :)

I think it would be cool to compile a list of really cheap meals. My friends and I are always looking to shave a little money off our grocery budgets. I will start a list and put the recipes on here as often as I can. Also, if anyone has any cheap meals to add or even cheap foods that are versatile, please comment and I will add them :)

So here goes:

1. White Spaghetti(package of spaghetti or angel hair with butter or oil, grated parmesan, parsley, and garlic.) Sometimes I squeeze a whole lemon into it and add some garlic.

2. Brinner(breakfast for dinner)

3. Mac and Cheese with Turkey Hot Dogs. Yea, not a very adult friendly meal but super cheap and easy! I cut the hot dogs into slices and mix it into the mac and cheese.

4. Stuffed Peppers. I am not a fan of stuffed peppers, but maybe you are?

5. Fried Rice. We have this VERY often.(Simply buy some canned peas and carrots, make rice, fry it up in a pan with oil, crack a couple eggs into the pan and scramble them. Then add soy sauce to taste and garlic powder. EASY)

6. Stir Fry. My husband hates stir fry...lol. But he deals with it every now and then since it is so versatile and cheap to make. I usually buy cabbage to put into it because it is so inexpensive and filling.

7. BUY POTATOES. You can do so much with them. I use them a lot for a filling lunch...I just pop them in the oven with some oil on the skin along with garlic powder and use whatever I have on hand to top them with.

8. Suggestion by Jennifer Teope: Take 1 can salmon or 1 can tuna, a box of mac and cheese, and frozen veggies if you please(haha yea I'm a dork) and you got homemade tuna helper :)

9. Cabbage! David hates cabbage, but it really is a great thing to have around. I made roast cabbage with porkchops tonight and with the leftovers I will make pork stir fry. I still will have cabbage left and with that I will make soup :)


I will be adding to this list as I think of more meals. Again, please feel free to make some suggestions!