This Crazy Army Wife

So sorry I haven't been keeping up with the blog... What can I say?  Life intervenes sometimes.  I have been crazy busy with work, the kids, church and school.  That being said... Perhaps I have found a balance (and if not this term is over in two weeks and I will go from 4 classes down to 2).   Now for the Sloppy Joes... I took these to church back in August for a potluck and I think they were a big hit.  I love homemade Sloppy Joes because you can make a mess of them for fairly cheap and feed lots of people.  My girls have gotten spoiled with homemade and won't touch Manwich now for anything (which is what I grew up with).  Thanks goes out to my friend Stacey who pointed out that I could make them better without that nasty can years ago... I have my own recipe down pat now and thought I would share with you. 2 Tablespoons Butter 1 1/2 pounds Ground Beef 1 1/2 pounds Ground Turkey   1  Onion, Diced 1 Green Bell Pep...

Well, most of you follow me on facebook so you are aware that I have been out of commission for a week.  For those of you that don't know... I haven't posted because I have been at Children's Hospital with my middle daughter.  She's going to be fine Thank God.  We got home last night and ate pizza for dinner.  Today I'm still exhausted (can't imagine why).  So I'm going with a cheat meal... that means I'm using some canned ingredients and some frozen ingredients to throw together a dinner for my girls.  It takes almost no effort, but it is still yummy. Easy Minestrone Soup 2 cans minestrone soup 3 cans water 2 packets of beef flavor boost (swanson... it's what I have) 2 cans beans 2 cans rotel 2 packets of frozen pre-cooked italian hamburger meat 1 can of mixed veggies 1 can of mushroom pieces 1 bag of small shell noodles Combine all the ingredients except the pasta in a large soup pan.  Add seasonings if you think it needs some. ...

So my kiddos went back to school today.  It was two weeks later then normal thanks to construction.  I have always celebrated back to school by making them some home made cookies.  I wasn't sure I would have time today because I had to work for a few hours.  However, I made it... They came out of the oven right after my middle schooler got home.  (So grateful the buses always run late the first few days) These are my girls favorite cookies, and are somewhat healthy... Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies 1-¼ cup Butter (2 1/2 Sticks) 1-¼ cup Brown Sugar 1-¼ cup Granulated Sugar 3 whole Eggs 1 teaspoon Vanilla 2-½ cups White Whole Wheat Flour  (If you don't know what this is... it's half white, half whole wheat.  You combine them yourself.  It add some nutritional value). 1-¼ teaspoon Baking Powder 1-¼ teaspoon Baking Soda 1-¼ teaspoon Salt 2-½ cups Quick Oats 2-½ cu...

Okay, okay... I know I said I was doing Shrimp Scampi today.  Life intervened,first I drove the girls up to St. James to visit with some friends who were in town for a funeral...  Sad occasion, but good visit for the kiddos and a nice reminder to keep in touch with the ones who matter to us. Then we took the girls over to the park to play for a bit after they left for the airport... But what really interfered with the shrimp scampi plan was my new sewing machine.  This beauty has been here for a week and other than 15 minutes or so I had not had the time to play with it.  Next weekend is my Niece's baby shower so a present needs to be made... Enter the enjoyable way I spent my afternoon. :)  Have I mentioned I love sewing as well as cooking Of course Shrimp Scampi is a quick dish, but I didn't want to bother with it.  What to do?  The girls wanted something pasta.  So I turned to a staple, Spaghetti and Meatballs. I have meatballs in my ...

So another post of a recipe without pictures.  Tessa is back so hopefully I will have pictures from now on to share. This recipe is courtesy of the Hungry Girl Cookbook.  I checked it out from the library.  The girls wanted cake for Jim's birthday even though he isn't here so I decided to give this a try.  Now I have made black bean brownies before with good results so I decided to give the pumpkin brownies a try. Super Simple... just 2 ingredients... Devils Food Cake Mix 1 can pumpkin puree Mix the two together, it is a little tough to mix.  Then put it in the muffin tins that you have lined with cupcake liners.  Bake for 30-40 min.  Watch them you don't want to overcook them.  Every oven heats differently. The girls love them and super healthy too. Tomorrow night, I will be posting a Shrimp Scampi Recipe once I have cooked dinner.

First of all... Let me say I apologize for the lack of pics in this weeks blog posts.  My camera is in Nebraska with my oldest so I have no photos of the food I'm cooking this week.  Last night for dinner I tried a recipe I copied from the internet ages ago to try (no clue now what website or I would give credit).  Homemade Chicken Patties..  My girls love chicken patties but I wanted to give them something a little healthier than the processed meat things at the store.  For a side I made the Hungry Girl's Squash Fries.  Both girls were thrilled and so was I, fast food at home :) Homemade Chicken Patties  1/4 cup chopped onion 1/4 cup chopped celery 6 tablespoons butter (divided in half) 3 tablespoons flour 1 1/3 cup milk (divided) 2 tablespoons parsley 1 tablespoon seasoning salt 2 cups finely chopped cooked chicken (planned leftovers from another day maybe) 1 cup fiber one crumbs (great breading and adds lots of fiber) or bread crumbs ...

also known as Apple Cake...  I made this cake for Jim's birthday and mailed it to him in Saudi.  I know that it shipped well to Iraq.  This is an old family recipe from Jim's side and he loves it.  It's a great snack cake, and tastes good warm with ice cream for dessert or cold with a cup of coffee for breakfast.  It is NOT healthy as written... I'm going to try some alterations next time I bake it to see if I can make it a little more heart healthy. For now... Happy Birthday to my honey (it's tomorrow) and here is the recipe for you to enjoy Ozark Apple Pudding 2 cups   Sugar 1-¼ cup   Oil 2 whole   Eggs 3 cups   Flour 1 teaspoon   Salt 1 teaspoon   Baking Soda 1 teaspoon   Cinnamon 3 cups   Diced Apple ½ cups   Chopped Nuts   Mix together sugar, oil and eggs. In a separate bowl combine dry ingredients, then add to the sugar mixture. Stir in apples and nuts. Spread in a greased and fl...

Good Morning... We love Pancakes at this house.  I was flipping through cook books this morning and saw a recipe that intrigued me in Hungry Girl, but wasn't quite right for me.  I adapted it to want I wanted and  had on hand.  This recipe received 3 stars in my house (my oldest isn't a pancake fan at all so no surprise that she wasn't thrilled).   Apple Protein Pancakes 1 1/3 cup old fashioned oats 1/3 cup pancake mix 2 eggs 1/4 cup cottage cheese 1 1/4 tsp Vanilla 3 tbsp Sugar 1 tsp Salt 2 medium apples chopped finely  Combine all the ingredients but the apples in the bowl Add the apples and stir well.  You can add cinnamon as well if you like it Preheat an electric skillet or a small cast iron or skillet and spray with butter Make small pancakes on the griddle when it's hot by spreading the batter around, not too big or they will be hard to turn Flip when set (about 3 minutes) and cook for another 2 minutes or so ...

Good Evening... I didn't get to blog yesterday between work and just the normal household duties.  I cheated and brought the kids home fast food between working a bit late and having to pick up prescriptions on base.   Today is Wednesday, and on Wednesday evenings we go to church.  That means I have to have some sort of quick meal planned in order for us to have time to eat before church.  Today I took advantage of one of my freezer bags.  Every so often I buy ground beef in a large quantity (when it's on sale) and precook it for meals later.  I have two different mixes I make Italian (ground beef, onion, green pepper, and Italian Seasoning) and Mexican (ground beef, onion, green pepper, a dab of salsa, black beans, and taco seasonings).  I package it in Freezer bags in 2 cup quantities.  Then if I want a quick meal I have someplace to start. Tonight I decided to go with Taco Salad.... Super easy, and super yummy! I thawed one bag of t...

Okay so for me this is a planned dinner based off of leftover from my Lemon Basil Chicken in the crock pot.  Realistically you can make this with any leftover chicken, rotisserie chicken, or even those cans of chicken in the store.  My girls love Chicken Noodle soup and since I'm feeling very congested today and I made chicken yesterday it was a perfect night for soup (or maybe, just maybe a pot-pie but the girls opted for soup).   I gathered up everything I needed on the counter for you... but forgot the noodles for the shot. I used my big pot and drizzled olive oil over the bottom and turned the heat on to medium.  Then I used my chopper and chopped up one whole onion and added it to the oil to saute.  Then I used my garlic press on 3 cloves of garlic (I love garlic) to add to the pot.  Next I took a handful of carrots (as much as you like) and chopped them up as well.  Into the pot with 2 stalks of chopped celery too....  Just saut...

  So this morning it's all about the home made pop tarts....  I had planned to tweak the recipe a bit more and then blog it.  However when my girls declared them better than store bought this morning I decided not to wait.  I must add this recipe is NOT approved by all three girls, but the one who didn't care for them doesn't like Pop Tarts at all.  She's more of a savory girl then a sweet... thus the breakfast pockets yesterday. The ingredients you need - pie crust, jelly, jam or other filling, and a bit of flour or cornstarch.  I made my fillings first.  I spooned a large spoonful of flour into each bowl and then topped it with my filling ingredient.  Strawberry Jelly, Red Raspberry jam, and applesauce with some cinnamon sprinkled on top. Then I stirred them up... Now this is not a step you have to do, but I wanted a thicker filling then just the jelly and of course the applesauce can be a bit runny.   Then I rolled out my ...

So I saw a blog post earlier this week (I think it was on Skinny Ms) for a lemon Chicken crock-pot.  It sounded good but I wanted more....  I'm all about the planned left-overs, the freezer meal option etc.  I took the base recipe and made it my own. The girls and I just ate dinner and it got 4 thumbs up (meaning everyone likes it). This was the final plate, with a small dish of melon on the side.  We are trying to eat the diabetic plate way here most nights (not always of course).  This means we use a 9 inch plate (these are fiesta buffet plates).  Then you divide it in thirds.  One third is meat, one third is starch, one third is veggie.  It's not a perfect system, but it does mean we get a decent serving of fruit and veggie at most meals.  I'm always trying to make the food healthier (except for when we indulge). I started this meal this morning before church.  I put a package of baby carrots in the bottom of the crock pot, adde...

So my oldest loves breakfast Hot-Pockets, she would eat them or something like them every single school morning if she could.  I love that they are so quick for her in the morning and if I keep them in the freezer I know that she will actually eat before school.  With school starting in a few weeks I decided to try my luck at making a version of them at home.  My goals were to save money, and to make them a little healthier.  Now I will say that if I had taken the time to make my own homemade sausage and pizza dough crust it would have saved even more money but spent more time.  Some days I feel like making things from scratch, today was not one of those days...  So my ingredients were 1 lb pork breakfast sausage 1 dozen eggs 1 large spoonful of sour cream (sorry I didn't think to measure) a large glug of milk (eyeball it in your scrambled eggs) salt and pepper to taste dash of tabasco shredded cheddar cheese (2 large handfuls) thin crust pizza dou...

I have decided to revamp my blog in case you haven't noticed...  I have been sharing my recipes on facebook for awhile and decided that this was just as easy.  So I will be posting pictures and recipes on here as I come up with them, adapt them or try them.  I will try to have guest posters occasionally as well (for example my good friend Brenda is looking to adapt some of them for diabetics).  Feel free to comment on whatever you like and if you want to post a recipe that if just fine too. I will be focusing on Freezer meals right now, I'm trying to get my freezer loaded up with easy meals and back to school lunch and breakfast ideas. Right this minute I have Lemon Basil Chicken in my Crock Pot, ozark apple pudding in my oven and the ingredients for my homemade pop tart experiment sitting here waiting for me to give it a go.  Follow along with me