Yummy Strawberry Muffins

Ok, these are seriously the best muffins I have ever had. I love them, I love them. I even tweeked the recipe from the original and they still turned out wonderful. My children love to bake with me, so as you can see in the pictures, they were right there in on the action. I originally tried these great muffins when I was peeking in on the once a month cooking adventure (see this post) but the original recipe came from here. In my recipe I substituted the white flour for whole wheat flour (see note on bottom of post) and I used lowfat buttermilk instead of milk, mostly because I had it on hand and I thought... why not? I actually forgot to put the topping on it and they still tasted delicious. I had intended on substituting the sugar for honey, but decided against it at the last minute- maybe next time.
Note: I grind my own flour, although I think the whole wheat flour you can buy at the store is a better substitute than the white bleached flour, I think it has a kind of bitter after taste. The wheat I grind does not. If you want to see how I do it check this post out.

For more great recipes check out Blessed with Grace

Our Tuesday Kitchen Tip

I hate wasting anything. I even save things I know I probably won't use or eat again but I hate to see anything go to waste. This can be a problem in some areas of my life (like when I have to declutter my house) But it often pays off in the kitchen. Last summer I had a little herb garden on my porch, but I didn't get around to getting it started this year. Sadly I have to buy my fresh herbs but since you have to buy in bunches I always have way more than my recipe calls for. So my tip today is to slice up your leftover herbs and place them in ice cube trays. Fill with water and freeze, when they are frozen place in plastic bags and label. Labeling is important because it's hard to determine what's parsley and what's cilantro when it's frozen.

To check out more great Kitchen tips stop over to Tammy's Recipes

Once a Month Cooking

Last month I followed two friends on their Once a Month cooking adventure. If you have ever tried to embark on the adventure, you know the kind of planning that goes into making this day a success. The work is long and sometimes hard, but the pay off is big. My gal pal Elizabeth's husband works nights so her motivation is to spend less time in the kitchen so that she can maximize her time with her husband, so the one day a month cooking method really appeals to her. Jessica, her partner in crime just wants to have quick, easy meals on hand that she can pull out of the oven or microwave and have on the table without thinking too much about it. If you are considering trying this, there is a great website that will do all the planning and lay out all the details for you http://www.onceamonthmom.com/
After checking the site out and peeking in on their cooking day, I was very impressed. For $126.00 they made 30 meals which included breakfast, lunch, dinner and a few snacks. That's about $4.00 a meal... Not bad!

Here are a few tips they discovered along the way;

You need big slow cookers to help out.

A food processor would have been helpful in making the job go faster

Chop the veggies the night before

Coupon shop ahead, for even greater deals

Use one of the meals as lunch for your cooking day

The whole day took them about 12 hours, but they assured each other and me that next time it won't take so long.

Command Central Jessica checking out the recipe Elizabeth slaving away at the stove :) They needed bigger crockpots The end result... 30 meals, ready to go!

For all you Red Box lovers, here is a new code. This one is good until July 7th. This is not the regular once a month red box code, that should come tomorrow I'll post that then. But if you have a little time today to relax and enjoy a movie check one out. 7HE79B

Fighting the Fat Friday

I know, it's not Friday... I'm a little behind. I'll blame it on the weather... see previous post... I would hate to get distracted and start whining again.

This has been a great week on my part for fighting the fat war. I have started a work out program with my husband, that I don't necessarily recommend- but only because It's not the regular girly warm and fuzzy kind of work out that I'm used to. This one is called P90X an extreme workout- you might have seen it on one of those late night infomercials that only crazy people watch :) I have gotten up early for 6 days in a row this week, it's a 90 day program... we'll see how it goes.

My weight loss tip for the week is Drink ice water. I have tried to keep a large cup of ice water with me or sitting in the kitchen at all times. This way I always have a refreshing glass of water to drink, and when I walk by it I reach for that instead of a snack. Because sometimes when I think I'm hungry I'm really just thirsty.

Up and Ready

The Kroger and Albertsons menu and grocery list for this week has been posted on the Meals for Deals Website, we are still working on Walmart, but check back soon!

My life at the moment

I am so unmotivated and whiney when I'm hot. I know it can't be true but it really seems like this is the hottest summer yet, and it's only the 1st of July. I have not been able to motivate my self to do much of anything past 10 in the morning, I'm pretty sure a tornado has gone through my house and the sign that hangs by my door that says " Excuse the mess, my children are making memories" just isn't making me feel better about the situation. The laundry is begging my attention but my biggest problem as the time nears 5:00 is that I haven't started dinner, and even as I sit here procrastinating I'm thinking I would love to be lying in bed under a fan. Texas is just hot in the summer! and even in my air conditioned house I can't escape it. I know I can't put it off forever but I'll try for at least a little while.