Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Flour, Sugar, Coffee....OH MY!

How many times have you attempted to bake something, get all of the ingredients out of the cupboard, then open your bag of flour to find that there's less than a cup of flour left!!!  If that hasn't happened to you, well, you're obviously way more on top of things than I am.  The above scenario has happened to me with coffee, sugar, and many other things.  It was becoming a problem.....especially in the mornings when I needed coffee to even crack a smile.

Okay, so here was my wonderful and gorgeous $10 solution to the problem, and honestly it's made my life easier.

I found plastic containers with lids at the dollar store that were 2/$1.00 and hit the jackpot with snatching chalkboard labels in the Target dollar bins for 50% off.  Next, I decided which dry ingredients I use frequently and/or are just plain important not to run out of.  So......here's what I'm working with now!!



Isn't it pretty?!  I love it and it's so functional.  Not only can I easily see if I'm running low on something, it's also wonderful because the openings are so wide that I don't have to be super careful when scooping flour and powdered sugar.
 
Likey?

Meet Elise!



Hi, there!  I'm Elise and welcome to our insanely imperfect world.
I'm the lucky mama of the three handsome boys you see pictured above.  We'll affectionately call them Alvin, 5, Simon, 8 1/2, and Theodore, almost 3.  Hubby and I have been married 10 (bumpy)years this June.  I graduated with a degree in Elementary Education, but have been a SAHM mom since bringing Simon home.
We hope you find some comfort in our craziness, penny pinching tactics, and DIH successes and flops.  We look forward to sharing it all with you, both the good and the bad, and hearing your tales, as well!



Monday, December 30, 2013

Meet Emily



Hello, I'm Emily and I love you for visiting our blog!  There's not much to say about myself besides I've been married for five years to my husband, have two little boys, Peter Pan and Captain Hook, and a little girl on the way.  Just so you know....I'm pregnant in the above picture, so don't judge me.  :)  I am a TOTAL SLOB at heart, but noticed it was affecting my marriage, sanity, and bank account.  That's when I decided to get organized.  You'll notice on our site that everything seems pretty easy and kind of like "duh", but all of the organizing tips I post have truthfully helped my household.  Enjoy and keep coming back. 

Cheeseburger Macaroni

This recipe is addictive and can definitely feed a family of five for $10.  It started as a Rachel Ray recipe and was passed to me through my sister, but between our adjustments, it's now our recipe.  Okay, so I'm going to give you the recipe to feed your family at dinner AND your husband or kids the next day.  Here we go.

Ingredients:

2 lbs. elbow macaroni
1 1/2 lbs. ground beef (80/20 blend will give you the most flavor)
4 stalks of celery
2 small onions (or more....I normally use one large onion)
4 handfuls of baby carrots OR 4 large carrots
Few tablespoons of olive oil
2 packets of Goya's Sazon
1 cup of yellow mustard (I normally use 1 1/2 cups)
2 cups of ketchup
3-4 cups of beef broth
2 cups of cheddar cheese (or MUCH more!)


Cooking Instructions:

1.  Cook your pasta per instructions on box.  Don't forget to add salt to the water!

2.  Finely chop the celery, carrots, and onions.  Using a food processor for this will make your life much easier.


 
 
 



3.  Heat a pan with olive oil on medium-high heat.  Add the chopped ingredients, ground beef, and Sazon packets.  Stir so the seasoning starts flavoring everything.



4.  Once the beef is browned, add the ketchup, mustard, and three cups of beef broth.  Turn heat to medium and let cook for a few minutes.  You want the mixture to thicken up, but if you feel it's too thick, go ahead and add the extra cup of beef broth.



5.  Drain pasta and add it to the beef mixture.  Mix together well so every single piece of pasta is coated.



6.  Grease a baking dish and add this delicious pasta.  Then, top with all of the cheddar cheese your little heart desires.  Put it under the broiler until the cheese is golden and bubbly.

 


7.  Unbutton your jeans and dig in!



 

Super Simple Straw Holder

As I go through each room of my home, I'm trying to determine which areas of that particular room need some adjustments to run more smoothly.  Straws are the last thing you'd think would annoy someone, right?  Well, our straw situation was becoming a situation.  I keep the straws in the sippy cup/big boy cup cupboard and every time I'd open the cabinet to add a cup, straws would fall out or all over the inside of the cupboard.  So, I'm like "hmmmm....get thinking, girly". 

I looked around my kitchen and found a breadcrumb container that was pretty much empty, so I cleaned it out and added my straws. 





"This is going to be perfect", I thought.  And it was, but it was ugly.  Nothing a glue gun and some cute scrapbook paper can't handle.





There you have it....my solution to a big straw mess.