So my good blogging buddy Heather, has an amazing blog about budget-conscious, green living. It is fabulous and if you've ever been curious about going green, or just making an effort to better your family living style, you need to check it out.
This past week (okay I'm a little behind on the blogging), in light of the devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy, many people can attest to the importance of being prepared for natural disasters. Unfortunately too many of us aren't ready. We think we are, but most of us have never been affected by hurricanes or earthquakes. For which we can most certainly be grateful, but you should never risk your family's safety and well-being by not being prepared for disasters.Heather has written several well thought out blogs on the importance of being prepared. I love all of it, because it gives you a place to start. I think that's the problem for many of us, we just don't know where to start. Thanks to Heather's awesomeness, Michael and I have have decided to work on our 72 hour emergency kits. We are incredibly lucky that in the almost 2 years we've lived in South Carolina, that we haven't been hit by the massive hurricanes that have reeked havoc on our nation. I feel a fool to not be as prepared as I know I should be. Without further ado, I present you the links to
getting your family prepared for the emergencies.
Essential 72 hour kit
I think all of us have heard of a 72 hour kit, but what do you put in it? I think you can leave your blow dryer at home, but did you bring clean undies?
The 10 things you need in your car
Everybody should have an emergency kit in your car, you never know where you'll be when disaster strikes, and you may not be home to load up! The only thing I would add to this collection, is a first aid kit. You should always be ready for injuries.
Emergency Identification Cards
I am so very glad that she included this quick tutorial for Identification cards. Heaven forbid you get separated from your loved ones, while you may know your phone number and where your family is, your little ones may not. I feel that this is a crucial piece of emergency preparedness! Do not dismiss it!
Please take the time to go over these important issues with your family. Sit down and make a plan. Make sure everyone knows the plan.
Also, when you're all caught up on emergency situations, check back with Heather from time to time! She has excellent tutorials, discussions on important topics, and the occasional give away!
Onto the food!
Well I've been...pretty good about my menu. Except for not. Well kind of. I've only missed 3 of the meals since the beginning of the month. And they're not even awesome recipes. They were all easy, fast dinners, that I substituted with leftovers and pizza. I think that's a good solution.
I attempted to make these pizza stuffed garlic rolls that I found on the Pillsbury website. But I could not, for the life of me, find the type of rolls that the "recipe" suggested. So basically I ended up making mini pizzas on rolls. I really don't think I need to provide you with a recipe for that, but since I'm a week behind, I'll do it anyways! Secondly, these are not a meal, they are more of a snack.
Pizza Stuffed Garlic Rolls
2 frozen garlic dinner rolls (from 13.3-oz bag)
2. Make a horizontal slice in side of each roll, cutting almost all the way through and making a pocket, but leaving attached 3/4 of the way around. Spoon 2 teaspoons pizza sauce into pocket in each roll. Place 3 slices pepperoni over sauce in each roll; carefully spoon 1 tablespoon cheese into each. Place in muffin cups; press gently to close.
3. Bake 9 to 11 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly. Remove from muffin cups; serve warm.
So I didn't make these proportions, I made the whole bag of rolls, and we had them for lunch.
and they looked like this :)
Sunday, Michael made enchiladas. I am not the chef when it comes to Mexican food, or meatloaf. However I can make meatballs just fine, I'm not sure why I can't successfully make a meatloaf while following a recipe, but I can make meatballs without one just fine.
Speaking of meatballs, I happen to have a recipe for ya, because I had to vary slightly due to bad hamburger. I had defrosted my Italian sausage and my hamburger, and when I went to make my meatballs, the hamburger was nasty. So instead I made just Italian meatballs. They turned out pretty darn good, but I think I like using both hamburger and sausage because its not as strong.
So here is the recipe for the meatballs I made this week,
Italian Sausage meatballs
Ingredients
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup dry bread crumbs
1/4 cup KRAFT Grated Parmesan Cheese
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup onion, finely chopped
1 lb ground Italian sausage ( I used Johnsonville
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- In a large bowl, combine the egg, bread crumbs, KRAFT Grated Parmesan cheese, milk and onion
- Add sausage to the bread crumb mixture and mix well
- Shape into 20 meatballs; arrange on a shallow baking pan.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until meatballs are cooked through (160°F).
- Serve with your favorite sauce and spaghetti or as meatballs for subs!
Here is the recipe for the sauce I made to accompany our fabulous meatball subs, which for once is of my own doing!
2 - 8 oz cans tomato sauce
3 tbsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp garlic salt
2 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp paprika
dash of cayenne pepper
Add all ingredients into pot, simmer on low-medium heat, stirring frequently.
We also use this sauce recipe for pizza :)
One more recipe and I promise that is all the recipes for tonight!
Today I made two dinners. Well kind of. Last night, Michael made meatloaf at 10:00 pm. Today I made roasted potatoes and green beans. It was a good joint effort for lunch today :)
For the real dinner I made Potato Corn Chowder, and it was friggin delicious!
This is definitely not my picture, I mean mine looked good, but not this good! This picture is courtesy of our good friends at pillsbury.com, and you can find this recipe here- Potato Corn Chowder
3 unpeeled medium red
potatoes (3/4 lb), cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 ½ cups Progresso® chicken
broth (from 32-oz carton)
¾ teaspoon sugar
¼ teaspoon garlic salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
pinch ground red pepper
(cayenne)
¾ cup Green Giant® Valley
Fresh Steamers™ Niblets® frozen corn
2 tablespoons chopped roasted
red bell pepper (from a jar), well drained
2 tablespoons all-purpose
flour
½ cup milk
½ cup shredded reduced-fat
sharp Cheddar cheese (2 oz)
1/3 cup Yoplait® Greek Fat Free
plain yogurt (from a 6-oz container)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh
cilantro
2 medium green onions, finely
chopped (2 tablespoons)
2 slices bacon, crisply
cooked and crumbled
2 Stir reserved mashed potatoes back into remaining potatoes in saucepan, along with broth, sugar, garlic salt, pepper, ground red pepper, corn and roasted red bell pepper. Cook over medium heat 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3 In small bowl, stir flour into milk with whisk until well mixed; stir into potato mixture. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until mixture thickens and boils. Stir in cheese until melted. Remove from heat; stir in yogurt, cilantro and green onions. Serve topped with bacon and, if desired, additional green onions.
The only changes I would suggest, is using a low sodium broth, because this recipe is crazy high in sodium. Gotta keep those families healthy!
I can't leave out crochet corner! Just kidding, I feel like such a granny saying that. You can ignore the sardonic implications here, it's 11:00...a little past my bedtime.
This week I'm working on a blanket, just for kicks and giggles. I decided I needed a project to utilize my extra yarn. And boy, do I have extra yarn. I could probably clothe a small village with all the leftover yarn I have.
The pattern I'm using is called the Wooleater Blanket.
It can be found here:Wooleater blanket pattern
It is a great pattern for even beginners!
Alright well I've left you with a little bit of everything! I hope you really do check our Heather's blog!
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