Homemade Goodness Mac and cheese Salad

I few months ago I went out to lunch at New Season's with my best friend Dulcimer. I just love that place because they have creative food's in their deli area.  I have never been a fan of deli macaroni salad but when I saw this one I had to try it out. Oh my goodness is this so yummy.  When you order food they will put it on a glass plate and give you a paper with the price on it to give the cashier when you go to pay. I was excited to find the ingredients because that meant that I could try to make it myself. Yeah!  At $5.99 a pound I know I can make it myself. Off I went....

Mac and cheese salad

1 cup of sour cream
1/2 cup of mayo
1/4 cup of crumbled feta cheese ( we used blue cheese)
1 minced fresh garlic clove ( I used 1/2 tsp powder had no fresh)
1/2 tsp of salt
1/4 tsp of pepper
1 tbsp of organic milk
1 box of frozen spinach
1/4 cup of chopped shallot (I used regular white onion)
1 tbsp of fresh dill chopped (I used 2 tbsp dried dill)
6-7 cups of whole wheat flour noodles

Serves 6 people plus with extra left overs

Open up your spinach and set it in a strainer inside a larger bowl full of hot water. After about 10 minutes it will be defrosted and look like this. Take the bowl away and let all the water strain out of the spinach. I squished all the water out with my hands. Set aside.

 Next get your 6-7 cups of whole wheat noodles boiling in water. You can do the sauce while the noodles are boiling. Don't you love this glass container? About 8 years ago I bought this container full of really really large noodles for my mom as a Christmas gift. She finally used up the noodles and gave me this back. I can get a few pounds of noodles in it. Love the shape of it.

Next gather up your ingredients.  Chop the onion up into tiny pieces. As you can see I didn't use all organic but my sour cream is hormone free and my milk is organic.  Mayo and cheese were not.

Mix all spices, sour cream, mayo, cheese, milk and onion together until smooth.  Set aside until noodles are done.  Once noodles are done give them a cold bath in the sink.  Either set them in a ice bath or just put the strainer under the faucet with cold water running. Strain and make sure all water is off the noodles.  At this point add your spinach into your wet ingredients.

Plop all the wet stuff into the noodles and mix away.

And here is your end result. Yummy cold mac n cheese salad.

My girls are used to eating mac and cheese hot and were very thrown off by it being cold.  They ended up putting theirs in the microwave and said it was better hot. I prefer it cold. How great would this be during the summer on a picnic?

All in all this cost me maybe $2 to make. Next time I want to use feta cheese and have fresh garlic. Tomorrow is my $50 a week shopping day so I will pick those items up.  Today I basically did nothing exciting.  Caught up on laundry, did dishes, and fun stuff like that. For dinner we used a $25 gift card to Papa Murphy's Pizza to order some pizza's. FREE is always good! Wish the would offer the option of whole wheat but oh well.

Homemade Goodness Frugal Fried Rice

This is a staple in my home. It's different each time I make it because I use what we have on hand and what needs to be cooked before it goes bad. My brother's make this WAY better than I do but only because they do not care about how healthy it is or if it's organic or not. My brothers were raised in Guam and this was a staple in their home. Traditionally its made with white rice and regular soy sauce. Sometimes they add spam and other funky things they think are yummy. Canned meat? Um no thanks. But that's what is readily available in Guam so it's what they use. Anyways feel free to add or take out what you want. I would recommend keeping onion in because it adds a really sweet kick to it. Enjoy!

6 cups of cooked rice ( 3 cups white rice 3 cups of water or 3 cups of brown rice 6 cups of water)
Chopped vegetables your choice(2 celery stocks, 2 carrots, 1/2 a onion is what I used)
Bragg Liquid Aminos or soy sauce of your choice.
Eggs(all I had were 2) vegetarian fed/organic or whats on hand
1/4 lb Nitrate free bacon or what you have on hand.No bacon? Use 2 tbsp of bacon drippings if you saved them from another meal.
Pepper to taste.

 Get your rice cooking or put in your rice cooker.  Cook bacon in a large pot, spoon out the cooked bacon when done and set aside. You only need enough bacon drippings to coat the bottom of the pan. Strain out the rest and keep for another time. Can be left on counter at room temperature. You want your bacon to stay crispy so keep it till everything else is done then add it back in. Crack your eggs and mix in a small bowl with a tsp of liquid aminos. Mix  up and toss in the pan. Takes only a minute to cook then set aside with bacon.

Next add any vegetables you want. Saute till all the way done.  Do not overcook because it taste better when it has a bite to it.  Your rice should be done by now so add it to the vegetables, egg and bacon. Mix well.  

Next add in Bragg liquid aminos. Just add a little at a time tasting it occasionally. It's a personal choice so add as much as you want. I use just enough and my husband pours it on. Liquid aminos has way less sodium and is much healthier than soy sauce. It even has less sodium than reduced sodium soy sauce. Check out all the nutritional benefits here. This is the same company that makes my favorite ACV. Both can be found in almost any stores now. It can also be bought in bulk at Whole Foods.

And here is your end result. Yummy fried rice that's very healthy. It is a very filling dinner so you won't have kids asking for food thirty minutes later. Especially if you used brown rice to make it. This makes enough for all 6 of us to eat for dinner. We usually will have a little bit left which sits on my stove until my husband gets hungry after the kids go to bed. Which is good because i'm too lazy to put it away.

Total cost for this meal is about $$1.50. Theresa gave me the organic carrots and organic celery. Eggs were free and the bacon cost me maybe 50 cents. Rice was about $1 I used only a few tablespoons of liquid aminos. Its a very low cost meal that has tons of flavor and endless ways of making it.


Nothing too exciting to write about from today. I did manage to find a free mattress from a friend Liana.  My best friend Dulcimer and I drove to get it which was fun because I had no kids with me. My friend Liana was happy to have more space in her home and my daughter Hailey was happy to get a new mattress with no springs poking through. I was happy because it was free.  I simply posted a my status on Facebook asking if anyone wanted to get rid of a twin mattress that I would take it. Within 2 hours my friend Liana said she had one. You ask and you may receive!

Homemade Goodness Banana Muffins

Once in a while I go up to my local Albertson's store to see if they have any organic blackened banana's. Sometimes I find them sometimes I don't. Yeah I was lucky tonight! At 38 cents per pound its a deal. So I decided to make some banana muffins for my girls. I found this recipe online and they turned out pretty yummy. I did a double batch which made 2 dozen muffins.You can cater this recipe any way you like. I used organic yogurt because it has less fat than butter. If you don't have organic don't fret just use what you have on hand.

Banana Muffins
3 large organic black ripened banana's
3/4 cup organic sugar
1 vegetarian fed/organic egg
1/3 cup of one of these: organic sour cream, organic yogurt or organic butter
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp of baking powder
1/2 tsp of salt
1 1/2 cups organic unbleached flour      

Pretty simple instructions. Mix all wet ingredients with all dry ingredients.
Cook at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.  Done!

 Albertson's sells their blacked/spotted banana's in bags like these. Look how black these are! Please use black banana's. NO RIPE ONES! They will not have a intense banana flavor is you use ripe ones.

Each night I have a dinner helper. Tonight it was Megan's turn. She refused to smile so I told her I wouldn't put her face in the picture. He he sneaky mom! Please ignore the harvest gold counters and walls. We still have yet to update our kitchen.

Okay so I have to warn you. See these muffins I filled? Don't fill them that much. They will fluff up so much and will be hard to get out of the tin. So please fill them half way.

Megan was trying to show you these large baking cups.  If You Care baking cups are found in many stores now days. I found mine at Whole Foods for only $1.29 a box of 60.  These can be tossed in the compost or be recycled when done with them.  LOVE THIS!

Okay so I might or might not have taken them out to early.....okay I did. Which is why they have a indent in them. My second batch I left in too long and they are a tid bit darker. This is a pattern I have when baking. First batch good, second batch okay, and third batch usually burnt. Poop!

And as you can see by the muffin all over Emma's face, they must have been yummy. No complaints at all except that they wanted more. Win!!! Oh and don't look at my floor in the kitchen. UGLY!!! But I guess I don't have to worry about my girls getting the floor yucky. lol

Green Review esencia by Samy Hair Products & Grocery Outlet

Okay it's been a while since I have done a review. Partly because I haven't had any companies contact me in a while but also as you know it's been a rough couple of months. So if your looking for someone to review your products i'm wide open people!!

There is this store in Hillsboro Oregon that is a few miles away from my home called Grocery Outlet. When I was in middle school my mother would travel through 2 cities just to get to the nearest Grocery Outlet. It was crowded, it was dingy but man oh man did they have some good deals. Mom was a single mother to 2 children so she had to make her money stretch very far. Very very far. Well this little company has came a long way and has become huge in the last few years. They now have stores through out California, Washington, Oregon, Arizona, Idaho, and Nevada. So to my local western readers look for your nearest location. I know you have heard of them because they have catchy little commercials with jingles that stick in your head. And yes they are no longer dark dingy stores. They are nice and clean just like any other big named grocery stores. They also sell everything you can think of but at rock bottom prices. They do not accept any coupons except for ones they put out in coupon books like the Entertainment Book or Chinook Book (my personal favorite book).  But at rock bottom prices you won't need coupons. And yes they have a TON of organic, all natural and even gluten free products.


I have been using Whole Foods 365 Everyday Value shampoo and conditioner for almost a year  now and really love it. But at $3.99 per bottle it can be pricey.  I did a review on them back in March and have been hooked ever since.  I do need a good conditioning about once a month and have been looking for a good hair product within my budget. So when I came across this esencia by Samy product line I was very excited. Best part is that it's half price! I picked up a bottle of these for $1.99 each. Whahoo! They also have a hydrating conditioning treatment so if you just want something every once in a while to give you shine this would be your best option.

Esencia by Samy Salon
White Lotus barley & nettle Hydrating Shampoo/Conditioner 


Hydrating Shampoo
It's 95.8% natural with certified organic ingredients
Sulfate & Paraben free
Phthalate Free
No Propylene Glycol
No Artificial Colors
No Animal Testing
Natural Plant Extracts

Hydrating Conditioner

It's 97.1% natural with certified organic ingredients

Phthalate & Paraben free

100% Vegan 

No Propylene Glycol

No Artificial Colors

No Animal Testing

Natural Plant Extract

Now don't get me wrong, I love my 365 everyday value line very much. So many years of horrible chemical filled products made my hair greasy all the time and it was so nice to have dry feeling hair. But I did miss the shiny aspect of my hair. I love my all natural free flowing hair but sometimes I wanted a touch of shine and this product line fit the bill.  I am really in love this this line for a few reasons.

Pro's

-That much needed shine I was looking for is just exactly what you get. Love it.

-Smells so nice and light.

-Organic ingredients which my 365 line had none of. It was all natural but not organic. So this is a huge bonus.

-My hair feels so silky. I constantly play with my hair now.

-A little bit goes a long way.  

-At $1.99 a bottle I feel fancy with a macaroni and cheese budget. 

Con's

-The smell is light to me but my husband thinks its strong.

-I have never seen this product in another store so get it while you can. Hillsboro location has lots.

Overall this is a great product. I do recommend it to all my local readers. You can find more information about these products here. They are running a special on their site for buy one get one free. They retail for $6.99 a piece. That is pretty cheap if you ask me. I see organic product lines at Whole Foods and New Seasons that run from $6.99-$19.99 for each bottle. So snag some if you can get some.

Potato Soup

I found this recipe on one of my favorite blogs called The Frugal Girl. She has amazing recipes and spectacular pictures to go with them. Unlike my pictures....HEY it was dark and I have a old kitchen! Anyways I thought I would throw my green mind into this recipe and show you how you can make it a little bit more healthy. Whether you make it her way or mine, its just an amazing soup. Loooooove it! Oh and become a reader of her blog. She is very inspiring.

Her recipe called for 4 large potatoes but all I had were organic Yukon Gold medium sized ones. I say use what you have. I simply wrapped them in aluminum foil (which you can recycle) and baked them at 350 degrees for one hour.

When the potatoes have been cooking for about 30 minutes you can start the rest of the soup. Cook up about 1/4 a pound of nitrate free bacon. I buy mine for $2.99 per pound at New Seasons which is super cheap. They don't always have the ends and pieces (which is why it's cheaper) so when you see it buy a bunch.

Cook the bacon till its nice and crispy. Take the bacon bits out and set aside.You will want to keep a tiny bit of the fat to coat the bottom of the pan. Strain off the rest in your bacon fat reserve.

Bacon fat is liquid gold and can be used in cooking other dishes. Keep it! I keep mine in a vintage glass dish. It sits on my counter under my cook book holder. I use this instead of oil to cook veggies when I make soup or when i'm making scrambled eggs. Mmmm. At this point take your potatoes out of the oven and let them cool while your finishing the soup.

Now you add your butter. I'm talking REAL butter not that fake almost plastic stuff. Once the butter is melted add your flour so it can crisp up a bit and add flavor. Let it cook for about a minute stirring every few seconds. Then slowly add your milk/water mixture and consistently stir. Once you have added all the milk/water mixture let it cook for a few minutes. It will start to thicken up. If its too thick add a tiny bit more milk. It should be a tiny bit runny because when you add the potato it will thicken up more.

Take a fork and mash the potatoes a bit. I like my soup a bit chunky so I just mash them half way.  Since i'm using Yukon there is no need to peel off the skins.  Don't forget to recycle that aluminum foil when your done!

And this is where you throw back in the bacon and potatoes. Once you have mixed it (don't mix too much) add in salt to taste.  You can now add cheese and sour cream in if you would like. Honestly most the time I don't add the cheese and sour cream because I forget and no one had even noticed. It's still thick and yummy. That's it your done! This soup will easily feed a family of 6 and even enough for the hubby to take to work the next day. Or after the kids are in bed and your tummy wants it.

Potato Soup

4 large potatoes
2/3 cup of butter
2/3 cup of unbleached flour
6 cups of milk (or 3 cups of milk with 3 cups of water which is what I do)
3/4 tsp of salt
4 chopped onion (optional)
1 1/4 cup of cheese (optional)
1 cup of sour cream (optional)

$50 a week

My husband get's paid once a week which means I have to stretch our grocery money for 4 and sometimes 5 weeks. The only way I am able to do that is if I set myself a limit each week.  When he first gets paid I do a big shopping day. Things like meat, butter, milk, and anything else we are out of.  I usually order from Azure Standard around this time as well. I order flour, fruit and herbs because they are much cheaper there. Then after that I set aside $50 per week ($200 total) for things we will need to get each week. Milk and produce is what I usually will need. Anything I don't spend from that money is saved. This way I know I have enough money and food to get by each week.
Today I went to 4 stores that were within a few miles of each other. I only do this once a week because I honestly I really do not like shopping at all. Most of you think I only buy organic but honestly its just not possible for me right now. Having to feed a family of 6 I have to give in on a few things. Here is what I picked up today.

Whole Foods

1 bottle Bragg Liquid Amino's. 32 oz for $5.99.We use this instead of soy sauce because it has half the amount of sodium as soy sauce and its much healthier. They do sell it in bulk there but it was a better deal by the bottle. Usually I would bring my own container. Usually it is $3.99 per lb in bulk.

Organic Unfiltered Apple Cider Vinegar $3.99. I really need to order it through Azure Standard . Its cheaper because you can order it by the gallon. There are so many ways to use this liquid gold. Check out why its so healthy at Earth Clinic. Anytime I need a remedy to any ailment I go to this site and nine times out of ten it requires apple cider vinegar. You want the unfiltered organic because it has mother in it. Mother refers to the cloudy stuff inside the vinegar.

Sunshine Half n Half .99 cents-Usually its $1.49 but in my Chinook Book I had a 50 cents off coupon and I use this stuff anytime I have coffee so the coupon was nice to have.  Right now most stores have the Chinook Book for only $15 (usually $20). I love this half  n half because the milk from cows are not treated with rBGH/rBST which is a synthetic growth hormone.  Plus this dairy is local to me.

365 large brown eggs free range vegetarian fed $3.49-These eggs were free thanks to my handy Chinook Book! Spend $10 in the store and I got these for free. Usually I pick up their 18 count for $2.99 that are also free range vegetarian fed but hey these were free.

Organic Nancy's Yogurt $4.99 on sale. This is plain yogurt and a great sale. Usually this cost over $6. My girls will add granola, fruit, dried fruit and sometimes even cookies with agave syrup. I also use it when I bake sometimes. Since I do not buy sugar filled cereals this is a morning staple in our home. I have not mastered making my own yogurt urrrrr!!! Still trying though.

BONUS Large slice of pizza for FREE! Again that Chinook book has a wonderful coupon for a free slice of pizza.   No kids and free pizza? Whahoo!

New Seasons

Bulk dishwasher powder $1.99 per lb.  Love this because it involved no packaging! And I can buy as much or as little as I want. I use half the amount it calls for so mine goes pretty far.  I have an amazing Kitchen Aid dishwasher so I really do not need to add much soap.

1 gallon of organic milk $4.99. The most I will ever pay for milk is $5.  If it cost anymore I will go to another store. Thankfully my girls do not drink a ton of milk so I only need one gallon a week. I also buy vitamin D milk because it has healthy fat. Just cannot drink low fat because it taste like water to us. I tried my hand at buying glass jar milk but it was twice the price for half the amount of milk. Just too expensive. But it was nice to be able to recycle that glass jar.

Organic Purple Potatoes .89 cents per lb. Picked up about 6 of these small potatoes to save in my pantry. When the weather gets nice I will plant these in my garden. How cook will it be to dig those suckers up later? My kids are going to love this one! And yes you can buy them from the store and plant them.  Just make sure they are organic. You know when you have old potatoes that start growing? That's when they are ready to plant. Just make sure you plant roots on the bottom. Last year I bought 50lbs of Yukon Gold potatoes and had about 1 lb start growing. Planted them and when all was said and done I had another 20 lbs of potatoes a couple of weeks later. Love potatoes!

Organic Banana's .89 cents per lb. Any fruit that is  organic and less than $1 per lb will be what we eat. I refuse to pay over $1. Usually the stuff on sale is in season anyways.

Costco 


Organic Sugar 10lbs $8.89.  This is the cheapest I have found Organic sugar in my area.  I DO NOT like the fact that it comes in plastic but it is recyclable.

Tortilla Chips $3.39-This is our junk food.  This is a really large bag of them and it goes pretty far for us. Costco does have organic tortilla chips but honestly we just do not like them. They are harder and less flavorful. So this is our usual. At the end of the bag when we have just crumbs I like to make tortilla soup. Basically its a tomato, corn, black olive and garlic soup with some chili pepper.  Then we crumble the tortilla crumbs over the top and add 1 tsp of sour cream. MMmmm. And NO WASTE!

Pretzels 6lbs for $5.29. Once again not organic but these are a great snack for my girls. Endless lunch snacks, after school snacks, and just for taking on the road.  This bag will last us the whole month.  Plastic bag can be recycled. DAMN plastic.

Fred Meyers


Organic Navel Oranges .99 cents per lb. I will only shop at Fred Meyers when and if they have a sale on healthy items. Sometimes their bulk herbs are on sale and sometimes its produce.  5 oranges should get us by for the week.

Dairygold Sour Cream $2 on sale.  Once again organic sour cream is just too expensive. We go through tons of sour cream so this will have to be  a non organic purchase.  Most the time I will try to buy Sunshine Dairy sour cream but I really wanted to just go home so Dairygold it is.

MY GRAND TOTAL:$51.50

Yes I went over my $50 limit but honestly I had a little extra money from last week. This should last us till next Monday.  As you can see i'm not perfect and do not buy everything organic. I try my best to do it as much as possible. But feeding a family of 6 can get expensive. Keep in mind that I don't need to buy these things each week. Liquid Amino's, sugar, and pretzels only need to be bought once every other month. Just happens to be this week. Anyways thats a peek at my weekly shopping.

2011

Really wasn't ready to get up early today but I guess someone had to get the kids off to school. I love my kids but I was READY for them to go. Not sure if its because of them tattling all the time, fighting constantly or because they were up in my hair constantly. Too much time together and they turn into little monsters. But I love them all the same.

As most of you know it's been a rough couple of months for my family.  We lost my grandpa a couple of months back, my father in November and just recently we lost my grandmother.  I think it hit me pretty hard because it was up close and personal this time. I had lost 2 grandfathers when I was younger but it happened when I was not there. I do remember crying because of losing my grandfather but was able to move on more quickly. But this time I was there and it was very personal. I still struggle. I still hurt. But I must move on.

Usually I don't set any New Years resolutions but this year I decided to set just a few. Some personal and some that will you will all benefit from.

More post & pictures-Before all this family stuff I was able to get at least one post a day.  After a while I couldn't think of anything to write. From now on I plan on writing about every aspect in my life whether its just trying to find cheaper items or how to's on a recipe. Isn't other peoples life fun to read about anyways? I know i'm reading dozens of blogs. Things that seem silly to me might be interesting to you. And I plan on taking lots more pictures. I have a great camera so there's no excuse.

Local-I have many local readers and have not done them justice. From now on I plan on sharing where I get the best deals, where to get the best organic products, and lots more. I also will be sharing with you places we take our children. We take lots of hikes, walks and love just being in nature. I was a bit paranoid about sharing all this info but I think that if I show it to you after we do it, everything will be fine. I just want to show all you that you can do lots of fun things that don't cost you a penny.

Garden- This year I plan on over hauling in my garden. Making the best of my space, growing new things, and taking full advantage of my new greenhouse I purchased. I grew up gardening and there is no excuse for me not to share everything with you. How are you to learn if your not shown? I will also be sharing with you many items I have received from my grandmothers farm house.  Lots of exciting old farmhouse stuff.

Up and personal-I plan on sharing more information with you and getting up close and personal. More photo's of me (which i'm not comfortable with but need to get over it) and speak from my heart.  I try my best to keep others thoughts in my mind when I write and I really need to stop that. This is my blog and I have opinions just like everyone else. If they don't like it they can read another blog. Am I right? My Facebook pictures says it all.  "I'm green, suck it!".

A few changes-When I started this blog back in 2008 I wanted to help people stretch their money. I have learned over the years that you don't need coupons, free samples and no need for running around to sales at dozens of stores. For the most part I have not wrote about any of this in a long time. But there is a start to any learning process and even I make mistakes. No more free samples unless it's from a organic brand that I feel the need to share with you. No more sales unless it's for my local readers or is for a nationwide store that everyone can benefit from.  No more coupons what so ever! There are many many blogs that cater specifically to coupons and they will do a better job of sharing than myself.  I will share with you those blogs though.

Riding myself of plastic-I have to admit that i'm not 100% plastic free just yet.  I still own some Tupperware medium sized storage containers. Will replace those with glass as I find second hand glass items. I refuse to go buy new expensive items when there are thousands of second hand options.  Still looking to replace my Tupperware pitcher with a glass one.  I also need my Kool-Aid plastic cup for the bathroom. I use it to wash my daughter's hair because we have a cast iron tub and any glass would shatter in there. So until the twins learn to wash their own hair it stays.

Reduce our packaging/garbage- I think Ive done a pretty good job of reducing packaging and our garbage/recycling but there is always room for improvement.  I still occasionally buy lunch meat prepackaged, cheese wrapped in plastic and also lemon juice from Costco which comes in a plastic jug. Anyone know where to find lemon juice in glass? Until I can get lemons fresh for cheap this is my only option. We drink lots of lemonaid because its a cheaper alternative to frozen juice.  We share a trash/recycling bin with our neighbors and we fill them up each week. I want to reduce our consumption as much as possible.

So my question to you. Anything you want me to write about? I invite you to comment about anything at all. I'm looking forward to a better year and would prefer it to be a "death free" year please. Thank you.
Nancy