Spices Over Yanda Blog (Previously Allyson's Attempt at Domestication)

Well, now that all the gifts have been given, I can blog about some items I made for Christmas gifts this year. I made these really fun purses. I used this tutorial and for the most part they were really easy to make. I loved that they took very little fabric, so it was fun to choose quarter fats from Joann's which were on sale a lot before Christmas. The handles I bought from Joann's and Hobby Lobby with my 40% and 50% off coupons. Each time I would go by the store, I'd stop in with my coupon and buy one I needed. I also made some "quillows", but they aren't actually quillows because they are not quilts, but it's the same idea with fleece blankets. I actually found it cheaper to buy the fleece blanket already done and then just get the fleece fabric to make the pillow part. I followed this tutorial , but I tweaked it a little because my blankets were bigger. These were probably the easiest thing I made and all 3 of my kids LOVED them, and I heard

Maybe everyone reading this already does these types of frugal things, but as the title of this blog suggests, I'm still attempting domestication. Recently, we've had some unexpected financial needs, so I am trying to be even more frugal than before. Hence this post! :) Crockpot Rotisserie Chicken We're trying to use what we have in the freezer because it needs to be defrosted. I found a whole chicken wayy in the back that I didn't remember I had. Let's just say it was pretty old. However, it was sealed in it's original packaging and looked perfectly fine. And it was! I defrosted it overnight in the fridge and then cleaned it out and soaked it overnight in water and kosher salt. The next morning, I placed 4 potatoes in each corner of my crockpot with a little water in the bottom. I seasoned my chicken with lemon/herb seasoning, garlic and pepper and then placed it BREAST down on top of the potatoes. I do the breast down so that all the yummy juices flo

I'm playing catch up - I've been cookin' just not bloggin' - sorry to my MANY readers!!! LOL! Soooo...the pictures aren't the best, but this was a very yummy soup! I also made it in the crockpot on another night - on low all day and it was just as good if not better. Of course I had to make some artisan bread to go with! If you make this, leave a post and let me know how it turned out and/or if you made any adjustments what were they. Thanks! 1 lb. ground beef 2 italian sausage links - cut out of casing 1 onion - chopped 3 garlic cloves - minced 2 tsp. italian herb seasoning 1 apple sliced in big chunks, basically in 8 pieces 1 carrot - chopped 1 extra large potato -chopped 1 celery stalk - chopped 1 can stock 1 8 oz can tomato sauce 1 8 oz can water Brown hamburger and sausage. Add all ingredients together and simmer for 30 minutes or cook in crockpot on low all day.

I was soo excited today because the weather was the PERFECT day for baking! I'm a baker. I absolutely love to bake. Cooking is fun, but baking is wayy better. So, living in Texas, it's really too hot in the summer to bake. Today it was a raining 70 degree day! Yay! So, I took the opportunity that was given to me and I baked a couple cookie recipes, my favorite french bread recipe and a new whole wheat bread recipe. Here are my reviews! :) Snickerdoodle Cookies These turned out soo yummy and were just delicious! I followed the recipe exactly, and they turend out pefect! Chewy Oatmeal Cookies These also were really yummy. I did measure my flour and I used 2 1/4 cups. I also made the first ones mounded like she shows in her pictures, but they looked funny to me, so I smooshed the rest down just a bit and they looked more like cookies to me. The taste was the same, yummy! :) I might add a bit more cinnamon the next time I make them. I will make them again for sure!

I've come across a few recipes that I want to try and I thought I would put them together in one place. I'll review them as I make them and let you know. If you try any of them let me know how they are! :) Rosemary Chicken with Peas and Potatoes Fast and Easy Whole Wheat Bread - always on the lookout for a good whole wheat bread recipe Creamy Broccoli Casserole The Best, Big, Fat, Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie Savory Lime Chicken with Beans and Rice Blueberry Dump Cake Honey Crunch Cookies Snickerdoodles Slow-cooked Baked Potato Soup Broccoli Cheddar Soup Chicken Noodle Souperole Easy Potato Casserole Chewy Oatmeal Cookies Chicken Stew (from this site ) 3 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast meat - cut into bite-size pieces 1/2 teaspoon olive oil 3 cloves garlic, crushed 1/2 cup water 1 can condensed cream of celery soup 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon Italian-style seasoning 1 apple - peeled, cored and cut into eighths 3 small red potatoes,

I'm late doing this, I'm sure my MANY readers have been on the edge of their seats waiting for it! hahahhaahah! I'll include the last couple nights as well. Saturday - grilled ribeye with rice and peas Sunday - crockpot chuck roast with mashed red potatoes, carrots and artisan bread Monday - grilled t-bones with rice and corn on the cob Tuesday - easy lasagna with breadsticks Wednesday - leftovers or sandwiches on the run! Thursday - whole chicken in crockpot with potatoes and veggies Lots of yummy grilled meat! My husband brought home some steaks he got on special and is fixing them this weekend since he only had to work 2 days of overtime instead of 4! Woohooo score! He really does grill some awesome steaks!

I goofed a couple times this week because I didn't get my meat out of the freezer and prepped to cook. The first night my wonderful husband brought us home some pizza, but the second night I needed to fix my own problem. I started looking around my fridge and such at what I had. I decided to make a crockpot soup inspired by the two pieces of leftover grilled chicken I had in the fridge. It turned out really good, so I wanted to share my new recipe! :D Hope you enjoy it too! Grilled Chicken Vegetable Soup 3 cans chicken broth 1 can rotel diced tomatoes with chilies 1 cup dried northern beans 2 celery stalks - chopped 2 carrots - chopped (or about a cup of chopped mini carrots) 6 small red potatoes (chopped) 2 cups (1 lb) leftover grilled chicken (or whatever you have) 1-2 cups water any seasonings you want - I used: salt/pepper/cumin/oregano Set on low all day, or high for 4-6 hours! Yummy!

I'm trying something new this week in my attempt to be a better "on-the-go" mom. I am moving our dinner time most nights to 7:00 pm. No one seemed very hungry or willing to eat in a hurry at 5:00 pm and I wasn't coming up with very many good ideas for food on the go. We tried this Saturday night and it worked nicely, so we'll see how the rest of the week goes. This also makes it nice, because the girls are always hungry when they get home from school around 4:00 pm and I never wanted to give them much when we would eat dinner an hour later. Now, they can have a decent snack at 4 and then be fine and ready to eat at 7 pm. Friday - we had dinner out - a friend gave us a family coupon to Sweet Tomatoes for $19.99. It was a great deal and very yummy. We made a family outing of it and went to costco. Saturday - Sloppy Joes - basically I made the sloppy joe meat ahead of time, stuck it in the crockpot and it was waiting for us when we came home after the soccer g

I recently started a new chores and allowance system for my children. It has been about a month and I *think* I might have found a system that works. I wanted to give it a running start to see if it worked before I posted it, and since a comment was made about what chores my kids do, I decided to go ahead and post it. It's long so only read if you are interested to: We have the following posted in the playroom in a picture frame down low for all of them to see. Here are their daily chores: 9 year old Daily Chores · Unload dishwasher in morning · Take out trash on Tues, Thur, Sat · Clear Dinner table Mon, Fri, Sun · Set Dinner table Tue, Thur, Sat · Empty house trash with sister every Tuesday Allowance $4.00 per week -0.40 tithing -1.60 savings = $2.00 spending TOTAL SAVINGS PER YEAR = $83.20 6 year old Daily Chores · Sort dirty clothes · Take out trash on Mon, Wed, Fri · Set Dinner table Mon, Fri, Sun · Clear Dinner table Tue, Thur,

It's kinda boring this week, but that's ok. Most of it is repeats, but I need to stock up on meat.... Monday - carnitas on tostada shells with black beans Tuesday - goulash Wednesday - shredded chicken on tostada shells with salsa and brown sugar Thursday - sloppy joes on homemade rolls That's all I have planned so far!

Well...I'm back down to only one child with me during the weekdays...which means...really I don't have any more excuses again for not having a clean house and a well scheduled day life! I have soooo many projects - inside and outside - that I really want to get done this fall. However, usually what happens is that the day to day stuff gets shuffled into last place while I do my projects and my house becomes a wreck! I seem to only be able to do ONE thing well at once. So I've put a lot of thought into what and how I want to accomplish it ALL! I think what I'm gonna do is get my organizing projects done first which will make those areas easier to keep clean and then I'll have the time to get the other projects done. It sounds GREAT in theory, but I wonder if it will really work? Only one way to find out. For instance, I want to re-decorate the kids rooms and the playroom. My 6 year old's room doesn't "work" very well. She doesn't like t

Here is what we've had this week. I feel like we've been eating really well this week and it's been yummy and cheap too. I'm working hard to save quite a bit of money right now for a trip I want to take next month. I'm saving $100 per week. In order for me to do this I am cooking mostly with what I have on hand. I'm trying to stick to just buying mostly fresh fruits, veggies, milk, bread (because it's too hot to bake right now), and then just filler items to round out a meal. It's been kinda fun and I might try to keep it up even after the trip. We shall see...so here it is... Monday beef roast in the crockpot steamed rice peas grapes/cherries I found a boneless beef eye round roast on sale when I went to pick up groceries, it was about a 3.5 lb roast for around $5. I came home and stuck it in the small crockpot around noon with some dried onions and salt-free season all. We ate about 6 pm and it was sooo tender you could shred it. Yum! Tuesday

This is a project that I have been wanting to do for a very long time. I even bought the materials for it at least a year ago! The idea was to make big pillows in three basic colors for the kids to have in the playroom to lounge on or read on, etc. I got some red, green and blue fabric and some big pillow forms when they were on sale. I finally got around to making them tonight. I only got two done so far and since it's midnight here and I don't have the blue material cut out yet, I am giving up for the night. However, this was so easy that I will definitely pick it up and finish it very soon. For the red pillow I used these instructions . In the end I do like how it turned out, but the instructions were hard to follow and you had to cut 3 different pieces of fabric. For the green pillow I used these instructions . It was sooo much easier. I do wish that the envelope opening overlapped more like the red pillow, but that is easily fixed by cutting the fabric into a long

Last night I had an amazing opportunity! I had my first "lesson" in quilting! Kudos to Linda Petersen whom was so patient with me and really worked hard to give me a good first experience with quilting. I'm sure being a first time quilter would be easier if I wasn't such a novice sewer also, but alas I like to try it all! The sewing machine story goes as follows: One day my wonderful husband came home from the store with a new sewing machine. He said it was a really good deal. I asked him what HE was going to do with it! Hah! It took a couple years for the idea to grow on me that learning how to use the machine could acutally be a good thing. :) Last year I learned how to make a trick or treat bag for the kids. A wonderful friend taught me how and she also gave me a crash course on how to use my machine also. I'm a pretty quick study, but like anything else, if you don't use what you've learned you'll forget. Sooo...last night it took a bit for me to r

Well, I've had my first infestation. I noticed a couple days ago this white fuzz on my tomato and strawberry plants. My first thought was some sort of fungus since I had the shade cloth over the garden now. However, upon further investigation, it was a bug. This bug is called a wooly aphid and it has white fuzzy all over it and it can jump really high. Weird. Anyway, it was also all over my cucumber plant. I researched and I am trying the least invasive solution first. I took a spray bottle, filled it with warm water and a couple drops of dish detergent and then sprayed directly on the white fuzz areas of the plants. I had to be careful because the bug would jump off the plant and try to jump on me. Oh the joys of gardening, haha! I'll keep you posted on how this works at ridding my poor plants of this yucky bug problem. This is a good reminder of why we need to be constants tenders to our gardens. If we don't visit our gardens regularly and take a close look,

I am noticing my first few problems in my garden. The good news is that I do have pea pods already on my pea plants. The bad news is that the pea plants are starting to die. I did a little research online and it is probably due to the heat we've been having. I thought at first it was a too much sun issue, but it sounds more like the heat is too hot for the soil. The plants are getting too hot at the roots. Any comments or experience about that for me? So the reccommendation was possibly putting some mulch around the roots and possibly some fertilizer. I think I need some shade also. We'll see what I come up with. Here is the bell pepper plant that's started flowering. I'm excited about this one. A big pea pod on my pea plant. My tomatoes should ripen any day and there are a lot of them! Another pea pod. There are a ton of green beans on my bean plants! The storm last week was rough on my bean plants and some of them are having a hard time standing up, but the

Warning: Picture Overload. I am very excited about all the blooming going on in my garden and I MUST share. :) Strawberry Bloom My new bell pepper plant is about to bloom. My tomatoes. Those are only a couple of the MANY green ones I have. My tomato plants are blooming. My bush green beans are blooming. My tomato plants are taking over my garden. I sat out at my garden today for awhile in the heat trying to decide how to handle the "problem" LOL! I'll let ya know what I come up with. Feel free to leave your suggestions as a comment for me as well. My cucumber plant is blooming. My peas are blooming...and growing like crazy! Here is my garden....full of tomatoes, bell pepper, broccoli, lettuce, carrots, peas, cilantro, onion, jalepeno and green beans...yay!!! Here is Ray's garden. :) He's trying a tomato plant in the topsy turvy thing. A fun experiement. We'll see how it "grows" hee hee.