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

Ok, so tortillas can be pricey. A bag of 10 flour tortillas at the grocery store is anywhere from $1.50 to $2.00 depending on which store and which product. Usually any recipe you use them in will use the entire bag, that adds a lot of money to a recipe. So, here is my solution and what I do. I buy my corn and flour tortillas at Costco. A bag of 100 corn tortillas cost me $2.99 and a bag of 40 flour tortillas cost me $2.95. Now, you can do this however you want to do it, but this is what I use to keep the price down. I use these twist tie bags, a box of 100 is super cheap, I think under $2.00. I then separate the tortillas into groups. For the corn I did mostly sets of 12 and then the flour I did 4 sets of 10. Stick each set into a twist tie baggie. This is what they look like after bagging them in sets. Then I put them back into the original bag and stick them in my freezer. When I am ready to use a set, I just pull it out and either set them on the counter to defrost, or I pu...

When you start cooking and baking more, it becomes a much better deal to buy in bulk. Buying in bulk means you need an efficient way to store and use your bulk. Here is my system, which is always a work in progress. Take from it what you think would work for you and let me know how you tweak if. I might be able to get better ideas from you. :) I have 3 buckets and each has a gamma lid that is a different color. The yellow is for rice, white is flour and blue is sugar. I bought the white 5 gallon buckets at Lowes, but a friend recently clued me in on a great deal. Go to Walmart or any other store bakery and ask for their used buckets. They usually have frosting in them. Be sure you are getting ones that only had food in them. Take them home, clean them out and you've got free buckets. A savings of around $7 per bucket. I bought my gamma lids online. Just googling gamma lids, I found this site which is about what I paid for mine. As you can see, mine just sit on the bottom of my pant...

Most mornings I cook fresh bran muffins and scramble eggs for the kids for breakfast. I haven't always, but my mom always encouraged me to cook the kids a healthier and hot breakfast because she said they would eat it. It is one of their better meals where they actually sit up and eat, so it did make sense. One of my good friends Alicia told me about this bran muffin recipe she had because some of my kids were having constipation issues. So, combine that with a few scramble eggs and some oj, and you have a great meal. So many benefits. I have seen many different versions of this bran muffin recipe, but here is the one I use and I have had many compliments since I've been making them. My one word of caution is if you're not used to bran, eat only one the first time and work your way up, haha. Bran Muffins In a microwave-safe bowl, microwave 2 cups water and 2 sticks margarine until boiling (usually 6 or 7 minutes for me). When boiling, add 2 cups All-bran cereal (use...

I have been really trying for about 2 weeks now to cook meals for my family. Healthy and planned and every night. Don't get me wrong...I've always cooked, but I would cook like meat and potatoes and maybe add a veggie. Or, I would get stuck in a rut and cook the same old things. Or, I wouldn't plan and at the last minute we would eat out or I would have Ray bring dinner home. As a means to save money, get more organized and eat healthier I have been menu planning and preparing our meals each night. One good thing is that when Ray and I were first married, he wouldn't eat leftovers. He had eaten some bad food as a child that were in the form of leftovers and he was dead set against all leftovers. Luckily he has finally come around and will eat leftovers. Yay! So, I can cook all week and he has lunches as well. Perfect! So, I thought I might post my menu plans and recipes and give my "review" of each one. I might even do it each week. We shall see. :) Leave me c...

Welll....I started to post about my menu and recipes and reviews on my family blog, but it just seemed out of place. My family blog is private and I think I want to keep it that way for now. Then I started thinking about all the areas I am trying to work on this year, and so many of them had to do with domestic affairs, that I thought a blog of this sort would be a perfect place to land all my ideas, accomplishments and failed attempts. :) So, on this blog you can expect: 2 week menu plans, grocery deals and steals, recipes and reviews, cleaning and organizing ideas and probably more. I might even throw in the random craft or sewing project since I hope to work more on that this year as well. Guest bloggers hopefully will pop up from time to time also. Yay! Sooo, here we go! Hope you enjoy, leave a comment and let me know what you think!