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

Update on my previous post: I'm enrolled to start school this coming semester, yay!! I'm very excited!  It's all online except one group meeting every Thursday.  I also have applied to be a substitute teacher this year just a couple days per week.  Yay again! It is a perfect fit I think. Everything else is on hold but I think that's pretty great progress! I've been looking for healthy breakfast ideas for hubby and I and this looks good to try. Overnight Oats in a jar I'll let you know how it works!

Ok so I totally don't know if anyone reads this blog.  I'm completely ok with that as it is mostly for me to keep all my ideas and recipes, etc. in one place that is easily accessible.  However, here is a quick update on me for those that are following and might be interested. I've had quite the past year.  I had weight loss surgery in September and have lost a total of 116 pounds over the past year.  Woot! I feel so healthy and energized and I really feel like I can do anything I want. Here are things I'm looking at doing and/or changing now: Going back to school.... :) Finding a part time job to supplement the household income refinishing the play structure in the backyard refinishing kitchen cabinets cleaning out the rain gutters (also looking into a rain collector barrel) switching my electricity to solar powered building a new kitchen table (here's the plans for that) I'm so excited! Life is so wonderful and I feel so very blessed.  I'l...

I know I have very few readers, but I'm ok with that.  This blog has been so valuable to ME that I can't imagine what I would do without it.  I can pull it up on my phone just by googling it and have all my favorite recipes right there with me in the kitchen.  LOVE it! That being said, I have to keep posting or I won't have what I need! haha! Last week was one of those weeks where no matter what I did, dinner just didn't get cooked.  We were busy and I didn't have good enough plans that could weather the schedule. This week WILL be different!  I have a great menu planned and have all my ingredients and it was a SPLENDID produce basket from www.bountifulbaskets.org so I'm READY for this week! (and it's a wee bit less busy which will also help) Here is my menu plan for the week: Mexican Lasagna Beef roast pressure cooker baby back ribs That's it because Thursday we have dinner plans and Friday is my new week to plan for.  I did cook Friday, ...

This is a recipe that I've used for years and everyone LOVES these! 6 week Refrigerator Bran Muffins 2 cups of water and 2 sticks of margarine Bring to boil in microwave (I usually do 6 or 7 minutes) Add 2 cups of Original All Bran cereal Let sit while mixing the rest In a large bowl combine the following: 5 cups flour 3 cups sugar 5 tsp. baking soda 2 tsp. salt 4 eggs 1 quart buttermilk 2 tsp. vanilla 4 cups Original All Bran cereal Combine both mixtures together, cover and let sit in the refrigerator overnight. Bake for 20 minutes in a 400 degree oven. Before baking you can add a small amount of brown sugar to the top if you like that taste. Mixture can last in the refrigerator up to 6 weeks.

I have THE best husband ever! Why? Well for a million awesome reasons, but today it's because he got me THE BEST PRESENT ever for Christmas... :D  An electric pressure cooker!  This thing is truly amazing and I haven't even used it that much yet! One reason why I really wanted this "new toy" is to cook the 75 pounds of dry beans I now have stored in my pantry. :)  I have many reasons for wanting to learn to cook beans.  One is to learn to use my food storage, second to eat better and third because it's cheap eating! One of my goals is to start replacing white rice and pasta in our menus with beans.  This could prove tricky and I will try not to do it all at once, but I think it's definitely possible.  The electric pressure cooker will help for sure because it takes the work out of cooking the beans. My oldest daughter is not a great meat eater.  She really doesn't care for it.  However, we do make her eat it because she hasn't found a protei...

I just picked up my www.bountifulbaskets.org basket and it was full of a lot of yummy goodies!  Some I know EXACTLY what I'm doing with and some I don't.  Here is what I got... Pomengrants, asian pears, red pears, oranges, tangerines, green beans, avacados, lettuce, cranberries, grape tomatoes, radishes, parsnips, rainbow carrots, turnips, eggplant, onions, large russet potatoes, yellow squash, bell pepper and red potatoes!!! Wowzer! (and all for $30, I got the standard basket and the hostess pack) Christmas morning menu includes overnight cinnamon rolls , bacon, eggs, toast and orange juice.  For lunch we mostly just snack but I like to have stuff we don't normally have.  The menu plan includes cheese varieties, crackers, summer sausage, fancy deli meat.  When we got the avacados this morning we knew we wanted to make guacamole and 7 layer dip.  Here are the recipes we plan to use: 7 layer dip Classic Guacamole Christmas dinner menu plan include...

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE THIS SITE!! It is www.everydayfoodstorage.net and Crystal is quite literally my HERO!! Everytime I go to her site I learn more.  I have NEVER had a recipe not turn out that came from her site.  She has taught me how to use my food storage in so many ways that AMAZE me.  She saves me time, money and inspires me to continue cooking for my family!  Have I convinced you with how much I LOVE her and her site?!?!?! So here are some items she posted way back in September.  I remember seeing them but I just wasn't at a place where I felt I could try them out.  But, I'm ready now so here are the items I want to try, yay!! Oatmeal on the go bars (or muffins) Best ever pancake mix - When we went camping last month I wanted to take an easy pancake mix with me, but I really HATE using pre-packaged food.  I prefer to use my food storage and make my own.  I knew I could count on Crystal.  I mixed a batch of this up and it was ...