Baking News

With my changes this week, I also thought it was time to start making my own breads. I think spending roughly the same amount on one loaf of bread ($2) as I would on a whole 5 lb bag of whole wheat flour ($2.50) when we buy 1 loaf per week plus tortillas, buns, and occasionally English muffins and french bread is grounds for termination of my financial duties!

But alas, I have found my money sink whole and will soon start to fill it in with all that we will be saving! Also with making my own bread comes knowing/controlling exactly what goes into it and becoming healthier for that.

Next week I think I will begin making spaghetti and pizza sauce!

Update on Motivation

Well, I decided it was now time for my update on staying motivated. I debated whether or not to write this post, but decided that I should - to show that, even if you don't see them, I have so many faults of my own.

I decided I want to start being the best wife I can be. Why? Because lately I've been slacking. Really slacking. I spent most of my time on the computer when Robert wasn't home and still some time on the computer when he was. I think I was becoming addicted to reading blogs! I would stay in my pajamas all day instead of getting dressed (my reason - I didn't want to dirty clothes if I wasn't going anywhere). I wasn't exercising, fixing my hair, etc.

Despite all of that, I have been doing quite well with my lists of chores. So why is it that I can keep the house presentable but I can't do the same to myself? I can only come up with excuses, not answers. So that's why I've decided to change.

Robert always assures me that the house looks wonderful (even if I didn't do any cleaning that day) and my dinners taste great. Now I'd like some assurance that I'm doing the best for my marriage by being the best wife that I can be and that includes taking care of myself.

So, I am making a list - one that I can cross off every day of things that I need to do for me, that I'm really doing for Robert. I decided that if a list works with chores, it should work for other things as well.

I'll let you know how it goes. But I'm already giving it a good start today!

My Top 10 Books

Here they are in no particular order and of all different subjects/styles.

1. The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman
I really enjoyed reading this. I learned a lot about myself - why I feel certain things more than others (criticism can make me cry!) and why certain things hurt me more than others (Robert not spending enough time with me when he comes home from work). If you ever pick up the book, you'll immediately discover my "love languages"! I think it's definitely helping our relationship, because I am now able to verbalize why I feel a certain why instead just saying " 'xyz' hurts me".

2. Love and Respect by Dr. Emmerson Eggerichs
This bears a small resemblance to Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus, but with a more Christian outlook. This was also a good book about relationships. It teaches you "COUPLE" and "CHAIRS" - ways to spell love to your wife/husband respectively. I definitely learned quite a bit and recommend this (after The Five Love Languages) to any married couple.

3. Army Wives by Tanya Biank
I found this book interesting because it was based on truth. I enjoy reading military stories and have quite a few books to attest to that. It started out slow but once I got past the "this is going nowhere" chapter(s) I really started to enjoy the story and had to force myself to put the book down.

4. Married to the Military by Meredith Leyva
I have a few other books about the military (such as The Military Advantage and The Navy Spouse's Guide) but I liked this one the best. This book, I read when Robert was in A-school (the Navy equivalent of AIT). It taught me quite a bit about the military such as resources I can use, moving, health care, finances, etc. It really helped me understand the military (as it can be quite intimidating when you're new) and helped me feel empowered by giving me useful information - some things I even taught Robert!

5. To Sleep with the Angels by David Cowan
This was so sad; it made me cry, but it was an excellent book. It's about a fire in an elementary school back in 1958. It was a great tragedy (killing 95 people, 92 of which were students), but resulted in improvements in building codes and fire safety for schools around the country.

6. Desperate Passage by Ethan Rarick
This is the story of the Donner Party. I did not know anything about the event (other than the cannibalism - which is mentioned but not graphicly) before reading this book. It was insightful and riveting - I read it in about four days.

7. Complications by Atul Gawande
This was a very interesting book. It kind of grossed me out in one chapter (where it goes into detail about how to put a central line into a patient's chest), but it's quite a good book with a few interesting medical mysteries. I had to read it for a Bioethics class that I dropped when I quit nursing, but I'm glad I finished it (and have since read it a second time) - Yes, it's that good.

8. How to Debt-Proof You Marriage by Mary Hunt
I hold a high regard for Mary Hunt, not because she's a financial expert (she isn't, she doesn't even hold a financial degree), but because she's been there (in debt!). This book is divided into two sections - 1. what makes a good marriage (and why divorce is not as great an option as it's made out to be) and 2. how to get your finances in order. I greatly enjoyed both sections and use a lot of her tips (such as our Freedom Account and Contingency Fund).

9. Parenting by The Book by John Rosemond
The Book - as in The Bible. This book takes parenting back to what it used to be (before the 1960s and beyond when psychologists thought they knew how to raise "our" children better than our parents and grandparents). This is an excellent resource for parents. Although I'm not a parent, I have been "studying up" for many years now and I can say that I've gained a lot of insight into parenting with this book. I understand my faith better also, as it uses the Bible to teach proper parenting skills. (Thank you K.!)

Note: I read the reviews on Amazon.com. People either loved it (33- 5-star) or hated it (31- 1-star) and I have to say, I don't think very many of the 1-star reviewers actually read the book. They just "hate" John Rosemond because they think he advocates spanking, which he doesn't (read his position here). My opinion comes from the fact that many people quoted from his statement on the website, not from anything in the book. If you want reasonable reviews, read the 5-stars.

10. The Catholic Bible: Personal Study Edition (NAB)
I love the reading guides. It has one for each section (ex. Pentateuch, Historical Books, etc.), and also one for each book of the bible. It also includes full color maps, the daily readings, a glossary, and plenty of other information not found in a standard bible. I do have to say though, some of the wording in this translation is not to my liking, but that is a personal preference.

Visit Seattle - Pacific Science Center

Another wonderful place I've been to in Seattle is the Pacific Science Center.

Reasons to go:

• It's fun for kids (and all ages!)
• There's so much to see and learn
• It's close to other museums and fun sites (like the Space Needle)
• The butterfly exhibit is wonderful

Some of the interesting things you will find:

• Dinosaur display with large size models
• Spaceship with buttons and switches you can sit in (replica of an Apollo spaceship)
• Butterfly exhibit
  
• Coral and starfish that you can touch
• Solar system display and scale that shows how much you would weigh on each of the planets
• Kids play area
• Insect Village
• Puget Sound model showing the tides and currents
• Animal exhibits
• Body Works

Visit Seattle - Space Needle

I want to start writing more about what we're doing/places we've visited so that you can get a feel for the area and also - so you might visit these wonderful places too! Yesterday I wrote about Mount Rainier, and today I'm going to write a little about the Space Needle.

It has excellent food! I've eaten brunch and lunch and both are exceptional! The food tastes fresh and light and the portions are perfect.
- Hint: it's recommended that you make reservations. Both times that I've made reservations we arrived about 15 to 30 minutes early and still got seated right away. (You do have to wait 5 -10 minutes for the elevator though.)

Both times I've been to the Space Needle the sky was a little cloudy, so I couldn't see Mount Rainier from the Sky Deck. But the view was still beautiful.
- Hint: go when it's sunny and the humidity is low so that you can see the mountains!

You also learn a few things - when you're going up in the elevator, the staff gives you a few facts and you can ask your waiter/waitress questions also.

Quick Facts I've learned:

• Puget Sound is 930 feet deep at the deepest point!
• Puget Sound is completely salt water.
• There are even octupi and sharks that live in the waters!
• Space Needle was built for the 1962 World's Fair.
• It is 605 feet (60 stories) high.

Views from the Needle ...

10 Reasons to Visit Mount Rainier

10. The entrance fee is minimal ($15 for a vehicle entering the park).

9. Some areas of the park are open year round - you can even cross-country ski on parts of the mountain.

8. There's information (signs, brochures, a fact sheet on our table at the restaurant) throughout the park about the park - so you can learn about the park while you're enjoying the view.

7. The trails are sorted by difficulty (on the MORA website) so you can choose exactly what you want to do.

6. The park is well maintained - no litter, well marked/well kept trails, etc.

5. It wasn't crowded. Their busiest time of year is July-August, especially weekends. We went in June on a Thursday afternoon and only passed about 5 people on the first (3.4 mile round trip) trail we were on and another 10 or so on the second trail (much shorter but near Christine Falls).

4. We saw wildlife. Just in the short time we were there we saw three adult female deer and two baby deer. There's also a chance to see mountain goats on the cliffs, elk, bears, and mountain lions. (Their newspaper noted that no one has ever been attacked by a bear in the Mount Rainier National Park.)

3. Your entrance fee gets you into the park for 7 days - so you can come back within a week "for free".

2. It was a little cloudy that day so we couldn't see the peak, but the scenery was still beautiful.

1. And the number one reason you should see Mount Rainier National Park - it's paid for by you and it's your land, so enjoy it and savor God's beauty.

Photo Changes

You may have noticed that I watermarked all my photos. I did this because of the news story about the Missouri family whose Christmas card photo ended up as an ad in the Czech Republic.

Even though I had already deleted the "a href" tag (the link) for all my photos, I still thought I should do more because people could still use my photos on the internet at their present resolution. So, for the past three hours I have been uploading, editing, and re-posting. Grueling? Yes. But worth it? Of course. I don't want my photos being used without my permission or at least without my credit.

Scrapbooking - Professional Photos

I've been working on the scrapbooks .... achieving more goals!

I finished three pages today - one of Robert's first duty station and two of his professional photos. I have to come up with something to go on the backside of the page though ... so I'm working on ideas for that. I thought about doing a page with his writings.

Saving Money & Financial Goals

I've read a lot of books, taken classes, and read advice from other blogs and websites about how to save money. If you want to find it, there's tons of information floating around out there. My favorite "financial guru" thus far is Mary Hunt - and truth be told, she doesn't even have a degree in finance or accounting. She's just been there (in debt), and I think that's one of the most important things!

Since we've been working on getting out of debt, I thought I would share a few of the ways we save money and still live well on one income.

1. We cut our cell phone bill by 30% by making sure we got all available discounts and cutting our text message plan to the smallest one available.

2. We cut our grocery bill by 25% by planning our meals and buying less (or no) convenience foods. The only convenience foods I buy are trimmed and ready chicken breasts, spaghetti sauce, and pizza sauce. I'm going to start making our own sauces though as soon as we use up what's left in the cabinet.

3. We use our programmable thermostat and we don't have an air conditioner (we would have to buy/install a window unit ourselves). In winter, we keep the house at 70° during the day and 60° at night (the furnace doesn't even come most nights).

4. We have a budget!!! -- This is the most important thing. If you don't know where your money is going/supposed to go, you'll never get ahead.

5. We're working our butts off, more like "sacrificing our butts off", to pay off all our debt by November. We definitely made some poor choice last year and now we have to pay for it (literally)!

Goals -- by the end of the year I would like to we will have:
* All debts paid off!!!!
* Start an emergency fund
* $200 for Christmas presents ... this is kind of a big deal for me because Robert and I didn't buy Christmas presents for each other last year.

Feel free to give any advice of your own ... I'm always open to new ways to save.

Mini Meatloaves

I normally don't use Kraft recipes because they call for so much processed food, but the mini meatloaves recipe from their Fall 2008 issue of Food and Family wasn't too bad. The meatloaves taste great, the only "processed" ingredient is stuffing mix (which you could make your own) and there's three "style" options to choose from.

Meatloaf Minis
Food & Family, Fall 2008 p. 60
Makes 6 servings (2 ea.) Bake 35 minutes

1 lb	extra lean ground beef
1 pkg.	(6 oz) stuffing
1 c	water
¾ c	shredded cheddar cheese

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Spray 12 cup-muffin pan with non-stick spray Mix meat, stuffing mix, water, and add-in (see options below). Press into prepared muffin cups.

Make an indentation in center of each meatloaf with spoon (I used a cookie scoop); fill with sauce (see options below).

Bake 30 minutes or until cooked through (160 degrees). Top with cheese; continue baking 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Options:	American-Style	Italian-Style	Mexican-Style
Add-in:	1 tsp garlic powder	1 tsp Italian seasoning	2 tsp chili powder
Sauce:	¾ c barbecue sauce	¾ c spaghetti sauce	¾ c salsa

So far we have tried the American- and Mexican-Styles and both are excellent!

Goal!! Pretzels

I achieved another goal today -- making pretzels!!!!! I used a recipe I found at allrecipes.com (there are so many out there). It had a good rating (4.5/5.0 with 581 reviews). And the picture looked good too. I followed the recipe exactly except I cut the dough into 24 pieces instead of 12 so the pretzels would be smaller (about 4" instead of 8").

I made about half salted and the other half cinnamon and sugar. They are both excellent and even though it takes quite a bit of work to make them (rolling and shaping 24 pretzels), I think I will be making these pretty often!

Homemade Pizza!!!

I've made a lot of homemade pizza lately -- basically almost every Friday for the past two months! I started out using a BHG recipe but found an "Italian Cheese Bread" recipe that I like a whole lot better for pizza crust.

Note, if using the Italian Cheese Bread recipe for pizza crust, bake at about 375 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes.

Pizza Dough
Better Homes & Gardens (75th Anniv. Ed. p. 147)
Makes: 2 pan or thin crust pizzas Prep: 20 to 50 minutes

2 ¾ to 3 ¼ c	all-purpose flour
1 pkg	active dry yeast
¼ t	salt
1 c	warm water (120 - 130 degrees)
2 T	cooking oil or olive oil

In a large mixing bowl combine 1 ¼ c flour, yeast, and ¼ t salt; add warm water and oil. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds, scraping bowl. Beat on high speed for 3 minutes. Using wooden spoon, stir in as much flour as you can.

Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface. Knead in enough remaining flour to make a moderately stiff dough that is smooth and elastic (6 to 8 min total). Divide dough in half. Cover; let rest for 10 minutes.

Pan pizza: Grease two 11x7-inch or 9x9-inch baking pans. If desired, sprinkle with cornmeal. With greased fingers, pat dough onto bottoms and halfway up sides of prepared pans. Cove and let rise in a warm place until nearly double (30 to 45 min). Bake at 375 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes or until brown. Spread sauce onto hot crust; top with meat, vegetables, and cheese. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes more until bubbly.

Thin crust pizza: Grease two 12-inch pizza pans or baking sheets. If desired, sprinkle with cornmeal. On a lightly flour surface, roll each dough portion into a 13-inch circle. Transfer to pans. Build up edges slightly. Do not let rise. Bake at 425 degrees about 12 minutes or until brown. Spread sauce onto hot crust; top with meat, vegetables, and cheese. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes more until bubbly.

Meal Plan 6/14 - 7/4

This "2-week" meal plan is actually going to be a 3-week meal plan so that I can get back on track since we didn't grocery shop last weekend.

S	6/14	Grilled Cheese & Tomato Soup
M	6/15	Creamy Chicken & Noodles
T	6/16	Tuna Noodle Casserole
W	6/17	Chicken Burritos
R	6/18	LO Creamy Chicken & Noodles
F	6/19	n/a
S	6/20	Pot Roast - Goal!!

S	6/21	Sandwiches
M	6/22	Crab Cakes
T	6/23	LO Tuna Noodle Casserole
W	6/24	Chicken Burritos
R	6/25	French Dip Sandwiches
F	6/26	Pizza
S	6/27	n/a

S	6/28	n/a
M	6/29	LO Creamy Chicken & Noodles
T	6/30	Spaghetti
W	7/1	Bean Burritos
R	7/2	Leftovers ??
F	7/3	Pizza
S	7/4	Steaks, Fries, & Potato Salad

** For future reference I will be abbreviating "leftovers" as "LO".

Tuna Noodle Casserole

I've made Tuna Noodle Casserole quite a few times and never posted the recipe. So I thought I would do that today.

Tuna Noodle Casserole
Better Homes & Gardens (75th Anniv. Ed. p. 293)
Makes: 4 servings Prep: 25 min Bake: 20 minutes

3 c	medium noodles (4 oz) OR 1 c elbow macaroni (3 ½ oz)
½ c	soft bread crumbs [1 slice ~ ¾ c] (I usually just use one slice)
1 T	butter, melted
1	onion, chopped
1 c	celery, chopped
1	10 ¾ oz can cream of mushroom soup
¾ c	milk
2	5 oz cans tuna (recipe calls for 1- 9 oz can tuna but I've never found that size)
1 c	cheddar cheese cubes [4 oz] (I shred mine)

Cook noodles according to package. Drain and set aside. Meanwhile, combine bread crumbs melted butter; set aside.

For sauce, in medium saucepan combine soup and milk. Cook and stir until bubbly. Combine sauce, tuna, cheese, and cooked noodles. Transfer to a 1 ½-quart casserole. Sprinkle with crumb mixture. Bake, uncovered, at 375 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes or until bubbly and crumb topping is golden.

Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins

A couple of weeks ago, Robert let me buy a mini muffin pan and a cookie scoop (which The Happy Housewife says is her favorite way to scoop muffin mix into the pan, because it's so easy and just the right size)!

So, Monday I finally got around to making muffins. And they were good! I was kind of anxious because my favorite muffins come from a box (Betty Crocker Blueberry Muffin Mix) and I've made my own muffins before with Bisquick but I hated the taste of them -- too much like a biscuit. But when I tasted my muffins, they were great! I was surprised and will definitely be making homemade muffins from now on!

Muffins
Better Homes & Gardens (75th Anniv. Ed. p. 115)
Makes: 12 [2 1/2"] muffins Prep: 10 min Bake: 18 minutes

1 ¾ c	all-purpose flour (I used whole wheat)
⅓ c	sugar
2 t	baking powder
¼ t	salt
1	egg, beaten
¾ c	milk
¼ c	cooking oil (I used canola)

Grease twelve 2 ½-inch muffin cups or line with paper baking cups; set aside.

In a medium bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in center of mixture; set aside.

In another bowl combine egg, milk, and oil. Add egg mixture all at once to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened (batter should be lumpy).

Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, filling each two-thirds full. Bake at 400 degrees for 18 - 20 minutes or until golden brown and toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool (with muffins in pan) on wire rack for 5 minutes. Remove muffins from pan; serve warm.

For blueberry muffins: fold in ¾ c fresh or frozen blueberries

Note: for mini muffins cook approx. 8 minutes less than standard-size

Scrapbooking - A-School & Family Day

I finished six pages in the Navy scrapbook today - two from Robert's A-school and four from Family Day 2009. This accomplished two goals on my list! ... I'm getting there.

Homemade Fudge

Last week, I made a wonderful homemade Peanut Butter Honey Fudge for a treat when family was visiting. The recipe only has 3 ingredients and it turned out wonderfully! The fudge was absolutely delicious!

Thank you Laura @ Heavenly Homemakers!

This was also one of my goals ... to make my own fudge. (I think I will still try a traditional fudge too.)

Marriage Blessing

Saturday (June 6th) Robert and I finally got our marriage convalidated in the Catholic Church. We're so excited and relieved that we can finally take communion again. I was putting off writing this post because we were going to look at the pictures together, but we haven't done it yet so I figured I should just do it myself.

So, here they are!!

Apple Crisp

This is my mom's recipe ... you can tweak it without much problem. I normally add extra oats and put it in a 8"x11" pan.

4 c	Granny Smith apples (approx. 4 medium apples)
¾ c	brown sugar
½ c	flour (I use whole wheat)
½ c	oats
1 t	nutmeg
1 t	cinnamon
⅓ c	butter

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.Peel and thinly slice the apples. (I'm not finished with these yet!)


Mix all dry ingredients together, then add the butter. (I normally melt my butter and just stir it in but you could also use softened butter and cut it in.)


Grease an 8"x8" pan and throw in the apples.


Top with the oat mix.


Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.

It's best when eaten warm. You can also eat with ice cream for a great treat!

Tuna and Egg Salad

We had Tuna & Egg Salad (sandwiches) Monday on toasted whole wheat English muffins! Robert said it was the best egg salad he'd ever tasted. I found the recipe on Parents.com. Tomorrow I will post my apple crisp recipe!

Marriage Workshop

Robert and I went to a free marriage workshop today. It was offered by the chaplain on Robert's ship. The workshop was 8 hours (with a 90 minute lunch) and topics covered included the 5 Love Languages, conflict management, effective communication, and commitment.

We had a great time and learned a lot of tools to improve our marriage like proper listening techniques, and ground rules for arguments. We also learned warning signs of conflict management, rules for quality conversations, what our love languages are, hidden issues of arguments, and two dimensions of commitment.

We also received 4 books (at no charge) from the chaplain - The Five Love Languages, Love Talk, Love Talk Workbook for Men, Love Talk Workbook for Women. I'm hoping that we keep this going - reading the books, going over all the handouts, etc.

The Navy also offers CREDO weekend retreats for couples -- like a 2 day marriage workshop -- all expenses paid. A neighbor of mine went to one earlier this year and talked it up to me. I definitely encourage anyone with the opportunity to attend one.

We went out to eat on our way back since the workshop was 2 hours away so I didn't make the spinach & artichoke dip ... hopefully soon!

Staying Motivated

Lately, I've had problems with motivation. I had a list of weekly chores (one chore for each day) that I made a while back. But it wasn't in an obvious location (the side of the fridge) and I wasn't getting motivated to do them -- I'd skip a chore for the day or even the whole week.

Then I saw this link on The Happy Housewife last week, and even though I'm not a mom, I still thought I'd check it out and see what it was all about. They have resource links and homeschooling information but the thing that caught my eye was the Daily Chore Planners in the "products" section.

I got a few cleaning ideas from their site and made my own list version. I have lists for daily, weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, bi-monthly, semi-annual, and annual chores. I started using it Friday and spent all day (from about 10 am to 5 pm) cleaning! Needless to say - "I love it". It is definitely motivating for me to see a list of things I need to accomplish. It helps me to see what needs to be done and what time frame I have to do it in - that way, if I don't feel like doing very much one day I can just work on the daily chores, but if I'm in cleaning mode I have a whole list of things to do!

This is only Day 2 (I keep my weekends free so I can spend time with Robert because I don't get very much time with him during the week since he's working 2 hours away right now) so we'll see how it goes - I'll keep you updated and let you know if I'm staying on track!