Posts Tagged ‘saving money’

Last night’s dinner was Marinated Grilled Chicken, Roasted Finger Potatoes, and Roasted Asparagus with Pinenuts.  It was delicious.   Lucky for me we had both potatoes and asparagus left over.  Just what I needed for a fast and hearty breakfast Frittata.  Well, it guess it doesn’t always have to be luck, I could PLAN ahead and make extra.  I do try that sometimes.

Have you ever tried Finger Potatoes before?   We hadn’t.  We just picked them up at Costco.  They tasted lot like a Yukon Gold Potatoes and I really liked them.  The Costco Finger Potatoes also came with Purple Potatoes in the bag.  Even the flesh of the potato was purple.  I was excited to try them.  They definitely had a very different flavor and I’m still not sure I liked them.  They did look really cool, but my kids turned their noses up at them, so I kept them out of the Frittata.

To make the Frittata:
1.    Dice 1/2 of a medium onion.
2.    Dice the cooked potatoes into ½ cubes.
3.    Dice up the roasted asparagus (Actually you can use anything you like here; mushrooms, peppers, zucchini, sausage, bacon, you get the idea…I had left over asparagus and we all love it, so that is what I used.)
4.    In a separate bowl whisk the eggs really well with a splash of milk.  Add salt and pepper.  How many eggs to use is a judgment call.  For my family of five and about three cups of potatoes, I used six large eggs.  The good news is you can’t go too far wrong here.
5.    In an oven-proof sauté pan (a seasoned cast iron sauté pan is cheap and supposed to be the best for Frittatas, but I don’t have one and my pan works great too), add butter (or a mixture of olive oil and butter) and sauté the onion until golden.  Season with salt and pepper.
6.    Add the potatoes.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.
7.    Cook until the potatoes are turning golden.
8.    Add the asparagus and toss a few times to warm the asparagus.
9.    Pour the egg mixture over the veggies.
10.    Sprinkle cheese of your choice (I used sharp cheddar.)
11.    Place the dish under the broiler (second shelf down) for a few minutes until the eggs are set and the top is golden brown
12.    Cut it like a pie and serve. 

It was so easy and really good!  I love not wasting left-overs or my time.  This Frittata also makes a quick dinner as well, just serve it with a salad.  Try it and let me know what you think.  Thanks Dad for the recipe.

Are you ready for a great hoedown?

Here’s a fun birthday party for a little boy.  Cuz what boy doesn’t love cowboys?

It all starts with the invitations.  Here’s how I made the “Wanted” invitations above.  Dress your little cowboy in a hat and bandanna.  My cowboy insisted on a six-shooter too.  He couldn’t wait to make an ornery face!

After taking a digital picture, I imported the picture and created the card in Microsoft Word.  Yes, I know Word is really low tech, but it is also really easy! I used the free font available in my Word fonts called Blackoak standard.  Then I printed the Wanted Posters out on parchment paper. To age them a bit, I lightly rubbed them with sandpaper.  I ran the cards through the printer for the inside text.  Then I glued the Wanted Poster to the cards and added the antique brass brads. Here’s the text inside the card:

HOWDY PARTNER!
Saddle up and head west
to the Alpine Homestead of the ______ Family
‘Cuz the Dirty Rustler
Benjamin “Black Boot”
is having a Birthday Roundup (then date, time and RSVP)

For activities we played horseshoes and practiced ropin’ a horse with a real lasso. Then we panned for gold which was the hit of the party. I used iron pyrite or Fools Gold (you could also gather rocks and spray paint them gold.)  In our very large sandbox I dug shallow holes for each child.  I gave every child a cowboy name and then made claim markers on which I wrote “Claim #15, Buffalo Will” or “Connor the Kid”.  I printed the claims on parchment and mounted them on red cardstock and then mounted the claim on a popsicle stick.  I carefully covered the hole and stuck the claim marker right on top.  I save all my old pie tins and my husband kindly drilled holes (fairly large, but smaller than the rocks)  The kids then dug up their gold, swirling the sand in the pie tins until the gold was revealed.  We had little sacks made from muslin for the gold to go in.  They loved it.

The kids cooked their own hot dogs over a fire (quite an experience!)  The rest of the meal was watermelon, baked beans (recipe to follow) and chips.  We served rootbeer in brown bottles.  Each meal was served on a pie tin for a plate (the cowboy way!)  I decorated with our camping lantern, hay bales and ropes.

The cake was cute… it was a campfire.  I baked chocolate cake in my long bread pans.  Froze them and then cut them into a roundish shape with a serrated knife.  I frosted them with chocolate frosting and used a fork to make them look like wood.  I used a lighter brown (chocolate with white frosting mixed in) for the ends and ran the for in a circle action to create rings.  I bought chocolate donut holes and tossed them with powdered sugar for the coals, and tried to used orange fruit leather for the flames (they didn’t look that good.)

For the party favors, I used regular brown paper sacks, with cute tags made from bandanna paper and their cowboy names printed on parchment.  They were filled with the little sacks of gold, a harmonica, and a bundle of dynamite (my favorite)  The dynamite was made from covering 3 packages of Rollo candies in red construction paper.  Hold the three rolls together and stick black shoelace licorice in the middle, sticking some out of the end like a wick.  Then I tied the bundle together.  They were so cute!  It was a great hoedown!  And by using things we already had and a little elbow grease, it didn’t cost a whole lot either.

Now for the Baked Beans recipe… It’s real cowboy food!

Buddy Loves Baked Beans

2 40-oz. cans Pork & Beans
1 20-oz. can red kidney beans
2 15-oz. cans baby lima beans
1 ½ lbs. ground hamburger
1 onion diced
1 lb. bacon, diced
11/2 c. ketchup
1 cup brown sugar
2 cups white granulated sugar
3-4 TBSP liquid smoke
2 TBSP vinegar
Tabasco sauce to taste –lots for me thanks

Brown hamburger and onion; drain.  Cook bacon, drain.  Drain and rinse all beans (except Pork and Beans.)  Mix all the ingredients in a 5 quart oven proof pot with a tight fitting lid (I use a dutch oven.)  Cook in oven at 300 degrees with the lid.  Remove lid and cook three more hours at 250 degrees.  If the beans are too thick you can always add water to get the right consistency.