Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Ten for Two: Round 4.

Here we go again. Another 10$ meal for the two of us. This time I went to the grocery store with no idea what to make. I figured I'd figure out when I got there. 


After exploring the meat department much more in depth than I ever had before, I chose two pre-made stuffed hamburgers. They had blue cheese, spinach, and bacon in them. I got some broccoli and fingerling potatoes as well:



The best part? The total came out to $8.32 - the receipt is in that picture but you can't read it. 


We cut up the fingerling potatoes (after washing them -they smelled funny!) and tossed them in ranch dressing mix, olive oil, and cayenne pepper. We then roasted them in the oven at 425 for about 20 minutes. 

Usually I buy the steamable bag of broccoli florets but since we're doing the budget thing, I bought a head of broccoli that we chopped the tops off of - this cost about a dollar for the head of broccoli - such a cheaper option. We steamed them on the stove. 


I went bunless for our burgers mostly to save on the cost of buns but also to save the carbs and I thought there was enough taste to lose the bread. This was a solid win in the 10 for 2 category. Onward!


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Sunday, August 28, 2011

Ten for Two Challenge: Round Three

Back again! Our next night of cheap eating brought us to a perennial favorite, pizza. This one was a bit of a cheat because we had most everything but hey - still cost us less than $10 for the meal. 

We had frozen Fresh Market pizza dough in the fridge from a few weeks ago, had left over cheese for the pizza from a meal a week or so prior, and had canned tomato sauce in the pantry. 

So, I bought:
- pepperonis (2.59 for the package - contemplated turkey pepperoni, maybe next time?)
- mushrooms for Jake's 1/2 ($.50 ish, based on weight and not many mushrooms)

For the sauce, I took a can of tomato sauce and our jarred minced garlic, plus Italian seasoning and combined it all in a bowl.


And a tip I read on the interwebs - Microwave the pepperonis in a paper towel for 15 seconds to de-grease them and make them crispy before putting on pizza to bake.

Here's to another budget meal - in saving our pennies,
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Friday, August 26, 2011

Ten for Two Challenge: Round Two

After a successful round one of Ten for Two (here), we moved on to trying Breakfast for Dinner for Round Two. 

I went to the grocery store on the way home for work after g-chatting Jake his options for omelets (ps - I've always spelled it omlette but apparently that is wrong?)- 
1) Omelet with bacon and cheese
2) Omelet with black beans, rotel tomatoes, corn, and cheese
3) Omelet with feta, spinach, and mushrooms

He chose the third option and so I had my mission. Here was the result:
 Did you see that? $9.31. Eggs, spinach, mushroom, feta, and biscuits. 

So off goes Jake to cook omelets:
 So the first one was a flop (pun intended) and so it became scrambled eggs but the second one was great - pictured below. Add some biscuits and you've got your protein, calcium (the cheese- feta and shredded mozzarella), veggie (spinach/mushroom), and carb.
 

So there's another ten for twenty dinner conquered! Onward.
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Thursday, August 25, 2011

Ten for Two Challenge.

With summer coming to a close and school on the horizon, I got in a cooking rut. After having the kitchen lovelies as my personal chefs (albeit not the best food... but made with love) for all of June then traveling most of July, dinners cooked at home just wasn't in the routine. 

So what better way to get back into a routine than to make a blog challenge out of it? I'm challenging myself to do ten for two dinners. Ten dollars, two people, fed. And now, here's the first one:

Spaghetti and a Greek Salad (that somehow pictured really funky):
This was my first of the challenge and so I didn't think to take a picture of the receipt (but I did from then on out!). The spaghetti recipe I used is one I blogged about last year - poor man's spaghetti. Breakdown below:

- San Marzano Whole Peeled Tomatoes - $2.99
- butter (already had)
- onion - $1ish
- spaghetti noodles - $2ish
- romaine lettuce - $3
- feta (already had)
- salad dressing (already had)


Total? $9. Gotta love a delicious spaghetti sauce that only uses three ingredients. And you'd think 45 minutes with whole peeled tomatoes, butter, and an onion would be lacking in the flavor department, but I don't even like red sauce and I'd drink this.


Onto the next ten-for-two challenge...
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Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Back in business.

So. A week ago I posted about losing something very important to me. My Macbook circa 2006. After accepting it was time to move on, I evaluated my options. This, of course, meant calling my bff Eric, who has a J.D. and is a licensed attorney but lives up life as an Apple Genius (which really is kind of perfect for him). Eric advised me on my options - laptop versus desktop, repair versus buying, etc. Finally I made my decision and a week later, here I am with our new computer:
 Tyson definitely approves and we do too. The decision to go desktop instead of laptop was since Jake already has a MacBookPro... so we'll see how we do as a one laptop family once a trip or two work events roll around. But the screen is so big, it is really nice for Jake to have several windows open at once. 

So here's to being back in business!
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Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Go there: Slider Inn.

This weekend, Jake and I visited one of the "new hot places" in Memphis - Slider Inn. From the people that brought you BarDog, the Slider Inn is going through a "soft opening." It is trying out some menu items and feeling out the waters and is going to close for a bit and reopen September 1st for real. I couldn't figure out when they were closing for their break (missed that some how) but after Sept. 1st, they should be open. 

Since they were doing their "soft opening," they had a sheet of paper as their menu. It had 8 slider options. You could go traditional, get one with blue cheese, one with caramelized onions, get a chicken slider, get a mix and max option, or go fancy and and get a lobster slider (fresh from Maine!).

 I got the traditional slider - it came with three sliders and fries. Jake got a mix and match.

 My verdict? Delicious. Fries were so good, sliders were cooked perfectly - not over done like sliders can be. The Memphis blogging greats have both blogged about it before I did so read what they have to say - they both splurged and got a lobster roll:
 I Love Memphis Blog
Eat Local Memphis



 Yum.
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Saturday, August 20, 2011

Pin it.

So, I got on Pinterest last Spring and have been scouring through lovely pictures, saving the ones I wanted as "inspiration", ever since. It is a pretty smart concept. A picture serves as a link back to whatever you "pinned." So if you see an awesome home design page that you want to remember and come back to, instead of book-marking it, only to forgot about it and never go back, you "pin" it and the image goes into one of your boards. The boards are themed.

Without an account, you can still look at images, you just can't "pin" your own. An account is free, though, and I'm warning you to only sign up if you're ready to hand over a chunk of your daily internet time.

Here are some things I've been pinning:

From my "I need this" board - 
 Quilt for the middle bedroom
 San Fran poster

From "For the Home" - 
Porch inspiration- love those posts and lack of rail
 This door is the style I want.

In my "I should make..." (cooking) board, I've got
Mexican Cilantro Lime Chicken Soup 

I've pinned plenty more too -lots of craft ideas and home ideas. The great thing about the actual website is that you can link back to the original site to read about it. Even if you don't have pinterest, you can still see my boards and my links: http://pinterest.com/kathryn_jasper/ 

Check it out!
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Monday, August 15, 2011

RIP, computer.

I know the blog silence has been deadening over here. My fan club has been up in arms over my lack of blogging....

So my macbook is dying a slow death. One that involves highlighting and clicking everything I scroll over. Which you'd think wouldn't be a big deal. Except it is. Because you can't do anything. Every time you scroll, you open a new window with some crap you've accidentally clicked on. It's awesome. 

 I got my macbook in May of 2006. I decided to get my first laptop (I'd had an imac before that) because all of a sudden, laptops were all the rage in college. Before that, I was one of few of my friends that even had a computer in college and then all of a sudden everyone had laptops and they were required for conferences and the like. So I read the mac rumors blog and they said the ibook was being replaced with the macbook. I waited and waited and finally on a Tuesday in late May, the rumor mills said that they were shipped that morning to the stores and sure enough the websites announced their arrival. 

I called my Saddle Creek location over and over, getting busy signals, trying to see if I could reserve one. They hadn't been unloaded, I was told, and so they weren't inventoried for sale yet. I finally bugged this guy enough to get him to put one aside for me - the only black one they'd gotten in the shipment. Now this may seem crazy, but to me this was a big deal. Sure I could have waited a little longer, but I had already waited long enough. 

So my macbook and I spent senior year, graduate school, student teaching, wedding planning, losing a hard drive, being a new teacher, and more together. It has been a good 5 and a 1/2 years.... Jake has a macbookpro so we've still got a laptop. We'll probably get a imac this time to replace my old imac (which is still sitting in the office):



So, now all that is left to do is make sure everything is backed up on the old computer and say goodbye....
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Thursday, August 4, 2011

Fresh Market Frozen Pizza Dough is Amazing.

Our pizza life has been revolutionized. I read (on someone's blog... I forgot who) that Fresh Market had a frozen pizza dough and so when we were running errands this weekend, we got two as a trial. It is my duty to tell you now that you must use this dough. (Unless you make your own and then la-di-dah fancy pants). If you're like us and use the pre-made stuff, upgrade your life and go to the frozen section of Fresh Market. You'll thank me.

 You set the dough out at room temp. to thaw, then you roll it out on a floured surface.
 You then put it on a well-greased baking sheet (I'm sure a pizza stone would work, we just don't have one) and add toppings. This one was chicken, feta, spinach, garlic, and capers.
Here it is before it went in the oven:

 And here's the final product. Best thing about this dough? It holds up to heavy toppings and lets you still eat it as a slice instead of falling apart.

I'm going to need you to get some....
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Monday, August 1, 2011

A Big Move for Beth!

My bff Beth and her hubs Brad (college friends, they went with us to the beach, remember?) have lived down in Atlanta for a little less than a year now. They had a sweet set up in a rental that we visited over Christmas break (here) but found the perfect house to buy this spring. They closed right before the beach and moved in after they got back. We just got their moving announcement in the mail and I have to say, Tyson was pretty excited:
 Their house is very cute and I can't wait to visit. I'm so excited for them!
 Their dogs are already loving the big yard and living area:
 (Toby plays croquet)
 (Ollie chills on the back patio)

A big congratulations to Beth and Brad! Check out her new blog, White Picket Fence and a Tree Stump, where she's chronicling the big move. 

Here's to a road trip to ATL soon!
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