Life On The Planet

Works For Me Wednesday (Backwards Edition): Rising Food Costs

I just spent $54.00 on five bags of groceries. Ouch! That definitely isn't working for me! With three children and a growing husband to feed, the cost of groceries is seriously causing me grief. I could use some advice on how to keep the cost down without having to take in the kid's waistbands. They are already skinny enough. (My waistband is another subject entirely!)

So, give me your best ideas, suggestions and tricks on how to keep my cupboards stocked and my wallet from whimpering. I could use a few pointers. Thanks!

Strawberry School

The C.F.O. was off of work yesterday, so we ditched the textbooks and lit out for the strawberry patch.

The strawberry patch is a great place to learn science related terms, like irrigation, drought, freeze, photosynthesis and fertilizer. We also had to figure out how much twenty pounds of strawberries at $1.75 a pound would cost.

Strawberry Patch Elementary: No desks allowed.

It was a tough job, picking those berries. Some of us worked really hard.

And some of us...

just ate strawberries under the cover of our extremely large hats!

When we got home, it was back to chemistry.

When a science lesson results in eleven pints of strawberry jam, everybody's happy!

Baking Tips of the Day

1. Before you begin baking, check supplies to be certain that the bag left in the cabinet actually contains an ingredient. It could have been left there by someone too lazy to throw it away.
2. One and a half tablespoons of molasses plus 1 cup of granulated sugar equals one cup of light brown sugar.
3. Molasses moves mighty slowly in the wintertime.
4. Old marshmallows stick together.
5. The rack in the oven gets hot when the oven is on. (Who knew?)

Live and learn, that's my motto.

Did you enjoy your Thanksgiving dinner?

'Cause we sure did! I think Aussie Kim enjoyed it most of all. She sent me this montage of Festive Food Photos. Try not to drool on the keyboard, please.

 

Do you think we ate enough?

One would think so, but we're still eating, and eating, and eating...

WFMW: Ooo-La-La, Carmelitas!

I hate to repeat myself. Repetition is boring.

However, my girlfriend, Sara, who is in charge of our Moms' Bible Study called last night. "Could you make something gooey and decadent for Tuesday? Something like the last time (when I made Disappearing Marshmallow Brownies)?"

Really, we do a bit more eating than we do Bible studying, but of course I said yes. Moms need food, too, you know. What should I make?

Carmelitas, of course.

Well, I thought, if I'm making them anyway, why not kill two birds with one recipe? So, here's another one...

Same rules as last time apply. The ingredients are all in blue.

Here's the pre-cooking stuff you have to deal with. The oven rack goes in the middle, and the oven gets preheated to 350 degrees.

Grease a nine by thirteen inch pan (bottom and sides).

Now for the good stuff. Mix together in a bowl 2 cups quick-cooking rolled oats, 2 cups all-purpose flour, one and one-half cups firmly packed brown sugar, one teaspoon baking soda, and a half teaspoon salt. Make sure you use the quick-cooking oats. They look like this.

 

I'm not sure why it makes a difference, but I've been told it does.  Mine is not to question the wisdom of my elders (right, Mom?).

Melt two sticks (1 cup) of butter.

Then, pour the butter into the oatmeal mixture. Mix it all together.

Remember that greased pan?

Press half of the oatmeal mixture into the bottom of the pan. Stick the pan into the 350 degree oven for ten minutes.

While you wait...

you can chop your lightly toasted nuts. Mmm...I love pecans.

The buzzer beeps, and it's time for the other good stuff.

Meet the Other Good Stuff.

Take the pan from the oven. Sprinkle ten ounces of semi-sweet chocolate chips onto the oatmeal crust.  They come in twelve ounce bags. That leaves two ounces for discretionary eating.

Well, that was a bit more of a dump, but you get the idea. Be sure to spread the chips out.

Now for the pecans. You need one cup of lightly toasted, crudely chopped nuts. You can use walnuts. I like pecans. Yum.

Pecans = Love

Now drizzle one cup of caramel sauce over it all. Don't forget, that's only half of a sixteen ounce jar. Putting the whole jar on is NOT, I repeat NOT recommended.

We're in the home stretch. Take the remaining half of the oatmeal mixture and spread it on top.

Pat it firmly to form a crust.

It's ready to bake. It goes back in the oven for twenty-five minutes. Let it cool before cutting.

***Warning*** Unless you have my husband's constitution and can eat ANYTHING and not get sick, go easy on these. They're richer than Fort Knox!

Hey, look what's ready for munching on,...

Carmelitas.

They're what's working for me this Wednesday.

Check out Rocks In My Dryer and see what else is working.

Mumph pfist week sal hab a eserdise pofam.  Sorry, my mouth was full. I said, maybe this week they'll have an exercise program.

At this rate, I'll need it!

WFMW: Disappearing Marshmallow Brownies

In the springtime, a young man's fancy turns to thoughts of love. Well, in the fall, our thoughts turn to Disappearing Marshmallow Brownies. They are simply divine.

Now, I'm no photographic genius, and my kitchen is very dark. Ever been to the bat cave? However, I wanted to give you a pictorial guide. Just don't expect The Pioneer Woman, eh?

Here's a quick user's guide. The ingredients are in blue.

Start by mixing the dry ingredients, one and a half cups flour, two teaspoons of baking powder, and a half teaspoon salt.

Then, measure out two cups of mini-marshmallows and add twelve ounces of semisweet chocolate chips.

Look at that Kitchen Elf working! Melt six ounces of butterscotch chips and a half cup of butter in a heavy sauce pan, over a low heat, stirring constantly.

Keep stirring...

until it's all melted. After the mixture is completely melted, take the pan off of the burner and let the mixture cool until lukewarm.

Then add two-thirds cup brown sugar and one teaspoon vanilla. Mix in two eggs.

After that is well stirred, add the dry ingredients. Are you hungry? I am.

Mmmm...

Add the chocolate chips and marshmallows. Give it about five or six stirs. Don't over mix it.

Pour the swirly glob of goodness into a greased nine by thirteen inch pan.

You know you want some! Can't you just taste them? Place the pan in a preheated, 350 degree oven for about twenty minutes. DON'T OVERCOOK. You will be very disappointed if you do...very, very disappointed.

The middle of the brownies should still be jiggly when you take them from the oven. Let them cool completely before cutting OR, scoop the goo out and eat it with a big bowl of vanilla ice cream. Yum.

(Please stop looking at my dirty stove top. I made Gumbo first, and I made a lee-tle mess.)

Okay, that's what works for me. Chocolate, sugar, butterscotch, vanilla, calories, flour, eggs and more calories really, really work for me.

Go and check out other WFMW ideas at Rocks In My Dryer. Maybe someone there has a good weight loss plan.

You make these brownies and you just might need one. Then again, if the kids get to them first...Hey! Where are my Brownies?!?

Red Beans & Rice and Way Too Much about History

Last night, I was making a pot of red beans (hey, I'm from Louisiana) when my friend Erin called.  After taunting her with my red beans and rice, Mmmmm!.......

...we discussed food in general, plans for an upcoming Mom's night out, The C.F.O. working late at the new job, the toilet backing up into the tub (yuuuuuck) and a great many other deep and profound subjects.  She asked about the wanderings with The Principals which led to a discussion of our family's (homeschool) approach to teaching history. 

She said she noticed her regular schooled daughter's assignment on the French and Indian War was (oh, the horror) fill-in-the-blank, and she expressed some concern regarding that rather dull approach to teaching history.  While trying not to get on a homeschool soapbox, and believe me I've got one, I told her more about our recent Civil War excursions and the sequential, hands-on approach we use to explore history. 

I mentioned that when we covered the French and Indian War, to make history relevant to them, we discussed with the kiddos the impact that so long ago war had on their very existence. (French Acadians, kicked out of Canada by the victorious British, moved to Louisiana and eventually spawned The C.F.O. so that I could marry him and the kiddos could be born. History=Relevant)

I told her how we chart about, read about, write about and, if possible, we go and see about history.  We do our best to avoid filling in history oriented blanks.  Of course, this approach is probably used in many fine schools around the country, so I shouldn't claim it solely for homeschooling.

Do the kiddos learn?  Judging from the regurgitation of Civil War facts I've endured rejoiced in this week, I would say they do.  Would they still be talking about a fill-in-the blank test a week after the fact?  I doubt it.

It was an interesting conversation and one that made me appreciate our ability to do this homeschool thing. 

I haven't figured out yet how to storm the beaches of Normandy in the spring, though.

Could a visit to Pearl Harbor be claimed on taxes as an educational expense?

I hope I didn't bore her.  She asked.

And Erin, if you're reading this, the red beans were delicious!

Fruit of The Vine, The Peanut & Heavenly Manna

There is something you should know about our family.  I understand that it may cause you to stop reading this blog but I feel the need to to be totally honest with my five faithful readers.  Here it is.  We eat Bama Swirl. 

None of that Goober stuff for us.  We are BAMA people, and this is non-negotiable. 

So, last night when The Butterfly and I returned from a party downtown with thousands (no kidding, thousands) of Girl Scouts that lasted four hours, I was feeling a little peckish.  Now the Boy Scouts and the Cub Scout are scouting this weekend, so The Butterfly and I have been enjoying a little GIRL TIME. Can you smell the nail polish?  With just us here, I haven't been doing much actual cooking.  Okay, I haven't done ANY cooking.  I had no desire to buck this trend at nine o'clock last night so I went scavenging. 

I found, celebrate with me, three jars of Bama. 

 

Hardly a miracle, you say? Certainly not a gift from above, you mutter (especially you Goober eaters).  Okay, maybe not, but as I have yet to find it up here in the perilous north, you will understand that finding those jars in my cupboard was no common joy. 

The Principals brought them to us when they came to visit.  We love those Principals.

So I made myself a sandwich. (Yeah, that's white bread, loaded with sugar and other bad stuff. Leave me alone and let me enjoy my sugar rush.)

Boy was my sandwich ever dee-licious!  (Yeah, that's a Thomas the Tank Engine plate. Got a problem with it?)

Folks, this is the way to a girl's heart.  White bread and Bama.  And that's the sad, sad truth of it.