Pork Chops with Dijon Herb Sauce

Oh. My. Goodness!!!!  These were delicious--I can't believe I have had two pork recipes in a row that I have actually enjoyed!!  The sauce calls for "herbs."  I happened to have parsley and chives in the garden, so that is what I used. 

I served them over a bed of buttered whole wheat egg noodles.  I just tossed the noodles with a tablespoon of butter, a splash of chicken broth, salt, pepper, and some left over diced asparagus. 

If you eat pork, I definitely recommend heading over to Skinny Taste and trying out this quick, easy, and delicious meal!

Lotion Bars

I recently saw a recipe for making my own lotion bars.  I thought they sounded like a really nice and fast gift.  I ordered all of my ingredients from amazon (surprise surprise).  All you need is beeswax, shea butter, and coconut oil.   My only advice is to get the beeswax in small enough pieces.  I ordered small bars of beeswax (1 oz each) that I roughly chopped before melting.  Jillee used pellets, which melt much quicker. 

I already had these cute molds (I also have the flower mold) from making bird seed favors for my sister's bridal shower.

Beeswax $6.80
Shea Butter $3.00
Coconut Oil $1.90  (Subscribe and Save price)

Total: 11.70 for 6 bars ($1.95 a bar)

Audrey's New Swimsuit!

I can't tell you how easy this swimsuit was to put together!!!  I have been looking at many tutorials for swimsuits, but this one seemed to make the most sense to me.  That particular post is just the directions to assemble the suit.  She also did a blog on how to create your own pattern; which is what I did.  I just took Audrey's swim suit from last year and added 2 inches to the middle so that her new suit would be 2 inches longer than last year's suit.  She is so skinny that I didn't need to add to the width.

The bathing suit probably only took me about an hour to complete and I love the final product!

Meal Recap

  

Yesterday, we had Greek Turkey Meatballs and a Greek Tomato Salad.  I also made the Skinny tzatziki.  I followed her recipe to a T and it was delicious.  The tzatziki has to sit for a while so I recommend making this in the morning or even a day ahead.  I didn't have to strain my yogurt out since I used my home made yogurt that I had already strained to "yogurt cheese" consistency.
The salad was the best part of the meal.  I used Creole Tomatoes from my garden, cucumbers from my garden, olives, and feta cheese.  Then I tossed it lightly with salt, pepper, and Wishbone Greek Vinaigrette  dressing.

Everyone enjoyed this meal.  Audrey really loved dipping the meatballs in the tzatziki.

Tonight we had Bangin Good Shrimp.  This recipe, I did change up quite a bit, as the original sounded a little bland.  This meal is so quick and easy!  Just put greens on your plate (I had romaine and green cabbage). Lightly drizzle the greens with Newman's Own Lowfat Sesame Ginger dressing. In a medium sized bowl, put 1/4 cup cornstarch, 1/4 tsp cayenne, 1/2 tsp seasoned salt, 1 tsp granulated garlic, 1 tsp minced onion, and fresh ground pepper.  (I don't actually measure my spices, so those are all guesstimates.)  Toss 1 lb of peeled/ deveined shrimp in the cornstarch.  Heat 1 tsp canola oil in a fry pan.  When the pan is hot, toss the shrimp in and cook until the shrimp are pink (about 3 -5 minutes).  Keep your pan hot to get a good sear!  Put the shrimp on top of greens and top with scallions.  (I forgot them)

This was delicious!  Everyone except Audrey liked it.  She kept telling me it was too hot.  I think it was a little spicy for her.  The dressing has a little kick to it and the cayenne on the shrimp might have been a bit much.

Sugar Free Strawberry Preserves

 Somehow this week really got away from me.  I have had all this pictures in my camera but I haven't uploaded them.  

On Monday, I took the kids to pick strawberries.  (Which, by the way, wasn't cheaper than buying them in the store, but they are delicious and we had a lot of fun.)  I came home with a flat of strawberries and decided to make preserves.  But I didn't want any sugar in them.  I couldn't find a recipe online for truly sugar-free jelly/jam/preserves so I just did my own thing.

Step 1: Wash and hull your berries.  I used a straw to hull.  Just push the straw through the berry from the bottom to the top.  All of the leaves should come right off.

Step 2: Mash the strawberries so that you have roughly 4 cups.  I left mine with big chunks because I like it that way.  If you wanted it smooth, I guess you could use your blender or food processor.

 

  Step 3: Put the strawberries in a saucepan, add 1/2 cup to 1 cup of water and bring to a simmer.  Add honey to taste and 1 packet of unflavored gelatin.

Step 4: Put the strawberries into a sterilized canning jar, put the lid on and immediately turn it upside down for 5 min.  Flip it right side up and cool completely.  The top is sealed if the center is sucked down (you can't push it up and down).

Enjoy!!  Since I didn't use pectin, it didn't really gel up.  I don't know if it would gel better if I used 2 packets of gelatin.  My next batch, I will cave and use pectin.

Mmmmm, homemade strawberry preserves on top of homemade yogurt!

What is on the menu this week?

It is late and I am tired.  Maybe I will come back tomorrow and fix this.  We'll see. 
This week I included a traditional German meal for my German husband: rouladen.  Rouladen is basically a little beef roll-up.  It is a very thin piece of top round with onions, pickles, and bacon rolled inside.  The rolls are cooked in a sauce of carrots, onions, and tomatoes.  I will post a recipe for it later.
I will also be making cheese ravioli in a mushroom ragout.  This is a crockpot meal and it is vegetarian.
As for my healthy meals, I will be making Greek Turkey Meatballs, served with a greek salad (hopefully I will have enough garden tomatoes for it), Chicken Piccata, served with rice and steamed broccoli, and Bangin Good Shrimp, served with rice.

We are off to pick strawberries tomorrow!  So hopefully I will have some cute pictures and lots of yummy strawberries.  I am hoping to make strawberry preserves.

Why I Blog. . .

Just some quick thoughts to share with all of my friends and family.  I really enjoy taking care of myself and my family, and I want you all to be able to do the same.  So often, we get caught up in life and think that it is just easier to rely on convenience items. With a little research and a little time, though, you can make products at home that are cheaper, healthier, and better for the environment!  Most people don't have time for step 1 (research), so they don't go any further.  I have taken the time to do the research and share my results with you.  I am so thankful that my dear husband works so hard and I am able to stay home and really take care of my family.

Some topics that I write about on my blog:
1. Home Organization.  I have all sorts of systems that streamline my day and help our household run smoother, including cleaning, bills, meal planning, and general organization.
2. Cooking.  I love love love comfort food (especially The Pioneer Woman!), but I am not a rancher, so I should not eat such calorie dense foods every day.  I am constantly searching for healthy foods that taste good to mix in with my not-so-healthy foods.  When I blog about food, I like to tell you if I made any modifications and what my family members thought of the meal.
3.  Sewing.  I also love to create.  You name the craft, I have probably done it.  Right now, I am loving my sewing machines.  I am still becoming comfortable with creating my own patterns, so most of my creations are inspired by other bloggers.  If it was my creation, I will attempt to create a tutorial.  If I "borrowed" the idea, I will link to the original blogger's post.
4. My kids.  Since we live so far away from family, I also like to include pictures of my kids and stories about the crazy things that they do.

I am no one special.  I don't have any special talents. But I am passionate.  I set my mind on doing something and I do it.  I hope that I will inspire other people to try to do something new.  If you have any questions, please ask!  As an educator, I want to teach others.  If there is something you want to learn how to do, find the time to dedicate to it, and have fun learning new skills!