The year of saving...

One of the items on my list of 52 is to keep a budget for the year which, to me, means keeping track of every penny we spend...  Since we moved into our house in July of 2009 it feels like we have had non-stop expenses.  Some stuff has been fun (furniture, yard remodel, new oven & gas cooktop etc.) other stuff, not so fun (insulation, rebuilding the chimney, windows, fences etc.). We did make a deal when we moved in that we would never do anything to the house that we could not pay cash for and have stuck to that.  However, at the end of the year we sat down and added up all the "home improvement" we could remember and I puked a little in my mouth when we saw the total.  So what this means is that I will probably have my funky fresh 1985 kitchen for a while...   (pink flowered linoleum is super cool right :)
We are saving all receipts for every purchase and I have created a handy spreadsheet to keep track of it all.  I am so curious to see what we spend money on.  I know our basic expenses, mortgage, insurance, cable etc. but have absolutely no idea what we spend on gas or food or anything like that.  I do have to say that knowing I have to write things down has been a huge deterrent from my random trips to Nordstrom, Target and Starbucks...  I am going to pat myself on the back right now for making it 22 days without a single stop at Starbucks (I have not even cheated and gotten one at a grocery store Starbucks so I could file the receipt in the grocery section :).   I am just a little competitive and don't want to be the one coming forward with $85 worth of Starbucks receipts at the end of the month!  Hopefully we can keep it up for the entire year and maybe then I can talk about some new kitchen floors!!!

More Soup

I am on a serious soup kick and this rain makes me want to make it even more...  Here is another one of my favorites I just made.  This one is super easy and really healthy too!

Oven Baked Minestrone

1 1/2 lbs lean stew meat cut into small pieces
1 cup chopped onion
1 clove garlic minced
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
32 oz. beef broth
2 cups water
2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
16 oz. can diced tomatoes or tomato sauce (undrained)
15 oz. can kidney beans (undrained)
6 oz. can sliced olives (undrained)
1 1/2 cups thinly sliced carrots
2 cups thinly sliced cabbage

Brown beef, onion, garlic in oil in Dutch oven.  Add remaining ingredients *except cabbage* and bake covered at 325 for 2 1/2 to 3 hours.  Add cabbage for last 45 minutes.  Serve with Parmesan cheese on top!

Can't wait for dinner!!!

Sara's Taco Soup

My cousin has been raving about her taco soup recipe for a long time and I finally scored a copy of it last week (thanks Sara :)  I am pretty sure this is my new favorite soup and that is saying a lot because I am a soup maniac.  I would eat soup all day every day if I could!  This is possibly the easiest recipe ever and it was absolutely delicious!!!

Taco Soup

Cook 1 lb ground beef &
1 diced onion in a soup pot -

Add: (don't drain any)
1 can refried beans
1 can black beans
1 can pinto beans
2 cans diced tomatoes w/ green chiles
1-2 cups chicken broth
2 packages of taco seasoning
2 cups frozen corn
1 can green chiles

Mix all ingredients well and bring to a simmer over medium heat for 20-30 minutes.
Serve with tortilla chips, shredded cheese and sour cream.

***For some reason ground beef in soup seems wrong to me so I used chicken instead.  To make it even easier I bought a rotisserie chicken at the store and just cut that up.  Instead of cooking it on the stove I threw everything into the crockpot and let it simmer all day.***

I did it!!!

I was totally craving veggie chowder the other night and decided to make my first attempt at homemade French bread... I was so worried that I would stick the dough in the oven to rise, nothing would happen and it would be a big flopping waste of time.  Apparently I had no reason to worry, not only did the dough rise like it was supposed to, the bread turned out delicious!!!  It is amazing to me that bread requires so few ingredients and ends up tasting so good, who would have thought (I guess people who make their own bread :)

One down...

I took the plunge and purchased a few plants for around the house yesterday...  My fingers are seriously crossed that I can figure this plant thing out and keep them alive because I really do love having plants around.  It does not seem like it should be that hard - water, prune, light etc.  However, my track record is not great so hopefully I can keep these ones out of the yard debris bin!

I got these ones for the dining room, aka the Cozy Coupe parking garage.
These ones will have the special threat of being near the "play zone" and
there is a pretty good chance they will end up on the floor before I
have a chance to kill them...

I don't even know what this plant is...
My grandma brought it to me as a hostess gift,
 but I'll see what I can do!

These two are in our bedroom.  They probably have the best
chance of surviving out of all of them due to the low kid
traffic in the area, that is if I remember to feed and water them...
Gotta love IKEA plants & pots!

Hubby does dinner!!!

Ryan has decided he wants to learn how to cook and has volunteered to take over dinner duty every Saturday night (no complaints here)!!! My mom got us this awesome cookbook for Christmas and so far everything he has made has been delicious! Last week, Smothered Steak Sandwiches, tonight, Quick & Healthy Pasta Carbonara! I can hardly wait!!!

Seriously recommend this cookbook!!!

Project 52

I saw this on one of my favorite blogs Handbags & Handguns and decided it was right up my alley!  I am never one to be caught without some kind of list and I usually have at least two "To Do" lists going every day.  I love the feeling of getting to cross something off and not having to carry it over to my list for the next day!!!  With that said here is my "To Do" list for 2011!

1. Paint Silas's Room
2. Cut Bangs
3. Donate Blood
4. Try Zumba
5. Get Silas in a big boy bed
6. Host a Girls Night In dinner party
7. Run a 5k for a cause
8. Use my Crock-Pot at least 2x per month
9. Try at least one new recipe per week
10. Read two classic novels (over 50 years old)
11. Dress up for Halloween (in a real costume)
12. Get some house plants and keep them alive
13. Read at least 25 books
14. See at least four movies in the theater
15. Find something pretty and childproof to organize my jewelry
16. Keep an exercise log
17. Take a trip somewhere with Ryan (even if it is just for a night or two)
18. Host a BBQ this summer
19. Get professional family photos taken
20. Watch 25 movies from my Netflix Queue
21. Go to a Duck game or two
22. GO to a museum or art gallery
23. Take the kids to at least four new parks this summer
24. Take a road trip
25. Learn how to bake bread & rolls from scratch
26. Send out two handwritten notes/cards per month
27. Grow tomatoes 
28. Update blogs at least once a week
29. Organize our linen closet once and for all (and keep it that way)
30. Get a hot stone massage
31. Potty train Silas
32. Get our ceilings painted
33. Get Noah out of diapers at bedtime
34. Read at least 10 books to the boys per day
35. Bake a pie from scratch (crust and all)
36. Take the boys to the Children's Museum at least twice
37. Go to a concert
38. Implement at least three things we can do at home to live more green
39. Go to the zoo at least once a month when the weather is nice enough
40. Design my dream dining room with hopes of moving the Cozy Coupes out of ours to have a nice family meal or two
41. Clean out my composter and start using it again
42. Meet my annual retirement account contribution limit
43. Keep track of our budget for the entire year
44. Go to the coast at least once (Silas has still never been)
45. Learn how to make a coconut mojito
46. Grow mint in my herb garden for those mojitos
47. Hire a babysitter for an entire day to get out of the house and do whatever I want
48. Register Silas for a fun class or two while Noah is at school
49. Make a ridiculously huge holiday meal for one holiday during the year
50. Go sledding
51. Hike up a mountain (no mountain in particular)
52. Go to Multnomah Falls (hiking to the top does not count as mountain listed above :)