Finding harmony in family, finance & military life

I have still not gotten used to technically being a "working mom", I still think of myself as a stay at home/home school mom, but it is true I have succumbed to the call of the working world. My official work title is Protestant Hospitality Coordinator. "What does that mean?" you may ask, well I will tell you! I have no idea what that title would mean in your average Protestant Church, I don't go to one bwahahaha, however for the Protestant Chapel on an Air Force base that title pretty much means I am a chef. I love my job! It is tough, too tough and I would not recommend it for just anyone, but for me it is perfect. I am contracted to work 13 hours every week and paid on salary so the extra 2-7 hours I work each week are considered volunteer hours... a new contract will be worked out no worries. Regardless of the crazy hours I still love my job. Onto the spaghetti! Every Wednesday night the Chapel hosts a free dinner for anyone on base who would like to come,...

Since my menu plans have been a big hit in the past I wanted to quickly share the one I just wrote up. 1st. Grill night!! Hot dogs, Johnsonville Brats, potato chips and fresh cut up cucumbers and tomatoes 2nd. Fair Day!! We are planning to spend the day at the Wayne County Fair with the kids eating fair food :) 3rd. Chick-fil-A Mother Son Date Knight and Home made Pizza Party for Daddy and the Girls woohoo  (hmm I may be running to grab some pepperoni)   4th. Crock pot Chicken Alfredo with spaghetti squash (so happy it is fall!) 5th. Frozen Pizza and Salad 6th. Fish&Chips (aka frozen Ore Ida Fries) and steamed kale 7th. Date Night (we order carry out for the two of us or make a special meal just for us while the kids get finger food or Tuna Helper and a movie in the boys room) 8th. Home made pizza night (this time the kids get to help!) 9th. Family Dinner Out At Ruby Tuesdays! With a coupon of course :) 10th. Spaghetti with salad and if I have tim...

So I am a bragger big time especially on facebook. I have been sharing my ideas, frustrations, successes and lots of pictures from my kitchen with all of my friends that literally has them drooling. So today I am going to share a bit about the last two great meals that I posted about and the recipes to go with them. First the fried chicken I said I was going to make last night turned out great. I have to confess though I hate making fried chicken, at least the bone in kind, I just can not get it to taste quite right ever. I can make killer fried steak, I can fry up a mean catfish but for some reason chicken has not been kind to me. Last night I searched for tips on how to fry chicken found one that I liked and got started. Now the breading is simple my own concoction I mixed about two cups of flour with a lot and I mean a lot of Old Bay seasoning in a big ziplock bag took the freshly rinsed and dried thigh put it in the bag shook it up real good then dipped it in a wash made of 1 1...

Today was supposed to be chicken and noodles over mashed potatoes day according to that nice 21 meal menu I shared with you all earlier in my posts. Well I apparently bought bone in skin on chicken thighs instead of the boneless skinless kind I prefer to use in chicken and noodles. So I am changing up the menu. I am frying us up those thighs with a little old bay seasoning in the flour yum! Still gonna mash up the potatoes I bought at the store this morning and serving raw baby carrots on the side. I will steam a few of those for baby Kady though so she can enjoy dinner with us. I also whipped up a quick cheesecake too! I call it a Mock Godiva Chocolate Cheesecake because it reminds me of the Godiva Chocolate cheesecake I had from the Cheesecake Factory. However it is actually called Chocolate Velvet Pie  the recipe is actually found on the back of some Nestle Toll House packages and it is so simple. All you need is 1 3/4 cup melted milk chocolate morsels,  8 ounces so...

It has been a crazy busy couple of weeks! I did not get close to posting so many of the great things I wanted to. Today I figured you would all enjoy a peep at our menu this month so that is what I am going to post. We are cleaning out the deep freeze so this menu may seem a little odd but hey it serves its purpose everyone is getting fed and the freezer is going to be much emptier by the end of the month. Veggies will be served with each meal I am just not writing them in since they will be whatever we pick up fresh at the farmers market that day/week. Turkey Chili with rice and tortillas Chicken Alfredo Tuna Helper Frozen Lasagnia Spaghetti with Garlic Bread Frozen Pizza Spiral cut Ham with Mac & Cheese and Corn muffins Homemade Chicken and Noodles Grill Night Hot Dogs Chicken Nuggets with Mac and Cheese Frozen Pizza Spaghetti with Garlic Bread Tuna Helper Homemade Pizza Chicken Nuggets with Crescent Rolls Pizza Rolls Homemade Lasagnia recipe taken from The...

Since I usually do one or two big shopping trips each month I always try to write out a month worth of dinner menu at one time. This month I decided to use 4 index cards with 5 different meals on each card so that I could easily pick a different card each week depending on what I had planned or what I felt like cooking. I then placed the cards in my Couponizer so that I had them with me while I shopped just in case I needed to improvise. On the menu card for this week I have Chicken Nuggets, French Fries and a vegetable Spaghetti with sauce, garlic bread and a salad Broiled Salmon, steamed rice and broccoli  Spaghetti with sauce and a salad Turkey Chili with beans over steamed rice and cornmeal muffins on the side Left overs are always an option as are peanut butter and jelly sandwiches I just don't worry about writing them on the menu. We eat a lot of spaghetti at our house. I recently had coupons that allowed me to purchase 100 one pound boxes of Muellers pasta for free plu...

Hello, My goal for this blog is to help knit together the somewhat chaotic moments of life, my life while providing useful insight for my readers. My life revolves around my five amazing children and my husband who I love very much. Our dog, our home, our finances and "what's for dinner?" will all be a part of this blog. I will share my shopping adventures and the amazing to me deals that I get with coupons. My flops and triumphs in the kitchen as well as the joys of potty training a three year old boy! I hope that I am able to enrich your life as I share mine. I will always be honest and am going to tell you right from the start I have never done this before so mistakes will be made but I am going to do my absolute best. I will leave you now and I hope you have a great rest to your day! What is next you ask? Dinner of course tonight I need to get a salad made before my vegetable become inedible!