Frugal Find Friday--Pampered Chef edition

It's Frugal Find Friday again! Today I'm showcasing two of the Pampered Chef items I've found frugally recently.

The first is something I've wanted for a while and I was SO excited when I found it. It is one of the Pampered Chef mini-serving spatula. I realize it is not a high dollar item at just $4.50, but I really find it hard to justify spending that much on one. When I saw it in a box of kitchen odds and ends for just $.25 I knew it was meant to be mine. It is in perfect shape and a quarter is really more my style :)

As an aside, do not forget to look in those kinds of odds and ends boxes. You never know what you'll find for a steal. Often there is lots of crazy junk, but I've scored a Tupperware funnel, a set of metal measuring spoons like I grew up with and this Pampered Chef small server in different ones. They can be little gold mines!

The second Pampered Chef item I found is a pizza lifter. My mother-in-law mentioned wanting a pizza peel a while back. She has looked, but never found one and I tucked that information away in case I ever came upon one. I did happen to find a smallish wooden one at a sale a few weeks ago and I dropped it when coming into the house. It broke! I felt a bit sick to my stomach about it all, but if I could break it that easily then I'm glad it happened before I gave it to her. I'd hate to give a gift that didn't last! The $1.50 that I spent on it was wasted, but I just hoped I'd find another one sometime. I know she'd really like one and has given up finding one on her own.

Today I found a Pampered Chef Lift and Serve. These two pieces work together to lift pizzas, wreaths and cakes. I think that she'll be excited about having them as they are similar to having a pizza peel and for just $3 I was glad to get them! And they are in the house and they are not broke! :) They originally sold for $11.75 and I'm not sure if they are even still available. Whatever the case, I consider it a $3 well spent.

Of course, no frugal Pampered Chef posting would be complete without mentioning my great find on the apple peeler/corer/slicer! It was a find that I will be using for years to come.

Happy Hunting to all those Frugal Friday followers. It is going to be a beautiful weekend here in WI and I have a feeling that garage sales will be hopping tomorrow. Let me know if you snagged any deals this week!

Here is a picture of those measuring spoons. They cost me a quarter and I'm excited to replace my plastic ones with them. Memories of cooking at home and no worries about plastic, I couldn't ask for more! For more great thrify find visit Southern Hospitality Blog.

Heather

Nettacow's Big Giveaway

Nettacow is hosting a giveaway in honor of her 100th post. She's got lots of cute things that you can win and the best thing is that you get to pick! You may want to head over and enter, but if you win do not pick my 3 favorite things...pretty please?

Her blog is one I visit often. She has great ideas about raising a toddler, country living (I'm so jealous!), being frugal and crafting. I really like that she does a 'reading the whole internet' post where she links to many great ideas. I know I could spend WAY too much time reading on-line and I appreciate her pointing out some things I might enjoy, but didn't take the time to look for myself. It is worth a visit!

Heather

Zucchini Casserole

Tammy is doing a recipe swap with summer squash and zucchini and I thought I should join the party. The timing on this made me laugh since I made up a version of this yesterday for lunch. Of course, I have no photos of that or of the real recipe! Trust me when I say that it is really good and that when I make it again I'll take some pictures. Also, just have to say that I am SO jealous of people who have this stuff coming out of their ears. We love it, but only one plant came up and there are just blossoms at this point. I'm hopeful that we'll get some and the farmer's market will supplement. The zucchini we ate yesterday came from two huge baseball bat sized zucchinis that Mike got at a gig from one of his fans. Maybe more will show up in our lives :)



Here's the original recipe:
3 cups diced zucchini--seeded and peeled
1.5 cups diced carrots

Boil these together until slightly tender and drain well

1 can cream of celery soup (or substitute homemade)
1/2 cup sour cream
4 oz sage and onion dressing mix (dry)
1/2 cup melted butter

Mix all together, reserve 1/3 cup for topping and add remaining amount to zucchini and carrots. Place in a casserole dish, top with reserved dressing mixture and some grated cheese if desired. It is really yummy!



Yesterday I had some left over homemade white cheese sauce and the end of a huge zucchini. I took out the center of the zucchini and boiled the outside shells in salted water for a few minutes until soft. I chopped up the insides, some green beans from the fridge, a few mushrooms, a chopped carrot, some red/orange/yellow pepper pieces that were lying around and some onion. All of these were cooked in a touch of olive oil until a bit tender. Seasoned them up with salt, pepper, garlic powder and Italian seasoning. Then I mixed in the white cheese sauce, a bunch of a bread crumbs from the freezer(some were finely chopped and some were bigger pieces) and put the entire mixture in the shells. Topped it off with a tiny bit of grated cheddar and some cooked pieces of bacon from the freezer and broiled in the toaster oven until the cheese was melted and the bacon was crispy and sizzling. It was really good and used up a ton of odds and ends that I had around. My favorite way to cook! Especially since Mike and little guy both liked it a lot too.

The rest of the big zucchini was chopped find to be used in soups or sauces this winter. The other one got shredded up and frozen for muffins, bread, or pasta dishes in the future.

I love summer and all the bounty. Now if only I could get my tiny garden to grow. Anyone have any produce they need used up here in Milwaukee? I'd be happy to give it a new home :)

Heather

Cream Puffs, Racing Pigs, and Food on a Stick--Oh, My!

We are back from a fun, exhausting, hot day at the fair yesterday! Little guy was a trooper as he missed his afternoon nap, but kept on being a good sport. We ate our way through the fair and have lived to tell about it. Let's start at the beginning of our day, shall we?

That's right...food on a stick. Isn't that what fair is all about? And this year they debuted something quite different that Mike was very excited to try. He loves chocolate more than anyone else I know (which is saying something since I am a chocoholic too) and he adores bacon. So when they announced they were serving chocolate covered bacon on a stick he knew that he'd have to give it a whirl. Sounds crazy, right?

It really wasn't too bad. Actually if you think salty/sweet combos like chocolate covered pretzels then you are on track. It was cold (so the chocolate would stay hard in the heat) so it didn't really have that bacon flare that you'd expect. It was something that I'd have again, just not every week or anything!

Next we saw the racing pigs. This is a tradition at State Fair, but a couple years ago they changed the company that comes in and does it. I have to admit that I really like the other company better. They just raced pigs, but they had a race through the water too. It was funny and they seemed really professional. The company now races pigs, ducks, and goats and they introduced a pig that swims this year. The tiny baby pig only swam about 2 feet and he held it the whole time. Maybe they are working towards doing it on a bigger scale, but they just don't seem as great as they used to be. Little guy seemed to be watching and we did enjoy it. It is a tradition that cannot be missed!

And cream puffs...you just must have a cream puff if you come to the Wisconsin State Fair! And this was little guy's first time time having one. He really like it and ate it the same way he does if we give him a taste of ice cream. He gets really still and opens his mouth for us to put in the spoon. Then he oh, so gently closes his mouth around it and lets it melt/dissolve on the edge of his lips and mouth. It is so funny to see! He has had almost no sweets in his life (other than his first birthday cake) so we don't mind giving him a taste of some of these once a year goodies! He liked the whipped cream so much that he licked the plate off and then cried when it was gone.

There were lots of other great things to see like the Lumber Jills,

the Budweiser Clydesdales,

animals, and a HUGE toy tractor display.

And then there were all the things we didn't get too! It was a fun and busy day.

The Kelty was in full force and we were glad we didn't have to worry about navigating a stroller through the crowd. Little man really enjoyed his vantage point and kept a close eye on the ceiling for fans, as he loves them so. There were some HUGE ones in the animal barns so he wasn't disappointed! He got to see some animals that were new to him and participated in a lot of people watching. I feel like we are always getting to see more of his personality and right now he is a pretty serious, observant little person. Many of our pictures make him look like he is upset or sad, but overall I really think he was enjoying himself. In new situations he just like to watch and then the next time he is more confident and gets sillier. It will be interesting to see what he is like next year at the fair.

I am so grateful for our beautiful family day at the fair. The weather was great, the food was yummy, the fair was fun. To make things even more relaxing we set a dollar limit for the day so neither of us had to worry if the other thought we were spending too much. We came in $8 under what we were free to spend for the day! It was nice for both of us to not have to worry about money and to actually even be encouraging the other to get something that they wanted. Is it wrong that we spent ALL our money on food? :) Sometimes we are frugal even when we aren't trying to be. And that is okay with me!

For more gratefulness visit Gratituesday at Heavenly Homemakers.

Heather

Off to the Fair!

We are off to the Wisconsin State Fair today! Mike and I have gone almost every year and we are excited to go again this year. Last year we had a baby who was only about a week old, so we decided to skip it. Now our little guy will get to see all the animals and have his very first taste of a cream puff. If you've never been to the Wisconsin State Fair then you've never had a real honest to goodness, so big you can't believe it, yummy as can be cream puff. I can't wait for mine. Thankfully I didn't miss out on these last year as two wonderful friends brought some to the new mommy!





The picture is not our little guy. It is from five years ago when my parents and nephew came up for a visit. He was about 18 months old and had THE BEST time at the fair. The cream puffs were a hit, as were all things piggy and tractor. And there are lots of tractors and things piggy at the state fair! When we were showing his mom the pictures a few months later he got really excited all over again. I hope our little guy enjoys it like his cousin did!


Have a great Monday and pray it doesn't rain all over us. Its been a wet weekend and they are saying its not over yet.


Heather

How to make Homemade Hamburger Buns

A long, long time ago someone read my new little blog. And she asked, very nicely, if I could talk about baking bread. Specifically, if I could talk about baking hamburger buns as her recipe had left her frustrated. And even thought I'm no expert on hamburger buns, or bread and I haven't even had a blog long enough for it to have been a long, long time ago I decided I'd finally get around to answering her questions because she asked very nicely. So here is my best explanation of how to make great homemade hamburger buns.

Can you tell I've been up a long time already?

Basically, I've learned that baking bread is really not that hard if you really aren't too terribly fussy and you have one little piece of equipment, a bread machine. I have no special skills, but I've learned that feel is more important that specific measurements when it comes to how much flour vs. how much water you need on any specific day. And I quickly learned that a bread machine is your bestest friend ever when it comes to kneading. You can make bread without it, but I really prefer to have one!

So I had to make about 60 hamburger buns for my son's birthday and I did it all without too much muss or fuss. Start with your ingredients. Pictured here are some of what goes into our favorite hamburger bun recipe. Not pictured is milk. Please ignore the rather messy appearance as this was taken after the 4th batch of dough had been started. And I do not keep a clean kitchen while in the middle of baking. Or cooking. Or on Wednesdays. Or any day that ends in "day." It is a problem.

I load all the ingredients into my bread machine. Sorry for the blurry picture! It is my savior when it comes to kneading dough. It makes all the dough for pizza crusts, hamburger buns, and bread in our house. It is at least 10 years old, is dirty, and is worth every penny of the $12 I spent on it when I bought it! I see these for sale at yard sales and thrift stores all the time. We actually bought a brand new one for $9 for my mother-in-law at a thrift store just 2 years ago. They are worth the investment! My machine gets all the wet ingredients first, dry on top and then yeast at the very end. It gets set to the dough setting which takes an hour and 20 minutes to complete.

I check it about 10 minutes into the process to adjust with more flour or more water. You want it to be kind of silky to the touch. It should not be overly sticky (add more flour) and it shouldn't be so dry and tough that the machine cannot knead it fairly easily (add more water). There will be some bounce to the dough if you push on it and some resistance when you break a piece off. Then I just let it do its thing! When it beeps I have a big hunk of dough to work with.

Just for fun, a trippy picture of dough being kneaded by the machine.

Plop the dough on the counter and grab a bench scraper. If you don't have a bench scraper you can use a knife. Or your hands. This is not rocket science and there is no need to be afraid.

Pinch, pull or cut off a hunk of dough that is a small palmful or so. This can be adjusted for the size of buns you want to make. Tiny amount for sliders, huge amount for jumbo burgers. Do what strikes your fancy! Or get crazy and shape it into hot dog buns or brat buns or hero rolls.

Roll the dough around in your palm until it makes a ball, assuming you are going for the standard hamburger bun style roll. If I'm being more picky (or making just one batch and have some extra time) I kind of flat them a bit and bull the edges down and underneath so the top gets super smooth. Then they are a bit more nice looking, but no one has ever noticed when I do that extra step, so let's just do the quick method.

Smoosh the ball. It may or may not be perfectly round, but just get it kind of like a circle. It should be fairly flat. I just use my hands to smoosh, but if you wanted to break out the rolling pin and get them to be all equal in size and thickness, knock yourself out!

Put the rolls onto a backing stone or cookie sheet or whatever you plan to cook them on. Please take no notice of the dirty pizza stone and just look at the nice cookie sheet above. You may notice that my buns are not perfect. Such is life! Embrace diversity :) Cover them with a towel and let them rise. They need to poof up and look more like hamburger buns. This could take 30 minutes if conditions are perfect, but I always figure 45 minutes to 1 1/2 hours. Just check on them when you get a chance and be ready to bake them when they look right.

This is looking right. They are poofed up a bit and look like unbaked hamburger buns.

Put them in a 400 degree oven and immediately turn down to 375. These will cook for 15 minutes or so. I check them at about 12 and then just pull them out when they look done. They should be lightly browned on top. I find that with a pizza stone they take a little longer (the stone is not preheated since they were rising on it), with a metal cookie sheet them are done a bit quicker. If you find that some outside ones are done, but that some in the middle are not yet done enough just pull off the ones that are done and pop the pan back in for a few minutes. I won't tell anyone!

Place the rolls on a rack to cool. Enjoy the yummy smell of fresh bread. Tell your husband he has to wait until dinner. Watch him rolls his eyes and drool a little. Then give in and let him have one hot out of the oven. Let him tell you how great you are. Then cool these and serve or cool and then freeze. We keep a bag in the freezer and just pull out what we need. They freeze really well and taste great after they thaw! You may notice that the tops are not as bumpy as before. The rising on the counter and the extra rise when they bake helps take care of some imperfections. This is why I wouldn't stress too much about the making them really smooth unless you like stress. Then have a ball!

The recipe I use:

1 1/4 c. milk

1/3 c. vegetable oil

1/4 c. sugar

1 tsp salt

3 3/4 c. flour

2 1/4 tsp yeast

Layer in machine in order listed. Run dough cycle. Shape rolls, flatten, place on a stone or cookie sheet with sides almost touching. Let rise 45-60 minutes or until they look right. Heat oven to 400 and place pans in. Immediately lower to 375 and bake 12-18 minutes. Will make 10-14 average size rolls.

Good luck and let me know if you have any questions!

Heather

We're Back and He's ONE!

It has been a whirlwind of the highest order around here lately. I didn't say too much before hand or during, but it has been a crazy month for trips and such around our household. And our baby is now officially ONE! Where has the time gone?

To give you a brief rundown here's where we've been. In the last two weeks we've spent 5 days (Thursday-Monday) in Kentucky visiting my family and attending a cousin's wedding. Then we came home and had 5 days to plan and get ready for our little one's birthday party. During that week I worked, Mike had gigs and we took his actual birthday (Thursday) to just have a low key day with the three of us. Then Saturday we attended another first birthday part and Sunday we hosted ours. To keep life interesting we headed to St. Louis early Monday morning and met my sister and the munchkins who came up from Arkansas! Tuesday Mike played at a library in Illinois and we drove home that afternoon/evening. Wednesday I worked at 4:30 am and then we spent the day at another band job. Thursday I worked at 6 am. Thank goodness it is Friday and I'm not working!!!



But, all in all I'm so glad we've seen both sets of Grandparents, his aunt and cousins and all right around his birthday. It felt like it was the longest birthday party ever! Maybe next year we can all meet at one location and save a few thousand miles on our van :) It is wonderful to have so many family and friends and for my husband to be doing something he loves. I am really excited to spend some time at home and to catch up on our lives a bit. We seem to work best as a family when we have down time to just relax and hang out together, take the dogs on walks and just be together. August should provide some opportunity for that and I am grateful!

No deals to report this week although hopefully I'll be doing some rummaging on my way home from work tomorrow. Today we are headed off to sign our trust/will and little guy is spending his first time away from us. How great is it that his entire first year was spent with one of his parents there to take care of his every need? I know that he is in good hands today, but it is going to be odd to be together and not have him there. I never knew when we'd take time away although it will be good for us to do it more as he gets older. I'm just grateful that there hasn't been a reason until now.

Have a wonderful Friday and we'll return to the Frugal Find Friday postings next week!

Heather