January 3, 2012

Happy New Year!!!! 


Hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas and celebrated with friends and family to bring in the new year :)


This year I have made a decision to take a picture everyday of the year. I really wanted to do time lapse but figured it would be more of a pain to have my Canon in the same spot at the same time everyday. So I decided to take a picture of anything significant  (or insignificant) of that day.


Couponing!


I've been MIA for a while due to the holidays but made sure to print any new coupons that surfaced. I have to say I was a bit excited for the new coupons that came along with the new year (if your a couponer, you know the feeling). That feeling of fresh new savings in the air is so intoxicating :) I found some really great coupons such as $2 off Midol, $0.75 off Muir Glen Tomato Sauces (Walmart has the paste for around $0.98), General Mills, Barilla Tomato Sauce, Chex Mix, and so much more! All of these coupons are available on coupons.com. Be sure to try different zip codes for different coupons. 12345, 77477, and 90210 usually have the best.


Cooking!


Pork Loin, Beef Chuck Roast, Scalloped Potato, Chicken Tenders, French Fries (without frying), and Duchess Potatoes are just some of the dishes I've made over the holidays that I've never done before! I'm going to give my self a big pat on the shoulder and say that all of these dishes were absolutely divine! I really enjoyed making the Chicken Tenders and French Fries because I've never had them homemade before. I used Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs and coated them with Panko Bread Crumbs. The French Fries were tossed in garlic infused olive oil and butter with generous amounts of salt and pepper. The Pork Loin and the Roast were terrifying. I'm more apprehensive with meats because there are more ways it can go wrong than right. I made a nice Cajun/Garlic seasoning for the Pork Loin and it was delicious! The Chuck Roast was marinated with Ketchup, Mustard, Garlic (lots of garlic), Red Wine Vinegar, and Salt and Pepper. I did some research and found that people prefer slow cooking in an oven versus a crock pot. So I followed the directions and slow cooked it in the over for 8hours at 200 degrees. It gets better......I checked it at 4 hours and it was already cooked!!! Luckily it turned out great. It was flavorful and tender....thank goodness!


Pioneer Woman


I was introduced (TV show) to this wonderful woman from my mother in law. Her name is Ree Drummond and I feel as if she were my twin. She grew up in the city, met the love of her life, and moved to the country. She's a wife, mother, cook, and photographer. You have to check her out : http://thepioneerwoman.com/