Who needs NEW jeans? Make the old ones FUN!!!

So, if you haven't noticed, the price of EVERYTHING is going up, up, UP!!! With six kids, I have a hard enough time affording new pants every time one of them grows out of their jeans, or more often, when my youngest blows the knees out of his jeans.  (I mean seriously, this child has been through THREE, yes THREE pant lengths since school started in August, he's killing me with the growth spurts already! The falling down and putting holes in one and/or both knees is icing on the cake!!)

My husband is totally against holes in pants and thinks they all need to be thrown out, I on the other hand say patch those babies up and keep wearing them!  I won't BUY them with holes in them but I won't throw them out b/c of them either! 

So, I can't take FULL credit for the idea, just for bringing it to you!! I dug into my craft bin and found all my old felt to patch the holes in my sons jeans while my husband was gone so that when he got home, he would see how useful , and cool looking, it could be!  

I cut out some white zig zags and put it on some red felt to make a mouth with fangs out of the main hole, then I just cut some circles out of white and black to sew over them to make eyes!  Now he has little faces over both of his knees to keep them warm and the pants functional in my husbands eyes!  It saves me money, looks awesome, and is really fun!  

The best part?  Now I can wait to spend money on more jeans!

Experiment Potatoes

So one evening we were tired of mashed potatoes, out of rice, didn't want macaroni and cheese, I was at a loss.  So, I decided to experiment.  Unfortunately, I didn't take pictures until it was done, I can just tell you it looked and tasted INCREDIBLE!!!  Well, that, and the name stuck!!  Now the kids always ask for "Experiment Potatoes". 

 INGREDIENT LIST:
5 Pounds Peeled and Cubed Potatoes, boiled and fork tender
4 cups + 2 cups Cheddar Jack (or your choice) shredded cheese
2- 8 oz packages softened cream cheese
2 cups sour cream
1 1/2 sticks butter room temperature
Optional- If mixture is EXTREMELY thick add a small amount of milk to loosen it up

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, grease 11 x 15 inch pan

Mix all ingredients except potatoes and 2 cups of shredded cheese to a large bowl and mix it up.  If the mixture is thick add milk until it is loosened.  Add in potatoes and mix until potatoes are covered.  Spread into pan.  Cover with remaining cheese.  Bake until golden brown and bubbly. 

Serve warm and enjoy thoroughly!!! 

Philly Cheese Steak Rolls

This is something quick I thought would be a GREAT way to start out this new venture of mine!  When visiting a Chinese Buffet recently my husband and kids had something they really enjoyed so I decided to try and make it at the house!  (Keep in mind I'm not a food photographer!)

 

Ingredient List:
2-3 Pounds Deli Roast Beef, pretty thinly sliced (I wait until it goes on sale and FREEZE b/c it can be expensive) About one pound for each roll you plan on making.
1 medium onion diced (we aren't green pepper fans but I'm sure it would taste great with it added in as well.  Just mix in with the diced onion and keep going)
Enough butter to sautee the onion
2- 1 lb blocks of Provolone Cheese
2 cans French Onion Soup
2 cans Beef Consume 
2 tubes of Crescent Roll Dough (I use the seemless kind but any kind works as long as you mash the edges together)

Start by slow cooking the Roast Beef in the French Onion Soup and Beef Consume until it is nice and juicy.  I am always in a rush though and this only lasts for about 30 minutes at most.  LOL  

While that is seeping in the flavor, pre-heat your oven to 350* and sautee up your onions until they are translucent.

Spread out your Crescent Roll dough on a cookie sheet (I recommend using parchment paper under or it will stick to the sheet.) If you are using the separated dough, make sure to pinch it all together so the rolls don't fall apart.   

Cut your cheese up into desired thickness, we LIKE cheese, I mean REALLY like it, so I make larger chunks.

Since you have done all of these things at least TWICE to feed your MASSES, your meat will have quite a while to soak in lots of juice.

If your meat has stewed long enough for your personal preference, remove it from the juice but KEEP THE JUICE!!!  

I start by putting a line of cheese down one edge of the dough followed by a small row of meat and sprinkling of onions and begin to roll it repeating the process over and over.  Don't fill it all the way to the edge though b/c the dough won't have anything to stick to and will fall apart. 

(Learn from my experience, keep the paper under it the WHOLE TIME even while baking!)

You can brush egg whites over it for a beautiful golden color (I did) or you could just pop it in the oven at this point. You want to bake it for about 25-40 minutes (depending on how many you cook at one time and your oven) until it is golden brown all over. 

It should look about like this!!!

I make 2 when I have a couple kids at sleep overs but if everyone is home I need at least 3 b/c they all love them!

One I slice it up and serve it, I give the juice I stewed the meat in earlier to the kids to dip the slices in.  YUMMY Drippy Goodness!!!! 

I hope you and your family enjoy this recipe as much as we do and I hope this is the first of many useful postings! 

WOW, how do you feed all those people?

 This is a question I get asked ALMOST every time someone finds out I have 6 kids (well, lets be honest, anyone who is married has and extra kid who some times counts as 2! ;p ) and my nephew lives with me.  Well, my answer is, VERY CAREFULLY!  LOL  
 Seriously though, we are a LARGE family in a shrinking economy when prices are doing nothing but going UP UP UP!!!  We became a large family when 2 were blessed and became one so going from cooking for 3 people to 8 (and more) was a complete shock!  
 I'm going to try and post some of my recipes and tricks for cooking on a larger scale and saving a little money while I do it.  
 I hope you enjoy and if you have any questions or tips, please feel free to comment or ask and we can work through this together!