AMANDA JOY BECKER: April 2008 Archives
Rolls:
1 Cup Milk
1/2 Cup Water
1/4 Cup Butter
4 1/2 Cup All purpose flour
1 pack of Yeast
2 Tablespoons Sugar
1 1/2 Teaspoons salt
1 Egg
In a small sauce pan heat the milk, water and butter on med heat until 120 degrees, not boiling like I did so that you have to wait 25 minutes till it actually comes down to 120 degrees. 120 degrees is what this needs to be so that it can make the yeast react and not kill it.
In a large bowl mix the flour, yeast, sugar and salt. Mix the milk mixture into the flour mixture and then add the egg. Stir in the remaining flour half a cup at a time. By the time you get to the end of the flour you are gonna have biceps that are screaming- ignore it, this is good for you! Once the dough has pulled together~ meaning you try to stir it and it is one big mass, turn the bowl on it's side and dump the dough onto a floured surface. Knead the dough for like 8 to 10 minutes- I did for 12 minutes but only cause I had my Ipod hooked up to this really cool stereo thingy and I could listen to all my cool music and I wanted to get thru my Alicia keys song.
Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces, shape into smooth balls and place on greased baking sheet, flatten slightly and cover, let rise for 30 to 35 minutes.
Bake at 400 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes- I baked mine for more like 15 minutes.
For Hotdog buns shape each piece of dough into a 6x4 rectangle Starting with the longer side, roll up tightly and pinch edges and ends to seal. Let rise for about 20 to 25 minutes.. I made 15 of these I could have gotten about 18 I bet- but hey.. trial by error right? Either way these were very good and the kids and B loved them! give'em a try!
Anyone ever read Where the Sidewalk ends? by Shel Silverstein? Today that one poem Sick is stuck in my head-
I definitely feel like this, I would post it here but I am never sure of publishing laws- you can google it!
I was playing on the site the other night at home- well I thought- this is great I am donating food and learning vocabulary... then the competitive side of me thought- I bet my left arm my vocab is better than B's!!! So of course- it is LOL and I have fun picking on him... but really all in fun because together I think we donated over 800 pieces of rice in 10 min.. how and where else can you dork around have some light hearted fun and feed people for free?
I suggest trying it - I bet you learn a new word or two!!! leave me a comment while you are at it! let me know your Vocab Level-
I am not really sure what to start putting in this "Blog" style page. I am assuming it can be things like my thoughts or non work related things. The only real blogging I have read is those celebrity gossip ones (I am sure it is a bad idea to admit I read those, but seriously- how can one not want to know if Brittany has another "episode"?), well I suppose that isn't true, I do read the ones here in Confluence just to get a feel for what others are doing.
I think that I am going to put things like my favorite recipes here for now, since I am "blogging" and that is what I like to do - Cook. I love to Cook and I love to organize and redecorate. It is kind of borderline OCD. Every time I clean the house I have to rearrange the room I am cleaning so that I feel like i am "Decorating" not "Cleaning". Plus rearranging keeps me from constantly buying crap to decorate with. I keep a vintage Trunk in the finished basement filled with decorating things that I constantly rotate, so when I feel like "buying" I can shop in the house... okay there is the other thing I love~ being or challenging myself to be Frugal. I use coupons like money and look for them as if they were actual cash... Because when it comes right down to it- they are cash!
Okay now that I have talked that thru to myself- I think I have a handle on what my Blog will consist of:
- Frugalness
- Cooking
- Organization
- Decorating/Cleaning
Okay- I am that person I am the one (of many in this town) that you get in line behind at Giant and think "Crap, she has 4000 coupons". But - How much is in your cart? How much are you paying for what is in your cart? I can assure you that it is a heck of a lot more than what I am paying. Plus if it is close to Thanksgiving or Easter- I got that Ham or Turkey Free.
I use coupons like money- because in reality they are, free money. Every Sunday I send B (i call Brian "B" so from now on - B= Brian) to the Unimart store and he knows what to get- The Harrisburg, Philly and usually the CDT paper. I don't like the CDT the coupons are usually crap- but B has this thing about reading it- which in it self is very OCD like since noone else can touch the paper until he has, but what ever he goes to get them for me - so I don't mind adhering to the "I read the CDT first and until I do noone else can touch it" rule.
In each corner of the papers it will tell you how much money you will save in coupons by purchasing it, this is what B looks for.. He knows over 200 bucks is pretty good bless his heart.
Normally I will spend Sunday afternoon, Sunday night at the latest, clipping and organizing the money into "by Isle" order for my Giant grocery store. I like Giant - they double up to 1 dollar, so if a coupon is 1 dollar - Bam it is 2 Dollars. I have literally not paid for Toothpaste or Deodorant in probably 3 years.
Newspapers are not the only way to get coupons, you can find them at most Retailers websites too, go to your fav retailers website- click on the little "contact us" link and shoot them off a compliment comment, in a few days you will normally get a nice letter with coupons in it for their product. I keep track of which retailers i do this to, and resend a comment in about a year again. These coupons are normally for Free products. Think about it Companies hear all the time about something they did wrong or a complaint- when they get a compliment, they love it and normally they reward you!
In my mind couponing and frugalness go hand in hand with organization. You can not be a scatterbrain to coupon. You have to have your act together to accomplish a real difference in your bill. Here is a example - my Giant trip on 3/10/2008:
Let me preface this by saying - Last night I had the urge to just Shop.. LOL but being the insane person i am couldn't bring me self to spend money on clothes or the like- so i took the 4yr old to the grocery store with my coupons
Emerald Pecan Pie Pecans
Heavy duty Reynolds wrap
Purina Naturals dog food 2lb canister (two of them)
Lysol Cleaner
Goodlife Dog bag 4lb bag (3 of them)
Quaker Oatmeal 18 oz
Quaker Simple Granola bars
Fruit Chews(for the 4 yr old)
Cottenlle wipes
2 Bounty Paper towels
Busy Bone dog treat
Dole fruit cream jello thingines
Kens Dressing
Frenches spicy mustard
Frenches Dijon Mustard
Frenchs-French Fried Onions
Kellogg Snacks
Welches Dried Cranberries
Nabisco Candy Bites (3 boxes)
2 Hellman's 30 oz Mayos
Campbell's Cream Chicken
Campbell's Soup
Campbell's Gold Label Soup
2 McCormick Seasoning packs
Purina treats
Carvers Treats (dog)
Snausages
Duncans Hines Cake Mix
Duncan Hines Frosting
2 rolls TP
3 Lemons
1 9lb Ham
2 Bags BirdsEye veggies
4 bags Hanover frozen Veggies
Kraft Deli select Cheese
2 Quarts Vanilla Creamer
6 Breyers Yogurts
2 Pints Sour cream
Bottle Old Spice
170 count Qtips
Crest Toothpaste
Advil Pm
Tums 60 count
one other thing I can not figure out what it is LOL
Total: 150.02
Total Bonus Card savings: 24.10
Total Manfac. Coupons: 49.75
Total doubled Coupons: 26.04
Total Savings: 99.89
Total Paid: 43.03
I had a 8 off 80 coupon from the flyer
and a free ham coupon
also I used some freebie coupons I got for emailing companies about how much I loved their product
Alot of the food I cook is based in the
whole "Paula Deen" way of cooking-and from scratch so if you are
looking for low fat or healthy or anything like that- I apologize ahead
of time- that doesn't normally happen in our house. I like cooking down
home traditional stick to your ribs food- Why? (you may not care why
but this is a Blog so I can type all I want about "Why" I cook like
this) I honestly believe it is because growing up I had a Mom who was
something of a mmmm hippie- and I mean no disrespect Mom- but all the "TigerLily" sidedishes, "Dandelion Tea" and I can assure you we were the only kids on the block- heck the only ones in the state who had "Egg Drop soup"
when we were sick instead of Chicken Noodle soup, has inspired me to
cook the complete opposite from my mother. On many occasions she has
called me during our nightly "Dinner Time rush" to see what I am
cooking and her reply will always include something like "Oh My God do
you realize the evilness of white bread and how much salt is in that
Ham Pot Pie you are making?" I usually laugh and explain that is why
my good doctor has prescribed me High Blood Pressure medicine 
So that I can counteract that salt" To which she dutifully says " I raised you better that that"
Ahhh all in fun I know. But I want to be the mom that my boys seriously tell people "My mom makes the best brownies, chocolate cake, Ham Potpie, Stuffed Peppers, Bread anything...
I know it is working with Brian cause I think he has gained like 20 LBs since we got married!
So - Here they are- I have about 40 some recipes that I continually go to again and again because they are easy, frugal, comforting and the family eats it- which mind you is not easy when you are trying to feed 3 Men (I use this term loosely since Connor is only 4).
I am starting out with a Breakfast Recipe:
Cinnamon-Swirl Bread
1 1/3 c. granulated sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 c. all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder (yes-- tablespoon)
1/2 tsp. salt
1 egg (beaten)
1 c. milk
1/3 c. vegetable oil
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9x5x3-inch loaf pan
. Mix 1/3 c. sugar and cinnamon; set aside. In a large mixing bowl, combine
flour, baking powder, salt, and remaining sugar. Combine egg, milk, and oil;
add to flour mixture. Stir by hand just until moistened. Pour half the batter into
prepared pan. Sprinkle with half the cinnamon mixture. Repeat with remaining
batter and cinnamon mixture. Draw a knife through batter to marble.
Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes.
Remove from pan. Cool. Wrap and store bread overnight before slicing. Serves 16.
Now - I know it says it serves "16" but comeon- honestly? Do you really think that if you had 16 people at your house you could safely say this loaf of bread would satisfy them? I beg to differ with that Serves so many crap...
I use this recipe alot and honestly it is important that you make it the night before then slice it.
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