Get Organized For Spring

This isn't a spring cleaning post (although one is probably in the offing!). This more a list of things you need to do now, while winter is still hanging over all of our heads, so you can really enjoy the warm weather that's just around the corner!

Photo From How Stuff Works

1. Clean Our Your Air Conditioner

Few things are worse than waiting to turn your a/c on until you really need it (I'm one of those people who puts it off as long as possible) and then it not actually turning on! And naturally this happened to multiple other people, so the HVAC repair people can't get out to you immediately...

Improve your odds by following these simple instructions on cleaning your window unit or central air system. Yeah, they need cleaning. Then give them a test run so you can make sure everything is ready to go!

Photo From All Natural Store

2. Find A Farmer's Market

I'm a huge farmer's market booster. During the summer season I usually go at least once a week. The vegetables are, naturally, out of this world but you can also buy local honey, meat, eggs (and even meet the chicken who laid them!), prepared food, plants...it's amazing! Use this link to find your local farmer's market.

Photo From My Lot

3. Get Your Clothes Ready

Our master bedroom boasts of one fairly small closet and one chest of drawers. So we rotate our clothes in and out, using the larger closet in the spare room to store our out of season clothes. Right now our summer stuff is in there but over the next few weeks I'll start moving sweaters and sweats into the closet and pulling our summer wear back into our bedroom

This is also a good time to go through your clothes and decide what you need. J and I both need flip flops and summer shoes. I'm digging these Hogan turquoise striped canvas thong sandals although they are WAY out of my price range.

Here's a great link with ideas for organizing out of season clothing.

4. Set Up Your Outdoor Space

Photo From 1927 Countryside

We've lived here two years and we still don't have a good space outdoors for hanging out. I'm currently digging these benches made from pallets. We have a small deck, but these would provide a LOT of seating and we could pop a small circular table like this into the space for dining.

Speaking of dining, we don't have a grill! Crazy! We are SO getting one this summer. I'm not sure if it'll be a simple charcoal grill or a fancy gas grill with side burners, but I LOVE grilling out and it is past time we created an outdoor cooking space.

Emily pondering how much she hates flea meds.

5. Get Your Pets Ready

First, lets talk flea meds. I'm so conflicted about them. I don't like the idea of these chemicals coursing through Emily's body (we haven't used them yet on Nola, but given her health issues I'm even more leery of using them on her). I don't know if you've ever gotten any of the meds on your hand, but as soon as it hits your skin you get the WORST taste in your mouth. Gross.

However. Where we live is over run with fleas (maybe because we live by the lake?). All the neighbors battle them, too. And the more natural remedies we've pursued, and even giving Emily a weekly flea bath, doesn't work during summer. So we do all the prevention stuff but if we see a flea we break out the big guns for a couple of months.

If you are planning a summer vacation that includes the pets or includes them boarding somewhere while you are gone, remember to make get copies of their medical records from their vet and make sure they are up to date on their rabies and kennel cough vaccines.

Cavalier Motel, Outerbanks

6. Plan some summer fun!

We haven't been anywhere together in FOREVER. I'm busily pinning all sorts of ideas so we can plan a little getaway. Some of my favorites? Figure out a driving route that includes all major landmarks, a list of all factory tours by state (J would love this!), and I love the idea of this website where you plug in your start and ending places and it fills in all the cool stuff you could do along the way.

I love the beach, and I love vintage-y places (J interprets this as "Tracie loves to stay in places that makes me think of the Bates Motel") and I think the Cavalier looks AWESOME.

7. How Old ARE Your Sneakers?

My current sneakers are ancient. And I don't know if I've ever mentioned this on the blog, but I have scoliosis (former Boston Brace wearers, represent!), crazy flat feet, and overpronate like CRAZY. Ergo, I'm incredibly hard on my shoes.


I've heard good things about running shoes with metal springs. I KILL the cushioning in my sneakers, and these are supposedly very durable, along with providing lots of shock absorption (which I need). I'm planning on ordering some soon.

This is a good time to think about getting new running shoes, because hopefully we are all about to be more active as warm weather hits.

Affiliate links are included in this post.

What steps are y'all taking to get ready for spring?

It's Pi Day, And It's Also Date Night

Okay, its more like Date Afternoon because I have to work tonight! 

But the main point? It's Pi Day, the day we celebrate the never ending number 3.14etcetera. Did you know it's also Einstein's birthday? Seems appropriate, no?

Y'all, I've been absolutely SLAMMED this week. One of my freelance clients needed a big project done ASAP, we've had lots of J medical appointments, and I've been working a lot of hours at my other job.

All of this means I haven't had a lot of downtime and we certainly haven't had quality time (roughly defined as time we are both awake, in the same room, and I'm not attached to my laptop!). So a miniature dinner and a movie geek fest seemed appropriate and needed. Because of time and money crunches, it was important we have a cheap and easy date night.

First we needed dinner. I hit up my freezer stash. In honor of the day, I had to serve pie, right?

Remember when I told you guys that J's favorite dinner is chicken pot pie and so I always keep some on hand for quick meals?

A Marie Callender's Chicken Pot Pie was waiting in our freezer (um, along with my paint roller). How much do I love an on-theme dinner that also is J's favorite AND requires very little hands on time from me? If you need to add some frozen pies to your freezer, Marie Callender's is offering a coupon good for a $1.50 off of any one of their frozen pies. The link is live through March 21, 2013 and the coupon is good through March 31, 2013.  Affordable and...

Easy! Prep is as simple as removing the pie from the box, wrapping the edges of the crust in a strip of aluminum foil and placing it in the oven on 400 for about an hour. And during that hour I can catch up on some other work. Awesome. Check out Marie Callender's blog for great entertaining tips and other great tips! Also on their website you can review and rate any Marie Callender's frozen meal. I'm super curious about the Chicken Corn Chowder Pot Pie. I love chicken corn chowder generally (I love almost any chowder, generally!) so this sounds awesome.

Ahh...a happy J! True confession? We're totally going to eat in bed while we watch our movie! It's a holiday, so rules of normal civility just go flying out the window! (Right?)

Now, for the next part of our Pi Day Date Night/Afternoon? A viewing of Star Trek. One of our favorite movies! The next entry in the JJ Abrams reboot comes out in May and we are ridiculously excited. We're going to have leave the house for that date night! Although, knowing us, we'll still probably end up eating Marie Callender's frozen chicken pot pies before we go. For now, watching a DVD in bed while eating a yummy dinner seems a fantastic treat. All in all, a cheap and easy (and super enjoyable!) date night treat!

So how are y'all celebrating Pi Day this year?

(I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective, and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.)

Go From Eating Out To Eating In...The Easy Way

Original Image From Here

Here's a true confession: we ate out a lot when I was growing up. The times my mom or dad cooked were more the exception than the rule. I carried on in this manner as an adult. Unlike my parents, I actually love cooking (thanks, grandmothers!). However, my cooking tended to be very involved affairs with various spice profiles and multiple pots.

Not sustainable. Especially after J and I married I needed to churn out inexpensive, budget friendly, tasty meals on the regular. We both really enjoy cooking, so for awhile every night was a culinary adventure.

This was also unsustainable. I read around on the internet on "how to eat cheaply" and "how to eat at home." I didn't find these ideas especially useful, either. These plans were usually extremely complicated, full of processed ingredients, and involved freezing complete meals. I didn't think this was workable either.

So here is how I went from eating out to eating in, and saving money along the way.

1. Avoid The Chicken Nugget Conundrum

Photo From Here

A friend recently commented that she and her husband need to save money and decided to cut out restaurants, but inevitably ended up grabbing fast food because they were exhausted and fast food is quick.

This is where I break away from most "save money on food" advice.

As you move from eating out (and grabbing take out) on a regular basis to eating in, you need things in your freezer that don't require forethought, a lot of time, or preparation.

You need to hit up the frozen food aisle. Yeah, I said it. At any given time our freezer is usually home to various frozen pizzas, chicken pot pies, and taquitos. Over in the pantry I keep a few cans of clam chowder.

Now this stuff can be ridiculously expensive. Never, ever pay full price. Friend the makers of your favorite frozen meals on Facebook; occasionally you'll score a coupon. Watch the frozen food aisle for sales and decide what your acceptable price is. I never pay more than a dollar for chicken pot pies, $4 for a big box of taquitos, and $5 for a large, specialty frozen pizza.

It might not be the healthiest choices EVER, but it's much better to spend $4 on a 20 count box of taquitos and add on $.50 of salsa than to buy dinner for both of us at Taco Bell, which would definitely clock in at over $10.

We also don't do this all the time. Maybe once a week.

By the way, rotisserie grocery store chickens can be a fantastic deal. I buy them at our local store for $5 and usually get at least three meals for both of us at out of it (sliced chicken, various chicken bits in a pasta dish or salad, and the carcass as the basis for chicken noodle soup).

2. Develop A Collection of Quick Recipes

Photo From Here

I love long simmered braises and stews. Those don't happen on a regular basis. If turning out dinner becomes an involved, hours long affair which results in fantastic food but multiple dirty pots...you are going to resume your first name basis relationship with the nice person at your favorite drive-thru with a quickness.

Create a collection (and record them somewhere easily accessible; I actually have a private blog where I keep all my recipes) of easy, quick dinners.

One of our favorites is a spinach salad with either boiled eggs (which I try to keep ready in the fridge) or sautéed chicken with sesame dressing. Delish. Another quick favorite is curried carrots and lentils (I sauté onions with curry powder, add chicken broth, add diced carrots and lentils, cook for 30 minutes). I adore eggs in purgatory , which is basically poached eggs in tomato sauce, which I eat with toast.

One pot meals are awesome. Orzo pasta can cook with the pasta toppings. Sauté tomatoes, onions, and mushrooms. Add in broth, add in orzo...and you have dinner.

Sandwich fixings (we both ate roast beef and cheddar sandwiches for dinner last night and were very happy) are also awesome for turning out quick meals AND bringing your lunch.

Any sort of "flat" sandwich also make for great dinners. I'm a big fan of bean and cheese quesadillas. Super cheap, super easy.

3. Decide On What's Convenient For You

Photo From Here

There is nothing I love better than a long simmered, homemade chicken stock. I wish I was the kind of person who always has some stashed away in her freezer. I'm not. So I have beef and chicken stock bases in my cabinet. I'm not going to pretend that dishes made with prepared broths and stocks are as good as those made with homemade stock; they aren't. But with most dishes the prepared stock is fine. It's a really rare dish that's going to be severely comprised by using commercial stock base.

Usually I cook up huge batches of dried beans, divide them up into bags, and freeze them. If I'm running low and know I'm not going to cook up another batch I'll buy canned beans. Canned beans are still a good deal. They can help make a salad, pop into a pasta dish, be part of a rice and beans dish, or go into a quesadilla or burrito.

Other "convenient" items I keep on hand are bread, tortillas, a couple of jars of pasta sauce, salsa, and lots of canned tomatoes. Sometimes I buy hummus.

(Stuff I never buy? Canned soup (other than clam chowder) because I think it tastes weird.)

The biggest thing here is to be realistic. I often think that I'll just grab a huge country ham, cook it, and we can make sandwiches off of it for months! In reality, I know that although deli ham isn't as good of a deal, it means we'll actually have sandwich fixings.

4. Don't Come Home From The Grocery Store And Decide You Have Nothing To Eat

Photo From Here

We've all been there. We've gone to the grocery store, spent lots of money, come home, put away bags and bags of groceries, looked in the fridge, and felt like there was nothing in there to actually eat.

I think this phenomena occurs because people shop for recipes instead of for food they actually eat. When I walk into the grocery store I rarely have specific recipes in mind (unless its for a special occaison). Instead I focus on the kinds of food we like to eat and zero in on sale items.

I buy different things at different times of the year. During the winter we eats lots of beans, potatoes, and cheap cuts of meat because we eat a lot of braised dishes and soups. During the spring and summer we eats lots of vegetable based dishes.

Later I'll post about exactly how I save money grocery shopping, but right now I just want you to focus on keeping your kitchen stocked with food you genuinely like to eat. If you eat lots of pasta dishes, make sure you keep pasta on hand.

What tips do you guys have for cutting out restaurants and take-out?

Stocking The Pantry

As I whined about mentioned over the last couple of weeks I've been battling the flu. It became a struggle just get to cover the essentials, so non-essential things fell to the wayside. I've spent the last couple of days trying to get everything back on track in the house- laundry, cleaning, groceries, projects.

When I checked the kitchen this morning we were basically down to a couple of apples, half a gallon of milk, some hummus, half a jar of salsa, and a box of pasta.

Uh-oh.

I started to think about pantry essentials. What do I need to feel "stocked" and avoid takeout runs. I asked some friends. Cheese and frozen pizza topped the list.

Personally? I need cheese, eggs, potatoes, onions, garlic, pasta, lentils, beans, and canned tomatoes. With these things on hand I can make anything ranging from an omelet to chili, and could conceivably make something to eat in about ten minutes (add in tortillas to this list and I'd really be in business). Oh, and milk. (Because of J's medical issues, milk is his primary food. Most days he drinks milk and I cook for myself.)

What about you guys? What pantry staples are must haves in your house so you can produce dinner?

Make This. Right Now. Tonight: Best Ever Beef Stew

On all that I hold dear this is the best beef stew you'll ever eat...mostly because it's more of a boeuf bourguignon. It's a weird, Tracie-ized mashup of Julia Child's iconic recipe, Anthony Bourdain's equally fantastic version, and your standard church cookbook beef stew.

Ingredients

1. A tough, lean cut of meat. Chuck shoulder or anything labeled roast works well.
2. Some potatoes.
3. Onions. I like lots and lots.
4. Carrots.
5. Oil. Something with a high smoke point. Vegetable oil works well; olive would be a disaster.
6. Flour.
7. Red wine. Yes, this is the only liquid you are going to use. A bottle is about right, or four of the little cardboard things in the pic (Ingles sells them super cheap and it works well for cooking).
8. Seasonings. Fancy people will use fresh herbes de provence bundles. Cheap people will use powdered rosemary, thyme, and basil. I also like a little dill. Salt. Pepper.

Preppy Prep Prep

Turn on your oven's broiler.

Cut the beef into your desired size. I like longer pieces because I think it looks nice on a plate. Lightly flour. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Peel and dice potatoes. Don't go to small, but small enough that the potatoes will get all gloriously mushy.

Carrots. Peel. Slice. You want nice, big carrot chunks or else they'll turn to baby food in your stew. J HATES mushy carrots so I go really large.

Dice up a whole mess of onions.

Sear Like You've Never Seared Before

Put a little oil into an oven safe dish (I use an enameled cast iron pot). Put it in the oven under the broiler. Turn a stove burner on high. Let the pot heat up in the oven while your burner heats up. 

VERY, VERY CAREFULLY move the pan from the oven to the stove-top. Seriously, it is super easy to burn yourself doing this. Don't.

Just when the oil starts to smoke, add in SOME of the meat. Sear off each side, remove to a waiting plate, sear off another small batch. Small batches are key.

This is the best method I've found to achieve a hard sear on a regular household range.

Just Braisin'

Turn the heat way down, towards medium. Add the onions and seasonings. Stir constantly. After a few minutes add the wine. Then add the beef back in the pot. 

Bring it up to a boil, turn it down to a simmer, cover it...and go do something else for about an hour. I mean, something in your house needs to be spray-painted, right?

After an hour or so drift back into the kitchen. Taste broth. Adjust seasonings if needed. If there's not enough liquid from the wine and beef juices add some water or beef stock (or more wine, if you have it).

Now add the potatoes. Let them settle down and the simmering recommence. Then add the carrots. Check your liquid level again. Clamp the lid back down and go watch Downton Abbey. Check in occasionally, because cooking out all the liquid would be a shame.

At this point the beef stew should be ready. However? This dish is good at first, but AMAZING the next day. So let it come to room temperature, pop it in the fridge, and heat it up very gently the next day. If you eat the stew immediately it has all the flavor and depth of your standard first year college student. Let it sit and it becomes Auntie Mame.

You can serve it all pretty by making a bed of potatoes with a couple of carrots leaning against it and the beef on top, with some of the gravy poured over the whole thing. This is what I did, but I deleted the pictures or something (???). Bad blogger.

Y'all, this is really good. The amount of wine is the key. If you think you are using to much, go ahead and pour in some more. It's great with a spinach salad and some nice, crusty bread.

Best Fall Recipes in Blogland

Fall is here. The season of sweaters, falling leaves, and embracing comfort food. As I wrote out our grocery list for the next week, I realized many of my favorite come from my favorite food blogs. And I thought we all could use a little comfort today. So, without further ado, the BEST fall recipes from blogs. I've been using most of these recipes for years. So they are definitely Tracie tested and approved. J is also quite fond of most of them.

 From Smitten Kitchen 

Smitten Kitchen's Arroz Con Pollo (Cuban Chicken with Rice). Why do I love this? It's relatively cheap (especially if you ditch the beer for a little added chicken stock and make your own roasted pepper strips), it's a one pot meal, and it's even better the next day. Leftover are always awesome. They are even more awesome when they TASTE BETTER THE NEXT DAY.

Photo from Orangethe

Warm Butternut and Chickpea salad with Tahini from Orangette. This is, hands down, my favorite thing to make with butternut squash. It's so comforting. It's also really cheap, except for the tahini. But you'll have lots left over, so make some hummus. Here's a bonus recipe: the best hummus ever. When you roast red peppers for the hummus save some for the Cuban chicken and rice dish!

From The Wednesday Chef

The Wednesday Chef's adaptation of Mark Bittman's Tomato Paella is juicy and warm and slightly and spicy and...After a summer of eating tomatoes, you'd think I'd be sick of them. I'm never, ever sick of tomatoes. However, no one wants to eat hothouse tomatoes raw (ew!), so I start busting out the best cooked tomato recipes. This is one of the best. OMG, it is so good I want to get up and make this right now! True confession: I am cheap, so I don't buy Spanish pimenton. I do use Adobe seasoning in it, and it is awesome.

From The Wednesday Chef

 Roasted Carrot and Red Lentil Soup (from the Wednesday Chef) might not sound super exciting, but I promise you if you make this soup you'll thank me. Often, because you'll make it repeatedly. It's filling, incredibly tasty, and super cheap (and when you REALLY need cheap eats it also works with green lentils). It's also easy to make a lot of it, so it's great for a crowd.

Photo from Anne's Food

 Roasted chickpeas from Anne's Food changed my life. This might sound like hyperbole...okay, it is a little hyperbolic but roasted chickpeas are the most delicious snack/lunch/dinner/brunch/dessert option you'll ever have. Salty and crunchy and super filling- they are awesome party food. We make them for movie nights. We make them for Real Housewives nights. We make them because it's a day ending in -y. They are simply awesome. You can also toss different flavors on them for new roasted chickpea experiences.

From Cheap Healthy Good

Another awesome food to graze upon (instead of look upon, because it doesn't look all the awesome) is Cheap Healthy Good's white bean dip. A can or DIY cup of cannelloni beans, some garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper, and lemon juice go into a blender and out comes one of my favorite dips of all time. And it's even good for you! It definitely has less calories than Helluva Good French Onion Dip, my other dip fave. Cheaper, too.

Photo from Beyond Salmon

 Beyond Salmon's Grapefruit Risotto was one of the first things I cooked for J. Aww! Memories! Seriously, this is good...so good! And rather sophisticated, so you could totally serve it to someone you're trying to impress. I know it can sound kind weird, but this dish is smooth, citrusy, cheesy deliciousness. Helen's oven risotto method is also awesome.

Photo from Beyond Salmon

 Another Beyond Salmon recipe. This tomato and onion tart recipe is WONDERFUL. The tomatoes char up, bringing their sugars to the forefront and cuts through the heavy richness of the cheese perfectly. Oh, and the jam you cook the onions down into? Heavenly. True confession time? I don't make my own pie crust. I recommend Trader Joe's/Aldi's frozen pie crusts. They brown up nicely and aren't sweet. I also use the mixture in the tiny little cute pie shells for an appetizer like experience.

Photo From 101 Cookbooks

 Roasted cauliflower popcorn from 101 Cookbooks. The first time I made this was Thanksgiving 2008. I've never stopped making it. Aldi's had cauliflower on sale for $.99 this week, so I had it for dinner, um, a few times this week. I've sometimes cheated and used panko breadcrumbs or substituted a ground spicy spice for a fresh minced pepper. It's still delicious, every time.

Photo from Smitten Kitchen

And now, ladies of gentlemen, the best recipe in the blogosphere. Yes, I'm serious. It's ridiculously good. It's Smitten Kitchen's Thai-Style Chicken Legs. She posted it in the summer, and apparently it is awesome on the grill, but I always get a hankering for it in the fall. The ingredient list might sound weird (fish sauce!), but I promise you it all blends together into something absolutely fantastic. It's sweet and complicated in this weird way you never knew you wanted your chicken to be sweet and complicated in. If you keep fish sauce and hoisin on hand it's also cheap for a meat dish.