Birthday Cake

Growing up if it was your birthday my mom rolled out her favorite recipe for chocolate cake and topped it with Seafoam frosting. I can still see Mom baking the cake in her pans that had bars attached to loosen the cake, similar to this one:  and beating that frosting in the top of a double boiler on the stove.

My grandson J turned 5 the other day and his mom and dad are having family over for a birthday dinner today. My daughter asked me to please bake our traditional cake for him. I was happy to oblige:

Mom's Chocolate Cake:
1/2 cup butter
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 cup boiling water

1. Cream together butter, sugar, and cocoa powder. In a second bowl sift together flour, baking soda, and salt. To the butter mixture beat in egg yolks, vanilla, and buttermilk. Add wet ingredients to dry ones and beat well. Add boiling water and beat until smooth.
2.Divide into two greased and floured 9 inch cake pans.  Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
3. Cool completely. Frost.

Here's the cake cooling off:

Mom's Sea foam Frosting:
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup cold water
2 egg whites
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
1 tsp. vanilla

1. In the top portion of a double boiler place brown sugar, water, egg whites and cream of tartar. With an electric hand mixer beat on low speed for three minutes.
2. Place over boiling water, cook constantly beating with mixer, for 7 minutes or until stiff peaks have formed.
3. Remove from over heat and add vanilla. Beat 2-3 minutes until frosting is at spreading consistency.
Makes enough frosting to do filling, top and sides of a two layer 9 inch cake or one 10 inch tube cake.

Here's my DIY double boiler:

 And the cake all frosted

 

 And decorated!

 

And the gift all wrapped up and ready to go:

 

 

 

 

Saturday's shopping trip & Financial Week in Review 3/17-3/24

Here is this week's accountability entry for the finances. Most of the week was very frugal with a couple of exceptions.

Sunday 3/17: Car wash $10 (I detailed the inside and cleaned wheels and rims myself but that Suv is hard to wash the top of so through the car wash we went) Gas: $50.50

Monday 3/18: $0

Tuesday 3/19: Bowling $18

Wednesday 3/20: $0

Thursday 3/21:$0

Friday 3/22: $0

Saturday 3/23: Target: $55.62  ToysRUs:$52.77  Bed Bath & Beyond: $55.05

Yesterday was quite the major shopping spree (by the way this little drawing is an accurate depiction of GF and I , lol) . I worked my cleaning job (and set aside the money for my cell phone bill in an envelope to give my sister), GF took us to lunch, and then we hit the stores. At Target I purchased two packages of sponges for $3.78, this will be reimbursed to me from the school cafeteria petty cash since they are for work. I also picked up two new bras, badly needed since I lost two favorites to wear and tear and broken underwires. I still have a minor toothache so I got a tube of anbesol as well as a birthday card for my grandson J who just turned 5 and a cake server/carrier. We are going to my daughter's house today for a birthday dinner and she asked me to bring our family's traditional Chocolate cake with Seafoam frosting. I had nothing to transport this in safely without ruining the frosting and since I have to make another one next week for oldest dd's birthday and take it to the family Easter celebration this carrier will get multiple uses.

Our next stop was Toys R Us for a birthday gift for grandson. He is going to be playing t-ball this summer and his parents wanted something for outdoor play for him. GF and I settled on a T-ball starter set (T with ball return, net for throwing practices, bases for base running practice, ball) and a Louisville Slugger t-ball bat. A roll of sports themed wrapping paper rounded out our purchase.

And then we made a final stop at Bed Bath and Beyond. We had a 20% off coupon and I wanted to get a new pillow (waking up each morning with a stiff neck gave me a  hint that it was time to make this purchase) as well as a box of my favorite flavor of Keurig coffee cups. GF also wanted to purchase a new pillow.  I spent $55.05 and came home with the coffee cups, 2 donut baking pans (for GF's house), a cup cake batter dispenser (for use next time I do a baking class with aftercare group), an a 3 pack of Stick and Click lights for under the counters in my kitchen (this way we won't have the big florescent light on all the time and will save electricity since these small lights are battery operated). You will notice I did not purchase a pillow. After 20 minutes of debate on pillow types and firmness I really wanted to buy myself the $60 memory foam pillow but did not want to spend that much money. I was about to chose a less expensive $20 pillow when GF offered to buy the pillow for me since he was getting one for himself. So my new pillow was a gift!

St Patty's Day Dinner

 Although I myself am not Irish I did the traditional thing and wore green on Sunday as well as plan an Irish style dinner. GF does not enjoy corned beef and cabbage so instead I made plans to join oldest son and his wife on Monday for that meal and turned to an "Irish" dinner that I knew GF would enjoy. I settled on Shepherd's Pie (although since I used ground beef in place of the lamb that GF also does not like it is technically Cottage Pie) and put one together. I decided on candied carrots for a side and as per GF's request chocolate pudding for dessert. I was first introduced to Shepherd's pie through a high school friend who had immigrated here with her family from Scotland. It was something her mom made all the time. I was hooked when she made it for me and it has become a staple recipe in my home. The amounts in my recipe are really just estimates since I make this the way she showed me how with a bit of a recipe from Great British Cooking thrown in.

Shepherd's Pie
 4 cups mashed potatoes
2 pounds ground lamb or beef
1/2 cup milk
3 tbl. worcestershire sauce
salt and pepper to taste
2 tbl flour
2 tsp. herbs of your choice ( I like parsley, thyme, and rosemary)
2 tbl. chopped onion
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Prepare mashed potatoes or use leftovers from another meal. Set aside. In a large skillet brown ground meat, add salt and peppers, herbs and worcestershire sauce. Mix well. Sprinkle flour over the top and mix in, add milk and cook until gravy thickens. Pour meat mixture into a casserole dish and stir in frozen peas. Spread mashed potatoes over the top and sprinkle cheese over all. I like to dot a bit of butter on the top of the potatoes before adding the cheese and jazz it up with a little parsley over the cheese.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Serve hot.

Here is how the pie looked before going in the oven.

I got the carrots started on the stove and once they were cooked drained them, melted a tablespoon of butter with 2 tablespoons of brown sugar then tossed the carrots in the pot with them before serving. I also got out a box of cook and serve chocolate pudding from the cupboard and put that together to enjoy later on while we watched Amazing Race.

 

This is not the greatest picture of my dinner plate but it give you the idea of what it looked like when all served up. Yummy!

 

Sunday Morning Breakfast

 Sunday is the one day of the week where I traditionally cook a breakfast and this week was no exception. After a couple of hours spent sipping coffee and reading the news and putzing around it was time to get started.

It being St Patrick's Day I chose to pair up my breakfast meal with a nice pot of Irish Breakfast Tea and settled on making Eggs, Ham slices, and Rye toast.

 

I love the quickness of this breakfast, ready to eat in just about ten minutes. GF went for over easy on the eggs but I preferred sunny side up.

All fueled up and ready to get to a cozy day of errands, chores, and our usual Sunday drive.

 

Week in Review:Financial Roundup

  It has been a pretty good week here! Income: cleaning job + paycheck that included some nice overtime money from working prep and setup for Fish fry!

Sunday 3/10: $40 on gas for SUV

Monday 3/11: $0

Tuesday 3/12: $18 for bowling

Wednesday 3/13: $6 for a ticket to watch my nephew's basketball team in the regional playoffs

Thursday 3/14: $0

Friday 3/15: $0

Saturday 3/16: $39 on groceries for GF's house, bought 1 dozen eggs, a package of 6 breakfast sized ham steaks, a loaf of Irish soda bread, a loaf of rye bread, a package of cinnamon raisin bagels, a bottle of Worcestershire sauce, a cabbage, two bags baby carrots, one onion, s box of Irish breakfast tea, a box of honey lemon green tea and a 12 pck of lemon flavored sparkling mineral water
$79 at Target where I bought a 6 pack of new undies for myself, disposible razors, deodorant, nail polish, Real Simple magazine, and the latest expansion pack for The Sims computer game (this is a family favorite we all enjoy playing).

Winner Winner Turkey Dinner!

It was an amazing day weatherwise on the northcoast yesterday. Our temperatures reached into the mid to high 60s and for the most part the sun was shining. A perfect opportunity to get outside and enjoy.
Car cleaning chores were tops on my list yesterday and after the trip through the carwash on Saturday I was determined to follow up with a detailed cleaning of the interior of my vehicle. After a couple of hours spent vacuuming, cleaning windows, scrubbing floor mats, and washing all the insides of the doors and dashboard, as well as applying shiny tire stuff to my tires my ride looked almost brand spanking new. GF spent that time cleaning both his car and his Harley and we were ready to take our traditional Sunday drive.
First however I needed to get dinner started. Way back at Thanksgiving GF's company gave him a turkey that we stuck in his freezer for further use. Weighing in at around 16 pounds it wasn't a horribly large bird but big enough that I knew I'd get several meals out of it.

   

 

I prepped the bird, cleaning it and discarding the innards. Then sprayed the outside with a generous coating of spray Smart Balance and seasoned it inside and out with McCormack's Rotisserie Chicken seasoning blend. Popped it into the biggest baking pan GF has in his kitchen (note to self acquire a roaster for him) and it was oven ready:

 

 



GF and I knew we'd have a few hours to enjoy ourselves since the sides I'd planned on (stovetop stuffing, homemade gravy, green beans and cranberry sauce) would only take the few minutes the bird was resting before carving to put together. We enjoyed a lovely drive into a rural area of our state with a stop at a couple of very old cemeteries for me to take headstone pictures of some of my great etc. grandparents for my genealogy research. At first GF was uncertain about this plan and thought wandering around old cemeteries was a bit morbid. However on the ride home he said he'd been wrong and that this was a peaceful way to enjoy a couple of hours outdoors in the sun and the warmth after a cold snowy winter.

When we arrived back at his home I let the turkey rest, prepared the sides and we enjoyed a wonderful 'Thanksgiving like" feast for dinner. Here is my plate all ready for me to enjoy:

 

Financial Roundup 3/3-3/4

Sadly the tree pictured here is not growing in my backyard. LOL. However it was a happy week financially. On the first both my paycheck and our death benefits check rolled in together. I was able to pay all the outstanding bills (electricity and cell phone come in due mid month) and take the grocery shopping trip I posted about on Monday and still have some cash left in the checking account!! Yesterday I worked my cleaning gig, more money in my pocket. In addition I got a check for the special baking class I did with our aftercare kids and put that into my savings account.

Expenses for this week:

Monday 3/3: Haircut for youngest son: $15 (including tip for barber), Groceries: $217.36 (my goal is no more than $250), nonfood household items: $20.46 (out of the $50 goal I set myself)

Tuesday 3/4: $18 for bowling

Wednesday 3/5: $0

Thursday 3/6: $0

Friday 3/7:$0

Saturday: $15 for the deluxe car wash for my SUV (it needed some serious attention and with the weather being in the low 50s and sunny this was the time to do it). Today I will clean out the interior myself. 

As far as the bills I paid go I was extremely happy with them all. My gas bill for the month of February which is traditionally the highest bill of  year for me was still a reasonable $219, even with the series of bitterly cold and windy days we had here. I think our program of using a programmable thermostat to lower heating temps when we are not home or awake, covering windows, and covering the steps leading to the basement which prevents drafts from the side door going directly to the furnace is having an impact. As for the electric, we once again read our own meter and submitted the reading online and the bill due on the 18th is once again a more reasonable $69. I still can't believe the electric company does not read my meter. (funny story there, they called my across the road neighbor to schedule a reading of his meter, the truck showed up and sat in front of my house for 10 minutes then drove away..no one ever even got out of the truck and approached his house...crazy).

This week looks to be a nice one financially as well. There will be the usual gas and bowling expenses and the electric and cell phone to pay at the end of the week but other than that I don't anticipate any additional spending.

Honey Glazed pork tenderloin

After putting away the groceries I had youngest son grab a package of pork tenderloin from the freezer and I popped it into the microwave to defrost.
Over the weekend I picked up the latest issue of Taste of Home holiday Easter recipe cards. While browsing through it I came across a recipe I really wanted to try for Honey Glazed Pork Tenderloin and tonight was the night. It was myself and the guys for dinner and it met with rave reviews.

Honey glazed Pork Tenderloin:
1/2 tsp garlic powder ( I used 2 cloves fresh garlic, pressed)
1/2 tsp ground chipotle pepper
1/2 tsp pepper
2 pork tenderloins
1 tbl. canola oil
1/2 cup honey
2 tbl. soy sauce
1 tbl. balsamic vinegar
1 tsp sesame oil

Combine first three ingredients and rub into pork. In a large ovenproof skillet heat canola oil and brown pork all over. Mix together the remaining ingredients and pour over the tenderloins. Place pan in a preheated 350 degree oven for 20-25 minutes until meat reaches an internal temperature of 145 degrees, basting occasionally with pan juices. Let stand for 5 minutes, slice, and serve with pan juice.

March Grocery shopping

After work today I had to run my youngest son to the barber shop for a haircut, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to do my big grocery shop for the month as well since the barber is literally in the shopping plaza next to the BJs Wholesale Club we frequent.
So Son and I were off to BJs! I spent $55.82 and brought home a half gallon of mango-peach-orange juice, a 2 pack of Smart Balance spread, 2 lbs. frozen shrimp, 2 lbs. lemons, a large container of dried parsley, 5 lbs. sweet onions, a 2 pack of broccoli-cheddar soup (son's request), and a 48 oz. box of cheezits crackers.
Our next stop was Aldi. Keeping in mind my $250 budget for the month for food I had determined ahead of time that Aldi would be getting the lion's share of my food dollar. I spent $136.82 on food and another $20.46 from my $50 household budget there. Nonfood wise I purchased large kitchen trash bags, small Ziploc freezer bags, plastic wrap, aluminum foil, dish soap, and body lotion.
Food wise I brought home 4 'slim jim' meat snacks (son's treat), 3 lbs. granny smith apples, 3 lbs. navel oranges, 3 lb. bag quarter leg chicken, 3 lb. bag boneless skinless chicken breast, a large corned beef brisket, 1 package string cheese, 2 bags chicken strips (one plain, one buffalo), 3 lbs. bananas, 1 bottle grape juice, 1 bottle cranberry juice, 1 bottle apple juice, 1 bottle cranberry-raspberry juice, 2 bottles red grapefruit juice, 1 bottle mango-tangerine juice, 4 cans Arizona green tea, 4 cans Arizona Arnold Palmer Lite, 10 lbs. russet potatoes, 3 lbs. carrots, 1 lb. baby carrots, 4 cans mandarin oranges, 1 pack. chocolate pudding, 4 boxes jello (2 orange, 2 strawberry)1 bottle lemon juice, 2 cans cream of mushroom soup, 1 pack mini cucumbers, 1 English cucumber, 1 pint mushrooms, 4 bottles steak sauce, 2 quarts strawberries, 1 container old fashioned oatmeal, 2 blocks Colby cheese, 1 block NY sharp cheddar, 1 block Dubliner cheese, 1 round Queso Fresco, 1 pack. large flour tortillas, 1 pint grape tomatoes, 2 containers lemon yogurt (son's request) 4 containers assorted fruit Greek yogurt, 1 bag spring greens, 2 lbs. brown sugar, 1 quart low fat cottage cheese, 1 pint low fat sour cream, 1 box tagliatelle, 1 can whipped cream, 1 bag shredded Mexican cheese, 1 bag shredded mozzarella cheese, 1 bag shredded cheddar cheese, 1 jar raspberry preserves, 1 jar mild salsa, 5 bags assorted chips, and 1 dozen eggs.
We'd planned on going to the farmer's market but since BJs had no cottage hams today we settled on making Marc's our final stop. We spent $24.72 and brought home  2 bags egg noodles, 1 large cabbage, 6 ruby red grapefruits, 4 red bell peppers, a nice sized cottage ham, one bunch of celery, and a loaf of bread.
Out of the $250 I budgeted for food in March I have now spent $217.36 leaving me just under $33 for more produce (and possibly milk) for later in the month, a healthy amount and out of the $50 I budgeted for household items I have left $29.54.
I am quite happy so far. I have restocked a few pantry items, gotten in everything I need for the main parts of my dinner menus, gotten in enough fresh produce for 2 weeks or more, and provided a nice variety of snacks, easy to prepare things for youngest daughters lunches , and plenty of juices which I prefer the kids drink over soda pop. And since I gave up sodas and candy for Lent I also treated myself with a nice amount of Arizona ice teas.

March grocery list

  After finishing the menus, reviewing what is on hand in the cupboards and the freezer, and taking a look at our fresh produce I have put together a shopping list for March. It is heavy on fresh produce. I will purchase enough for two weeks when I do my big shopping trip tomorrow and then purchase more on a second much smaller trip mid month.
I plan on shopping BJ's wholesale club, Aldi, and the farmer's market this time around.
My list broken down by store:

BJ's wholesale club:
frozen shrimp
cottage ham (smoked boneless pork butt)
cheezits
Smart balance
dried parsley

Aldi:
chicken quarters
boneless skinless chicken breast
corned beef
yogurt
eggs
sour cream
lowfat cottage cheese
cheeses (block colby, shredded mozzarella, shredded mexican, string cheese)
au gratin potatoes
white rice
steak sauce
juices (apple, red grapefruit, orange, cranberry, grape)
oatmeal
canned corn
cream of mushroom soup
tortillas
chips
salsa
fresh produce (romaine lettuce, potatoes, carrots, celery, onions, cabbage, mushrooms, bananas, apples, english cucumbers, oranges)
breaded chicken strips

Farmer's Market:
ruby red grapefruit (unless I can get it at Aldi)
turnips
red bell peppers
broccoli slaw

March Dinner Menus

 I have finally completed the March menus. On the first we grabbed fast food on our way to the Auto Show. We had my grandson J, almost five, with us and so we went with his request, McD's. GF and I chose the fish sandwich and fries and J got chicken nuggets and fries. By no means a healthy meal but since time was limited and this is a treat for him (his mom and dad don't do much fast food either) it fulfilled the need . Last night I made homemade meatballs and sauce and served it over spaghetti with a simple salad.
Today's dinner plan is my mom's recipe for breaded and baked pork chops with some homemade applesauce, baked potatoes (GF has two potatoes that need to be used up before they go bad), and another salad.
The following are the rest of this month's menus in no special order. I planned out 25 meals , we have plans to go out to dinner twice, once for a relative's birthday, one more time to fish fry. The last Sunday in March is Easter. I will bring a dish or two to my sister's house for the family holiday meal as is tradition.  I planned heavily using items I already have on hand. I also included quite a few salads since I am craving fresh salads in a bad way right now.  New to me recipes have an *, recipes using planned overs are in bold. Recipes using items I already have on hand in the pantry or freezer are in italics.

Honey glazed Pork tenderloin*, white & wild rice pilaf, green beans

Sweet and Spicy Kielbasa, cabbage and noodles

Pan seared lemon tilapia with Parmesan couscous*, broccoli with lemon and herbs

Swiss steak, egg noodles, corn

Tuna Noodle casserole, salad

Herb Roasted Turkey with stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce

Lemon herb broiled salmon fillet, baked potatoes, broccoli with garlic

Turkey burritos, Spanish rice, corn

Spicy Meatloaf, scalloped potatoes, candied carrots

Pork Tenderloin balsamico, white and wild rice, salad

Parmesan encrusted shrimp*, fettuccine with garlic, green beans

Turkey and stuffing casserole, salad

 Cottage pie ( Shepherd's pie with ground beef), corn

Corned beef and cabbage, mashed potatoes, carrots

Mom's cottage ham, Mom's dropped dumplings, mixed veggies

English Fish and chips, peas

Swedish meatballs, egg noodles, green beans

Chicken Parmesan, cavatelle with sauce, salad

Harvest pork stew,  homemade fly-off-the-plate rolls

Herb encrusted eye of round roast, Duchess cauliflower*, balsamic roasted Brussels sprouts*

Amish Spicy oven fried chicken, escalloped corn, Mom's cucumber salad

French dip sandwiches, ranch oven fries*, pickles

Roasted chicken, au gratin potatoes, salad

Popeye's shrimp, Mom's baked macaroni and cheese, salad

BBQ Chicken pizza,  salad

March Goals

Having finished paying all of the bills for March with the exception of the electric bill (I submitted the meter reading myself today and the bill won't be due until mid month) and my cell phone (which goes to my sister and can be done at the end of the month) I then reviewed my checkbook balance and future income and contemplated  my financial goals for March.  I have decided on a few things:
Goal one: I want to begin to build up enough money in my savings account to cover the cost of all new tires on my SUV next fall (about $400-$450) and I need to put away another $300 to cover any unexpected expenses over the summer when I am not working or being paid from my cafeteria job. Our death benefits are still in force so we have the mortgage, car payment, and insurances covered but we will need enough in the savings to pay for the remaining bills, gas, food, and the unexpected. I have a nice balance for that goal already but I want to have a cushion as well. To that end I plan on putting the amount of money I would have spent towards that student loan I paid off( $170) in the savings. Plus I plan on putting at least half of what I earn cleaning for the month ($125) in there as well as an extra $5 to round this up to a total of $300 into my savings for the next 3 months. That will make my goal plus a bit extra.
I am continuing to keep an eye out for available jobs that I can do in addition to my cafeteria and cleaning jobs but so far nothing that will actually benefit us in any meaningful way has shown up. Goal two: Continue to actively look for this job.
Goal three: Cut down on grocery spending and manage to get a few Easter treats purchased as well. My food goal for the month is going to be $250 and my household cleaning/paper/beauty supply goal is going to be $50. $300 total. I think we can easily do this after reviewing the freezer and pantry supplies.
I am still menu planning and putting together a shopping list. I will share those when I have them completed.
Goal 4: Any extra money remaining in the checking account at the end of the month will be split in half with part of it going in the savings and the rest being put aside for spending on my trip to Kansas in April. All the travel expenses have been paid for but I am going to need to get a gift for my granddaughter and have some money to do fun stuff and I am sure we will have an adults only  night out to dinner while I am there. I want to have plenty in my pocket. What doesn't get spent will go into the savings in April.
As far as March income goes we are looking healthy, I will get three full paychecks along with a bit of extra from fish fry work, I will be doing another baking class with the aftercare group and get a small check (which like the last one will go directly into the savings) for that, I will be cleaning twice, and will be receiving the $200 a month from my middle son for his car insurance and covering the DirecTV as per our agreement. I don't charge him rent because he takes care of all the handyman work around the house and pays for the majority of the supplies needed for that kind of thing himself.

Catching Up: Finances 2/18-2/28

It has been quite a bit of time since I was able to spend some time writing here. The annual fish fry season at work has begun. We do 6 frys on the Fridays of Lent and part of my job as the cafeteria manager is to assist the folks who run these with prep and set up. It is nice since it is a bit more money in the pay packet. On the social side of things the GF and I have been busy with a wedding we attended and then a fundraiser Night at the Races thing we go to annually. I worked my cleaning job the morning of the fundraiser and set aside some money for betting and side board tickets that night. I won a $50 sideboard so my total expenditure that evening was $5!!!
This last week was busy at work, the end of one month and the start of a new one means a lot of paperwork comes across my desk so that has kept me occupied. Things will slow down some this week since the only extra will be fish fry.
Lets get right down to the expenses for the remainder of February.
Monday 2/18: As previously posted I spent $42.46 at Marcs on groceries. I also spent a total of $181.87 at Home Depot for the new faucet ($148), washers for the drain under the sink that needed replacing, and a basin wrench my son needed to install the faucet. I had expected to spend more money on smoke alarms but lucked out when my oldest daughter gave me three extra alarms she had in a box along with batteries for them. My son installed them and they work well. We were a bit "alarmed" (haha) to find out our old smoke alarm (we only had one on the main floor) no longer worked even with a new battery. Disaster averted. (inset sigh of relief here)
Tuesday: 2/19: Bowling $18, $52.54 at the department of Motor Vehicles for new license plate stickers
Wednesday 2/20: Drug Mart for cleaning supplies and roast beef from the deli $30.87
Thursday 2/21: $0
Friday: 2/22: $0
Saturday 2/23: $5 at the fundraiser after my $50 win.
Sunday 2/24: $36 on gas
Monday 2/25: $0
Tuesday: 2/26: $18 on bowling
Wednesday: 2/27: $0
Thursday 2/28: $ 0
It was an expensive month here but I also managed to stick a bit of money in the savings and accomplish the big goal of paying off that student loan so all in all I am satisfied.