Poor People Food: Spaghetti Edition

With the upcoming move and one income, I've been looking for any opportunities to save money on my grocery bill.

Tonight I wanted to share with you one easy, cheap meal you can make when you're in a hurry, but can't afford to go out.

That's all you need!

I think I need to preface this by saying that J has hated spaghetti for a long time. Since we got married, I've found several creative ways to make it that he enjoys (adding ground beef, fresh squash, or cheese), but they all involve adding expense to the meal.

Recently I discovered that the flavor in the pre-made sauce is what really turns him away. By making my own sauce, I was able to cut the cost of an already affordable meal and please us both! This is starting to sound like a 1950's advertisement. Yikes!

First, I put the spaghetti on to boil with a tiny splash of olive oil and a pinch of salt.

For whatever reason I decided to whisk the sauce in a bowl.
This is unnecessary. 

Then I take a can of tomato sauce that costs less than a dollar and pour into a sauce pan over medium high heat. I add a generous dash of olive oil (probably around 1/8 cup), Italian seasoning, garlic salt and onion powder. I heat it until it starts to pop, stirring regularly. Then I turn it to medium low and stir it more often to keep it from exploding all over the stove, until the noodles are ready.

Tada! Dinner's ready! With one box of off-brand spaghetti and 4 cans of tomato sauce I can make four big meals for around $6. Bam, Martha Stewart! Take that! ;)

When I'm feeling extra adventurous, I mix the sauce and noodles in an oven safe dish and sprinkle white cheese on top. I heat it in the oven at about 200 degrees until the cheese is melted. Mmmmmm

Extra adventurous!

We're Moving???

Isn't it funny how things just seem to work out?

I finally worked my last day as a TA this month, and although we had been preparing, transitioning to one income has not been a picnic.

J's been applying for jobs for a while, and we were sure this week he was right on the precipice of getting a good offer, when he got two.

I can't describe the relief and excitement we felt when that second offer came through. What a great opportunity! I did the dorkiest happy dance ever.

The job is in North Dakota.

This is so exciting. I've never been to ND or even north of Colorado for that matter. I can count the number of Canadians I've met in person on one hand, but I'm going to live so close to the Canadian border, we're already planning a day trip. Do all the women look like Shania Twain and Colby Smoulders? ...just kidding!

I am a little stressed about making the transition. I know it's going to be worth it, but it is going to take A LOT of work and A LOT of driving to get us there.

Once we're there, then what? What will our place be like? I know it's cold, but what does that mean exactly? Will potato ole's be as good as I remember from my childhood? (just go with it.) What about Cat? Are we going to get to take him with us?

So many unanswered questions!

Then there's a duplex full of stuff to concern ourselves with. Our Amazon store has doubled in size in the past week. Need a book? Need 20? 50?

I've got all of this on my mind when I finally turn to the distance. No more quick weekend trips to the farm. Not to mention the 10 days Scott will be up there before I can go. 10 days may seem short, but when you've found your favorite person on earth 10 hours is too long to be apart.

Then I have to find a job for myself. This I think will eventually work out too. But in the meantime it's the cherry on the sundae of questions.

With all of this, I'm still so excited, proud and relieved that we're moving forward with J's career and our life plans. I think the community is going to be great.

Ready or not, here we go!

Cupcake Wars!

A couple of months ago J and I were hungry...Wait...we're always hungry....

And we also wanted to go on a date...

Seems simple enough--go get some food.

Unfortunately, we're also poor...

So we decided to have cupcake wars in our kitchen using things we had on hand.

I use the phrase "cupcake wars" loosely because it turned out to be J taking photos of me making cupcakes more than a competition.

We picked two cupcake recipes, Red Velvet and Lemon, out of a lifestyle magazine I get. Click here to read another recipe I adapted from the magazine. 

I'm not going to post the recipes here because they're pretty basic...just look on pinterest, it's been covered. The idea is, take your man to the kitchen and cook together!

Or as in our case, your husband will play with his new camera while you do most of the baking...still fun!

Here some of J's photos. I picked ones that highlight some cupcake simple baking tricks to make the cupcakes come out a little more delicious.

Invest in a stand mixer. It's not absolutely necessary but
it just makes everything easier and  more fun.

There are a lot of ways to separate eggs. This is my
technique. It's old fashioned but it gets the job done.
(Using the whites without the yolk makes the cake whiter,
fluffier and less fattening. ...I just added that last attribute
because it sounds good. If you care about fat, you probably
just shouldn't eat cupcakes.)

I squeeze a lemon just like anyone else, I just liked this photo.

I pipe icing out of a gallon baggie with the corner cut off.
To fill the baggie I put it in a glass then pour or scoop the
icing in.

Craftiness!

Hey y'all!

Yesterday I was in a crafty mood while waiting on edits from my thesis adviser. I saw this craft on Pinterest the other day. It said something about the doorbell being broken, but since we don't have one in our duplex, I thought it could be just as fitting.

I just drew the letters in pencil and painted it with acrylic paint. I mixed the colors myself to give it some depth.

Can you tell I'm tired of writing? Long thesis=short blog. ;) 

Have a great week, y'all!

5 Reasons Why I Hate Editing

Friday was reorganize chapter one day. 

I'm now in editing mode on my thesis. Here are a few reasons why I hate it.

1. I have a HUGE ego.

That's right ladies and gents, I have a hard time admitting that that 10 page paper I pumped out from 2am to 5am isn't a winner. What do you mean I used passive voice?! Passive voice has never been used by me!

2. I know what I said, so why do I have to read it again?

 I hate rereading things! I can hardly read my favorite book again five years after I read it the first time.My own writing is the worst, because I wrote it. I know what it says....don't I? Wait...I wrote what? What does that even mean...?

3. It takes FOREVER!

I'm a busy genius, who has no time to waste with such nonsense! I must be churning out more brilliant copy, or watching Gilmore Girls... I have no time for this tediousity! (And I'm an excellent word inventor!) Let the little people handle the editing...

4. I'm tired of working on the same thing.

This is a massive paper that I've spent the better part of two years working on in one form or another. Can't we just call it a day and give me my degree already?

5. I don't have a long enough attention span.....

Wait, what was I talking about....

So there you have it, folks. Why I hate editing in a nutshell. Now that I've procrastinated...I guess I'll go find something else to procrastinate with...

Focusing on the Good Things

Hey everybody!

I know it's been an eternity since I last posted. 2013 in general is not shaping up so well, so I've been pretty busy.

Maybe I'll post some sweet nostalgic posts about the difficult things that have happened at some other point. Right now, I'm trying not to throw myself a pity party. You can ask anyone who's ever lived with me that I have a very strong tendency to throw pity parties and they're not fun events. There are no hats or pinatas, and only sometimes is there cake and I usually eat it all myself. ...I realize while I'm writing this that it's a really good thing I'm already married...

So sorry to my former roommates, immediate family members, and J! I really am working on it....

So instead of wallowing in the struggles of my life, I've decided to celebrate the things that are going well!

First, I am still married to my best friend.

In fact, we celebrated two years of marriage this month.

When I first came to graduate school, we were legitimately newlyweds. ...So new, I used to bring him up in conversations with new people to try to get used to calling him my husband. In hindsight I bet that was pretty annoying...oops. Now I sometimes have a hard time remembering what it was like to be single.

In all these hard times, he's been my rock. He's taken care of my every need, spoiled me, looked after me, taken care of things above and beyond his responsibilities, and bought me ice cream, an embarrassing amount of ice cream. He's an awesome guy, and I take that for granted way too often.

Second, I've been able to get more involved at church.

I'm finally teaching Bible class again and it makes me so happy! A friend and I get to teach half-a-dozen of the sweetest, most exhausting, smartest, and most adorable toddlers twice a week. I love their chubby, smiling faces and their sweet, honest hearts. I've hoped and prayed for a way to get more involved, and now I have one.

Third, I have finally drafted my thesis.

A friend from my cohort dubbed it "The T-Word." It was that evil monster-cloud of death hovering over my head for the past two years, and today I finally finished the first draft! There's more work, stress and long days to come, but the basics are there. That's a win in my book!

Fourth, all my friends seem to be getting on with their happy lives.

My Facebook is full of weddings, promotions, graduations, happy babies and rain. Rain is a really big deal in West Texas. My Facebook feed blows up at the first sign of a cloud...kind of makes windows seem redundant.

Anyways....

Did I not brag on my HS best friend's military promotion yet? I didn't?! Well she's totally killing it in the Army and I couldn't be prouder. I am a little scared that when she gets out, she's going to try to make me work out with her....If I get really fit suddenly, you'll know why. But seriously, she's an amazingly strong lady and I'm so proud of her accomplishments!

Did I not brag on my childhood best friend's baby? Man, I've been slacking! He's adorable. I haven't seen him since he was born last month, but I'm pretty sure he's gotten even more awesome since then. Talk about strong ladies, this girl was looking all kinds of gorgeous, smiling and greeting like 800 million visitors the day her huge perfect and adorable, but HUGE baby was born! I brought her a king sized candy bar because I have no children and therefore no idea what a new mom needs, and I love chocolate. If you need chocolate at any important point in life, I'm your girl.

Okay, I could go on and on and on....y'all know I'm prone to do that, but I'm going to stop there for now.

Thanks for bearing with me in the drought of last month. I hope to be back to posting recipes and fun stuff very soon!

Jalapeno Ranch Dip

Last night around 9:30, I was suddenly starving.

This happens to me often. I'm sitting, working and facebooking....then, all the sudden, I feel like I haven't eaten in months and I'll die if I don't get whatever craving I have.

Last night it was jalapeno ranch dip, so I made some.

(I feel the need to clarify right now that I'm not pregnant. I realize my normal eating habits are reminiscent of pregnant women, but I don't have any excuse. I just love junk food.)

Sorry this isn't a cooler picture. I was hungry.

This is how I made the dip last night, but you can do it in any order. Also, feel free to adjust the measurements to fit your taste. I don't measure, so these are all approximate anyway.

First, I put a quartered jalapeno in my chopper.

Next, I add 2/3(ish) cups of Sour Cream.

Then I added about 1/4 cup of Ranch dressing. (Ranch dip mix would probably be better.)

Then I added about half a cup of Mayo. (This is not diet food.)

Then I threw in some cilantro, garlic salt and onion powder.

I turned the chopper on until it looked like dip.

I ate it with potato chips, because I apparently wanted to see how many calories I could cram into one snack. But I think it would be really good on veggies, crackers or really anything because it's just a glorious combination of the world's most fattening foods and jalapenos.

Happy snacking!