Pie and Fish, but not Fish Pie

Image by karenchu121 via Flickr

I had to dip into the kids snacks today. You see I am working on a real easy peanut butter pie for dessert. But I did not have a graham cracker crust or any graham crackers to make one with. So I improvised.

I stole their cookies. Yeah I know I shouldn't but I just really wanted to make this pie but not run to the store. So instead I crunched up iced animal cookies, some coconut cookies and vanilla wafers. These I mixed with butter and a lil cinnamon and sugar. This I pressed into my pie shells and then chilled for my pie shell.

The pie itself is pretty easy.

Peanut Butter Pie

3/4 C creamy peanut butter

8 oz of whipped cream cheese

1 C powder sugar

1 tub (8 oz) frozen whipped topping (thawed)

and my pie shell.

Beat peanut butter, cream cheese and sugar til smooth. Fold into whipped topping. Then just pour into the pie shell. You can top it with chopped peanuts or some chocolate syrup. Pop in to the fridge and chill til dinner.

Here are some of the ways I am going to do fish sticks for lunch for the lil ladies during Lent. Thought they might help out. Thanks to Van de Kamp’s® or Mrs. Paul’s® for sending me these ideas.

Try these no-fuss recipes as a great way to get kids “hooked” on fish:

CRUNCHY FISH STICKS OVER MAC & CHEESE Serves 2

Ingredients:

4 Van de Kamp’s® or Mrs. Paul’s® Fish Sticks, baked & chopped

1 box, Macaroni & Cheese (use your favorite)

1 tablespoon, milk

1 tablespoon, butter

1 tablespoon ketchup

1 small tomato, diced

Directions: Bake the fish sticks according to package. Boil the macaroni until desired doneness. Strain and move to large mixing bowl. Mix cheese sauce, milk, butter, ketchup and tomatoes with the macaroni. Chop up Fish Sticks. In 2 bowls, evenly divide the macaroni and cheese, then top with the chopped fish sticks.

SWEET & SALTY FISH STICK LETTUCE CUPS Yields 4 Lettuce Cups

Ingredients:

8 Van de Kamp’s® or Mrs. Paul’s® Fish Sticks, baked and chopped

4 Iceberg Lettuce Leaves, use ones that are more cupped shaped

2 tablespoons honey

2 tablespoons soy sauce

Directions: Bake the fish sticks according to package or until heated through and crispy. Wash the Iceberg lettuce leaves and pat dry. In a medium mixing bowl, add the honey and soy sauce. Mix together and then add the fish sticks. Coat well. Fill the lettuce cups with the fish stick filling.

FISH STICK SANDWICH WITH SPICY KETCHUP

Serves 2

Ingredients:

6 Van de Kamp’s® or Mrs. Paul’s® Fish Sticks, baked

4 slices of bread or bun, use your favorite

1 tablespoon hot sauce

1 tablespoon ketchup

2 slices Cheddar cheese

1 small tomato, sliced

Directions: Bake the fish sticks according to package or until heated through and crispy. Toast the bread slices. In a small bowl, mix the hot sauce and ketchup together. Spread equally on the bread slices. Now build your sandwiches. Add the 3 fish sticks, cheese and tomato slices. Plate and serve.

FISH STICK MELTS

Yields 2 Melts

Ingredients:

6 Van de Kamp’s® or Mrs. Paul’s® Fish Sticks, baked

2 slices of bread (use your favorite)

1 tablespoon mayonnaise

1 tablespoon relish

2 slices Jack cheese

Directions: Bake the fish sticks according to package or until heated through and crispy. Keep toaster on. Lay bread slices flat. Mix the mayonnaise and relish together and spread evenly onto both slices. Add 3 fish sticks to each slice, line up side by side. Lay a piece of cheese over each set of fish sticks. Bake until bread is crispy and cheese is melted.

For the times when a quick fix is what you’re looking for, here are some easy tricks you can use:

• Topper: Chop up Van de Kamp’s or Mrs. Paul’s Fish Sticks and sprinkle over coleslaw for a crunchy and creamy bite.
• Mixer: Mix Van de Kamp’s or Mrs. Paul’s Fish Sticks with some rice and soy sauce for a flavorful, crunchy super snack.
• Dipper: Bake your crunchy fish sticks and then dip them into your favorite sauce. Try some of these flavorful favorites: mix equal party mustard and honey or equal parts ketchup and hot sauce.

Funky Kidz Give Away

This is fun! Really! I received this CD for Miss Emma to enjoy but it is going to become part of my daily workout too. The tunes are upbeat and I know all of the songs too!

Funky Kidz is a compilation of classic children’s songs, familiar to both kids today and parents of yesteryear. And each song was done by a different New Orleans artist. Which makes this a children's jazz extravaganza.

Tell me which songs you do not know?

Track Listing:

1. You’ve Got A Friend In Me - Bonerama (2:57)
2. Hokey Pokey – Big Sam’s Funky Nation (3:31)
3. Zip A Dee Doo Dah –Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk (3:10)
4. Yellow Submarine – Papa Grows Funk (2:56)
5. If I Only Had A Brain – Paul Sanchez (2:57)
6. He’s Got the Whole World In His Hands – George Porter Jr. (3:23)
7. Somewhere Over the Rainbow – Theresa Andersson (2:31)
8. Froggy Went A Courtin – The Radiators (5:11)
9. This Land is Your Land – Walter “Wolfman” Washington and the Roadmasters (4:17)
10. When I See An Elephant Fly – Johnny Sketch and the Dirty Notes (2:13)
11. This Little Light of Mine – Ingrid Lucia ( 3:01)
12. Garden Song – Amanda Shaw and the Cute Guys (3:53)

I can now even top all of this off. Because you too can have your very own copy of Funky Kidz. All you have to do is pop over to Funky Kidz and listen then come back and tell me which is your favorite song. (This is mandatory to enter.) You can also have extra entries too. Additional entries can all be done with a separate comment for each for following, having my button, twittering, links on face book, sending others to the giveaway (they have to credit you) and blogging about this great giveaway. Make sure that I can contact you some how in order to let you know if your the winner.

Popcorn Shrimp Recipes

Y'all know I am on a diet. And I tease that it is a SEE FOOD diet! Of course, I am really trying out different meals to keep me watching my calories, fat and still keeping in protein and fresh food as much as possible. I recently tried a new recipe and thought I would try it with you. So here is my real seafood meal. Seafood is an excellent source of protein, provides omega-3 fatty acids necessary for brain development and vision, and supplies essential vitamins like B12 and D, along with important nutrients.

Popcorn Shrimp Salad

• Ingredients
  2 cups fresh corn kernels (from 3 ears) or one 10-ounce package frozen corn, thawed
  1 pint cherry tomatoes, quartered
  1 package SeaPak® Popcorn Shrimp
  1/2 cup (3.5 ounces) shelled roasted pumpkin seeds
  6 scallions (white and light green parts), thinly sliced
  1/4 cup fresh orange juice
  2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
  2 teaspoons honey
  1 tablespoon olive oil
  3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 
  Directions
  In a large bowl, combine the corn, tomatoes, popcorn shrimp, pumpkin seeds, and scallions.
  In a separate bowl, whisk together the orange and lime juices, honey, oil, salt, and pepper. Toss with the shrimp mixture.

Now if this a lil too grown up for your kiddos I understand. “Seafood is one of the greatest super foods on the planet, and children should be eating more of it,” said Elizabeth Ward, nationally-recognized registered dietitian, mother and author of several books about nutrition for children. “Unfortunately, our generation of parents may be unaware of the incredible benefits seafood provides to children, and to the entire family, including protein and other essential nutrients.” I know that Emma enjoyed the following one below from SeaPak Shrimp Company.

Shrimp and Mac n' Cheese

Ingredients

1 package (20 oz) SeaPak® Popcorn Shrimp or SeaPak® Shrimp Poppers

1 package macaroni and cheese

Milk and butter (if needed to prepare macaroni and cheese)

Directions
PREHEAT oven to 450˚. Put water on to boil for macaroni.
ARRANGE popcorn shrimp in a single layer on a large baking sheet. Bake shrimp for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. For best results turn shrimp after baking for 5 minutes.
PREPARE macaroni and cheese according to package instructions.
POUR macaroni in to serving dish. Top with hot shrimp.
From Jenna G: Want to serve your family an even cheesier version? Cook shrimp and the macaroni and cheese according to the above instructions. Pour macaroni and cheese into a casserole dish. Top with hot shrimp then sprinkle shredded cheddar cheese on top. Pop the casserole under the broiler for a minute to melt the cheese.
From Robin C: After I've prepared it according to the recipe, I put it in a glass baking dish, crumble corn flakes on top, and bake it in the oven for about 5 minutes to make the top nice and cripsy. The kids love it!

CMA, Burgers & Shakes...Oh My!

Saturday we were able to contact the Brownwood (Texas) Christian Motorcycles Association. Gerald Shepard (also co owner of Jerry's Burgers & Shakes) the president of the CMA in Brownwood meet up with us. His friend CMA'er Gary Smith who heads up their Angel Tree project also was able to join us. And then we was able to share a great thing happening here.


CG with Gerald (aka Jerry) and Gary.

Our local Dollar General and the one in the next town over (Comanche and DeLeonTexas stores) have been doing a great thing. You see, during inventory there is a lot of new toys and other items they have to "penny out". And most places then THROW THEM AWAY AFTERWARDS! But these great store managers, Georgia and Cheryl, contact us so we can pick up the items. We then separate, sort, mark and store these items for our local Santa's Helper program. Well this year we had so much of this in the spring that we have been donating to other groups. Like stuffed animals to the police, sheriff, hospital and ambulances for scared or hurt children. Or to local families who lost their home to a fire. And a children's home close by. But we still had quite a bit more. So we contacted Jerry and Gary to see if they too would like the items for their own Angel Tree program. They were thrilled.

So off we went to deliver items for them.

CG with a heavy heavy box.
Gary pulling out more from the side of the Durango.
CG pulling out boxes of bows from Grandma's van.
DH hefting two boxes at one time.

You see we had both my mom's van full and our Durango too. This is with all the seats laid down in both vehicles. I had already sorted the majority of these toys into boxes marked: boys toys, girls toys, infant toys, christmas, clothes, ect.


Afterwards Jerry invited us to a free meal at his business. Oh my this was an unexpected treat.


Located in Early Texas just off of Hwy 377.
This is a chocolate cherry malt. You have to try this. Serious! It taste exactly like a frozen chocolate covered cherry. You can taste the white stuff in the candy even!
Here is a swiss mushroom burger, chili cheese burger (notice the knife and fork), onion rings and seasoned fries. All was so so good.
CG trying to eat her chili cheese burger without losing the contents. LOL

We had a great time. Was very thankful for these men and their organization to help store and share the toys with children. Check out your local CMA's. Also go to the Dollar General and shake the hands of a group that shares instead of throwing away items that can make a difference to children with very little.

And here is one last photo. CG had two gum balls. One blue and one pink. We could see her tongue had the colors on each side. We tried to capture it here but not as noticeable. But love having her looking so silly.

Importing Aid

I want to hire these Louisiana divorce attorneys to help my friend here in Texas. Do you think I can get them to travel here????

My friend has been going through all kinds of hell since Nov. '08 trying to get a divorce and custody of her 4 children. She has had to hire 2 different lawyers and still things are no closer to being settled. I like the web site for these Louisiana divorce attorneys because they offer real information to help.

The have a free booklet called Divorce Done Right . You can call Mary and ask her to send you a copy at (866) 376-7930. And they have a good section on their web site of information to know Before You Hire an Attorney. I have been learning a lot here that would have helped my friend greatly.

Do you think I can convince them to come to Texas and be her legal eagles?

It Started off Small?

Today is my Aunt's birthday. Tomorrow is a good friends day too. And of course there is Valentine's day coming up. So my mind is thinking about parties on the frugal end.
How to celebrate Kids Birthday Ideas or Valentine's Day Dinner or even the NO Day Party! (This was one of my mom-in-laws things, a "no day" gift. I loved them).

So what would be my idea of a good frugal party that would work? Well it would have to be pot luck for the food cost to be low. How about a bring a gift to the party to help someone else out? Like everyone brings something to donate to the local hospital children's unit or teddy bears for police and ambulance to give to scared lil ones. (Sounds good there)

Ok so we have a cause and food to eat. Decorations would be next. Of course if it is nice an outside party seems to work best. No constraints on moving around and having space for people to congregate. But wouldn't a block party be neater? Oh lets go grand and have a city wide party at the park. All be willing to do different cookouts on that day. Park be open to all and have plenty of places for the kiddos to run and play too. I bet local churches and singing groups would help with entertainment and drink stands. Hummm, this idea is growing.

Party for the town to help the kids. That seems to be a ticket there. Time for me to place this thinking cap in a few more hands. I am off to call the Chamber of Commerce and get to work.......will let you know when the party is!

A bit of quiet time

1st I would like to ask you to visit my
100 item give away blog
and these other give aways too!
Thank you.


Today life seems quiet. We are all waiting to hear of any outcome for our family with the twins. Still do not know how the dad is doing at the hospital. Family will not relay any information to the mom. The mom is arriving now with the 2 yr old twins and the 4 yr old boy and the 6 yr old girl before she goes to work at the nursing home. I am going to start referring to this family as the Twin Family (TF). There is all sorts of stories flying around our lil town as to what has happened. And to speculation as to who is at fault. This is not making it any easier for the mom or kids. We are also worried on the custody issues since dad is hospitalized in unknown condition. His family is reported to be here to try and take the kids with them. TF mom has contacted her lawyer but he is not seeming to be concerned til he knows what the police say about it all. Meanwhile the school is not sure what to do since the dad had full custody and mom only visitation. It is just too much at one time.

Otherwise we are doing the same as before. Watching the kids, taking them to school and back here. Trying to keep things here on the same schedule as before. Make it where the kids are not worried. I am working on keeping the house up. It seems like we have been up and down so much here lately. With TF mom living with us for a month. She now has a rental. Just get her moved and this happens. CG is getting ready to leave for a new semester. She currently has one of her BFF here visiting for a week. It feels like a revolving door. LOL Dear Nessa across the street says for a calm house we sure do have a lot going on here.

But for now, the babies are sleeping. The TF kids are watching Blue's Clues. I am making coffee for me and hot tea for my mom. Life is not to loud. And we have a lil time for breakfast before we start getting kids off to school. Oh for these quiet times.

Miss Me?

Sorry I have not been here for a few days.
I was overwhelmed with responsibility and illness.

The kids have finally gone back to dads. And the mom has a new home.
YEAH!

She moves in on the 1st. So I am glad that we were able to help her get back on her feet. It has been hectic here with her 4 kids staying for 9 days. And the twins were ill. Also mom (of the kids) was working every day too. So we were babysitting. DH and I also gave our master bedroom to the family during this time so they could all sleep together. Meanwhile we slept outside in the travel trailer.

I will start child care again today with two lil boys. These are not new to me just coming back after a years absence. And I have seen them regular during that time so they know the house. I need the money so that is a good thing. But the house is not really baby proofed anymore. And the youngest will have to learn the rules. Dang where did I put the baby gate at?

Christmas was nice but quiet. We did our gift exchange on the Eve and had our neighbors (Nessa's group) over to celebrate with us. They said it was fun to do. We went there in the Morn and watched the kids tear through the gifts. I really enjoyed seeing the kids get excited. As a matter of fact the lil ones we had staying here did their gifts on the afternoon of Eve here too. We went Day to our in laws and exchanged gifts at two homes. Seeing our own granddaughter get her gifts from us made us happy. Actually we sorta gifted for several days. Not passing up that Nessa's b-day was the week before and my mom's (happy 75th) was yesterday. So it has been quite merry.

Friday evening and Saturday I was really ill with the tummy stuff. Could not leave the bedroom or bathroom Saturday. So my CG and mom had to watch the kids. Thankfully I woke Sunday and was much better.

Since hubby worked on the Eve and the Day we did not make a Christmas dinner then. Instead we did it Sunday the 28th (again my mom's b-day). My lovely college girl helped and did tons of the meal. Learning how to cook so much of it from scratch. She did the turkey by herself. Whoo-hoo. Do your remember your first holiday turkey? It was wonderful, tender and falling off the bones. CG also made cornbread dressing from scratch, Home made biscuits too! All the side dishes were from fresh veggies and we did not use any packages, mixes or premade anything. My dear hubby was a massive help too. He buzzed around and help stir, mix, cook and clean any and all that was asked of him. I think that the 60 deviled eggs alone was an amazing feat. Our sweet potato bake was so cute since it had white and pink marshmallows on top. We had an even dozen here for the meal and all ate more than we could imagine. Leaving tons left for this next week of dab dinner nights. So what was the finally menu?

Appetizers: chilled shrimp, relish tray, veggie tray, crackers & chips, dips, devil eggs
Side dishes: mashed tators, sweet potato bake, macaroni salad, green beans, broccoli and cauliflower, fruit salad, green salad, cranberry sauce
Main course: Turkey!!!
Desserts: banana bread, tons of cookies
Drinks: Tea, coffee and hot apple cider

Word-full Wed

Good Morning all!

THE FIRST PART OF THIS POST HAS BEEN REPOSTED ABOVE. THIS IS SO YOU WOULD NOT HAVE TO READ IT TWICE. HOPE IT DOES NOT CONFUSE TOO MANY?

What else, hummmm.....well I have been held up by toddlers. Yes those lovely 21 month old twins I watch daily. Seems that they have decided that naps are passe' so we are just not doing them. Of course no one alerted me of this trend. So for two days I have had to stay with them on the large front porch we have or in the "gated community" of the living room. Why? Because they know how to blitz a room in 30 seconds. So now I am doing my household chores at 4 am so I can be held hostage all day long. Oh well, it helps pay the bills!.

Oh bills, yes that one. Was paid for 3 months of child care this last weekend. I had to work up my budget for the next 5 months (won't be paid again til Feb 09). Spent time doing it. Have it down how to pay all the bills for next 5 months but very low on food budget as usual. Now you see why we are so inventive. But it feels good to say all of October bills are paid and some of November's are too already! So will bask in that glory and not worry past that.

How do you budget?