Feed the Freezer!

 Chicken Dorito Casserole: Its what is for dinner.

A 9x13 for us, an 8x11 for the freezer, and a 9x13 of the spicier version for Patrick’s lunches this week. All done from start to finish in 1.5 hours, with 30 minutes spent waiting for the chicken to cook, and 30 minutes in the oven, so only about 30 minutes of active work.

#InTheKitchenWithKristy

#FeedingTeenagers

#ManCrewHouse

#BulkCooking

#FeedingTheFreezer

How Did the Man Crew House Come To Be?

 If you've ever wondered exactly what led up to the Man Crew House being what it is, here's a short version of our back story:

There once was a tall, dark, and handsome man who was very cool and a short and sassy lady that laughed a lot who fell in love, got married, and had 4 ridiculously handsome and charming sons. They wanted to create a unique place for them and all their friends to hang out, and to be well fed, safe, and be encouraged to become the best people they could be. 

And so they did. 

And it was glorious. 

There were games and food and laughter and bellowing, come-to-Jesus meetings and more food and movies and late night chats, and car repairs and vehicle deconstructing and re-constructing, and people moved and wrestling matches in the kitchen, more games and more food and SO MUCH laughter and more character-building exercises.

And plenty of love to go around. 

The End. 

<3 Yes and Amen <3

Day 11 of the Pantry Challenge: How are ya?

 No Spend January and the Annual Pantry Challenge are approaching the midway point. How are you and your supplies holding up?

No Spend January: I spent no money today, even though I was really tempted. Woot!

Meals today were:

B-Choc Chip Banana Bread

L- Choc Protein Shake

D- Egg Salad Sandwich and brown rice (leftovers) Dan ate tamales, and Derek ate pumpkin waffles smeared with peanut butter.

In related news, we ran out of eggs yesterday and finally used the last of the milk today. Also, within the week, we will be out of butter. Thankfully, with the tamale purchases money refilling my pantry budget, I can pick up those things on my way home tomorrow.

#InTheKitchenWithKristy

#PantryChallenge

#NoSpendJanuary

#ManCrewHouse

Pantry Challenge Day 4 Update

 

Just a quick update as I dash past the computer tonight. My Pantry Challenge is going well. 
I haven't purchased any groceries yet, and our meals are going well. It's time to put a few things in the freezer, or feed them to the rats and chickens before they are too far gone. 

Today's meals were as follows:
B-Nature Valley Granola bars
L-Chocolate Protein Shake
D-Split Pea soup and seasoned oyster crackers (I put the rest of the soup in the freezer, mostly because I'm tired of eating it. LOL) 

Before I head to bed, I'm putting together some chicken, bean, and cheese burritos. They will be PattyCakes' lunches for the work week, a tasty dinner for us later this week, and I should have some left to put in the freezer for a quick and easy meal for sometime this month. 

As for the No Spend January Challenge, I DID spend money today, but it was a gift purchase for PattyCakes' birthday this month, so it doesn't count against me. I also put gas in my car and paid some bills. All of which fall under the "NOT Frivolous Spending" category, which leaves me with a clear conscience. 

How are you doing this month so far? 

Pantry Challenge? Yes Please!

 Math Nerd Alert: I love crunching the numbers when it comes to a per serving cost of feeding my people well. 

This week we’ve done a Pantry Challenge to save some pennies and to clear a shelf or two in the pantry and freezer. We ate really well and didn’t feel like we were pinching pennies at all. 

This week’s dinner meals included: 

~Chicken Soup made from bones of a rotisserie chicken in the freezer plus veggies in the ‘limper’ drawer, 

~a baked mostaccioli dish pulled from the freezer that was left after a friend brought us a meal that we couldn’t finish, 

~red beans and rice with smoked sausage created with mostly pantry staples, 

~a night of leftovers so that the fridge got its weekly clean out before trash day, 

~Chicken Dorito Casserole that a friend brought to Game Night to share, 

~a delightful meatballs with lemon basil sauce Instant Pot meal that I prepped a while back and had waiting in the freezer for just a time and this.

~Add in 2 different types of pizza for the 2 Sundays in the this Pantry Challenge and you’ve got one tasty week. 

Anywho, since there are currently 4 people here and we all eat 3 meals and (at least) one snack a day, and we add 6-8 on Sundays for dinner, plus PattyCakes, Cynterra, and Mark popped in for a meal or two, Mom went out for breakfast one day, and Dan brought home fast food for himself and Slick one day, we are looking at 133 servings devoured this week. Phew. Divide the approximately $49 we spent on milk and produce this week by those 133 servings, and we are sitting at a delightful 37 cents per serving. And that makes MamaK pretty happy! 

What’s your kitchen math look like at your house? If you’ve never tried a Pantry Challenge, I urge you to try one. If you need ideas on how to start, let me know. I’ll be glad to help you with ideas. 

#MamaK

#FeedingTeenagers (and everyone else)

#ManCrewHouse

#PantryChallenge

#MathNerd

#RedeemingTheQuarantine: March 27, 2020

#RedeemingTheQuarantine:
While New Mexico has only been on official stay at home orders since Tuesday, March 23rd, (4 days ago, we've already been at home for 2 weeks. For the past several days, a very blasé, let’s-sleep-in-because-who-cares attitude has reigned supreme. I woke up today ready to face this quarantine head on with renewed determination to not waste this time.
So, I got a workout in. I spent some time with Jesus. I cleaned the kitchen approximately 42 times (Hercules and Slick are snackers/grazers). Dan and I planted a small victory garden. I took a little drive around town with Hercules. I read. I destroyed my manicure. I talked to most of my people. Hercules and I watched Zumba’s Just Desserts and laughed together. I did some work-related things with Jodi via Zoom. My mom sent me some childhood photos of me. I ordered a phone/camera tripod so that we could try next week to host Game Night via Skype. I cleared off 4 “Flat Surface Areas” and pushed some furniture around. Enjoyed a BLT on homemade bread for dinner...take THAT Quarantine-Induced Pantry Challenge. 😉 Overall, not a bad day at all.
And now, it’s 10:30pm and Hercules went to pick up something from a friend “real quick”....3 hours ago, so I’m taking this tired body and my raggedy nails and going to bed. 

How are you coping, friends? 

#CoronaVirusPandemicQuarantine2020
#VictoryGarden
#AdventuresWithHercules
#MamaK
#PantryChallenge
#ManCrewHouse
#FeedingTeenagers

#RedeemingTheQuarantine: March 15, 2020

#RedeemingTheQuarantine: 

Making spice mixes, tidying and taking stock of the pantry, sharing links to educational activities and websites, heard a great sermon by Pastor Roy, hole-punching and filing my recently printed recipes, and Chex Mix is about to come out of the oven. Yes, it has already been a great day. 

#StayingHomeIsNice
#ManCrewHouse
#InTheKitchenWithKristy
#CoronaVirusPandemicQuarantine2020

Pantry Challenge Update: Feb 2019

Phew! We made it! We ate our way through the January Pantry Challenge and we didn't starve, nor did we resort to eating canned cranberry sauce mixed with limp celery and outdated cake mix for dinner. *grins* Here were some of our goals for the month:


~Pantry Challenge month goals:

1. Reduce our grocery bill by half of our usual $800-$850 by only purchasing produce and meat.
2. Eat at home every night once our guests leave. 
3. Pack lunches every day for work (DT and I)
4. Bake all our bread  

Well, 3 out of 4 isn't bad. I didn't bake bread but a handful of times in January but we smashed all of our other goals. We ate at home all month long, with Community Group Night and Sister-Girl Nights being the only exception, and those were planned in advance. DT and I ate packed lunches at work all month long. And we even came in UNDER budget! I did some fancy math and by my best counts, I plated up 520 servings during the month of January, between the 6 and then 5 people that lived here, The BIGS eating out some nights, and bringing friends over some evenings. I spent $383.79 for the entire month, and that included things like laundry detergent, toilet paper, and pet foods as well as our meals. If I divide the money spent by the servings made, our amount spent for each serving was just under $.74. That's a number I can live with for sure.
AND...If I subtract the pet food and other non-food items, the cost per serving drops to a mere $.61! I'm a Pantry Challenge winner for sure. We ate homemade pizza together every week, we made enough food for people to pack lunches all month long, and while every meal wasn't our favorite, we all went to bed every night with a full tummy and lighter pantry shelves. I cleaned out the new fridge and freezer while my friend Laura was in town, we ate a good chunk of the things in the deep freeze and the pantry is looking much lighter and tidier between the Pantry Challenge and the 3 hours I spent cleaning, decluttering, and organizing it at the end of the month.
I kept an account of some of our Pantry Challenge fun on Instagram, using the hashtags #FeedingTeenagers, #PantryChallenge, and #TheManCrewHouse.



 It should be mentioned that a friend gifted us a large turkey this month and we enjoyed nearly an entire week of turkey themed meals, and another friend and I ended up at a grocery store while we were out running errands together and she sent me home with a few bags of groceries, helping us keep our numbers really low this month.


If you've never tried a Pantry Challenge, I encourage you to try one. Use up what you have, make a few new meals, be creative (the Internet is FULL of creative uses for odds and ends groceries) purchase as little as possible while still serving up nutritious meals. I tried to only purchase meat and produce this year. I normally only buy fresh produce, but a few shorter Pantry Challenges earlier in the Autumn had depleted my meat stash in the freezer, necessitating the purchase of some to get through the month. Feeding these guys requires meat. LOL!

Homemade Spice Mix: Jamie's Spice Mix

 Making your own spice mixes is a great way to save money and skip a trip to the grocery store during a #PantryChallenge or any day. This one helps me make pizza sauce for our weekly pizza and movies night on the cheap.

#FeedingTeenagers

#ManCrewHouse @ Las Cruces, New Mexico

Pantry Challenge 2019: Starting Soon

It's that time again, my friends! It's time to slash our grocery budgets for the month and get back on track financially after the excess of Christmas. Time to dig through what we already have on the shelves of the pantry, fridge and freezer. I'm joining Jessica of Good Cheap Eats for Pantry Challenge 2019. I'm starting a few days late since we have guests for a few days. But it's time to get prepared, take some inventories, and start mentally meal planning for our start in a few days.
What's on your kitchen goal list for this year, starting with the Pantry Challenge? I've got several ideas for our yearly goals, and a few for th is month of Pantry Challenge meals. I'll be posting here and also on Instagram, @kristy_mamak, using the Hashtags #PantryChallenge2019 and #FeedingTeenagers. Come join the fun and savings!

Here are our goals for the Pantry Challenge month, followed by a few for the year as well.
~Pantry Challenge month goals:

1. Reduce our grocery bill by half of our usual $800-$850 by only purchasing produce and meat.
2. Eat at home every night once our guests leave. 
3. Pack lunches every day for work (DT and I)
4. Bake our bread 

~Year-Long Goals:

1. Get back to having 4 well thought out, well prepared dinners at home each week, 1 night of leftovers, and 2 nights that are "Fend for yourself" nights. With 4 teenagers/young adults under our roof currently, this gives Mama K some time out of the kitchen instead of cooking 24/7. 
2. Serve Veggies at EVERY lunch and dinner
3. Use tech to streamline some of the hassle of getting dinner on the table, such as using Wal-Mart's free grocery pick up, utilize Amazon Pantry occasionally, and of course, showering my IP/Crock Pot/Kitchen Aid with daily use and affection. ;) 
4. Have one freezer cooking day per month, rotating between breakfasts, lunches, dinners and desserts. 
5. Try 2 new recipes a month
6. Ditch aluminum foil, ziploc baggies, and plastic wrap and replace by slowly purchasing some glass baking dishes, reusable silicone ziptop bags, and replacing foil with Bees Wrap. 
7. Reduce our monthly grocery bill by 10% by year's end. We are currently averaging $800-$850 on non-holiday months, and $900 during big holiday months. This also includes all our pet food and TP which accounts for about $80 a month.

If you decide to join the Pantry Challenge, or if you want to share your kitchen goals for the year, please share in the comments below. I'd love to hear from you!

Catching Up with Us Meyer's Sept 2018 Edition

Hey friends, it's been a hot minute, hasn't it? Life keeps on rolling, whether we participate or not, so we might as well play along, right? Anywho, September has been packed full of the exciting and the mundane, so here's a quick overview to get everyone caught back up. 

~Hercules: Is still unemployed in terms of not working for an official business but continues to be the busiest unemployed person I know. He's completed 2 engine swaps this month, fixed up a new-to-us car that he and Dastroyah collaborated on for me, fixed Pat's car 3 times, and Nathan's at least twice and is working on Dastroyah's Datsun as I type this. He's also helped Roger, Teresa and Karen move, put together an estimate to repair a home damaged by flooding, put in new carpet for 2 people and repaired a car for Tommy and Alex from church. Everyone in the family has working AC in their car now (If they are set up for it) thanks to a new technique he learned recently. He's worked on Ricky's old 270 car and a motorcycle that Ricky wants to buy from David. He is considering going into business with Joelle and opening their own little handy-man/auto repair storefront. Somewhere in there, he's made time to hang out with DT playing Mine-Craft, celebrate our 22nd anniversary, attend church and community group, and always be present for Pizza and Movie Night each week as we plow through the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies. 

~Mama K: I'm tired just trying to remember everything Dan has been doing. LOL! I also worked my 30-35 hours a week with Jodi, did a solid 4 weeks of school with DT and Mr T., ran the house, decorated for Autumn, cut all the hair, attended swing dancing on Tuesday evenings, Sister-Girl Night on Wednesdays, enjoyed Community Group each Thursday, hosted Game Night on Fridays and church on Sundays. Jody Stolp, Ruby Eley and I did a FULL DAY of batch cooking last Saturday and while we wore ourselves completely out, we had a ball and prepared a full freezer's worth of breakfast foods, which are now being inhaled at an alarming rate by The Man Crew and Friends. (Look for a separate post regarding the baking day soon.) I also FINALLY FINISHED my #HotMess challenge project of getting the SOC room ready to use as a scrap-booking counter so I can leave my supplies out all the time. *Victory dance* I even managed to sort some books, clothes, and other things and filled my donation box to overflowing twice over. So not to toot my own horn, but TOOT TOOT, I was pretty productive this month, too. 

~Patrick: Patrick remains elusive after his grumpy sorta-kinda-maybe move out at the beginning of the summer over the lack of Internet at the MCH. He's been sleeping at Nathan's for weeks and weeks and has recently crossed the street to hang out at The Hooligan House. He comes home to shower, do his laundry, and eat all the food out of the fridge. He also comes home to ask Dan to help him with car projects, and for Pizza and Movies Night. Jodi and I are considering asking him to take school pics of Mr. T and Slick.

~Derek: Derek is working his way through the 7th grade and making progress by leaps and bounds. His tablet and/or Mine Craft consumes most of the rest of his time, if I allow it...because riding your bike/rollerblading/pogo sticking isn't that much fun by himself, and it's still too hot for Mama to intentionally spend much time outside. He did get to attend Home School Day at the Rockin' Jump Trampoline park and enjoyed himself immensely. 

~Dastroyah: Dastroyah still prefers not to be talked about much, but I think it's safe to say that he's working on motorcycle and car projects, still working at the gym, and he attends Pizza and Movie Nights each week.

It's the Little Things: Days 238 and 239

I want to focus on the good things this year.

All the things people get right.

All the times that everything works out just perfectly after we assumed disaster had already struck.

All the times that the right word was spoken at the right moment.

So, let's celebrate those little moments together, shall we?

•  It's a Saturday at home, with nowhere to go unless I decide I want to leave.
• It's the hubster calling to say he was on his way home (quite a rare occasion) and asking me to please order some dinner and not cook so I could hang out with him. *You best I did! 
• It's a quick visit from a friend that was unexpected but very welcome.
• It's so many texts flying back and forth between your bestie and you since she's home from work for a few weeks due to a medical issue. She's healing well and feeling better each day.
• It's getting a little closer to your son's room being reasonable again after realizing is was WAY out of control a week ago.
• It's pizza and movies with the regular attenders again and having leftovers.
• It's getting 2 movies watched and everyone still getting to bed before 10. SCORE! 
• It's a friend that is soon to move away bringing over doodahs to share from her nearly empty apartment in a pretty striped 31 Bags bag that I've been drooling over and then giving me the bag, too. Thanks!
• It's a hilarious photo remake that the family indulged me by making.
• It's winning a phone conversation with the Man-Child. :)
• It's getting nearly caught up on the dishes after cleaning out the fridge and making myself tons of new dishes to do. 
• It's Hercules hanging out in the kitchen with me and helping out by making his own Kombucha and chopping up an enormous watermelon. 
• It's a grocery shopping trip that reminds of exactly why I don't take Dan grocery shopping with me, but that was so pleasant that I'm tempted to throw the grocery budget caution to the wind every week. 
• It's a full fridge AND meal plans to make sure we use up that food.
  
  See how easy it is to come up with things once you start looking around?
  What's on YOUR little things list?
  
  

It's The Little Things: Days 225 & 226

I want to focus on the good things this year.

All the things people get right.

All the times that everything works out just perfectly after we assumed disaster had already struck.

All the times that the right word was spoken at the right moment.

So, let's celebrate those little moments together, shall we?

•  It's the sermon series wrap up that made me want to go back and re-watch the whole series. It's good stuff. "Forgotten God" http://getrealchurch.org/sermonaudiovideo?category=Forgotten%20God
• It's lunch with my friend Alexandra, who is too good to me. It's been almost exactly a year since we've had a chance to just sit and visit without being interrupted 48 times in 3 minutes. After our delicious lunch at Cracker Barrel, we went window shopping and somehow, I ended up with 3 new shirts, 2 pairs of pants, and a pair of pjs...and that was AFTER I'd insisted she put half of the things she picked out for me back on the rack. She told me in no uncertain terms that she was GOING to buy me some clothes and that she'd worked overtime so that she could do it without hurting her family budget. (Guys, have I mentioned that I am blessed? This lady and her family is such a blessing to Dan and I.)
• It's pizza and movie night at the Man Crew House and while it felt weird to have only Dan, Derek and myself at home, it also felt nice. Like a little intro to the next few years of our life. And it was a considerable change from last week when it was us three, plus PattyCakes and Nathan who were expected, plus David and 3 friends who were NOT expected. LOL! This week we introduced DT to Mrs. Doubtfire and he laughed his head off. He enjoyed it so much that he re-watched it on Monday afternoon. *Hooray for an unexpected gem in the $3.74 bin at W-M.
• It's wearing new clothes to work on a dreary Monday and feeling like a million bucks all day long. And even better, getting several compliments on the new clothes. And even BETTER...managing not to ruin my brand new clothes. If you know me, you know what a big deal this is. ;)
• It's the simple, small gestures, like Dan staying up late with me while I baked bread for a fundraiser we are doing. He feel asleep on the couch at the end, but he tried, and in my world effort counts. 
• It's waking up to reasonable temperatures in the morning. We've had a few days in a row of mid-70s temps in the AM and I am ALLLL about feeling like Autumn is just around the corner. 
• It's preparing for the new school year. We are all dragging our behinds after the past few work weeks have been completely OUT.OF.CONTROL. But, hope springs eternal and the bulk of our books have arrived and the rest should be here soon, so we started today. Just with some organization projects and reminders about what we expect this school year, but we started. And that counts. 179 days to go. ;)
• Free breakfast at Chick-Fil-A this week to those of us returning to school. YES PLEASE. Yum~O
• New school Supplies. Enough said. 
• Catching up on housework doesn't sound fancy or exciting, but it does keep the house running smoothly and makes being home more relaxing. I'm glad I spent the time on Saturday to make it clean and shiny.
• It's a schedule with fair regularity now that school has started again. Thank you, Jesus!
• It's looking forward to Swing on the Plaza since it was cancelled last week for the National Night Out celebration. 
• It's not having much money for groceries, but realizing you've got plenty in your pantry, fridge and freezer so that you only need a few small things at the store to feed your family this week. **If you're struggling to feed your family this week, check out these links. https://lifeasmom.com/this-weeks-dinners-for-70-or-less-bonus-trader-joes-shopping-plan/ AND https://www.menus4moms.com/meals-for-hard-times/ AND https://moneysavingmom.com/2009/10/how-to-live-on-beans-and-rice-for-a-week.html AND https://www.frugalfarmwife.com/article/how-to-eat-beans-every-day-without-getting-bored/ AND http://theprudenthomemaker.com/blog/entry/how-to-eat-beans-every-night  The Man Crew has tried all of these at one time or another and several of the recipes have made it into our normal rotation of meals because they are so good. 
• It's getting a good night's sleep for the first time in a while. Makes everything look better. 

 

What's on YOUR Little Things List today? 

#100HappyDays2018: Day 64

#100HappyDays: Day 64
Happy 13th birthday, Derek! Gummy bears and Pokémon cards for the win. Thanks Grandma!
#100DaysOfSummer
#DTStrong
#Birthday
#NewTeenager
#100HappyDays2018

 

#100HappyDays2018: Day 60

#100HappyDays: Day 60
This table. To you, it may just be a table. But this table has served three meals to 6 people today in what seemed more like a steady stream than 3 separate meals, was covered in all the White Sands nonsense we dragged in from the car for a few hours, helped me sort and fold 7 loads of laundry, was where PattyCakes and I sat and discussed life/marriage/children/Dad’s old car/work, sorted the mail, where I sat to read a book, and is somehow magically clear once again this evening to hold a candle and rest peacefully until tomorrow. This table is life.
#100DaysOfSummer
#CornersOfOurHome
#ManCrewHouse
#WorkHorse
#100HappyDays2018

#100HappyDays2018: Day 8

#100HappyDays: Day 8
I’m feeling a bit better tonight (finally) so I made dinner for the first time in 5 days. A new recipe from over Good Cheap Eats, the sister site to my favorite Life As Mom blog. I intended to take a photo before the wolves fell on the dish, but I’m moving slowly still, so here’s a photo of what was left. Apparently, it was good! 👍🏼

#100DaysOfSummer
#FeedingTeenagers
#NewRecipe
#100HappyDays2018

Chile cheese bake, or deconstructed cheese enchiladas. I added chicken because my men balk at meatless meals.

— feeling happy at The Man Crew House.

 

It's the Little Things: Day 128

 

 I want to focus on the good things this year.
All the things people get right.
All the times that everything works out just perfectly after we assumed disaster had already struck.
All the times that the right word was spoken at the right moment.
So, let's celebrate those little moments together, shall we?

The past few weeks have been frustrating for me and I'm finding that I'm being extra critical not only of myself, but of anyone with whom I interact. Now that I've stopped to think about that, I'm wondering if it's directly correlated to the fact that I've slacked off of intentionally looking for the good and the beautiful. So, to answer that question...

• It's DT's room finally getting clean. Woot! (If you've ever met a 12 year old, you know how big of a deal this is, LOL)
• It's having plenty of leftover tamales from the night before, so you not only have something quick and easy to eat, but you also don't have to cook tonight.
• It's getting back to blogging after last week's Screen Free Week adventures.
• It's spending an evening just hanging out with family, blogging, reading, and laughing together.
• It's going to be at a reasonable hour, so I can get up and do it all again tomorrow.
• It's enjoying my roses every.single.time I go outside. 
• It's having a fun planning session about names and styles when PattyCakes comes home with a hat that says "MeYeR Crew Garage" and wants everyone to get matching hats. 
• It's reaching out to a friend that's hurting. 
• It's having TIME to invest in people instead of always being so busy that I just hoped other people would reach out. #NoLongerAPlateSpinner
• It's finishing my 10th book this year. I'm still behind on my goal, but less behind than I was recently, so PROGRESS!! I love progress.