Cheesecake

I made Mark a cheese cake today. He does so much for me and these are the little things that show him I love him.

Salsa!

YUM! Spicy and thick, just how we like it!

This is working pretty well so far...

Food Inventory
I am at the end of my third week and I love knowing what our menu is in advance. I have menus designed for the next 6 weeks. I am working around my pantry items, (oldest first) freezer items and the things that are on sale and a great deal. I have been keeping up with my inventory so far, marking things off the list as we use them and adding the newest items as I get them. The idea was to shop less and I have ....but not as much as I thought I would. I just can't pass up a great deal. It is still saving us in the long run. Today I picked up 3 racks of baby back ribs for $2.79 lb. One for our dinner today and two for the freezer. Hey, I couldn't resist that price!

I actually did some sewing last night and I have everything set to sew again today and tomorrow so I have something for Design wall Monday. I have been such a slacker in that area lately. It's time to get busy again.

Let me tell you, this Raspberry cream pie was really good!

Confessions of a food hoarder

My name is Diana and I'm a food hoarder!

I'm not sure how this problem came to be exactly but a problem none the less. I consider myself a good bargain shopper and nothing I like more than getting a "deal" on something. In fact, I never buy anything for full price. NEVER! Especially groceries. Groceries go on sale regularly but it is cyclical. So for that reason, I buy more than just what I need so I have it on hand when I need it again and don't have to pay full price. I have always shopped this way. It has always worked for me but sometimes I get so disorganized I don't know what I have on hand and buy even more.
We are pinching pennies right now with me being laid off ......again. So I decided to start using up our excess and plan my menu for the week around what we already have. Great idea right?
To do that I needed to know what I have...so I did an inventory. OMYGOSH!
Can you say excess?
Oh I have the staples like this
But how much tea does one need? That whole lower shelf is all tea! (kool aid is in the green container)

Some of the excess:

• 26 individual bags of microwave popcorn
• 24 boxes of jello gelatin
  
• 10 boxes of jello pudding
• 13 boxes of rice mixes
• 24 packets of dry soup envelopes (like onion and vegetable mostly used for dips)

And lots more! This is just in the house, we keep our EXTRA food out in the garage.
We have two large red racks with food. This is the first one:

• 4 boxes graham crackers
  
• 3 boxes Bisquick
  
• 12 cake mixes
• 9 cans of frosting
• 4 boxes brownie mix (there would be more but we make these a lot)
  

We have

• 8 jars BBQ sauce
• 6 enchilada sauce
• 8 gravy
• 6 Alfredo sauce
• 20 cans tomatoes
  

• 12 cans fruit
• 15 cans tuna
• 8 mushrooms
• etc, etc
  

• 
• 6 jars peanut butter
  
• 8 jars jelly and preserves
• 64 boxes of pasta (lots of variety)

That doesn't include all the cleaners, shampoos, etc.
WHY do I need 10 bottles of dish soap?
My freezer is the same way. I figure with the exception of fresh produce and some meats we can last for months without spending too much on food. This should get us through the lean months ahead. That is the plan anyway!

In the mean time I have spent a lot of time deciding on my menu for the next month and enjoying it. Mark thinks I'm a bit nuts but that is ok with me.