Happy Halloween!

I am excited to OD on sugar and the cuteness that is bound to hit my door at sometime tonight. For dinner it is going to be Turkey shepards pie(recipe is going to be posted after Thanksgiving) and Mulled Cider.

Happy Halloween!!

Thanksgiving Spotlight

I know it is only September but this is a question about Thanksgiving.

What is your favorite dish and piece of cookware?

It could have a spotlight on my blog. 

Alright a sort of change.

Instead of this blog being mainly about how we get to a vacation on our budget. This blog is going to be a recipe blog with information on how much we pay and how much this helps us stay within our budget and in turn how it helps us get to our vacation dreams.  I will add posts about what we are doing here in Germany while we are stationed here as well.

So to start this recipe idea off.
Prep:5mins Cook:15mins
Fettucini Alfredo
(ok we like linguini but you can use fettucini)
1lbs of linguini
1 stick of butter
1 cup of freshly shredded parm
1 cup of cream
1tbls of minced garlic

Cook your pasta to al dente while making the sauce. in a small to medium sauce pan melt butter over medium heat. Add Garlic and Cream and let simmer until noodles are almost finished. Add cheese.  Pour alfredo sauce over hot noodles and serve.

This recipe has cost us as little as $6  to $11 for 4 servings. We use this as a date night meal, add a movie at home on the couch that saves us almost $50 which helps us get to our vacation goals.

Hello Everyone!

Sorry that it has been so long. In that time we have lost some friendships, gained some new ones along with perspective.  I am tired of being emotionally and religiously drained around our old friends.  So we have been praying about it for the whole weekend and we came to a family decision, althought it was them who broke the relationship off I believe that god was helping us because we didn't have the heart to break the friendship because of the relationship between the husbands.  I love all of you who are on our new path with God and righteousness. 

On a lighter note, we went to a marriage retreat this past weekend and we spent time focusing on our relationship.  I love my husband. God truly blesses me everyday with him and all my friends.

Sick again...

I have been sick 5 times since getting to Germany.  I don't think it is Germany, but for some reason my immune system is picking up colds and flus more than I usually do.  I usually get sick once MAYBE twice per year, 5 times in 3 months, I think that is a record even for me.  The last time I remember being this sick was when I had tonsilitis.

Snow and Internet

We had a really impromptu snow storm last night.  So out of the blue that the branches had horizontal ice crystals.  It was quite intresting.

Finally got internet.....YAY!!!

Pasta Carbonara...so good.

I have made this recipe so many times that I can do this in my sleep.  So since I like it so much, I am passing it on.

What you will need.
  1lb of angel hair, spaghetti, or linguini.
  2 Eggs
  2tbls of cream or milk
  1/2 tsp of pepper
  2/3 cup Parmesan cheese
  6 to 7 slices of bacon(cut up)

Start by getting the water boiling, while you are waiting mix cream, parmesan, eggs and pepper. Start to cook your bacon.  Add the noodles and while they are cooking grab about a 1/4 cup of the pasta water(this will help the cream mixture stick to the sauce).  Strain noodles DO NOT SHOCK noodles, they need to be hot to cook the eggs.  Put noodles in a large mixing bowl, pour cream mixture and bacon on top and mix. Add the pasta water to the noodles but only enough that it doesn't make the sauce soupy.

I love finding change in my purse.

So I thought I would never be so happy to find $.50 in my life.  Today around here is clipping coupons and writing my shopping list so that I can shop and stock up yet again. At least this week wont be as hard to swallow as the first week spending 180 and that is with my savings of $32.00. That was $30 over my budget for groceries. It is hard having a budget when you dont exactly kno what is going on with your money.

If or when we get our reimbursments we will be getting a new bed, new tires, putting money to a couple of bills. We will be getting on with our vacation planning and we will be soooo happy.

Cleaning...

Continued cleaning today.  The 2nd bathroom is clean and I feel amazing because it looks and smells amazing.  I am starting to add homey touches to the bathroom. My house is starting to feel like a home.

I am trying to find a way to have separate pages so that you can click on the category you want to view and go to that category. I also want to be able to have pictures and a thing that tells you how much we have saved up for that particular vacation.

Well we had "Soup Night"

  MMMMM.....Potatoe soup and Grilled cheese. Made enough to probably last about 3 weeks.  I am awaiting confirmation of Brandons reimbursments so I can start saving for vacation. So I hope that all will be well by the end of this week. 
  I am going to stick to my envelope system this week. I think that we have a bit of change but not enough to put in the bank. We found euro/cents lying around the house.
  I am going to be working on getting our house set up this week.  Cleaned the cats room tonight after they were in there for almost 2 weeks. We are cleaning and setting up our living room and kitchen as well.  I am amazed. Last year it took us almost 8 months to get our Holloman house set up. I want to keep it as clean as possible.

Really Good Recipe!

Well I didn't think that I would like food that I ate over here but already I have added a new recipe to our recipe book.

Potato and Leek Soup

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 leeks, white part only, sliced
• 5 bacon rashers, chopped
• 1kg potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 1L chicken stock
• 375mL can evaporated light milk (or cream)
• parsley or chives to garnish

Method:

Heat oil in a large pot over low heat.
Cook bacon and leek for 5 minutes until leek is soft.
Add potatoes and mix to coat in the lovely flavours of the leek and bacon.
Add stock, bring to the boil, turn heat down to low, cover and simmer for 30 minutes.
Allow to cool slightly, then use a stab-mixer to puree (or blend in batches).
Stir through evaporated milk (or cream) and serve sprinkled with parsley or chives.

I only had about half the amount of stock so I watered it to match the recipe and added to taste salt and pepper used cream and then garnished with a little Shredded colby jack cheese.  I made enough for Brandon and I and still three lunches. I froze one container and used one immediately. I always reheated on the stove and added about a 1tbls of cream when I reheated it. Best soup I have ever had. 

So Vacations...

   This year we are going to Las Vegas.  I am not going to say try because that gives me an out to not saving. I have two change jars since over here we have to kinds of change (Euro and USD).  I will keep a running count of how much I have at the end of the week starting the first of February. 
   The things we need to save up for is Brandon to get a passport, Hotel, Gambling Money, you know Brandon Gaming money, Food, Entertainment, Car, and Flight(?). We are aiming for about 7k, that is 2k on top of the absolute minimum.  Our goal date is September or October but we would be up to March or April next year.