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.