Works for me Wednesday: Double Batch

Last week I noticed that canned Chili was on sale at QFC for $1 a can. I thought to myself that's a pretty good price, and I'm sure that would work out nice for Clint to take for lunch on the days I don't have enough leftovers to send for him. Then I thought some more. Hmmmmm, I bet it would be cheaper, healthier and yummier if I just made a double batch of chili myself. I could use all those glass jars I save that I knew would come in handy to freeze some and Clint could grab that and heat it up at work.


So I double batch of chili I made! We ate it for dinner on Friday topped with chips, cheese and sourcream and it was uber yummy! This is what I had left over-

5 individual size jars for Clint to take to work

2 larger jars for me to use for a couple lunches at home for the the kids and me

1 bowl with enough chili for Clint to eat for lunch over the weekend and for the Chili dogs we ate for dinner on Sunday night.

And to make this even sweeter I didn't have to go to the grocery store at all cause I had everything I needed for a double batch of chili in my back stock!!!

Homemade ice cream fun!

My Aunt found a fun and simple recipe for homemade ice cream from Family Fun Magazine so yesterday we gave it a shot! The kids had fun and more importantly, the ice cream was yummers. At first bite the taste was so familiar to me. I knew I had had this ice cream before but I couldn't figure out when or where. Then last night while my brain was thinking instead of sleeping (grrrrrrr) it came to me. I had it when I was a kid!!! You see my grandma bought me a Barbie ice cream maker and this ice cream tasted exactly the same. Nothing like doing something for my kids that brings back memories of my childhood. Things are always better the second time around!

So here is the directions for this super fun and WAY better then that stuff "they" call ice cream that comes in a carton :)

Forget endlessly cranking the handle of an ice-cream maker. After combining the ingredients, each guest can simply shake up his or her own pouch of soft serve--and it's done in just 5 minutes.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 cup half and half
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup salt (The bigger the granules, the better. Kosher or rock salt works best, but table salt is fine.)

• Ice cubes (enough to fill each gallon-size bag about half full)
• 1 pint-size ziplock bag
• 1 gallon-size ziplock bag

Instructions

1. Combine the sugar, half and half, and vanilla extract in the pint-size bag and seal it tightly.
   
2. Place the salt and ice in the gallon-size bag, then place the sealed smaller bag inside as well. Seal the larger bag. Now shake the bags until the mixture hardens (about 5 minutes). Feel the small bag to determine when it's done.
   
3. Take the smaller bag out of the larger one, add mix-ins, and eat the ice cream right out of the bag. Easy cleanup too! Serves 1.
   
   My additional tips-
   1.The rock salt makes the ice really cold so you may want to offer gloves to the little ones. 2.We had made a few batches right away and a few batches after the ice had melted a bit and it seemed to work the second time so I would recommend making up the ice bags first and letting them sit a bit while you make the ice cream bag.
   3. We double bagged our pint size bags just in case.
   
   
   
    
   

Weekend Review

All and all it was a good weekend at the Mitchell house. The girls and I had made some treats for Clint to take to work on Friday and from what I hear they were a hit! I was pretty excited about that since I had come up with the idea all on my own. I took those Snyder's pretzel nibblers, (free from couponing) rolled them in melted chocolate and then sprinkled them with crushed peanuts. Since it was my creation I got to name them.

What do ya think of my Lincoln logs?
Clint got home from work early on Friday and then we went to community group. It was a great night at group. The women and men broke off from one another and the women discussed the first chapter in Feminine Appeal. We had a great discussion that lead to a very intimate and honest time of sharing. Definitely a time of bonding and a time of mentoring one another. It sounded like the men had a great time too. We are blessed with an amazing group!!

The Herald newspaper had offered Amber and I tickets to the Silvertips Hockey game and since she was busy Clint and I had a date night. The game was fun and FREE and it was awesome to spend some time with my hunk of burning love!

Speaking of my hunk of burning love... I am so thankful for him! Here he is on Sunday evening in the dark and rain outside fixing something. He is such a hard worker and pretty darn handy to have around. I am also so thankful for the wisdom and guidance he gives me. I would be running around like a basket case 99% of the time (as apposed to my current 50%) if I didn't have him to help me balance and prioritize the things in our lives that will most honor our loving God.


Sunday night my sweet Evie had her first taste of mush. She quite liked it I must say! I was hoping it would extend the amount of sleep I would get but it did not prove to be the case. Maybe tonight...

She immediately grabbed the spoon out of my hand and was wanting to hold it in her mouth. SO CUTE!

Today we ran some errands and I was able to get a coat I had my eye on for quite sometime now at a fraction of the price!!! Sometimes it really does pay to wait. Then we cashed in one of our gift cards for a yummy lunch at Red Robin. I LOVE Red Robin!!! Clint and I split our meals cause everything looked so good and we couldn't decide what to get.

Well I better sign off now as the Family move night is about to start without me...