BIG Annoucement

With the New Year comes new adventures, new challenges, and new projects. For those of you who follow my youtube channel know that for awhile now I have been talking about a BIG annoucement. Well here it is....

Welcome to Project 365

365 days

365 videos

365 days of my life

Project life will start on Jan 1, 2013 and end on Dec 31, 2013

This is sure to be a challenge but I am so excited to start this new project and think it will be amazing to look back and be able to tell someone exactly what I did on a particular day in 2013.

For more insight into exactly what I will be doing, I linked my youtube video with the announcement below. Let me know what you guys think as well as if you would like to join in.

 How fun would that be!

Spending Round Up #1

I have been thinking for awhile that I wanted to start keeping track of every penny that my husband and I spend. I already track our bills, gas and groceries but I never track what we spend money on for the household. the cats, medical expenses, gifts, etc. I also do not keep track of what I use my "personal" spending money on. I know how much I have spent and how much is left but I have no idea what I actually purchase with that amount. That being said, I am going to start staying accountable for the money I spend and where it goes. I generally do not talk actual dollar amounts with my readers/subscribers but I think for this one section of my life I will.

I should start by saying that my husband and I agreed we should each receive a set amount of money, which I take out from the ATM when he receives his 1st paycheck for the month. We used to just use our debit card and had no set limit on how much we could each spend for personal items nor did we have a set amount for how much we could spend for things such as gifts, household items such as decor, or any extras. We still do not have a set amount for all the "extra" items, that is a work in progress and will be discussed later in a different blog post perhaps, but we do have a set amount of money for personal spending.

Each month I go to the ATM and withdraw $200. Hubby gets $100 in cash and I get $100 in cash. This is the set amount that we have both agreed upon and what works for us. So that being said, I have $100 to spend for a month, or $1200 a year if you want to look at it that way.

I will be doing one of these posts every week, but I am behind so lets go over everything I have spent

Dec 21st-Dec 31st 

Started out with $100 BUT Received $617 for Christmas

I did return a gift which gave me a credit of $26 SO...

Total amount to spend $743

What I have purchased so far:

 -$10.00           Makeup (concealer, eye lash curler, hair dye)

 -$85.00           Project life & Sewing Machine Foot Pedal   

 -$27.00           Christmas Decor on clearance/ Craft Supplies

  -$4.00            Snack while running errands

  -$53.00          Winter hats, SD card,refill for label maker 

Total Spent: $179.00

Total Remaining:$564.00

                                           

Happy New Year!

 2013 is right around the corner...and like every new year most people are coming up with their goals and resolutions of what they would like to accomplish. That being said, I jump on the band wagon every year and make a resolution list. Now, what actually gets accomplished on that list is an entirely different post :) 

My list this year includes different sections which each contain different goals/resolutions/projects or things I would simply like to do. I hope you enjoy my list and if you created resolutions for the New Year, let me know so I can check them out, or simply leave them as a comment!

Happy New Year Everyone!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

PERSONAL:

Get a job

 Exercise @ least 3x week 

Try something new @ least 1x mth 

Read every day 

Project 365 Scrapbooking 

Re-Open Etsy Store 

Makeup/Hair every day but weekend  

Trip to whole foods/trader joes   

MARRIAGE:

Go out to eat 1x month 

Date night @ least 2x month 

     HOUSEHOLD/FAMILY:

  Get a new car

        Go on vacation this summer 

Get a bike and go bike riding

Walk on trails and go to the parks

Walk down by the dam and the water

      FINANCIAL:

           Have at least 10k in saving

              Put at least 5k towards loans 

                 Have $5-600 saved for Christmas

Have $500-$1k saved for vacation
Get groceries down to $400mth
Track all spending/every cent

 YOUTUBE/BLOGS:

Project 365

1 video wk on TheNotSoOrdinaryCat

1 video wk on Jbcraftcove

Blog post 1-2x wk

Purchase new camera 

 

 

 

$100 Grocery Shopping Dec. 28, 2012

This Weeks Meal Plan:

Friday 28th: Spaghetti w/ Meatballs, Salad, and Bread sticks

Saturday 29th:Chinese Takeout

Sunday 30th:Fish, mac & cheese, and homemade chips

Monday 31st: New Years Eve Party (Eating @ party)

Tuesday 1st: Hubby's Birthday (steak, mashed potatoes, & decadence cake)

Wednesday 2nd: Strawberry French Toast, bacon, and eggs

Thursday 3rd: Pizza, bread sticks, & salad

Our Groceries:

Aldi: $24.01

soda

hamburger

lettuce

frozen strawberries

mushrooms

chocolate chips x2

butter sticks

choc. covered chips
kettle chips

Giant Eagle: $37.11

steak

milk
spaghetti sauce pizza sauce
tomatoes
grilled chicken
GF pizza crust
tampons Walmart: $10.98
K-Cups Sams Club: $8.07 16pk variety pastries  (used gift card from renewing membership)
Target: $4.89
12pk cola
Total budgeted $100
Total Spent $76.99 (does not include Sams club since it was purchased with gift card) I still have $23 leftover in our grocery budget. This will be used for our Chinese takeout.

You made your cat a WHAT???

...yes I am that lady. 

I have come to the realization that I am that crazy cat lady, the one who treats her animals as if they were children. The one who baby talks with cats and dresses them in cute outfits.

And now, I am that lady who made her cat a youtube channel.

I have been debating for awhile now about making Atlas (my kitty) his own youtube channel. I film him probably as much as I film myself and although I would love to share these bits and clips, I found I preferred not to post them on thenotsoordinarywife. I just did not feel like they fit, especially for only 30 second clips. That being said, I decided to create the channel thenotsoordinarycat in order to share my kitties adventures.

Call me crazy, call me weird, heck call me both but I could not be more excited about creating this channel. If you want to see some of my craziness then please head on over and check it out!

Introducing Atlas

$100 Grocery Shopping Dec. 21, 2012

In order to keep my self accountable in terms of our grocery spending I decided I am going to attempt weekly blogs where I will post what I purchased, how much I spent, and our meal plans for the week. This post is a little behind but I figured I would go ahead and post it anyways.

This weeks meal plan:

Friday 21st : Rotisserie Chicken w/ homemade fries

Saturday 22nd: Shrimp Pasta Alfredo w/ salad

Sunday 23rd: Hot dogs w/ fries

Monday 24th Dinner at Grandparents house

Tuesday 25th:  Christmas Dinner (Ham, mashed potatoes w/ gravy, rolls)

Wednesday 26th: Leftovers from Christmas dinner

Thursday 27th: Creamy Chicken Noodles and Broccoli

Our Groceries:

Aldi: $40.13

toilet Paper

hawaiin sweet rolls x2

cheese tray

snack crackers

cordon bleu chicken x2

biscuits

paper towels x3

italian bread 

smoked ham

laundry detergent

choc. covered chips

deli sliced cheese

water

Walmart:$25.29

pizza sauce

cat litter

Rotisserie chicken

Giant Eagle: $38.95

Creamsicles

Mocha bars

breadsticks

bandage

pizza crust mix

gravy mix

cat treats

bakery donuts x3

mashed potatoes x2

tampons

finish detergent

gf brownie mix

 cat food

Total Budgeted for the week $100

Total Spent $104.37

Over budget this week by $4.37. I did not stay on budget this week but I am happy with what I spent. I can handle only being $5 over although I will try much harder next week. 

Holiday Baking Series #5

Series #4-7 unfortunately are going to be without videos at least for the time being. Quite possibly after the Holiday when things settle down, I will film and upload a video on Youtube to go along with the following recipes. Until then I hope you still enjoy these cookie recipes. Now get in the kitchen and start baking :)

 

 

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups gluten free all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tsp xanthum gum
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups (about 12 ounces) semisweet and/or milk chocolate chips
  

  Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, whisk together the xanthum gum, flour and baking soda; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter with both sugars; beat on medium speed until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low; add the salt, vanilla, and eggs. Beat until well mixed, about 1 minute. Add flour mixture; mix until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.
     
  2. Drop heaping tablespoon-size balls of dough about 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
     
  3. Bake 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from oven, and let cool on baking sheet 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, and let cool completely. 

 

Holiday Baking Series #4

Today we will be making M&M cookies. Unfortunately there is no video for this recipe, but it is a very easy recipe with simple steps that even the novice baker can prepare.

 

M&M Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup of soft butter (it is critical that it be soft)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups gluten free all-purpose flour (I use gluten free panty all purpose flour)
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1 tsp xanthum gum
• 12-ounce package of M&Ms (see my secret in the box near the end of the page)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and the sugars until light and fluffy. It is critical that the butter be at room temperature in order to make this step work nicely.

Beat in the egg and the vanilla.
In another bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, salt, and xanthum gum.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix.
STIR in M&Ms
Using teaspoons, drop cookies of about one heaping teaspoon onto your cookie sheets, making them about two inches apart. My cookie sheets need to be greased.
Bake for between 10 and 13 minutes.
Cool on wire cookie racks.

 

Holiday Baking Series #3

Gingerbread Cookies...

I have always been terrified of making gingerbread cookies. Every recipe I ever encountered always involved molasses and dark brown sugar and complicated steps. I wanted something easy, something yummy but could never find what I wanted and because of this I never bothered to make any from scratch, up until now. 

This year I decided to not only be ambitious and make gingerbread cookies from scratch but adapt them to make them gluten free. I am so glad I did because these babies are the real deal. Absolutely delicious! 

Easy Gingerbread Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 5.9-oz. pkg. butterscotch pudding mix
• 3/4 C. butter
• 3/4 C. brown sugar, packed
• 1 egg
• 2 1/4 C. gluten free  all-purpose flour (again I used gluten free panty)
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 Tbs. ground ginger
• 1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 2 tsp xanthum gum

Directions

Cream pudding mix with butter and sugar; add egg, and blend well. Combine flour, baking soda, ginger, xanthum gum and cinnamon; blend into pudding mixture. Chill dough for 1 hour or until firm. Roll dough on a floured board to about 1/4 inch thickness and cut with cookie cutter. Place on greased baking sheets; use a straw to make a hole in the top of the cookie for hanging on the tree, if desired. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on wire rack. Decorate if desired.

Hoiday Baking Series #2

Time for some more baking!!!
 
For Day 2 of my baking series, we will be making peanut butter cup cookies. This recipe is the same as the Hershey Kiss Blossoms that we made yesterday. Can't beat it. One dough, two different types of cookies!

You will need:

3/4 cup granulated sugar (plus a little extra to roll dough in)

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/4 cup shortening

1/4 cup butter

1 egg

1 1/2 cups gluten free Bisquick (use regular Bisquick if not gluten free)

...and of course you need Mini Reese Cups

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

1. Mix sugars, peanut butter, shortening, butter, and the egg in a bowl until combined.

2. Gradually add in the Bisquick until combined

3. Refrigerate dough for 60 min (if in a hurry just pop in the fridge for 10-20 min, your dough will simply be a little softer when you roll into balls, but will turn out fine)

3. Roll your dough into balls (I like to use a mini ice cream scoop to do this step) and then roll into granulated sugar

4. Place your dough balls in a mini muffin tin and bake for 8-10min or until brown

5. Once cookies are done, immediately press a Reese Cup into the cookie

6. Once cookies have cooled, remove from muffin tin

ENJOY :)

Holiday Baking Series 2012

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

Many of you know me from my youtube channel Thenotsoordinarywife, hence the title of this blog :) Over on my youtube channel I decided to create a baking series for all the holiday cookies I will be baking. 7 days, 7 cookies, all gluten free and delicious!

For day 1 of baking I have created Hershey Kiss Blossoms. These have always been a favorite of mine for the Holiday time and it does not feel like Christmas without them.

I hope you all enjoy this recipe as much as I do.

You will need:

3/4 cup granulated sugar (plus a little extra to roll dough in)

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/4 cup shortening

1/4 cup butter

1 egg

1 1/2 cups gluten free Bisquick (use regular Bisquick if not gluten free)

...and of course you need Hershey Kisses

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

1. Mix sugars, peanut butter, shortening, butter, and the egg in a bowl until combined.

2. Gradually add in the Bisquick until combined

3. Refrigerate dough for 60 min (if in a hurry just pop in the fridge for 10-20 min, your dough will simply be a little softer when you roll into balls, but will turn out fine)

3. Roll your dough into balls (I like to use a mini ice cream scoop to do this step) and then roll into granulated sugar

4. Place your dough balls on an un-greased cookie sheet and bake for 8-10min or until brown

5. Once cookies are done, immediately remove and place on cooling rack

5. Press Hershey Kisses into the tops of cookies, while cookies are still hot.

ENJOY :)