Goat cheese is definitely a type of cheese that had never made it to our table in 18+ years, until the end of 2011.  Chavrie, the #1 go-to folks for America’s freshest goat cheese, sent my family some to try and I have to say, I didn’t expect me or my bunch to like it all, but 3 of out 5 of us did.  Truett wasn’t a fan but he’s 5 and he has lots of time to acquire a taste for new foods.  The other was Toby, who is probably as picky as I am but the main reason he wasn’t a fan was because of the pecans.  I should have taken that into consideration when I made it.

While I would consider goat cheese a food for the refined, I convinced myself not to be intimidated by it.  I looked in my fridge and pantry, thinking about how I could incorporate Chavrie authentically into our ranch style, family friendly menu.  I considered many things but decided on a finger food that I could serve up during holidays, get-togethers, and even for our Sunday Super Bowl party.    This really is very easy, very few ingredients, but there is a couple of things I’d change.

1) Instead of plopping a huge spoonful of the goat cheese spread on each slice of pretzel roll, I’d spread a thinner layer.

and

2) I’d probably bake for even longer to allow the pretzel roll slices to crust up a bit.  Although, I’m not sure how that would effect the goat cheese spread.

With that said, here is how I decided to use the Chavrie goat cheese.

I took the Chavrie Original 5.3oz package, mixed with honey and a few finely chopped pecans, and spread over slices of pretzel rolls.  I just baked until the roll slices were warm.  I used Sister Shubert’s Pretzel Rolls and sliced them into 4 pieces. Don’t ask me amounts because to be quite honest, I didn’t measure the honey at all. I just poured

NOW FOR THE GIVEAWAY!

This is a fantastic giveaway that includes lovely Crate and Barrel items and Chavrie Goat Cheese goodies.

This list is as followed:

• Crate and Barrel Sweets Pedestal $24.95
• Crate and Barrel 5-piece Mixing Bowl Set $34.96
• Crate and Barrel French Wire Wisk $10.95
• Crate and Barrel Set of 4 Magnetic Measuring Cups $9.95
• Crate and Barrel Set of 4 Magnetic Measuring Spoons $7.95
• Chavrie Fresh Goat Cheese Coupons
• Chavrie Dessert Recipes
• For the Love of Goat Cheese Cookbooks

———->To enter this giveaway, you simply need to answer the following question (this is required to be entered):

Which recipe would you make if you won this fabulous prize package?

Be sure to pay the kind sponsor of the giveaway a visit too!

Chavrie’s website

Chavrie’s Facebook page  They have a coupon on there too!

Chavrie’s Twitter page

This giveaway ends on February 9th, about 4pm CST.  In full disclosure, Chavrie sent me the same prize package, as well as, sponsored this giveaway.  All opinions are my own.

Every since I started meal planning, I have been coming up with really easy, budget friendly recipes like these creamy chicken enchiladas.  I have only been cooking one big meal a day, the 5 O’Clock meal, these days, the only meal that we are all together for. And remember, it’s proven that having a meal at the table with your family makes for better relationships with your kids!

These enchiladas are definitely some of the better ones I’ve made and are perfect for parents who still have to cook something up for supper after working hard all day! What makes this so easy is that I used Swanson Premium Chicken.  This is actually one of my favorite things to use whether it be for enchiladas or in my salads.  It’s budget friendly, quick, 98% fat free, and backed by the American Heart Association, which makes up for some of the other ingredients I’m using in this recipe! HAHA!!

Serve these up with some rice & beans and you’ll likely be crawling to the sofa!  We opted to just eat the enchiladas without he sides and found it plenty filling!  My husband’s only request was my homemade hot sauce!!

Disclosure: I was paid for my time & efforts, by Swanson, to create this post.  I have always used and recommended Swanson Chicken. Opinions are my own, always have been, always will be. 

Quick and easy; that seems to be our food motto these days.  With Church & school functions, work, and sports, making a ham and cheese calzone is just one of the easy recipes I’ve been cooking up lately.    It’s a meal that to grab and go which we frequently do with basketball season in full bloom.  Concession stands have drained me this school year so I try to get most of us full before we ever get to the game. Know what I mean?

I honestly had no plan for the dough when making this so bare with me.  The neat thing about this meal idea, is that you can put anything you want inside the calzone.  I did simple ingredients for us because we are on a budget but you could definitely go all out!  I bought crescent roll dough and ended up mushing it all together and separating into 3 dough balls for 3 calzones.  Hey, it ain’t fancy but it worked!

Meat and taters….that seems to be the heart of our meals most days so making sure I can make them taste good all the time becomes a challenge.  I’ve baked them with Ranch dip, mashed them with butter and cheese, and done just about everything else I can think.  One of our most favorite ways to eat taters is to pan fry them.

Our secret is to cook them in the same pan a steak has been cooked in!  I knew we had steaks the night before so I covered the pan and saved the goods for the next day.  There wasn’t much grease but all those little pieces are still there and that’s the good stuff!  I simply add some better, salt and coarse pepper and MAN, the taters soak up all that steak flavor, making the taste fantastic!! Simple I know but sometimes that’s all you need……

What is your favorite way to make taters?

Slow Cooked Ribs…mmmmm, sounds heavenly huh?  Well, my guys thought so!  I watched them devour these ‘fattier than I’d like ribs’ that took 14 hours to cook, while I happily savored every moment of my taters.

I’m making every effort to make my crockpot feel loved.  I’ve always used it for the basics like beans but have never really ventured too far beyond that.  I’m way too comfortable with the same type of cooking and thought it was time to take a risk!!!  I know, watch out right?!

This was one of the easiest recipes that took 5 minutes to prep and 14 hours to cook.  They could definitely be cooked faster but I wanted them to be done so that when my kids came home from school, they’d have a hot, home cooked meal to fill their belly.   These were also a fattier cut of ribs. I’d much prefer a leaner cut but my fellas didn’t seem to mind at all.  Once done with their meal, I heard lots of moaning and watched them lay around, trying hard not to fall asleep.  Around here that means they were a hit!  I’ll post my tiny secret to my homestyle taters a little later.

I’m not a big fan of chopping garlic so I’m thankful that my sweet mama got me this handy chopper.  It made it a breeze and I didn’t have to deal with all the stickiness and smell on my fingers.

I had never tried this French Onion Condensed Soup from Campbell’s but it gave the ribs a lot of flavor!

Of course, being married to a cowboy, we always have a few beers on hand. My husband actually cooks a lot with beer………

Other rib recipes of interest:

My first week’s meal plan worked out really great!  While I didn’t enjoy sitting down to plan the meals, I did enjoy seeing your guesses, seeing what I actually spent, and not having to worry about what to cook each night of the week.  So before we get to week two’s meal plan, let’s find out what I actually spent for the first week and who won the Chef’s knife with the closes guess!

I was able to get everything on my list except hot dog buns, which I had to come back and get later in the week.  Next time I do this, I’ll make separate transactions and keep my household stuff separate so that you can truly see the total.  Here is the receipt and prices for the ingredients for week one.

So on the first receipt, I had a subtotal of 43.51.  On the second receipt, the subtotal is 2.50.  The grand total is……

$43.51 + $2.50 = $46.01 

The winner of the Chef’s knife is Melissa Miller with her guess of $45.76 (Val, you were soooo close too).  Congrats Melissa!!!  I really think the hot dog buns were high but since I don’t buy them often, it might be normal. I bought all my stuff at Walmart and used no coupons. Thanks for playing along y’all and I hope you participate in more!

JANUARY WEEK TWO MEAL PLAN

To recap things you should know:

A couple of things you should know; 1) I have a family of 5 – me, my husband, 18yr old, 15yr old, and 5yr old.  We live in the middle of Texas.  2) Our beef is part of our income so we have a chest freezer full of it.  Most recipes will include beef but I’ll throw in chicken and such from time to time. 3) All the kids are in school so these meals are for our evening supper.  Me and the hubs will eat whatever we can find during the day.  If I have extras that need to be bought that week, I’ll post them as ‘ingredients’, which you’ll include in your total when calculating cost.  If I have coupons, I’ll let you know.

Week One, January 8-14 2012

Menu

1. Calzones
2. Baked Chicken
3. Brisket
4. Ghoulash
5. Combo burritos
6. Stir Fry
7. ‘find your own meal’ day lol

Ingredients to Buy

• Crescent Roll Pastries (probably 2 cans)
• 2 pkgs of Deli Ham
• Bottle of Italian dressing
• 6 cans of tomato sauce
• 5lb bag of flour
• container of mushrooms
• bottle of barbecue sauce

Extras to buy for the week

• 2 loaves of bread (we go through a lot of bread)
• Peanut butter/jelly jar (both mixed together)
• 2 pkgs of sandwich meat
• Kraft Mayo with Olive Oil and Cracked Pepper (WE LOVE LOVE LOVE this!)

How much do you think those ingredients will cost?

In a comment below, leave your best guess of what you think these ingredients will cost.  The person that comes closes without going over, will win the Robin Takes 5 Cookbook; 500 recipes, 500 calories or less, 5 ingredients or less, 5 nights a week at 5:00pm.

You have until Friday evening of January 13th, 6pm CST to take a guess.  Good luck!  Also, if you have a budget friendly meal idea, please share along with your guess. I’d love to have more ideas for my future meal planning!

P.S. Again, congrats to Melissa Miller!  She was the winner of the Chef’s Knife!

In honor of National Oatmeal Month, I thought I’d round a few of my favorite oatmeal recipes for you, many of which are healthy, with a couple (or 3 or 4 or 5) being indulgent.  If you don’t follow these blogs, you should definitely add them to your weekly reading.  They tell great stories, share drool worthy photos, and will inspire you in the kitchen!

(all photos belong to the blogs that I linked to)

CRANBERRY APPLE OATMEAL CRISP by Cat

REESE’S COOKIE BATTER by Katie

OATMEAL ALMOND CHOCOLATE CHUNK COOKIES by Katie Goodman

OLD FASHION BANANA NUT OATMEAL

DEE’S OATMEAL PANCAKES by Dee

OATMEAL MUFFINS by 101 Cookbooks

D’oh! by Kath Eats

APPLE PIE OATMEAL by Amy

BABY BLUE CHOCOLATE CHIP OATMEAL COOKIE CUPS by Amanda

OATMEAL BANANA BREAD by Sassy

2011 has been full of ups and even more downs.  Me and the family have been focusing on each-other and our future for the past couple of months and plan to start 2012 fresh in all areas, including financially.  We are starting Dave Ramsey’s financial plan beginning of 2012 and that means cutting costs everywhere, including groceries.

I’m a horrible meal planner to be quite honest but I hope, with your help, I can become better at it.  I realize it’s an essential part of saving money so I’m determined to make it work.  The meals will be basic most of the time but you gotta do what you gotta do to make the budget work right?

To make it more interesting for you guys, I’ve decided to make this a weekly post for accountability for me, and I’m gonna do something fun for you!  This is how it will work!  Every week, I’ll post my weekly meal plan.  I’ll provide you with a list of ingredients that I’ll have to buy to make the meals and the person who comes closes to the actual amount spent without going over, will win a small prize.   I’ll share my receipt and all so that you can see it.  During the next week (every Saturday), I’ll share who won, the actual cost, and the next meal plan..so on and so on.  This will encourage me to buy ONLY the ingredients I need to make the meals, stick to my budget, provide you a little fun, and a chance to win a prize.

A couple of things you should know; 1) I have a family of 5 – me, my husband, 18yr old, 15yr old, and 5yr old.  We live in the middle of Texas.  2) Our beef is part of our income so we have a chest freezer full of it.  Most recipes will include beef but I’ll throw in chicken and such from time to time. 3) All the kids are in school so these meals are for our evening supper.  Me and the hubs will eat whatever we can find during the day.  If I have extras that need to be bought that week, I’ll post them as ‘ingredients’, which you’ll include in your total when calculating cost.

Week One, January 1-7 2012

• Pot Roast, Mash Taters, Corn
• Hot Dogs
• Fajita Steak Sliced & Cooked with Bell Pepper with Rice and Brown Gravy
• Enchiladas and salad
• Hamburgers & Fries
• Slow Cooker Short Ribs with cubed/baked tater chunks
• Hot Roast Beef Sandwiches

INGREDIENTS TO BUY

• 10lb bag of Taters
• Rice
• Green Bell Pepper
• Campbell’s Brown Gravy & Onion
• 1 package Hamburger buns
• Sub type rolls for roast beef sandwiches (probably 2 pkgs, not sure how many come in one)
• 1 head of Lettuce
• 6 tomatoes
• Package of sliced cheese (24)
• 2lbs of cheddar cheese
• 1 package corn tortillas
• 160z sour cream
• wieners
• can of chili (family size can)
• 1 garlic cloves
• Campbell’s condensed french onion soup

Extras to buy for the week include:

• 2 Loaves of bread
• Box of Cold Brew Tea
• Stick Butter (2 pkgs)

How much do you think those ingredients will cost?

In a comment below, leave your best guess of what you think these ingredients will cost.  The person that comes closes without going over, will win this sharp Chef’s knife from Chicago Cutlery.  It’s professional stainless steel, forged blades, 8″, and has a full lifetime guarantee.

You have until Friday evening of January 6th, 6pm CST to take a guess.  Good luck!  Also, if you have a budget friendly meal idea, please share along with your guess. I’d love to have more ideas for my future meal planning!

P.S. Congrats to Mary G from North Carolina. She was the winner of the Clorox Gift Basket and Williams & Sonoma Gift Card! 

One of the pains that I have to deal with here on the ranch, is the lovely hard-water spots on my dishes.  I was always looking for that next product to eliminate them but man, it can get pricey.   I was talking to a gal, probably in her 60′s, who was telling me that she had the same issue but that she simply used Clorox Bleach.  Now, when she first said it, I wasn’t quite convinced and was almost set-back by it but she explained her ‘parts’.  She filled her sink up with warm water and choice of dish soap; then she put 2 tablespoons of Clorox Bleach in the suds and swooshed around.

I honestly didn’t think JUST 2 Tablespoons would work but it did, it Bleached it Away.  There was a considerable difference when they were dry.  I guess you learn something new all the time from the wise, experienced ones.   This just shows me that you don’t need all those fancy cleaners and ‘special agents’, you just need Clorox Bleach!   Check out my Christmas plate!!  All you can see is the reflection of everything else because it’s so clean!

Guess what, you have the chance to win a Clorox Gift Basket and $50 Gift Card to Williams and Sonoma!  Woohoo!

How to Enter

Required Entry: Share a messy moment that happens in your kitchen! Tell me all about it, I wanna hear them!  If you need some inspiration, watch the video and see a fellow blogger and Mom share her messy moment.

Additional optional entries, leaving all in separate comments to count:

• Join the My Wooden Spoon’s Facebook Community.  I’m always giving freebies like ecookbooks over there!
• Follow @ACowboysWife on Twitter and tweet this giveaway with the URL to this post! (DAILY ENTRY-once per day)
• Subscribe to my feed via RSS or email. You must confirm your email subscription for it to be a valid entry! Coming soon, there will be special giveaways JUST for email subscribers! If you’re already a subscriber, simply leave a separate comment letting me know you’ve already subscribed.
• Go share your messy moment over on Clorox’s Facebook page and how you Bleach it Away!

This giveaway ends at 6:00 p.m. CST on 12/15/2011 and is open to all U.S. residents.

Disclosure: Clorox is providing the gift basket and gift card and I have been paid for my time & efforts to create this post.  As always, my opinions are my own. 

With basketball season in full bloom, dinner starts to become much later in the evening, and that means finding easy meal solutions to get the family fed before it’s already time to hit the hay.  We often look for recipes via the Internet, cookbooks, and our friends but don’t forget about the back of products too!

Have you seen the new French’s French Cheddar Fried Onions?  On the back of the container it has a recipe for Crunchy Onion Chicken and the entire dish was gone in minutes, eaten by 3 teenagers tonight after a basketball game.  They said it was awesome. I didn’t get a bite so I wouldn’t know but it smelled delicious and it cooked in 20 minutes!  That’s my kind of meal you know?!

I love finding new ways to use chicken and I think I’ll add this to our regular menu.  What’s the last recipe you made from the back of a food product?

Thanks Ollie for sharing your food with us!!