Welcome to the Fox Visitors

I am so thrilled that you have found your way to my journey of Balancing Beauty and Bedlam.
This is where I share my ramblings.
Just one woman trying to balance it all...frugal homemaking, intentionality and the joy/bedlam of five children.

If you'd like to be notified of my new posts by email, feel free to click here to "subscribe."
That way, you won't be a day late when I announce the newest freebies (click here to see some of the examples. Many expire quickly).

I am in the process of updating many features. I am excited that I will be adding many new tutorials on couponing, thrifting, and of course, dressing with a designer wardrobe on a yard sale budget.

To get you started, feel free to browse my archived posts found on the left side of my blog.
Some of the topics you may enjoy -

Balancing the Budget

Balancing Meal Time Mountain

Couponing/CVS video

Balancing Family Values, tradition ideas

Meal Planning - with a twist

The 5:00 o’clock dinner bell gongs, and the dreaded, “what’s for dinner” question haunts us.

Do they really need to eat again? Sheesh - didn’t I just feed them?

When I mention meal planning, most women run for the hills because it is just one more thing to cram on our overextended plates.

We know there’s a benefit in having a plan, but the thought of having to actually sit down and work it through leaves us frazzled and overwhelmed.

Right now, you can google meal planning and choose from 5 million entries to read. The benefits of saving time, saving money and saving your sanity will all be shared.

The professionals will tell you to pull out your calendar, gather the family around and brainstorm favorite meals. They’ll encourage you to fill in the calendar dates with your top choices, create a shopping list and go from there.

Meal planning made easy, right?

That’s in an ideal world.

A world in which I wish I lived - a world in which my best intentions meet reality on occasion.

My guess is that many of you can relate;

“Queen of Best Intentions”…maybe tomorrow.

For many of us, this is the most difficult aspect in making our home a haven.

Our families need to eat...every day...all the time...and that cooking rut just grows deeper.

So how do we get around this lack of follow through?

Just do it – with small baby steps!

I had written another post (in my mind), with some general suggestions for conquering Meal Time Mountain, but after brainstorming with many of my friends on this topic, they finally declared…

“Jen, seriously, just tell us what to do, so we can copy you.”

That’s a scary statement, people…but here goes.

I decided to take a one hour challenge, and see how much I could do to prepare for future meals. I attacked this mission with fervor, and planned on conquering it.

Here’s what I did. I had already de-thawed the meats, and had started a crock pot full of black beans that morning.

So I fired up two of my best friends for the evening – my rice cooker and grill.
I grilled ten combined pounds of chicken, pork and hamburger.

While “I” (well, technically, my 13 year old son - train them young as I always say) was grilling, I fried six pounds of hamburger meat, and started my rice cooker.

I made two separate helpings of brown rice and basmati rice.

One hour later, I had eighteen chicken breasts and pork,

chopped, sliced and diced.

The rice, beans and (seasoned) hamburger meat were completed and divided into baggies.

The mouth-watering ribs and hamburger patties flew straight from the grill to being totally devoured by my family (one meal done...in minutes – ugh – they didn’t even stop to relish it).

Let me tell you, it was a true carnivore’s delight.

And since I tend to minimize the meat – they were in hog heaven.

So what does that have to do with meal planning for the Queen of Best Intentions?

Every thing that I had just put into Ziplock bags now offered a minimum of 15 possible meal choices that I could cook up in minutes.

I know you’re thinking…she must be crazy, how is she getting those numbers?

Well, since I have an “emergency corner” of foods that I am never without, I can draw from this stockpile on any given day.

I highly recommend doing this – even if it’s just with a few items. These are staples that I stock up on when the grocer has them at buy one get one free, and I have saved some coupons

Most of these pantry items, I get for nearly free with coupons, but you already now that.

These are the items that I always stock.

1. can of diced tomotoes

2. cans of cream of mushroom or chicken soup

3. flour tortillas

4. shredded cheese

5. frozen vegetables

6. salsa

7. noodles

8. spaghetti sauce

9. sour cream

10. a few "Pillsbury" type items that I have gotten virtually free - biscuits, pie crusts, pizza dough (homemade or store bought with coupon).

With these items and the food I just prepared, I can make:

*Chicken stir fry – chicken, frozen veggies, rice

*Enchiladas or burritos with rice, beans, taco seasoned beef, cheese, salsa, and sour cream

*Simple chicken casserole with diced chicken, cream of mushroom/chx soup, rice, seasoning, and cheese sprinkled on top.

*Simple Chicken pot pie with chicken, cream of mush/chx soup, bag of frozen veggies, cheese, and an all purpose seasoning…I love Homemade Gourmet.

*Chili – hamburger, beans, water, can of diced tomatoes, seasoning, and water.

*Taco salad - romaine lettuce drizzled with either French or ranch dressings, dolloped with black beans, taco flavored hamburger meat, salsa, sour cream, and crushed tortilla chips

*Taco dip

*Taco pizza

*Grilled Chicken salad

*Shredded pork with BBQ sauce makes a great sandwich

*Stuffed biscuits with either salsa or spaghetti sauce, hamburger, and cheese

*Spaghetti

Whew, can you believe it, and I was just getting warmed up. Don’t worry if your freezer space is limited. Look how much room it took up?

Can you believe all that I got done with one hour and 15 minutes of intentional time set aside to conquer this mealtime mountain.

If I can do this…you can too.

I am passionate about families spending more time connecting at the dinner table (yes, another topic), and less time being frazzled with the process.

With simple meal planning, you not only save time, and HUGE amounts of money, but you enjoy the lost art of shared dinner conversations which makes this priceless.

Let’s continue to make our home a haven by taking time this week to move from best intentions to actually answering the “what’s for dinner question” in our own home.

Are you up for the challenge?

Is there anything still standing in your way?

I can’t wait for you to join me as we balance both the beauty and the bedlam of mealtime mountain.

Since this post was written, we have eaten 10 meals from this hour of work.

Most of those meals took less than 10 minutes to prepare, with most of that time spent de-thawing since I forgot to take it out the night before. Our Mexican night recipes are up..enjoy meals made easy.

Cooking for large groups - meals for the multitudes

What were you doing this weekend?

Were you snuggled up with your main squeeze whispering sweet nothings?
Well, my sweetie was here, but we definitely weren't whispering.
Not when we had a impromptu troop full of "terrible teens."
(Terrible teens? I beg to differ...")
And with that troop came so much beauty and bedlam....

We love to open our home, but it doesn't happen nearly enough during our busy sports season.
Not a good excuse, but just a reality that needs to change.
For some, the aspect of hospitality is overwhelming. I think one major deterrent from opening one's home is the whole food dilemma.
"What should we make? How much will I have to spend; this will be expensive.
I just don't have the time" etc. etc.
We want to create a welcoming home, but in the process, we talk ourselves out of the concept due to an unrealistic pressure to "perform" to some magazine standard.

Since we have now entered the teen years, and will be in the throws of this age group for the next 15 years, we desire our home to be the place they want to gather.
A Welcoming Home/ a Haven of Hospitality is one of those things I passionately pursue, even if it's not alway a reality.

With this desire comes the realization that teens want food....good food....and LOTS of it.
Since this gathering was thrown together at the last minute, I didn't have time to go to the store and stock up on special goodies just for this.
Quite frankly, buying on impulse is something I want to avoid since it eats up the $500/month budget quite quickly.
There are a few main staples that I keep on hand for occasions such as this, and it gives me the freedom to know that I always have something to throw together.
I always have bulk amounts of sour cream in stock to make delicious dips on demand.

This was a great dill dip for the veggies.

Along side the soda I placed this bowl of yummy nutrients, and the first thing that came out of one of the girl's mouth was, "ohh...hmm...healthy snacks?"
I knew I better get it into gear, so I quickly threw together this taco dip.
Yes, I forgot to take a picture until it was almost gone, so just for you I spread the dip around and threw a little bit of cheese back on....hee hee.
Seriously, every single one of my kids (including my five year old) can whip together a mean taco dip and they do it on a regular basis.
This is always a crowd pleaser and served with white corn tortilla chips, it's the best.

And of course, chocolate soothes even the most picky of souls.
These, along with peanut butter cup brownies topped off the evening.

Deciding on the main meal is always the challenge.
Grilling is always a crowd favorite, but depending on the size of the group, it's not always a feasible option. Quite often I go for lasagna, chili or.....

HOMEMADE PIZZA!
I am amazed at how many people shy away from the idea because conjuring up anything with yeast has a scary presupposition.
Trust me...it is not hard to whip up some crust and the price is ALWAYS right.

I can make a large pizza for just a few dollars.
Unfortunately for my guests this week, I was out of pepperoni, and only had a bit of sausage.
So, if cheese pizza is your preference, then the price is really right.

All the moms came up to me the next day and said how the teens were so impressed.
Trust me, this isn't about impressing anyone.
It's about feeding the multitudes, and pizza does the trick every time.

If you have a Kitchen Aid sitting on your counter...unused....get it out.
SERIOUSLY, THIS IS SO EASY, and QUICK!

With a dough hook, homemade crust is a reality in minutes.
Even if you have to do it by hand, it's so fun.
It will just take a bit longer than a few minutes, but only ten...max.

I am in the middle of redesigning my site, and once I do, I will be adding some video tutorials.
Homemade pizza crust will be one of them.

I am completely about making it quick, easy and affordable.
Yes, homemade sauce would be the optimal, but I got this Ragu with my doubled coupons when it was on sale BOGO Free. Yipee...and I know the teens could care less. :)
*One thing I do when I use store bought sauce is to add in a few additional spices to give it that homemade sauce taste (Homemade Gourmet spaghetti seasoning, or basic Italian spices such as oregano, basil, garlic powder etc.).
I sprinkle them right on top of the sauce and sometimes over the crust.

I made four large pizzas that all went quickly. If it was for our family, I would have made 3 of them a veggie supreme, but considering how they initially responded to the raw brocolli, I stuck with 2 1/2 cheese. But guess what, the brocolli and carrots were gone by the end of the night. :)This is another thing I make in bulk. If you are going to make dough, why not triple the recipe? You may freeze the raw dough, or make the pizzas and freeze them before baking.
This recipe will make one large pizza.
Recipes for yeast items scare me....they make it seem SO much more difficult than it is.
I have typed up the real recipe, but I will highlight the reality of just how simple it is.

And yes, I got myself into trouble by telling my friend that she needs to learn how to do this. Now she corralled me into teaching a Keeper's Club girls group how to make it this week.
9-13 year old girls are each going to make one.
If they can, you can.

Crusty Pizza Dough

1 package active dry yeast
I buy this in bulk at Sam's/Cosco...1 tb=1 package
1 cup warm water (105 degrees F to 115 degrees)
I have never ever taken the water's temperature.
Stick your finger in the water. If it burns you, it's too hot. Think NC summer day hot.
1/2 tsp salt
I love to use garlic salt for a little extra umph.
1 tsp. olive oil (or any oil)
2 1/3 cups - 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
(I actually have a grain grinder and can do my own ww flour)

Dissolved yeast in warm water in warmed bowl.
Nope, don't do that either...who has time to warm a bowl.
Add salt, olive oil, and 2 1/2 cups flour.
Attach dough hook, and mix for 1 minute.

Continuing on low speed, add remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until dough clings to hook and cleans side of bowl. Kneed on low speed for 2 minutes.
This is where a video may come in handy. Cleaning the side of the bowl means the dough will begin to pull away and lump together in a nice kind of ball.

Place in greased bowl, turning to grease top.
Cover, let rise in warm place, free from draft, until doubled in bulk...about 1 hour.
Punch down.
In theory, this all sounds ideal, but when you have a room full of teenagers wondering when their food is coming, I am not about to tell them they have to wait for the dough to rise.
For the first two pizzas, I literally skipped this step. Isn't that awesome to know?
JUST SKIP IT . THEY WILL STILL BE GREAT!
Once I mixed the dough, I just rolled it right out.
While the first two pizzas were cooking, I did "force" a rise with the remaining dough by giving it that extra time to rise a little before punching it down, but not necessary.

Brush 14 inch pizza pan with oil; sprinkle with cornmeal (nope, didn't do that either).
Press dough across bottom of pan forming a collar around edge to hold filling.
Top with desired fillings.
Bake at 450 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

And look at all these happy campers.
Even though the dough didn't rise, I think they were quite content.
And now Morgan, Katie, and Lindsey...you are all blog stars....hee hee.
Yes, I found out that one of these sweet girls actually read my blogs....yikes.
Now I can't say anything I want about my kids anymore. :)

Posted at $5 Dinner Challenge
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Housekeeping is happening...for my special guests

hi there - I just needed to warn you about the dust that's going around Beauty and Bedlam.

Sweet, Sweet Domestic Chicky is helping me spruce up around here for the guests that are coming over on Wednesday, and we're reworking many aspects. Keep coming back, it's only going to get better thanks to her.

Many of you have asked, and I thought you might like to see the Promo that is being shown for the next four days on Fox.
I had a little heart attack when I was told that.
WHAT? They are actually advertising this segment.....ahhhh!
And aren't you thrilled that this screen shot captures my best side?

I will just say now that the power of editing is unbelievable. I am a bit nervous.
My secret is out....find out what it is....the very last line of the promo.
And here, I was just having an "off the air" discussion with the reporter on what I started off doing in college. :)

And it really is Ok if you laugh at me and not with me...my hubby did, and he loves me anyhow.




Edited to add: This is where the full segment is shown.
Click Here to get to the link.

Couponing Geek - free food

Yes, I am confessing.
For the last two weeks, I have been a couponing geek.
As part of my recovery, I am confessing it and getting it out in the open.
I carry my coupon binder around, and ponder how I can fit one more thing in my pantry/freezer as a result of my triple coupon week at Harris Teeter.
(It goes through tomorrow so get on out there you SE folk).

BUT, the beauty from this bedlam is that I am not alone in this geek squad.
Some of my friends have jumped on the band wagon with me,
and we are slowly starting to convert other unsuspecting prey.
On Tuesdays, a few of us sit around during our home school group, cut coupons, and line up the best deals around town.
It's a sickness I tell you.
This week we started chuckling out loud when some of the other moms (who don't coupon) questioned how in the world we could actually sit for two hours and talk about this stuff.
It was pretty funny, and then my epiphany occurred...coupon geek.

So, on behalf of my dear blogless friend, I am going to share the email that I just received.
And since you don't know her....I think it's OK that I didn't get permission first. :)
(Love me anyhow, Rebecca).
Isn't it so fun to have friends with which to share your crazy obsessions?
Everyone needs a few faithful friends like that, and I have found them. :)

Hi to My Couponing Divas,

Ok, I can barely stand it, I'm so excited. I'm hoping that coupons are not becoming an idol in my life! :o)

I'm attaching a picture for the groceries that in the end HT will be paying me to buy. For everything purchased, I paid $23.15. I then got catalinas for a $10 gift card and 3 coupons for free milk (valued at $4.69 each - who would pay that much for milk??), which totals future savings of $24.07. Yippeeeee!!!

I did find that on Wednesday morning I was VERY tempted to cut my time with the Lord short just so I could get to HT. I might just be addicted.

OH, it's good to have girl friends. :)