Simply Southern Mom

Wow, it has been a while since I have been on here.  I am now employed and have a 1st grader and Pre-K student.  Time flies....

Tonight I wanted to make spaghetti but didn't have any spaghetti noodles. I had some left over macaroni noodles and a bag of Kraft home style macaroni.  I decided to make the Kraft macaroni and put the pasta sauce and beef on top.  Super easy and only 3 ingredients.  See below for the recipe. 1 bag Kraft home style macaroni (I went with the classic) 1 lb ground beef browned 1 jar pasta sauce (I used Ragu 6 cheese 24 oz) Cook the noodles by the directions on the bag.  Add the cheese sauce and seasoning pack.  (I tossed the bread crumbs that come with the mix in the trash).  Mix in the pasta sauce and beef.  That's it!!  I was so happy I played around in the kitchen today with what I had in my pantry. It's a quick and easy meal that I plan to continue making.

Today I was debating on what to make for dinner. I knew I had all the ingredients for basic spaghetti but really wasn't in the mood for it. I wanted to make something with the Polska kielbasa that I had but wasn't really sure how to go about it. I looked online for a basic pasta recipe that I could add the kielbasa to. Below I found this recipe on sparkrecipes.com for Olive oil and Parmesan Pasta. I followed the recipe below but since I am adding meat to this dish I browned the kielbasa while the pasta was cooking. I also added some extra spices (i.e. garlic powder, pepper and salt). I also noticed the pasta was a little dry so I threw in a splash of 2% milk to make it a little creamer. I also think that next time I make this I will sauté an onion. 1 lb pasta 3 cloves garlic, sliced 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated 0.25 cup olive oil 1 tbsp butter Heat olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic and saute. Cook pasta, return to pan in which it was cooked. Add butter a...

So I have been trying new recipes from Pinterest recently. I look for recipes that I have most of the ingredients for already. Tonight I tried the baked "fried" pickles. I made the recipe below but instead of panko bread crumbs, I used regular bread crumbs since I had them in my pantry. This wasn't a good substitute. The breading was too grainy. I know panko crumbs are lighter in texture and taste, so next time, I will use panko. The pickles had a good taste so I know this will be a good recipe to try again. I made a pack of Hidden Valley Ranch to dip these in. Many people commented on pinterest about dipping in buffalo ranch. Either way its hard to go wrong with ranch! "FRIED" PICKLES Makes 6 servings. Ingredients 1 jar pickle slices 2 eggs 1/3 cup flour 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce 1 tsp hot sauce 1 tsp garlic powder 1 tsp Cajun seasoning 1 tsp pepper 1 1/2 cups panko bread crumbs Directions Turn oven broiler on high. In a medium bowl...

So coming up in 2 weeks, we will be having a joint birthday party for my girls who are turning 3 and 1.  My oldest daughter wants a Yo Gabba Gabba birthday party.  I immediately went to Pinterest for ideas. There are so many cute ideas on there for recreating the monsters in fun party foods.  I found a 2 tier cake the has a candy theme. I plan to work off of this theme and make a candy bar for favors.  I am also going to make pretzel characters and a vegetable tray that looks like one of the monsters.

I wanted to start this blog to document my new role of being a stay at home mom.  We are all looking for ideas and inspirations to live better and save money. I am hoping that through this blog I can expand my horizons. A little about me: I am 30 years old, married and a mother to 2 beautiful girls (Anna 3 & Abigail 1). I recently became a stay at home mom due to my youngest daughter's health issues. She was born 3 months early weighing only 15 oz at birth. She is doing great now but is still having some delays that require extra attention.  I was working full time during her hospitalization and when she came home (4 months after her birth) I began working nights and weekends to keep my job.  The company decided after a prolonged period of this schedule that they needed someone to work 1st shift hours.  While at first I was upset and concerned about not working, it had truly been a blessing and much needed for my girls.  My youngest daughter is thriving an...