Giveaway from Money Saving Mom

Cheryl from MoneySavingMom is giving away some great gifts. $100 gift certificate to Vitacost, $50 Apple bee's gift certificate, $20 Starbucks and much more. Jump over and enter to win. Ends Friday at 5pm. Let us know if you win. Good Luck!!

Vegetable and Herb Class for Beginners: FREE

Do you live near Fluvanna? Are interested in growing your own vegetables or herbs? Are you a beginner in gardening? Join me at the library.

The Fluvanna Master Gardeners will be conducting a community education workshop on March 3 from 10 - 11:30 am. The workshop will be at the Fluvanna county library on Rt. 53.

Since, I have a few years experience gardening and on my way to being a Fluvanna Master Gardener I thought I would volunteer to help out. This workshop sounds like it's going to be lots of fun and learning experiences.

Hope to see you there!!

What kind of vegetable would you like to grow? I'd like to try "eggplant".

My new Favorite place to Eat: Great Harvest Bread Co.

If you have been with me for awhile you know that I'm trying to turn my diet around and eat healthier, more organic, less processed, real foods. So when I find a Real Food blog, I get excited. I know, sounds dorky, but that's me- the Food Dork :)

Recently I stumbled on a great blog about "Real Food", KathEatsRealFood. She has wonderful pictures of her yummy breakfast, lunch and dinners. Also, her husband owns "Great Harvest Bread Co." in Charlottesville, Va. (If you are near cville, you gotta go eat here).

The smell is so delicious your mouth starts to water upon entering the door. There are so many breads, muffins, cookies, scones, cinnamon rolls.... We bought a loaf of Dakota and a loaf of Cheddar Garlic to take home. For lunch I had the Twin Oaks tofu and pesto sandwich, the best sandwich I've had in a long time.


I must say, the people there were soooo nice and you could tell they loved their jobs. They were dancing and welcoming customers as they walked in. Oh, and they give you samples to try. The chocolate cookie was oh so gooey. It's a great thing to see employees happy :)

This is now my new favorite place to eat. Thanks Great Harvest, You Rock!!

Jalapeno Poppers

Jalapeno poppers are one of my favorite foods. I love the cream cheese and cheddar mixture inside. Oh so creamy and gooey.

When I went to my local grocery store and they had a pack of jalapenos on discount I thought "this is my chance to try and make the poppers." There were 9 jalapenos for only $0.31. WOW!

Into the kitchen I went and started mixing and stirring. Here's what I came up with.

5 Jalapenos cut in half and seeds removed
4 oz. cream cheese- softened
1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/8 tsp. chili powder
1/8 tsp. cumin
salt and pepper to taste
bread crumbs for sprinkling on top

Mix cream cheese, cheddar cheese, chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper. Stuff jalapenos with cream cheese mixture. Place in small casserole dish and sprinkle bread crumbs on top of jalapenos. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Enjoy!!

The best part is it only cost $1.50 for all 10 halves. Yum!!

Obsessed with Bagels

Bagels, Bagels, Bagels.... I think of Bagels all the time now!

Garlic Bagels, cinnamon raisin Bagels, plain Bagels, rosemary Bagels, the possibilities are endless. Last week I made 11 cinnamon raisin bagels. My intentions were to take some to my Grandmother to try, that didn't happen. Two days later, no bagels. I'm not sure what happened, all I know is my sister, her husband and four kids were over and wham! No more bagels.

Time to head to the kitchen and make some more. This time I'm trying rosemary garlic bagels. Yum, they are so delicious and very cheap to make. Laura @ Heavenly Homemakers is having a Real Food- Low Cost Challenge. She is making recipes and calculating the cost of making. I calculated my cinnamon raisin bagels and it only cost me around $0.19 cents a bagel to make. That's way cheaper that store bought frozen bagels. Like I say, it IS cheaper than you think to eat healthy.

Ahh, for the love of bagels. Maybe one day I'll have my own bakery and everyone can enjoy my bagels.

Tomorrow's menu: Build your own tacos. Can't wait to see how much they cost.

What's your favorite at home recipe? How much does it cost to make?

It's a No-Go for the Tofu and my Teenager

(Krista)

Well, you probably guessed it, she didn't like it. Actually she wouldn't even try it. She knows me to well. I'm always trying to get her to eat "weird" food and she has caught on. She did try a noodle and said "it's ok." My 6 year old niece tried the tofu and liked it. She actually had seconds, way to go Krista.

So there you have it, give your kids "weird" food when they're young so they will eat it when they are teenagers.

Teriyaki Tofu Stir Fry

This recipe is so yummy I had to share it with you. I wanted to make something with tofu that I thought my daughter would eat. So here goes:

Teriyaki Tofu Stir Fry:

8 oz. tofu, drained
13 oz. of teriyaki sauce (I bought a bottle from grocery store)
8 mushrooms, halved
1/2 large white onion, chopped
1 cup cooked broccoli
1/2 pkg. spaghetti noodles
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 Tbsp. garlic powder
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. olive oil
salt & pepper to taste

First you need to marinate your tofu. Drain your tofu and slice into 1/2" thick pieces. Place your tofu into a dish. Mix garlic powder with teriyaki sauce and pour over tofu. Just enough to cover. Probably about 1/4 of a cup, I didn't measure. Place in refrigerator while your prepping everything else.

Boil a large pot of water and add your spaghetti noodles. Cook until tender, drain. In medium skillet add 1 Tbsp. olive oil. Saute onions, mushrooms and minced garlic with 2 Tbsp. soy sauce. Cook until onions are tender. (I could eat just this for my meal, YUM)

Take your tofu out of refrigerator and fry in skillet, you can use the same skillet that you used to cook the onions and mushrooms in. Cook 4-5 mins. on each side. I used my cast iron skillet because it had ridges. I thought the lines in the tofu would help trick my daughter into thinking it was meat. :)

In large bowl pour in spaghetti noodles, broccoli, mushroom and onions. Add tofu and remaining teriyaki sauce. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

It's so yummy. Alexis (my daughter) isn't home from school yet, but I'll let you know if she likes it or not. Keep your fingers crossed.