Thursday, January 4, 2018

Cheap and Easy Breakfast Haystacks, (Weight Watcher Friendly) - Frugal Family Home

Cheap and Easy Breakfast Haystacks, (Weight Watcher Friendly) - Frugal Family Home

Breakfast it’s easy to skip and not get a good start to the day but with these yummy breakfast haystacks you’ll want to make time to eat breakfast.

An easy breakfast idea, breakfast haystacks. It’s an easy recipe that frugal too. At only $.35 a serving who wouldn’t enjoy this easy and healthy breakfast?! Grab the recipe and give it a try today!

We stick to the same breakfast each weekday morning, toast and eggs. But on the weekends and holidays I like to make something a little more special for us to enjoy.

But we don’t always want a sweet breakfast, like cinnamon rolls or scones. Although those are delicious, some days you crave a hearty breakfast. That’s when I make these breakfast haystacks.

Below you’ll find the recipe video along with the printable recipe to be sure to scroll on down to see them all.

Ingredients Needed for Breakfast Haystacks

Potatoes, one per person medium sized
Egg, one per person
Onions, if desired
Ham or Bacon, if desired
Green Pepper, if desired
Salt and Pepper
Topping, optional Salsa, Cheese, Green Onions, Chives, Parsley

An easy breakfast idea, breakfast haystacks. It’s an easy recipe that frugal too. At only $.35 a serving who wouldn’t enjoy this easy and healthy breakfast?! Grab the recipe and give it a try today!

Kitchen Items I use to Prepare this Recipe

The links below are my referral links. When you purchase through them, I can make a little money at no extra cost to you. See my disclosure page for more information.

Electric Skillet, I love this electric skillet it’s easy to adjust the cooking temperature and I use it for all kinds of cooking. I use it to prepare pancakes, hash browns, pan fried pork chops, pan baked scones, stir-fry recipes and more. It’s really versatile

Grater or Food Processor, My family purchased me a new food processor for my birthday and I love it. It works great and is easy to clean. If it’s out, I’ll use it to shred the potatoes but a grater works good too.

Spatula, I love this plastic spatula.  Food doesn’t stick to them and they can be used with all of my pans.

How to make Breakfast Haystacks

Below you’ll find the full recipe prepared on video. If watching a video isn’t your thing keep on scrolling down to get the printable recipe instead.

Tips for Making Breakfast Haystacks

Prep the ingredients before you begin. The recipe cooks up pretty quickly so prep the ingredients ahead of time so they are ready.

Wait to prep the potatoes last to keep them from turning brown.

Get the pan warm before adding the potatoes. Heat pan then add the oil and potatoes.

I like to use bacon fat in the center of the potatoes instead of oil it adds flavor. I only use about a teaspoon for four servings.

Let the potatoes cook until browned on the first side then start the other ingredients. I wait to cook the optional ingredients until the potatoes are cooked on one side.

An easy breakfast idea, breakfast haystacks. It’s an easy recipe that frugal too. At only $.35 a serving who wouldn’t enjoy this easy and healthy breakfast?! Grab the recipe and give it a try today!

Because I use a larger skillet, I’m able to add the peppers, onion and ham alongside the potatoes as they cook. But you might need another skillet if you don’t have a big skillet.

Prepare the eggs once the potatoes are flipped to the second side. Once I’ve flipped the potatoes and added the optional ingredients, I cook the eggs.

You can prepare the eggs any way you like we prefer fried eggs for this recipe.

Once everything is ready assemble and top. Once the cooking is done, it’s time to assemble. Add potatoes to the plate first, then top with the optional ingredients. Add your egg and any topping you’d like.

You could use salsa, cheese, parsley, green onions or even chives on top. Just sprinkle and serve.

An easy breakfast idea, breakfast haystacks. It’s an easy recipe that frugal too. At only $.35 a serving who wouldn’t enjoy this easy and healthy breakfast?! Grab the recipe and give it a try today!

 

Breakfast Haystacks
 
Prep time
10 mins
Cook time
15 mins
Total time
25 mins
 
These are Weight Watchers friendly at 7 points per serving.
Author: Shelly
Serves: 4 servings
Ingredients
  • 4 medium Potatoes
  • 4 Eggs
  • 1-2 ounces of Ham or cooked Bacon or any leftover cooked meat (optional)
  • ½ Green Pepper, chopped (optional)
  • ½ Onion, chopped (optional)
  • Parsley, Chive, Salsa, Green Onions, or Cheese for Topping (optional)
  • 2 teaspoon Oil
Instructions
  1. Prepare all the ingredients before you cook. It will make it easier to prepare this recipe. Prep the potatoes last to keep them from turning brown.
  2. Heat a medium to a large skillet over medium high heat. Add each shredded potato in a stack and them smooth out. Add a little oil or bacon grease to the middle to help them brown up. Cook without moving until golden brown then flip.
  3. Once the potatoes are cooked on one side, add the onion, green peppers and ham if using to the skillet or to another skillet if there isn’t enough room. Stir and cook to brown them.
  4. Cook the 4 eggs the way you prefer.
  5. Once the potatoes are brown on both sides, the eggs are cooked and the optional items are cooked it’s time to assemble the haystacks.
  6. Place a potato patty on the plate, add the optional items then top with an egg. If using optional topping ingredients sprinkle them on now. Serve warm.
3.5.3226

 

 

Because you can customize these breakfast haystacks, they can be weight watcher friendly too. The basic recipe is 7 SmartPoints.

How Much will these Breakfast Haystacks Cost to Make?

If you are like me and try to keep your grocery cost low but want to feed your family well, it’s good to know the cost of your meals. I’ve figured out the cost of this recipe to help you decide if it’s a good one to fit into your budget.

To find the prices below I used the regular price I pay at WinCo Foods. Your prices might vary depending on where you live. But at least it will be close.

4 Potatoes, $.30
4 Eggs, $.48
Pepper, $.40
Onion $.10
Oil and Seasoning $.10

That brings the cost of this recipe to $1.38 for 4 servings. Or just $.35 per serving. That really beats eating out. To round out the meal, we add a slice of toast and a little fruit too. Which still keeps the price of this meal low.

If you add ham or bacon that will add a little cost but I try to add those extra items in when we have leftover from the dinner the night before.

An easy breakfast idea, breakfast haystacks. It’s an easy recipe that frugal too. At only $.35 a serving who wouldn’t enjoy this easy and healthy breakfast?! Grab the recipe and give it a try today!

These breakfast haystacks are a delicious and hearty breakfast for a weekend when you don’t feel like eating something sweet. They cook up quickly and everyone can have just what they want on theirs, helping with picky eaters.

What would you top your breakfast haystack with?

Pin it for Later…

An easy breakfast idea, breakfast haystacks. It’s an easy recipe that frugal too. At only $.35 a serving who wouldn’t enjoy this easy and healthy breakfast?! Grab the recipe and give it a try today!

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Tuesday, January 2, 2018

Do I Really Need a Budget? Do Budgets Help? - Frugal Family Home

Do I Really Need a Budget? Do Budgets Help? - Frugal Family Home

Do I really need a budget?

That might be a question you ask yourself if you don’t like to budget or don’t know how. But if you are like so many people you need a budget if….

Do I Really Need a Budget? There are a few questions you want to ask yourself to see if you really need a budget. Come see those questions and decide if you really need a budget. I think the answer might surprise you.

Do I really Need a Budget?

You do if you…

Live paycheck to paycheck

If you have little or no emergency savings (less than $1000 saved up)

You have a little saved for retirement or no retirement savings at all

You carry a balance on your credit cards

If you meet any of these criteria above, you need to make a budget because you aren’t saving enough and you are spending too much. The only way to get control of your money is to tell it where to go.

You tell your money where to go by setting up a budget and sticking to it. When you set up a budget you can save money, stop living paycheck to paycheck and pay off your credit cards.

Even if you don’t meet the criteria above keep on reading to see the benefits of a budget and why we still budget even though we are debt free.

Why Do You Need Budget?

A budget can help you no matter whether you are rich, poor or somewhere in between. The thing is, if you have no idea where your cash is going, it will go and not to the most important things.

You need a budget to…

Track your spending, to keep it in line and to make sure you have enough money for the important things. Not just things.

You need to have a budget to make sure you put enough away for a rainy day or a bad day when something breaks. You don’t want to have to be financing emergencies on credit.

You need to a budget to get control of your money. Because if you are like the average person who doesn’t have a budget, you’ll overspend and not have enough to make it to the end of the month.

Benefits of Having a Budget Every Month

1. Tell Your Money Where to Go

I’ve never regretted having a budget, even during our lean money times when our budget was really tight.

It was hard to look at those numbers on paper but looking at those numbers and thinking about them helped to keep us on track.

We knew how much we had to spend and how much we had to pay off debt and how much for every item.

I’m not saying it’s easy to stick to a budget when money is tight. If you don’t have a budget, it’s impossible to stay on track with your finances if you don’t have a lot to work with.

Have trouble overspending on everyday things? Use cash instead find out how to get started with a cash envelope system.

2. Pay Off Debt and Stay Out of Debt

For every penny you pay off you are saving money on interest. That interest can really add up so the faster you can get out of debt the better.

Having a plan (or a budget) can help you do just that, get out of debt for good.

Our family got into debt when we were making good money, more money than we really needed. We had a surplus, but we still got into debt. Why was that? Because we didn’t have a budget.

We spent money where and when we liked. We didn’t track it and so we ended up in debt. Being in debt is not a good place to be.

It was easy to get into debt when using credit cards. You might wonder how that debt builds up. I found an article on Nerdwallet that broke it down.

What Causes People to End Up in Debt (according to Nerdwallet)

41% is Unnecessary Purchases or Spending more than they can Afford
33% from (Non Medical) Emergency Services

Both items above, that are the biggest reasons people are in debt, could be helped by having a budget to help keep you from overspending. And to help you save for emergencies so you don’t rely on credit cards to cover them.

Do I Really Need a Budget? There are a few questions you want to ask yourself to see if you really need a budget. Come see those questions and decide if you really need a budget. I think the answer might surprise you.

3. Stay Focused

Like I mentioned above having a budget helped us see how much we had to spend and helped to keep us focused on our goals.

Getting out of debt was a big goal for us. We were done with having credit card debt hanging over our heads. Done with having little to no savings, done with worrying about how to pay for emergencies when they came up. We were done.

We knew things had to change so we could meet our goals.

Making a budget shed light on our poor spending (or overspending habits). If you don’t know what they are, you can’t correct them.

Each time I looked over the budget I knew what we needed to do. It helped us to refocus our attention and stay on track. It can help you too.

4. Plan for the Unexpected

When you don’t have a plan, or ahem a budget, how can you plan for the unexpected. Now I know that sounds strange. But the unexpected will always happen.

There will always be little cost here and there that will need to be paid, little or big things you didn’t consider. But when you have a budget, you can adjust for those unexpected expenses.

When you budget, you can shift where you spend money from one thing to the next to cover those unexpected items that will arise.

Why We Still Budget

Even though we are debt free, we still budget to make sure we stay out of debt.

We know it would be easy to fall into poor habits to put less into saving to pay off the credit card because we charged too much in a month.

When we track where our money is going it goes to the important things, and it doesn’t just go.

Now if I’ve convinced you, that you need a budget but you don’t know how to make a budget, don’t worry, I’ve got you covered.

How to Make a Budget to Save Money

Check out the budgeting series, in a few weeks you can build a budget you can live with. It takes a little time and effort but it will pay great dividends.

Plus you will have a realistic budget you can stick with long term. Instead of pulling figures out of thin air.

Monthly Budget Spreadsheet

If you want to track your budget on your computer check out the monthly budget spreadsheet I use to track our finances.

Or if you are a pencil and paper type person grab a copy of the printable budget sheet to help you plan like a pro.

What’s your biggest struggle with budgeting every month? Leave me a comment or and let me know.

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Cambodian Coconut Shrimp Soup

Cambodian Coconut Shrimp Soup Coconut Shrimp Soup from Cambodia

Earlier last year, I had the good fortune to travel to Cambodia to visit a friend who lives there. I had a long stay, so had plenty of time to explore Phnom Penh and the surrounding areas – and eat lots of food!

Most people in Phnom Penh buy their food from the markets. I saw both live and freshly killed chickens, fish that were still wriggling, a very pungent fermented fish called prahok, and baskets piled high with all kinds of fresh produce like lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, baby (pea) eggplant, banana flowers, morning glory, and water spinach.

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How to Protect Dining Room Chairs from Kids and Pets

How to Protect Dining Room Chairs from Kids and Pets How to Protect Dining Room Chairs from Kids and Pets-tips for protecting dining room chairs

Kids and pets bring so much joy into our lives, but they also bring so much mess! This can be especially true when food is involved. At Improvements, we have some ideas on how to protect your dining room chairs from kids…

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Winter Books, Crafts, Recipes and More for Preschool and Kindergarten

Winter Books, Crafts, Recipes and More for Preschool and Kindergarten

After Christmas is over, there’s still plenty of winter left. Are you looking for winter books or crafts for your preschool or kindergarten aged children? Check out this list of winter books, crafts, recipes, and activities that includes topics such as snowmen, polar bears, penguins and more.

winter books, crafts, recipes, activities, and more for preschool and kindergarten #WinterBooks #WinterCrafts

Winter Books, Crafts, Recipes and More for Preschool and Kindergarten

the snowy day
1. The Snowy Day

Winner of the Caldecott Medal, this book celebrates its 50th birthday this year. Follow the story of Peter and his first snowfall in this beautiful classic.

snowy day

Ready to learn? Head over to Homeschool Share and grab a Snowy Day lapbook printable.

Looking for some science ideas? You can teach your children about freezing, melting, and more!

Ten on the Sled
2. Ten on the Sled 

Want to make your children dissolve into a pile of giggles? Check out this story of the forest animals’ wild ride.

walrus craft

I’m a sucker for handprint crafts — like this adorable walrus at Creativity Takes Flight.


3. Snowmen at Night 

Wonder what snowmen do at night? Don’t miss this story of snowmen’s secret lives!

snowman preschool pack
Beth from Living Life Intentionally has a wonderful snowman printable pack for children ages 2 to 7.

Polar Bear Night
4. Polar Bear Night 

Put your little ones to bed with a bedtime tale of a polar bear cub exploring the Arctic night.

polar bear masks
Have some hands-on fun with this polar bear craft from I Heart Crafty Things.

Polar Animals Printables for Preschoolers

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owl moon
5. Owl Moon

Another Caldecott Medal winner, this classic book follows a girl and her father as they go owling on a moonlit night. If you’ve got boys in your house, be sure and check out author Jane Yolen’s other works.

paper plate owl craft

Break out your paints and create these paper plate owls from Crafts by Amanda.

More Owl Moon activities and a free printable packet:

Book Activities and a Free Printable Packet for Owl Moon by Jane Yolen


6. There was a Cold Lady Who Swallowed Some Snow

Ready for some laughs? This take on the old lady who swallowed a fly will make you and your children laugh, despite the cold weather.

Here’s a fun and free printables packet with polar animals:

Free Printable Antarctic and Arctic Animals Preschool Packet


7. 365 Penguins 

What would happen if you discovered a penguin on your doorstep every single day? One would be cute, but 365? Find out what happens in this wintertime story.


Paper plate crafts are simple, but fun. Add this penguin from CraftJr to your craft box.


learning to ski with mr magee
8. Learning to Ski with Mr. Magee

Follow the story of M. Magee and his little dog Dee as they learn to ski.


When it’s craft time, try your hands at a ski collage from Activity Village.

Brave Irene
9. Brave Irene

Irene, the dressmaker’s daughter helps out her mother by delivering a dress in the middle of a fierce snowstorm. Her story of bravery will inspire your children.

Make your very own snow storm with a snow globe craft.


 10. The Mitten 

If you pay close attention to Jan Brett’s work, you’ll often see foreshadowing in the detailed margins. This tale of the animals in a snowy forest has been delighting readers for 20 years.

My friend Carissa has wonderful story props for The Mitten on her site – you can act the story out with your kids at home.


Do you have a favorite book that I left off my list? Be sure and let me know in the comment box!

Here are some more posts about winter activities:
  1. Brightening Winter With Poetry Collages
  2. 10 Educational Activities For Winter
  3. Winter Art – Pine Brush Painting
  4. How To Beat The Winter Homeschooling Doldrums

In the cold of winter, it's fun to make some changes to your regular routines. Make math fun with this free printable packet of winter math worksheets for 1st - 3rd grade | Real Life at Home

Free February Printable for Kids | RealLifeAtHome.com

Free February Printables for Kids (including printable valentines)

Disclosure: Winter Books, Crafts, Recipes and More for Preschool and Kindergarten contains affiliate links. They don’t change the price you pay. However, when you shop through them, we may receive a small compensation. Thanks!

Post originally published January 2, 2013. Updated January 2, 2018.

The post Winter Books, Crafts, Recipes and More for Preschool and Kindergarten appeared first on Real Life at Home.

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Sunday, December 31, 2017

Bloody Mary

Bloody Mary How to make the best bloody mary

Welcome to the world’s most amped up tomato juice cocktail–the Bloody Mary.

It’s the ultimate weekend brunch drink. It’s also a famous hangover cure, though the benefits are due mostly to electrolyte replenishment coming from the liquid, salt, and natural sugar in the main ingredients—tomato juice, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce. The vodka? My guess is drinking more vodka isn’t going to help anyone’s hangover much. Though who knows?

The Bloody Mary is one of my favorite drinks of all time, though usually I limit the vodka to one ounce (I’m a lightweight, don’t judge!), or leave it out all together for a Virgin Mary.

My version of this drink includes the basics that you would expect—tomato juice, lemon juice, horseradish, Worcestershire sauce, and pepper—and a few subtle twists.

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New Year Meal Plan - Frugal Family Home

New Year Meal Plan - Frugal Family Home

We are approaching the new year and if you don’t regularly meal plan, the new year is a great time to start.

If you need a few dinner ideas scroll down to see what’s cooking this week.

Menu plan with recipe links

Over the years, I’ve found that making a meal plan can really help save money. But not only save money but also keep from wasting food too. By using up what you have on hand.

If one of your goals is to eat at home more or to save money meal planning can help. If you need help getting started check out how to plan a month’s worth of meals in just about an hour.

Now onto this week’s meal plan, just in case you need a few dinner ideas…

This week’s menu plan has some easy to make meals, along with a few freezer cooking meals too. I’m keeping my sides simple too. I’ll be making a big batch of mashed potatoes to use a few nights this week. I’ll also make a big batch of rice to use a few nights too.

I also realized it’s been about a while since we have had pizza for dinner. My family loves pizza, so it’s on the plan for this week too.

Here’s what’s cooking at our house this week

Dinners

A delicious brown sugar rub for steaks, Frugal Family Home

Build Your Own Haystacks and Fruit

Italian Chicken (freezer meal), Mashed Potatoes, and Green Beans

Ham Slices (from freezer), Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans, and Fruit

Thai Thighs, Rice, and Stir Fry Vegetables

Pizza and Salad

Cashew Chicken Stir Fry and Rice

Brown Sugar Steaks, Baked Potato, and Salad

Lunches

Leftover most days

Crispy Bean Burritos, Salsa and Chips

Chili and Cornbread

Breakfast

Vegan Pancake Recipe

Toast, Eggs and Oatmeal

Pancakes, Eggs and Sausage

Mini Apple Muffins, Eggs and Sausage

What’s cooking at your house this week?

Where to find more menu plan ideas for this week.

Do you need help planning your menu? Find my menu planning tips here with a free printable menu planner page and here for  my frugal menu planning tips.


Find more menu plan ideas at Org Junkie too.

This post contains affiliate links. Thanks for your support.

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