Crop, Cake, Capitol, Cabbage, and Clues

We had a very lazy Saturday. I slept in and then went to see a baby who ended up not being home. I am going to have to seriously consider if I am willing to keep scheduling a 1:00 Saturday appointment for a family who is very unpredictable. I came back home and spent most of the day watching the Food Network and reruns of Extreme Makeover while surfing the net.


Most of my time was spent on the DisBoards, researching info for our trip. I am really considering going ahead and booking the trip next week so I can start making payments. I think we'll do better being forced to pay on it rather than saving on our own and booking later. Something else always seems to come up and I end up transferring the vacation money, then scrounging for it later. Plus, I want to be able to make our dining reservations as soon as possible since we're going to try the Disney Dining Plan this time. I am thinking we'll end up going the second week of December. So far, it looks like we'll stay on the property at the Pop Century resort, unless a good deal comes along for one of the moderate resorts. We're never in our room, though, so it's probably not worth the extra money. Any opinions from fellow Disney vacationers? I 'll take any hints/tips/advice you have to share. At least 10 DisneyWorld commercials came on TV while was looking at the DisBoards, I would like to think that this is a sign that I am indeed going to Disney World in December. (That would be the Clues portion of today's entry title.)


I ran across this thread on the budget section of the DisBoards. It literally had dozens of pages of thrifty meal ideas. It really did make me think about how much money we're spending on eating out. It is really ridiculous when I see how little it costs the people on the message board to make meals at home. I'm actually fired up to eat at home and put the rest of the money into our trip fund. Take a look: Budget Meal Ideas



I had a great time with the girls at our crop last night. I got all of my loose recipes copied onto recipe cards and organized in my new recipe box. I'll have to show it to you later because it's way too cold to get it out of the van right now. Here 's a pic of the girls hard at work.

The Elvis Presley Cake was a huge hit! Here's the recipe:

INGREDIENTS
1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
1 (20 ounce) can crushed pineapple with juice
3/4 cup white sugar
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
1/2 cup butter, softened
4 cups confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chopped pecans

DIRECTIONS
Prepare cake according to instructions on package. Bake in a 9x13 inch pan. Allow to cool. Poke holes in cake with fork. Combine pineapple and sugar in saucepan. Bring to a boil. Spoon over cooled cake. In a large bowl, cream butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add powdered sugar and beat until smooth. Add vanilla. Spread cream cheese frosting over cake. Sprinkle pecans on top of frosting.

I cooked again tonight. Everything was really yummy, although this picture isn't looking too appetizing right now!

I fixed oven BBQ'd pork steaks, baked beans, and fried cabbage. The cabbage was suprisingly low cal for being fried. It was super easy too.

1 head cababge, cored and chopped into bite size pieces

3 slices bacon, fried and chopped

garlic salt

pepper

1 Tbs water

Fry bacon until crisp, then remove, leaving grease in pan. Add cabbage, garlic salt, pepper, and water. Fry, stirring often for 15 minutes or until soft. Stir in chopped bacon.

Only 50 calories per serving!

Not much on the agenda tomorrow, other than church. Here's a picture that I snapped as I was coming across the bridge into Jefferson City last week. The capitol building is pretty much the only attractive thing in Jefferson City. The rest of the town is in serious need of an update.

That's it for tonight. Have a great Sunday!