I'm a mother of two, five if you include the pets. I'm currently homeschooling my youngest son and truly enjoying it. Singing and cooking have been passions of mine since I was a child and since I don't think any record companies will be knocking on my door anytime soon, I've chosen the cooking path. I was born in New York, but I've lived all over the country, and now I'm thrilled to say that Oklahoma is my home and will be for many years to come.

My blog will be about trying to balance my families life, homeschooling my child, being disabled and trying to start a catering business while taking classes.

• Inflation Is Taking A Bite Out Of My Education Pt. 3

  In the past few months I've noticed that I keep throwing away uneaten fruits and vegetables. I buy them with the intention of cooking them for dinner...breakfast...whatever, but that doesn't always work out. Planting a vegetable garden is a lot of back breaking work, and since I've already got a broken tailbone...lets just say this isn't an option for me. Lately it seemed that every time I wanted to make fajitas or tacos, I'd have to throw out the lettuce and buy another head of it. Now you might think the smartest thing to do is just to buy the produce when you need it, but that can nickel and dime you to death. I've tried saving money from my grocery budget to pick up fresh items as I needed them and I found myself spending more money than I wanted and I still threw a lot of it out. For months I've seen this infomercial that really caught my attention. Some woman name Debbie Meyer came up with a product that can keep your veggies fresh for longer periods of time. The first time I saw this add I thought, who in their right mind would spend $10 on ten plastic bags. The second time I saw the commercial I noticed that they were giving you twenty bags for $10 and I actually thought about buying them, but I couldn't bring myself to spend that much on plastic bags. After seeing the commercial about a million times I began to crave these bags. They became a fantasy object for me. I guess you could say I thought of them as an indulgence, yet I never caved in and bought them. Last month my husband and I took a little trip to celebrate our anniversary and went into an As Seen On TV store. My heart pounded as I asked the clerk, "Do you have Debbie Meyer's Green Bags?" She answered yes and took me to them. They cost $14.99 for twenty bags, but it was still less than ordering them off of TV due to shipping and handling. I walked around that store for twenty minutes with those bags clutched in my grip, but when it was time to leave the store I just couldn't see myself buying them. Who in their right mind would spend $15 on a bunch of plastic bags? I put them back on the rack and walked to the exit when suddenly I heard this little voice inside my head say, "But what if they really do work? Think of all the money you'd be saving on produce." I am happy to say that I am now the owner of twenty Debbie Meyer's Green Bags (https://www.greenbags.com/?cid=501127). I've been using the Green Bags for a month now, and I still have heads of lettuce that are as fresh as the day I bought them. You do have to do some maintenance though. You must wipe out the condensation from the bags because everything has to stay dry, but other than that the bags are a dream come true. I am saving a ton of money of my produce because I no longer throw away unused broccoli, or tomatoes. I no longer have to replenish these food items every time I go grocery shopping because they went bad. If we didn't use all of the celery, oh well... I know that they're still fresh as a daisy in my Debbie Meyer's Green Bags. Saving money on the fresh items I need to use for my catering course has now turned into a fun little hobby for me. I no longer worry when I buy fresh produce because I know that my three week old green peppers are holding up just fine. Using fresh herbs whenever I want to will also be a blessing. Now all I have to do is figure out how to make olive oil and I'll be set! Add to:                      Posted Wednesday, May 14, 2008 9:47 AM by Cat | 1 Comments

• Inflation Is Taking A Bite Out Of My Education Pt. 2

  With the rising cost of food in our country I knew I’d have to take some serious measures so I could afford to continue my catering course. Fresh herbs such as Rosemary, Thyme and Basil are used in so many of the dishes I’ll need to create, but the cost is ridiculous. When you purchase these from the store you get one little plastic container filled with a handful of herbs, and I just can’t bring myself to buy them at $4 a pop.   My son and I went to Home Depot yesterday to pick up a couple of things I needed for our lawn. While I was there I wanted to find some flowers to plant around my mailbox. As I was searching the massive garden section I came upon the fresh herbs and decided to start my own herb garden. I bought a few large plants, rosemary, basil and flat leaf parsley to start off with, as well as some arugula. Yes I know that’s not an herb, but I will be using arugula quite often so why not try to grow it.   The quality of soil in Oklahoma isn’t the greatest so I knew I’d have to do something about that. I wasn’t quite sure what to do, but then my husband came up with a great idea. Take a large tub, drill drainage holes in it, and use store bought soil. This will not only help the plants to grow, but it will also give me the ability to bring the tubs indoors when it gets colder outside and have a supply of the herbs during the cooler months.   I priced some of the tubs at a few stores today and found a large, plastic, rectangular shaped container on wheels. The bottom of the tub is about an inch off of the ground so drainage won’t be a problem, and it was spacious enough to let the arugula and parsley spread out, plus I’ll have room for other plants. The basil and rosemary have very long roots so they will need to be planted inside of something deep. Fortunately I found some deep, large, round pots at Wal-Mart that would work well for them.   The cost of all of this is going to be less than $35. My plants were only $3 apiece and the tubs and soil will cost me about $20. After making two recipes, my herb garden will have paid for itself.   Years ago I tried planting a vegetable garden, but I was unable to keep on top of it due to health reasons, so growing my own produce isn’t going to be an option for me, but in my next blog you’ll see what I’ve done to save money on fresh fruits and vegetables and how I’m making them last. Add to:                      Posted Monday, May 12, 2008 11:41 AM by Cat | 1 Comments

• Inflation Is Taking A Bite Out Of My Education Pt. 1

  Let’s face it; we’ve all seen our cost of living increase a lot over the past year. My family’s grocery budget has more than doubled. Foods like steak, shrimp and bacon are a luxury these days. You wouldn’t think that this would effect my education, but when you’re studying to be a caterer, it not only effects my education, but my business as well. After pricing certain foods that I’d be needing to use in my upcoming text, I realized that I was going to have to do something to help keep the costs down or my education would have to come to a grueling halt.   As I was walking through the produce aisle of my local grocery store, I priced some of the fresh herbs and spices they had available. I realized that buying these fresh items were going to put a serious dent in my grocery budget. I wouldn’t mind spending the extra money if I knew that I would use all of products, but the fact is, when you buy something like fresh basil, you don’t use the whole package. You put a great deal of it back in the fridge and watch it go bad. This is not an option for me.   One of the other things I’ve noticed is how the cost of produce is skyrocketing, and the quality is diminishing. A year ago I could buy a few bunches of broccoli for a dollar or two and now I’m spending more than five on them. Needless to say throwing fresh produce away is killing me inside. You can plan out a menu and buy only what you need when you shop, but that doesn’t always work. Being disabled, I have good days and bad days. When I have a bad day my husband does the cooking. He usually asks me what I was planning on doing for dinner and when I tell him, his usual response is, “Yeah. I can’t cook that.” Since we don’t always follow my menu to the letter, we can throw out quite a bit of produce.   I have recently taken some steps to remedy this wasteful situation. If I’m going to be a caterer I will have to use fresh products more often than not and since the cost of these items have gotten out of hand, I’m taking steps that will help me to control costs now and in the future. In my next blog I will let you know what actions I am taking and how they are working out.     Add to:                      Posted Monday, May 12, 2008 11:01 AM by Cat | 0 Comments

• Graduation Is Almost Here

  Graduation season is upon us. It’s that time of year where childhood ends and life begins. Whether you’re 18 or 80, if you’re graduating you’re starting something new with your life and it can be quite an exciting time.   My son Tyler will be graduating from high school this month and has finally decided on what he’d like to do with his future…culinary arts. This made me smile because I know that dragging him into the kitchen at age 11 made an impact on him. He has also decided to help me with my catering business. This truly excites me because the boy is finally moving forward instead of just sitting still.   My friend Michelle will be graduating from nursing school this week as well. To tell you that Michelle has been an inspiration to me would be an understatement. She and I met years ago while in training for a call center job. We became so close that when one of us went to work for another call center the other quickly followed. We carpooled together almost everyday, and it was during those rides that she spoke of going to nursing school. For a couple of years all she did was talk about it, but one day she actually took steps and began going to school. Since then I have become disabled and Michelle has finished nursing school…at the top of her class might I add. She lost her husband shortly after her baby had been born so Michelle has done all of this while raising a toddler. Her parents have helped to take care of her son, but that also presented some challenges. When I finally decided to take catering courses, Michelle came to mind. If she could hold down a job, do clinicals, go to school and raise a toddler, then I could definitely take some classes from home.   So congratulations to my two graduates and thank you. To my son Tyler who makes me feel like a kid again, and the thought of working with him on this catering venture renews my desire to finish this course. And to my friend Michelle who showed me that even though we’re in our forties, that doesn’t mean life is over…it’s just begun.   I can’t wait to be a graduate too. Add to:                      Posted Wednesday, May 07, 2008 2:04 PM by Cat | 0 Comments

• My First Cooking Lab

  There are several cooking labs that must be completed for this portion of my catering course. Tonight I completed the first one: seared beef on arugula.   I took some liberties with the cooking lab as I don’t care for a few of the ingredients. The recipe called for pine nuts and walnut oil. I’m not a fan of pine nuts and I have a reaction to oils made from nuts. I’m not sure why, but I break out in hives. Another change I made was the arugula. Since the cost of that particular green is so high right now, I used the greens I had on hand. I would’ve loved to use all of the ingredients the recipe called for but I can’t afford to pay $35 for one meal. It’s just not practical. In my mother’s words, I “made do.”   The picture of the completed recipe looked a bit different from my finished product, but it still looked beautiful. I seared my beef then sliced it very thin. I placed it on a bed of mixed greens then topped it with mandarin oranges and sesame ginger salad dressing. A quick garnish of crispy wanton noodles turned a very basic salad into something beautiful. The flavor of the beef mixed with the oranges, sesame dressing and wantons blended beautifully.   Though I didn’t follow the directions to a tee, I did do the basics and in the end I came up with something I’d be proud to put on any menu. Add to:                      Posted Tuesday, April 29, 2008 9:23 PM by Cat | 3 Comments