Author: Crabby Housewife

Lori is a full-time housewife and writer, living in the Midwest with her husband of 35 years - they have two grown daughters and two precious granddaughters. Lori has a house full of pets and her house is never quite perfect. She's also the author of small town stories, which you can learn more about on her website https://lorisoard.com.

Recipe for State Fair Grilled Corn

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Recipe for State Fair Grilled Corn

The buttery grilled taste of state fair corn is something that people look forward to all year. But, what if you could recreate that fair taste for a fraction of the cost, at home, anytime you wanted?

Corn was on sale for .25 an ear, so I picked some up to figure out this recipe. I knew I wanted to grill them, but was trying to figure out a way to grill them without making a big mess or the kernels getting burned.

Since I had some heavy duty aluminum foil on hand, I pulled it down and measured out separate sheets for each ear of corn. I also recently picked up some Land O’ Lakes European butter via my work as a BzzAgent. Since this butter is very rich and creamy, I thought it was the perfect complement to this recipe.

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Recipe for State Fair Grilled Corn
Author: Crabby Housewife
Ingredients
  • 6 ears of corn
  • 6 Tablespoons Land O' Lakes European butter
  • Salt & Pepper to taste
  • 6 sheets of heavy duty aluminum foil
Instructions
  1. Tear off 6 sheets of heavy duty aluminum foil.
  2. Tear husks and silks off ears of corn.
  3. Lay one ear of corn in the center of each piece of aluminum foil.
  4. Cut one tablespoon of butter into four long slices and place across top of ear of corn.
  5. Salt and pepper corn.
  6. Pull the sides of the foil up and roll them together to form a tent. Pull the two shorter sides up and roll them together.
  7. Your corn is now in a pocket of aluminum foil.
  8. Place foil packets on grill for 20-25 minutes.

The result was pure summer deliciousness. The corn turned out tender, buttery and flavorful.

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Just Like Texas Roadhouse Grilled Steaks at Home

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Just Like Texas Roadhouse Grilled Steaks at Home

Making a steak at home can be a challenge on a lot of levels. Getting that restaurant quality taste isn’t easy. On top of that, the cost of purchasing a good cut of steak can be almost as much as going out and ordering one from a restaurant. Still, there are times when you just want to grill a steak at home, find a great deal on steaks, or feel  you are up to the challenge of recreating that Texas Roadhouse type taste.

Cut of Steak

One of the most important things in making a great steak at home is buying a good cut of steak. Personally, I like ribeye the best both for value and tenderness. Look for meat that is a nice red with some marbling through it.

I’ve tried sirloin many times and you can make it okay but it comes up much tougher than ribeye.

There are, of course, many other cuts of steak, but they are so expensive most of the time that I don’t even consider going there.

Ribeye is often on sale at Kroger, which is where I tend to shop most of the time. You can also find good deals at Sam’s Club. If you’re lucky, you may even have someone near you who sales steak from grass fed cows.

Recipe for Texas Roadhouse Steak

Do you love the seasoning at Texas Roadhouse? Me, too. If you want your life to be super easy, you can buy their steak seasoning. They even have a Texas Roadhouse online store where you can easily purchase the seasoning and other items, such as rib seasoning and steak sauce.

If you’re like me, then you probably want to throw together your own like-Texas Roadhouse seasoning. I am a big believer is adding some coarse salt to steak, too, as it can help really bring out the taste. So, any recipe I create for steak has to have some salt in it. Here is what I threw together and it was utterly delicious. It tasted very similar to Texas Roadhouse. Honestly, I think it might have been better.

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Texas Roadhouse Steak Seasoning Recipe
Author: Crabby Housewife
Ingredients
  • 2 Tablespoons sea salt or coarse salt
  • 1 Tablespoon light brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon black ground pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon ancho chili powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon paprika
  • 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
  • 2-3 Tablespoons Lea & Perrins Worcestershire yes, this brand, it tastes best and is worth the money
  • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard brand does not matter, buy cheapest
Instructions
  1. Mix together all the dry ingredients thoroughly
  2. Add Worcestershire and stir until it makes a thick sauce. You may need to add a little more Worcestershire.
  3. Stir Dijon mustard into the sauce.
  4. Rub the sauce on both sides of the steak and allow steak to warm slightly on the counter while you heat the grill. Allow to sit in sauce for at least 30 minutes.
  5. Grill on low heat on grill for about 8 minutes on each side.

Your cooking time for the steaks may vary, depending on how well done you like your steak. We prefer a medium temperature.

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Do It Yourself (DIY) Meal Replacement Diet Plan

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Do It Yourself (DIY) Meal Replacement Diet Plan

I’m going to confess something, dear readers. I am fat. Call it pleasantly plump, or whatever you want, but the fact remains that I have way more weight on me than I should and it is dangerous for my health.

I’ve struggled for years to lose some weight I picked up easily and can’t seem to drop. While I had a lot of success a year ago with Atkins, it’s been very difficult to stick to strictly low carb in a household where no one else eats that way. Still, for my health (diabetes runs in my family and I was testing in the pre-diabetic range before going on Atkins) and more shallow reasons, I really want to drop another 30-40 pounds. That will put me within my ideal weight range, which is better for my blood sugar, my bones, my joints, and my ego.

I’ve been looking at some of the diet programs out there for a while now and trying to decide what is doable for me at this point in my life. One of my cousins dropped a lot of weight with New Directions. A friend lost weight on Weight Watchers. It seems all around me are success stories. I really like the Nutri-System model. My mom did that years ago when it was called something else and had centers near us. I like the amino acids approach they use.

Ultimately, I decided Medifast or Nutrisystem would be a good fit for me because they were mindless, I could take meal replacements with me anywhere, I liked that they were lower glycemic plans because of the diabetes issues, and I knew people who had succeeded with both programs.

The problem? Both programs are crazy expensive. Nutrisytem costs at least $300/month and that is for the basic plan. Medifast, too, is about $75 a week for the most basic program.

I also felt there was another drawback with Medifast that I really didn’t like. They want you to work with a “coach.” I’m a writer, I’m a loner. I don’t like making small talk, dealing with new people, or having to report to someone about what I’m doing. Yes, I understand that statistically people do better with a coach or someone to answer to, but I’m not most people and it just stressed me out. I suspect other introverts out there feel the same way.

One of the reasons I’ve started Weight Watchers about 8 times and not succeeded is that when I have a bad week I will just quit because I can’t stand the whole weigh in process and someone else knowing my business. I hate failing at things and especially hate someone else knowing I went off the deep end and ate four boxes of cookies that week.

Okay, I may be a little weird, but there it is. It doesn’t work for me. Experience has proven it doesn’t work for me. I don’t want to deal with a coach or really anyone. Let me order online or buy in a store and be on my way. I am the same way about exercise. If I can do it at home, I’ll do it. Make me go to a gym and I just quit.

The Plan

I decided to start researching DIY weight loss plans. I Googled terms like “DIY Nutrisystem,” “Medifast at home,” and “Meal Replacement Diet.” After reading for about three days on different options and realizing I could save a bundle, I narrowed down my choices to three:

  1. Wonderslim from Diet Direct (about 30-40% less than Nutrisystem)
  2. Lean Cuisine style meals (I don’t like all the sodium and funk in these meals, plus they don’t always taste so good)
  3. DIY Meal Replacement similar to Medifast and subbed with real food at one or two meals

I am a grazer and I knew I needed something that offered me food every few hours or I’d get hungry and cheat. Whatever plan I came up with had to have five or six meals a day spaced two or three hours apart.

I’m by no means a medical professional and you should definitely consult with your doctor before going on any diet plan. This is the plan I’ve chosen to create and follow based on many years of failed diets and knowing what does and doesn’t work for me. It may or may not be successful, but if you want to join me on this journey, I will be updating this site with how it is going and any tweaks I make along the way.

You can download a free printable of the DIY at home Medifast type program I am following as of today. I created this printable for myself and also for my daughter, who is going to do this plan with me. I hope it is helpful to others as well. Again, please, please consult with your doctor before starting any diet plan. You may have health issues that I don’t have and your doctor may need to tweak your diet plan or put you on something else entirely. Be smart. It isn’t worth getting ill to lose a couple of pounds.

DIY Medifast-like Diet Printable

I had some NOW sports protein shakes here already and I also had some Syntrax to-go packs. On top of that, I am also going to use Atkins shakes (a little higher in calories, but super low in carbs) for breakfast and Atkins bars for a few other times during the day.

I think the key with this plan is going to be the convenience. I don’t have to cook a ton of meals every day since there is only one whole food meal. I can easily take shakes and bars with me on the road. I also can adapt this if we are eating out. You can get a meal that is low in carbs and high in veggies at just about any restaurant. Even at McDonald’s you can order a grilled chicken salad. Watch the dressing, though!

I have also learned that for me I need to know that I can eat whatever I want at some point. So, I’ve built in one cheat meal a week into the plan. This way, I can have pizza one night, or I can have that dessert I’ve been craving. The key is to keep it to one meal and not a week full of cheat meals. You may find that a cheat meal throws you off the deep end. Be honest with yourself and decide whether you want to use this or not.

So, that is my plan. I hope you’ll stick around and see my updates. I have a wedding to go to in January. I’d love to be to my goal weight by then, but I’m not going to put a time limit on it. The main reason I am still working on losing weight and getting fitter is for my health. Any appearance improvements are just a bonus.

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Super Easy Parmesan Garlic Potatoes with Land O Lakes European Butter

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Super Easy Parmesan Garlic Potatoes with Land O Lakes European Butter

As many of you already know, I am a BzzAgent. This simply means that I get to try out new products and see what I think about them and then share those products and my reviews with other people via my blog, social media and face-to-face.

One of the more recent products I was able to try was Land O Lakes® European Style Super Premium Butter. I tried this butter on a small piece of bread before using it in my recipe and let me just say that the creamy richness rivals any other butter you’ve ever tried.

So, I needed a side dish to serve my husband before he left for work. I decided to come up with a new recipe and try out the #EuroStyleButter in a cooked dish. I needed something super quick and easy to create, so this is what I came up with:

euro butter
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Super Easy Parmesan Garlic Potatoes with Land O Lakes European Butter
Author: Crabby Housewife
Ingredients
  • 2 Tablespoons Land O Lakes European Style Butter
  • 1 Can Potatoes
  • 1/2 Tablespoon Pampered Chef Parmesan Garlic Dip Mix
  • 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
Instructions
  1. Open can of potatoes (you can also just use up leftover boiled potatoes) and pour into a small skillet.
  2. Slice 2 tablespoons of butter, unwrap and place in pan. Note that it is easy to measure this butter because the wrapper is clearly marked. You just slice it and add it to the recipe.
  3. Sprinkle on salt and Pampered Chef Parm Garlic mix.
  4. Heat in skillet until butter melts and starts to bubble.
  5. Turn potatoes to coat the other side and brown both sides slightly.
  6. When both sides are browned and potatoes are heated through, they are ready to serve.

The result? The butter melted a bit more slowly than traditional butter. However, this was an advantage when cooking this dish as it allowed the potatoes to slowly brown. The result was a slightly crisp outside and mushy inside.

Note that if you don’t own any of the Pampered Chef mix, you can make your own with dried Parmesan cheese, garlic powder and some seasonings to taste. The Pampered Chef mix makes this recipe so fast and easy, though, that you may want to invest in a jar.

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Top Ways to Save Money on Road Trips

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Top Ways to Save Money on Road Trips

Family vacations… They are a rite of passage and a way to build lifelong memories while showing your children the bigger world around them. Unfortunately, they can also be very expensive. One way to save a lot of money on vacation is to take a road trip there and back.

Road trips offer a lot of flexibility for families. You can make stops along the way, stay with family as you pass through various states (saving even more money because of not having to pay for a hotel) and it is almost always cheaper to drive than to fly, especially if you have three, four, or more people in your family.

Have a family dog? Good news. A road trip allows you to easily take your dog along. You can also camp out, which may save you more on hotel costs, although you’ll still have camping site fees. Keep in mind that national parks tend to be a bit less expensive than commercial campgrounds, but also tend to have less amenities to keep the kids entertained.

If you start planning now, you’ll be able to shop sales and save even more. Use coupons, stock up on snacks, etc.

Save on Gas

The first thing you should do is pull up a mapping service, such as MapQuest and plan out your route, including stops. The shortest route isn’t always the best choice for saving money, because you may be driving through towns versus driving on the interstate. Take all of this into consideration.

Download a gas saving app such as Gas Buddy. Every time you hit half a tank of gas, start looking ahead for the cheapest place to refill. The difference from town to town can be as much as 20 or 30 cents a gallon. Although this might only translate to a couple of dollars a fill up, it can really start to add up over the course of the trip.

Where to Stay

Hotels can be one of the biggest costs of vacation. Here are some ways to save:

  • Stay with family and friends. As long as you change your location every few days, you shouldn’t outstay your welcome in any one place.
  • Camp out. The best way to do this is to borrow a camper, but you can also camp in tents. Look for campgrounds that have shower facilities and grilling areas but are still inexpensive.
  • If you have a camper, you can stay at some Walmarts for free across the country. You will definitely need to plan ahead for this as not all Walmarts allow people to park RVs and campers in their parking lots. However, the ones that do generally offer this service for free. You will be able to plug into electricity at some of them as well. The drawback here is shower facilities. If you have them available in your RV, then you’re good to go.
  • If you must pay for a hotel, look for ones that offer a free breakfast the next morning. This can save you as much as $5-$10 a person, after all. Also, if you are staying in a hotel versus camping out, you’ll want to choose a hotel that gives you the ability to cook for your family. A small stove, microwave and fridge is essential for this. Look for business hotels for this.
  • Rent a house. If you are going with a big group, it might be far cheaper to rent a place for the week. You’ll have a kitchen and dining area this way.

Save on Food

One of the biggest advantages of road trips is the huge savings you can wrack up when it comes to food. Avoid eating out and buying gas station snacks at all costs. This is another area where planning ahead comes into play. Use coupons to buy the food ahead of time. You’ll need a large cooler. You can refill it with ice from Walmart or if you stay in a hotel see if their ice machines make enough ice to supply your cooler.

You’ll want to take:

  • Sandwich fixings: Don’t make ahead as the bread will get soggy. However, you can put lunch meat and cheeses in the cooler and keep the bread separate.
  • Bagged salad
  • Precooked diced chicken (refrigerated)
  • Yogurt
  • Fruit
  • String cheese
  • Hot dogs (you’ll be grilling out)
  • Hot dog buns
  • Chips
  • Breakfast bars
  • Candy for treats
  • Homemade trail mix
  • Bottled water and sodas
  • Donuts (unless you are staying at a hotel that offers breakfast)
  • Individual cereal boxes
  • Half gallon of milk
  • Paper bowls, plates, napkins, spoons
  • Hard boiled eggs
  • Crackers (great snack when combined with cheese
  • Peanut butter
  • Jelly
  • Baby carrots
  • Little cups of ranch dip (save money by taking a larger bottle and pouring the dip into a small cup)
  • Food and treats for your four-legged friend, if he is coming along

Set a Budget and Stick to It

First, plan for the unexpected. What will you do if you have a tire blowout and have to buy a new one? You should have an emergency fund whenever you take a road trip of at least $500 to cover unexpected emergencies. This money can go right back into savings if you don’t use it.

Don’t get derailed when stopping at gas stations. It is so tempting to buy candy or chips, but remember that you already have plenty of snacks in your car and those at the gas station are likely twice as much as what you paid for those.

Allow some room in your budget to eat out a couple of times. It is a vacation and you’re going to get tired of cooking every meal without a break. Also, ask others in the family to take turns cooking so one person isn’t the only one doing all the work.

By planning ahead and setting a budget, you’ll wind up saving a lot of money. Your vacation will not only be enjoyable but affordable.

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