Miss Fifi is Big in Japan

This post has the potential for being very long. You'll get over it.

Miss Fifi's birthday party was last week and I promised that I'd do a party post. As for the theme, I figured that adults would outnumber kids at this party, so I thought that I might as well make it fun for me to plan. I also just wanted to have an excuse to make fun rice crispy treat sushi. I settled on Big in Japan. Many people asked me about what it means. According to Wikipedia it is, "a phrase to describe Western celebrities failed in the Western world, but more successful in Japan." Funny, right? Just go with it.

If you follow my boards on Pintrest, you may have seen a number of photos that inspired this party. I worked within a budget and pinterest is a great resource for cost saving ideas.

So imagine that the stack of mini chairs and the chalk board aren't in the back ground and it's at a park on a warm fall day. That's what I had in mind when I planned this but you've got to roll with the punches sometimes.

We had fortune cookies I found in bulk at Winco for $.06 each. I dipped them in chocolate a couple days before. They were yummy.

White cake pops dipped in milk chocolate, topped with coconut. I made them with my trusty cake pop maker I got a few months ago. It's a time saver. I recommend getting one if you are in the habit of making cake pops.

"Swedish Nigiri" Rice crispy treats topped with swedish fish and wrapped in green apple fruit roll up.

Wontons filled with cream cheese. Rory also made his famous Thai dipping sauce. I'll try to post that recipe soon.

"Twinkie Roll" Twinkies cut and topped with cut gummy bears.

"Zinger Roll" Zinger's cut and topped with gummy bears.

Funfetti Cake with cream cheese frosting. 'Cause that's how we roll.

We also served Miso Soup, Samurai peanut mix (a Winco find), and the "Miss Fifi Roll."

The Miss Fifi Roll didn't photograph well. It was mango, strawberries, and kiwi with rice cooked in coconut milk and wrapped in a chocolate dough. To save myself from stress I made it the week before and froze it. If I could do it again, I'd make it fresh. Recipe is here. I cut back on the salt in the chocolate dough, and if I made this again, I'd also cut back quite a bit on the sugar. It was awfully sweet.

My tips for saving money while planning a party:

-Spend money on things you can reuse. The cake plater that Miss Fifi's cake was on is a great example because I will always be able to use it. If I bought a green and yellow one to match the theme, I'd be very limited on how I'd be able to use it in the future.

-Plan far in advance. Some people thought I was crazy to start talking about her party in august. Starting that early gave me time to brainstorm and think outside the box. I had time to shop around and not feel pressure to buy because I knew I had time on my side if the price wasn't right. I also had time to make things that I wouldn't have time for if I'd started two weeks before.

-Shop around. I ended up buying much of the food in Winco's bulk section. (If you've never been there, I implore you to go. I've had bad luck with their produce, but their bulk section is marvelous.)

-Make your own food. You might think this would add more stress in the end and might not be worth it, but I was able to spread out what I needed to make over a few days. It turned out to be pretty easy. (The cake I made three weeks before, I wrapped it up really well and froze it. I pulled it out of the freezer the day before and it was just as moist as the day I made it.)

-Borrow. I borrowed the tablecloths, a drink dispenser, a cake pan and the platter that the big cake was on.

-Repurpose. The bamboo that was on the table was actually meant to be a blind. I found it at Big Lots on clearance. It was the exact length of the table, so I used it as a table runner. It added a lot to the over-all affect, yet it only cost me $3.

-Craft. The serving platter the little cake was on I made myself using thrifted plates, dollar store candle stick holder, and some epoxy. Here is the tutorial. It cost me a whopping total of $6.75. I also spent $4 on cardstock and had my sister show me how to fold paper cranes. (*I don't recommend using cardstock for origami. You live, you learn.) I also made the "lanterns" for decorating the cakes. They cost me about $3 to make.

(Craft cont.) With the help of my mom, I also made Miss Fifi's Kimono. I found fabric on sale at Jo-Ann fabrics. It actually inspired the color scheme, too. Cost $10. I plan on using this for her Halloween costume too. Two birds. One stone. Holla! (I'm sorry, I'll never use that word again.)

Another photo of Miss Fifi just for kicks:

The budget was about $80. I went over by a few dollars, but I think it was worth it.

Food: $28

Serving plates: $16

Paper goods: $15

Decor: $15

Fabric: $10

Invites: $2

____

GRAND TOTAL $86

I think $86 dollars isn't too shabby for a fun party. Am I right?

If there is anything else you'd like to know about Miss Fifi's party or any other ideas on saving money on parties, let me know.

A Tale of Two Dressings: Updated

Do you know when you realize something about your growing up years was uncommon but you didn't know it was uncommon at the time? It's not a bad thing by any means, just different. Well, last week I realized something like that. In my parent's home you will find, at any given moment, between 10 to 15 different kinds of salad dressing. I'm not exaggerating. Did you even know that there were that many varieties? We always had several options. I never even knew Paul Newman was anything other that a salad dressing maker 'til I was in high school. I guess you might call some of my family members condiment connoisseurs. I just never realized that having 12 varieties of dressing on the table for dinner wasn't commonplace. I was just talking to Rory and he said that he only ever remembers his family having ranch dressing. They always had it, but that's all they ever really had. It made me kind of sad. During our conversation I mentioned that I'm generally a 1,000 Island girl but I do love a good Italian Dressing. To that he said he didn't think he ever tried Italian Dressing it until he was like 21! Now that's just crazy! I'm so glad that I had several options besides Ranch growing up otherwise I probably wouldn't have liked salad. I've grown to appreciate it now, but I hated Ranch as a kid. Am I crazy?! I thought I'd just share that with you...

Anyway, after sharing my Italian Seasoning Revolution, I went back to Winco and got all of the spices and herbs to make Italian Dressing Mix and Ranch Dressing Mix. I tried them out over the weekend and brought them to a few family/friend festivities along with a salad, of course. Both were very simple but turned out pretty well. I thought I'd share the recipes.

The first was Ranch dressing mix.

The Ranch Dressing Mix Recipe:

1/2 cup Dry Buttermilk

(I couldn't find dry buttermilk, so I replaced it with lowfat instant milk. I found out later that regular powdered milk isn't the best substitute for dry buttermilk... Oops. It worked out okay though)

1 Tbsp Parsley

1 Tsp Dill Weed

1 Tsp Onion Powder

1 Tsp Onion Flakes

1 Tsp Salt

1 Tsp Cilantro

(the recipe didn't call for this, but I love me some cilantro.)

1/2 Tsp Garlic Powder

1/2 Tsp Ground Pepper

Here is the recipe for the dressing:

1 Tbsp Mix

1 Cup Mayonnaise

1 Cup Milk

The dressing tasted good but turned out a little too runny for my taste. Rory and I tried to thicken it up by playing around with the proportions and adding a couple things but to no avail. I think it was worth it to try though.

Next was the Italian Dressing.

The Italian Dressing Mix:

2 Tbsp Oregano

2 Tbsp Salt

1 Tbsp Garlic Salt

1 Tbsp Onion Powder

1 Tbsp Sugar

1 Tbsp Parsley

1 Tsp Black Pepper

1 Tsp Basil

1/2 Tsp Thyme

1/4 Tsp Minced Onions

For the dressing itself:

2 Tbsp Mix

2/3 Cup Canola Oil

1/4 Cup White Vinegar

2 Tbsp Water

The Italian Dressing turned out really well. I loved it. If you are going to try one of these recipes, I recommend this one.

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What I'm listening to:

Right now, I'm listening to Dan Auerbach's album Keep It Hid. When The Night Comes is probably my favorite song on the album.

Dan Auerbach is the singer for the duo The Black Keys. If you haven't heard of them, I pitty you. I LOVE them. They are so bluesy, raw, and brilliant.

Italian Seasoning Awakening

Those who know me well, know that I've never been a good cook. Up until a few years ago the only recipes in my repertoire were Chocolate Chip Cookies, Rice Crispy Treats, and Top Romen. No kidding. I've been learning a lot though, especially in the months since I haven't been working. I can now make a decent meal. Ask Rory.

I have a love/hate relationship with spices in general. I always forget about buying those dang packages of Taco Seasoning and Italian Dressing Mix when I'm at the store. And I get Italian Dressing mix confused with Italian Seasoning a lot of times. I know that they are different but one recipe will call for the dressing mix and another recipe will call for the seasoning and I can never remember which it is. Also, the dressing mix costs $1.22 for a pack which will only be used in one recipe. Really? It's kind of ridiculous. But the thing is; food would be so bland without spices.

A friend of mine gave me the idea of mixing my own seasoning. She presented it in a way to make them more healthy by only putting healthy stuff in it. (as far as onion soup mix is concerned) I could care less about that, just give me a way to avoid having to pay a dollar plus for seasoning for one meal and let me stock up so I don't forget it when I'm in the middle of making dinner and I'll be a happy camper. I don't know why it was such a novel idea to me, but it was a huge awakening. She also opened my mind to Winco's amazing spices that they sell in bulk. If you haven't shopped there for spices/oats/soup mixes/nuts/trail mixes, you should check it out. They sell things buy the pound and it's super inexpensive. So I decided to make Italian Seasoning. (Not Italian Dressing Mix, I'll get to that one later.)

I had some of the spices I needed already but I headed to Winco for the rest. I bought 4 spices. Guess how much I paid... 35 cents! The most expensive spice I bought was dried cilantro at $8.80 per pound. Do you know how much cilantro you'd need to make a pound? A whole lot. I got about 2 1/2 tablespoons (which was more than what I needed) and it cost me a whole 9 cents. 9 cents for a spice? I could get used to this.

In my search, I saw many variations of Italian Seasoning recipes and since I can never follow one recipe to a "T", I used ideas from a few of them. Here is what I ended up with:

Bridgett’s Fancy Homemade Italian Seasoning Recipe

(I also included the cost of the spices that I purchased)

2 tbsp. Basil

2 tbsp. Oregano $.03

2 tbsp. Rosemary $.03

2 tbsp. Cilantro $.09

2 tbsp. Thyme $.20

2 tbsp. Parsley

2 tsp. Garlic Powder

2 tsp. Black Pepper

1 tsp. Dried Red Pepper

I'm really happy with how it turned out.

In the next few days/weeks I'm looking forward to mixing lots of seasonings. Taco Seasoning, Ranch Dressing mix, and Italian Dressing mix will be the next on my list. I think I might buy everything at Winco just to compare the cost of making it myself to buying it pre-made.

*I think I'm going to start sharing what I'm currently listening to with each post.

Right now, I'm listening to Mercury by Bloc Party from their album Intimacy. It has such a great breakdown.

A Confession and a Breakthrough

I have a confession. You may have known this about me, but maybe not. But, if you've been around me especially in the last few years, you quite possibly have never seen my feet. Why? Because I HATE being barefoot. The reasons are two fold; 1) I don't like feeling like my feet are dirty and 2) I think it's just uncomfortable. I know that some people find joy in taking off their shoes to bask in shoelessness. I just don't get it. I can't stand being barefoot. To me, it's poopy. I avoid having my feet bare. In fact, if you've even seen me wearing flip-flops in the last few years, it was probably because we were going swimming. It's not because I'm embarrassed of my feet in any way. I actually like my feet. I just don't like the feeling of being barefoot.

If I ever walk around my house without socks on my feet for more than ten minutes, I feel like I have to wash them before putting on socks. We try to keep our floors clean. (WIth an eight-month-old rolling around, we have to.) We are actually a shoe-less household and keep our shoes by the door in order to avoid tracking in any dirt. I just always wear socks.

Rory likes my feet, too. He always tries to get me to take off the socks. In fact, we have an ongoing deal. If he rubs my feet, I will go barefoot. It works a lot of times. He gets to see my feet, I get a foot rub. Win-win, right? I never tell him that ten minutes after having my feet rubbed, I'm thinking about where my socks went.

I always sleep with socks on, too. Winter time, summer time- it makes no difference. Rory has challenged me in the past to sleep the whole night barefoot. I'd never been able to do it. I would toss and turn for hours before giving up. I just couldn't stand it. After putting my socks on again, I'd be asleep in minutes. Weird, right? I've never felt uncomfortably hot even on the hottest summer night sleeping with socks on my feet.

A few weeks ago something happend though. I was sick for about five days. I got a fever every night before going to bed. It was awful. I would get so hot. My feet were so uncomfortable, that I would take my socks off. I'd never really felt so hot my feet were uncomfortable, but once they were off it actually felt pretty nice. I would sleep off the fever and wake up in the middle of the night, uncomfortable again and put on my socks. It wasn't the whole night, but it was a start. After I got better, I started wearing socks to bed again. But, last night, I tried sleeping without socks. I was able to sleep the whole night without them. Breakthrough. In fact, it's 9am and I'm still barefoot as I write this. See?


(Don't look too close; my nail polish is chipping off horribly.)

Pat me on the back.

Okay, I'm probably going to put my socks on now. Don't hate me.

Homemade Baby Food

I'm not a good cook by any means. I never thought of myself as the domestic type; (short of my ability to knit) but I decided that I wanted to try making homemade baby food. I wanted to do this partly because I knew that it would be a cost saving venture, but mostly I looked at the ingredients on the baby food jars and I couldn't pronounce half of the words. I know that there are some that only have the vegetables with water added, but they were twice as expensive. Does that really make sense? I think not. Besides, all of our parents (more than likely) made baby food for us, so is it really such a bad idea? At first it seemed like it would be difficult, but I tried it out and it really wasn't. It was super easy, I would recommend it to anyone.

First, I tried green beans.

I bought these fresh. I washed them, cut off the ends, and steamed them up in our trusty rice maker (we use our rice maker so much in our household). Then I pureed them in the food processor that Rory gave me for Christmas. I looked up everything online to make sure I was doing things correctly. I found out that you should add the water that you steamed them with to the puree since a lot of the nutrients is are the water. I thought that was interesting. It makes sense, but like I said, I'm no cook so I hadn't thought about that before.

She had no idea what was coming.

Don't worry, she did end up liking them. She was just being a little dramatic.

After green beans, I tried carrots. I bought these frozen, making sure the ingredients only listed carrots and water (some vegetables are hard to find that way). Then I made peas, bananas (I just mashed those with a fork), and pears. They all turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself. (I can be somewhat domestic. Don't I make you proud, Mom?)

A note on cost: I may be a tightwad, but again, this isn't the main reason I decided to make baby food. So, let's figure this out: A jar of baby food is roughly $0.50 and you can get one maybe two servings out of it. I spent $2 on frozen carrots and I was able to make 24 servings and I prepared it in less than a half hour (much of that time was spent waiting for them to finish steaming). If I had spent $2 on jars of food I would only get between 4 and 8 servings. That's not a big deal when you are buying a couple jars, but it can add up.

I really didn't mind doing the work, so I think I'll continue to make Miss Fifi's food.

Has anyone else tried making baby food? Any thoughts?