a new dinner plan

I've found a new, free menu planning site.  Say Mmm.... is my new go to and it's basic service is FREE!  It has features such as meal planning, creating lists, and recipe organization.  It's really easy to throw everything in one place and be able to print up your shopping list from your menu plan and your recipes-you can even adjust it for what's already in your pantry!  Below is this week's dinner menu plan, which is almost guaranteed to change at a moments notice.  

Day	Dinner
Sun 5/22	Keilbasa, Potato salad, &  rolls
Mon 5/23	Rice noodles w/ cabbage, Cilantro, & sprouts
Tue 5/24	Egg flower soup &  rice
Wed 5/25	Scrambled egg burritos
Thu 5/26	Chicken & veggie skewers -stir fry veggies
Fri 5/27	Pancakes/pizza - crepes
Sat 5/28	Leftovers/new recipe

 and sometime this week I'll start entering my recipes for the above mentioned dinners and have links that you can print from!  Oh, how dreamy and technologically advanced I'm becoming.  I know, I'm a little slow.  Hey, I've got dirt under my nails from digging in the garden -so much more satisfying than seeing my recipes on the internets, but I get asked enough and I do love to share.

my plans for the weekend -what are you doing?

I'm am super excited for the Seattle Tilth Edible Plant sale this Saturday.  I have managed to talk (no pressure) my mom and mother-in-law in to attending with me -both huge plant lovers, like me.  I've been drooling over the plant list for weeks and trying to figure out what I'll be bringing home.  I'm definitely going to have a hard time not bringing one or two of everything home with me!

This weekend we will be celebrating with family.  My son's birthday was yesterday(the 16th) and my eldest daughter's birthday is the 28th.  So, this weekend is when we can coordinate with everyone.  We'll be doing the usual, dinner out, then to my sister's place in North Seattle to enjoy ice cream cake and prezzies.  Then the next day is nothing short of epic.  We are going to the Pacific Science Center to see a special exhibit.... STAR WARS!!!  Everyone in this family is so excited and can hardly wait.

needless to say it has not been the frugalist of weeks for dinners.  We've had take-out pizza, and chinese buffet so far.  Tonight, seeing that it's St. Patrick's Day, we're having a very traditional -although, not special according to the Irish, Irish dinner.  Corned Beef and Cabbage with potatoes and carrots.  I totally cheated and bought my brisket at Costco as a packaged Corned Beef.  But I cut the damn potatoes, carrots, and cabbage myself!  Then, I threw it all in the crockpot.  

Happy St. Patrick's Day my friends!

missing menu, missing camera, missing my laptop, and missing you.

Better late than never, right?  Friday morning I awoke to a major disappointment.  My laptop was dead.  There is nothing.  I power it on, and it's black.  No noise.  Nothing.  Tears and sad clown faces.  That's how I feel.  So, what is an internet addicted mama supposed to do?  Steal her teenager's laptop.  Mah, she doesn't really need it.  She's at school all day, and when she's home doing homework, I'm usually in the kitchen.  It all works out eh?

I forgot about spring sports starting this week.  Really, I don't know how anyone can stick to menu planning when you have a preteen and teenager that are both in spring sports.  It's a good thing that we have one more year before the littles start spring sports.  I don't know how we'll do it then, but we might be taking some friend's parents up on those ride offers.  For now, we split dinner times.  Kids eat when they can -either before or after practice.

Sunday: leftovers
Monday: leftover sandwiches/pancakes/soup -Nice mashup?  Not all together, but don't put it past us
Tuesday:  Spaghetti
Wednesday:  Quesadillas -chicken/cheese
Thursday:  steamed chicken, brown rice, and broccoli
Friday:  drive-thru :) -heading out of town for the weekend
Saturday: eatin' out
Sunday: eatin' out

The week before last, the kids and I decided to try out a new cookie recipe.  Family Circle's Double Chocolate Cookies um.  Yeah.  These were great to work up with the kids - all four of my crazies helped out.    We made them exactly as the recipe said - no substitutions needed.  And they were great!  They were quick to put together and pretty darn good.  One comment was heard, but it was minor.  The big kids wanted chunks in their cookies.  So next time we make them, we'll definitely leave some of the milk chocolate in bigger pieces.  If you have trouble viewing the recipe link let me know, I have no problem writing it up.  Also, sorry no pictures.  They're on the missing point-&-shoot Nikon.  *sad face*

menus and why we plan

We're sitting here watching football.  Yes, we watch football occasionally.  Me?  Not so much.  I'll sit here and pretend like I'm into it, I'll snack on the mass amounts of football food that I've prepared, and I'll surf the internet, because really anything on the internet is more interesting than football on Canadian television.  Today, I was bad.  I went with prepared food.  We were at Costco and I couldn't help but think of the things that I could be doing, rather than sitting in the kitchen slaving away over greasy, fatty, stomach turning football food.  So, I picked up and heated up some Hum bao, vegetable spring rolls.  Set out a plate of crackers, warmed pita,  and Spinach Artichoke Parmesan dip.  Mixed up some salmon and mayo.  Opened a couple of bags of chips and called it good.  Oh, and "football" food isn't complete without a Corona.  Personally, I would have paired this all with a Session, but I'm not into football and the man get his choice today.

I've been picking away at weekly dinner menus and probably next month I'll line it up for a few months like I usually do.  But for now, I will lay out what we had last week for ya, and then throw together the upcoming week's menu.  I found that with planning our menus out, I make fewer trips to the grocery store and I don't have that last minute panic attack over what to cook for the gang.  So not only is it going to help save money, but your sanity as well.

I usually have the kids (yes, all four of them) write out (the youngin's with the help of the older kids) their top seven favorite dinners to have at home.  I then mark off the repeats and work out a menu for the week with what we already have on hand.  Checking the refrigerator and freezers to make sure that we have enough to accommodate a meal or more.  I like to make extra for lunch for the next day, but it doesn't always work out that way.  Usually, someone finishes it off by the end of the night.  We rarely deal with leftovers, and if we do, it's gone within a few days.

Last weeks menu:

Monday:  Chicken vegetable stir fry over rice
Tuesday:  Crockpot shredded beef sandwiches
Wednesday:  Spaghetti
Thursday:  Hamburgers & salad
Friday:  Pizza
Saturday: Mashed potatoes, ground beef gravy, steamed broccoli with mizithrah cheese


This coming weeks' menu:

Sunday: Leftover hangover from football food
Monday:  taco salads
Tuesday:  grilled cheese sandwiches & tomato soup
Wednesday: Beef enchiladas
Thursday:  Tuna noodle casserole
Friday:  Children will fend for themselves.  Gma & Gpa will feed them, 'cause me & the hubs are heading to Victoria, BC ALONE.  For the weekend!

Crockpot shredded beef sammies


A quickie and simple dinner idea is the Crockpot shredded beef sandwiches.  I take a frozen beef pot roast.  sear the sides of it in a cast iron fry pan.  I then sprinkle it with salt and pepper and douse it with worcester sauce.  When the outsides of the roast have a nice crisp brown to it, remove and put in the crockpot.

I then add some onion (dried or fresh chopped), more worcester sauce, and a package of (dare I say it's processed) au jus gravy mix.  Yep, I do keep this on hand.  The flavor is one that I haven't been able to reproduce and we all just love it so much.... sorry.  Add a cup of water and close that puppy up, set it to low for at least six hours.  The aroma that is about to fill your home is mouthwatering and coma inducing.  Come dinner time the family is practically climbing the walls and I have to slap their fingers/hands to keep them from tasting too early.  Here is where I like to remind my husband how much I like jewely, his eyes are always glazed over and he nods his head a lot.  I think bits and pieces get through, but time will tell.

I pull it out and put it on a plate to sit for about 20 minutes before shredding it up with a fork.  I put out hoagie rolls, mayo, worcester, and A1 sauce.  I personally only need mayo on my hoagie.  A delicious side to go with this and on your hoagie is COLESLAW!  I have yet to find the perfect recipe, so if you have a favorite, send it my way.  But I definitely love the crunch that goes along with my sandwich.  YUM!

Here is where I lack in my commitment.... I always forget to take pictures of the finished product.  I will I promise.  It's a favorite here so I have many more opportunities.

Weekly dinner menu

Below I've included our dinner menu plan through Sunday, September 26th. I won't claim that we stick to this exclusively, sometimes something like a volleyball game, soccer, or life gets in the way and we have to switch things up for convenience, but I'm hater on drive-thru so usually it's exchanged for some breakfast dinner or snack night.

Sunday, Sept. 12 - BBQ Salmon with steamed baby reds and green beans - or it'll be pancakes

Monday, Sept. 13 - steamed veggies with rice noodles

Tuesday, Sept. 14 - minestrone and fresh whole wheat bread

Wednesday, Sept. 15 - Chili dogs and home fries

Thursday, Sept. 16 - baked macaroni & cheese with green beans

Friday, Sept. 17 - homemade personal pizzas

Saturday, Sept. 18 - leftovers/new recipe

Sunday, Sept. 19 - keilbasa, potato salad, & homemade rolls

Monday, Sept. 20 - rice noodles, with cabbage, cilantro, & sprouts

Tuesday, Sept. 21 - won ton soup and cabbage salad

Wednesday, Sept. 22 - scrambled egg burritos

Thursday, Sept. 23 - chicken/beef/veggie skewers

Friday, Sept. 24 - Crepes! Sweet or Savory

Saturday, Sept. 25 - leftovers/new recipe

Sunday, Sept. 26 - Turkey Dinner!

If ever, you have a question about how I do my menus or recipes just send me a message. I'm more than happy to share.

Dinner Menu Plan

Once again, I am lame. I am admitting this only because I said that I would post pictures of my food, and I haven't. It's just by the time I'm finished making this shit, I'm so damn hungry that taking out the camera just seems like too much trouble. And quite honestly, I don't even think about it until there's no food left. Sorry.

and now, The Menu, Madame/Monsieur

Sunday, June 6 - Crockpot Dinner -tater tot casserole

Monday, June 7 - Salad -surprise me!

Tuesday, June 8 - veggie panini's & salad

Wednesday, June 9 - taco soup in the crockpot

Thursday, June 10 - baked macaroni & cheese

Friday, June 11 - pizza/pancakes *that is and/or

Saturday, June 12 - leftovers/new dish

Sunday, June 13 - Crockpot dinner - french dips

Monday, June 14 - veggie pasta salad w/ keilbasa

Tuesday, June 15 - homemade chicken noodle soup or warm chicken pasta salad

Wednesday, June 16 - chicken yakisoba & veggies

Thursday, June 17 - marinara & noodles (meatless)

Friday, June 18 - pancakes/pizza

Saturday, June 19 - leftovers/new dish

and now for a recipe!

GYROS!

meat -beef, chicken, lamb, pork -what have you and slice thin

lettuce -torn up

tomato -sliced

onions -sliced and grilled if you like

greek seasoning (i found this awesome shit at the store)

tzatziki sauce (I'll post this soon or you lazy asses can pick it up your favorite at the store)

pita bread (store bought or homemade, I'll post a recipe soon)

We used beef and sliced it up sort of thin. Pound the living hell out of the slices and then sprinkle some seasoning on it and pound it up again.

Cook the meat up -you can use your grill, a cast iron pan, panini grill, George Forman, a hot side walk to your liking (white meats should be thoroughly cooked).

Grill up your pita bread. We've used our griddle(most effective for us), the panini grill, pizza stone in the oven, cast iron pan, or grill. Grill 'em up nice and toasty on both sides.

When everything is ready, start layering! I usually put a few pieces of lettuce on the pita, then the meat, then a couple of slices of tomato, NO ONION for me, but have at it!, then the mother load of tzatziki, because I love that shit. Then kind of roll together and chow down.

you want one now, don't you?

Last freaky deaky weekend in May!

It's 5:30 a.m. on a sunday. I'd like to think I should be sleeping, but my body (and mind) have other plans. So, here I am writing a post about it. Nope, don't think so.

Quick update on the "farm" -we've got green stuff growing and for once, it's not mold. The rhubarb came back to life, I certainly thought that I had killed the bitch. But she's a strong one and had to show me one up. She actually likes 30 year old chicken shit in a tire.

Peas are producing! We've had a couple of yummy snow and snap peas, but just enough for snacking right off the vine. *note to self: next year plant, like, fifty of these. Twelve is definitely not enough for this family.

CUKES! They had seen the light in my mini cold frame and are thriving now that we transplanted them next to the trellis. *another note to self: next year plant, fifty of these. Again, twelve is NOT going to be enough. Good thing is, I started these from seed and still have plenty left. We'll get more started soon!

Potatoes were finally planted and nothing has spouted yet. These bastards are supposed to be one of the easiest to grow. Let's hope so, because my black thumb does not need a come back.

AND... that's all I've got. Sorry no pictures -I'm lame like that at 5:30 a.m.

We had a most excellent time with a new friend on Friday, and guess what I have a few pictures from it.

Yes, that's all I got out of our entire exciting day. I had the camera out for a brief moment and forgot about it. We were so wrapped up in laughing, sharing, and wondering how in the hell we hadn't met before! Carrie, I had so much fun on our first date, I hope we can meet up again soon. I truly think we were great friends in another life - there is just too much weird stuff that we have in common, and that we were destined to meet up again. Am I being stalkerish now?

Saturday we spent the day at the Juan de Fuca Festival and had so much fun and little tears. When we got home it was time for me to get domesticated again and start our new recipe for the week. Now, usually I'm not one to go all out on a new recipe, and I wasn't about to start it now. I just so happened to have all the right stuff in my freezer/fridge for this next recipe.

Now, have I a fantabulous recipe for you. You must go out and get this stuff right away -although 6 a.m. may or may not be the best time for this. I originally came across Old Bay seasoning in Martha's latest Everyday Food mag. The memories started flooding in about dinners at the Crab Pot on Seattle's waterfront and on Lake Bellevue. I HAD TO MAKE THIS!

THE ORIGINAL OLD BAY SHRIMP BOIL SHRIMP FEST

find the website and original recipe here

INGREDIENTS

4 quarts water (16 cups)

1 can (12 ounces) beer (optional)

1/2 cup OLD BAY® Seasoning

2 tablespoons salt

8 medium red potatoes, quartered

2 large onions, cut into wedges

2 pounds lean smoked sausage, cut into 2-inch pieces

8 ears fresh corn, shucked and halved crosswise

4 pounds unpeeled jumbo shrimp (21 to 25 count)

DIRECTIONS

Bring water, beer, OLD BAY Seasoning and salt to boil in 12-quart stockpot on high heat. Add potatoes and onions. Cook 8 minutes. Add smoked sausage. Cook 5 minutes. Add corn. Cook 7 minutes.

Stir in shrimp. Cook 4 minutes or just until shrimp turn pink.

Drain cooking liquid. Pour contents of pot into large serving bowl or platter. Or, mound on paper-covered table. Sprinkle with additional OLD BAY Seasoning, if desired.

And now my pictures

aweful picture- but true to color on the stock, I forgot to whip out the camera early enough. In the above picture is the water, Old Bay seasoning, and onion. I also didn't get a pic of the potatoes. Note: yukon golds are not baby reds and they cook faster.

polska kielbasa

chop those sucka's up

toss 'em in

corn for the lazy -thank you costco

break them in half -hardly enough to feed my family

toss all that in

wrap your table in paper and get the kids wound up early

again cooked & peeled shrimp for the lazy

drain off liquid into an already dirty sink...don't look!

finished product! YUM!

we would have totally dumped it on the table, but I didn't put enough paper on the table and I think my kids would have freaked a bit.

Also, look! I made my special beans too. I'll share the secret recipe someday, I promise.

Enjoy!

peace be with you or wif u

Well, I'm sorry. I abandoned my 9 followers for approximately 10 days. My sincerest apologies.

Now, moving on from the groveling crap. We've had a very productive couple of weeks here at the Cross Compound. We tore out more trees, we built our pea/bean trellis and prepped and planted the bed, we had a birthday party, put up trim in our living/sitting areas, and started laying the brick around the house. All the while, the camera was AWOL. Yep, sorry yet again, no pictures.

I did prepare our dinner menu through the Fourth of July and I will share a whole two weeks with you now.

Sunday, May 9 - Keilbasa with Macaroni & cheese and biscuits

Monday, May 10 - Veggie casserole

Tuesday, May 11 - grilled turkey & cheese paninis and tomato soup

Wednesday, May 12 - chicken tacos

Thursday, May 13 - Spaghetti & salad

Friday, May 14 - homemade pancakes

Saturday, May 15 - leftovers/new dish

Sunday, May 16 - crockpot beef pot roast & taters

Monday, May 17 - caesar salad

Tuesday, May 18th - crockpot minestrone soup & rolls

Wednesday, May 19th - beef teriyaki and white rice

Thursday, May 20th - taco casserole

Friday, May 21st - pizza

Saturday, May 22nd - going out to eat :)

There you have it! I'll be posting my yogurt recipe fail & tweaked with version soon! Also, be on the look out, I'll be posting about my adventures with "no poo" and using the OCM soon!

hmmm... turkey stock

My house smells like TURKEY!

We didn't have one for Easter, but I had the carcass of one from Thanksgiving or Christmas -can't remember, but there are a couple in that thar' freezer. I haven't had the chance or maybe I wasn't willing to, but I knew that I wanted to make a stock from those bones, and today is the day. I know, it's random and I don't have anything on the menu that will use it, but I want to make a homemade noodle soup soon and will need it for that.

Here's what I did -sorry, no pictures yet but I will post something so you get the idea.

frozen turkey carcass -most stripped of everything, there's even some surprise frozen inside.

a couple of carrots, scrubbed and sliced/chopped up tops and all

an onion, quartered with skin and top

half dozen peppercorns

a dash of kosher salt

approx. 2 tsp of parsley

approx. 2 tsp of rosemary

approx. 1 tsp of celery seed - I would have used celery stalks if I had any around

water to cover the carcass

put it in a large enough stock pot, boil then set to low and simmer for several to 24 hrs. Let cool a bit and strain the broth through a colander with cheesecloth or clean muslin over a large bowl. If not using cheesecloth or muslin, strain a couple of times to get all the chunks out. You can then either fish out the veggies and freeze separately for further use in a soup or toss the whole mess into the trash. Then put the stock into your choice of freezer container and freeze until you're ready to use in soups, gravies, or sauces. I'm going to freeze mine in freezer bags.

a quick two week menu, more to come

I'm starting a little late with the menu for this week and next -hopefully I can get some pictures posted of it when I make them.

Monday, April 5

Chop Salad - leftovers from Easter, there were none so we just had a giant salad :)

Tuesday, April 6

Crockpot Chili and cornbread

Wednesday, April 7

Chicken Rice a Roni - someday I'll perfect a homemade recipe, until then it's boxed

Thursday, April 8

Wet beef burritos

Friday, April 9

homemade buttermilk pancakes

Saturday, April 10

nephew's first birthday party -HAPPY BIRTHDAY PHILIP!

Sunday, April 11

undecided - something easy since we'll just be arriving home

Monday, April 12

Taco Salads

Tuesday, April 13

Chicken sandwiches, ala natalie with homemade french fries

Wednesday, April 14

Baked Macaroni and cheese with ham -maybe, we've got doctor's appointments in Seattle

Thursday, April 15

Nacho bar

Friday, April 16

BBQ'd pizza -this will be a first for us, can't wait!

Saturday, April 17

leftovers/new recipe

Sunday, April 18

Keilbasa and eggs

Yogurt, Pancakes, & Buttermilk oh my!

I made yogurt! And it's actually good! The girls have mentioned a couple of times they wanted yogurt. Funny thing is, when I buy yogurt they either don't like it or it doesn't get eaten before the expiration date. I like plain yogurt, okay vanilla too, but I like to add stuff to it and the stuff you buy at the store is either too sweet, has too much old fruit in it, or it's too sour. So, I decided to do some research to see how I could make yogurt without a yogurt maker.

I finally decided to try this recipe. It was a very easy process -although I wanted to add some sugar and vanilla to the batch, I'm glad I didn't- and my son got to help. This morning when we opened the jar to have some it was the best plain yogurt I have ever had. Nothing in the stores compares. It is definitely one that we are going to keep. We are going to tweak it a bit next time, as I would like a thicker product. I made a half batch and I may have been off a bit in my measurements.

Next time I make it I will photograph the process and share the recipe with my tweaks.

Of course we made pancakes this last week and with homemade buttermilk too! I've raved of these pancakes before and now I'm going to share with you the recipe. I've shared before how much I enjoy Happy's recipe I make her recipe and the only exception is I've been using unbleached flour. I did discover with our homemade buttermilk I need to use a little bit more buttermilk (really just a couple of tablespoons)because of the thickness of the batter. It is a thick batter on its own but add in our buttermilk and it's almost a dough :)

Fluffy Whole Wheat Pancakes

Ingredients
3 cups buttermilk *homemade buttermilk recipe to follow
4 eggs
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons salt
4 cups whole wheat flour *or in our case just flour

Mix all the liquid ingredients, beat for one minute on high. Mix in sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Slowly mix in flour until batter is smooth but thick.
Cook on a hot (350 degree) buttered griddle.
Making your own buttermilk is incredibly easy, you just have to be patient. I could have sworn that I took pictures, but I can't find them. So, I will have to share those at a later time. The recipe, as mentioned, is so easy.

Homemade buttermilk

3 cups milk
1 cup buttermilk starter (any buttermilk)

Pour it directly into a clean quart size jar, mix well. Put the lid on. Wrap it in a kitchen towel and place in a warm place, undisturbed for 24 hours. *I put mine in the oven with the light on overnight, but it was on the counter before that* After the 24 hrs is up, shake it up, and open to make sure it has thickened up and smells sweet. Perfect! Just put it in the fridge, it will thicken more once it's in the fridge. You've made buttermilk and now you can go enjoy your pancakes. If you save a cup of this buttermilk, you'll have a starter for next batch and you'll never run out of buttermilk and all the land will be happy because they can have pancakes and buttermilk whenever they want.

your point? and a menu!

I need to take pictures of my food more often. When I post my menus I'd love to share what it looks like in my house. However, I forget and we just gobble it up. Then sometimes I have something on the menu and we have to tweak things a bit, and then they don't look like they probably should.

this is poached chicken
Last week we were to have beef 'n broccoli with rice. Guess who forgot to pull out the slab of meat to slice some up? Yep me. So we changed it up a bit. Chicken with cheesy cream of broccoli over rice. Half of the family enjoyed or rather, tolerated it and the other half gave the "I'm going to puke" face and went on strike. This happens from time to time in our house and unfortunately for them I'm a mean mom. The deal is you have to taste it. JUST TASTE, one bite and then decide if this really is the worst meal I've ever made. If it's still gut turning, then we work out a deal -say just eat the rice and pick out the chicken -which is what the eldest did and the youngest ate rice and picked out the broccoli. That left one kid who wouldn't touch it, her eyes watered just looking at it. I am not incredibly cruel, I didn't hover over her with my spankin' spoon until she ate every last drop. I simply pushed it aside -still on her plate- and served her some plain rice. That's it. When she asked for a snack, I told her that her dinner was still on the table. At the end of the night, if it's still there, it gets tossed.
I had no point to that story. snicker.

Hey! I picked up some seed potatoes (3 kinds) and a rhubarb start. We're growing taters bitches! In tires! I'll post pics when I get them.

Here's our menu for the next 2 weeks!

Monday: Caesar salads with chicken and homemade crusty bread

Tuesday: French dips w/ salad

Wednesday: tacos

Thursday: chicken teriyaki, rice, and salad

Friday: homemade buttermilk pancakes -with homemade buttermilk ya' all!

Saturday and Sunday we are gone to Mariah's volleyball tournaments out of town.

Next week will be fun!

Monday the 15th: Ides of March Caesar's salad wraps

Tuesday the 16th: ZAKERY's 11th birthday -his choice!

Wednesday the 17th: St. Patrick's day -Crockpot corned beef and cabbage with Irish soda bread -I'd love to add some sort of chowder to this, we'll have to see.

Thursday the 18th: mashed potatoes with beef gravy and peas

Friday the 19th: PIZZA party! Zakery's sleepover

Saturday the 20th: dinner out w/ family for Z's bday

Sunday the 21st: we're out of town again for Mariah's volleyball tournament

This week's menu -a wee bit late

so I'll throw in next week's menu as a bonus for forgiving me.

Monday: Salad bar -romaine/green leaf lettuces, tomatoes, cukes, olives, peppers, croutons, and whatever else you can find in the fridge.

Tuesday: Crockpot chili w/ corn muffins

Wednesday: beef soft tacos w/ refried beans -using veg leftovers from monday's dinner

Thursday: Beef rice-a-roni -yes. from a box until I master a homemade version

Friday: Homemade buttermilk pancakes -yum and maybe I'll get pictures

Saturday: usually leftovers, but we'll be out of town so either pizza or teriyaki

Sunday: Enchiladas -chicken


Okay, that brings you up to date and here's next weeks' menu too:

Monday: Veggie stir fry with rice

Tuesday: grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup

Wednesday: Rice bowls with broccoli and beef

Thursday: scrambled egg burritos

Friday: homemade pizza pockets

Saturday: leftovers/new dish or recipe

Sunday: Crockpot chicken & potatoes

I actually have two months of menus finished. My goal is to have three months completed at a time, but I lost steam and got bored.

Lost in Translation

I find myself repeating things over and over again lately. I don’t know if it’s me that is not speaking clearly or if my children are just not listening to me (I’m positive it’s the latter)

Example: Tonight, I watch Natalie (3) run up and push, an already running, Lucy (2) to the ground -cartwheels follow along with tears. Of course, I do my usual nagging -don’t push your sister, don’t push anyone. Not two minutes later she comes tearing through the kitchen and pushes Mariah (13) as she’s trying to put away dishes. AGAIN, I have to repeat myself and sent her to time out. At this time all hell unleashes and she’s a whirlwind of arms and legs and tears and high pitch wailing. Moments later I find myself going over a similar situation with the 10 & 2 year olds. I don’t get it.

I really hate it when my husband can respond with such force and fury that the children just melt into a puddle of tears and really all he’s done is just given them the “eye”. Not a word or movement. It takes every ounce of my being just for the kids to notice that I’m even in the room, and he bats a lash and they snap out of it.

Gaarrrr….. Yes, all pirate style. This is a daily battle and I’m trying to overcome it.

Now, I’ve worked on our menus for the next month and while from time to time they will change without notice, the following is for this week:

Monday: Egg burritos and pears -throw your kids off and in lots of veggies

Tuesday: Grilled Cheese sandwiches with tomato soup -someday I’ll make our own, for now we thank Campbells

Wednesday: Spaghetti, French bread, & salad - we do not serve jar sauce here, you can do it!

Thursday: Chicken skewers, rice, & broccoli -marinated chicken in yoshida’s or soy sauce

Friday: Homemade pizza - kids get cheese pizza, adults get chicken pesto w/ cream sauce YUM!

We are set to be gone this weekend so I didn’t schedule any dinners.

stroganoff ala chicken pox...ew.

Z was diagnosed with chicken pox on monday, which means saturday, when he was feeling rather ho-hum, that was the start of things. We had family out, cousins, and after spending a few days of seclusion at the family cabin, we took them to the Olympic Game Farm, which is near our house. Lots of fun and we parted ways. Imagine my freaking out on Monday morning when Z came to me with numerous itchy pimply spots, then followed the confirmation by our pediatrician. Good times! So, he has spent a few days in isolation. With the knowledge of our ped the girls will now have their day with chicken pox -JOY! While it can in no way compare to my TWO bouts of the pox and the last when I was 13, can we say pox on the eyelids, down my throat, and on the bottoms of my feet... it ought to be interesting.

I have had many requests for a "pox party", but then have also received the emails of how disturbing the thought of a pox party is. I had to ponder this, and when I responded I sort of let loose because they were targeting me... I didn't advertise that I was having a party, I just happened to have the infected child. As if I purposed exposed my child to the disease, when in fact he was vaccinated. Now, I am purposely infecting my younger two to the pox, but they were probably already infected long before I knew it was even in our house. In our home we selectively vaccinate. There are some that we do and some that we don't.

Z would not have received the varicella vaccine had I known that it was being given at that time. It was new, and apparently, they (the nurses) thought that everyone would want it. It wasn't brought to my attention until AFTER they had given it to him, he was only 15 months. At 2, Z developed serious food and outside allergies. Thankfully, he has outgrown most, but still the damage was already done and we have to live with the effects of that.

So, before you decide to attack or alienate people because of how they decide to raise their children, think about what their reasons may be. It may be their religious beliefs or maybe we feel the need to just get down and dirty let our immune systems and bodies develop a bit before we start injecting active diseases into it. It's nothing personal against you, but it's none of your damn business. I realize that you may think that we are out there, unvaccinated and possibly spreading our "diseases" to you, but we aren't the ones living with the viruses already in our systems. We are just building up our natural defenses.
My husband and I decided long ago, that a little dirt wouldn't hurt. We weren't going to be those parents who expected everyone to slather up on the anti-bacterial gel before they could touch our babies. We weren't going to run and hide every time someone coughed or sneezed. When we were little we were given the chance to develop a natural defense system, we turned out just fine, in fact rather healthy. So, why couldn't our children? We are rather lucky to have pediatricians, nurses, family, and friends who support our decisions. We just ask that we not be attacked or condemned when we share this info with you. If you don't want to come to our "pox party" then don't come. We didn't want you there anyway.


Now for food, we had this last night and it turned out soooo good! Sorry no pictures, we ate it all so fast that by the time I thought about a picture there was nothing left. It was that yummy.

Ground beef stroganoff

1 bag of egg noodles cooked per package instructions-rice and potatoes are also good
1 lb ground turkey/beef/whatever you like! -we combined turkey & beef
1 pkt of onion soup mix (beef onion would be really good!)
salt/pepper to taste
a couple of dashes of Worcestershire sauce or more
1 cup milk
1 cup sour cream

brown ground meat, drain off fat.
add onion soup mix, salt & pepper to taste and stir it all up
add milk and sour cream and heat thoroughly
lastly add the Worcestershire sauce to taste, start with a teaspoon or so and shake a more if needed, stir up and WA LA!

Oh, then serve over noodles, rice, potatoes, whatever your pretty little heart desires!

Notice this recipe does not have the usual staple of stroganoff recipes... MUSHROOMS. I hate, no, loathe mushrooms. I vomit in my sleep over mushrooms. My whole body heaves and convulses at the sight of those nasty little buggers. However, if you absolutely must tarnish this recipe with satan's fungus-go right ahead. Some people like those kind of things.