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.

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*

Happy Valentine's day! and a Monday Menu

Well, we had a successful Valentine's Day at the Cross compound.  The festivities started last Thursday with Lucy's preschool party -and while she had been counting the days until her party, I believe she was a far from impressed with how it turned out.  For one thing she was under the impression the Valentine's Day party would focus on her, not the other six kids in her class too.  And secondly, she thought that it would continue on forever.  She felt that EVERY DAY should be Valentine's day.  Bring on the chocolate!

Today was Natalie's preschool party, as it should be, on Valentine's Day.  I must say, since when did Valentine's Day cards/candies turn in to full blown gift/swag bags???  Hello, a four year old does not need, nor should anyone receive this much candy.  I'm trying to get away with a few chocolates and an itunes card at home and you all are sending full size candy bars, toys, baskets, jewelry, spa days and Starbucks gift cards home with my kid(okay, slight exaggeration there at the end), but seriously, how can I compete with that?  Oh, and guess what the camera battery died.  Who knows when, but obviously sometime after Lucy's party -it was probably shocked by all the shit they received.

Tonight we take it easy, and will not be eating the traditional Valentine's day grub for dinner.  We won't be indulging in filet mignon, baked lemon herb crusted salmon, or even heart shaped pizzas.  Nope, it's our Meatless Monday night and so we are having a giant delicious SALAD!  Hmmm.... hear my heart singing?  Yep, really it's singing, and those are tears of joy, not sadness.

As for the menu... here goes

Monday: Big ass salad!

Tuesday:  Ham & Cheese Panini's and soup

Wednesday:  Chicken Quesadillas & salada

Thursday:  Lasagna & salad

Friday:  Pizza or Pancakes

Saturday: eating out with family -we'll be out of town through Monday :)

Peace and love my friends.  Lots of dancing hearts -with hoola hoops.

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.

mmm...what's that taste like?

Holy moley, I have been busy! With our camping vacation behind us, and we're now to the half-way point of our remodel -more of that to come on a later post -I've got more time to spend here, surfing the internets, my farm, baking, and POSTING AS A CONTRIBUTING BLOGGER at HOMEGROWN.ORG!!!! Yes, that noise you hear is me jumping up and down and screeching like a 14 year old girl at a Justin Bieber concert -I know this because I experienced this first hand only a few weeks ago. See.

You can check out my posts the fourth Wednesday of every month over at HOMEGROWN.ORG! Oh, the giddyness is worse than the jimmy legs!

Okay, now seriously. I know you are all dying to read about my weekly menus so I'll post the plan for the next two weeks. All menus are subject to change, shirt and/or shoes are not required-hell, clothes are optional at most meals.

Monday, July 26th - Yakisoba noodles with veggies

Tuesday, July 27th - Bean soup with homemade wheat bread -too frickin' hot man!

Wednesday, July 28th - White rice with Chinese BBQ beef

Thursday, July 29th - Tacos beef/chicken/veggie -to be determined

Friday, July 30th - buttermilk pancakes or if I get my way strawberry crepes!

Saturday, July 31st - leftovers/new recipe or we'll eat out -lazy asses

Sunday, AUGUST 1 - Crockpot chicken with rice and veggies

Monday, August 2 - warm chicken salad pitas (use leftover chicken from sun.)

Tuesday, August 3 - Grilled tomato and cheese sammies with salad

Wednesday, August 4 - Rice stick noodles with stir fry noodles

Thursday, August 5 - Spaghetti with olive oil and veggies

Friday, August 6 - buttermilk waffles and strawberries

Saturday, August 7 - leftovers/new recipe or eat out 'cause I'm tired as hell

Sunday, August 8 - Keilbasa and Eggs!

Monday, August 9 - Pasta salad with veggies and bread

and there you have it. If you are interested in any of the above recipes, just ask. I'm more than certain I haven't posted many of them and I'm happy to share. More pictures to come as well.

If your interested, the following is what we'll have for breakfasts. In no particular order and of no particular nutritional value. Hey, we're working on this one.

Oatmeal, Eggs -anyway you want 'em and with whatever I'm handing out at the moment, toast, english muffins, yogurt, granola, fruit, boxed or bagged cereal -pretty much whatever was on sale except for the sugary shit, pancakes, waffles -usually not frozen, but every once in-awhile I get a wind up my skirt and pick up eggos, and/or hashbrowns -the real stuff, just like at the restaurant with clarified butter and all that fatty goodness.

I'm up for questions anytime. Just throw 'em at me. You'll either get a great answer or one with absolutely no value to you at all. Cheers!

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?

Just another manic monday...er Sunday

I'm rather enjoying my bit of work that I'm doing for my friend at her coffee shop, The Cracked Bean Coffee Company. About a month ago, I started working the "early" shift and even though it's only two-three hours it gives me that little break I need during the week. I actually look forward to getting up at 4:30 a.m. and I get home just as the little ones are starting to crawl about. I'm there when they wake, fully dressed, and with makeup to boot!

I'm not adding links to the recipes this week 'cause I'm so damned tired. One of these days I'll get them all in one spot so they are easily linked or searched. Dammit for being unorganized from the start. Also the pictures are sparse -tough.

Sunday, May 23: Crockpot Beef pot roast with Au Jus, smashed potatoes, & green beans

Monday, May 24: beef hot dogs and salad bar -baseball game

Tuesday, May 25: grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup

Wednesday, May 26: pad thai noodles with beef strips

Thursday, May 27: Spaghetti, salad, and french bread

Friday, May 28: homemade buttermilk pancakes or waffles

Saturday, May 29: leftovers/new recipe :thinking shrimp boil!

Sunday, May 30: Keilbasa, eggs, and biscuits

Monday, May 31: veggie stir fry and rice -happy Memorial Day!

Tuesday, June 1: pulled pork sammies & cabbage slaw

Wednesday, June 2: tuna noodle casserole

Thursday, June 3: no bake lasagna -ala food magazine, thank you Martha!

Friday, June 4: pancakes or homemade pizza

Saturday, June 5: Leftovers/new recipe

I hate this fucking dog

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!

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

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.

Menus schmenus... if only

I forgot to post this week's dinner menu - so here is goes and I'll even include a recipe in there somewhere

Monday:
Chicken Caesar salad w/ dinner rolls

Tuesday:
BLT sandwiches and homemade french fries

Wednesday:
Beef/chicken rice-a-roni (either homemade or boxed) w/ peas or corn

Thursday:
Hubby's birthday his treat/choice

Friday:
Pancakes with pears -might even turn this into crepes, yum!

Saturday:
leftovers or new dish

Sunday:
Tuna noodle casserole w/ peas

Feb 1-7th dinner menu

Monday:
Salad bar w/ homemade rolls/bread

Tuesday:
meatball subs and salad (leftovers from monday)

Wednesday:
Beef stroganoff w/ corn

Thursday:
Mashed potatoes w/ beef gravy and veggies

Friday:
Homemade calzones and salad

Saturday: -family is coming for superbowl
Potluck -thinking fractured tacos

Sunday: -Superbowl Sunday
bbq/sweet n sour meatballs
chicken hotwings
veggies
beef pot roast and of course BREAD!

Fractured Tacos aka...the kids will eat this

1 lb ground meat, browned -beef/turkey or shredded chicken/pork
taco seasoning-to taste
head of iceberg or green leaf lettuce
1 beefsteak or 2-3 roma tomatoes
grated cheddar cheese or mexican mix if you buy in the bag
1 can of kidney beans, drained and rinsed
avacado, peeled and sliced -optional

throw everything into a big bowl and toss. Serve on a bed of fritos/doritos/tortilla chips. Top with a dollop of sour cream and/or guacamole and wah lah! YUM!!!

We've also just put everything into individual bowls and let everyone make their own for the more picky ones.

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.

School? Whaat?? Where did summer go?

I am so sad to be the one to inform all of you that our summer has gone and school is quickly approaching. What? Wait, you already knew and you all are celebrating and you didn't call me!!! Okay, so seriously I already knew too. I've had the countdown ticker on my igoogle page going since school got out.

I'm having a hard time dealing with all of the school supply lists. I've been collecting some items as they have come on sale or had coupons for, but seriously, it's as if we have to supply the entire class! Four packages of four glue sticks!? How many collages can one fifth grader make? They even request a particular brand of pencil in which we must supply four packages of ten pencils -I do have to say that they are a superior brand, but with that comes a hefty price tag for a frickin' pencil. Here's a kicker, we must get a particular pen...not stick pens, not ball point, not marker -sharpies are already requested and this particular pen is not even carried at any office supply, walmart, art store in my town nor the neighboring city!!! We didn't even get the list until last week, because that's when you can officially access the information. WHAT THE EFFFFFFFin' me-oh-my?! Okay, enough of a rant, moving on.

This last week was a success with the meal planning and semi-quasi budgeting, with the exception of going through twice as much milk as I thought we would. Here is this week's menu:

Sunday: Roasted Chicken, potatoes, & peas.. eh hem, rice, leftover steak, & carrots.
Monday: Chicken kabobs on green salad w/ corn on the cob
Tuesday: sloppy joes & green salad
Wednesday: Spaghetti, french bread, salad
Thursday: Chicken enchiladas
Friday: Pancakes & pears
Saturday: leftovers/new recipe... BLT PIE!!!!

Sunday was a flop because I decided that I needed to drive to pick up the kids, to get out of the house. Good thing was that we had everything here in the house and it was ready when I returned. We made snack cake last night for dessert over the next couple of days.

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.

cupcakes & menus

Well, a big giant THANK YOU to Sara over at Our Best Bites for this wonderful cupcake recipe. Of course as usual I had to juggle stuff for what we had on hand, but this is a huge hit...well, at least the making and oogling over them part. We are saving them until we meet up with my husband's family tomorrow.

I will post the recipe with our changes added, at the bottom of this post.

We are heading down to the cabin at Lake Quinault tomorrow morning. We'll be meeting up with J's family-mom, dad, The weirds: sister, brother-in-law, and their three children-they live in Maryland and are visiting for the week. We are so excited! We haven't seen them in what seems like forever-the spring. I had no idea what to bring so, we will be bearing gifts of CUPCAKES!

Quickly, I will post my menu for next week(23rd-29th), since I am unsure when I'll be able to get back on to do it. If they work out and are a hit, I will post recipes.

Sunday: Baked mac & cheese, w/ green beans
Monday: Caesar salads w/ french bread or baguettes-Whatever I try to make that day!
Tuesday: Chili & cornbread -we'll be making a double batch!
Wednesday: Ground beef stroganoff w/ corn
Thursday: Taco skillet w/ lettuce salad
Friday: Extreme Nachos -big kids are gone, so it may end up being just chips/chz
Saturday: Leftovers or new recipe!

That's it!
Our Best Bites cupcakes
Okay, while I do have to say that ours did not turn out as beautiful as Sara's - they are in our eyes. Our colors may not be as bright, they may appear lumpy, and we are missing orange, we couldn't have had more fun making cupcakes. Ultimately we decided to make ours huge - we doubled the amount in each muffin cup, by mistake and I believe it worked out to our advantage. We only had half of the colors in the gels, so we just used extra drops of the regular food coloring. We also didn't have the paper muffin cups, but hey, we are trying to cut down on the waste. The below recipe and directions are from here I will note where I have changed it.

COLORBURST CUPCAKES or as N calls them "Rainbow muffin cupcakes"

1 white cake mix
2 eggs
1 C sour cream
1/2 C milk
1/3 C vegetable oil (*we used olive oil)

Combine all ingredients until incorporated (about 30 seconds). Scrape sides of bowl and then beat on med-high speed for 3 minutes.

Divide batter according to how many colors you are using. I used 5 colors and it worked out to a little over 1 cup for each color. *we used 4 colors and used 1 cup of batter for each color*

Use food coloring to color batter to desired intensity. I used a 1/4 t and they were very bright! *we started with 1/4t each, then added a couple of extra squeezes of the regular food coloring to get a brighter color.* You could easily make pastel rainbows using a little less. *Layer each color of batter, it said to use about 2 teaspoons of each color in each muffin... my child interpreted that as 2 TABLESPOONS... I thought it looked a bit much so I did about 1 tablespoon, and soon figured out that we were not going to get more than a dozen cupcakes out of this. In turn they ended up huge. We played it off as it was all planned. It was also suggested on the site to use a bit of water on your fingers to spread each layer of color. It definitely helped.

Bake them according to the package directions(*20 minutes was perfect for our cupcakes), until a toothpick comes out dry. Wahlah!********
BTW, I have no idea what I did to these pictures, I think I may have kicked your dog.

snot for glue and a menu

Can kid snot be used as a substitute for gorilla glue? Seriously, I think the only thing that will get it off of my kids' face is by sticking their heads under a hot fire hose, heck, even then the pressure may not be enough. I wonder if I leave it there, if it will fossilize and tomorrow we'll find a little bird or lego guy's remains in there. Maybe a hammer and chisel will get it off. I'll be right back.

As I sit here watching Ghostbusters with my little girls (yes, they love, and we don't mean this lightly, L-O-V-E this movie)I'm listening to the kitty purr in my ears and catching the snow fall outside the window. I'm so glad that I had the day off.
Yes, this is the road I live on- but I was too lazy to go out and take a new picture this was taken one of the many times it has dumped on us the last couple of weeks.

Moving on.

Here is this week's menu for anyone interested in what we are eating.

Monday: Crock pot meatloaf potatoes and green beans
Tuesday: Homemade pizza
Wednesday: Taco Skillet (loved it so much we're doing it again!)
Thursday: Swedish meatballs w/ noodles/potatoes/rice
Friday: Teriyaki chicken w/ rice and salad
Saturday: Pork chops w/ yakisoba noodles
Sunday: baked macaroni


I am making my cinnamon rolls right now and will attempt to make these rolls from The Frugal Girl later this afternoon. I'm pretty confident that I will succeed but I do have two tired girls who don't want to give up tugging at my pant legs. sigh.

Oh, just in time. One of the legs on the ikea chair keeps coming loose, I think I'll just grab a kid and wipe their nose on it.