Sunday, October 4, 2009

Menu Plan Monday

I have missed having my menus planned for the week. It makes a huge difference in how our week flows. I get very frustrated though when I cook something and have one or two or now three kids turn their noses up at it. So, I make what I want, try to put some things in there I know the kids will like, and brace for the complaints that are bound to happen. I did make Pizza Burgers this week, all the kids liked them, DH too, only one problem, I didn't. Oh, well, I guess I can make things they all like and I don't too!

Here's this week's menu

Sunday - Leftovers!!

Monday - Chimis (some for the freezer too!)

Tuesday - Quiche in a bag

Wedesday - Steak, corn and potatoes (one of DH's favorite meals) also one of the perks of being married to a beef farmer, a freezer full of beef!!

Thursday - Busy day so it will be a crockpot day. Chili and cornbread

Friday - Homemade pizza

Saturday - Crockpot Beef Sandwiches

Most of this weeks recipes come from the The Freezer Cooking Manual From 30 Day Gourmet. I really like to have prepared meals in the freezer so I'll make enough each night to eat and them some to freeze. This comes in handy when we've had a busy day, been gone or I just don't feel up to cooking and cleaning!!

I'd like to make some snacks this week too. I found a great recipes for granola bars that everyone loves so I'll try to make those and maybe some muffins for breakfast and to snack on! I put half chocolate chips and half peanut butter chips instead of the mini m&m's in my granola bars and they were a big hit!

Here is my question for you now. I've had over 12,000 hits now on my little ole' blog and I have no idea where they are coming from. So, would you please leave a comment and tell me how you found me? Only nice comments please or I will delete!

For more menu plan ideas check out this great blog at orgjunkie.com.

Saturday, September 19, 2009

An Apple a Day!

My kids all love to eat applesauce. In fact they have it every morning as part of breakfast and sometimes later in the day as a snack. I came accross some free apples last week so this is what I did on Wednesday last week as I waited for my Mom and Dick to arrive.
I started with two laundry baskets full. Doesn't look like much but it took most of the day.





Wash...The boys wanted to help so their job was to take the apples out of the laundry baskets and put them into the water for me. Boo thought it was more fun to splash. Little C thought the apples were balls so she threw them all over the house making more bruises on them!!



Cut...by the end of the day my right hand hurt so much. I could barely get them all done and was very close to quiting!




Cook... Just put a little water in the bottom of the pot and let them cook until they get soft.

Strain...I love the food strainer! It makes the process so much easier! I'll like it even more when my kids can really help with this part!


Satisfaction...The process is not all fun but the end result is very satisfying!!


When all was said and done I got 24 quarts! This is the sweetest applesauce I have ever had and there is no sugar added. I have no idea what kind of apples they were!

Monday, September 14, 2009

Summer Fun!

Wow, I'm on a roll, two posts in one day! Here are some random pictures from our summer!

School Days

Well, we have officially done four weeks of school so far. We are using My Father's World Kindergarten and Big C loves it! He asks to do school everyday and wonders why we don't do it on the weekends! We started school in August so we could get ahead a bit because we took last week off to go on a vacation to the Dells. Now that we are back I am faced with tomatoes to can and will have my mom and her husband visiting later this week so it's nice to be ahead of the game with school instead of feeling like we need to catch up! I love the flexility of homeschooling!! Here are a few photos of our homeschooling fun so far!


The first thing we do for our weekly activity is look up our topic in the encyclopedia. Sounds a little dated in this computer era but still an important skill to know! Big C loves to look at the encyclopedias now that we got them out of the attic!!




In these two pictures the boys are painting their sun for "Ss." We made the rays for the sun by tracing and cutting out their hands. The first two weeks of the MFW curriculm was a unit on Creation. Then it goes on to the 26 lessons of learning the letters of the alphabet. Big C knows all of his letters and sounds so we can cut a lot of that practice out for him but it's great for Boo who doesn't know his letters or sounds yet. The curriculm is a great fit for both boys to work through at the same time.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Time is flying by!

How is it that two months have gone by since I have even looked at my blog. I've still been reading a few others here and there but for the most part I just haven't had time. I guess that's what having kids will do!! Maybe I'll try to find some time to get back to the blog one of these days!

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

A great book

It is so hard to believe that at the end of this summer (I know it's still Spring) we will be starting Kindergarten with Big C! I think I am more excited than he is. He has an amazing memory and asks about a million questions a day. He is ready for some formal learning although he is learning so much already without formal education. The curriculum we have decided on for Kindergarten is My Father's World. We've already ordered it and received it. Now I just need to find some time to do a bit or organizing and we'll be ready to go in August!

We've been reading a great book for family worship that I wanted to mention on here too. It's called Egermeier's Bible Story book. We started reading it about a year and a half ago and are on Esther. We do really well with family worship during the winter but once Randy is in the fields it gets harder. This book covers most of the stories in the Bible but they are written in a way that kids can understand. This is not a watered down kids devotional by any means. Our 5yo asks a lot of questions as we read and he remembers the stories very well.

I'm looking for recommendations for a good USA map and world map that we could hang on the wall. Please leave a comment if you have any good suggestions. Should I look online or just go to Wal Mart???

Monday, April 6, 2009

Overwhelmed

Do you ever feel so overwhelmed with all you need to get done that you don't know where to start? Add to that a lack of motivation. I have so much I feel like I need to do and I don't want to do anything right now so here I sit and type! Here are a few of the things on my To Do list:

1.) Put the dining room back together (I painted it on Saturday) Ok kudos to me for getting that done!
2.) Stain the new windows that were just put in the dining room and bathroom. Plus the two in my baby's room from last year that I've never gotten to.
3.) fold laundry...again
4.) make supper....again wish I had done a menu plan this week!
5.) sort kids clothes and get rid of the small or old ones
6.) excercise, well I actually did that already today but need to do more!
7.) paint the kitchen (I did half of it in November but need to finish. I painted a wall red and wanted to make sure I loved it, which I do so I need to do the walls behind the cabinets now.
8.) Clean my house, the bathroom especially
9.) pick out a song to sing (and practice)at church this Sunday (Easter)
10) Get ready for my National Scrapbook Day
11.) Get a host packet ready for a CM event I'm doing on the 18th
Well, you get the idea! What things are you putting off today?

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Happy Birthday to Me!

Yes, today is my birthday, many have referred to it as my "special" birthday. In many ways it is a special birthday because I have gone on to the next decade but I am not sad or depressed in the least about it. I am happy to get older and wiser, I really wouldn't want to stay 39 forever, especially since my husband is getting older every year too! I would say this "special" birthday is a lot easier than my last "special" birthday 10 years ago. Ten years ago I was happy and well adjusted in life but I had no prospects of a godly man to marry and no idea if I'd ever have children. So as I finish out this first day as a 40 year old woman I can honestly say I am happy and so glad I am where I am!

Now ask me if I spent my birthday the way I had planned and I'd have to say no. We were supposed to pack up the van this morning after breakfast and head south to IL to Randy's sister's for the weekend. While we were there we were going to go to Ikea so I could spend some Christmas and birthday money on this. Unfortunatly my little girl woke with a fever during the night and our plans had to be changed. Instead I spent most of the night up with her, was tired all day and realized I didn't have many groceries in the house since we were going to be gone so I had to go shopping today. Well, even though it didn't turn out as I had hoped I got to do what I love most and be a mommy to my sweet little girl and her very active brothers (who are sweeties too!)

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Scrapping Challenge

Thanks to my friend Tiffani I've been getting the scrapbooking bug again! I've actually been doing more digital scrapbooking but really need to get the baby's album caught up for her BIG first birthday next month! So here is my latest page inspired by a Scrapbooking challenge that Tiffani has been doing.



Have I mentioned yet that I'm a Creative Memories Consultant? I have been a consultant for 3 1/2 years and love it! Now I realize this challenge comes from another source but it got me going so I need to give credit where it's due! I'll try to post more about scrapbooking soon!

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Menu Plan Monday

I have been sick this weekend but I am still going to try to get my menu plan done so my week will go more smoothly. I also need to do a big shopping trip this week so it's nice to already have my list ready to go ahead of time. So here goes!

Sunday - Lunch - We had soup (yes from the soup exchange!)and sandwiches. For Supper I made Homemade pizzas.

Monday - Canned Meat, mashed potatoes and corn

Tuesday - Sloppy Joes on buns and green beans. If I get going early enough I'll try to make buns from scratch. This will be the first time in a long time that we will have sloppy joes from a packet instead of homemade but I want to use up what's in the cupboard.

Wednesday - Chicken pot pie

Thursday - Chili and cornbread

Friday - Leftovers from freezer

Saturday - Breakfast for supper - pancakes or eggs or something yummy!


I've been talking about making granola and I think I found a recipe that I'm going to try this week from Tammy's Recipes. I found several recipes there but this one is called Easy Peanut Butter Granola and I'm all about doing things the easy way! I'll let you know how it turns out!

I also made bread in the bread maker twice this past week but it just doesn't seem to go over after the first day so there is part of a loaf sitting in the refrigerator uneaten. I guess I'll cut it up and put it in the freezer for meatloaf!

For more menu plan ideas head on over to Orgjunkie.com

Thursday, February 26, 2009

A New Recipe!

I have really enjoyed taking a break from cooking a lot this week but today I dove in and cooked lunch and supper. I thought I'd post the recipe for what we had for lunch. I had some bananas that weren't looking so good and I wasn't in the mood for banana bread so I went to allrecipes and typed in bananas and found this. So, I decided we'd have pancakes for lunch. Unfortunately we were out of chocolate chips but we still made them with the bananas and they were good! I tripled the recipe so we have some for leftovers. I also put one cup of whole wheat flour instead of all white to make it a little better for us!

I'm looking for a recipe for Homemade Enchilada Sauce so if you have one please share! I can't find it without msg in it!

I'm so glad I finally figured out the how to link too!

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Menu Plan Monday

In an attempt to support my last post of spending less each week on groceries, especially from WM I am creating my weekly menu from things I already have in the house. I do need to shop this week for fruit and milk but I want to use what I have before I buy more.

Sunday - Lunch - Beef Veggie soup, grilled cheese, Supper - pancakes. My family doesn't know it yet but I am going to slowly try to get them to eat pancakes with applesauce instead of syrup. I had one taker tonight and he loved it! Too much high fructose corn syrup!

Monday - We have a viewing to go to at suppertime and I am also babysitting all day for two other children so it will have to be leftovers tonight!

Tuesday - Beef Enchiladas (I already have all of these ingr. in the freezer and pantry!)

Wednesday - Homemade hot pockets and chimi's - Also from the freezer. It's time to use up all that good freezer cooking and have a cooking day to stock up again.

Thursday - Scrambled eggs and pork links

Friday - Steak, corn, potatoes and green veggie

Saturday - Leftover or freezer food again.

I know it will feel good to empty things out and start fresh again. I hope to also bake bread a couple of times this week as well as something for snacks, maybe granola bars. For more menu plan ideas check out orgjunkie.com

I want to spend less at WM!

I really want to decrease the amount of money we spend each month at Wal Mart. It seems like with each child we have our weekly spending goes up about $30-$50. Is this normal? I know to an extent it has to be. Adding more diapers and then formula is not cheap. I wish I could have nursed my babies but it just didn't work out for several reasons so I've accepted that but I still hate how much formula costs. We even buy the Wal Mart brand which is a lot cheaper! Thankfully my baby won't be on formula too much longer as we enter the homestretch to her first birthday! I'll be sad to not have a baby any longer though!

So here are some of the things I will try this year to decrease our monthly spending:
1. I am going to try to do more shopping at Aldi. They really are so much cheaper on many things. You still have to cost compare sometimes to make sure you're getting the deals but overall it's cheaper. I used to shop there when I just had one baby but Wal Mart can be so convenient with it's one-stop shopping. So now I will attempt to take three kids shopping and hit both WM and Aldi.

2. I really want to expand our garden this year. We've had a garden every year since we've been married. My husband does most of the actual gardening (I try to pitch in and weed but really he's outside all the time and does a lot) I do all of the freezing and canning. Last year we grew tomatoes, carrots, green beans, potatoes and radishes. This year I want to increase the amount of some of those and add some other things. I think we will grow butternut squash (you can add this to homemade spaghetti sauce. It will thicken it and add a richness too it and no one knows!) Pumpkins (I've been making pumpkin pancakes more so this will help.) Onions, I'd like to get a food dehydrator to keep these all year to use. I also would like to grow the traditional Italian herbs to add to my sauces. I would dehydrate those too to last. I need to think more about anything else to add but I'm excited to get started this spring!

3. I am also going to try making our own laundry soap. My sister posted a recipe for this on her website that includes Arm & Hammer Washing Soda, Borax and Zote soap. You can check it out at my sister's blog http://fitnessfriendsfood.blogspot.com/2009/02/financial-fitness-make-your-own-laundry.html. I just can't find the soap or washing soda. I actually was looking for a different kind of soap so I'll have to look for the Zote. Sorry about no link, I can't get it to work????

4. I already do almost 100% of our cooking from scratch but I am going to make more of an effort in the bread department. I've made homemade bread several times but I haven't perfected it yet. I also would like to make rolls to keep in the freezer that we can grab for burgers.

I've looked into cloth diapers when I was pregnant but I'm not sure the time is worth the savings? Is there a big savings? Let me know what you think and maybe I'll try it.

Well, that seems to have worked my brain enough for now so I will try to get our menu planned for the week now and spend some time with my kids!

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Menu Plan Monday





We stuck to our menu for the most part last week but did have a couple of changes. This has really been helping me stay on track with what I make each week though so I'm hoping I stick to it. I've been spending a lot of time on another great blog called the Grocery Cart Challenge. http://grocerycartchallenge.blogspot.com/ She even has a recipe for making your own laundry soap that I am hoping to try soon! You can't really beat a penny a load for detergent!

So here is our weeks menu:

Sunday - We had leftover pizza today from the Valentine party at church and leftovers for supper too. Yeah for me, no cooking today!

Monday - Soup and sandwiches (Baked potato soup again from the soup swap! I love it!)
Tuesday - Cheeseburgers, homemade steak fries, and veggies

Wednesday - leftovers tonight, mom has to work. (as long as the snowstorm doesn't prevent it!)

Thursday - Salsa Chicken (I made this a couple of weeks ago and froze some) brown rice and veggies

Friday - Homemade pizza

Saturday - Chili and cornbread (The chili is also from the soup swap!)

Now looking back at this weeks menu it will be a pretty easy week in the kitchen for me but that's ok because it will be a pretty busy week for us. I will also try to make some blueberry muffins for my mom's group on Tuesday and maybe bake something else to satisfy our sweet tooth.

For more menu planning ideas check out orgjunkie.com

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Menu Plan Monday





Here it is, another week has gone by and still no other blogging except my menu! I should blog today about how my little baby is 10 months old today! Maybe after this one I'll do that.

Sunday - Soup and Grilled cheese. Today we had Turkey and Wild Rice soup from my mom's groups' soup exchange. It was sooo good!
Monday - Meatloaf, potatoes, corn and green veggie
Tuesday - Spaghetti with meat sauce, green beans
Wednesday - Leftovers - I love these nights when I don't have to cook or clean as much!
Thursday - Asian Peanut Butter Pork from a Year of Crockpotting. I'm still learning this whole linking thing but if you just go to that website you'll find this recipe.
Friday - Sloppy Joes (from the freezer) corn and broccoli. I'm babysitting all day and will be feeding two extra kids.
Saturday - Family fun night at church - We will be having pizza!

So that's our week. If you can give me any insight on putting those links in my page I'd appreciate it. I can link to Org junkie to post this but that's about it!!

Monday, February 2, 2009

Menu Plan Monday





Well, if anything, maybe this blog will keep me accountable to doing weekly menu plans. They really help me with my sanity during the week and then when my kids ask constantly "what's for dinner?" I have an answer. Unless of course I change my mind! So here goes for this weeks menu.

Monday - Randy was sick yesterday so I'm going to skip my Mexican idea and go with something more simple like cheeseburgers, potatoes and corn. A little easier on the recovering stomach.
Tuesday - Stuffed Shells - I made these in Dec. and froze them. They are from a great cookbook called The Freezer Cooking Manual from the 30 Day Gourmet by Nancy Slagle. I first checked the book out from the library to try it and loved it so I got it for Christmas.
Wednesday - BBQ Beef in the crockpot. Veggies.
Thursday - Back to Mexican. Salsa chicken. This is soooo easy. Put 4-5 chicken breast in the crockpot. Add a jar of salsa, bag of frozen corn, can of black beans (drained) then cook all day on low. 15 minutes before you serve it chunk up a brick of cream cheese and add that. Serve over rice or noodles or whatever you like!
Friday - Homemade pizza
Saturday - leftovers
Sunday - Soup and Sandwiches

For more Menu Plan ideas go to http://orgjunkie.com/

Monday, January 26, 2009

Menu Plan Monday

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One of the things I have really enjoyed since I discoverd the world of blogs is Menu Plan Monday at http://orgjunkie.com/ She posts her menu for the week and then other bloggers post theirs and link to them. I love looking at what others are planning or doing with their menus for the week. So here is my first attempt at doing a menu plan online.

Breakfasts: We usually eat the same thing everyday. The boys start off with milk or juice, applesauce, cereal and toast with honey or jelly. If they're still hungry after that they will have a banana to top it off.

Lunches: We keep lunch simple: leftovers, pbj sandwiches, turkey and cheese, egg salad, pancakes. Usually whatever I feel up to making. We always have fruit with lunch too.

Suppers:
Monday - Beef Enchiladas and mixed veggies
Tuesday - leftovers -I have to work tonight
Wednesday - Chicken Pot pie
Thursday - Mac and Cheese bake, green beans
Friday - Homemade Pizza
Saturday - Steak, corn, potatoes
Sunday - Lunch: soup and grilled cheese Supper: leftovers
The mom's group that I am in did a soup exchange this month so I have 14 frozen quart bags of yummy homemade soup in my freezer. It is so fun for me to look in there and see all of that soup. So I though we would pick a different kind every Sunday for lunch until it warms up!

Well, that's our week. For more menu ideas click on the link at the top of this post.

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Pictures of the morning

One thing I love about my husband is the time he spends with our children. Usually in the morning after I've fed the baby Randy hangs out with the kids so I can get showered and dressed. This morning I came into the kitchen and could see this scene happening in the family room. For some reason they posted in the opposite order of how I took them. Still trying to figure this whole blogging thing out!







Even Little C got in on the action of storytime!

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

So I have not done so well yet in writing on my new blog. Since I started it we went on a three week trip to Arizona to visit my friends and family. We had a great time and got to show off of our little baby whose not so little anymore. Since we've been back we've been dealing with the stomach flu one by one. Randy is the latest to show signs of getting it.

Boo turned three on January 14th and we had a great time celebrating with Randy's family. Our nephew turned three on the 13th so we had a birthday party for both of them. We had homemade pizza and a really cute tractor cake. I'll try to post some pictures of the party.