Pics

I had some random pictures to post for the family, but can't change to order- so I'm just going to leave them on. Here's K-Babe in a box that Em put her in. Obviously she's delighted to be in a box getting attention from her big sister that she adores.



Here's I-guy jumping at the park. I think Em took the picture.


Here's K-Babe driving for the first time! She must be driving or else why would she be in the driver's seat of the van?

Back in the box.

Nut with one of his favorite toys: Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story.

Tall girl in the box one more time.

MENU PLAN MONDAY 6/18

I'm so excited!! Last week I decided I wanted to make a healthy homemade whole-wheat buttermilk biscuit. So I seached out the internet and came up with this recipe. It was SO GOOD! The second time I made them I doubled the recipe and mixed the butter in using the food processor. Thanks to the Barefoot Contessa, I've learned that one secret is to use really cold butter and only process it until the chunks are pea-sized. I've always mixed the butter in too much, but this time I followed her directions. I could see chunks of butter and thought, "uh oh," but I shouldn't have worried. The results were heavenly!
The reason I wanted to find a good healthy biscuit recipe is because I've been wanting to make my own ham, egg, and cheese breakfast sandwiches. We've been known to get the ones from various fast-food establishments every once in a while. Recently DH has been keeping better track of his eating and nutrition and has even lost 20 pounds in the last couple of months. He's the one who pointed out to me how bad some of these sandwiches were from the fast food places. Here's some stats I found off of the web.

Hardees Ham, Egg & Cheese Bisuit (the worst offender)
Calories: 560
Fat 35 grams!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Do they stock extra lard just for the purpose of adding it to these??
Carbs: 37 g
Fiber: 0 g

McDonald's Biscuit w/ Bacon, Egg and Cheese (I couldn't find the ham one)
Calories: 440
Fat: 25 g
Carbs: 36 g
Fiber: 1 g

Burger King Ham, Egg and Cheese Croissawich
Calories: 340
Fat: 18 g
Carbs: 26 g
Fiber: 1 g

Anne's Homemade Ham, Egg and Cheese Biscuit (pictured here)

Calories: 275

Fat: 13 g
Carbs: 20 g
Fiber: 3 g

Wow, you could eat 2 of mine for every one from Hardees! I'm planning on making mine up in batches with just the ham and cheese on them and (that's right) freezing them! I'll toast them in the toaster oven and cook up the egg fresh. I'm thinking it will be perfect for a quick morning breakfast! I don't think I'll ever be getting one of those from Hardees again! And McDonald's is off the list since I haven't been to one for over three years and don't plan on breaking my record now. If I have to cheat, I'll probably stick with Burger King as theirs weren't as horrible as the others though I know they aren't natural and wholesome like mine.

Anywho, it was fun researching and comparing this. It's pretty silly that I get so excited about finding a tasty and healthy recipe! Now on to the menu plan:

Sunday: Parker's Beef Stew

Monday: Chicken Burgers (from the freezer), Corn on the Cob, Fresh Cherries

Tuesday: 40-Clove Garlic Chicken, Steamed Broccoli

Wednesday: Steaks w/ Mushroom Sauce, Baked Potatoes, Green Salad w/ Creamy Blue Cheese Dressing

Thursday: Smothered Chicken Italiano, Tray of Health

Friday: Oven-Fried Fish Nuggets (X2), Oven Fries

Saturday: Triple-Mushroom Stroganoff (X2), High-Enzyme Salad

***Dessert of the Week*** S'Mores (Em's pick)

Go over to I'm an Organizing Junkie's blog to discover lot of great menus!

MENU PLAN MONDAY 6/11

I accomplished last week's freezer meal cooking in two sessions and now have about 20 frozen meals waiting to be eaten! This week I am going to try tripling a few of my recipes and freezing the two extras as well.

One of the other books I found at the used bookstore last week was The South Beach Diet. I decided to buy it to see what all the hoopla is about and was pleased to see that it includes several recipes I would like to try including the dessert of the week.

Sunday: Out

Monday: Mini Meatloaf X3 (Barefoot Contessa's), Mashed Potatoes X3, Steamed Cauliflower,

Chocolate-Covered Strawberries

Tuesday: Pepper Rice, Fresh Veg w/ Dip,

Wednesday: Garlic Lime Chicken X3, Rice, Corn on the Cob

Thursday: Old-Fashioned Beef Stew X3

Friday: Crockpot 40 Clove Chicken

Saturday: Chicken and Bacon Ranch Salad X3

***Dessert of the Week*** Individual Lime Cheesecakes

Last week's dessert that I-guy chose was yummy. I-guy enjoyed making it and Nate enjoyed helping to sample it!

Men vs. Women

DH emailed this to me from work. I'm not sure whether to be offended or not!

MENU PLAN MONDAY 6/4

It's Crockpot Week here! I decided to try out a couple of new crockpot recipes and fix a couple of oldies this week so I can have some extra time to do some outdoor work and freezer cooking. I'm planning on doing 1 or 2 freezer-cooking half-sessions where I'm going to double 8 main dish recipes, for a grand total of 16 meals!

I checked out the book Frozen Assets Readers' Favorites: Cook for a Day: Eat for a Month from the library this week and it's really gotten me motivated and helped me in my actual planning as it has worksheets. Since I wouldn't be able to do a whole day session, I love how the author talks about breaking freezer cooking up into mini-sessions. She also claims that freezer cooking can save you lots of money (she saved $400 per month) and time! Since I am interested in saving both of those, I'm looking forward to trying this out!

I am also trying a recipe out of Frozen Assets called "Noodle Heaven" and it looks like it has lots of other good recipes that don't use lots of convenience items like chemical-laden cream soups and such.

I was going to order it from Amazon, but I-guy, my 4-yr.-old, found it for me at the used bookstore/coffee shop yesterday! It was so sweet! I was sitting there drinking my coffee and he comes up with the book saying "I found this book for you. It's the same as your library one." I was so surprised! What a thoughtful and observant boy he is.



So here's the menu and freezer plan! Go to I'm an Organizing Junkie's site for more good stuff!


Sunday: Sandwiches, Chips, Carrots and Celery Sticks, Fruit

Monday: Crockpot Italian Beef, High-Enzyme Salad

Tuesday: Pepper Rice, Tray of Health

Wednesday: Portobello Mushroom and Almond Pesto Lasagne (make double and freeze 1)

Thursday: Crockpot Chicken Cacciatore, Steamed Broccoli

Friday: Crockpot Meatball Soup, Sourdough Bread, Kiwi-Smoothies

Saturday: Crockpot 40-Clove Chicken, 7-Grain Bread

***Dessert of the Week*** Hot Fudge Sundae Cake (I-guy picked out a couple of recipe booklets to purchase from the used bookstore. One of them was all desserts, so he selected the dessert of the week and is excited about the fact that he is responsible for preparing it. (I told him I'd only help!) He's so excited!


For the Freezer:
Garlic Lime Chicken (double)
Cashew Chicken (double)
Chicken Supreme (double)
Chicken Burgers (double)

Noodle Heaven (double)
Mexicalli Pie (double)
Cabbage Roll Casserole (make 1 recipe and split in 2)
Meat Sauce for Spaghetti (double)

For my next freezer session I need to make crepes, soups, and baked items. I also want to try a mashed potato recipe from Frozen Assets and assemble some pizza kits. I think 2 more sessions will be in order.

Last week I made double of the Phyllo-Wrapped Tilipia and froze them. I also made double of the Honey Rosemary Chicken and Swirled Herb Bread and froze those as well. The chicken turned out so unique and tasty! I loved it!

I also got the kids to help me make the bread and that was a huge success. Em and I-guy kneaded their dough for the whole 8 minutes and made the cutest little mini-loaves that turned out really well. I wish I would have remembered to take pictures. Hopefully next time!

Have a great week!