Anne's Cafe

Menu Plan Monday 5/30/11

2011-05-22T18:07:00.000-07:00

Dinners:

1- Southwest Eggs Benedict, Waffles, Cantaloupe

2- Chicken and Broccoli Bake, Rice

3- Mexican Potato Bake, Smoothies

4- Fish Ceasar Salad, Fruit Salsa w/ Cinnamon Chips

5- Noodle Heaven

6- Steak, Onions and mushrooms, Potato Coins

Lunches:

1 -Crackers and Egg Salad and Salami

2- Soup and Salad

3- Chicken and Rice

4- Sandwiches

5- Chicken Nuggets, Fries, Carrot Sticks

6- Left-overs

7- OUT

Breakfasts:

Grapefruit, Melon, Bananas, Cereal, Omelets, Egg Pepper/Bacon Muffins, Oatmeal Chocolate Cookies

MENU PLAN MONDAY 5/15/11

2011-05-15T12:42:00.000-07:00

Dinners:

1-Cashew Chicken, Egg Rolls, 5-cup Salad

2- Cheeseburger Boats, Mashed Potatoes, Steamed Broccoli

3- Fish Ceasar Salad, Fruit Salsa w/ Cinnamon Chips

4- EZ Chicken and Rice, Smoothies

5- Roast w/ Potatoes and Carrots, Rice box, Rolls

6- Mexican Potato Bake, Smoothies

Lunches:

1-Crackers and Dips

2- Soup and Salad

3- Cottage Cheese, Avocado and Black Bean Salsa w/ Chips

4- Sandwiches

5- Chicken Nuggets, Fries, Carrot Sticks

6- Left-overs

7- OUT

Breakfasts:

Grapefruit, Melon, Bananas, Cereal, Omelets, Egg Pepper/Bacon Muffins, Oatmeal Chocolate Cookies

MNEU PLAN MONDAY 4/17/11

2011-04-17T07:25:00.000-07:00

Sunday: Costco Chicken, Potato Salad

Monday: Cheddar Corn Chowder, Rolls, Green Salad

Tuesday: B4D: Southwestern Eggs Benedict,

Wednesday: Cheeseburger Boats, Mashed Potatoes

Thursday: Fish Ceasar Salad

Friday: Mexican Potato Bake

Saturday: Make-Your-Own Rice Bowls

Sunday: Asparagus Strata

Ham

Scalloped Potatoes

Deviled eggs

Lemon Raspberry Bread

MENU PLAN MONDAY 2/20/11

2011-02-20T19:04:00.000-08:00

Monday: Cheeseburger Boats, Fries, Veggies w/ dip,

Tuesday: Chicken and Rice, Green Salad

Wednesday: Country-Fried Steak, Mashed Potatoes and Gravy, Sauteed Broccoli, Rolls

Thursday: Tilapia, Spinach Rice Casserole

Friday: Taco Salad

Saturday: Biscuits with Loaded Eggs and Bacon Gravy

MENU PLAN MONDAY 4/12/10

2010-04-11T15:07:00.000-07:00

This week I am trying out making gluten-free bread from Pamela's baking mix. I tried it at a friend's house and it was really good. We're trying to switch over to being gluten-free which sounded really hard until I discovered the Pamela's mix.

1- Makeover Country Fried Steak, Mashed Potatoes and Gravy, Pineapple Chunks, Vegetables

2- Sausage Egg Bake, Carrot and Celery Sticks, Orange Cup

3- Marinated Salmon, Box of Rissotto, Green Salad

4-Pesto Pizza w/ Chicken, Pepperoni Pizza, Carrot and Celery, Cucumbers

5- Tuna Noodles, Green Salad, Tortilla Chips w/ Fruit Salsa

6- Cashew Chicken, Apple Slices w/ Cinnamon

7- Left-overs

Breakfasts: Fruit Smoothies, Apple Pancakes, Eggs, Egg Tortillas, Chex, Toast

Lunches: Tuna Salad w/ Avocado, Rice Noodles, Crackers w/ Mango Salsa, Salad, Hard-Boiled Eggs, Smoothies

Snacks: Rice Cakes, Popcorn, Soy Crisps, Apples, Pear and Apple Crisp, Cookies

2009 TOTALS- SAVINGS and EARNINGS

2010-03-24T12:29:00.000-07:00

I didn't think that I could top my 2008 totals for savings and earnings, but I did! I saved and earned over 1000 dollars more than last year!! In late 2007 I started learning about little ways to save and earn a little money. These methods includes stockpiling, couponing, taking surveys and finding other ways to save. My totals for 2009 are as follows:

Total Savings and Income: $6635.00
Total Spent: $4092

Commissary: Total Spent: $3956
Coupon Savings: $1562
Target: Total Spent: $613
Savings: $544
Walmart: Total Spent: $15
Savings: $20
Walgreens: Total Spent: $634
Savings: $1085
Other Stores: Total Spent: $445
Savings: $749
Staples: Total Spent: $53
Savings: $205
JCPenney: Total Spent: $84
Savings: $245
Haircuts: Savings: $455
Rebates Received: $81
Ebay Earnings:$
Debit Card Rewards: $75
Other: $408
MyPoints: $125
Surveys: $375
Swagbucks: $20
Car Insurance Review: $500
Phone Service to Magic Jack: $260

Can I get to $7000.00 next year? We'll see!

Menu Plan Monday 2/1/10

2010-02-01T06:58:00.000-08:00

This week's menu is largely from my latest issue of Cooking Healthy so I hope it's good!

Monday: Makeover Country Fried Steak, Mashed Potatoes and Gravy, Sauteed Frozen Veggies, Tray of Health

Tuesday: Toasted Clubs w/ Dill Mayo, Chips, Raspberries and Blueberries w/ Chocolate Fruit Dip

Wednesday: Marinated Salmon w/ Wild Rice a Roni, Green Beans, Orange Cups

Thursday: Potato Gnocchi, Green Salad

Friday: Crab and regular Manicotti, Carrots and Celery w/ Dip

Saturday: Noodle Heaven, Green Salad, Makeover Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake

Sunday: Mexican Egg Casserole

Find tons of menu plans at I'm an Organizing Junkie!

Advent Festival

2009-12-07T07:03:00.000-08:00

On the 29th I took the kids to our church's Advent festival which was set in "Bethlehem." Bethlehem was originally called "Jerusalem" and was built this past summer for vacation bible school. They left it up to use for Advent. Church people were dressed as people from the town and the youth group was dressed as Roman guards and beggars.

Em and I-guy took off shortly after we got there to do their own thing which mostly involved trying to get money and items like the gold bowls pictured below. I did manage to wrangle them into doing the crafts but mostly I was on my own with the two little kids and caught glimpses of the older two running around having a blast.
Kabe was invited to try some dancing and tamborine playing by this lady. I thought she might be too shy to do it, but Kabe took that tambourine and enjoyed some dancing and playing.

I-guy even came by and tried it... for about 2 seconds until he realized it wasn't for him!

Em got really into joyfully playing the tambourine! Then she dashed back off to do her own thing.
Nate and a carpenter (this guy was a carpenter in real life too) gluing a wooden frame.
Kabe holding the wooden craft while the nice carpenter man tied the leather strips.

The finished product:

The two "littles" making clay ornaments.
One of the neatest and simplest crafts I've ever seen was a bubble wrap advent calendar. They had cut bubble wrap into the shape of a Christmas tree with 24 bubbles. The kids then wrote the numbers 1-24 (or got help) on round colorful label stickers. You then pop one bubble per day until Christmas.
Kabe carefully putting on stickers.

Too clever!
The youth director had an adorable baby boy last summer and she was dressed up as Mary and the baby was playing the part of baby "Jesus." Nate got all sort of big smiles out of the baby.
Three of them adoring baby "Jesus."
Kabe thought the baby was super cute. It doesn't seem like it's been that long since she was a baby herself. *Sniff.*
After all the crafts and fun, we had to take a bathroom break. Here are the younger two in the process of washing hands.
Then we rounded up Em and I-guy. They had managed to gather some clay coins, leather strips, and a cinnamon stick. What a great afternoon it was!

Garden of the Gods Pics

2009-06-09T08:10:00.001-07:00

DH took the kids to the Garden of the Gods yesterday while I got some stuff done. A good time was had by all as evidenced by one of the kids stating that this was "the best day ever." (This gets said pretty much any time we do something new and cool).

Toddlers climbing- they look like twins to me here.

This one cracked me up: Nate is "holding" up balanced rock with two sticks. Wow- I'm impressed! (That's not me at the edge of the pic).

Still holding up the rock- is it getting heavy?

I love the look on Em's face here.

Solo Sunday

2009-06-09T07:33:00.000-07:00

This was the first Sunday in years that I took the kids to church sans hubbie who was sleeping after working the overnight shift at work. And how did it go... GREAT! We've been going to this church for about 3 months now so I thought it was time to try.

I dropped the older two off in their Sunday School class, took Nut to his little class and Kabe went to sing in the choir with me. I was just a little worried about Kabe sitting up in the choir loft with me and being quiet the whole service but she did a wonderful job. Kabe actually prefers to go to the service with DH over staying in Sunday school.

Everyone in choir thought she was a little doll and when I sat down in the alto section during warm-up the sopranos were calling over that Kabe was a soprano and better sit with them. We went in to the service and Kabe sat on her own chair and stood, sat and sang along with the liturgy. At one point the pastor announced a 60th wedding anniversary for a couple in our church and everyone started clapping. I look over and little Kabe is sitting up straight in her chair with her two baby dolls on her lap enthusiastically clapping.

For the sermon I let her snack on some "Honey Pillows" (a new cereal from Kashi I bought with a coupon) and after that she colored in her coloring book. The tenor behind her was watching her color and afterword told me that watching her really brightened his day. Everyone in choir wants me to bring her back so she can be the new choir mascot.

I'm glad it went so well but she is my shy, quiet and observant laid-back little girl. So much of this is personality Part of the reason we didn't go to church for several years was because the church we went to in North Dakota didn't have any kind of programs during church once the kids got to be past nursery age. Em just couldn't handle more than about 45 min of the almost 90 min service and I would get so frustrated. I didn't understand age-appropriate behavior expectations and it got to be so stressful then impossible. She is one of two more active children I have and she was having some medical issues to boot.

It helps now that the kids are a little bit older. We also now go to a traditional Lutheran church where the service is not quite an hour long and a shorter sermon (phew- no more 45 minute ones!). I like the variety and rhythm of the traditional liturgy with the organ, hymns, classical music, readings and communion. We also choose to go to the service that is during the kids Sunday school so they don't usually go in with us.

Although the other week the boys were sick so I took Em to church myself. What do you know- now that she is 9 she can sit still and we had a pleasant and relaxing time together in the service. What a different attitude I have now than a few years ago about this! I'm way more relaxed and no longer view your young children being in the service with you as "more godly" or "biblical" or whatever. Eventually we'll probably all do Sunday School first and then all regularly go to the service, but not for a while.

2008 TOTALS- SAVINGS & EARNINGS

2009-01-10T12:51:00.000-08:00

2008 has come to an end and so it is time to tally my 2008 savings and earnings. I am pleased to see that the total is almost $5500 dollars! One of the biggest ways I saved was in strategic use of coupons at the commissary saving almost $800! My CVS saving were also significant, but we don't live near a CVS anymore. Boo hoo! Walgreens has helped take up some of the slack as I have been getting some good deals there. Another significant way we saved money was in my learning to give DH and the boys their haircuts. We saved over 400 dollars that way! I am looking forward to even more savings in 2009 and plan on trying to reach 6000 dollars!

Total Savings and Income: $5466.00
Total Spent: $6431

Commissary: Total Spent: $4332
Coupon Savings: $799
CVS: Total Spent: $661
Savings: $1540
Target: Total Spent: $663
Savings: $280
Walmart: Total Spent: $185
Savings: $75
Walgreens: Total Spent: $253
Savings: $457
Other Stores: Total Spent: $337
Savings: $437
Haircuts: Savings: $466
Rebates Received: $126
Ebay Earnings:$257
Debit Card Rewards: $200
Other: $734
MyPoints: $75
Surveys: $52

Trekking to Denver

2008-11-10T07:56:00.000-08:00

Right now we live only about an hour away from Denver- a real-live big city! I subscribed to the Denver Post at a very low rate so I could get the Sunday paper coupon inserts. Last week I noticed a blurb about a concert that the Denver Symphony Orchestra was putting on called "Trek: the Concert." I knew we just had to go. DH and I are both Trek fans and both love the symphony. What a perfect combination! We already had a babysitter, so I found out about directions and tickets and we were on our way... driving to Denver for our date night. Who would've thought?

I was so excited that this concert would be hosted by two of my favorite Trek actors of all time: John de Lancie ("Q" from ST:TNG) and Robert Picardo (the Dr. on Voyager). It took the reality of seeing them in person to realize how much of a fan I am. I was so keyed up when I saw them both come out on stage in the flesh in black tuxes with tails. We paid a pretty penny for our tickets and had a great view. John de Lancie looked tall and just a little older and greyer than he did on TNG and had a bit of facial hair, but once he started talking and joking around I totally recognized "Q." He has such a great voice and larger-than-life stage presence. Which was why he was so absolutely perfect playing "Q." The "Q" episodes are some of my favorites in all the series that he appeared in.

It was also fun to see glimpses of the Dr. from Voyager come out when Picardo would speak. Though I enjoyed seeing the actors real personalities and not just the characters they played. They both told some personal stories about how they got involved in Star Trek (neither of them had been fans previously). John de Lancie told a great story about how he didn't ever know who Gene Roddenberry was the first time he met him.

De Lancie told a great story about how he got the part in TNG. He was in a play when his agent called and told him she had gotten an audition for TNG. He didn't go because it was during the time he was doing his play. So she got him another audition during his lunchtime which he went to. The Next Generation people wanted him for the part of "Q," however they wanted him to start before his play tour was over. De Lancie said he couldn't miss any of his plays. So Roddenberry told him that he needed to be there by the fifteenth of the month to start and that was the latest he could be there. Well, the fifteenth happened to be the last day of the play tour. De Lancie's play happened to be playing in Tokyo on the fifteenth, but de Lancie had to be in the U.S. on the fifteenth. What did he do? He did his play in Tokyo, boarded a plane and "thanks to a little magic called the International Date Line" (he said this with a tada and a flourish- very Q-like), got to the U.S. in time to be there for his first day as "Q!" Everyone was laughing.

We also learned some interesting tidbits about the history of Star Trek and how it came about. I guess I wasn't a big enough fan, but I didn't know that the theme from Star Trek had words. Cheesy bad words at that. It was a hoot to see Picardo sing them in a style that reminded me of that Voyager episode where he becomes a musical idol on that alien planet. Both Picardo and de Lancie concluded that perhaps the theme is best done without the words and I concur!

I didn't know the de Lancie was also a gifted musician. He chose all of the music that the symphony played and it was fascinating to hear him explain some of the differences in the themes from each of the Star Trek movies and how they reflected the different composers and movie contents. He acknowledged that Star Trek IV was a fan favorite (including mine) and humorously talked about how the 5th movie (Star Trek: the Final Frontier) was the worst calling it "The Final Affrontery."

My favorite musical moments were hearing the main themes from the TV shows- especially the latter ones. The hall was filled with the amazing sounds of the themes from The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine and Voyager. The brass sections sounded so majestic, but I did noticed a couple of fracks and out-of-tune notes on the trumpet and horn solos. DH (a trumpet player) was sympathetic and told me that those solos were incredibly difficult.

Overall the orchestra sounded just fantastic and the experience of being encompassed by the music is one I will never forget. (It sounded a thousand times better than any surround sound system!) The percussionists were fun to watch as they swung plastic tubes around over their heads to get an "otherworldly" sound on some of the themes.

The two actors sat on stools watching the orchestra perform and I liked watching their reactions. Picardo looked cute perched completely on the stool while de Lancie looked very Q-like with one foot on the stool and the other long leg extending to the floor.

The only thing I was disappointed by in terms of the musical selection was that they didn't play the absolutely exquisite theme from a Next Generation episode called "The Inner Light." (no, they didn't Caro *sigh* )

The music was definitely featured, but the two actors also did quite a bit of narration in between the musical selections. They were such a hoot as I knew they would be! They made jokes about all the big egos associated with Star Trek (Roddenberry, Nimoy, Q, Shatner).

De Lancie asked the audience who we thought would win in a battle between Q and the Borg. Of course we were all cheering for Q and booing the Borg. He then asked what about between "Q and Iron Man?" Most all of us including me were hootin' and hollerin' that Q would win. But then he asked who would prevail: "Q or Mrs. Q" and everyone laughingly acknowledged that it would be Mrs. Q. What was SO funny was that when he said "Mrs. Q," de Lancie ducked his head and cringed with a beaten puppy look on his face that was totally in the Q character when around the Mrs. Loved it!

Another funny bit was when they introduced the Next Generation and de Lancie said something about Captain Picard. Right after de Lancie said "Picard," Robert Picardo uttered a low-toned "o." De Lancie said no, it's not Picard-o, it Picard. We are talking about Captain Picard, not you. "It's Picard." Then we hear another "o" from Picardo. Everyone's laughing now and Picardo says that he knew what de Lancie was talking about and was simply acknowledging what de Lancie was saying about Picard. To which de Lancie replied, "oh" with such great timing and expression. So funny!

While talking about the Next Generation and Q, I was happy to hear de Lancie talk about "mon capitan" in a most Q-like fashion.

Unfortunately the night had to come to an end. I could have stayed there for twice as long listening to the great interaction and chemistry between the two actors and the beautiful music of the orchestra. But we had to drive back home.

I was really wishing I brought my camera as some people actually dressed up in costume. The best were a couple who were dressed as Klingons and looked very realistic. They were standing in the lobby during intermission letting people take their pictures with them and I was kicking myself that I forgot my camera as that would have been a fun picture to have.

I am so glad we got adventurous and went all the way to Denver for this concert. It was a late night for us, but I didn't even care the next day when I woke up tired with a headache as I was still pumped and happy from the concert the night before. Man, I'd better watch out, I'm going to be in Trek costume next time if I'm not careful!

Menu Plan Monday 8/25/08

2008-08-25T06:18:00.000-07:00

Monday: Chicken Wrap w/ Ranchero Sauce and Avocado Salsa, Salad

Tuesday: Pepper Rice, Crustless Fruit Tart

Wednesday: OUT

Thursday: Turkey Burgers w/ Avocado Salsa, Chips, Fruity Coleslaw

Friday: Orange Thyme Chicken Thighs, Orzo w/ Mushrooms, Hi-Enzyme Salad w/ Egg

Saturday: L: Chicken, Garlic, Mushroom and Green Onion Pizza, Raspberry Chocolate Bars

Sunday: L: Egg Ham Bake, CB Hash Browns, Grapefruit

D: Left-overs

Lunches: Mac and Cheese, Tuna Salad, Egg Toast, Fried Rice w/ Ham, Soups and Bread, Pitas,

Snacks: Pretzels, Cheese, Kefir, Blueberries, Apples, Peanut Butter Cookies, Raspberry Lemon Bread, Popcorn, Nuts

It's been a rough few weeks! I've had three illnesses in a row and the last one triggered my asthma so that it has been the worst it's ever been! I've been out of commission for a while in terms of energy and being able to do stuff. It's very frustrating to me as I like to be active. Thankfully I got an old Dr. in N. Dakota to give me a prescription that seems to be helping calm the asthma.

One advantage to having to pick up some prescriptions is that I've been able to use a couple of transferred prescription coupons for Rite-Aid and Walgreens. The other day I did one of my prescriptions at Rite-Aid and got a 30 dollar gift card. Then later I did my other prescription at Walgreens for a 25 dollar gift card. At Walgreens I used my gift card to buy each kid a toy since I also had a 5 dollar off 20 dollar purchase coupon. So I ended up getting 42 dollars worth of toys for only 13 dollars out-of-pocket! (If you don't count the gift card.) The kids were very thrilled and grateful for their new toys since I've hardly bought them any toys for a while because of trying to save money.
Yesterday I-guy and I woke up early and hit a couple of deals together. First we snagged a newspaper and went over to Starbucks to look at it and have a little breakfast. I enjoy getting out in the early mornings here as it is most always foggy and cool. We drive by the huge park by our apartment with a duck pond and most of the ducks have migrated out onto the lawns and road which they don't do during the day. I like having to stop to wait for ducks to cross and get out of the way.

I-guy was perfect company and even spotted a coupon I had missed. He brought along his newest WebKinz stuffed animal and was playing with it. About every lady we ran across thought he was so cute and a couple told him so. He gets kind of shy and embarrased by this, I think! I-guy and I also went to CVS and used the CoinStar machine and picked up a couple of things we needed. He loved feeding the coins into the machine and thought the whole thing was so neat.

MENU PLAN MONDAY 8/11/08

2008-08-11T07:02:00.000-07:00

Monday: Cod, Rice Pilaf, Baked Spinach, Heath Vanilla Ice Cream Pie

Tuesday: HM Pizza, Veg w/ Dip, Salad, Raspberries & Blueberries w/ Chocolate Fruit Dip

Wednesday: Chinese Chicken Salad, Cheese Straws

Thursday: Chicken Nuggets, Fries, Veg w/ Dip

Friday: Steak, Baked Potatoes, Cheesy Cauliflower, 5-cup Salad

Saturday: Baja Chicken Wrap w/ Ranchero Sauce, Salad, Lemon Cookies

Sunday: Scrambled Cheesy Eggs, Cracker Barrel Hashbrown Casserole, Bacon

LO's

Lunches: Nachos and Pita Chips w/ Fruit Salsa, Mac and Tuna, Veggie Pitas, Egg Salad on Sourdough, Egg Toast, Noodles, Rice a Roni w/ Chicken

Snacks: CCC Cookies, Blueberries, Kefir, Pretzels, Pepperonis, Cheese, Carrot Cake

Lots and lots of menu plans can be found at I'm an Organizing Junkie's blog!

Last week was a rough one and so the menu plan consisted of toast, noodles and chicken soup and Gatorade. We all got some terrible stomach virus which involved all the usual fun stuff that goes along with it. (I'll spare the details). Poor little Nutty got hit the hardest and spent the week looking like this:This is very far removed from his normal active and energetic self, but I'm happy to report that he seems to be mostly back to normal. The main benefit of his not feeling well was that I got some really good snuggling time in with him and we even took a couple of naps together. He's usually too active and busy to stay in one place for long. What a sweetie!!!

Super Savings Saturday 8/2/08

2008-08-01T07:13:00.001-07:00

This is the first time I am taking part in Super Savings Saturday over at moneysavingmom.com, a blog I have found extremely helpful in scoring deals and saving money.

Since January of this year, I have been using several techniques (that I am keeping track of on my sidebar) to save money. These include using coupons, playing the "drugstore game," shopping sales and clearances and signing up for freebies in the mail.

This picture shows about 40 dollars worth of stuff I got for free this week!! Here's a rough breakdown:

Walgreens: free-after-rebate BioInfusions shampoo and a hair treatment (11.98 value)
free-after-rebate Jane mineral powder (4.99)

CVS: free-after-ECB's CVS liners and tampons (2 pkg. each)
free Revlon blush (9.99 value) free-after-ECB's
Kotex on sale for 2.50, used 2.00 off coupon. Paid .50

Used two 3.00/1 coupons for Planters (when you buy 3 Kraft products). My 3 Kraft products were KoolAid's at 10 cents each. The Planters were on sale at the commissary for 2.00 each so I actually made money off of them!

Electrasol: used 2.25/1 coupon and got it for about .50 at Target!

We also went to an anniversary sale at our favorite local health food grocery store and got 2 full-size Bumble Bars, 2 mini-Clif bars (not shown because we ate them in the van), and two samples of Tom's of Maine toothpaste (with 1.00 off coupons) for free!

This week was also an excellent week for the mailbox. I was so exited because I got my first reward from MyPoints. For a while now I've been clicking on the emails this site sends me and doing a little of my online shopping through their site that I would've done anyway. So I was so excited to get my $25 Starbucks gift card!!

I also was happy to find out that Target sent me not one, but two $5 gift cards because I am on their mailing list and they had to withdraw a coupon they sent out for toys. (It was a $5 coupon off a $25 dollar toy purchase that had been illegally altered). The cool thing is that I had already used the toy coupon for I-guy's and Em's birthdays back in April before all this happened! I LOVE Target! Forget Walmart, I try to go to Target whenever I can!

Finally I got TWO rebate checks in the mail this week. The first one was for Zout stain remover. I am doubly happy about this one because not only was it free, but I was so happy with the results of this stain remover, I will definitely be buying it again. It worked so much better than anything I had tried before.

The other rebate check I received was for $6.99 for purchasing a hair treatment product. It has been extremely fun and exciting to discover this whole world of savings and free stuff that I barely knew existed before!

Kabe's First Pigtails!

2008-08-01T07:04:00.000-07:00

MENU PLAN MONDAY 7/21/08

2008-07-21T06:16:00.000-07:00

Monday: Cashew Chicken, Fruity Coleslaw,

Tuesday: Fried Rice, Veg w/ Dip, Blueberry Cobbler

Wednesday: Grilled Marinated Pork Chops, Baked Potatoes, Green Beans

Thursday: Garlic Chicken Spaghetti(x2), Raspberry Romaine Salad w/ Balsamic Dressing

Friday: Meatball Soup, Albertson's French Bread, Cinnamon Chips w/ Tangy Fruit Salsa,

Saturday: OUT

Sunday: Pizza Quiche, Sliced Pears, Veg w/ Dip

Breakfasts: Sunshine Toast w/ Egg, Cereal, Toaster Pastries

Lunches: LO Spaghetti, LO Roast Pitas, Pancakes, Egg Toast, Mac n Cheese, Egg Salad, Tortilla Chips w/ Black Bean Salad

Snacks: Triple Chocolate Cookies, Yogurt, Peanut Butter Spoons, Blueberries, Pepperonis, Pretzels, Smoothies, Cheese Crackers, Nuts

Find more menu plans at I'm An Organizing Junkie's!

I didn't know when I started putting up menu posts again if anyone was ever coming back to my blog. I haven't been a very good blogger and had decided just to put up whatever I wanted whenever I wanted and not worry about if anyone looked at it. So thank you to JettyBetty, Karen, Jeannine, and Jamie for coming by and even commenting! Hi there!

To answer some questions... yes we are still in the AF. We finally escaped North Dakota after over five and a half years! Now DH is in training school in California for about four months. In September we will be moving to Colorado for our next assignment.

Surf Beach

2008-07-18T07:26:00.000-07:00

A while back we had some unusually hot days for our location in California. It got to be above 100 degrees and since we have no A/C in our apartment, we headed out to the beach where it was a beautiful 75 degrees.

Em and I-guy just LOVE running from the waves over and over.

"Why did Mommy make us wear these silly hats?" Here are the babies. They aren't too fond of the water.

Instead, they like to dig in the sand together. In this picture they were looking for little crabs and bugs.

I love how the beaches around here are never crowded. Then again, they are usually cold and foggy. But you can't have everything! They sure were beautiful this day!

MENU PLAN MONDAY 2/4/08

2008-02-03T19:14:00.001-08:00

Monday: Chicken Bacon Ranch Salad, Cheesy Cauliflower, Raspberry Lemon Bread

Tuesday: Fabulous Fajitas, Gelatin Fruit Salad

Wednesday: Spaghetti w/ Meatballs, Garlic Sourdough Bread, Green Salad, Chocolate Mint Pie

Thursday: Crockpot Chicken w/ Rice and Black Beans

Friday: Homemade Pizza, Veg w/ dip

Go check out more menus at I'm an Organizing Junkie's Blog!

Wow! I was trying to type this out while watching the SuperBowl, but it was just too exciting! And I could care less about professional football! But, boy, was that an awesome football game! Great job New York! And how neat that Peyton Manning's little bro did so well with his big brother watching! I even liked the half-time show with Tom Petty as I was expecting some stupid act trying to be cool. I wasn't too impressed with the commercials, but I did miss most of those. The only one that I saw and thought was cute was the Coke one with the parade balloons where Charlie Brown gets the big Coke. Overall- a fun night watching football with DH!

MENU PLAN MONDAY- 1/28/08

2008-01-28T03:35:00.000-08:00

Monday: 40-Clove Garlic Chicken, Herbed Swirl Bread, Gelatin w/ fruit, Green Beans

Tuesday: Fabulous Fajitas

Wednesday: Crockpot Chicken w/ rice and black beans

Thursday: Turkey Meatloaf (from the freezer), Mashed Potatoes

Friday: Noodle Heaven (from the freezer)

Saturday: Date night (Kids- smoothies, PB, popcorn)

Find more menu plans at I'm an Organizing Junkie's site!

This last week has been very stressful so I had to make an extra effort to get this menu planned and posted. Saturday evening, I-guy and Em were jumping from the table to the couch and I-guy missed and hit the front of his face. There was so much blood coming from his mouth I knew it was serious. Ends up that his teeth went all the way through his bottom lip/chin area and he needed several stitches on both the inside and outside!

DH took him to the ER and I-guy was so brave and held so still while they stitched him up that the staff couldn't believe it and kept commenting on it the whole time. The Dr. mentioned that I-guy has such self-control that'll come in handy when he's older. I-guy has always been like that so I can't take any credit. I'm amazed at how much of a role personality plays in how kids are. I-guy's always been a thoughtful and observant boy. We're very proud of how brave he was!

Yesterday he woke up with a bottom lip puffed up to at least three times it's normal size. So I went and bought him a bunch of soft foods like ice cream, yogurts, and puddings which made him happy.

MENU PLAN MONDAY 12/17

2007-12-15T05:43:00.000-08:00

Baby K is sitting on my lap right now while I type. She's been very clingy due to coming down with a cold. Yesterday she sat on DH's lab for almost 2 hours while he was working on some music. It was so cute!

Saturday night we went out on a family "date" to our favorite local pizza place. Then we drove through the park to look at all the light displays they had set up. I-guy just LOVES anything to do with Christmas and was so excited to see the lights. Everytime we drive by a big Santa decoration in town he says "Look it's Santa! Ho, ho, ho!"

It's back to school today though Em and DH have Friday off- YAY! I'm trying several new recipes this week so I hope they turn out! I want to gear up for another freezer-cooking session. We'll see if I have time to plan that.

Monday: Chinese Chicken Salad, Winter Squash Muffins

Tuesday: Steak and Rice Roll-Ups, Coffee-Lover's Coffee Cake

Wednesday: Amy's Crockpot Chicken w/ Rice and Black Beans, Oatmeal Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies

Thursday: Herbed Pot Roast, Rolls, Blue Cheese/Cranberry Salad

Friday: Chicken Rollatini w/ pasta, Green Salad

Have a great week and find more menu at I'm an Organizing Junkie's Blog!

MENU PLAN MONDAY 12/3

2007-12-01T06:41:00.001-08:00

Brrr.... it was FREEZING this week!!! We had to pull out the parkas and hats and scarves and such. It didn't get above zero at least one of the days and boy the wind!!! I'm so thankful that we have a two-car garage that is attached to our house. No more plugging in the cars (and then forgetting about it and ripping the plug out of the block heater as we drive away! :)) It's about time after having to walk outside to get to our cars for the last five winters here in North Dakota!

A couple of weeks ago I watched that show "Kitchen Nightmares" with Gordon Ramsay for the first time. I kind of want to go to culinary school and become a chef, so I found the show pretty interesting. Bethany also watched the show and attempted to recreate the hamburger they created for the new menu. Some of her commenters said that it reminded them of a meatloaf on a bun. So I'm going to try it for myself as I'm a little tired of plain old hamburgers.

Monday: Lemon Chicken Schnitzel w/ Roasted Red Potatoes, Pumpkin Muffins

Tuesday:Hamburgers, Tray of Health

Wednesday:Crockpot 40-Clove Chicken, LO Herb Bread, Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Thursday: Homemade Pizza

Friday-Chicken and Rice Soup/ Chicken and Dumpling Soup

While I was menu planning, both Em and I-guy told me they wanted to plan the menu. So I asked them to come up with their own choices, some of which I am going to use for lunches. Here's what they came up with:

I-guy:
1-Macaroni, Vanilla/Chocolate Cake w/ Yellow Roses made w/ Vanilla Frosting
2-Noodles
3-Chicken Rice Soup
4-Meatball Soup
5-Split Pea Soup, Bacon & Hot Dogs
6-Waffles, Eggs, Hashies

Emma
1-Hot Dogs
2-Macaroni w/ Vanillia cake w/ blue frosting
3-Noodles w/ Salad
4-Pancakes
5-Macaroni w/ ham, cheese and parmesan

Right now as I am finishing this up they are sitting at the table with me looking through cookbooks and drawing pictures of foods they think look good. Nut was at the table drawing, but now he's sitting on the floor looking at a cookie magazine. It's very cute!

MENU PLAN MONDAY 11/26

2007-11-24T08:30:00.000-08:00

The Thanksgiving feast went well! I prepared all the dishes and it wasn't too stressful as I did do a bunch ahead of time. Which was a good thing since I got a cold and was miserable on Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday I woke up feeling somewhat better, but my head was still messed up so I couldn't taste very well! I did have a bunch of leftovers this weekend and they were so good. Too bad I couldn't taste them the first time around! Em kept exclaiming how she just "loves Thanksgiving," all day long which was cute.

This week is back to the routine of school and work. I like the routine, though it's nice to break out of it every once in a while.

Monday: Mexicalli Pie (from the freezer), Tortilla Chips, Celery Sticks, Peanut Butter Cookies

Tuesday: Deluxe Baked Potato Bar w/ Bacon, Split Pea Soup, Winter Squash Muffins

Wednesday: Spaghetti w/ Meatballs (from the freezer), Salad, Garlic Bread

Thursday: Honey Rosemary Chicken, Herbed Swirl Bread, Baked Spinach

Friday: Pepper Rice, Peach Cobbler

Have a wonderful week and go visit I'm an Organizing Junkie's blog for more menu plan madness!

Pics from Children's Museum

2007-11-09T12:34:00.000-08:00

On our recent trip to Omaha, we visited the Children's Museum with Uncle J, Aunt M and Cousin C.

Here's Kabe's playing with a puzzle in the baby area.

Cousin C. in the baby area. There's so much to choose from!

DH kept trying to take pictures of me the whole trip. I used to get annoyed at him for this and give him dirty looks that he would try to capture on film. However, I have switched tactics and always give a cheesy and toothy smile every time. So far my new plan is working and he has had to resort to doctoring the pictures of me after they are taken. He added stubble to this one, which I will not be showing online. He did show the altered pic to my brothers, much to their delight.

Nate with the play dough.

More Nate:

Nate says: "Help! My pants won't stay up!"

Playing with some cool animals.

"I'm having so much fun!"

Fun with a big ball.

"My pants are falling off again!"

Overcoming obstacles.

Em with two little guys.

I-guy having fun with water.

Uncle J and Cousin C- what a cute smile!

Curly hair.

"Forget the toys. I'm trying to remove my sock!" (as usual)
Peek a boo!

Cousins- they are only 6 weeks apart.

There aren't many pictures of Em and I-guy because they went off with Aunt M and Uncle J while DH and I stayed mostly in the baby room with the younger two. Our boys really warmed up to Uncle J. and I-guy would climb up into his lap and hang around him. Kabe's gave Aunt M a snuggle on our last day there that was very sweet! And Em had a special time each evening playing with only Aunt M. They played Polly Pockets and made some crafts. Em can't wait to go back!

Classic K.B. Look

2007-11-09T12:32:00.000-08:00

MENU PLAN MONDAY 11/5

2007-11-03T05:17:00.000-07:00

Well I was finally able to bring myself to use the crazy yellow happy face menu plan banner from the Organizing Junkie! I'm a pretty conservative gal and it took a little while to get used to this one! :) But my menu plan for this week is rather ambitious, so I will need all the exuberance I can get to stick to it! :)

Monday: Balsamic Raspberry Chicken, Rice, Sesame Broccoli or Garlic Broccoli (I think I'm going to use elements from both these recipes and come up with a new one)

Tuesday: Herbed Pot Roast, Rolls, Double Chocolate Pudding

Wednesday: Homemade Pizza, Fresh Veg Tray w/ dip

Thursday: Cashew Chicken, Gingerbread Cupcakes w/ Pumpkin Cream Cheese Frosting

Friday: Penne a la Betsy w/ Shrimp

I also want to try making homemade whole-wheat pita bread since we LOVE eating pitas stuffed with scrambled eggs, ham, veggies, etc. I love to eat a toasted pita filled with fresh veggies, sprouts and a little mayo or ranch dressing. Healthy! Lunches:
1-Pitas
2-Fried Rice
3-
4-
5-

Snacks:
1-

Adventures in Once A Month Cooking (OAMC) August 2007

2007-09-16T12:39:00.000-07:00

The freezer-cooking marathon is done! I've done freezer cooking sessions before, but had never planned to do so much in one day. Things didn't go quite as planned, but I learned a lot. My husband had one Friday off of work and I was supposed to have that day to myself to do the bulk of the cooking. But the plan changed last minute, and my husband was away for most of that day. So I had to do most of it during an evening, which didn't work too well. I think in the future I will plan to do mini-sessions here and there instead of a whole day marathon.

A couple of my meals didn't work so well in the freezer, so I won't be putting the recipes on here. The enchiladas turned out soggy and the veggies in the chicken veggie packets turned out rubbery and undercooked. So I will only be including the recipes for things that I've had success with.

It's handy to have an empty trash-can nearby for easy clean-up:

I enjoyed chopping the onions and green peppers in my new chopper contraption:

A couple of helpers sped things along (yeah, right! Oh well, they were cute and had nice helpful attitudes so I didn't want to discourage that! In the original plan my DH was supposed to have the kids. I didn't make much progress in between changing a yucky diaper... then washing my hands for five minutes and making sure they didn't dump the whole salt shaker out!)

Fully assembled Noodle Heaven:

Cooking the chopped up onions and peppers for Mexicalli Pie:

Add the browned ground beef:

Next comes the cheese:

Two fully assembled Mexicalli Pies:

The marinade for 2 large batches of Grilled Marinated Pork Chops:

The Grilled Marinated Pork Chops after the raw chops have been added in. I freeze it at this point. When I'm ready to cook them, I thaw and broil them like the original recipe says:

My progress so far:

On to the chicken recipes. Here's the Cashew Chicken base. This is the only part I cook and freeze as I stir-fry the veggies fresh when serving for better results.

Pan-frying the coated chicken nuggets in some olive oil:

The Chicken Nuggets are done! These heat up so quick and well in the oven later on and are WAY better for you than fast-food nuggets!

I forgot to take pictures of the meatballs, meatloaf and a couple of other things since I had to finish them up later due to the change in plans.

Here are the recipes:

1) Noodle Heaven (x 4)

2) Easy Cabbage Roll Casserole (x2)

3) Mexicalli Pie (x2)

4) Meatballs x2

5) Chicken Nuggets (x2)

6) Cashew Chicken Base (x2)

7) Turkey Meatloaf w/ Mashed Potatoes (x2- doubled recipe can be split into 3 parts)

8) Grilled Marinated Pork Chops (x2)

Misc.

1) Cooked Sliced Chicken for Salads

2) Cooked Crumbled Bacon for Chicken Bacon Ranch Salad

Links of Interest to me

2007-09-09T06:41:00.001-07:00

I have a bunch of links that I've bookmarked that I want to get off of my desk-top. So I'm going to be posting them on my blog so I won't lose track of them.

A Low Impact Woodland Home

21 Tips on Keeping a Simple Home w/ Kids

Planning Days

Holistic Asthma Treatment

Headache Home Remedies

Cough-Variant Asthma

Case Report: Cough Variant Asthma

How to do Time-Outs Correctly

Audio Stories for Kids

2007-09-09T06:31:00.000-07:00

StoryNory

Candlelight Stories

Green Cleaning Resources

2007-09-09T06:22:00.000-07:00

Clean & Green

Make-Your-Own Non-toxic Cleaning Kit

How to Make Green Household Cleaners

MENU PLAN MONDAY 8/27

2007-08-26T06:19:00.000-07:00

The next week or so is going to be pretty crazy as school has started, relatives are coming to visit, and we have to go to the city 2 hours away for some medical stuff. DH has a four-day weekend coming up and we've agreed that I can have Friday as my freezer-cooking day.

I'm going to prepare a month's worth of meals for the freezer. I will be spending the week doing as much shopping and prepping for this as I can to make the actual day a bit easier. Come back next week to check, because I plan on posting my recipes, grocery lists and pictures.

Today, I did manage to get my grocery list together for all of this and go to the Commissary to stock up. Nate, my 2-year-old, "helped" me unload. I was sitting in front of the fridge loading milks into it when Nut started tossing whole bags of noodles clear across the kitchen and into the vicinity in front of me. I guess he was giving them to me so I could put them in the fridge!

Then he got ahold of a couple of packages of cream cheese and tore off the cardboard. "Look Mommy, bee-yoo-tee-ful," he exclaimed in awe about the foil-covered brick beneath.

He then got ahold of a box of peanut butter crackers and asked me if I could open them. I told him not now, but in a little bit. Well he decided to take matters into his own hands and proceeded to tear the top off of the box, revealing the opaque plastic bag inside. "Holy cow!" he uttered, surprised that he was able to accomplish this.

Finally he pulled an opened box of spaghetti noodles out of the pantry and most of the pasta fell out, much to both Nate and Kabe's delight. They both scrambled to pick up and crunch noodles in their mouths. Sillies!

The thing is that my Nutty is so charming, cute and crazy that I have trouble getting upset with him when he does these kinds of things!

There's the little stinker on the right:

For this week I'm still making some regular meals, though I will be making extra of some to freeze. I'm also planning out thru Tuesday as that's when the company leaves.

Monday: Porcupine Meatballs (didn't get to last week)

Tuesday: Crockpot Italian Beef w/ Bread and Horseradish

Wednesday: 40-Clove Garlic Chicken

Thursday: Deluxe Baked Potato Bar

Friday: LO's

Saturday: Soup Bar - Meatball Soup, Popeye was Right Soup, Chicken Rice Soup

Sunday: Chicken Veggie Packets, Peach Cobbler

Monday: Homemade Pizza, High-Enzyme Salad, Stuffed Strawberries

Tuesday: OUT

This picture has nothing to do with MPM, but I just wanted to put it on so I could look at it all week. I plan on posting more pictures of food in the future, but for now I'll just have to shamelessly put up pictures of my babies! Oh well!!

Here's Kabe's waving "goodbye" with drool dripping off of her chin. Have a wonderful week! :)

Irish Twins

2007-08-12T20:12:00.000-07:00

A while ago, I was talking to a lady who jokingly referred to my two youngest babies as "Irish twins." I googled the phrase and found this definition:

"It refers to siblings born in the same calendar year, or otherwise less than twelve months apart. It’s clearly a deeply derogatory comment about the stereotypical fecundity (and lack of contraception) of Irish Catholic families."

Interesting. Mine are 12 months and 5 days apart, so I guess that's close enough. :)

Upon further googling I found a msn group for people with Irish twins. On it I found this funny list (at least funny to me and probably anyone else who has kids so close together!)

Top Reasons Why It's Great to Have Irish Twins! (my comments are in pink)

1. You don't have to worry about anyone kidnapping your children in the store while you're shopping...that double stroller is so hard to steer, they wouldn't get anywhere!

(ain't that the truth!) The other day I took Em to art camp and couldn't get my side-by-side double stroller through the door of the art museum! I had to hold K-Babe and let the Nut loose. Scary! At least when they are in the stroller, they are contained!

2. If you're staying home with your children until they're in school, you will have fewer non-paid years than if you space your kids out.

3. You get to hear the CUTEST things, like when the older IT calls the new baby a "kitty" because she doesn't know the difference.

4. You get to know your pediatrician REALLY well!

5. You don't have to drag all your baby gear and maternity clothes out of storage, because they are still in use!

6. It's just like having twin babies...except that one twin is big enough to squash the other one like a bug! (this one made me LOL b/c of how true it is!)

7. No one expects your house to be clean. (*sigh* and it isn't)

8. When you're in the grocery store and one of the kids needs a pacifier, you can just take the one out of the happy child's mouth and give it to the fussy one. (Yes, I actually did this today.)

I've done this with baba's (bottles)!

9. You will get extra financial aid for having two kids in college at the same time.

10. People hold doors for you a lot more. (both while you're pregnant and while the kids are young)

11. You can play a fun game with your husband when you go out in public...place bets on how many people will comment about how cute your kids are...or how many people will say "you have your hands full" (like you don't know that already). I get this all the time. They certainly draw looks, attention and comments! If I had a quarter for every time I've heard someone say I have may hands full...

12. You have an instant bond with other parents of ITs because only they can understand what your life is like.

13. There is NOTHING that can bring more joy than being a mother...so why not have twice the joy! (the other day we were out and and another little boy got interested in K-Babe. When the other little kid tried to play with her, Nate kept saying "my K-babe" while putting his arm protectively over her. It was so cute! He's already a protective big brother!)

14. How can you keep from smiling when you're watching older IT pile up a bunch of toys right on top of the new baby so she can "play" with him (even when she does accidentally hit him in the head with her big toy car and make him cry) ? (or when the older one thinks the other one is a "horsey" and tries to sit on her!)

15. Your kids have a BEST FRIEND for life! (I love hearing them interact together. K-babe will give out one of her cute baby squeals and Natey will reply with one of his own. They'll go through a whole series of them that just cracks both of them up!)

16. Life is NEVER boring at home!

MENU PLAN MONDAY 8/13

2007-08-12T09:52:00.001-07:00

The babies welcome you to Menu Plan Monday!

I can't find my ususal menu banner so I thought I would just open with a couple of pictures of my two babies in their high-chairs. They're seated and ready to find out what's on the menu for this week!

Well, we moved into our new house last week, which explains my lack of posting. It was a rather disorganized and chaotic move, but we are settling in. We LOVE our new house. It is about 40 years newer, much bigger and a million times more convenient than our old house!

I really need to get back into the healthy menu planning so I'm glad to be posting again. I have barely eaten fruits or veggies for the last couple of weeks, so I'm planning on having a salad for lunch every day and a fruit smoothie for afternoon snack. I'm also going to try to eat 2 more fruit servings during the day and fix some raw veggies. Of course I'm going to try to get the kids to eat as much of this as possible as well! Here's a picture of one of the salads I made a couple of weeks ago- the Tuna-rrific Pasta Salad (no peas, of course). Who wouldn't want to eat this for lunch!

A little while back I found a great new food blog called MommyCooks and bookmarked a bunch of recipes to try. The one I have gotten a chance to make, Stuffed Strawberries, was a big hit! I took them to a backyard barbeque our neighbor hosted and the people were impressed. The fact that they were pretty easy to make remained my little secret!

Go to I'm an Organizing Junkie's blog to find other great menu plans. It's how I discovered the Mommy Cooks blog! :)

Monday: Baked Tilapia w/ Brown Rice

Tuesday: Grilled Marinated Pork Chops w/ Baked Potatoes

Wednesday: Tuna Noodle Casserole

Thursday: 40-Clove Garlic Chicken, Rice a Roni

Friday: Beef Burgundy Simplified

Saturday: Make-you-own Pizzas

MENU PLAN MONDAY 7/9

2007-07-08T18:03:00.001-07:00

Last week just flew by with the holiday breaking the days up. On the 4th we barbecued out with our neighbor who DH enjoyed chatting with. The chocolate cake was sinfully delicious and the coffee included in the recipe really brought out the chocolate flavor. I think I'm going to have to limit myself to making that cake only on my birthday as I just have no willpower against chocolate cake!

A couple of weeks ago I made some banana oat muffins that turned out rather healthy and tasty. Here's the recipe for BANANA OAT MUFFINS:

3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 cup quick-cooking oats
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 egg
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 2 medium)
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup butter, melted

In a large bowl, combine the first six ingredients. In a small mixing bowl, beat the egg, bananas, brown sugar, buttermilk and melted butter. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened.Coat muffin cups with nonstick cooking spray; fill two-thirds full with batter. Bake at 400° for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack. Yield: 1 dozen.

I enjoy cooking biscuits, eggs, waffles, muffins etc. at breakfast. But things can get pretty busy with everything that needs to be done. It was about two babies ago that I got a bit tired of spooning in bite after bite of baby food in the little mouths three to four times per day. So now I've become a bad mom and have come up with a way for Kabe's to drink her baby food at breakfast! I take her defrosted cubes of oatmeal/banana/avocado and mix them with some kefir and juice. Then I put it in a special sippy type cup and she's good to go! Here's a picture of her with the concoction. She really does like it though she has a slightly sour look on her face in this picture. I think I might have gone a little too heavy on the kefir for her liking! :)
Time for this week's menu plan! More of my meals will be coming from the freezer as we will be busy with more moving prep (we move at the end of July) and appointments. Remember you can find more menu plans over at I'm an Organizing Junkie's blog!

Monday: Honey Rosemary Chicken, Herbed Swirl Bread (both from the freezer)

Tuesday: Noodle Heaven (from the freezer)

Wednesday: BBQ Salmon, Barley w/ Mushrooms

Thursday: Chicken Burgers (from the freezer), Tray of Health

Friday: Chicken Veggie Packets

Have a wonderful week!!

Pics

2007-06-24T04:02:00.000-07:00

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

2007-06-18T04:47:00.001-07:00

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

2007-06-10T19:31:00.000-07:00

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

2007-06-09T06:10:00.001-07:00

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

MENU PLAN MONDAY 6/4

2007-06-03T05:46:00.000-07:00

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!

The Lie-Bee

2006-09-14T04:11:00.000-07:00

Blizzards are a part of life in North Dakota. When one is on the way, I always check my supply of food, bottled water, supplies, and... library books? Part of my blizzard-readiness checklist is making sure we have enough fresh library books to get through the storm. (I-guy dubbed it the "lie-bee" when he was two and couldn't say "library" very well). There's nothing cosier than snuggling up on the couch and reading together.

On our visits to the library, I am always amazed that we are often the only people in the whole children's section. I know I can't be the only one that gets ready and loads up the stroller with a towering stack of books (there's not usually room for a kid in there)!

Lately, the kids and I have been reading about medieval times. Yesterday I-guy was showing me what he's learned by "reading" me a book about how to become a knight. He got to the page showing the weapons a knight used.

He pointed to the mace and said, (in I-guy speak), "dat one's for bappin' people on da head."

The he pointed to the lance, "dat one's for knockin' 'em off "dare" horses."

Finally he pointed to the sword, "dat one's for choppin' 'em up into mincemeat!"

(He got the "mincemeat" part from another book... some of those fairytale versions are a little violent).

I tried not to fall off the couch laughing while at the same time wondering if I should be concerned! :)

***This is my entry to win a camera in the "Capture the Educational Moment" Contest sponsored by Spunky and Academic Superstore.

I've never entered a blog-constest before- fun stuff!

Starby's Map

2006-08-14T04:23:00.000-07:00

One of my blog friends, JettyBetty, stays busy jetting all around the country on fun trips and has visited almost all 50 states. (She may have checked off all 50 by now). DH and I have the goal of visiting all 50 states, but with a slightly different twist. We like to visit Stabucks coffee shops in each state and city we pass through. To keep track, I made a map:

It was really fun to make. Some friendly Omaha Starbucks baristas generously provided me with the colorful stickers, and I glued coffee beans to a cheap frame. Alas, some of the beans have come off. I had to pry them off one-by-one when I was out of my own espresso beans and desperately needed a latte one morning. ;) The map came out of an atlas.

We have a ways to go to check off all 50 states, but so far we've been to Starby's in AL, AZ, CA, CO, KS, NE, ND, and SD.

I've never been to Texas, but would LOVE my first visit to include sitting in a Starbuck's with JettyBetty, chatting over a latte! :)

20 Random Things MeMe

2005-11-14T11:16:00.000-08:00

Tulipgirl tagged three Anne's with an "E"- and I'm one of them! Thanks! :)

1. I'm left-handed.
2. I used to wish I had long, wavy, auburn hair. Now I wish it was long, thick, straight and light golden blond with highlights.
3. I used to get up on Saturday mornings (when I was 12 or so) and type out notes from astronomy books I had checked out from the library.
4. Coke or Pepsi? Neither one- I HATE the taste of ALL pop (or soda, if that's what you call it). Give me an Evian.
5. I'm claustrophobic.
6. DH and I want to both get pilot's licenses after our kids move out.
7. I play the piano, flute, and love to sing in choirs.
8. I am 50% Danish.
9. I met my husband in the college marching band. We both quit after one year as we both felt the best thing about college marching band was getting together.
10. DH and I also want to attend adult Space Camp.
11. I used to pick up trash and sweep breezeways for a rent-break at some apartments we lived at. (Note to smoker's- the world is NOT your ashtray!!!!)
12. I find going to the laundromat very relaxing.
13. I loved going to college.
14. I've dissected a worm, frog, cow's eyeball, sheep's brain, cat, and also worked in a human cadaver (we didn't dissect it though- the grad assistants did).
15. I love moving, running water (fountains, washing machines, jacuzzi's, the ocean... but hate going swimming.
16. I hate raccoons.
17.In high school, I had a crush on classical pianist Christopher O'Riley after seeing him play at the symphony.
18. I listen to NPR.
19. I love being married to my husband, and wish he never had to leave to go to that pesky, but necessary thing called work.
20. DH and I love to go bike-riding as a family.

Let's see, I tag Jeannine, Weathertopmama, and Princess Ruby!

Caffeine Dreams

2005-08-19T08:32:00.000-07:00

I don't smoke. I don't drink. I do drink coffee. Actually, caramel lattes are my caffeinated drink of choice.

My hometown has a wide array or coffee places to choose from. My favorite is a hometown chain that I used to work for called Crane Coffee. I've been making a daily outing each morning to get my 20 oz. cup of warm and sweet goodness. The robust flavor of the espresso combined with the sweet syrup and whole milk just rolls over the tongue. I even got a re-chargeable card and now save 10% on each purchase. :)

At home, I make my own lattes using a Swiss-made Solis SL-90 espresso machine with a pre-infusion cycle and non-pressurized basket. I grind my own espresso too with a Maestro grinder. Oooh, that fresh-ground coffee sure smells good.

I love going to coffee shops. One of my favorites here is called "Caffeinated Dreams." It has such a cool vibe going on with brick walls, funky furniture and an outdoor garden area. My DH and I had one of those perfect dates a couple of years ago where we cuddled on one of the sofas and watched a great Celtic/Irish band play in front of the cosy fireplace.

St*rbucks is usually a good and consistent experience. I like discovering those unique places, like Caffeine Dreams better, though they are rare. Many places don't have a clue about making good espresso. I always thought it would be neat to be a consultant and help independent places with espresso bars develop a good training program.

Once we went to a place in Fargo that served the worst lattes! The shots were just totally bad and the milk was scorched. I'm the type that will return things whereas my DH will not. He likes to see me "in action" as he calls it. I'm always polite of course. If I'm going to pay 4 bucks for a latte, I expect to get a good one! St*rBucks is usually great about exchanging a bad drink since they are usually friendly and trained well.

When my kids get a little older, and my DH has a job with consistent hours, I think I'm going to go apply to work at St*rbucks a couple of times per week. I really enjoyed my 5 years working in and managing coffee shops and would like to get back to it.

My "failure" in the world of Multi-Level Marketing

2005-04-05T13:30:00.000-07:00

I used to sell Mary Kay- started when I was about 20 or so and quit after a couple of years. I then tried again while pregnant with my first child because I thought it would be a good way to replace my income from working outside the home. Again, quit after a year or so. Why didn't I stick with it? Well.....

I like meeting new people and am not shy, but didn't like the way I was to think of and relate to people in the MLM world. Mostly as prospects. I felt like I was imposing on friends and family if I asked them to have a class, or come to a meeting, or talk to my director about the "opportunity." I didn't want them to feel obligated because they knew me. And then strangers or acquaintences- well I felt like I would have to be pretty bold to approach people I had just met or barely knew! But as my director taught us, Mary Kay said that to be successful you had to follow the 3-foot rule: tell anyone within three-feet of you about the "opportunity." I did do this a few times and felt extremely uncomfortable with it. I thought that if I was going to be so bold with sharing something with others- it should be the gospel of Christ and not the Mary Kay opportunity!

Another thing that MLM companies are big into is what I now think of as propaganda. There are meetings, tapes, training, seminars... all designed to pump you up and get you excited about the company and the opportunity. Sure, it was fun for a while, but I never really totally bought into it. At first, the promises of unlimited income potential, flexibility, getting to stay home with my famiy, recognition, rewards sounded enticing. Who wouldn't want these things? But, I realized that to get there you have to be willing to do what I wasn't. I wasn't a totally committed convert.

Dream BIG!!! Believe and achieve!!! Anyone can do it!!! See this lady? She started out dirt-poor and now makes $5000 per month and lives in a big mansion. She's no different than you!! Think positive and you can do anything! Go for it!!!!!! -------These were all things I routinely heard in the MLM world.

What I NEVER did hear was (and my director was a nice Christian lady as were many of the other directors and consultants): Is this God's will for your life? Should you be doing this? The only reason I heard them give to not continue was if you just didn't believe in yourself and the dream. *Yikes*- New Age thinking alert!! But then you could just go to more meetings, get more training and listen to more tapes in an effort to get yourself all pumped up again.

I always felt slightly self-conscious and embarrased approaching others or sharing that I was in MLM. Traditional business always sounded more appealing and respectable to me. You know... like I make my own soap or jewelry and then sell it a craft fairs or online. I would be proud to tell people about that. Partly because I know that I couldn't sign them up for anything or "share the opportunity." And partly because it's something you build yourself.

Since quitting Mary Kay I've been approached by some and run into others who are part of other MLM companies. I actually did go with my husband to a Nikken meeting to see what it was like. Pretty similar to Mary Kay except no pink and more guys. But it had all those other same elements. I've also listened to presentations for Shaklee, Melaleuca and World-Wide Group. The last company really kind of threw me off because when I went to their site online, I wasn't greeted with their "great products." It took me a while to figure out what exactly they really did sell- at least physical product-wise. It was pretty evident right away that they were selling "the Opportunity" first and fore-most.

I have learned lots of good and valuable lessons from my experience with MLM's that I wouldn't trade in. God showed me that life isn't about "unlimited income potential" or the "opportunity" and everything else these companies claim to offer. It's about serving Him through whatever circumstances He calls us to. I want to get excited about Him and His word and not by some enthusiastic, appealing, positive-thinking training tape or seminar designed to hook you in.

A dear friend gave me a link to an article that I think anyone (especially Christians) considering MLM companies should read. I learned some new things about MLM and it also summed up some of my own personal problems with it. It's at: http://www.vandruff.com/mlm.html
And another one: http://www.mlmsurvivor.com/fitzpatrick.htm

****Disclaimer**** I don't judge or presume to know what God's will in regards to involvement with MLM is for others. I see lots of problems and flaws with MLM's, but don't have problems with any specific people involved in them. Do I think they should be involved in them?....I don't know! That's not my call to make. I know many wonderful Christians that I love and respect that are part of an MLM company. Does their involvement with one lower my opinion or regard for them- NOT AT ALL!! I'm sharing my own personal experiences, convictions and opinions on MLM's in general. :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)

Dizzy the Clown- Busted!?!?

2005-02-21T04:22:00.000-08:00

In case you didn't know, we live on an Air Force Base with a security gate one has to pass through to get on or off the base. You'll be happy to know that base security (along with airport security) are detaining and searching the truly suspicious- looking characters among us.

I was leaving the base yesterday when I noticed someone trying to get on had been pulled over to have their car searched (this is not unusual). I noticed that this person seemed to have on an unusually bright and colorful outfit, but it wasn't until I got a little closer that I noticed the red clown wig and floppy feet.

It was Dizzy the Clown, our town's busiest entertainer of kids. The Clownmobile, an old, dirty, white, covered-in-colorful-polka-dotted station wagon was being thouroughly searched. Poor Dizzy! He was standing out in the 12 degree weather in full clown regalia with not even a clown coat to cover him.

My daughter Emma has had the privilege of seeing Dizzy in his balloon-twisting glory twice. I've seen him once as he has a standing gig at the Officer's Club for Sunday brunch. We all enjoy our sightings of the Clownmobile on the roads of our town. Dizzy is often out and about (always in clown-gear of course!)

I am one of those people who find clowns (even Dizzy) creepy, but I hope they didn't keep him out there too long!

I have my own BLOG!

2005-02-19T07:09:00.000-08:00

Wow! It's amazing that these days any old person like me can have their own blog! I don't know what all I'll write or if anyone will read it, but thought it might be nice to refer friends and family to. I've never been good at keeping journals as I'm always losing them. I can't lose this one though! : )

I've always thought it would be cool to own a coffee shop in real life. However, this may never happen so at least I can have my own virtual cafe to hopefully connect with other people. (Hence the name). I just wish I could serve up some lattes from my espresso machine!