Table Dancer (WW)...

I left the room for a moment and this is what I returned to....



Uh---You caught me!!


By the way--he was watching Sesame Street. He LOVES Elmo!!

For more Wordless Wednesday's, go here or here!

Menu Plan Monday...

I can't believe it is Monday already. The weekend went by WAY too fast!! Last week I pretty much used only things we had on hand, aside from some fresh produce, and we are continuing that this week. Last week I made everything on the plan!!

Last week we tried the pretzel crusted chicken with cheddar mustard sauce. I really, really liked it! It does sound a bit strange with the onion and the sliced pickle (I used dill relish), but it was very, very good--and I typically don't like raw onion. I found that the blender worked really well for grinding up the pretzels. I used this mustard and used 3 T. instead of 2. I think it made the cheese sauce better. This will be a repeat in our house!!


*=new recipe
Monday--Swiss steak*, noodles, steamed Normandy veggies

Tuesday--almond chicken dijon*, macaroni and cheese with tomatoes* (just adding a can of drained diced tomatoes to it), green beans, garlic bread

Wednesday--burgers, salad, sweet potato fries

Thursday--pulled pork/steak tostadas (pork for me, steak for hubby--->I have corn tortillas to use up), rice and beans

Friday--Italian chicken, cheesy smashed potatoes*, salad

So, my shopping list for this week is very small--lettuce, tomatoes, avocados, and sour cream.


For more menu plan Monday fun, head on over to Laura's at I'm an Organizing Junkie!

One last hurrah (WW)...

I pulled this out for its new owners to pick up and Lucas just had to get in it!!


For more Wordless Wednesday's, go here or here!

A clean pantry and Menu Plan Monday....

Sunday I spent a few hours cleaning out my pantry. It looks WAY, WAY better. It had been a while since I last cleaned it. And, it just so happens that I think I may have Laura beat with my choc. chips, nuts, etc... pile. What do you think?? The bin on the left has only choc. chips, baking chocolate squares, powdered sugar in it. The one on the right is nuts, rasins, etc...




Well, I didn't get to all of the things on my plan last week. I ended up with a nasty cold, so I am pleased that I actually cooked 4 days last week!! I did try the lentil salad, but I bought some super tiny red lentils and they cooked up WAY faster than I thought they would. Then I couldn't get them to drain well, so I messed the salad up. It tasted good, but since I didn't drain the lentils well, it was pretty liquidy. I will try it again with normal lentils!!

We also tried a new recipe that I had not planned. I made some rice that I found on Nicole's blog. I made a couple of changes, as I had to use what I had on hand. Instead of tomato sauce, I used 14.5 oz. diced tomatoes. Also, instead of cumin seed, I used several dashes of ground cumin. This rice was soooo super yummy!! I had intended to do tacos, but we ended up with more of a tostada because I was out of taco shells and didn't know it. I just fried up some corn tortillas. We put the rice and beans on the tostada. It was super, super yummy!!


We also had the continental beef (from this cookbook). It was also very good. I'll post the recipe below.


I am cooking with what we have on hand this week. Since I wasn't feeling well (and still am not 100%), I stayed home on Sunday when I typically do my shopping.

*=new recipe
Monday--pretzel crusted chicken with cheddar mustard sauce* (saw it on Donna's menu), salad, cous cous

Tuesday--crock pot beef stew*, rolls, salad

Wednesday--Kung Pao Chicken, steamed veggies, rice, lumpia

Thursday--spaghetti with sausage, salad

Friday--blt sandwiches, chips, salad



Continental Beef (Since it was my first time to have this, I just made it on serving day.)

6T butter (might want to use 4 if you omit mushrooms)
1 c. minced onion
1 lb. fresh mushrooms, sliced (optional--I omitted)
2.5 lbs. beef chuck, cut into cubes (may also substitute other beef suitable for stewing, i.e. beef stew, round steak--I used round steak)
8 oz. can tomato sauce
2 t. Worcestershire sauce
1 T. granulated sugar
2 t. paprika
2 t. salt
1/8 t. pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced

Serving Day:
*1 cup sour cream (optional--I used)
2 cups rice or 16 oz. buttered noodles (I used egg noodles)

Cooking Day Instructions:
Melt 2 T. butter in large pot over low heat. Add onion and mushrooms and brown lightly. Remove from pan (I just did the onion and meat at the same time). Add more butter (1-2 T.) to pan and melt; add beef in 2 or 3 batches and brown. (You may need to turn heat up slightly to brown meat.) Put beef, mushrooms, and onions back into pan.

Combine tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, sugar, paprika, salt, pepper, and garlic. Pour suace over meat. Cover and cook slowly over low heat for 2.5 hours or until meat is tender (it took about 1.5 hours for mine). Stir occasionally. (Recipe may also be prepared in crockpot for 8-10 hours on low, until beef is tender.) Cool meat mixture. Freeze in freezer bag.

Serving Day Instructions:
Thaw meat completely and warm in sauce pan until heated through. Do not allow beef mixture to boil when heating. Serve over rice or hot buttered noodles.
*Variation using sour cream: Just before serving, add sour cream to beef mixture. Stir until smooth and heated through. Do not boil.



For more menu plan Monday fun, head on over to Laura's at I'm an Organizing Junkie!

A new me for a good cause (WW)!!

Sorry, this one isn't going to be Wordless.....

A few weeks back I did something and I'm excited to share it here....



Click on it to see it larger--that is over 16 inches. If pulled tight it would be more, plus, as you can see, it measures in at 18 inches, but I did need a trim pretty badly. I've got the hair bagged up and will be sending it to either Locks of Love or Pantene's Beautiful Lengths (does anyone know of a good reason to send to one versus the other??). For some, this might be a drastic change...and it is for me, too. However, the last haircut I had was in May 2004 and I had 10 inches cut off and donated!! This seems to be my pattern. Grow it out, cut it off, donate it!!

So--are you wondering how much hair that left me with??



And, while I know the color of ribbon is pink--I still thought about Heather as my hair was cut off. I've followed her story and am amazed by her faith, courage, and honesty through it all. So, this post is especially for Heather!

For more Wordless Wednesday's (unlike mine), go here or here!

Popcorn Cake...YUM!

My MIL mailed me a picture of a cake she made recently....popcorn cake. It sure did look good. She shared the recipe, but also sent a nice big slice of it to the boys. It arrived today and it is as good as it looks. Logan isn't a big fan of nuts, so I simply *neglected* to tell him that there are peanuts in it. I figured he might not notice....really, it seems he does okay with nuts if you don't tell him they are there. However, he doesn't like salty nuts. This however, didn't seem to phase him. I don't think my MIL will mind me just posting a picture of the cake she made, as I've not made it yet. Logan's review: "Wow, that is a really yummy treat that Grandma sent!". So...thanks Grandma!!


Popcorn Cake:
Mix the following in a large bowl:
4qts. popped popcorn
1lb. of M&Ms
1lb salted peanuts (Virginia)
Heat: 1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup vegetable oil
16 oz. large marshmallows
until melted. Pour over popcorn mixture stirring to mix and coat all ingredients. Butter an angel food cake pan and mold mixture into it. Let set.

**She noted that she only let hers set a couple of hours before removing it from the pan and it did kind of slump the next day. Perhaps let it set overnight.

Menu Plan Monday...

Last week we tried several new things. First, we had the caramel apple pork chops. They were pretty good. If you like pork and apples, you'll like this. My husband isn't a big pork fan and I'm finding it isn't my favorite either. However, we have some in the freezer and we will be eating it. I doubled the sauce and did it in two pans (one with the apples and one for the chops) rather than keeping the pork warm in the oven. Also, instead of just sprinkling the finished product with pecans, I added the pecans in with the sauce once I removed the apples.

I also made one of Glutten Free Mommy's crustless quiche to have on hand for breakfast. YUM! The only thing I did differently was I didn't add the onion because I didn't have any.


Next up is basil pasta with chicken, bacon, and spinach. It was sooo good.
1 bag basil pasta
4 Tbsp. Oil from Sundried Tomatoes (I just used olive oil)
1.5 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cubed (I used breast)
3 strips bacon
1 pint grape tomatoes, sliced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1.5 cups vegetable or chicken broth
1 large bunch escarole (or spinach), washed and chopped (we used spinach)
1/2 cup sundried tomatoes, slivered
Heat oil in large, non stick skillet over medium heat. Saute chicken and bacon until chicken is cooked, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add chicken broth and boil for 2 minutes. Add escarole grape tomatoes, and sundried tomatoes. Cover and cook until escarole is wilted. Season with salt and pepper. Add into cooked noodles. Serve with Parmesan Cheese (we used freshly grated Asiago).

We also tried apricot pecan chicken. Also very good!! I doubled the sauce ingredients, except for the ginger (I'm not a big fan of it). Also, once the chicken was cooked, I removed it and added the pecans into the skillet and let them toast a bit. Then I added the remaining ingredients. I, too, spooned some sauce on the chicken and the rice. YUM!!

I also made the steak fingers, but didn't get a picture. I didn't start them in time to let them marinade, so I'll have to try them again when I can follow the recipe. I also didn't stick them in the freezer. I just fried them up. Still, they were pretty good and a different way to use up some steak that is in the freezer!

On to this week--------
*=new recipe

Monday--continental beef* (from this cookbook), noodles, green beans

Tuesday--tacos, rice, beans, salad

Wednesday--lemon butter chicken, lentil salad*

Thursday--burgers, sweet potato fries, salad

Friday--pretzel crusted chicken with cheddar mustard sauce* (saw it on Donna's menu), salad

Saturday--crock pot beef stew*, rolls, salad (I will be gone all day to an HOA training thing)

I'm also planning on trying a few recipes in this book that I learned about while visiting this blog. I'll let you know how that goes.


For more menu plan Monday fun, head on over to Laura's at I'm an Organizing Junkie!

Lazy and Oh My Gracious!!

This week's Flaunt it Friday challenge is to choose a word or phrase that describes your week. I choose lazy.....

I simply have not wanted to do anything this week. I've kept my house straightened up, but I did not really clean it...if you know what I mean. I did laundry on Thursday...5 loads, but I didn't fold anything. I did hang the hanging stuff so at least it won't wrinkle. I also slacked off on my cooking. I did cook on Monday and Tuesday, then we ate out on Wednesday because we were out until late, then I cooked on Thursday and we ate leftovers on Friday.

Yesterday I ventured out just to get out of the house (avoid housework) and we ate lunch at Wendy's and went to the mall. We went to Books a Million and I finally got a book to learn more about my camera. I was browsing the clearance items and turned around to see Logan sitting on the floor reading Dear G Spot. Oh my gracious!!

Edited: After reading this, I better clarify that Logan can't actually read, but he was flipping through the pages. Goodness...I hope there weren't any pictures....

Fun in the snow (WW)....

We finally got enough snow to play in last week. I think we got about 2 inches.....better than the 0.5 inches we had before it!! This was Lucas' first time to play in the snow and he loved it!

Notice Logan making a snow angel!!

Lucas is enjoying the snow on his glove!

For more Wordless Wednesday fun, go here or here!

Menu Plan Monday...

Sunday we went to Mt. Vernon for the basement tour. We haven't seen National Treasure: Book of Secrets (and probably won't until it comes out on dvd), but part of the movie was filmed there so they opened up the basement for public tours for one month only--and only on weekends. It was sooo cold out, so we basically only went to do the tour and then headed home. We stopped at Ikea on the way home. I was looking for a certain rug, but they didn't have it. I'll have to keep checking!

Last week I made green chili stew for the first time.  It really isn't a pretty soup, but it was sooo good!  One thing, the recipe calls for 4 large potatoes.  I think mine were large baking potatoes, so I only used two of them.  

Green Chili Stew (from Fix it and Forget it Diabetic cookbook)

2 T. oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 large onion, diced
1 lb. extra lean ground sirloin
⅓ lb. ground pork
3 cups reduced sodium chicken broth
2 cups water
2 4-oz. cans diced green chilies
4 large potatoes, diced
10-oz. pkg. frozen corn
1 t. black pepper
1 t. crushed dried oregano
½ t. ground cumin
½ t. salt

1.  Brown garlic, onion, sirloin, and pork in oil in skillet.  Cook until meat is no longer pink; drain.

2.  Combine all ingredients in slow cooker.

3.  Cover.  Cook on low 4-6 hours or until potatoes are soft.

We also tried the round steak sauerbraten.  I cooked it in the crockpot and wasn't home to check on it, so it over cooked slightly.  My crockpot turns to keep warm when the timer goes off.  If I had been home, I'd have checked the meat earlier in the process to see if it was done.  I browned the steak in the skillet and then put it with all other ingredients in the crockpot on low for 5 hours.  Next time I'll check it around 3.5-4 hours.  So, the steak was slightly dry, but the flavor was still nice.  We certainly ate it all up.

We didn't use two meals from last week, so those are carried over to this week.

*=new recipe
Monday--caramel apple pork chops*, brown rice, steamed broccoli

Tuesday--steak fingers*, tater tots, salad

Wednesday--basil pasta with chicken, bacon, and spinach* (I'll post next week if it turns out--the recipe is on the bag of pasta), salad

Thursday--continental beef* (from this cookbook), noodles, green beans

Friday--apricot pecan chicken*, brown rice, steamed veggies

Wow--looks like we will be having lots of new things this week!!

For more menu plan fun, head on over to Laura's at I'm an Organizing Junkie!!