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Booking It 2011

2011-01-10T13:52:00.000-08:00

While I post on my family blog a couple of times a week, it's been months since I posted here. I'm still planning my menus, but have gotten out of the habit of posting them. I also stopped making my monthly "Booking It" postings. For most of the fall, I focused on using the Bible in 90 Days reading plan. I found that if I was reading anything else, I wouldn't read my Bible so I had to put aside all other reading. Unfortunately I have to admit that I lost my motivation after completing the Old Testament. Isn't that a sad thing to say about reading the Bible? I'm still wallowing around in John right now and not reading much of anything. I've always been a voracious reader, but really got out of the habit of reading during the last couple of months. There are actually three books on my coffee table that I look at every day and haven't even opened. Time to start reading again.

This year my Booking It goal is to read two non-fiction books a month. Last year my goal was three. After the birth of my second child in June, I think two is more realistic for this year. I've selected non-fiction again because I enjoyed learning some new things last year. It's also usually easier for me to put down a non-fiction work compared to fiction and I don't end up ignoring my family and my household tasks. I plan to read most of FishMama's 11 titles (even the fiction) but may pass on a few. I've already checked out the first one The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin from my local library. That will count as one of my non-fiction reads. My mother-in-law gave me Captured by Grace by Dr. David Jeremiah for Christmas. That will be my second for this month.

If you're interested in learning more about the 2011 Booking It Challenge, check out LifeasMom.com.

Booking It: July Update

2010-08-17T11:58:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure I read any non-fiction in July. I don't remember much about July except feedings, feedings, feedings day and night. July was the first full month of having a new baby in the house. Somewhere in there, I did read a really good Christian fantasy series: The Guardian King series by Karen Hancock. I picked them up randomly at the library and almost put them back because the description on the back of the book decribed them as an "allegory." After recently struggling through the famous allegory Pilgrim's Progress, the word disgusted me. However, I was desperate for something good to read and I usually enjoy fantasy.

There are four books in the series: The Light of Eidon, The Shadow Within, Shadow Over Kiriath, and Return of the Guardian-King. The main character is Abramm, the next to youngest son of the king of Kiriath. As a child he is sickly and unathletic, more interested in studying and religion, than sword play and military training. With several older brothers, he never expects to be king so he removes himself from the line of inheritance and joins the equivalent of a monastery. In the book, there are two different religous groups both claiming to worship the same god and claiming to be the only truth. You spend most of the first book unsure about what is really the true way. Has Abramm been deceived or is he following the right path to Eidon (God)?

In The Light of Eidon Abramm is betrayed by two of his brothers and sold into slavery. Abramm, who has never been good with a sword, is forced into the role of gladiator and must fight again and again for his life. The books are too good to give away any more of the plot, but they aren't all action and battles, though. There is also politcal intrigue and romance along with Abramm's spiritual journey. While I was drawn by the storyline, the books also really made me examine myself. Abramm is continually forced to consider whether he is relying on himself or if he is trusting God. He also must face the question, "Is God really enough?" If Abramm's position, physical abilities, or family are taken away from him, will he still be satisfied in God? When I look closely at my own heart, these questions make me uncomfortable and are worthy of much prayer.

If you would like to see what other people have been reading lately, check out the links on FishMama's July Booking It Update.

Booking It: May Update

2010-06-14T19:54:00.001-07:00

I accomplished my goal of reading three non-fiction books in May. I read Christianity and Liberalism by J. Gresham Machen, Stop Acting Rich by Thomas J. Stanley, and Bringing Up Girls by James Dobson.

In April I tried to read The Millionaire Mind by Thomas J. Stanley and just couldn't get into it. In contrast, I really enjoyed Stop Acting Rich. I finished it several weeks ago and am still telling my husband about things I read in it. I think I'm probably driving him crazy. This book caught my attention because it began with a story about the author's father delivering newspapers while The Millionaire Mind started with pages and pages of statistics. The information in The Millionaire Mind is probably just as interesting but I was so bored by the first chapter that I just couldn't keep reading. If you aren't familiar with Thomas J. Stanley, he conducts surveys of very wealthy people and has learned that most are millionaires because they've worked hard, lived frugally, and saved. In this book, he examines the lifestyle and consumption habits of millionaires. He talks about what they drive, where they buy clothes, what type of watch they wear, what brand of liquor they drink, etc. The reality is very different than what Hollywood portrays.

I was disappointed in Bringing Up Girls. I was so excited that this book was coming out this spring since our daughter was due this summer. I had read Bringing Up Boys before my son was born two years ago and loved it. In Bringing Up Girls Dr. Dobson mainly focuses on protecting our daughters from the sexually explicit culture that we live in. While that is extremely important, I had hoped it would be more about building a relationship with your daughter and the day-to-day life of raising a daughter.

I'm not sure what I'm going to read in June. Currently I'm reading Faith and Freedom: The Christian Roots of American Liberty by Benjamin Hart, a book I found on my father-in-law's bookshelf. I'm currently staying with my in-laws because our daughter arrived six-weeks early and they live significantly closer to the NICU and can help with our son while I'm there. I have plenty of time to read between feedings in the NICU, but limited access to books.

If you would like to see what others have been reading, check out the links on Fish Mama's June Booking It Update.

Menu Plan Monday

2010-05-10T14:38:00.000-07:00

Last week was busy, busy, busy. We were out of town about half the week, so I only prepared three meals. Hopefully life will be calmer this week.

Monday: Spaghetti, salad, garlic bread.

Tuesday: Crockpot Maple Ham, macaroni and cheese, sweet peas, butterhorn rolls.

Wednesday: BBQ chicken, baked beans, salad, garlic bread.

Thursday: Pork chops, black-eyed peas, fried okra, and cornbread.

Friday: Ham and Cheese Mashed Potatoes, corn, butterhorn rolls.

Saturday: Steaks and twice-baked potatoes.

Sunday lunch: Venison roast, rice, green beans, butterhorn rolls.

Check out Menu Plan Monday at OrgJunkie.com for 100s more real life menu plans.

Bookin' It: April Update

2010-05-06T13:54:00.000-07:00

I didn't do as well this month reading non-fiction as I did last month. Possibly because my plan was more vague. There was nothing that I absolutely wanted to read. I chose Jamie's food revolution : rediscover how to cook simple, delicious, affordable meals by Jamie Oliver, The Millionaire Mind by Thomas J. Stanley, and couple of books on container gardening all from the library.

I enjoyed looking at the gardening books, but didn't read them word for word. I was considering starting a container garden with a few vegetables and herbs, but haven't done it yet. I may still plant the herbs, but am not sure I want to commit the time and money right now when it will probably get neglected later in the summer when the new baby comes. My two-year-old son and I did use my new found knowledge to start some seedlings and are enjoying watching them grow.

Jamie Oliver and I obviously define affordable differently. If you've been eating out every night and begin cooking at home, you might deem these recipes more affordable. Many of the recipes are for more expensive cuts of meat or seafood and he uses large amounts of olive oil and other speciality ingredients. It simply wasn't the type of cookbook that works for me right now. I returned it without even trying one recipe.

The Millionaire Mind is on my coffee table and needs to go back to the library. I've read one chapter. I read Thomas Stanley's The Millionaire Next Door last year and thought it was fascinating. I about drove my husband crazy reading excerpts from it to him. We had just finished Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University and that book really reinforced a lot of the things Dave teaches. This one just didn't draw my interest. I'm still on the waiting list at the library for Stanley's other book, Stop Acting Rich. The title sounds more practical and maybe I'll like it better.

The one non-fiction book that I actually did complete this month was From Fear to Freedeom: Living as Sons and Daughters of God by Rose Marie Miller, which I read for a book club at church. This book is part memoir, part Christian how-to. She writes about her own life and how she struggled to understand and accept God's grace for herself. She had always been strong and able to accomplish things on her own and when she began to fail at things, she became trapped in a cycle of blaming God and others for those failures. It's interesting because she's so real. One of the first failures that really bothered her was running out of food at her daughter's wedding. Miller writes:

"I did not realize that the confidence I had always had about my life was not faith, as I had assumed, but a reliance on my own competency, be it real or imagined. When my competency was called into question by my failures in life's momentous events, like my father's death and my daughter's wedding, my confidence -- and the world it supported -- began to crumble. And yet, because I thought I was living by faith, I did not understand what was happening. . . . Faith and presumption look alike because both qualities are characterized by confidence, but faith begins in the recognition and acceptance of our total human weakness. It relies solely on God and his gracious willingness to empower us" (15-16).

Many of the women I know, including myself, are working very hard to look like we have it all together. We try to be (or at least appear to be) perfect wives, mothers, home managers, church members, employees (for those that work outside the home), etc. This book is a great reminder that the Christian life isn't about being perfect. It's about trusting in the grace of God that He has paid the penalties for our sins and covered us with His perfection. Nothing that we do makes us any more saved. And really when we try to always appear perfect to the world, we just end up looking hypocritical and/or self-righteous because everyone does fail. We need to be more honest about those failures.

This month I have four non-fiction books that I'm excited about reading, hopefully I'll make it through at least three of them. Three are parenting books. The first, Grace-Based Parenting by Tim Kimmel, was recommended at a parenting weekend conference we attended at our church. The second is the next book we're reading in our book club, How Children Raise Parents by Dan Allender. The third is Bringing Up Girls by James Dobson. We're expecting a girl in July. I am currently reading Christianity and Liberalism by J. Gresham Machen. Although it was written in 1922, it's amazing how modern it sounds.

I'm still trying to read Pilgrim's Progress. I told my pastor (who continues to claim from the pulpit that it's his favorite book and hasn't been struck by lightening) how much I disliked it. He suggested reading a modern translation. I picked one up at Lifeway earlier in the week so I'm going to give it another try.

I read a great YA sci-fi novel, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I'm waiting impatiently to make it to the top of the library waiting list for the second book in the series, Catching Fire. Since the third and final book doesn't come out until August, there is no reason to hurry and read the second book immediately anyway.

Check out what other LifeasMom.com readers having been reading lately.

Menu Plan Monday

2010-04-26T14:26:00.001-07:00

I wasn't feeling very creative while meal planning this morning. There are no new recipes and some repeats from earlier in the month.

Monday: Shepherd's pie, green beans, rolls.

Tuesday: Lasagna, salad, French bread.

Wednesday: Baked Teriyaki Chicken, lo mein noodles, salad.

Thursday: Pork Chops, macaroni and cheese, fried okra, and biscuits.

Friday: Homemade Pizza.

Saturday: Tacos and refried beans.

Sunday lunch: Oven-baked deer steaks, rice, vegetable, rolls.

Sunday supper: grilled cheese and tomato soup and/or leftovers.

Lunches (some are carryovers from last week):
Frozen pizza
Ham Poboys
BBQ sandwiches
Fried rice with egg rolls
Shrimp Poboys

Check out hundreds more menu plans at OrgJunkie.com.

Menu Plan Monday

2010-04-20T14:04:00.000-07:00

Friday night, I completed a baking marathon. I prepared no rise pizza dough to make Sausage Bread, made cinnamon rolls to bake Saturday morning, and Make-Ahead Butterhorn Rolls to have in the freezer for Sunday lunch and beyond. Except the pizza dough, these were all new recipes and amazingly they were all good.

This week I tried a new recipe Monday night as I continue to search for creative ways to use deer sausage other than just for breakfast. Venison has a very strong taste to me, but my husband enjoys it. He liked the Potato Sausage Casserole. I mainly ate the potatoes.

Monday: Potato Sausage Casserole, green beans, butterhorn rolls.

Tuesday: Spaghetti, salad, French bread.

Wednesday: Covered Dish Dinner at church. Corn in Butter Sauce and brownies.

Thursday: Potato Chip Crusted Chicken, twice-baked potatoes, salad, rolls.

Friday: Baked Chimichangas, Spanish rice, refried beans.

Saturday: Hamburgers, chips.

Sunday lunch: Crockpot beef roast, rice, vegetable, and rolls.

Sunday supper: grilled cheese and tomato soup and/or leftovers.

Lunches:
Philly cheese steak sandwiches
Burritos with chips and cheese dip
Sloppy joes
Chili cheese hotdogs
Chicken fried rice with egg rolls
Tacos

Check out some of the 382 other menu plans linked to Menu Plan Monday at OrgJunkie.com.

Menu Plan Monday

2010-04-13T12:53:00.000-07:00

For the past month I've been trying to follow the advice of Crystal from MoneySavingMom.com's recent series 31 Days to a Better Grocery Budget and stockpile groceries when they are on sale, which also means shopping at multiple stores each week. There are only two groceries stores here, but I've gotten some great deals by watching the sale fliers and stopping at the "other" grocery store on our way home from Story Hour each week and picking up several of each of the best-priced items that we use frequently. However, since we didn't already have a stockpile, last month this actually added to my grocery budget since I had to purchase the things we needed as well. Finally this week the stockpile and menu planning based on it paid off. I spent less than $50 on groceries at Wal-Mart. Mainly on dairy, produce, and a few miscellaneous items.

Last week I tried two new recipes and both turned out good. Since I got them from my cousin and don't have a link, I'll paste them in at the end of the post. I apologize to whoever she got them from that I can't give you credit for your tasty recipes.

This week I'm trying a new recipe on Friday. We recently acquired an extreme amount of deer sausage. I am diligently trying to find creative uses for it other than just breakfast.

Monday: Shepherd's pie, sweet peas, leftover garlic cheese biscuits.

Tuesday: I'm going to a women's dinner at church so it's leftovers at home.

Wednesday: Chick-fil-a at church. Whoohoo! I love Chick-fil-a.

Thursday: Fried deer steak, black-eyed peas, macaroni and cheese, cornbread.

Friday: Sausage bread.

Saturday: Burritos (from the freezer), Spanish rice, chips and cheese dip.

Sunday: Crockpot Brown Sugar Chicken, rice, vegetable, rolls.

Ham Potato Bake

Ingredients:
5 potatoes, peeled and sliced
3 carrots, peeled and sliced
1 1/2 cups diced ham
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 Tbsp dry minced onion
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (optional)
1/4 cup milk
1/8 tsp pepper

Directions:
Stir together all ingredients.
Pour into a greased 9x13" pan.
Cover with foil and bake at 350 for about 60-90 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

Rice and Lentil Skillet

INGREDIENTS:
1 pound Italian sausage
1 onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup dry lentils
1/2 cup uncooked rice
1 2/3 cups chicken broth

DIRECTIONS:
In a large saucepan over medium heat, brown the sausage until no pink shows.

Stir in the onion and green pepper, and saute until the onions are tender.

Stir in the lentils, rice and chicken broth. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 40 to 60 minutes.

Because I'm late again this week, 348 bloggers have already posted their menu plans at OrgJunkie.com.

Menu Plan Monday

2010-04-06T13:42:00.000-07:00

I planned my menu yesterday, but was so busy (grocery shopping, well-baby check up, laundry) that I didn't have time to post it. I'm proud of how well I was able to plan around what I already have in my pantry. I've been working on stocking my pantry when things are on sale, rather than when I run out of something. The list of items I needed to complete my meals was much shorter this week. Mainly dairy, bread, and produce. I'm trying new recipes Tuesday and Thursday. Both I got from my cousin. I know she found them online, but she didn't include the links in the e-mail.

Monday: Lasagna (leftover in the freezer), salad, French bread.

Tuesday: Rice & Lentil Skillet, salad, French bread.

Wednesday: Eating at church.

Thursday: Ham and Potato Bake and biscuits.

Friday: Leftovers.

Saturday: BBQ Chicken, hashbrown casserole, corn on the cob, rolls.

Sunday lunch: Venison roast, rice, sweet peas, rolls.

Sunday supper: Grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup and/or leftovers.

Lunch ideas:

Turkey-bacon sandwiches
Leftover enchiladas in freezer
Philly cheesesteak sandwiches
Chicken fried rice with egg rolls
Frozen pizza

I'm the 319th person to post my menu plan on Menu Plan Monday at OrgJunkie.com this week.

Bookin' It: March Update

2010-04-06T09:54:00.000-07:00

I accomplished my goal of reading three non-fiction books in the month of March. I read QBQ! : The question behind the question: practicing personal accountability in work and in life by John G. Miller (suggested by Crystal at MoneySavingMom.com in her March book reviews), Treasuring God in Our Traditions by Noel Piper, and Counterfeit Gods by Tim Keller. I also finished A Wife After God’s Own Heart by Elizabeth George, which I have deliberately been reading very slowly since January, and The Prodigal God by Tim Keller, which I was reading with a Bible Study group.

It was questionable whether I would make my goal this month as I got side-tracked mid-way through the month by finding Lloyd Alexander's The Prydain Chronicles (5 books)and Robin McKinley's The Blue Sword and The Hero and the Crown on the 10 cent book table at the library. They definitely hindered my progress through Pilgrim's Progress, a book that I just cannot get into but I'm really trying to read since our pastor frequently reads excerpts from it in his sermons. He obviously enjoyed reading it more than I have. (Last Wednesday night, he stated it was his favorite book. When I have the opportunity, I'm going to ask him if he actually enjoys reading it or if he just likes the message.)

These were truly all great reads. QBQ! : The question behind the question: practicing personal accountability in work and in life was a very easy book to read. The chapters were just a page or two each. Each chapter built on the chapter before and was often mostly examples. A book does not have to be complex to make an important point, though. Rather the easy style of this book makes the valuable message of personal accountability accessible to readers on many levels. It focuses on the importance of asking yourself questions like, "What can I do to make this better? How can I improve this?" Rather than "When is someone going to help me? Why does no one ever meet my needs? Who is going to help me?" His rules for asking better questions are they should begin with "What" or "How" (not "Why," "When," or "Who"); contain an "I" (not "they," "them," "we," or "you"); and focus on action. While the book is focused on business professionals, it's very applicable in any situation. Most of us have a tendency to sometimes fall into a victim mentality. This is the type of book that you want to put on a yearly reading list and revisit it annually. It's too easy to fall back into the blame game.

Treasuring God in Our Traditions has been on my "want to read" list for years, but it's never been in our library and I've never wanted to spend the money on it. However, as our son was approaching his second birthday I decided that the time had come to read this book. I really loved this book. There is nothing Earth shattering in it, but it simply makes you think about ways that you can include God in your every day traditions and in the big celebrations like birthdays, Easter, and Christmas.

Both of the Tim Keller books make you stop and examine your own life if you are a professing Christian. Prodigal God revisits a very familiar story, The Prodigal Son, but examines both the younger and the older son. Most of the time we just focus on the younger son, the great sinner who spends all his inheritance and ends up feeding pigs before returning to his father's home to beg for forgiveness. Keller points out that the older son is not faultness either. He rejects his father after the father forgives his younger brother. The older brother says that all this time he has been serving his father perfectly but has never gotten anything from him. Keller shows how many people in the church are like the older son, following the laws of God simply for what they can get from Him, not because they love the Heavenly Father.

Keller continues to make readers squirm in Counterfeit Gods where he indentifies the common idols most common in American Christians. The subtitle is "The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope That Matters." If you think "money, sex and power" don't apply to you, he also talks about family, romantic love, and security. In the introduction, he says that we can identify our idols by examining our daydreams, our fears, and our emotions. "What do we enjoy imagining?" "What do we fear most?" "What makes us uncontrollably angry, anxious, or despondent?" This a book that makes you think about how you really value God. Most Christians would list our priorities with God at the top, but is He really?

For April, my reading list is a little lighter. I've checked out Jamie's food revolution : rediscover how to cook simple, delicious, affordable meals by Jamie Oliver and The Millionaire Mind by Thomas J. Stanley at the library. I'm currently reading From Fear to Freedom: Living as Sons and Daughters of God for a Book Club discussion at church. I would also like to read At the Back of the North Wind by George McDonald, a classic children's fiction novel.

The Bookin' It challenge is hosted by FishMama at LifeasMom.com. To see what others are reading, check out the links on FishMama's Bookin' It Update.

Menu Plan Monday

2010-03-29T07:43:00.000-07:00

Last week I tried two new recipes Mexican Chicken and Tomato Herb Pasta, which I served together with garlic cheese biscuits. That was a great meal. I highly recommend them.

After seeing calzones on someone else's menu plan, I changed my plans last week and made calzones instead of Homemade Pizza. I followed Erin's (at $5 Dinners) directions for Pepperoni Calzones but used my usual no-rise pizza crust recipe since I don't have a bread machine.

This week since we have plans with family for Easter, I won't have to cook Friday or Saturday. WhooHoo! To make it easier, we're having leftovers on Thursday because we have a Maundy Thursday service at our church that night.

I'm trying to learn to plan my menu based on what I already have in the pantry and freezer. Here's what I ended up with:

Monday: Tacos, Spanish rice, tortilla chips, cheese sauce.

Tuesday: Chicken pot pie with cheesy biscuit topping.

Wednesday: Baked pork chops, black-eyed peas, macaroni and cheese, and corn bread.

Thursday: Leftover Chicken Spaghetti, salad, and French bread.

Sunday: Grilled cheese and tomato soup or leftovers.

I still have a few leftovers in the freezer for lunches this week. Beyond leftovers, I plan to fix:

Turkey BLT Wraps
Philly Cheesesteak Sandwiches
Brown bag burritos

I also plan to try this new muffin recipe for breakfast one morning:
Oatmeal Tea Muffins.

For 100s more menu ideas, check out Menu Plan Monday at OrgJunkie.com.

Menu Plan Monday

2010-03-23T11:57:00.000-07:00

. . . or Tuesday. All last week and Monday John worked 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. because someone was on vacation. That completely threw our schedule off. We are all happy to be back on our normal schedule. This week I tried to base my menu more from what I had on hand in the freezer and pantry rather than just thumbing through my recipe binder and choosing things that appealed to me.

Monday: Baked Ziti and French Bread.

Tuesday: Baked Teriyaki Chicken, fried rice, salad, and egg rolls.

Wednesday: Supper @ church. It's potluck and everyone is to bring a side dish and/or dessert. I'm taking Oatmeal Cookies and Corn in Butter Sauce.

Thursday: Mexican Chicken, Tomato Herb Pasta, salad, and French Bread.

Friday: Homemade Pizza.

Saturday: Baked Chimichangas, Spanish rice, chips, and queso cheese dip.

Sunday: Tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches and/or leftovers.

Sunday Lunch: Pork loin, rice, green beans, and rolls.

This week I'm going to pull leftovers out of the freezer for lunch a couple of days. Lunches other than leftovers:

BBQ chicken sandwiches (using leftover BBQ chicken)
Fried chicken wraps
Ham poboys

Since I'm running late this week, there are already 424 other menu plans linked to Menu Plan Monday at OrgJunkie.com.

Menu Plan Monday

2010-03-15T11:43:00.000-07:00

I had a written meal plan last week, I just didn't take the time to post it. My son didn't feel well and needed lots and lots of attention, including in the middle of the night. This week, my husband is going to be working late so I've planned meals that can be prepared at our regular supper time for Ben and me, but then easily reheated when John gets home.

Notice that there are no chicken thighs on this week's menu. I got a really good deal on them last week (.59 cents a lb) and then served them too many times (3). By the third meal, we all kind of gagged at the sight.

Monday: Shepherd's Pie, green beans, and rolls.

Tuesday: Lasagna, salad, and homemade French bread.

Wednesday: Red beans & rice and corn bread.

Thursday: Chicken Spaghetti, salad, and French bread.

Friday: Chicken Enchiladas and refried beans.

Saturday: Hamburgers and French fries.

Sunday: Leftovers.

This week because of his unusual work hours, John will be eating breakfast at home instead of lunch.

My breakfast plans for this week are:
Cinnamon struesel coffee cake and oatmeal.
Biscuits, grits, and sausage. (I'll freeze half the uncooked biscuits and cook them Sunday morning.)
Waffles and bacon.
Overnight Cinnamon Rolls and oatmeal.
Banana bread and cereal.

For 100s more menu ideas, check out Menu Plan Monday at OrgJunkie.com.

Bookin' It: February Update

2010-03-03T11:15:00.000-08:00

This month I really began to enjoy reading non-fiction. My reading list has grown substantially. Everywhere I turn it seems like I hear about another book I want to read. And our public library has an amazing number of them available. This is such a change from the library where we lived until we moved in September. In February I read:

The Housing Boom and Bust by Thomas Sowell
The Hidden Art of Homemaking by Edith Schaeffer
Beloved Bride: The Letters of Stonewall Jackson to His Wife by Bill Potter
Family Feasts for $75 a Week: A Penny-wise Mom Shares Her Recipe for Cutting Hundreds from Your Monthly Food Bill by Mary Ostyn

I wrote about The Housing Boom and Bust in my January Bookin' It Update. Today I'm more interested in reviewing The Hidden Art of Homemaking and Beloved Bride.

The Hidden Art of Homemaking by Edith Schaeffer
I didn't really enjoy reading this book. It did not draw me in and pull me through it. However, once I finished it, I felt inspired by what I had read. I lit scented candles around my house. When Rachel Anne at Home Sanctuary set making one "pocket" beautiful as the small thing of the day, I looked around my house for appropriate containers and made natural arrangements from sticks and grasses (a suggestion of Schaeffer's) for my undecorated mantle. I was so pleased by improving this one spot that I spent the next few days hanging pics around my house.

I think this book would be more inspring for someone who actually has hidden creative talents (unlike me). For example, someone who played the flute all through high school but hasn't picked it up in ten years. Or someone who secretly dreamed of being an artist and now spends all day in a cubicle. Schaeffer encourages readers to use these "hidden arts" in their homes to brighten the lives of their family and friends.

Beloved Bride: The Letters of Stonewall Jackson to His Wife by Bill Potter
This book is a collection of excerpts of letters written by Stonewall Jackson to his wife Anna. Anna originally compiled this collection of excerpts and destroyed the original letters before her death. Bill Potter places the letters in the context of Jackson's life as he's writing them to Anna. What I found most interesting in Jackson's letters was how strongly he felt that God was blessing the Confederacy. He was a deeply religious man who wouldn't even mail letters the he thought would travel on Sunday. There is no discussion of the slave issue in the letters presented. The Jacksons' themselves owned several household slaves, who are mentioned. One wonders how Jackson reconciled his religious views with slavery. This book examines a very limited part of Jackson's life, his relationship through letters with his wife, whom he obviously adored. Potter suggests further reading for a more rounded picture of Jackson. In his opinion, the best overall biography of Jackson is Stonewall Jackson, The Man, The Soldier, The Legend by James I. Robertson. This is available at our library so I may read more about Stonewall Jackson but for now I've moved on to The Life and Letters of Robert E. Lee by Dr. J. W. Jones, which we had on our shelves.

If you are interested in my thoughts on Family Feasts for $75 a Week: A Penny-wise Mom Shares Her Recipe for Cutting Hundreds from Your Monthly Food Bill by Mary Ostyn I wrote a bit about it in my Menu Plan Monday post this week.

I also read two works of fiction that had slipped onto my reading list:

The Magician’s Nephew by C. S. Lewis
Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society by Mary Ann Schaffer

Okay, maybe "read" isn't the right word. I want to read the Narnia series, but have had a hard time getting started. I decided to purchase the Focus on the Family dramatized audiobooks on Ebay. While my son napped, I listened to The Magician’s Nephew as I was travelling to visit my parents a few weeks ago. Now I know how Narnia came into being. I plan to continue listening to the Narnia books rather than reading them. Since all my family lives several hours away, we make a good many road trips a year.

Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society by Mary Ann Schaffer
This quirky title caught my eye at the libary, but I didn't check it out. Then I read a review of it linked up to Fish Mama's January Bookin' It Update. Kimberly described it as "delightful" (read her review here). She added that the only other books she would describe as delightful were the Anne of Green Gables series. Since these have been some of my favorites since I first read them in sixth grade, I decided to give it a try. She was right. It is delightful, and sad, and happy. It was hard to put down. This is a book that I would recommend to all my female friends.

I have several book on my list for March, but since I haven't been able to go to the library (I've had a bad cold for a week) the only one I've started is the Lee biography.

Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan
QBQ! : The question behind the question: practicing personal accountability in work and in life by John G. Miller
Life and Letters of Gen. Robert Edward Lee by Dr. J. W. Jones
Treasuring God in Our Traditions by Noel Piper

Menu Plan Monday

2010-03-01T11:38:00.001-08:00

Last week I read Family Feasts for $75 a Week by Mary Ostyn. (You can check out her blog Owlhaven for more information about her.) The book is part how-to guide to frugal shopping and cooking and part cookbook. The first four chapters deal with menu planning, getting the best price on groceries, and cooking from scratch. Since the I read a lot of frugal blogs, the information wasn't new, but it inspired me to try a few new things including checking out the prices at other grocery stores. In the six months we've lived here, I've done all my grocery shopping at Wal-Mart, four miles down the road. Driving another 10 miles takes me to a larger town the has numerous grocery stores. I hadn't been in any of them. Thursday when the sale flyers came in the mail, I chose one that had been interesting me and decided to shop there this morning.

It was a bit of a bust. The sale prices were great. The problem was that the regular prices weren't comparable to Wal-Mart. While I saved $1 on each bottle of vegetable oil I bought, the price of bacon was $2 more a package and a block of cheese $1 more. I ended up buying 16 sale priced items and then headed to my usual Wal-Mart. I know that some people shop at several stores and get the best prices at each store. I'm not sure if I'm willing to spend the time to do that.

Last week I got a head cold and ended up not making the potato soup in homemade bread bowls. I just didn't feel up for a major project. Supposedly another cold front is going to come through this month so I'll save that for a cold, icky day.

This week I'm cooking:

Monday: Mexican Chicken Pasta Skillet.

Tuesday: Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya, salad, garlic bread.

Wednesday: Dinner at church.

Thursday: Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, corn, rolls.

Friday: Chili Cheese fries. (Man food while I'm attending a women's conference at church.)

Saturday: Homemade Pizza.

Sunday: Grilled cheese and tomato soup or leftovers.

Sunday lunch: Crockpot roast, rice, green beans, rolls.

I plan six quick lunches (Monday-Saturday) each week but don't designate a day. This week I tried shopping for two weeks so I have 12 lunch ideas:

Tuna-Macaroni casserole (carryover from last week)
Tacos
Frozen pizza
Baked Chimichanga (recipe from Ostyn book)
Ham Poboys
Easy Pizza rolls (recipe from Ostyn book)
Shrimp Poboys
Chicken Fried Rice
Sloppy Joes or BBQ sandwiches if meat leftover from Sunday roast
Hamburgers
Hamburger Rice Skillet

For lots of great menu ideas, check out Menu Plan Monday at OrgJunkie.com. Over 300 bloggers have already posted their menu plans.

Menu Plan Monday

2010-02-22T12:04:00.000-08:00

I am trying new recipes Tuesday and Thursday. I haven't decided exactly which recipe I'm using on Tuesday. I just know that I have some cube steak that I plan to fry. I've looked online and there are lots of options. I'll decide sometime tomorrow. I have a ham bone in the freezer leftover from the Crockpot Maple Ham I fixed a couple of weeks ago. I wanted to find a use for it so I'm using a potato soup recipe on Thursday that calls for a ham bone to make the stock. I'm also going to try to make bread bowls.

Monday: Leftover ham, black-eyed peas, mac & cheese, and corn bread.

Tuesday: Fried cube steak, mashed potatoes, corn, rolls.

Wednesday: Potluck at church. I'm taking hashbrown casserole and brownies.

Thursday: Cheesy Creamy Ham and Potato Soup in homemade bread bowls.

Friday: Chicken Enchiladas and refried beans.

Saturday: Hamburgers and chips.

Sunday: grilled cheese and tomato soup or leftovers.

My husband comes home for lunch most days. I plan five lunches, but don't designate a day for them. Last week he didn't feel well and was craving cool dishes with lettuce and tomatoes. I substituted this Doritoes Taco Salad recipe for the bean quesadillas I had planned to fix. He really enjoyed it. Since I didn't have any taco seasoning for this last minute substitution I went online and found this taco seasoning recipe. It worked well and I had everything in my spice cabinet. Next time I will decrease the amount of chili powder, though.

Lunches:
bean quesadillas (carry over from last week)
HB Helper (been carrying over for several weeks)
frozen pizza
tuna mac & cheese casserole
sloppy joes

For 100s more great menu plan ideas, check out Menu Plan Monday at OrgJunkie.com.

Menu Plan Monday

2010-02-15T06:15:00.001-08:00

Last week's Crockpot Maple Ham was a great success. Since the ham was more expensive than what I would usually spend on a single meal, I was happy that there were plenty of leftovers that I froze for later. Planning to eat at church has been a bust for me lately. Thankfully I had a backup plan for Friday night. John came home exhaused Friday from a crazy long week that ended with several inches of snow that threw everyone into panic mode. Saturday and Sunday he felt terrible and spent both days on the couch and had very little appetite. This week we are planning to eat at church Wednesday night, but if something happens I know I have leftover ham and a bag of frozen black-eyed peas that can be substituted. Ben and I are going to be travelling to visit my family this weekend so that leaves John eating a variety of frozen pizzas, Hot Pockets, etc.

Monday: Shepherd's Pie, green beans, rolls.

Tuesday: Chicken and Sausage Creole over rice, homemade French bread.

Wednesday: Eating at church.

Thursday: Baked Teriyaki Chicken, lo mein, salad, egg rolls.

Friday and Saturday: John left with frozen food.

Sunday: Tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches.

Here are our lunches in no particular order. Friday, Ben and I will be on the road so we'll all just have to pick something up. Some are carrryovers from last week that didn't get eaten.

Bean Quesadillas
BLTs
Fried Chicken wraps
Hamburger Helper

For 100s more menu plan ideas, check out Menu Plan Monday at OrgJunkie.com.

Valentine's Day Cookies

2010-02-10T18:14:00.000-08:00

This afternoon my nearly two-year-old son and I made sugar cookies for Valentine's Day, hearts, of course, plus some puppy dogs and moons for fun. We both had a good time and didn't make too big of a mess.

I've never made cut-out cookies before and was impressed with how well they turned out. I had planned to buy a package of sugar cookie mix at the grocery store this week, but they were sold out. Last night I went online and found a recipe to make them from scratch. I halved the recipe and based on some reviews added more sugar and vanilla. Below is the recipe I used and a link to the original recipe.

Rolled Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight).

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely.

Original Sugar Cookie recipe

Bookin' It: January Update

2010-02-08T19:28:00.001-08:00

I set a goal for myself for 2010 to read three non-fiction books a month. In January I read Basic Economics by Thomas Sowell, most of Sheperding a Child's Heart by Tedd Tripp, and about half of A Wife After God's Own Heart by Elizabeth George.

A Review of Basic Economics: A Citizen's Guide to the Economy by Thomas Sowell (pictured left).

I've been wanting to read Basic Economics for some time now, but it's not been available when I went to the library. I finally had to place a hold on it and got it last week. The plain cover and boring name are deceptive. This is a highly readable and very interesting book. Although it was written in 2000, it is very relevant to our current economic situation. My library had the first edition. There are three editions available, the most recent published in 2007.

Sowell defines economics as "the study of the use of scarce resources which have alternative uses" (1). That definition sounds pretty vague, but as he continues to repeat this almost mantra-like throughout the book, it begins to make sense. Economics is not just about money and prices, but how the allocation of resources (natural resources, financial resources, labor, etc) affects society as a whole. Sowell is obviously a proponent of the free market and believes that the market best determines the allocation of resources, not government intervention. This decade-old book really helped me better understand how our economy works. However, it also scared me because if even most of Sowell's assertions are correct the bail-out and government takeover policies recently enacted by our government are slowing our county's economic recovery rather than hastening it. He is critical of the concept of "saving jobs" (a major political talking point these days) stating that while the government saves the jobs of a few it comes at great expense to many often in the form of higher prices or direct taxation. He gives examples of companies that were once the largest of their kind that did not keep up with the changing society and are now very small (i.e. A & P Grocery Stores and White Castle). Their decline did not cause widespread devestation, but instead they were replaced by other companies or new industries (computers replacing typewriters). In the final chapter, Sowell writes:

Perhaps more than anything else, an understanding of basic economics can enable us to consider policy issues in terms of the incentives they create and the consequences that follow, rather than simply the goals they proclaim and how wonderful it would be to achieve such goals. . . .While critics of various programs often point out "unintended consequences" that did more harm than good, many of these consequences were predictable from the outset if people had looked at the incentives created, rather than the goals proclaimed. (345)

I followed up by reading The Housing Boom and Bust by the same author, which was published in 2009. As the title indicates, he looks at the reasons behind the recent housing bust and economic down turn. Another interesting read.

Sowell writes a weekly syndicated column that is available online along with more information about him and his books at tsowell.com.

Reading Challenge Update
Earlier I said that I haven't completed either of the other two books. I read 15 of the 19 chapters of Shepherding a Child's Heart. The last four chapters dealt specifically with children ages 5-12 and teenagers. Since my son isn't quite 2 years old, I didn't feel like these chapters were currently relevant for me. This is a book that I will probably refer back to for instruction and encouragement throughout the years and I will read those chapters as as my son approaches those ages.

I've elected to read A Wife After God's Own Heart more slowly. It's an easy read. If uninterrupted, I could probably speed through it in an afternoon. However, at the end of each chapter Elizabeth George challenges the reader to actually put the concepts into practice by suggesting small (and sometimes large) things to do. I felt like this book would be more valuable read a chapter or two a week where I could meditate on and apply George's suggestions.

February Reading List
The Hidden Art of Homemaking by Edith Schaeffer (available at library)
Beloved Bride: The Letters of Stonewall Jackson to His Wife by Bill Potter (will buy)
The Magician’s Nephew by C. S. Lewis (own)
A History of the American People by Paul Johnson (available at library)

To see what other people are reading, check out LifeAsMom.com.

Menu Plan Monday

2010-02-07T20:32:00.000-08:00

Last week's menu plan had to be adjusted and adjusted and adjusted again. I could not find a ham I liked at Wal-Mart so I thought I would pick one up at the other grocery store (we just have two), which is right beside the bank where I had to go anywhere. We haven't lived here long and I've never actually been in the other store. Turns out that it is VERY expensive. There was no way I was paying that much for a ham. They had whole chickens for $.89 a pound so I bought chicken instead. So Tuesday we had Roasted Chicken. There was also enough meat left over for two more meals.

Wednesday Ben had a terrible cough and runny nose (he's finally better, but now John has a cold) so we didn't go to church. I moved Thursday's meatloaf to Wednesday since I didn't have a plan and then pulled together Chicken Pot Pie from my pantry on Thursday. I use a chicken pot pie recipe I cut off the back of a Bisquick box, but I haven't bought Bisquick in ages. An easy substitute for Bisquick is 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt, and 2 Tbsp shortening cut into the dry ingredients.

Saturday night we ended up having hamburgers just because my husband thought that sounded good and we had all the ingredients. So the leftover fajitas I had planned for Saturday easily moved to Sunday.

This week I'm planning on trying two new recipes including the ham that I didn't get to last week.

Monday: Tacos and Spanish rice

Tuesday: Crockpot Maple Ham, baked beans, corn on the cob, and rolls.

Wednesday: Crockpot Brown Sugar Chicken, over rice, sweet peas, and rolls.

Thursday: Mexican Chicken Pasta Skillet.

Friday: Eat at church for Missions Conference/or Spaghetti and garlic bread if John doesn't get home from work in time.

Saturday: Eat at church for Missions Conference

Sunday: Tomato soup and grilled cheese.

I also fix lunch every day for the three of us. I'm starting to get in a rut and am struggling to come up with quick, economical lunch ideas. I would love some suggestions. Here's what we're having this week. I don't assign a day to them.

Philly cheese steak sandwiches with chips and fruit.
Chicken fried rice with egg rolls (from the frozen food section).
French bread pizzas.
Black Bean Quesadillas.
Hamburger Helper of some variety.

It's not even Monday yet and 78 people have already posted their menu plans at OrgJunkie.com. Last week more than 500 were posted. Check it out.

Menu Plan Monday

2010-02-01T07:18:00.000-08:00

My husband had to work out of town last week so Ben and I spent a couple of days visiting family and just ate leftovers and frozen pizza the days we were home. I'm excited to get back on schedule this week. When John isn't here, I'm not motivated to get much done.

This week we're going to be eating out two days. On Monday our Sunday School class is having a potluck dinner. I'm taking two Peanut Butter Pies. I'll post the recipe at the bottom. On Wednesdays, we have dinner at church.

I'm trying a new recipe on Tuesday.

Monday: Dinner with Sunday School class.

Tuesday: Crockpot Maple Ham, baked beans, corn on the cob, rolls.

Wednesday: Chick-fil-a at church.

Thursday: Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, sweet peas, rolls.

Friday: Oven-baked BBQ brisket, twice-baked potatoes, green beans, garlic bread.

Saturday: Hamburgers, chips.

Sunday: Nachoes for the Super Bowl.

Peanut Butter Pie from Take Five for Every Occasion: A Five Ingredient Cookbook by Debbye Dabbs.

8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
4 oz whipped topping
1 (9 inch) chocolate crumb pie shell

Combine the cream cheese, peanut butter and condensed milk in a mixing bowl. Beat with a hand mixer until smooth and creamy. Fold in the whipped topping. Spoon into the pie shell. Chill for three hours.

Serving suggestions:
Try serving it drizzled with choclate syrup. Slice some chocolate-covered peanut butter cups for a garnish.

For more menu plan ideas, check out OrgJunkie.com. Nearly three hundred bloggers have already posted their menu plans.

I'm Booking It 2010

2010-01-19T16:01:00.000-08:00

I saw on one of my favorite blogs Money Saving Mom that another popular homemaking blogger FishMama is hosting a reading challenge. That is a challenge I could definitely get into. Crystal (Money Saving Mom) is challenging herself to read four non-fiction books a month. While I want to read more non-fiction, I have a bad habit of starting non-fiction books and not finishing them. I think three a month will be a good challenge for me. My original list was short, but as I've read the reading goals of other bloggers, it continues to grow and grow. Here's my newly edited list:

January

A Wife After God’s Own Heart by Elizabeth George (own)
Basic Economics by Thomas Sowell (available at library)
Shepherding a Child’s Heart by Tedd Tripp (own)

February
The Hidden Art of Homemaking by Edith Schaeffer (available at library)
Beloved Bride: The Letters of Stonewall Jackson to His Wife by Bill Potter (will buy)
The Magician’s Nephew by C. S. Lewis (own)
Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew (available at library)

March
Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan

Books to incorporate into list:

Future Grace by John Piper
Treasuring God in Our Traditions by Noel Piper
Family Feasts for $75 a Week: A Penny-wise Mom Shares Her Recipe for Cutting Hundreds from Your Monthly Food Bill by Mary Ostyn
The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis (fiction, but still a worthy addition to the list. I've had these books for years and haven't read the whole set.)
Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis
Captivating by John and Staci Eldridge
The $5 Dinner Mom Cookbook
Instructing a Child’s Heart by Tedd Tripp

Menu Plan Monday

2010-01-18T11:32:00.001-08:00

Monday I had a supper disaster when the pork chops I prepared turned out to the freezed burned. We ended up eating a lot of peas, cornbread, and mac and cheese. I like the idea of Friday's teriyaki chicken wings, but these were a little over-cooked. I'll have to do some research and look at other chicken wing recipes and see if maybe they should be cooked at a different temp or for a different amount of time. I wasn't feeling very creative this morning as I planned our menu for the week. I didn't even look at any new recipes. I did try a new recipe at lunch, though. John liked these quick and easy Black Bean Quesadillas.

Here is my menu for the week:

Monday: Chicken and Sausage Creole over rice, salad, garlic bread.

Tuesday: Spaghetti, green beans, garlic bread.

Wednesday: Dinner at church.

Thursday: BBQ Chicken Thighs, hashbrown casserole, corn on the cob, and rolls.

Friday: Fajitas and Spanish rice.

Saturday: Hamburgers, French fries.

Sunday: grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup or leftovers.

Over 400 bloggers have already posted their menus for this week at
OrgJunkie.com. Check it out for great menu planning and organizational ideas.

Menu Plan Monday

2010-01-11T07:04:00.000-08:00

Last week I had a menu plan, but I never wrote it down. This week I've done better. I sat down and wrote out my menu and my grocery list this morning. Wednesday night we are having a concert at church but no supper so I planned a quick supper that can be in the crockpot ready early in case Ben wakes up from his nap fussy as sometimes happens. Friday night I'm trying a new recipe. This weekend we are expecting some family in town to visit us. To keep it low stress, I plan to order pizzas Saturday night. I'll be on the lookout for the best pizza coupons in our area this week.

Monday: Baked Pork Chops, mac & cheese, black eyed peas, and corn bread.

Tuesday: Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, corn, rolls.

Wednesday: Chili with Fritoes.

Thursday: Chicken spaghetti, salad, garlic bread.

Friday: Asian Chicken Wings, lo mein, egg rolls, salad.

Saturday: Order Pizzas.

Sunday: Grilled cheese and tomato soup or leftovers.

Last week nearly 500 people posted their menu plans at OrgJunkie.com. Check it out.

Menu Plan Monday

2009-12-14T08:50:00.000-08:00

Our life has been so crazy for the last couple of months that I haven't been meal planning. Only Ben and I have been here most of the time so there hasn't been a reason to cook big meals. Last week John was here. I had a plan in my head, but I never wrote it down. He's here again this week so I forced myself back into my old habit of writing my meal plan down on a calendar. I am even trying a new recipe on Tuesday. It is the first time since we moved. Maybe life if finally getting back to normal for us.

Here is this week's plan:

Monday: Shepherd's pie, green beans, rolls.

Tuesday: Chicken Carbonara, salad, garlic bread.

Wednesday: Christmas meal at church.

Thursday: Enchilada Pie.

Friday: Fried Chicken wraps.

Saturday: Homemade Pizza.

Sunday lunch: Beef tips in gravy, rice, green beans, rolls.

For hundreds more meal plan ideas, check out Menu Plan Monday at OrgJunkie.com.

Menu Plan Monday

2009-11-02T07:47:00.000-08:00

My husband is home this week. Most likely, he will have to be gone again next week, but we're going to take joy in having him here this week AND in eating real food. This week I have a meal plan that isn't frozen pizza, chicken nuggets, turkey sandwiches, etc.

I'm trying two new recipes this week: Tuesday and Sunday lunch. On Tuesday, I plan to use the cheesy filling recipe, but my regular pot pie crust, which is from the back of the bisquick box.

Monday: Crawfish Étouffée over rice, salad.

Tuesday: Cheesy Chicken Pot Pie.

Wednesday: Cookout at John's office

Thursday: Lasagna, salad, garlic bread.

Friday: Enchilada Pie and Mexican Rice.

Saturday: Teriyaki Pork Loin, lo mein, sweet peas, rolls.

Sunday lunch: Crockpot Chicken Thighs with carrots and potatoes and rolls.

It's been weeks since I've been part of OrgJunkie's Menu Plan Monday. Check it out.

Menu Plan Monday

2009-10-05T19:41:00.000-07:00

My meal planning is on hiatus for a while. We moved last weekend, but our move and John starting his new position didn't line up quite right. He's still camping at our old house doing his old job for a while (we're not sure how long). Anyway, he's eating Hot Pockets, frozen pizza, etc while Ben and I are eating sandwiches, leftovers from the weekend, and chicken nuggets.

While I'm not spending much time preparing lunch and dinner, I want to focus more on planning breakfasts for Ben. I had gotten into a bad habit of pouring dry cereal in a cup and sitting him in front on the Disney channel in the mornings. At our new house, Disney isn't part of the basic cable package. I was furious when I first discovered this. Now I see it as an opportunity to start better habits, particularly sitting at the table and eating a more nutritious breakfast and watching less TV. This week we're going to alternate Apple Sauce Muffins, frozen waffles, and biscuits and scrambled eggs.

John will be here for the weekend and will be wanting real food after a week of take out and frozen junk. I'll update when I decide what recipes I'll be preparing those days.

Although I'm not doing much meal planning this week, there are still 100s of others posting menu plans at OrgJunkie.com.

Menu Plan Monday?

2009-09-08T08:26:00.001-07:00

Okay, so it's Tuesday again, but yesterday was a holiday. At least I'm posting this week. Last week I didn't even post. I did have a menu plan, though. Somewhere last week I came upon a recipe for Chicken Broccoli and Rice in a skillet. I guess I didn't copy down the recipe. Probably because I changed it so much. It turned out really tasty, though. I used some cut up leftover chicken, two cups of chicken broth (water would work), one cup of parboiled rice, a cup of so of frozen broccoli, and a can of broccoli cheese soup. I cooked it all together in a skillet using the usual rice directions.

Here are two new recipes I tried the previous week that we really liked. They will be added to my favorite's binder.

Chicken and Black Bean Enchilada Casserole

I got the following recipe from somewhere, but failed to copy down the URL. Because I like to give proper credit, I've searched for the site, but can't find it.

Cheesy Chicken

Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts cooked and shredded
1 8 count crescent rolls
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup milk or buttermilk
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degress. Spray 9x13 pan with Pam. Lay out crescent rolls in 4 sections on waxed paper. (Keep the triangles together to form a rectangle). Put shredded chicken and cheese on rolls and roll them up (like a short burrito). Mix cream of chicken soup and milk and heat on stovetop in a small pan until fairly smooth. (add any leftover chicken or cheese to this). Pour between crescent rolls in pan. (Be careful to pour around, not on top or they will be mushy!). Bake in oven for 15-20 minutes or until crescent rolls are cooked through and brown on top.

I'm trying a new recipe on Thursday. This week's menu:

Monday: Homemade Pizza

Tuesday: Baked Teriyaki Chicken, fried rice, and egg rolls.

Wednesday: Baked Pork Chops, fried okra, mac and cheese, French bread.

Thursday: Ranch Chicken, baked potatoes, corn on the cob, French bread.

Friday: Fried chicken wraps.

Saturday: Leftover Lasagna, salad, French bread.

Simple Sunday Supper.

Check out 100s more menu plans at OrgJunkie.com.

Menu Plan Monday

2009-08-24T14:13:00.000-07:00

I didn't really think I would get my menu planned today. It's been a really busy day. We're getting our house ready to sell. This morning I had to go 35 miles up the interstate to the nearest Lowe's to buy some supplies. It's also laundry day. I'm cooking from the cupboard this evening to keep from having to grocery shop today, too.

I'm planning to try new recipes Tuesday and Thursday. Friday and Saturday we are going to be out of town looking for a new house. If we get back in town in time to eat supper at home Saturday night it will just be frozen pizza. Sunday night we'll have our usual simple supper, grilled cheese and tomato soup for John and whatever I scrounge up for myself and Ben.

Monday: Shepherd's Pie, corn, rolls.

Tuesday: Cheesy Chicken Rolls (recipe below), broccoli cheese rice.

Wednesday: Spaghetti, salad, French bread.

Thursday: Layered Chicken and Black Bean Enchilada Casserole.

I got this recipe from someone that posted on MPM last week, but I forgot to copy the web address. I tried searching for it, but couldn't find it again. I've seen this recipe several places and my mother-in-law fixes something like it, but I don't know who to give credit to. Sorry.

Cheesy Chicken

Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts cooked and shredded
1 8 count crescent rolls
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup milk or buttermilk
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degress. Spray 9x13 pan with Pam. Lay out crescent rolls in 4 sections on waxed paper. (Keep the triangles together to form a rectangle). Put shredded chicken and cheese on rolls and roll them up (like a short burrito). Mix cream of chicken soup and milk and heat on stovetop in a small pan until fairly smooth. (add any leftover chicken or cheese to this). Pour between crescent rolls in pan. (Be careful to pour around, not on top or they will be mushy!). Bake in oven for 15-20 minutes or until crescent rolls are cooked through and brown on top.

You can find 100s more menu plans at OrgJunkie.com.

Menu Plan Monday

2009-08-17T08:43:00.000-07:00

I was out of town all last week and this week my focus is getting our house ready to sell so my meal plan isn't very exciting. The only new recipe I'm trying is Thursday night. My grandparents gave me some baking apples, so I may try to make an apple pie.

Monday: Oven-Blasted Whole Roasted Chicken, mac & cheese, salad, rolls.

Tuesday: Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green beans, rolls.

Wednesday: Chicken Enchiladas, Spanish rice.

Thursday: Maui Chicken over rice, salad, rolls.

Friday: Tacos, refried beans.

Saturday: Grilled hamburgers, chips.

Simple Sunday Supper

Check out hundreds of other great menu plans at OrgJunkie.com.

No Menu Plan

2009-08-10T05:22:00.000-07:00

I'm going to be out of town this week so there is no meal plan. My husband will be heating up frozen pizzas, hot pockets, and leftovers.

Menu Plan Monday

2009-08-03T08:29:00.001-07:00

Last week I ended up changing around some things on my menu plan. First, while browsing other Menu Plan Monday posts, I found a recipe for Bourbon Chicken. I had all the ingredients in my cupboard so I decided to make it Monday instead of chicken fried rice. My husband loved the Bourbon Chicken.

Wednesday night I planned to try a new recipe, but my brother called Monday night and said they would be coming through Wednesday as they travelled on vacation. They came for supper and spent the night. I didn't want to try a new recipe on guests so I made lasagna (a tried and true recipe). Thursday night I prepared the new recipe, Rosemary Chicken and vegs. It was pretty much a bust so I'm glad I switched out the recipes for company.

This week I'm trying two new recipes, Wednesday and Thursday.

Monday: Steak Stir Fry over rice with eggrolls.

Tuesday: Chicken Parmesan, salad, French bread.

Wednesday: Country Fried Steak, mashed potatoes, green beans, rolls.

Thursday: Maui Chicken, rice, salad, rolls.

Friday: Homemade Pizza (Crust recipe) and Cheese bread.

Saturday: Hamburgers, baked beans, corn on the cob.

Simple Sunday Supper.

Laura at OrgJunkie.com is taking a blogging break this week so MPM is being hosted by Toni at TheHappyHousewife.com this week. Check it out.

Menu Plan Monday

2009-07-27T09:18:00.000-07:00

I finally fixed Crockpot Brown Sugar Chicken. It was very good. I added the recipe to my favorites binder.

Last week I couldn't find the link for the baked pork chop recipe I was cooking. I forgot how good those pork chops. Here is the link: Awesome Baked Pork Chops. I definitely recommend them.

This week we're eating mainly from the pantry. I only bought a few basics (milk, eggs, oj) at Wal-Mart this morning along with a handful of other items. I'm trying two new recipes, Wednesday and Saturday.

Monday: Chicken Fried Rice and eggs rolls.

Tuesday: Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, corn, rolls.

Wednesday: Rosemary Chicken and vegetables, rolls.

Thursday: Spaghetti, French bread.

Friday: Nachos, refried beans. (This was on the menu last week. I ended up getting take out that night.)

Saturday: Ultimate BBQ Chicken, baked beans, corn on the cob, French bread.

Simple Sunday Supper (leftovers, grilled cheese, etc.)

You can find 100s of other menu plans at OrgJunkie.com.

Menu Plan Monday

2009-07-20T08:22:00.000-07:00

WhooHoo! It's Monday and I'm posting my meal plan. This is the first week that I've been on time this month. I love to start weeks out like this. We've already been grocery shopping this morning.

Thursday I forgot to plug in the Crockpot so I ended up having to dump the Brown Sugar Chicken in the garbage. I was so aggravated with myself. I bought more chicken thighs so I'm going to try that again today.

I had a recipe disaster yesterday morning that was such a disappointment. I was so excited to try a recipe for Lemon Blueberry muffins from Country Living that I had printed months earlier, but didn't want to pay for fresh blueberries. Then someone at church gave me several cups of fresh blueberries last week. Maybe I left something out because they weren't good. Not very lemony and not very sweet. I managed to eat mine, but pulled some leftover chocolate chip muffins out of the freezer for my husband.

Monday: Brown Sugar Chicken, rice, fried squash, rolls.

Tuesday: Baked Pork Chops, macaroni and cheese, fried okra, corn bread.

Wednesday: Lasagna, salad, French bread.

Thursday: Enchilada Pie and Spanish rice.

Friday: Fried chicken wraps.

Saturday: Nachos and refried beans.

Simple Sunday Supper

You can find 100s of great menu plans at OrgJunkie.com.

Arghhhh!!

2009-07-16T13:52:00.001-07:00

For the second week in a row I've had problems using my crockpot. Last week I simply forgot that I planned to use my crockpot and didn't leave enough time for the meal to cook. Today, I got my chicken ready and put it in the pot about noon. I turned the pot on Low and was so happy that I wouldn't have to worry about supper this evening. Did you notice the step I missed? I didn't plug the crockpot in. That's right my chicken has been sitting on the counter for nearly four hours NOT COOKING.

Menu Plan Tuesday

2009-07-14T13:30:00.000-07:00

I haven't totally given up on Mondays yet, but I haven't managed to get this done on Monday in a while. I lost my grocery list somewhere in Wal-Mart today as I was shopping, so hopefully I remembered everything I need to prepare the meals that I've planned.

Last week I tried three new recipes. The Steak Stir Fry was a little too salty, but that was probably because I substituted a can of beef broth for the beef bouillon granules. I also substituted stew meat I had bought on sale for the strips of steak. Even with the saltiness, we both enjoyed this dish and I've put it in the recipe binder to make again.

Thursday I forgot that I was going to make Crockpot Ravioli so I didn't start it early enough to use the crockpot. Also, I couldn't find frozen ravioli with meat inside so I just bought the cheese ravioli and added hamburger to the sauce. If it was prepared correctly, it might be good but since neither of us really enjoyed the taste of the frozen ravioli, I doubt I try it again.

Friday night I made Cheeseburger Bread. I thought the chili powder taste was too strong, but my husband LOVED it. There was hardly any left over. I put this recipe in my folder, also. So I had two successes and one miss.

This week I'm trying new recipes Wednesday and Thursday.

Monday: Shepherd's Pie.

Tuesday: Crawfish Etouffee over rice, homemade French Bread.

Wednesday: Mexican Stuffed Shells, refried beans.

Thursday: Crockpot Brown Sugar Chicken, rice, fried squash, rolls.

Friday: Homemade Pizza (pizza crust link), cheese bread.

Saturday: Hamburgers, corn on the cob, baked beans.

Simple Sunday Supper

Take a few minutes to check out a few of the 300+ meal plans posted this week at OrgJunkie.com.

Menu Plan Monday

2009-07-07T13:16:00.001-07:00

I know it is Tuesday again. Although I didn't get my menu plan done on Monday, I am trying lots of new recipes this week -- Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. We came back from visiting friends and family this weekend with two bags of fresh veggies -- tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, and peppers. Supper last night was delicious.

I bought a package of Chocolate and Peanut Butter swirled morsels at the local scratch and dent store recently. I wasn't sure what I was going to do with them, but I went online and found a yummy cookie recipe from Nestle: Chocolate Peanut Butter Dream Cookies. These would be good made with plain peanut butter morsels, too.

Monday: Roasted Whole Chicken, fried squash, hashbrown casserole, tomatoes, cucumbers, homemade rolls.

Tuesday: Chicken Enchiladas and Spanish rice.

Wednesday: Steak Stir Fry, salad, egg rolls.

Thursday: Crockpot Ravioli, salad, French bread.

Friday: Cheeseburger Bread and fries.

Satuday: Steak, twiced-baked potatoes, salad, French bread.

Simple Sunday Supper

Currently over 300 bloggers have posted their meal plans for this week at OrgJunkie.com. Check them out. Being able to look at other peoples' menu plans and borrow their recipes has completely changed my own meal planning.

Menu Plan Monday(?)

2009-06-30T12:51:00.000-07:00

Okay, so it's Tuesday. You would think that I would have returned from our trip to Mexico refreshed and ready to work. Instead, I'm struggling to get back into the swing of grocery shopping and meal planning. Last week it was Wednesday before I planned my menu and shopped. This week it was Tuesday. Maybe next week will find me back on track. Supper last night was really good though.

Monday: Paula Deen's Potato Chip Crusted Chicken, hashbrown casserole, green beans, Homemade French Bread.

Tuesday: Lasagna, corn, French bread.

Wednesday: BBQ chicken thighs, baked beans, fried okra, French bread.

Thursday: Fajitas, refried beans.

Friday and Saturday -- Out of Town for the 4th of July

Simple Sunday Supper

For hundreds of menu ideas, check out Meal Plan Monday at OrgJunkie.com.

Goodbye Paper Towels

2009-06-25T12:32:00.001-07:00

Money Saving Mom did a series of posts a few months ago called 100 Ways to Save $100 this Year. One of her suggestions was to eliminate paper towel use. I thought this was interesting and did some research on how other people have accomplished this. The idea I decided to use was to purchase an attractive basket and fill it with old wash cloths and cut up towels. I already had a laundry basket full of old towels that had been rejected from daily use and were being used for major cleanups and to wash cars.

This has been in the back of my mind for months, but I hadn't found the right basket until Tuesday. I was in Hobby Lobby and they had all baskets 1/2 price. Pictured to the left is the basket I purchased. It was just the right size, shape, and color. As you can tell, I didn't get too ambitious and actually take down the paper towel holder. It may take a while for us (my husband, especially) to adjust to the idea of using the cloths instead of grabbing a paper towel.

Menu Plan Monday

2009-06-15T12:29:00.000-07:00

I really don't have much of a meal plan this week. I'm just posting to stay in the habit. My husband and I are going on vacation by ourselves this week. We're going to be on the beach in Mexico Wednesday through Sunday, hopefully not contracting swine flu. My in-laws are going to be staying at our house with our son, and they will be doing the planning and cooking. I am definitely not trying any new recipes Monday or Tuesday since I still have to pack and prepare for my in-laws to stay at my house (which means I need to clean).

Monday: Shepherd's pie, salad, rolls.

Tuesday: Chicken spaghetti, salad, rolls.

For hundreds of meal plan ideas, check out OrgJunkie.com.

Menu Plan Monday

2009-06-08T08:29:00.000-07:00

Last week I had two failures and one great success. First, the Slow Cooker Teriyaki Ribs were tender and tasty and VERY easy. That recipe is definitely staying in the binder. The Braised Herb Chicken Thighs were not as successful. It was difficult to get the chicken cooked through without the seasoning washing off. Maybe I didn't follow the directions right. Anyway, my husband is super-picky about chicken being thoroughly cooked so this didn't go well for us. I deleted this recipe from my computer and will recycle (print another recipe on the back of) the paper. My second failure was the Chicken Enchiladas that my husband loves. The recipe calls for a couple of spices that I don't have and don't plan to buy. I just substitute Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning. This has worked well in the past. This time, the Tony's got away from me and a whole bunch dumped into the chicken. It was FLAMING hot. I took two bites and poured myself a bowl of cereal. My husband braved through then ended up with a stomache.

I just ran out of time yesterday and never did a careful meal plan so this week's is kind of thrown together. I'm trying one new recipe on Wednesday.

Monday: Lasagna, salad and Italian Cheese Bread.

Tuesday: Chicken Pot Pie.

Wednesday: Steak Stir Fry and salad.

Thursday: Frozen Pizza (I'm going to be out of town.)

Friday: Tacos and refried beans.

Saturday: Grilled hamburgers and chips.

Super Supper Sunday

If Mr. Linky will cooperate, you can find 100s of meal plans at OrgJunkie.com.

Menu Plan Monday

2009-06-01T08:02:00.000-07:00

Last week I was in such a hurry that I didn't include links or mention my favorite new recipe from the week before. We really liked Paula Deen's Potato Chip Crusted Chicken. Last week I only tried one new recipe, but we both enjoyed it: Enchilada Pie. This week I couldn't help myself when meal planning and kept adding new recipes. I'm trying four, including a Crockpot Breakfast recipe I got from The Grocery Cart Challenge's weekly Friday recipe swap. I'm trying new recipes for dinner Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Monday: Hamburger Potato Casserole, corn, rolls.

Tuesday: Chicken Enchiladas and Spanish rice. (My husband LOVES these.)

Wednesday: Braised Herb Chicken Thighs with potatoes and carrots and rolls.

Thursday: Hamburger Rice Skillet and green beans.

Friday: Slow Cooker Teriyaki Ribs, Lo Mein noodles, and green peas.

Saturday: Steak nachos and refried beans. I don't really have a recipe for this. My husband just said the other day wouldn't it be cool to have nachos with steak on them so I bought some round steak and fajita seasoning and plan on giving it a try.

Simple Sunday Supper

Check out Menu Plan Monday at OrgJunkie.com. It's completely changed our family menu because I get so many good recipe ideas from other meal planners that post their menus.

Menu Plan Monday(?)

2009-05-26T18:27:00.000-07:00

Okay, so it's Tuesday. . . night, but I do have a meal plan for this week. I'm skipping Monday since I didn't cook last night. We seem to have eaten something bad Sunday and felt terrible yesterday. We just snacked. I had cereal for supper and my husband had ramen noodles, very unlike him. For tonight I'm not putting recipe links in, but I may come back tomorrow when I have more time and do it.

Tuesday: Spaghetti, leftover cheesebread

Wednesday: Roasted Chicken, scalloped potatoes, veggie, rolls

Thursday: Enchilada Pie, Spanish rice

Friday: Oven-baked wings, celery & carrots

Saturday: Hamburgers, baked beans, corn on the cob

For a couple of hundred more meal plan ideas, check out OrgJunkie.com.

Menu Plan Monday

2009-05-18T08:48:00.001-07:00

My trip to the beach two weeks ago was really worth it, especially since all it cost was gas and food. My aunt generously rented a condo on the beach then invited the whole family to join her. I'm still feeling refreshed and enthusiastic. This week I'm trying three new recipes: Monday, Tuesday, and Friday.

Last week's oven-baked BBQ chicken turned out really good. It took longer to cook than the recipe said, but I think that was because I used whole leg quarters instead of smaller pieces of chicken. The recipe is a keeper, though.

Monday: Baked Rigatoni, salad, and homemade French bread.

Tuesday: Potato Chip Crusted Chicken, broccoli cheese rice, green beans, rolls.

Wednesday: Parmesan Fish (recipe below), scalloped potatoes, broccoli with cheese sauce, French bread.

Thursday: Red beans & rice, salad, cornbread.

Friday: Pizza Braid, cheese bread, salad.

Saturday: We'll grill something. I'm just not sure what.

Simple Sunday Supper

Parmesan Fish recipe

1 lb white fish fillets.
1 tbsp lemon
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
4 tbsp butter, room temp
3 tbsp mayo
3 tbsp finely chopped green onions
1/4 tsp dried basil
black pepper
seasoning salt
1 dash hot pepper sauce

Preheat oven to broil.

Put fish on a baking sheet and squeeze lemon juice over all the fish fillets. Sprinkle with seasoning salt and pepper. Put fish in the oven for 2-3 minutes (they will be white, but not done yet).

While the fish is broiling, in a small bowl mix together parmesan cheese, butter, mayo, green onions, basil and hot pepper sauce. When fish have broiled a couple of minutes, take them out of the oven and spread the parmesan cheese mixture over the fish fillets. Place back in oven for 3-4 minutes until browned.

For hundreds more real menu plan ideas, check out Menu Plan Monday at OrgJunkie.com.

Menu Plan Monday

2009-05-11T08:38:00.000-07:00

I've had some blah weeks, haven't put much effort into the meal plan or anything else. I felt like I really needed some time away from the routine and was looking forward to the trip we had planned to Mexico for our 5th anniversary. Then the swine flu appeared and the CDC and State Department asked people not to travel to Mexico unless they really needed to. We listened and postponed our trip until the middle of June. Weeks earlier I had declined when my aunt invited us to go with her family to the Gulf Coast because we were going to Mexico at the same time. When our trip was postponed, I wasted no time calling and asking if we were still invited. Thankfully, we were so I still got some time away from the house and maybe it will help me feel more enthusiastic about my daily tasks.

I didn't have a menu plan to post last week and over the weekend I just scratched together some meals from the frig, freezer and cabinets. Today I planned to grocery shop but Ben is cutting his molars and is EXTREMELY fussy. AND it's raining. I know I have all the ingredients for meatloaf and mashed potatoes so grocery shopping may wait until tomorrow unless Ben wakes up from his nap much happier. Pushing a screaming one-year-old through Wal-Mart is no fun and pretty embarrassing.

Notice Thursday I'm baking BBQ chicken. I've been posting the same recipe for grilled BBQ chicken for over a month declaring that this Saturday I was actually going to make it. Well, I've given up. I need to cook the chicken. It's already in the freezer so I've found another recipe and moved it to a weekday. I'm also trying a new recipe on Friday.

Monday: Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green beans, rolls.

Tuesday: Chicken Parmesan over pasta, salad, French bread (hopefully homemade).

Wednesday: Tijuana Torte, salad. This is a casserole that my mother-in-law makes that my husband loves. I tried it once before and he didn't recognize it as the same dish. I've e-mailed my mother-in-law for more detailed directions. We'll see how it goes this time.

Thursday: Oven Baked BBQ Chicken, baked beans, corn, French bread.

Friday: Baked Steak Burritos and Spanish rice.

Saturday: Grilled hamburgers, french fries, salad.

Simple Sunday Supper

For lots more meal plan ideas check out OrgJunkie.com. Laura also has a giveaway this week. One Menu Plan Monday participant will receive a dry-erase monthly planner.

Weekly Menu Plan

2009-04-30T12:02:00.000-07:00

I didn't think it was right to title this one Menu Plan Monday since it's already Thursday. I really did have a plan this week. I was just a little late forming it -- Tuesday -- and even later posting it.

Monday: Spaghetti and homemade French Bread.

Tuesday: Chicken and sausage jambalaya, salad, more French bread.

Wednesday: Fried ham steak, leftover parmesan scalloped potatoes, fried okra, and still more French bread.

Thursday: Sweet and Sour pork over rice, salad, and shockingly more French bread.

Friday: Homemade pizza and cheesy bread.

Saturday: Going to actually cook the BBQ chicken this week. Last week we ended up having steak instead.

Simple Sunday Supper

Monday I spent the morning at the Health Department getting my son's vaccinations. For some reason our insurance doesn't cover vaccinations so we can't have them done at the pediatrician's office during his regular checkups. The rest of the day was spent doing laundry so the meal plan just didn't get done. I did make time to cook French bread because I needed something to serve with spaghetti, something I knew I could prepare quickly from my pantry. Because I've failed a couple of times recently when trying to half recipes, I just made two loaves. This is a long explanation of why we have eaten an extreme amount of French bread this week. I haven't even mentioned that we've had French toast for breakfast three days in a row.

Menu Plan Monday

2009-04-20T13:15:00.001-07:00

For the past two weeks, I've veered from my meal plan on Wednesday and Thursday. This week, I'm going to try to stick to it. Monday is the only night I'm trying a new recipe. I simply wasn't feeling very creative or inspired this week. Saturday night's BBQ chicken recipe has been on the meal plan a couple of times lately, but I have yet to fix it. Maybe this time, I actually will.

Monday: Hamburger Rice Skillet.

Tuesday: Baked Teriyaki Chicken, fried rice, salad, rolls.

Wednesday: Parmesan Fish, scalloped potatoes, salad, garlic bread.

Thursday: Hamburger steak, mashed potatoes, green beans, rolls.

Friday: Chicken Enchiladas and refried beans.

Saturday: BBQ Chicken, baked beans, corn on the cob, garlic bread.

Simple Sunday Supper

Find 100s more actual meal plans at OrgJunkie.com.

Belated Menu Plan

2009-04-15T09:07:00.000-07:00

We didn't get home until late afternoon Monday, but I had a plan for supper. Yesterday, I was swamped trying to do laundry and get back organized so meal planning and grocery shopping got pushed back a day. Wednesday and Thursday's meal plan looks just like last week's meal plan because we got hit by the stomach virus late last Tuesday night. Wednesday and Thursday we were barely interested in eating even our crackers and soup. Tuesday's Duck and Sausage Jambalaya was really good, but since that's what was in our stomachs when we got sick, it will be a long time before we want to eat it again.

Monday: Skillet Taco Macaroni

Tuesday: Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob.

Wednesday: Blasted Whole Chicken, green beans, scalloped potatoes, rolls.

Thursday: Chicken spaghetti and garlic bread.

Friday: Tacos and black bean, corn, salsa.

Saturday: Steak, twiced baked potatoes and garlic bread.

Simple Sunday Supper.

Menu Plan Monday

2009-04-06T11:42:00.000-07:00

This week my menu is planned to use up things in the freezer and refrigerator, especially two ducks, a whole chicken, and a package of swiss cheese. On Tuesday, I plan to substitute duck and duck broth for the chicken in the jambalaya recipe. We'll see how it goes since I always use Zatarain's Jambalaya mix (with chicken and sausage) and this time I'm making it from scratch AND making a meat substitution. Wednesday night, I'm trying two new sides. We'll be visiting family for Easter so I have no weekend meal plan.

Monday: Lasagna, salad, garlic bread.

Tuesday: Duck and Sausage Jambalaya, corn on the cob, garlic bread.

Wednesday: Roasted Whole Chicken, asparagus, Parmesan Scalloped Potatoes, rolls.

Thursday: Chicken Spaghetti, garlic bread.

Check out Menu Plan Monday at OrgJunkie.com to view 100s of other real menu plans.

Menu Plan Monday

2009-03-30T08:41:00.000-07:00

We enjoyed last week's menu. I didn't sautée the vegetables long enough for the Crawfish Étouffée and the celery was still crunchy. It tasted good, but the crunchy celery threw the texture off. I made a couple of other cooking mistakes this week, but nothing turned out too bad. I forgot to put the butter in the rolls and I put a Tbsp of sugar in the pizza dough instead of a tsp.

I ended up adding a recipe last week. On Friday I made Italian Cheese Bread to go along with our Homemade Pizza. It was very good.

I am trying new recipes Tuesday and Saturday.

Monday: Shepherd's Pie, green beans, rolls.

Tuesday: Zesty Chicken Stir-Fry over rice with egg rolls.

Wednesday: Spaghetti, salad, French Bread.

Thursday: Leftover Chicken Creole over rice, salad, French Bread.

Friday: Nachos, refried beans.

Saturday: BBQ Chicken, baked beans, salad, garlic bread.

Simple Sunday Supper

For hundreds more great meal plan ideas, check out Menu Plan Monday at OrgJunkie.com.

Menu Plan Monday

2009-03-23T08:32:00.001-07:00

Monday is the only night I'm trying a new recipe. I was in a bit of a funk last week and didn't find anything new I wanted to try.

Monday: Crawfish Étouffée, salad, garlic bread.

Tuesday: Baked Teriyaki Chicken, lo mein noodles, broccoli, egg rolls.

Wednesday: Spicy Chicken Skillet, Spanish rice.

Thursday: Steak and gravy, rice, green beans, rolls.

Friday: Homemade Pizza (sauce recipe below).

Saturday: Steak, twice-baked potatoes, corn on the cob.

Simple Sunday Supper

I didn't create this recipe, but I can't remember where I got it from.

Pizza Sauce Recipe

Ingredients:
1 clove garlic, mashed and minced
1 teaspoon salt
1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste
1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1 tablespoon olive oil
dash red pepper, optional

Preparation:
Combine all ingredients. Makes about 1 1/2 cups, enough for 2 pizzas.

For lots of great menu ideas, visit OrgJunkie.com.

Menu Plan Monday

2009-03-16T08:14:00.000-07:00

Last week I veered from my menu plan once. Wednesday I fried pork chops instead of having hamburger steak. My parents butcher their own pork and beef. Often there is more in a package than we can eat. Monday was one of those times.

I had two kitchen failures last week. I've had so much success with cooking rice lately, but my brown rice was BAD. Still crunchy and too much garlic. I plan to try again soon and use 1/2 cup more liquid and cook longer. The breading on the fried pork chops stuck to the pan and all pulled off. I ended up making gravy and just pouring it over them.

The Chicken and Sausage Creole was very good. I was afraid I had ruined it. I accidentally added 1 tsp of black pepper instead of salt.

I also learned a lesson. When trying new recipes, I need to take note of what spices are predominate. We should reek of paprika. Monday night's Spicy Pork Chops were paprika flavored. Tuesday night's Whole Chicken was covered in paprika. And just when we thought was were through, the main ingredient in the store-bought rib rub Saturday was paprika.

This week I'm trying new recipes on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. Friday I'm serving leftovers that my husband's been asking for. He really liked these chicken enchiladas.

Monday: Pasta Carbonara, salad, Homemade French Bread.

Tuesday: Farm House Chicken and sweet peas.

Wednesday: Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green beans, rolls.

Thursday: Cheesy Broccoli Chicken and Rice Casserole and French bread.

Friday: Chicken Enchiladas and Spanish rice.

Saturday: Grilled hamburgers and baked beans.

Simple Sunday Supper

Erin at $5 Dinners is hosting MPM this week. You can find lots of other meal plans here this week.

Menu Plan Monday edited

2009-03-09T08:05:00.000-07:00

Edit: I just realized I've been calling these posts "Meal Plan Monday" when the header plainly reads "Menu Plan Monday." It must be a case of my eyes just skimming the letters and seeing what I think it says.

I'm trying new recipes for main dishes Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. I'm also trying a couple of new sides: Crockpot Potatoes, brown rice, and cinnamon apples. I'm really trying to break out of my green bean, corn, and salad rut.

Monday: Spiced Pork Chops, broccoli with cheese sauce, crockpot potatoes, rolls.

Tuesday: Whole Chicken in Crockpot, green beans, brown rice, and rolls.

Wednesday: Hamburger Steak, mashed potatoes, cinnamon apples, rolls.

Thursday: Chicken and Sausage Creole over rice, homemade French bread.

Friday: Tacos and refried beans.

Saturday: Ribs, baked beans, corn on the cob, and French bread.

Simple Supper Sunday

For lots of great meal plan ideas visit OrgJunkie.com.

Crusty French Bread

2009-03-03T16:30:00.000-08:00

I went online yesterday and found a French Bread recipe. I couldn't wait to try it so I baked it this afternoon. It was easy and really good. I had two pieces as a snack and am looking forward to more with supper. I halved the recipe to only make one loaf. That may have been a bad decision since it's so tasty.

Taco Pasta Bake

2009-03-03T11:09:00.000-08:00

The Taco Pasta Bake got a spot in the menu binder. We both enjoyed it. I had a box of mezze penne (mini) so I used that rather than regular-sized penne. I think the smaller pasta was probably better. Or at least easier to eat. It made a FULL 9 x 13 baking dish. I had three containers of leftovers that I froze. We'll be eating this for lunch for several weeks to come (once a week).

Meal Plan Monday

2009-03-02T08:14:00.000-08:00

This week I'm trying new recipes Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. I'm also planning on trying two new breads: French bread and Boston Brown Bread. I haven't found a recipe for French bread yet. I know there are tons of them on the internet, I just haven't looked.

Monday: Taco Pasta Bake

Tuesday: Spicy Sausage Stir Fry and rolls

Wednesday: Lasagna, salad, homemade French bread

Thursday: Crockpot Scalloped Potatoes & Ham, sweet peas, and French bread

Friday: Fried chicken salad/wraps

Saturday: Steaks, twice-baked potatoes, salad, and Boston Brown Bread

Sunday: Simple Supper Sunday

Get inspired by checking out some of the 300+ meal plans already posted this week at OrgJunkie.com.

Even Easier Homemade Pizza

2009-02-28T19:18:00.000-08:00

The last time I made homemade pizza, I wrote that anyone can make homemade pizza. Here is an even easier pizza dough recipe posted by Crystal at MoneySavingMom.com. It doesn't have to rise, but still makes a nice thick crust. It will definitely become my standard pizza dough recipe. I put it in my binder in place of the old recipe.

Homemade pizza wasn't on the menu for tonight; however, a winter storm advisory cause a detour from the meal plan. My husband did not want to stand outside and grill in the very cold weather.

Chicken Enchiladas

2009-02-27T18:22:00.000-08:00

Amy's Famous Infamous Chicken Enchiladas were a big hit. My husband said they tasted like "eating out at the Mexican restaurant." I only used one can of cream of chicken soup because I really don't like the taste very much. I didn't have Spicy Mrs. Dash or Hot Shot, so I used 1/8 tsp of cayenne, a few shakes of Tony Chacheres' Creole Seasoning, and some black pepper. I recommend this recipe. It will be placed in a page protector in the new recipe binder.

Hot Pocket Success

2009-02-26T13:42:00.000-08:00

The Hot Pockets were truly successful. When John came home at lunch, I didn't even mention them (in case he had a bad experience); however, he brought it up himself. He said they were worth the small amount of frustration of initially not knowing how long to microwave them. He said they tasted really good and were a nice change from his usual store-bought Hot Pockets. Yay!! This is particularly good since even with halfing the recipe, I made 16. I figured up the cost. Using free sausage from my parents, they cost around .23 cents each to make, about 1/2 the cost of purchasing them.

Homemade Breakfast Hot Pockets

2009-02-25T18:23:00.000-08:00

I was inspired by a recent guest post at moneysavingmom.com to make homemade breakfast hot pockets. My husband eats breakfast hot pockets every morning. He leaves for work at 5:15 a.m. and takes one with him to eat later in the morning. I don't really like sausage and eggs so I haven't tried one. They look good. The real test comes tomorrow morning when John reheats and eats one. Unfortunately I don't know exactly how long they will take to reheat so hopefully he won't get too frustrated having to do some trial and error microwaving for a couple of days.

Recipe Binder

2009-02-24T18:54:00.001-08:00

This month Laura at http://orgjunkie.com/ challenged her readers to organize or re-organize their recipes. I was impressed by the pictures of her pretty and functional recipe binders.

I combined several ideas into my new binder. I used page protectors to keep my recipes from getting stuff on them. Many of them already have water drips and food smudges, but they will stay clean from now on. I used dividers with folders to stick new recipes I want to try. I glued the random sized recipes to 8 1/2 x 11 sheets of copy paper. My recipes had been thrown in a plastic box. Now they are actually organized. Laura made a pretty cover for her binder. Right now mine is plain, but I hope to fix that soon.

Before

After

Meal Plan Monday

2009-02-23T08:36:00.000-08:00

This morning I did my grocery shopping for this week, the final week in February. I'm so excited that with planning, cooking more from scratch, and using up leftovers, I came in over $100 under budget for groceries this month. That is huge for me because I usually go over budget. Also, I visited my parents this weekend who had recently butchered a steer and a couple of hogs. They sent me home with an ice chest full of meat, and not just pork chops this time. That's going to be great for our March grocery budget.

Here is my meal plan for this week. I'm trying new recipes Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Monday: Yummy Chicken Legs, baked zucchini and potatoes (recipe below), and homemade rolls.

Tuesday: Shepherd's Pie, corn in butter sauce, and homemade rolls.

Wednesday: Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry (from the Take 5 cookbook) over noodles and egg rolls.

Thursday: Steak and gravy over rice, green beans, rolls.

Friday: Chicken Enchiladas and Spanish rice.

Saturday: Steak and twice-baked potatoes.

Sunday: Simple Supper Sunday.

This zucchini recipe was in the February Southern Living. When I prepared this before, I thought the crushed red pepper was too strong. I'll either leave it out or only use a dash this time.

1 zucchini
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Cut zucchini lengthwise into quarters. (I halfed the quarters, also, but the recipe didn't call for that). Cut in 1/2 crosswise. Toss zucchini with oil and seasoning. Arrange in a single layer on a baking dish. Bake 15 minutes. Turn over once after 7 minutes. (I baked them an extra 5 minutes.)

I tossed some chunks of potatoes in the same seasoning/oil mix. Baked them 30 minutes at 425 degrees.

For more great ideas, check out all the meal plans at orgjunkie.com.

Blasted Chicken

2009-02-17T11:16:00.000-08:00

Whole chickens (minus the neck and giblets) are often on sale at our local grocery store. I really had no idea how to cook one. I definitely do not know how to cut it up. But I did find a great recipe for roasting it: Blasted Rapid Roast Whole Chicken. It smelled insanely good while it was cooking. It also tasted good. I'll definitely cook this again.

Tonight I'm having to switch my Tuesday and Wednesday plans. My husband is going to have to work late on Wednesday and the Shepherd's Pie will be easier to reheat or keep warm until he gets home.

Spring Cleaning for Normal People Assignment

2009-02-16T11:51:00.000-08:00

Thankfully, we are spending a second week cleaning the kitchen since I didn't get anything done last week. I hope to catch up and get both assignments done this week. I know that I feel much more entergetic today than I did any day last week. I've been doing laundry this morning and grocery shopped.

Here is the new assignment:

-- Remove all items from your pantry (and/or kitchen cupboards) and put them in one location and categorize by type.

-- Wipe down the insides of your pantry (and/or kitchen cupboards) and then replace items in a well-organized manner.

-- Sweep and mop your kitchen floors and clean any glass or miniblinds in your kitchen.

For more information about the Spring Cleaning for Normal People challenge check out Biblicalwomanhood.com.

Meal Plan Monday

2009-02-16T11:33:00.000-08:00

I fell off the meal plan a couple of times last week. Sunday night as I was going to bed I remembered that I was supposed to have defrosted a whole chicken for lunch the next day. I threw it the refrigerator and hoped it would miraculously thaw. Of course it was still frozen the next morning. First I panicked, then I remembered that I have been purchasing meat when it's on sale and storing it in my freezer. I had 4 lbs of round steak, 6 lbs of chicken breast, several pounds of hamburger, and a package of chicken legs. There was something I could fix for lunch. The round steak won. It could bake in the oven with onion soup mix, water, and onion while we were at church and be ready for lunch when we got home. The chicken will make it's appearance on the meal plan for tonight's supper. It is now thawed in the refrigerator.

I'm going to be out of town Friday through Sunday so my husband will have to fend for himself. That means frozen pizza and hot pockets for lunch and he plans to grill Friday night.

Monday: Roast Chicken, broccoli cheese rice, sweet peas, and rolls.

Tuesday: Shephard's pie, corn, rolls.

Wednesday: Ham Steak, lima beans, okra, and cornbread.

Thursday: Fajitas, refried beans.

Friday: Hamburgers and chips

Saturday: Shrimp poboys and chips

Simple Supper Sunday

Three hundred and fifty-five people have already posted their meal plans before me at Orgjunkie.com.

Veering from the Meal Plan

2009-02-14T20:10:00.000-08:00

I veered from the Meal Plan twice this week. On Thursdays we are attending Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University at our church. Therefore, I've been fixing crockpot meals each Thursday so that it will be ready when we get home. This week since Ben was sick, I stayed home with him. I decided to save my crockpot meal for next week and make meatloaf and mashed potatoes instead. I had everything I needed to fix this and it's something I've been wanting but for some reason haven't
put on the schedule. Tonight I had planned for John to cook hamburgers, but our Valentine from my in-law's included a check to use for a Valentine's meal. We decided to grill steaks instead of burgers. It was very good.

A Clean Sink

2009-02-13T14:01:00.001-08:00

I fell down on my Spring Cleaning for Normal people assignment this week. All I got done was cleaning the sink. And I did that this afternoon. Maybe it is because Ben is sick and he been very demanding this week. Or maybe I was just lazy and made many, many excuses to not clean the kitchen. Next week I plan to be more committed to getting the task done.

Baked Teriyaki Chicken

2009-02-11T18:46:00.000-08:00

The Baked Teriyaki Chicken was really good. Having to baste it every ten minutes was kind of annoying, but I'll do it again. I used chicken legs instead of thighs because that's what I had in the freezer. I definitely recommend this recipe.

Spring Cleaning for Normal People #3

2009-02-10T07:53:00.000-08:00

Crystal at biblicalwomanhood.com posted the third Spring Cleaning for Normal People assignment yesterday. Since I spent the morning at the doctor's office with Ben, I didn't get started yesterday. Maybe I can at least get something done today. Here is the cleaning assignment:

- Begin by removing everything from the countertops and anything else that can or should be removed from the kitchen and putting it in another location.

- Empty your dishwasher and refill it with dirty dishes. Or hand wash and put away all dishes.

- Scrub down all surfaces in your kitchen to remove bacteria (more details and instructions on how to do this can be found on pages 25-26 of Spring Cleaning for Normal People).

- Put all appliances and other things back which belong in your kitchen (and which you love and use). Get rid of those things you don't use, no longer need, or which no long work--there's no sense in those taking up space in your kitchen.

- Remove all the contents of your refrigerator and freezer. Toss the items which could be deemed "science experiments"!

- Clean all inside and outside surfaces of the refrigerator and freezer and then return all food items to the refrigerator and freezer in a well-organized manner.

I took some pictures so that I can post before and after pics. From a distance it doesn't look too bad. It's the closeups that are nasty. The picture above is the bottom of my refrigerator.

Meal Plan Monday

2009-02-09T12:50:00.000-08:00

Ben has bronchitis so I'll have to make my grocery shopping very quick this week. I've planned meals that I already have most or all the ingredients to prepare. I'm trying new recipes Wednesday and Friday. Laura at orgjunkie.com recommended the Baked Teriyaki Chicken recipe on her blog today. The Tijuana Torte is a recipe of my mother-in-law's that my husband requested. I'll post the recipe later when Ben isn't sitting in my lap.

Monday: Lemon pepper chicken, broccoli cheese rice, sweet peas, rolls

Tuesday: Spaghetti, salad, garlic bread

Wednesday: Baked Teriyaki Chicken, fried rice, salad

Thursday: Steak and gravy over rice, corn, rolls

Friday: Tijuana Torte and corn, bean, salsa combo

Saturday: Hamburgers, fries, salad

Simple Supper Sunday

Check out 100s of other meal plans at orgjunkie.com.

Anyone Can Make Pizza

2009-02-06T18:42:00.000-08:00

I made Pizza completely from scratch tonight for the first time. I made the crust and the sauce. It was super easy. You have to set aside plenty of time, because the dough has to rise twice, but the actual hands-on time, was around 20 minutes. It was great that we were both able to have our pizza just how we like it: lots of meat and jalapenos for John and bacon only for me. The jalapenos aren't cooked into the pizza very well because I forgot to put them on and just threw them on top with only 5 minutes left to cook. Here are the recipes I used.

Easy Pizza Dough Recipe

Makes two crusts

5 cups flour
2 pkgs active dry yeast
2 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp salt
2 cups water

1. Mix all of the dry ingredients first, then add the water. It will appear to be too dry. Do not add water. Keep working the dough until it is smooth. (This requires a little faith but it really works).
2. Let the dough rise once (approx 1 hour). Punch it down and knead again.
3. At this point you may choose to freeze some of the dough. If you do freeze it, be sure to wrap it well and freeze it quickly. With either fresh or thawed dough, let the dough rise a second time.
4. After it has risen, punch it down and use it for your pizza. The dough will rise a little while you put the rest of your pizza toppings on it. Then bake as appropriate for pizza thickness and toppings.

Pizza Sauce Recipe

Ingredients:
1 clove garlic, mashed and minced
1 teaspoon salt
1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste
1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1 tablespoon olive oil
dash red pepper, optional

Preparation:
Combine all ingredients. Makes about 1 1/2 cups, enough for 2 pizzas.

I halved the crust recipe and just made one. I froze half of the pizza sauce. I preheated the oven to 425 degrees and baked it for 15-20 minutes.

Accomplishment

2009-02-06T08:55:00.000-08:00

I can't describe the sense of accomplishment I feel having moved the couch and loveseat and cleaned under them. Now if someone looked under my couch, I wouldn't die of embarrassment.

BeforeAfter

Divine Dessert

2009-02-06T07:58:00.000-08:00

There was nothing about Apple Cobbler on my menu plan this week; however, while I was cutting up some apples to go with lunch, I noticed that they were starting to go bad. I had 5 or 6 apples left in the bag so I decided to make apple cobbler. I went online and found this yummy, yummy recipe: French Apple Cobbler. It smelled WONDERFUL while it was cooking. It's very sweet, though, especially once you add a scoop of vanilla icecream. I followed several suggestions and replaced the white sugar with brown sugar and decreased the measurement to 1/2 cup.

This is the apples before I added the batter for the crust. They looked yummy already coated in butter and brown sugar.

A Meal Plan Detour

2009-02-05T07:10:00.000-08:00

Last night I veered off the meal plan. I had planned to fix ham, lima beans, fried okra and rolls. But Monday while I was perusing other Meal Plan Monday blogs, I came across a recipe for Ranch Cheesy Potatoes with Ham. It sounded really good. As time to begin supper prep neared, I just couldn't bring myself to fix the ham in the normal way when I had this great sounding new recipe and everything I needed for it in my frig and cabinets. The prep turned out to be more time consuming than I thought it would be. I didn't consider the time it takes to peel and cut up the potatoes, chop up the ham, and make the cheese sauce. The potatoes had to boil for 10 minutes. Then the whole thing baked for 1 hour. Add the bread crumbs and bake for 10 more minutes. It was barely done in time for supper. Actually, my husband was late getting home so we had supper a little later than usual. I don't think I like bread crumbs. The topping was too much. I'll probably fix this recipe again, but with less bread crumbs or maybe even use something else for the topping.

Assignment #2 Update

2009-02-04T12:07:00.001-08:00

I lit a candle, turned on some music, then ignored instruction c. I did not take everything out of my living room other than the major pieces of furniture. The idea of taking everything off my shelves and out of the room, overwhelmed me. Instead, I started at the top, took everything off, cleaned the shelf, cleaned the "stuff," then put it back in its place. Everything (including every book) has been removed, wiped or dusted, then put back. I removed a few books, added a few books from other parts of the house, and moved the videos to the entertainment center to make a place to put all the picture albums. There is no use posting a picture since it prety much looks the same, but with less dust.

On the fourth shelf I keep fiction. As I was dusting the books, I realized that I only LOVE about 1/3 of them (Jane Austen, The Secret Garden, Ella Enchanted, like 1/3, and feel obligated to keep the rest -- Faulkner and Welty, particularly. I remember the first time I read Absalom, Absalom. I loved it. But after a Faulkner graduate course, I think I've read a lifetime's worth. I doubt I'll ever pick it up again to read, just to dust. I did put Look Homeward Angel, The Great Gatsby, and The Sun Also Rises in the library donation bag. I didn't like them when I read them the first time. I shouldn't have hung onto them this long. Most of my favorites books are actually in the closet or in boxes under the bed, like my Little House on the Prairie books that I've had since 3rd grade. They are much too abused to display, but like the Velveteen Rabbit they've been loved into such poor shape. I've read them so many times the covers have fallen off.

Stuffed Shells

2009-02-04T11:54:00.001-08:00

I like the idea of stuffed shells, but I don't think this recipe will make it into the regular rotation. I followed several suggestions in the comments. I used diced tomatoes with garlic and oregano instead of plain tomato sauce. I used half the amount of bread crumbs. I also added parsley, garlic powder, and parmesan cheese. However, it still seemed to lack something.

My Dirty Little Secret

2009-02-02T14:11:00.001-08:00

The assignment for this week is to clean the living room from top to bottom. Complete instructions can be found at BiblicalWomanhood.com. I kind of dread this for a couple of reasons. First, we're supposed to take everything but the major furniture out of the living room. There is LOTS of stuff on my bookshelves. See below. Second, it is really, really nasty under my couch and loveseat. I'm posting pictures of that too along with the sad, dead plant in the corner and the gunk behind the entertainment center. What's even worse is that I neearly lost it a week or so ago while hooking up a new DVD player. I saw that leaf and thought it was a dead rat. After getting a flash light, examining it close enough to realize it was a leaf, I left it there. I didn't even pick it up.

Meal Plan Monday Revisited

2009-02-02T13:51:00.000-08:00

I was so proud of myself Saturday. I had my meals planned for the upcoming week, the grocery list written out, and my post ready to link on Monday. Hah! My meal plan began falling apart Saturday evening when my husband decided to clean the grill before cooking the ribs. It turns out that the grime was holding the burner together. We ended up ordering a pizza. Since the ribs were already thawed and marinated, they needed to be cooked soon. So the ribs are currently in the oven for tonight's supper. Here is the revised meal plan for this week. I bought a new burner for the grill today. I might be overly optimistic planning to grill brawts Saturday night. Hopefully, the burner I purchased is the right size, my husband can successfully install it, etc.

I'm trying new recipes tonight, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday.

Monday: Oven-baked ribs, leftover baked beans, corn on the cob, rolls.

Tuesday: Chicken and Cheese Stuffed Jumbo Shells, salad, garlic bread.

Wednesday: Ham, leftover lima beans, fried okra, cornbread.

Thursday: Bacon Wrapped BBQ Chicken, mac & cheese, corn with butter sauce, homemade rolls.

Friday: Homemade Pepperoni Sausage Pizza

Saturday: Brawts on a bun, chips

Simple Supper Sunday

If you would like to look at nearly 400 other bloggers meal plans, check out orgjunkie.com.

Meal Plan Monday

2009-01-31T13:04:00.001-08:00

I know it's Saturday, but my meals are planned for next week, my shopping list is written, and I have a few minutes of quiet so I'm going to post this now. I'm trying new recipes on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday.

Monday: Ham, lima beans, fried okra, cornbread.

Tuesday: Chicken and Cheese Stuffed Jumbo Shells, salad, garlic bread.

Wednesday: Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, sweet peas, homemade rolls.

Thursday: Bacon Wrapped BBQ Chicken, mac & cheese, corn with butter sauce, homemade rolls.

Friday: Homemade Pepperoni Sausage Pizza

Saturday: Brawts on a bun, chips

Simple Supper Sunday

I tend to post updates throughout the week on the success or failure of a new recipe. It will be particularly interesting to see how the pizza turns out since I plan to make the crust from scratch.

You can check out 100s of other weekly meal plans at orgjunkie.com. I'll edit this and put in a link to this week's meal plans on Monday.

January Meal Plan

2009-01-30T20:32:00.000-08:00

I am proud of my completed January Meal Plan. I wrote in pencil on a calendar that I printed from Word. I erased and changed my meals a few times, but planning a week at a time in writing worked really well for me. Thanks for the inspiration Laura at orgjunkie.com. I've scanned my calendar and am posting it just because it makes me happy to show off my accomplishment.

Quick De-Cluttering

2009-01-30T20:06:00.000-08:00

I was going about my day today and realized that I hadn't de-cluttered anything, so I quickly cleaned out a couple of kitchen cabinets. Since getting out the dish towels and the new flatware, I had been thinking about some juice glasses out of reach on a top shelf that we could be using. So I straightened the glasses, moved some seasonal mugs and other things that I don't use (but can't bring myself to get rid of yet) into the dark corners of the cabinets where it's impractical to store every day items, then moved the juice glasses to a more user-friendly space within my reach (which isn't very high since I'm only 5' tall). This also freed up a shelf giving me more room to stock up on sale-priced dry goods.

Three new recipes

2009-01-28T18:33:00.001-08:00

I tried three new dishes at supper. That could have been bad, but it actually turned out pretty good. I prepared them in order of oven temperature -- 425 degrees for the potatoes, 450 for the zucchini, and broil for the fish. I covered the potatoes and zucchini with foil to keep them warm until everything was done.

I got the Parmesan Fish recipe from a blog I linked to from orgjunkie.com Meal Plan Monday. I forgot to copy the address, though, and I no longer remember it. So I don't take credit for the recipe, but I don't know who to give credit to.

Parmesan Fish

1 lb white fish fillets
1 tbsp lemon
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
4 tbsp butter, room temp
3 tbsp mayo
3 tbsp finely chopped green onions
1/4 tsp dried basil
black pepper
seasoning salt
1 dash hot pepper sauce

Preheat oven to broil.

Put fish on a baking sheet and squeeze lemon juice over all the fish fillets. Sprinkle with seasoning salt and pepper. Put fish in the oven for 2-3 minutes (they will be white, but not done yet).

While the fish is broiling, in a small bowl mix together parmesan cheese, butter, mayo, green onions, basil and hot pepper sauce. When fish have broiled a couple of minutes, take them out of the oven and spread the parmesan cheese mixture over the fish fillets. Place back in oven for 3-4 minutes until browned.

The zucchini recipe was in the February Southern Living. I couldn't find that issue this evening and ended up calling Fran and having her read me the recipe. The crushed red pepper was too strong. I'll leave it out next time or only use a dash.

1 zucchini
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Cut zucchini lengthwise into quarters. (I halfed the quarters, also, but the recipe didn't call for that). Cut in 1/2 crosswise. Toss zucchini with oil and seasoning. Arrange in a single layer on a baking dish. Bake 15 minutes. Turn over once after 7 minutes. (I baked them an extra 5 minutes.)

I tossed some chunks of potatoes in the same seasoning/oil mix. Baked them 30 minutes at 425 degrees.

Progress

2009-01-28T15:24:00.001-08:00

I took all the new flatware out of its boxes. They are currently washing in the dishwasher. I bagged up the old flatware to donate.

Rolls Take 2

2009-01-28T15:18:00.000-08:00

I made rolls again today. The picture above is from allrecipes.com. The picture below is my rolls using that recipe. I obviously did something wrong shaping them. Here are the instructions. Divide dough in half. Roll each half into a 12 inch circle, spread 1/4 cup softened butter over entire round. Cut each circle into 8 wedges. Roll wedges starting at wide end; roll gently but tightly. Place point side down on ungreased cookie sheet. I took this to mean rolling them like a crescent roll. Is this an example of my lack of common sense? Usually I can follow directions.

Supper, Goals, De-cluttering

2009-01-28T11:25:00.001-08:00

Last night's supper was a potential flop. It was an easy meal that I've fixed many times: Chicken Pot Pie. However, I always use Jiffy baking mix for the crust. I forgot that in my attempt to save money by cooking more from scratch, I didn't replace the Jiffy Baking Mix when it got near the bottom of the box. The recipe I use calls for 1 cup baking mix. I had 1/4 cup. So I decided to try substituting. I added 3/4 cup of self-rising flour, but that still didn't look right. So I read on the back of the baking mix box and the only ingredient I recognized other than flour, baking powder, and salt (which should all be covered by the self-rising flour) was shortening. I have shortening from one of my recent bread making experiments. The biscuit recipe on the back of my Martha White flour calls for 2 cups flour, 1/4 cup shortening and milk. Based on this I figured two tablespoons of shortening should work with 3/4 cup of flour. I cut in the shortening(huh? Mainly I just stirred on it until it looked like how Martha White described it -- crumbly). From there, I followed the usual milk and egg directions. This all had the potential to be a cooking disaster. However, when I pulled the baked Chicken Pot Pie from the oven it had a perfect crust and I was thankful.

Having broke out the wedding gift dish towels the other night has me thinking about other nice things that I have and don't use, particularly my husband's grandmother's China and glassware and the flatware we got for wedding gifts. While the flatware we use is fine (my husband had it when we got married), we have 12 place settings of really nice flatware and serving utensils all in boxes. I'm going to donate our current flatware and get out the nicer pieces. Also, I'm going to set a goal to use the China at least once by the end of February. Perhaps, I could make a nice meal for Valentine's Day and even use another unused wedding gift, the crystal candleholders. These items aren't blessings, just dust collectors and something else I have to pack up every time we move, if I don't use them.

I haven't done any de-cluttering today. I did take the bag of clothes from my closet to the donation drop off place today. That was a big step since things like that tend to accumlate and become a big pile of clutter.

De-Cluttering Day 2

2009-01-27T12:12:00.000-08:00

I'm tackling some smaller projects in my living room today -- cleaned out the baskets under the book shelves, threw out some magazines in the magazine rack, put photos in album, threw away Christmas cards. The Christmas cards were piled on top of the entertainment center. I cut the photos out of the picture cards and put them in my album. I like to keep the pictures so that I can see how the kids grow from year to year.

The Rainy Day

2009-01-26T14:58:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I take saving too far. Not using my favorite perfume because I know it's expensive and I won't be able to buy more soon. Not using the bath products I got for Christmas LAST YEAR because I want to use them when I have time to relax and enjoy my bath. (How often does that happen when you have a 9 month old?) Today I decided it was THE DAY to break out the kitchen towels that I got as a wedding gift. We just celebrated our 5 year anniversary last weekend. I probably bought the kitchen towels I was using when I got my first apartment in grad school (January 2000). They were ragged, dingy, and honestly kind of smelled even after you washed them. What's sad is that I've had this pile of beautiful clean, nice smelling kitchen towels in the laundry room cabinet all this time. Maybe I was saving them for our Golden Anniversary celebration.

Spring Cleaning Assignment 1

2009-01-26T11:26:00.000-08:00

I am participating in the "Spring Cleaning for Normal People" Challenge at biblicalwomanhood.com. This week's assignment is to declutter. (For more specific instructions, follow the link above.)

Clutter is not a huge problem at our house. Mainly I can't stand clutter and tend to throw things out. However, my closet has been getting out of control, so I spent half an hour or so just pulling out some things that need to be given away and tossing a few things that are beyond giving away. I forgot to take a picture before I started, but the floor was pretty well covered in a giveaway pile I had started months ago and never did anything with and then shoes everywhere.

You may notice the books on the shelves in my closet. Books are my weakness and probably my most difficult organization problem. I have books in the closet, in a box under the bed, in a box under the nightstand, on a bookcase in the bedroom, stacked behind the books showing on the bookcase, in Ben's closet, on a shelf in the living room, and in the kitchen.

This really isn't much of an "after" picture, but I promise it looks better. I'm thrilled to be able to walk into it without tripping over shoes.

Meal Plan Monday

2009-01-26T07:15:00.000-08:00

Since it is the end of the month and we're trying to keep the budget in check, I decided to cook from the cupboard and freezer as much as possible this week. I'm only trying new recipes one night, Wednesday. That night could be a disaster since all the recipes are new.

Monday -- Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, peas, rolls

Tuesday -- Chicken pot pie

Wednesday -- Parmesan fish, onion soup potatoes, zuchini, and bread (hopefully homemade)

Thursday -- Chicken spaghetti, salad, garlic bread

Friday -- John's out of town so I will munch on something

Saturday -- Ribs, leftover baked beans from freezer, corn on the cob, bread

Simple Supper Sunday

If you would like to look at the 273 meal plans that were posted before mine this morning, follow this link to the orgjunkie.com.

Brownie Addict

2009-01-24T20:31:00.000-08:00

Learning that I can make brownies practically anytime with the ingredients in my cupboard may be my downfall. After the depressing blandness of my rolls, I decided I needed a pan of brownies. This time I started checking them at 25 minutes. I'm not sure how long they ended up cooking, but this pan was much moister then the first. I keep walking by and cutting off a little piece and then just a bit more until I've managed to eat 1/3 of the 8 x 8 pan by myself tonight.

Flaming Wraps

2009-01-24T20:24:00.001-08:00

My Friday night plan of fried chicken wraps turned into buffalo chicken wraps as I browsed the Internet for recipes. I had all the ingredients left over from the yummy Buffalo Chicken Wings I fixed a couple of weekends ago. The recipe called for 2/3 cup of Frank's Red Hot. They don't seem to sell that here, at least I couldn't find it, so instead I used "Louisiana Wildly Wicked Wing Sauce." I should have taken heed to the name. I did reduce the recipe to 1/3 cup, but that was still too much. They were "wicked" hot. I would take a bite of wrap, then a bite of cold carrot, then wash it down with water. My husband loves spicy food and he could barely get it down.

Dinner Rolls

2009-01-24T20:19:00.000-08:00

Don't they look tasty? Well, they're not. They don't have much taste at all. I used a white bread recipe (a different one than earlier in the week). Since tasting the disappointing rolls, I've done some research and realized that dinner roll recipes usually call for eggs and different measurements of sugar and salt. So at least I got the shaping technique down and I'll try again next week. John says these are edible, so I'll probably serve them with meals as long as I can stand them or until we run out. I'm not sure which will come first.

Extremely Fattening but Tasty Corn

2009-01-23T08:13:00.000-08:00

If you've ever had the Green Giant Corn in Buttersauce, here is a recipe I found for it on Recipezaar that is very good: Copycat Green Giant Niblets Corn in Butter Sauce. It makes a lot more than the small Green Giant portion. We ate one portion for supper, and I froze two more. I'm only serving myself and my husband, though.

Another Pork Chop Recipe

2009-01-23T08:06:00.000-08:00

I had good results from another pork chop recipe: Spicy Pork Chops from the Fix It and Forget cookbook. Here is a link to the same recipe at Recipezaar: Spicy and Tender Crockpot Pork Chops. I had eight thin tenderized chops so I layered them in the pot with sliced onions between the layers. I substituted 1/2 a can of Ole El Paso green chiles for the diced green pepper. The chiles were left over from the enchiladas I made earlier in the week. It was mid-afternoon before I had time to brown the chops, so I cooked them for 3 1/2 hours on high. I served the pork chops with leftover baked beans and Mexican cornbread from the freezer and the corn in butter sauce I made earlier in the day.

Rice, rice, rice

2009-01-22T11:26:00.000-08:00

I had kind of skipped over my rice goal and moved on to baking bread. However, I was inspired this week by Crystal at moneysavingmom.com who blogged about her Baking Day earlier this week. She did a lot more than bake. One thing she did was cook rice, divide it into meal-sized portions and freeze them. This solved the problem I was having: How was I going to transition from Minute Rice when I was used to spending only a few minutes cooking rice? Particularly on Sundays when I leave a piece of meat (usually a roast or pork loin) baking in the oven then come home and quickly make sides. Usually Minute Rice, green beans cooked in the microwave and rolls. So this morning, when I had plenty of time and little stress, I succesfully made a pot of rice, let it cool, divided it, and froze it. I also prepared Corn with Butter Sauce and froze that too.

Unexpected Success

2009-01-21T11:25:00.000-08:00

A couple of days ago I wrote about wanting to make bread. I had researched "Basic Bread Making" online. Today I put my research into action. I'm proud of my success. I really didn't think I would successfully make a loaf of bread. I kneaded it, it rose, and it didn't stick to the pan. All things I was concerned about. The crust is a little crunchier than what I wanted, so I will probably try a different recipe next time. Here is the recipe I used: Easy Beginners Bread.

Here are the other links that I found helpful:
Better Times: Your Basic Bread Recipe
Basic Bread
Connie Q Cooking: How to Make Bread (This is the video I watched.)

Another Succesful Pork Chop Recipe

2009-01-20T18:04:00.000-08:00

I've been trying new pork chop recipes. Until recently all I knew how to do with pork chops was fry them. That got old and is unhealthy. We eat lots of pork chops because my parents butcher their own pork and always give us tons. Usually we're really tired of pork chops by spring. Both of us enjoyed this easy recipe from Recipezaar.com: Awesome Baked Pork Chops. I replaced the white wine with chicken broth and used vegetable oil instead of olive oil so that I didn't have to purchase anything extra to make these.

Brownie Temptation

2009-01-20T18:02:00.000-08:00

I was in the grocery store today and was so tempted to buy a package of brownie mix. However, I really wanted to stick to my list so I gathered all my willpower and passed it up. When I got home, I still wanted brownies, though. So I went online and found a recipe to make them from scratch. They turned out pretty good and are tasty. Here is the link: Homecooking Brownies.

Meal Plan Monday

2009-01-19T07:38:00.001-08:00

Monday: Enchiladas and refried beans.

Tuesday: Baked Pork Chops, mac & cheese, salad, and rolls.
I'm trying a new recipe from Recipezaar called Awesome Baked Pork Chops. I've been trying to find some interesting new things to do with pork chops. My parents butcher their own pork and they always end up giving us lots of pork chops.

Wednesday: Chicken Parmesan, salad, homemade bread.
This will be my first attempt at homemade bread. I have a recipe. I've read about it. I've watched a video online demonstrating the technique. We'll see how it goes.

Thursday: Spicy Pork Chops, leftover baked beans, corn on the cob, leftover Mexican cornbread.
Pork chops again because my parents make large packages of pork chops, way more than the two of us can eat in one meal. To not be wasteful, I'll defrost one package and split it into two meals. This is a crock pot recipe from the Fix It and Forget it Cookbook (p. 136). It's also a new recipe for me.

Friday: Fried Chicken Wraps
We're having wraps to use up the leftover tortillas from Monday's Enchiladas.

Saturday: Grilled Hamburgers and french fries.
My husband enjoys grilling on the weekend.

Simple Supper Sundays
I got the title from Laura at OrgJunkie.com. Like her, we usually have soup and sandwiches or something really easy like that on Sunday nights. We eat a big lunch and then my husband enjoys snacking on chips and salsa in the afternoon so we're usually not very hungry at supper time.

You can see Laura's weekly meal plan and links for 300 plus others at orgjunkie.com.

A Larger Goal

2009-01-16T20:01:00.000-08:00

I still haven't attempted to make "real" rice. I read up on it Thursday, but then was in a hurry to put supper on the table Thursday (when rice was on the menu) and just grabbed the Minute Rice out of the cabinet. I'm used to rice taking 7 or 8 minutes so that may be a hard habit to break. It may take using up the box of Minute Rice and not buying another box.

My larger goal for the upcoming months is to learn how to make homemade bread. I've been reading about it this evening (my husband is at the camp and the baby is asleep) and watched a video online demonstrating the technique. I hope to try it in the upcoming week. I would eventually like to move on to homemade rolls. Sister Schubert's Homemade Rolls are hard on the budget.