Thoughts on Tuesday and Meal Plan

Did wolves eat breakfast at my house this morning? Oh, and I picked up a plate from the floor that is not pictured here. and yes... sometimes they have goldfish for breakfast... ah hem...

We have started a new small group. Here are the children's shoes. It has been a very long time since we've lead something like this and I sincerely hope there are not too many cricket moments... or maybe their should be. Cricket moments meaning you ask a question and all you hear are crickets. Without the Lord we can do nothing, so we are asking for Him to show us how to best lead these wonderful families.

and now, what you've all been waiting on... the meal plan. My meal plans have gotten increasingly boring and the same thing every week that I don't make. Oh well!

chili

beans and cornbread

pizza

chicken soup with rice (how many weeks can I have this on the plan???)

curry chicken pot pie

breakfast burritos

*spinach feta melts, crackers for small group

Thanksgiving Trail Mix

I recently made a Thanksgiving trail mix to sell at my bizarre coming up on October 15th. It was a lot of fun and very good. I thought you might like to try it too. What makes it Thanksgiving is that it has bugles in there and they are like cornucopias. We had a whole talk about cornucopias until I started to feel ridiculous because who really knows what cornucopias are and where they came from and all. Here it is!

Sunflower seeds

goldfish crackers

marshmallows

dried cranberries

dried apples (I put two kinds, Granny Smith and Gala)

bugles

white chocolate chips

milk chocolate chocolate chips

put however much seems to look good in there. It makes a bunch. Tie it up in little baggies to keep fresh.

Meal Plan- Late

Here it is even though I'm posting late:

pasta salad, peach crisp- brand spankin new small group we are hosting!!
chicken stir fry, brown rice
chinese food with family
chicken soup
homemade pizza, salad
black beans, brown rice, salsa
hamburgers, salad

*specials- breakfast cookies (kids loved them), banana muffins using coconut flour (they were too wet so I froze them)

and now for a recipe I have tried lately that won rave reviews:


Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites

1/2 C creamy peanut butter
1/4 C (or less) honey
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 C, plus 1 T coconut flour
3 T ground golden flax seed
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 C chocolate chips

mix it all up and knead a few times and then form into balls.  Let sit in the fridge at least 30 minutes before serving.  I froze mine and they are good straight from the freezer.  (I like everything frozen)  If you are a fan of eating cookie dough... this is great.   Oh, and if you use carob chips then this is gluten and dairy free.  I used just regular ol' chocolate chips from Aldi.  If you can't do peanut butter, almond butter would be a great sub.

An Assortment

Here are some things that have made me happy lately.

Gwen colored this Elmo for me the other day during "nap" time.  She now sometimes takes a nap and sometimes not, but I insist that she stay in her room.  In this coloring page Elmo is clicking up his heals happy over wearing underwear.

I love these sticky note things.  I use them for my meal plans each week.  I have a red marker and I cross things out when I do them.

On a recent date Ben bought for me solid shampoo from a store called Lush.  The white puck is the solid shampoo.  I liked it so much I went back and got the solid conditioner.  Not wild about the conditioner, but the shampoo is great.  I'll have to see if I can make that myself.  I'm not sure if I'm up for that challenge, but it's in the back of my mind... way back there with going to Ireland which I am going to do someday.

Yesterday the kids were playing and I discovered these girls going to spring break I guess.  They believe in eating their protein cause one of them has a shrimp and one of them has a chicken leg.  :)

Siblings and Prayer

This is a sibling set of three I recently did.

and tonight we had guests and look what spontaneously happened at the kid's table.  Prayer.  I could not have sprinted any faster to get the camera.  I thought it was so sweet.

Love Never Fails by Brandon Heath

Show and Tell

The kids and I went on a long walk yesterday.  Look at the weeds we picked!  Aren't they pretty?  I'm pretty sure that yellow one is a close cousin to ragweed. :)

I attempted to paint the white pumpkin using stamps.  I also could not resist getting the green pumpkin.  I love it.

Vanilla Labels

Like my new homemade vanilla extract labels?  I do! :)

Idle Hands

Wanna see what I've been up to lately?  Well, I've been preparing for a holiday bizarre I'm doing in October.  I've decided that I'm going to sell some vanilla extract (got the bottles yesterday) and taking orders for silhouettes, and I'll also sell my dishwashing detergent in fall containers.  Oh, and I'm making Thanksgiving trail mix.  :)

Here is a silhouette I did of my friend Janna.  Everyone tells her she is a beautiful pregnant person and I must agree.  This is her 9 month silhouette.  This one I will display on my table at the holiday bizarre.

These are the flip top containers for the dishwashing detergent I got at the dollar store.  I thought they were great.  I'm making gift tags to go on them and I'll write the recipe for the detergent on the other side.

I bought a white pumpkin today.  We'll see if I can make it look as spectacular as this one.

Meal Plan

Chicken soup, edamame (didn't do last week)
Spinach alfredo pasta (just put a handfull of spinach in a bowl and put alfredo pasta on top... wilts on down)
Stuffed baked tomatoes, quinoa salad
Turkey and cheese burritos- freezer meal
Black Beans w/ham, brown rice
Chicken with Mediterranean Sauce, whole wheat cous cous (it was going to be sea bass with Mediterranean sauce like on Dr. Oz Show, but I couldn't find sea bass and the frozen stuff was expensive)
Sloppy cornbread muffins, sweet potato

It's In The Small Things

If you have read this blog for any stretch of time you know that it doesn't take much to amuse me.  Well... my dustpan broke lately so I had to get another one.  I was looking in the store and I spotted this one.  I mean... it's the Robocop of all dustpans.  Look at the handle on that thing!  I took one look at it and said "you MUST be mine."  :)

Fields of Grace

I've been eyeing this field of sunflowers near the gym I go to and a brick silo and I thought it would be a great place to take pictures.  Well... Zeke has a fever blister and Gwen has a scratch on her forehead from a fit she threw...but we braved it anyway.  I have to say... I'm not sure my nerves could take much of this stuff.

This would have been a lovely photo if Zeke would've not run after me and Gwen started crying.

Hold me he's saying.

Same Soap

 I read an article in a magazine that really made my heart glad.  It is about SAME restaurant in Denver, CO.  It serves fresh, organic foods to anyone and you pay what you can.  There are no prices on the menu.  I thought it was such a radical idea...but beautiful.  Check it out on the link.  If I ever go to Denver, you can bet SAME restaurant will be on the list of things to do.

Now for my first soap making experience.  I did some research online about how to make soap and I decided that for my first try I'd better do the melt and pour kind because working with lye is dangerous and I didn't want a science experiment going on with the kids around.  So... I got my PVC pipe with a cap on the end (3 inch) and lined it with parchment paper on the inside taping it down.  Then I melted the shea butter soap base.  I have lemon essential oil, so I thought I'd make it lemon basil kind.  I had lots of basil chopped up ready to add and then as a spur of the moment decision I decided to add the spice Tumeric to the soap to color it.  I didn't think the smell would overpower the lemon essential oil.  Well... the soap turned out a beautiful color, but smells a bit like tumeric lemon.  Ben said to call it "Bombay mix".  Um... doesn't everyone want to wash with a bar of soap that smells like Bombay?  No offense my Indian friends.  You know how I love Indian food!

Ben helped me get it out of the PVC pipe and get the cap off.  I kept saying encouraging things like "I can see the head!"  "PUSH"

Here it is.  It made 23 bars of soap.  I used 4 lbs of base for this soap.  So... all in all... not horribly bad... if you like Bombay mix smell.  :)

Meal Plan

Moroccan chicken, brown rice, crunchy macaroons- meal for us and take to a new mom
sloppy cornbread muffins, salad
sausage balls using ground turkey sausage, scrambled eggs
greek chicken soup
cheesy beef bake, edamame
spahetti with basil
leftovers

Pumpkins and Nuts

Some pumpkins I made for our window.  I got this idea on pinterest.  Here's the link, but I added a strip that was 9 inches as well as the ones listed on that site.

MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) has started back and Gwen is now in the big girl class where the potty trained reside.  You look at the 1 and 2 year old class and it's like the wailing wall in Jerusalem, you look at the big girl/boy class and they are sitting there doing watercolors.  Quite the contrast!  She watercolored Adam and Eve.  I thought it was amusing that Adam has a squirrel on his shoulder and when I told Ben to check it out he said, "you know what the squirrel is saying right? (I said no) and he says "Adam, you drive me nuts."  It cracked me up!  See, it really doesn't take a lot to make me laugh.

Preview

Operation Beautiful

This is a butterfly that Gwen drew at church last Sunday.  I have it on my fridge along with her "bucket list" and I think this butterfly is the prettiest thing ever.  I'm not sure why I'm growing so attached to it.  I think I might frame it.  The amazing thing to me is that it ACTUALLY looks like a butterfly to me and the detail she added to the background.  Amazing!

Speaking of amazing... I read about Operation Beautiful in the paper and it inspired me.  Basically, this girl was having a rotten day and she went to the bathroom and thought she'd turn her mood around by putting on the bathroom mirror a post it note that said "you are beautiful."  It has started a movement and a blog about all the notes people find.  See it here.  I have since been putting them in any restroom I go to with different messages.  It's fun, it's sneeky, and it's encouraging.  All of those things appeal to me.

Preserving Summer

I read an article the other day about preserving your herbs from your summer gardens and I've been doing that, so I thought I'd bring that info to you.  I've had a wonderful bunch of basil this year.  Last year I made pesto with it, but this year I just wanted to dry it since it is quickly changing temperatures up here.  It is very easy to do and these herbs smell so fragrant because they are fresh.  I figured they would be great in soups and spaghetti too.
I found that a jelly roll pan works best because they have sides and also put down a layer of tin foil on there.  I'm not sure why... but it helped it dry really well compared to my other one.  Put fresh herbs (washed) on there and put in a cold oven and heat it up to 180 degrees.  Check on it often and stir them or shake them around until they are dry.
Also... freezing is an option.  You could freeze savory herbs in chicken broth in ice cubes to put in soups or to cook rice in.  Just freezing them plain is another option to preserve them.  I borrowed mint from a neighbor the other day and he gave me a huge stalk of it, so I froze the leaves I didn't use to put them in ice tea or the quinoa salad I made.  Check out the quinoa salad... delicious.

These are the mint leaves I froze.

This is the dried basil.

I also have thyme that I will do, but haven't yet.  It's really hard to know what herbs you will actually use... but every summer I get more educated about what herbs I use in cooking.  For example... I've had to buy fresh oregano several times this summer.  Next summer I'm planting it.  Here is a handy dandy list of herb groupings for your cooking.  What herbs do you use?

Beef- bay leaf, marjoram, nutmeg, onion, pepper, sage, thyme
chicken- ginger, marjoram, oregano, paprika, poultry seasoning, rosemary, sage, tarragon, thyme
Fish- curry powder, dill, dry mustard, marjoram, paprika, pepper
Lamb- curry powder, garlic, rosemary, mint
Pork- garlic, sage, pepper, oregano
veal- bay leaf, curry powder, ginger, marjoram, oregano
carrots- cinnamon, cloves, marjoram, nutmeg, rosemary, sage
corn- cumin, curry powder, paprika, parsley
green beans- dill, curry powder, lemon juice, marjoram, oregano, tarragon, thyme
greens- pepper
peas- ginger, marjoram, onion, parsley, sage

I'm going to have to look into marjoram.  It fits with everything!

Bucket List

On the way to church this weekend Gwen asked for a piece of paper and a pencil.  All the way to church she wrote on that paper and when she got to church she handed it to me.  I asked her what it was and she said, "a list for what to get from the store."  I asked her what is on it and she said, "peanut butter, crackers, buckets, and sand."  Interesting I thought.  :)

By the way... I tested out the dishwasher detergent this weekend and it works just great!  No spotting or leftover powder residue.  Just remember to put the white vinegar in the rinse compartment.

Meal Plan

not too fancy this week... but here ya go.

Quinoa salad, cookies for Ben's B'day
Greek chicken soup, rolls
Italian Roast, brown rice, julienned veggies, dessert- taking meal to friend
cheesy beef bake, edamame
chicken salad, steamed broccoli
burgers, salad
scrambled egg sandwiches, carrot sticks, crackers

*specials- cookies, homemade crackers, and buns

**Here's the recipe for the Italian Dressing Mix that I've been using lately.  I used it as my dressing this week.  I'm really trying to be conscious of what I am putting in my family's mouth.  Is it REAL food or did it come out of a package?  I'm implemented one of the kid's snacks to be fruit oriented and one veggie oriented.  This Italian dressing is a great marinade for roast too... and that's what I intend to do with it this week... and no HFCS (High Fructose Corn Syrup) which I'm trying to eradicate from our home... and MSG.  Did you know buillion cubes have MSG?

Italian Dressing Mix

1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 T onion powder
2 tsp oregano
1 T dried parsley
2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp dried celery flakes (I didn't have so I used celery salt)

2 T dry mix with 1/4 C red wine vinegar, 2 tsp water and 1/2 C olive oil makes the dressing.  Let it sit for a while before using... it becomes better as it sits.

Want Grain Mill?

http://heavenlyhomemakers.com/nutrimill-giveaway-from-paulas-bread/comment-page-38#comment-109858

Homemade Cleaners and The Gang

Hi everyone!  Well... I'll admit it... I'm addicted to making my own cleaners.  I have found wonderful resources online which I will link to as I speak about them.  None of these were my original idea so no one go off thinking I'm a genius or something.  I am enjoying the homemade laundry soap and hand soap so much that I thought I'd try dishwasher soap too.  I've been using Trader Joe's "environmentally friendly" powder for a while.  I like it a lot... but I think it's pretty close to what I just made tonight using almost the same ingredients that I used with the laundry detergent... so if you have the stuff.. you might as well make this too!

Mine is in the bowl, Trader Joe's is in my palm.  I looked at the ingredients and they seem almost identical.  So.. Here goes!

Dishwasher Detergent

1 C borax
1 C washing soda (NOT baking soda)
1/2 C citric acid (I bought mine at Whole Foods today, but you can apparently find it at breweries or specialty beer stores... hum)
1/2 C kosher salt
1 tsp dry rice (to help prevent clumping and no, it won't hurt your dishwasher)

you put 1 Tablespoon per load and put white vinegar in the rinse compartment.  There ya go!  I have not tried this yet...but will give a full report when I do.  If you'd like to read more, this is where I got the idea in the first place:  http://www.diynatural.com/simple-effective-jabs-homemade-dishwasher-detergent-rinse-agent/

Homemade Windex


1/8 C white ammonia
1/4 C Isopropyl Rubbing Alcohol
1 drop laundry detergent
water to fill spray bottle up

*I made this and tried it today and it is just like Windex.  Isn't it amazing how much we pay for water??  This cost me nothing because I already had all the ingredients.  If you'd like to read more, here's where I got this: http://fakeitfrugal.blogspot.com/

Fake Febreeze


1/8 C your fav fabric softener
2 T baking soda
hot tap water to fill spray bottle

I got this again from this site: http://fakeitfrugal.blogspot.com/  I have not made this yet because mysteriously I found a bottle of febreeze with a little bit left in.  I'm going to use that up and then fill it with the fake febreeze.  I put the febreeze beside the diaper trash so when the stench demons come out I can attack!!

Today is my Ben's birthday.  What do you do on your birthday?  My hard working husband takes off of work to mow the grass, go on errands with me, consoles me when my $10 extra care bucks won't work at CVS and sorts the whole mess out, and takes us to the pool only to discover it is closing in 30 minutes.  That's just the kind of guy he is.  I couldn't ask for a better husband, friend and father.  Is it sad that he didn't get a cake?  I am now on the healthy eating starvation of sweets diet now, so I couldn't be trusted to bake anything at this point.  Here are some pictures of the kids watching their daddy.  They adore him and so do I.

Storytime

I've been thinking... this is the kind of Grandmother I want to be minus the bonnet.

Why are all Fairy Godmothers and Grandmothers fat?  Does that make them seem more approachable and warm?  Then I'm set!

Whenever I read this book about dinosaurs learning colors I always wonder what this chick is doing standing beside a huge dinosaur with that grin on her face for.  I wonder if it is the author, because she has no role in this book at all.  It's just a random woman standing there smiling.  Can you tell I've had a lot of caffeine this morning?

Doily Garland

My friend and college roomate, Olya, (Hi there Olya) sent a website that had this garland on there.  Ironically, I already had these paper doilies so I thought it was a marvelous idea.  This might be the easiest and prettiest garland I've ever made.

Smoothies and Shrimp

Now who said smoothies are a kid friendly food?  The kid's had smoothies for lunch and this is what happened.  He was happy though. :)

Last night I finally made that spicy shrimp recipe.  I liked it very much and I hope you will too.  It's super easy after you shell the shrimp to just throw the shrimp in the skillet with the marinade and cook it in the marinade.  I omitted the jalapenos cause I didn't want it too spicy for my kids.  I did use the cayenne pepper though and it wasn't too spicy.  You be the judge for your own family.

1 jalapeno chile, seeded and chopped
3 T olive oil
1 tsp grated zest and 5 T juice from 3 limes (I used 1 lime and 1 lemon and there was enough juice)
6 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1 1/2 pounds shrimp

*can sprinkle with minced fresh cilantro if you have it.  I don't, so I didn't.