January Meals.

I have meal-planned our ENTIRE month of January and I'm so excited about it. The worst part of cooking (in my humble opinion) is deciding WHAT to eat. And no one in our house is helpful when it comes to figuring that out, so I decided to sit down ONCE and plan for the WHOLE MONTH, list where I got the recipe, and each week make a grocery list from that.

We are NOT eating at home 7 nights. We have various things going on (I'm actually not going to share our calendar with you...I used to lay it all out week by week and write when we had other things going on and that caused some privacy problems) 7 nights of January so I left those off. But here are 24 meal plans - most with links for recipes - that I hope will help you. (Sidenote: Some are healthy, some are seriously not...you just pick and choose what works for you! I also make my own seasonings pretty often. You can clean up a LOT of these original recipes by making your own, eliminating the cream of chicken soup, and avoiding the processed foods. If it calls for canned biscuits, make your own! If it calls for  Except cheese. Because I can't live without it.) We throw a veggie or two with each for a side (or none for James who we've been telling that Will is going to be bigger than him because he eats his veggies...James woofed down the spinach in the Italian Tortellini Soup because of this...). I realized as I was putting this together that I included so. many. pasta. dishes. My boys are big fans of pasta, but we don't normally have THIS many. I think next month I'm going to have designated days of the week - Soup Sundays, Taco Tuesday, etc. and I'm also going to pull from some of my cleaner cookbooks next month. I just wanted to get this kicked off this month.

Hoppin' John

Put the following in a crockpot on low for 3-4 hours: 1 can black eyed peas, 1 can mild Rotel, and link sausage. About 30 minutes before you serve, add in quick-cook rice.

Italian Tortellini Soup

Porcupine Meatballs

I added a can of tomato sauce!

Easy Chicken Enchiladas

Sloppy Joe Casserole

Skillet Lasagna

Easy Potato Soup

Slow Cooker Cube Steak

Crock Pot Chicken Fajitas

This recipe/blog has been removed. VERY sad. I think it was frozen chicken breasts + beans (whatever kind you want...don't drain them) + a packet of fajita seasoning.

3-Cheese Chicken Penne Pasta

Pull-Apart Pizza

BBQ Beef Ribs - Big Green Egg Cookbook

Chicken and Dumplings

Crock Pot Beef Stroganoff

Bowtie Fiesta Pasta

Chicken Pot Pie

Croque Monsieur

Burgers and Roasted Corn - Big Green Egg Cookbook

One Pot Cajun Chicken Alfredo

Walking Tacos

Shepherd's Pie

Taco Lasanga - I can't find the recipe for this. I'll post when I find it.

Steaks - Big Green Egg Cookbook

Asian Chicken and Noodle Soup

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things...

I made myself a list this morning of some of my favorite things. No cream colored ponies and crisp apple strudels over here...these are things I've been using daily that I love and wanted to share!

My Favorite...

Beauty Product:

Covergirl Ultrasmooth Foundation

I am NOT a foundation girl, but this came in a VoxBox from Influenster recently and I LOVED it. It's light and natural (I'm using Creamy Natural) and I've gotten compliments on how good my skin looks (and if you've seen me recently without makeup, that is a BIG thing!). It's a keeper!

Book:

Y'all are going to LAUGH at this one. I found an old Baby-Sitter's Club book recently and devoured it. It was cheesy and corny and I couldn't put it down. Whoa. Let's talk about a few things. Number 1, I'm not leaving my kids home alone with a 13 year old babysitter. Number 2, those girls were BOY CRAZY. Slow it down, girls! It was a FUN read, though. I wish I had little girls to pass these on to!

TV Show:

This is a toss-up for me. I have been watching a ton of Dateline, Outlander, and Fixer Upper recently. None of them would fall under the category of my "favorite" show, but they're my favorites recently!

Movie:

I haven't watched many movies recently, but I set our DVR to record Maleficent this week. It's a GOOD one. I can't wait to re-watch!

Essential Oil:

I found a new one that I LOVE! It's called Stress Away and it smells like lime and vanilla. I'm considering buying the roll-on I love it so much. It's nice in bath water or just a drop on my wrists and/or neck. It's very spring-y which is a nice change from some of my clove-based favorites!

Recipe:

I've made THREE new recipes recently and all three were a hit. 

Crockpot Chicken Tacos:

Add frozen chicken to a crockpot. Put a packet of taco seasoning on top. Add one can of cream of chicken soup and one cup of salsa. Cook on low for 7 hours or on high for 4. YUM. It would be easy to make this a clean meal (Pinterest has 100 recipes for at-home cream of chicken soup and making your own taco seasoning is a cinch!)

Chicken and Dumplings from Dixie Delights. (There is NOTHING clean and healthy about this meal, but Eddie LOVED it.)

Porcupine Balls from Chelsea's Messy Apron.

Time of Day:

6pm and later! Oh my goodness! The weather has been SO NICE. It's been warm and sunny and we've been soaking it up on the back porch! {My not-so-favorite thing has been the pollen. I am stuck at home today with PINKEYE from all of it. I woke up with one eye glued shut this morning and it feels like there is sandpaper in it. Pinkeye and rocking babies don't mix so I had to find a sub.} It's supposed to be rainy for the next several days, but it's still going to stay warm! I think I may switch out my winter/summer clothes this weekend.

Thing to Do:

Vacation planning!!! We have a big, fun trip in the works and I've been planning for it like crazy. Details to come in the future, but it's going to be a good one!

Toy:

The boys are LOVING the Magic Kingdom playset that Will got from Santa. I've slowly been adding Disney characters to it and they think that's really fun!

Jamberry Design:

Grapefruit! It's so pretty!

Moment this Week:

Seeing an ALLIGATOR in the pond near our house! AAHHHHHH! It's far enough away that I don't need to be concerned about it (yet), but how cool is that?! I highly suspect that he'll either get relocated or *ahem* relocated soon because others have spotted him as well. I tried to get a picture, but it's terrible. He's probably 4 feet long, so not huge, but I assured the boys that he's very dangerous.

Runners-Up:

Puppy playing next door! Our neighbors have nine dogs + one cat + five puppies. :) It's a circus! We went to meet the puppies on Monday night and James LOVED them.

We got the European version of Ticket to Ride and played it over the weekend. Favorite!

NOT Favorite Moments:

That is styling wax in his hair. Eddie said he had to wash it twice. He does stuff like this all the time in just a matter of SECONDS. Busy boy.

We also got some news about James this week that makes me a little sad and certainly wasn't my favorite moment. I'll share more about that next week after our trip to the pediatrician. It's NOT anything that is life threatening for sure (no need to worry!), but it was something we'd suspected and something we'd hoped we were wrong about but it seems that we were not. Sad times. More later!

What are your favorites this week?

Do Yourself a Favor...

I am GOING TO BLOG every day this week. And it's moving week. I think I can, I think I can.

I have a few updates, I have some pictures of the boys, I owe a company a review of their fun product, but tonight you get a yummy recipe so you don't have to wonder what's for dinner tomorrow. This is simmering on my stove as I type. The first day of Fall is sometime this week...tomorrow, maybe? You NEED to make this recipe. (And you may have everything you need on hand!)

Trisha Yearwood's Tortilla Chicken Soup can be found HERE. 

The best part is that it makes a BIG batch so I'm freezing half and will pull it (and Jamie Deen's chili!) out next week when we're moving and unpacking and I won't be cooking!

Five on Friday.

1. I had an awesome "Mom Moment" in the Dollar Tree last weekend. James and I were wandering through the store (his first time there) and he had the "gimmies." He kept saying, "I want this, and this, and this." I'd said yes to a few things - a pirate costume set for him and Will because they have a pirate day at camp this summer - but for the most part I was saying no. He'd started saying, "But I can buy it with my money." As we walked past a grass skirt (you know...the Hawaiian kind), he said he NEEDED that (seriously?) and I mentioned that if he bought it with his money that would be FOUR times wiping off the table or FOUR times of sorting the laundry (because we currently pay $0.25/chore). A woman who was a bit older than me was walking near us as this conversation took place. She caught my eye and as I sort of rolled my eyes about James and his "needs" she gave me a thumbs-up and said, "Good job!"Y'all, I almost cried right there in the store. So often (especially in public) I feel like I am NOT doing a good job. It was SO nice to have that affirmation from someone else that what I was doing was the right thing. Whew! Motherhood is so tough sometimes, but that was awesome.

2. I went searching for our favorite go-to "Taco Tuesday" recipe and realized I didn't have it anywhere on the blog. SO. I'm going to remedy that right this minute. Here, in all it's easy glory, is Crockpot Chicken Tacos.

Ingredients:

* Frozen boneless, skinless chicken breasts (3-4)

* 1 cup salsa

* 1 can black beans

* 1 can pinto beans

* 1 can enchilada sauce

Place frozen chicken in crockpot and cover with other ingredients. Cook on high 3-4 hours or until chicken shreds. You can also throw frozen fajita veggies in for the last hour or so if you like that kind of thing. SO easy and my family loves it. I have to pick all the beans out for James {he's a wimpy eater}, but he doesn't complain that they're in there WITH everything else. We serve on flour tortillas with cheese, Cholula, sour cream, and guac! Mmmmm!

3. I finally got around to renting and watching Saving Mr. Banks this week and I LOVED IT. Y'all know I'm sort of a Disney nut anyway, so the "real story" behind things is fascinating to me. The movie was SO great. I felt so sad for P.L. Travers the whole time, though. Have you seen it? What do you think? I may wind up purchasing the DVD. :)

4. Mother's Day is Sunday and while it DID sort of sneak up on me, I pulled it all off and got what I needed to get. I also bought gifts for myself. Ha! We have a busy Mother's Day weekend. I'm going on a date with my biggest boy on Saturday night and I'm SO excited about it. We're having family pictures made with Mom on Sunday. And then I have big plans to take a NAP. That's what I want for Mother's Day. Guilt-free lounging.

Guess where we were last year on Mother's Day? Take me back!!! James was smitten with Minnie, huh? I asked him what Disney Princess I should be the other day and he said either Ariel or Merida. Think he has a thing for redheads???

5. I'm on the hunt for new running shoes. My favorite pair is so worn out that they're rubbing blisters on me so I switched to an old pair and I have had sore legs all week. Shin splits and IT band pain and that just won't do. SO. I've been looking around at different shoes. I'm leaning toward an Asics Cumulus. I have narrow feet with a high arch. Let me know if you have other suggestions. If we have time on Saturday I'm going to go by the running store and have them look at my feet and help, but if not I'm on my own (we don't have anything like that in town...unless I just don't know about it). I keep hearing great things about Asics, though.

Christmas Eve Eve and Christmas Eve.

This is from Christmas Eve Eve Eve, but I can't not add it. Will's chubby little knees {that unfortunately cannot be seen here} just about did me in. Eddie HATES these kinds of clothes and you would never have seen James in knee socks, but I had to do it. I'm 99.9999999% sure Will won't be in John Johns next year, so I had to do it while I still could.

This post is really just for my own purposes of documenting our flying-by-at-the-speed-of-light-lives. I don't have many pictures of Christmas Eve so it's not going to be a ton of fun to read. I just want to write it all down so I can have it in our "journal" for the year.

Well. I just thought that moving closer to "home" would mean that we would be able to have more time to drag out our holidays. HA. We were busier than we've ever been on Christmas Eve.

Let's start first with Christmas Eve Eve. This was the night that I had my annual girls' dinner at Kate's, but earlier in the day before that the boys and I made our gingerbread houses and cookies for Santa. It wound up being a semi-disaster. I was alone {and I've NEVER done this alone...} and of course everybody was fighting over who got to pour and stir, etc., but we lived to tell the tale and we wound up with some gingerbread houses that will NOT win any awards, a gingerbread cake {because of an error on my part - I didn't read the right directions on the box!}, chocolate chip cookies, and those sugar cookies with Hershey's kisses stuck in them that Eddie's family has a name for that I will not be writing on the blog. :) My mom arrived just in time for me to send the boys down the hall with her for a bath. She says I planned it that way. ;)

{This is why I was hesitant to do this alone. Will clearly didn't care about decorating. I would hand him a piece of candy and ask where he was going to put it and he'd point to his mouth. Needless to say, he enjoyed this experience.}

{And this boy made his ALL BY HIMSELF. I iced it for him (and he really helped a lot with that!) and he did all the candy himself.}

James spent the night off with Grandmama and Granddaddy Monday night so when we got up on Christmas Eve Eddie and Will took off to run some last minute errands. I went into the kitchen and made Monkey Bread and Breakfast Casserole for Christmas morning. We were all done with our various chores by 11AM when James joined us to look for George - it was his last night with us. We had a small meltdown {the first of many by both boys} but we were able to regroup in time to leave for Part 1 of Christmas at Grandmama and Granddaddy's.

Opening gifts at Grandmama and Granddaddy's was chaotic. Both boys were exhausted already and overwhelmed. They were fine if THEY were opening a gift, but the patience it took to wait was a problem. Whew! We all wound up with some fun gifts, though! James got a super cool remote control red corvette that all the boys have had an awesome time playing with. Will got a hilarious dachshund that walks and wiggles to "Low Rider." Eddie and I got a new deep freezer. Much needed! Thankful for that! We got so many fun gifts. We had lunch with everyone and then headed to our house to get clothes for church.

There was no time for a nap but of course the boys fell asleep in the car on the way to pick up Mom, Anna, and Lance for church. Anna decided she wanted Will to enjoy church with us so we carried both sleeping boys in. Will had never been to church and when he woke he looked and looked all around. Then he began climbing from person to person to person. Thankfully he wasn't TOO bad, but he did get a little restless and noisy. I love Christmas Eve service. The pretty candlelight dancing around during Silent Night is my absolute favorite.

We did Christmas at Mama's after church and before our friends joined us for our annual Christmas Eve gathering. I was just too excited about Lance's gift {from Eddie...but really me} to wait any longer. I think it was the best idea I've ever had for a gift. Anna and Lance have just bought a new house so I thought something for the walls would be fun and what better to hang than a watercolor of their babies. Y'all, I will share more info on this later because it's the second commissioned piece that I've bought from this artist and she is wonderful and SO easy to work with. We got several FUN things at Mama's. :) The boys each got a scooter (James calls it a skewter). These will be lots of fun! More toys, more joys!

After we opened our gifts the Lees came over for Christmas Eve dinner. We really just snacked. We've been getting together with the Lees {+a few other families...but this year just the Lees} for as long as I can remember. {And we missed Mary Beth, Sarah Beth, and Dutch! See y'all next year!} We had a great time even though it was a small group this year!

We hurried home before Santa passed us over. We have a few Christmas Eve traditions that we almost skipped this year {and a few that we DID skip} because we were just so busy! We threw Reindeer Food out into the front yard, James hung our stockings on the key rack by the front door {no chimney here!}, we brushed teeth, put on jammies, and the boys were OUT like a light. Santa came just as quickly as he could and Eddie and I were in bed around 1AM. It never changes, does it? It's always late for parents. {We watched A Christmas Story on repeat just like we always do.}

Christmas morning was a fun time for two anxious boys! More later!

31 Days of Halloween: Day Four - Chili Night!

We are back in business with a computer! Amen and amen. It's tough to start a 31 Days series with no real computer on which to blog.

Tonight we're headed to Cacky's to accomplish a few of our Halloween/Fall Bucket List items and since I'm cooking chili for supper I thought I'd share the recipes that I use. Chili is absolutely one of my favorite things about fall but I know that everyone does it differently. I was so impressed with James recently who is completely anti-beans and tomatoes. I got him to help me make it and not only did he TRY it, but he ATE it and he requested it for lunch the next day. He picked out all the beans and tomato chunks, but I didn't CARE.

I'm sharing a Chicken Chili recipe and a regular chili recipe but I have to be honest and admit that I am COMPLETELY guilty of using the McCormick packet for regular chili and that is IT. I'm trying something different tonight, though. We serve our normal chili over rice. I think it's a Texas thing, am I right? We also top with cheese and sour cream and on occasion we dip with Fritos. For the Chicken Chili we top with Monterrey Jack or Pepper Jack cheese and sour cream and serve with cornbread or tortilla chips.

White Chicken Chili

Ingredients:

3-4 cups of chicken, cooked and shredded (I use a rotisserie chicken)

4 14-oz. cans of navy beans, drained and rinsed (use whatever combination of white beans suits you!)

4 4.5-oz. cans of chopped green chiles

1 packet of white chicken chili seasoning

1 14-oz. can chicken broth

Stir all ingredients together in a large stock pot. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, 15 minutes.

Jamie Deen's Award Winning Chili

(Click HERE for the actual recipe)

Ingredients:

2 tbsp olive oil

1 large red onion, diced

1 medium red bell pepper, diced

4 cloves garlic, chopped

1 pound lean ground beef

8 oz. Italian sausage, casing removed

1/4 cup chili powder

1 tbsp ground cumin

1 tbsp dried oregano

1 4-oz. can tomato paste

1 12-oz. bottle beer

1 28-oz can diced tomatoes + 1 14-oz can diced tomatoes

1 15-oz can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 15-oz can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 15-oz can pinto beans, drained and rinsed

Add the olive oil to a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the onions and peppers and sauté until soft, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and saute until just fragrant. Stir in the beef and sausage, breaking it up with the back of a wooden spoon, and cook until browned, about 6 minutes.

Drain the beef mixture through a colander. Add it back to the Dutch oven and stir in the chili powder, cumin and oregano. Cook for about 2 minutes. Stir the tomato paste into the beef mixture; this will "toast" it and give the chili more flavor. Add the beef and stir up any browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Bring to a simmer, and then add the diced tomatoes and beans. Simmer on medium-low for 2 hours, stirring on occasion to keep the bottom from sticking.

A Year with PW: Macaroni and Cheese

I didn't actually need a macaroni and cheese recipe. I have my mama's and it's delish. I make it fairly often (and by fairly often I mean every month or two...Eddie fills in the blanks with Kraft which is so NOT my favorite) and while it's not super quick, it IS easy peasy.

Pioneer Woman's macaroni and cheese is very, very similar. The steps are a little different than my mama's but the only BIG change is that PW has an egg in hers and Mama doesn't. It was still easy peasy (but again, not quick! let me just say that baked macaroni and cheese is COMPLETELY WORTH the wait...I could eat the entire casserole dish by myself! *ahem*). The egg made the dish very, very similar to cafeteria-style macaroni and cheese. And that is a compliment in my book. Remember Morrison's? OMG. That was one of my favorite restaurants as a kid. Gwinnett Place Mall had one and I loved it. (My family is probably gagging right now!)

The verdict is that I may or may not make this again, just based on the fact that I didn't really need a replacement. However, if you are a macaroni and cheese lover (seriously, who isn't???) then this is a must-make!

Two big thumbs up! (Or eight if you count my whole family!)

Other Pioneer Woman recipes we've tried:

Lasagna

Spicy Shredded Pork

Simple, Perfect Enchiladas and Mexican Rice

Perfect Pot Roast and Mashed Potatoes

A Year with PW: Lasagna

I made Pioneer Woman's lasagna tonight. I used her cookbook, but a very similar recipe can be found HERE. I'm about to give a few helpful hints that will not be necessary at all if you follow the online version of this recipe. But I didn't know that until now.

Let's start with a few helpful hints to begin with. I am not clear on why her order of operations is: grate cheese, boil noodles, make sauce, make cheese sauce, assemble, bake. Please let it be known that I think you should start sauce first. Like 30 minutes before anything else. It has to simmer for 45 minutes so your cheese is just sitting there. And yes, you could put it in the fridge, but you could also grate it while the sauce is simmering. So my order of operations would be: sauce, boil noodles, grate cheese, make cheese sauce, assemble, bake.

Next, be sure that when you make your grocery list you include everything you need. *Ahem.* This calls for THREE cups of cottage cheese (although Eddie wasn't brave so we still used ricotta). One regular container of cheese isn't three cups. It's two. And while we're at it, flat leaf parsley is not the same as curly.

Also, it's best to start this recipe around 4pm if you'd like to eat at, say, 6pm. The sauce takes over an hour (browning meat + simmering 45 minutes) and then it all has to bake 35-45 minutes. Just be aware. The natives get restless if you don't get it to the table on time.

Aside from that, this went beautifully!

This was really yummy! Aside from James acting like he was dying (no, really...acting out like he was choking and dying) when he accidentally ate the sauce, this was great! We'll definitely eat it again, although I'll follow the online version. And I might try to sneak the cottage cheese in just to try it!

Yea! It was a winner!

Other recaps here:
Spicy Shredded Pork
Simple, Perfect Enchiladas and Mexican Rice
Perfect Pot Roast and Mashed Potatoes

A Year With PW: Simple, Perfect Enchiladas and Mexican Rice

Hello! More from Debbie Downer! This meal stunk! Ha! Y'all I am trying hard not to have a meltdown but between the boys being sick and neither child SLEEPING in their freaking beds at night and other things going on around here that are out of our control but just stink, this week has been the pits. And then I made this tonight and it got worse. Eddie didn't even finish it. If you've met my husband you will know that he ALWAYS eats every bite and then has more and he RARELY meets something he won't eat.

So, to be more specific, there were a few things we didn't like about the Simple, Perfect Enchiladas. First of all, I didn't think they were simple. There were three basic parts to go through: the sauce, the meat, and the rest. The sauce SHOULD have been easy except that my flour stuck and didn't combine with everything else. And then I missed the step about putting my tortillas into the sauce before filling, rolling, and placing them in the pan. The meat SHOULD have been easy except that my grocery man bought whole green chiles instead of diced. (As an aside, this is obviously not P-Dub's fault.) The rest SHOULD have been easy but I am not a fan of frying and this called for frying. The recipe also called for corn tortillas and let's face it - corn tortillas are nowhere near as delicious as flour. James ate a plain one for lunch and gagged.

Dear Mama, I need your chicken enchiladas (WITH FLOUR TORTILLAS!) recipe stat.

The rice (which is actually in the SECOND cookbook, not the one I'm working through) was better, but Eddie still wasn't a fan. James didn't like it, and then he did, and then he didn't. So basically, I was the only one who ate it. It was fairly easy to get through so no problems with that.

I sure do hate that this didn't turn out delish because we LOVE Mexican food. James and I don't meet much Mexican food that we don't like.

We'll be crossing this off and not using it again. Oh well!

A Year With PW: Perfect Pot Roast and Mashed Potatoes

I told Eddie that one of my "resolutions/goals" this year was to cook my way through an entire cookbook. While it may not be the HEALTHIEST choice, he was all onboard with the idea of cooking through Pioneer Woman's (Ree Drummonds) first cookbook. I have both but it seemed best to start with the first!

There are 50-60 recipes in the cookbook so my goal is to cook one a week. (And there are a few that I may not do...Eddie HATES meatloaf. It seems sort of a waste to make meatloaf if no one will eat it! Maybe James and I would like it? Maybe I could make it with Mama and let her have it?) (Is anyone else saying "Meatloaf, beatloaf...I HATE meatloaf!" Just me? Oh. Carry on, then!)

This week's recipes sounded SCRUMPTIOUS. Pioneer Woman's Perfect Pot Roast and Creamy Mashed Potatoes. I usually do roast in a crockpot so this was a little daunting initially but then I put on my big girl undies and got going. Pot roast and mashed potatoes! Is there anyone who DOESN'T like that meal? Not at my house!

Like I said, I was slightly apprehensive about PW's pot roast when I started. And the boys weren't helping. Will decided he wasn't going to nap but I HAD to get it started because it cooks anywhere from 3-5 hours (ours cooked almost exactly 4 hours and was PERFECT). I really thought it would take a while to prep because there were veggies to be chopped and everything had to be browned before roasting. I think it took me twenty minutes of prep time. MAYBE thirty. But it was SO much easier than I expected.

The potatoes I wasn't worried about. I've made mashed potatoes before and they're pretty simple. These were easy, there was just more hands-on time than the roast.

The verdict? The house smelled FANTASTIC when Eddie walked in which is always a good thing. (A friend's grandmother told my mama one time that if you haven't gotten dinner fixed when your husband walks in the door to throw butter and an onion in a pan and it will SMELL like you've been hard at work! I laugh every time I think of that! {Lib! I'm talking about Gran!})

Eddie LOVES comfort food. He is a meat and potatoes man. And this was definitely a winner in his book. Write it down! I've found the winning roast! I've never worried that my roast wasn't good, but this was SO good that it's the winner. I would cut back just a bit on the rosemary, but that's just me.

The key, I think, was definitely the cut of meat. She suggests a chuck roast. And she probably should know since they're cattle ranchers! I was thankful that Eddie stuck to that item on the list and didn't get whatever was on sale. Apparently the marbling (is that a word?) is the key to keeping meat from drying out.

The potatoes were also excellent. Even James (a self-proclaimed potato hater...HOW is he my child???) ate every bite. They're delicious! I didn't add enough half-and-half but it's because I halved the recipe and wasn't sure how much they needed.

Perfect meal! Two thumbs up from everyone in my household!

What's for Dinner?

Boy, I haven't done this in a while, huh? I've still been meal planning, I just haven't blogged it. But here's our menu for this week just in case anyone is interested. Brand new recipes that I haven't ever tried so we'll see how they go!

Sunday:

We were supposed to get together with some family friends but they had to cancel. Probably a cereal night for us here! :)

Monday:

Dijon Balsamic Sirloin

Corn and Black Bean Salad

Tuesday:

Grilled Oregano Chicken

Grilled Veggie Couscous

Wednesday:

Three Cheese Chicken Penne Pasta

Salad

Thursday:

Leftovers

Friday:

Out!

Saturday:

Zucchini Black Bean Tacos

Avocado Salad

Recipe: Sweet Onion Casserole

I'm spending the day packing my baby up to go off for THREE nights! That's the longest I've ever been away from him in his little life. Because we're a little busy around here today, and because several of you said you'd like more recipes, here's one that I tried out from Cooking Light the other day. I've just subscribed to the magazine and I absolutely love it. (Sidenote, I also sell it! :) Let me know if you'd like a subscription!) This one was a good one! I can't remember what we enjoyed ours with, but I bet it'd be a good side for a roast or pork loin. Mmmmm...

Ingredients:

1 tbsp canola oil

4 cups chopped sweet onion (about 1 3/4 pounds) ('round here we just call that a Vidalia onion)

1/2 cup uncooked long-grain rice

2/3 cup 2% milk

1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded Gruyere cheese (Eddie wouldn't buy this kind because it was $$$ so we substituted Swiss instead)

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1/8 tsp ground allspice

Cooking spray

1/3 cup (1 1/3 ounces) grated Parmesan cheese

2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 325*.

2. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil; swirl to coat. Add onion; saute' 5 minutes or until tender. Place onion in a large bowl.

3. Cook rice in a large pot of boiling water 5 minutes. Drain.

4. Stir rice and next 5 ingredients (through allspice) into onions. Spoon onion mixture into an 8-inch square glass or ceramic baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle evenly with Parmesan cheese. Cover and bake at 325* for 40 minutes. Uncover and back an additional 5 minutes. Top with parsley, if desired. Yield: 6 servings.

Catch Up Day! - What's for Dinner?!

I'm sure you've noticed I haven't been posting. Right? Right? :) We've been busy little bees again! Thankfully, I think that this coming weekend is our last busy weekend of the summer (and just for James!). We're not planning (ha!) to fill up the calendar this summer, thankfully! We have a busy weeks, but not busy weekends and I really, really hope that it stays that way!

I'll do the full weekend recap once I have pictures downloaded and edited. In the meantime, here's our menu for the next few nights. I'll let you know how it is.

Wednesday, June 8, 2011:

Buffalo Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Rice and Black Beans

Thursday, June 9, 2011:

Something-on-the-grill :) (I haven't looked at my sale list today)

Grilled or sauteed veggies that Mrs. Bobby sent us home with yesterday. I think they include squash, zucchini, tomatoes, and onions. Yum! Some are compliments of the Pope's garden, I believe!

Friday, June 10, 2011:

Leftovers!

Saturday, June 11, 2011:

Out to eat! James is spending Saturday, Sunday, and Monday nights with Papa and YaYa so I've informed Eddie that my kitchen will be closed. (Not that James eats much of my cooking, it's just the principle of the thing!)

I'm considering doing my What's for Dinner? posts the week after we eat. I could include the recipes with it so that you'd have ideas AND the recipe to go along with it. Would anyone like that? I'm not a super-exciting cook, but I do like to try new things.

Hammer Time!

Okay, okay...cheesy title. But really, if you had been at my house last night you'd completely understand! My wonderful but frugal husband insisted that he paint the kitchen all by himself and rip up the floor all by himself so that we could save some money and spend it on something else in the house. Have I mentioned how wonderful he is??? Anyway, ripping up a floor is NOT quiet work. As I worked on lesson plans and grading late into the night, Eddie was in the kitchen hammering and ripping away. He's just great!





Things are coming along in the house. Tomorrow the floor will be put into the kitchen and dining room. Cross your fingers and pray that it matches closely enough! Scary!

I have a confession to make...I do not cook. I LOVE to bake! Cooking, however, has just never been fun for me because it's been just for one most of the time. I have been known to cook now and then - and I'm certainly not BAD at it. In fact, I'm pretty good at following a recipe, if I do say so myself! Lately, however, we've been either eating out or eating baked potatoes. The only kitchen appliance we currently have is a microwave. I'll go to Publix (thank goodness for Publix!) and walk through the aisles wondering what to cook because I CAN'T cook. And the funny thing is, that's all I want to do now. I want to come home from school and be able to fix supper without it consisting of take-out or microwaved ANYTHING. Stay tuned for new recipes I'm trying. I hope to have appliances sometime in the next two weeks.

Which leads me to this...if you're a Dinner Club buddy who is coming up for the Dinner Club Weekend/Georgia National Fair Extravaganza...do not come expecting much. Our appliances SHOULD be installed by then...but our kitchen will still be in shambles. Countertops won't be installed for at least a week after that. And my wonderful mama is refinishing my ugly kitchen table and has informed me that I won't have it until Christmas. I don't care how long it takes since she's doing it out of the goodness of her heart and it's one less thing I have to worry about! So how about Gyros and funnel cake just like last year? I'm glad you understand...

Hope everyone is doing well! We miss you guys!

PS - Don't tell Eddie I posted that picture of him...he'd have a fit!