Menu Plan Monday 04/23/12 and Enjoying Spring

Welcome to another week of my menu! We have been enjoying some Spring activities lately ... one of them is taking care of our birds. Since we have established bird feeders and have noticed babies around in the past years, we decided this year to put out some nesting material. I got the idea from the Birds and Blooms website to use an old suet feeder. We filled it with all different kinds of yarn (cut up into 3-4 inch pieces) along with Poly-fil from my craft supplies. No birds have found it yet ... but it's fun to keep watch!!

I've also been busy preparing our garden areas in the back yard. We just have a condo, but I've been able to carve out a nice area to plant some vegetables, flowers and herbs. This year, I'm going to grow an herb garden in our wine barrel, an idea I found here on Pinterest. Below is a picture of the cute little basil seedlings which will be ready for planting soon. I have a bunch of other seeds that I have to get going too.

Here's what's cooking at our home this week:

Monday 

Oven-Baked Frito Pie

I always like to have some good old comfort food in my menu rotation, and this sounded good to make this week. I have seen a few recipes for Frito pie, but this looks like the best one I've found so far. I tweeked it a bit using Mexican cheese instead of cheddar, dark kidney beans instead of pinto beans and Pato sauce replacing the taco seasoning and tomato sauce. It turned out well!

Tuesday

Tuna Noodle Casserole

I haven't made something with fish in awhile, so I decided on a tuna casserole. This one is from Skinny Taste so it will be a little lighter.

Wednesday

Stuffed Cabbage Casserole

This will be my third try making a ground beef meal that calls for cabbage. I love cooked cabbage, but find it hard to find good recipes that use it. I have yet to find one my husband likes and this one (also from Skinny Taste) looks good.

Thursday

Leftovers 

Friday

Simmered "Fried" Chicken with Oven Potatoes and Broccoli

This recipe from Window on the Prairie calls it "Fried chicken", but I renamed it. The "frying" part is done for the first few minutes, but then you simmer it in chicken stock for 45 minutes or so. The chicken comes out so nice and tender that way. 

Saturday

Possible Date Night!

Sunday
Always my night off!


P.S. Ididn't get a chance to make the Parsnip Cake yet, so I hope to comment about that next week!

Click on the links below to see what others are making this week!

Linking Up To:

On the Menu Monday At Stone Gable

SusieQTpies Scraps of Life

Thanks for visiting!

Menu Plan Monday - 4/16/12

I just love this picture of J asleep in my arms. He fell asleep this way one night and so L snapped this picture. It is hard to believe this little boy is turning 4 come May, and I am thankful more than words can say.


A couple notes on last week's meals ... The eggplant Parmesan totally bombed! We still ate it, but it was more like eggplant Parmesan SOUP. I think I'll hold off trying again for a while. We did enjoy the Rigatoni/chicken dish. It was pretty good.

Here's what's cooking at our home this week:

Monday

Spaghetti with Corn and Garlic Toast

This is a regular meal in our rotation that my husband really loves. I use a store bought sauce that I spruce up with diced tomatoes, fresh green pepper and a splash of olive oil.

Tuesday

Peanut Coconut Curry over Jasmati Rice

I think this was a Pinterest dish, and it has definitely made it into our regular menu rotation. It has sort of a Thai feeling because of the peanut sauce but I love having an opportunity to add coconut with the coconut milk and then cooking the chicken in coconut oil. I love how these flavors blend together. 

Wednesday

Fresno Potatoes with Chicken and Broccoli

Another find from Pinterest ... mainly the picture caught my eye. I like the mixture of ingredients as I've rekindled an interest in bacon, having it in moderation. I decided to add chicken and broccoli too since I think they'll blend nicely.

Thursday

Leftovers 

Friday

Pizza dinner at church volunteer event

We have a really neat event at our church this week called "Ignite". It's a time for the people who volunteer at church to gather and worship together and just encourage one another. They are feeding us dinner too.

Saturday

Mystery Shop at an Italian Restaurant

One of the ways I'm bringing in a little side income is through Mystery Shopping. Since I joined last year, I've gotten a few free car washes, several free dinners and picked up some cash after visiting and reviewing the Humane Society and the food areas of our student union.

Sunday
Always my night off!


Special Treats:
I will be making Parsnip Cake this week along with some more homemade coconut/chocolate granola bars. I am trying to have some healthier things around for snacking instead of buying cookies or candy. I also found a new "treat" at the store, Yoplait's Greek Vanilla Yogurt. It satisfies my cravings for ice cream because it's so nice and thick.

Click on the links below to see what others are making this week!

I am also linking up to:

On the Menu Monday At Stone Gable

SusieQTpies Scraps of Life

Thanks for visiting!

Feeling Safe in Your Home

Picture Credit: Microsoft Clip Art

Our weather in March was very unusual in how warm it was. I saw a stat that said it was the warmest March on record for the United States. Now that it's April, the temps have dropped back to normal. One thing I noticed while the weather was so warm, was seeing all these news reports of burglaries in areas not too far from our home. We live in a decent area with pockets of neighborhoods that are less safe. When I was asked by an affiliate to write about home security systems, at first I didn't know what I would say. But then I remembered all these news reports I was hearing. They were saying that with the weather being nicer and people leaving more windows and doors open or unlocked, the home robberies were increasing. It did make me a little nervous, since I love throwing open our windows and having our front doors open to just the screen door for the nice cross breezes through the home. It did have me be more careful to lock everything up when I was leaving and to make sure we locked up at night. But for the most part, I feel pretty safe.

I was at a friend's house recently and noticed they had a new ADT security system. I guess there had been some burglaries very close by, and they felt much safer after the system was installed. It reminded me of what my dad did when we were growing up. He never wanted to pay for a full security system so he just put up huge stickers all over the doors and windows that said "THIS HOME PROTECTED BY ADT" or something like that. It makes me laugh just to think about it.

So I don't think we'll be getting a security system anytime soon, but being contacted by my affiliate had me thinking about ways to be more safe. Here is their link: ADT Baltimore.


Thanks for visiting!

Menu Plan Monday - 4/09/12 and Easter Fun

I hope you had a wonderful Easter!

J's Colorful Easter Picture 

Ta-Da! All Done with Our Eggs!

 Our Finished Naturally Dyed Easter Eggs

We celebrated Easter at home this year. Plans with my husband's sister fell through, so we enjoyed some down time as a family. J got to discover some new toys, stickers and a little bit of candy in his Easter basket then we had fun coloring some Easter eggs. I found a website on how to do natural egg dyeing and the eggs turned out nicely. I had no idea they would look so unique! We used (clockwise in the egg picture) blueberries, curry powder, grape juice/red wine, coffee grounds, spinach and another from blueberries. We started coloring the eggs before church and decided to let them soak while we were gone, which is why I think the colors turned out to be so deep. We used Surviving Motherhood's  post on Dyeing Eggs Naturally.

Here's what's cooking at our home this week:

Monday

Hamburgers and Cottage Fries
I didn't end up making this last week, so I made it Monday night. The Cottage Fries were a last minute idea after seeing the latest FoodWishes.com video on You Tube. I will definitely be making them again as they were really good.


Tuesday
Cream Cheese Corn Dish with Small Shells

I found this yummy looking dish on Pinterest and modified it by adding macaroni to make it a main dish. For a little spice, I think I'll add Sriracha sauce.

Wednesday

Lighter Eggplant Parmesan 

I really like Skinnytaste.com for the way they take many favorite recipes and make a lighter/healthier version. Earlier this year, I used eggplant in my cooking for the first time. Since we enjoyed it, I'm going to make this classic but "lighter" eggplant dish and see if this becomes a regular meal for us.

Thursday

Leftovers 

Friday

Rigatoni d' Maggiano with Steamed Broccoli 

This somehow didn't make it to our dinner table last week, so I'm adding it to this week's menu. This recipe is a copycat of the dish made by Maggiano's.

Saturday

Date Night or Dinner Out

Sunday
Always my night off!

I am also linking up to:

On the Menu Monday At Stone Gable

SusieQTpies Scraps of Life

Click on the links above to see what others are making this week!

Thanks for visiting!

Homemade Coconut Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

For a while now, I have been wanting to make homemade healthy snacks. I have become wary of all the artificial ingredients in so many things we eat, so making them myself allows me to use natural ingredients. It also saves us a little money instead of buying them at the grocery store. 

I saw several yummy-looking recipes on Pinterest and decided to make this one I adapted a bit. A couple things I added were coconut oil and shredded coconut. After reading so many good things about coconut oil, I am trying to integrate it into our daily meals. I even added a tiny splash of coconut extract to enhance the coconut flavor. I love how they turned out. For an extra treat, you can spread some peanut butter on top too. If fact, I like the peanut butter so much that I'm going to add some to the next batch.

Ingredients:

• 2 Cups instant oats
• 1-1/4 cups crispy rice cereal
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips or chopped semi sweet chocolate
• 1/3 cup lightly packed dark brown sugar
• 1/3 cup raw honey
• 1/3 cup virgin coconut oil
• 1/4 cup shredded coconut
• A splash of coconut extract

Instructions:

1. Mix the oats, rice cereal and shredded coconut together in a bowl.
2. In a medium pan, combine the coconut oil, honey and brown sugar.
3. Heat the sugar over medium-high heat until it all foams/boils together (about 1-2 minutes).  If you don’t boil it long enough nothing will stick together.
4. Once the sugar/oil mix comes together, add it to the oat mix with a splash of coconut extract (if using) and stir until it’s completely combined.
5. Lay it out in a square pan evenly (if you use coconut oil, you do not need to spray the pan).
6. Melt chocolate chips in the microwave. Once the oat mix cools off a bit, spread on top of the granola bars.
7. Refrigerate bars until chocolate is set. You can then eat them cold out of the refrigerator (which is how we liked them) or let them come to room temperature. Just cut them, serve and enjoy!

Thanks for visiting!

Creating a Side Income and "Sneak Peeq"

I love being a stay-at-home mom, and every week it's on my heart to thank the Lord for this blessing. My husband is a union employee and last year when Wisconsin's collective bargaining law was struck down, it put a dent in his take home pay. Since things are a little tighter now, we have been looking at various ways to save money in our budget as well as anything I can do to bring in a little income on the side. I have been praying for different opportunities I could do at home while adding to the family's bottom line.

One of the things I'm trying out is finding Affiliates I can work with through my blog. You may have noticed I put a banner for DaySpring (a Christian retailer) and also one for Amazon. Recently, I was contacted about a website called Sneak Peeq and have the opportunity to put a link to their website and a banner on my blog. I just signed up so now I'm going to try their site out for myself! I am always looking for good deals while shopping through the internet, and their site says they have products up to 70% off from various retailers.

You will be seeing the Sneak Peak banner for a bit on my website so feel free to check them out too! I will keep you posted about any neat deals I am finding there.

Here are a few of the top FAQ from the Sneak Peeq site:

WHAT IS SNEAKPEEQ?  Online shopping, with short sales, great deals, and new stores daily. Everything has a fixed price, that you can lower further by being more active on sneakpeeq and earning badges

WHAT KIND OF PRODUCTS DOES SNEAKPEEQ HAVE? Housewares, Apparel, Accessories, Gourmet food, Beverages, and more. We're always exploring new categories, trying to bring you new daily discoveries.

HOW DOES SNEAKPEEQ WORK?  Every day, we put a new set of amazing products from new brands on the site. We then take what we know about you as a sneakpeeq shopper (aka "peeqer") and present you with 3 products that we think you'll like the most. The more you participate on the site the better we can predict your personal style. You can also browse through the other stores and like, love, share, and peeq to help us learn more about you.

By playing around on the site, and sharing, peeqing, and buying items you can unlock badges. Some badges have the power to lower the prices even further!

WHAT IS A PEEQ? A peeq is the action of flipping over (Clicking) a price tag. As a new user you have a limited number of DAILY peeqs but the more you participate the more you'll earn. Every 24 hours the peeqs are refilled to your account. If you run out of peeqs, don't worry- we will give you opportunities to earn more peeqs.

A peeq is worth 5 points toward that particular store's leaderboard, as well as counting towards various badges and teaching sneakpeeq more about what you love to shop for.

As always,
Thanks for visiting!

Menu Plan Monday - 4/02/12 and Spring!

Some musings about Spring at our house: 

It's amazing what happens when you clean out your mucky bird bath and the water is crystal clear. It brings all kinds of birds, and critters too. I mentioned earlier that our ducks have returned. The neatest part is that they visit every day! They get their fill of spilled bird seed and then enjoy hanging out by the bird bath. I know from past experience this will happen for about a month or two, and then we don't see them until the following year. I'm thinking they leave to go tend to their nest and later the hatchlings at the pond nearby, so they don't have time for their daily visits anymore. But we're enjoying the visits while they last! The chipmunks are back along with our grackles and cow birds. We even have a crow who is enjoying a cool drink at the bird bath every day now. Since we live in a suburban area right next to a road, it's not too hard to keep track of the wildlife since there's not an overabundance like in the country. It makes me appreciate what we do have! 

Now....on to the Menu-

Here's what's cooking at our home this week:

Monday

Taco Bar
Monday nights I need something quick and easy since we meet with our small group from church. We haven't had tacos in a while, so I am making a taco bar tonight!


Tuesday
Rigatoni d' Maggiano with Steamed Broccoli 

My sister passed this recipe along. We don't have a Maggiano's restaurant in Madison, but we've visited the one in Schaumburg, IL and liked it a lot. This rigatoni dish sounds pretty tasty.

Wednesday

Steak House Mac N' Cheese 

I'm always looking for different ways to spruce up mac-n-cheese, which is one of my husband's favorite meals. I love blue cheese and think the bacon/blue cheese/spinach combo in this one will be good. See this link for some fun ways to spruce up your Mac-N-Cheese from Taste of Home's Love and Homemade site. I think I'll try the Reuben one next!!

Thursday

Leftovers 

Friday

Homemade Spaghetti with Mexicorn and Garlic Toast

This is the dish my husband said he can eat every week. This week I'm trying Mexicorn for a little zip.

Saturday
Hamburgers with Parmesan Potato Wedges

We haven't done basic burgers in a while so we'll cook up those with some potatoes. 


Sunday
Always my night off!

I am also linking up to:

On the Menu Monday At Stone Gable

SusieQTpies Scraps of Life

Click on the links above to see what others are making this week!

Thanks for visiting!