Coming Soon...

I am going to blog again. Soon. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

OR


Look forward anxiously to the brilliance from which I will spew.
Agh, probablly not.

Ding Dong Dinner

I don't know...just go with it.

Since you are dying to know whats on the menu this week, here goes.


*Meatloaf w/ bacon on top- Homemade mac' n chz- veggie

*French Dip Sandwiches- Corn on the Cob

*Fish Tacos- Black beans and Corn

*Cream Cheese Chicken- Rice- veggie

*Birds in a Nest- Bacon- Fruit

And since I KNOW you are gonna say next, "How do you make_____"
I will also give you some recipes, cause lets face it folks...thats how I roll.

Fish Tacos:
I got some grilled garlic fish at Aldi.
Figure I'll add some black beans, lettuce, fresh salsa, cheese, a squeeze of lime, sour cream, throw them in a tortilla shell, and we'll call it a day.

French Dip Sandwiches:
Again, at Aldi, I got some French Dip meat ( It was a special item in their special freezer case. I think you have to be special to get it.)
Also got some French Baguetts at Aldi, and some Muenster Cheese.
Gonna heat the meat and au jus. Gonna toast the bread. Gonna top the bread with meat, au jus, and cheese. Gonna pop that in the oven until the cheese melts.
While I'm doing that, I'm gonna put some corn on the cob in a pot for about 5 minutes.
Yep, thats what I'm gonna do.

Cream Cheese Chicken:
I got this recipe years ago from Danae Haskins. I make it a little differently I think, but its still GOO-OD, and EA-SSSY!

4 frozen chicken breast
1 packet of Italian Dressing Seasoning OR Ranch Seasoning
2 cans Cream of Mushroom ( I use low fat)
1 -8oz block Cream Cheese ( again, low fat)

Put the FROZEN ckn breast in the crock pot ( That is the genious of this recipe, you can use frozen chicken).
Sprinkle seasoning packet on top.
Pour Cream of Mushroom in.
Cube (or just break off in really messy pieces like I do) the cream cheese.
Add to the top.

Cook on low 4-6 hours, stirring every once in a while.
MMM and another MMMMMMMMM.
Serve over Rice and there you have it.

Homemade Mac 'N' Cheese:
( I also make a different version in the crock pot, but Master Logan has requested it this way this week)
(This is the famous Bonnie Preslar way to do it)

2 cups Elbow Noodles (Cooked and drained)
2 cups Milk
2 Tbls Butter
2 Tbls Flour
1 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Pepper
1/2 tsp Ground Mustard ( this is my addition to the recipe cause it just adds a little zip)
3 Cups Cheese (Sharp Cheddar and Colby is what I use)

Make a white gravy by melting the butter, and whisking in the flour to make a "rue".
Slowly whisk in the Milk. Stir until thickened. Add S & P, and mustard.

Now, I do things a little differently, cause I have found that my family likes it best this way.
I add 2 cups of the cheese to the gravy, and let it melt.
Then I add the noodles and stir around.
Pour it into a greased casserole dish and add the other cup of cheese to the top for a yummy crunchy top.
Bake @ 350 for about 30 minutes.
Serve it to your family and let them think you are Queen of the world.


Birds in a Nest:
I'm going to make some homemade bread. Then slice it into medium size pieces.
Next I will lightly toast it.
After that, I am going to heat my electric griddle.

Actually, I am going to plug it in, and electricty and a little heating element are going to heat it.
Ahem.

I will then, melt some butter.
While my butter is melting, I will cut holes out of my toast.
I shall then, add the toast to the afore mentioned skillet.
In each hole, I will crack an egg.
I will let the egg set until it looks like I like it.
While it is setting, I will take the pieces from the holes that I cut out approximatly 7 minutes ago, and I will add a little butter and cinnamon sugar to them.
Oh yeah, thats gonna be good!

Somewhere during that process I will have fried up some bacon, and cut up some fruit.
Then I will put it all on a serving platter, and bring it to the table, where my family will be anxiously awaiting their Birds in a Nest with bacon, fruit, and Cinnamon treat!

And there you have it. Ding Dong Dinner.

A Little Impromptu Chinese Dumpling

No, we didn't adopt a Chinese kid! (Although I am certainly not opposed to the idea)
This morning we were enjoying a nice rainy Saturday morning, watching Kung Fu Panda, when it hit us that we NEEDED some Chinese Dumplings. How it could occur to us when we've never actually HAD them, well I really have no idea. I guess it was just the site of PO the Panda and his master tossing a bit of cartoon Dumpling around, that got our mouths salivating a little bit.

How sad that we are inspired by cartoons, but alas....we where.

Thankfully we have this great thing on our computer called "Google". So we "Googled" and found THIS great cooking website with a post about Chinese Dumplings. COMPLETE with pictures I might add. This is always helpful when you've never made something before.

Husband decided that we must have them and so off to Wal-Mart I must go.

I have to tell you, it was a lot of fun all of us doing this together. There was lots of chopping involved, as well as deveining of shrimp...and we all know what that REALLY means! Yes, Lana MAY have been freaking out just a little.

Stacy worked on the dough. He's a cute little dough boy ;)

MMMM, this is ours simmering in the pan...

And the finished product....

OH YAY, and how about a little Teriyaki Rice and a Fortune Cookie to go along with it.

And what was my fortune today might you ask?
"Yours will find true love soon."
Really? Yours will? Yours what?

Of course, in the continuation of rainy day movie day, we had to have the PERFECT movie for Chinese Dumplings..
That's right folks, a little Karate Kid II!

~Sigh~ I sure did like me some Ralph Machio back in the day.

OK, a few tips if you too feel inspired to make Chinese Dumplings.

1. We did the pork and shrimp filling- I used mushrooms (minced) instead of the water chestnuts.

2. The dough on this recipe site uses only half of the filling. We got 16 dumplings out of it and I froze the other half of the filling for another day.

3. You only use 1/2 a lb of ground pork, so I froze the other 1/2 lb for another day as well.

4. We made Teriyaki rice to go with it. I discovered that rice that you cook for a long time and NOT minute rice, is the best for this. I just added some Teriyaki sauce and it was really good. I like it when my rice sticks together. It makes me a little giddy.

5. You have to have Fortune Cookies. Have to. Non negotiable. I'm thinking Homemade Fortune Cookies might be my next big endeavor.

You might recall that we had another Chinese Food Night a while back. I never liked Chinese as a kid. It's nice to that my kids like it and that we can have fun making it together.

On the Menu

I really should come up with a permanent name for my menu postings. I don't think I've named it the same thing twice. Maybe I just like to keep you on your toes! Or maybe I should do a contest and YOU can name it! Oh, but then I would have to give you a prize, and I would certainly stress about what to give you. So, nevermind. Just be suprised whenever I post menus. Variety is the spice of life right?!

I didn't have much to report this past week cause we did a lot of leftovers and squeezing out what I could find.

I did however, make 4 lbs of this taco meat for the Taco Filled Pasta Shells. We ate one batch and I froze the rest for this coming week.




Tonight we are having this Enchilada Casserole.






Some other things for this week are:



Homemade Pizzas- Don't be afraid, pizza dough is very easy.


This is my sisters recipe for Homemade Pizza dough, and since she is the Domestic queen of things homemade (you know you have to be when you live in the bush of Africa), you know you will love it! She even makes her own Pizza Sauce! How cool is that?!


Pizza sauce
1 can Tomato paste/water
sage/parsley
oregano
garlic
salt
I have no measurements, I just cover the top.

Pizza dough
1TB yeast
1 1/4 c warm water
2TB oil
1t salt
3 1/2 c flour

Dissolve yeast, stir in oil and salt. Mix in flour. Knead. place in oiled bowl and cover. Let raise until double. Divide into 2 parts and put in pizza pans. Should be enough for 2 9x13 pans.
Bake around 425

Steak Bites from the one and only Pioneer Woman- The most amazing woman on the planet!

Baked Mushrooms, eggs, and Orange/Chocolate Scones ( I made those mushrooms a few weeks ago and they were so good that its already time to have them again!)

Chicken Ranch Casserole (thanks Amy Thompson!), that you KNOW is going to be good because its got Doritos in it. And you know what they say about Doritos don't you? Oh, you don't...well I'm not gonna tell you!

1 Whole Ckn (cooked and cut up)
1 Can Rotel

1 Can Cream of Mushroom

1 Can Cream of Chicken

onion

Half bag of Doritos (crushed)

Shredded Cheese

Combine the soups and rotel.

Layer, Chicken, Sauce, onion, Doritos, and Cheese. Then Repeat.

Bake @350 for 30 minutes.

Now just for an added bonus, cause I love yous guys...I am going to share some goody recipes with you.

If you haven't discovered Bakerella yet, then go....right now....open a new window...check her out!

She has a post about this recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies.

However, if you look at her post about them, you will see, that Betty Crocker SHOULD pay her to advertise this product because her pictures make you want to lick the screen.

I will prove it too you...take a close look at Betty Crockers Picture...

Yep, that looks good. You are possibly salviating slightly. You at least have licked your lips a little bit.

But now my friends...

Wait for it....

Wait just a little bit longer....

Yes, yes, good things come to those who wait...

NOW!

Embrace it, go ahead! It's perfectly OK that you have just jumped across your desk to lick your computer screen! Do not feel embaressed that you are taking in deep sniffs trying to catch a wiff of what is surely heaven!
I tell you, this woman is a genious.
I love that instead of plain ole Betty Crocker frosting, she kicked it up and went with homemae Ganache.
You cannot beat homemade Ganache.
I dare you to try.

All I can say is WOW, I sure can't wait to make these for Brush Arbor on Sunday.


Now for something a little less sinful, but good nonetheless.
Monkey Muffins.
It is a good idea to buy bananas simply with the intention of letting them go bad. Cause then you can make things like this little bit of yummy goodness.

Lana and I made them the other night and they are most scrumptious. We used Crunchy PB cause thats what we had in the house + I didn't have mini Chocolate Chips so we used regular.

And that my friends are the things that we will be partaking of this week.
Hope you find something good in your pantry!

Me OH My

Monday is the day. The dreaded day. The day that I have look forward to and yet fall into a glazed over trance when I think about it. The day that ushers in routines and the "D" word.
Yes folks, that day would be our official first day back to school.

~BIG GULP~

~SIGH~

~A LITTLE FRANTIC PULLING OF THE HAIR~

~SLIGHTLY VOMITING IN MY MOUTH~

~YET DOING A LITTLE BIT OF THE HAPPY DANCE~

Why oh why can't I just be a normal person? I ask myself this every day.
We may never know the answer.

But alas, it is here. The day that I over analyze and plan for. I promise you, I do.
In my mind our first day back to the homeschool way of life has to be PERFECTION. ( Chandler Bing once said, "That would be perfection", when a supermodel asked him if he wanted some gum. I just thought you should know that I am not the only person to use the word.)
Back to the subject at hand....
I have these visions for our first day back ( last week we had a couple of trial runs with some busy work). I invision the children sitting nicely at their respective desks, clean new shirts on (yes, I bought them each a new back to school shirt...its part of my visions of sugar plums), pencils freshly sharpened, eyes filled with wonder...."Teach us Mother. Let us glean from your wisdom. Help us soak up all the knowledge that is stored away in the text books, waiting for us to explore."

~DOING A LITTLE BIT OF THE HAPPY DANCE~

This is the reality...
"I got syrup on my shirt, can I go wash it off?"
"My pencils won't sharpen, can I get a new one?"
"I don't understand!!! Do I have to do all this work today? Can't I just finish it tomorrow?"

~BIG GULP~

~SIGH~

~A LITTLE FRANTIC PULLING OF THE HAIR~

~SLIGHTLY VOMITING IN MY MOUTH~

I have tried. Honest I have. I have planned. I have prepared. My ducks are in a row.
I have such high aspirations for what this year will hold. I have goals for each of the kids in their studies. I have goals for myself as a more disciplined person (there goes that "D" word again).
I have some cute little things planned, like Brain teasers, Fun Facts, Limericks, Silly States. And not just once. ONE FOR EVERY WEEK!
I've got a Psalm and a Proverb of the week. Even a missionary of the week.
I mean come on now people, this is going to be great.

~CROSSING FINGERS~

~KNOCKING ON WOOD~

And all of these things are contingent on one day. One measly day. Monday August 17th.
The day that will go down in our homeschooling history as the day that we make it or break it.

Why OH why do I put so much stock into this one measly day.

~BIG GULP~

~SIGH~

~A LITTLE FRANTIC PULLING OF THE HAIR~

~SLIGHTLY VOMITING IN MY MOUTH~

~YET DOING A LITTLE BIT OF THE HAPPY DANCE~

My Epic Cupccake Fail

It started out as a good idea.
Back to school cupcakes for a little back to school pool party.
It seemed simple enough...cake, frosting, m & m's, chocolate covered graham crackers, good and plentys, more icing. Check, check, check, check, check, and check. Yes, I can SO do this.

See lookey how cute!


But OH NO, mine did not turn out like this....not even close...











Why yes, yes these do look like "Back to the GRAVE", cupcakes and NOT Back to school.
Or maybe they are "Back to the TOILET", cupcakes with the very large suppository's resting on the side.
Or maybe they are "Sorry you have the chicken pox, or whatever that red sore is that is apparently going to KILL you", cupcakes.


Lets back track. Where did I go wrong?
Mistake #1: Trying to save a buck or 2 I got Wal-mart brand Chocolate Covered Graham Crakers, as opposed to the Keebler ones that are in fact perfect little rectangles.

Mistake #2: I saw Mike and Ikes before I saw Good and Plentys, therefore, Mike and Ikes it is!
Oh and look, who needs white when they have all these lovely tropical colors.

Mistake #3: And speaking of tropical colors, I'm going to get Neon gels to write everones names with. Hey, they'll match the Mike and Ikes and how cute is THAT going to be?!

Mistake #4: Actually taking them and serving them to people. One child (Ellas of course) looked at me and said "Why are we having tombstone cupcakes?"
Why Ellas? Why? Because, I am a failure at Back to school cupcake making! That is why!
And well, dadgummit, because I just wanted to remind you that there are indeed worse things than going back to school! Yes, yes, thats right. That really was the point of these cupcakes.


Well, at least my homemade icing was good.
Oh my, and there is some left...in a bowl...upstairs...in my fridge...excuse me ple

Money and the Gospel

I love it when I've been thinking about things, and then I see a clip of someone waaaayyy smarter than me, actually articulate through the scriptures, what it is that I've been thinking.
(This is a clip of John Piper entitiled "Wealth is almost always a curse, not a blessing", and whether you "like" JP or not, he is passionate about this filth we call the "Prosperity Gospel")

Money, Money, Money. I hate money. Really I do. It probablly has to do with the fact that it is yet another area in which you have to have discipline. And discipline with money is much more nebulous than discipline in other areas, cause we "need" stuff. Now granted, we are in a place of life right now that we don't have any money. We don't have any "wealth" stored up anywhere.
I am not complaining. We have a house, we have a car, we have food for the week and money for next weeks food. We have clothes on our back, in our drawers, and quite frankly, on our floors, and in our washer and dryer. We have a computer, and a TV, and internet access, a couple of CD players, some MP3 players, and dvd player or 2.
There is nothing wrong with these things, I don't think. I like my computer and my internet access. I like being able to keep up with people this way. I like being able to talk to my sister 8000 miles away, and let the kids Skype with their grandparents whenever they want to.
These are not bad things. These things honestly make me thankful for God's provision, but I still have to be a good steward of them.

The problem as I see it, is that the more we have, the more we want, or "need".
Where is the line? At what point do we fall into bad stewardship?
I always think that if I could just fall into a large sum of money, then I could do so much for other people. I sincerely mean that. But would I actually do it? Would my "needs" out way my goodwill? How would I decide what causes are worthy? Would I just give up and keep it all to myself?

If we came into a large sum of money I think I would like to sell the house we live in, and buy a house with some conveniences we don't have now. Why? Really, there is nothing wrong with my house. I mean there is, but does that matter? There is good stewardship, taking care of the things God has blessed us with, but then there is excess. Do I really need a better house? Nope. My house has 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and living room, a den, a school room, a garage, an eat in kitchen, and a large fenced in back yard. There are things about it that I don't like, and things about it that I need to improve, in order to be a good steward of what God has blessed us with. Is it Ok for be to want better, when God has given me enough?

I would like to think that if we came into a large sum of money, we would pay off our debt, put a little away, and give the rest away.
If God was to bless us in that way, I don't think He would be blessing on the fact that I am such a worthy person and deserve the best. If God blessed us in that way, I would like to think that its because He sees us as a faithful steward that is going to use the bounty of our blessing to further the Gospel for His glory and not our own.

"He who is faithful with little, is faithful with much."
How are we doing now with little?
How are we doing in deciphering our needs from our wants?
Am I doing what I can do to further the Gospel for Gods glory without money?
If it does not require money to reach out to those around me, then why don't I?
How do I take a burden I am feeling, and turn it into a practical outpouring of the Gospel at work?

Just some thoughts I've been thinking. What do you think about this subject?