The weekend is coming to a close… I normally look forward to Monday because it means nice quiet mornings and getting things done.  This week is Spring break.  I actually like having the kids home and the relaxed break from school.  Bailey has a friend who moved to Texas that is coming to stay a few days tomorrow.  Emelia is recuperating from a birthday weekend and let me tell you … she needs sleep!   I took the girls (and Bailey) to a late night 3D viewing of Coraline at the theater.  I wasn’t looking forward to it.  At all!  But it was actually pretty good and the 3D was cool.  It wasn’t the red and blue glasses where things fly at you, it was more just overall 3D.  I think Bailey and I enjoyed it more than the girls! 

Izzy got her “report card” last week. On her IEP she has made some great gains in the last few months.  I think I mentioned meeting Melanie, Izzy’s teacher and vision therapist, for lunch last Wednesday to discuss Izzy’s plan for next school year… I have been noticing some cool things with Iz lately.  It’s really hard to explain if you don’t experience it firsthand, but she is definitely more “here.”  Melanie mentioned that she enjoyed her weekly reader this week.  She gets a huge version of the weekly reader.  We looked at it together and talked about the animal sounds.  She was most interested in the piglet.  We read her library book.  It was a really fun book and we both enjoyed it!  Today I tried to get her to nap with me and she just wasn’t having it… so I sat up and sat her up in front of me and she was very happy.  When it was time to take the kids to play practice I took her to matt and had him sit with her.  They were happy together for a while.  I came home and decided to do a little trim painting (random)… and then headed back to church. 

Matt has been wanting to start a garden.  A square foot garden.  We went to Lowe’s Saturday morning and got wood and seeds.  Bailey helped him build the boxes for the (two) 4′ x 4′ gardens.  We got all kinds of stuff to plant.  Should be fun.  I just hope it grows …  He’s been really researching it a lot so maybe it will? 

::::::::::::::::::Monday now :::::::::::::::::::::

I fell asleep there last night… It’s a nice, quiet Monday morning!  I heart monday mornings!  Even Spring Break Monday mornings.  I have already tackled several to-dos!  Unfortunately there are many many more calling my name today. 

to do…

clean front room
reorganize china cabinet
laundry
clean glass
dust
mop
clean bathrooms
change sheets
vacuum
get Easter tub out of attic
do post for cerebral palsy.

My menu plans for the week…

Monday: leftovers re-baked chicken spaghetti or turkey & dressing
Tuesday: beans & cornbread
Wednesday: frito chili pie
Thursday: FF kosher hot dogs with chili & baked chips
Friday: chicken curry in a hurry…

Chicken Curry in a hurry!

1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

1 small yellow onion, thinly sliced

2 teaspoons curry powder

1/2 cup plain yogurt

3/4 cup heavy cream

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes, drained (optional)

1 rotisserie chicken

2 cups cooked white rice (optional)

1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves, roughly chopped

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for 7 minutes. Sprinkle with the curry powder and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.

Add the yogurt and cream and simmer gently for 3 minutes. Stir in the salt, pepper, and tomatoes (if using). Remove from heat.

Slice or shred the chicken, discarding the skin and bones. Divide the rice (if using) and chicken among individual bowls, spoon the sauce over the top, and sprinkle with the cilantro.

Pretty uneventful weekend around the house… I watched a few good movies on the Hallmark channel yesterday. I finished cleaning and organizing Emelia’s room and then felt so good about it I helped Bailey declutter his room too. Emelia and I took bags of outgrown clothes to the red box.

I went to Jill (my hair girl) Thursday for highlights and a trim…

Not much different, but a little lighter than before.  Can you see the bags under my eyes? ugh.  I was awake almost all night Friday night.  Matt left the tv in our bedroom on msnbc and they had a three hour special about teenage trafficking or something.  It was crazy and kept me awake.  I had the remote so technically I could have turned it off…

The next few weeks are going to be busy getting ready for the big party for mom and dad.  I’m excited about it!  I think they are planning to renew their vows which will be sweet.  Thankfully I have Mike & Terri.   I have been invited to two pampered chef parties this week, and don’t think I’ll make either one… but will order something.  I heart pampered chef stuff…  What’s your favorite pc gadget or item????  

In the kitchen this week…

I have a couple of pork roasts in the freezer and hope to try this recipe maybe tomorrow.

4 pounds boneless pork shoulder
1 onion, sliced in rings
2 cups ketchup (a 24oz bottle seems to be exactly 2 cups. weird.)
1/2 cup warm water
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon  Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

The Directions.

Use a 6 quart crockpot. Trim meat, and place into your crockpot. Add sliced onion. Squeeze in 2 cups of ketchup, and then pour 1/2 cup warm water into the ketchup bottle and shake. Pour the ketchup-y water into your crock. Add vinegar, brown sugar, Worcestershire, Tabasco and salt.
Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours, or until meat shreds easily with a fork.
Serve over rice, or make sandwiches on rolls or sliced bread.

I am also planning to make breakfast one night this week… complete with gravy biscuits sausage and eggs.

I still haven’t tried Lauren’s yummy chicken enchiladas.  They are still on my to do list. 

Bailey put part of izzy’s latest bike ride on video with music. 

I heart Mondays.  Even this monday that is so packed with things to catch up on I can’t even decide where to begin.  I have already done several things, but my next step (after typing this post) is to make a list!  We spent our entire Saturday working outside and Sunday was spent at church then nap then church… so there is much to do! 

My menu is simple this week.  I bought two big rump roasts this weekend and cooked them both all night in the slow cooker, this morning I added tons of onions, potatoes & carrots.  Tonight we’ll have traditional roast.  I’ll chop some and save it for stew on Wednesday and some for bbq sandwiches on Thursday.  We’ll have enchiladas tomorrow because I have a bag full of advocados I don’t want to go bad.  I really love guac.

I have a few recipes I really want to try and haven’t had a chance yet… maybe next week.

Bailey had a great birthday.  I can’t believe he is fifteen years old!  It will be permit time before we know it.  Yikes!  Although he has spent so much time driving the golf cart I think driving will be a cinch for him. 

It feels like Spring here… very windy which is normal for Oklahoma.  I wouldn’t be surprised to wake up to snow… or to 90 degree weather.  You just never know here, but I’m enjoying what we have now.

I made a huge full crockpot of stew last night… it cooked all night and we had it for Sunday lunch.  I sauteed a big sirloin steak along with a roughly chopped onion in some olive oil… meanwhile I started loading the crock pot up with lots of good stuff like a big can of diced tomatoes, a can of mild rotel, two cans of beef broth, a package of baby carrots, 5-6 chopped potatoes, frozen green beans, frozen corn, frozen peas, salt & pepper, a package of williams chili seasoning… then I put in the onion and steak and pushed it under the juice… I let it cook on high all night and this morning the steak was easily seperated with a fork.  It was really delicious.  Thankfully, there is enough left for a couple more meals. 

We had small red beans for dinner Sat. night and had leftovers, and I made turkey chili with some leftover beans for lunch Saturday that was very healthy!

Monday we’ll have the soup again…

Tuesday I’m making homemade pizzas.

Wednesday we’ll have fat free kosher hot dogs with turkey chili and baked chips.

Thursday Matt and I are attending a teacher/leader appreciation dinner at one of our favorite restaurants! Yay! no cooking.

I’m leaving friday open… who knows, something exciting could come up???? ya’ right

So… Isabelle did not sleep last night.  At all.  So as a result I didn’t sleep much.  So as a result this post may not make much sense.  I had an unfortunate experience earlier today.  I was picking up a book Matt had been studying before church today (for teaching his class).  Clearing the table for lunch.  No biggie.  I guess I twisted weird but a sharp pinching pain occured in my lower back and then my right ear went numb and was ringing loudly while my vision blurred and then I almost passed/blacked out.  I wasn’t even doing anything strenuous or major.  Ugh.  I went ahead and fed Isabelle lunch and then ate my lunch. I then proceeded to go straight to bed for the afternoon.  After a sleepless night I had hoped Isabelle would also sleep the entire afternoon.  I was wrong.  But she was pretty content to lie in my bed and rest which was good enough.  I woke up and ran to church for women’s ministry.  My friend Miki is having a monthly discussion from the book, “for women only.”  We’ve been reading it for several months now.  It’s pretty good, although I think Matt is different from most men.  I get Matt.  So no earth shattering info but it’s still a good book and I’m open to learning new things after almost twenty years of marriage. 

 Speaking of books I’m almost finished with “uncharted.”  The book Gail recommended.  Thanks Gail ….  I was telling Matt yesterday that it was not what I expected and right as I was saying those words I looked at the smaller print above the title of the book which read, “expect the unexpected.”  duh.  It’s good.  I’m going to read as much as my eyes will stay awake for as soon as I finish typing this. 

We’re still doing well on our healthier eating.   I found a new food blog and the recipes are all very Paula Deenish.  I’m wishing we weren’t being healthy.  But, it’ll be fun to have some new things to try on splurge times or potlucks or whatever.

I plan to grill some chicken breasts and have them on ww buns tomorrow night.  We’ll have some veggies with them.

I’m going to make some chili with ground turkey and have it with fat free kosher hot dogs one night and over baked chips another night. 

We’ll do pizza Friday night.  It’s tradition.

That’s my menu plan for the week so far. 

I’m praying I wake up pain free.  I have to take Izzy to the orthotist in the morning and the kids are all out of school so I’m hoping to have helpers tomorrow.  

***Amanda got her acceptance letter to OU Saturday! 

Matt returned to work this morning after almost two weeks of vacation time at home.  I have used having him home 24/7 as my excuse for not getting a lot done.  Well, I guess I have no more excuses but today is kind of a reacclamation type of day…

 I saved and froze ham from Christmas and have beans and ham cooking.  It is making me hungry, it smells delish!  BUT this day is also a day of the diet.  Beans are healthy, and we’ll have them for dinner.  JennaG mentioned trying the pizza crust and sauce and thinking it wasn’t crispy enough… Leigh Ann tried it and loved it… I bought a couple of those pans at Kohl’s (on sale!) that have the holes in the bottom for pizza.  I made our pizzas on those pans this week and they were very crispy.  I only bought two so two of the pizzas were baked in normal pizza pans.  I have noticed these hole-y pans are great for re-heating the pizza. 

We spent the evening last night at my brother’s house.  We had dinner there to celebrate his daughter’s birthday.  Izzy really enjoyed the cake and ice cream!  We all went to church yesterday morning which hasn’t happened in a while since someone has been dealing with the cold bug going around every week.  It was nice to all be there.  Bev Barker (the lady who has visited and signs to songs … so amazing) came and at the end of church I was in the lobby with Izzy and heard her signing to my favorite song so we slipped in and sat in the back.  They had prayer and annointing and although I don’t take Izzy down often I felt called to take her down.  It was an amazing time of prayer and I am excited about the week to come.  The girls in my class did their daily bible reading, and one boy from matt’s class did his.  Another boy did most of the days… I got them those band bracelets from Mardels for their reward this week… and ressees sp? and chocolate chip cookies.  I guess I have to run somewhere to find a little something for next week.  I can’t tell you how much matt and I have enjoyed this schedule of reading.  I think reading from the NLT is so much more enjoyable for this type of reading.  It’s more like reading a book and when the text ends you want to keep reading. 

My SIL Terri had me over Saturday to do lots of hair!  I highlighted the girls and trimmed hers.  She wants me to paint a saying on her kitchen wall.  Her house is big and she likes it to look uncluttered.  She likes the pottery barn look and saw this in the catalog.  I like the saying too, but told her she had to sign a disclaimer in case I mess her wall up .  I did the whole wall in our front room with healing scriptures.  Everyone who comes over thinks it is wall paper or something but if you really look at it you can tell it is hand done.  I decided on her wall I am going to pencil it out first because she wants black on her beige walls.  I’ll have her take some pics while I’m doing it so you can see.

Another death.  Don Coffey, who we’ve know forever… died yesterday morning.  He was an elder at our church when I was growing up.  His daughter Lisa was my age and died several years ago of cancer.  He developed cancer and went pretty fast.  I am so sad for the family, there is so much loss.  His other daughter who is younger than me has had one kidney transplant and now needs another.  Please pray for the Coffey family.  Amanda was really great friends with his grandson Jacob and they both went on the mission trip to Montreal last year.  Here’s a pic of the two of them in Canada…

Good news! Got the sheets that match my bedding!  And the other pillow.  I’m all set.  Jodi mentioned her hub doesn’t think floral belongs in the room since he sleeps there too.  Matt doesn’t know he has a choice… but he doesn’t complain bless his heart.    As long as I’m there he’s happy.

I have gotten tons done already and it’s only 9 a.m.  Amazing what a change it makes having quiet.  I have a package ready to mail back that has been sitting hanging up for a month.  A cream colored wool coat I ordered and loved but said it the waist was at the natural waist and it is really high waisted… it’s even sized tall.  I’m not long waisted so I know it is meant to be high waisted and it’s not my style.  Anyway, I have debated keeping it because I got a good price on it but have finally decided to mail it back and it is all packed up with return shipping label attached!  I have a list for the store made and have balanced my checkbook…  Now I am going to put the new sheets on my bed and wash the tableclothes. 

Tonight we’ll have Beans & Cornbread!

We’re eating heathier.  Matt is doing awesome with the volumetrics.  We made a triple batch of burgers that have lots of veggies and bulgar in them.  I packed them in the freezer so he could take them to work for lunch.  I want to make this soup recipe one day…

2 cans organic black eye peas, rinsed and drained
About 2 cups vegetable broth…this can vary depending on how thick you want the soup.
1 14.5 oz chopped tomatoes…I like Muir Glen tomatoes.
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
1 cup of salsa
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 to 1 cup of cooked brown rice(you can buy frozen bags of this)…again depending on how much you like.
1 10 oz package of chopped spinach or some fresh spinach…I usually use fresh.
You can salt and pepper this soup if you like. To me it is great without it.

Add all of the ingredients(except the spinach and rice) to a large stock pot….simmer for about 10 minutes. Add the spinach and brown rice and cook until heated through and spinach has wilted.

and this one another day…

crockpot corn chowder

We’ll probably do pizza again on Friday.  Making four large pizzas is great because there are leftovers. 

My goals for the week are to keep up with my daily bible reading, walk every day, and do yoga on the wii fit at least three times.  What are your goals for the week?

Happy Monday!

We’ve been having lots of soups the past several days.  Matt heard of then bought a book about volumetrics which is basically eating the same amount of food but redistributing the ratio of vegetables to other food.  We had homemade pizza two nights also. The first night I bought a refridgerated crust just to save time (so I thought) and then yesterday I was making several pizzas for the whole fam so I made homemade crusts I saw on orgjunkie.com.  This is the crust recipe and a sauce recipe too…

Pizza Crust:
1 tbsp active dry yeast
1 cup warm water (105 to 115 degress F)
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 1/2 cups flour
Dissolve the yeast in the water. Add the rest of the ingredients in and mix. Dump onto a floured surface. Knead into a smooth dough (five minutes or so). Roll out and press down onto a greased pizza pan. Add some pizza sauce and your toppings. Bake at 450 degress F for around 12-15 minutes until the crust looks crispy and lightly browned. Dough can also be frozen as well.

Pizza Sauce
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
1/2 cup red wine or water
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon vegetable oil or olive oil
1-2 tablespoon parmesan cheese

I covered matt’s pizza (2 of them) with tons of veggies… onions, green peppers, olives, mushrooms, zucchini, tomatoes and a little canandian bacon aka lean peppered ham.  I liked being able to make one for everyone to enjoy.  Matt said they were better than carryout pizza.  I think we’ll be having pizza often for a while. 

Last night I knew I wanted to have something made for after church and had planned to make a soup using chicken.  We made beef/veggie stew Thursday and had been eating it for a few days… it was finally gone.  It was really good and especially tasty since I have been fighting a cold/sore throat.  I put a big container (48 oz) chicken stock in the slow cooker and then a big can of petite diced tomatoes, a can of rotel, a palm full of chili powder and cumin, some salt and pepper, a jar of green chilis, can of mushrooms, can of mexican corn, small can of peas, big can of rinsed and drained black beans and a package of frozen chicken tenders.  I diced an onion and sauteed it in a little butter with pressed garlic and added it in when it was translucent.  I put it on low and left it for the night.  I shredded some cheddar cheese, had tortilla strips (chips) and some advocados.  It was a healthy version of tortilla soup and it was delicious!  Another new favorite! 

We’ll have the soup again tomorrow because there is a ton, plus a lot of pizza leftover…

Tuesday we’ll have turkey burgers (a recipe from the volumetrics book using bulgar which I’ve never used…)

Wednesday I’m going to make a pot of beans and cornbread.

Thursday frito chili pie with turkey.

Friday more pizzas!

It’s freezing cold today and I think me & Izzy are going to bed to read for a while…

What’s on your menu for the week?  Making any healthy changes?  I need to add walking back in to our schedule this week!

I made bookmarks for my teen girl’s class showing the scriptures to read so that they can read the bible in one year.  If they bring it back each week with each day checked off they will be rewarded…  I hope they stick with it.  I gave them the 15-20 minutes in class today to start to show them how they can actually get it done and it’s not that hard.  Since daily bible reading is at the top of my goals for 2009 it helps to have company! 

I had a great Christmas and hope to have enough time soon to post pics and highlights of the week!

For now I’m trying to get organized and that means a menu…

I cooked a turkey breast today for lunch so I plan to make turkey tettrazini tomorrow with leftovers.

I cooked a ham last week for our family christmas and froze the leftovers so I plan to make a crock pot of beans and ham tuesday.  I’ll make some cornbread too!

I found a new recipe in a cookbook I pulled off the shelf to puruse.  I will post the recipe asap.  It’s a pasta meat dish kinda like spaghetti I think.  I’ll make garlic toast and salad.

Matt requested the poppy seed chicken again.  This time I’m adding carrots and peas.  For good measure.

That should get us through the week. Now to write a post about bathroom vanities…

What’s on your menu?

Visit orgjunkie.com to see others and/or share yours.

 When Amanda prepared the potatoes for baking this morning before church I asked her to make double so we could have twice baked potatoes tomorrow.  So we’ll have that with baked chicken and veggies.

Tuesday I’m going to make Haley’s empanadas because I haven’t made them in foreva!  They are tasty!

Wednesday we’ll have sloppy joes because I told Matt we’d have them last week and made spaghetti instead.  He hasn’t forgotten.

Thursday I am going to make a big pot of stew because the weather is going to be really cold all week and it will be warm and yummy…

and Friday we’ll order pizza from Mazzios.

1. What is bothering/stressing you out right this minute? Is this problem something you can solve on your own? Or will you simply have to ride the wave and see how it turns out? In the meantime, how are you coping with the stress – how do you unwind?

I’d rather not say… but I have been a little irritated all day.  I don’t have any specific issues causing the irritation, just lots of little things.  I think maybe it’s just too many activities with not enough sleep.  I cope well and try to keep a cheerful disposition, I unwind by reading or blogging.

2. When was the last time you made a compromise with someone? Tell us about it. How did that compromise turn out?

My life is a compromise.  It works out fine.  LOL!

3. What modern day convenience would you be willing to give up forever? Why would you give up that particular convenience and how would you give it up?

I would gladly give up PPV sport events.  I know… always the giver.

4. If you found yourself locked inside a public restroom stall, what would you do? Climb over the door? Or crawl under the door? Tell us about the worst public restroom experience you’ve ever had.

I would probably bust out before touching the floor or scaling the wall.    How funny!  I can’t really  remember any bad restroom experiences except a trip to the mall when Iz was a baby.  It smelled terrible in the Dillard’s restroom and a woman was sitting on the toidy breastfeeding her baby.  I was sicked out.  I always just went to a dressing room if I needed to nurse while shopping.

Here’s a pic of Izzy and mom and dad’s dog (mojo) yesterday….

And one of the cake Emelia made…

How was your Sunday?  Saturday?  Mine were incredibly uneventful.  But, that’s a good thing.  Saturday I didn’t leave the house one time.  Not once!  I shopped for groceries Friday and just didn’t have to get anything.  I had french bread pizzas for lunch and ham sandwiches on the sourdough bread I bought Friday at Panera for dinner… had pork loin to put in the crockpot for dinner Sunday after church and let everyone hit the freezer for dinner.

We have a guest speaker this week at church… Sherlock Bally.  Pretty interesting.  He speaks about prophecy and is informative and entertaining at the same time.  I really enjoyed the day.

I had a ton of good coupons to different stores that all expired yesterday… and a great one that was for today only.  But I guess there is something to be said for not spending any money all weekend… even though I could have saved so much money by spending?  Oh well, tomorrow brings a new day and more coupons! I remember the days of cutting out coupons for disposable diapers.

Good News!  I got the kids pic for our Christmas cards and ordered them last night.  I’m really please with the picture and can’t decide if I should post it or not… what do you think?

I plan to make chicken spaghetti tomorrow night.  We’ll have salad and garlic toast.

I bought a huge bag of chicken breasts from Sams so we’ll probably have chicken a few times this week.

Maybe bbq chicken and baked potatoes Tuesday!  Sounds good.  I wish my family shared my love for bbq sauce and did you see that special on channel 13 about the taste test?  Bull’s Eye won blind test after blind test so I bought some.  It is good.  Mom makes delicious homemade bbq sauce but hasn’t lately.  Mom!  Make some!

Wednesday we’ll have burgers and fries.  health food.

Thursday french bread pizzas… and salad.

Friday I’m thinking about having carryout chinese food… or something like that.

They had this fudge at Sam’s Friday when I was shopping for food.  They were passing out samples.  It’s called fudgie wudgie.  I accepted a sample and I have to tell you it was like having a little piece of heaven right in my mouth.  I bought a pound.  I ate it all.  Well, not all… I shared it.  But it’s gone and now all I can think about is going back to Sam’s and buying more.  Sad but true.  Tis the season.