Latest baby gift

Hooded Towel with a Monkey Face

Gift Bag made with leftover fabric. :)

I made two towels, but only one has the monkey face.  I think it turned out cute!

Working routines...where are they?

Remember flylady?

Some folks may have never heard of her at all.  I met her years ago and she quickly changed my life, but I outgrew her.  All those e-mails!  All those reminders! I just didn't need them anymore.  But I still revert back to her basic cleaning lists and the routine lists I created back then when I get overwhelmed.

Well, my weekly schedules and demands have changed and I finally realized that those old lists just don't fit anymore!  It's time to rethink my week and what I need to get done on each day of the week.

I was talking with a friend the other day and she said something similar about her routines too, or actually lack thereof.  She realized that certain routines saved her so much time, that she needed to establish some other routines in the day to save time as well.

There are certain days that we are home, and certain days we are not and I'm still not used to it after a year of this schedule!  It's time to do some serious thinking and planning and get some *working* routines in order!

So the problems are:

• having the school week planned out
• having all books/supplies ready 
• we need lunches ready ahead of time
• I need a healthy quick breakfast ready ahead of time for those days we are running late
• I am getting behind on household chores
• I need time for my creative outlets too
• Wednesday nights are so late and Thursday comes so early ;)
• fitting in exercise time
• having the exercise equipment, clothes, music etc ready to go
• meals planned
• grocery list done
• chores more evenly distributed between the family
• there is probably more but that's enough to start!

I'm going to work on this tonight!  I'm actually excited to get some things written down and put into use.
For instance I need to plan ahead and make Wednesday and Thursday as easy as possible.

I'll be back with my plan when I get it done!

I picked up this cookbook at the grocery store check out counter.

I'm trying out a few recipes and thought I would review them here as I go along.

The first one I made was the Southwestern Casserole. It made 2 casseroles.  There was plenty! I cooked one and froze the other.  The ingredients are familiar but I made a few substitutions.  I always seem to make substitutions.  I only had one can of tomatoes, and we don't like kidney beans so I added Ranch Style Beans. If you can't get these where you live I'm sorry :(.  But I guess "chili beans" would do.  I didn't rinse them as they recipe stated for the kidney beans.  Since I didn't have that extra can of tomatoes, I figured it needed the moisture.  I ended up adding just a little water.  Overall it was a great taste!  We liked it.  I'm thinking you could even add corn if you like it.  I like corn but my hubby's not keen on it, so I probably will never add it.

We also made this spaghetti casserole.  Oh my!  It was soooo yummy!  I will definitely be making this one again! 4 stars!  Even the hubby had seconds and he's not a spaghetti guy.

I liked the enchilada lasagna. Again I made some substitutions.  I used chicken, next time I will use beef.  I think the chicken just didn't give it enough oompf.

That's all we've tried so far.  I hope to try several more recipes.  There are some really good ones in there!

Looking back, looking ahead

Have you ever had a homeschool year that just seemed like a blur?  This was that year for me.  I know that my son did some work, and I also know that we didn't finish everything we set out to do.  We had so many distractions this year and I hate to make excuses but stress got the better of me.  As I'm looking ahead for next year, I have to take a look back to see where we've come from.  It's a bit discouraging if I'm being honest, but then again, so many good things were learned this year that I just can't put down on a report card or grade book. Know what I mean?  In fact when I really think about it we really did so much this year!

My dh has been ill with an undiagnosed illness.  So far they have said "Fibromyalgia" but aren't sure.  All we know is that he is in pain almost constantly and for seemingly no reason.  He has been off work a lot with no pay and had test after test.  Thus I got a part time job, it was a Jesus deal and now I work 2-half days and 1-whole day at church as my pastor's administrative assistant.  My son can go with me and work in the office with me on school work. It works fine as long as there are no interruptions but believe me there are always interruptions!

One day he said to me, "I never realized there was so much that goes on at church. I always thought we just showed up." Ha ha!  He's learned a lot about this and I hope it's been a good experience.

I also make puppets for our church and to sell (sometimes) this is also time consuming.

There are so many, many other things going on that don't need to be aired out here, but just writing this post has helped me to feel better.  It's my report card of sorts, a record to help me remember what we went through this year.

Thanks for listening. ;)

Ack!

July is practically over, I'll be gone most of August.  Where has the summer gone?  I haven't posted in over a month!

I am working on some school plans but there are so many family things going on too.  My SIL has been living with us for a year and a half and she is moving this weekend.  For me that means moving furniture (mostly mine) vacuuming, rearranging, organizing, dusting, sneezing and doing it all over again until we get things situated.

I hope to get to Wal-Mart before the weekend's over and pick up some things that we need.

I also had a new granddaughter come into the world last weekend and am preparing for the trip to see her in August. Can't wait!

So much to do so little time!

Maybe I'll post some pics and plans soon.

Success!!!!

I have never tried to cook Baby Back Ribs before.  I bought some a while back on sale at Brookshire's a local grocery store.  They sat in the freezer... did I mention they were LONG and I have a side by side refrigerator/freezer and they just kept getting in the way, sometimes even falling out - dangerous!  So yesterday I took my bi-weekly trip to Aldi a not so local grocery store and bought so much I had to take the ribs out, so I thawed them and cooked them today. The hubby LOVED them. Better than what he gets at Chili's he says.  And that's saying something because he loves Chili's Ribs ;)

Here's the recipe I used.  The only adjustment I made was after I coated and "rubbed" them I put them back in the fridge for a couple of hours. And he totally didn't want any sauce on it!  They were that good!!!

View from my desk

Kitchen Before

 This is what my kitchen looked like last night. Because I have been so busy working on another project.  It looks a lot worse through a camera lens! LOL  That's how I realized how bad it looked.  Not one clear surface!!!

Kitchen after - ahhh

Much better!

I got industrious...

yesterday and cleaned out and reorganized my fridge.  And I'm going to show you pictures.  How sad is that when you take pictures of your fridge and THEN post it on the internet??? LOL

Too bad I didn't think of doing a before shot.  I never think about it until after!

I took out the upper drawer that was broken and duct taped and moved the meats/cheeses to the bottom.

Another idea I thought was ingenious (I didn't think it up, I got it here) was putting my salad stuff all in one bin, and another one for sandwich stuff like mustard, pickles, miracle whip etc.  It was all together in the door but we had to dig to find all the bottles etc and then put them all back.  This way, you just take out the bin and put the bin back!

My dd made labels for everything and it all fit well.

Now to make sure the family actually reads the labels and puts things where they belong. sigh.

Happenings

I've been busy lately.  It's been good though.  Mostly just getting ready for things like Puppet Shows, Mission Trips, and VBS.  We've had a lot of doctor appointments lately and I'm pretty much responsible for taking whomever it is that needs to go.  I have two more weeks before VBS and I'm in charge of the crafts.  I chose simple ones so maybe it won't take too much time to get them all together.

DS has been tutoring twice a week with a lady from our church who's a teacher so we've been doing that too.  We had DGS this week.  Just took him home today as a matter of fact.  He'll be back in two weeks to go to VBS with us.

We've also had a lot of babies due around us lately.  I went to shower #2 yesterday and there is another one at the end of this month.  Babies everywhere!  Not in our home though thank goodness!

I wanted to do some school with DS this summer and we did at the beginning and we'll pick it back up soon.  This is why we basically school year round because there are times when other things come up so we put the books aside, then pick them back up when things settle down.

I have some more things I'd like to blog about.  Hopefully this week will afford me some time to sit down and get my thoughts together!

Aldi

They have just opened some Aldi stores near us. (If you consider 30 miles near, we do.)

We'll be checking it out this Friday. I've never been to one. If it's really worth it we'll work it into our shopping routine at least monthly.

Trying New Things

I've voluntarily taken myself off of sugar. Meaning white sugar. I haven't been one single day completely without sugar yet (I keep forgetting about those peppermints lying around my house) but I have drastically reduced the intake.

I decided not to use artificial sweeteners or sugar substitutes. I really didn't want to deal with all the issues they bring and I wanted something natural. The only thing I really need a sweetener for is my cereals.

Today I tried something new called Agave Nectar. I have seen it around but I really didn't know what it was or why I should use it. I used it in my oatmeal this morning and I really liked how it tasted. I don't know what else I will use it in, maybe a smoothie now and then? I was using honey, but I heard that GI in Agave Nectar is lower than honey, so why not give it a try? So I did and I will use it again.

Thumbs up for Agave Nectar!

Birthday Cake!

My 19 yo dd made this cake for my grandson's birthday party tomorrow.

I can't wait to see how he likes it!

Cauliflower Fritters Recipe

I made a few new recipes this week and this one was a hit!

They tasted just like potato patties. Yummy comfort food!

Check it out and try it soon!

Gina's Recipes Cauliflower Fritters

Menu for Jan 8-14

Our Christmas Eve Menu

Appetizers:

Deviled eggs

Jalapeño Poppers*

Veggie tray (broccoli, celery, cauliflower, grape tomatoes, petite carrots)*

Pizza Dip*

Chips

Main Course:

Honey Baked Ham (yum!)

Broccoli-cheese-rice casserole*

Crescent rolls

Mashed Potatoes*

Baked Beans (my oldest dd is bringing this)

Corn Casserole (my mom is bringing this)

Desserts:

Pumpkin spice cheesecake*

Chess pie

Red Velvet Cake (my mom is bringing this)

Hello Dollies (dd is bringing this)

* Healthier versions. I specifically added these foods or re-vamped the recipes to reduce the empty calories.

Cooking ahead

Sometimes called freezer cooking or batch cooking, whatever it's called I enjoy doing it! If you are trying to eat healthy, save money by not buying convenience foods and stop eating out it's the only way to go.

These are all in my freezer ready to go:

• WW Friendly apple cinnamon Pancakes
• Healthier French toast(I used egg whites and some flax seed mixed with water, only a little yolk, cooked on the griddle with butter flavor cooking spray)
• Crispy chicken strips (I make strips instead of drumsticks)
• Grilled chicken
• Pigs in a blanket (diced up turkey smoked sausage and WW 2-point biscuit recipe)
• Breadcrumbs for recipes
• Chopped up onion, celery, red bell pepper, green bell pepper
• Vegetable Broth for using in recipes
• Black Beans (made in my crock pot)
• Chick Peas (made in my crock pot)
• Browned ground turkey w/onions

I may make some pinto beans and black-eyed peas in my crock pots today and add them to the freezer as well.

Actually as I was looking in my freezer just now, there really isn't anything in there that I didn't make, except for some purchased frozen vegetables. That's a good feeling!

Having these foods ready to go in case something comes up and I can't make dinner saves us from eating out, keeps us on budget and keeps us from making bad food choices.

Planning is the key!

Menu for Dec 17-23

The numbers after indicate weight watchers points per serving.

Menu for Dec 10-16

I found a way to make spaghetti that my husband likes!

I started with this recipe from the Biggest Loser.

Turkey Goulash

1 1/2 cups chopped onion

1 1/2 tbsp minced garlic

1 lb ground turkey (or lean beef)

1 can no-salt added kidney beans with liquid

1 medium yellow summer squash, cut into bite-size chunks

1 can stewed tomatoes

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp salt-free extra spicy seasoning mix, or more to taste

3/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cayenne

Brown onions and garlic in cooking spray.

Transfer to a bowl and set aside.

Brown ground meat.

Add the beans, squash, tomatoes, chili powder, seasoning mix, salt cayenne and the reserved onion mixture.

Bring to a boil.

Cover and reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally for 35-40 min or until veggies are tender.

~~~~~~~~~~

Oops! As I began cooking this dish I realized I didn't have squash or beans so I put in spaghetti noodles. DH loved it! He ate seconds and took it to work.

HE NEVER TAKES PASTA TO WORK!!!!

I didn't think of it as spaghetti when I made it. I really thought he would think it was slop. LOL

But he said, "This is the best spaghetti you've ever made!"

Maybe he isn't fond of Italian spices in regular spaghetti? hmmm

My new recipe:

1 1/2 cups chopped onion

1 1/2 tbsp minced garlic

1 lb ground turkey (or lean beef)

1 can stewed tomatoes

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp salt-free extra spicy seasoning mix, or more to taste

3/4 tsp salt

(I don't add the cayenne it's TOO spicy for the kids)

I basically followed the above directions adding in the noodles and some water. I'm not sure how much, sorry!

But the verdict is we all liked it. We love it actually!

Yard Sale Jackpot

Last weekend we went with my sister-in-law to

http://www.easttexasguide.com/US80Sale.php

I think I spent $8.00 and got some red fake fur - for puppet making of course! A set of really sharp kitchen knives, 2 games for kids, 3 pair of nerd glasses, a jump rope, some clothes. I can't remember what else!

In Clothing I got:

2 blouses

4 pair of capris

1 pair of pants

DS got:

11 shirts

1 pair of pants

1 pair of shorts

1 pair of PJ pants

DD got:

1 skirt

4-5 shirts

1 pair of shorts

It was lot's of fun.