The Journey Begins

I've horribly neglected this blog and my scrapping for the past few months.  No excuse.  Just Tired-Mommy-Itis and my almost 4 year old would diagnose me with, thanks to Doc McStuffins.  (By the way, thanks Disney! I love seeing her pretend to be a dr now instead of another princess.  Not that I have anything against the princesses, but a little variety is awesome.)

Tomorrow is the first day I am homeschooling the children.

I know this is going to be a huge step.  It's not one that I am committing to for the next 18 years currently.  I'm doing it for a few reasons.

First, my son has a late summer birthday.  With the deployment, the new baby and his birthday, plus the trend of red-shirting which is prevalent in the town we're currently in, he didn't go to Kindergarten last year.  Add on to that a school district, like many, strapped for money.  To make ends meet, and be within the state regulations, Kindergartens are on alternating full day schedules.  Why not just have half day, 2 sessions you may ask?  They can't afford the mid-day busses.  I could buy that he could get used to the school and try it, but we move next year.  And my son is a good reader.  He's a high energy boy who can read and answers questions at the doctor's office like "How do you feel?" with "Well, I should feel like a 10 and I only feel like a 6 or a 7."

I love the idea of homeschooling.  I do.  But I don't know that I would have jumped in to without all that in front of me.  So, we're going to try it this year.  I got my approval letter just last week in the mail and I have everything ready from the awesome Sonlight curriculum ready to go.  (If you check it out, I'm referrer: AH20349417).

So, I thought I'd show you our room.  I'm excited for the kids to be starting tomorrow.  We are using P 4/5 with 1st grade readers for my son, Handwriting Without Tears K for both, and Saxon Math K for my son.  My daughter will be 4 in October and I am going to pretty much let her do as much or as little as she's interested in.

And with that...  I am off in hopes of getting at least 3 hours of sleep in a row before we start tomorrow.  My sweet littlest babe is getting 3 of her top teeth so it's much easier said than done, but dare to dream!  I promise soon the scrapping and recipes will return!  

  

Menu Planning for July 2

I am going to TRY and get better about getting back to my blog, planning, etc.  I will have to do this to keep my sanity as I start the first year of homeschooling my children this fall!  My focus will be on my oldest for now and getting him through kindergarten.  A woman of many hats, indeed!

So, now on to this week's menu:

Monday:  Asian Crock Pot Chicken (recipe posting tomorrow!)

Tuesday: Pork with Cherries

Wednesday: Worlds Best Burgers with Baked Potatoes in the slow cooker

Thursday: White Bean Turkey Chili

Friday: Pepperoni Pull Apart

Saturday: Sausage Gravy and Biscuits for breakfast at least!

What about you?  Are you in the midst of a love affair with summer or already thinking and planning for fall?

An adorable 4 month old that I know...

Soo...  My friend asked me if I scrapped on a laptop and would I want to come over and help her learn the basics of Photoshop so she could get started on her venture in digiscrapping.

Right after I'd been getting SO fed up with not being able to carve out time to meet the commitments I had to my digital designers who so generously share with me their kits all the time.  I desperately wanted to finish the projects that I'd gotten behind on too, so I just needed to find a way to SCRAP, yet...  Isn't that always the problem?

So, God took a moment and met two needs with a single text message.  

He's pretty awesome like that.

I made this page while at my friend's for the awesome designer Edeline Marta!  Her kit- Best Mom in the World is available at MScraps or at TwoPeas.

The photos of my daughter, the day she turned 3 months, are courtesy of Kimberly Lange at Portrayable Photography in Orlando, FL.  She's incredible.  These photos were only a small portion of our family session which was shot at the Boardwalk Resort on Disney property.  There will definitely be more pages coming soon.

She's So Happy- MScraps

She's So Happy- TwoPeas

- Comments welcomed!

And I just realized that I missed the spot on the template for the date.  See why I keep the PSD files of all my projects till they are printed?  :)  #tiredmama and all that!

Blessings!

Menu Planning for 5/21/12

Another week!  And another menu with a few blurps of Pinterest thrown in.  Do you pin?

Ahem.

Monday: Chicken in the Slow Cooker with Wicked Good Sauce from WildTree, Roasted Sweet Potatoes & peas.  I made this to take to a new mom as well and remembered that I loved when people included dessert in our dinners so I made Banana Cake too.  A few modifications and it turned out delicious!  More to come on that :)

Tuesday: Robust Chicken Tortilla Soup from WildTree and Beer Bread

Source: food.com via Amy on Pinterest

Wednesday: Skyline Night!

Thursday: Quinoa Fried Rice

Friday: Chicken Black Bean Casserole

Saturday: Pizza

Sunday, not sure although I'm thinking of finding a way to surprise my husband with a date for us to see the Avengers.  He's a HUGE comic book fan and I know is just dying to see this but doesn't want to go alone and leave me home with the kids.  We'll see how this goes. :) Shhh, don't tell!

Linking up to:

Menu Planning at OrgJunkie!

A little candid camera & a giveaway!

Can you see them?  They're hiding.

This is one of my phone photos where I captured kids just being kids.  They wanted to take a picture before we left Old Navy.

His Idea

This layout features the wonderful new kit by Dianne Rigdon Designs called These are the Days.  It features some great new clusters that will make your layouts come together in no time.

Like it, but on a budget?  Well then...head over and enter to win 10 of her kits FREE.  That's right!  10 KITS!  Click this link!

Blessings!

Weekly Menu Planning

So, I'm a tad late, but hey, you're just looking for ideas, right? :)


Monday- Leftovers
Tuesday- Pork & Cherries- it warms my heart that my kids ask for this and cheer when I bring it to the table.
Wednesday- Cheese and Herb Skillet Meal from WildTree
Thursday- Red Pepper Pasta
Friday- Cookout dinner
Saturday- Fend for yourself- Mama's off duty!  Probably fish sticks & mac/cheese for the kids and a frozen pizza and wine for me and Daddy when I get home from my party.
Sunday- TBD


Question- What's cookin' at your house tonight?

Menu Planning- Week of May 7, 2012

Welcome back, right? 
Thought I forgot about my blog?


Not really...  But I am ready to recommit to losing this baby weight, training for the half marathon I have my sights set on for November and getting myself and my family off of processed crap.


So, here's our menu for the week (will offer kid friendly, quick variations and offer them ours if they're curious. Baby steps).


Monday: Mozarella and Herb Pasta (was good but needed some protein even though I used WW pasta instead of Dreamfields as called for on the site)
Tuesday: Crusted White Fish with Lemon Rosemary Orzo (The orzo turned out great.  I wasn't a fan of the fish but could be that I didn't like the cod.  My husband liked it, but didn't go back for seconds which is my measuring stick of how much he likes something.)
Wednesday: Family Dinner Out
Thursday: Gingered Beef in the slow cooker
Friday: Chicken & White Bean Poblano Chili
Saturday: Pork Chops with Peaches

So, that's the plan.  I also made Apple Cinnamon Chips but due to a malfunctioning Ultimate Mandolin, I think the slices were too thick so they took forever and were a bit chewy.


Curious what your favorite calorie friendly snacks are (that don't include large amounts of raw fruits or vegetables- this post for details).

Healthy Eats for a busy mom

One of the reasons I started this blog was because I am an extremely picky eater and my kids have some of my same issues (texture) and this was an easy format to share recipes with friends when they'd ask.  Now that life is almost settled with our newest addition (she's 12 weeks today, time FLIES!), I am focusing on making sure I'm getting what I need to keep myself going.  How many times does it get to be noon and I realize my breakfast was coffee and lunch isn't looking much better?  I'm staying home for the first time with this baby and it's such a blessing but I find myself SO busy!  When I was working, at least someone would pop by my cube and say "Hey, take a break, it's lunchtime."  My bosses now remind me that it's lunchtime but with a much different motivation.

Anyway...

I'm picky.  Like really picky.  Like the vegetables I eat when left to my own devices, I can count on 1 hand (peas, corn and potatoes).  And the fruits, well, I don't eat them unless they're on top of a coffee cake.

I saw my friend was posting Smoothie pictures on Facebook.  And, I was offered a green smoothie at my friend's Halloween party.  She made the mistake of telling me it was a spinach and blueberry smoothie which fit the Halloween theme in being a bright purple/green shade but made my nose immediately turn the other way (and to the dessert table more specifically).

I don't really know why I came around but I started to experiment with the "Green Monster" as it's called 2 weeks ago, almost.  I realized a few things.  Mostly that I liked it, it was extremely portable and I didn't have the texture issue when drinking them that is my main stumbling block in trying to improve my diet as a whole.

So, here's the link to my friend's blog.  She printed it out and brought it with her when she came over to help me try some things out and answer questions last Monday.  It was really helpful because since I have never, ever had these things (aka: things that grow from the ground) as a staple in my "diet", I have very little ability or desire to self navigate through trial and error.  I needed guidance in hearing what worked, what different, what flavors were too strong to cover in a smoothie, did it look the way it looked when someone else made it, etc. 

I'd love to get to the point where I can make ahead of time 7 ziploc bags of ingredients and have them in the freezer ready to go during my week.

This isn't starving myself.  I am making enough smoothie to fill about a 24 oz cup.  It takes a while to drink up!  And I'm adding in great snacks to round this out that are also easy to grab and go- pre-bagged servings of nuts, cheese stick, etc.  And I'm truly not feeling hungry.  I'm finding myself craving one of these a day.  Never, in my entire life, have I craved a fruit or vegetable.

So far, I am loving the way I feel and just feeling better about how I'm eating.  The kids haven't totally jumped on board with this.  I hear some kids do.  I'm debating putting theirs in colored cups to hide the bright colors.  I don't know.  I am also planning to buy some really pretty straws like these and some bigger mason jars to make drinking them at home more fun.  The to-go cup I have is great and fits in the cup holders in my van.  I've been using a Ninja but think I may change to a simple Hamilton Beach and have been reading reviews online of the Vitamix...

So, have you tried this Green Monster concept?  Thoughts?

Menu planning early

Menu Planning  a little early because I had a few spare moments...  (don't tell the sleeping baby, k?)

Saturday-Cheese, baguette and wine.  That's a dinner, right?  Perhaps some Cheddar Cheese Soup would round it out :P
Sunday- Spicy Stewed Beef with Cheesy Corn Grits (if I make it to the grocery store)
Monday- Sour Cream Noodle Bake
Tuesday- Sesame and Honey Crock Pot Chicken with Couscous
Wednesday- Fettucini alfredo from WildTree with bacon and peas and garlic bread
Thursday- Robust Tortilla Soup with cornbread
Friday- Pork and Cherries with Rice Noodles

I feel like chicken tonight-

These days, I'm preferring slow cooker meals because that's about all I have the energy for (especially love the ones that require NO pre-browning, rinsing, boiling, etc).

But, this chicken recipe popped out and I saw organic potatoes on sale at Kroger so my mind went to either Crash Hot Potatoes from the Pioneer Woman or Roasted Potatoes and Garlic (my hubby opted for the first selection).

Honey and Spice Baked Chicken from Taste of Home
Prep/Total Time: 30 min.          Yield: 8 Servings

Ingredients

•3 teaspoons garlic powder
•3 teaspoons chili powder
•1-1/2 teaspoons salt
•1-1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
•1-1/2 teaspoons paprika
•3/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
•8 boneless skinless chicken breasts (5 ounces each)
•6 tablespoons honey
•2 teaspoons cider vinegar


Directions
•Combine the first six ingredients; rub over chicken. Transfer to a greased 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan.
•Bake at 375° for 25-30 minutes or until juices run clear. Combine honey and vinegar; baste over chicken during the last 10 minutes of cooking. Save three chicken breast halves for Chicken Chimichangas (recipe also in Recipe Finder) or save for another use. Yield: 5 servings plus 3 cooked chicken breast halves.

NI: 1 chicken breast equals 210 calories, 4 g fat (1 g saturated fat), 78 mg cholesterol, 522 mg sodium, 15 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 29 g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 4 lean meat, 1 starch.


What I love about this is that the leftovers can be saved or frozen to make:

Chicken Chimichangas
Prep/Total Time: 20 min.Yield: 6 Servings
Ingredients
•3 Honey & Spice Baked Chicken breast halves, cubed
•1 cup refried beans
•1 teaspoon chili powder
•1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
•1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
•1/4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
•1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
•6 flour tortillas (8 inches), warmed
•3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
•Oil for deep-fat frying
•Optional toppings: sour cream, salsa con queso dip, shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes and chopped seeded jalapeno pepper

Directions
•In a small microwave-safe bowl, combine the first seven ingredients. Cover and microwave on high for 1-1/2 to 2 minutes or until heated through. Spoon 1/3 cup off-center on each tortilla; sprinkle with cheese. Fold up edge nearest filling; fold in both sides and roll up. Secure with a toothpick.
•In an electric skillet or deep-fat fryer, heat oil to 375°. Cook chimichangas until golden brown, turning to cook all sides. Drain on paper towels. Serve with toppings of your choice. Yield: 6 servings.

So, do you have a favorite slow cooker recipe to share?