Weekly Menu

Last week was great.  I hardly had to cook at all.  It was a nice.  In an attempt to cut out as much unplanned spending as possible we had, up until this past week, eaten at home every single day in January with the exception of one Saturday where we order pizza.  I was sick of cooking.  For real.  I feel like I can pick back up as we head into February and not feel the need to eat out for several weeks, at least :-)  We also did a little shopping again at Trader Joe's :-)  We don't get their often but we have already figured out things we love.  Our favorites?  Smoked Gouda - straight from Holland.  It's so good.  I love the Tomatoless Corn and Chili Salsa.  We have also found that the Trader Joe's Crackers (we've tried quite a few) and cookies (the Butter Cookie Cookie Butter Sandwich cookies are to die for) are awesome.  I bought a bag of Tortilla chips to go with my salsa and didn't realize that they were unsalted until I got home . .. they are awesome.  I love that they are unsalted because then it doesn't change the taste of the salsa :-) 

After all of that, it's time to move on to planning another week of menus :-)

Saturday - After just saying I would cook . .. the plan is to go to town and use some Christmas Gift Cards.  The boys each got gift cards to Toys R Us as well as some money so we are going to take them shopping.  We got a gift card to Red Robin - which is a family favorite Restaurant.

Sunday - Sunday Dinner :-)  Roast, Carrots, and Noodles.  Yum!  There is something in this meal that every single person loves.

Monday - Hard to believe that Gymnastics is starting up again but it is.  The boys enjoy it still and I'd really like them to learn how to do a cartwheel!  HA!  Dinner needs to be fast and easy.  Last week my mom made a beef stew out of a leftover roast dinner my dad made so I'm stealing her idea.  Throwing in the leftover roast, carrots and noodles to make stew.  Add some biscuits and life is good.

Tuesday - I have a meeting so again, dinner needs to be easy and quick.  Chicken Thighs cooked in our favorite sticky marinade, Mac and Cheese and Green Beans.  The chicken make take an hour to cook but sitting in the oven for an hour doesn't cost me anything HA!

Wednesday - Tacos.  AWANA nights are always a little rushed so having something simple that we can eat in stages is good since Darryl sometimes doesn't get home until after 5:00 and we have to leave by 6:00

Thursday - Steakhouse mac and cheese.  This is a new recipe that a friend tried this week and recommended.  There will be salad . . .and probably chicken and fries for the picky eaters HA!

Friday - Crock Pot Chicken and Stuffing.  I've made a similar recipe in the oven that we really liked but I haven't made it in years (I think we got tired of it ;-) ) Well, I love my crock pot so this is worth a try. 

52 Week Photo Challange

A friend of mine on Facebook posted a photography challenge from over at PetaPixal.  I like the set up and feel it might give me some more practice with my camera.  I'm also hoping to home my skills by reading more tutorials online for how to set up photos better.  Once a month (hopefully) I'll share my photos here.  If you "know me" on Facebook, you've already seen these.

 Week 1:  A Selfie using the timer on the camera. 

 Week 2: A Landscape. 

 Week 3:  Something Red

Week 4: A Selfie of someone else (My sweet pooch!) 

One thing this challenge has caused me to do is to be on the lookout for great photo opportunities.  I'm working on looking within our daily lives instead of thinking "oh I wish I could go 'here' and get a shot (i.e. the lakeshore, a light house, the frozen waters of Lake Michigan) 

My goal is to complete all 52 weeks and then turn these photos and the stories into a coffee table book to enjoy!

What we are Eating - Chick-Fil-Lay Cole Slaw

Chick-Fil-Lay Cole Slaw
adapted from . .. well, Chick-Fil-Lay gave it away! 

I know, I know this is the same photo of the Chick-Fil-Lay sandwhich I posted last week but do see that cole slaw poking out from under the bun?  That's this weeks recipe and it was so good.  Apparently, Chick-Fil-Lay is not going to be serving their cole slaw anymore so they actually posted the true recipe on their Facebook page for all to have.  What a great idea!  Best cole slaw ever.  It tasted perfect on the sandwich and it tasted perfect as a side dish.  

 
 

Family Fun - Christmas Tree Cutting

Cutting down a Christmas tree was always part of our Christmas traditions but the last two years we weren't able to do it because of Darryl's back.  I purchased an artificial tree to get us by until we could do this tradition again.  Needless to say we were all very excited to head out to Uncle Charlie's Tree Farm . To make it nicer for Darryl - it wasn't very cold and there was no snow :-)

 Notice how beautiful it is outside?  The boys set off looking for the perfect Tree.

 Josh found it!  It was a great tree even if it was super prickly!

 Darryl cutting down the tree.  I have to give this guy props.  He doesn't have the strength he had several years ago so this took a lot of work.  He did not give up and chopped that baby down. 

 The boys took over hauling the tree back to the main house.  We did learn that Uncle Charlie's will only be around another year or two.  Uncle Charlie himself is 75 and is ready to be wrap up the tree farm and turn it into farm land. 

We had a lot of fun with the lights before Darryl put them on the tree for us. 

It was a great day all the way around!  The boys did a lot of the decorating of the tree too.  Christmas gets more and more fun as they get older. 

Weekly Menu - The one Where the Kids are Gone

The kids are away :-)  My kids had requested some extra time with Papa and Nana after Christmas but due to an impending storm (that was kinda a fizzle) and the fact that my parents were tired, even though they always so yes to those boys, we decided to put off their stay until January.  Well, it's January :-)  The boys have been counting down the days and, well, so have I HA!  What?  I enjoy a break too!  I usually get extra stuff done around the house like cleaning out stuff that Josh, my resident hoarder, doesn't see and pick out of the trash!!  I also take a break from cooking.  For real.  So, here's the plan for the coming week :-)

Saturday - Darryl and I are going on a date.  I don't know what yet but I will arrive home from the ladies seminar around 3:00 and we'll head into town for some shopping (Good Will HA!), Dinner, and maybe a movie or just enjoying a coffee shop.

Sunday -A couple at our church are doing a special meal after church so I don't have to cook - we get to eat her food HA!

Monday - Our favorite - just going to Applebees for Burgers.  They are cheap on Mondays and they are good!

Tuesday - We've been craving good Chinese food so the plan has been for weeks for Darryl to bring home Chinese food :-)

Wednesday - The kids will be home!  Easy peasey Pancakes and Sausage/Bacon.

Thursday - Back to reality.  Amish Chicken, Noodles and Green Beans.  This was on the schedule a week ago but, it was on a Saturday . . .and the boys and I went shopping . . .between two stores and the bank we were gone for 4 hours .. .i was tired. . .and forgot to take the Chicken out of the Freezer so Darryl brought home pizza.  :-)

Friday - I'm going to say I'm not sure.  I'm going to see what's left in the house - Meat in the freezer; rice or noodles or Mac and Cheese; whatever veggies . . .leftovers :-)

Spirit Filled Kindle

I love to read but trying to keep up with new reading material without breaking the budget is hard somethings. Recently I had a link for "Spirit Filled Kindle" show up on my Facebook page.  I clicked on it and have been pleasantly surprised with the free books I've been able to get daily.  I have one firm rule about free books - they have to be at least 225 pages long.  Too often I've grabbed up a free book only to discover it is "mini book" of like 100 pages.  Not worth it.  This sight offers both fiction and non-fiction titles too.  I love having my Kindle stocked with good, Christian titles by some of my favorite authors even!

Check it out! Spirit Filled Kindle 
 

What we are Eating - Chick-Fil-lay Chicken Sandwiches

Chick-Fil-Lay Chicken Sandiches
adapted from Centless Deals

I decided to try these chicken sandwiches because we love the copy cat Chick-Fil-Lay nuggets that I've made for awhile.  Well, these were a huge hit.  My husband said that it was the best chicken sandwich he has ever had and wants them for his birthday dinner so that says a lot!  

Ingredients

• 2 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast
• ½ cup Pickle Juice
• 2 Eggs
• ¼ cup Milk
• 1 cup Flour
• 2 tbsp Powdered Sugar
• 1 tsp Paprika
• 1 tsp Salt
• ½ tsp Black Pepper
• ½ tsp Garlic Powder
• ½ tsp Celery Salt
• ½ tsp Basil
• 1 cup Peanut Oil for frying
• 4 Buns (buttered and toasted)
• Pickle Slices!

Instructions

1. Put chicken in zippered bag and pound gently with the flat side of a mallet until about ½" thick.
2. Cut each breast into 2 equal pieces.
3. Marinate chicken in the pickle juice for about an hour.
4. Beat together egg and milk in a bowl.
5. Mix together the flour, sugar, and spices in another bowl.
6. Heat the oil in a skillet to about 350.
7. Dip each chicken piece into the egg covering both sides, then coat in flour on each side.
8. Fry each chicken piece for 2 minutes on each side, or until golden and cooked through.
9. Place on paper towels to absorb any excess oil.
10. Then serve on toasted buns with pickle slices.