Weekly Menu Plus

Welcome to another weekly menu!  I cooked nothing last week that was on the menu.  Ok, maybe I did a few things but I cooked hardly anything!  My husband brought home a pizza on Tuesday night, the boys and I just ate some leftovers on Wednesday, on Thursday I made Tacos because that is what sounded good.  Crazy week.  Now, I had a revelation this past week.  When I go to the grocery store I buy 2 gallons of milk plus sometimes, if it is on sale, I'll buy a 1/2 gallon of chocolate milk.  I've noticed that we go through a lot of milk - and it hit home when I picked up a gallon on Tuesday evening and it was gone by Wednesday night.  Seriously.  So, this week, when I went shopping, I bought 4 gallons of milk.  I really try to NOT have to make mid-week store runs because, as you all well know, stopping for a gallon of milk often includes a few other items.  We'll see if we run out this week.  I have a three year old who drinks milk like all the cows are going to die tomorrow.  Crazy kid. 

Here's the plan for this week. 

Saturday: My husband plans in a Christian group and they are performing on Saturday in a huge Festival of the Arts so we will either eat at the Festival or eat out afterwards.

Sunday: Balsamic Pork Loin, Roasted Cauliflower, Yeast Rolls

Monday: Shrimp Pasta, Corn on the Cob and Garlic Bread

Tuesday:  Chicken Scallopini, Rice, Asparagus and Rolls

Wednesday: Chick -Ful-Lay Nuggets and Fries (It is a new recipe and that is how she spelled it HA)

Thursday:  Pork Chops on the grill, Corn, and Baked Potatoes. 

Friday:  We may go out to dinner with friends but, if not, the kids will eat something fun and then we'll either Grill Steaks or order in. 

I also have a new bar cookie recipe to try and a cheese Danish Recipe to try as well.

Food Friday - Cucumber Salad

I have several "meal" recipes to post but I am behind on going through photos so, I'm going to share with you a simple salad recipe I made last night. 

Cucumber Salad
adapted from Comfy in the Kitchen

Growing up, my mom always made two different things with cucumbers (well, she did more than two but these were creative uses of way too many cucumbers growing in the garden).  One was Cucumbers sliced and placed in a mix of vinegar and water.  YUMMY!  I guess some people would call them quick pickles but I just called them sour cucumbers.  When I saw this similar recipe posted on another blog I decided to try it out and it really is so good.  The sugar adds just enough sweetness to make me want to eat them all at once (who knows, maybe my mom added sugar and I just never knew it!!)  I was hoping that Josh would eat them since he loves pickles.  I'll give him credit - he did taste one but told me that they weren't pickles because they were in "water" :-) 

Ingredients

• 1 English Cucumber
• 1 Vidalia Onion (I usually just use whatever I have - it's more for flavor than anything)
• 3/4 cup water
• 3/4 cup white vinegar
• 3 Tbsp sugar
• salt, pepper, and/or dill weed optional}

Instructions

1. Peel cucumber leaving some decorative peel in tact.
2. Thinly slice cucumber and onion.
3. Whisk water, vinegar and sugar together and poor over cucumber and onion.
4. Let marinate for at least 2 hours or make ahead of time in morning.
5. Add seasonings to your liking

Goals for June (and a quick recap of May)

Goals, for me, are a way to track what I want to accomplish and give me a place to start; something to work towards; and something to celebrate once accomplished. 

In May I posted a list of 5 goals I wanted to work toward.  I didn't post the list until almost half way through the month and knew I wouldn't get a lot done but I did it to get me back into the mindset of goals after taking a month or so off due to a super busy schedule.  Here's a quick recap. 
1) We did have the 1st ever (annual) Memorial Day Family get together but I didn't really have to plan much.  It got moved to my brother's house in order to it possible for my brother and niece to be able to spend time with famly after her soccer games. 
2) I did start the decluttering of the basement but haven't gotten far.  It's a task I need to break down into sections or it is overwhelming!!!
3) Our summer plans are finalized - at least through June.  July and August are tentative right now as things always change but June is set. 
4) This was my disciplines and I'm still working on this stuff
5) I don't think I did a single thing in my misc list! 

So, now on to June - here's a list of what I am planning to get done (or at least hope to get done!) throughout the coming month.  I can tell you this right now - if the temps soar into the 90's (or even the 80's with high humidity) my productivity drops to zero.  When you live in a house without A/C you learn to survive by doing nothing and watching TV HA! 

1. Summer Activities - My goal is to have all of the activities ready to go for the following week by Saturday.  This means having all of the things I need prepared and ready to go, checking the weather for our "field trips" and making any funds I need are set aside (for entrance fees or special trips to get ice cream)  This also means preparing for our weekend plans - we have three festivals we want to attend, a family party, and family photos coming up this month.  I need to make sure that our plans our finalized the week before which, again, includes planning out the funds needed, the scheduling (what time we need to leave, whether to pack a lunch or get a treat out, and checking the weather to make sure our plans will work!  I am ready for June 1st - we are planting Sunflower seeds!! This celebrates family.

2. Declutting.  I actually have two decluttering projects I'm working on this month.  First, the basement.  As I mentioned above, this has to be broken down into small sections in order to get it done.  So the first step in this project is to write my plan (which I am working on this week).  Then, I will begin conquering the plan one week at a time.  Obviously, to be finished by the end of the month it is only a 4 week plan which, I know, is more than doable.  Second, is the rest of the house.  Over the course of the next 4 weeks, I'm going to do a "survey" of every room, closet, cupboard and drawer and get rid of the things we have never used or have not used in over a year.  I did this about 3 years ago so I know if stuff is sitting in those places and we haven't used it since then, it needs to go.  I do have a few things I only use once or twice a year (round cake pans, chocolate fountain, etc) that I keep but I know I use those things for a purpose.  Having 6 pie plates is a little over kill especially since 90% of the pies I make I use frozen crusts for so I get the throw away pans with the crusts.  (Best thing ever invented HA!).  I'm really not sure what this celebrates except making my life easier because I'm not stuffing stuff into closets where there is no room!!

3. The big room switch.  We have made the decision to home school so we also did a lot of thinking, measuring, and talking and have decided that the best way to do this is to move bedrooms around.  The short version is that the boys are going into the biggest bedroom, which is currently ours, we are going into the second bedroom, which is currently Josh's and the school room is going into Nate's room, which is the tiny room.  We have a long list of things that have to be done in order to make it work smoothly.  This months goals are to get the treadmill out of our bedroom - it is being given to my parents.  As much as I hate losing it we have zero room for it.  Sometimes something has to give and the treadmill is it.  Not to mention that in this phase of my life, trying to find time to walk on it is nearly impossible.  I'm glad it is going to a "good home" and it will get lots of use!  Once the treadmill is out, we need to pull up the carpet and carpet tacks in our room getting it ready for a hard floor to go down.  We have many reasons for putting down a hard floor - the most fun reason is so the boys can play cars on it :-)  I also need to clean out my filing cabinet, putting all of our files into a portable box to keep elsewhere (we seldom need them) so that the cabinet can be moved into the homeschool room when we are ready. If we can get that far by the end of the month, we are doing good.  The actually "switch" won't happen until Labor day weekend when my husband has time to put the floor down so we are working towards that at this point.  We also plan on putting the same flooring in the home school room and hope to put it down at the same time but we'll see!

4. Potty Training - Seriously.  I have one child who refuses this.  I know you can't force them to do it but we are continually working towards getting them both potty trained.  Don't judge  me - I've tried every trick in the book and tricks don't work :-)

5.  Clean out the Garage - this is a project that is on the books every summer.  We like to take time to clean out any junk that has collected and make it nice and neat.  I also need to go through our camping stuff and organize it for camping in July.  (On a side note, one of the things on my wish list for next year is a new garage door/and opener so that we can use the garage to park in more - the door is so heavy and cumbersome without an opener, we don't tend to use it unless a blizzard is coming!)

I think 5 goals for the month is pretty doable.  There are all kinds of misc things to do like sell my nephews books, finish a growth chart we started a year ago (it's hung up, I just need to update the "growth" part of it), work on various art projects for the boys rooms and homeschool room so they are ready when the rooms are ready, learn how to use my cricut a friend has given me and more! !

I'm praying for some beautiful 70 degree days this summer so I can get all of this stuff done!!!

Our Summer Binder

Summer is knocking on our door and it is time to start having fun!!  The boys are old enough to enjoy some daily fun so I have searched and come up with all kinds of fun activities, foods, and field trips and created a Summer Binder. 

On the cover of our Summer Binder is this great "Bucket List" for the month.  If you love these type of things, you can get your own for every month of the year from Signature Photography Studios.  No, I don't do everything on the list but it gives me something to spring off of :-) 

The next step was I just started printing ideas from blogs and Pinterest and placed them in our binder.  I didn't worry about age levels or anything like that because some ideas are for later.  I just saved everything I saw that I liked and than printed :-)

I created the different sections based on need but some of them are Inside Activities, Outside Activities, Water Fun, Food, Special Activities, and even a folder for ideas things for me.  You can feel free to check out my Summer Board on Pinterest to see many of the ideas I've printed.  I continue to add more to that board and print those every free weeks.  You may wonder why I print?  There is one simple reason, people delete ideas.  I've already learned that and have lost some great ideas.  This way, I print the idea/instructions/blog post and have what I want for future years.

My last step is that I took time to go through the ideas, the bucket list and, well, my own brain, and write one thing on each week day.  In June we are doing things such as going to pick strawberries and then making strawberry jam; making ice cube sailboats, going to a local zoo and many more fun things. 

I've learned that if I don't plan, we do nothing.  Now, if this summer is like last summer as far as heat . . .well, then I am VERY prepared for NEXT summer HA!

Too Cute Not to Toot

So, I have a disclaimer this week.  Sometimes, the links I provide don't work anymore :-) I had someone leave a comment on a Too Cute post from a few weeks ago asking me about getting more info on something I posted . I clicked the link and found that the blog I had gotten it from had sense been made private.  I apologize if you see an idea you love and than can't get to it anymore :-(  Sometimes people do things like, make a blog private, or change their blog link or even delete a post.  I will try to provide you with great links though!

Now, on to some fun posts.  When I have people over (our family parties usually) I enjoy having fun games set up (others mock me but that is ok!) so when I came across this idea from This Old House for a great game I had to share.

Ok, this next idea is not a "DIY" idea but when I saw it, I had to show you were to purchase it.  Amazon has this awesome jumbo bowling set.  How fun would that be for a birthday party?  I so might have to get this for one of the kids birthdays this year!!

Apparently, I'm coming across just some general ideas this time around . . .because I wanted to actually share this post from We Are That Family.  As you know, I love to read so this list of books for the family is fantastic.  I especially love the board and picture book suggestions - as I'm planning out preschool for Josh this fall, I was trying to think of how to pick out some specific books to focus on reading each week and I think I just found my inspiration!

We are going camping this summer so when I saw this idea over at Twin Dragonfly Designs for camping shirts, I fell in love :-) 

As you know, I took the weekend off from blogging so I didn't get a chance to do anymore than this for this weeks post (I found these last week before my break :-) )  The good news is I'll have even more things to search for next week!!! 

Hope you enjoyed your holiday weekend!!!

Happy Memorial Day Weekend

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!



I hope you all have a fabulous weekend celebrating however you most enjoy it - spending lots of time with family and friends, doing lots of yard work, or just enjoying time with your own family.  For us, we are spending time with my family at the 1st Annual McMaster Memorial Day Weekend Party.  We plan on having some good old "just us" family time too.  I've decided to give myself "permission" to take a break from blogging (not that I really need permission since I really do this for fun!).  With that said, I'll see you back here on Tuesday with another "Too Cute Not to Toot" post!  Next week I'll share our summer binder with you as well as how I organize the Too Cute ideas I REALLY want to make.  I also want to share with you my some ideas I have for our homeschool room too! 

Hard to believe that this is the unofficial start of summer . .. did we even have winter??

Enjoy your weekend, I know I will!!! 

Weekly Menu - May 26 and a little of this and that

WHEW!  Another week went by :-)  The weather this week cooled off at the beginning of the week after a very hot weekend but it is forecasted to be in the 90's on Sunday and Monday before cooling off again!  I was thankful for cooler weather because I planned Soup for one meal this week!  I tried out a few new recipes this week so you can look forward to seeing those in coming weeks too.

Before I post our menu, I thought you might enjoy these photos.  Last year, we couldn't even get the boys to run through a sprinkler in the hot weather let alone get in the water.  Well, last weekend I happened to pick up a fish watering can.  Then I went back the next day and picked up a second one because I was tired of hearing "that's my fish mama" so now each boy has their own!!  On Thursday, the boys wanted to play with their watering cans so instead of standing in the kitchen to fill them up I got the idea to fill up a tub with water and this is what happened:

 We started by me filling the bucket with empty containers.  It was constant running from the kitchen - the boys loved it and were soaking wet but there was no way I could keep this up all day.

 That is when I got smart and found the hose, hooked it up and put it in the bucket so it would stay filled except . .. . two little boys had fun with the hose.  Josh even figured out how to drink out of the hose.  The trick is that I turned it on very, very low :-)  Eventually the bucket was full and over flowing so I put the sprayer on the end of the hose.

Maybe that wasn't such a great idea HA!  I ended up trapped in the garage and someone enjoyed spraying me :-) 
Now, on to our menu!

Saturday: We are having a family gathering for Memorial Day Weekend.  Originally, it was at our house but due to some scheduling issues in getting everyone here, we are having it at my brothers house so that he and my niece can actually be there for part of it (She plays soccer and has a tournament that day).  We are doing a cookout and all bringing some favorites.  I'm going to take Taco Salad and a Pan of Taco Dip with chips. 

Sunday: It is supposed to be HOT HOT HOT on Sunday so we are planning to take the boys to beach.  I have a three year old that has been asking to go to the beach for WEEKS.  I highly doubt the big lake will be warm enough to "swim" in but they just like to play on the shore anyway.  I used to try to always plan our picnics and make food and have discovered the joy of fast food picnics :-)  I think we will pick up some KFC or Lee's Chicken before hitting the beach (or sometimes we go into McDonalds and eat where it is cool before getting to the beach HA!)

Monday:  Happy Memorial Day!  It is supposed to be hot again! I'm planning to do "brunch" for lunch with eggs, bacon, sausage, and toast (I have one kid who loves bacon and one who loves sausage!) .  Then for our "cookout" we'll have Brats, Fruit/Dip, Spaghetti Salad, and I want to make a dip I found on Pinterest called "Poolside Dip" and have it with chips/crackers.

Tuesday: Keeping it simple!  Tatar Tot Casserole, Roasted Cauliflower, and a Salad

Wednesday: I think my husband will be at practice so the boys and I will make some homemade pizza

Thursday: Balsamic Glazed Pork Loin (I had planned this for a week ago but we ended up having pulled pork BBQ instead), Cheesey Rice and Broccoli Casserole, and Rolls

Friday: I am going scrapbooking!  This was something unexpected that came up and I can't wait!  So my "Boys" will have hot dogs and/or Mac and Cheese while I head out for a girls night out!

I'm going to cheat this week and buy our snacks/cookies.  I'll pick up a package of Darryl's favorites for his lunch, we happen to have Oreo's here already and I think in this hot weather, some frozen fruit bars and ice cream sound good to me!