Weekly Menu Plus

Welcome to my weekly menu post!  I also like to do a little update and throw out random things periodically in this post :-)  We had a great week - the weather was pretty much perfect making it easy to get things done.

I became reacquainted with an old friend this week.  Who, you ask?  Well, you need to ask "what" because it is Nestle Quik (Nesquik).  See, I love Chocolate milk.  I try not to buy it but . . well, I love it :-)  What I don't like is Hershey's Syrup in milk to make Chocolate milk so I finally gave in an decided to buy some Quik and see if it tasted ok.  Wow.  I forgot how good it is - it tastes "almost" just like the REAL Chocolate milk.  The good news is that it is a little better health wise than Chocolate milk - less calories, fat, carbs (especially since we drink fat free milk anyway!)  So yes, now I can have chocolate milk every day for breakfast :-)

It is supposed to be warm and humid this coming week so I am planning meals to try and keep the kitchen kinda cool - grilling and the crock pot :-)   My kids usually love bread with things . . .I have decided yet to serve some rolls/bread or not.  If I do that means I have to turn on the oven and I'm trying to avoid that in the late afternoon.  The salads I plan on making first thing in the morning so the main cooking is done before the house heats up too much

Here's what we are eating this coming week

Saturday - Eating out

Sunday - Chicken Tacos, Cilantro Rice, and Chips/Salsa

Monday - Hamburgers on the grill, Pasta Salad, Fresh Pickles, and Honey Lime Fruit Salad

Tuesday - Slow Cooker Coke Chicken, Seven-layered Salad, Mixed Veggies

Wednesday - Beef Tips and Noodles in the Crock pot with noodles and left over salads

Thursday - Parmesan Chicken on a bed of greens with Lemon Vinaigrette Dressing and Grape Salad

Friday - I'm going scrapbooking so I have Chili Dogs, chips and left over salad planned (or Broccoli salad if the others are gone) for the "Boys". 

Food Friday - Chick-Fil-A Nuggets

I have to be honest, I think I've only eaten at Chick-Fil-A once or twice - while flying to Florida years ago.  There was one in the airport in Atlanta.  So yummy!  Well, when I saw this recipe for Chick-Fil-A chicken nuggets and their special sauce I figured it might be good :-) 

Chick-Fil-A Nuggets
adapted from Table For Two

These nuggets are so juicy and tender yet have great flavor.  My kids loved them and, more importantly, my husband loved them and said that I need to throw away all fried chicken/nugget recipes and only use this one.  As a matter of fact, he has even requested that I use this recipe to make some fried chicken - not just nuggets.  I was really surprised that he also loved the sauce.  He isn't usually a fan of a "honey mustard" type sauce but the mayo really rounded it out and made it pleasing to everyone.   I did not truely deep fry the nuggets - I had about 1/2 inch of oil in my pan and just make sure to turn them over so they were done on both sides. 

Ingredients:

For the sauce:

1/2 cup mayo

2 tbsp. mustard (regular prepared yellow mustard)

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1 tbsp. vinegar

2 tbsp. honey

Salt and pepper, to taste

For the nuggets:

8 chicken tenderloins or 6 chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces

2 1/2 cups flour

1/4 cup powdered sugar

4 tsp. salt

3 tsp. pepper

1 tsp. paprika

Peanut oil or canola oil for frying (I used canola)

Instructions:

1. In a small bowl, combine all the ingredients for the sauce, mix well, and set aside or pop in the fridge.
2. In a large dutch oven or stockpot, heat up the oil over medium high heat to 375 degrees (see note below).
3. While the oil is heating, in a gallon ziploc bag, combine flour, sugar, salt, pepper, and paprika. Seal it and shake to combine well.
4. Throw the chicken bites into the ziploc bag, close it, and shake til all are coated well.
5. Using a slotted spoon, fish out the nuggets and shake off excess flour and place on a clean plate.
6. Before you start frying, prepare a plate by lining sheets of paper towels to drain the nuggets after frying.
7. When ready, place about 10-12 nuggets in the oil and let cook for about 5 minutes (but it also depends on the size of your nuggets).
8. Remove nuggets from oil with a spider strainer or slotted spoon and set on lined plate to drain. Continue until all nuggets have been cooked.
9. Serve hot with dipping sauce and/or ketchup

Decluttering (Phase 1)

You may recall from my June Goal Post, that I have some pretty high hopes this month when it comes to decluttering.  I thought I would share with you what I did during the first week.

I am going through every room, closet and cupboard and being brutal.  I decided to start with the kitchen for no reason other than that is the room I always start with :-)  The kitchen includes a cupboard in the bathroom where I store extra kitchen stuff.  I'm not against having stuff that you love and use but sometimes, things start to get lost in the back of a cupboard or you realize that they just don't work for you any more.  My goal was to look at everything and make sure I'm using it.  When I did this a few years ago, I kept some things "just in case" but this time those items are going if I haven't used them.  I also wanted to make a list of things that I need or want to replace.  I sold Pampered Chef for awhile before I got married and ended up with lots of things - those things are all starting to wear out!  I ended up taking several boxes to Good Will :-) What's the point of that list I made?  I think it makes it easier to look for things on sale when you know what you want - I'm a Bed Bath and Beyond Fan so watching for sales, clearance items and using coupons is a great way to get new things! Next week I plan on tackling the Bathroom. 


Second, the basement.  Remember I said I was going to divide it into sections?  The first section I wanted to conquer was the soon to be play room and the bottom of the stairs.  Stuff has just piled up in this area.

It's the "drop zone" - we are bad at dropping things in this area to put away later and then, it never happens.  Again, I had to be brutal in this area.  I am not a hoarder but I believe in using things and getting the money out of them.  Sometimes I feel bad about letting go of something because I feel like maybe I haven't used it to its fullest - especially if it is a gift.  My mindset has changed.  I'm 40 and I'm going to stop being so concerned about what others might think and just do what I want HA  Also as I mentioned in that goal post, we are getting ready to do a big room switch and I'm quickly learning that my styles have changed.  So much of what I decorate with, I've had for 10 . . or even 20 years! (WOW!) and I'm tired of it.  So all of those things I packed away for future use, we'll most of it is going.  I want the freedom to be able to pick out new things instead of feeling trapped in what I have now.  Anyway, I cleaned that area out and it is ready to become a play room.

Next week I plan on conquering two areas 1)The laundry room - I want to do some decorating in that room, move a freezer, and CLEAN 2)The Pantry area - I need some more shelving and am hoping I can get my husband to put a few up for me.  I also need to clean out the pantry and make sure that the stuff down there is fresh and the shelving is set up for good storage.  3) Take out some junk - there is an old chair, some blinds, and a few other odd larger items that I know we aren't keeping and need to get taken out to the trash or to Good Will to open up some space.  Should be a busy week!


Oops - I meant to actually post this on Sunday of this week and forgot so, as you read this, understand that I working on the Bathroom and the next area in the basement this week :-)  Also, I had planned to post photos but I haven't taken my "after" shots yet - Hopefully when I post next week I will have photos to actually share!

The Longest Breakfast Table and Some Family Fun

If you were around for my 40x40 list (a list of things I wanted to accomplish by the time I was 40) you may remember that one of those items was to eat at the longest breakfast table in the Cereal Festival in Battle Creek, MI.  Obviously, the festival only happens once a year so it just didn't work out until this summer.  It was such a fun time!  We got up  on Saturday morning and loaded up to make the drive.  We got there and found the cereal station - because we didn't get there until just before the end  there were only a few options for cereal so we grabbed two bowls, got some milk and found a seat at one of the tables. 

 The boys loved eating the cereal - Josh devoured his shredded wheat - it kinda surprised me that he loved it so much.  The day was perfect - sunny, almost a little too hot but there was a great breeze which made it bearable. 

 My three "boys" - such a fun day. 

 Do you notice the camera?  We were sitting there enjoying cereal when two camera guys stopped by and asked if they could film the boys.  Of course we said yes.  They started talking to us and then asked if we would mind talking on camera.  Now, we are normally the people that say no because, have you ever noticed that most people look dumb on TV?  Well, we agree so I answered the questions and then they filmed the boys for a few more minutes.  It was kinda fun actually :-)

Once we finished our cereal we wondered around the festival.  The boys are more watchers than doers so they didn't play any games.  I think these two photos show my boys personalities.  Nate just smiles throughout the day; Josh is actually having fun but he gets overwhelmed with all of the noise and people surrounding him.  Honestly, in the next picture I took - he was smiling :-)

After the festival we headed to my Mother-In-Laws home for a small family reunion.  I took a lot of photos but I just picked out a few to share.  We spend the entire afternoon outside (they live on a lake and have a beautifully shaded yard so between the shade and the breeze off the water - it was a fabulous day) 

 The boys enjoyed the afternoon so much - they never stopped.  They rode the little outside toys all over, picked up acorn tops and tasted them (ha!), ran in and out the old-fashioned screen door, laughed and played hard.  I do have to brag on them - one of my mother-in-laws cousins told us over and over how well behaved the boys were and she THANKED US!  Yes, thanked us for having such good kids.  We know we are blessed beyond measure with the kids we have and the personalities that God gave them but it sure is nice to hear it from someone else too :-)

 This is a true favorite photo.  The boys sat on the deck with Grandma Lebeck watching the water.  It is just too cute! 

 The "cousins" - in the front row are Keith and Nancy who are brother and sister; on the end in the stripes is my mother-in-law.  The guy in the back row is her brother Jim and standing next to him is their cousin Tory. 

The whole bunch!  We really had a fun day hanging out with the family .

Do you know how you know your kids played hard?  When they don't wake up when you get home.  Wow.  I got Nate out of the truck, carried him inside, changed only his shorts out for PJ shorts (left his tank top on him) and laid him bed.  He never once woke up - he just whined a little in his sleep, then when I laid him down, he rolled over and was out.  I think he was tuckered out :-) 

We do plan on trying to get back to the cereal festival in future years - it's such a fun experience!

Too Cute Not Too Toot

To start out this week is a great idea for a craft from Nothing But Country for a cute nightlight.  Not only would it just be fun to do with your kids; it would also make a great birthday party craft, VBS activity or room mom idea!

Father's Day is literally around the corner so when I saw this cute idea from Michelle Paige for a Father's Day Party.  She also gives a link to her idea from last year at the bottom of her post.

And, that's all folks!  I guess I just wasn't inspired this week :-) 

Summer Fun, Week One

A week or so ago, I posted about our Summer Binder which holds lots of ideas and plans for this summer.  We have officially finished our first week and I wanted to share what we did!

We had originally planned to start on June 1st but it was pouring rain here on that day so I just pushed everything up to Monday.

1) Monday - We planted our Sunflowers that we were going to plant on Friday and then we planted some veggies that we had picked out on Sunday.  I had originally planned to do some carrots in a bottle but instead, we just planted the carrot seeds in our little garden area.

 Here are our plants - 1 Cherry Tomato, 1 Zucchini,  1 Cucumber, 1 Pumpkin and 1 Watermelon.  I realized after I planted them that all but one of them is a "vine" LOL  I told my husband he might not have to mow once they start growing!  I picked Cucumber because I love fresh "pickles"; zucchini because we love fried zucchini in the summer, cherry tomatoes because the boys love to pick (and squish) them, pumpkin, well, because I though it would be fun for the boys to see them grow and watermelon because Josh loves "Waterlemon". 

 Here is our little garden spot - same spot as last year.  The first thing we had to do was weed it and get it ready to plant.

 Here come my helpers.  I didn't even tell them I was coming outside but it didn't take long until I heard "MOM where are you??" :-)

Besides the plants you see, we also planted those carrot seeds and sunflower seeds.  We'll see if they pop up.  The funny thing is after we planted the Sunflowers (or Trees as Josh calls them), Josh kept going outside to see if they had grown yet.  I can't wait until they start to pop up!

2) Tuesday - We made homemade lemonade.  I found this Recipe and cut it in half . . .well kinda.

 I knew that both boys would want to make their own lemonade so I sliced up three lemons for each of them to use and had them put their lemons in a pitchers.  Then, they each dumped in 1 1/2 cups of sugar.  Sounds like a lot of sugar doesn't it?  Well. . .it is.  Remember I said I cut the recipe in half?  Well I used 6 lemons instead of 12 and 3 cups of sugar instead of . . 3 cups of sugar.  I was never good at math.  HA!  I had 1 1/2 cups in my head so I measured out 1 1/2 cups for each of them instead of 3/4 of a cup for each of them and did not realize until we tasted it.  It reminded me of the way my dad likes his fresh squeezed lemonade :-)

 They pounded and they pounded . .. and then I poured it all into two big bowls and they were able to really pound those lemons. 

Then we drank some - I think we'll do this again this summer but measure out the right amount of sugar!  The boys really enjoyed making their favorite drink.

3 and 4)  Wednesday and Thursday were all about Strawberries.  On Wednesday, I loaded the boys up and we drove to the local Strawberry Farm to "pick" berries.  Now, I'm no dummy.  There are other people who enjoy bending over Strawberry plants and finding those yummy berries but I am not one of them.  Instead, we went to the farm stand and I let the boys pick out a flat of strawberries.  Let me tell you, I had to move fast.  I have never seen three little boys grab strawberries so fast!!!  We picked out our flat and, before I could pay for it, the boys all had strawberries in their hands and mouths.  Crazy kids :-)  Oh, and Josh informed me on the way home that he didn't not need sandwiches anymore for lunch, he would just eat berries HA.  On Thursday, I made Strawberry Jam and Strawberry Syrup.  The boys helped a little by picking out strawberries for me and putting them in the bowl to mash. 

At dinner that night, I made yeast rolls and we all enjoyed fresh strawberry jam on those rolls  . .. well actually, the boys just ate it off their fingers.  Darryl and I enjoyed some strawberry syrup on vanilla ice cream for a snack.  It was yummy!

5) Friday - ok, I slacked.  I had planned to either make or get a bird house/bird seed.  It just didn't happen.  They seem to be a little  pricey!  BUT, the boys have discovered a birds nest in our tree, Crabby.  (Yes, we name our trees).  So they, with their dad, explored that - looking for any babies (they are gone) and talking about who lives there.  I keep seeing the boys walk over to the tree.  Josh even took the Munchkin over there to show him the birds nest.  I think that is a better success story then the bird houses any day!

I count our first week as a huge success.  It really wasn't that much "work" - I wrote down time for the activity each day in my planner to make sure that I accomplished the goal.  I think it really helps the boys to have something special to do each day!

A Fat Lip

Can you see it?  That nice fat lip?  That's Nate and this is our first "real" injury.  Sure, the boys have had cuts and bruises before and even a few bloody lips but nothing like this.  At first we thought he had a few loose teeth but, other than I nice, big, bloody, split lip, he's fine. 

What happened?  On Friday afternoon, he was sitting at the top of our slide.  The munchkin I babysit was at the bottom of the slide.  Nate just doesn't stop so having someone at the bottom doesn't phase him and he just went down.  Well, his face hit the munchkins head and Nate is the one that got the battle scars!  Yes, he cried.  A.l.o.t.  Yes, I had to kiss his lip multiple times (because after all, mom's kisses are supposed to make everything better); in the end though, he's pretty tough :-)