March Too Cute Plans

If you would like to check out what I completed in February, just click HERE .  I've updated what I'm doing, what I nixed, and what is on hold.

In going back through my February Too Cute Posts - this is what I want to accomplish this month and my plan on how I want to get it done since there are quite a few!  .

So, i have the supplies for this but haven't made it.  I think the whole idea, with the basic supplies, is going into my "Summer project bin".  Something to do on a rainy (or really hot) day. 

I want to make ONE, yep just one page for each of the boys for a quiet book.
I have supplies to do my first page - I'm actually starting with a farm page - I just have to take the time to do it.  A lot of cutting and some sewing to do - I think it needs to be a Saturday project :-)  

Still need to get the supplies and make this - it is on my goal list for our first camping trip in June.
Getting ready for camping and trips to the beach - I want to make one of these big beach blankets.

Sometimes I don't think through a process.  I am not making these -they will not work on my boys beds due to the set-up and the fact that one has drawers. 
 
The boys would love these to hang on their beds and keep their favorite animals close - this is a "bonus" project . .. not sure if I will get it done, if not it will move ahead a month.

 With spring coming- I want some rainy day things for inside the house - so I want these made :-)
I'm throwing around the idea of buying some others that I found so I haven't made these yet. 
 

Made these - fantastic.  Check out the post HERE
 
Yummy!  An easy recipe to add as a dessert one week.

 I have a bottle of foam soap to use up and then I'll make this and see if it works.
I have the stuff to make this but am waiting to use up the first bottle of soap -  the soap is ALMOST gone!!  Soon I can try this :-)  

 My goal is to make 3 of these muffin tin recipes.  There are quite a few I'd like to try (not all of them - some of them make my stomach turn HA!)
I have not made a single one - after re-reading them, they really didn't interest me. 

 This will be one of our Easter crafts for preschool.
I totally failed Easter Crafts HA  I still want to make this - I'm thinking in May would be good since the birds will all be back! Again, I think the supplies will go in the summer fun bin :-) 

 I will be ordering two of these :-)  These will be awesome for when we go away, go camping, or just travel to Nana's.
I have these marked in Etsy and will be ordering in May so we have them for camping!
 

 Planning to pick out our first chapter book to read with the boys.
We have started reading Little House in the Big Woods - but my boys are typical boys and sitting and listening to a book is not high on their list.  I'm trying though :-) 
 

 Another fun recipe to try :-)
So, I bought some lofthouse cookies a few weeks ago and said to myself, "Why try to imitate perfection?"  So nope, not even going to try. 
 

 This will be a craft for preschool this month.
The directions on this craft are so crazy that I decided not to try - if I can't follow the directions, how can I make it??? 

 This is one of those "iffy" ideas - I'd like to make at least one of the crafts but these might need to get pushed to next month.
They made one at church.  Does that count? 
 

Same with this one - it might be too early to put this out. 
This is back on the radar again :-)  Time to feed the birds!!!

Too Cute Not To Toot

Have you missed a "Too Cute" post recently? Just click HERE to review the posts from this year :-)

Every once in awhile - I run across a "dry" spot with ideas and this week that is what has happened.  A lot of the same ideas keep coming back up so I really did not find anything worth sharing!

Enjoy!

February Preschool

Did we do preschool in February?  Ummm No.  I was sick last week and, quite honestly, didn't do much.  Here's hoping March is better!!  :-)

So, nothing to share this week :-(

A Photo a Day for March and Update on 101 in 1001

A friend of mine posted this on facebook and I decided it looked like fun to try.  I tend to fail at these but this particular friend is a great cheerleader and is part of a Scrapbooking group I'm in so I figured she keep me accountable ;-)  Don't worry that I'm posting this after March 1st - just catch up (no one will ever know!).  I plan to post at the end of the month - a nice long post with just photos but here is a sneak peak.

March 1 - A Clock

The story: My watch.  It has sat on my desk awaiting a battery for about 2 years.  Yes, 2 years.  Why?  I would never remember to take it with me when I went to the mall.  Finally, on February 28th, I remembered and it is like I have an old friend back.  I have missed my watch - Time is my friend. 

On a different note - remember that 101 in 1001 goal list?  Just click on the link if you would like to see an update. 

Weekly Menu

Hello!  Last week went pretty much like planned but due to a snow storm on Tuesday, we had to move dinner plans with friends to Thursday.  We ended up having spaghetti on Tuesday night since I hadn't taken anything out of the freezer to use for dinner.  Spaghetti is one of the boys favorite meals so it worked out well :-)

Can you believe it is March?  I feel like I just said "can you believe it is February?".  We are fighting the normal spring colds in this house but I think we are all on the mend finally.  I wouldn't mind one more good snowstorm this month before spring actually hits. Last year we went from a very mild winter right into summer during March (by that I mean from 30's to 80's overnight). I'd really like a spring with days in the 60's and nights still in the 30's.

So, that had nothing to do with our menu :-)  This weekend I'm working on giving a slight make-over to my recipe binder - I'll share photos next week (you can't wait, can you HA!).  For now, here is our menu plan:

Tuesday:  Korean Taco's, Chips and CHeese and Roasted Green Beans.  This is a recipe that got bumped from last week.  I thought my husband had a concert Sunday so my plans changed but he didn't, so plans changed again :-)

Wednesday: Apple Stuffed Pork Chops, Mashed Potatoes and Carrots.  This was also on the plan for last week but didn't happened due to the change in meeting friends for dinner.

Thursday: Crock pot Pork Loin with apples, Homemade Mac and Cheese and Peas.  I've been trying to make this for weeks and want to get it done this week to see if it is a keeper :-)  I need more crock-pot recipes to use in the summer!

Friday: The kids will have Mac and Cheese for dinner; Darryl and I will order in - we haven't done this in awhile since the past few weekends that he has had off, we've had other plans.  Maybe we'll rent a movie too!

Saturday:  We have no plans today! (What??)  If the weather is nice, maybe we will introduce geocaching to the boys if not, we'll just hang out at home.  I happened to catch a Rachel Ray episode last week while Darryl and the boys were out running errands and saw this recipe for Monte Cristo Stuffed Chicken that looked really good.  I'm going to try that tonight and serve it with rice and broccoli.

Sunday: Slow Cooker Pesto Ravioli, green beans, and garlic bread.  Darryl DOES have a concert tonight so we will grab something to eat after the concert.

Monday: Stuffed Meatloaf (a family favorite) mashed potatoes, corn and biscuits.

I have a couple of different cookie recipes in the plans for this week and I think I'll make a Peach dump cake for our dessert this week.

Food Friday - Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken

Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken
 adapted from Life as a Lofthouse

So, I've wanted to try this recipe for months but it just never happened.  It has gotten HUGE reviews on Pinterest and Facebook so, honestly, I thought it wouldn't be worth the hype.  My husband is not a fan of sweet and sour combo's so I had planned this for a night he was gone but, wouldn't you know it, he was home HA!  The good news is . .. he liked it.  I feel like baking it kept it a little more mild than it would have been cooked in a pan.  I did like that the sauce "only" called for 3/4 cup of sugar - so many sweet and sour recipes call for 1-2 full cups of sugar in the sauce and that, my friend, is a dessert!!  My four year old l.o.v.e.d it.  Now, true confession - I was kinda put off by this recipe because you have to prep the chicken - cut it, batter it, brown it . .. all before cooking it for an hour. In my husband's words, "Wow, this is a messy-lot-of-prep-work recipe, isn't it?  He hit the nail on the head BUT it was actually worth the work.  My house smelled wonderful as it cooked and it really tasted like restaurant quality sweet and sour chicken at home.  We love pork in this house so I might try this next time with pork instead. 

Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken

The chicken coating:

3-4 boneless chicken breasts

salt + pepper

1 cup cornstarch

2 eggs, beaten

1/4 cup canola oil

The sweet and sour sauce:

3/4 cup sugar

4 tbs ketchup

1/2 cup distilled white vinegar

1 tbs soy sauce

1 tsp garlic salt

       Start by preheating your oven to 325 degrees. Rinse your chicken breasts in water and then cut into cubes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Dip chicken into the cornstarch to coat then dip into the eggs.  Heat your 1/4 cup oil in a large skillet and cook your chicken until browned but not cooked through. Place the chicken in a 9x13 greased baking dish. Mix all of your sweet and sour sauce ingredients in a bowl with a whisk and then pour evenly over the chicken. Bake for one hour and during the baking process you will need to turn the chicken every 15 minutes.  

 

Darryl's Birthday Weekend

On the 22nd of February, my husband turned. ..  .older.  :-)  Since we just went away for Valentine's Day last week, I had to get a little creative and decided that we would still go away but we would go to my parents house since the room was free, meals were free and, well, babysitting was free. 

First of all, I took the boys to the store on Thursday to find a present for their dad.  We stopped near the toy/candy/flower section and I told them what they were doing.  Nate turned around said, "I want to get him flowers" and Josh said, without hesitating, "I want to get him a treat".  Wow!  Who knew they already had ideas.  Nate walked through the flower section and found a daffodil plant he wanted to get because "It looks like our sunflowers mom!".  Josh had me help him pick out a huge bag of Hershey Kisses - he knows his dad loves chocolate!.

Second, on Friday, the boys and I packed and made a few things - a cake and cards :-)

They loved frosting the cake and yes, Nate is using a whisk - he said his spatula was not working well.  :-)  By the time they were down, the cake was beginning to crumble ;-)  They loved it though! 

Once Darryl got home, we headed out to my parents house for dinner, cake and gifts. 

 The boys put all of the candles in the cake . . and then rearranged them about 4 times HA!  They were so proud of their handiwork.  This is the first birthday party of an adult that they have really gotten into and it really was super fun.  We had a great dinner of ham, Baked beans, Potato Salad, and baked apples. Yum!

 This photo speaks volumes.  Darryl was pulling out the flowers and wasn't quite sure who picked them out; Nate standing off to the side quietly said, "I picked them out all by myself just for you dad".  How sweet is that?  That made them super special.

 This is Darryl opening Josh's gift - see Nate's face?  He's screeching, "It's a treat dad" HA!  Such excitement!!

 Blowing out the candles on the cake - Homemade Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting - his favorite!

The birthday boy!!!

On Saturday, we started out with breakfast at a place called Mega Coney.  The whole family went and it was fun.  Once we dropped the boys back at my parents, we took off for the day.  Our first stop was bowling but (oops) I should have called. They said they had opening bowling on their website but I did not realize there was a tournament that day.  So instead we just headed to a fantastic indoor outlet mall called Great Lakes Crossing.  Darryl wanted to pick out some new clothes so it was the perfect place to shop. I forgot out awesome the mall is - we haven't been there in about 10 years.  We walked the whole thing (it is like 2 miles) and, of course, got an Auntie Anne Pretzel for a snack half way through :-)  Then we went to dinner at Chili's and saw a movie because, well, we could.  Once we got back to my parent's town, we actually went back to Mega Coney Island for Milk Shakes (and maybe a Coney Dog and Hanni . . but I can't remember HA).  It was a great day

A nice relaxing weekend :-)