Menu Plan Monday

I'm managing to get it up a little earlier this week! At least I won't be at the bottom of the list this week - I'm getting mine in under #400!

From last week's menu, our absolute favorite meal was White Lasagna.
Our menu got shifted around a little and I ended up making this on Saturday. I had a thing to go to at my Mom's house at 4:00, so I assembled this before hand and stuck it in the fridge. I called my hubby to let him know when to put it in the oven.

He was a little frustrated when I didn't get home as quickly as he thought I would, and I couldn't figure out why. Well, it's because he was smelling this bake and he said it was torturing him! I was on my way home and told him not to wait on me, to go ahead and eat!

He called me a few minutes later and told me I should probably stop at McDonald's because the dish was ruined! I knew that just couldn't be possible, so I inquired further. He told me he wouldn't want me to have to eat it. It only took me a second to realize what was going on. I said to him, "You don't want me to have to eat it because you want it ALL, right?" And that was indeed the case. He THOROUGHLY enjoyed this meal!

So, if you want something that's a little different and oh so good, try it!

This week is going to be pretty simple. I've had two weeks of lots of cooking and trying new recipes, so I'm going simple this week. I'm hoping to get lots of baking done, so I need to have simple meals to cook!

Monday: Leftovers - gotta clean out that fridge!

Tuesday: Chicken & Rice Wraps, Chips & Salsa, Refried Beans

Wednesday: Hot Dogs, Mac & Cheese

Thursday: Spinach Rice Casserole, Salad, Rolls

Friday: Homemade Pizza

Saturday: Mini Cheddar Meat Loaves, Green Beans

Sunday: TBD


For MANY more menu's, be sure to stop by Laura's!

It's Wednesday

How's that for an interesting title for a post? Yeah...I can't come up with anything else right now!

It's raining here. A lot.

We NEED the rain - we've been in a pretty serious drought for about 3 years now. So we need it. And I try not to ever complain about it. Because of the NEED!

However...

My first 5K race is this Saturday, and I really don't want to run in the rain!
But I will.
BUT, there is the threat of thunderstorms. And I'm a little concerned that the race is going to be cancelled. And then I'm going to be HIGHLY disappointed!

Technically, I've already run a 5K...several times...while training for this. But, this will be my first "official" 5K, and I don't want it to get cancelled!

So, I'm just waiting to see what happens.

I've been working very hard to get ready for this, and I'm quite proud of myself. Then on Sunday, I started not feeling as well as I was. Nothing big, just feeling tired, and my my throat was all scratchy. I ran anyway. I figured it was just allergies.

Then Monday came. And I felt awful! I was coughing all day and just not doing too great. When I woke up Tuesday morning, my chest felt very congested. Tuesday was supposed to be a run day. I decided it was probably best that I not run and try to rest. My chest was really tight and I was feeling pretty miserable.

Then my son reminded me that when I got sick back in November, the doctor had given me an inhaler because I had a bronchial infection. I had completely forgotten! So, I started using it. About 30 minutes after I used it, my chest started loosening up! So I continued using it and drinking hot tea.

By this morning I was feeling much better, just a little congested. So I decided to go ahead and run today...in the rain! I was prepared to take it easy and just walk if I needed to. I didn't want to push myself too hard this close to race day. But I ended up feeling great and running a longer distance without a power walk break than ever before! And when I was finished, my chest felt like all the congestion was gone! Amazing!

So, I'm feeling SO much better. I'm just having one odd thing going on that I haven't figured out yet. The roof of my mouth (at the back) is red and splotchy, and has white dots all over it. It doesn't hurt at all, but if feels like there is a sweater in my throat! I actually woke up this morning like that. Weird. I give the doctor's office a call in the morning and talk to a nurse and see if I can figure out what's going on. I'm thinking it could possibly be a reaction from the inhaler...not sure.

Anyway, I'm planning to run in the rain again tomorrow. I don't usually run consecutive days yet, but it will be the last chance I'll have to run before the race, and I feel like I need one more run.

Wow, that was a lot of talk about running!

I'm getting tired, so I'm going to get off here and try to get some sleep. But before I go, I thought I'd share a few pictures since it's been a while!

I took these pictures of Ruthi recently. She had on my hat and was just being silly, so I started snapping away. I got some cute shots, and these were my favorites. I think she likes the camera just a little bit!





This is her "kissy face". I have pictures of her doing this from way back when she was little bitty. I love this face!

In Her Words

Yesterday, Ruthi was making some silly faces. She was trying to make a scary face, but they really just all ended up cute. So she added sound to get the scary face to work. (It was still just cute though!)

That led her to talking about dinosaurs. She let out this roar and said she was making her dinosaurus-rex face! We got a good chuckle out of that.

Then she mentioned another breed - the Sci-ter-i-tops. How cute is that?

Then CJ asked her to say "Velociraptor". It came out so-lop-i-tap-tor.

I think I like her dinosaur breeds!


Lately, she's been pronouncing words correctly that she wasn't before. It kind of makes me sad, because it just means she is growing much too quickly. But at the same time, it's pretty cute.

She will say a word correctly and catch herself. Then she says (excitedly), "MOM! I just said _________!" I think it's pretty neat that she realizes that she has just said a word differently than she was saying it.

One of the biggest things is words that begin with the letter s, followed by a consonant. She would always leave the s off and start with the next letter. Here are a few words she has begun to say correctly lately:



Kool work became school work

Fire Tation became Fire Station (and gas station too)

Tairs became Stairs

Tick became Stick

Teps became Steps

And a few other words she has changed:

Kank you became thank you.

bacuse me became excuse me.

Fwidge-u-fwate-u has become fwidge-u-rate-u. Not a BIG difference, but closer to the real thing (refrigerator).
And this one makes me the most sad, because it's always been one of my favorites!

Yes, she is growing up WAY too quickly for me!!!



And on a compltely different subject - I've begun blogging on my craft blog again. It had been almost a year since my last post there - sheesh! You can check it out by clicking the link over in my sidebar.

Tackle it Tuesday

I really am trying to get back into the swing of blogging, so what better way than to participate in these carnivals to get me going again! Yesterday was the menu, today is the tackle!

This will be slightly boring, as I didn't get any pictures, but I did tackle two things for today. I actually did these yesterday. If I had waited until today, this post would end up being put up late tonight, and I wanted to get it up early!

The first was a pretty big one for me. One that I'm embarrassed I put off for so long. It was my car! It was really bad. I just didn't mess with it while it was cold, and even on the warm days, I had better things to do. So I finally decided to get it done.

I was planning to take it to the car wash, clean it out and vacuum it there. But that would have just given me another reason to put it off some more. So I decided to get in there and clean out the junk and then take it to the car wash and vacuum it.

After I got all the junk out, I wanted to vacuum it right then, so I decided to just do it at home. My vacuum worked great, and it's like a new car! I then pulled out the Armor All and went to town making everything clean and shiny.

I still need to take it and wash it. I would love to be able to do that at home, but thanks to the drought that seems as if it will never end, our water restrictions don't allow that. But it is so much nicer on the inside now, and it feels good!

My second tackle was my front porch. A much smaller and quicker tackle, but another one I've been putting off. I knocked down cobwebs, swept everything off and removed the junk. Much better now!

And as a bonus, my daughter really enjoyed the day. It was so beautiful outside! She played and played while I sat on the porch and played on the computer. I would have played with her, but I wasn't feeling my best. I don't know what gave me the energy to finally get up and complete my tackles! But she loved helping me out with them as well, and she had a blast. This child LOVES to help me clean. I hope that doesn't change when she gets older! It would be so awesome if, when she's grown and married, she actually enjoys cleaning her house!

If you want to see what every one else is tackling, be sure to visit 5 Minutes for Mom.

Menu Planning Again!

I know that if anyone is still reading this blog, you no longer believe that I really am trying to be a better blogger! Really! I have great intentions, but life gets in the way.

Well, life and facebook! I'm telling you, it's like crack! I am so addicted! I think I love the ease of it all, the fact that I can communicate in just a few words (yes, even ME...I realize few words and Jennifer aren't words that seem to go together, but it works on fb!), and I get a bit of instant gratification when someone else leaves a quick comment. I can pop in and out quickly, it only takes a few minutes to catch up, and I'm done! Plus, it's even quicker to upload pictures there.

But I really do miss blogging. And I'll say it again...I am trying to make it a regular part of my life again!

Recently, my cousin Beth commented to me that she missed me sharing my menu for Menu Plan Monday. To be honest, for several weeks, I had gotten really lazy and was not planning my menus. But I'm back on track now. I had planned to post my menu last week, but the days got away, and I never got it on here. So I'll post the menu for this week. Plus, I'll post some links to some recipes I've made recently that I've really liked.

I'm just listing the dinners this week. Breakfasts and lunches look like they do most weeks - pretty boring! So here's what's for dinner this week:

Monday: Crockpot Buffalo Chicken Lasagna (This turned out so good!)

Tuesday: Leftovers (we have lots!)

Wednesday: Tacos, Homemade Refried Beans

Thursday: White Lasagna, Salad

Friday: Leftovers

Saturday: Homemade Pizza

Sunday: TBD

Yes, I realize I have lasagna on the menu twice this week, but they are TOTALLY different!


Now, for a few recent recipes I've tried.

I've posted this link before, but I made Kirstin's Stuffed Zucchini again last week, and it is yummy!

This Cordon Bleu Casserole was very good.

I made Pioneer Woman's Olive Cheese Bread, and it was OUT OF THIS WORLD!!! Oh my goodness, was it good! I cooked half the night I made it and froze the other half. I pulled it out later on a night my parents came and ate with us. They loved it too. So, I made it again and shared it, and they loved it too. Chip doesn't like olives at all, and he even ate some and didn't hate it!

I tried Chick Pea Stew, and thoroughly enjoyed it. I saw the recipe here, but then clicked on her link to the original she got it from. After reading both recipes, I made it following the second link more than the first, but still made a couple of changes. I liked this so much that I ate all the leftovers myself! My parents really liked it, and Ruthi liked it. CJ wasn't crazy about it and Chip ate it, but said it was a little to "healthy" tasting for him.

I made Whole-Wheat Peanut Butter Oatmeal Raisin Cookies that were absolutely amazing! I originally found the recipe at Money Saving Mom, but I can't seem to find it on her blog anymore, so I'll post it here. My kids loved these, as did some friends I shared them with. Chip doesn't like raisins cooked into things, but he loved the parts that had no raisins. So I plan to make a raisin-free batch!

Whole-Wheat Peanut Butter Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

1 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup peanut butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups oats
1 1/2 cups raisins (you could use chocolate chips instead)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cream first six ingredients. Mix together next four ingredients and add to creamed ingredients. Mix well and stir in raisins. Roll into balls (1 1/2 inch or so). Place on greased cookie sheets and bake for around 10 minutes. Makes five dozen. Freezable

Apparently I made mine a little bigger, because I got just a couple more than four dozen. I'm telling you...these are amazing!

OK, so that turned into quite a long post for Menu Plan Monday! I'm going to link up since it is still Monday (barely). So for more recipes, be sure to check out Menu Plan Monday!

Um, Yeah....What Blog?

No, I actually did not forget I have a blog!

Even though it seems that way!

Not sure what's going on. Too much time on Face Book I suppose. At least that's one reason...something else taking up my time.

But really, I just haven't had much blogging inspiration lately. Actually, I haven't had much of ANY inspiration lately it seems.

Not really sure why. January was great. February was blah. Maybe it was the winter blues? But I've had very low motivation to do anything! And I'm not happy with myself about that!

But I came to a little bit of a realization the other day. January was happy - and I was doing lots of scrapbooking and card making. For some reason, when February came around, I didn't get around to any of that. And I just wasn't as happy!

A few days ago, I sat down and stamped some images and started coloring them in to make some cards. And all of a sudden, I felt happy! I'm NOT kidding...it was like my happy endorphins kicked in, and there's been a bit more of a spring in my step!

So, I told my husband that apparently need to make myself work on my stuff more often, to keep those happy endorphins going! So, maybe I'll start posting on my craft blog again too...I really can't believe how long it's been since I posted something there!

So...not too terribly much is new. I'm running again. After a good start last fall and then nothing over the holidays, I'm back. I was so mad at myself...my weight crept back up, and I was like a slug.

So I decided to get serious again. And I made a commitment to myself to get healthy, once and for all. And I'm feeling much better.

I'm running my first 5K on the 28th of this month. I am very excited! And I'm SO hoping that I'm actually going to be ready. I mean, I'm doing it whether I'm truly ready or not, but I want to run the entire thing, and not end up walking too much of it! I'm not concerned about the time I finish it in, but that I can just run the whole thing. I'll work on increasing my speed on the next one!

It just feels good knowing I'm doing something good for my body. And I've seriously changed my eating habits. And...the scale has started moving in the right direction again, so I'm quite happy about that!

Let's see...well, I was planning to post my pictures for my Project 365, but obviously that hasn't happened! I'm not going to go back and post all the ones I've taken since the last post...I might pick a few and share. And I probably won't try to post every single one for the rest of the year here either. But I will share a lot of them.

I just got notice today that my kit has FINALLY shipped! I was so irritated in January. I was sure it was on the way. I mean, I had received notice that it was! So I finally called customer service only to find out there was a mistake, and that it was processed as a backorder. That would not have irritated me if they had bothered to let me know! Anyway...I was told that they would have them in mid February, and they would ship then. February was gone, and I decided to just not worry about it, that I probably would end up not getting one. Then, yesterday I received an email saying they were shipping! And today I got another one saying it was shipped, complete with a tracking number! So, it really is on the way! Now I just need to get pictures printed so I can start putting it together!

Well, this is getting long, so I suppose I should sign off. And I really will try to blog more than once a month again. Wait a minute...I didn't blog at ALL in February! So, I've already beat last month! LOL!

Seriously, I will try to quit neglecting this thing.

Now I'm going back to trying to pay attention to American Idol. I'm so under impressed so far this season. I'm getting bored, and the final 12 aren't even completely decided! Oh dear. Ok...that is all for now.