Monday Menus

Busy weekend of birthday fun with my baby turning 10.  Someone told me when my kids were real little the quote:  "The days are long, but the years are short."  I find this to be so true.  Seems like yesterday I was complaining that I couldn't leave the house with my brood.  I would be so happy to not leave the house for days on end now!  Seasons of life, this season will pass too quickly too and they will be grown up.  I am trying to savor these moments and make good memories for my kids.  I want them to look back and say "Mom loved God first, and she loved me well".  Hard, weary work.

Monday
Chili in the crock pot
We have a Cross Country meet, and it is going to be chilly outside. My chili is so basic, but the kids love it. 

Tuesday
Grilled flank steak
Grilling season is coming to a close, so I want to get some more in before it gets too cold
Big salad

Wednesday
Shredded chicken tacos (crock pot)

Thursday
Leftovers

Friday
Pizza or out to eat.
My recipe for Chili:

1/2 pound lean ground beef
1/2 pound ground turkey
1 large can tomato sauce
1 large can of water
1 envelope chili seasoning
3 cans of  beans, 1 pinto, 1 kidney, 1 black
Cook in crock pot all day
Serve with cheese and fritos.

Monday Menus

It was a little bit calmer weekend, not as many games.  The weather has been gorgeous, and I got to shop for a homecoming dress for my oldest.  So glad she doesn't mind shopping second hand! We have a crazy weekend coming up with Andrew's birthday, a party, small group, homecoming and a going away party.  Andrew gets braces this week, Joe gets contacts and I get to have someone clean my house! Whoo hoo.  I still have to cook though, so here is our week long menu.

Monday
Chicken Pot pie
Watermelon

Tuesday
Grilled chicken breast
Caesar salad
watermelon

Wednesday
Cheeseburger soup in the crock pot
bread

Thursday
Shredded chicken in crock pot for Tacos

Friday
pizza

Recipe- Stuffed Peppers

Ok, so please know that I strongly dislike (we try not to say hate too often around here) green peppers.  Any peppers, really.

A friend gave me a bag of green peppers from her garden and I thought I would give stuffed peppers a shot.  I looked through a bunch of recipe sites and couldn't find what I was looking for.  They were either too fancy, too unhealthy, or just gross sounding.  So.... I made up a recipe, for something I didn't think I would like.

I cooked them in the crock pot too!  When I got home from work, I thought eww the house stinks like peppers!  Once I tasted them, I changed my mind about the poor, defenseless green pepper.  These are so good.  2 out of 4 of the kids liked them.  Ann is my harshest critic, and Andrew thought they looked  "disgusting".  He will try one after football practice though.

I used ingredients I had around the house.  I used leftover spaghetti sauce from our meal last night too.  Regular tomato sauce would work too I guess.

Tia's Stuffed Peppers

Filling:
 2 cups brown/wild rice
1 pound browned turkey sausage
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 onion diced small and browned  in olive oil (kids can't see them)(you could add peppers too, remember I don't like them though :)
2-3 cups spaghetti sauce (depending how saucy you want it)
Mix all together.

Cut the tops off and deseed the peppers.  Fill with the filling and sprinkle with some cheese( I used Mexican cheese, because that is what was in my fridge)

Bake in crock pot on low for 3-4 hours.  I turned it on "keep warm" until we could eat them.

Monday Menus- I'm back!

I need to get back on my menu and schedule, so this is a step in the right direction.

Monday
Crock pot Beer chicken- new pinterest recipe.
(kids thought me buying beer was hysterical!)
salad
brown rice

Tuesday
Hamburgers on grill
green beans
tomatoes

Wednesday
Spaghetti and meatballs with whole wheat spaghetti

Thursday
Chili in crock pot
fritos and cheese for toppings

Friday
leftovers

Menus on a Tuesday

“Whom have I in heaven but you?

And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.

My flesh and my heart may fail,

but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” Ps. 73: 24-26

This is my prayer today. God is my strength when I am feeling overwhelmed, and that is me today.  Thankful I have a heavenly father to help carry the load!

Tuesday

Homemade crock pot spaghetti sauce

Wednesday

Pizza Calzones and Ham and cheese calzones

watermelon

Thursday

Lazy cooks chicken

corn on the cob

watermelon

Friday

Leftovers

Saturday and Sunday

Baseball and soccer

This is what I did all weekend.  Watched my baby play baseball, I love it!

And then we visited my MIL for her birthday.

Sweet baby Sydney!

Making Breakfast ahead of time(recipe)-WFMW

This is my happy little morning boy, Aaron.  He is almost 14, a twig of a boy.  I try to "fatten" him up whenever possible.  He runs, plays basketball and is in constant motion!  He burns sooo many calories that it is hard to keep his weight on.  (as for me, it is flip flopped-ugh!) 
He loves biscuits and gravy, so I started making a huge batch on Sunday and dividing it up into glass storage bowls for him to reheat every morning.  It is working, and he says it still tastes great.  Homemade always tastes better! 
I keep muffins and pancakes made in the freezer also.  The girls think biscuits and gravy is gross!

Biscuits and Gravy

I use frozen biscuit dough because I am lazy!  I will try homemade this summer. I make one whole bag of Kroger brand biscuits.
While they are baking I brown 1# of breakfast sausage.
Add 1/2 stick of butter as it is finishing browning
Once there is no longer any pink, add 1/4 cup flour and combine
Add in slowly 3 cups of milk and stir
Allow to thicken and add salt and pepper to taste.

I put 1-2 biscuits, sliced in half, in a bowl and then add the gravy to cover.

That's it- yummy!  It works for me!

Monday Menus and a recipe

Busy, busy weekend, but fun too.

Baseball, soccer, and track made it fun for the kids.  I love watching them have fun playing sports.  When they have improved and have some success, the look on their face is priceless.  Aaron got 2 Personal record times on Friday at the county meet.  That is a wonderful thing about track, he came in 5th and 3rd, but he had 2 PR's, so it wasn't disappointing.  His time for the 1600 meters was 4:53 and for the 2400 m was 7:50.  He was thrilled, I love watching him run! 

Annie has been working so hard on her soccer and it has really clicked this year.  She has a great coach, and he has really pushed her and gave her confidence!  She had 3 goals! In the heat she played in, it was surprising that her asthma didn't bother her more! 

Andrew is in baseball and he is not sure he will be returning next year.  It is a frustrating sport for him, feast or famine.  His attention span can be short when he is in the outfield. Watching him finally get his hitting going and getting a triple was great.  I had just got to the game, so I told him he just needed his Momma there.  It made him smile, even though they got beat! He loves basketball, so he may just stick to that.

Amy skipped her game to go to a photo shoot we gave her for her birthday.  It was a shoot of Amy and 4 of her best friends.  They had a blast doing it and we can't wait to see the pictures!  She got licensed as a lifeguard this weekend too, so she is set for her summer job coaching a neighborhood swim team!

I literally ran from event to event, did laundry and cleaned the house.  Cooking for us and a few guests thrown in too.  I went to bed last night and told Joe I just felt weary.  He said "why?". hmmmmm? I wonder.

Monday
Flat iron steak
salad
strawberries(I bought some from the upick, I "picked" them from their table :)
grilled zucchini

Tuesday
meatballs in the crock pot
baked beans
strawberries

Wednesday
leftover grilled chicken in a salad

Thursday
chicken sausage on the grill
green beans
macaroni and cheese

Friday
Dinner at a friends(with a pool! whoohoo)

Recipe:
Grilled chicken Marinade

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1 packet steak seasoning ( we have used Montreal and Luau, both where good)
1/4 cup brown sugar.

marinade chicken for at least an hour or overnight

We had this , this weekend and it was so good.  I used it on chicken tenderloins and they cooked quick and browned beautifully!