Menu...take 3

Alright...so this is working out okay!  

I forgot to post a couple other "corrections"...when we went to mooch spend quality time with my folks on Tuesday night, mom had already made the potato soup that I had posted for Friday night.  So Friday was date night anyway- so it was no big deal.  Then Saturday- I didn't really have leftovers, so we did chicken alfredo.  (Just the canned sauce...I have tried to no avail with homemade sauce and just wasn't feeling like Giada.)  

Okay...so tonight we had Italian chicken (easy peasy--- chicken tenderloin cooked in Italian dressing on the stove top til cooked through- yummy), green beans, wild rice, and rolls.  AND Jared and I even got to enjoy a quiet candlelit dinner!  Both of the boys took late naps today because it was SOOOOO  beautiful here (and yes- it did snow 5 inches 5 days ago and it was 70 degrees today.)  So instead of waking them up for supper, we decided to let sleeping dogs lie and enjoy our dinner in the quiet.  We got sat down and Jared said "I feel like we should light some candles or something."  So I did...I mean...it is Valentine's day!!! 

{{{And I'll have you know...we both showed great self-control...I really DIDN'T feel like cooking tonight-- feeling rather sluggish here lately...and he was going to go to the dip (or here)...but we didn't...we figured the good Lord was trying to tell us something when we landed on tails 3 times in a row}}}

So Tuesday:  I'd love to get the grill out and do hamburgers because it is supposed to continue to be BEAUTIFUL all week--- but we might just have to settle for tacos...burgers means a trip to the store to get buns and stuff!  Trying really hard to stick with stuff I already have in the pantry!  

(speaking of pantries...have you ever seen this?!  Isn't it so cute??  Jared is wanting to take the doors off our pantry because a our house has settled, the doors dont' shut right...but who wants an open pantry?!  If mine could look like this- I would do it!) 

Wednesday: I checked out church menu--- no red beans and rice- but meatloaf!!  Not usually a meatloaf fan unless it's the recipe I use from my good friend Anna Katherine, but it's yummy- and Miles will probably eat it if he doesn't see the chicken nuggets first!!

Thursday:  for sure something in the crockpot...haven't decided exactly what yet- but I've got a few recipes in stock.

Friday: Bible study at church reading this- it's great-- I would seriously recommend it to any parent even if their kid is calm, cool, and collected!  Such great insight on human emotions of anger and frustration- and really speaks to parent's heart's first before telling you how to "fix" your kid!!  

Saturday: my little Lumberjack's birthday party!!  Fend for yourself until party time!!  

Hope you have a great week!!  What's cooking at your house this week?!

Do this to your bacon...

Well...I was off to a good start!

{{{keep scrolling if you want the bacon part}}}

Except my poppyseed chicken that I said I was going to make turned into chicken and noodles.  (fantastic)

Easy Creamy Chicken and Noodles
(sorry for the approximate measurements...that's just how I roll cook)

egg noodles (i use about half a bag)
chicken stock to boil noodles in (or do water and about 2 Tbsp chicken bullion cubes) (about 3 cups)
2 big cooked chicken breasts, diced or shredded
1 can cream of mushroom
1 cup milk
1 can mixed veggies (or you can do frozen, just add them in time for them to cook.  the canned you don't have to wait to thaw and cook, just warm)
cheese (if you want it- I added it, but would have been fine without it)

Boil noodles in chicken stock.  Drain.  Add chicken, cream of chicken, milk, veggies, cheese. Mix all together and let it sit until milk and cream of mushroom evaporate into noodles.  I let mine sit for about 20 minutes on low heat.

I loved that this was sooooo easy and delicious!  Now...part of it was that my cooked chicken breast was cooked good--- I had it in the freezer from when i had cooked several breasts in the crockpot a couple weeks back.  I cooked it in some broth, water, s/p, and a little garlic and onion.  I had let the chicken thaw all day, so it was ready to add into the creamy chicken and noodles.

Then...

the snow came.

Okay- if you read my blog and you're not from around these Southern parts...snow shuts us down for days.  Half and inch or 3 feet...seriously folks.  My mother-in-law said this one was a "2 loafer" (she heard it on the weather channel) {and if you need further explanation like I did...it means 2 loafs of bread}

So of course church was cancelled...meaning I didn't get my yummy red beans and rice this week!!  Hopefully we'll have it next week!  So once I left the schoolhouse (knowing we weren't going anywhere for 2 days) I did what every good Southern woman does...I went to the Kroger(s) for toilet paper and milk.  {we seriously did need both}  And it seriously snowed while I was in there!!!  I also made the decision while in there to pick up some bacon, eggs,  and orange juice--- we were having breakfast for dinner at the Darby's.

So.  Wednesday night we had pancakes, bacon, and eggs.  Let me give you a few helpful tips and hints...

1.)  pancakes- use Pioneer baking mix.  I use it for my biscuits and pancakes and LOVE it!!  There have been times I haven't gotten the pancakes just right...and I've tried a little bit of everything.

2.) Do this to your bacon:  mix about a 1/2 Tbsp. each mustard and honey, and about 1/2 c brown sugar in a plastic bag.  Put your bacon in there to coat it.  Place it on a wire cooling rack, then onto a cookie sheet (lined with parchment or foil for easier clean up).  Put in 400 degree oven for about 15-20 minutes---- DELISH!  Even the burnt parts are delicious because they're drizzled with honey!!  

Okay--- the rest of the week went as planned (except that darn roast...but now I can't even think of what we did instead!) Our date night at church was cancelled because of the snow, but Meme and Jimbo came through for us!  So we house-swapped!  They came down and kept the boys while we ordered a pizza and got a movie at the Redbox and went back to their house to watch it in the quiet!!  So nice!  

Next post will be this week's menu!  

music confession

I've got an appreciation for ALL types of music...except for anything that involves the lead "singer" screaming into the microphone throughout the entire song, or music that is labeled "Christian" but is screaming...can't handle that...{{yes, that was a shot Clif}}

ANYWAY.

Have you used pandora?  I mean...I know that it's been around for a while- but I've recently started using it on our home computer.  I'm not really a CD person--- I'd rather have a variety playing- so I'm big on listening to the radio.  So that being said...go ahead and go to pandora.com - and plug in "wilson phillips".  Thank me later.

We're talking old school Madonna, Bryan Adams, Tiffany (yes that's right...I said Tiffany).  Now I'm not really a child of the 80s...I was born in the early 80s, but I don't have older brothers or sisters, so I would call myself more of a child of the 90s I guess.  But I can appreciate some good late 80s, early 90s music.  Makes me wish they still did the mall tours I used to see about on I love the 80s and I love the 90s (once I was older of course, because I wasn't allowed to watch VH1 or MTV...and with good reason, mom =)



So this is what I decided to blog about today...instead of doing the dishes while listening to wilson phillips radio on pandora.

Snow pictures coming soon.  We got a good 5 inches yesterday...and so much of it is almost melted!!  Boo!!

so this is what my hubby does....

He looks at screens like this all day to tell me what the weather's going to be like...he's for real ya'll.  And no...his day job is not with the National Weather Service...he's a city planner...go put all those connections together!!!!  {{{love you babe}}}

photo credit

{{{oh...and if someone can give me a tutorial on how to capture screen images-- i think that would have made this post even better...I tried to google it and that brought up even more "nerd-dom" to my computer}}} =P

menu for the week...2nd edition =)

Okay---so last week worked!

YAY for me!!!

Thursday was especially hard..........Jared was set to have a meeting...I wanted so badly NOT to cook...but I did it anyway!!!  So the whole week worked out!  YAY!

Well...except Friday I didn't do roast...I did the sandwiches because we decided to spend the night at the mall (which we have not done in FOR-EV-UH--- in fact...we may or may NOT have gotten lost going out there b/c it was raining and we haven't been on the interstate in forever....hmmm....)  So Saturday we just ate leftovers for lunch and then headed out that evening for bowling at Mexican (fajitas there were MUCH better than my sorry attempt on Monday!!)

So here's the game plan for this week...

tonight:  hmmm...I have cooked, shredded chicken breast in the fridge thawing...I'm thinking I'll do poppyseed chicken and some veggies...probably better hurry up and decide, huh?!  Hubby will be home in about an hour---and I still have to get dressed!  AH!!!  But it has been a great pajama/snow day!!
(oh--- and earlier today for lunch- me and Miles made our own pizzas!  fun---he didn't like his-- it didn't taste like the "real" thing!  oh well-- I ate mine up!)

Tuesday- hubs has a city meeting- and those last FOREVER so we will either do a veggie plate or might wait around at Meme's house and see what they're having for supper!!  hee hee!

Wednesday- church supper (and we're having the BEST red beans and rice and bread pudding you've ever put in your mouth...we have SUCH good chefs for our Wednesday night suppers!!)

Thursday- I WILL cook that roast this week!!!

Friday- potato soup- see this post for recipe (or I have a chicken chili recipe we might do...)

Saturday- probably leftovers/"fend for yourself"  =)

okay-- well there aren't too many all out meals I have to cook up this week...so I might throw in another one along the way---especially for Saturday...but lots to do between now and then!  Planning for little boy's 1st birthday celebration (think lumberjack), helping throw a shower for a dear friend (think little cowboy), attending a wedding shower, and lots of birthday presents!!  Gotta get that sewing machine going, folks!

What am I doing on here?!?!?

Hope you have a GREAT week!!!!  What's cooking at your house this week?!

simply amazed

Some of you may read Kelly's blog.  Well tonight I was doing my weekly "blog-walk" and came across hers...again...which I could probably read and find all sorts of links from...but anyway!  I saw where just a couple days after I had posted my blog on my heart for adoption, she posted hers as well!  Of course she has well over 9,000 readers...and I probably have 20!!  But I loved reading how our great God is moving in the hearts of so many families across our nation to adopt and fulfill that commandment!  I truly believe that once our small place in history is complete, we will be able to look back and see where God was raising an army of God-fearing men and women to proclaim His gospel to the ends of the Earth.  What a joyous thought!

I have a friend getting her story together for me, so again- if you have yours that you want to share- I'd love to be your outlet or your link to the blog world!

menu for the week

Okay--- so far so good-- I've stayed on track with our meals so far...so I'll let you in on what we're having at the Darby's!!

Sunday night- we went to McAlisters- we go to church on Sunday nights at 6, so it's really too early to eat before, but too late to eat anything decent once we get home, so McAlisters it was!  And I didn't mind--- but that sweet tea kept me up until the wee hours of the night!!

Monday- beef fajitas, spanish rice, corn, and black beans- tried a recipe I found on allrecipes- they were pretty good- would have been better if I had bought a better cut of meat!  And I love black beans- throw a little bit of lime juice and cilantro on them- yum!!

Tuesday (tonight)- crock pot chicken and dumplings- haven't tried this recipe before, but found it on a community forum on babycenter

chicken breasts (i had 2 huge ones)
2 cans cream of chicken (didn't have time to make my own this morning)
1 cup chicken broth
about 1 Tbsp Italian seasoning (more or less to taste)
s/p
refrigerator biscuits

Put chicken, soups, broth, and seasonings into crock pot.  Cook all day (6 hrs or so) on high.  Shred chicken.  (I just did this with forks right there in the pot).  Cut biscuits (or tear =) into bite-size pieces (I used 4 grands homestyle buttermilk- not flaky- that's what was on sale for 99cents--- and they weren't close to being expired- go figure!  should have stocked up- but I have been using "mary's" frozen biscuits- they are so good.  Or if I have time to make my own I use Pioneer's baking mix- they are soooo good- and I like them better than using bisquik! okay- off of my biscuit tangent...)  Leave this to cook in crockpot for 2 more hours on high.

Tasted good when I was tearing up the biscuits!  We'll have carrots and peas with this!  I'll let you know how it is!

{{{it was delicious!!  owen ate it right up!  and i think if miles had been a little more compliant, he would have loved it!  a little salty, so i won't add as much salt next time and will probably make my own broth and/or cream of chicken.  and i'll DEFINITELY add more than 4 grands biscuits!  =)}}}


Wednesday- church meal

Thursday- hmmm....I'm thinking we'll be having spaghetti- quick "go-to" meal!  I'm usually done by Thursday!

Friday- maybe a roast- I have one in the freezer I need to pull out!

Saturday- ham and swiss sandwiches on Hawaiian rolls and maybe potato salad??  We'll either have this for lunch or supper- depending on how our day goes!

Sunday- usually our out-to-eat day b/c Jared has soccer on Sunday afternoons, so he doesn't have time to come home from church then head back out for soccer!

So there it is folks!  I'll let you know how my meal planning went at the end of the week!  Sounds like a fool-proof plan, right?!  I also decided yesterday once I got home from the grocery store that I'm not going to go back for at least 2 weeks- except for milk b/c Owen is on whole milk now- no way we can go without milk for 2 weeks- much less 2 days right now between him and Miles!!  I'm determined to use EVERYTHING I have in the pantry!!