Dinner Planner II

1 weeks worth of easy meals your family will love!

1) Hamburger Stroganoff
Cauliflower
(3 cups of prepared egg noodles, combine 1lb cooked ground hamburger with 8 oz sour cream, 1 can cream of mushroom soup, salt and pepper to taste.)
2)Roasted Vegetable Soup (recipe below)
Biscuits
3)Chili Verde
Spanish Rice
4)Breaded Chicken Strips (homemade or from freezer section of grocery store)
Mashed Potatoes
Corn
5)Hamburger Helper (yeah, I can use a little helper sometimes!)
Green beans
6)Chicken Alabam (recipe below)
Minute Rice
Broccoli
7)Broccoli Manicotti
Cesar Salad
(prepared manicotti noodles stuffed with ricotta cheese and bits of broccoli, top with spaghetti sauce and a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese and bake at 400 for 20 minutes)

Roasted Vegetable Soup

Ingredients:
1 cup cauliflower
1 cup broccoli
1 cup potatoes
1 cup carrots
1/2 cup onion
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 tablespoons canola oil
3 cups chicken broth
3 tablespoons half and half
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup of small cubed chicken (optional)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place cut up vegetables on cookie sheet, toss them with the canola oil and salt and pepper. Roast vegetables for 30 minutes stirring once in middle of cooking time. Remove vegetables from oven and let cool for about ten minutes. Pour 1 cup of chicken broth in blender or food processor, then add roasted vegetables. Blend till pureed. Pour into large soup pot and add other 2 cups of chicken broth, mix thoroughly, until smooth. Add chicken if desired. Bring to desired temperature. Add half and half and mix again. If soup is too thick add more chicken broth to thin it out. Salt and pepper to taste.

Chicken Alabam

Ingredients:
3 pieces of chicken
1/2 tsp. paprika
dash of pepper
5 tbs. butter
1 cup chicken stock
1/4 tsp lemon juice
1/3 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
dash of thyme
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup half and half

Directions:
Dredge chicken with mixture of flour, paprika, salt, pepper, and thyme. Brush with melted butter and brown in 3 tbs. of oil. Remove from pan.
In same pan saute onion in butter, stir in excess flour. Add broth, cook and stir until thickened. Add cream and cook until smooth, and thick. Add lemon juice and blend well. Pour sauce over chicken in 2 to 3 quart casserole, cover and bake 1 1/4 hrs. @ 325 degrees. Serve over cooked rice.

Recycled Wrapping Paper Gift Box or Treasure Chest

This box is prefect for that gift that doesn't have much of a shape and is also great to be used as a great treasure chest for scavenger hunts.

For this project you will need:

- A box that can easily be taken apart and put back together.

- Old wrapping paper.

- Scissors.

- Glue (I use hot glue but any glue will work fine.)

1.) Lay out your wrapping paperon a flat surface and smooth out wrinkles. (Paper with little tares will be okay because if you decorate the box they can be easily hidden.)

2.) Take apart your box so it can be laid flat and lay it on the paper.

3.) Cut off excess paper so that there is between .5" and 1" left surrounding the box.

4.)Wrap one side of excess paper around the longest side of the box and glue down.

5.) Flip box over and glue the rest of the paper down to the main parts of the box (not the parts of the box.) Do any necessary trimming and glue the rest of the paper to the box.

6.) Put the box back together and decorate.

Egg Noodle Soup

This is one of the favorites in my family. It is simple, cheap, and perfect for the cold and rainy Houston winters. (Recipe courtesy of my wonderful husband Kaleb.)

2 Packages of Chicken Ramen Noodles

4 Chicken Bullion Cubes

5 Eggs

Salt to Taste

Crush the two packs of Ramen noodles and boil them for 3-5 minutes in a large pot of water. Add 4 chicken bullion cubes. Once the noodles are soft add the five eggs in and stir slowly until cooked throughly.

Chinese Chicken Noodles

Chinese Chicken Noodles

Cooked spaghetti (enough to serve 4-6 people)
2 cups shredded chicken
2 cups broccoli florets
1 cup cut carrots

Steam vegetables till tender, but still a little crisp. Combine all ingredients and then toss with the sauce recipe below.

1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 tsp chili sauce (asian section of grocery aisle)
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tsp minced ginger
2 tsp minced garlic
2 tablespoons brown sugar
salt to taste (soy sauce has a lot of saltiness)
1/8 tsp pepper

*note more chili sauce can be added for a spicier sauce
whisk together until all ingredients are well incorporated.

Habits

A lot of us, especially me, struggle with the idea of habits. We get caught up in the negative side of the spectrum of habits when in all actuality there is a positive side if our habits. Right now my biggest projects is to add good habits to my routine in replace of my bad habits.

The worst word that I battle with is "CAN'T," so I have been telling myself things I can do rather than what I cannot do.

Example:

I Cant Vs. I Get To

I can't eat that Candy Bar. I get to nourish my body.

I can't watch three hours I get to strengthen my mind

of T.V. tonight. with a book.

I can't sleep in on Saturday . I get to spend time with my family on Saturday.

I can't play on the computer I get to have a clean, company

all day. ready home.

I can't go shopping this I get to save money for

insert weekend for {insert idea here}.

These are just a few examples of the positive examples that I have come up with so far. You can use these or make your own.

It is said that it takes 300 instances of positive reinforcement to turn an action into a habit. So by changing ONE habit, we send a butterfly into effect and will ultimately start to change other habits.

We first make our habits, then our habits make us. -Charles C. Noble

Nightly Dinner Planner

With our busy schedules its so easy to not get around to planning a menu for the week. This is where I step in. Once a week I will post a week's worth of meals some with the recipe to help you plan your week and make it a little less stressful. I very my week's worth of meals from VERY easy, to crock pot, to comfort foods. Please feel free to leave a comment or question about any meal I post and I will get back to you.




Meal 1:
Sheppard's Pie
Quick and easy this is a one dish wonder (well almost), see recipe below
Meal 2:
Pork Chops
Lipton Flavored Rice (I like Broccoli and Cheese)
Steamed Broccoli and Carrots
Meal 3:
Crock pot day! See recipe below
Cowboy Casserole
Meal 4:
Ribs w/ BBQ sauce
Corn
Mashed Potatoes
Meal 5:
White Chicken Chili and cornbread
try this recipe http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=10000000701089
Meal 6:
Grilled Cheese Sandwiches and Tomato Soup
My super fast meal, my kids love
Meal 7:
Leftovers!

Sheppard's Pie

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon canola oil
2 medium carrots - diced
1/4 cup onion - diced
2 tsp. garlic
1 lb ground beef
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp onion powder
instant mashed potatoes (serving for 4)
canned corn - drained
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese


Preheat Oven to 400 degrees. In an oven safe pan heat the oil, then add carrots and onion let cook for about 4 minutes, add garlic and cook for another minute. Add meat to vegetables, and brown meat till done. Meanwhile prepare instant mashed potatoes. After meat is cooked remove it from pan and drain oil. Spread potatoes in bottom of pan evenly, place meat on top of potatoes, then corn and top with cheese. Place in oven and cook for 30 minutes. Ready to eat out of oven. Serves 4-6 people.

Cowboy Casserole

1 1/2 lbs ground beef
1/2 onion diced
1 lb tomatillos diced
2 cloves garlic
1 large can enchilada sauce
1 6.5 oz can sliced black olives, drained
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tsp cumin
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups water
1 cup cornmeal mix
1/2 tsp -1 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
1 cup cheddar cheese shredded

In a large skillet, cook ground beef together with onions, and garlic. Season with chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper while cooking. Drain fat off and place in slow cooker.

Place diced tomatillos and olives in crock pot. Pour enchilada sauce over top. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.

30 minutes before you are ready to serve, bring water to a boil. Add salt, sugar, and cornmeal and return to a boil. Lower heat and simmer and continue to stir for another minute.

Drop cornmeal batter by spoonful into the slow cooker. Set the slow cooker to high and let cornmeal dumplings cook for 30 minutes.

Sprinkle with cheese and let melt. Serve. Serves about 6

Hair-Bows #1: Classic Bow

Over the next few weeks I will be posting instructions for making different types of hair- bows.

Todays Bow is the Classic Clip Bow

Cost $0.32 each if you have hot glue and scissors and $0.16 when hobby has ribbon and hair accessories on sale (in jewelry section.)

For the clip, you will need Scissors, a Hot Glue Gun, the Clip, and an 8" Piece of 3/4" Ribbon.(The thicker the ribbon, the longer you will need it to be.)

Step One: Fold the ribbon in half and insert it into the clip.

Step Two: Make sure the ribbon is even on both sides of clip.

Step Four: Put glue on one side of the clip and fold corresponding ribbon over. Repeat for other side.

Step Five: Fold and glue excess ribbon over top.

For the Bow you will need Ten inches of 1/2" ribbon (The thicker the ribbon, the longer you will need it to be.) Scissors, thread, a lighter, and a hot glue gun.

Step One: Seal the edges of the ribbon with the lighter.

Step Two: Fold the ribbon in half, leaving a crease.

Step Three: Lay the ribbon flat on the table (face down if using a print.) Take one end of the ribbon and center it with the crease, face up. Repeat for other side.

Step Four: Fold loops to the center.

Step Five: Wrap thread around the entire bow three to four times loosely. pull the ends of the thread to make the bow.

Step Six: Wrap a Small piece of the ribbon from the clip around the bow and hot glue in place. Hot glue the bow onto the center of the clip and you have made an adorable classic bow.

For the headbands I just wrapped 3/4" ribbon around plastic headbands that I bought at Hobby Lobby on sale for $0.50 each, otherwise I would have bought them at Dollar Tree for about the same price, and i used roughly 26" of 1.5" wide ribbon.