"School Days"

Before I became a mom I was a teacher. I taught in both public and private schools at different points in my life and taught from 6th grade all the way up to 12th grade. When my daughter was born I loved being at home with her and enjoying my time with her, but I did miss the interaction with small groups of kids. I talked to a few women at my church who homeschooled and asked if they would be interested in a program that got together once a month and did some "learning activities." I got a resounding yes that day, and now two years later I am loving every minute of our monthly ADVENTURES. Today we decided that we were going to do a few messy science experiments. The kids loved it and if you have a few minutes you may want to try these with your kids. I did the outrageous ooze with my toddler (I did all the mixing, I just let her play with it) and she loved it. Both experiments had the kids howling with laughter and I think they learned a lot to day. The other experiment was called the lava lite, enjoy!!!

Naps, or not...

For the last two days my toddler has taken amazing 3.5 hr naps (granted, her bedtime was rough, laying awake for an hour before falling asleep) so today she decided that the 2o min nap she had in the car was plenty. When I tried to lay her down after being all around town she quickly and quietly got in her bed with her book and baby and "read" to herself and then laid her head down for about 30 - 45 minutes, but sleeping, no way! Oh well, hopefully bedtime will be easy.

Monday Menu Plan

We are back on track again at my house. Everyone has stayed healthy and we go back up to full schedule this week.



Sunday - Hamburger Casserole

Monday- Venison - I realized this morning that I still had a little left in the freezer from the last time my neighbor went hunting, so I had already flash fried it and just put it in the crockpot for later. It was great...really tender, especially for deer meat.

Tuesday- Parmesan Encrusted Pork Chops - my sister-in-law said these were the easiest and best thing she has made in a long time. (The humerous part of this being that she doesn't normally eat pork, and rarely takes time to cook!)

• Press Parmesan into both sides of the pork chop. Dip into beaten egg. Dip into italian bread crumbs. Saute about 4 mins per side.

Wednesday - Church

Thursday - Oven Roasted Chicken, green beans, rice

Friday- Extended Family Time

Saturday-

• Lunch - We are going to an arts fair so I'm sure we can find something yummy there.


• Dinner - Chicken Pot Pie

For more great menus check out orgjunkie.com

Life!

Life is good. It's amazing how good this week has been. Because of sickness on all fronts, I really haven't worked in the last two weeks and it has been great. I love having all day to focus on my girl and the stuff we need to get done around our house, but it will also be great to get back to our routine next week. Wish us luck!

Menu Plan for the Week

Now that everyone here is back on the road to health (I think). We can start fresh with a new menu plan for this week.

We generally have at cereal or an occasional muffin or pancake for breakfast, and leftovers for lunch during the week.

Sunday - Mushroom Onion Chicken over egg noodles and veggie.

• Brown the chicken, poor cream of mushroom soup over it and simmer it for 10 minutes or so then add some french fried onions for a few more minutes. Serve over noodles or rice with extra french fried onions for the top.

Monday - Chicken Parmesan, spaghetti, garlic rolls, salad (Easy, but pretty enough for company)

• Dip the thawed chicken into egg wash and the dredge through bread crumbs and parmesan cheese.
• Bake at 350 for about 30 mins
• add spaghetti sauce and mozerella cheese and bake until cheese is melted and bubbling
• Serve over spaghetti noodles or by itself.
• You can find the Garlic Roll here it is recipe #115809

Tuesday - Lasagna

• I am going to prep an extra lasagna tonight as well as a hamburger casserole - might as well do all that ground beef at once, and I will have a few extra meals in the freezer.

Wednesday - Tacos

Thursday - Shrimp Alfredo

• Make the alfredo with a touch of balsamic vinigarette... 3 cloves of garlic, 6 oz. cream cheese and 3/4 cup chicken broth, it is so delicious with a little extra parmesan cheese and parsley

Friday - Family Night

Saturday - BBQ Chicken for lunch and the hamburger casserole that I prepped earlier in the week for dinner.

For more menu plans check out orgjunkie.com

Still Growing

I had a chance to read the Kirk Cameron Autobiography, Still Growing, over the last two days. I loved it. It was long enough to get the details, but short enough that it didn't get boring. He shared his story and how he came to Christ and how it affected every area of his life. It was great to hear the behind the scenes stories from Growing Pains, hear how he tortured his real life sisters, how he met and married Chelsea Noble, and how he gets along in his daily life now with Chelsea and their six kids. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a quick read that will both make you laugh and think. Enjoy.

New Lasagna Recipe!

I did get together my meal plan on Monday, but forgot to post it. Oh well. No way we are sticking to it anyways this week has already thrown us a ton of curves.
The best news is that I ended up trying a new lasagna recipe to take to a friend who's son is in the hospital (and has been since december - please pray for them). You can find the recipe here. It uses cream cheese instead of ricotta, but it is amazing. I wasn't sure about the switch at first, but yummy! All are agreed at my house. I ended up using the leftover bits to make a mock manicotti that we enjoyed on Tuesday, and now that it is Wednesday all of our plans are up in the air. My toddler has been throwing up all afternoon, so I won't be getting into the kitchen tonight. My amazing husband did go by the store and pick up fried chicken so that at least he and I could eat. I'm not sure what the plan will be Thursday and Friday, because we will need to eat a more bland version then we usually do if my girl is up to eating at all. So pray for us, and all of our health. I would rather not get the virus my toddler has and of course I want her on the way to a quick recovery.