Menu Plan Monday ~ Jan 31st

Sunday: Breakfast for Dinner - pancakes, link sausages, fruit

Monday: Dinner with friends - Tracey's homemade gumbo & rice

Tuesday: Baked Spaghetti Casserole

Wednesday: Crockpot - Chicken & Dumplings


Thursday: Ham Sandwiches & chips

Photo - country living

Friday: Family Night - homemade pizza & games



Saturday: I have no idea! Help!


All my recipes this week are contingent on weather! If we get the predicted 2 inches of ice followed by 10 inches of snow, its possible we will not have electricity and can only cook on grill.
We shall see !

Friday's Fave Five

Taking note of the simple blessings in my life this past week. Learning to not take things for granted.

1. The sun is shining and its 50 degrees. The kids are playing out on the deck. Beautiful reminder of things to come. I adore winter & snow, but we seem to be getting cabin fever.

2. After a long night up with a sick kiddo, my sweet husband surprised me and came home from work this morning to bring me a caramel latte.

3. The 4 yr old has strep, but a relief that it wasnt mumps.

4. Have had several new areas of ministry open up.

5. Still so thankful and blessed by our house. We've only been here for three months but we love it so much!

We are wrapping up our Jan theme of Organization over at Domestically Divine Divas. Check out today's Friday Fave Five Organizational Blogs!

Orderly Recipes

My attempt at keeping My Recipes manageable and (somewhat) orderly:

1. Bookmarks: all those tempting recipes I come across online while blogging are tagged using recipe specific tags. Here are a couple:

cookmarked.com
delicious.com
evernote.com

Whatever you use, the point is to keep it simple, easy to use, and helpful when you need that exact recipe in that precise moment. It’s such a pain to know you have a recipe somewhere, but aren’t sure where you saved it.



Then I keep a couple of different binders.

2. “To-try” - recipes are sorted in an ordinary, multi-fragmented folder

My folder grows constantly but helps enormously to keep magazine rip-outs, newspaper clippings, prints-outs, copies and recipe cards organized. You can spice it up with colorful labels and dividers. For newspaper clippings you can go the pockets in a binder route, or get one of those cardboard folders with dividers in them. You can sort by source or ingredient or whatever.

3. Successful, “Keepers” recipes are written down in a special notebook. Its a great idea to add your own personal thoughts or tips on the dish, including what goes well with it; as well as what family members thought; how the recipe was passed on to you, etc...

Handwritten recipes develop their own personalities, may it be the aged paper from previous centuries, a beautiful handwriting or the stains and greasy marks, that tell a story of victory success. Some of my most precious recipe notes were written by two of my grandmas or my mom , and more often than not...leave me a bit puzzled, because important information like actual title or “minor details” such as the exact measurement or baking time are missing… but it’s tangible, you can hold it in your hands and feel it.

4. Cookbooks - So as not to "lose" certain recipes in all those cook books I collect, I use post-it notes. When using stickies to mark possible recipes in a cookbook, make a note on the bit that sticks out. Not a big one, just something like a main ingredient, recipe title, or “for a crowd” to narrow things down and make searching faster when you want something from the book.



What organizing method gave you found works for you?

Linked up with:

Simple Woman's Daybook

For Today: January 25th, 2011



::Outside my window...stands a melting snowman.


::I am thinking...about supper. I know I had a plan, now if I could just remember...


::I am thankful for...my menu plan! It keeps me on track.




:From the learning rooms...dinosaurs, letters, and inventions.

::From the kitchen...I made a rye bread a few days ago. It is so good, especially toasted with coffee in the middle of the afternoon when I need a pick-me-up.

::I am wearing...black pants, black hoodie, and slippers

::I am creating...some new ideas and projects for my other blog Domestically Divine Divas. We've been focusing on "organizing" for the month of January.

::I am going...to re-organize my weekly cleaning schedule. Give the kids a few more chores too.

::I am reading...nothing. Anxious to start a new book. Any ideas?

::I am hoping...that Logan doesn't have strep :( Started out like a cold, but was a long night, and now he has a fever.

::I am hearing...the imaginary crackling of the gas fireplace. The only bad thing about gas...well that and I miss the smell of woodsmoke.

::Around the house...two kids napping, one finishing her lessons; a fresh-made bucket of laundry soap cooling in the kitchen.

::One of my favorite things...card games, and scrabble.

::A few plans for the rest of the week: make a new cleaning plan, school lessons, check out new library and finally get cards, make some homemade girl scout cookies :)

:: Picture thought I am sharing...

Later this week, I'll be sharing:

• that amazing Rye Bread recipe
• How-to organize recipes
• my fave five of the week

Menu Plan Monday

Sunday: Breakfast for Dinner - biscuits, sausage gravy, scrambled eggs

Monday Chicken Broccoli Lo Mein

Tuesday: Venison Bourguinonne with cornbread

Wednesday: Pastitsio

Thursday: White Chicken Enchiladas

Friday: Pizza

Saturday: Italian Melts, chips,

Friday's Fave Five

1. Celebrating my husband's 40th birthday...and actually pulling off a surprise party with around 35 people sneaking in here!



2. I have loved watching the 17 mo old as she has been attempting to "jump" this week :) So funny! She squats down real low and pops back up as far as she can. Her feet aren't even leaving the ground. Yet!

3. Had an impacted tooth and ended up having two taken out. Bummer, but tankful it wasn't as bad as it could have been. And its been a speedy recovery.



4. My niece had her twin baby girls a week ago today. They are both healthy & growing, and SO beautiful!

5. Taco's for supper. Now that is certainly reason to be thankful :D

Linked up at:

Menu Plan Monday

This week's menu plan is a little different. My husband will be starting a Daniel Fast later in the week. So I only have three days planned. Still have to figure out mine & the kids suppers so as not to interfere with his schedule.

Monday - Fred's Creamy Ham & Zuchinni Rigatoni

Tuesday - Mushroom & Swiss Burgers, steak fries

Wednesday - Ham & White Bean Soup with rye bread

Friday's Fave Five

1. I was blessed to have a new friend come speak on couponing at our MOPS group.

2. Driving in the car by myself...no kids! Oh come on, you know there are days like that ;-)

3. Our new family room and study is complete. Fireplace, carpet, comfy furniture, books all shelved. Its so cozy and warm. All 5 of us love this room.

4. We are hosting a fajita dinner with dear friends tonight. I know it will be a great time...they are kindred spirits.

5. This morning I got to snuggle and rock the 4 yr old and 16 mo old at the same time. This never happens, as they are too busy being busy!

My BIG Reveal!

Ok so here it is. The secret project I've been working on forever now. haha

A good friend and I have started another blog! We call it

Domestically Divine Divas - imperfectly surviving motherhood

I wanted to get it established a little better before sharing it with you, and well...that was months ago! We share recipes, menu plans, craft projects, kid projects, parenting articles, devotionals, etc...

Some of our weekly features include:

Mommy Monday

Tasty Tuesday

Thrifty Thursday

Simplify Sunday

I hope that you will check it out....and tell me what you think! We have a spot where you can sign up to "follow us" and also a facebook page. We would LOVE to have you join :) In fact, when we reach 150 facebook followers (which is super-close)we will be doing a GREAT giveaway!

Simple Woman's Daybook

For Today: January 4th, 2011

::Outside my window...it's winter in the midwest. Brown yards, gray trees, at least the sun is shining!

::I am thinking...about every sore muscle in my body right now. After a few months off, we started P90x up yesterday. Oy

::I am thankful for...our big deep freeze. While it may not be full of meat (was a really hard/scarce hunting season this yr) at least I can start doing some bulk/freezer cooking.

:From the learning rooms...we were off through the holidays. Started back up yesterday. They are memorizing the Pledge of Allegiance this week. So cute :)

::From the kitchen...still cleaning out the holiday leftovers.

::I am wearing...comfy, warm flannels.

::I am creating...knitting a pair of fingerless gloves.

::I am going...to finally share with my readers what my secret project has been all these past few months. I intended to way before now.

::I am reading...nothing. Anxious to start a new book. Any ideas?

::I am hoping...to get through chores & school by early afternoon today.

::I am hearing...the chatter of the two oldest playing "school". Itty Bitty has to be involved and is following them around.

::Around the house...major cleaning!

::One of my favorite things...the smell of coffee and bagels of a morning. I wish Panera Bread was a little closer... I would somehow find time for a part-time job...or at least find time to go sit and write & smell.

::A few plans for the rest of the week: MOPS tonight, I have a lady coming in to do a coupon workshop; Have some friends coming for dinner friday night, should be a great night of fun.
Need to do some planning & scheming for my husband's 40th birthday next week!

::A picture thought I am sharing:

Menu Plan Monday

Monday: Spaghetti & meatballs, toasted garlic bread, steamed broccoli

Tuesday: Ultimate Grilled Cheese Sandwich



Wednesday: leftovers





Thursday: Sweet & Spicy Grilled Chicken, parmesan roasted potatoes & carrots

Friday: having friends over...fixing steak fajitas, spicy guacamole,

Saturday: our church small group gathering..."soup, salad, & breadsticks"

Think I will fix French Onion Soup.

Sunday: To Be Decided...