Good morning!
Yesterday was actually a very good morning and I am not too keen on mornings in general! Especially when I am tired and want to stay snuggled up in bed! Our church had a 35th anniversary celebration with a special service and meal together after-wards. It was a fun day and I came back with two empty dishes so I must have finally figured out what to bring!
My guest post has not gotten up and we'll blame technical issues. Hopefully it will get up this week. I had some time to blog while the little one slept so several posts got finished and started. Looking forward to a new month with a new budget. Also looking forward to a friend's wedding out of town, so I will be planning some meals to make ahead and leave for the husband while I am away that weekend.
It is funny to me that everybody seems to either be loving the spring weather or hating the last spring snows that other parts of the country are getting. I think I would rather have the snow than all the bugs this warm weather has caused to appear in my house! I just have to be different! Seriously after a bumble bee was crawling on my bathroom floor one morning after I had just killed the first carpenter ant of the season the day before, give me cold weather please.
The warm weather did provide me an opportunity to do some spray-painting. I purchased several shelves at a Goodwill store in Houston, TX awhile back and needed to paint them to match each other. One was brown, one was white and another was blue. The blue one will probably be painted red and I don't have the red paint yet so that one got put off again. The other two have the same design but were different sizes and colors. Now they are both black and will go so much better together. Provided of course that the pollen did not stick to the paint...
Hope you had a good weekend and are looking forward to the start of a new week and a new month. Lots of possibilities out there and I am anxious to see what is in store for us!
Showing posts with label Mondays. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mondays. Show all posts
Monday, March 28, 2011
Monday, March 21, 2011
Monday Musing 3/21/11
If you can't find real food, grow your own!
Hope you had a yummy weekend! We sure did. The picture is of our raised bed we just put in and I got the dirt in last week to finish it. Right now I have Heavenly Homemaker's Vanilla Wafers baking and they do smell heavenly. They were very simple to make even for someone like me who does not like baking. Something about having a baby though triggered a baking instinct and I have baked more (and cooked less) in the past year than ever.
Nourishment does not come just from food, another way to nourish your family is to have a pretty and comfortable place to call home. Tomorrow look for me at Mystery Mom's Money for a frugal decorating project that only cost me $10. I like decorating but not hanging things up on the wall so I am hoping that I will be encouraged by my blog to get more projects finished so I can show them off!
That crawfish recipe is still coming!
Monday, March 7, 2011
Monday Musing 3/7/11
Good morning,
Mmm, I have discovered the joy of my French press coffee maker! There was a bag of organic coffee marked down at Kroger's last week so I picked it up and tried it. Now I am a Louisiana Community Coffee drinker but this stuff was good. It tasted to me like a bitter coffee house type of coffee, which I enjoyed. My once a week coffee is going to be hard to stay limited to now!
What's going on in your kitchen? We want to entertain more and have people over for meals. So after church we invited several people from our Wednesday night Bible study for lunch. The meal was make your own burritos based on what I've eaten at Izzo's Illegal Burrito in Lafayette, LA. I LOVE Izzo's and it was the best place for me to eat at and be full while pregnant. Everybody said they liked it and the only thing I will change is to serve guacamole next time.
The burrito buffet consisted of black beans & rice, steak strips, cheddar cheese, sour cream, jalapenos, salsa (fresh lacto-fermented and regular) and sauteed bell peppers, onions & mushrooms with the big tortillas to roll everything up with. There were also some tortilla chips which were really good dipped with rice & beans and some of the cheese & salsa. This idea is a keeper and really not that expensive for a company meal. Stay around to see how the rest of my meals go!
Mmm, I have discovered the joy of my French press coffee maker! There was a bag of organic coffee marked down at Kroger's last week so I picked it up and tried it. Now I am a Louisiana Community Coffee drinker but this stuff was good. It tasted to me like a bitter coffee house type of coffee, which I enjoyed. My once a week coffee is going to be hard to stay limited to now!
What's going on in your kitchen? We want to entertain more and have people over for meals. So after church we invited several people from our Wednesday night Bible study for lunch. The meal was make your own burritos based on what I've eaten at Izzo's Illegal Burrito in Lafayette, LA. I LOVE Izzo's and it was the best place for me to eat at and be full while pregnant. Everybody said they liked it and the only thing I will change is to serve guacamole next time.
The burrito buffet consisted of black beans & rice, steak strips, cheddar cheese, sour cream, jalapenos, salsa (fresh lacto-fermented and regular) and sauteed bell peppers, onions & mushrooms with the big tortillas to roll everything up with. There were also some tortilla chips which were really good dipped with rice & beans and some of the cheese & salsa. This idea is a keeper and really not that expensive for a company meal. Stay around to see how the rest of my meals go!
Monday, February 28, 2011
Monday Musing 2/27/11
Good afternoon!
I am ready to begin a new month, though I am a bit worried that it will not go as well as this month did. So I really need to get on with the menu planning and grocery shopping. My mind is so un-inspired right now but we still have to eat. The internet is such a great resource so I've been looking around for ideas.
Chicken Marsala has been on my mind lately. It is a favorite special meal of mine and was one of the entrees at our wedding. I've never made it but I found a recipe today that looks pretty simple so I may have to put marsala wine on the grocery list tomorrow. I am planning on going across the river to another town (our small town is a "dry" area) to the Sam's club to stock up on cheese, so I will be able to pick up the wine at a store there.
We'll see how it turns out! I've got lots of seafood so I am trying to resist the signs for fresh shrimp I keep driving by. Mmm, I love boiled shrimp and don't even get me started on crawfish! I picked up a lb of frozen crawfish tails this month so we will be having crawfish ettouffee sometime next month along with more fried fish, some type of clam dish, and the rest of some frozen shrimp I already have. Well, just writing about this has perked up my appetite so I should go work on that menu and grocery list!
I am ready to begin a new month, though I am a bit worried that it will not go as well as this month did. So I really need to get on with the menu planning and grocery shopping. My mind is so un-inspired right now but we still have to eat. The internet is such a great resource so I've been looking around for ideas.
Chicken Marsala has been on my mind lately. It is a favorite special meal of mine and was one of the entrees at our wedding. I've never made it but I found a recipe today that looks pretty simple so I may have to put marsala wine on the grocery list tomorrow. I am planning on going across the river to another town (our small town is a "dry" area) to the Sam's club to stock up on cheese, so I will be able to pick up the wine at a store there.
We'll see how it turns out! I've got lots of seafood so I am trying to resist the signs for fresh shrimp I keep driving by. Mmm, I love boiled shrimp and don't even get me started on crawfish! I picked up a lb of frozen crawfish tails this month so we will be having crawfish ettouffee sometime next month along with more fried fish, some type of clam dish, and the rest of some frozen shrimp I already have. Well, just writing about this has perked up my appetite so I should go work on that menu and grocery list!
Monday, February 21, 2011
Monday Musing 2/21/11
Cheeseburger Soup
This has been a really good month for me meal-wise. We haven't eaten ideally but came in under budget in both our grocery and eating out budget categories. The freezer has gyro meat for lunches, already cooked steak strips and two containers of enchiladas ready to be heated and eaten. Of course this is a shorter month and we've been blessed to have been provided with several meals by others. Still some planning and intentionally making the effort to cook has helped.
Last year we never stayed under budget because I was exhausted from pregnancy. Convenience foods replace homemade and eating out became normal. Right now I still have limited slots of time due to caring for my 4 month old but I have much more energy to get stuff done. So I am trying new recipes and getting in the habit of making extra for the freezer or later in the week. Leftovers of foods we love can mean the difference between eating out or staying in.
Trying new recipes resulted in the above picture of a successful cheeseburger soup, which I will share Wednesday. Both my husband and I enjoyed it. The soup was not quite like I remember from my childhood but it also did not contain any fake or canned cheese products. Unfortunately it does have a nice orange color because I ran out of my grass-fed white cheddar and had to substitute some colored cheddar I picked up at the store closer to me. This is what happens when you're making enchiladas and cheeseburger soup at the same time and forget to save some cheese for the soup!
Monday, February 14, 2011
Monday Musing 2/14/11
Happy Valentines Day!
We were all romantic and splurged on new sweaters ($5 at Target!) and t-shirts for the husband and me. He also had to get me a card of course because that is the one thing I really love. The baby got a pair of socks :-). I had picked up a Valentines outfit at a resale shop last month so she did get that too.
This weekend I had the best cup of coffee. When I got pregnant I pretty much stopped drinking coffee to limit my caffeine while pregnant and also because it gave me terrible indigestion. Since giving birth I have slowly started drinking it again, usually about once a week on Mondays.
Probably why I post more on Mondays? Anyway I've been craving a coffee shop cup with friends and this past weekend I finally had it! So good and worth waiting for! I may just drink tea instead on Mondays now and hold out for that more special cup shared with good friends. My coffee at home is good but not quite as good as the caramel whipped topping cappacino goodness that I can't recreate at home...especially since those ingredients are banned here :-)
We were all romantic and splurged on new sweaters ($5 at Target!) and t-shirts for the husband and me. He also had to get me a card of course because that is the one thing I really love. The baby got a pair of socks :-). I had picked up a Valentines outfit at a resale shop last month so she did get that too.
This weekend I had the best cup of coffee. When I got pregnant I pretty much stopped drinking coffee to limit my caffeine while pregnant and also because it gave me terrible indigestion. Since giving birth I have slowly started drinking it again, usually about once a week on Mondays.
Probably why I post more on Mondays? Anyway I've been craving a coffee shop cup with friends and this past weekend I finally had it! So good and worth waiting for! I may just drink tea instead on Mondays now and hold out for that more special cup shared with good friends. My coffee at home is good but not quite as good as the caramel whipped topping cappacino goodness that I can't recreate at home...especially since those ingredients are banned here :-)
Monday, January 17, 2011
Monday Musing 1/17/11
After church on Sunday we went over to a friends house and shared a delicious meal. My friend sauteed some onions and mushrooms to go over our steaks with a sauce she threw together and it was addictingly good. Did I just make up addictingly? My English professors would be appalled! Anyway I wanted some more of the mushroom/onion goodness so I altered my usual smothered chicken recipe to incorporate. This dish is too good not to write down so I can make it again!
Marsha's Savory Smothered Chicken (Inspired by Heather)
4 Chicken Breasts
1 package of Mushrooms
1 onion
1 bell pepper (green or red depending on preference)
Soy Sauce (I use San-J's)
Worcestershire Sauce (Use a kind that doesn't contain HFCS)
Salt & Pepper to taste.
Cook chicken breasts in butter and oil over medium heat. While chicken cooks, saute onion. mushrooms, & bell pepper in butter with about 2 Tbs of Soy Sauce and 3 Tbs of Worcestershire Sauce. When chicken is no longer pink and veggies are soft pour veggies over chicken. Let sit for a couple of minutes then serve!
I would have taken a picture but the husband and I devoured the whole thing!
Marsha's Savory Smothered Chicken (Inspired by Heather)
4 Chicken Breasts
1 package of Mushrooms
1 onion
1 bell pepper (green or red depending on preference)
Soy Sauce (I use San-J's)
Worcestershire Sauce (Use a kind that doesn't contain HFCS)
Salt & Pepper to taste.
Cook chicken breasts in butter and oil over medium heat. While chicken cooks, saute onion. mushrooms, & bell pepper in butter with about 2 Tbs of Soy Sauce and 3 Tbs of Worcestershire Sauce. When chicken is no longer pink and veggies are soft pour veggies over chicken. Let sit for a couple of minutes then serve!
I would have taken a picture but the husband and I devoured the whole thing!
Monday, January 10, 2011
Monday Musings
This past weekend we attended a "after-Christmas" annual Christmas get together with my husband's extended family. One of the first times I attended this event I remember a cousin being very excited about the tuna salad one of the uncles had made. Ever since then I have tried to like the tuna salad because in my mind it is a special family recipe to be savored.
The problem is that I do not like sweet pickles and this tuna salad has them. Nonetheless, I keep trying it in hopes I will like it. Again this weekend I tried the tuna salad and did not enjoy it. Pondering my actions reminded me of an article I read about picky eaters. The point that stuck with me from the article was that a child will notice if the adult feeding him or her does not like the food being served and will in turn dislike the food.
If I am so easily influenced about a food that I know I don't like but keep trying it anyway, then it makes sense to me that an impressionable child would be even easier to influence. My baby is only 3 months old so I have no experience with picky eaters but I am preparing for it. I feel that to encourage my child to eat the way I want them to eat I am going to have to take responsibility for my food preferences. Learning to like healthy foods does not always come easily to me and there are a lot of great foods out there I have not learned to enjoy.
A few baby friendly foods I need to learn to love are squash, avocados and cucumbers. What are yours? I'm going to try to find ways to enjoy these foods so that when my baby is ready for them I can enjoy them right along with her!
The problem is that I do not like sweet pickles and this tuna salad has them. Nonetheless, I keep trying it in hopes I will like it. Again this weekend I tried the tuna salad and did not enjoy it. Pondering my actions reminded me of an article I read about picky eaters. The point that stuck with me from the article was that a child will notice if the adult feeding him or her does not like the food being served and will in turn dislike the food.
If I am so easily influenced about a food that I know I don't like but keep trying it anyway, then it makes sense to me that an impressionable child would be even easier to influence. My baby is only 3 months old so I have no experience with picky eaters but I am preparing for it. I feel that to encourage my child to eat the way I want them to eat I am going to have to take responsibility for my food preferences. Learning to like healthy foods does not always come easily to me and there are a lot of great foods out there I have not learned to enjoy.
A few baby friendly foods I need to learn to love are squash, avocados and cucumbers. What are yours? I'm going to try to find ways to enjoy these foods so that when my baby is ready for them I can enjoy them right along with her!
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