Archive for July 2011

in(ternet)spiration

July 31, 2011
The internet has got to be a teachers best friend. So many ideas, so little time. Here are a few of my latest favorite finds, most of which I will be implementing into my classroom this year.

RockStar Clip up/Clip down behavior Chart - I already made this and it looks SO cute.
Crate storage seats - anyone want to make me some of these??
Standards and Benchmarks Posters - all made and ready to go! These make it super easy to switch out benchmarks each day, without rewriting all over the white board.
Handprint Things - perfect for Dr. Seuss day on march 2nd!
Pots of Gold for St. Patrick's Day


Sad that summer is coming to an end, but looking forward to a new year!

Monday in the Mountains

July 25, 2011
No menu plan this week. My husbands eating leftovers at home while I explore the Rockies with the worlds best friend and her mini-me.

MPM July 18 - 24th

July 18, 2011

Breakfasts:
Oatmeal
Toast
Garden Frittata
Cereal

Lunches:
Chicken Nuggets, apples & PB, yogurt
Turkey Sandwiches, fruit salad, baked lays
Macaroni and Cheese, mixed veggies & ranch
PB&J, applesauce, cheeze its
Cheese Nachos, yogurt, wheat thins
leftovers x2

Dinners:
Pizza Night
Crock pot BBQ Chicken, potatoes, mixed veggies, biscuits
Burritos, corn, yellow rice
Grilled Chicken, brown rice, mixed veggies
Italian Noodle Bake, broccoli, garlic bread
Pan Fried Pork Chops, seasoned potatoes, grean beans, bisquits
Grilled Burgers, french fries, peas

Summer Reading

July 11, 2011
Recent reads I can highly recommend:

The Hunger Games Trilogy:
The Hunger Games, Cathching Fire, Mockingjay

The Help




Room: A Novel



Sing You Home

Water for Elephants



Up Next for me:

Jaycee Dugard's Memoirs

Sookie Stackhouse Book 11



Tina Fey's Book



A psycho-thriller

MPM: July 11-18th

Breakfasts:
Amish Oatmeal
Cereal
Banana Bread
Toast
Fruit

Lunches:
Tuna Sandwiches, carrots & Ranch,
Turkey Sandwiches, yogurt, grapes
Macaroni and Cheese, celery & PB
Egg Salad Sandwiches, applesauce,
Peanut Butter & Jelly, Apples & PB
leftovers, watermelon

Dinners:
Grilled Cheese & Tomato Soup
Pizza Night
Fiesta Nachos, Rice, Corn
Pasta Marinara, Garlic Bread, Broccoli
Chicken Rollups, Rice,Corn
Root Beer Pork Chops, Seasoned Potatoes, Peas
Italian Sausage Roast with Peppers & Potatoes

I've been trying to keep to a budget by working around what we already have, so here's a list of what was actually bought this week.
* Tomato soup to go with bread, butter, cheese for grilled cheese
* pizza
* chips, cheese, meat, seasoning to go with onions,tomato, sour cream for nachos ( I can make this meal stretch into two dinners by using 1/2 pound of meat, 1/2 bag of cheese, 1/2 the seasoning etc. and making it in the smallest pan I have.)
* Broccoli to go with garlic bread, noodles, sauce for pasta marinara
* Chicken, refried beans to go with tortillas, salsa for roll ups
* Peas to go with pork chops, potatoes for RootBeer Pork Chops
* Sausage and peppers to go with onion, potatoes for Sausage Roast

MPM: July 4 - 10

July 4, 2011
Breakfasts : Cereal, Banana Bread, Toast, Pancakes, fruit

Lunches: Sandwiches -  Chicken, PB&J, Egg Salad, hot dogs, Tuna
                 Fruit - strawberries, grapes, bananas, apples, watermelon
                Snacks - carrots, celery, cheeze its, pretzels, yogurt, applesauce

Dinners:
Monday - Hot dogs on the grill, corn on the cob, watermelon, smores
Tuesday - Root Beer Pork Chops, rice, mixed veggies
Wednesday - Pasta & Marinara, Garlic Bread, Broccoli
Thursday - Grilled Cheese & Tomato Soup
Friday - Sausage, Pepper & Potato Roast
Saturday - Fiesta Nachos, Mexican Rice, corn
Sunday - Grilled Honey Mustard Chicken, sweet potatoes, green beans

A Fantastic website for Cupcakes....

July 2, 2011
I recently came across "Confessions of a Cookbook Queen" and I'll be darned if she doesn't have some of the cutest cupcakes ideas ever. Her recipes are easy to read, always contain a backstory and she is FUNNY. Check out some of these adorable ideas....
perfect for a summer birthday
Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes how cute would these be for a poolside party?

yum, brunch bridal/baby shower anyone?

Cinnamon Roll Cupcakes - I can just see these sitting next to some quiche and mimosas!

Butter Beer!


 ButterBeer Cupcakes - These have Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 release party written all over them!

Gnome Cupcakes -  I can't actually think of an occasion for these (enchanted forest birthday party maybe) but they are so cute I couldn't NOT post them!

Pot of Gold Cupcakes - I might just have to make these for my kindergartners this year. That is, if St. Patrick's day doesn't fall during spring break again.

Angry Birds - Anyone else have a husband who is completely obsessed with this game? No? Just me? He would get a kick out of these...

Snowmen - How cute are these edible Frostys??


Tuxedos - Perfect for a sophisticated New Years Eve Party

She has about a million and one other adorable ideas, along with yummy recipes for cookies, bars, brownies and any other sweet you can imagine. Make sure to check out her sweet blog!
http://www.confessionsofacookbookqueen.com/

The Flag Cake

July 1, 2011
In hopes of getting our house out of a funk and into some holiday cheer I started searching the internet for fun 4th of july ideas. I came across this cake at http://glorioustreats.blogspot.com.
I thought it looked like a fun and challenging project, so using the tutorial here I set out to make it.

Here's what you need:
2 boxes white cake mix
food coloring in red and blue
white frosting
plus eggs, oil, etc to follow the cake directions

Heres what you do:
Mix up the cake mixes one at a time. Tint the first batch red and bake in two 9" rounds.

Mix up the second batch and split it in two. Tint one half blue and leave the other white. Don't do what I did and think you can mix green and yellow to make blue. I swear I know that doesn't make blue. But I was out of blue and didn't want to run to the store. But of course it only made an ugly green so I had to send Dan to the store to get blue. Your blue will probably look much better than mind since I layered it over green :( Bake the blue and white cakes in 9" rounds.

Now here's the part where I had trouble. You are going to cut each red cake in half horizontally so you have four circles. Set one circle aside you only need three. Keep two whole and the other you are going to cut a 4" circle out of. (I just traced around a small bowl with my knife) You can set aside the outer circle, we don't need it.

Then you are going to cut the white cake in half horizontally to end up with two white circles. Leave one whole and cut a small circle out of the other just like with the red one. Again, set aside the outer circle.

You should now have 2 large red circles, 1 small red circle, 1 large white circle and 1 small white circle.

Now we are going to cut a small circle out of the blue cake and set it aside. We want the big circle with the hole cut out. You can set aside the inner circle, we don't need it.

At this point I realized I didn't have any white frosting so I ran to Walgreens, who only had chocolate. I continued my quest across the street at CVS, who also only had chocolate. I bit the bullet and took on Walmart where I bought 4 cans. Just in case. I only needed three.

Now it's time to layer:

large red circle on the bottom
icing
large white circle next
icing
another large red circle
icing
large blue circle with hole in the middle
icing (and around the inner edge of the hole)
inside the blue circle you are going to layer first the small white circle, some frosting, and then the small red one.

The last step is to frost the whole cake and decorate. I made a simple design with some strawberries I had on hand.

Then hold your breath and cut open your cake!
Hopefully it looks like this!!
All in all, it wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it would be. And it tastes wonderful! Definitely worked to get us in a patriotic mood!
Happy 4th of July everyone!