Archive for September 2011

MPM: Sept 26 - Oct 2

September 26, 2011




Monday: Hoisin Cashew Beef Lettuce Wraps
Tuesday: Beer Can Chicken
Wednesday: Maple Mustard Pork Chops
Thursday: BBQ Ranch Chicken Tostadas
Friday: Out to eat
Saturday: Sweet Pork Tacos with Avocado Cream
Sunday: Easy Philly Cheesesteaks

Leo's Birthday Dinner

September 21, 2011
I've been meaning to cook for my dogs for a while now. Whenever I get my Rachael Ray magazine in the mail I always flip to the back to see what pet recipe she has in there. I figured Leo's 1st Birthday was a good opportunity to start. I settled on Chicken Pot - Hold - The - Pie, which was essentially a crustless pot pie. I was missing some ingredients so I substituted what I had after first making sure they were safe for dogs. Here's the recipe as I made it:

Chicken Pot - Hold - The - Pie

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1 tablespoon flour
  • 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
  • 1/4 pound deli-sliced turkey, chopped
  • 1 cooked Chicken Breast Chopped
  • 1 cup mixed veggies, chopped
  • 2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley

Directions:

  1. In a small skillet, heat the butter over medium heat. Whisk in the flour for 1 minute, then whisk in the chicken broth and bring to a boil over high heat. Lower the heat and simmer until thickened, 2 to 3 minutes.
  2. Stir in the turkey, Chicken, veggies and parsley and cook until heated through, 2 to 3 minutes. Let cool to almost room temperature, then serve. Get ready for some wet kisses!

     They both LOVED it!
    Happy Dogs chowing away!
    Rachael has many other great pet recipes HERE. I am already looking forward to making them a halloween treat later this season!

MPM: Sept 19 - 25th

September 19, 2011
 Pinterest has been giving me a whole slew of new recipes and yummy inspiration. I'm going to be posting some of my favorites soon!

Monday: Leftovers from last week
Tuesday: Crab Cakes and Loaded Baked Potato Casserole
Wednesday: Chinese Orange Chicken
Thursday: PF Changs Lettuce Wraps
Friday:Slow Cooker Butter Chicken
Saturday: Sausage & Pepperoni Pizza Puffs
Sunday: Slow Cooker Enchilada Soup

I added the links to these recipes under my recipes tab at the top of the page last week, so you should be good to go if you'd like to try any of these recipes along with us!

Leo's 1st Birthday

September 18, 2011
This Saturday was our sweet little Leo's first birthday. He sure has come a long way from this little guy we picked up from the breeder.

We gave him a new collar, and an edible rawhide birthday card and made him pose for some pictures of course.
I'm thinking of making one of Rachael Ray's yummy dog recipes for him as an extra special birthday dinner!
Happy Birthday Little Leo!!!

MPM: Sept 12 - 18

September 12, 2011
I'm sick, sick, sick today, but here's what I'm hoping to make this week:
Monday: Hubby picked up some chicken from Publix since I'm sick
Tuesday: Chicken & Bacon Chowder
Wednesday: Creamy Butter Chicken
Thursday: 3 meat pizza casserole
Friday Brown Sugar and Balsamic Vinaigrette Pork Tenderloin
Saturday: Taco Pie
Sunday: Autumn Chop Salad

I'm going to work this week on updating the links on our recipes page, then these will be added.

MPM: Sept 5 - 11

September 11, 2011
I know I majorly slacked off with the menu planning last week.... school eats up so much of my energy. Here's what we actually ate.

Monday: Hamburgers at relatives for Labor Day
Tuesday: Pizza at Cicis
Wednesday: Wendys on the way home (Dan had class)
Thursday:Cheeseburger Pie
Friday: Dinner at NYPD pizza
Saturday: Chicken Parmigian leftovers from NYPD
Sunday: Sausage and Mushroom Risotto

So you can see... I only actually cooked 2 nights. It's hard when you come home exhausted and you've been on your feet all day. Last thing you want to do is stand around some more cooking. We might have to make good use of our crockpot this week to avoid eating out so much again.

A few updates

September 10, 2011
We are officially a 2 car family again! Dan has a new (to us) 2003 Nissan Sentra, and we love it already.
The same day Dan got the new car, my new organizer from Erin Condren came. I ordered it for half price ($25)  and free shipping from a deal site and I LOVE it. From the cute cover:
to the monthly tabs:
to the cheerful quote that starts each month:
to the monthly calendars:
which are then broken down by weeks:
to the note space near the back:

the very back is full of stickers for every possible appointment, party, or occasion:
You can even make your own stickers with these blank labels:
There's a pocket for loose papers, receipts, shopping lists, etc:
and a clear pouch filled with personalized labels:
The whole thing is bound with heavy duty laminate making it nice and sturdy:
For someone as obsessed as I am with organizing every aspect of my life it is heaven on Earth. They also sell a teacher planner which I am hoping to get next schools year.

House Number Wreath

September 3, 2011
Pinterest kills me. Check out these adorable wreaths....
I had to have one. I have a long history with wreaths. They remind me of my childhood homes where my mother always had one hanging on the door. And several others in her basement craft room. That craft room was so full you could hide there for hide and seek and no one would find you. You'd wander out hours later wondering why everyone forgot about you. 
Anyways, clearly I get my craft and creativity from her. I set out to Michaels and picked up a wreath, house numbers on clearance, overpriced flowers, paint, a brush, and E600.

E600 is the best glue ever. Reminds me of gluing 6,000 rhinestones to my dance costumes in high school. Some people used hot glue for this but I have flashes back to my mothers wreaths and everything melting off them in the summer heat. Living in FL, I decided hot glue was not a good option. 



I started out by giving my house numbers a few coats of acrylic craft paint in a color called vanilla to match the cream flowers.
 While they dried I layed out my flowers in an arrangement I thought looked good.
Then used the E600 to glue them on. While the glue dried I gave the numbers another coat and then drank some coffee and watched the Pioneer Woman's new cooking show while waiting for them to dry. When the letters were all dry I glued them onto the side and then waited again for the glue to dry.
When everything was finally dry I hung it up on my front door. Please excuse my ugly hurricane shutters. They were installed for safety, not style. They happen to be very dusty because we (knocks on wood) haven't had a big storm in a few years. One good hurricane and they'll be powerwashed clean again.