April 9, 2011

  • Spring Break Flop~

    So, the first week of the new school term has already come and gone.......and for us, Spring Break was pretty disappointing......The first week, the weather was terrible, cold, ice, snow....the 2nd week, we were all sick!  Yup, rotten and miserable.....we had every symptom out there, I think......some had sore throat, fever, body aches, runny nose, stuffed nose, sinus headache....some had the stomach flu w/all it its yuckiness....and the virus lasted for days.....no quick 24 hour bugs here....I guess we can just be thankful that the kids didn't have to walk back and forth either in bad weather, or while feeling under the weather.  We can also be glad that none of them had to miss any classes due to being sick.  Poor Jake was unfortunate enough to catch both viruses.  He was rotten.........and the boy didn't even have his own room to sleep it away in.

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    And we've already survived the first week of the new term....which means new schedules for everybody.....and wow, busy schedules they are too.....Everyone's coming and going all day long, all week long.....I'm going to be looking at the schedule on the marker board many times each day, just so I have an idea of who's where.  Nat has 2 jobs, full time classes and an internship this term....Nikki is going full-time and has an internship.....Aaron has full-time classes and starts a job in the tool-room on campus two days a week....and Jake is always coming and going, getting to his classes and walking the girls back and forth when needed.  Thankfully, it's only 10 weeks and it will be over soon enough....then summer will be here, and I will be wishing they were all super-busy again, lol.

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    So, even though everyone was sick, I did manage to work up a 2nd menu plan.  It's working out well and making evenings so much nicer....However, it is costing more than I need it too, so I'm going to be working on trying to cut down a bit, if that's possible...Our biggest expense each month is our grocery bill.....and it's a big one, lol.~ I'd really like to cut it back somehow, just gotta figure out where...we already buy the cheapest cuts of meat...and we eat most only chicken or ground beef....Nikki tried some new recipes last week....so we worked them into our menu plan......She mixed up a homemade French dressing that is super yummy.....so, that will be nice to keep mixed up, in the fridge and ready to go on summer salads....She also mixed up a homemade sweet and sour sauce that was pretty good. She tried another new bbq sauce recipe too......We already have some favorite bbq sauces, so since this one wasn't super amazing, I'm not sure we will make it again...And, since I mentioned it, I will try and share our favorite bbq sauce recipes soon....no, we don't have just one that we use exclusively....they each have their own particular uses......but, since I will want to link to the originals, I will have to look them all up and find them before I share them here....but, they are all super good and worth trying.

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    And now that it's time for me to work up menu plan #3, here's what we ate this past week:

    Menu Plan #2

    ~Toss Salad w/chicken, homemade French dressing and homemade breadsticks

    ~Sweet & Sour pork over rice, with rolls

    ~Chicken Parmesan over spaghetti with garlic bread

    ~Tater tot casserole and muffins

    ~Breaded chicken strips in homemade bbq sauce and oven potato wedges

    ~PW's Spicy Dr. Pepper Shredded Pork on tortillas w/ Spanish Rice and Corn cakes

    ~Nachos

    I also bought the ingredients to make Monkey Bread and a batch

    of bacon/cheese muffins but, since everyone was sick, we didn't get to these.

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    Here are the pics that were on the camera when I downloaded them this time.....

    The one of Aaron w/ the cake is proof that if Mom says she'll make you a chocolate cake, she'll get to it eventually.....

    especially if you remind her enough times......and it was super yummy.....

    it's a family favorite recipe that we've made many, many times through the years....super good!!!

    Abby helped Nikki make chocolate chip cookie dough, so they could wrap the dough around Oreo cookies and bake them.... yummy!!

    They were a huge hit...super-rich......but super-delicious!!

    And even though, we had sickies, that didn't stop them from enjoying the little bit of decent weather we have had....

    even if they were coughing their brains out!!!

    And, finally, a sign that Spring is truly on its way.....now, we need to get all the leaves from last fall raked up,

    so we can see what wonderful treasures we will have growing in our new backyard.

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Comments (3)

  • Chocolate chip dough around an Oreo cookie???     RECIPE, puh-LEEEEEEEEEEZE!  AND, was your chocolate cake 3 or 4 layers?  It sure looks tall.So sorry to hear of the sickies ruining a good time!  BUT, that stuff happens, sometimes!I noticed you don't use many vegetables or fruits in your meal plannings.  If your family doesn't hate them, and since meat is so expensive and your family is so large, you might do what we did, gradually cut back on the meat portions and serve two vegetables and sometimes add a fruit with the two vegetables.  You still get meat, but the other things are filling, too.  Potatoes barely cost anything, compared to meat and they can be roasted in the oven in wedges.  So yummy and inexpensive!   Canned pineapple mixed with fruit cocktail isn't expensive.  Even though it's canned fruit, it counts as nutritious.  Soups in the Mexican category use hominy or canned beans and those can be purchased in larger quantities, to keep on hand.  I add a can of kidney beans or pinto beans and some pasta to Ground Beef & Vegetable Soup, along with a can of stewed or sliced tomatoes. That's more like an Italian soup (minestrone).With Mexican soups, use "Mexican" flavorings (cumin, chili powder, & cayenne) and serve with tortilla chips (cheap brand) broken up and sour cream and/or grated cheddar cheese on top.I started using more frozen mixed vegetables with my hamburger casseroles (and a little extra pasta) to stretch the meat further.My mom gave me a great recipe for ground beef & mozzarella cheese, stuffed in zucchini boats, covered with spaghetti sauce and served over spaghetti pasta.  I'd be happy to share any of my recipes with you.  I'm the queen of "92 Million Ways to Fix Chicken"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • @cherylyn_p - I can't remember exactly which blog I found the Oreo/chocolate chip cookies recipe on, so I googled it and found this one....the other blog I had seen used a refridgerated cookie dough from the store...we just used our own favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe.......and the cake I made was a 3 layer one, though the original recipe only called for 2 layers, I've found the pans are too full....so we prefer the 3 layers..Thanks for the great tips.....we do have lots of chicken recipes and have chicken pretty often.....I didn't mention it in my meal plans, but I do have a huge stock of canned veggie and fruits....a small local grocery store has a canned sale twice a year and we usually stock up then.....I don't always list them on my menus, but sometimes we do open cans of veggies or fruit to go w/ our meals.....the older kids like having the canned fruit on hand for when they need something quick and easy before they leave for a class and might not be home until late for a meal......but, over all my kiddos don't eat much veggies.....and only a couple will eat anything w/ beans in it.....We have cut way back on our meat portions......and I don't buy nearly as much for a meal as I used....and if we aren't making a casserole, rice or potatoes are almost always on the table.......I can get a 10lb bag of potatoes for $2.99, so potatoes and rice are on my grocery list every week....

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