Menu Plan 12/22/08

Breakfast Choices:

Waffles, Juice

Oatmeal, Milk, Fruit

Christmas Morning - Caramel Breakfast Rolls, Hot Chocolate, Eggs, Juice or Fruit

Lunches:

Sandwiches

Carrots

Yogurt

Fruit

Dinners:

Monday - Leftovers

Tuesday - Ravioli, Frozen Vegetable

Wednesday - Leftovers

Christmas Day - Sausage Potato Cheese Soup (husband's favorite)

Friday - Leftovers

Saturday - Chicken & Dumplings

Sunday - Leftovers

Visit the Organizing Junkie for more menu plans and favorite holiday recipes!

Merry Christmas, everyone! :)

Holiday Hits

Ok, I know I said I was on break, but just in case you missed it, I wanted to make sure you knew that you can download Oprah's Holiday Hits 2008 album for free until Saturday evening.

Just in case you need a little something extra for a party or gift... check it out here if you are interested... then click on the link at the bottom of her article.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Off to celebrate :)

I'll have the menu plan up next week, but besides that and any other spontaneous ideas that may come up, I'll be on a posting break until 2009.

Best wishes to you and yours this holiday season...

Looking forward to seeing you in the new year!

Fresh & Inexpensive Gifts

We have tried to simplify Christmas gift-giving this year while participating in the Advent Conspiracy. While we have simplified, I cannot say that I have personally handmade very many of our gifts...but here's one: vanilla scented granola in a re-purposed glass jar.

Also, I very much enjoyed reading Meredith's fresh ideas for no-bake, no-craft gifts for $1 or less.

Sausage Potato Cheese Soup

This is my husband's favorite soup. This recipe is from his mom. I am going to attempt to make it next week without some of the preservatives by using homemade sausage, natural chicken broth, and real cheddar cheese. Hopefully I won't mess it up too much!

Ingredients:

4 c. water
4 c. chicken broth

1 T. dried onion
1 c. chopped celery
5-6 medium potatoes (peeled, quartered, and cubed)
2 carrots, shredded

1 lb. bulk country sausage
1 T. dried onion
2 T. chopped celery

1/4 c. flour
1/4 t. pepper
1 cup milk

24 slices processed American cheese

Directions:

1. Bring water and broth to a boil.

2. Add 1 T. onion, 1 c. celery, potatoes, and carrots. Simmer until vegetables are tender.

3. Brown sausage, 1 T. onion, and 2 T. celery until vegetables are tender. Do not drain grease.

4. Sprinkle flour and pepper over sausage mixture. Stir to combine, and add milk while continuing to stir until smooth.

5. Add sausage mixture to the liquid vegetable mixture. Gradually add cheese slices.

6. Stir and simmer until ready to serve.

Makes about 4 and 1/2 quarts.

Handcarved Nativity Scene

In the alcove over our fireplace... a gift for my daughter from her grandparents.

I just love the the little animals and the simplicity of all the pieces.

A perfectly fitting puzzle.

Menu Plan 12/15/08

Last week, we ditched the menu plan after Monday's leftovers. We had chicken fried rice on Tuesday and Wednesday. Then, we ended up not being at home for dinner the rest of the week between a Christmas party and being out of town for a wedding. It was a nice little break from cooking! We are home now and eating here for the majority of this week, so back to the menu planning...

Breakfasts Choices:

Oatmeal

Eggs and Toast

Smoothies

Milk

Fruit

Lunches:

PB&J or Egg Salad Sandwiches

Carrots

Pretzels or Chips & Salsa

Fruit

Dinners:

Monday: Soup & Rolls

Tuesday: Chimichangas, Salad

Wednesday: Leftovers

Thursday: Chicken Lasagna (my notes on it), Salad

Friday: Homemade Pizza (whole wheat crust), Salad

Saturday: Christmas Party

Sunday: Christmas Party

Dessert: We don't need any more desserts! :)

Visit the Organizing Junkie for more menus!

Lemonade Award

Amanda at The Rural Bohemian (love her honest writing and recipes!) gave me the Lemonade Award. Thanks so much! That's my first ever blog award.

Let me pass it on... Here are 10 other blogs I enjoy that I think present great attitude and gratitude:

modobject at home

maya*made

The Organizing Blog
4 Reluctant Entertainers

Frugal Granola

3 Blondes and a Redhead

The Inspired Room

The Story of Amy

Steece's Pieces

Tammy's Recipes

Here are the rules:
1. Put the logo on your blog or post.
2. Nominate at least 10 blogs which show great Attitude and/or Gratitude!
3. Link to your nominees within your post.
4. Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
5. Share the love and link to this post and to the person from whom you received your award.

Homemade Fudge-Like Brownies

4 squares unsweetened chocolate*
1/2 cup butter
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 cup sifted flour
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup chopped nuts (I omit these.)

Melt chocolate and butter. Beat eggs until foamy. Gradually add sugar, beating well. Blend in chocolate mixture. Stir in flour and vanilla, mixing well. Add nuts. Bake in 9 inch greased pan at 325 degrees for 40 minutes. Cool; cut into squares.

*Or, you can do what I do, because I don't usually have unsweetened chocolate in the cupboard, and substitute 3 T. cocoa + 1 T. oil for each square of chocolate. (So that would be 12 T. cocoa and 4 T. oil for this recipe.)

Oranges for Toddlers (and Moms)

I like to eat clementines. They are quick and easy to peel.

I like oranges, too. But I don't like to peel them. It takes a long time and there is too much white peel left for my daughter to eat them that way. My favorite way to eat them is with a spoon, like grapefruit, but they are tedious to fix that way if you slice around each segment to loosen it, like I prefer. Then you still have the juice to contend with. Or, when I slice them in "smiles" like we used to eat them at soccer half-times when I was a kid, I end up just sucking out the juice and leaving the flesh.

So how should I eat my oranges?

My latest method is to slice across the orange, like slicing a tomato, so the pieces are circles. Then, it is pretty easy to open up the circle and eat the flesh inside without getting too messy. It is also pretty easy for me to open up the circle and separate and pull out the segments for a little kid to eat without having too much white peel still attached. This is the easiest and most efficient way for my 17 month old and I to eat oranges together at breakfast or lunchtime. Least amount of effort and mess. Nearly all the edible parts eaten. Works for me!

What a silly topic to write about: how to eat oranges!

Photo from stockvault.net

Caramel Breakfast Rolls

I'm taking this Sticky Caramel Pull-apart Bread to a moms' meeting this morning. I've been wanting to try this recipe for a long time, but needed an excuse to make it. With just 5 ingredients, it's SO EASY to put together. I hope it turns out well!

Edited later to add: Okay, these were great. I highly recommend this recipe if you need something easy for Christmas morning. Beware, they go fast. You may need a couple pans if you have quite the group gathering. (I even used store brand frozen dinner roll dough, instead of Rhodes.)

Be sure to visit Tammy's Recipes to find all kinds of kitchen tips every Tuesday.

Fun UnGreen Facts

Tagged!

According to tagging rules, this means I must do the following:
1) Link back to the person who tagged you and share the rules on your blog
2) Share 7 facts about yourself
3) Tag seven people and list their links in your post
4) Tell those 7 people by commenting on their blog!

Since I was tagged by the Green Baby Guide a bit ago (Thanks Joy and Rebecca!), the 7 facts I share about myself are going to be green themed. Or rather, ungreen. It is confession time!

I'm Not Quite There Yet:

1. I don't take short showers, and am bad about conserving water when I brush my teeth, shave my legs, etc. I could do so much better.

2. I pretty much have to drive to get anywhere outside of my neighborhood. I wish I biked more places. That's a warm weather goal :)

3. I bet most of my clothing, shoes, and accessories come from sweat shops, unfortunately.

4. We have conventional landscaping and do our lawn maintenance with a gas-powered mower, edger, weedeater, and blower. I let my husband do his thing and try not to interfere.

5. Our Christmas tree lights are not LED lights. Nor are all our household lightbulbs flourescent. We are getting there slowly.

6. Since I still haven't made enough of my cloth grocery bags to use, and refuse to spend money on the totes from the stores, I just reuse paper ones. Maybe I should get it together, huh?

7. I have yet to try raw or 100% organic milk. We drink so much milk, I don't think we would want to spend the money on it. I am satisfied with the hormone free milk from Costco for now.

Looks like I've got a few New Year's resolutions already set out for me...

If you want to play along, leave a comment to let us know and consider yourself tagged!

Baby Bottles, Plastic, & Sippy Cups

If you didn't catch it here the first time back in May, check out the Favorite Baby Bottles post over at Family Bliss today.

Here also are my personal thoughts on avoiding plastics and my favorite sippy cup.

Menu Plan 12/8/08

It is a pretty plain menu this week. I don't want to make another trip to the store yet. We will be eating elsewhere Friday and Saturday, anyways. Back to more cooking next week!

Breakfasts:

Vanilla Scented Granola or Oatmeal

Milk

Bananas

Lunches:

PB&J or Egg Salad Sandwiches

Pretzels (for hubs)

Oranges

Dessert

Dinners:
Monday - Leftovers

Tuesday - Baked Chicken (Italian dressing marinade), Frozen Vegetable, Crescent Rolls (maybe, if I'm motivated)

Wednesday - Leftovers

Thursday - Homemade Hamburger Pizza (whole wheat crust)

Friday - out to eat

Saturday - dinner with friends

Sunday - Leftovers or Soup

Snacks: Fresh guacamole and tortilla chips

Dessert: Christmas cookies (from cookie exchanges)

Visit the Organizing Junkie for more menus!

Peppernuts History Lesson

Look, it is an article explaining peppernuts!

Edited: Ok, that link is no longer valid, but here is another brief explanation.

Our Christmas Tree

How funny, that Joy and Rebecca over at the Green Baby Guide chose Christmas trees as their Thrifty Green Thursday topic as well!

I know that having an artificial tree is not the greenest, considering it was probably shipped from China and is made of PVC or something. But, I'd say that the way we decorate it might be on the thrifty and green side.

Our pre-lit artificial tree was an early Christmas gift from my husband's parents this year. I love our tree because it is meaningful and that makes it beautiful to me. Actually, I think any Christmas tree looks beautiful with lights on it, no matter what size, shape, or material it is. Ours is not specaular or awe-inspiring. It quietly twinkles in the corner of our living room.

I love the red wooden beads that are draped over the branches. My mother-in-law passed these on to us because she doesn't use them anymore. She also gave us the burlap that wraps around the bottom of the tree at the base.

I love that we put real, unique ornaments on it. Ones that were given to my husband and I when we were children. I have a shoebox that mine are stored in that has a list of the year and the ornament that my grandparents chose for me that year. Some have to do with my hobbies at the time, other are from various contries that my grandparents traveled to. Now, my husband and I also have more recent ornaments, commemorating the years we got married, got new jobs, moved into our house, had our daughter.

Basically, our Christmas tree is exactly how I want it. And it got that way by using what items we already had or that others generously gifted to us once they no longer used them. That's semi thrifty and green to me!

In prior years we used my parents' old artificial tree (circa 1985), but it broke in half last year.

Icebox Butterhorns

My aunt is a rock-star. She just mailed me the recipe for the beautiful crescent rolls that we had at Thanksgiving.

2 packages (1/4 ounce each) active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water (110-115 degrees F)
2 cups warm milk (110-115 degrees F)
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon salt
6 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cups butter, melted
Additional melted butter

1. In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the milk, sugar, egg, salt, and 3 cups flour; beat until smooth. Beat in butter and remaining flour (dough will be slightly sticky). Do not knead. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

2. Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; divide in half. Roll each portion into a 12 inch circle. Cut each circle into 12 wedges. Roll up wedges from the wide end and place pointed side down 2 inches apart on greased baking sheets. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

3. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Immediately brush tops with melted butter. Remove from plans to wire racks.

Cook-Off

My post from last spring is re-published today over at Family Bliss!

Deals at Whole Foods

I typically don't shop for something at Whole Foods Market unless it is the same price or less than the standard version from the standard type grocery store. While I was out this past weekend, I stopped by to get some paraben-free shower gel, some facewash, some whole-wheat tortillas, and some aluminum-free baking powder (the exception, more expensive than regular).

I happened to notice their in their Weekend After Thanksgiving Sale flyer that ground beef was $1.99/lb. Score! I consider this a great deal for hormone free meat, which typically costs $3.50/lb. or more. I bought 5 pounds. I'm already wishing I would have bought more while it was on sale!

Another bonus: the kind of facewash that I wanted to try was on sale for $6.99. Not bad for facewash. So far I like it, and it is only a "1" in hazards on the Skin Deep database, on a scale of 1 to 10. I'll give it a little more time and then review it for you.

Basically, I figure I didn't spend anymore money than I would have on comparable items at Wal-Mart, and I feel a lot better about how my money was spent. Works for me!

Notes

This past weekend we celebrated Thanksgiving with my husband's extended family. One of his aunts made the most amazing homemade crescent rolls. They were perfect. The best part is she told me I didn't have to knead them, that I could make them in my Kitchen Aid mixer. She promised me the recipe the next time I see her, in a few weeks.

I am thankful for new tires on my car. It drives like a new car!

I am thankful for the answered prayers of my far away friend, Meredith.

We always return from my husband's parents house with more stuff than we took. But it is stuff that I want and am grateful to have given to me, like candles for my candle holders, burlap for around the bottom of the Christmas tree, etc. I just need to remember to get rid of an equal amount of stuff that is sitting unused in the basement. That is one thing that has changed as I have gotten older. I used to be a packrat. Now I don't like extra stuff, it makes me want to scream. I think we need to participate in a garage sale in the spring.