Feelin' the peer pressure

Ok, so all you wonderful blogs that I read on a daily basis are constantly posting your menus for the week, so I guess I'll give it a try.

Now, being as I don't usually get my recipes off the Internet unless I'm in a pinch and have the ingredients, and NO idea what to make, I use my tried and true cookbook. I got it on Amazon a couple years ago. It's a Cath Kidston if you can't read the front. I LOVE her, absolutely ADORE her. If I lived in England, I would say, "Long live Cath Kidston!" Her designs are just so cute and friendly and I love that this is a binder I can add too.

The inside has beautiful floral designs, kitschy pages, and alot of room to add more.

It's organized all so neatly. Her doing, not mine.

But, I digress...I was supposed to be writing down my menu for the week. Like Jayme from the Coop Keeper I first organize my shopping trip to include first, what all the meals I'm preparing are for the week, and what I need at the store, (according to where it is located in the store of course, list is according to aisle).

Since our lives feel like madness to the nth degree right now, I have had to come up with some crazy meals that can be made from the time I get home at 3:45 everyday, to the time someone has to be run somewhere.

This schedule is NOT working in my creative favor. I'm in a rut and don't know how to get out. For example, this is my list for the week:

Mon: grilled cheese and tomato soup

Tues: (upwards practice for Grace) ham and cheese loaf, mac and cheese, strawberries from the freezer, carrots and dip

Wed: (grocery night) supper at Applebees

Thurs: (upwards practice for Evan) Chicken Cordon Bleu, fried zucchini rounds, homemade bread, mac and cheese (for those not fond of zucchini rounds).

Fri: smoked sausage and jambalaya rice, homemade bread, lemon lush for dessert

Sat: (upwards games) chicken quesadillas, taco rice and queso sauce, chips and homemade salsa, plantains

Sun: (church till noon, 25 min drive home) Cobb salad, sandwiches for the kids

Mon: (ceramics for Grace till 5pm, 4-h meeting at 7pm) lemon chicken in the skillet, peas, wild rice

Tues: (PTO meeting for me till 5pm, softball skills practice, upwards practice at 6pm, 4-h swine meeting 7pm) Homemade pizza

Wed: (church) ravioli, homemade garlic bread, green beans and bacon, salad

Thurs: (upwards practice) Corn chowder with fiesta tortilla strips, grilled cheese

Fri: ??????Grocery night

See how INSANE that schedule is. Come on, what in the world can I fix for a somewhat healthy supper?

At least I know tonight's meal will include this:

Ah, homemade bread....just see how lovely the buttery top looks, even though it's totally uneven.

Good luck to you all out there planning menus with outrageous schedules. If you have any tips, let me know!

Pioneer Days....Ah, the good 'ole days!

Who doesn't remember running in the house after school and turning on the TV to watch the best show of all time? Apparently when I fell in love with this show I didn't have much homework after school, because my mom let me watch it everyday.

You know what I'm talking about.....remember the opening credits, Laura running down the hill on that bright green grass. I can still hear the music in my head.
It seems now, that my kids are experiencing the same "magic" except the show is not on our TV, just on a set of DVD's my mom so graciously gave to us.

It's also recently been spurned on because Grace's 4th grade class is having a unit on Pioneer Days. She had to make a rag doll, and so here is the process we went through, and the whole time, I was remembering when I was in 4th grade and we had Pioneer Days, and everyone dressed like pioneers and we made rag dolls, our own dipped candles, and we even made funnel cakes. Oh, those were GOOD!

First Grace used her tiny little fingers to stuff the legs and arms.


The arms and legs got sewn onto the body on my VERY OLD very apple green sewing machine.


Before the stuffing, the doll looked a little plain.

Grace did her best to get the stuffing into every nook and cranny of this baby.




I sewed the head together and we started putting on the "hair."


Our finished masterpiece. She was so proud of herself. She named it Anna.
We've even cracked open the storage box, and gotten out the Little House on the Prairie collection of books. I'm so proud. I remember reading every one of them, cover to cover. It took me back, and when I could see the stories unfold on the TV program, it was even better.

A couple of years ago my husband and I watched a series on PBS about people from today, being sent out to the open, and reinventing "Pioneer Life" in the 21st century. Some had a really hard time, and there was a lot of crying. Some did great, and really adapted well. I'm not sure how I would've handled it. To have baking be an all day experience, I don't know....let alone the way they had to wash their clothes. I'm pretty glad for modern conveniences, but I can't help to romanticize it a little in my head.

It's nice to be taken back to a good memory. I'm glad Grace is enjoying herself.

Home for a rest

I'm sure I've mentioned in the last several posts how busy our family has been lately. Last week was HORRIBLE! Something every night. Plus, the "bug" has hit our school. There are plenty of kids out everyday, and the kids and I caught whatever is hanging around school. It's just that with the week we had last week, and Upwards this past Saturday, today it finally materialized and the kids are home with slight fevers today. So, today we're having a pajama day.

Not that I mind.


We all need a little snuggle time every once in awhile.....


And some friends to do it with.


We even have the stuffed up noses, and chapped lips to prove it. The cream under the nose is to keep the redness away. We all might really be pathetic today.

I'm gonna try to get my meal list and grocery list made today, though.


Here's the master list of main dishes and sides. Now I only have to match them up in different combinations.



I might even crack open my idea book today, and put the projects I want to do into my up-to-date to do binder.

I have high hopes for today even though we're under the weather. It might be nice to have my sense of smell back. I can't even smell the Vicks I'm putting under my nose.....
I think the cuddly bed I just changed the sheets on is calling my name.