Happy Holidays!

Love the holidays! I am so in love with my little home when it's lit with twinkling lights and warm with candle light! I also love holiday treats! I bake almost every day during the season. Today we are making sugar cookies using my arctic shapes! Igloos, Eskimos, penguins, polar bears and snowflakes. I also made a tasty, savory treat for lunch today, ham & cheese pinwheels. There are a ton of variations for these but today I stuck with a simple recipe.

Here's what you'll need:
-1 package of refridgerated Crescent dough (I use Pillsbury, you can find it with triangle seams or without)
-6 to 8 slices of ham (I use Hormel Naturals lunch meat)
-6 slices of cheese (any kind you like, I used shredded cheddar today because I was out of Swiss slices, but do what you'd like)
-1 Tbsn of mustard (whatever you like, Dijon would be good, I used spicy brown because it's what I had. You could also use dressing, maybe ranch or honey mustard!)
-a sprinkling of sesame seeds

Directions:
-roll your dough out on a cutting board. If you have seams, press them together
-spread mustard evenly on the dough, I used a pastry brush
-place meat slices evenly over the dough, a little overlapping is fine
-place cheese over the meat
-sprinkle with sesame seeds
-spray a baking sheet with nonstick spray
-begin rolling the dough, (like a jelly roll), make sure you're rolling it as tight as possible, it'll make cutting it easier
-using a knife, begin cutting the roll into pinwheels, (about 1/2 inch thick slices)
-place cut side down on baking sheet
-bake at 375 for 12 minutes or until tips are brown
-let them cool for a few minutes so the melted cheese sets up just a bit, then enjoy!

Past Few Lunches

It's been a 'countdown to Halloween' lunch theme this week. There's no school on Friday, but here's Mon-Thurs lunches from this week.

Experimental Halloween Sweet Treats!

I made a tasty Halloween treat today! Candy Corn Cookie Bars! It's super simple & super tasty.

Ingredients:
-1 package of dry, sugar cookie dough mix (I used Target's brand, Market Pantry)
-1 egg
-1 stick (1/2 cup) of melted butter or margarine
-1 container of white or cream cheese frosting

Directions:
-preheat over to 375 degrees
-choose to use either a round pie dish or a square baking dish, (see below for specifics)
-mix together melted butter, cookie and egg, and mix well with electric mixer
-split the dough into 2 equal parts and separate into 2 bowls
-use red & yellow food coloring to color one bowl of dough yellow and the other orange
-Spread the yellow dough into a well greased baking dish, pressing down as you go to cover the entire area. Spread the orange dough over the yellow.
-bake for 16 minutes or until the top browns just a bit and the dough is cookie through the middle.
-allow to cool completely and then frost
-place in the fridge for 30 minutes (thus makes it easier to cut with cleaner lines)
-if you used square dish, cut into 9 equal squares, then cut each square diagonally into 2 triangle. You'll have 18 candy corn cookie bars!
-if you used a round dish, cut as you would cut a pie.

Catching Up

I've been slack about updating with pictures of lunches. Here's what I've made since the last update. Enjoy!

Friday Family Movie Night

We started family movie night on Fridays over 2 years ago. It has been a great things for us, something to look forward to each week. We always have pizza and we always pick out a tasty sweet treat. Tonight we watched Madagascar 3, super cute! I bought it at Target for $19.99, but it came with the DVD, Blue Ray disk, digital copy and a rainbow wig! So cute. We had pizza & wings for dinner and snacked on cookies from Great American Cookie Company, (snickerdoodles & pumpkin spice!). Great night, even better tradition!

Here's a picture of today's lunch.

Best biscuits ever!

I just made biscuits from a recipe I found on Pinterest. They're called 7Up biscuits and they are AMAZING! I'm going to post the full recipe, but I halved it and it turned out great.

4 cups of Biscuick
1/2 cup of sour cream
1/2 cup of 7Up
1/4 cup of melted butter

Cut sour cream into Bisquick, mixing well, then add the 7Up.

Use more Bisquick to dust a cutting board and roll the dough out on to it. You will have to add more Bisquick as you work with the dough as it will be sticky in the beginning. Use a juice glass or small circle cutter to cut biscuits from the dough.

Melt the butter into a round baking pan, then put the biscuits in. It's okay that they touch, they'll put apart easily when they're done.

Bake at 425° for about 15 minutes or until the tops are golden.

Saving Dough

With the Holidays quickly approaching, I'm looking at all REASONABLE money saving alternatives. I'm definitely not ready to start making my own laundry detergent, (I considered it until I realized I would need an electric paint mixer!), or making my own pet food, (more meals I'd have to prepare every day!). I did try making my own fabric refresher spray using directions I found on Pinterest but it was a bust.

I did come up with one way to save $, curb my son's gadget addiction and develop his math skills. I usually give him $4 per week if he does his chores, (basic things like tending to the animals, cleaning his room, wiping down the bathroom counter, folding & putting away laundry, etc). I decides this week he would earn iPod & Xbox minutes by doing his usual tasks. Basically, the time spent completing the chores is equal to the minutes he earns, (although he does NOT know this, as I believe he'd take an hour to scoop the litter box!). I save money, I get help with the housework and he improves his math skills by adding up his minutes! Win, win!

We have a taco night practically every week. I spend at least $3 on the kits, (seasoning, shells & sauce that we don't even use). If I buy the shells separate it's only $1. If I buy the seasoning pack separate it's about $1.29. Already saving money. If I make the seasoning with spices I already have an rarely use I save even more! (You can get great deals on seasonings at Target. They put them on clearance as they approach the 'sell by' date, just go ahead & make batches of seasoning mixes & store them in the freezer!) I gave it a try today & it worked out great! I made enough for 2 taco nights, (using 4 Tbsp each time), with this recipe:
2 Tbsp chili powder
2 Tbsp garlic powder
2 Tbsp onion powder
1 Tbsp ground cumin
1/2 Tbsp salt
1/2 Tbsp cayenne pepper (use more if you like it spicy)

Mix it up well, seal in an airtight container or bag. I put a baggie into my plastic container, and dumped the spices in, then sealed the bag & gave it a good shake to mix it all up. Then I put the sealed baggie back into the container and put the plastic lid on with a label. You will use 4 Tbsp per 1lb of beef or chicken.

Actual taco meat recipe:
-Brown 1lb of ground beef (or use 1lb of cooked, shredded chicken)
-Drain fat and return to pan
-Add 4 Tbsp of taco seasoning and 2/3 cup of water and mix well
-Bring meat mixture to a bubble, reduce heat to med-low and cook for 8 minutes or until the liquid is absorbed.

Cake Construction

Scotty asked for an Angry Bird birthday cake this year. I decided to try using fondant for the first time. It certainly wasn't easy but it turned out well and I'm really happy with the outcome. The recipe was simple enough, I Googled 'easy marshmallow fondant'. Basically, it's a marshmallows, powdered sugar, water & vanilla. The ingredients were the easy part, actually mixing it & getting the right consistancy was not easy! My arms ached for days! The birds & pigs are fondant, the logs of wood were sugar wafer cookies rolled up in fondant, and I used gel food colors mixed with vanilla extract to 'paint' them all. I made them 3 days early, let them air dry most of an afternoon and then refridgerated them for 2 days. I made the cake a day before the party and frosted it the day of. Scotty drafted a picture for me to use as a reference and I took pictures as I went to remember how to construct it at the party. I didn't add the fondant pieces until just before the party began. It turned out great, Scotty & his pals loved it!

Angry Bird Birthday!

Today was Scotty's 8th birthday party. He had a great day at the climbing wall at James Island County Park with his friends. I can't believe how brave he was to climb all the way to the top of that 50ft wall! He chose an Angry Birds theme, and we went ALL out. I spent days creating the cake, (my first time making & molding marshmallow fondant), and sewing the red bird felt hand puppets. I've had very little sleep but it was worth it. He said it was the best birthday ever, (of course, he says that every year). We served all bird themed snacks. We made Angry Bird mix, with pretzel sticks, Angry Birds Cheez-Its & potato sticks. I drew bird & pig faces on clementines with a Sharpie marker. We also had bird food veggies, carrots & celery and piggy potato chips & dip. I made food label flags with construction paper, markers and wooden skewers. And if course, an Angry Birds themed cake with cupcakes. I used regular helium balloons and construction paper to create bird & pig balloons. The goodie bags were clear cellophane bags filled with Angry Birds stickers, pencils, Angry Bird fruit snacks & a swirly lollipop in an Angry Bird cup. I also made each child an felt hand puppet, (I was rethinking that decision at 3am last night when I was struggling to finish!). The kids loved it, so it was worth it. Don't think I'll be taking on so much next year, though! The kids had a blast climbing the walls. I can't believe how well they did! It is a great place to have a party if you're tired of the same ole' stuff. All of the info can be found on the ccprc.com site. Definately worth the cost and I think all the grown ups enjoyed it, too! Now I am in need of a lot of sleep! Gotta rest up for his actual birthday next Saturday! 20 more cupcakes to make for school on Friday and planning for his BIG birthday surprise next weekend...stay tuned, it's going to be awesome!!!

Getting Back Into It

Looks like I'm headed back to work soon. Very, VERY part time, but working out of the house, nonetheless. I think it will be good for me to get out of the house again, I'm beginning to become a little bit lonely these days. I'm not looking forward to doing my hair & make-up again, took me a long time today, I'm out of practice!

I'm making my crockpot potato soup again this week. It's so good & so easy, check out the recipe on the blog from 8/31/12, 'Good Day For Doing Nothing'.

Here are a few lunches as of late: Adventure Time's Finn & Jake, Froggy, Pirates, Movie Night, Football, Candace & Perry from Phineas & Ferb and Cat & Mouse!

September 22nd

Today is a big day for our family. My parents are celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary. Wow, that's a ling time. I remember the day Lucian walked into my life, he picked my mom up for a date & I took to him immediately. I guess I was about 4 years old. Best thing that could've happened to us, that man is.

Today is also my niece's birthday. 25 years old, I think. I remember the day she was born vividly. She was a handful as a toddler, couldn't have imagined what a wonderful mother she'd become! So young, but so mature, caring for 3 children and dealing with the everyday stress that comes with being an Army wife. Wish I could be with her today and let her have a little bit of time to enjoy her day, or at least use the toilet alone in peace!

We watched part 1 of the miniseries, Dinotopia, last night. It was good. I look forward to seeing the next 2 parts. We picked up churros during our Costco trip yesterday and snacked on those during the movie, so tasty, (even if they aren't 'traditional').

We've had a ton of fun lunches lately that I haven't posted yet, I'll work on catching up this week!

Birthday Season

Man oh man, planning a party for my son is one heckuva task. We're always trying to find something different, we've been to pool parties, jump castle parties, museum parties, karate parties, Chuck E Cheese parties, Monkey Joes parties, bowling parties, etc. I find it difficult to pay large sums of money for the venue. It just seems crazy when kid's would be just as happy at a FREE park, but did I mention that you have to pay for a permit to have a party at a city park? I think we've decided on a climbing party at the county park's climbing wall with an Angry Birds theme. Trouble is, the dates we wanted aren't available, which mean it will have to be a week before his birthday, (and on Pappy's birthday), and Scott will only get 5ish hours of sleep after working all night before the party. Let's hope for the best! I've added a picture of Scotty climbing the wall on Saturday.

As an actually birthday gift, I think we might give him an experience, opposed to another toy. As any parent of a child would probably agree, there are WAY too many toys in this house. He's wanted to go to the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta for a while now to see the whale sharks. Scott & I want to go, too! I've been looking at hotels & I think the Embassy Suites at Centennial Park may be the way to go. Any friends from Atlanta have advice on this?

Monday's lunch is another ocean theme, hot dog jellyfish & dolphin cheese.

Guy's Afternoon

It's official, my baby is growing up and Mommy no longer rules his universe. Scotty asked me on Monday evening if 'just Dad' could pick him up from school so they could have a 'guy's afternoon' and just do guy stuff. His exact words were, 'well, Mom, I don't want to hurt your feelings, but do you think it'd be okay for just Dad to pick me up from school so we can have a guy's afternoon? We could do, well, I don't know, like, guy stuff or something like that'. Yesterday he got his wish. Apparently, guy stuff involves trips to Dad's office, the grocery store and PetSmart. He was happy, but disappointed that Scott picked him up in my car & not the truck. Apparently, guys need to ride in trucks. I can't believe how quickly he's growing up, he's matured so much in just a couple of months. I need to find a way to stop time.

This week has been hectic do there haven't been any extravagant dinners, although I did make a huge batch of chili to take to a BBQ on Tuesday night and it turned out AWESOME! Scott grilled pork chops last night. As well, and I made a salad & mashed potatoes. It was great. Tonight we have soccer practice, so dinner will be something simple. I've got to get to the grocery store & get back on track with meal planning. I'm hoping to try the monthly meal planning soon, maybe it'll help me budget my grocery spending and discourage eating out.

Here's the chili recipe I used if you need to make A LOT, this filled the big crock pot and fed a bunch of people. Great for games, cook outs, etc.
Ingredients:
-3 lbs of ground beef (I used extra lean, as draining that much meat could be seriously challenging!)
-1 large diced onion
-1 large diced green bell pepper
-1 diced jalapeño
-1 large 29 oz can if diced tomatoes
-2 large 29 oz cans of tomato sauce
-3 cans of beans, undrained (I used 1 can of light red kidney beans, 1 can of dark red and 1 can of pinto beans, but you could use whatever you like)
-6 tablespoons of chili powder
-4 teaspoons of garlic powder
-2 teaspoons of ground cumin
-salt & pepper to taste (I do this toward the end, as the liquid from the beans has a lit if sodium usually)

Directions:
-brown the meat, onion & peppers and drain in a large pot on the stovetop
-add tomatoes, tomato sauce and spices and bring to a boil, then remove from the stove and pour into your crockpot
-cook on high for 2 hours
-add beans and taste test for salt & pepper
-turn the crockpot to the warm setting and keep it there until it's gone or you refrigerate leftovers!

If you didn't want to use a crockpot, you'd bring the meat, tomatoes, sauce & spices to a boil, then turn to med-low, cover, simmer for 1.5 hours. Add beans, salt & pepper and heat on low until warmed through.



I haven't posted lunches every day, so here's a catch up:

Thank You Isn't Enough

What a terrible, frightening day we experienced 11 years ago. I didn't sleep last night, I read an old copy of People magazine that we've kept all of these years and we knew so little just a couple of days after the attack. Everything was still so unsettled and scary. God bless everyone who gave that day and those who continue the fight today. I don't even have words to express my pride and gratitude, thank you just isn't enough.

I remember driving to work the next day and seeing a man hanging an American flag off of an overpass. I cried, I felt so much sadness for the victims and so much pride in my countrymen. It's sad that it took a national tragedy of that degree to being us all together, but what a wonderful feeling it was to see people connecting like we did. And I still feel it, 11 years later. I would challenge everyone to live and love like they did that first week of our 'new' life as Americans. We told our families we loved them more times than usual, we hugged them a little tighter than usual and we were a little more polite, patient and helpful than usual. If you pay attention today, everyone that talks about where they were seems to recall what a beautiful day it was. Let us try remember every day that way. It's so easy to get caught up in the 'stuff' that's thrown at us each day, and in dealing with the unpleasant things we tend to overlook all of the good things that are happening around us. There's far more going right than going wrong. I promise.

In honor of today, we packed a Patriot's lunch.

Soccer Season Has Begun

Soccer season kicked off yesterday. Scotty's game was great, he played hard & I was so proud of him! He earned a trip to Krispy Kreme for his effort! We went back out to the fields to watch out little friend play her first game and got caught in a drenching rain shower. It was still a great day, I can't remember the last time I played outside in the rain!

I found a great dinner idea on Pinterest this morning. It's called 'dump chicken' and there are tons of different recipes. You prepare them ahead of time, freeze in a bag & use it when you want.

http://whenthedinnerbellrings.blogspot.com/2011/06/super-easy-way-to-getting-meals-ready.html?m=1

If you are going to cook it in the oven, you have to thaw it first. I think I'm going to try it in the crock pot, just dumping the frozen block in there & cook on low for 8 hours. I'll let you know how it works out! I think they'll be perfect for Thursdays, (we have soccer practice at 5:30 on Thursday's, so I need easy meals that are waiting on us when we get home).

"Skip" Days...We All Deserve 'Em

So I skipped blogging yesterday. Scotty was sick the night before, sneezing & coughing all night long so neither of us got much sleep. Therefore, he skipped school and we slept on until after 9am. By noon he was actually much better, but we were enjoying our day on the sofa so he missed the entire school day. He was feeling great by 5:30, so we made soccer practice. It was the best practice he's ever had, (guess all of that resting served him well), he played so well. I'm really looking forward to the first game of the season on Saturday morning.

I made The Lorax and a truffle tree for his lunch today. It's adorable, if I do say so myself. He's been eating so well lately and trying new fruits & veggies, it's completely attributed to his lunches. If you've got a picky eater then I suggesting getting a little creative with their plate.

Glad Yesterday Is Over!

Wow, yesterday was one heckuva day. I spent 3 hours trying to fix the non-draining dishwasher, unsuccessfully. Called the repairman who said he'd be here at 5pm, (showed up around 6:40pm), he spent 1 hour working on it and charged us over $200. I could practically buy a new one for that amount! And did I mention he didn't need to replace any parts, and he used OUR tools, bucket & towels AND scraped 8 of my tiles on the floor. It's on, Mr Fix It, you'll be refunding some of that money.

We also had more issues with Comcast cable. They still haven't finished work from the lightening strike that happened on July 19th. Almost 2 months have gone by and they still can't come over to finish the work or return our calls. When you call the customer service number, you talk to someone in Asia. When we asked for a supervisor in Charleston, the rep said, 'I can have you speak with a supervisor here in Asia'. No, thank you. Hubby drove over to the Comcast office and finally got some resolution, (hopefully), and a promise that they'll take care if it. Fingers crossed, cause we've heard this story before.

I also missed the fact that it was PTO/Open House night at school, so we were rushing to get there in time. We also had to skip taco Tuesday, maybe it'll be taco Wednesday this week. I enjoyed touring Scotty's class, though. I found this entry in his journal in his desk.

Today's lunch is Spongebob Squarepants themed! I love it! The menu is: Spongebob Sandwich Pants, 'seaweed' noodles, (egg noodles boiled in water with green food coloring), pineapple under the sea and Gary's gummies. I think it's going to be one of his favorites so far.

Hope today goes better than yesterday!