February Menu

I'm doing it.  I'm posting my menu for February.  I'm trying something new.  I'm going to see if I can get my menu posted here, and I was able to put some links on the menus for the recipes.  Hopefully this will help.  I'll make a few notes following.

February Menu







I hope that this link works.  I have my whole February Menu up with links to recipes if I have them. 
I already shopped this week for the end of January through February 2nd.  I had to get ground beef for lunches this week, so I ended up figuring out what I needed from Sam's Club for the whole month.  When I got home, I had to put a roast in a freeze bag and put it in the freezer, separate a container of chicken and put them in freezer bags and put that in the freezer, separate some sausage and put them in the freezer, and cut up a pork loin and put that in the freezer.  I ended up cutting an 8lb. pork loin in fourths, then cutting each of those in half and putting two 1lb. sections in each freezer bag, but with the last 2lb. pork loin, I cut it into 4 smaller slices, making 8 boneless pork chops at $1.99 a pound.  Good deal, when boneless pork chops are usually almost $4 a pound or more. I ended up putting the ground beef out in the garage, where the temperatures were nice and cool, and I could deal with the ground beef the next day.

Today, as I posted on Facebook, I put 1lb. of ground beef in a freezer bag for Taco Soup, 4lb. in a freezer bag for a double batch of spinach lasagna I'm going to make, 4lb. in a bag for a quadruple batch of spaghetti sauce I am going to make, 1.5lb. for shepherd's pie, and 1.5 lb. for six 1/4lb. hamburger patties. Then I cooked up 2 sets of 2lb. for crockpot chili that is going in the freezer, 2lb. for beef stew that I added other items to and put in the freezer, and 2lb. for taco meat that is got separated into baggies and will be going in the kids lunches this week for "walking tacos". It worth a couple hours of my time on the weekends to make weekday cooking much easier. 

This week:
Monday: Crockpot Chili (still on the January menu).  Everything is already put together. I just have to pull out the crockpot, throw in the bag of ground beef and vegetables, add tomato sauce, crushed tomatoes, garlic salt, pepper & chili powder. 
Tuesday: Lasagna Casserole.  This was made last month, and we only ate half of it, so we have the other half in the freezer to pull out and reheat. 
Wednesday: Breakfast for Dinner - eggs, bacon, fruit, hash browns.
Thursday: Savory Vegetable Beef Soup, already put together and ready to throw in the crockpot. 

That brings us to February. 
I'll make some Taco Soup, which is easy to prepare, and I will probably make some guacamole.  This recipe really rocks!  Guacamole 

Saturday I'll do my grocery shopping for the rest of the week. I do have Calzone's on the menu for Sunday, but with Ryan's gifted program, and going to one of my BFF's house for the Superbowl, we may not eat them.  Either that, or I'll prepare them and make them and bring them.  Maybe I can modify it to make mini calzones! 
Monday: I already have the chicken in the freezer.  I just have to defrost, cut up and cook.  
Tuesday: Cranberry Pork Roast.  I just mix the sauce and put it over the pork loin, which is already portioned in the freezer and let it cook all day. 
Wednesday: The Pollo El Paso is a dish we normally do in the summer.  It calls for the chicken to be grilled.  I will probably make it in a saute pan on the stove.  We'll see.  Sometimes we serve it cut up, and I might do that this time as well. 
Thursday: The Southwest Chopped Chicken Salad is a new meal that I've never done before, but it looks fairly easy. 
Friday: Velveeta Soup is total comfort food.  It only takes about half an hour to make.  I might do some prep work for some of these meals on Saturday the 2nd.  We'll see.

On Saturday, February 9th, I'll do some grocery shopping for the next week.  I need to get the ingredients to make a quadruple batch of Spinach Lasagna.  I'll probably spend a good portion of my day on Saturday between shopping and making that. It's another fairly easy week, so not a whole lot to do. 
Sunday: The Chicken & Spinach Enchiladas are already in the freezer from a cooking session in January. 
Monday: The Smoky Spicy Grilled Salmon will be on the stove instead of grilled, but the corn & black bean salad is easy to do. 
Tuesday: The Savory Vegetable Beef Soup is already in the freezer, and ready to throw in the crockpot for Tuesday. 
Wednesday: The Philly Cheese Steak Stuffed Peppers are a new dish I haven't tried before.  The kids will not like the peppers.  Well, Delaney might.  So we might throw the innards on some bread for the boys.  We'll see.  But it's just an assembly thing.  Not a big thing.  If we like it, then the next time I put it on the menu, I'll make enough so that we can freeze a bunch and pull them out and cook them.  Thursday: The pizza is already in the freezer - I was thinking of ordering Papa Johns, but I decided we were going to go with the Aldi Deli pizzas that are pretty big and will feed us all. 
Friday: Andy will probably make the Grilled Cheese Sandwiches & Tomato Soup. He's getting pretty good at that. 
Saturday: We'll go out for Andy's birthday.

On Saturday, February 16th, before we go out to eat, I will go grocery shopping.  I plan to bring home the ingredients for a quadruple batch of the spaghetti sauce, and a quadruple batch of the Potato, Spinach & Tomato Soup.  I'll cook up the spaghetti sauce before we go out to eat, and when I get home, I'll finish cooking it, if needed.  And on Sunday, I'll cook up the soup and have many batches ot freeze. 
Monday, we get Chili again.  By then, I'll have the green peppers, onions & celery in the freezer so that all I will have to do is open up the bag and dump it in the crockpot. 
Tuesday: The roast will come out of the freezer and go in the crockpot.  There is enough, that we will probably have plenty to make Leftover Beef Enchiladas.  I have a recipe for that, which I will share later.
Wednesday: We'll probably do eggs, bacon, hashbrowns & fruit.  But maybe by then we'll want to do an egg casserole, or pancakes, or waffles, or chocolate waffle sticks.  We still have plenty of time to decide, and it's nice to have some flexibility in the schedule.
Thursday: I will take a batch of the sauce I made on Saturday and throw it in the crockpot.  Yummy, yummy, yummy!  (It's a littel spicy.  You can play around with the spices if you don't like it spicy.  But it's SO GOOD spicy like that!)
Friday: Reubens & Soup.  I might do a premade soup, or see if we have anything around in the house.  I know I have several kinds of soup.  But in all likelyhood, we'll probably take one of the batches of the Potato, Spinach & Tomato Soup I make up on Sunday and eat it with our Reubens.  My family really likes that soup and would be thrilled to have it again in the same week.
Saturday: The Roasted Italian Pork Tenderloin is easy to make.  I have to double the coating, and we usually end up leaving it in the oven longer than the recipe calls for.  We use our meat thermometer to check for doneness.  It's worth it though.

I'll do my shopping for the next week on Saturday the 23rd.   It's not much of a "pre-prepped" week, but it's not a difficult week. 
Sunday:  I've already got the beef & veggies for the Shepherd's Pie.  I'll have to do minimal work.
Monday: I already have the fish.  I just have to decide what to put with it.  There are so many options.
Tuesday: This is a dish that doesn't take a ton of prep work, but we just make it the day of.
Wednesday:  This is a dish that our family likes, and I end up using 8 eggs.  But I also end up making a double batch.  So, I will end up with four quiches, and I freeze two of them.  Our family will eat two quiches in one dinner.
Thursday:  The burgers are already prepared and in the freezer.  We'll pan cook them this month. 
This week includes March, so I will probably end up either doing something that is already in the freezer, or maybe I'll try something new.  We will see!

Brag post. Feel free to skip.

On Sunday, I took Ryan to a gifted program that he is enrolled in, and I attended a seminar called "Challenges Facing Gifted Children and How Parents Can Be Supportive." I gleaned a plethora of information, and I've known that Zane exhibits a lot of characteristics of a gifted child, but the seminar made it much more obvious.  I know there are children that are way more gifted than mine, but it's really neat to see some of these things jump out.  One of the characteristics involve thinking an idea through and putting a plan in place. 

Tonight, Zane was on the computer, playing a stupid game, which I hadn't approved.  I had to explain to him why I didn't think it was a good idea for him to play it, and I told him that I wanted him to try a "Learn to type" website, just for 10 minutes. I talked to him about what a smart kid he is, and how one day, he is probably going to do something really amazing, and I told him that he is going to want to get his ideas down, and if he knows how to type, it will just make things easier for him.  I also told him that he was going to be innovative.  He asked me what that meant, so I told him, and he tried to hide a smile in his hands, but I still saw it.  I think he likes the idea that he is innovative.  I told him I only expected 10 minutes from him today.  After a little resistance, he finally decided that he would do it.  At the end of the 10 minutes, he called me over and said, "Mom!  This taught me something!  I can type something without looking at the keyboard."  He only did the basic keys:  aaasssdddfffjjjkkklll;;; But he did it without looking, and he was really proud of himself.

Anyway, for the rest of my story, he came upstairs while Andy and I were working on dishes, and he was eating some peanuts.  We were talking about peanuts, and baseball games, and other things, and Zane came up with a really cool idea, that might even be innovative.  He explained to us what he wanted to do with the peanut, and how he would do it.  Then he said that he would have a way to make a lot of them, and then he would take the money he makes from selling the product, and he would use it to buy machines to do it for him, and then that would make a lot more, and he would hire people to do some things.  I could have recorded it, or asked him to tell me it again so I could type it up, but I actually think it could be a good idea, so I am going to not write it here, because maybe some day, he will actually make it happen, and it will sell.

Anyway, he finished his little spiel, and Andy and I just looked at each other.  I told Zane that was a very innovative idea (his eyes lit up!) and then talked to Andy about the seminar and how it related to what just happened.  I am going to have to get Zane into one of those programs as well.  I need to get my hands on more resources, because I have a feeling that with the right tools, and a little bit of nudging, they could fill their days when they are not at school with some pretty amazing stuff.

Crock Pot Chili - from my November Freezer cooking

Crockpot Chili

I don't have a link for this.  I did get it from a friend I only know online, and I barely see her around anymore.  It's simple.  And Andy and I work together to get this put together and in the freezer so that on chili day, all we need to do is grab a bag from the freezer, pop it in the crockpot, open 4 cans, add a few spices, and let it cook all day.

2 lbs. ground chuck

1 or 2 med. onions, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

3 to 4 sticks celery, chopped

1 (28 oz.) can crushed tomatoes

1 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce

2 cans kidney beans

1 tsp. pepper

3 tsp. chili powder

1 tsp. garlic salt 

When I buy the ground beef, I end up going to Sam's Club and getting a 10lb. tube.  Sometimes I use the whole thing and just make up 5 batches of chili.  Sometimes I split it up for other things.  Depending on how much room you have, you can make however many you want, and you get all the prep work done at once, and putting it together is a cinch.  It's worth the extra time.

Andy cooks up about 2-4 batches of ground beef, 2lb. at a time.  He drains the grease, puts the beef in another dish to cool while he starts cooking another batch.  Then he puts the cooled beef in a gallon freezer bag. 

While he's doing that, I chop the onions, green pepper & celery for the equivalent number of batches.  I put the chopped veggies on top of the ground beef, and we label the freezer bag and put it in the freezer.

Since the canned goods have a long shelf life, I usually buy enough of the canned goods so we have them on hand.  Then, if we want chili on a whim,we don't have to remember to plan for the rest of the ingredients.

On chili day, we combine all the ingredients in the crockpot.  We've started using 1tsp. of chipotle chili powder and 2tsp. of regular chili powder, and it gives it a nice kick, but not too spicy.  We let it cook for 6-8 hours.  In the past we've served it with corn bread or muffins or corn casserole, and we've ended up with quite a bit left over for lunches.  But lately, we've just been putting a little bit of cheese and oyster crackers on it, and that has been filling us up plenty.

Teacher Conferences

We had Teacher conferences for the kids today.  In the past, they've done them at the end of first quarter, when we get our report cards.  Now they are doing them a month in so we know what goals the teachers have for them.  So proud of my kids.  

Delaney is in the high group for reading.  On the Fountas & Pinnell scale, she is at Level G.  The expected level for first graders is to be at level G by third quarter.  She is doing amazingly well, and I'm sure that by the end of the year, she'll be well past the benchmark of Level I.  She's also doing well in math.  Her teacher thinks she may have self esteem issues, but she is just shy and will warm up in another month or two. Her teacher says we should give her lots of encouragement and praise and tell her she's doing well. We feel that we do this in a healthy dose, so it's definitely not about her not getting enough praise and encouragement at home.  

Part of me wants to say that she does it for attention, but if I say that, and it is a self-esteem issue, then I am not helping the problem.  She has been acting up a bit lately, and when she gets in trouble, or things aren't going her way, she says that everyone hates her.  Then two minutes later, she is fine and says she loves everyone, and that Mommy is the best Mommy ever, and Daddy is the best Daddy, etc.  Her brothers do chide her and tell her she's stupid, or when she talks about fun, exciting stuff that she's learning, they tell her she's dumb, and that they've known that a long time.  They get in trouble for it, and it stops for a little bit, and then they do it again.  I doubt that really is the reason behind her behavior.  I think that she is just a little shy, and still needs time to warm up and get comfortable with everyone and her environment.  Her teacher did say that sometimes Delaney will raise her hand, and when her teacher calls on her, sometimes her face gets really red, and she acts like she forgets the answer or she is afraid to answer the question.  So, I talked to Delaney about it today, and she said that she sometimes doesn't remember the question.  So, I told her that she needs to ask the teacher to repeat the question, because she knows the answer, and will remember it as soon as the teacher repeats the question.  I don't really know what to do about that.  I should probably just talk to Delaney about how things are going with that and then touch base with the teacher again in a month or two.

Our next stop was with Zane's teacher.  She was so uplifting.  We walked in, and right away she had such nice things to say about him.  She said that he is just a joy to have in her class, and that he's doing well.  She says he is fairly quiet, and subdued and works on his assignments, but she loves it when he starts to get a big smile on his face, and she knows he's got something to share with the class.  He will then go into a story or a description about something.  Zane loves to talk, and when he is allowed to, he could probably go on for quite a while.  He is very creative and has an extremely active imagination.  I'm sure that he tells stories that are made up, and other things that he imagines he'd like to see happen.  I've told my stories about the boys talking about planting a money tree, and then buying all kinds of things.  Zane is definitely the instigator and dreamer of all things imaginable.  Zane's teacher also said that he is a great helper, and he always knows when her things are ready on the copier.  He sits near the door, so she frequently has him go and get things for her.  She also knows he has ADHD, and I wouldn't be surprised if this is just an activity that she uses for him so he can get a little break and come back refreshed and ready to delve into his next task.

Zane tested very high on the Reading test.  His reading level on the Fountas & Pinnell scale is an X!  The highest level for a fifth grader is Level V, so he is above a 5th grade reading level.  He is placed in the advanced guided reading group.  

He also tested very high on Math and has been identified as Gifted in Math.  His teacher was surprised that he wasn't identified as gifted in reading, because he tested high in reading as well, but sometimes it is more than just the scores.  They don't really do anything different for those gifted in reading until 4th grade anyway.  But I am super proud of him.  

I did talk to his teacher about the AR reading tests.  It doesn't seem like he has a lot of opportunities to take the tests, because they only have two computers and a lot of kids.  But I did talk to her about possibly having a weekly goal on the AR tests, or giving him expectations that are a little higher, because we think that he is sliding by with the smaller ones, and that I'd rather see him get close to a higher goal, than to just make a goal that is really low, when I think he could possibly be capable of more. I don't want to set him up to feel like a failure, but I know last year, he had a goal of about 15 for the quarter, and I think he could have done a lot more than that.  If he had a goal of 25, and ended up getting 20 or 22, then he'd be doing much better than the lower limit of 15, and maybe he wouldn't be making the higher goal, but he'd be doing much better than what he was previously being slated for.  And if he doesn't make it, we lower it a little for the next time, but not the super low level, because I feel he can do more.  The teacher asked me if he had any food sensitivities, or things we don't give him.  I told her that he did not.  She asked if she would be okay with her bribing him for meeting his reading goals.  I told her that I am bribing him with three packs of gum for reading Percy Jackson and the Lightening Thief.  She said she might like to bribe him with a full size candybar.  I told her she could go for it. She seems excited!  And I am too, because I know he is a good reader. We just need to get something that will get him to focus and do his reading.  I am also trying to sit down and read while he is reading so that he has someone near him.  The only catch with that, is that sometimes he has to read aloud so he can concentrate on what he's reading, and then it distracts me.  Oh well.  It's worth it.

Finally we had Ryan's conference.  Ryan was in the gifted Math last year.  They don't really have a separate program for the gifted math, although he participated in the Math Bowl.  I am sure I will find out by the end of the quarter if he's in gifted math again this year.  He is in the gifted reading program this year, so he gets pulled out of class daily to work on higher level things with reading.  They are doing some stories from the Ceasars English book and they have spelling and vocabulary words that are latin & greek and roots.  He's doing pretty good with them so far.

He's reading at the Fountas & Pinnell Level R.  Zane's rather proud that he's reading at a higher level than Ryan, but Ryan is doing extremely well with reading big books, and taking AR test. So, each of them have their strengths in reading, but both are doing extremely well.  Ryan is also in the 99th percent for math.  His test scores are great, and the teacher showed us that the mistakes that he's made with his math tests are not comprehension of the math problems themselves, but just reading the problems carefully. A lot of them are word problems.  She gave us an example where he got a problem wrong, where he was supposed to round numbers that were decimals, and then add those to get the estimated number.  He did the rounding correctly on three of the four, and added those up correctly, and just forgot that the fourth number was in there.  So he shows that he knows what to do, but needs to make sure that he's checking the whole problem.  

His teacher and his gifted reading program teacher both said that they have noticed small disruptions, where he is making silly faces at his classmates, but he is reminded to stop and pay attention, and he does.  But we will talk to him and remind him as well.

It took us 20 minutes with each teacher.  We took the kids to the school library and asked the librarian if it was okay if they were in there to pick out books from the book fair while we attended the conferences. I told her that we knew they would be on their best behavior.  We did this last year as well, and they did great.  She said she knew they would be fine.  We stopped in between each conference, just so they knew how much time they had.  When we were done with conferences, we checked to see what books the kids picked out, and worked with them to make sure they really were choosing something they wanted.  It's always nice to have the book fair going on during conferences.

Afterwards, we came home and an hour later, we turned around and went to Luigi's for their football fundraiser.  I swear, Luigi's has the best pizza.  So, we got to eat pizza, and I didn't have to cook!

Fishing and the Weekend

Andy left on Friday morning to go on a camping/fishing trip with his buddy Al. I made plans to go visit his wife, Kelly, who is also one of my bff's. I was delayed because I had to get something finished for work. (It's been a little bit of a trying week). 

We had a really nice time, and the kids loved hanging out and playing together. We stayed later than we should have, but it's so hard to leave sometimes. 

I got the kids to bed, although that came with it's own set of struggles. Delaney had fallen asleep in the car on the way home, and I carried her to bed, but shortly after I kissed her goodnight, she came out of the room and wanted to work on her homework. (sigh) 

We were all up at 7am. That is way too early for me. We had to get breakfast, and put the ice in the cooler for the drinks since we were providing team drinks for Zane's game. Then we went to the field for Zane to do warmups. We were there for a little while, and talked to the husband of one of my other friends. We were playing their son, whom Delaney happens to have a crush on (yes, Lisa, if you're reading this, if I've never mentioned it to you before, I recently discovered that Luke is Delaney's crush). 

Anyway, the coach's wife got there, so I had Ryan go and ask her how many drinks we needed. Andy said we had 27 in the cooler, and she told Ryan we needed 30. So, off we went to Woodman's. We had gotten 50 bottles of 32oz. Powerade on sale at Jewel for 50 cents each a few weeks ago. Woodman's had them on sale for 79 cents. That's not too bad. And I only had to buy about 3. 

After we got back, Ryan went to join his team for warmups, and Delaney and I found my friend and went and sat by her. It's a little funny to hear us cheering for different plays. Sometimes we get to cheer for the same plays - they cheer because they held us, but we're cheering because we made a good play, or vice versa. 

 We left with about two minutes left in the game, and grabbed the cooler to bring the drinks to the team so Zane could pass them out. Zane had several left over, so he gave them to the coaches. When we got back to the car, he realized that he missed one of his coaches. We brought an extra drink for him, but Zane couldn't find him. I looked down at the bottom of the bleachers, near the fence by the track, and I asked Zane if that was him over there. Zane was very pleased that I found him, and he went and gave him his drink. 

Then we watched Ryan's team get slaughtered. There was one play where Ryan's number was called as being part of the play. Not sure whether he tackled the person carrying the ball or what, but they butchered our last name. I asked Ryan about it, and he doesn't recall doing anything, but he did say that he pulled on someone's arm that was carrying the ball. Maybe they miscalled the play. But I was still really proud of him. 

After the game, we went home and the boys and I changed our clothes and had a bite to eat. I had two peaches from Sam's Club that were very ripe, but another day or two and they'd be too ripe. I sliced both up, and Ryan and Delaney both had a slice or two. Zane looked at it in disgust, because of the red area on the flesh that had been touching the pit. I trimmed some of that off, and insisted he try a bite. He did, and said it was pretty good, but that he didn't like the skin. He asked if I could take the red stuff off another one, and take off the skin, and he ate that one, and I ended up doing one more slice for him. I was so proud of him for trying something new. He's had peaches before, but has never had them fresh like that. We've tried, but he has texture issues. But he's trying things without as much resistance lately, and he's finding that he likes quite a few things. 

After that, we went to the grade school Fall Fun Fair. We bought punch cards, and the kids went around playing games and having some fun. We were an hour late, and there were a few things that had kind of long lines, so we ended up leaving without finishing the punch cards. Ryan bought himself a smoothie, and gave it to me to hold and said I could have some. I did, but I tried really hard not to drink all of it, and I'd give it back to him when he'd come back, but then he'd hand it back to me. 

Delaney wanted to get her face painted, but the line was incredibly long. She waited for a while, then came out of the line to try to use up a few more punches on her ticket. Then she decided to go back into the line. It was just as long as it had been before. But then they made the announcement that the games were over, and that included the face painting. Delaney was devastated. She cried as we walked back to the car. She was not the only child crying that did not get their face painted. 

We got home, and I had the boys take showers. While they were showering, I was going to sit on the couch and read, but I got so tired, I grabbed a blanket and laid out on the couch, thinking I would take a 10-15 minute power nap, and didn't wake up until about an hour and a half later. The kids were in my room watching TV, even though I grounded Delaney and Zane from TV. Sometimes things take priority. Tomorrow, I'll enforce it, and extend the grounding as well. 

I had the boys do their reading and homework and got dinner going. We had split pea soup that I had made on Thursday night. I heated it up, but it was very, very thick. A lot of the water had evaporated. I could have added more water, but I decided to just heat it up, and if it needed water when we were eating it, I would add it then. Ryan & Delaney were playing Scissors, Paper, Rock, and Zane was keeping score. I told them they had to eat at least half. Zane said that it looked like dog barf. But I told him that it tastes like normal split pea soup. When I finally told them to stop playing and eat, I looked over, and Zane was halfway done with his bowl. He said, "Even though it looks like dog barf, it tastes really good." That child. He ate 3/4 of it. 

 I also struggled with Zane to read his book. I'm trying to get him to read some books that are higher point values, or to read more books so he can get more testing points, because I believe he is way behind. He is capable of doing more. But I don't think he's getting high enough goals or being pushed enough on that. I am going to have a talk with his teacher at his conference on Wednesday. I would like to see how she feels about giving him weekly goals to try to get for points, instead of a quarterly or monthly goal, and to set it high. Right now he's got about 2.5 points, a month in, and I think he could have at least 5. Maybe 10. Ryan has 30. Zane is reading at a high grade level, but last year, he got a really low score on a 39 Clues book, and I just realized this week, that I think that's what has him afraid to read chapter books and take tests on them. But I think he can read other books. I need to know how often he gets a chance to take the tests, and whether he can do them at home. I'd rather set a goal a little higher than what he has had in the past, and see how close he can come. If he falls short by 1-2 points or 3-4 points, we can adjust it, but if he's not being challenged enough, and he can hit that goal, then I'd like to work with the teacher to improve with that. 

After dinner, Zane and I sat on the couch together. I read my Book 5 of Game of Thrones while he read the first chapter of Percy Jackson and the Lightening Thief. It's within his reading level, although it's on the upper end. Maybe I will just need to sit with him while he reads a chapter, and read my book alongside of him. I haven't had much time to read lately, but maybe I will just have to force myself. That will let him feel like I'm spending time with him, set a good example, give me reading time, and be encouraging to him as well. It worked well today. 

After we were done reading, we came in my bedroom to watch Mirror, Mirror with Julia Roberts. Ryan thought it was going to be dumb, and asked if he had to watch it. I told him he had to watch 20 minutes of it. An hour later, I told him he could go. He looked at me, confused, and asked why. I told him it was because he said it would be dumb. He laughed and said that it was good. We all really enjoyed it. 

After the movie, they went to bed, and I got to watch some TV and a movie as well. Now I need to go to bed, as I'm serving in church tomorrow, and I have to get the kids up on my own tomorrow, and get us all ready for church. Tomorrow should be a relatively low-key day. I have church, and Zumba, and then I'll have to make dinner, get the garbage out, and get the kids to make their lunches. Maybe I'll have to run to the store for a few things as well. Maybe it won't be so low-key after all.

Tackle Football

The boys recently started Tackle Football.  They've been wanting to do something like this for a while.  We started receiving information about it around January or February, signed them up in April, and they finally started practicing about 3 weeks ago.

We've had some ups and downs with Zane.  The first day they practiced with their pads, Zane had a Dr. appointment, so we went to practice afterwards. I saw him practice a great tackle and get some big high fives from the coach, and then I spent the rest of the time talking to one of the coach's wives, and I missed the rest.  He came out of practice and was practically in tears.  He was upset because he kept getting tackled and knocked to the ground.  The coaches and their wives were telling us that the kids were going to complain and some would want to quit, but to keep having them come, because it will get better. 

After that first day with the pads, Andy helped Zane out a bit, and so he was doing much better.  He didn't love the practices, but he was going without any problems, and he was trying.

Ryan has been very enthusiastic.  He's a small kid compared to most of the rest of the team.  There are probably only about 5 kids that are in the 60-75lb. range, and the rest are more, and they even go up to about 145.  But he loves tackling.  He keeps talking about who he tackles, and who he is up against.  He is having fun.

So today was the big day.  First game.  Zane was first.  He had a 9am game, and had to be there an hour early for warmups.  Andy took him, and I got to sleep in a little, and then Delaney, Ryan & I got there before the game started.  We sat by good friends of ours, who actually have a son that is on the opposing team.  It was kind of funny to be cheering at different times.  But then there were times that we were both cheering at the same time, and I was cheering because our team had a great run, but she was cheering, because someone on their team had a great tackle.  Or vice versa.

Zane's team ended up winning, and after they had their big pow wow after the game, all the new players for the year got "orientation".  They had to lay on the ground in a row, and the coaches came and poured the water all over them.  It was a hot day though, so I'm sure it was very refreshing. 

Zane had a blast.  He was so happy.  He played Safety for most of the time.  But I am so glad that he enjoyed himself.  I did get a picture of him after the game. 

Ryan's team played about an hour after Zane's team, so we had to stick around.  Actually, Andy drove home with Zane and got him changed, and brought some sunscreen, powerade, and some more iced tea for me.  Next time I will have to remember sunscreen and Andy will have to remember the larger cooler of ice water.  It was really hot.  I ended up getting a little too much sun.

Ryan's team lost.  They got laid into a little bit for not paying attention to the plays.  They did get a touchdown, but the coaches said it wasn't the play they had called.  Oops.  They also got the "Orientation."  Ryan enjoyed that.  We brought drinks - we found Powerade on sale at Jewel for $.50 each for the big 32oz. bottles.  I think with how hot it was, it's a good thing that we had such big bottles.  After that, we headed home.  I didn't get Ryan's picture until we got home.

What a fun day!

August Menu Planning

It's time for a new blog post.  It's been a while since I've posted anything.  But I posted on FB that I am trying something new for my menu since we have now added football into the mix of the craziness, and I have been asked to share my menu plan for this month.

The first week was before I decided to do the crockpot freezer meals and monthly planning/shopping.

W 8/1: Grilled cheese, tomato soup

R 8/2: Chicken Helper, veggies, salad

F 8/3: Chicken with Sautee'd Tomatoes & Green Beans, rice, salad

S: 8/4: Birthday Party at my Uncle's (no prep)

Su: 8/5: Chili Turkey Dogs, fries, veggies

M 8/6: Crockpot Hawaiian chicken, rice, salad.  I took the recipe from this site (gotta give credit where it's due) 

T 8/7: Beef Burritos

W 8/8: Pizza, salad, fruit (got the pizza's on sale with coupon shopping)

R 8/9: shredded BBQ chicken (take 3-4 chicken breast, put them in the crockpot, dump a 16oz. bottle of BBQ sauce on it, cook for about 6-7 hours on low, shred with 2 forks and serve on rolls), salad, jello

F 8/10: Hamburgers, potatoes, veggies (hamburger patties were made up earlier this summer and have been in the freezer - this is our last batch.  Will have to make more)

S 8/11: Spinach chicken enchiladas, salad, refried beans (I cooked and shredded the chicken for a double batch of this on Sunday and put it in the freezer.  Each batch actually makes enough for two meals, so when I finish this, I will have four meals.)

Su 8/12: Basillico: Tomato Basil Pasta (I will make a double batch, but it makes so much, it will make enough for 3-4 meals), veggies, salad

M 8/13: Brown Sugar Chicken, potatoes, veggies, salad

T 8/14: Garlic Honey Chicken, potatoes, veggies

W 8/15: sausage, rice & beans or jambalaya (just cooking some sliced turkey sausage and adding it to a Zatarain's mix), veggies, salad

R 8/16: Tilapia with garlic cream sauce and asparagus, rice, salad

F 8/17: Breakfast Burritos (will make a huge batch that will feed us for breakfast for months!  Well, maybe not months.  It depends on how often we eat the leftovers.  But we will eat it for dinner and then use the rest to put in the freezer, and at least a couple of us will eat them for breakfast).  I will post my recipe below.

Sa 8/18: Spinach, potato, and tomato soup, bread (IMO, make sure you use Chicken STOCK, not Chicken broth for this recipe.  It is more expensive unless you make it yourself, but it is much more flavorful)

Su 8/19: Spaghetti with Divine Spaghetti Sauce, veggies, salad (The recipe I got from someone is the exact same as this, except a package (1lb.) of sweet Italian Sausage is browned with the ground beef.  I will be making it with both the hamburger and sweet italian sausage.  I am going to make a double batch, but it makes a ton, so I expect to get at least 4 batches out of this - possibly more.

M 8/20: Savory Vegetable Beef Soup, bread

T 8/21: Teriyaki pork chops, rice, veggies, salad

W 8/22: Chicken Fajitas (crockpot style)

R 8/23: Mandy's Big Mess (crockpot freezer meal), rice, veggies

F 8/24: Sausage, rice and corn chowder, bread, veggies - I usually get the sausage in 16oz. packages, so I make a double and we eat leftovers for lunch. This is one of those that tastes awesome the next day.

Sa 8/25: Sausage, Spinach, Ricotta Stuffed Pasta Shells (this will make enough for two batches, and I am going to double, so we will have four meals out of this).

Su 8/26: Spinach & Carrot Quiche, salad.  This recipe makes 2 quiches, but I am going to double and make four.  We will eat two, and will freeze two for a later date.  The recipe calls for 6 eggs.  We make it with 8.  And I use shredded pepperjack cheese instead of monterey jack.  Sometimes I will mix pepper jack and monterey, and other times I will make one with pepperjack and one with Monterey.

M 8/27: Southwest Crockpot Chicken (crockpot freezer meal), rice, salad

T 8/28: Chicken Fajitas (this is going to be made the normal way, but if we find out that we like the crockpot chicken fajitas, we may make them in the crockpot instead).

W 8/29: Grilled Chicken Pasta Salad (we will make a double batch here, because we are taking a double camping with us.  This is just as good cold as it is hot.)  The recipe I'm linking is a modified version, but the only thing I see different is that the parsley is left out.  I noticed that the person that modified the recipe said they use romaine lettuce, and we use that often as well.  The recipe says it serves 4, but we've made one batch and have been able to feed 4 adults and 5-7 children with it.

R 8/30: Pasta with Broccoli Rabe & Bolognese Sauce, Salad

F 8/31: Cold Grilled Chicken Pasta Salad

*Breakfast Burrito Recipe

This recipe makes a ton. We will eat some the day we make them, and wrap the rest and freeze them.  I am making this up off the top of my head, because I don't always make them the same.

1pkg. potatoes O'Brien

1/2lb. bacon, chopped

2 pkg. sausage links (the kind you can throw in the microwave frozen)

1-2 cans black beans, rinsed & drained

3 dozen eggs

about 5-6 pkg flour tortilla shells (about the 8" size)

a jar of salsa

about 2-3 cups of shredded cheddar

First, take the 1/2lb. of bacon and chop it into smaller strips.  (Take the other half and cut it in three sections and freeze - you can take each section out, let it sit for about 5 minutes, cut it into smaller strips, throw it in a pan, cook it up, add some onions and garlic, and then throw a bag of frozen peas or beans in the pan, and cook for another 5 minutes or so, and you will have a really yummy vegetable!).  Anyway, cook in a pan and remove the pieces when they are almost crispy, but leave the grease.  

In a separate pan, cook the Potatoes O'brien.  You can cook them with a little bit of cooking spray or a little bit of oil, but you don't need to use as much oil as the package says, because you don't really need them crispy. Plus you want it to be a little healthy.  (I use the potatoes O'Brien because Zane isn't a big fan of onions or peppers, and this allows me to get some onions & peppers without much fuss from him.  If you'd prefer to use hash browns and cook up some chopped onions & peppers, feel free).

While all that stuff is cooking, throw the sausage links in the microwave and nuke them according to the package directions.  When they are done, cut them in half lengthwise, then cut those halves again, and then slice them. 

Break all the eggs in a bowl.  You can add a little milk if you'd like.  Beat them until they are smooth.  Add the eggs to the bacon grease.  If there is more than 1-2 TBSP of bacon grease in the pan, you can drain some of it.  But a little bit in such a big batch will give it a nice flavor and keep it from sticking.  Cook up your eggs like regular scrambled eggs.

When the sausages, eggs and potatoes are all cooked, throw those things as well as the black beans in a huge bowl and mix them up really well.  

Heat a package of tortilla shells in the microwave between two damp paper towels, and pull half of them out, leaving the other half to stay warm in the microwave.

Set out that first half of tortilla shells, scoop about 1/3 cup of the egg mixture onto the tortilla shell, put about 1 tsp to 1 TBSP of salsa on top, and sprinkle about 1-2 TBSP of shredded cheddar on top.  Do this to all the shells that are layed out, then fold them up like a burrito.  You can fold in the bottom, and then fold the sides so you have an open-ended burrito (like the snack wraps at McDonald's) or you can fold in both the top and bottom and roll the rest of the burrito up.  Wrap it in a paper towel or saran wrap or waxed paper, or aluminum foil - whichever you prefer, place them in a freezer bag, and when the freezer bag is full, seal and put it in the freezer.  Repeat this with the other half of the package.  The do it again until you've used up all the egg mixture.  With this quantity, we've usually made about 60 burritos.

When you are ready to eat the burritos, take out however many you need, wrap each in a damp paper towel, and place it in the microwave for about 1.5-2.5 minutes.  Enjoy!  

We love these things!  You can throw other things in there if you want - mushrooms, tomatoes, avocado, swiss cheese instead of cheddar, etc.

So, a few tips.  

I have all my recipes saved in word documents, so I just print them out when I'm ready to use them.  Then I go through the recipes, and write down what I need for each recipe. I will write it all down.  Even the spices and sugar, and vinegar, etc. I take a look around the house to make sure I have everything, and I cross things off the list that I already have.

I do try to group things as I'm writing down the ingredients.  It makes it a little easier.  This last time, I determined I needed approximately 42 chicken breasts for my meals, and I found packages with about 6-7 breasts per package at Sam's for $1.77 per pound.  Not bad!  Then I try to list what I know I can get at different stores.  I'm not going to buy spices at Sam's in bulk that I only need a tiny container for.  I'll get that at Woodman's.  And Aldi has limited supplies, so I know I'm going to probably have to go to three different stores.  Then I try to sort the list for each store according to the sections that I am going to most likely move through the store.  It only takes me a few extra minutes at home, and saves me from having to walk back and forth between the store.

It took about 3 hours for me to do my grocery shopping.  When I got home, I enlisted my husband and kids to bring in the purchases while I got started right away on prepping things for the meals.  I bought lots of freezer bags!  I started writing my meals out on the freezer bags that I was going to prepare and freeze.  I also enlisted my husband to help put away some of the food and to get all of the slimy yucky (to touch) chicken out of the packaging and into the bags as I needed. I even had him slice up the chicken for one or two recipes.   He also got me some of the ingredients as I measured and chopped.  

We had to take a break to have dinner, and then afterwards, it took me a couple more hours.  But about 8 hours later, I was done with my planning, shopping, cutting, packing and cooking.  

Yes, it was a long day, but now it will take me about 10 minutes a day to prep instead of an hour for most meals.  And when we figure out which meals are hits, then next time, I will probably try to make 2-6 batches, depending on how much we like it, so I can put the same thing in each bag, and save even more time by only doing a couple different ones each month, and I'll eventually have a nice rotation.  I'll still get to really cook on the weekends, but it will most likely involve multiple batches at once.