Author: Lois Houston

I'm a sweet tea drinkin' southern gal who loves to cook, bake, crochet, and read. Check out my blog for posts about parenting, faith, books, crafts, planning, baking, cooking, and life in general.

Menu Plan Monday ~ 10 Jan 11

We’re bracing for a winter storm here – the grocery store has been cleaned out – there were no chickens, very little milk and bread – it was insane.

I worked on my menu plan for this week as we drove home from visiting the grandparents.  We passed all sorts of power trucks and tree trucks headed north in anticipation of overtime and extra work when the storm hits.

The kids’ school has already been canceled and SuperMan’s work has already canceled as well.  I guess I will be the only one working tomorrow.

Given the cold temps we’re going to have, I’m planning to do some comfort food cooking this week. SuperMan has asked for some brothy soups so that he can sip the warm broth from a thermos while he is working later in the week.

Here’s my plan:

What’s on your menu for the week?  Hop over to orgjunkie.com for some more ideas.

Stay tuned this week for recipes – I’ll share my Pasta Fagioli and French Onion Soup recipes.

Blogoholic

I love blogs.

I love reading about other people’s lives, their hobbies, thoughts and dreams. I love looking at the crafty projects they do and getting ideas for things I can do.

I thought I’d share with you some of my current favorite blogs.

Some are scrapbookers, some are not. They are all good and I look forward every day to seeing what’s new when I log in to my Reader.

There are more… many, many more.

But I thought I’d share a few of my current favorites with you.

Hop on over and check a few out.

And then let me know what some of your favorites are!

Final JYC Post for 2010

I put the finishing touches on my Journal Your Christmas album today. I am pleased that I actually finished it before the end of my holiday break. I know that once I am back at work, and the kids in school, that I won’t have time to scrapbook much, so I’m especially glad to finalize the project.  image

I’ll be ordering my bound book in the next few weeks. I can’t wait to see the finished project.  This will be the first all-digital, bound book I’ve done for our family. I’ve done gift albums that I’ve given to others, but this is just for us.

Since I’m doing so much digital scrapbooking these days, I’m thinking I may just do more and more of these type books. They take up a lot less space on the bookshelf and it is so much easier to just order the bound book when you’re done.

I am considering doing the same for my 2010 pages. I have to finish from August-December and that will be my next project, I think. Once those pages are done, I’ll probably go ahead and make it a bound book as well.

Do any of you have suggestions for ordering a bound 12×12 book? This Christmas one is 8×8 and I’ll probably order it through Creative Memories.  But I would love to do some price comparison (and quality comparison) on the larger 12×12 books.

Any suggestions?

Here are the final few pages I don’t think I’ve shared with you:

 JYC2010 - Page 014JYC2010 - Page 015 JYC2010 - Page 018JYC2010 - Page 019   JYC2010 - Page 024

This is the last page of the book. I love it.JYC2010 - Page 026

Crock Pot Roast Beef

I’m almost hesitant to even post this recipe. It’s a pretty basic one and I think most people know how to do roast beef in a crock pot. But, I will share with you my technique just in case it is different from what you do for your family.

I usually buy a 3-4 pound roast, so that I have leftovers which can be repurposed in a stew or soup at a later date. I’m all about cooking once and eating multiple times…

This is something I start in the morning and let cook all day – the house smells heavenly by mid-afternoon and by dinnertime, you can’t hardly stand not eating the roast.

I serve it normally with mashed potatoes, because that is what the girls like. My mom used to make this and serve it with rice, which I prefer because then I can add the rice to the stew or soup later on. I will be happy when my picky eaters decide rice (other than the rice from the local Asian restaurant) is good to eat.

Without further adieu, here’s my roast recipe:

Crock Pot Roast Beef

3-4 lb beef roast (pot roast or top round)
1 package Lipton Beefy Onion soup mix
1 beef bullion cube
Houston House seasoning
2 Tbsp minced onion
1/2 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup milk
~1 cup water

Place roast in the crock pot. Sprinkle with House Seasoning.

In a large liquid measuring cup, mix water, soup mix, minced onion and bullion cube.

Pour into crock pot until liquid comes about 1/2 way up the meat.

Cover & cook for 6-8 hrs on low. (or 4-5 on high)

About 1/2 hour before serving, thin the soup with milk and pour into the crock pot. Turn crock pot to high for remainder of cooking time. (This last step is optional but gives you a nice gravy to work with)

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What I’m reading right now

There were two things I hoped to do over my holiday break (in addition to the usual Christmas-y things we had planned) and those were scrapbooking and readingWhat I'm reading right now.

I got to do both – and I consider that a successful holiday! In spite of the nasty cold/flu bug that got ahold of my body just in time for Christmas, I managed to do quite a bit of reading (or maybe because of that? I sure didn’t feel like doing much else)

I managed to start and finish quite a few books. Most were quick, cotton-candy-ish reads, but they were perfect for this time of year and for my cold-medicine-hazed brain.

I read:

Cover ImageThe Lost Recipe for Happiness (Barbara O’Neal)

This was a really good book. I love cooking (and food) and I love love stories – this was all of that wrapped into one. The main character would smell someone’s “essence” – or whatever the food was that described their character. I loved that little tidbit – kind of wish the author had actually expanded on that a little more.

The story revolves around a chef who lands a job opening a new restaurant for a famous Hollywood director.  She is a wounded soul (as is he) and they find more in common than the opening of the restaurant.

You know from the get-go that they are going to fall in love and live happily ever after, but the author does a good job keeping you entertained along the way.

I also read another book by Barbara O’Neal:

Cover Image The Secret of Everything (Barbara O’Neal)

This was based on a photographer (another wounded soul) who leads adventure-based vacations. She goes to New Mexico to check out a locale for a potential vacation retreat and ends up uncovering all sorts of things from her childhood that she has forgotten/repressed.

Again, there’s the love story angle, but I really like how O’Neal develops her characters – and this character is gifted with a special touch with doggies. Since I’m a doggie-lover myself, I liked this angle.  There were also recipes and a food focus in this book as well.

Honestly, I think O’Neal is missing an opportunity to write some type of story about a character who has these “gifts” and actually knows it and uses the gifts. She dances all around them, but doesn’t really do much with them.

The books were great to read while I was sick, though. Lightweight but entertaining.

Now, I’m reading this book:

Cover Image

Juliet (Anne Fortier)

It’s based on a girl named Juliet who finds out (upon her great-aunt’s death) that she is really named Guilietta and is a descendant of the Guilietta who was better known for the Romeo & Juliet story. She goes to Italy to find a “treasure” left to her by her great-aunt and embarks on a journey to discover her history.

I’m only about 100 pages into the story so I don’t know a whole lot yet, but I am really enjoying it. It is well written and I’m looking forward to finishing the story – I see a few late nights in my future…

So, did you get any reading in this holiday? What’s on your night stand?

Menu Plan Monday ~ 3 January

Happy New Year!!

My menu planning is back on track this week. I took the two weeks of holiday vacation off – mostly because we had so much going on I wasn’t sure which nights I would be cooking and which ones I wouldn’t.  Add to that a very nasty cold that I developed right before Christmas, and my cooking was way off track for most of the holidays.

But, I’m feeling better (thank goodness!) and ready to get my family back into our normal groove. I think they are, too, even if they don’t verbalize it.

Here’s what I have on tap for this week’s dinners:

  • Mama’s Meatloaf with roasted vegetables
  • Fried Chicken with mashed potatoes & gravy
    (this was actually our New Year's day dinner)
  • Crock pot roast with rice and veggies
  • Sloppy Joes with homemade fries
  • Salmon croquettes with cheese grits
  • Crock pot chicken parmesan with pasta
    (This was Sunday dinner with the leftover chicken from New Year's Day) 
  • Taco night

I will figure something out to re-invent the leftover roast (there are always leftovers of that) – maybe toss it into a stew or soup. 

I’ll share the recipes for a couple of the other dinner items later this week – so stay tuned…

Join us over at orgjunkie.com for more menu planning ideas… and share yours!

Soup for You!

I didn’t watch much Seinfeld, but I did catch that episode. Did you?

With the Soup Nazi?

It has stuck  with me for years and when the kids are cranky about what I cook, I always think, “No soup for you!”

My own little rebellion in my mind. 😉

Last night, I tried this new soup recipe – it’s one from Cook’s Country magazine. (I love that magazine – everything I’ve tried from there turns out fabulously delicious)

So, if you are in the mood for a hearty, filling, Asian-style soup, here’s a great one to try.

If not?

No Soup for YOU!

Asian Beef & Noodle Soup

8 cups chicken broth (I used a big box of broth and added 2 bullion cubes + 3 cups hot water)
1 Tbsp grated fresh ginger
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 Tbsp fish sauce
1/2 tsp Chinese five-spice powder
4 packages ramen noodles, spice packs removed & the noodles broken up (I only used 3)
1 small flank steak (~1 lb) cut lengthwise into thirds and crosswise into 1/4 inch wide strips (I had the butcher do this for me)
1/2 medium head Napa cabbage, sliced thin crosswise (~4 cups)
1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro (for garnish)

  1. Bring broth, ginger, garlic, fish sauce and five-spice powder to a boil in large Dutch oven.
  2. Reduce heat, simmer ~10 min to allow flavors to meld.
  3. Add noodles to simmering broth and cook, stirring occasionally, about 2 minutes
  4. Add beef and cabbage and cook an additional 2 minutes.
  5. Serve, topping with cilantro.

SuperMan picked up egg rolls on his way home from work and I served them with the soup as our dinner. It was really good on a cold, dark, night.

I hope you enjoy!

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Taking down Christmas

Most years, I’m not anxious to take down the Christmas decorations. Most years, I leave everything up at least until January 6th (the feast of the Epiphany, which is when my mom and grandma taught me you were supposed to take down your decorations).  Most years, I love looking at them and hate to take them down and store them away for another year.image

This year, though, they are driving me nuts and it’s not even a week past Christmas.

I wonder if it is because I’m not feeling good – or maybe because we’ve been more house-bound than normal because of the wretched weather we’ve had. I’m not sure. But I do know that they have to go – and soon.

On our recent outing to Wal Mart I purchased some of those cutesy red and green Rubbermaid tubs.  I am hoping to talk Big Girl into helping me put things away in a little  more organized fashion this year that we have in years past.  As I lay awake at 4AM this morning, waiting for my cold meds to kick in, I was planning out how we’d pack everything away. (how sad is that?) Outside decorations in one container, ornaments in another, etc.

I’m hoping to have enough energy to get started on the cleanup today.  I’d really like to get it done before New Year’s – I know after school/work resume next week, it will be really difficult to find time to get things tidied up.

Once the Christmas decor is put away, I’m trying to decide what I want to do. I have a bunch of snowmen that my mom has given me through the years. Back in November when the Christmas decorations were going up, I thought I’d put those snowmen out in January for a little decorations to welcome the new year. Now, I’m not sure if I want the clutter or not. I may opt for streamlined simplicity.

When do you take down your holiday decorations? and what do you do afterwards?  Are you one of those “day after Christmas and it’s all gone” kind of people, or do you leave the decorations up longer?