Monday Morning Musings

Happy Monday, y’all.

It’s a quiet Monday here – one girl is off to school and one girl is in bed recovering from a weekend “boot camp” church retreat. Came home sick with a cold and no voice. She’s going on 13 hours of sleep right now. But I think it was worth it, given the stories she shared yesterday before she crashed – stories she told with a hoarse whisper, her voice gone from congestion, late nights and lots of singing and shouting. Stories of faith, of friendship and of precious memories that were made.

One of the other moms we waited with yesterday – watching for the parade of buses to pull into the church parking lot – mentioned that she realized Saturday night that her son was making memories all of his own for the very first time. Memories that she couldn’t share with him. It resonated with me and I thought about that last night as my girl chose what to share with us – and as I heard the gaps in the stories that were most likely not intentionally kept from us, but just not part of what she chose to share.

It’s bittersweet. This growing up thing.

I’m so proud of my girls and the young women they are becoming.

I love watching them realize they have thoughts and opinions of their own – and helping them to sort through those (and learn that it’s OK if they differ from ours)

I love seeing them stepping out into unknown things (like a weekend church retreat) and embracing the challenges and emerging successful.

While my young one was off on her adventures this weekend, the big one was hanging out with us. She went to church with us on Saturday night to volunteer at an event – and the staff loved her and begged me to bring her back. They were so appreciative of her willingness to serve and to dive in and do whatever was needed.

And on Sunday morning I fought back tears of pride as I watched her dive into a mess – a borderline special needs little boy who was having a “moment” – and respond with kindness, compassion and grace. She calmed him down, loved on him, and provided him a safe place to recover his dignity. And then she stayed close to make sure he was OK for the rest of the hour we were with him. I started to intervene and as I saw that she had it under control I just stepped back and let her go. That’s her gift – relating to kids with special needs – and she is really good at it. She loves them, and they love her. And I’m so proud of her for what she does with them.

So, this Monday morning, as I sit here and sip my tea and look out at the dewy front yard, I’m reflecting on my two girls – no longer my babies, but young women coming into their own. And I’m thinking of how blessed we are and wondering how in the heck they turned out like this. You know what I mean? Super Man and I were talking last night about how so much of parenting is an experiment – you do what you think is right at the time but you never really know. The result is often years ahead of you. You just say a prayer and hope the choices YOU make in the moment help THEM to make the right choices themselves when the time comes.

It’s the hardest job I’ll ever have.

It wears you out and breaks your heart.

And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

On the Needles: UFO Edition

I’ve got several (!) works-in-progress going right now.

There are a few pairs of socks that are not only suffering from second-sock-syndrome but from finishing-first-sock-syndrome. I ran out of knitting mojo when my big girl got so sick last winter and they linger unfinished in my knitting tote. One day, hopefully soon, they’ll get pulled back out and finished.

Socks are great on-the-go projects because they take up so little room in your purse or tote and are relatively mindless, until you get to the heel, that is.

In addition to the socks, I’ve got a few other projects on the needles. There’s the lavender tank I started over Spring Break and never got past that week of knitting. And a cowl I started a few weeks ago (and am actively working on) – I’m not in love with the pattern, but I’m looking forward to the bright pop of pink in my wardrobe in the dreary days of winter next year.

The finished object looks lovely. The pattern is just, well, not exciting. But it is good mindless knitting to do when you’re watching TV or hanging out with the family. (and frankly, mindless knitting is about all I’m capable of right now)

I’m also working on a vest. Rather ambitious, I know, as I’m not one for finishing big projects (see tank project above) but I’m really excited about the possibility of actually finishing and wearing this one. Vests are all the rage right now and this is one of those with the kimono-style lines that I think are flattering on anyone. The kids have already been eyeing it… Uh, no. If Mama finishes it, Mama wears it!

It’s another mindless project (so far) – just knit, knit, knit until what seems like forever.

It’s a two piece project you put together – I THINK I’m working on the back right now. (checks pattern) Yes, I am. I’m liking the color changes/striping that is happening. The yarn is a silk/cotton blend. Not the slippiest yarn around and I’m thankful I have stainless needles as I wrastle with the yarn. I’m using this project to practice my continental knitting. Stretching those muscles and straining the brain cells.

Now, If I could just figure out how to knit and walk I could get my exercise in at the same time! Have you seen people that do that? I’m amazed. And the marathon runners who knit totally boggle my mind. I can barely walk and think at the same time. Adding knitting to the mix would probably cause my brain to seize up and reboot.

Well, that’s what I’ve got going right now – or at least what’s “active” in the knitting bag. There’s a bunch of other projects I’ve been thinking about but I’m trying to exercise some self-control and limit my UFOs a bit.

Menu Plan Monday: 17 August

Happy Monday, y’all.

It’s been raining off and on here today and I have a snotty head at home with me today. She came home sick on Friday and has been pretty much on the sofa ever since. Fortunately, the worst seems to have passed and I think she’ll be back at school tomorrow and moving on with life. Now, if I can just keep the other folks healthy in my house…

This week we have several things going on in the evenings so I am opting for some easy dinners and some old standbys that I can toss in the oven or crock pot and forget about them until dinnertime.

I’m also starting to try something new in my planner this week – I created a page in my planner with our most used/loved recipes. I had this before, but it was just a list of all the different items. The difference here is that I wrote them on post-it flags that I trimmed to fit in the days of the weekly planning pages I use.

So now I can pull off the menu items I want to cook for the week and put them on the page. And rearrange them if I need to if plans change for the week.

I also did all beef in one color, chicken in another, and “other” (i.e. soups, stews, veggie dishes) in another color. So I can see quickly at a glance if I have a good variety in my week.

Once we’ve cooked/eaten, I’ll move the post it back to the back again and write down what we had so I have a record of it. I do like looking back to see how long it’s been since we had a particular item… or to see if we really have eaten so much chicken we should be sprouting feathers or not!

I’ll let you know how it works out. Today the little flags have been bugging me as I’ve written in the planner, but I’m thinking that I’ll get used to it soon. LOVE the concept but the execution may need some fine-tuning.

As to the menu for the week – you can see what I’ve got planned above –

Salisbury Steaks with mashed potatoes and gravy
Mexican Potato Casserole (that one never got made last week)
Asian Chicken Pasta
Jambalaya (that’s SuperMan’s recipe and his job to cook. I’ve been craving it for a while now and I can’t wait to eat some!)
Friday is up in the air – will most likely eat out as we drop off Little Bit for a church retreat Friday night.

I also made some banana bread and The World’s Best Oatmeal Cookies on Saturday for sweet treats this week.

So there you have our week – Looking pretty yummy if I do say so myself.

What’s on your menu?

Menu Plan Monday

I haven’t been posting (in like FOR.EV.ER) but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been menu planning.

Now that school is back in session, menu plans are even more critical to my success managing work and home activities.

Here’s what we have planned for this week:

Monday – Chicken Cesar Pasta Salad – this is an old standby I discovered last year and the family LOVES it. It’s a Cook’s Country recipe and I don’t deviate from it much because it works. And we love it.
Tuesday – Meatloaf and roasted potatoes. I also have some asparagus I’ll probably roast because I need to finish it up before it goes bad.
Wednesday – Rotisserie chicken, baked potatoes and salad. An old standby for busy days.
Thursday – Mexican Potato Casserole and taco salads for the kids
Friday – May try to make Carnitas with some leftover pork butt I have
Saturday and Sunday I’ll figure out closer to the weekend.

Lunches will be a fabulous Sopa de Pollo (that’s Mexican chicken soup – for me) that I’ve finally figured out (recipe soon) and an assortment of the following for the kids’ lunchboxes:

sub sandwiches
chicken cesar pasta salad leftovers
snacky plate (salami, pepperoni, cheeses & crackers)
hummus wraps (see recipe idea here)

SuperMan usually takes leftovers from dinner for his lunch.

What’s on your menu this week?

Check out more yummy menu ideas over on orgjunkie.com.

Thoughts on a Rainy Day in August

I’ve been traveling this week for work.

I don’t normally have to travel – maybe once a year at the most – so this was an unusual occurrence for me although not an unwelcome one.

Except for one fact.

My kids started school today.

Yeah. Crazy week.

I flew out on Monday and had two and a half days chock-full of meetings. Wonderful, exciting (seriously) meetings that left me energized and thrilled about what’s to come for work in the next few months. I work with a fantastic group of people and I can’t wait to get started on this next project with them. It’s going to be a LOT of work but it will also be a lot of fun.

I flew in late last night – flying in the rain over ATL was interesting. Grey, gloomy skies with pops of twinkling lights as I landed.

When I finally made it home, I found this waiting for me on the kitchen counter:

Isn’t that sweet?

They had also cleaned the house, done the laundry, stripped and remade beds (!) and made their lunches for the first day of school.

I love my girls. And, I love that they are big and can do all these things while I’m gone. Talk about making a working mama’s life easier!!

I woke up this morning to get my babies ready for school – their first day of school – Big Girl started High School and Little Bit (who isn’t so little anymore) started Middle School.

When did this happen!?!? I mean, seriously. Some days it feels like I took a nap and they woke up grown. Other days… well, I’m sure you know what I mean.

And now? I’m pooped.

I just posted this on my Instagram:

And that’s exactly how I feel right now.

I’m going to go see how early I can get these large people that live with me to go to bed. Or, maybe I’ll just go to bed without them!

#SimpleSaturdaySuppers

I’ve decided to start sharing some simple (easy) supper ideas with you – and since they’re usually what I end up cooking on Saturdays, I thought that would be a good time to share them with you, too.

Here’s an oldie but goodie that I’ve already featured on my blog – Pizza Bread. You can make it with homemade dough, or if you want it to be a truly Simple Saturday Supper, use the premade french bread dough like I do.

I make it with leftover spaghetti sauce, bagged Italian cheese blend and whatever pizza meats I have on hand – pepperoni, bacon, sausage. I add bell peppers, etc. as the kids and SuperMan are in the mood for.

It’s quick, easy and really tasty.

Give it a try.

Stuffed Pepper Soup

I know the weather is warming up (some days) but I still wanted to share this soup recipe with you all. It is my new favorite comfort food soup. I stumbled across it somewhere online this winter and have made it several times. I’ve even made it for folks as dinner when they’ve had illnesses or surgeries – and everyone just raves about it.

The great thing about this soup (other than the taste) is that it is very easy to make, requires ingredients you most likely already have in your pantry, and can be easily scaled up or down to make more or less as you need. I’ve made it with one pound of ground beef for a small batch that lasted me a week’s worth of lunches and I’ve made it with three pounds to feed two families. All you do is add or subtract ingredients as you need to size up or down.

The recipe below is the “base” recipe which uses one pound of ground beef. If you go up from there, you might play with the proportions of bell peppers and tomatoes to get the ratio you prefer.

This truly tastes like stuffed peppers in soup form. Except, to me, it’s even better.

One other thing to note. I keep my rice separate until I serve it so that it doesn’t soak up all of the broth. I also usually use leftover rice.

Stuffed Pepper Soup

1 pound ground beef
1 small onion, chopped
1-2 bell peppers, roughly chopped (1 if they’re large, 2 if they’re small)
1 can of petite diced tomatoes
1 large beef bullion cube (or 1 box/can of beef broth)
1 can tomato soup (I have also used a small can of tomato sauce when I was out of the soup)
Houston House Seasoning
1 tsp sugar (to taste – takes out the bitterness from the tomato)
1 tsp minced garlic
1-2 cups COOKED rice

Brown ground beef in a large stockpot. Season with House seasoning while cooking.
Add minced garlic, onion and peppers and sauté until the vegetables are slightly tender.
Add broth (or bullion and water), tomatoes, tomato soup, and House seasoning.
Bring to a boil and add sugar as needed for bitterness from tomatoes.
Simmer on the stove for about 30 minutes on low.
To serve, spoon some rice in the bottom of a bowl and ladle soup on top.

It tastes even better the next day. Smile

Chicken Caesar Pasta

This has become my kids’ favorite meal. I made it last night and they said, “You should make this every week, Mama.”

Of course, if I made it every week it would no longer be their favorite meal. So, I’ll save it in my bag-o-tricks for those days when I really don’t have time to cook and know that I have a sure-fire winner for dinner in spite of no time.

Seriously, this takes no more than 30 minutes to prepare. And it tastes like something that took waaaaaayyyy longer – or maybe came from a fancy restaurant.

The original recipe came from Cook’s Country Magazine. One of my favorite magazines. That and it’s sister publication, Cook’s Illustrated. LOVE those magazines. I’ve never cooked a bad meal that I’ve found in those pages.

The little one says she loves the combination of warm and cool. The big one loves the wilted lettuce and chicken together. I just love it all. It’s a perfect pasta dish. And it’s even good the next day as a cold salad.

Seriously. Try this. You won’t regret it.

Chicken Caesar Pasta

1 pound pasta (fusilli, cavatappi, etc.) pasta
Salt & pepper
1 1/2 cups mayonnaise
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese (shredded, I use the fancy shreds, not the grated stuff)
2 Tbs lemon juice (about 1/2 lemon)
1 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
2 garlic cloves, minced (or 2 tsp jarred minced garlic)
6 Tbs olive oil
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 c balsamic vinaigrette salad dressing
2 romaine lettuce hearts, halved lengthwise through core (do not cut core off)

Marinate the chicken breasts in the balsamic vinaigrette for at least 30 minutes.
Make the Caesar dressing. (see below)
Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil in a large stockpot. Salt generously.
Add pasta and cook until al dente (about 8 minutes)
Pour off pasta into a colander and rinse with cool water. Set aside in a large bowl, ready for the other ingredients when they’re ready.
While pasta is cooking, heat your grill. Cut chicken breasts into smaller “tender-sized” pieces. This will allow them to cook faster on the grill without drying out.
When grill is hot, cook the chicken.
Just before the chicken is finished cooking, lay the romaine cut side down onto the grill. Cook for about 1-2 minutes per side until slightly charred.
Bring chicken and lettuce to a cutting board. Tent chicken with foil while you chop the lettuce. Place cut lettuce in with the pasta.
Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces. Place in the pasta.
Toss the chicken-pasta mixture with the Caesar dressing, mixing ingredients thoroughly.
Sprinkle with some leftover parmesan cheese and DEVOUR.

Caesar dressing

This is truly the best homemade Caesar dressing. I can hardly stand bottled Caesar dressing after tasting this. Spoiled me forever.

In a blender or food processor, blend the mayonnaise, parmesan, lemon juice, garlic, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper. Slowly add the olive oil until incorporated. Set aside until ready to top the pasta.

*original Cooks’ Country recipe can be found here.

It’s always good to be organized – especially when you’re a planner junkie

I’m one of those people who loves a planner – if you follow any of my Pinterest posts you may have seen that I have a “planner junkie” board.

From as far back in my adult life as I can remember, maybe even back into high school, I’ve loved to have a calendar/planner to track things in. I’ve tried going digital over the years – had a Palm Pilot when they first came out and all that jazz (being the techy that I am, I had to give it a whirl) but I came to the realization long ago that I just have to have paper.

I think it has to do with my kinesthetic tendencies, but I love to write things down, make lists, cross the lists off, and see the progress I made on various projects in my life.

I’ve done the Franklin Covey bit, even dabbled with a European planner (which I loved in concept, but it was not practical for me).

Since I work from home and 95% of my work life is digital I’ve struggled with figuring out how to make a planner work for me in recent years. I knew in my gut I needed one for my sanity and productivity, but it didn’t really make sense to write down my work schedule when it changes so rapidly with meetings moving daily and my work task list didn’t really need to be merged with my family to-do list.

What I’ve been doing is keeping them separate – I use an Arc notebook for my work to-do’s and then have been using an Erin Condren planner for the past three years. I love the layout and the bright, cheerful colors. However, I have been struggling with the layout of the pages – trying to figure out how to make the Morning-Day-Night format work for me. I don’t really divide my days up that way since 70% of my day is devoted to my online work schedule.

And then I discovered the multitudes of Erin Condren fan groups on Facebook and the Erin Condren videos on YouTube. Which led me to the realization that this was my planner (duh) and I could make it whatever I want.

Enter my latent scrapbooking tendencies, my crafty tools and color printer and now I’ve become a customizing planner fool.

Planner junkie?

For real.

So, now I’m happily prettifying my already pretty planner. And you know what? I’m finding that by doing something as simple as putting new word stickers over the “Morning-Day-Night” headings has reinvigorated my planning/organization genes. And I am LOVING that I’m once again keeping everything in one place… where I can find it easily.

Still not moving my work stuff out of it’s current home, but I like the separation of church and state, so to speak.

I’ve learned how to overcome some of the things that used to drive me nuts about the planner – like not being able to add in kids’ schedules and important papers (like instructions for doctor’s appts, etc.) – DIY “coil clips” to the rescue.

I’ve figured out how to make my own stickers, too, using my old Xyron Sticker maker and my color printer. I just resize whatever I want to be a sticker to 1.5” wide (which just happens to be the width of the day boxes as well as the width of the sticker maker) and run it through to make my own stickers.

Lots of folks use washi tape to decorate the pages, but I find it’s just distracting. I like small bits of color and art added here and there but I want to keep the planner true to it’s purpose: organizing my life.

I like keeping our menu plans in here – adding my to-do’s (now that I have nice lined stickers) and highlighting important things with colorful stickers.

Here are some of my favorite toys, I mean, tools, for decorating my planner:

I keep all my tools in a handy tote I had from my scrapbooking days – no longer gathering dust but back in use:

And some of my favorite Facebook Groups and Blogs where I’ve been finding inspiration:

This is a GREAT article/video on using an Erin Condren planner – and one that got me really going on the whole concept of making my own boxes for the days.
My Erin Condren Simple (FB group)
Erin Condren Fans (FB group- fancier pages and lots of “loot”)
Plum Paper Central (another FB group – this one for a competing planner, but good ideas)
Great source for print-yourself stickers.
A good video showing how to make your own DIY “coil clips” to insert other papers (like kids’ schedules) into your planner) – another lifesaver for me.

So, what do you do to keep your life organized? Are you a digital person? Is it all on your phone or tablet? Or are you a paper person like me? What type of planner do you use?

Randomness on a Monday

Happy Monday,y’all.

Today is the first day of autumn – well, it will be at 10 something tonight, anyway.

Autumn.

My favorite part of the year – when the miserable heat and humidity of late summer finally gives way to the crisp, cool days of Fall.

I love the temperatures, the falling leaves, the crisp, shockingly blue skies punctuated with cotton-ball white clouds. I love walking in the crunchy leaves and watching Mother Nature put her creation to bed for the winter – going out with a spectacular explosion of colors and sights and smells.

I can’t wait for the cooler temperatures they’re promising later in the week. And I’m hoping they stay that way with no boomerang of Indian Summer to surprise us in October like it sometimes does.

The girls are both at home sick today with viruses. Not sure they’re the same virus, but they are both sick nonetheless. Little Bit has been sick since last Thursday and I am hoping that we’re at the end of her virus and that she’ll be back to school tomorrow. Big Girl just started today, but maybe we’ll get lucky and she’ll be feeling better by tomorrow.

I made them some potato soup for lunch… Good for what ails ye. I used Pioneer Woman’s recipe and substituted some frozen hash browns instead of the fresh-cut potatoes to speed the cooking process along a bit. Big Girl’s in the dining room enjoying her soup and toast very much. She says it is one of her favorite soups.

I’m making some progress on the shawl I started a few weeks ago. I think I have about 6 or 7 more “points” to make, which translates to about 50-60 rows left to knit? I think. I think 6 or 7 more points sounds a lot closer to being done than 50-60 rows. What do you think?

Anyway, I love it and I am looking forward to finishing it so that I can wear it as the weather cools down.

In other news, we have (another) new kitty. This one showed up a month or so ago as a stray and has decided she kind of likes it here even if we do have puppies in the back yard. We’ve named her “Mushi” – partly because of her moustache and partly in honor of a kitty I had as a teenager that had the same tuxedo coloring. This new Mushi is quite the chatterbox and demands to be petted and talked to whenever she is around when we go outside. Her favorite place to lay is underneath the bird feeder (smart kitty) and she has her very own “blind” of shrubs that she hides in and melts into the shadows.

She’s very sweet. Very independent – doesn’t like to be held or cuddled. She is also very curious about the Triplets in the house (as they are about her as well) but we have not attempted any introductions yet. I let them smell my hands after I’ve been petting either of them so that they can at least get used to the smells of each other. I have dreams (nightmares?) about Mushi sneaking into the house while we’re sleeping and being awakened to kitty cats who are “getting to know each other.” Yikes!

We will see what happens when the weather gets cold. The girls are already campaigning for the puppies to spend the winter indoors again. And Mushi, too. I’m not sure I’m up to a winter filled with 2 dogs and 4 cats (plus 2 kids and one husband) in the house with me!! That just sounds like crazy-town to me.

Speaking of crazy-town, I should probably go check on my sicklings…

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Stuffed Pepper Soup

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Chicken Caesar Pasta

Caesar dressing

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