Back to school…back to blogging…back to life

Well, howdy there!

Been a long time, hasn’t it?

It was a crazy whirlwind summer for us. In spite of the fact that we were uprooted and transplanted to a tropical rain forest in which it rained every.single.day. we had a very nice summer.

The girls started school last week –

Big Girl is in 7th grade. I can hardly believe she is so big!

Little Bit started 4th grade. When I took her to school, she didn’t want me to walk her in – she just hopped out in the carpool line and didn’t even look back. My heart lurched a little, but I was so proud of her bravery and happy that she was comfortable enough to go on in without Mommy holding her hand.

After taking almost every Friday off for the past month (plus a few weeks) and a week here and there to play with the girls, I’m back working a “normal” schedule again. That means I’m also back to managing our family schedule a little bit more closely, including meal planning – and that means it’s

Here’s what’s cookin’ at our house this week:

Monday: Beef Stew (crock pot recipe) with some crusty homemade bread	Friday: Chicken Noodle Casserole (this is a new crock pot recipe I want to try)
Tuesday: Asian Chicken Stir Fry	Saturday: TBD
Wednesday: Mexican Potato Casserole (prep ahead & bake recipe) (Tacos for the kids)	Sunday: “Lunch on the Lawn” at church (picnic) and dinner with our Small Group – SuperMan’s absolutely awesome Brunswick Stew, homemade bread and cole slaw
Thursday: Bourbon Street Chicken (crock pot recipe) and rice w/ steamed broccoli	I’m also nibbling on some of this bean salad for lunch this week

What’re you planning this week for yummies for your family?

Menu Plan Monday

Ugh.

Is it Monday?

Sigh.

I guess that means Spring Break is over.

Back to real life again.

Good thing I took some time on Saturday to plan out my menus for the week – I think I’m going to need all the help I can get. SuperMan is working long hours and I’ll be juggling the kids and work schedules on my own for a few weeks. I need easy meals and want to be sure it’s tasty and healthy, too.

Here’s what I have planned – a mix of old standby’s and some new recipes to try:

Salad & Baked Potato	Crock pot creamy chicken & rice
Homemade chicken pot pie (I may try this recipe or this one)	Carnitas tacos (new!) with some Cuban black beans
Pioneer Woman’s chicken spaghetti (Yum)	Hamburgers on the grill (this recipe looks good)
Pork tenderloin with couscous and veggies	This Chinese Pork Tenderloin looks good, too – may be an option if I don’t do the grilled pork tenderloin.

I’m not committing to what I will cook on which day. I’m leaving my options open as I see how the week progresses. But, this is the plan at least.

What’re you planning for your family this week?

Menu Plan Monday (on Tuesday) (thoughtsalonglifeshighway.com)
Menu plan Monday, 4/8/13 (knittingzeal.typepad.com)
Spicy Slow Cooker Pork Carnitas (thesuburbansoapbox.com)

Turkey & Rice Soup

I mentioned yesterday we had two turkeys this year for Thanksgiving. SuperMan felt if one was good, two was better. Not really. We just couldn’t decide between smoked or fried, so we ended up doing both. I had gotten a free turkey, so it seemed like a good thing to do. Well, now I have a ton of turkey to deal with and so this will most definitely be on my list of things to make this week (maybe even today).

It’s super quick, super easy and super good.

If you’ve got leftover turkey to deal with, you might want to give this a try. I’m betting you have most of the ingredients in your pantry already.

Turkey & Rice Soup

~1 pound cooked turkey (or chicken) diced into bite-sized pieces
1 can cream of chicken soup
2 – 2 1/2 cups (cooked) rice
~ 1/2 cup celery, diced
~ 3/4 cup carrots, diced (I just used a handful of shredded carrots)
2-3 cups chicken broth (I used one box of broth)
Houston House Seasoning to taste

In a large stockpot, combine all ingredients except rice. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20-30 minutes. (You could also do this in your crock pot on low for 2-3 hours)
About 10 minutes before serving, drop the rice in and mix to combine. Heat through.
Serve.

Homemade chicken noodle soup with vegetables (enjoyingrealfood.wordpress.com)
10 quick ideas for leftover turkey (circleoffood.com)

Saturday Sweetness from the Crock Pot

I know, I know, goodies in the crock pot?

I will admit I’ve never successfully cooked very many sweet things in the crock pot. To me, the crock pot is reserved for savory dishes, soups and stews. But I just had to share this with you.

My neighbor’s mom makes this every year and we are always so thrilled when they bring a little bit over to share with us. Nana makes the best treats and this one is a particular favorite of mine. This week, she came to visit (we had “Nana Central” in our cul-de-sac, with two grandmas visiting, Little Bit said.) and she made a batch. Luckily we were the recipients of a sample.

After trying it, my mom said, “We need to make some of this.” So we set out to find the recipe online. We found several blogs and websites with the recipe, even a Redbook article that dubbed it “Trisha Yearwood’s candy” although I do wonder if she really invented the candy herself. It seems to me to be one of those ubiquitous candies that appears every holiday – kind of like fruitcake and fudge. Which, truthfully, is just fine with me, because I LOVE it. (Here’s another link to a source recipe we used as our base.)

It’s sort of a cross between a Payday candy bar and peanut butter fudge. Which is crazy because even though I swore it had to have peanut butter in it, I found out that it doesn’t! Not one drop.

The secret ingredient is dry-roasted peanuts. That, and I think, the crock pot. When you cook this, the layering in the crock pot is apparently critical. I think the roasted peanuts are on the bottom and as they heat up directly on top of the heating elements of the crock pot, they must infuse the chocolates (yes, plural) with the roasted peanut flavor. What you end up with is so delicious. And, so stinkin’ easy, it’s almost embarrassing.

This will definitely be on my list of goodies to make for our friends this holiday season. I hope you give it a try.

Crock Pot Chocolate Peanut Candy

2 jars (16 oz.) dry roasted salted peanuts
1 package (12 oz.) semi-sweet chocolate chips
4 oz sweetened Baker’s German chocolate (green packaging), broken into pieces
3 lb (two 24 oz. pkgs.) white almond bark, broken into pieces (some packages of almond bark may have “candy coating” as the name on the package)

Directions

Put ingredients into a 4 or 5-quart crockpot in EXACT order as listed.
Cover and cook on LOWEST setting for 3 hours. DO NOT remove lid!
Turn off and allow to cool slightly.
Mixture will not be melted but will be soft.
Mix thoroughly and drop by teaspoon size cookie dropper or a teaspoon onto parchment paper.
Let cool thoroughly. Makes approximately 100 pieces, depending, of course, on how large you make the pieces.

A few notes:

My large crock pot barely held all of this – you need a BIG crock pot.
I had to turn it from Low to Warm about 2 hours into cooking as I noticed the white chocolate was starting to turn brown on the sides.
I used a tiny ladle to drop this on the parchment paper. We made 100 candies about 3/4 of a ladle full and let it sit on the counter overnight to cool.

White Bean Chicken Chili

Yesterday it was gloomy and rainy. I knew it was going to be that way from the long-range forecast I saw over the weekend and so I planned something warm and filling for supper.

I made white bean chicken chili. My little one doesn’t like soup (so she says) and this is one of the few that she will eat. Our neighbor served it for the first time we ever ate it and we all fell in love with it.

I think of it as a cross between a soup and a chili. It’s brothier than a chili normally is, but it has most of the same ingredients as a chili. I’ve tweaked the recipe a bit and include canned tomatoes which were not in the original recipe I used. I like the extra flavor and think it stays more true to the “chili” that way.

I also made my own chicken broth earlier in the day – I didn’t have any cooked chicken so I took a few breasts, put them in some water with seasonings and cooked them. I strained the broth and used that as the base for the soup.

Last night I served it with grilled cheese sandwiches on Italian bread. It was hearty, filling, and perfect on a dark and stormy night.

I made mine in the crock pot (or you can do it on the stove – I’ve done it both ways) and the house smelled so good when we got home from Big Girl’s pre-op appointment – hungry and cold, but not for long.

Give it a try. It’s super easy and super good.

White Bean Chicken Chili

2 cans white beans (I used cannellini beans)
1 can Rotel (diced tomatoes with chilies)
2-3 cups chicken broth
1 pound (approx) shredded cooked chicken breasts
1 can (7 oz) diced green chilies (or you can use 2 small 4-oz cans)
2 Tbsp minced garlic
1 Tbsp dried minced onion (or 1/2 fresh onion diced finely)
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried cilantro

Add all ingredients to your crock pot. Set on High for 3-4 hours, or Low for 4-6 hours. Everything is cooked, so you’re basically just melding the flavors.
If you are using a stock pot, just bring to a boil and then let simmer for 30-40 minutes before serving.

You can serve with tortilla chips, sour cream, salsa, etc. or just enjoy as-is (which is what I prefer)

Menu Plan Monday ~ 2 April 12

Happy Monday!

We spent an absolutely glorious weekend together as a family – it was bliss for me. Dinners eaten as a unit, good conversation, lots of laughter and even some special time for me with my man. I am a happy girl today thanks to such a nice weekend.

Looking forward to some fun this week – the girls are out for Spring Break. We’re not traveling – SuperMan and I have to work – but I am hoping to sneak some fun in nonetheless.

I’m also planning some yummy meals. Especially things that don’t require me to spend a lot of time in the kitchen (read: crock pots and grills will be involved).

So, let’s move on to the plan, shall we?

Monday: Pork Butt (a crock pot yummy) with some sticky rice and veggies
Tuesday: Baked potato bar & salads
Wednesday: Fajitas (I will share this recipe later this week)
Thursday: Grilled chicken thighs & legs (still cooking what I stocked up on when they were 98 cents a pound! they’re marinating in a vacuum sealed bag in my freezer, slathered in Italian dressing and herbs.)
Friday: Pizza night
Saturday: LUNCH: sloppy joes; DINNER: something yummy on the grill most likely
Sunday: Easter dinner: Crock Pot “rotisserie” chicken, rice, veggies, dinner rolls & salad.

I’ve also whipped up a batch of the infamous raisin bran muffins and made a dozen already. I have enough batter for probably 2-3 dozen more, so those will be baked up as needed for breakfasts/snacks this week.

I’m also hoping to try out making some homemade chocolate chip granola bars with the girls.

What’re you cooking this week?

NEED MORE IDEAS?

You can find more yummy recipes on orgjunkie.com where you can find some great recipes and menu plans.

I’ll be back tomorrow with some updates to my Project Life pages.

It’s Monday… again. (thoughtsalonglifeshighway.com)
Menu Plan Monday 2.6.12 (thoughtsalonglifeshighway.com)
Menu Plan Monday (thoughtsalonglifeshighway.com)

It’s Monday… again.

Hello, all, and happy Monday (I think – it is probably too early to tell just yet)

After a happy, but busy, weekend, we’re kicking off the week with a countdown to spring break… the girls and I can hardly wait. Not waking up at 5 AM is certainly something to look forward to! We have not finalized our plans yet… they have changed several times in the past week or so and so I’ve just about decided to not worry about PLANS and just roll with the tide. Maybe we’ll stay home, maybe we’ll go somewhere. Just not sure yet.

Planning some grill cooking this week – the weather is so beautiful, it is hard to resist dinner on the grill. On Saturday, we cooked our entire meal on the grill. I made these yummy three-cheese potato pockets. They were so good. Although, next time I make them, I’ll probably only put the onion in the pocket for SuperMan. Too much onion for the girls and me. But yummy nonetheless.

We grilled ribs, corn (wrapped in foil and slathered with butter) and the potato pockets. It was a yummy, yummy dinner. Made especially good because there were very few dirty pots to wash. (my dishwasher is dead)

Sunday night we had guests for dinner – our friends from our Bible Study group at church. I made a nacho bar. I have to say that this is a terrific idea when you are feeding a crowd. I would think it would be great for a bunch of teens, too.

I made shredded “taco” chicken in the crock pot on Saturday and then browned ground beef on Sunday for a second crock pot-full. We had toppings galore – cilantro, onion, lettuce, olives, cheese, jalapeños, three kinds of salsa, and on and on and on. I also made a cheese dip with some Velveeta and salsa. Yeah, not the healthiest, but it sure was good.

I served this warm bean dip as a side item, but most of us just put it on our nachos. It was a huge hit (another one of my finds from Pinterest)

Everyone was able to fix their own plate of nachos to their liking. I have to say, there were very few leftovers and I like it that way!

This week I’m still working out my menu plan – so far I know we’ll be doing the following:

Monday: Creamy chicken & rice (crock pot)

Tuesday: Leftovers from Sunday – probably turned into quesadillas

Wednesday: Asian Chicken Salad (new recipe for us) – I’ll share this recipe later this week. It’s a yummy salad recipe shared by a friend. After I’ve made it, I’ll let you know all about it!

Thursday: Slow Cooker Salisbury Steak (new recipe for us) Big Girl has a doctor’s appt for her tummy so we will go with slow cooker recipes to make it easier for mama.

Friday: Pizza night

Saturday: Grilled goodness (not sure what yet)

NEED MORE IDEAS?

You can find more yummy recipes on orgjunkie.com where you can find some great recipes and menu plans.

I’ll be back tomorrow with some updates to my Project Life pages.

Menu Plan Monday 2.6.12 (thoughtsalonglifeshighway.com)
Menu Plan Monday (thoughtsalonglifeshighway.com)
Menu Plan Monday ~ 27 February (thoughtsalonglifeshighway.com)

Menu Plan Monday

Wow! It’s the HOLIDAYS already!

When did THAT happen??

One minute, you’re sunning yourself by the pool and the next time you look around people are singing Christmas carols and putting up lights.

Sigh.

I hope those of you in the U.S. had a most wonderful Thanksgiving week. We had a very nice week ourselves. I am happy to report that I managed to stay at home for four straight days. Yep, I didn’t even go past my mailbox for that entire time! It was absolute heaven! If I could figure out a way to have everything delivered, I could quite happily stay at home indefinitely.

My family (especially Super Man and Big Girl) are not of the same mindset, though, so Little Bit and I have to leave the compound occasionally, much to our chagrin.

This week, we’re gearing up for the Christmas festivities. The trees are up and waiting for decorations. The lights are up outside and most of the other décor is out and ready to enjoy.

Jingle the Elf made his debut on Saturday – the girls were thrilled. He’s already been up to mischief and found his way into a bowl of candy canes on Saturday night.

Today he was found riding the reindeer on the mantle. There’s no telling what else he’ll get into before Christmas!

It’s rainy and cold here in our little mountain town. Supposed to get snow tomorrow – which is amazing since we never usually get snow before January. They are saying it most likely will not stick, but the girls are thrilled regardless.

With the cold weather, I’m planning some warm, hearty meals for us this week. I want to be sure everyone’s tummies are filled and happy as we enter these long dark days of winter.

Here’s what we have planned:

Monday: Roast Beef (crock pot) and mashed potatoes. Also eating up the rest of the Thanksgiving veggie leftovers.
Tuesday: Crock Pot Meatloaf & potatoes
Wednesday: Teriyaki Chicken & Fried Rice
Thursday: Salmon Croquettes & Grits (SuperMan’s request)
I’ll also be making some Pasta Fagioli soup to take with me on a girls’ weekend.
Friday: SuperMan and the girls will (probably) eat out, but I have the fixin’s for Tacos if they decide to eat them.
Saturday: everyone’s on their own. I’ll be gone and they will probably head to Golden Corral – their favorite place to eat when Mommy’s out of town!
Sunday: family dinner together after they go to church & I get home. Supper with our Small Group friends.

I’ve also made some brownies for lunch snacks this week and some baked oatmeal bars for breakfasts.

For lunch this week, I’m eating tortilla soup, made with the leftover turkey (instead of chicken).

Thinking I’ll make some more bread but waiting for a drier day – bread doesn’t do well in the high humidity. The honey-oatmeal bread turned out really, really good. A little crumbly, but tasty. I may up the moisture (or lower the flour) next time I make it. But it is definitely a keeper recipe.

What about you? Anything good planned?

Hop on over to orgjunkie.com for more menu ideas.

Menu Plan Monday ~ 7 November (thoughtsalonglifeshighway.com)
Menu Plan Monday ~ Thanksgiving Week (thoughtsalonglifeshighway.com)
Menu Plan Monday ~ 14 November 11 (thoughtsalonglifeshighway.com)

Menu Plan Monday ~ 15 August

I changed things up on my blog just a little this past weekend. If you are reading this in a reader or through an email subscription, I’d love for you to click over to the actual post and let me know what you think! Playing around with a little cleaner design – I like it. How about you?

You may have to update your feed if you subscribe in a reader – I am not sure. I tried to update everything to be seamless, but I’m just a rookie at this, so I may have missed something.

You can update your subscription here.

This week we start dance classes, added to the first full week of school for the girls. Should be a busy week for us. That’s why I got my meal plan ready early in the weekend and went shopping. Hopefully, there won’t be any last-minute dashes to the store for things we forgot or stops for takeout dinners. I’m going to get us back into our routines (if it kills me!) this week for sure.

I’m breaking out the crock pots and making sure we have healthy meals in spite of our busy schedules!

Sunday, we “baked” two chickens in the crock pot while we were at church. If you’ve not tried my Crock Pot Rotisserie Chicken, I highly recommend it for busy weeknight dinners (or having dinner ready when you arrive home after church on Sunday!)

One of the chickens was our Sunday dinner and the second one was deboned and will become chicken salad for sandwiches (in pita pockets) this week. If there is any extra, I’ll use it to make salads with chicken on them (as opposed to chicken salad – hee hee) and maybe do that for lunch one day, too. I whipped up some cole slaw for SuperMan to have with his chicken salad sandwiches at lunch, too, and he has requested a second round of a pasta salad I made last week that I’ll share the recipe for soon.

I also made a trip to my favorite meat market/butcher and stocked up on some yummies to cook this week.

So, here is our plan for the week:

Monday: grilled steaks (that were planned for Saturday but didn’t get cooked) with grilled veggies & potatoes
Tuesday: Slow-cooked pork loin with sticky rice
Wednesday: Grilled Pork Chops with cous cous & a salad
Thursday: BBQ sandwiches (from the leftover pork) & homemade fries
Friday: Asian Flank Steak with stir fry
(that was planned for last week, but I ended up making Chicken & Dumplings instead because Little Bit wasn’t feeling well)
Saturday: we’ll probably eat out – either Friday or Saturday, so the meals will interchange.

I’ve also made the Amish Breakfast Casserole that I love so much, and I am thinking I’ll make some type of bread (maybe banana?) for the kids for breakfast. Hmm… Maybe I’ll make a banana-chocolate bread…. (the wheels are turnin’)

Well, that’s it from this kitchen. What’ve you got planned in yours?

Hop over to orgjunkie.com for some more great menu ideas!

Menu Plan Monday ~ 29 November

Back to reality today.

After a week of lazing about at Mom’s house, it’s back to the regular routine.

I made a monster shopping trip on Sunday afternoon, restocking on all the perishables and produce/dairy that had gone bad while we were out of town. That necessitated a cleaning out of the refrigerator (thank you, SuperMan, for doing that for me!) and some planning for the week’s meals.

I put a crock pot on to cook with my beef vegetable soup – that will be lunches this week for SuperMan and me.

I also baked a Brown Sugar cake, but with a twist. I added a scoop of protein powder (and upped the water to 3/4 cup to compensate) and used a Spice Cake mix as the base instead of a yellow cake mix. YUMMINESS.

I am also planning to stick some oatmeal in the crock pot – trying out Alton Brown’s recipe for Overnight Oatmeal. It looks yummy.

Here’s what I have planned so far this week:

Monday: Spaghetti and meatballs, salad & garlic bread

Tuesday: I’m thinking of whipping up some sort of chicken/pasta dish

Wednesday: Meatball subs & salad

Thursday: not sure yet…I’m cooking dinner for a friend whose little one is having his tonsils out. Whatever I cook for her, I’ll just double and have some for us.

Friday: dinner out

Saturday: homemade chicken pot pies

Hope on over to orgjunkie.com for Menu Plan Monday ideas…