Well, it seems like I am either early or late with the Menu Monday post. We had leftovers on Monday from a huge lasagne dinner that I made on Sunday when friends, Krista and Samantha were here to visit. We had a good time and of course, I ate too much :-)
Monday -
Leftover lasagne - spinach or meat - your choice
Roasted vegetables
Schwan's multi-grain bread
Tuesday-
Chicken Paella
Southewestern Corn Salad
Wednesday
Leftovers again - hair cut appt
Thursday
Tamales (Schwan's)
Refried Beans
Salad
Friday
Greek Pizza
Salad
Saturday
Jillian's Wedding - don't have to cook :-)
Sunday-
Chicken Paprikash (crock pot)
Green beans
Baguette
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
SUUUPer Brownies
I made a batch of Super Brownies for a party tonight. (I love this easy recipe!) This is the brownie mix and the 3 Symphony bars.
Here I have 1/2 of the mix in my 9 x 13 baking dish and have placed the 3 Symphony bars on top. One of the bars was broken but not to worry - it will all melt together again in the baking.
I have found it is easiest to spoon the rest of the brownie mix on the bars and spread it around. They may slide around a little on the gooey mix underneath but that's okay.
Let them cool completely before cutting. See the thick chocolate candy bar in the middle. The bottoms are pretty gooey - but that makes them so good!
Here I have 1/2 of the mix in my 9 x 13 baking dish and have placed the 3 Symphony bars on top. One of the bars was broken but not to worry - it will all melt together again in the baking.
I have found it is easiest to spoon the rest of the brownie mix on the bars and spread it around. They may slide around a little on the gooey mix underneath but that's okay.
Let them cool completely before cutting. See the thick chocolate candy bar in the middle. The bottoms are pretty gooey - but that makes them so good!
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Bountiful Dinner
I got 2 nice rolled pork roasts when I did my shopping - wasn't sure if one would be enough for Sunday dinner with leftovers for barbecue sandwiches. As it turned out, DD19 and her boyfriend were home for the weekend. His parents were out of town today so I invited him for dinner. Then at church I realized his sister (16 friend of DD17) was home as well so I invited her for dinner also. Glad I cooked both roasts :-)
Since DD19's boyfriend is a 'picky' eater I was sure to have a wide variety of side dishes. I cooked the small red potatoes and mini carrots in the crock pot with the roasts. In a second crock pot, I layered apple wedges, butter and cinnamon and sugar mixture. Cooked that on low for over 3 hours and they were delicious! I also heated up some frozen corn and made a tossed salad. We had freshly baked Schwan's baquette. For dessert I pulled out a cheesecake sampler I had in the freezer.
Needless to say we have lots of leftovers but it was such a good feeling to be able to be able to invite and unexpected dinner guest. Often we get fast food on the way home from church or just have soup or leftovers.
And again - no pictures! I have got to hide my camera in the kitchen or something.....
Since DD19's boyfriend is a 'picky' eater I was sure to have a wide variety of side dishes. I cooked the small red potatoes and mini carrots in the crock pot with the roasts. In a second crock pot, I layered apple wedges, butter and cinnamon and sugar mixture. Cooked that on low for over 3 hours and they were delicious! I also heated up some frozen corn and made a tossed salad. We had freshly baked Schwan's baquette. For dessert I pulled out a cheesecake sampler I had in the freezer.
Needless to say we have lots of leftovers but it was such a good feeling to be able to be able to invite and unexpected dinner guest. Often we get fast food on the way home from church or just have soup or leftovers.
And again - no pictures! I have got to hide my camera in the kitchen or something.....
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Menu Monday - on Saturday again :-)
Okay - so I am posting it early again this week. I do my grocery shopping on Saturdays so it is easier to make up my menu then - :-)
DD19 and her boyfriend decided to come home from college this weekend. Both felt they needed a break from their roommates so it is nice to have her home. I'm glad I had some menus planned that are things she likes.
Saturday:
Impossible Enchilada Pie/lettuce/tomato/sour cream
DQ for dessert (half price today and we all can use a treat!)
This was delicious! I should have taken a picture. I picked up an avocado at the store so we topped the pie with some sour cream, diced tomatoes, avocado slices and ripe olives - and had some lettuce on the side. DD17 enjoyed making hers into a 'restaurant' presentation. I made two pies so I can freeze one for a future meal.
Sunday:
Pork Roast and Potatoes in Crock Pot
Salad
Cooked apples in another crock pot :-)
Schwan's baguette
Monday
BBQ pork sandwiches
Roasted veggies
Tuesday - Girls party for a friend - I'm taking Super Brownies
Wednesday
Turkey and Dressing Casserole
Cranberry Sauce
Thursday
Soft tacos
Cheesy Rice
Friday
Chili
Peanut butter sandwich
Saturday
Homemade pizza
Salad
DD19 and her boyfriend decided to come home from college this weekend. Both felt they needed a break from their roommates so it is nice to have her home. I'm glad I had some menus planned that are things she likes.
Saturday:
Impossible Enchilada Pie/lettuce/tomato/sour cream
DQ for dessert (half price today and we all can use a treat!)
This was delicious! I should have taken a picture. I picked up an avocado at the store so we topped the pie with some sour cream, diced tomatoes, avocado slices and ripe olives - and had some lettuce on the side. DD17 enjoyed making hers into a 'restaurant' presentation. I made two pies so I can freeze one for a future meal.
Sunday:
Pork Roast and Potatoes in Crock Pot
Salad
Cooked apples in another crock pot :-)
Schwan's baguette
Monday
BBQ pork sandwiches
Roasted veggies
Tuesday - Girls party for a friend - I'm taking Super Brownies
Wednesday
Turkey and Dressing Casserole
Cranberry Sauce
Thursday
Soft tacos
Cheesy Rice
Friday
Chili
Peanut butter sandwich
Saturday
Homemade pizza
Salad
Missions Conference and a treat for me
This week is our Mission Conference at church and last night was seminar night. We had 15 different speakers who talked about their 'missions' or opportunities for us to serve. It was very interesting. The sessions are divided into 5 categories (3 each) such as Global Missions, Local Missions, Evangelism, (don't know what all 5 were). Then they are set up in 5 rooms and 3 time slots. Each person can choose which session they want to attend in each time slot - attending 3 sessions in the evening.
Going into the evening I was only interested in the College Ministry session - mostly because I have daughters that fall into that category and can see there is a need for something to help them stay connected to the church family. Our church is also located within 3 miles of a state university. The church in the past has tried several different ministries reaching out to the students there but nothing has lasted long term. Usually the leaders moved on to somewhere else and the ministry fell to the wayside. The session is wanting to come up with something that the church can sustain. It was a good session and there were several recent college grads who had a lot to input into the discussion. DD19 and her boyfriend attended with me and they had some input - mostly "FOOD" - if you offer home cooked meals you will get them to come :-)
Since DD17 was working in the nursery, I had to stay for the whole evening so I chose the Bethany Christian Services for my second session. It was good - but she should have handed out tissues at the door as we came in. She showed a short video (Everything to Me) to a song written by a man to his birth mother thanking her for making the sacrifice to give him a better life. The video showed a young lady who was pregnant, went into labor, delivered and gave her baby up for adoption. The man's story followed in a second video (Story behind Everything to Me) One of the young ladies in our church within the last month had delivered a beautiful baby that she dearly loved and wanted to keep - but knowing she could not do so financially (unemployed and a student) she gave it to a family through Bethany. So the video really hit home to many of us in the room who have struggled with this young lady in her decision.
The speaker was very interesting, telling about domestic, global and embryo adoptions. They will not consider a couple for adoption unless they are actively involved in a church so that is a comfort to the birth mothers who use their service. Most adoptions today are open adoptions with the birth mother choosing the parents and allowed to see the child at least once a year. The young lady in our church chose a family who will allow her to see the baby 4 times a year and live about 3 hours away.
This morning I found the lyrics to Everything to Me. I love the song!
The third and final session is where I was given a 'treat'. I planned to go to the session on the Chippewa mission trip that the church is planning for this summer. For many years the church has gone to the Lummi Reservation in Washington. The past couple years entire families have gone and it is quite expensive to fly a family of four - so the church has been looking for something within a reasonable driving distance and with a more flexible time frame. So I was just curious about the new location and people. But when I got to that room it was already packed with pre-teens - so I went to my second choice - The Gideons.
One of the men in our church is a member of The Gideons. They are an international group of men who promote God's Word in many ways. He showed slides and videos of a trip he made with the Gideons to Thailand. Very interesting and a beautiful country. They handed out Bibles in the Thai language to students, hospital patients and even to the Buddhist monks who are everywhere on the streets. He told many stories of God's providence and protection while they were in Thailand. And in case you are curious - the Gideons pay all their own travel expenses. Any money donated to The Gideons goes 100% to buying Bibles and New Testatments.
As he closed the program he passed out greeting cards that individuals can use to purchase Bibles for The Gideons to distribute (they are responsible for the Bibles in hotel rooms in the US). He wanted to show us how easy it was to honor someone by donating a Bible in their name. Glancing at me, he pulled out a little well-worn notebook and started flipping through the pages. He said he makes notes of things to do and some time ago he had made a note and had never followed up on it but was going to take care of that right now. He stood next to where I was seated and leaned down so I could see the pages as he was flipping - he had many items crossed off and finally came to a page that wasn't - there is said "Thank You to Mary C and Pastor - Marriage Retreat"
So he took a "Thinking of You" card and filled in the form on the inside saying 5 bibles were being donated in honor or Mary C. He added a line saying, "Thank you for your service". Then on the other side of the card he wrote something like "Thank you for all the work on the marriage retreat." Placing the card in the envelope, he handed it to me. Then he took the smaller envelope that was in the card and filled out that he was paying for 5 Bibles ($25) and that a card had already been sent to the honoree. It was that easy - and it made me feel very honored and appreciated. To think that someone who works hard for his money was willing to give up $25 because he appreciated what I had done. It did not matter that I did not receive the money - I felt blessed to be the 'reason' he was making the donation. I felt like I have received a special unexpected gift. It certainly make me want to do the same when I want to show someone I appreciate them. So I took a box of 10 cards to have on hand for just such an occassion :-)
I can see how God uses everyday things like a man's lack of follow up on his note made the end of January, and a room full of pre-teens to glorify Him. Isn't He wonderful!?!?!?!?
Going into the evening I was only interested in the College Ministry session - mostly because I have daughters that fall into that category and can see there is a need for something to help them stay connected to the church family. Our church is also located within 3 miles of a state university. The church in the past has tried several different ministries reaching out to the students there but nothing has lasted long term. Usually the leaders moved on to somewhere else and the ministry fell to the wayside. The session is wanting to come up with something that the church can sustain. It was a good session and there were several recent college grads who had a lot to input into the discussion. DD19 and her boyfriend attended with me and they had some input - mostly "FOOD" - if you offer home cooked meals you will get them to come :-)
Since DD17 was working in the nursery, I had to stay for the whole evening so I chose the Bethany Christian Services for my second session. It was good - but she should have handed out tissues at the door as we came in. She showed a short video (Everything to Me) to a song written by a man to his birth mother thanking her for making the sacrifice to give him a better life. The video showed a young lady who was pregnant, went into labor, delivered and gave her baby up for adoption. The man's story followed in a second video (Story behind Everything to Me) One of the young ladies in our church within the last month had delivered a beautiful baby that she dearly loved and wanted to keep - but knowing she could not do so financially (unemployed and a student) she gave it to a family through Bethany. So the video really hit home to many of us in the room who have struggled with this young lady in her decision.
The speaker was very interesting, telling about domestic, global and embryo adoptions. They will not consider a couple for adoption unless they are actively involved in a church so that is a comfort to the birth mothers who use their service. Most adoptions today are open adoptions with the birth mother choosing the parents and allowed to see the child at least once a year. The young lady in our church chose a family who will allow her to see the baby 4 times a year and live about 3 hours away.
This morning I found the lyrics to Everything to Me. I love the song!
The third and final session is where I was given a 'treat'. I planned to go to the session on the Chippewa mission trip that the church is planning for this summer. For many years the church has gone to the Lummi Reservation in Washington. The past couple years entire families have gone and it is quite expensive to fly a family of four - so the church has been looking for something within a reasonable driving distance and with a more flexible time frame. So I was just curious about the new location and people. But when I got to that room it was already packed with pre-teens - so I went to my second choice - The Gideons.
One of the men in our church is a member of The Gideons. They are an international group of men who promote God's Word in many ways. He showed slides and videos of a trip he made with the Gideons to Thailand. Very interesting and a beautiful country. They handed out Bibles in the Thai language to students, hospital patients and even to the Buddhist monks who are everywhere on the streets. He told many stories of God's providence and protection while they were in Thailand. And in case you are curious - the Gideons pay all their own travel expenses. Any money donated to The Gideons goes 100% to buying Bibles and New Testatments.
As he closed the program he passed out greeting cards that individuals can use to purchase Bibles for The Gideons to distribute (they are responsible for the Bibles in hotel rooms in the US). He wanted to show us how easy it was to honor someone by donating a Bible in their name. Glancing at me, he pulled out a little well-worn notebook and started flipping through the pages. He said he makes notes of things to do and some time ago he had made a note and had never followed up on it but was going to take care of that right now. He stood next to where I was seated and leaned down so I could see the pages as he was flipping - he had many items crossed off and finally came to a page that wasn't - there is said "Thank You to Mary C and Pastor - Marriage Retreat"
So he took a "Thinking of You" card and filled in the form on the inside saying 5 bibles were being donated in honor or Mary C. He added a line saying, "Thank you for your service". Then on the other side of the card he wrote something like "Thank you for all the work on the marriage retreat." Placing the card in the envelope, he handed it to me. Then he took the smaller envelope that was in the card and filled out that he was paying for 5 Bibles ($25) and that a card had already been sent to the honoree. It was that easy - and it made me feel very honored and appreciated. To think that someone who works hard for his money was willing to give up $25 because he appreciated what I had done. It did not matter that I did not receive the money - I felt blessed to be the 'reason' he was making the donation. I felt like I have received a special unexpected gift. It certainly make me want to do the same when I want to show someone I appreciate them. So I took a box of 10 cards to have on hand for just such an occassion :-)
I can see how God uses everyday things like a man's lack of follow up on his note made the end of January, and a room full of pre-teens to glorify Him. Isn't He wonderful!?!?!?!?
Thursday, February 26, 2009
My, how things have changed!
Just musing this morning about how things have changed in the last 20 or so years. DH and I were married in Nov 1988 and he was a 'neat freak'. I am a 'clutterer' myself. We did discuss that before marrying (only dated for 5 months so not much time to discuss a lot of things about what we expected in our marriage but this was an obvious area of contention). I told him that if he wanted a neat and tidy home, he would have to do the cleaning because I would never be able to keep up to his expectations. He agreed.
I used to tell people he cleaned because he liked to clean. He corrected me - he cleaned because he liked a clean house. (I do too but I love my creative hobbies more and they came first).
When we had kids (2 kids within the first 3 years of marriage) it only got worse. He would come home from work and start putting away all their toys. It was like they were not allowed to have anything out of its place.
And he was constantly cleaning up after me when I was cooking (for he record he would not cook - so I cooked and he cleaned up after meals). I remember one time I was making homemade egg noodles and he was using the dustbuster to pick up some flour that fell to the floor while I was working - in my way! How compulsive is that?????
It only got worse as the kids got older and more active. DH would clean on his day off work mid-week and once he had the house perfect, he would lay down for a nap. We three girls would come home during his nap and just in the usual activities (girls doing homework, playing, my fixing supper) we would 'destroy' his perfect house. Now that is his opinion - actually if one thing was out of place or if we walked through the vacuum pattern in the living room (which we rarely used) he thought the whole house was a mess.
And if we had guests for the girls' birthdays or family gatherings he really had a problem with that. He could just not stand having other people in his house. He barely tolerated having his kids in the house - and often said "I can't wait until they are grown!" He really contradicted himself - one minute saying the girls would be locked in the basement until they were 36 (to keep them from making foolish mistakes as teens) and the next saying they were out of the house when they turned 18.
About 8 to 9 years ago, he agreed the girls could get 2 kittens from some friends of the family. What a disaster! He expected the darling little kittens to be clean - but between a litter box in the utility room and the hair they shed - he never had a peaceful moment. Six months later he gave the girls an ultimatum - find a new home for the kittens or he would take care of them. A friend of the extended family took both kittens - and we threw in all the cat supplies free - and the girls missed them terribly.
About a year after that he told the girls they could get ONE kitten - and we made him sign a piece of paper stating that he could not get rid of it or kill it. We got Louie then and DH did better but it was still an area of contention.
One day my niece was visiting when DH came home from work. I told her that he would walk into the house (which was clean by most people's standards) and wipe down the kitchen counter (even though nothing had been done on it since he cleaned it the night before) then walk into the bathroom and clean the mirror and finally walk into the family room and clean the screen on the TV. He did this every evening. Sure enough - he did it just as I described - and couldn't figure out why we were laughing.
Now - I am telling you all of that so you can appreciate how he has changed :-). About 5 years ago he was diagnosed as clinically depressed and began taking medication. Since they he has progressively 'let go' of some of the obesessions about cleanliness.
I walked into the kitchen this morning and the dog 'smear' on the door window were very obvious (before DH would have cleaned it at least once a day - now many once a week). I had the ironing board and iron out last night in the living room while I was watching a DVD and it is still there (before he would have put it away as soon as I got done). The chair where I do my cross stitch and knitting has yarn and cross stitch supplies piled next to it (before he would have insisted these be put away every night) . The kitchen sink has dishes in it (before he could not go to bed with anything dirty). The dining room has storage boxes of scrapbooking stuff piled up in one corner (before he would have complained about that until I completed my project and got them back to the basement).
It is amazing how the diagnosis and proper treatment have changed our lives. I am sometimes the one who 'picks up'. He still has his moments but they are short-lived. Instead of yelling about something all evening he says something or asks "Can you get this cleaned up before the weekend?" And when we have family guests - usually overnight now that we have moved away from most of them - he actually tells them to come back!
It was a long struggle but I thank God that DH found some peace at least in that area.
I used to tell people he cleaned because he liked to clean. He corrected me - he cleaned because he liked a clean house. (I do too but I love my creative hobbies more and they came first).
When we had kids (2 kids within the first 3 years of marriage) it only got worse. He would come home from work and start putting away all their toys. It was like they were not allowed to have anything out of its place.
And he was constantly cleaning up after me when I was cooking (for he record he would not cook - so I cooked and he cleaned up after meals). I remember one time I was making homemade egg noodles and he was using the dustbuster to pick up some flour that fell to the floor while I was working - in my way! How compulsive is that?????
It only got worse as the kids got older and more active. DH would clean on his day off work mid-week and once he had the house perfect, he would lay down for a nap. We three girls would come home during his nap and just in the usual activities (girls doing homework, playing, my fixing supper) we would 'destroy' his perfect house. Now that is his opinion - actually if one thing was out of place or if we walked through the vacuum pattern in the living room (which we rarely used) he thought the whole house was a mess.
And if we had guests for the girls' birthdays or family gatherings he really had a problem with that. He could just not stand having other people in his house. He barely tolerated having his kids in the house - and often said "I can't wait until they are grown!" He really contradicted himself - one minute saying the girls would be locked in the basement until they were 36 (to keep them from making foolish mistakes as teens) and the next saying they were out of the house when they turned 18.
About 8 to 9 years ago, he agreed the girls could get 2 kittens from some friends of the family. What a disaster! He expected the darling little kittens to be clean - but between a litter box in the utility room and the hair they shed - he never had a peaceful moment. Six months later he gave the girls an ultimatum - find a new home for the kittens or he would take care of them. A friend of the extended family took both kittens - and we threw in all the cat supplies free - and the girls missed them terribly.
About a year after that he told the girls they could get ONE kitten - and we made him sign a piece of paper stating that he could not get rid of it or kill it. We got Louie then and DH did better but it was still an area of contention.
One day my niece was visiting when DH came home from work. I told her that he would walk into the house (which was clean by most people's standards) and wipe down the kitchen counter (even though nothing had been done on it since he cleaned it the night before) then walk into the bathroom and clean the mirror and finally walk into the family room and clean the screen on the TV. He did this every evening. Sure enough - he did it just as I described - and couldn't figure out why we were laughing.
Now - I am telling you all of that so you can appreciate how he has changed :-). About 5 years ago he was diagnosed as clinically depressed and began taking medication. Since they he has progressively 'let go' of some of the obesessions about cleanliness.
I walked into the kitchen this morning and the dog 'smear' on the door window were very obvious (before DH would have cleaned it at least once a day - now many once a week). I had the ironing board and iron out last night in the living room while I was watching a DVD and it is still there (before he would have put it away as soon as I got done). The chair where I do my cross stitch and knitting has yarn and cross stitch supplies piled next to it (before he would have insisted these be put away every night) . The kitchen sink has dishes in it (before he could not go to bed with anything dirty). The dining room has storage boxes of scrapbooking stuff piled up in one corner (before he would have complained about that until I completed my project and got them back to the basement).
It is amazing how the diagnosis and proper treatment have changed our lives. I am sometimes the one who 'picks up'. He still has his moments but they are short-lived. Instead of yelling about something all evening he says something or asks "Can you get this cleaned up before the weekend?" And when we have family guests - usually overnight now that we have moved away from most of them - he actually tells them to come back!
It was a long struggle but I thank God that DH found some peace at least in that area.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Card-making
When my sister was here in January we did some card-making. Here are some of my latest creations (I need to practice the photography - sorry they are not the best).
The snow angels is one of my favorite Stampin' Up sets. It is discontinued but I finally got one on E-Bay and love using it to make blank note cards for the winter months.
This is another of the stamps in the Snow Angels set.
This is one my sister created and I copied. I love the colors.
It is green and burgundy.
These are some graduation announcement/invitations that I designed for DD17's graduation in June. The school colors are orange and black. I made up several and asked her what she liked - or what she wanted me to change. This one was the winner.
To the others I have added the Congrats stamp and will give to her friends and classmates - nothing wasted.
The snow angels is one of my favorite Stampin' Up sets. It is discontinued but I finally got one on E-Bay and love using it to make blank note cards for the winter months.
This is another of the stamps in the Snow Angels set.
This is one my sister created and I copied. I love the colors.
It is green and burgundy.
These are some graduation announcement/invitations that I designed for DD17's graduation in June. The school colors are orange and black. I made up several and asked her what she liked - or what she wanted me to change. This one was the winner.
To the others I have added the Congrats stamp and will give to her friends and classmates - nothing wasted.
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