It's a question not only the people in my Family ask me on a daily basis, its a question I ask myself! I grocery shop with meals in mind and plan out my week as to what I am going to make according to our schedule. Our kids are not busy yet, but even one activity can have you out of the house and home later in the evening than you would like.
I try to think of good, quick meals that everyone likes. One likes this, the other likes that and one is always trying to watch what they eat. Me, I just like to eat!
keeping these things in mind and the fact that I am NOT a five star restaurant or a short or cook, ONE, QUICK, YUMMY meal is all you get in this house!
When john is home (which is pretty much all the time now) I really try to make a "meal" and feel actually really good when its all done and I haven't spent hours in the kitchen, the food is still good and everyone is happy.
LOVE to see his face when he comes in the house and he can smell something yummy!
I wanted to share a couple recipes that I have made that seem to work for our Family. They are not MY recipes, but are easy, yummy and did I mention easy?
Chicken and Dumplings:
4-6 boneless skinless chicken breast
3 tablespoons of butter
2 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of celery soup
1 large can of chicken broth (maybe 1 and 1/2)
1-2 large onions (depending on how much you like them)(I use 2-3...)
2 pkg refrigerated biscuits (cut each one into 4's)
salt and pepper (to Taste)
Put ALL the ingredients into the crock pot EXCEPT the biscuits and cook on high for 7-8 hrs. the last 30 min of cooking, add the cut up biscuits.
This stuff is REALLY HOT, so make sure you let it cool for a while before handing it to the littles!!
Pot Roast:
One roast (your choice of roast)
1-2 pkg lipton onion soup mix (depends on size of roast)
1-2 lrg onions (cut into rings)
Kosher salt
blk pepper
1/4 c. red wine
1 t. olive oil
heat your crock pot on high
heat a skillet to high and add the oil.
pat your roast dry with paper towels and rub with the salt, place the roast into your heated skillet and carefully sear each side of the roast until it is brown and crisp.
remove the roast and put it in the crock pot
if needed, add more oil to skillet and add your onion rings, let them sear also so that they have that nice burnt, caramelized look to them. (heat should be high so this happens fast) add your wine to them for the last bit of cooking.
sprinkle onion soup mix on top of roast and then add the cooked onions to the top.
I add potatoes and carrots as well, but this is optional.
I fill it with water and let it cook ALL DAY!!
What got me thinking about this post was the fact that I have cooked every day lately and last night I decided to just make Tuna sandwiches and mac&cheese and my Family's reaction was so funny! They LOVED IT, went on and on about how we should have a sandwich day every week!
I guess quick and easy really is the way to go!!
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Visit to the school...
Story #1.
Every Tuesday I get to go to Emily's class and help out with the "centers". Usually we are doing a little craft of something. Right up my alley, I LOVE that kind of stuff. I also get to listen in as Emily rotates to her other centers, Every now and again she will look at my and give that little thumbs up!! So cute!
So, the kids rotate in small groups and come to my table for my center. It's really great to have small groups so that I can get to know all the kids. (I really miss teaching at the preschool.) They are the sweetest little kids, all with such personality and desire for independence. Today we worked on making the Mayflower ship and painted hand print turkeys. It was a lot of fun watching them put everything together and all the different ways they do things, every ship looked a bit different. They had to cut waves from blue paper and not one looked the same. At the end of my time in the room today one of the little boys came up to me and said "I LOVE YOU, I REALLY DO LOVE YOU"!!
Melt my heart!!
I have to enjoy this time in the classroom while I can, once they get bigger there aren't many opportunities to go in! BOOO HOOO!!
Story #2.
Trying to help your children understand how to make GOOD friends and how to BE a good friend, can prove to be very difficult. Lets face it, even as we grow older we have to live and learn in the Friend department. Emily said she has one little girl in her class who insist she COPY her work or she will not be her friend. She gets very upset about it and says she wants to do her own work and they can still be friends. She also has another friend who can only be friends with one person at a time. The whole "If you play with them, than I wont be your friend" thing. KINDERGARTEN stuff. So silly the things that can affect a friendship, make a friendship, ruin a friendship. I tell them everyday before they jump out of the van, be the best friend you can be, the best YOU!! Not everyone is going to like you, you wont like every person you meet and THAT'S OKAY, but be your best YOU!
Story #3.
When I go in for centers on Tuesday I usually hit the gym after so that I am not going into school smelly. Emily does not like this. She is insistent that I have lunch with her, holding onto my neck and whispering in my ear "don't go mom, you have to have lunch with me"...I'll be changing my work out routine next week, and those kids will just have to deal with smelly me!!
Every Tuesday I get to go to Emily's class and help out with the "centers". Usually we are doing a little craft of something. Right up my alley, I LOVE that kind of stuff. I also get to listen in as Emily rotates to her other centers, Every now and again she will look at my and give that little thumbs up!! So cute!
So, the kids rotate in small groups and come to my table for my center. It's really great to have small groups so that I can get to know all the kids. (I really miss teaching at the preschool.) They are the sweetest little kids, all with such personality and desire for independence. Today we worked on making the Mayflower ship and painted hand print turkeys. It was a lot of fun watching them put everything together and all the different ways they do things, every ship looked a bit different. They had to cut waves from blue paper and not one looked the same. At the end of my time in the room today one of the little boys came up to me and said "I LOVE YOU, I REALLY DO LOVE YOU"!!
Melt my heart!!
I have to enjoy this time in the classroom while I can, once they get bigger there aren't many opportunities to go in! BOOO HOOO!!
Story #2.
Trying to help your children understand how to make GOOD friends and how to BE a good friend, can prove to be very difficult. Lets face it, even as we grow older we have to live and learn in the Friend department. Emily said she has one little girl in her class who insist she COPY her work or she will not be her friend. She gets very upset about it and says she wants to do her own work and they can still be friends. She also has another friend who can only be friends with one person at a time. The whole "If you play with them, than I wont be your friend" thing. KINDERGARTEN stuff. So silly the things that can affect a friendship, make a friendship, ruin a friendship. I tell them everyday before they jump out of the van, be the best friend you can be, the best YOU!! Not everyone is going to like you, you wont like every person you meet and THAT'S OKAY, but be your best YOU!
Story #3.
When I go in for centers on Tuesday I usually hit the gym after so that I am not going into school smelly. Emily does not like this. She is insistent that I have lunch with her, holding onto my neck and whispering in my ear "don't go mom, you have to have lunch with me"...I'll be changing my work out routine next week, and those kids will just have to deal with smelly me!!
Holiday traditions...
Growing up every Family (hopefully) has some great Family traditions. Ones that you look forward to all year and think about long after they are over. We have tried really hard to do just that with our kids, create traditions that they will love and take with them when they grown up and have Families of there own. Some of our traditions...
*1st day of summer celebration, yummy treats and a day in the sun
*dressing the whole Family as Pilgrims and Indians for Thanksgiving feast and making all our table decorations.
*Sloppy Joes on Halloween night and making our our costumes
*hiding the pickle in the Christmas tree
*everyone gets to open one gift on Christmas eve and its ALWAYS new Pj's
*Sunday game night
*1st day of school treats and letters
*the kids always put the Angel on top of the tree
So many things that me and John don't even really think about that the kids will say "its tradition". They count on them already, even the very tiny little ones!
What are some of YOUR traditions?
*1st day of summer celebration, yummy treats and a day in the sun
*dressing the whole Family as Pilgrims and Indians for Thanksgiving feast and making all our table decorations.
*Sloppy Joes on Halloween night and making our our costumes
*hiding the pickle in the Christmas tree
*everyone gets to open one gift on Christmas eve and its ALWAYS new Pj's
*Sunday game night
*1st day of school treats and letters
*the kids always put the Angel on top of the tree
So many things that me and John don't even really think about that the kids will say "its tradition". They count on them already, even the very tiny little ones!
What are some of YOUR traditions?
Monday, November 9, 2009
LOVIN LIFE!
SCHOOL:
They have adjusted great and have made lots of new friends and are having a great year so far! We had our first rounds of Parent Teacher conferences and all the kids have gotten FANTASTIC marks!
Jacob is having a great year both academically and socially. We were so nurvous this year after last year him and his teacher did not click and things kinds got squirly! This year he comes home excited and full of love for school! He comes home with crazy amounts of fun facts and things that he is learning!
Emily has adjusted to her first year at "big school" very well and as you can imagine is loving all her new responsibilities and new found independence! Her teacher said "thank you for sending me a child who listens and follows directions so well!" She is now reading and writing TWO sentences!!!
Katelyn is all A's people! She is doing great, even with all the new responsibilities that come with being fifth grader! Seriously, they have A LOT to keep track of!
She tested for the gifted program and MADE IT!!!!! So proud of that little thing, she is amazingly smart and so, so, so sweet! She even gets to do the morning news at school and boy does Emily love seeing her big sister on the tv!!
ACTIVITIES:
All the kids have chosen Tennis as the choice sport for now. Jacob just finished up with Football and Katelyn is doing riding still. I love that right now they just enjoy being TOGETHER and love each other so much. They really are kinda a package deal when it comes to play dates and things of that nature. They are lost without each other! Emily got invited to a birthday party today and said "Katelyn and Jacob, you can come with me if you want to." Warms my heart that they are best friends!
COMPLIMENTS:
I got the best mommy compliment the other day at the gym. I took them with me on Saturday to the kids room and when I went to pick them up, three Mom's went on and on about how great they were, how wonderful it is to have three kids who are so sweet with each other and are so patient with the babies and younger kids. "How do you do it" they asked.
I just said "thank you so much, I am very lucky". John later told me "The kids are lucky to have you, you have raised them to be smart, caring, outgoing, well mannered, loving kids."
I AM LUCKY, LUCKY TO HAVE A AMAZING HUSBAND AND THREE WONDERFUL KIDS WHO I CAN SPEND MY LIFE WITH!! Enjoy your Family!!!!
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Lesson learned...
Lessons we had learned over the last Month...
*hiding something under your bed that you broke and then saying you don't know where it is, IS a lie! Its better to just own up to it and be forgiven, than hide it and get into trouble for the lie!
*leaving your scooter behind the van WILL end with the scooter being run over and possible damaged. Its better to make sure than the scooter is put back in the correct place on the side of the garage, that way we will have it to ride for a long time!
*rolling down the hill in the yard WILL result in dog poop being smashed onto your clothing and children running away from your screaming...POOOOOOP! Its better to clean up the dog poop on a daily basis.
*talking, and playing around in your chair during your sister's performance at school WILL result in you having to carry her school bag for her for three days. Its better to just sit quietly and enjoy the show!
*waiting all week to do an assignment that is due on Friday and then not getting it done in time, WILL result in getting an infraction from the teacher. Its better to do a little at a time during the course of the week to ease up the load and avoid the infraction!
*eating a WHOLE GIANT JALAPENO on a bet from your sister WILL result in burning ears, burning mouth and sore stomach from drinking 5 cups of milk to ease the burn! Its better to JUST SAY NO!
*Yelling at your brother and throwing his toy on the ground in a big fit WILL result in you apologizing and going to bed early! Its better to try and talk it out!
*staying up late to see Daddy when he gets in late from work WILL result in THREE HAPPY CHILDREN AND A VERY HAPPY DADDY!! Also, one very tired Mommy!
Life is full of fun and not so fun little lessons, and I am thankful for all that we have learned so far. I know that some of the lessons we will learn in the future may not be so easily learned and may take some very hard time to get through, but for NOW, we are enjoying this growing and learning time....Together, Happy, Sad, Good, Bad, Funny...TOGETHER!
*hiding something under your bed that you broke and then saying you don't know where it is, IS a lie! Its better to just own up to it and be forgiven, than hide it and get into trouble for the lie!
*leaving your scooter behind the van WILL end with the scooter being run over and possible damaged. Its better to make sure than the scooter is put back in the correct place on the side of the garage, that way we will have it to ride for a long time!
*rolling down the hill in the yard WILL result in dog poop being smashed onto your clothing and children running away from your screaming...POOOOOOP! Its better to clean up the dog poop on a daily basis.
*talking, and playing around in your chair during your sister's performance at school WILL result in you having to carry her school bag for her for three days. Its better to just sit quietly and enjoy the show!
*waiting all week to do an assignment that is due on Friday and then not getting it done in time, WILL result in getting an infraction from the teacher. Its better to do a little at a time during the course of the week to ease up the load and avoid the infraction!
*eating a WHOLE GIANT JALAPENO on a bet from your sister WILL result in burning ears, burning mouth and sore stomach from drinking 5 cups of milk to ease the burn! Its better to JUST SAY NO!
*Yelling at your brother and throwing his toy on the ground in a big fit WILL result in you apologizing and going to bed early! Its better to try and talk it out!
*staying up late to see Daddy when he gets in late from work WILL result in THREE HAPPY CHILDREN AND A VERY HAPPY DADDY!! Also, one very tired Mommy!
Life is full of fun and not so fun little lessons, and I am thankful for all that we have learned so far. I know that some of the lessons we will learn in the future may not be so easily learned and may take some very hard time to get through, but for NOW, we are enjoying this growing and learning time....Together, Happy, Sad, Good, Bad, Funny...TOGETHER!
Pumpkin guts!
Last Sunday we did our "carving" of the pumpkins, and although this was by far the fastest it was ever done, I think we laughed and gushed the most! The kids are all so fun and happy in these little traditions that we have in place, its just wonderful to have them "remember" and "insist" that we follow through on them each year.
This year John only had to cut the top off of Katelyn and Jacob's pumpkins, they cleaned them and carved them independently! Katelyn, the planner that she is had a picture picked out from a magazine of the face that she wanted for her pumpkin and did a fabulous job creating a look alike of it!
Jacob just went with it and did "what his hands told him to"!! He kept saying "I am SO proud of myself"!! Those two have grown up so much over the last year, so great to see them going on to that new stage of Independence!
Emily needed a bit of help carving hers but that did not stop her from drawing the face she wanted and correcting if it wasn't right! She still ate the guts this year (Gross but true, she does it every year) although we didn't have to put it on the floor in a bowl this year so she could "eat it like a kitty"!! She also had to draw things on hers, like spider and words! Learning to spell has been so fun for her, and we see "Mom, Dad, Emily, Katelyn, Jacob and I love You" on a LOT of things these days!
John did a really nice job on our pumpkin too, I just love how it turned out! He is so good at making my ideas come to life. I think that will keep him around for longer that the "two more years" that he says I am going to keep him!
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