Mar 3

February’s Tasty Treats

I was busy in the kitchen all February. We were snowed in a good portion of the month, and February was also our attempt at a no take-out month. I tried out a lot of new recipes, and a few desserts too. Here are some of our favorites.

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I made a lot of cornbread this month. I like to make mine in muffins, the little miss absolutely loves cornbread.

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I love to make Peach Pie, I make the crust and the filling from scratch. This was a perfect project to brighten up a dreary Winter day.

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Yum the Peach Pie in all it’s delicious glory.

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So it wasn’t just sweets that were going on in the kitchen. When it was Super-bowl Sunday I made a ton of food, and I snuck in a new recipe too. I made Panko-crusted Chicken Tenders, and they were amazingly good. I’ve added them to the menu, they were a huge hit with all the family.

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I think we were on day 6 or 7 of being snowed in and out of school, so I made the kiddos some Chocolate Cupcakes to cheer them up.

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I also introduced the family to Blueberry Pies. I made these mini-ones in muffin tins. They are tiny cupcake sized pies, but oh so tasty.

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For Valentine’s Day I made one of my hubby’s favorite dinners, and dessert too. They all love Chocolate Pie, I prefer fruit pies though.

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When it was time for my birthday I whipped up a big batch of Red Velvet Cupcakes, and they were awesome!

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One more look at that awesome icing.

I can’t wait to get back in the kitchen and get to baking. I have a few sweet treat recipes to try out, Dylan’s birthday is this month too, and I have a cookie catering gig this month.  I’ll have some more tasty pictures up soon.

Mar 2

16 Months

She is still my little girl, but she isn’t all that little any more…

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Miss Agnes turned 16 months in February.

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She is busy and playful.

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Curious and sneaky too.

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She is getting a bit more brave everyday. She is now walking 5 and 6 steps across the room, my little gal is growing up fast.

Mar 1

March’s Monthly Menu

It’s that time again. A brand new month, and a brand new menu. I’ve included a few days of take-out to make the family happy, so here we go. It’s March’s monthly dinner menu.

  • 3/1/2011: Nacho Bar
  • 3/2/2011: Spaghetti with Meat Sauce, Garlic Bread, and Black Olives
  • 3/3/2011: Hamburgers, Potato Chips, and Dip
  • 3/4/2011: Breakfast Potatoes, Cherry Cream Cheese Crescent Rolls, Bacon, and Coffee
  • 3/5/2011: Dinner Out
  • 3/6/2011: Panko Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, and Cherry Jell-o Cake
  • 3/7/2011: Chili, Saltines, and Brownies
  • 3/8/2011: Hamburgers, Potato Chips, and Dip
  • 3/9/2011: Chicken & Noodles, Mashed Potatoes, and Homemade Bread
  • 3/10/2011: Chicken Chow Mien, Lime & Soy Soba Noodles, Chow Mien Noodles, Rice, and Sugar Dumplings
  • 3/11/2011: Breakfast Potatoes, Cream Cheese Sweet Rolls, Bacon, and Coffee
  • 3/12/2011: Tacos, Tortilla Chips, Salsa, and Cheese Dip
  • 3/13/2011: Pot Roast with Potatoes, and Homemade Bread
  • 3/14/2011: Nacho Bar
  • 3/15/2011: Spaghetti with Meat Sauce, Garlic Bread, and Black Olives
  • 3/16/2011: Chicken Fajitas, Re-fried beans, Tortilla Chips, Salsa, and Cheese Dip
  • 3/17/2011: Ham & Beans, Cornbread, and Macaroni & Cheese
  • 3/18/2011: Bacon, Waffles, Scrambled Eggs, and Coffee
  • 3/19/2011: Homemade Pizzas
  • 3/20/2011: Panko Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, and Peach Pie
  • 3/21/2011: Fish Sticks, Tater Tots, and Macaroni & Cheese
  • 3/22/2011: Hamburgers, Potato Chips and Dip
  • 3/23/2011: Chicken Fajitas, Re-fried beans, Tortilla Chips, Salsa, and Cheese Dip
  • 3/24/2011: Chili, Saltines, and Brownies
  • 3/25/2011: Pancakes, Bacon, Scrambled Eggs, and Coffee
  • 3/26/2011: Dinner Out! It’s Dylan’s 4th Birthday!
  • 3/27/2011: Beef Stew and Homemade Bread
  • 3/28/2011: Nacho Bar
  • 3/29/2011: Beef Stew and Homemade Bread
  • 3/30/2011: Ham & Beans, Cornbread, and Macaroni & Cheese
  • 3/31/2011: Soft Tacos, Tortilla Chips, Salsa, and Cheese Dip

Time to get in the kitchen and get to cooking!

Feb 28

My Monday Morning

This morning I woke up grumpy with a sinus headache, and I couldn’t get to the coffee fast enough. I took the big kids to school, and brought the little miss back home to play a bit before her morning nap. I grabbed the much needed cup of coffee, and let her play in the living room. No sooner had I turned around, she had already dumped 4 of the large toy bins, and that’s when I decided enough was enough.

The toys, and costumes, the little plastic bits are a constant struggle for me. The kids just have way too much packed into a house that we are quickly outgrowing. This mommy is sick of the mess, I wanted our living room back, and now was the time to get it done. I decided to enlist the help of my favorite house cleaners the contractor bags, and as soon as the miss was napping, I tore into the living room.

I was ruthless, and shocked when I had filled an entire contractor bag full of toys from one single room. These are toys that they never even play with, toys that are tossed aside to get to the ones that they really want. I found more broken items, and things that they have outgrown.  Man did it feel good to take that bag out to the trash cans.

Feeling motivated, I decided to move up to the boy’s room and continue the clean out. I filled another half of a contractor bag with even more junk. Their bookshelves are still filled to the brim, and I am in need of some storage bins. I would love to visit Bed Bath & Beyond and get some cool storage, and get the boy’s room into shape.

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The boy’s room isn’t organized, but it is on the way to being decluttered. James was really surprised to see the living room all cleaned too. I was really happy with the work that I got accomplished, and that’s 2 more bags out of the house.

I’m sticking with my goal of 1 contractor bag a week, and I want to have at least 2 garage sales in the next 2 months. I really want to get the house back in order.

Feb 27

Well We Almost Made It

We made it to day 25 of the no take-out month, and the family couldn’t take it anymore. I picked up some donuts as a peace offering and ended the month, they were relieved. To be honest, I was surprised that we made it that far, they were pretty much ready to end the project after week one.

The kitchen kept me extra busy, I tried out a lot of new dishes, and made the usual take-out favorites for lunch. The dishes seemed to be never-ending (the next house I’m getting a dishwasher for sure), and I went through two bottles of dish detergent for the month. I also used the crock pot at least three times a week, that really helped out.

The kiddos really wanted take-out, specifically take-out with Uncle Rob. They asked for Pizza 51 and Crayola Cafe a handful of times. We’ll have to go on a road trip to K.C. soon.

James was a really good sport about it, but he was really relieved when I called the project off. I didn’t miss take-out at all, I always crave what isn’t here anyway, but I was really tired of washing all of those dishes.

I did notice a few things though… For the entire month I never had to fuel my van, without the extra trips here and there, I saved on gas money. I didn’t save on the grocery bill at all, I was hoping too, but I had to shop locally only (snowed in) and it adds up fast. On a happier note, even though I made a ton of extra desserts, I lost 5 pounds for the month. I thought that was pretty cool.

I don’t think we will take on this project again, it just wasn’t worth the grumpiness from the family. It was a fun experiment though, and I’m happy to have tackled some of my cooking fears. March will be here soon, so I had better get a menu plan together.