Menu Plan Monday

Whew, I am stuffed from what seemed like a week-long Thanksgiving! I'll post about that later, but for now, here's what's on the menu this week!

• Sirloin Steak (broiled in the oven, it's cold outside!); Fried Potatoes, Green Beans
  
• Chicken Fried Hamburger Patties; mashed potatoes; gravy; squash (again...)
  
• Salisbury Steak; gravy; egg noodles; sweet potatoes
• Ribs (in the crock pot); rice; frozen corn (Dare I try my hand at homemade sauce?? Recipes are welcome!)

Thursday, we have a Czech Society meeting. I will be inducted as a Director and the meal is catered. All I have to bring is a fruit dish or dessert. I haven't figured out which yet.

It's going to be pretty chilly down South this week, so if I find a good recipe, I might make some chili, too! I hope y'all have a good, warm week!

Some Good Sleep

This past weekend, we took a trip up to my parents for a visit and an early Thanksgiving dinner. They're going out of state to visit my sister, so they won't be around this Thursday. As soon as we got out of the car, Elizabeth met the new dog, Daisy. I always think of sour cream when my mom calls the dog and then I find myself singing the commercial. I'm glad to be away from that thing!

Ok, I digress. Elizabeth loved playing with Daisy (do a dollop, do do a dollop...) and no, seeing her so happy and giddy to be playing with an animal does not move me to get one of our own! I don't even want to commit to a beta fish; they just live too long.

Aren't their little puppy butts cute?

"Hey, what's going on? Can I help?" Elizabeth taught Uncle Matt how to weld. He just wasn't doing it right!

And then there were these things. Nesting boxes. Hours upon hours of fun. Oh, how she liked to knock them down. She wasn't much help stacking them up, though. Once the boxes got three high, down they came!

Uncle Matt and his good sleep. I just found out this weekend what good sleep really is. You see, I had always thought of good sleep as being able to sleep through the night without having to put your kid back into bed. Oh, no. I was completely misinformed! Good sleep is sleeping when you should be awake. You know, like any time past 7:30 a.m. for Matt. In this picture, it was closer to 10 a.m. I hope that was some good sleep!

Back to the boxes. We all had our turn at stacking them back up for Elizabeth.

She would just come around and knock them all back down.




I think she had a good time, don't you?

Sunday, my Uncle Keith, Aunt Teresa, and their three kids, Dustin, Rachel & Courtney, came for an early Thanksgiving dinner. We had a good time and it was great to see everyone!

Menu Plan Monday

Thanksgiving week already! It will be a short week at home and here's what I'm planning:

• Chicken Fried Steak (today for dinner)
• Whole chicken in the crock pot
• Chicken noodle soup from the crock pot chicken

That should get us to Thursday when we hit the road for the Holiday. I don't want to have too many leftovers in the fridge since we'll be gone for a few days. I hope y'all all have a good week and your Thanksgiving planning and traveling go smoothly!

Neglect

That's what I feel like I've been doing to this blog...neglecting something that I love doing because there are so many other things I have to do! This blog doesn't feed my family, bathe my daughter, love my husband, fold my clothes, etc. I think you get the idea. BUT, this blog does give me a creative outlet, it connects me to my family and friends, it connects me to a world that - between changing diapers, errands, meals, nap times and a plethora of other things - I feel I'm not always a part of.

Oh, I've been plenty busy. Gardening, canning, planning for the holidays, remodeling, working to create flower beds around the house...I haven't sat still for long. And that's ok. However, I want to work harder at sitting still long enough to write. Patience isn't always easy for me. It gets used up early in the day and when my thoughts don't flow quickly and easily from my fingers, I want to put it off. I'm going to work not to put it off because we do so many things that I want all of you to see and be a part of. Besides, Elizabeth is too cute to keep off of here for long!

Since Sweet Baby Girl is napping, I need to step out to the garden now and replant spinach and maybe do some chopping. The chopping will be punishment enough for my neglect.

Haulin' Hay

This past weekend, as soon as Travis got home from a three day work trip, we went to help haul hay out of the field. I drove and Elizabeth had a good time hollering out of the windows.

From L to R: Joe (Stephen's friend), Stephen, Grandpa, Elizabeth & Travis

She liked being up on the hay stack.

This was Saturday morning when we drove to "the farm" to unload two trailers of hay. Elizabeth was waiting for Great Grandpa's dog, Freckles.

Playing with Freckles.



In the barn.

Saturday night, unloading a trailer at my in-laws so we could bring in more hay. They needed to get it all hauled in because it was supposed to (and did) rain nearly all day Sunday. I even helped do a little manual labor.

Elizabeth mostly liked to eat the grain off of the dried sorghum heads.


We had a good time, believe it or not! Such a good time that I even ate liver 'n onions for supper. (And that's saying a lot seeing as how I've never eaten liver in my life!)

Halloween!

Trick or Treat! Our little cauldron carrying fairy made three small stops on Halloween night. First, to Miss Vickie's house. Elizabeth hit the jackpot there!! I'm not sure she's ready for Tootsie Rolls just yet, so I better eat them, just in case!

Next, we stopped (aka drove 15 minutes to the next house...) at Miss Suzanne's place. Lots of good candy there, too! It only took one stop for Elizabeth to learn how to take a candy bar and put it in her cauldron! What a smarty pants!!

Last stop, the Vegas of Candy, Grandpa and Grandma's house. Yum, yum. I now know that Elizabeth likes Raisinettes. At least it's half-healthy food!

We even stepped in for a bit to shoot a picture with mommy! Of course, she was already stuffing her face with the Raisinetts!

I don't know about you, but I can't tell who's cuter!!

Menu Plan Monday

There's a good chance that Travis will be gone for at least one night this week, so I'm a little skimpy on the meals this week. For some reason, I'm leaning a little on the Mexican side...

• Leftover tortilla soup (so good, recipe follows)
• Taco Salad
• Tacos with leftover taco meat
• Sandwiches

I need to get some Halloween pictures posted, but maybe later tonight!

Tortilla Soup (I received this recipe from one of my wedding showers.)

• 3-4 chicken breasts, boiled and cubed
• 2 cups water
• 14 oz can beef broth
• 14 oz can chicken broth
• 16 oz can tomatoes, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 bell pepper, chopped
• 1 cup carrots, chopped
• 1 can Rotel Tomatoes or chilies
• 1 clove garlic, chopped or 1 tsp garlic powder
• 3-4 cilantro leaves or 1 tsp dried cilantro leaves
• 1 can corn or 1-1/2 cups frozen corn
• 1 tsp. chili powder
• 1 package taco seasoning
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper

Saute onion and bell pepper in butter until tender. Add water and broth, bring to a boil. Add chicken and turn down to simmer. Add all other ingredients and simmer until corn is heated through and carrots are tender. *This is a very spicy dish. Even spicy for me, and I like spicy! So, I cut back on the taco seasoning. If you want to make this even less spicy, cut back on the Rotel, too.*

To Serve: Crumble tortilla chips in the bottom of a bowl. (Or, better yet, cut corn tortillas into strips and fry in hot oil until golden brown and delicious...which is what we do.) Ladle soup on top. You can even top with avocado and cheese! Yum, yum!

I hope y'all enjoy the good weather this week, we are!