Monday, March 16, 2015

Monday Menu

Spring break for my step sons are upon us! They like cereal for breakfast so the breakfast I am putting on the menu is my breakfast.



Sunday:
  Breakfast: Bagels
  Lunch: Leftovers
  Dinner: Thai Chicken Noodle Soup

Monday:
  Breakfast: Green Apple Smoothie
  Lunch: Turkey Sandwiches
  Dinner: Doritos Casserole

Tuesday:
  Breakfast: Just Peachy Smoothie
  Lunch: Broccoli and Cheese Soup
  Dinner: Chicken Burritos

Wednesday:
  Breakfast: Oatmeal
  Lunch: Pizza Rolls
  Dinner: Cajun Chicken Alfredo

Thursday:
  Breakfast: Just Peachy Smoothie
  Lunch: Tuna Fish Sandwiches
  Dinner: Baked Potatoes and BBQ Meat

Friday:
  Breakfast: Mango Smoothie
  Lunch: Leftovers
  Dinner: Bubble Pizza Casserole

Saturday:
  Breakfast: Eggs and Sausage
  Lunch: Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
  Dinner: Poor man's prime ribs with fried Orka



Sunday, March 15, 2015

Getting Help

My husband is always telling me I need to stop doing so much and start asking for help around the house. Now I could just say "Can you clean this or that?" but I know it really won't get done in a timely manner. So this leads me to doing everything myself.
A few weeks ago I was looking on other people's blog for my menu and I ran across a blog about something called "Share 15". I read it and thought this might work! http://goingnuttyinmisssquirrelsfirstgrade.blogspot.com/2015_01_01_archive.html

  What is Shared 15? It's quite simple. Every night at 8 pm everyone has to clean for a solid 15 minutes a shared living space. If one person finishes before someone else they have to help everyone else out.Each week we rotate to what cleaning each person will clean.(if I clean the toilet one week the next week someone else cleans it)Shared 15 is Monday through Saturday, Sunday is reserved for cleaning our own rooms.

 There are 4 of us living here so that is 360 hours of cleaning a week. That is A LOT Of cleaning. This week my step sons are staying with us so this week we will cleaning for 540 hours. WOW!

 I had to sit down and make a list for each day. The first list didn't make the cut I had to make 2.

At the bottom of the page I put everyone's name and add what number they clean each week so we keep track. The 1st list had 2 of working in the bathroom at one time and that did not work. So every day each one of us is cleaning a different room. This is working. I was amazed!



Friday, March 13, 2015

Photo Challenge!

Day Nine: Someone you love

                                                                I love my Friends <3
Day Ten: Childhood memory

 I use to Scrapbook with my mom, but we never actually finished, but I’ve recently started up again
Day Eleven: something blue

 Artwork that My sister made for me, My mom and I at Scarbourgh Fair, My two brothers in the park, and of course MY SCOTTISH FLAG!!!
Day Twelve: Sunset

 I took this when I was in Istanbul, Turkey. It’s of the Maiden’s Tower and it was amazing.


Wednesday, March 11, 2015

What a Weekend it was!

This weekend Dallas hosted the North Texas Irish Festival at Fair Park. As I had said in a previous post this wasn't just a family friendly event but a bring you family dog event as well.
 So I purchased 4 tickets (luckily for me 1 of the kiddos got in free) We loaded up the van with everyone and 2 dogs and headed to Fair Park for some Irish fun!
 This was the 1st time for me to go to Fair Park (that's right I've never been to the Texas State Fair) I have to saw the building there are beautiful! It's nice to see old building standing with some great details to each building.
 The festival was packed and it was dinner time, everyone went for fair food except my daughter who was eating HAGGIS!!! (she actually liked it!)
 Now I would love to say I took loads of pictures and want to share them, however when your having fun getting out the camera is the last thing we think of. I did take 2 pictures of the dogs.

Speaking of the dogs they were worn out for 2 days after the festival.

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Menu round up

Last week flew by fast! Some great memories were made and some excellent meals were eaten.

I want to start this with a smoothie I have fallen in love with! Green Apple Smoothie.

                                                                1 cup kale
1 granny smith apple
1 banana
ice
blend all in a blender and enjoy!


Sunday night we had Beef Stew, this is one of the easiest recipes I make.


2 lbs Stew meat
1 bag of baby carrots
6 new potatoes (Cubed)
1 package of McCormick stew mix
2 cups of water
Put everything in a crock pot on low for 8 hours.

Monday night was one of my favorite's to make, Chicken Pot Pie.
For the crust I follow the directions on the pie crust box
For the filling 
1/3 cup of butter
1/3 cup of chopped onion
1/3 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 3/4 chicken broth
1/2 cup of milk
2 1/2 cups of shredded cooked chicken (I boil my chicken)
2 cups of frozen mixed vegetable
  1. Heat oven to 425. Make pie crust as directed on the box
  2. In a saucepan, melt butter over a medium heat. Add onion; cook for about 2 minutes. 
  3. Stir in flour, salt and pepper until well blended. Gradually stir in broth and add milk, cooking and stirring until it thickened.
  4. Stir in the chicken and mix vegetables and remove from heat. Spoon mixture in crust-lined pan.Top with 2nd pie crust; seal edge and cut slits in several places in the crust.
  5. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes until crust is golden brown
http://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/classic-chicken-pot-pie/1401d418-ac0b-4b50-ad09-c6f1243fb992


Wednesday was a 1st! Lamb Shepard's Pie. It was soo good and Rich!
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
2 lbs of ground lamb
1/3 cup flour
2 teaspoon rosemary
1 teaspoon paprika
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon ketchup
1 tablespoon garlic
2 1/2 cups of water
1 package of frozen peas and carrots
1 lbs new potatoes
1 pinch cayenne pepper
1/4 cup of ream cheese
3 cups of cheese
2 tablespoons of milk
1 egg yolk

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

Place olive oil and butter in Dutch oven over medium heat. Stir in ground lamb; brown the meat, breaking it up into small crumbles as it cooks, about 10 minutes.
      
        Stir in flour until incorporated, then mix in salt, black pepper, rosemary, paprika,
      Cinnamon, ketchup, and garlic; cook and stir until garlic is fragrant, 2 to 3 minutes
 Stir in water and scrape up any brown bits from the bottom of the Dutch oven. Reduce heat to medium-low and bring mixture to a simmer; cook and stir until thick, about 5-6 minutes.

Remove lamb mixture from heat and stir in peas and carrots until combined.

Spread lamb mixture into the bottom of a 9x13-inch baking dish and set aside.
      
        Place potatoes into a large pan of salted water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium,
      and cook until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain well and return potatoes to pan.
    
     Mash butter, cayenne pepper, cream cheese, and shredded cheese into the potatoes.
     Mash until combined and potatoes are smooth. Season to taste with salt and black
     pepper.

Whisk together egg yolk and milk in a small bowl; stir into the mashed potato mixture.

Top the lamb mixture in the baking dish with the mashed potatoes and spread evenly to cover.


 Bake in the preheated oven until the top is golden brown and sauce is bubbling up around the edges, 25 to 30 minutes.


 Those were some of the great meals we had last week. Irish Guinness Beef Stew was WONDERFUL and Crock pot Cubed Steak was a complete surprised as to how good it was. I will be posting  those recipes soon!


1.     
     






Monday, March 9, 2015

Monday's Menu

Hello everyone! I had a super busy weekend and with us loosing and hour for spring I have been feeling like a zombie today!
 I first wanted to share something my daughter Abby bought me. I was completely surprised by it and love the idea she told me.

She wants me to start writing down some of best recipes so we can start passing down this book from generation to generation! How wonderful! Of course I am going to start with my Grandmother's and Mother's recipes then I'll add the one's I've tried and loved.
So, On to this weeks menu!!

Sunday:
  Breakfast: Donuts
  Lunch: Leftovers
  Dinner: Lemon Buttery Cod with Vegetable Meldoy

Monday:
  Breakfast: Green Apple Smoothie
  Lunch: Soup
  Dinner: Oven Baked Tacos

Tuesday:
  Breakfast: Just Peachy Smoothie
  Lunch: Oven Baked Meatball Sandwiches
  Dinner: Meat and Potatoes Casserole

Wednesday:
  Breakfast: Oatmeal
  Lunch: Pizza Rolls
  Dinner: Pot Roast Hoagies with Brown Gravy

Thursday:
  Breakfast: Just Peachy Smoothie
  Lunch: Chicken Burritos
  Dinner: Chicken & Broccoli over Rice

Friday:
  Breakfast: Mango Smoothie
  Lunch: Leftovers
  Dinner: Buffalo Chicken Fingers with Fried Okra

Saturday:
  Breakfast: Pancakes
  Lunch: Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
  Dinner: Thai Chicken Noodle Soup

 I've taken out leftover night for Friday night due to the fact that we haven't had any leftovers! YAY!
Hope ya'll have a great week Cooking! If you have any great recipes please post them below!

Sunday, March 8, 2015

Putting Flowers In Your Hair

We like to go to Scarborough Renaissance Festival. We started going 3 years ago and forgot how much fun the ren fair's were. I grew up in Houston so I used to go to Texas Renaissance Festival so 3 years ago for my husband's 40th birthday we went to Scarborough (also called Scarby) and we fell in love with it.  For my 40th birthday last year we went to Texas Renaissance Festival and it was fun but not Scarborough.

This is my 40th birthday picture. It's one of my favorites. As you can see I have started dressing up for the fair. This is the beginning of a costume. I needed something for my head, so I sat down this month and made it.
I spent $10.00 on the hair band, flowers and butterflies. I already had my hot glue gun so I got busy working. It took an hour to complete and I think it turned out really well.



http://www.srfestival.com/