Tomorrow will be a busy day here at my home. Lots of folks are coming by for my annual Independence Day Cookout. Here is this year's menu:
Deviled Eggs
Grilled Burgers and Hot Dogs
Potato Salad
Spaghetti Salad
Pea Salad
Baked Beans
Cole Slaw & Hot Dog Sauce
Relish/Toppings Plate
5-cup Fruit Salad
Cream Pies
Patriotic Cupcakes (red, white, & blue!)
Watermelon
Sweet Tea
Actually, its just like most of you will be having tomorrow--an All-American Cookout with all the fixin's! However, first and foremost in the day will be prayers of thanksgiving to God for the freedoms we are given each and every day. Many lives were lost, many others dedicated to insuring our freedom, and I am ever so thankful for this. Our God is faithful, and we must be also.
May you and your family and loved ones have a most blessed and safe Independence Day this year!
Let me begin by asking you to please forgive me for not blogging for quite some time. It has already been a hectic year, and doesn't show any signs of getting any easier. However, I continue to live by the Word, and cling to the verse...I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. ~Philippians 4:13. I am a great believer in this and I know that when the Lord brings me to any situation, He will bring me through it--as long as I continue to follow Him and lean not unto my own understanding.
We have entered into quite hot weather here in West Virginia. It reached 91° here today--quite warm for the last week of April! When the weather gets this warm, I eat a lot less, both in frequency and quantity. You can almost predict the weather by my menus most of the time, as you will notice in this week's. We have rain heading in on Tuesday night, and should be cooling down somewhat (I surely hope so!).
I am focusing only on Breakfasts and Suppers as I plan my menus now. Lunch is usually just a cup of yogurt or some cheese and a slice of bread. Lots of water is being consumed, and sugar intake has been cut in half. I'm hoping to completely cut out refined sugars and flours by mid-summer, but am doing so gradually to prevent putting myself into shock of some sort (I've always consumed large quantities of sugar--especially in my tea).
With all of that said, here are this week's planned menus:
Sunday: Breakfast- bagel and cream cheese Supper- A cookout with burgers, hot dogs, and chips with my family.
Saturday: Breakfast- Sweet Roll Supper- Shepherd's Pie, Corn-on-the-cob, Pineapple Tidbits
I will make Tuesday's potato salad on Monday, and when I do, will boil extra potatoes and chop extra onions for the hash browns on Wednesday. Also, when I make the Mashed Potatoes for Thursday night's supper, I will make a double batch and use the extra for the Shepherd's Pie on Saturday. There are many "shortcuts" like this that we can all incorporate into our cooking, but we have to take the time to sit and plan it out. Not only will this save us a bit of time and effort, but will help conserve energy by cooking extra at the same time instead of heating the stove twice. Once you get the practice in and plan a few menus, you will find it takes no more than 10 or 15 minutes per week to plan them out, write them down, and post on your refrigerator (or somewhere you will see them regularly).
I've had several requests from readers to begin posting my menus. I haven't done that for quite a while, mainly due to the fact that I no longer cook large quantities on a daily basis since I closed my daycare. However, cooking for one poses challenges as well, and these challenges are being overcome here in my home. I do still cook for my family when they come to visit, usually a couple of times a week with one of those being Sunday Dinner.
You will find as you go through these menus that I don't usually plan anything for lunch. The main reason for that is that my lunch and supper are usually combined into one meal. I eat breakfast early, then have a late morning snack that usually consists of a piece of fruit or cup of yogurt, and then have an early supper around 4:00 p.m. This allows me time to make it to my evening classes 2 nights a week, and by keeping the same schedule every day I find it much easier to keep everything else organized.
With that all said, here is my menu plan for the next week:
Saturday, Feb. 28:
Breakfast: Blueberry Pancakes (making extra for the freezer), Sausage Links
Supper: BBQ Beef Sandwiches (with leftover beef from a roast I cooked a couple of days ago), Cole Slaw, Potato Salad
Breakfast: Breakfast Bowl (yes, I do use some processed foods on occasion when they're priced low enough)
Supper: Spaghetti & Meatballs (meatballs & sauce in the Crock-Pot), Salad, Garlic Bread
Friday, Mar. 6:
Breakfast: Cheerios, Banana
Supper: BLT, Baked Potato
Saturday, Mar. 7:
Breakfast: Waffles (making extra for the freezer), Sausage
Supper: Chicken Pot Pie, Salad
Sunday, Mar. 8:
Breakfast: Scrambled Eggs, Biscuits
Sunday Dinner: Fried Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans, Biscuits
As you can see, I do cook ahead a bit, and I still plan leftovers at least once a week. For instance, when I make my Meat Loaf for Sunday (which will be prepared on Saturday and then baked after church on Sunday), I will make the meatballs for Thursday's supper and freeze them. That will make it easier on Thursday morning to assemble my sauce in the Crock Pot before leaving for school. I like to make pancakes and waffles, as well as breakfast burritos, a couple of weekends a month, and when I do, I make extras and freeze them for quick breakfasts during the week. I do the same thing with pot pies (making them in individual casserole dishes/pie pans), and Fried Chicken.
When I buy meat, I divide it into individual portions before freezing it. This makes it easy to pull out exactly what I need, whether I'm cooking only for myself, or for my whole family. This is a good idea whatever size your family is.
I hope this helps some of you in your meal planning. I will try to post my menus more often, as well as some more tips for the kitchen.
With grocery costs skyrocketing, I have been reducing the serving sizes here at home. I think many folks are doing this, not only for their budgets, but for their general health, as well. I ran across the following information while going through some of the old paperwork from my daycare, and thought I would share it with you here. It takes a bit of the mystery out of portion controls! I received this in a packet from the River Valley Family Day Care Food Program a few years ago...
3 ounces of meat is about the size and thickness of a deck of playing cards or an audiotape cassette.
A medium apple or peach is about the size of a tennis ball.
1 ounce of cheese is about the size of 4 stacked dice (2 side by side and 2 more stacked on top of those).
1/2 cup of ice cream is about the size of a racquetball or tennis ball.
1 cup of mashed potatoes or broccoli is about the size of your fist.
1 teaspoon of butter or peanut butter is about the size of the tip of your thumb.
1 ounce of nuts or small candies equals one handful.
MOST IMPORTANT:
Especially if you're cutting calories, remember to keep your diet nutritious!
2-4 servings from the Milk Group for calcium
2-3 servings from the Meat Group for iron.
3-5 servings from the Vegetable Group for Vitamin A.
The Battle for the Toy Box Contest! I entered the Battle for the Toy Box Contest
on the HSB Company Porch. I hope to win
over $100 worth of, Tales of Glory, Bible-based toys
from one2believe!!
You know, every once in a while, one comes upon something new, that really isn't new at all! It's been around a while, and yet, for one reason or another, it just isn't something that one has had before.
Well, this was the case with me last week. My son and I took the children to Camden Park (an amusement park here in our town), and afterward we stopped at McDonald's on the way home for supper. He didn't want to go home and cook, and I had no supper plans, so we went ahead and allowed the children to enjoy a bit of fast-food junk. Well, we enjoyed it right along with them. But no, McDonald's was not my discovery, but something they serve was!
Everyone knows that I enjoy a cup of tea in the afternoon. But there are times that I enjoy a cup of coffee instead, especially if I'm out and about. Let's face it-if you're away from home, it's hard to find a good cup of tea unless you go to a tea house, which we don't have here in Huntington!
Now, I don't care much for McD's hot coffee. Nah, it just isn't my Folgers or Community Coffee. But....after we ate, I thought I'd try their new Iced Coffee in the Vanilla flavor. This is strange for a couple of reasons:
I don't like cold coffee-I like it hot with a touch of cream.
I don't like flavored coffee.
I don't like sweet coffee-cream only for me.
So when I handed my son some $$ and asked him to please get me one of those new coffee drinks, he was aghast! "Mom, that's not like a Frapuccino from Starbucks," (the only *other* kind of coffee I like other than what I mentioned above). "I know, Robby, I just want to try one. Please go order me one." So away he went.
He returned with this clear plastic cup filled with coffee, cream, and ice. Well. Okay. So I put my straw in it, and took a bit of a sip. Hmm. Not bad. Took another sip. Wow! Now this is something! And that was the beginning....
Now? Well, I've become a devotee of McDonald's Iced Vanilla Coffee! Now, I'm sure this will be for a limited time, and I'm sure I'm not going to continue paying exhorbitant prices for it, but it's been a nice afternoon treat a few times the last week! However, I think I'm going to try my hand at making it at home. I have good coffee, I have cream, I have ice, and I have some liquid vanilla flavoring made especially for these kinds of things. So, this afternoon I will give it my best try, and if it's as good as McD's, I'll let you know. If not, then I'll keep working on it until I get it right. In the meantime....go ahead and indulge a bit and try one yourself. They also come in Hazelnut and Regular flavors, so there's something for everyone! Enjoy!
The festivities have all slowed down here now, and this day will find me working in my kitchen. I'll have my grandchildren here next week, and also fit in time at school, so I'll be doing a bit of *cooking ahead* today. Oh, nothing along the lines of what I used to do when I had my daycare, but just a bit to make my life a little bit simpler next week.
I'll be fixing some spaghetti sauce and simmering it in the crock-pot all day. I like to do that, as it allows it to cook nice and slow and I don't have to hover nearby and stir it. Just mix it all in, give it a good stir, say a prayer over it, and set it on Low and walk away. By evening time it's finished and ever so yummy! After I give it a cool down, I bag it up into labelled freezer bags and pop them in the freezer. Then it's ready for me to pull out and have for supper some evening when I really don't want to cook much.
While my sauce is simmering in the crock-pot, I'll also be fixing up a couple of batches of waffles. This is wonderful for those mornings when my grandchildren want waffles *right away*! They also like them toasted for a snack--just toast in the toaster, cut in strips, and away they go! Portable, convenient, and satisfying. Now, waffles are also good for a quickie dessert, too. Heat in the toaster, top with a scoop of your favorite ice cream, some chocolate syrup or caramel sauce, and a dollop of whipped cream. Yes, quite good, and easy too!
And lastly, a couple of batches of cookies will slip their way into my oven today. I'm not sure what kinds yet...probably some Snickerdoodles and some Oatmeal-Raisin. The children and I like to take tea in the afternoons, and some homemade cookies to go with it are wonderful! Perhaps I'll fix a batch of little tea cakes-we'll see.
I'll also do the other *little* do-aheads to make the week run smoother. Chop up some onions and peppers and have them ready to go. Move the week's menu items from the deep freeze to the freezer compartment of the fridge, bag up some snacks into their baggies so they'll be in their snack bowl and ready to go when they want them, and shred some cheese for the week.
Why am I doing all of this cooking without the children helping me? Well, it's going to be very warm next week, and there will be quite a bit of time spent in their pool. We'll be covering some learning time, as well, and they'll also spend some time playing outdoor games. I'm sure we may step into the kitchen and make some brownies or muffins throughout the week, but I want to have most of it done today. That leaves more *free time* next week for them to soak up some sunshine, which can be quite healthy for all of us. Morning hours are spent outdoors, and afternoon hours (when the sun is directly overhead and at it's most dangerous levels) are spent indoors learning. Since the children tend to get a bit sleepy then, they sometimes like to lay down and have me read to them. Have no fear--they won't be out of the kitchen very long! They both love to cook, and always help me prepare meals and such. Even with the little *do-aheads* I'm taking care of today, there will still be enough left for them to do. And they'll also be able to spend a bit of time learning how to properly set the dining table for meals and such. Yes, our learning does continue!
Do you ever have days when you just want, or need, a quick and easy meal? One that can be literally thrown together in a matter of minutes? Well, today was one of those days for me, and while I normally would just go ahead and have a salad, I wanted something more today.
One thing I do for days like this is to buy the precooked rotisserie chickens at the grocers. Tyson has them already prepackaged, and many of the grocery stores carry their own in the deli. Buy a couple and put them in the freezer. When you know you're going to be having a busy day, put it in your refrigerator the night before. Or, if it's a last-minute decision, you can go ahead and thaw it in your microwave.
Once it's thawed, heat it up, uncovered, in the microwave for about 10 minutes. That's long enough to prepare some rice or other starch, and heat up some veggies (either frozen or canned). Add a bit of bread and you've got yourself a meal in less than 15 or 20 minutes!
My dinner tonight consisted of rotisserie chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, mixed greens (the canned variety from Glory Foods is wonderful! perfectly seasoned!), and a slice of buttered wheat bread. I didn't even think about a dessert, as I was thoroughly satisfied from the meal itself! I ate early though, so I may have a small dish of fat-free/sugar-free ice cream after a little while. (sssh-don't tell my sister-we're supposed to be watching our diets together!).
Days like this are also a good time to make use of casseroles you've made ahead and frozen. Another idea is to make up a plate of leftovers after each meal and freeze it. Voila! Instant TV dinner - the healthier, homemade way! I do this often, and have actually purchased TV dinners at the grocer's when they're on sale, just so I can save the trays to freeze my own dinners in. That's another one of those "sssh-don't tell" things! It's okay to buy a convenience food or two once in a while, as long as you manage to remain in your budget. Now, you can also buy special plasticware for homemade TV dinners, but they cost more and don't have the added bonus of a meal already in them (if you manage to find one that's palatable).
Feel free to leave me comments about your own favorite Quick & Easy dinner. I'd love to hear your ideas!
I've chosen to stay home today. It's a very wintry day outside...snow, sleet, and freezing rain. There are winter weather advisories for our region, and you know, sometimes one just has to use a bit of wisdom in these types of conditions. So instead of venturing out to church (or anywhere else, for that matter), I've stayed home and have worked on some devotions and will soon begin working on some more of the Nuggets of Wisdom newsletter (see the sidebar to sign up and receive this directly in your inbox).
I pray you're having a blessed and wonderful Sunday!
This weblog is a compilation of happening's here in my home. I include homemaking tips, recipes, and encouragement for the homemaker who realizes she is a God-ordained Keeper of her Home.
