December monthly menu

Bake to my regularly scheduled monthly menu plan. After not doing this in November, I realized how much more difficult my meal planning is without my menu. So, I'm back to my monthly plan. Here you go:

1. Leftovers from earlier in the week
2. Salsa verde roast (family favorite)
3. Pizza
4. Church Christmas party
5. Pumpkin pancakes with apple cider syrup
6. Lasagne
7. Grandma's no peek stew and cornbread
8. Leftovers
9. Chicken enchiladas
10. Chili
11. Leftovers
12. Esfrirras
13. French dip subs
14. Chicken crescents with gravy
15. Leftovers
16. Pulled pork sandwiches
17. Pizza
18. Crockpot chicken and dumplings
19. Baked sandwiches and broccoli cheese soup
20. Beef and bean enchiladas
21. Meatloaf
22. Leftovers
23. Pizza
24. Christmas Eve dinner with in-laws
25. Menu TBD
26. Holiday leftovers
27. Crockpot bbq chicken and cornbread
28. Cranberry roast with sweet potatoes
29. Tex Mex chicken with rice
30. leftovers
31. Possible New Year's Eve plans. If not, then I'll probably make white chicken chili

What's on your menu for December?

Holiday baking update

So, I've started my list and my baking will begin this weekend. Here's what's on my plan so far:
1. cake balls (all kinds)
2. Oreo balls
3. chocolate chip cookies (different kinds of chips)
4. peanut butter surprise cookies
5. peanut butter fudge
6. hidden mint cookies
7. Christmas cutout cookies
8. puppy chow
9. homemade breads (banana, pumpkin, honey oatmeal)

That's the start of the list. Also as Christmas gets closer, I plan to make several kinds of flavored popcorn as well. Feel free to share your baking favorites here. I'm always up for new ideas.

Holiday time

So, I'm taking a break from the monthly menu list that I usually post....mostly because these next few months are so crazy and we are out of town a lot so things are bound to change on a regular basis.
As I look forward to one of my favorite holidays, Thanksgiving, I get so excited thinking about the food that comes with this time of year. I think that's why I love Thanksgiving so much. It's about the food, family and fun more than about who bought what person that gift. There's a lot less stress and it's just a time to be together.
With that being said, though, there is some stress involved for those who do the cooking and baking. I really try to bake my holiday goodies ahead of time so I have them for meals, parties, holidays, gifts, etc. Besides, baking like that is a better air freshener than any jarred candle :)
In the next few weeks, I am going to try and start my holiday baking. I'm still formulating my list. I hope to post the items here as I make them with accompanying recipes (if time allows). But, as I'm putting my list together, I'd love to hear what some of your favorite holiday goodies are (i.e. cookies, breads, candies, etc). Feel free to share the recipe as well.
Happy baking to all!

October menu

So I just realized that we are already at the 6th of October and I have not yet posted my menu. I've had it complete since September 30th, but just haven't posted it. Not sure if you care, but if you do, here's what we are having:

1 - pizza
2 - Red River Rivalry party - took buffalo chicken dip and red velvet cake balls
3 - White chicken chili

4 - Italian pot roast and baked potatoes
5 - Esfrirras
6 - leftovers
7 - Penne with pot roast and sauce
8 - grilled chicken (taking advantage of the nice weather)
9 - crockpot chicken and dumplings
10 - Lunch: creamy chicken noodle casserole

11 - Crockpot coq au vin
12 - meatloaf
13 - leftovers
14 - verde roast and rice
15 - pizza
16 - chili and cornbread
17 - chicken quesadillas

18 - crockpot rotisserie chicken
19 - roast with sweet potatoes
20 - leftovers
21 - chicken lasagne
22 - spaghetti
23 - bonfire at church
24 - sandwiches

25 - crockpot bbq chicken and cornbread
26 - Korean pork and noodles
27 - breakfast pizza
28 - crockpot steak and potatoes
29 - leftovers
30 - pizza
31 - Halloween TBD

If you are interested in any of these recipes, just let me know. Happy eating!

September monthly menu

Here's our menu for the month of September (will some possible edits):
1 - leftovers
2 - beef & noodles with mashed potatoes (from Karri)
3 - Parmesan chicken bake
4 - chicken fried steak sandwiches
5 - egg sandwiches or leftovers
6 - Labor Day cookout: steak, grilled corn on the cob, fruit salad
7 - chicken pasta shells
8 - leftovers (first night of AWANA)
9 - grilled chicken, beans and rice
10 - soft tacos
11 - grilled hot dogs or hamburgers
12 - pancakes and eggs
13 - chicken tortilla chip casserole
14 - spaghetti
15 - baked sandwiches (my sister's recipe)
16 - Korean pork and noodles
17 - leftovers
18 - creamy chicken and noodle casserole
19 - grilled cheese and homemade tomato soup
20 - beef stroganoff
21 - Garrett's birthday dinner (his choice)
22 - leftovers
23 - friendship casserole
24 - white chicken chili
25 - Maryna's birthday dinner (her choice)
26 - sandwiches
27 - beef pot roast with sweet potatoes
28 - salsa chicken and rice casserole
29 - leftovers
30 - pork chops with apples
31 - pizza

Happy eating to all....it's the beginning of some fall food.

Monthly planning

Ok, so I admit it, I'm a list-maker and planner. I make lists for everything (groceries, packing, work items, chore lists, etc) and I also plan my menus a month at a time. I've learned as our family gets busier that we need calendars to help us plan. I have 2 calendars I post on my refrigerator. 1 is our activity calendar that is color-coded based on which family member is involved and the other is our monthly menu. Without these 2 calendars every month, my house would be even crazier than what it already is. So, to go along with my previous post about freezer cooking, here's what we are having for dinner this month (or at least this is the plan):
1-3 (we were in Oklahoma)
4 spaghetti
5 Aloha chicken and rice
6 Pizza
7 Went to the State Fair
8 Chicken turnovers (buffalo style and regular)

9 Verde roast, rice and tortillas
10 Grilled chicken, roasted potatoes, grilled zucchini
11 Leftovers
12 More leftovers
13 Hamburger casserole
14 Esfrirras
15 Egg sandwiches

16 Sweet & tangy pork, noodles
17 Cashew chicken and rice
18 Hawaiian sandwich bake (recipe from my sister)
19 Leftovers
20 Beef and noodles (freezer cooking with Karri)
21 Soft tacos
22 Pizza on the grill

23 Tex mex chicken and beans, rice (crockpot recipe)
24 Lasagne (freezer cooking with Karri)
25 Grilled turkey burgers
26 Honey baked chicken and rice
27 Leftovers
28 Meatloaf and roasted potatoes (freezer cooking with karri)
29 French dip subs

30 Chicken enchiladas (freezer cooking)
31 Spaghetti

What's on your menu for this month? Do you like to plan as much as I do?

What's for dinner?

Over the past year I have really gotten into doing my menus 1 month at a time. This helps me plan out my grocery lists as well as helping me keep things organized since we have so many activities going on. I've also been able to make multiples of meals and freeze them for later use. While in Oklahoma this past week visiting my family, my sister (Melanie) told me and my sister-in-law (Karri) that she and a couple of her friends do freezer meal swaps. In other words, they each make multiples of 1 dish then exchange them so that they each have 1 of each others dishes. So, if Mel makes 5 of one type of dish, she comes home with 5 different dishes to put in her freezer. Karri decided that she and I needed to do this, so we each made our list of what we want the other one to make and are doing our exchange this weekend.
I'm making: white chicken chili, stroganoff and chicken enchiladas.
Karri is making: lasagna, meatloaf and beef and noodles.
I'm excited to see how this works and if successful, we'll do this every month.
If you have any good recipe ideas, feel free to post them here.

I'm BAAACK!

Ok, so I know several of you think I might have fallen off the face of the earth (except for those who keep up with me on facebook). While I have been around, it's been a very crazy several months. From kids activities (i.e. soccer, track, etc) to work activities and the every day challenges of life. Here are some pictures of what we've been up to. I promise to try and update a little more frequently.

The places I've been

Per my previous post, there are several places I would still like to visit. Previously on that list was Las Vegas. However, Brad and I were able to take a trip there in March. All I can say is WOW! Talk about craziness. Vegas is a really cool place to see (once), but after 2 days, I wasn't sure I could handle the ding-ding-dinging in my ears from the slot machines one more day. I did get to see some really cool places and we attended 1 show while we were there. I was glad I went but really have no desire to ever go back.







For spring break, we went another place I'd never been....Galveston Island, Texas. What a beautiful place right on the beach. I loved being near the ocean again as it's been way too long since I've been at the beach or seen the ocean. My kids had a great time experiencing swimming in the ocean. Glad we went and had a wonderfully, relaxing time. Hope to find a place just as nice and relaxing next year.

Places I want to go

As I'm getting older (no funny jokes please), I've made a mental note of some different places I would like to visit. Below is my list of places I've never been but would one day like to see. Hoping that maybe I can cross one off per year.

1. Washington D.C. (hoping to go next year with Maryna)
2. New York City
3. The Grand Canyon and Hoover Dam
4. Hawaii
5. San Diego
6. Jamaica
7. Australia

Oh the places I'd love to go.

Wedding

Well, it's official, my brother is married. I know many female hearts around the country are breaking. We, on the other hand, are thrilled. My brother married a beautiful and amazing woman named Karri (aka Princess Leia now that she's Karri Fisher). Karri has 2 great kids, Macy (7) and Dawson (almost 5). Not only did I gain another sister, but another niece and nephew.
The wedding was beautiful (despite the snow) and it was a great family time. Enjoy some pictures from the weekend of Feb.6, 2010.

Where have I been?

So I just realized that it's been almost a month since I've posted something on my blog. WOW, time flies. I must confess, it has been a crazy few weeks and it doesn't seem to be slowing down any time soon.

My parents were here during Christmas and we had a great time with them. They got to meet Karri's 2 kids, Macy and Dawson, who will soon become their 2 new grandchildren on Feb 6. It was so nice to be together as a family over Christmas (even though my sister and her family couldn't be there).

Since Christmas, it has been a crazy time with kids' activities. Maryna is on the school basketball team, plays indoor soccer, has soccer training and is also part of the ODP (Olympic Development Program) for soccer. Garrett is also playing indoor soccer and has soccer training. Our weekly calendar is so busy that I have to color-code our activities. It's so fun, though, to watch them.

The rest of the time has been spent either working or helping Karri and Ben with wedding plans. I can't believe it's less than 3 weeks till the big day. Plans are coming along and we are so excited about the wedding and having several family members in from all over the U.S.

Well, better get back to work.