Mealplan Monday #19 on my new cooktop!

The new cooktop arrived and Hubby spent the better part of last Saturday installing it.  5 gas burners, with a cast iron grate - we love it!

Monday - Crock pot burgers, sweet potato tots, olives and pickles

Tuesday - Tilapia/Chicken strips, mac and cheese, salad
Wednesday - Omelette Night with home fries and toast
Thursday - Sketti and meatsauce, salad, French bread and garlic butter
Friday - Teriyaki Chicken crock pot, rice
Saturday - Dad grills
Sunday - Lentil soup, quesadillas

One of these days we will replace those counters, but I'm pretty happy with the updated cooktop!

Gina

Lazy Daisy Meatballs

Right after Hubby and I married, I petitioned my new in-laws for family recipes that would be easy enough for a beginner homebody and my shiny new SIL gave me this treasure.  I have made it for years and it's been well received by my peeps.  Easy and tasty and pretty frugal to boot!

Here's what you need:

Lazy Daisy Meatballs
1 lb. ground beef (you could also use pork or turkey)
1 t. salt
1/8 t. each ground pepper, celery salt, garlic powder
1/2 c. dry bread crumbs*
1/2 c. water
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/4 soup can water

Mix meat, seasonings, crumbs, 1/2 c. water and onions.  Form into small meatballs.  Roll them in flour and brown them in hot oil.   Drain them and return to covered skillet.  Mix soup with  1/4 can of water and pour over meatballs.  Cover and simmer on low 30 minutes while you fix rice and a salad or veggie.

 

 Serve the meatballs over rice.

*Breadcrumbs are easy and frugal to do - this container has been refilled many times.  I save the ends of the loaf of bread, toast 'til very dry, then crush them in a big bowl, or sometimes even use the blender.  You can pre-season them, or leave them plain.

Gina

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Mealplan Monday #18 with Brownie Trifle

Summer is coming along; Firstborn has a new girlfriend and has signed up for Fall classes, The Girl is done apartment-sitting and now we get to actually see her leave in the morning and hear her come in late at night, Scout is going to Summer school so that pesky English II class can go away forever, and Bubbie is g-r-o-w-i-n-g, having gained 8 pounds since January.  In other words, nothing exciting is happening here, ha!

Monday - Chicken and sausage stew, carrots
Tuesday -Beef stir fry, ramen noodles, crab rangoon takey-outey
Wednesday - Chicken mole crock pot, flour tortillas, pico, salad
Thursday - Lazy Daisy Meatballs*, rice, peas
Friday - order pizza!
Saturday - Dad grills 
Sunday - Leftover Chicken Tater Tot Casserole from freezer, veggie
*recipe coming soon

People here love their desserts. I mean really love them.  We're kind of burnt out on ice cream, but still love chilled desserts.  Enter the Brownie Pudding Trifle in a cup!

Start with one small and one large instant pudding mixes in 2 different flavors. Cook and cool a package of fudgey brownies.  (I like the Betty Crocker ones that are less than $1 and make a 8x8 pan in about 25 minutes.)  Prepare the pudding mixes separately, then layer spoonfuls of them in a pretty glass dish with chunks of  brownie until you end up with this:

Refrigerate 'til well-chilled, then serve. 

Gina

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Tourist in our town: UT, Amy's, Terra Toys

Bubbie and I killed some time waiting on Scout one day.  We wanted to see an exhibit at the Harry Ransom Center on the UT campus.  In all my time at UT, I had never done more than walk past that building.  Its a beautiful free museum and had an exhibit about the history of the King James Bible.  First things first:  we had to eat lunch.

We parked at a garage across the street from Dobie Dorm/Mall.  They have an awesome food court with student friendly prices.  The pizza place was calling our names.

 I had a Big as Yo Face spinach calzone with homemade marinara that was yum.

 Bubbie chose pizza.  I can tell you right now that he will not be able to eat all of that in one sitting and some of it will get stashed in my purse.

 

It was an overcast day, but even so, the UT campus always impresses me.  Not quite as perfectly landscaped as Baylor, a little more intimidating than Texas State,  but there's something about all the statues and giant oaks. 

The HRC is awesome.  Investigate it here.  

They have the Guttenberg Bible and the world's first photograph.

And it is located on the southernmost edge of the campus.

 Inside, I was surprised at how interested Bubbie was - he spent a lot of time reading.

The building has a wall of windows etched with famous scenes  - one of them is that haunting photo of the migrant family during the time of the Great Depression.

We waited to hear the Westminster chimes, but for some reason, the bells never pealed.  We walked up to the Tower and looked back at the Capitol.  I remember seeing this view as a 20 year old and feeling goosebumps. 

 It had begun raining, so we headed back towards our own neck of the woods and might have stopped at Amy's on the way.

 

 I had to get the Strawberry Basil Pistachio ice cream - sounded too weirdly wonderful.  Bubbie stuck with Belgian chocolate with Oreo's and Junior Mints.

One more stop - Terra Toys.  Bubbie is too old for toys, but it was fun to get in out of the rain and just look at everything.  

Chandys in a toy store is so Austin. 

 OK, time to go pick up Scout. Ever go exploring in your own town?

Gina

Mealplan Monday #17 and kid on a bike

This week I am digging through my recipe box for some tried and true favorites.  Only one or two involve the oven.  The temps have been a shade cooler and thank goodness for the rain last week!  

Monday - Pizza Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green beans
Tuesday - BBQ Chicken Salad, brownies for dessert
Wednesday - Sausage and Bean crock, acorn squash
Thursday - Mediterranean Herb Crusted Tilapia, garlic butter fettucine
Friday - Freezer Meal
Saturday - Dad grills
Sunday - Hot dogs, turkey chili, chips, watermelon

Too bad a certain kid isn't as perky as the landscape!

Gina

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Bread and Butters

I usually get my pickles from my mother, who loves growing cucumbers and canning the results, but this week I thought "why don't I just make my own?"  Pickles are such a great Summer thing...finding a recipe on the internet took two seconds and I picked the most basic one and changed it up to my taste.

 

 

Bread and Butter Pickles by me!

4 c. thinly sliced cucumbers

1 c. thinly sliced onion

2 t. kosher salt

1 c. cider vinegar

3/4 c. sugar (though next time I will increase to 1 c.)

1 T. mustard seed

1 t. celery seed

1/2 t. red pepper flakes

1/2 minced garlic

Prepare your jars.  I boil the lids and rims in a big pot of water for 5 minutes, then pour the water into to jars I'm going to use.  Then, add more water to that same big pot and get it boiling.  Make the brine in a medium sized pot: bring the vinegar and sugar to a gentle boil, add the mustard seed, celery seed, red pepper flakes, and minced garlic and boil gently for another couple of minutes while you layer the cucumbers and onions in your jars.  Pack them in, but leave enough space for the brine between the layers.  Pour the hot brine into the jars, leaving about 1/2 inch head space in each jar.  Clean threads, apply lids and rims, process for 5 minutes in that big pot of boiling water.  (I like them crisp, but not raw and processing them helps them seal, too)  Set jars upside down on counter for 5 minutes, then right side up, until you hear the lids ping (pop?).  Cool.  Store in pantry or fridge.

 

The only downside I see to making pickles is the smell.  

The upside is that now I have several jars of them to eat on my sammies! 

Gina

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Mealplan Monday #16 and Dr. Martin's Mix

Brilliant idea not from me:  To make freezer meals, line a casserole dish with foil, fill with food, then freeze.  When frozen, pop out of dish and store in clearly labeled zip-loc bag.  Saves space, keeps dishes available.  Just pop the food back into a dish, thaw, and bake.

Monday - Cheesey Chicken Tater Tot Casserole, summer squash
Tuesday - Burgers, crock pot beans, chips
Wednesday - Ham sammies on Hawaiian bread, cream of broccoli soup
Thursday - Jude's Chicken Casserole (freeze half), carrots
Friday - Freezer Meal - Pasta Bake, green beans
Saturday - Dad grills
Sunday - Dr. Martin's Mix*, salad

Crockpot meals can just go directly from big zip-loc bags to the crock, frozen.  And zip-locs are so easy to label.  By the time school starts back up, I will have this freezer stocked!

*Here is the recipe for Dr. Martin’s Mix, exactly as Peg Bracken wrote it 60 years ago:
Dr. Martin’s Mix
(It takes about seven minutes to put this together. Dr. Martin is a busy man).
Crumble 1 to 1 ½ pounds of pork sausage (hamburger will do, but pork is better) into a skillet and brown it. Pour off a little of the fat. Then add:
1 green pepper, chopped
2 green onions, (also called scallions) chopped
2 or 3 celery stalks, chopped
2 cups chicken consommé or bouillon
1 cup raw rice
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
½ teaspoon salt
Dr. Martin then puts the lid on and lets it simmer at the lowest possible heat until he goes out and sets a fracture. When he comes back in about an hour, his dinner is ready. 
I only cook it for 25 minutes, but my heat is probably higher.  
Enjoy!

Gina

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I want them to grow up, just not so fast...

We worry about what a child will become tomorrow, 
yet we forget that he is someone today. 

Childhood is but the blink of an eye, but
do we ever outgrow swings?

July 4th, 2012

We spent Wednesday enjoying our liberty to pursue relaxation! 

Bubbie and I went shopping and enjoyed the pool, while Hubby played with his new camera.  Scout went on a bike ride to do some photography, and Firstborn and The Girl were in and out all day.  We feasted on Elgin sausage, Buffalo grilled chicken, homemade potato salad and that poke cake. Then in the evening, we trekked to Cedar Park to watch the fireworks.  Apparently there were a billion other people with the same idea.

 

We found a place about a block away and made our way to Milburn Park where there was plenty of room for everyone.

We found a patch of park, spread out a quilt, and enjoyed sunset and cool breezes.

 We were just yards away from Ground Zero.  This is the closest we've ever sat. 

 Thank goodness these guys were handy.

It wasn't long before the sun set. We had no beer, no cards, no chairs - just the four of us on a blanket enjoying the evening. 

 

 

I could barely hold my camera still! Scout got some impressive shots, as always:

 

 

I admit I might have shielded my eyes and covered my ears a time or two!  All around us people were saying "WOW" and there was applause from everyone after the show. 

What an exciting way to end a perfectly relaxing day!

Gina