Mealplan Monday #78 and Is it Fall yet?

We had a few very pleasant mornings here last week, with a little relief from the heat.

Sadly, it's been climbing back up to the mid-90's by noon.  But still, it makes me feel excited to think of all that Fall will bring.  I even ordered Thanksgiving cards with a photo by Scout on the front - can you guess which one of these Fall scenes I chose?

Monday - (freezer meal) Thai Chicken, rice, peas
Tuesday - (freezer meal) White Chicken Chili, tortilla chips
Wednesday - Mexican Tilapia, creamy corn, salad
Thursday - Skillet Chops, sea salt sweet potatoes, cabbage
Friday - Out for game night
Saturday - Mom and Dad's Anniversary - boys get tacos
Sunday - (freezer meal) Party Sammies, tots, soup
Dessert will be Caramel Apple Pie

In other news, I think I'm finally getting the hang of reconciling my new schedule at work with my schedule at home.  There's hope for me yet!

Gina

Freezer meals #4

I felt like I had climbed a mountain one day last week when I assembled several meals for those days I work. Some have already served us well this week. Most of them are for the crock pot.

Thai Chicken
(From Graciously Saved)
2 lbs. chicken drums
1/2 bottle salsa
1/4 c. peanut butter
3 t. each lime juice, water, and soy sauce
2 T chopped fresh ginger
2 cloves garlic, chopped
Freeze all in a giant ziploc.  Cook on LOW 6 hours in crock pot.

White Chicken Chili
(From Graciously Saved)
2 T olive oil
1 T cornstarch
1 medium onion, chopped
1 small can diced mild green chilies
2 cans white beans, drained
1 t. each salt and pepper
2 chicken bouillon cubes
Place all ingredients in large ziploc and freeze.  When ready to cook, add 2 c. water and contents of bag to crock pot and cook on LOW 6 hours.

CrockPot Cheeseburger Soup
(From Graciously Saved)
1 lb. ground beef, cooked and drained
1/2 c. each chopped onion and bell pepper
1 can dice tomatoes
1 t each salt and oregano (or Italian Seasoning)
1/2 t. pepper
3 beef bouillon cubes
4 c. frozen diced hashbrown potatoes
8 oz. shredded cheddar cheese
Combine all but cheese into a large ziploc.  When ready to cook, add 3 c. water, and cook in crock pot on LOW 6-8 hours. Combine 1/4 c. flour and 1 c. milk and stir into soup 30 minutes before serving.  Add cheese and stir again.  In about 30 minutes it should be thickened and ready to eat!

Crock Pot Mexican Chili
2 cans beans, pinto or kidney, drained
1 28 oz. can chopped tomatoes, not drained
1 c. chopped onion
1 6 oz, can tomato paste
1/2 c. chopped bell pepper
1 small can mild diced green chilies
2 T sugar
1 t. each cumin, salt, garlic powder, and chili powder
1 lb. ground beef, cooked and drained
Add all into large ziploc and freeze.  Cook on LOW approx. 8 hours, serve with Fritos.

I also threw a chuck roast into a bag and added a pre-mixed crock pot sauce for Tavern Style Pot Roast - it just sounded good. Plus, there is a bag of chicken drums marinating for Hubby to grill.  And I made party sammies with Cajun turkey, monterey jack, and sweet potato buns.  If you look really close you can see Brown Sugar Chicken, and some broth and the rest of Mexican Tinga Chicken that will morph into Chicken Tortilla Soup.  And lastly, there's  Calamity Anne's Meatloaf in there somewhere.  

I'm ready for the next couple of weeks - bring it!

Gina

Custom burlap mat

We have portraits all over the house.  

 This one was taken in 2000, and has hung in a plain oak frame for years.  Recently, I got a hand-me-down heavy gold frame that I thought would do a better job with this portrait.  Alas, the mat opening was too small.  The lady at Joann refused to cut it down for me, even though I had measured it out.  

In this dark bookcase nook, it's hard to tell but the mat is nice against the gold of the frame.  Here's how I got my own custom mat:

 Using my cutting mat and handy dandy rotary cutter, I made the mat opening the right size. 

 

 Then it occurred to me that I could disguise my homemade cut job by wrapping the mat in burlap, and add texture to the frame job at the same time.  I carefully laid out some white burlap,

and using craft glue I wrapped it around the mat, gluing to the back.  I "mitre-d' the edges by just cutting a straight line and gluing it carefully.

When the glue dries, no one will know.  And if they do, they better not mention it to me!

Nope, you can't tell.

And back it went on the wall. 

Gina

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Mealplan Monday #77 with Apple Bread

 I really enjoy reading Frugal Girl's blog - she has a feature called Food Waste Friday where she talks about how they try not to waste food during the week.  It's right up my alley when she talks about making banana muffins.  She says you can tell how many bananas they didn't eat by how many muffins get baked.  The same is true at my house for apples!  

Monday - Brown Sugar Chicken in the crock, rice, green beans
Tuesday - Fettucine Alfredo, salad
Wednesday - Apple & Sage Pork Chops, masheds, corn
Thursday - BBQ Lime Shrimp, fresh veggie, leftover corn casserole from freezer
Friday - Calamity Anne Meatloaf, scallopeds, broccoli
Saturday - Dad grills
Sunday - Freezer meal for the crock - haven't decided yet which one
Dessert will be ice cream and peanut butter chocolate chip cookies

Apple Bread

3 c. chopped or grated apples

2 c. sugar

3 1/2 c. flour

1 1/2 c. oil

2 eggs

1 1/2 t. baking soda

1 t, salt

3 t. vanilla

1 t. each, nutmeg and cinnamon

1 c. nuts, optional

Combine apples and sugar and let sit 20 minutes.  Add the other ingredients in order listed and stir to combine all well.  Pour into 2 greased loaf pans  and bake at 350 for about an hour.

 

 Yuuuum...so good with cinnamon butter.

A loaf to eat warm from oven, a loaf to freeze for a quick breakfast on a school morning.

Gina

Mealplan Monday #76 and a cute basket

This basket right here?

 I paid a ridiculous amount for it about 25 years ago.  I though Hubby was going to have a heart attack. It matched my Laura Ashley sheets and comforter perfectly at the time and was a total impulse buy.  After The Girl came along, it lived in her room for years, but she didn't want to take it with her back to Waco.

 I ripped off the mod podge flowers and set it in the craft/spare room, waiting for inspiration.

Monday - Morroccan Chicken Skillet*, rice, salad

Tuesday - Hamburger Helper (so sue me)

Wednesday - Grilled cheese with bacon and avocado, sweet potato fries

Thursday - Skillet Pork Chops with red potatoes and chilies, carrots

Friday - OUT - Game Night

Saturday - Dad grill

Sunday - Crockpot Chili, fritos

Dessert will be Strawberry Oatmeal Cookie Bars

*This is a new Campbell's Slow Cooker sauce that I can't find a link for - I'm doing it on the stove top.

Out came the creamy white spray paint and some of the leftover paint from the dresser.

And a short time later, I have a hand-painted basket for this room.  Where who-knows-what will end up in it...magazines?  Sewing repairs? 

Gina

Tourist in our town - 2 downtown Austin parks

I'd want to dedicate a whole blog post to Zilker Park - my kids and I have gone there every Summer and other times of the year, too.  It's a fav place to snap some nature pics.  But here's more from another of our hot and sweaty photo jaunts, and we went to two downtown parks that day:

 

 The Clubhouse at Zilker- a brief respite from the heat and a lot of info about Barton Springs.

 The Girl has lifeguarded here a time or two - the water is absolutely bone-chilling cold and perfect on a 100 degree plus day!

 

 

 

 They were cleaning that day, so there are no swimmers on this side of the springs.

Tracks from the Zilker Zephyr - a ride around the park in a tiny "train".  

Just a couple blocks away is Butler Park:

 It has a splash pad - which my kids are a little old for.

 

 

 

 

 

Next to it is the Dougherty Arts Center - check that out here.  I would like to go back and check out all the cool stuff happening there sometime soon!  I miss Summer, but it's still 100 degrees here,  so bring on Fall!

Gina

My Girl

The Girl and I would sometimes sing at bedtime - she loved it.  My favorites were "Oh! Dear Zanna!" (which sounded a lot like Oh, Susanna - wink) and "Happy Day Day, You You" (the birthday song).  But we both loved "My Girl", by the Temptations - it's like it was written just for us!

I've got sunshine on a cloudy day.
When it's cold outside I've got the month of May.
I guess you'd say
What can make me feel this way?
My girl - Talkin' 'bout my girl - My Chloe! (she'd sing "my mommy!")

 I've got so much honey the bees envy me.
I've got a sweeter song than the birds in the trees.
I guess you'd say
What can make me feel this way?
My Chloe! ("my mommy!")

I don't need no money, fortune, or fame.
I've got all the riches baby one mom can claim.
I guess you'd say
What can make me feel this way?
My Chloe! ("my mommy!")

Happy 22nd Birthday, My Girl!

Gina

Mealplan Monday #75 and Fall decor

I set out some Fall stuff, even tho it isn't anywhere near Fall here, weather-wise. 

 

 

Monday - Lemon Crumb Tilapia, scalloped potatoes, green beans

Tuesday - Meatball Bake, salad
Wednesday - Pulled Pork on baked potatoes with MJ cheese, scallions, coleslaw
Thursday - Chicken Parmesan with linguini, broccoli
Friday - Eat out for game night
Saturday - Dad Grill
Sunday - Chicken Bacon Cub Sammies, tomato soup
Dessert will be Pumpkin Pie Dip with apples and Teddy Grahams

 I save potpourri from year to year and add essential oil to add scent.

Have you started decorating for Fall where you are?

Gina

Recycling soap

Before The Girl left, we fished out all of the bars of soap that had been hiding in her dresser drawers for years.  She brought me at least 7 bars of soap! I have a habit of unwrapping soap and tucking it into folded clothes and linens to make them smell nice. I went to town with a cheese grater and made it into soap flakes.

I've done this in the past where I've added it to the ingredients for homemade soap, but this time I sent a bunch of it with her and kept some for myself to add in to a load of towels or sheets here and there.  Smells wonderful!  

Do you ever recycle your soap bars, or do you just toss them?

Gina

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and

Mealplan Monday #74 and The Girl moves again

The Girl moved back to Waco and before she left she did some sprucing for her new digs.

She loaded some Renuzit crystals from Dollar Tree with the shells she bought in Port A. It smells as pretty as it looks.

 She also primed and painted her laminate IKEA furniture from several years ago, then gave it a faux finish.

From blah brown to antiqued cream - just lovely.

 And she scoured the internet for a great deal on a Laura Ashley quilt - so pretty in shades of smoke blue and plum.

Monday - Pork ribeye steaks, corn casserole, sauteed green beans with garlic
Tuesday - Turkey Sloppy Joes, Sunchips
Wednesday - Slowcooker Beef Stroganoff, noodles, mixed veggies
Thursday - Mexican Chicken, Spanish rice, zucchini
Friday - Spinach Ravioli Bake, garlic toast
Saturday - Dad grill
Sunday - Hamburger Helper, corn (don't judge)
Dessert this week is a Chocolate Cream Pie, per Hubby's request

It looks like a lot, but she has learned to streamline the process and pack "like things" together to make unpacking easier. 

 Her car and the trailer all loaded to go

 

 It took some doing to talk Hubby into renting it.

Garage back in order, bed waiting to go back to its owner.

And now the front room is empty and "back to normal" and I am back to missing her.

Gina