Monday, August 31, 2015

Meal Plan #18

 

We have a really busy week, so I am going to be making things that I can either cook in the slow cooking are get on the table really fast.

Sunday Lunch - out to eat



Sunday Dinner - Egg Sandwiches (minus the bacon and tomatoes) and chips (bread and chips from grocery haul, everything else on hand)

Monday - Beef Quesadillas and Chips & Salsa (tortillas, chips, and cheese from grocery haul, beef from freezer)

Tuesday - Parmesan Crusted Tilapia, Slow Cooker Cheesy Potatoes (minus the bacon and ranch), and Veggies (frozen tilapia was purchased at Sam's and mentioned in grocery haul, but not shown, everything else from pantry or freezer)

Wednesday - Dinner at Church

Thursday - Garlic Honey Slow Cooker Chicken Thighs (I will use Drumsticks), Rice, and Veggies (rice from grocery haul, everything else from freezer or pantry)

Friday - Pizza



Saturday - Grilled Deer Sausages, Chips, and Fruit (buns from grocery haul, everything else from freezer or pantry)




Friday, August 28, 2015

Five on Friday

Happy Friday, folks!


1. We started school this week! You can see the recap here.

https://www.spellingcity.com/
spellingcity.com

2. I have to share this little gem with you that a friend told me about. If you homeschool, I definitely recommend checking spellingcity.com. You can input their spelling and vocabulary words and they can play games to help them learn their words. My favorite part is that they can take their spelling test on-line and then print it out already graded. We don't do much on-line, so Cade is really enjoying this for now.



3.  This pic is few months old, but I'm just really thankful for this man! He is such a blessing to our family. I am really glad that our weekend isn't stacked full and we will get to actually relax a little.


4. Did you catch, Quick Tip Tuesday this week? You'll have to let me know how you like these posts and videos.



5. I posted my first cooking video this week, How to Make Gravy. I'm not sure how regular these will become at this point, but I did enjoy this. I did this as a collab with Whitney, from Come Home for Comfort. I showed how to make it from broth and Whitney showed how to make it from fresh drippings.


 I'm linking up with High Five for Friday, Oh Hey, Friday, 5 on Friday, & Diary of a Real Housewife.


Wednesday, August 26, 2015

How to Make Gravy



I am finally going to share how I make gravy. I have been asked this many times, so I thought it would be best to just show you.



I am doing this post in collaboration with my blogging buddy, Whitney, from Come Home for Comfort. Once you have watched my process, be sure to head over to Come Home for Comfort to see how Whitney makes gravy. We didn't exchange recipes, so I'm excited to see her process.

Gravy
2 tbsp. butter
2 tbsp. flour
1 cup broth (chicken or beef)
salt and pepper to taste

Melt butter in a pan on medium heat. Add flour and whisk together until incorporated. Add broth and continue to whisk until it starts to come to a boil. 

If the gravy sits for a few minutes and gets too thick, just add more broth and whisk until heated through and to the consistency that you prefer. 

Enjoy!




The Homeschool Series - First Day of School 2015 Recap


(The quality of this picture is terrible! The lens on my camera kept fogging up, so I had to use my phone.)

We started school on Monday! Henry was SO excited to finally start Kindergarten.

I'm just going to go ahead and tell you that our first day was not good. We started the day early coming off of a very busy weekend. We got up and going, but things got a little crazy when we were headed out the door to go to the gym. The boys spotted a SNAKE in the garage. I called Asher, so he came home to try and find it. We were all late, and never did see the snake again. We got everything back on track, but it didn't last long.

There were bad attitudes that came down to everyone not getting enough rest the day before and not liking the sudden structure in our day. We REALLY enjoyed this Summer.

The good news is that day two was very nice. Attitudes had already been dealt with, everyone had a good night's rest, we all had a better idea of what was expected, and we had a good time. Cade even said, "We have got to quit having so much fun doing school so we can get done."

It really is going to be a fun year!

This Mama is blessed with some sweet boys. I'm so thankful that I get to teach them. 
 

Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Quick Tip Tuesday - Use Baskets on Your Fridge to Organize Bulky Items


Do you have bulky items that don't fit in your pantry? Maybe you don't have a pantry at all and you need a place to store some of the larger food items in your kitchen.

I've got a quick tip for you. Use the space on top of your fridge to store those bulky items.


We have a great pantry, but it is very shallow and doesn't hold things like bags of chips and bread very well.


I just placed some large baskets on top of the fridge to hold these items. One for all the chips and one for all the bread, tortillas, and bagels. I have used this method for years and it works really well for us.


You don't have to spend a ton on baskets, but if you get pretty ones they do add a nice touch. No one will have to know that your bread and chips are hanging out up there.


Basket Source - Pier One about 14 years ago.

Linking this post to:
The Creative Corner - Curly Crafty Mom


Monday, August 24, 2015

Meal Plan #17


Sunday Lunch - at a Friend's house


Sunday Dinner - Loaded Omelets and Grits

Monday - BBQ Meatballs, Sweet Potatoes, and Peas (meatballs from this week's grocery haul, sweet potatoes brought home from farm, peas from last week's grocery haul)

Tuesday - Sweet & Sour Chicken, Basmati Rice (Chicken and pineapple from this week's grocery haul, everything else from pantry)

 
Wednesday - Crockpot/Roasted Chicken Legs, Roasted Red Potatoes, Spinach and Fruit Salad (Red Potatoes and Spinach from this week's grocery haul, everything else from farm, freezer, or pantry)

Thursday - Leftovers

Friday - Pizza


Saturday - Pioneer Woman Sloppy Joes or Burgers, Corn on the Cob, Stuffed Peppers (corn and peppers from farm, cheese in pepper's and ground beef from this week's grocery haul)


Check out my grocery haul from Friday.

Sunday, August 23, 2015

Spinach & Fruit Salad

I don't normally post on Sundays, but this recipe will be on my meal plan tomorrow, so I wanted to go ahead and share it.


This is one of my favorite salads to make when we are entertaining. It's very quick and easy to throw together and you can change the fruit up based on what it in season. It works great with apples, berries, and pears.

I had a 5 gallon bucket of pears I am working my way through, so we went with pears this time. 

I never measure any of this, so just use what looks good to you.


Spinach & Fruit Salad
Baby Spinach
Chopped Apples, Pears, or Berries (whatever is in season)
Chopped Walnuts
Dried Cranberries
Bottled Poppy Seed Dressing or Panera Bread Fuji Apple Dressing




Friday, August 21, 2015

Five on Friday

I'm not ready for this week to be coming to and end!

1. We have had a fun week. We have met up with friends and spent some good time in the pool.

2. We start school on MONDAY! I'm still in denial. I did get all of our books in and the homeschool closet organized, but that is it. I still haven't done any lesson planning. I have a date with my Erin Condren Teacher Planner on Saturday afternoon. (There is a new video on this planner coming Sept. 2, so be on the look out.)



3. If you are a homeschooling mom, don't miss this week's post from the Homeschool Series

4. THANK YOU! I published my very first YouTube video 4 months ago. It has been slow to grow, but my subscribers have doubled this week, so thank you to all of you that are watching my videos and subscribing to my channel.


5. I filmed and posted my first Plan With Me video this week, so I decided to celebrate with a small giveaway on IG. You still have a few more hours to enter, so head on over to IG if you want a chance to win. If you miss this one, don't worry. I have another one coming in the next few weeks.

That's it for this week! Have a great weekend.

 I'm linking up with High Five for Friday, Oh Hey, Friday, 5 on Friday, & Diary of a Real Housewife.





Wednesday, August 19, 2015

The Homeschool Series - Unexpected Encouragement



*This post was originally written September 12,2014.

This has been one of the hardest weeks I have had in a long time. I hurt my shoulder, lots of house stuff going on, lots of personal stuff going on. I pretty much wanted to kill my dog. (He was not harmed, but I did list him on Craigslist and then backed out). The stuff just kept coming and I was completely overwhelmed. I cried a lot. I know it sounds like a big old pity-party. I'm not fond of them, but this is where I found myself this week.

 Ok, so what does this have to do with homeschooling?

Sometimes when I feel overwhelmed with life, it is easy to start to second guessing my decision to homeschool my boys. Am I really cut out for this? Is this really what I am called to do? Did I miss it? Surely, I missed it, because this is just too hard.

 I know that these are all lies from the devil, and I did the most important thing I can do when I find myself here. I got myself in the Word of God and reminded myself of what the Word says, and who I am in Christ.

But, unexpected encouragement in still nice.

 Unexpected Encouragement

Today, the boys and I took a load of stuff to donate to the local Rescue Mission. Since we were already there, the boys asked if we could go in and look around. I decided it was a good idea. We needed a break. I found a few things to purchase and was waiting in line to checkout. There was an older lady that asked the same question we hear almost every time we go somewhere during the day. "Is today some kind of Holiday? Why aren't you at school?" I responded with, "We homeschool and got done a little early today". I expected the confused or judge-y look that I normally get, but today was different.

This lady smiled, and then proceeded to have a conversation with my boys. She put her hand on Cade's shoulder and told him that she was a retired school teacher. She told him that he had a very special Mom for her to decide to spend her time each day teaching him. She just went on and on about how blessed he was. I'm not sure she even looked at me, but it was such a blessing to me. I needed to hear those things.

I am thankful that when I am discouraged, and ready to throw in the towel, the Lord knows. He knows just how to send the encouragement that I need.

Other posts in this series can be found HERE.

I am currently hosting a small giveaway on my IG account. Come check it out and be sure to enter.

Monday, August 17, 2015

Meal Plan #16

If you are here because you watched my grocery haul on YouTube and wanted to see the meals I planned based on the groceries I bought this weekend, welcome!

I am changing things up a bit. The plan is to post a grocery haul every Friday or Saturday on my YouTube channel and then you can come here on Monday and see how I used those groceries to create a weeks worth of meals. 

A few things you should know -1.We only sometimes eat what shows up on the plan for Saturday. I shop on Friday for Friday through Thursday, so sometimes by the time Saturday rolls around I change my mind or plans change. I still like to have a tentative plan. Most other nights we do eat what was planned. Example - On Meal Plan #15 I planned to eat Shrimp and Grits. If you watched the Grocery Haul video, I actually purchased stuff to make fish sandwiches and tator tots for dinner. Our plans changed, so I came up with a plan B. 2. My husband works for a guy that has a farm, so he brings home a lot of fresh fruit and veggies this time of year. This means that you may see produce on the meal plan that you don't see in a grocery haul.


Sunday Lunch - Sandwiches, Chips, and Pickles (using buns, lunch meat, pickles, and chips from haul)

Sunday Dinner - Takeout

Monday - Chicken Parmesan Spaghetti, roasted Japanese Eggplant (from pantry, freezer, and farm)

Tuesday - Roasted Chicken Legs, Rice & Gravy, Peas (broth for gravy and peas from haul, everything else is from freezer and pantry)


Wednesday - Beef and Bean Enchiladas, Tacos, Spanish Rice, and Chips & Salsa (Everything is from haul)

Thursday - Leftovers

Friday - Pizza

Saturday - Takeout

Linking this post to:

http://orgjunkie.com/


Friday, August 14, 2015

Five on Friday

It's been a good week, but it's getting too close to Summer being over.


1. Henry jumped off of the diving board and is swimming pretty well. It sure makes our pool trips a little bit easier.

Tucker before I shaved his hair off.

2. I didn't get rid of or kill our dog this month! It is quite the accomplishment. He tends to go nuts when our schedules get different than he is used to. He has peed in his crate every single time we put him in there for the last month, simply because he was mad. It was not pretty. I ended up having to shave all of his hair off. The good news is that he is finally back to his sweet self.


3. I like all things related to planners. I finally decided I wanted to enter the world of planning with stickers. It just looks like it will be a fun creative outlet. You can check out my small sticker haul on my YouTube channel if you enjoy that kind of thing.


4. Did you see my dining room earlier this week? I am so glad to have this painting project done. The room is all ready for school to start this year.



5. The Homeschool Series is still going strong. This week I shared our curriculum picks for this year.

Y'all have a great weekend!

 I'm linking up with High Five for Friday, Oh Hey, Friday, 5 on Friday, & Diary of a Real Housewife.

Thursday, August 13, 2015

The Dining Room - Painted Gray

Welcome to my gray dining room! 


 I mentioned a few weeks ago, during my Home Tour post, that I had just painted my kitchen and dining room gray. This room have been through some major color changes, so be sure to take a look at that post.

One of the Befores
I'm still not done with the room, but I'm trying to not be in a hurry. I swiped these curtains from my bedroom to see if I liked the white in here. I think I do.  I want to be sure before I hem them to the proper length.

The buffet that was in here was great for storage, but it was a little bit too deep for this room. I decided to get rid of it and hold out for one that fits a little better. This room is small.



 I plan to add a frame to the chalkboard that I made, but I'm waiting until I decide on a buffet. I'm not sure if I will go with a white frame or a wood stained frame. I'm still having fun decorating the chalkboard in the mean time.


Do you like my chairs? I went through several sets of chairs before these. These were such a great find. My neighbor had them in her yard with a For Sale sign on them one day. All I did was recover the cushions with a shower curtain from Target.




This table is my favorite piece of furniture in my whole house. My husband built if for me out of oak wood flooring. It is just beautiful!

I'm just happy I got the room painted before we start school here in a few weeks. It was nice to check this project off the list. I chose the color Coventry Gray by Benjamin Moore and had it color matched at Home Depot. The color turned out just right.

Have you painted any rooms lately? Do you have a favorite gray paint color?

*This post is not sponsored in any way. 

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