My Day Friday (one day early)

Today was a good day. Today I knew what I was doing and why. There are so many days that I do not. So many days I say to myself, “why am I doing this?” Sometimes I wonder if I should go out and get a “real job”, are the kids being socialized enough, do they know everything they should know at this age, do they behave properly or are they completely out of control? So many times these thoughts run through my mind. Then today as I stood at my kitchen window and watched as my children held hands while enjoying a popsicle I cherished the moment and wished I could just stop time. I wished that they could be just as they were at that moment for the rest of my life. None of that other stuff mattered to me. I know that as they grow and learn there will be so many times that I wish I could just freeze the moment and today was just one of those times. I get so caught up in my life sometimes that I just forget to live. I forget to stop and really enjoy what is going on right in front of me. I forget that they won’t be this little precious age forever. They won’t always be right outside my kitchen window so I need to stop and be still and be thankful for the amazing gifts that the Lord has given me. And my prayer for them is that they will always be so close that it makes perfect sense to hold hands and eat popsicles.

Taco Mac

Here is a quick ,easy and frugal lunch. When we have leftover taco meat or sloppy joe meat I make this up for lunch. Often there isn't enough meat leftover to make another meal or maybe not even another taco but we don't let any food go to waste. Especially my husband who takes his lunch to work everyday. I served this to my friend Julie and her kids once and they also thought it was tasty so give it a try. Other people outside my semi-weird family like it too!

Leftover meat (even just a little)
1 box macaroni and cheese prepared as directed
1 can diced tomatoes drained

Mix it all together and serve it up.

Red Lobster Biscuits

I served these with Divinas Lasagna. I make these a lot because they are quick and easy. This is a lot of butter to go on top and some of it just ends up in the pan so you could cut that in half. I also add a little dried parsley to my butter. Just a sprinkle will do.

Ingredients

2 cups Bisquick
2/3 cup milk
1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Directions

1 Heat oven to 450 degrees.
2 Mix Bisquick, milk and cheese until a soft dough forms.
3 Drop by spoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet.
4 Bake 6-8 minutes or until golden brown.
5 Mix butter or margarine and garlic powder.
6 Brush mixture over warm biscuits before removing from cookie sheet.

This recipe is linked to the Grocery Cart Challenge.

Divina's Easy Lasagna

My friend Divina made this lasagna for me. She brought it over in two smaller sized pans so I could have one and freeze one. It was so good. We loved that it had spinach in it and my children ate it up. Here is her recipe.

1. Brown 1lb hamburger (we use Italian sausage bc we like a little spice)
2. Remove meat from pan, Add a little olive oil if necessary, and saute 1 diced onion.
3. Add meat back in. Season with salt, pepper, garlic power, onion powder, and Italian seasoning.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together 1 large container of ricotta cheese, 2 eggs, about 1/4 c Parmesan cheese, and salt and pepper.
5. Thaw 1 bag of frozen spinach and squeeze out extra liquid.
6. You'll also need 1 jar chunky vegetable pasta sauce, 1 box no bake lasagna noodles, 1 pkg. mozzarella cheese.
7. Then begin layering. I start w a little sauce on the bottom of the pan, then the noodles, the ricotta, meat, spinach, cheese, more sauce, and repeat.

Bake covered at 350 for 30 minutes. Take foil off and bake an additional 10-15 minutes until bubbly and cheese is golden.

It's pretty easy, and I love that it can be frozen so I can always have one ready for those days I don't feel up to cooking. :)

Buttermilk Pancakes

Sometimes I serve pancakes for lunch. The reason is that I don't have time to whip them up for breakfast. I make a big batch for lunch and then I freeze the leftover pancakes so we have quick easy breakfast. Just freeze them and put in a Ziploc. Then you can take one out and heat it up in the microwave for a quick weekday breakfast.

Ingredients

2 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups buttermilk
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-2 tablespoon vegetable oil or cooking spray
maple syrup, for serving

Directions

In a bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the eggs on medium speed until frothy.
Add the buttermilk, melted butter and vanilla and mix well.
Add the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt, and beat on medium speed just until blended. (You may have a few lumps, but don't worry about it).
Heat lightly greased griddle at 350 degrees.
Pour about 1/3 cup of the batter onto griddle for each pancake.
Cook until the tops of the pancakes are covered with tiny bubbles and the batter is set, about 4-6 minutes. Flip pancakes and cook until the undersides are golden brown, about 4 minutes more.
Repeat with remaining batter

Menu Plan Monday

From now on I am going to try and post my weekly meal plan. I ALWAYS have a plan so I thought if I posted it then I would be more likely to post some of the recipes. We shall see if that works. I just plan out dinner. I used to plan breakfast and lunch but things are crazy since baby Wyatt arrived so we sometimes do those meals last minute. Dinner is the time when we all sit down together as a family and spend time together. Growing up we all had to eat together every night and I still have some great memories of those times. That stuck with me so now my family eats together. I don't plan the weekend meals unless I know for sure we will be around the house and normally Jamon will cook over the weekend so I can take a break.

M-Divina's Lasagna (recipe will come later. My friend made us some frozen lasagna and it is awesome!)
T- Indian Tacos
W- Coconut Lime Salmon with coconut rice (this is sooo yummy!)
TH-Chicken (not sure what kind yet)
F- Jamon cookout steak
Weekend-My parents are visiting