Menu Plan Monday

Here we go again...My week went so much better with a menu on hand! I am going to keep this up for as long as possible! Thanks Cindy for the push and thanks Shannon for participating!

Oh, and my scones turned out wonderfully. We discovered that if you put jam on the inside and some cream cheese frosting on top then you have the PERFECT homemade toaster strudel! It's a new family favorite!

Monday: French Toast with Jason's homemade bread!

Tuesday: Frito Casserole

Combine: 1 pound browned hamburger

3/4 cup miracle whip

12 oz. salsa

1 cup corn

Then layer in a cake pan the meat mixture, fritos, and then cheese. Repeat. Bake for 30 minutes @ 350 degrees.

You can get creative with this "glorified nachos" recipe. Add some black beans...or try chili instead of salsa. You get the drift, right?

Wednesday: Hawaiin Haystacks/Zuchinni Stir Fry

You know, something on rice. Cheese, chinese noodles, ham or chicken...

Thursday: Leftovers or Chicken Nuggets

Friday: Cheese Manicotti (this is a freezer meal!)

1 8 oz package manicotti

1 1/2 cups Ricotta cheese

2 cups cottage cheese

4 ounces cream cheese

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan Cheese

1 1/2 cups Mozzarella cheese, shredded

1 Tbsp dried parsley flakes

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

3-4 cups Spaghetti Sauce

Do not cook manicotti (if you're putting it in the freezer. Otherwise, go ahead) Combine all ingredients except manicotti and spaghetti sauce. Grease foil baking pan(s) (again, for the freezer and I actually never do this). Cover bottom of pan with spaghetti sauce. Stuff manicotti with cheese mixture. Arrange on spaghetti sauce in pan. Pour spaghetti sauce over all. Cover with heavy freezer foil. Label and freeze.

To serve: Thaw. Bake covered for 45 minutes at 350. Uncover, top with more mozarella cheese and bake an additional 10 minutes or until cheese melts.

Hopefully you can figure the difference if you're not freezing it!

Saturday: Pineapple Pork Chops (click for link)

Sunday: Soup in a bowl Sunday at Grandma McKellars

FHE IDEAS

My SIL, Shannon-the-creative, gave us all a book for Christmas with Family Home Evening lessons that correlate with the monthly song in Primary. It is such a fun book! Tonight I was looking for more lessons to fill in the blanks (this one is once a month) and found this download at Sugardoodle that corresponds with the primary Sharing Time lessons. Woo-hoo. Can I just tell you that I LOVE the internet?

Menu Plan Monday

Okay, so normally I seriously shy away from commitment in the blogging world...it annoys me. But, my dear friend Cindy-lou-who posted her menu plan for the week in part from a plea of help from me. Her idea was to share our weekly menu plans, which is apparently quite common in the blogging world, and I loved it! So...here is mine. Post a link if you are willing to share yours too!

Monday: Baked Chicken Pasta Penne. This is a freezer meal from "Our Best Bites." Don't forget to add salt! I neglected to at the end and it will ruin the whole dish. Beans and Peaches.

Tuesday: Cheesy Potato Soup and Bread Sticks. I won't give you a potato soup recipe because I make it up every time, but here is a great and quick bread stick recipe that originally comes from my aunty Sharon:

Soften 1 pkg (1 Tbsp) yeast in 2 cups warm water with 1 Tbsp sugar.

Add 1 tsp salt and gradually add 4-4 1/2 cups flour. Turn out on floured board and knead until smooth. LET REST 10 MINUTES. Grease a 10X15 pan (I use my cookie sheet). Sprinkle parmesan cheese on the bottom. Roll out dough and put in pan (I roll it out in the pan). Spread melted butter on top, sprinkle with parmesan cheese, garlic salt and parsley flakes. Cut into sticks with a pizza roller.

Bake at 400 for 15 minutes. Take out of pan as soon as baked.

Wednesday: BBQ Chicken Sandwiches (crock pot), steamed broccoli and pears.

Throw some chicken in the crock pot (however much will feed your family...1lb?)

Mix the following and pour over the top.

1 1/2 cups ketchup

3 TBSP brown sugar

1 TBSP worcestershire sauce

1 TBSP soy sauce

1 TBSP cider vinegar

1 tsp ground hot red pepper flakes

1/2 tsp garlic poweder

Cook on high for a couple of hours. Shred it and put on toasted buns. Yummy!

Thursday: Leftovers or Breakfast

Friday: Scones (if I can find a suitable recipe)

Saturday: Leftovers or make Jason cook something spectacular :)

Sunday: Salisbury Steaks (recipe from Shannon), mixed fruit and green beans

1 lbs ground beef

1/4 cup chopped onions

1 cup saltine cracker crumbs

salt, pepper, garlic salt to taste

1 egg

Mix and shape into patties. Brown in a skillet (don't need to cook all the way through).

Mix the following for gravy and Heat a bit:

1 Can Cream Mushroon Soup

! Can water

1 package dry onion soup mix

Put a little gravy on the bottom of a cake pan and arrange in a cake pan (can stack the patties) and then pour the rest of the gravy on top.

Cover with tin foil. Bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees.

And there you go! Now I just need to go shopping!

In Case You Haven't Heard

On Being a Full-Time Mother

I may step on a few toes with this post...so beware. But, let's face it, it is my blog and I do get to say whatever I want...

I was talking with Jason the other night. We were naming the people that we knew that were truly full-time mothers...and the list was small. This is interesting to me, in our highly Mormon culture. What justifies being a working mother? I won't even begin to list the reasons why or why not because then I would really be stepping on some toes...but let's just say, in my own judgmental way, I think that a lot of the people I know that work don't really have a justifiable reason....

When I was going to college and deciding my career choice, I figured that teaching would be a good path for me to follow. I loved kids. I couldn't get enough of them. But, once in the major, I realized that a lot of people were in it as a cop-out. Easy major. No brains required (okay, you do have to have a little intelligence, but there were a lot of people in there with VERY little intelligence!). So I got out. I figured I would do something that would actually make me some money. And I hated it. I wanted to be around those little kids. And then a religion teacher said something that decided it all for me, "Don't be a teacher unless you can't stand not being one." That was exactly how I felt. I couldn't stand not being a teacher. And that's how I feel about being a Mom to my kids. I can't stand not to be a Mom. Even the thought of putting my kids in day care makes me physically sick. Heck, when Jason plans a big vacation (every 5 years or so :)) where we leave the kids with someone for a week...it about kills me. You see, no matter how nice you are and no matter if you are a relative or not, I know that you will never love my kids like I do. No one will.

I have come to, as brother Holland put it so eloquently, [Cherish my role that is so uniquely mine and for which heaven itself sends angels to watch over me and my little ones.] I am a firm believer in being home and having my number one purpose be to be a Mommy. It's okay if I don't get to explore all my interests right now. It's okay if I get lonely for adult attention. It's okay if the best brain stimulation I get is when Nikell and I worked on shapes and letters. It's okay if I have a bad day. I am learning to be the best I can be and I am learning cherish every moment of it. I am amazed that God trusted me with these little bodies and I know that if I make my purpose one with His then I will be "magnified, compensated, made more than I am, better than I am, even better than I have ever been." But if my desires are elsewhere then I do not qualify for those blessings. Period.

It's a hard balance. And it's even harder when the world starts pulling you different directions. Or when people think that you're time as a mother is just time for them to utilize for their purposes. I think we should all work together, don't get me wrong. But please know that my kids are number one for me. I plan on being here for them day in and day out until they decide to venture out on their own. I'll have my time...maybe even eternities of time...but for now I am determined to be a full-time mother. And I am determined to enjoy it.

Baby #5

So, my ultrasound is on the 20th. 10 Days. Anybody want to guess the gender of baby #5?

Sierra says it's a boy because the two other families in our ward that are pregnant both have children of all one gender (as do we), and are having a baby of the opposite gender. She thinks it's an omen.

Jason also says it's a boy because..well, if you really want to know you're gonna have to ask. It's probably TMI. Ha ha.

Travis (Jason's cohort) also says it's a boy because he swears he can see the gender specifics in my 13 week ultra sound.

Me? I keep my opinions to myself. I'm usually wrong, anyway.

What about you? Are you siding with the majority on this one? Is it just hopeful thinking? Do you think we would stop having kids if we had a boy? Ha ha. I'm not telling either way. Many of our friends and family have officially put us in the "crazy" category with baby #5, though. Personally, I am a firm believer that my life will be all that much more fulfilling. It's fun. It really is. And it's only going to get better. But I got off point. Want to guess the gender?