Menu Plan Monday, November 1, 2010

Welcome to another Menu Plan Monday, hosted by Laura at I'm An Organizing Junkie. It's hard to believe that November has arrived. That means we've been living in our new house for a month (and 3 days). Things are coming together slowly, but surely. I love my new kitchen and am pleased with my appliance choices. I've been cooking at home most days, which helps with the budget for sure. Here's the plan for this week:

Sunday~Spaghetti and Homemade Meatballs, Fresh Bread and Salad

Monday~BBQ Jack Chicken, Rice Pilaf and Green Beans

Tuesday~Slow Cooker Beef Tips with Gravy over Noodles

Wednesday~TAKE OUT

Thursday~Slow Cooker Beef Tortellini Soup, Crusty Bread

Friday~Pizza and Wing Night

Saturday~Chicken Tacos for ds's 12th Birthday! Happy Birthday H!

Be sure to stop by http://orgjunkie.com/ to read more menu plans!

Have a great week!

Blessings and peace,

Lisa

Autumn Decor

I visited a local country shoppe yesterday and found some cute things for fall at 40% off. I am a candy corn lover...if it is or has candy corn on it, I have to have it. These are a bit untraditional in color, but still cute.

I also bought this platter to set in the empty corner of the kitchen counter. I really like the way it looks and brightens it up.

Thanks for stopping by!

Blessings,

Lisa

Pumpkin Carving 2010

Scrapbook personalized with Smilebox

Just scrapped some photos from our weekend. I look pretty worn out in the photos, so forgive my appearance. The kids did a nice job on their pumpkins though and I'm pleased with our results! Happy Halloween!

Blessings,

Lisa

Happy Halloween!

Have a "spooktacular" day!

Blessings and peace,

Lisa

Making Your Home A Haven~Week Four

The challenge for this week started on Monday, and although I've been working on the challenge, I haven't had a chance to blog about it. This is the challenge:

Keep your candle going, the music playing, and add some tender moments with your family. Have a pillow party in the family room and get out every blanket and pillow in the house and be cozy with the kids or your hubby! Even if you live alone you can do this. Enjoy a cozy evening of hot cider and caramel corn. Give a 5 minute back rub to every single person in your house...and for a double challenge- try to give one every day to each family member! During your tender moment with the family, ask them how they feel about this challenge. Are they enjoying it? Is it helpful? Is there anything they would change. Give your family listening ears.

We have had several cozy moments this week....with the candles burning, blankets out, all snuggled on the couch together. Last night, we all crawled into the "big bed" and watched the movie Tale of Despereaux, after spending time together making dinner and carving our pumpkins. I am sure that everyone felt cozy and relaxed watching the movie because we all fell asleep together! We're a close family and we do take time to just be together. I do hope that continues when the kids are grown. I'm sowing the seeds now, for a good relationship when they are adults.

Blessings and peace,

Lisa

Little Red Riding Hood

Our little one dressed as Little Red Riding Hood for the Halloween festivities. I think she looks too cute for words! We're no longer living in the city, and our township does has trick or treat, but our road is far from safe for little ones to go door to door. I'm going to do some special things at home for Halloween instead. We're carving pumpkins tomorrow night, making Halloween cookies on Saturday and having a Halloween themed dinner on Sunday. Of course, there will be a parade and party at school, too.

Here she is on her way to her dance class's Halloween party.

Thanks for stopping by!

Peace and blessings,

Lisa

Wipe Off Weekly Menu Board and Menu Plan Monday

Wipe Off Weekly Menu Board

I saw this project a month or two ago and knew that I had to make one for the new kitchen. It's very simply a 12x12 photo frame, with a 12x12 piece of scrapbooking paper place behind the glass. I added the MENU and days of the week using my Cricut Georgia and Designer's Calendar Cartridges. I made my words using cardstock and put them under the glass, but I think the original idea was to use vinyl letters on the outside of the glass. Then use a dry erase marker to write your new menu each week.

You can see full details of the project at Make and Takes.

Here's our menu plan for the week:

Sunday~ We ate out after visiting the pumpkin patch

Monday~Weeknight Lasagna Toss, Garlic Toast, Salad

Tuesday~Bisquick Oven Baked Chicken, Mashed Potatoes with Country Gravy and Green Beans

Wednesday~Ham Steaks, Pierogies with Butter and Onions, Steamed Carrots

Thursday~Easy Chicken Noodle Soup and Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Friday~Pizza and Wing Night

Saturday~Cheddar Smoked Sausage on a Bun, Potato Cakes and Fruit

Don't forget to check out the other menu plans at http://orgjunkie.com/

Have a week full of blessings!

Lisa

Pumpkin Patch 2010

This free digital scrapbooking design customized with Smilebox

We visited Barr Ridge Farms today. The weather was warm and sunny, just perfect for a walk through the corn maze. The theme was The Wizard of Oz, so as we walked through the corn field we searched for scarecrows made to look like the characters in the movie. Then the kids played in the hay piles and corn box. At last, we picked out three perfect pumpkins to carve for Halloween. It was wonderful to do something as a family!

Hope your Sunday was fabulous too!

Blessings and peace,

Lisa

Menu Plan Monday, October 18, 2010

Welcome to another Menu Plan Monday, hosted by Laura at I'm An Organizing Junkie. Here's our plan for the week:

Sunday~Dinner at the In-Laws for October Birthdays

Monday~Spaghetti, Veal Parmesan, Salad, and Garlic Toast

Tuesday~DH's Birthday

Wednesday~Pork Chops and Scalloped Potatoes

Thursday~Zesty Potato Soup and Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Friday~Pizza and Wings

Saturday~Wedding Reception

Thanks for stopping by!

Blessings,

Lisa

Just sharing....

Miss Mangan and I on her last day. (I look a bit surprised...lol)

It's been a busy week! We've had something going on every night this past week. Yesterday was the student teacher's last day in our classroom. I'm sad to see her go, but very excited to start teaching again on Monday. We're finally getting settled into the new house, but there is still so much to do! Little by little the boxes are being emptied or reused to hold donations for charity. We have way too much stuff!

I bought these cute buckets at the Dollar General today for the sight word game called BOO! I thought they were perfect since the buckets say BOO! (It doesn't take much to amuse me these days!)

Miss Mangan opening her gift from my students and me. She loved the pointer.

Here we are with our students in front of the fire truck. The fire department visited our school on Thursday and did a wonderful job teaching our students about fire safety.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Blessings and peace,

Lisa

Making Your Home A Haven~Week Two

This week's challenge is to play soft music everyday in your home. Choose worship, classical or another form of peaceful music that the family enjoys. Focus on using peaceful words and maintaining peaceful relationships. Remind your family to avoid seething anger, tattling, criticism or back talk. Role model gentleness this week.

We don't usually listen to music at home as a family. I will make an effort to play soft music during dinner and in the evenings when we are home together. I continue to burn candles daily and continue to pray for peace in our home and family.

Blessings,

Lisa

Menu Plan Monday 10.11.10

Welcome to another Menu Plan Monday, hosted by Laura at I'm An Organizing Junkie. I am proud to say that I cooked every evening last week, except for dance night, which turned into our pizza and wing night instead of Friday. The family was happy to have returned to nightly dinners at the table with everyone present. Dinner time is such a blessing.

Here's this week's plan:

Sunday~ Pizza and Salad (hockey practice)

Monday~Chicken Cutlets in Cream Sauce over Linguine, Salad, Rolls

Tuesday~Steak on the Grill, Baked Potatoes, Baked Beans

Wednesday~Baked Ziti, Garlic Toast, Salad

Thursday~Anniversary Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans

Friday~Pizza and Wings

Saturday~Ham, Green Beans and Potato Soup, Hard Rolls

Have a week full of blessings,

Lisa

Autumn Outside Our New Home

This is my simple front door display.

The trees surrounding our backyard full of autumn colors.

The trees outside my den window showing their autumn colors.

Thanks for stopping by!

Blessings,

Lisa

Baking

It has been awhile since I was able to bake. The stove in the apartment was not level, so everything came out lopsided and the oven cooked at a very hot temperature. I've been thrilled to be back into the baking world and have made several things since we've moved in about 10 days ago. I have baked muffins, a cake and a pie.

I received an email from Duncan Hines about their new line of cake mixes awhile back. I finally picked one up to make for the family.

I also bought myself, with birthday money, a new bundt pan and keeper.

The cake came out very well and was quite moist. Everyone loved it! The Duncan Hines website had a recipe for biscotti from the mix, so that's next on my to try list.

Last night, my mom brought me a huge sack of apples from their apple tree. Today I made my first apple pie of the season. I think it came out beautifully! I hope it tastes just as good!

Here's the recipe:

Apple Pie

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
6 to 7 cups thinly sliced peeled tart apples
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Pastry for double-crust pie (9 inches)
1 tablespoon butter
1 egg white
Additional sugar

In a small bowl, combine the sugars, flour and spices; set aside. In
a large bowl, toss apples with lemon juice. Add sugar mixture; toss
to coat.

Line a 9-in. pie plate with bottom crust; trim pastry even with edge.
Fill with apple mixture; dot with butter. Roll out remaining pastry
to fit top of pie. Place over filling. Trim, seal and flute edges.
Cut slits in pastry.

Beat egg white until foamy; brush over pastry. Sprinkle with sugar.
Cover edges loosely with foil.
Bake at 375° for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake 20-25 minutes, until bubbly and crust is golden. Cool on a wire rack. Serves 8.

Enjoy!

Thank you for stopping by My Little Corner of the World!

Blessings and peace,

Lisa

Making Your Home a Haven~Week One

It is week 1 of the Making Your Home a Haven Fall Challenge.

This week's challenge is to buy an extra large candle and light a candle everyday in your home. I am placing my candle in the kitchen in the center of the island. Each time the candle catches my eye, I will say a prayer for peace in our home. I will light the candle each afternoon when we return home from school.

Courtney has a great post on her blog about how we are responsible for making our home a haven, not by what we have but by our own attitude. I try very hard to be the woman in home number 2 for my husband and children. Since we just moved in only five short days ago, it has been a struggle to feel like this house is a haven. I am working on it. I want it to feel comfy, neat, warm, safe and inviting. I've worked so hard that I'm feeling run down and am fighting a head cold. It is paying off though, dh mentioned last night that the house is finally starting to feel like home when he returned from ds's hockey practice. That is rewarding!

If you want to join in the challenge, visit Courtney's blog at http://www.womenlivingwell-courtney.blogspot.com/ and link up!

Blessings and peace,

Lisa

Menu Plan Monday 10.4.10

Good morning! Welcome to another Menu Plan Monday, hosted by Laura at I'm An Organizing Junkie. Autumn has definitely arrived here...the leaves are turning shades of gold, red and orange and the temps are in the 40's and 50's. That means the menu will be going from summer dishes to warm, comforting, filling dishes.

Here's this week's plan:

Sunday~Slow Cooker Sauce over Spaghetti, Loaf of fresh baked Italian Bread, Tossed Salad

Monday~Spiced Pork Chops, Rice Pilaf and Creamy Green Bean Bake

Tuesday~Kielbassi and Sauerkraut with Mashed Potatoes

Wednesday~Tacos, Mexican Rice and Corn

Thursday~Turkey Club Sandwiches and Fries

Friday~Pizza and Wing Night

Saturday~Pigs in the Blanket (stuffed cabbage rolls)

Have a week full of blessings!

Lisa