A Slice of Our World: Menu Planning/Grocery Shopping

I'm just now starting to get to the requests for the Slice of Our World series. If you'd like to know something about how we do things just leave a comment below and I'll add it to my list.
I wanted to start with our menu planning and grocery shopping because it's probably the toughest request, and the rest will seem really easy. Ha!
Meal planning is ever evolving for me. Sometimes I have several meals that I rotate out(usually in the fall with chili, lasagna, etc.). Sometimes I have certain things on certain days(like spaghetti Friday or Taco Tuesday). Then sometimes, it's just make what is easy so you can survive this stage of life.
Honestly, I've gone from one end of the spectrum to the other with being health conscious. When we were first married I bought those terrible pre-cooked chicken breasts, can soup, capn crunch, and ramen noodles. That was meal planning for me. I DID NOT cook! Any cooking we did came from Manly, who, lets just face it, was no Emeril either. We ate TERRIBLE food and were very unhealthy. Then, during our stay in NW AR I went to a Bible study on being makers of the home. It TOTALLY changed my life forever. I not only taught myself to cook after that, but I got us back in shape, got us eating healthier, and put together my daily plan, which, for the most part, I've stuck with all these years later.
In recent years I made most all of our things from scratch. That's such a wonderful thing to do! If you have time to do that and enjoy it, then DO IT! If you are like me, and you were KILLING yourself to try to get everything made, DON'T SWEAT IT! These littles aren't going to fall over dead because you gave them store bought bread with their pb&j. They're more likely to fall over dead because mommy is too tired to watch them and they run out in the street. Just my opinion... We eat healthily, but I don't go overboard. I make some things that I enjoy from scratch, but don't worry if I have to buy whole grain bread at the store instead of making it at home. Yes, I know it loses nutrients, but I was losing my MIND trying to keep up with people who had half as many children as we do or children who were much older to help. Read this: DO WHAT WORKS FOR YOU and let others thing what they will. It's no skin off your back!
I have gone from scanning cookbooks to scanning the internet for ideas and recipes. My favorites are cooks.com, allrecipes.com, and The Biggest Loser Family Cookbook. I love allrecipes.com because not only do they have great recipes, but they show when ingredients are on sale at our local stores! Love that. When I'm planning a menu(which I do two weeks at a time.) I always first look at our local store ads and current Kroger coupons. I don't clip coupons because I don't have time, but I do load my Kroger card with the online coupons from their website. Once I know what is on sale I will build a menu from that. I always do breakfast, 2 snacks, lunch, and dinner.

Pardon my short hand and messy writing. I've done these on the computer all fancy, but I just really like making them on my own better. I always use a pencil so that I can change it out if I need to.
The kids almost always have the same lunches each week. This is mostly because Olivia makes lunch for them, and these are the meals she likes to make, and also meals that everyone for the most part, enjoys. I switch them up sometimes, but for the most part it stays the same. Snacks always change up. I get almost all of my snack ideas from superhealthykids.com. I HIGHLY recommend looking in depth at their site. They have all sorts of fun ideas for snacks and lunches. I'm not crazy about some of their ideas for dinner, but everything else is fun and mostly really easy. Lots of smoothie recipes too.
As I'm making my menu I'm also making my grocery list.

Again, sorry for my short hand. Obviously it doesn't matter, I'm sure you get the point, but I'll just put "salsa" on my list and know that really means I need to get the things to make salsa. I also mark items I have coupons for. At this point in my planning I've already done a pantry/deep freeze/fridge search to make sure what all we have and need as far as staples like salt, butter, bread.

We go to the store as a family most of the time, which is probably harder, but I like it that way and feel like it teaches the kids not only that we don't always get what we want, but also a real sense of being a good steward of our money. They help us find the best deals on an item, and they LOVE being part of finding items and putting them in the cart. Since we go as a family I have recently started making two lists. A Momma list and a Daddy list. I usually take the outside of the store for things like fresh produce and dairy. Manly gets the things on the inside of the store. We each take three kids, and we're off! Sometimes we let the kids have their own small carts, and other times we just have them walk beside us.

 

For breakfast we rotate between eggs, toast, and fruit, parfaits, oatmeal, and the occasional cheerios with bananas. On Saturday's we always have something fun like strawberry pancakes or monkey bread. On Sunday's we ALWAYS have cinnamon rolls. It's a tradition we started several years back, and now all the kids expect it. I rotate between a few of the same meals for lunch, or have leftovers. When I'm making a menu I always try to think about what we'll be doing on that evening. For instance, if I know I'll need to be at church for praise team practice by 5:30, I will put something simple on that night or put something that can be cooked in the crock pot. Making a menu is only HALF of it! You have to actually stick to it! Once you have the menu made you can always change it up and mix up when you make things, but be sure your switch works, and you aren't making a switch you can't stick with.

Once I finish the menu I put it in a page protector so that it stays safe from splashes and water, and I can make notes with a dry erase marker if needed.

I used to put it on the side of the fridge, but now that KK can read I put it up on top of the microwave so she can't see it because that girl is NUTS about food and she was obsessing about what we would have for each meal. This way Manly and I can see it, but she forgets about it most of the time and doesn't bug me about meals.

 

Know that once I've made my menu and grocery list I never buy anything that isn't on it UNLESS there just happens to be a CRAZY sale once I get there. For instance once while I was shopping they had the overstock bread on sale for 75% off and I stocked up and just put it in the deep freeze. I always buy larger packs of meat and separate it out into meal sized portions. Once I've done that I'll either prepare it or freeze it. I generally buy whatever fresh produce is on sale that week, so if apples are on sale I'll buy a lot of them. If peaches are on sale I get a ton of those instead. This not only changes up what produce you eat, but also saves a TON of money. Buying only off the grocery list will also save you a bundle. It may be hard to start with, but you'll find it getting easier and easier. We do a two week menu because that's how often Manly gets paid, but you could do a 1 week schedule, 10 day, or what we used to do 30 day. That was a BEAST, but I saved so much money!!

So, here are my random thoughts that I've not already said:

Mostly, I say do what works! Stick to it! Involve the family(ask them what they like that you cook)! Try to have something that each person will eat in your meals. If you have picky eaters that won't eat a lot of what everyone else likes have at least one side that the picky eater likes. You'll be surprised how much other food they might "accidentally" eat. Never make more than one meal for your family. I promise those littles won't go hungry. When they really get hungry they'll eat SOMETHING. Have FUN!

Eat Your Heart Out Larry's Pizza

So, my kids would be in heaven if each of their meals came from Larry's Pizza. They just REALLY love that place. Their favorite pizza is the Mac-n-cheese pizza. I know! It sounds so nasty! The kids LOVE it, but I'll not be trying any. Ever. I don't really even like mac-n-cheese, so mac-n-cheese on a pizza? No thanks!
Anyway, I'd made some homemade mac-n-cheese yesterday, and there wasn't enough left for all the kids to have any. I usually make tortilla pizzas on Friday, and today Olivia had the idea of us making our own homemade mac-n-cheese pizzas with the leftovers. SO, I tried my hand at it and SUCCESS!

Gross! I just noticed most of them have cheese hanging out of their mouths.

Oh well. You can see they like it!

 

I just used a regular sized tortilla, mac-n-cheese, mozzarella cheese and a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese and italian seasoning. Baked them in the oven on 350 for 7 minutes, then broiled them for about 3 minutes to get them nice and crunchy. This is the same way I cook any kind of tortilla pizza, by the way. Usually I spread sauce on them , cover with cheese, toppings, and italian seasoning.

A good quick lunch for my crew. Try it and let me know how your littles like it!

Uhhh, I'm Going to Need to Eat These Now

Dude, have you seen this recipe? I'm sure all of you pinterest people have seen it, but us non-pinterest people it may be new to.
It looks DE-LISH!! I make homemade granola and baked oatmeal a lot, but I'm going to try these as soon as I get some chocolate chips!!

 

No Bake Energy Bites!!!

 

YUM!



 

Super Healthy Kids Hits Another Home Run!

So, I've blogged before about my love for the Super Healthy Kids site. It continues to impress me. They have ideas that are actually SUPER easy and very simple ways to make your grocery shopping simple and the food you buy healthy for your family. I recently got an email update with the following info. I was already doing most of what was recommended in my shopping, but thought that the resource might be very helpful to some moms just starting out on the healthier meal plan route.
The following came straight from the email sent to me by Super Healthy Kids. I'd recommend you going to their site and taking a look around for other GREAT ideas on feeding your family right.

5 Ways To Eat Less Sugar!

I'm noticing in our house lately the effects on added sugar on my kids, and even myself. When we consume excessive sugar, I can almost always guarantee the next day every one is moody, sluggish, and we are more likely to get sick (particularly with sinus congestion). I've actually been keeping records to document this phenomenon and it has happened almost 100% of the time!
So, I've put together a short list on how you can minimize the effects of sugar for your kids?

1. Be a label checker! Just yesterday, I was turning yogurt containers over at the grocery store. One Greek Yogurt, 6 ounce container contained 20 grams of sugar! The plain Greek yogurt had 7 grams! You could further argue by checking the ingredients, that the extra 13 grams had to come from added sugars, rather than milk sugars.
2. Cook foods yourself. Rather than purchasing storebought muffins or baked goods, bake them yourself. You can always cut the sugar called for in a recipe by half without having much impact on the texture of the outcome. The flavor of course will change, but who needs super sweet? I can tell when I may have gone a little far on cutting back on the sugar when my kids eat what I've made and say, "This tastes like nothing!". ha ha. Funny thing though, they still eat it!
3. Keep Low Sugar Snacks Accessible. Rather than 'fruit snacks' or even Graham crackers, keep carrots and cheese, hard boiled eggs, or nuts and seeds. When we eat foods that are not sweet, somehow we are more satisfied. The sweeter our snacks, the more we want to eat!
4. Never, Never, Never buy cereal that is over 6 grams of sugar per serving! Your kids don't need it! Especially when you can find cereal that contains 1 or 2 grams of sugar, then you can add berries or bananas to it.
5. Prevent the biggest source of added sugar of all by not even bringing them into your house: sugar sweetened drinks. Make your own juice, check for 100% juice, or implement a water only policy at home!

There is never a need for added sugar in a child's diet. Make sure all their sugars are coming from natural fruit sources and you will notice a difference in your kids health and behavior!
I will say this. The moment I started doing this in my home all the kids(at the time it was just the two oldest girls) started staying healthier! When we start to slip up or it's birthday season and they've had more sugar I can start to tell it's time to look at their diet. Such a simple way to improve the overall health of your family!!

Also, I KNOW you mommas with Littles will LOVE this section on ideas for a simple healthy snack time.

Super Healthy Kids

Several months ago I came across a fun site that I've really been loving lately. Super Healthy Kids has fun healthy ideas for feeding your family. I highly recommend their site. And no, they aren't paying me to say that! I recently subscribed to their email tips and ideas. They are packed full of healthy recipes and fun ideas.
A few days back I got this "101 Healthy Shortcuts" email and finally got around to reading it today. They were so good that I decided to repost them. Now, you know that I don't have time to sit around reading useless stuff, so you know these have to be good!
I'm just going to copy and paste straight from the email, so none of these have been added to by me. Thanks Super Healthy Kids for taking the time to post them.

"Healthy eating doesn't have to mean "time consuming!" We've rounded up our 101 best healthy shortcuts to save you time and still eat right!

1. Stock your pantry with healthy foods! That way you will always have some healthy, go-to foods in a crunch. (healthy grocery list printable here)
2. Saute your vegetables. This is a fast way to cook food, without adding very much fat.
3. Plan your meals. The number one reason for families not eating a healthy home cooked meal, is they don't know ahead of time what they are going to fix. Do it yourself with our meal plan printable, or let us do it for you.
4. Shop with a list! That way you won't forget items, only to return to the store to finish making dinner.
5. Add familiar favorite toppings to food to increase appeal to toddlers.
6. Knowing what you will make for dinner the day before, will decrease stress and increase your free time!
7. Shred or grate veggies and store in Tupperware to toss into different dishes throughout the week.
8. Wash and cut up produce when you get home from the grocery store so it is ready to eat anytime.
9. Plan snacks at the beginning of the week so you are more likely to give your kids something healthy and not just easy and fast.
10. Keep your pantry stocked with staples to avoid last minute shopping trips.
11. Prep dinner at breakfast. Thaw meat, cut vegetables, or assemble casseroles.
12. Keep a list of snacks inside the pantry door for kids who are always asking what they can eat.
13. Use the microwave to reheat leftovers, cook baked potatoes, or thaw meat. We also use the microwave for steamed veggies and bean dips.
14. List foods that are freezer friendly, and always make double of those. Our list includes muffins, soups, stews, chopped vegetables, fruit, homemade juices, pie crusts, homemade pizzas, and cooked or uncooked casseroles.
15. Broccoli slaw! This quick, pre-washed, pre-chopped bag of veggies is perfect for stir fry's or salads.
16. Eat leftovers! Make extra of everything for intentional leftovers. Healthy eating doesn't get much quicker than that!
17. Buy healthy food in bulk. You can truly save money and time by shopping the bulk bins for grains, beans, and nuts.
18. Make ahead snack packs (trail mix). Pre-portion homemade snacks for quick eating and seal them yourself.
19. Pre-fill water bottles to encourage easy drinking. I know many toddlers and babies (like my neighbor) who will pick up any water bottle and start drinking from it if it's filled up for her!
20. Dry or freeze fresh herbs for cooking. Plant your own herb garden and preserve your harvest with drying or by filling an ice cube tray with water and herbs in each cube.
21. Double cook- Add frozen veggies to pasta water in order to have them both ready at the same time.
22. Store fruits and vegetables appropriately to extend their shelf life. Keep apples away from other fruits as it will speed up their ripening time. Keep your produce in a cool dry place, or in the vegetable crisper drawer in the fridge.
23. Bookmark your favorite recipe sites for quick reference. In any browser, click "bookmark" in the tool bar, and then "bookmark this page". Start a folder just for recipes. (don't forget to bookmark our recipe page here)
24. Use pinterest to bookmark recipes you will use during the week. Start a board for recipes to try, or your current meal plan. (Follow us on pinterest to remember where you saw a meal you wanted to fix!
25. Print and store recipes in a planner or binder to take to the grocery store, or use while cooking. Keeping them all in one place save so much time! I love my recipe binder so I don't have to dig through all my cookbooks to remember where the recipe was I was planning. (Check out the recipe binder download here - free on sign-up)
26. Always make extra marinara sauce and freeze in ice cube tray.
27. While cooking or boiling chicken, add veggies and save the broth by freezing for soups later.
28. Cook large quantities of beans and freeze them in 1 cup portions in a freezer safebag. (my bean cooking video here)
29. Read through an entire recipe before you begin. This will minimize mistakes and save time!
30. Keep a list of last minute recipes- your 10 minutes and under dinner list! (here is my 10 minute meals list)
31. Invest in a pressure cooker. This appliance will cut your cooking time immensely. Perfect for meats and beans.
32. Invest in a slow cooker- Although cooking time is longer, the general instructions are: dump and go!
33. Purchase a rotisserie chicken while you are at the store. Shred it when you get home. Use some for dinner that night, some for lunch, and freeze the rest in portions for a quick meal.
34. Meat departments often sell pre assembled meat and vegetable kabobs. These are delicious, fresh, and done for you.
35. Stock, and I mean stock up on frozen vegetables! This has saved me so many trips to the grocery store. We always have a vegetable ready to be added to dinner, even if it's been a week since shopping day.
36. Add frozen vegetable mixes to your freezer stash. These are perfect for stir fry's and casseroles.
37. Shop the salad bar! The vegetables are washed and chopped for you!
38. Buy garlic already minced in a jar. Perfect if you use this heart healthy herb in your cooking.
39. Make and store homemade mixes such as pancake mix, muffin mix, and general baking mixes. You can write the recipe right on the air tight container, and never run out of these items that don't need to be purchased commercially.
40. Make and store homemade spice mixes such as ranch seasoning, pumpkin pie spice, or taco seasoning.
41. Look for pre-shredded cheese! I was surprised to find out that I can buy mozzarella cheese pre-shredded cheaper than I could buy it in a block. This is perfect, because I generally only use mozzarella shredded!
42. Organize your kitchen! Don't waste time looking for things. Make sure they are always put away in a place that you will naturally use them.
43. Keep your pantry and cupboards clean. How many times have you thought you were out of bread crumbs, only to find them buried in the back of your pantry? Keep it clean, and you will know what ingredients you have.
44. Quick clean up tip: Spray your measuring cups and spoons with cooking spray- especially before measuring items that are sticky, like honey.
45. Wash your blender by adding water and reblending. No need to scrub if you do this right away.
46. Grate ginger and store it in the freezer. Ginger will last for several months if stored properly.
47. Kitchen scissors are a great tool for quick cutting. Use scissors instead of a knife for chopping herbs, trimming dough, opening packages, cutting pasta, a pile of grapes, or even homemade pizza.
48. A sharp knife is the essential cooking tool that will save you a load of time. Dull knives take twice as long, and use 10 times more muscle power to cut through vegetables and raw meats.
49. Grate food like cheese, ginger, or zest into a bowl or bag. Grating onto the counter is messy, and generally you lose a portion of your ingredients that stick to the counter.
50. Flexible cutting boards are great for chopping and dumping. Pick up the entire cutting board and funnel your veggies into a pot or funnel the scraps into the garbage.
51. Double cook-Whenever you are boiling pasta, throw a bag of frozen vegetables in the pot. By the time your pasta is finished, your vegetables will be cooked as well.
52. Need bread crumbs in a pinch. Toast a piece of bread, or keep some out to dry, and use your grater or food processor to make your own bread crumbs. Instant bread crumbs, no shopping required.
53. Store whole wheat flour in the freezer. It will retain it's freshness and nutrients longer than stored in your pantry.
54. Quick and healthy meals can be made with as few as 1-3 ingredients! The longer the recipe, the longer it will take. Look for short ones.
55. Line slow cookers or roasting pans with freezer bags or foil for easier and faster clean up.
56. Freeze celery! It's true. Before your celery starts to soften and go bad, wrap it in foil and store it in the freezer. Chop it and store for casseroles or creamy salads.
57. Lasagna in a jiffy- You don't need to buy special lasagna noodles to avoid pre-cooking them. I've been using uncooked lasagna noodles in my convenient 20 years. They cook with your dish perfectly every time.
58. Try vinegar or baking soda in the cooking water for hard boiled eggs. The peels will be removed a hundred times easier than cooking in water alone.
59. No need to prepare fancy snacks for your kids. Nuts, veggies, and dried fruit are convenient as well as delicious! (dry your own fruit to save money and avoid the sugar!)
60. When using your hands for cooking, like bread dough or pies, spray your hands with cooking spray to avoid being stuck to your food.
61. Add beans like chick peas to anything! Your kids can't tell they are there-and they are high in fiber and protein (Reader Christine)
62. I sneak peas into everything and grind up spinach and tell them it's basil(Reader, Jennifer L)
63. Boiling a bird? Add veggies, then strain the broth and store it in the freezer!
64. Melon ballers are good for scooping out more than just melons. We use it often for scooping muffin dough into the muffin pan, or even scooping seeds out of a tomato.
65. Make extra veggies today so you can use it in soup for tomorrow (via twitter @eatsmartrd)
66. Nancy adds Benefiber and powdered protein to all muffin, quick breads, pancakes and sometimes cookies to keep the sugar / veggies more even. (reader, Nancy T)
67. Reader submitted: My step daughter wont eat veggies. so i always make pasta sauce and grate a heap of veggies finely she doesn't notice they are even in there (reader, Nicole A)
68. Make extra waffles and freeze them in a freezer safe bag. Seperate the waffles with wax paper. These are easy to cook by putting them in the toaster on busy mornings. No need to buy commercial freezer waffles!
69. Marinade chicken in a vacuum bag. The marinade will infuse more quickly than soaking your meat in a dish.
70. Double up on the pasta you are boiling for a meal. Reserve 1-4 cups of cooked pasta for a cold pasta salad the next day for lunch. Add veggies and Italian dressing for a delicious meal.
71. Plant a garden! This may not be a shortcut at first, but when you just need one tomato, it's so much easier and healthier to get it from your own backyard, or hanging planter!
72. Bananas going bad? Throw them in the freezer -peel and all. When you are ready for a breakfast smoothie, take out of freezer and then peel it.
73. Quick sack lunches. Help your kids be independent by leaving the school lunch prep to them. From kindergarten and up, they are capable of making their own lunch and your mornings just got a little easier! Keep a list in the pantry of available foods for their lunches they can pick from to keep it healthy. (check out our list here, Plus more lunch packing here.)
74. Replace applesauce for oil in any recipe (Reader, Jennifer C)
75. Pour extra stock into a muffin tin and freeze. Once frozen, pop out and store in a freezer safe bag. (via Martha Stewart)
76. Use an egg slicer to slice soft fruits and berries! Perfectly cut fruit in one touch. (Via Martha Stewart)
77. Freeze ground meat portions in a snap. First, fill a freezer safe bag with your ground meat and seal. Second, using a chop stick, press indentions through the entire bag until you have a tic tac toe board. Lay flat and freeze. This way you can take one section out at a time, without having to defrost the entire brick. (Real Simple)
78. Pre-assemble smoothie kits. Take 1 cup of fruit and add 1 cup of orange juice. Add anything else you like to add to smoothies including spinach, flax seeds, or even broccoli. Store in portions that will fit in your blender and freeze.
79. I add chia seeds to everything - toast, cereal, fruit salad, dinner...(reader browning/li>
80. You don't need fancy equipment if you like to add pureed veggies to different dishes. Just purchase baby food! Most vegetable baby food is pure- pureed veggies diluted with a little water. Keep these in your pantry to add to spaghetti sauces, casseroles, or dinner pies.
81. Teach your kids to cook, starting with breakfast. My son was 5 when he started making scrambled eggs. He's been burned a few times, but I'm always close by (wink). Another thing they can do themselves is cook their own oatmeal- easy in a rice cooker!) It's more work to teach them, but in the long run, a real time saver!
82. When purchasing broth, look for the cardboard containers with a re-sealing cap! Store it in the fridge. Add broth to meals, without using a whole can, or wasting broth.
83. Re-purpose pineapple juice when you eat canned pineapple. Pour the juice into a freezer bag, muffin tin, popsicle molds, dump it on fruit salad to keep it from browning or pour into an ice cube tray and keep in the freezer for for smoothies or marinades.
84. I add a whole food based protein type powder to LOTS Of stuff, I sneak veggies into everything and I cook lots of hamburger and shredded chicken and then freeze. (Reader Ann P)
85. Once a week salad: Chop your greens and store in the crisper drawer of your fridge. Every night, scoop out a bowl full of greens, and top with different salad fixings.
86. Arrange your shopping list by aisle and type of food. Categorize dairy together, meats together, grains, baking ingredients etc. This will speed up your shopping time so you won't have to double back for something you forgot.
87. Boil eggs once a week and store in the fridge with a special marking. Hard boiled eggs are a perfect snack in a pinch for hungry kids.
88. Take a cooking class, or watch cooking videos! Learning the basics of cooking is essential to feeding your family healthy, and you will often learn small tips and secrets to make cooking easier and faster. (we now have cooking videos on our meal plan site!)
89. My 3 year old is boycotting veggies, but DEVOURS "green smoothies"! He LOVES them-and any other kind of smoothie for that matter. In the green ones, I pack LOTS (like handfuls) of spinach, add a frozen (or overripe) banana, sometimes apple, and water and/or oj. Orange ones obviously are carrots, and in the am he has a strawberry smoothie-frozen strawberries, banana, and almond milk-YUM (Reader Tina R)
90. Begin a food storage. Stocking up on food is important during emergencies, unemployment and other crisis to keep your family fed, without having to go shopping. We keep buckets that seal or #10 cans of dried beans, wheat kernels, rolled oats, and pasta noodles. Websites such as everydayfoodstorage.net can help you with recipes designed to use your food storage.
91. If you are using a cast iron skillet (which you really should!!) keep it seasoned to avoid food sticking to the pan. cooking is faster because you don't have to scrape the pan continuously, and cleanup is much faster!
92. Choose a good Rememberitamin. While it's ideal for your kids to get all their nutrients from food, sometimes it's not always possible. Choose a good multi-vitamin as a backup to ensure they are getting what they need. (a short list on what to look for in a vitamin)
93. Wash and soak your rice in water until you are ready to cook it. That way it's prepped ahead for when you are ready to cook it, plus the rice is fluffier and tastes better!
94. Memorize quick conversions for quick cooking, such as 3 teaspoons is the same as a tablespoon. Get our list here.
95. Learn to sprout! This easy activity takes 10 seconds a day, and you can enjoy the sprouts anytime.
96. Keep a chart with quick substitution ideas to avoid a shopping trip or a call to the neighbor.
97. Add rice to your salt shaker to avoid clumping.
98. If your fruit is starting to turn, puree it and pour into popsicle molds!
99. Mashed Potatoes for dinner? Peel and chop before you clean up breakfast, and store in a bowl of water in the fridge during the day. At dinnertime, dump the entire contents of the boil into your pot to boil.
100. Add a few drops of oil to boiling pasta water to keep the pasta from clumping together.
101. Remember to smile in the kitchen and make food fun! Meals are easier and faster when everyone is happy!

Be sure to visit their site here and enjoy feeding your family!

I'm SO Granola...

Actually, I'm not. I do own a pair of ragged TOMS, listen to folky grass roots music, and watch indy movies, but that's about as "granola" as I get. I DO, however make a REALLY good granola. I've toyed with several different recipes, and seem to be getting it mostly perfect now. I had a few friends ask for the recipe, so I'm going to do my best to share it. I'm not a "stick to the recipe" type of girl. I cook like my granny, I just eye it, taste it, and try to make it look right. That sort of cooking makes it really hard to write down recipes, but I'm gonna do my best.

Momma's Groovy Granola

6 cup oats

1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup flaked coconut
1 cup chopped almonds
1/2 cup non-fat dry milk powder
1/4 cup cinnamon(you can leave this out if you don't like cinnamon)
I also add in nuts. You can use whatever you have on hand, but my favorites are almonds! I usually add in 2 cups if I don't have any other nuts or 1cup if I have others. You can also add in seeds(like pumpkin and sunflower). Use about 1/4 cup of these.

Mix together in a large mixing bowl and set aside.

Combine
2/3 cup honey
2/3 cup coconut oil(in liquid form)
2 Tb. water
3/4 tsp. vanilla
3/4 tsp. almond extract
Add to oats.
Mix together(I usually use my hands to be sure to get it all mixed together really good and everything evenly coated.)
Spread evenly onto two cookie sheets(or baking dishes)
Bake at 325 for 25 minutes(be sure to stir a few times while it's baking, I usually stir every ten minutes, then cook for 5 more minutes)
Let cool. Be sure to stir a few times while cooling.

Once cool you can add 1/2 cup of any dried fruit you'd like. Some that we've tried are craisins, raisins, and banana chips. You could also try dates, or apricots.

A MUST for us it chocolate chips! Add these to your mixture once it's cool for  chips, or while cooling for a more clustery taste(this is what I like to do). How much, you ask? Well, don't ask me! You decide! If you like 'em as much as we do add those puppies in until they mostly cover the top layer. If you aren't sure or you just HAVE to have a number do about 3/4 cup.

You can use granola as a snack by itself, with milk as a cereal(my kids favorite), with yogurt and fresh fruit as a parfait, or on a tortilla with peanut butter for a healthy(ish) lunch.

The best thing is that you can switch it up and make it however you and your family like it best. The best way to make sure you get it how you like it is to keep making it!
Enjoy!!!!

Father's Day

I just love special days like Father's Day. We don't do big extravagant gifts, so there's no pressure to get just the right thing. I work with the girls leading up to the day on thinking about the person we are honoring(for birthdays, father's day, mothers day) and ways we can make them feel extra special. We have done lots of things in the past. One of my favorites is from last Father's day when I put together a little video of the girls talking to me about their dad and what they liked best about him. Looking back on that this year I see how much they've grown, and changed, and matured. It's amazing to me the smart things that come out of their mouths!
This year I had each of the kids use watercolors and paint on a sheet of cardstock. After they were dry I used a tie template that I made out of another sheet of cardstock and cut ties from each of their pages. We worked together to thank about what we wanted to say and settled on, "We Love Our Dad!" After that I had them help me string on the ties and we made a simple banner that I hung on Sunday morning while Scotty was in the shower.=)

Notice the homemade cinnamon rolls waiting to go in the oven. We have recently started making our own because I was about to have to take up stock in Pillsbury we were going through so many for Sunday morning breakfast. We make a variation of this recipe. Scotty actually makes them. He makes up two batches at a time then freezes them. They are OH so GOOD! We've been having cinnamon roles on Sunday mornings since Emma Claire was about 18 months old. She started asking for them every Saturday evening, and now it's just a tradition that we all enjoy. ANYWAY, back to Father's day!

I taught the kids a little song to sing to Scotty first thing in the morning. They love to sing, as most kids do, and it is so easy to make songs from tunes they already know and get them to remember them. We often use "Mary had a Little Lamb", "Happy Birthday", and "Are you Sleeping" for our songs, but you can do any song they are familiar with, then add in easy lyrics for a sweet way to bless someones heart. People LOVE to hear kids sing!=) Here are my littles singing to their dad. Notice brother starts to cry at the end! He got embarrassed, I guess, but it makes my heart melt that he reaches over to hold his sister's hand! OH SO SWEET!! Gotta love that sibling love!

 

After the song, we had our breakfast and the kids each took turns praying and thanking God for Scotty. It was such a special time. Addison simply said something like, "Thank you God for Father's Day and please help daddy to have a GOOD day!" Emma Claire thanked God that "daddy takes us to church and makes really good cinnamon rolls." Zaiah said "Dada Thank you" Then it was Olivia's turn and what came out of her so freely made me want to kiss my man right there on the spot and reach up to heaven with a PRAISE JEEESUS! She went on about what a great leader Scotty was to our family and how he always wants to point us in the way of Jesus. It was just beautiful and completely accurate. I think that God allowed Scotty that moment to prove that even in the chaos of five kids we are doing SOMETHING right and that HE(God) is getting glory! Love that precious girl.

After breakfast we had church, then went out to Scotty's favorite, Los Amigos for lunch. We came home, put the kids to bed, and rested the rest of the day. Such a great day.

Happy 101 to Leslie's Little Smittles!!

Whoa! I missed saying anything about my last post being my 100th. I should celebrate with cake, I think. That's probably just my pregnant brain telling me to make any excuse to eat something.=)

We've been passing around yucky coughs and snots lately. I finally got Isaiah on an antibiotic since it'd been three months and his nose still hadn't cleared up and he'd been coughing. My kids are rarely sick, and usually don't require a Rx, but this time I decided that he needed some help to kick this cold or sinus infection or whatever it is.

So, being in the heart of the south we don't get much winter weather. I mean, it's cold to us when it's 30 degrees, but as far as serious cold or winter precipitation we just don't ever deal with that. Until this winter. It's been really cold and snowing a lot. I love the winter weather for several reasons, but mostly because it means that manly is home with us! I also like the fresh look of everything covered in WHITE! So pretty and soft and quiet. The kids like the winter weather because of momma's homemade hot cocoa. That stuff is GOOD! I use this recipe to make chocolate syrup, warm the milk in the microwave for 2 minutes, add three mini marshmallows, and serve. SO yummy! You can also use it for Chocolate milk and as an added boost to your coffee. I mean, I usually just drink it straight out of the bottle...Kidding...welll....It's the pregnant brain that made me do it that ONE time...=) The thing I love about this recipe is that it's stuff we usually already have at home.

I also made a DELICIOUS banana bread recipe with the kids the other day. Olivia had been reading from one of her books and brought it to me to ask if we could make it. Since I've been in the mood to increase my baking skills lately(I can cook with the best of them, but baking is NOT my thing) I decided that we would indeed tackle the bread. It's a very easy recipe:

Big Bird's Banana Bread

3 peeled ripe bananas

3/4 cup honey

1/4 cup melted butter

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour

• Preheat oven to 350.
• Oil bread pan(we used our pampered chef heart-shaped spring form since it was a treat for daddy and close to Valentine's day)
• Mash bananas in large bowl.
• Melt butter and add to bananas.
• Add in other ingredients.
• Stir until mixed together.
• Pour into pan.
• Bake for one hour.

We added chopped nuts to the top of half of ours.

I love this recipe for me and the kids because it has no added sugar, but it doesn't lack good taste. It's really good, really moist, and actually pretty healthy. Enjoy!

It's Monday. That means laundry day and school. I just heard my dryer finish and Olivia is working through a tough math lesson. Time for me to get going.

Have a great day! Soak it up! This is your life!

OH, and Happy 101 to Leslie's Little Smittles!=)

You can thank me Later...

So, look in your fridge. Leftovers? Yes? Then try this.

• Grease a muffin pan.
• Open a can of biscuits or any kind of canned bread. I just use the cheap-oh canned biscuits, though.
• Preheat oven to whatever your biscuit can says to heat oven to.
• Place the biscuits in the muffin pan and push them down so that they come up on the sides of the muffin holes.
• Put leftovers on top of biscuits. I mean, anything will work!
• Follow baking on biscuit can.
• ENJOY! 

We've done:
Ham and mashed potatoes
Chicken and mashed potatoes
Chicken, bacon, and cheese
You can do:
Spaghetti, meat sauce, and a little garlic on the biscuit
Chicken and rice or any sort of casserole.

Seriously, you don't want to pass this EASY and YUMMY recipe by. Try it tonight for an EASY different dinner. You can thank me later...

A few Smittle Recipes

So, I've had a few requests for recipes, so I figured the easiest way to get them out was to put them here and let the people come to me!=)

Chicken con Queso
3-4 Chicken breasts skinned and de-boned
2lbs. Velveeta cheese
1 can Cheddar cheese soup
1 can rotel(we always put it through the food processor so it won't be chunky)
Tortilla chips for dipping

Sear chicken until golden brown(usually use a little olive oil, salt, and garlic).
While chicken is cooking cut Velveeta into chunks and place in a microwave-safe bowl.
Add in Cheddar cheese soup.
Pour rotel over cheese mixture.
Microwave, stirring every two minutes until mixture is smooth and creamy.
Cut chicken into pieces or strips.
Fold chicken into mixture.
Serve warm with tortilla chips.

I usually also serve my homemade salsa with it, SO.

Homemade Salsa
1 large can of whole tomatoes
1 can rotel
salt, garlic salt, and/or garlic to taste

Blend all ingredients in blended. Chill. Serve with chips.

Easy Skillet Chicken Parmesan(A Little Smittle Favorite)
3T Parmesan cheese
3/4 cup pasta sauce of your choice
3 boneless chicken breast halves
3/4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Stir 2T Parmesan into pasta sauce.
Spray skillet with no-stick spray or coat with oil or butter. Heat one minute.
Add Chicken and brown.
Pour pasta sauce over chicken, turning chicken to coat entire surface.
Cover pan. cook over medium heat for 10 min. or until done.
Top with moz. cheese and remainder 1T of parm. cheese.
Let stand until cheese has melted.
Serve with pasta.(we usually use Angel hair or spaghetti)

I LOVE tilapia. We've grilled it and baked it, but this is my favorite. It can also be cooked in a zip-N-steam bag in a mater of minutes. I would recommend the Glad brand, as food doesn't seem to dry out as much with those. AND they're bigger. The following recipe is for oven baking, but you can mostly follow this with the bags as well.

Easy Baked Tilapia
3t butter
4-4oz tilapia
1/4 cavender's seasoning
1/4t garlic salt
1/2t garlic(can just increase garlic salt if you don't keep garlic)
1 lemon(you can also just use lemon juice. this is what we usually do. Esp with the bags)
1/2 small pkg broccoli
1/2 small pkg cauliflower
Salt and pepper to taste.

Preheat oven to 375
Grease dish(we always just use low fat butter)
Place Tilapia in dish and dot with butter.
Season with Cavender's and garlic.
Top each piece with lemon slices.
Arrange frozen veg. around and season.
Cover and bake for 25-30 minutes.
Serve with white rice.

Just an Idea

So, my kids love sweet stuff. Especially Emma Claire. Ask that child her favorite thing in the world and she will most definitely say, "COOOOOKIES!!" Well, in my efforts to being healthier and better to my body as well as those in my family I've been looking for some alternatives for sweet stuff for the girls. Last night I think I hit the jackpot!
I bought something like this and have until last night used it to pour juice into and freeze for ice pops. This is also a healthy idea as long as the juice is all natural and not sweetened. SO, last night I made them yogurt and apple sauce pops. They LOVED them. I just poured my all-natural unsweetened apple sauce into the mold as well as some yumm-o yogurt. Not together. =) anyway, then let it freeze and Ta-DA, yummy dessert! Try it. You'll like it. Your kids will like it.=)

I've started putting most of the girls toys out of reach and in organized buckets. For instance, there is a bucket of animals, a bucket of doll house and barn stuff, a puzzle shelf, game shelf, dolls and doll accessories inside of a baby bed all up over their heads. Now, those of you who really know me know that I am a clean freak and organizing fool. My kids like to try to wear this out of me, but lately I've beat them! I'll give them one activity at a time and not only does it keep their room reasonably clean, but it also keeps their attention for longer. They also have to clean up the activity before moving onto another activity. I LOVE this new out of site out of mind thing we've got going on and it really does work!