Meal Planning

I am trying to make my life a bit easier. Hard to remember that I don't have to be superwoman. I want everything to be just right. I like things done a certain way. Items put away in certain spots. And I feel unsettled when I am not going by a list of things to do each day. I don't like my daily schedule changed on me. I am not spontanious. Don't like to be in most situations.

So with all this in mind, and the fact that I need to relax a little more, and not be so hard on myself, I have decided to cut down on the number of meals I make each week. Bryan is only home 3 nights during the week so I have decided to only make dinners those three nights. These are the three recipes for this week.

Slow Cooker Tex-Mex Chicken, served with jasmin rice

Pork chops with apples and stuffing

Easy Lasanga, with garlic bread and green salad.

The nights that Bryan has to work will be left overs or chicken nuggets, grill cheese sandwiches, fish sticks, or peanut butter sandwiches. Something easy to make since both kids tend to be pretty cranky towards the end of the day. We will see how this works out.

Receipe Share

I had several friends bring me and my family some very yummy dinners after Lady Bug was born. It was such a great help to have the meals for us to eat and not have to worry about what we were going to have for dinner.

Thanks ladies!

Here is a recipe for the best Lasagna EVER!!!

Extra-Easy Lasagna
¾ pound ground beef
3 cups Prego Traditional Spaghetti Sauce
6 UNCOOKED lasagna noodles
1 container (15oz.) cottage cheese [Large Tub] (about 2 cups)
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (8 oz.)
¼ cup water

1. In 10-inch skillet over medium heat, cook beef until browned, stirring to separate meat. Spoon off fat. Add spaghetti sauce; heat through, stirring occasionally.

2. In 2-quart oblong baking dish, spread 1 ½ cups meat mixture. Top with three UNCOOKED lasagna noodles, half of the cottage cheese and half of the mozzarella cheese.

3. Repeat layers. Top with remaining cheese. Slowly pour water around inside edges of baking dish. Cover tightly with foil.

4. Bake at 375º F. for 45 minutes. Uncover; bake 10 minutes more. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Garnish each serving with salad greens and tomatoes, if desired.

Makes 8 main-dish servings
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 65 minutes
Stand time: 10 minutes

Frugal Meal

I have been reading many different blogs lately, and come across some really cheap recipes. One in particular was from Biblical Womanhoods blog called Crockpot Sunday Dinner.

I tried this last sunday and boy oh boy was I surprised! It was soooooo easy, and tasted so good! I plan on making this again really soon.

Here is the recipe with my changes in Black:

In a crockpot I layer:

2 cloves of garlic (small amount of Garlic Powder and Dried Onions)
6 - 8 peeled and sliced carrots (1 Bag of baby carrots)
4 - 5 peeled and sliced potatoes (8-9 red potatoes- left the skins on- I love potatoe skins!!!)
Salt and pepper
1 pound of browned hamburger
6 oz of tomato paste ( I had 8 oz can of tomato sauce)
6 oz of water ( I added only 3 oz of water since the tomato sauce has water in it)

Turn on high and leave for 3-4 hours. It's great with homemade bread.

Surved with a little sour cream and sour dough bread. YUMMMM!

I love my.....

I love my Pampered Chief Can Opener! LOVE it so much so that I wanted to share a post about it!
4 things I love about it!
1. How it looks. Clean and white!
2. How it doesn’t hurt my hands (wrist) when I turn the handle. My old metal can opener always made my hand go into a cramp when I used it.
3. The opener has a little gripper that pulls off the lid that you just cut off the can. I don’t have to touch the can edges at all.
4. No rough edges to cut yourself on.

I made a Taco Bake yesterday (two 8x8 dishes or one 9 x 13 dish) one for my friend who just had her third baby and one for my own family. I wish I remembered where I found this recipe but I don’t remember. Sorry that I am not giving credit to who ever came up with it. But know I didn’t not come up with this on my own.

Will try and post a picture of my can opener in action but my digital camera is acting up.

Here is the recipe if you would like to give it a try

1 pound cooked ground meat
Doritos chips

Line a 9 x 13 (or two 8x8) casserole dish with crushed Doritos chips

Mix together in a bowl.
1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 can Cream of Chicken Soup
1 can Rotel (I just mixed in salsa since I didn’t have this item in my pantry)

Mix in the cooked ground meat into the mixture and pour over the Doritos chips.
Bake uncovered for 35 minutes at 450 degrees. Add about 4 oz-grated cheese to the top and cook another 5 –10 minutes.
Do keep an eye on dish…because it tends to cook faster if you put it in the two 8x8 dishes, and if you know your oven runs a bit hotter. You might want to cut the cook time down by 5-10 minutes.

Enjoy!

Home Blessings....yummy recipe to share

I want to share a recipe that I found on the Internet this past week for Pork Roast. It is a crock-pot recipe and I just love my crock-pot so much I had to give this recipe a try. Bryan bought me my new crock pot last Mother’s Day of last year and I love it so much.

Here is the link to the place I got the recipe ( http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Awesome-Slow-Cooker-Pot-Roast/Detail.aspx) I include it because it has a way to change the number of servings. I thought this was so cool.

When the link first pops up it is 12 serving, and that is a lot for me since I really only have 2 adults eating. (Bug usually just wants some kind of finger food for dinner- such as carrots, and fish sticks) The web site does have a way of changing the number of servings and I tried it and loved it.


Awesome Slow Cook Pot Roast

I plugged in 4 servings and it worked so much better.

INGREDIENTS
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 (1 ounce) package dry onion soup mix
1/3 cup and 1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon water
1-3/4 pounds pot roast


DIRECTIONS
In a slow cooker, mix cream of mushroom soup, dry onion soup mix and water. Place pot roast in slow cooker and coat with soup mixture.
Cook on High setting for 3 to 4 hours, or on Low setting for 8 to 9 hours.

I served it with some mashed potatoes….and it was so yummy. Reminded me of my Mom’s Pot Roast that she makes when I come down to visit.

*** Special Tip ***

The only thing I don’t like about my crock-pot has been the clean it up at the end of using it, but I found a product that helps with the clean up. I think most of you might already know about it, but just in case some of you have not I wanted to share it with you. Trust me it will make clean up so quick and easy that you just might want to do a crock-pot recipe every single day! The product is Reynolds Slow Cooker Liners. You just open one bag up and place it in your oval or round crock-pot and then place all your ingredients in side the bag. The bad does not interfere with the cooking time. When you are done cooking just scoop out the food from the bag, let it cool off and then lift the bag out of the crock-pot and place it right into the trash. I take a wet paper towel and quickly wipe the inside of the crock-pot before putting it away for next time. I still have to clean the lid but that is so much easier then the hard crusted on stuff that ends up in the crock and never seems to soften up enough even when it has been sitting in soaping water for a while. The Liners work wonderfully and make the whole crock-pot experience even more enjoyable. Knowing that I can enjoy the smell of the meal cooking in the crock and not think about the clean up is GREAT!

Weekend update

Got a sick kid again. *Sigh* It is so sad. Even though he doesn't feel all that great he has been pleasant most of the day. I think he might have gotten this cold/cough from playing in the play structure at McDonald's on Wednesday of last week. We needed to kill some time before dropping off my clothes to sell at the JBF Sale this past weekend, so we stopped at McDonalds for him to play. Or....this could just be the same cold that he has had the whole time and it just came back full force because of the warmer weather. Not sure really, but I feel bad for my little guy, and bad for me....because I hear him coughing during the night and I have to take care of him, because I feel so bad for him, I want to cry some times. *sad*.

I have not been sleeping all that great once again. I get up anywhere from 8 to 10 times each night to go to the bathroom. LOL I know that is allot! I have stopped drinking water/fluids after 5pm but this has not helped much. I guess I just have a tiny bladder. LOL

Dinner planning for this week.
Monday: Left overs
Tuesday: Spaghetti
Wednesday: Chicken Salad Sandwiches
Thursday: Taco Soup
Friday: Left over Taco soup
Saturday: Pizza
Sunday: Taco Ring

Italian Meatball Soup- yummmmm

Here is the recipe for the Italian Meatball Soup that I mentioned in my menu for this week.
It is so easy to make. REALLY EASY and healthy too!

Prep and Cook Time: 15 min
Servings: 4

8 oz. refrigerated or frozen cooked Italian-seasoned or otther meatballs
1 can (15-1/4 oz.) can of sweet peas, drained
1 can (14-1/2 oz.) Diced Tomatoes with Basil, Garlic & Oregano (today I used just plain Diced Tomatoes and added my own dried spices of Basil, Garlic & Organo)
1 can (14-1/2 oz.) beef broth
Fresh basil leaves (optional)

Steps to prepair:

1. Combine all ingredients in large saucepan.
2. Bring to boil
3. Reduce heat. simmer, uncovered about 10 minutes or until meatballs are heated through.
4. Garnish with basil, if desired.

Enjoy.
Sorry I forgot to take pictures of the process and the finished meal. But it looks pretty with red tomatoes and green peas...and smells and tastes so good.
We are eating ours with cheesy garlic bread!

Monday Meal Planning 4-7-2008

I am going to try to do this yet again....why....because I really don't feel organized and I hate it when it is 5pm and I have no idea what is for dinner. I really want to not feel stressed out in this area of my life and I know that when I plan dinner the week before I do feel less stressed. The only problem is...I get going really good and then I get tired and I slack and then the plan falls apart. So I am going to try and just keep things simple. Maybe I have been trying to hard, to be the "domestic diva" in my dreams. Baby steps!!! Need to remember baby steps, and enjoy the journey!

So here is the dinners planned for this week:

Monday: Mac & Cheese with hot dogs (Bryan works late)

Tuesday: Meatball soup

Wednesday: Soft Tacos

Thursday: Special Egg Salad Sandwiches (recipe below) (Bryan work late)

Friday: Pizza (going to Costco since it is payday and need to buy pizza and soy milk as well as a few other bulk items) (Bryan works late)

Saturday: Left overs

Sunday: Lunch * Grilled Cheese Sandwiches with soup * Dinner * out because I need to go pick up the items for the Just Between Friends Sale that didn't sell. 7:30pm pick up time. So we will hit a fast food place and get something to eat before Bug and I go pick up the items.


Special Egg Salad
From Country Woman


INGREDIENTS
· 3 ounces reduced-fat cream cheese
· 1/4 cup fat-free mayonnaise
· 1/2 teaspoon sugar
· 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
· 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
· 1/8 teaspoon salt
· 1/8 teaspoon pepper
· 6 hard-cooked eggs, chopped
· 12 slices whole wheat bread, toasted
· 6 lettuce leaves

SERVINGS 6

PREP 15 min.

TOTAL 15 min.


DIRECTIONS
In a small mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth. beat in the mayonnaise, sugar, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper; fold in the eggs. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour. Serve on toast with lettuce. Yield: 6 servings.

Monday Meal Planning

Another week and another list of dinner meals.

Monday: Chicken Nuggets/ homemade potato chips/ salad mix *didn't eat the chiken nuggets last week- had left overs on Thursday instead*

Tuesday: Shepard's Pie

Wednesday: Shortcut Chicken Manicotti

Thursday: Frozen Pizza

Friday: Sloppy Joes (crockpot receipe) * will share the recipe on Thursday night while I prepare it*

Saturday: Grill Cheese Sandwhiches with Tomato Soup

Sunday: Sunday Chicken * put in Crock pot when we head to church and it should be ready when we get home for lunch time- and left overs for dinner*

Monday Meal Planning

Here is the meals that I am planning on cooking this week.

Monday: Spagetti with Garlic bread cresent rolls and salad.

Tuesday: Papa Murphy's V-Day Pepperoni Pizza

Wednesday: Hamburgers with Tomatos and Baby carrots, and Potato wedges

Thursday: Chicken Nuggets with salsa, steamed rice and veggies (not sure what kind yet)

Friday: Tater Tot Casserol and Salad

Saturday: Breakfast Burritos (eggs, tater tots, sausage, totmatoes, lettuce, cheese)

Sunday: Taco Soup (crock-pot) with Tortia chips

I have signed up in the past on other blogs that were hosting this, but the one that I was doing several months back is CRAZY FULL with participants (like 200+). I have just decided to do this on my own.

Had to try this...yummmmmm

I finally got the chocolate chips and made Choco-hoto-pots!

OHHHHHH soooooooooo good!

Peanut Butter Balls (results)

As promised, I made the Peanut Butter Balls on Saturday, and I had so much fun making them. I actually got to make them with an on-line friend who lives several miles away and we chatted in Yahoo chat while we made them. It was so much fun. It was my friends first time to make these very yummy, tasty, holiday treats. I was excited to share the joy of making them with my friend... and enjoyed the reaction they had when the the Peanut Butter Balls were made and the first bites were taken. It was GREAT!

Now my stash is in my fridge, chilling. And every time I open the fridge I have to take a bite!!! It has been toucher seeing them each time I open the door to get something for Bug to eat! I have been very good and have only had maybe 8 so far. :)

Here are the pictures of the process.
I had to make a mini boiler to melt the chocolate chips.


I took two pots, one smaller then the other. Placed a Steamer in the bigger one and filled it with water just to the steamer. I then put the smaller pot on the steamer, and allowed the water to get to boiling and then turned it down a bit.




Dropped the chocolate chips in the small pot and stirred and stirred as they melted.


After the chocolate chips were all melted I then dropped the peanut butter balls (which I had rolled into balls and allowed to dry a little bit before the dipping part) into the pot...and with two forks I slowly rolled the Peanut Butter Ball around in the chocolate and then slowly and carefully lifted the now chocoate covered peanut butter ball out of the pot and placed it on the wax paper to dry and cool.
After they were all done I placed them into the fridge.

MMMMMMM

YUMMY!

Peanut Butter Balls

Found this recipe here.
Planning on trying to make them this weekend.

Peanut Butter Balls

1 cup sifted powdered sugar

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

3 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened

1 lb dipping chocolate or confectioner's coating

1. Stir together powdered sugar, peanut butter and butter until well mixed.

2. Shape peanut butter mixture into 1 inch balls, placing them on a baking sheet covered with waxed paper.

3. Let balls stand for 20 minutes until dry.

4. Melt the dipping chocolate or confectioners' coating.

5. Drop balls one at a time in melted chocolate.

6. Using a fork, remove from the chocolate, letting excess chocolate drip off.

7. Place back on the waxed paper.

8. Let stand until dry.

9. Store tightly covered in a cool dry place.

Breakfast Routine!

"I want Smoothie! I want Smoothie! I want peanut butter smoothie!"

The cries get louder and louder as I walk down the stairs into the basement. Down the hall I turn on the light and walk to my son's bedroom door. The request seems so urgent, and frantic.

I click on the light in his room and remember to keep the dimmer low to allow his little blue eyes to adjust to the light. The flood of light from the play room into his bedroom stops him for 10 seconds and then the request begins again but this time with a smile and a laugh.

My Son is a Smoothie-aholic! When he got sick last winter and had to go on antibiotics, nothing I tried worked to help him take his medication. He hated the taste and would scream at me as I tried to give him the dropper of medication. I dreaded giving it to him and wished that he would co-operate with the matter. After two days of trying to give him the medication (3 times a day!) the thought finally came to me to put it into a smoothie. So that is just what I did! He sucked it back so quickly. And would request more.

To this day, everyother day I can hear my son saying from his bedroom when I get him up in the morning...."I want Smoothie!" It was cute at first, but not so much now. Especially when he demands it several times through out the day.

I am greatful for the invention of the smoothie, because it has saved me many a morning when we have to quickly get out of the house to Occupational Therapy or other doctor appointments.

I just make up a smoothie and take it with us in the car!

I have also gotten creative with them recently. I can put veggies in there too and he will suck it back just the same.

I would recommend buying a Magic Bullet if you want to make smoothies. It is small to store, and REALLY fast to clean up!

Here are a few pictures of this morning.

What to make???

This coming Saturday is our Wards Trunk -or- Treat activity. It is the first one that our ward has done in several years. Before we moved here, the Ward back in California that we were attending did this activity and it was my first time. We didn't have any kids but one of my really good friends talked me into going and I was so glad that I did. The families who are passing out candy decorate the trunk of their car and the kids go from car to car to car to gather Candy! There were some very spooky trunks and some silly ones. If I remember correctly, someone even had spooky music playing from the car too!

We are not going to decorate our trunk but will plan on attending and playing the games in side the gym, eating the tasty soups provided and then going Trunk -or- Treating in the parking lot at the Church.

I just hope that Bug is not to cold in his Bee Costume. I have bought a black long sleeve shirt and black sweat pants and we will see how it goes. We might not be out too long. The activity starts at 5pm but the Trunk -or- Treating doesn't start tell 7 and goes only tell 7:30pm.

I signed up to bring a crock pot soup for the activity, and after some searching I think I have finally decided on what I am going to bring.

It is Taco Soup. I can't remember where I found the recipe. So I am making a disclaimer right now that I did not come up with this recipe on my own.

Here is a picture of the supplies that I bought.

I am also making this soup for the Moms Club Halloween Activity next week, so I have doubled up the supplies. I will try and take a picture of the soup when it is in the crock pot on Saturday and post how it turned out.

Here is the recipe.

Taco Soup


INGREDIENTS:
2 pounds browned hamburger meat
2 cans ranch-style beans, or pinto beans
2 cans whole kernel corn
2 cans diced stewed tomatoes
1 can rotel (tomatoes with green chiles)
1 pkg. Ranch Style Dressing Mix
1 Pkg. Taco Seasoning

PREPARATION:

Combine all ingredients in the crockpot. Cover and cook on LOW for 6 to 8 hours.
Tenille's Note: I cook mine in the crockpot for several hours. Great to put in in the morning before work. Will be ready and delicious when you get home.

YUMMY- Tomato Sandwhich

Our tomato plants are producing tons and tons of tomatos! They are finally turning red! YEA! Made a tomato sandwhich the other day with our tomatos. It was soooooo yummy! I can't wait tell I can do some canning and make tomato sauce and Bryan wants some salsa!

Here is a yummy looking picture of the tomato sandwhich, with mayo.

It was sooooo good. I am drooling just thinking about it.

Menu Plan Monday

It has been soooooo HOT here that I have had no interest in cooking dinner but my family is HUNGRY! Help!!!!!
I decided to go online and see if I could find some no cook dinner receipes to try this week.

It is suppose to be in the 90's all week, except for 100's on Thursday and Friday. I don't have air conditioning and so I don't want to cook.

Wish us luck on staying cool.

Tuesday: Mac and Cheese for Bug * I have book club*
Wednesday: Chicken Crisp Salad
Thursday: Cold Ham Sandwich Pizza
Friday: Texas Melon Soup
Saturday: Smoothies
Sunday: BBQ Hamburgers with salad
Monday: Chicken Tomato Wrap

*******************************************************
Chicken Crisp Salad

INGREDIENTS:
3 cups cooked cubed chicken breast
1-1/2 cups chopped, seeded watermelon
3 Tbsp. chopped red onion
3 stalks celery, chopped
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup sour cream
1 tsp. curry powder
3 Tbsp. milk
2 Tbsp. mango chutney
1-1/2 cups fried chow mein noodles

PREPARATION:
In large bowl combine chicken, watermelon, red onion, and celery and toss. In small bowl combine mayonnaise, sour cream, milk, and curry powder and blend. Pour over chicken mixture and toss to coat. Chill until serving time. Sprinkle with chow mein noodles just before serving. 6 servings


Cold Ham Sandwich Pizza

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup cream cheese with chives, softened
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 Tbsp. horseradish sauce
1 prepared Boboli pizza crust
1-1/2 cups chopped cooked ham
1-1/2 cups chopped plum tomatoes
1/2 cup shredded lettuce
1/4 cup creamy Italian salad dressing

PREPARATION:
In small bowl, combine cream cheese, mayonnaise, and horseradish sauce and blend well. Spread over the pizza crust. Top with ham, plum tomatoes, and lettuce and drizzle with salad dressing. Cut into wedges and serve immediately.

6 servings


Texas Melon Soup

INGREDIENTS:
3 cups chopped cantaloupe
2 Tbsp. sugar
1/4 cup orange juice
3 cups chopped honeydew melon
1/8 tsp. salt

PREPARATION:
Place cantaloupe, half of the sugar and half of the orange juice, and half of the salt in a blender container or food processor bowl. Cover and blend until smooth. Transfer to a medium bowl, cover and chill.

Repeat with honeydew melon and remaining sugar, orange juice, and salt. Chill in a separate bowl.
When ready to serve, pour equal amounts of melon mixture carefully into each individual bowl, pouring both at the same time, keeping the melon mixtures as separate as possible. You'll have a two-color soup that is beautiful and delicious. Serves 4-6


Chicken Tomato Wrap Sandwich

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups cubed cooked chicken breast
1/4 cup honey dijon salad dressing
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 green pepper, chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
4 slices Muenster cheese
4 lettuce leaves
4 flour tortillas

PREPARATION:
In medium bowl combine chicken, salad dressing, mayonnaise, green pepper, and tomatoes and toss to coat well. Place tortillas on work surface and line with lettuce leaves and cheese. Divide chicken mixture among tortillas and roll up tightly, enclosing filling. Wrap in waxed paper and chill until serving time. 4 sandwiches

Yummy- Ice Cream Sandwhich Cake!

Yesturday I got to host my church Book Club at my home. We meet once a month at different homes. It is the highlight of my month. I love attending and chatting with the other ladies about the things going on in our lives, as well as discussing the book for the month. This months book was Icy Sparks by Gwyn Hyman Rubio. I have to admit I have only read one book completely since I joined the group almost 2 years ago, but the ladies in the group don't seem to hold it agenst me. It is funny but we don't talk about the book to long most evenings.
The group was small last night because most of the husbands had church meetings that they needed to attend but I did have three from our Book Club able to attend. I got to show off all of Bryan's hard work on the basement, before we sat down to chat, and discuss the book.

Since Bryan worked late lastnight I was alone and had to put Bug to bed by myself with the ladies around. Bug did great though. I am just so thankful with how great he is about going to bed at night.

One of the perks of being the Host of the Book Club is you get to try out yummy Desserts to have served at your Book Club meeting. I was franticly looking for a yummy Dessert, and was thinking it was going to be impossible because I didn't want to bake anything on Monday due to the heat. It was HOT! and Humid!!! After asking my good friend MaryRuth for some advice on a peach cobbler receipe she had posted on her blog, I decided it would be in my best interest to look for something to make that didn't require using my oven.

In my internet receipe search I found the perfect thing for Hot Days. An Ice Cream Sandwhich Cake!!! It was so easy to make, and it turned out to be a great hit among the ladies at Book Club last night. The weather did turn cooler by Tuesday, and it is really cold and rainny today...so I guess the Peach Cobbler Receipe would have worked. Maybe next time I host.

My cake didn't turn out this pretty, but it tasted YUMMY

Here is the Receipe!

Ice Cream Sandwhiches (20)

Caremel Ice Cream Topping

Whip Cream

Heath Bar

Directions:

Use any size pan (I used a 9 x 13 glass pan).

Created by layers

1. sandwhiches

2. Caremel topping

3. sandwhiches

4. Caremel topping

5. whip topping

6. crunched Heath Bar sprinkled on top.

Keep in freezer tell ready to serve.

YUMMMMMMY!

I have found different vursions with Butterfingers, or M&M's on top and instead of Caremel topping you could use Butterscottch, or chocolate, or fudge topping.

Nothing much...

I have been a really bad blogger lately. I guess I just feel like what I have to chat about no one really is all the interested in.....so I don't blog.



Nothing really exciting happening lately. Weather has finally gotten warmer and all the blooming trees are doing their thing! Allergy season here we come! Already a bit stuffy and so is hubby and Bug.



It looks like the Bug has returned to sleeping in tell 6:00-6:15am. This is still early but at least it is not 5:00am. Bryan put up a thick blanket in his window to block out some of the morning sun light and it seems to have worked, for now. This has made it a bit easier for me to get going in the morning. LOL. Gives me a little bit more time.



Have a new Receipe to share with you all. I made these at the Kid's Craft I hosted back on the 20th of April. The theme was Earth Day. They were really yummy!

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, combine the following:

1 1/2 cups baking mix ( we used Bisquick)

1 1/2 cups instant oats, 1 cup packed brown sugar,

1/2 cup softened butter

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon



Stir the mix with a wooden spoon until you have a crumbly dough. Next, customize your international treats by folding in 1 cup total of the following add-ins:



Coconut flakes

chocolate chips

chopped dried pineapple

raisins

chopped Brazil nuts



Press the dough into an ungreased 9- by 13-inch pan and bake for 17 minutes or until the center is set and the bars are slightly brown. Allow them to cool for 10 minutes before cutting. Makes 1 1/2 dozen 2- by 3-inch bars.



Yummy!

Monday Menu Planning

Monday Menu Planning
Here is our families Dinner Menu for the week

Monday: Meat Strata

Tuesday: Grill Cheese Sandwhiches

Wednesday: Taco Stuffed Potatos

Thursday: Dinner's Ready (I signed up for this service. It is kind of like Papa Murphy's Pizza where the Pizza is made at their store and you bring it home to bake in your own oven. Wednesday I am going to pre-assemble my 8 meals and bring them home to freeze. I plan on using one meal a week for 8 weeks to help give our menu a little help. I am not sure which meal we are going to have just yet. But we did try Chicken w/Raspberry Salsa and Sweet Potato Fries as a sample last week and I loved it!!!!

Friday: Mac & Cheese with Hotdogs

Saturday: Papa Murphy St. Patrick Day Pizza (our Papa Murphy's Pizza has a Special on this day for Pizza)

Sunday: Leftovers!