OUR NEW MENU PROGRESS and A FREE BOOK!!

Alrighty, here is how we're doing on our menu plan so far. 

For the sake of space I will share that we eat yogurt, cereal and/or fruit for breakfast.
We eat sandwiches and veggie chips or veggies or fruit for lunch or Leftovers.
For snacks we eat veggies, fruit and/or a 1/2 sandwich.

Things of note:


1. The Grocery list does not include Parmesan Cheese, but you will need that for some of the recipes.  Buy more than one container of it, if your family likes to add more at the table.

2.  You'll notice that all of the dinners I make from the book are also accompanied by what I call "Fillers."  I either make pasta or rice to accompany a meal. That way we eat less of the more expensive meats and everyone is still quite satisfied.

3.  When preparing the chicken breasts, I cut them in half, "long-wise" so that I can use 2 breasts for One meal.  I then use a "meat hammer" (as my kids call it) to beat the snot out of the chicken. This spreads it out so that it fills a large casserole dish.

4. When a recipe calls for Tomato Paste and water I use one can of Tomato Sauce.  When it calls for just Tomato Paste, I use 1/2 can of Tomato Sauce.

Here are the Dinners we've eaten since getting The Book. 

Tuesday: Kitchen Sink Meatloaf on page 33

  

I haven't made meatloaf in forever.  Kole asked me what it was and I had to laugh.  I'm pretty sure that he's the only 6 year old who's never eaten meatloaf. LOL  Everyone devoured it. This is an absolute keeper.  It was gone in no time flat.  I've never put cheese in a meatloaf...so...that may have been the difference for my hubby.  It tasted like an Italian Meatloaf of sorts and will definitely be coming back to our table very soon.  I served it with white rice and tea.

Wednesday:  Chicken Parmesan over Pasta from page 16 of the cookbook

*I cut two large chicken breasts in half...meaning I thinned it out and made 4 fillets out of the two.  This meal fed our entire family. I liked it very much, as did Brian.  The kids ate it up like a house aflame. Very good and a keeper!




Thursday: Homemade Pizza from Page 50 

This was so easy to make.  The dough was a cinch, as was the sauce.  I used a large casserole dish to make the pizza.  It was deep and about 12"x8"  The dough is thick iand I had to use a lot of vegetable oil in the dish to get the dough spread easily.  Be sure to grease the sides of the dish too.

There is a LOT of sauce to put on this pizza.  I thought it was going to be way too much but as it cooked, the dough soaked it up a bit and it turned out just so yummy. It is a Deep Dish, Saucy pizza.

Everyone raved about it.  Even my guys who hate tomatoes ate the thing.  They just picked off the Diced Tomatoes and really enjoyed the taste they leave behind.

This is a definite keeper!
 
Friday: Pecan Crusted Chicken

This one sounds intimidating but it's very easy to make.  It calls for 1/3 cup butter in the list but does not use the butter in the preparation instructions.  I skipped the butter and it turned out very fine and without as much fat. :o) 

It tasted good but wasn't a huge hit with the kids.  There is just something about honey on chicken that makes me cringe a bit.  It was a bit too sweet for my taste, but I'm glad we tried it.  Everyone still got filled up. It was definitely eatable, but not repeatable for our family.

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My husband really enjoyed the first three recipes.  Our finicky 13 year old enjoyed meals two and three.  I'm amazed because they are the biggest critics in the house. They have both resorted to making their own meals in the past, when dinner was not to their liking.  

This weekend is a fishing/camping trip for some of our family so I'm not sure I'll keep up with the full out dinners this weekend.  Smores and hot dogs may be in our future. :o)

I plan to resume full force on Monday.  I'll be back soon to give updates on our dinners.

Would anyone be interested in a Free "70 Meals One Trip To The Store" Book? 

If so, this is your chance to get one!!

Be sure to comment on this blog post and Keep watching! I'll draw ONE random name from the commentators on this post here.  Facebookers, please head over to my blog to comment.

I'll announce the winner on Monday!

Have a great weekend!

HI MOM!

I haven't been blogging as much as I used to.  It's really a shame, because many of our family memories are held within this blog. I've even had a hard-cover book made of "half" of this blog.  It serves as a family scrapbook and has been a joyful read.

The kids crack up at their pictures and our son, Vinze, has dubbed it his favorite book in the world.

My mother, who lives in Kentucky, has commented a few times that she misses the family blog.  This used to be the place she would surf to find out how we are doing and see how the kids have grown.  I've slacked off long enough I suppose.

I've decided to pick blogging back up, full force.  I hope to add memories and pictures and rants, on a regular basis.  I hope my mom and dad love getting to see what's going on with our family.  I hope Blogger keeps on being free so I can continue to print books to keep as family treasures. I hope my 15 minute a day, self imposed limit, to free myself of Facebook holds out!  Facebook keeps me from blogging!

I hope my mom is reading this because I've written this post to say, Look-out, Mom!  I'm back! :o)

WHY I HAVEN'T BEEN BLOGGING? Wiiiii

As you probably know, we are a video game loving, computer collecting, technologically literate family. If our homeschool were a private school, I do believe parents would pay big bucks to have their kids educated from these premises.

I know that sounds conceited or maybe even a bit over the top, but how many schools can boast that every one of their pupils have their own computer? We can. We have so much software to "play with" in this home that our children know more about the tech-world before they're 5 than most kids know by graduation.

Some people collect comic books or Star Trek items...we collect technology. We have more computers than we have people in this home. We have an X-box, X-box 360, Playstation, Playstation II, a few hand-held games, 5 televisions, monitors that stream video/movies into our home and board games that talk. We have technology.

I've said all this in order to lay the stage for this shocking information.

We only JUST bought a Wii System this month! Shocking, I say!

Yep, we held out for 3 solid years before we caved to the Wii temptation. Maybe it was the fact that the X-Box plays many of the same games as the Wii or maybe it was the fact that Brian and I just didn't think it offered anything new that could educate our children; whatever the reason, we just did not have a want or need for a Wii... Until my friend invited me over to her house to play it!

I arrived at Jen's house with low expectations. I grew up playing video game after video game in my parent's Pizza Restaurants. I played till my hearts content. I've beaten Metal Gear, Crash Bandicoot and Pacman for goodness sake. How could this game offer anything that would interest ME? Yes, I'm the queen of 80's/90's gaming my friends...hear me roar! LOL

What I found was a LOT of fun...with my friends! We were jumping around the room, squealing like children. I have to say, it was the most fun I've had in quite a while. So...we bought one.

We finally gave in to the Wii. We went ahead and bought the Wii fit while we were at it. I've lost a few pounds already! I rock at the balancing games. I keep the boys and Brian on the system trying to beat my scores. It's been a blast having all the kids in one room while we all play together, laugh, roar, scream, ohhh and ahhh at each other. I've had so much fun with my family because of this video game that I have to say life has been more fun...than blogging!

I know! Shocking I say!

BOY, I'LL TELL YA! WHAT A WEEK FOR AWARDS...THANK YOU ALL!

Maitri over at Dragonfly Cottage, gave me some beautiful comments and inspiration. She also gave me the "Sweet home blogger" Award "for sharing beauty, love and joy."

I don't know how I'm going to pick only 5 moms as I think we all contribute love, joy, creativity and inspiration in our writing and home life. If you are a mom blogger and you are reading this consider yourself tagged. YOU deserve it!

Please comment if you accept this award and I'll update this post to link to you too! :-)

OUR 5 DANGEROUS BOYS

Well, I'm starting another homeschooling blog for next year. As you all know, I keep our "files" online. I don't keep a lot of the work our kids do in folders because I just don't know what purpose that would serve. I don't have records of my childhood writings and I'm not about to fill our attic with our children's papers either.

What I DO have are blogs! Lots and lots of blogs to keep track of what I know, what we do, what we could do and what we should do. If the boys ever get the idea that they want their children to be schooled in the same way, well they can give them all their old lessons and add new ones to boot!

The new blog that will begin full speed ahead in August, when our new school year begins, is called "Our 5 Dangerous Boys." We will be using "The Dangerous Book for Boys" as part of our curriculum next year. What better way to keep track of our learning progress but through a blog?!

If you have any idea, tips, pics or blogs to share in regard to that book I would be THRILLED to see, hear, touch, enjoy them all!

THANKS SO MUCH!

STAY AT HOME MOMS

There are times when I read a blog post and it hits me that this person thinks EXACTLY the same way I do about a subject.

It is in those times that I find it especially "Swweeet!" when the person is ranting about the subject...because, as we all know, I have been know to rant a little myself.

I take you now to Freaky Frugalite and "It's All About Me."

TAKE A PEEK AT A TEXAN'S VIEW OF DETROIT

Today I had the unique pleasure of reading what "outsiders" think about Detroit. I read a review of a Texan's quick jolt through our city over at Sprittibee's place.

She gave an honest yet, I do believe, slightly polished view of her ventures here. I appreciate the candor as well as her generosity of tact. I do find her blog to be fun and upbeat but more than that, honest.


It's not often that we get to hear such candor about our city. She even brought up the ever so interesting question as to what "we" are called. Are we Michiganians, Michiganites, or Michiganders?

Native born Michigan folk are Michiganders even though our governor calls us Michiganians. I have only recently heard the term Michiganites and think it to be...ridiculous. Whatever we are called, the more pertinent term would be, Loyal. You see, our Sprittibee friend, Detroit is Artistic, Inspired, Magical...Beautiful!

I wish our Texan friend would have braved her fears and visited the Hard Rock Cafe in the beautiful Art Filled Compuware building. The Hard Rock Cafe - Detroit is located in the footprint of several of Detroit's finest attractions including the fabulous Joe Louis Arena, Comerica Park and Ford Field.

Had they ventured into the finest of Downtown Detroit, the vibrant Texan homeschooling family could have experienced a HUGE and expressive art and Architecture lesson while touring the Compuware Building. They would have been able to end their lesson at the top of the building with a fun ride around the city on the People Mover. (sky rail)

We did that very thing, back in 2006. But, then again, we are not afraid of Detroit because we know the truth about Detroit. Our views are not distorted by blown out of proportion movies or outsiders fears. We KNOW Detroit and are proud of our city . We are part of the thousands who are impressed, excited and honored to be able to call Detroit home. Our family heads out to the city quite often to attend the Opera. The Fox Theater is a national GEM that takes our breath away every time we enter!

There are indeed parts of our city that need repair and the cold weather and snow does a doozy on the roads. I do understand her reservations about getting out of her car if she zigged when she should have zagged in Detroit, however it is my belief that our Nations Capital is far worse in regard to "bad parts" of town yet families visit there on their vacations every year. They do not give it a second thought. Maybe that is because the idea of Washington D.C. is of the majestic beauty of the White House. It is not often that the back streets of D.C. are highlighted in the news or that D.C's crime is mentioned nationwide. D.C. has that advantage.

Detroit doesn't have that luxury. We do get a bad rap in the press AND in movies. That stigma carries over to the psyche of our nation's parents. It Is a real possibility that parent's feel afraid to drive near our city let alone bring their family to experience it. That, is a sad, sad idea to have of our wonderful city.

Detroit is safe my good friends! Yes, you need to navigate well, just as you would in Washington D.C. or any other large city and recently our mayor has had his issues, but Detroit is a safe and fun place to visit for your whole family.

I urge you not to let the movie "8 mile" scare you away from what could be a beautiful and pleasant family vacation. I can tell you from experience, living only one mile from "8 mile" that this city has never hurt us one bit! We have been enriched, entertained, enlightened and entranced by Detroit!

I hope to hear from families who came to enjoy our city and learned that their fears were NOT realized. I hope that there are many, many families out there who have experienced the view from the People Mover and were able to attend a Tiger Game or view an Opera at The Majestic FOX Theater. I hope to hear from those who have visited The Charles H. Wright Museum of African History, The Detroit Institute of Art, The Detroit Zoo and The New Detroit Science Center.

I expect...NO...I KNOW you were not disappointed! :-)

I Hope you come back Sprittibee and give us more than a look-see point of view. Detroit cannot be sampled, Detroit is Experienced!

I hope you come back with a new vision and hope. I would love to give you and your family the grand tour of Detroit from a native Michiganders point of view. I think you'll like what you experience. :-)

THE UPS MAN WALKED UP TO MY DOOR...

This week has been a fun one! I got a lot of freebies in the mail as you can see by the picture to the left. Add coffee, Cereal and shampoo to that list. I was happy to have the free loot so I thought my week of free-stuff-getting was finished.

A day later, I was blogging and all of the sudden the UPS man walked up to my door. I looked up and saw him there waving to me through our living room

window. I smiled, he smiled. I waltzed over and opened our door. He handed me a package, told me to enjoy and off he went.

I wasn't expecting anything to come in the mail and I certainly wasn't expecting anything by UPS so I wondered what in the world?! I opened the box and Holy Cow!!

We won the weekly give-away for MAXXED Energy Pops!!

These are the neatest things. They are Energy Pop Suckers that come in an Energy Pop Can!

Of course, my eldest sons and their friends just HAD to pop them open and pass them around to every single friend they have.

They went over like a house aflame. They're the neatest most innovative things I've seen since the blow pop...but way cooler!

Kazz and his friend, Matt had fun mocking up a commercial for the sucker. After they posed they took off to hand out the suckers. They've been the talk of the block all week now.

I've got to get more of those buggers, that's a sure thing.

So, it's been a freebie week. I'm one blessed blogging mom that's for sure.

Hope your week was a fun, healthy, happy one too!

WHAH?!

PFFFTTT... I would LIKE to think this "test" is true, in a "quirky, silly, college" sort of way, but come on! This surely is a random drawing "test." I know I HAVE the capacity to write at college level, but I do not do it here very often. I'm a chit chatty blogger with a down home feel, complete with run-on sentences and terrible punctuation my friends. LOL

This test....is bunkaramma I do believe.

It was a hoot to play, though. I will thank the person I got this from when she agrees it is "bunk." :-)

Movie Reviews

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