Monday, February 23, 2015

HAPPY HOMEMAKER & MENU PLAN MONDAY

It's another Monday... you know what that means. It's time to link up with Sandra over at Diary of a Stay at home mom and Laurie at I'm an Organizing Junkie for Happy Homemaker and Menu Plan Monday.

I had a good and productive weekend thanks go to my wonderful physical therapist who is treating the "whole" person and not just my knee.  I'm getting more and more energy and exercise every day.
BREAKFAST AS I WRITE:

Oatmeal & Fruit - It's cold this morning!

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE
THIS MORNING:
A tiny bit overcast, but with much promise of sunny skies mid morning, a rarity here at this time of year.  The nights have been clear and downright cold (24 degrees) though making it cold and flu season with a hint of ear infection!! Very misleading as it is only sunny and somewhat nice for 3-4 hours and then it's bone chilling damp cold and miserable again. LOL the long term forecast has snow for next week and it has been a downright dry year with threat of wildfire in February all I can say is I'll believe that when I see it.
  • ... HARD FREEZE MONDAY AND TUESDAY MORNINGS...
  • DUE TO SEVERAL WEEKS OF UNUSUALLY WARM TEMPERATURES... MANY PLANTS IN SOUTHWEST OREGON VALLEYS ARE MUCH MORE DEVELOPED THAN NORMAL FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR. A COLD AIR MASS WILL SETTLE OVER THE AREA TONIGHT AND PERSIST INTO TUESDAY MORNING. THIS WILL COMBINE WITH CLEAR SKIES AND CALM VALLEY WINDS TO DROP OVERNIGHT LOWS WELL INTO THE 20S.
FOR THE WEEK:
Pretty much the same, but less and less promise of sun and more and more promise of dreary skies as the week progresses.

TO DO LIST
TODAY:
  • Physical therapy
  • prepare for the visit to VA advocate (AGAIN)
  • Errands
THIS WEEK:
  • Laundry
  • A Little Spring Cleaning on the remaining kitchen drawers
  • Clean Ceiling Fans
  • Some weeding
CURRENTLY READING
TELEVISION & DVR

A couple of new or returning shows start this week and I'm still working off the DVR from last week.
  • Castle
  • Scandal
  • State of Affairs
  • Justified
  • Sleepy Hollow
  • Perception
  • Rizzoli & Isles
  • The Odd Couple - I think they are trying too hard - I really wanted to like this, but I think it will fail unfortunately.
PLAY TIME (If I can find any)

I tweaked the new framework for my weekly menu and recipe links.  The filled squares are actual links to tried and true recipes.  It is still not exactly what I'm looking for, but I'll keep working on it. I also designated Tuesday as "EXPERIMENT NIGHT".

And for those that were wondering what those acronyms you often see on my menus are:
C.O.R.N. = CLEAN OUT REFRIGERATOR NIGHT
Y.O.Y.O = YOU'RE ON YOUR OWN

 Menu Plan Monday hosted by Laura at I'm an Organizing Junkie

BREAKFAST
DINNER
DESSERT
MONDAY
Oatmeal with Fruit
C.O.R.N. or Y.O.Y.O.

TUESDAY
Bagel & cream cheese
EXPERIMENT NIGHT

WEDNESDAY
Yogurt with Blueberries & Granola

THURSDAY
Scrambled Eggs with cheese & Toast

FRIDAY
Yogurt with Blueberries & Granola

SATURDAY
SUNDAY
Buffalo Chicken Meatballs & Scrambled Eggs


LAST WEEK'S RECIPES I TRIED and their RECIPE LINKS
NEW RECIPES I FOUND THIS WEEK OR CREATED AFTER BEING INSPIRED BY OTHER RECIPES TO TRY IN THE NEAR FUTURE
  • Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup Bake
  • Navy Bean Dip
  • Chicken Durango
  • Peanut Butter Pork Chops
  • 14 Carat Cake
  • Lemon Strawberry Pie
  • Pineapple Raisin dessert tamales - there used to be this little mom & pop bistro near where I worked that had the greatest dessert tamales and I have been craving them so thought I would try to recreate them.
MY FAVORITE PHOTO FROM LAST WEEK

LOL I honestly didn't take anything but food pictures this week until I was on facebook Friday night and Min said something about the moon.  I ran outside and this was fantastic. According to a friend of ours this is the moon waxing, the lower planet is Venus and the middle one is Mars.

BLOGS TO CHECK OUT

I keep looking for new and inspiring blogs, but honestly so many have huge ad sections or pop ups nowadays that just annoy me!

HOMEMAKING TIP / PRODUCT REVIEWS

I'd been debating about buying the ball herb keepers and then they went on sale so I thought I'd give them a try.  I have to say I'm pleasantly surprised how much I like them.  They will save me so much time when I'm in a hurry. All the prep and mess is done all at once, and I used the entire package of fresh herbs so there is nothing left to go bad waiting for a recipe to use them in.

You can also use an ice cube tray and then transfer the cubes to a ziploc bag after they are frozen, but I really love the lids and bright green that makes these easy to use and see readily.


ON MY MIND LATELY

When I was young we had a rule, well we had several, but we had a rule about food.  The main rule being that we had to AT LEAST TRY a food once before we were allowed to say we didn't like it.  And even then, we were encouraged to try it several times.  The one way out was if mom wouldn't eat it, we didn't have to either after at least trying it once.

The other big rule was that you ate what was put in front of youNO ONE was your short order cook unless of course we were eating out which when I was young was reserved for special occasions only and you still ate what was in front of you. No playing with your food, whining or complaining.

So all this said, I have a real problem with the new KFC commercial (as well as soooooo many others that use this same negative tactic) where they use children disrespecting their mother's cooking.  The one question, "What have you been feeding us?" is what I take the most exception with.

Kids are so impressionable. I know it sounds silly, but SOOOOO many commercials today are using NEGATIVE advertisement and I just think it's wrong.  Like so many other things, the longer it is allowed to continue the more things may change - an NOT for the better.  Children being allowed to be sarcastic, negative, disrespectful and catered to DOES NOT encourage or inspire them to be good positive adults in the future.

PRAYING FOR & INSPIRATION

I'm praying for a world at peace.

My grand daughter Carlie loves the infinity sign.  So this made me think of her and hope she's doing well at her dad's house.

11 comments:

  1. Happy Monday dear Gal!

    Your menu plan always sounds yummy and intriguing - the marry me chicken in particular this week. ;0)

    Peanut butter pork chops sound a little scary so I'm really curious how those would turn out if you try them.
    I LOVE the herb keeper idea and may need to check that out!

    I'm totally with you on the KFC commercial thing and how impressionable our kiddos are in this day and age especially. As kiddos we used to just run and play and not watch near as much tv/media stuff - now they're all "plugged in" and take that stuff too much as gospel. Not cool. I applaud your comment!!

    Happy week to you! xo

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    1. Thanks Carrie. I know sometimes I get on a soap box, but dang it, our kids are our future and without raising them to be good, kind respectful people, we're doomed. LOL okay rant over.

      Marry Me Chicken is a tried and true favorite. I hope you enjoy it. I will post the peanut butter pork chops if they are as good as they sound. The herb keeper has been a godsend with the amount of crock pot cooking I've been doing this winter. I hope you like them.

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  2. Oh I couldn't agree more about kids eating habits. Luckily little guys don't watch t.v. and I they are both very good eaters.
    That photo of the moon is incredible!
    Have a great week!

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    1. sorry that was supposed to say: "my" little guys :)

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    2. Thank you Laura, I think that moon picture is one of my new all time favorites. Glad your little guys are good eaters - that sure is half the battle.

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  3. YOUr blog is so lively and well organized and interesting to read..... you a re one busy lady... and BTW... I'm coming for dinner all week.

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  4. This is my first visit here and I love your blog! I like CORN and YOYO - I have never heard them before, may have to adopt them! I agree with the KFC ad. We don't have it here in Australia, but it sounds terrible. I absolutely loath advertising, particularly when they are selling kids stuff they definitely shouldn't have (which I guess is the whole reason advertising exists). But to do it by putting down home cooking is simply wrong.
    Have a lovely week!

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    1. Adopt away! :D I love those nights. Hubby actually started the "day off" because he thought I was doing too much and it worked into a great way to give me a day off AND clean out the fridge.

      Thanks for stopping by. I love making new blog friends! I can't wait to go see you.

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    2. Isn't he a treasure?! Thanks for visiting me. Looking forward to joining in at HHM next week. It's funny how the internet leads us to each other, isn't it?!

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    3. LOL, yes it is. I have met some of the nicest people while blogging. In the beginning it was just a way to join in, but now I do it for the enjoyment and nice people I meet along the way.

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