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.

First things first! I want to wish my wonderful husband a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY today!

BREAKFAST AS I WRITE:

We're going out for breakfast today for hubby's birthday.

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE
THIS MORNING:
Drizzly and cold!

FOR THE WEEK:
Pretty much the same all week.

TO DO LIST
TODAY:

• Play for hubby's birthday.  I'll post about our adventures later this week.

DURING THE WEEK:

• Laundry
• Recipe File Updates
• Baseboards

CURRENTLY READING

• Finding Southern comfort by Barbara Lohr

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
• Battle Creek
• Good Witch

PLAY TIME (If I can find any)

Now I wouldn't call it "play time", but after my cortisone shot this past week I was told to stay off my feet for 48 hours.  So on the way home I stopped by Staples to buy some files and then I set up shop on the family room floor and set about cleaning up the HUGE pile of recipe scraps that hubby regularly reminds me we will NEVER be able to try them all and actually weeded out all the real scrap and organized the rest. I narrowed down 3 small totes to this file, but it is overstuffed LOL!

I also tweaked the new framework for my weekly menu and recipe links (AGAIN).  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

MONDAY	Oatmeal with Fruit	Monte Cristos & Salad
TUESDAY	Bagel & cream cheese	EXPERIMENT NIGHT
WEDNESDAY	Yogurt with Blueberries & Granola	Chicken Milano
THURSDAY	Scrambled Eggs with cheese & Toast	Italian Beef Stroganoff
FRIDAY	Yogurt with Blueberries & Granola	Split Pea Soup
SATURDAY	Baked Eggs	Peanut Butter Green Chile Pork Chops	Upside Down Apple Pie
SUNDAY	Quiche Lorraine	Cadillacs & Salad

LAST WEEK'S RECIPES I TRIED and their RECIPE LINKS

• Racing Dip/Seafood Enchiladas
• Pork Chops with Peanut Butter Green Chile Cream Gravy
• Caramelized Lemon & Green Chile Verde White Fish
• Bacon Cheddar Pancakes
• Warm Bacon Vinaigrette
• Salad in a Jar
• Banana Eclair Cake
• Upside Down Chocolate Cake

NEW RECIPES I FOUND THIS WEEK OR CREATED AFTER BEING INSPIRED BY OTHER RECIPES TO TRY IN THE NEAR FUTURE

• Lemon Curd Napoleon
• Baked Hawaiian Chicken
• Voodoo Smothered Chicken
• Chicken Christopher
• Green Chile Marmalade Wings
• Velvet Cake
• Balsamic Glazed Steak Rolls 
• Macaroon Peanut Butter Chocolate Tartlets
• Lemon Souffle Pancakes
• Orange Crunch Parfaits
• Smoked Paprika Chicken Thighs
• Norwegian Meatballs
• Sauerkraut & Pork Roast
• Blackened Salmon

MY FAVORITE PHOTO FROM LAST WEEK

LOL, I honestly didn't take anything but food pictures again this week and then the black brat (who has his choice of 3 beds in this house) tried to squeeze out sweet Whiskey from the bed she was sleeping in and I just had to grab a picture.

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

Does your wedding ring or diamond necklace need cleaning - just use a denture tablet.  My jeweler taught me this trick - it's quick and efficient leaving you with sparkling jewelry.

ON MY MIND LATELY

Keeping with last week's soap box rant I have a real problem with the new KFC HALO's commercial (as well as soooooo many others that use this same negative tactic) where they use children disrespecting their father. Dad wakes up to a horse's head (from the daughter's stuffed toy) in his bed and the whole thing plays out like a bad godfather parody and ends with dad going out to buy what she wants.  At least this was followed by a sweet Extra Gum commercial where you can see awe and respect in the daughter's eyes as dad makes her a cute origami swan out of her gum wrapper.

I don't know about you, but with so many choices in this world I will go out of my way to buy a product that isn't negative or insulting my intelligence with their ads.

Children are really SOOOO impressionable. We need to present them with positive, life affirming ideals and models to follow. 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