Meal Plan Monday - September 25th

Sunday - Brunch- Peach French Toast, Breakfast Casserole, Bacon, Scrambled Eggs and Strawberry Cupcakes
Monday - Chicken and Dumplings, Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans
Tuesday - Trader Joes' Chicken Tacos, Layered Salad with Avocado Ranch Salad Dressing
Wednesday - Crockpot Ravioli, Layered Salad with Ranch Dressing
Thursday - Leftovers
Friday - YOYO - You are On Your Own
Saturday - BBQ after Lacrosse Game

Meal Plan Monday - September 19

We ate every single meal I had planned last week!  That is an accomplishment, I usually deviate at least once, but last week was perfect.  Modifying Rachel Ray's Week in a Day concept has really made things easier.  Last week I made Mashed Potato Casserole on Sunday, we ate it on Tuesday and Thursday and I finished off the last for lunch on Friday.  It was really nice to have a hot side dish ready to go on our busy nights.  This week, I made Mac and Cheese on Sunday.  We will have it on Monday and Wednesday this week.  I plan on doing this more often.

Sunday - Fish Fry (grouper) Mac and Cheese, Cole Slaw, Hush Puppies, Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting
Monday - Grouper Sandwiches, Mac and Cheese, Cole Slaw, Fruit
Tuesday - Tortilla BBQ Chicken Pizza, Fruit
Wednesday - Sloppy  Joes, Mac and Cheese, Veggies and Ranch Dip
Thursday - Leftovers
Friday  - Out for Mexican
Saturday - Chicken and Dumplings, Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans and Cornbread

For more great menu ideas, visit I'm An Organized Junkie

Crochet Along

Well, I did it, I went and joined Maybe Matilda's Crochet Along.  Not sure why I did it, as the only thing I can do is crochet a chain.  Hopefully I will come out of the experience unscathed and knowing how to crochet! 

Seriously, what hooked me was the chosen project, a cool cowl.  I've been looking for a knit cowl pattern and hadn't really found one I was thrilled with, so when I saw the Time Out Cowl and I loved it I decided to give crocheting another try.

So, I picked my yarn and ran by Walmart last night to pick up a N crochet hook, so I'm ready to go.

Wish me luck!

Meal Plan Monday - September 12

I'm finally getting the hang of our fall schedule, except this week we throw Brownies into the mix!  Wednesday is by far our busiest and latest night, so I have come up with 12 Crockpot "ready to eat when we walk in the door" meals to get us through the fall.  I will be doing a special series on these starting next week, so be on the lookout for some super easy and quick menu plans for your busy nights. 

I am also finding inspriration from Rachel Ray's Week in a Day concept.  We are not huge fans for Rachel's recipes, but I love the concept of cooking for the week on one day.  While I don't prepare the whole meal in one day, like she does, I am cooking up more items ahead for our busy days.  For example, this week I am making the Mashed Potato Casserole for Tuesday on Sunday, so all I have to do when we get home is warm it in the microwave. I will also be making this frittata for Bubba to eat for breakfast this week.  I will be planning more make aheads in the next week.

On to this week's menu...

Sunday - Chicken Caprese with Angel Hair Pasta, Salad
Monday - Picnic at the park for me and Boo-Boo, Pizza at home for DH and Bubba
Tuesday - Honey Mustard Kielbasa, Mashed Potato Casserole, Peas, Fruit
Wednesday - Chicken Quesadillas with Peach Salsa, Fruit
Thursday - Leftovers
Friday - Birthday Party
Saturday - Supper Club (I'm bringing a side dish)

Baking -
Blueberry Zucchini Muffins
Granola

For more great menu ideas, visit I'm An Organized Junkiie. 

September Counterfeit Kit

I took the month of August off from the Counterfeit Kit Challenge due to how hectic our lives get around here when school starts, but I'm back with a September Kit and I really love how mine turned out. 

The concept of counterfeiting kits from kit clubs using your stash is brilliant, so hop on over to the Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog and check it out.  I'm getting more scrapping done than I have in years, 'cause all I do is grab a kit and some pictures and I can get 4 - 6 pages done at a time because the hard part is already done. 

For September, we counterfeited the Sweet Peach Crop Shop September 2010 kit.  You can find it here.  There were two kits, Sweet and Juicy.  I chose Juicy as I am so looking forward to fall after weeks of 100+ degrees temps and no rain in Atlanta and the color palette for Juicy was more fallish to me. 

Here's my kit -- Hello Fall

Kit Contents -

Cardstock -

2 - light slate blue

2 - buttercream

2 - celery green

2 - green

2 - vanilla

2 - chocolate brown

2 - rust brown

Patterned Papers -

Die Cut With a View - brown houndstooth, orange trellis, green ledger grid, cream 1,2,3 papers

Making Memories - Butternut Soft Plaid, Solid Dark and Twine Plaid papers

Chloe's Closet Cider Days - Jonathan Dot, Granny Smith Green Red Delicious Floral and McIntosh Bouquet PPers

Crate Paper Cowgirl Collection - Spurs, Side Saddle, Red Boots,and  Buckle Papers

Jenny Bowlin - Big Numbers

Daisy D's - Gazette

Junkitz - Dog Stripe

Scenic Route - Jade White Big Dots

Anna Griffin - Orange Harlequin

Unknown - Cream and Butternut Dot

Embellishments -

Crate Paper Letter Stickers - Cowgirl Collection

Thickers - Leg Warmers Letter Stickers

EK Success - Tag Types Letter Stickers

Creative Memories - Brown Letter Stickers

5 chipboard pieces

Cricut leaf cutouts

Cricut posted sign

Daisy Bucket Tags

Assorted Brads

5 different ribbons

3 self - created flowers

K and Co. Adhesive floral borders

MAMBI Pumpkin Patch Stickers

I hadn't planned on this kit being so big, but I just kept finding great papers to add to it.  I'm looking forward to scrapping some great fall pictures with this one!  To check all the great counterfeit kits this month, head over the the Counterfeit Kit Challenge September Linky.

Roasted Tomato/Vegetable Sauce

One of my favorite blogs is An Oregon Cottage.  It is full of wonderful, practical advice about living simpler, something I need to be reminded frequently.  Jami's blog is my go-to for "make my own" versions of items I used to buy at the grocery store.  For example, An Oregon Cottage is where I first learned I could cook and freeze my own dried beans and save money and decrease the amount of sodium in our diets.  I also found Jami's recipe for Chocolate Sauce that has become our staple in our house. Sooooo good over homemade vanilla ice cream.  One of my favorite Oregon Cottage recipe is Roasted Tomato Sauce.  I used my homegrown tomatoes and zucchini and it is delicious.  It freezes great and tastes like summer when I serve it over cheese ravioli in the dead of winter.

Roasted Tomato/Vegetable Sauce

Put in a large roasting pan (I use a restaurant size jelly roll pan)

• 3 T olive oil
• 6 pounds of tomatoes, cored and cut in halves (quarters if they are large)- cut side down
• 1/2 large onion chopped
• any vegetable on hand:  zucchini, peppers, carrots, celery (optional, but very good)
• 5 or 6 cloves garlic, sliced or chopped
• 4 T balsamic vinegar
• 3 t Italian seasoning
• 1 t each salt and pepper

1.  Roast for 45 - 60 minutes (until vegetables are soft)

2.  Remove skins with tongs, as desired (I remove the ones that come off easily - stubborn ones stay on)

3.  Process briefly in a blender or food processor for a chunky sauce, or more for a smooth sauce

4.  Use right away or pour into quart size containers, label and freeze.

Makes about 2 quarts

Linking to

Tasty Tuesday

Tuesday Garden Party

Good Cheap Eats

Full Plate Thursday

Meal Plan Monday - Sept. 5

Sunday - DH Birthday and  Labor Day Party - BBQ Wings, Football Dip, Bacon Wrapped Jalapenos, Stuffed Banana Peppers, Hummus and Chips, Birthday Cake
Monday - Hamburgers and Chips
Tuesday - Grilled Chicken Salads
Wednesday - Crockpot Baked Potatoes (with ham and cheese), Veggies and Dip
Thursday - Leftovers
Friday - Pizza for kids, party for me :-)
Saturday - depends on the time for our ball games....

For more great menu plans, visit I'm An Organized Junkie.