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Tuesday's Tidings for April 24, 2012

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1. We leave in two weeks for California. My anxiety for the long car ride is starting to set in. Eeek! My kids are thankfully very well behaved little girls, so I'm hoping that for two days of straight driving, they won't think we're punishing them to much.

2. Eden has been sick off and on and today, this morning, is the first day she's woken up acting like her old self! This momma is relieved. I missed her smiles and morning songs so much!

3. Gracie is almost done with school for the year. She has finished her Science and History book and later this week, Letters and Sounds will be done. Which only leaves books left: Language, Cursive Writing, and Arithmetic.

4. I think Grace is a glutton for punishment. She's requested to have Josh wake her up in the morning even after school is over. I remember what I was like at this age as a kid and all I wanted to do was sleep. I still just want to sleep. So what is wrong with my kid?!

5. I'm getting my hair done today. I haven't had it done since January. Isn't it amazing how getting your hair done can make you feel like a completely new woman?

6. Our weekend consisted of a lot of cooking! Seriously, we made so many delicious and healthy meals this weekend. And then Josh got back from working on a church project last night and brought home Taco Bell since our Shrimp Bruschetta didn't fill us up. We were doing so good with the healthy-ness :(

7. Josh made flat bread on Sunday. It was amazing and I give the boy props for playing with yeast. It can be a little stubborn bugger sometime.

8. Soooo, many of you have heard and seen pictures of my cat Noel. Noel is about 9 months old. Guess what that means...she went into heat on Friday! I swear, I thought something was seriously wrong with my cat until her howling at 4am Sunday morning woke Josh up and he brought the subject up to me! I know it's like mother nature and what not, but a female cat in heat is not only annoying to listen to, but really uncomfortable to observe. I wish I could of not only blindfolded my kids eyes, but mine as well.  Needless to say, as soon as we get back from California, that cat is getting fixed!

9. Noel is back to her old self again. Which means no more sleeping in the garage for her and we can actually sleep in peace at night again.

10. I got sunburned this weekend. We topped out at 82 degrees Sunday and Monday, and today it's like in the 60's and cloudy! What gives?

No Weekly Menu for the next 3 weeks! *Gasp*

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The next few weeks are going to be a whirl as we finish up getting school done and doing some of our bigger Awana activities. Eden was under the weather last week, and over the weekend she's relapsed again and I think she is also fighting off some allergies. The Awana grand prix is this Thursday night and Josh is the tech guy who is setting up all the stuff. The girls got their cars carved yesterday and we need to paint them today or tomorrow. And who knows when we will actually have time to grocery shop. So we're all kind of running around like crazy headless chickens right now. And on top of that, we leave for California in two weeks. Since we're so busy and our meals are going to be a kind of think on our toes kind of thing, I'm not going to be doing a weekly menu for the next few weeks. I plan to be back at it when we get back from California, but I'm just not sure how much I will be able to follow through with our menu, even if I make one. For all I know, we could be eating Fried Egg Sandwiches every night for dinner for the next two weeks, lol!

I will still be scheduling posts for the rest of the weeks until I leave, but the week were gone, I won't be posting at all, EXCEPT for the Crazy Cooking Challenge recipe, which we've already made. My wonderful sister in law over at KitchenJoy, will be linking that up for me, since I will most likely be on the road. Yes, you heard me right. We are driving to California with two kids in the car. Please, Pray for me ;)

Have a great week everyone :)

Chels

Turnover? Pizza Roll? Stromboli!

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Okay, so we should just get this out of the way at the beginning. I am not referring to the Sicilian island of Stromboli, known for the "Strombolian eruption." I knew you would all be confused, so I wanted to make that clarification. This is the food, not the island. Actually, fun facts, the island of Stromboli is one of three active volcanos in Italy, and is technically erupting as we speak. Except we're not speaking. But, anyway, it's erupting, and has been for the last 2000 years...fascinating, right?

Yeah, anyway, not referring to that Stromboli. Unfortunately. Because it's actually very interesting. True, this dish and the volcano/island share the same name - obviously, there is some connection there - but they have nothing to do with each other, other than being connected to Italy in some way. Supposedly, Stromboli uninterestingly originated in the United States, of all places, in the fifties, of all times. Really quite the let down. Italian food is supposed to have history going back thousands of years, sustaining Roman legions and Greek poets, nourishing devious Cosa Nostra, and most certainly having nothing to do with the US. Nevertheless, this particular pseudo-Italian poser is quite tasty and well worth a few moments of your time. It could soon be a new family favorite, disappointing history and lack of connection to continuously erupting volcanos aside.

Stromboli is yet another excellent use for pizza dough (if you haven't mastered the dough yet, go back and check out Chels's awesome recipe). Pizza, of course, being the other. Right. Anyway. This particular incarnation of the dough can masquerade as an indulgent appetizer, or a full-fledged entree, depending on your need and number of guests. The possibilities for fillings are quite literally endless, with great candidates ranging from the ultra-traditional pepperoni (pictured) to the more adventurous artichoke hearts to the outrageous (peanut butter?). Once you have the basics down, go to town (rhyme!). Experiment with fillings, dips, and toppings. And, you know, maybe make up a new history for the food while you're at it. Your guests won't know the difference. If Homer composed the Iliad on spaghetti with browned butter and mizithra cheese, perhaps Hannibal fed his elephants Stromboli to coax them over the Alps...hey, it could have happened. It didn't. But it could have...

Ingredients
Makes two

1 cup pizza/pasta sauce
2 cups grated mozzarella cheese
7 oz package of pepperoni slices
1 beaten egg
dried or fresh parsley

Definitely start by getting your oven preheated, especially if you have one that takes a while, because you're preheating to 500 degrees. Cover a cookie sheet in parchment paper, and spread out the pizza dough in a rectangle nine or ten inches wide and 12+ inches long. Spread pizza sauce over most of the rectangle, leaving a few inches dry on the left long side of the rectangle. Cover the sauce in pepperoni. Cover the pepperoni with cheese (reserve a little cheese to sprinkle on top). Brush the dry strip of pizza dough with the egg. Fold the short sides of the pizza dough in roughly an inch, and then brush the newly exposed dry dough with egg as well. Roll the dough up from the long side covered with toppings to the dry side brushed with egg, ending with the dry side on the bottom of the roll. Brush the whole roll with the egg. Very carefully make diagonal cuts in the top of the roll with a sharp knife every two inches. Sprinkle the parsley and reserved cheese on top of the completed Stromboli. Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until Stromboli is golden brown. Let cool for five minutes, and serve as you wish (whole or sliced for dipping). 

Tuesday's Tidings for April 17, 2012

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1. Soooo, last Wednesday, I stood in line for 2 hours ( in heels) to meet Lauren Conrad and get some of her books signed! It may or not be silly, but it was fun and she was very very sweet. I can now say, I've met one of my fave Fashion Icons!

2. Friday night, Josh and I went with my in-laws to go see the movie," October Baby." Such a great movie. It's a christian film that supports pro-life, but not in the way you would think. Basically, the main character finds out that she was a faulty abortion ( which is why she is struggling with so many physical and emotional issues) and she goes on a search to find her birth mother and to find some answers. What I loved about this movie was that it wasn't preachy. The message was the story and that's it. The acting, screenplay, and cinematography was incredible and so well done. If you have this movie playing in your area, I highly recommend you seeing it.

3. Grace learned about weed pulling this weekend and believe it or not, like me, she enjoys it :) Now I have someone to help me out :)

4. I despise cleaning bathrooms!

5. I CANNOT WAIT FOR SPRING!!!

6. I'm so lucky that I married my husband. The boy loves to cook and can't seem to cook anything in normal sizes.

Look at this plate of food from last night! I rest my case.

7. I changed all of our flannel sheets to our Spring and Summer Sheets last week. Every night, climbing into bed feels amazing. Have you changed out your sheets yet?

8. I'm almost done reading, "The Help." Incredible!!!

9.  Josh and I watched "Ocean's 11" the other night. The sad thing is we can quote that entire movie.

10. I'm ready for Spring and done with the rain. Just Saying...ya know for the Umpteeth time :)

Weekly Menu 4/16-4/22

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We got another small burst of Spring this weekend. I even dawned one of my Spring dresses with sandals and it felt great! Granted, I brought my snuggie along in the car wherever we went, because I had goosebumps, but for the most part, Saturday was gorgeous. Sunday, we stopped by Home Depot and got some flowers and did a lot of weeding around the house. Josh did most of the replanting of things, while Grace and I dug up weeds.

But this week, the rain is supposed to return. Sometimes I don't really realize how much I miss the sun and good weather until I get a little taste of it, only to have it gone within a few hours. It's just plain cruel! My menu this week is unfortunately going to reflect the cold weather with some comforting meals.

Monday
Tuesday
Sweet Potato and Black Bean Enchiladas with chips and salsa on the side
Wednesday
Thursday
(Awana Night)
Tuna Patties with a side salad
Friday
Crockpot, Spaghetti Bolognese with garlic bread and green beans
Saturday
Sunday
Pizza Night
Desserts and other goodies

Friendship Amish Bread

Tuesday's Tidings for April 10, 2012

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1. Spring Break is officially over and we started school back up today. I'm excited about it. Grace, however is not!

2. Easter was a gorgeous fun beautiful day! I bought the girls matching dresses. I try to get them to dress alike as much as possible. Thankfully, they don't have a problem with that.

3. We ended up hiding 48 Easter eggs for the girls to find. 1 dozen hard-boiled eggs, and the rest plastic. Why 48 and not 50? I have no idea. But the girls each found their 24 eggs :)

4. I love this shot of Eden. I'm not normally one to come up with fun artsy shots, but I thought this shot was pure genius!

5. I started reading "The Help" yesterday. So far it's amazing! My sister and I swapped books to read, she loaned me "The Help" and I loaned her " Wuthering Heights." To be perfectly honest I think I got the better book out of the two...considering it took me 10 years to actually get through "Wuthering Heights!" Yes, you heard me right, 10 years!!! I know, I have issues.

6. Now that Easter is over, we have an abundance of plastic Easter Eggs and that color basket hay scattered all over the house. I think I've finally found the last strand of hay and 5 minutes later there is 10 more somewhere else in the house. And since my cat thinks she's dog, she keeps finding the eggs. She got me up 3 times last night at 1am because she had found 3 different halves of the eggs and was throwing them down the stairs and they would clang against our wood pergo floor. Each time, I would grab an egg, she would give me a death stare.

7.

We grilled fish for dinner. Doesn't it look amazing? Oh it was, Amazing! Are you drooling? We fed 13 people with all these fishes!

8. Anyone else's allergies starting to flare up? I feel your pain. :(

9. Josh has taken over Grace's math class again! YAY!!!!!

10.

Our Cherry Blossom Tree has bloomed! Life is beautiful!

Weekly Menu 4/9-4/15

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First of all, let me start out by wishing my sweet sister (in love) HAPPY 21ST BIRTHDAY!!!! We were fortunate to be able to celebrate her birthday yesterday because she was home from College for Easter, but today she heads back to school till she graduates in a few weeks!

Soo, how was everyone's Easter? Ours was probably the best Easter we've had in 9 years. I say 9 years because, it was 9 years ago that Josh and I announced we were engaged and the weather that day was so perfect and beautiful, much like yesterday was. We were all outside all day! The kids even got a little pink from the sun. It was a very perfect day to celebrate not only Jesus conquering the grave, but also a birthday and spending time with a lot of family. I'll be sharing pictures tomorrow on Tuesday's Tidings!

Monday
Ham and Cheese Omelet's with some fruit on the side
Tuesday
Tuna Patties with a salad
Wednesday
Taco's with ground turkey- I have a box of hard taco shells in my pantry and believe it or not, they've been calling my name, lol!
Thursday
Crockpot Bolognese Sauce with pasta and steamed broccoli
Friday
Saturday
The weather is saying its going to be nice, so I'm leaving today open for us to possibly grill something
Sunday
Pizza Night- 
one pizza I'm think will be Roasted Garlic Chicken Pesto Pizza
Pepperoni for the other
Desserts and other goodies

Chicken with Mustard Gravy

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One of the things I love about sometimes making out my weekly menu's is that I can try all the new recipes I want. But sometimes, when I'm trying to come up with meals to satisfy my family with, it's great to lean on some of your old stand-by favorites. This dinner, happens to be one of them.

I stumbled across this chicken recipe years ago in one of my Taste of Home magazines and fell in love. It's simple, it's easy, and full of flavor! A simple mustard gravy that goes over a deliciously moist chicken breast that's been cooked in butter. Could there be anything more divine? Anything more satisfying? I think not!

This chicken dish doesn't require a ton of fuss or fancy ingredients; just normal ingredients that are already found among your fridge/pantry staples. Since these are ingredients you already should have, then you don't have an excuse on why you can't make this dish. And since your going to make this dish, just relish the fact that your going to be biting off a succulent bite of chicken bathed in gravy!

Chicken with Mustard Gravy
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
½ teaspoon salt, divided
¼ teaspoon black pepper, divided
2 TB butter
4 teaspoon honey mustard
1 TB milk
½ teaspoon dried basil
½ teaspoon dried parsley
½ cup sour cream
Rub chicken with ¼ teaspoon salt and ⅛ teaspoon black pepper. In a large skillet over medium heat, cook chicken in butter for 6-8 minutes on each side until cooked through and juices run clear. Remove and keep warm
In the same skillet, combine the mustard, milk, basil, parsley, and remaining salt and pepper. Cook and stir over low heat until heated through. Remove from the heat; stir in sour cream. Serve over chicken.

Tuesday's Tidings for April 3, 2012

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1) Today is a very bittersweet day. I'm getting cavities filled today, but the sweet part is Grace is coming home!!!

2) Remember the days when you were a kid and you would wake up on Saturday mornings and watch Looney Tunes and Merry Melodies???

This brings me back to the good ol days!

3) Our cherry tree in our backyard has finally blossomed. Does that mean Spring is finally here?

4) Josh is a saint- he bought me all the necessary ingredients for a coupon binder! Do you know how happy this makes me? Probably a lot happier than it really should! :)

5) Josh has a tendency to want to watch confusing movies with me. I always sit there and think to myself," I never learned this in school" and I end up feeling pretty dumb. But finally, I wasn't the only one. We watched Tinker Taylor Soldier Spy this weekend and not only did Josh keep falling asleep on it, he was as equally confused with the plot as I was! SUCCESS!!

6) Whether Oregon recognizes that it's Spring or not, my body knows it's Spring. LET THE ALLERGY BATTLE BEGIN!

7) So you all know how I take part in the Crazy Cooking Challenge every month. We just found out what next month's challenge is and Josh and I got so excited, we've already made our meal and I think Josh is going to blog it! One reason we've already completed May's challenge is we'll be gone around the time the post goes up, so I wanted to have it scheduled and done, lol!

8) Eden is obsessed with Shrimp. We took her to Olive Garden the other night and she ordered pasta with shrimp. She picked out all the shrimps and then went looking for more on Josh's plate. I love that my 3yr old love seafood!

9) We recently got a herb container for kitchen counter and so far we've only filled it with Oregano- which of course the cat will not stay out of. She just stands there and inhales the aroma and tries to nibble on the leaves. I wish I had a picture to show you.

10) Have I mentioned that I hate getting cavities filled? I'm going to my appointment today with Benadryl in my system and hoping for laughing gas, lol! Wish me luck!

Weekly Menu 4/2-4/8

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Happy Easter Week! I can't believe it's already that time of year again. What are your plans for Easter this year? I'm having Josh's family over to our house this year. Josh and I thought it would be nice to give his parents a break since they host it every year and I thought the girls would enjoy searching for eggs in their own backyard.

Gracie comes home from Washington tomorrow. I can't wait! She's been having a wonderful time with family, but I'm missing her. I think the first trip away from home for the year is always the hardest on me. She normally goes camping a lot during the summers with her grandparents, but it's always that first trip that I have a hard time adjusting too. The good news about that is, when it's time for her to go on her next trip, I should be fine, lol!

Monday
We're getting Subway tonight. We're picking up his sister from the airport tonight and I want to go to the gym, so easy dinner it is, plus we have a gift card :)
Tuesday
Grace requested Spaghetti Carbonara for dinner. That's assuming that she is home in time for dinner though. Garlic bread will be served on the side. 
Wednesday
Slow-Cooker Chicken and Butternut Squash with a baked potato and maybe green beans.
Thursday
Friday
Chicken with Peanut Sauce served over rice and veggies
Saturday
Homemade Pizza
Sunday
Easter Dinner- I think we're fixing fish :)
Desserts and other treats:

Butterfinger Cookies- For Josh's potluck at his bank
Sweet Peach Cake- For Grace's homecoming
An Easter Cookie treat
Carrot Cake for Easter