The twin tornadoes' MOMMY

2011-08-13T12:38:00.002-05:00

And the winner is.....
JOLENE at
http://justmycricutandme.blogspot.com/

CONGRATULATIONS you won the welcome vinyl wall quote (pictured below).

Thank you to everyone and all your sweet comments.

Many blessings,
Fran

BLOG HOP WEEK....

2011-08-07T00:05:00.008-05:00

So excited to be asked to participate in a BLOG HOP this week. How much fun is this!! Thanks for Clare for including me and my blog. Check out her beautiful fabric Cricut covers at: HER BLOG

☆•°*””*••°*””*•☆FREE GIVEAWAY★☆•°*”˜☆°*•°*”˜☆

Leave a comment here on my blog
saying your favorite item in
my Etsy shop
and you will be entered to win a
welcome sign vinyl wall quote

for your front door.

☆•°*””*••°*””*•☆★thanks for playing★☆•°*”˜☆••°*”˜☆
giveaway ends on August 13th 2011. One winner will be
picked and details will be sent to email address

Check out the fun personalized items I have at my website allstickeredup.etsy.com.

Perfect gift idea -A personalized tile

Advertise your ETSY SHOP with a personalized window decal

Perfect little flower to enhance your scrapbook page

Use coupon code: bloghop to receive a 15% off your total purchase.

Next Blog to hop to is It's Always Fabulous. Here is her blog: http://www.suesfabulouslife.blogspot.com/
And here is her Etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/itsalwaysfabulous
She has some great scrapbook stickers and adorable 8x8 paper packs.

Thanks!
Fran

Should we lower our expectations?

2010-11-12T08:42:00.010-06:00

As children I think we have high expectations of people (and things for that matter). Being a child we need parents, family members and friends for physical and financial support more than we do as adults. As adults we need others for emotional support. And as I journeyed through my late 20's and thirties I have come to a very sad realization that my expectations were seriously too high of other adults in my life.

Seems easier to lower my expectations of people so I don't get hurt. But is that the real way to go? I know that by doing that I will be hurt less and its defiantly the easy way out. I've lived the last 8 months with lower expectations of others and its been much easier. My anxiety is gone (thank you, Jesus), I'm a happier person, not so quick to anger.... I could go on and on. As I was having a conversation with my husband last night and I told him about my theory of lowering my expectations he said yea, that sounds simple enough. I'm gonna try that too. Then a light bulb practically hit me on my head. WHAT WAS I DOING??? This is ridiculous, God doesn't want us to take the easy way out. Now my mission is the pray about it and figure out exactly what He wants me to do with my theory and easy way out.

The one person who keeps exceeding my expectations is God. He has been a rock through every aspect of my life. I'm am so thankful for the day when I was 13 years old sitting around a table at a family friends house and hearing about God and how AMAZING He really is. I've continued on occasion to sit around a table with those two very important people and learn about the Word of God and it has opened my eyes and heart to show me that the most important thing in this world is God. And that he gave his only son, Jesus, up for us to wash our sins away forever. I remember laying on the floor of my friends bedroom, having a sleepover, praying a simple prayer and asking Jesus into my heart. That day was a changing day for me, however, I didn't realize it until years later.

Until next time, many blessings.
Fran

New beginnings - the story of All Stickered Up!!

2010-01-03T15:08:00.015-06:00

a sample of a few things I've been working on. The first tile has your family last name and first names on the very top of the tile and the bible verse Phil 4:13. The second photo is the set of 4 coasters. And the third tile is a 9x7 tile personalized with grandchildrens names.

WHEW... We've been so busy the past 8 weeks. Now that Christmas is officially over I have a little time to post (finally).
Lots has been going on, about 8 weeks ago, I started a business (by accident). I know you're asking how the heck does someone start a business by accident. I've been scratching my head ever since too.

Over the past year I've been trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. Because since my boys started going to school full time I've felt a little unimportant. Like I'm not needed as much in their lives. It was really a very difficult time from August to about the middle of October. All that feeling unimportant was over mid October when my sister brought back all of my scrapbooking stuff included in the stuff was my Cricut. It hit my like a ton of bricks, seriously like God was screaming at me, this is what you need to be doing right now. YOU CAN DO THIS!!! I got my Cricut out (mind you it was in the middle of my nephews birthday party we were hosting at our home) and found some old blue and white plaid contact paper and just went to town practicing cutting words out of the migshift vinyl on my Cricut. If you've ever seen PS I Love you (I just watched it for the first time last night) I felt like that scene when she finally realized what she wanted to do with her life was design shoes. I was whirling around in my office, cutting with the Cricut, making list of designs and ideas and more. I am getting goosebumps just typing this as I think about how enlightening it is to FINALLY know what you want to do and put it to work.

So as I'm cutting the contact paper with my cricut I hear my mom and my sisters saying where the heck is Frannie. As I'm adhearing the first vinyl wall word I've ever created to my office door everyone is like that is so awsome!! The next day I race out to Michaels to purchase some real vinyl and transfer paper and created my first real wall qoute that is on my family photo wall and I created a ceramic personalized tile for my mom with all our names on it. The next week when I showed my mom the personalzied tile she loved it and asked if I could make something with the vinyl for my sisters baby shower favors. I said of course and that is when I came up with the 3x3 personalized coasters that I made for each guest at her shower. I got literally 12 orders by the end of that evening. And I thought this might be something people really like. After the baby shower I created my website on Etsy and posted and few photos on Facebook and as of today I've had over 60 orders. Check out my items here
allstickeredup.etsy.com

This has been a really fun time getting my creative juices flowing. My husband has been a huge help with all of the projects. And I've gotten some really great ideas from family and friends. I want to thank each one of you all for showing me such great support!

Thats whats been going on in my life. I'm super busy and lovin' it!!!

Have a blessed week.
Fran

Recipe: Spaghetti with eggplant and tomato sauce

2009-09-01T12:16:00.003-05:00

I just saw this recipe in the Woman's Day Magazine. It sure looks yummy!! I'm going to make it next week, hope its tasty. And its a perfect way to use some of our homegrown garden tomatoes

Spaghetti with Eggplant and tomato sauce
Active Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes

INGREDIENTS
2 lb eggplant, diced (11 cups)
2 Tbsp salt (for soaking eggplant)
3 Tbsp olive oil
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 lb ripe tomatoes, peeled (if desired), seeded and chopped
2 Tbsp tomato paste
12 oz spaghetti or spaghettini
Oil for frying
1⁄4 cup chopped basil
1⁄4 cup grated ricotta salata orParmesan (see Tip)
Freshly ground black pepper and salt, preferably sea salt, to taste

PREPARATION
1. Put eggplant into a colander over a plate. Sprinkle with 2 Tbsp salt; toss. Set aside to drain 30 minutes. Rinse and pat dry with paper towels.
2. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil.
3. Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet. Add garlic and cook 1 to 2 minutes over medium-low heat until light golden. Add tomatoes and tomato paste; cook 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until tomatoes soften and sauce is slightly thickened.
4. Meanwhile, when water comes to a boil, add pasta and cook as package directs.
5. While pasta cooks, heat 1⁄2 in. vegetable oil in another large skillet (you’ll use about 2 cups of oil). Add eggplant and fry until golden, about 8 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain. Stir eggplant into tomato sauce.
6. When pasta is cooked, reserve 2 Tbsp pasta cooking water, then drain. Return pasta to pot. Stir in sauce, reserved water, basil and cheese. Season with salt, pepper if desired.

Maxine’s Tip: Ricotta salata is cheese made from sheep’s milk that is salted and aged. Aged pecorino or feta cheese can be used instead.

Nutrition Facts
Yield 4 servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories 594
Total Fat 21g
Saturated Fat 4g
Cholesterol 8mg
Sodium 657mg
Total Carbohydrates 89g
Dietary Fiber 10g
Protein 16g

Show us where you live - kids bedrooms

2009-05-28T23:15:00.008-05:00

Kelly from Kelly's Korner is hosting another Show Us Where you Live Friday's. This week its kids bedrooms/Nursery.

Well my boys have been in a bedroom together since they were born. A month ago the boys came up to me and asked if they could have their own rooms. It totally broke my heart, but I said yes. We took apart their bunk beds and put them in their own rooms. I just finally found the perfect bedding for their "skateboard" room. Now I'm searching for 5 drawer dresser chests and nightstands. And its a HUGE painstaking task. So since their rooms are not totally complete, I didn't want to post pics of half done rooms. So I decided to past pics from their old room, which by the way was sooooo cute!!

So these pics are from two years ago when we redid their room into a Thomas the Tank room. I loved loved loved their Thomas mural and the bunk beds were perfect for my boys. But that was when they were 3, now that they are 5 they said they were too big for Thomas :(

my sweet boy on their bunk beds.

If you are interested in the Show us where you live series that Kelly at Kelly's Korner is hosting check out her blog at kellyskorner.com.

Have a blessed week!!!
Fran

My new favorite thing....

2009-05-28T12:30:00.003-05:00

Gotta love summertime...warm weather, swimming, baseball and ice cream. I purchased these Cool Cones push up ice cream cones. They are reusable push up cones.

I purchased these from LTDCommodites.com. Just fill them with your favorite ice cream, sorbet, or I've been filling them with yogurt and fruit. Our boys love them!!!

Check them out!!
Fran

Show us where you live - Livingrooms

2009-05-10T01:48:00.008-05:00

Kelly at Kellys Korner blog is hosting another Show Us Where you Live Friday again. I am a little late. I am lovin' taking a peek into other ppls homes and seeing their decorating styles. After last weeks kitchen addition of SUWYL I did a little sprucing up in my kitchen. We painted a green wall yellow, I put up some pictures and bought three apothocary jars (like Kelly's) filled with pears and pomegranates. The changes make our kitchen look fresh.

This week is livingrooms. Ours is small but cozy. I didn't take photos of our familyroom. I might later this weeek and add them to this post.

This is the livingroom view from our dining room.

This is the view from the top of our stairs. A few years ago we (I mean John) tore down
a half wall and his brother in law installed new railings for us. they are beautiful!!

This is table has my two favorite things on it right now. The digital photo frame
my parents got John and I for Christmas. The bottom left of the big frame is a
digital photo frame and the other three frames are for still pics. And on the second
shelf is my Ipod Touch docking station, it has a radio and CD player too. LOVE IT!!

We live in a bi-level house, so when you enter our home you either walk up 6 steps
or down 6 steps. And this is the shelf right above the door where we put cutsy knick knacks.
And at Chirstmas, Easter and Halloween we decorate it too.

Too participate check out Kelly's blog at http://www.kellyskornerblog.com/

Have a blessed week!!!
Fran

Show us where you live "Kitchen addition"

2009-05-02T14:12:00.013-05:00

UPDATED: I decided to post a couple of updated pics of a few things I added and changed after seeing everyones beautiful kitchens.

After seeing Kelly's apothocary jars I ran out the next day and bought three....copy cat, I know. But they are just so beautiful. thanks for the idea Kelly

And this little display is in the corner of our kitchen counter.

Hubby painted this wall that was green a beautiful golden yellow, I LOVE it. It totally brightens up our kitchen, which is the heart of our home.

My friend Janine and I added these last week. they look perfect and have an uplifting message.

and one final pic. Ignore the black folding table, that was set up for a party we were having that evening. Thanks for looking!!!

Kelly at Kelly's Korner was hosting a Mr. Linky party yesterday, so I thought I would get on the bandwagon and post pics of our kitchen too. I love seeing pics of ppls homes. It gives me fresh decorating ideas. And I am in redecorating mode since we got back from vacation.

A few projects were going to be taking on over the next few months is re carpeting our stairs, tiling our entryway, re carpeting our boys new rooms, installing hardwood flooring in our office. Whew, that's a lot of stuff to do, thankfully my sweet hubby is handy and he'll be doing most of it.

Well here are a couple pics of our kitchen.

This is a pic from about two years ago, since we have painted a couple of the walls a golden yellow color.

and we have replaced the fridge with a side by side freezer on the bottom.

Here is our dining area. Love my table and chairs. the green wall is now the golden yellow and the wall with our french doors and breakfast bar is yellow too.

This is so true. I just picked this up at Kohls a few weeks ago.

I picked up these pictures at Hobby Lobby several years ago cuz I loved them so much. There are inspirational bible versus on each of the pictures. DH just recently got around to hanging them last year...lol

Check out Kelly's blog for more kitchen pics http://www.kellyskornerblog.com/

Enjoy and have a blessed week!
Fran

Deals deals deals

2009-03-20T14:21:00.007-05:00

Gotta love a good deal. I have been learning all about couponing over the past week or two. And let me tell ya its addicting!! Love it!!
Here is a pic of my deal of the day today. And a list of the items that I purchased.

Here is what I purchased and the regular price for each item
10 boxes of Kellogs cereal - avg price is $4.30 per box
(Rice Crispies, Frosted Flakes, Apple Jacks, Corn Pops)
4 loaves of Brownberry Bread - reg. price$3.85 per loaf
Box of Pop Tarts - reg price $3.00
Box of Nurtigrain bars $3.65
Rice crispy treats $4.45
Danamals $2.49
Stackers $2.75
Fruit Roll ups $2.75
2-ind wrapped Chips Ahoy (12 in each box) $7.75 each box
4 pkg - Oscar Meyer shredded Ham lunch meat $3.95 each
2 pkg - Kraft sliced 2% American cheese $4.00 each
2 pkg- Hubba Bubba gum (for the boys) $1.19 each
4 cans of mandarin oranges $1.00 each

So total before Preferred savings, coupons and catalinas was $123.17
and I spent out of pocket $ 37.42
WOW, that's a whopping savings of $85.75

Preferred savings total was: 48.45
manufacturer savings/coupons $25.55

That's my deal of the day.

Did you wear red today???

2009-03-19T09:15:00.002-05:00

Happy St. Joseph's Day today!!!

I have always known that St. Joseph's Day is March 19 and it a hugely observed by Italian's, but never knew what exactly SJD was. I didn't even really know that it was in honor of the man who raised our Lord, Jesus. So I decided this morning to take a few minutes and read a bunch of stuff about SJD. Ahhhhh, the conveniences of the Internet.

From Wikipedia (online encyclopedia)
Saint Joseph's Day, 19 March, the Feast of St. Joseph or Solemnity of Saint Joseph is in Western Christianity the principal feast day of Saint Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary.[1] It is a Solemnity in the Roman Catholic Church, a feast in the provinces of the Anglican Communion, and a feast or festival in the Lutheran Church. Saint Joseph's Day is the Patronal Feast day for persons named Joseph, Josephine, etc., for religious orders, schools and parishes bearing his name, and for carpenters. It is also Father's Day in some Catholic countries, namely Spain, Portugal, Belgium and Italy.
This date was already dedicated to Saint Joseph in several Western calendars in the tenth century. It was accepted in Rome in 1479, and in 1621 it was inserted into the General Roman Calendar for celebration throughout the Latin Rite. Since it always falls within Lent, Episcopal Conferences may, if they wish, transfer it to a date outside Lent.[2]
The Eastern Orthodox Church celebrates Saint Joseph on the Sunday after Christmas.[3] Between 1870 and 1955 the Roman Rite had another feast in honour of Saint Joseph as Patron of the Universal Church, a title given to him by Blessed Pope Pius IX. This "Solemnity of St. Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Patron of the Universal Church", referred to also as the "Patronage" feast to distinguish it from that of 19 March, appears in the calendars of those years for celebration on Wednesday of the second week after the Octave of Easter (i.e. the third Wednesday after Easter) and was celebrated with an octave of its own. Pope Pius XII abolished this feast in 1955, and at the same time established a new feast day, that of Saint Joseph the Worker (a Double of the First Class), for celebration on 1 May, a date chosen to coincide with the celebration in many countries of Labour Day (May Day). Since not every country celebrates May Day as Labour Day, the Memorial of Saint Joseph the Worker was made optional in 1969

So now that I have all my knowledge about SJD, I think I'll make a good Italian dinner tonight. I was thinking I might take a stab at Bricole or just stick with making my tried and true chicken Parmesan.

Have a Happy day!!!
Fran

Hearts at Home conference

2009-03-15T13:51:00.013-05:00

I got back from the Hearts at Home conference yesterday. WOW, so many inspirational women in one place was amazing. Jill Savage, founder of Hearts at Home, sure knows how to throw a huge party. The moms night out performances and speakers were awesome!! I'm going to go through which workshops I went to with a brief overview of what I learned in each workshop.

Friday Workshops

Finding the Hero in Your Husband
by Dr. Juli Slattery
This was a great workshop in an area I need some work on. I am a self proclaimed control freak and its hard for me to give up control to my sweet hubby. I am a first born, what do you expect. So I found this workshop full of great info and tips on how to make my hubby the hero in my life.

Dr Juli explained the needs a wife has in a marriage: they need to feel valued and cherished and need to feel protected by their husbands.

She also explained what the husband needs are in the marriage: He needs to feel respected, he needs a companion/partner - help meet, and he needs sex.

It was important to hear about those fundamental needs for the wife and husband. It made me put my relationship into perspective. I had an "Aahaaa" moment in the classroom. I actually finally got it! Got what my husband needs from me. And I needed to stop being selfish. It had never been explained that way to me.

She also went over a ton of more stuff and here is a link to her book where she explains it ALL http://www.drjuliannaslattery.com/books.asp

Red Hot Monogamy
by Bill and Pam Farrel
Oooohhlaaaalaaaa.... This workshop was AMAZING!!! I loved it so much, I bought the book and the audio CD for my hubby, John to listen to. The speakers Bill and Pam are a married couple and they sure know what they are talking about. They could bring back the sizzle in any ones marriage. They gave ideas like:

taking 10-20 minutes out of your day (everyday) to just sit and chat about things other than the bills, kids or housework. Just talk to reconnect for that day.

invest in a weekly date night

monthly get away for 8-10 hours each month to really stop and focus on your husband

once a year escape for a 2 night getaway to remind each other of the precious love between a husband and a wife.

They also had a great list as to why marriages with Red Hot Monogamy are a gift:
Procreation, recreation, reconnection, rejuvenation and proclamation. So who wouldn't want to go to a workshop that was going to teach us how to spice up our marriages!!

When You feel like Screaming!! Help for frustrated Mothers!
by Sue Heimer
WooHoo!! Loved this one. Mrs Sue was a great speaker, she was just like a regular mom.
She assured us that screaming and yelling (even raising our voices) at our kids is a habit and it can be broke (hallelujah). It took a while to get to the point of yelling, so it might take a little while to break the habit of it, but it is doable with a few changes. Sue gave us a few tricks to break the screaming habit

be a confident, controlled mom - plan ahead, be prepared, stop rushing around, don't over book our social/school/sports calenders

balance - find a hobby for ourselves as women. Our lives don't always have to revolve around the kiddos. We should try to find something we like to do. And as we do, we are calmer and happier beings.

consistency - mean what you say and say what you mean. When the kids are not listening to you or they are being mouthy be consistent with the consequence/punishment. Kitchen timer when you want to give the kids a time limit to get something done and if they don't complete it before the time is up then they get a time out. When time out is completed, they go back and do the task they were originally asked to do. Swearing jar with coins for when the kids use a bad word money is taken out of the jar. those were her suggestions. And I think they were great ones.

Its important for us as parents to be compassionate to our children. When they do something that is not appropriate we need to deal with it, give them a consequence and when all is done, start fresh. Don't hold it against them. The Lords compassion's are new every morning.

She's Gonna Blow: Real help for Moms dealing with anger
by Julie Barnhill
This was one of the workshops I was looking most forward to. Mrs Barnhill went through the four types of anger moms go through. Some warning signs, reasons why we might be angry, and ways to help with getting rid of the anger. She was very candid in sharing her personal stories with the moms in the workshop. She was funny and very relatable.

Some advice I took away from this is when I am feeling overwhelmed and want to yell at my boys I should stop, speak very slowly and lower my tone of voice. And this way I cannot scream and yell like a crazy women. And always remember that God changes our hearts and we should pray for guidance on how to be the mom He wants us to be.

Mom's night out - with performances by GO Fish (gofishguys.com) and 4ever. And comedy act by Sally Baucke, she is such a barrel of laughs. This Moms night out had us up on our feet, singing, dancing and praising our Lord.

Pic of the Go Fish guys. Singing their awsome kids songs.

Saturday

Keeping your ducks in a relative Row
by Karen Ehman
This workshop was all about cleaning, organizing and de-junking your home, menu planning, grocery shopping. Basically getting your home set up to be a successful hub of your life. There was a lot of info in this workshop.

One of the things I LOVE LOVE LOVED about this workshop was Karen's suggestion about "speed cleaning" she had gotten from the founder of thecleanteam.com. basically having all the supplies your need on your body while cleaning the house from top to bottom. She wears this cleaning apron with a bunch of pockets and two loops on each side of the apron (right next to her hips) and those loops hold cleaning solutions such as Windex and Pledge. It was a genius idea, and I have no idea why I didn't think of it myself. I think this is going to be a HUGE time saver for me.

And I loved her idea of Mom's brain in a binder. Keeping all the families short term papers in a binder (such as kids permission slips, bday invites, class monthly schedules, etc) and in the binder you would have a folder for each person in the family. Everything is in this binder instead of on the counters, stuck to the fridge, in your purse.

I really could go on and on about this one.

From financially frantic to financially free
by Marybeth and Curt Whalen
Loved this one. Marybeth and Curt are very down to earth people whom I totally related to. They told their story and gave us great tips on how to start a budget and keep to it.
These 5 tips are the foundation to the success of seeking and keeping financial freedom:

Live with a budget (for the first time in our relationship, hubby and I started a budget in January and its going very well, not as hard as we thought...lol)

Get rid of credit cards (thankfully we have done this a long time ago)

Learn to be givers and to tithe - God asks that we give 10% of our paycheck. Kinda hard to think about giving that much, so pray about it. God will show you the way.

reduce spending - stop going out to eat, buy clothing at consignment shops/Goodwill, reduce your cable/Internet bill, etc.....

Keep a positive attitude, cuz it will be hard at times. Saying this will help: We Are Gonna Get Out of Debt!!!!

Discipline that connects with the Heart of Your Child
by Jim and Lynne Jackson
This workshop basically gave tips and ideas on how to discipline your kiddo's through love. And they gave some really detailed info on these four steps

foundation of discipline,

connection through love,

pro action learning and growing skills for each individual child,

correction which is the consequences to the benefit of each child.

There were lots of options for workshops, not just the ones I mentioned above. These above are the ones that I took personally.

I can pretty much sum this weekend up, by saying it was a great time!!! I will defiantly be going back next year. I feel rejuvenated, refreshed, and inspired to be a better wife and mommy. One of the best parts was my hubby, John had the entire house clean when I got home and had done a little grocery shopping too (Capri-sun's ☺). What a great guy he is!!! And thanks to him for keeping our little guys busy all weekend. Or should I say thanks to our little guys for keeping daddy busy!

Me and my sister Nikki at the H@H conference

I know this was a long one, but I had lots to say...
Have a blessed week,
Fran

MPM March 9-15

2009-03-09T09:05:00.006-05:00

Good morning and Happy Monday!! Once again is been a crazy busy week here and will continue to be busy. When does life every slow down. My boys have both been sick with colds on and off over the past two weeks.

I am slacking on my workouts, I only worked out twice last week (slap on wrist) but my goal is to get back to 5 times this week. I've lost a total of 12 pounds (yaaay!!!) and hope to lose an additional 13 before we leave for our trip.

So, now onto our menu for the week. I am challenging myself to make dinner with food that is already in my cabinets. I want to use up the food that has been in there for 3,4 or 5 months. Needless to say, I'll have to be a little more creative with my menu this week.

I am leaving for the Hearts at Home womens conference on Thursday and will be gone until Saturday evening. Thanks to my very sweet hubby for taking care of our home and children while I am gone. And I am going to try to keep the menu very simple, so he isn't slaving away in the kitchen making meals while I am gone.

Breakfasts
pancakes, berries
cereal and fruit
eng. muffin, eggwhite and veggie omlet

Lunches
Lean cuisines, tortilla chips or salad
BLT sammie cucumber, celery and ranch dip

Dinners
lemon chicken, rice and veggie
turkey sausage subs
homemade pizza, homemade bacon fries
meatloaf, mashed potatoes, greenbeans
pasta and meatballs, salad, and garlic bread
asian pork tenderloin, mashed potatos and seasoned green beans

Snacks
apple and peanut butter
popcorn
grapes and granola bar

Hope everyone has a blessed week. If you want more on MPM check out orgjunkie.com
Fran

Menu Plannin Monday (a day late) Feb 24- March 1st

2009-02-24T08:23:00.005-06:00

Good morning....What a beautiful morning it is today! I am down 2.0 this week ☺!! And...we only have 53 days until our vacation! Yaay!!

Lots have been going on around here, thats why I'm a little late with my menu planning. Last week was a busy week, my sister is moving into her new home, so I've been helping her get the new house cleaned and painted. I've met up with some old high school friends, to reconnect and catch up. Hubby and I went out for a much needed adult evening with some of our friends, had a great time at this local bar/restaurant. So, needless to say I totally forgot to post my menu yesterday.

Breakfasts
Multi-grain Cheerios and fruit 4 points
English muffin, egg white omelet with veggies and fruit 4 points
WW tomato toast w/cheese and berry smoothie 4 points
2 mini hash brown fritatta and fruit 5 points

lunches
lean cuisine and salad 7 points
skinny chimichanga, salad
BLT wrap, tortilla soup chip and salsa 7 points

Dinners
Bruschetta chicken, rice and veggie 12 points
ground turkey meatloaf, roasted cauliflower and mashed potatoes 10 points
chicken enchiladas, lemon cilantro rice, green beans 11 points
pork tenderloin, mashed cauliflower, dinner rolls, glazed carrots 10 points
Monterrey chicken, roasted Brussels sprouts, baked potato 11 points

If you want more info on MPM go to orgjunkie.com

Wishing everyone a very blessed and healthy week!!!
Fran

Menu planning monday Feb 16-22

2009-02-15T23:00:00.002-06:00

Well this has been another great week. I have continued on Weight Watchers and its working good. A little slower than I would like, but I can't expect to lose too fast. I am down another 2.6 pounds totalling 7 over the past two weeks.

Here is my menu for the week.
Breakfasts
Multi-grain Cheerios and fruit 4 points
English muffin, eggwhite omlet with veggies and fruit 4 points
WW tomato toast w/cheese and berry smoothie 4 points

Lunches
lean cuisine and salad 7 points
skinny chimichanga, salad
BLT wrap, tortilla soup chip and salsa 7 points

Dinners
homemade pizza, salad 8 points
southwest porkchops (I know again. But they are so delish) baked potato and green beans 11 points
asian pork tenderloin, rice, broccoli
chicken enchiladas (I ended up not making them last week) spanish rice, corn on the cob 12 points
meatload, mashed potatos, glazed carrots 11 points

Hope everyone has a wonderful week!!
Fran

Menu Planning Monday - Feb 9-15

2009-02-08T13:27:00.008-06:00

Last week was a great week for me to start eating healthy and working out daily. I lost 4.6 pounds since Monday! I worked out about 30 minutes on the elliptical machine every day. It sure helped that my hubby got me a new Ipod Touch. It makes my workout just fly by. I added some really upbeat Contemporary Christian music to my Ipod and it makes me want to complete my workout. I think I am going to step it up to 40 minutes per workout this week. I am trying to ease myself into it. When I got on my elliptical the first time, I could only do it for 6 minutes, so I have been working my way up over the past couple weeks. I feel fantabulous!!!! Well, here is my menu for the week. Some new stuff, again.

Monday
Bfast: 1c. Multigrain Cheerios (2 points), ½ c. 1% milk (1 ), orange (.5 )
Lunch: lean cuisine (6 points), salad with dressing (1)
Snack: apple (1 point) and 1 tsp peanut butter (1 point)
Dinner: Lasagna (6pnt) , salad & dressing (1pnt) , crispy twists (1 pnt),zucchini fries (2 pts for 8 fries)
Snack: popcorn - 3 cups 94% fat free (2 points)
Total points: 24.5

Tuesday
Bfast: Eng. muffin (2 points) Egg white omelet with veggie filling (1) fruit (1)
Lunch: BLT wraps (3 pnts) and tortilla soup (0pnts), chips and salsa (4)
Snack: apple (1) and peanut butter (1)
Dinner: WW chicken pot pie (6.5), corn on the cob (1), miracle mashies (2) snack: 1/2 c pretzels (1.5), FF chocolate pudding (.5)
Total points: 24.5

Wednesday
Bfast: WW tomato toast (2), smoothie (2)
Lunch: Lean Cuisine (6), salad with dressing (1)
snack: apple (1) and peanut butter (1)
Dinner: Mexican stuffed shells (3 pnts per shell) (6) , cilantro and lemon rice (4), roasted Brussels sprouts (2)
snack: piece of fruit (.5)
Total points: 25.5

Thursday
Bfast: 2 mini Ham, cheese, veggie frittata (4), 1/2 banana (1)
Lunch: skinny chimichanga (4), 18 baked tortilla chips (3) and 1/2 c salsa (1)snack: 1/2 banana (1)
Dinner: 4 oz Steak with roasted garlic and chili rub (3pnts), baked potato (3), seasoned green beans (1)
snack: 1/2 c pretzels (1.5) , fat free choc pudding (.5)
Total points: 23

Friday
Bfast: 1c. Multigrain Cheerios (2 points), ½ c. 1% milk (1 ), orange (.5 )
Lunch: BLT wraps (3 pnts) and tortilla soup (0pnts), chips and salsa (4)
snack: apple (1) and peanut butter (1)
Dinner: 1.5 Southwest Pork chops (6), miracle mashies (3) , broccoli
snack: popcorn- 3 cups (2 points)
Total points - 23.5

Saturday
Bfast: WW tomato toast (2), smoothie (2)
Lunch:
Dinner: Eggplant parm (3), baked beef ziti (5), crispy cheesy bread twist (1)Total points:

Sunday
Bfast: 2 pieces of French toast w/ butter (3), syrup (1), fruit (1)
Lunch:
Dinner: WW Chicken enchiladas x 2 (8 points), rice (4), veggie
Total points:

For more info on MPM check out orgjunkie.com for more info.
Have a healthy week!!

Weight Watchers recipes from this weeks menu. Enjoy!

2009-02-02T14:08:00.001-06:00

Here are some of the recipe from this weeks menu. Enjoy!
This is the first time I am making these recipes, so I am unable to review them yet.

Loaded Bacon and Cheddar Fries #207299
originally found on WW site. This recipe make ones serving

and is 6 points
by Parrot Head Mama
35 min 5 min prep
SERVES 1
1 medium baking potato
cooking spray
1/4 cup low-fat cheddar cheese or colby cheese
2 tablespoons bacon bits
2-3 tablespoons fat free sour cream
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Scrub potato and rinse.
Cut potato into 1/2" strips, leaving skin on.
Spray baking sheet with cooking spray.
Place potato strips on baking sheet, skin side down.
Bake for 20 minutes, then turn potatoes and bake additonal 15 minutes.
Top fries with cheese and sprinkle with bacon bits.
Return baking sheet to oven for a minute to melt the cheese.
Add optional dollop of sour cream to top or on the side.
Nutri info per serving: Calories: 196 Fat: 2.5 Dietary Fiber: 2.5

WW Crisp and Spicy Cheese Twists #272806

This is from a Weight Watchers cookbook called Simple Goodness. Use a pizza cutter to cut strips more easily. I freeze them in zip lock bags and heat in the microwave about 20 to 30 second. 1 Point per twist
by TeresaS
23 min 15 min prep
SERVES 16
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon paprika
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 (10 ounce) can pizza dough, refrigerated (Pillsbury)
butter-flavored cooking spray
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Combine first 3 ingredients in a samll bowl; stir well, and set aside.
Unroll pizza dough, and roll into a 12 x 8 inch rectangle.
Lightly coat suface of dough with cooking spray, and sprinkle with 2 tablespoons cheese mixture.
Fold dough in half to form an 8 x 6 inch rectangle.
Lightly coat surface of dough with cooking spray, and sprinkle with remaining cheese mixture.
Using fingertips, press cheese mixture into dough.
Cut dough into 16 (8-inch-long strips.
Gently pick up both ends of each strip, and twist dough.
Place twisted strips of dough 1/2 inch apart on a large baking sheet coated with cooking spray.
Bate at 425 degrees for 8 minutes or until lightly browned.
Remove twists from pan, and let cool on wire racks.
Nutri info per serving: Calories: 73 Fat: 1.4 Dietary Fiber: 1

Au Gratin potatoes

If you are not on the WW program you might want to adjust amounts to taste, for Weight Watchers this dish is 8 servings/3 points each serving :)
by KITTENCAL
1¾ hours 20 min prep
SERVES 8
1 tablespoon butter
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1-2 tablespoon flour
2 cups nonfat milk
2 lbs potatoes, thinly sliced
1 cup shredded low-fat cheese
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Heat oven to 375 degrees.
Coat a 2-quart baking dish with cooking spray.
Melt butter in a large frypan over medium heat; add in onion and cook stirring occasionally until onion begins to brown (about 5 minutes).
Stir in flour, then slowly add in milk.
Add in potatoes; stir to mix; bring to a boil.
Stir in 3/4 cup cheese, salt and black pepper.
Pour mixture into prepared baking dish then spread out.
Bake for 1 hour uncovered.
After 1 hour cooking time cover with foil and continue to bake another 20 minutes more.
Change oven to broil heat.
Sprinkle the remaining cheese over potatoes and broil 6-inches from heat until the cheese is golden (about 1-2 minutes).
Cool 5 minutes before serving.
Nutri info per serving: Cal 159 Fat: 2.8 Dietary fiber: 2.7

Chili Beef Enchiladas

From WW Cook It Quick . If you don't use fat free tortillas, then you need to add an additional 2 points per serving. if you use Fat free tortillas
by mariposa13
18 min 10 min prep
SERVES 4
1/2 lb 90% lean ground beef (10% or less fat)
1 small onion, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 (4 ounce) can diced green chilies, drained
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 (8 inch) fat free tortillas
3/4 cup reduced-fat cheddar cheese
1/2 cup nonfat sour cream
1 large tomato, diced
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
Preheat oven to 400*F.
In large nonstick skillet, cook beef, onion, and garlic, breaking apart beef with wooden spoon.
Stir in chiles, chili powder, salt, and 1/4 cup water, cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid evaporates.
Place 2 of the tortillas on baking sheet, top with beef mixture, then sprinkle evenly with cheese.
Top with remaining 2 tortillas, pressing lightly.
Bake until cheese melts, about 8 minute.
Let stand 5 minute.
Cut each quesadilla in half, then cut each half into 3 wedges.
Top with sour cream, tomato, and cilantro and serve.

Southwestern Pork Chops #295945

Out of an old 1998 WW cookbook called "15 Minute Cookbook" I have this marked as "great". If you don't care for the strong lemon like flavor of cilantro you can substitute parsley if you prefer. This is great served with black beans, pineapple wedges and fresh strawberries. Hope you enjoy! 4 points per chop
by TeresaS
15 min 2 min prep
SERVES 4
vegetable oil cooking spray
4 (4 ounce) boneless pork loin chops, lean and trimmed
1/3 cup salsa (I like hot)
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped (or parsley)
Coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray; place over high heat until hot.
Press chops with palm of hand to flatten slightly; add to skillet and cook 1 minute on each side or until browned.
Reduce heat to medium-low.
Combine salsa and lime juice; pour over chops.
Simmer, uncovered, 8 minutes or until chops are done.
If desired, sprinkle chops with cilantro.
Nutri info per serving: Cal: 171 Fat: 6.7 Fiber: .4

Monterey Chicken
This is a delicious very healthy chicken recipe. It is a favorite in our household. I usually serve it with a baked potato or rice. 6 POINTS Servings 4 recipe is from cookingcache.com
by couponmommy123
45 min 15 min prep
SERVES 4 , 4 chicken breasts
4 (5 ounce) boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/4 cup barbecue sauce
1/4 cup hormel real bacon bits
1 cup 2% colby-monterey jack cheese, shredded
1 (14 ounce) can rotel, drained (Diced Tomatoes with Green Chilies)
sliced green onion
pampered chef southwest seasoning
Preheat oven to 400°F Pound out the chicken breasts to flatten. Season each with a little southwest seasoning . Cook the chicken in a skillet sprayed with non-stick cooking spray over medium-low heat until no longer pink. Place each breast onto a baking sheet and top each breast with 1 tablespoon of barbeque sauce, 1/4 cup cheese, 1/4 cup Rotel tomatoes, green onions and 1 tablespoon of bacon bits. Place into the oven and bake until the cheese has melted (about 5 minutes).

Menu Planning Monday Feb 2- Feb 8

2009-01-31T23:01:00.016-06:00

Well times sure does fly by when you're havin' fun!!! And that is what we have been having lately. I have been keeping busy planning our family vacation to St. Augustine Florida and Disney World (my favorite place on earth).

I have been slacking on eating healthy lately, so I have decided to go back to Weight Watchers. My menu plan is going to look a little differant this time, cuz I am going to add the points value for each meal. It will help me keep on track with WW. I am excited to get back to eating healthy and working out.

I am trying a lot of new reicipes for dinner this week that I found on recipezaar.com. I will post the recipes soon.

Monday
Bfast: 1c. Multigrain Cheerios (2 points), ½ c. 1% milk (1 ), orange (.5 )
Lunch: lean cuisine (6 points), salad with dressing (1),
Snack: apple (1 point) and 1 tsp peanut butter (1 point)
Dinner: Montery chicken (6), augratin potatoes (3), roasted brussel sprouts (2)

Snack: popcorn - 3 cups 94% fat free (2 points)
Total points: 24.5

Tuesday
Bfast: Eng. muffin (2 points) Egg white omelet with veggie filling (1) fruit (1)
Lunch: Monte Cristo sammie (6 points), salad with dressing (1)
snack: apple (1) and peanut butter (1)
Dinner: Eggplant parm (3), baked beef ziti (5), crispy cheesy bread twist (1)
snack: 1/2 c pretzels (1.5), FF chocolate pudding (.5)
Total points: 25

Wednesday
Bfast: 1c. Multigrain Cheerios (2 points), ½ c. 1% milk (1 ), orange (.5 )
Lunch: Lean Cuisine (6), salad with dressing (1)
snack: apple (1) and peanut buter (1)
Dinner: Deep dish pizza casserole (6), salad with dressing (1), unfried Fries (3)
snack: Special K cereal bar (2), fruit (.5)
Total points: 25

Thursday
Bfast: 2 mini Ham, cheese, veggie frittata (4), 1/2 banana (1)
Lunch: skinny chimichanga (4), 18 baked tortilla chips (3) and 1/2 c salsa (1)
snack: 1/2 banana (1)
Dinner: 1.5 Southwest Pork chops (6), miracle mashies (3) , broccoli
snack: 1/2 c pretzels (1.5) , fat free choc pudding (.5)
Total points: 25

Friday
Bfast: 1c. Multigrain Cheerios (2 points), ½ c. 1% milk (1 ), orange (.5 )
Lunch: lean cuisine (6), salad and dressing (1)
snack: apple (1) and peanut butter (1)
Dinner: Sausage and peppers hero (6), loaded bacon cheddar fries (6), green beans
snack: popcorn- 3 cups (2 points)
Total points - 26.5

Saturday
Bfast: 2 mini Ham, cheese and veggie frittata (4), fruit (1)
Lunch:
Dinner: chicken pot pie (6.5), baked potato (3), veggie
Total points:

Sunday
Bfast: 2 pieces of French toast w/ butter (3), syrup (1), fruit (1)
Lunch:
Dinner: Beef chili enchiladas (8), seasoned green beans (1), 1/2 c rice (2)
Total points:

Everyday: coffee with 4 tsp. fat free french vanilla creamer - 1 point
fresh brewed iced tea - 0 points
salad dressing options: light italian - 1 point,
1 tsp. olive oil & 2 tsp balsamic vineger - 1 point

If you want to check out more about MPM go to orgjunkie.com.

Have a great week
Fran

OAMC part III

2008-12-23T09:03:00.003-06:00

We did our OAMC again on November 8th. This time I recruited my sister, Nikki to do it with me. And of course, she loved it and has been asking me ever since, if we could plan another cooking day.

Here is Nikki cooking. We sure did make a mess that day. But messes are easy to clean up. I could not believe t he amount of food we cooked. Lets see if I can remember some of the stuff we cooked (its been well over a month since our cooking day)

Chili - 4 ziploc bags each

beef stew - 3 bags each

chicken roll ups - 12 each

breaded chicken breasts - 15 each

dump swiss steak - 2 bags each

meat loaf - 2 loaves each

meatballs - 18 each

marinara sauce - 3 bags each

seasoned green beans

mashed potatoes

in total we got 18 main meals each and 6 side dishes. So we ended up spending about 7.80 per main meal. That is for a family of four or five. My sister has a family of five, so when we filled all the baggies, we made sure to put enough in for a family of five. That comes out to 1.56 per person. WOW, that is amazing to me. I love it!!!!

I am so thankful my sister enjoyed the cooking day. Cuz, I am totally addicted to it. We are going to try to do another OAMC day the second week of January.

I had to add this pic of my boys, Justin and Jason. They were at the house all day while we cooked. And they were so well behaved and such good helpers. Thanks boys!!

Have a blessed day,
Fran

Menu Plan Monday Dec 1 - Dec 7

2008-12-01T12:36:00.007-06:00

So I haven't posted my meal plans in a while, but my laptop is in the shop getting a new mother board. And I am posting on my hubby's PC, which is so much different from my laptop. But thankfully I have this to keep me busy....like two 5 year olds don't keep me busy enough. I still menu plan, even if I don't post it here on my blog. Yeah, I know Nikki (my sister) I am a nut case for doing all this menu planning, but it sure does keep me organized. I will have you converted one of these days.

Monday -

Bfast - cereal

Lunch - noodles, muffins and pudding

Dinner - beercan chicken (this is my first time trying this) roasted potatoes and roasted Brussels sprouts

Tuesday -
Bfast - waffles & strawberry jam, oranges

lunch - PB&J sammie, celery with PB and grapes

Dinner - cheeseburgers, garlic fries, corn on the cob

Wednesday
bfast - smoothie and cereal bar

lunch - cheese quesadilla and oranges

dinner - meatloaf, mushroom gravy, mashed potatoes, corn

Thursday
bfast - eggs, bacon and toast

lunch - mini pepperoni pizza's and grapes

Dinner - not sure yet

Friday
bfast - pancakes with blueberries

lunch - chicken tenders, chips and fruit

Dinner - order pizza

Sat
bfast - cereal, fruit, yogurt

lunch - blt sammies, homemade garlic fries

Dinner - Asian pork tenderloin, fried rice and broccoli

Sunday

bfast - egg and breakfast meat casserole

lunch -

Dinner - pasta, chicken parm, salad

If you want to get some great ideas on menu planning, check out orgjunkie.com.

Have a blessed week!!
Fran

So bummed

2008-12-01T12:11:00.005-06:00

I miss my laptop!!! I had to take it in to be repaired and I am missing her desperately. The guy at the Geek Squad desk said he thinks the video card in the mother board went bad, so the mb will need to be replaced.

Thankfully it is under warranty, get this....I only had 16 more days left on my warranty. WOW, I would have been really bummed if my warranty was up and I had to pay for it myself. I might be paying for an extended warranty because I have had so many problems with my laptop. And I don't want to be in this situation in the future and not have a warranty.

So, now I wait and in the mean time I am using my hubby's desk top. I am thankful to have this, I cannot even imagine what I would do without any computer at all. I wonder what we did, back in the day, when we didn't have the Internet. I guess we kept ourselves busy doing productive things....lol

Those are my thoughts for the day!
Have a great one.
Fran

Cool!!!

2008-10-28T13:34:00.004-05:00

Check out this digital scrapbook that I made. This is the first one I have made, and its so much fun. Very addicting!!!!

here are a couple more digi-scrapbook pages that I created tonight.

Menu Planning Monday - Oct 27-Nov 2

2008-10-26T21:17:00.007-05:00

Life has been so busy, I haven't had a chance to post my menu plans for the past two weeks. Well I'm back with a couple of new recipes. One recipe I have made once and it was soooo delicious, that's the Bruschetta Chicken bake. My husband, John said it was the best meal I ever made. I was raving about it to my family and my sister made it for a dinner party she had with her BFF Jacqui and they LOVED it too. I even think my Gram is going to try this recipe too. Hope you like it Gram!!! I will post the new recipes at the end of this post.

Breakfasts
cereal, fruit, yogurt
eggs, bacon, fruit
french toast, yogurt, fruit
pancakes, jello, fruit

Lunches
PB&J sammies, bananas
cheese quesadillas, orange, pudding - I might change up these and add ham and cheese
mac n cheese, jello, pears
chicken nuggets, fries, apples

Dinners
bruschetta chicken bake, baked Ziti (from our OAMC day), broccoli
lemon garlic chicken, lemon rice pilaf, seasoned green beans
pasta and meatballs, garlic bread
meatloaf, mashed potatoes, corn
roasted whole chicken, roasted potatoes, glazed carrots
asian pork tenderloin, fried rice, roasted Brussels sprouts
Italian style green peppers and pork chops, mashed potatoes

here is the Bruschetta Chicken bake recipe
40 min 10 min prep
SERVES 4 , 4 pieces of chicken
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup egg substitute or 2 eggs
4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (1 pound)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup dry breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon butter, melted
2 large tomatoes, seeded and chopped
3 tablespoons minced fresh basil or 1 1/2 T dried basil
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Place flour and eggs in separate shallow bowls. Dip chicken in flour, then in eggs; place in a greased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking dish. Combine the Parmesan cheese, bread crumbs and butter; sprinkle over chicken. Loosely cover baking dish with foil. Bake at 375° for 20 minutes. Uncover; bake 5-10 minutes longer or until top is browned.

Meanwhile, in a bowl, combine the remaining ingredients. Spoon over the chicken. Return to the oven for 3-5 minutes or until tomato mixture is heated through. Yield: 4 servings.

and here is the
Lemon Garlic Chicken recipe.

I haven't tried this yet, but it got great reviews on recipezaar.com

3¼ hours 15 min prep
SERVES 6

2 lbs chicken breast halves
1 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon seasoning salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1/4 cup water
3 tablespoons lemon juice
3 cloves garlic (more or less to taste)
1 teaspoon chicken bouillon granule
1 teaspoon minced parsley

Remove excess skin and fat from chicken, rinse and pat dry.

In a small bowl combine oregano, seasoned salt and pepper, rub mixture onto chicken using all of the mixture.
In a large skillet over medium heat brown chicken in the butter.

Transfer chicken to slow cooker.
To the skillet add the water, lemon juice, garlic and chicken bouillon.
Stirring over medium heat bring mixture to a boil, loosening browned bits from the bottom of the skillet.
Pour over Chicken, cover and cook on high for 2 1/2 to 3 hours or on low for 5 to 6 hours until chicken is almost tender.
Add parsley Cover and cook on high for 15-30 minutes more!

Seasoned green beans
15 min 5 min prep
SERVES 6 , 1 side dish
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 chopped green onion
1 sweet pepper, chopped
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 (20 ounce) package frozen green beans
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese (optional)

combine everything in bowl, then place in freezer bag. leave cheese out, place in smaller bag. heat skillet to med-high and saute with 2 T water for about 8-10 min until all is bright tender. transfer to platter, sprinkle with cheese if desired.
OR.
roast on baking sheet 475 until browned, about 10-15 min., then add cheese if desired.
I always roast them in the oven. They are so delish!!!

Check out orgjunkie.com for other MPM ideas.

Have a wonderful week
Fran

Twitter

2008-10-21T10:57:00.001-05:00

Do you Twitter? Check out Twitter.com

https://twitter.com/shelby1232

Have a great day!!
Fran

Menu Planning Mondays! Oct 6 - 12

2008-10-06T09:14:00.003-05:00

This is the second week I am trying this new format for the weekly meal planning. In previous weeks, I would specifically decide what meal we eat when. This time I am trying to be a little more spontaneous. But I still don't know if I like it. I was so used to the other way, but I thought I would try it again this week. Who knows, maybe I will end up liking doing it this way.

Breakfasts
Cereal and fruit
muffins and yogurt
pancakes, fruit and yogurt
french toast, fruit smoothie
eggs, bacon, hash browns and toast

Lunches
Homemade chicken tenders and garlic fries
grilled cheese sandwich with carrots and green peppers
PB&J sammies and bananas
quesadillas and green beans

Dinners

oregano chicken, rice and broccoli
shredded chicken tacos
bruschetta chicken, Brussels sprouts
crock pot lemon garlic chicken, green beans, rice pilaf
chili mac and beer bread
meat loaf, mashed potatoes, carrots
swiss steak, maches potatos, green beans

For more great ideas and to post your own menu planning go to orgjunkie.com.

Everyone, have a wonderful week!!!
Fran

OAMC part Deux DONE!!!

2008-09-30T19:05:00.009-05:00

Jaime putting chicken parm in her food saver bags.

We had our second Once a Month cooking marathon on Sunday at it was a complete success. There were four of us this time, me, Lisa H., Anna and Jaime. We recruited my SIL Jaime, and she did a GREAT job!!! I think we have her hooked on this OAMC way of life. I sure know that I am hooked, it makes life sooooo much easier. We did really well this time we made

Chili - 6 batches
Stuffed peppers - 30 (10 each)
Lasagna - 3 pans
Dump lime chicken - 3 batches
Dump chicken w/ veggies - 3 batches
Chicken parm - 3 batches
Dump swiss steak - 6 batches
Beef stew - 6 batches
Baked ziti - 6 pans
Chicken tenders 1 bag of 25 each
garlic fries - one big bag each

Lisa H. showing off her 1/3 of the meals we prepared that day
This didn't even include the 2 pans of stuffed peppers and pan of lasagna

We ended up making about 18 meals each. Again its going to be a huge time saver over the next month to have all these meals just sitting waiting in my freezer.

So you ask, how much did it cost us to make all these dinners??? Well I would be glad to answer that. It was approximately $7.75 per meal to feed a family of four. Some of the meals I will add a veggie and/or a starch to, but most of the meals have everything I need all in the freezer bag or pan.

So, on the financial end of this OAMC, it is a smart way to go. You have the meals all paid for and just waiting in the freezer. So it cuts down on my weekly grocery bill, because I have these meals already prepared. I would say I use the OAMC meals about 4 times a week and three times a week I cook other non-prepared meals.

Whats next for us, well, in December, we are going to have a huge baking day where we are going to bake Christmas cookies and goodies. And we're going to make jams and jellies.

And I am so excited to share my next OAMC day in November with my sister, Nikki. We are going to have so much fun! I will keep you all posted on that OAMC day.

I hope I have inspired you to try this way of cooking, its so much fun, lots and lots of work, but soooo worth it in the end!!!

Have a wonderful week.
Fran

Amish Friendship bread

2008-09-23T11:42:00.010-05:00

pics of Jason and Justin mixing the batter up.

Amish Friendship bread (AFB)

The boys and I made our second batch of AFB. This time we made the original Cinnamon recipe, we made them into muffins and we made a banana nut variation into a cake pan. They both are delish!!!

Here is a pic of our finished product, as you can see the boys had two muffins right away!

Here is some information about it. Its really fun to change up the different recipes. I have tried it with the original cinnamon and have tried it with bananas and nuts. they both are yummy!!

This is more than a recipe - it's a way of thinking. In our hi-tech world almost everything comes prepackaged and designed for instant gratification. So where does a recipe that takes ten days to make fit in? Maybe it's a touch stone to our past - to those days not so very long ago when everything we did took time and where a bread that took 10 days to make was not as extraordinary as it seems today.

Amish Friendship Bread is a great bread for the holidays. When you've made your bread, you can give your friends a sample and the starter that made it! Then your friends can make their own and pass it along to their friends. This is why the bread is called "friendship bread". It makes a great homemade birthday and Christmas present. Church groups and hospitals have spread a lot of love and cheer by making Amish Friendship Bread for their members. Many people make it regularly just because it tastes so good!

Amish Friendship Bread is a genuine starter bread. If you know someone with a starter, you are in luck. For those of you without access to a starter, we've done our research and found a great option. It's a special starter in powder form that can be activated with flour and water; it's safe, very inexpensive and we can send it to you. (from airmchair.com)

In case anyone was wondering, here is the nutritional information for the AFB
approximate Nutritional Information
Amish Friendship Bread

Servings Per Recipe: 30

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 130

Total Fat: 5.6g
Cholesterol: 22mg
Sodium: 89mg
Total Carbs: 18.3g
Dietary Fiber: 0.3g
Protein: 1.9g

So if one of your friends or family members hands you a Ziploc baggie with batter in it, take it with a smile. Its fun to make. Its not a burden. Take the time to teach your kiddos to bake, learning how to measure, pouring, cracking open an egg and taste testing is so much fun for them and you too!

Have a great day.
Fran
"Live simply, not just simply live"

OAMC part Deux

2008-09-23T00:31:00.005-05:00

We are doing our Once a Month Cooking day again on September 28th. I am so excited, we recruited my sister in law, Jaime. She was so interested in it, we didn't even have to talk her into doing it with us. Lisa H. and I are becoming the masters at OAMC. I love the planning aspect of OAMC, there is quite a bit that goes into planning a OAMC day. You have to decide what recipes you are going to make, then convert all the ingredients, as you have to sometimes quadruple the recipes, pick your date, make the grocery list (as in our case, lists, cuz we divide up the list between all the OAMC chefs), and much more.

So, here are the reciepes we are going to tackle this time.

Dump lime chicken
Beef stew
chili
stuffed green peppers
lasagna
dump chicken with potatoes, carrots and zucchini
dump swiss steak (again, we loved it the first time, so this is a repeat)
chicken roll ups (another repeat, yummo!)

chicken tenders
garlic fries
mashed potatoes

At the end of our cooking day we will have over 20 main meals each, approx 40 chicken tenders, tons of fries and at least 3 bags of mashed potatoes. If you ask me that is so worth cooking for an entire day. If you can have at least 20 days of no cooking during the next month....woohoo!!! I love Once a Month Cooking ☺
Wish us luck.
I will post recipes another day, its way past midnight and I am so tired.
Good night.
Fran

Menu Planning Monday Sept 22- Sept 28

2008-09-22T09:42:00.007-05:00

Good morning,
Happy Monday!! ☺ This week I am trying a new recipe that looks sooo delish. Organizing Junkie's MPM is Family Favorite edition. So I am also adding my families favorite dinner, and wow, we havne't had this meal in at least a month. I feel like I am depriving my family.

I have organized it a little differant this week. I think its going to work better for me.

Breakfasts
cereal and fruit
cereal and yogurt
eggs and bacon
french toast and strawberries
pancake puffs, fuit and S/F pudding

Lunches
homemade chicken nuggets and fries
cheese quasadillas, veggies and ranch dip

mac and cheese and broccoli
chicken noodle soup with crackers and oranges
grilled cheese

Dinners
Beef Stew with dinner rolls
bruschetta chicken with broccoli and pasta
oregano Chicken - one of my families Fav's
slow cooker swiss steak w/ potatoes and carrots
chimichangas and spanish rice - recipe from Guy Fieri Hot off the Grill on Food Network
pasta and meatballs, salad and garlic toast - another family fav
asian pork tenderloin, rice and roasted brussel sprouts

Well thats all, until next week!

For more great ideas and to post your own menu planning go to orgjunkie.com.

Have a blessed week!
Fran

Our Disney World adventure Part 3

2008-09-05T14:30:00.000-05:00

The final installment of our Disney trip is finally done.

And its all about our time IN Disney.

The above pics were taken by a Photopass photographer
at the Epcot Character meet and greet

I found these great pics of Port Orleans Riverside - Alligator Bayou section, on the DISboards.com message boards. So I thought I would post them, so you can see where we stayed.

Pic of Alligator Bayou section of Port Orleans Riverside resort.

Our room was in the second building in this pic.

This was the view from our room and my smoking bench

that I sat at every morning and evening. What a beautiful view.

It was such a beautiful place, the landscape and grounds were so beautifully rustic and peaceful. Daily, our boys fed the birds, ducks, bunnies and even tried to feed an iguana one day. POR Riverside has so many fun things to do right on the property: horse drawn carriage rides, boats and bicyles made for four people you can rent and drive them around the resort. So much fun!!

Here is some basic info about Port Orleans Riverside
Total Number of rooms: 2048

Room size: 315 Sq Ft.

The great things about Port Orleans Resort is that your have access to seven different pools and two water slides. In addition to the bus transportation, resort guests can use the water taxi to make their way to the Downtown Disney. The overall southern theme and beautiful landscaping sets it apart from any other moderate resort on Disney property. I have also stayed at the Caribbean Beach Resort, which is also a moderate resort and we love it there also. They are two totally different themed resorts with similar amenities. They are both fairly large resorts and there is alot of walking to do between food court or pool and your room. I would stay at both POR and Caribbean again and again.

Enough said about the resort now onto our fun filled 8 days in Disney.

Day one- On our arrival day we just hung out at our resort, got settled in, explored the resort and had dinner at Boatwrights restaurant, the food was delicious.

Day two - We got up and spent the morning and all afternoon at Magic Kingdom. We went through Main Street USA, Liberty Square and Fantasy Land. The boys rode rides (some they rode several times in a row ☺) - It's a Small World, Tea cups, Haunted Mansion, Cinderella's Carousal, Dumbo the flying elephant.
That evening we got dressed and jumped on the boat to Downtown Disney where we had dinner ressies at Capt'n Jacks restaurant, again the food was delish. We shopped at the toys store, Once upon a Toy Store, the Lego store, Mickey's mart (everything is 10.00 or under), and the World of Disney store. We had a great time in DTD.

Day three- As we got up that AM with anticipation to go to Typhoon Lagoon water park, one of our boys had a bad accident in the room. As John and I were walking out the door, the boys were so excited they were jumping on the bed and Jason fell off and hit his little noggin on the wood bed rail. My poor baby was bleeding everywhere, so we took him to a pediatric clinic where he got stitches.

After we were all done at the clinic, we headed back to the resort to relax for the day. But Jason would not have that, we were in Disney and he wanted to be on the run going, going and going. So we asked him where he wanted to go, he said "Magic Kingdom, for sure" So there we went and spent the entire evening until 1:00am there. We went on tons of rides, spent alot of time in Toontown at Mickey and Minnie's houses, rode Goofy's Barnstormer, and all the other rides we had rode the day before. This time we headed to Tomorrowland and rode the Buzzlight year ride, Monsters Inc laugh floor, Tomorrowland Speedway.
We ate at Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe, we had BBQ Ribs and chicken, it was very tasty. Really cute set up in there, there was a puppet like character playing music and singing. Jason was really afraid of that, so we ran through that seating area and found a different place to sit.

Day Four- Off to Epcot we went to meet up with John's entire family. We hung with them for a little while and took a few really cute pics of all of us. We parted ways, so we could get to our first character meal at the Garden Grill. We met, Mickey, Pluto, Chip and Dale. It was tons of fun and the food was good, John LOVED the food. The characters spent alot of time with our boys. Chip came by and tickled Justin til Justin practically fell of his chair ☺, it was so cute. And of course, Justin got up and tickled Chip right back, it made for some really cute pics. Oh and Mickey Mouse was obsessed with Johns tattoos, he could not get over how many Johnny had. I got a cute pic of Mickey pointing at Johns tats. The cool thing about the Garden Grill restaurant is it rotates. We didn't realize it at first and after we were sitting there for about 15 minutes, John said, whoa, the floor is spinning. It was so funny.

After lunch we went on some rides, we rode the Living with the Land boat ride, The Seas with Finding Nemo, Turtle Talk with Crush, Soarin, Test Track, and Innovations West. We had a blast at Epcot. And then we ended our time at Epcot at the Character connection and met, Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy and Dale. It was amazing, we got family pics with each character and got pics of just the boys with each character. Fun Fun Fun!!!!! I just LOVE Disney!!

That evening we met John's family at MGM and hung out, had ice cream and did some shopping. The kids played and had tons of fun with these cool Mickey Mouse light sabers.

Day 5 - I can't for the life of me remember what we did during the day. But I remember we had an early dinner at the restaurant, Boatwrights at our resort.
And we went to Epcot in the evening to ride Soarin and Test track again and watch their fireworks. We found a perfect spot and saw everything perfect. This is one of John's favorite things in Disney, he loves the Epcot fireworks.

Day 6 - Was not so great for me, as I was sick with the stomach flu. But Johnny took the kids to Magic Kingdom with his family and they spent the morning and afternoon there, having a great time. Going on rides with their cousins. They got Jason to go on Pirates of the Caribbean, which was a huge accomplishment, since he had been saying for months that he would NOT go on POTC. He loved it!!!!
After a long day at MK, we ended the day by ordering pizza to our room and swimming in the resort pool.

Day 7 - Animal Kingdom - We got up early that morning to make it to our character meal at 8:30. We went to the Donald's Safari Breakfast to meet Donald, Mickey, Daisy, and Goofy. What a blast that was, it was so interactive, the characters grabbed all the kids and gave them musical instruments and they all paraded and danced around the room. It was a blast!!! We will definitely be going there again next time we go to Disney. The food was great!!! They had this Jungle Juice, it was soooo delish.
We rode some great rides and saw some cool attractions here. We took the Kilimanjaro safari ride, saw its tough to be a bug, rode the Triceratops spin, and played in the boneyard.
We ended our day at Magic Kingdom to see Spectromagic parade. That was amazing, so many lights and you get to see tons of characters. We rode all our favorite rides again, Buzz Lightyear, Pirates of the Caribbean, the teacups, Its a Small World, and soo many more. It was a great way to finish out our trip as this was our last full day in Disney.

Day 8 - We got all packed up and ready to leave. And headed out to meet the Gottfried Gang at Hollywood Studios (formerly MGM) to see the Lights, Action, Motor Stunt show. That was awesome, the kids loved seeing the fast cars, cars driving in revise, the motorcycles and jet skis speeding around. It was a nice way to end the trip. After that, we headed back to the resort to grab our bags and get on the Magical Express bus to go to the airport.

All in all, we had a fantastically, wonderful, amazing, perfectly, magical trip!!!! I hope to get back there sometime in the next year and a half. I am trying to convince John, we need to go back next December so we can see all the holiday decorations and lights. We will see??!!!!

That's it!! I am finally done...
Have a great day.
Fran

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JASON AND JUSTIN

2008-09-01T11:18:00.002-05:00

Happy birthday Justin and Jason. I can't believe our boys are 5 years old. It is so amazing how time goes by so quickly. It seems like just yesterday I was rushing to the hospital after my waterbag broke. August 28th was the happiest day of my life!!!

Menu Plan Monday - Aug 25-Sept 1

2008-08-24T22:39:00.003-05:00

Monday
B - cereal and yogurt
L - chicken nuggets and fries
D - stuffed green peppers

Tuesday
B - french toast and fruit
L - cheese and ham quesadillas
D - chicken parm, broccoli and garlic bread

Wednesday
B - scrambled eggs and bacon
L - mac n cheese and veggies
D - Dump Swiss Steak (CP)

Thursday
B - pancakes
L - BLT sammie
D - Asian pork tederloin, green beans and rice

Friday

B - toad in a hole and yogurt
L - grilled cheese sammie and fruit salad
D - pizza bread and italian style green beans

Saturday-
B - eggs, bacon, toast, fruit salad
L - homemade chicken nuggets and fries
D- order in

Sunday - Justin and Jason's bday party
Breakfast - cereal and fruit
Lunch - Sammie and veggies
Dinner - BBQ pork sandwiches and Pepperchini Beef sandwiches

For more great menu ideas, head on over to I'm an Organizing Junkie for Menu Planning Mondays.

Have a blessed week.
Fran

Lacie Lou of Easy Street

2008-08-24T11:03:00.004-05:00

Happy 7th Birthday Lacie!!!!

Isn't she just so dang cute!!!!

She is such a good girl!!!

Our Disney World 2008 Adventure Part 2

2008-08-19T15:11:00.017-05:00

Click here for part 1 of our adventure.

I know you all were sitting at the edge of your seats waiting for part 2. So, here we go.

All our planning was done, all three of our huge suitcases were packed, all four of our carry on bags were packed and we were ready to go. We had cut the last link in our Countdown to Disney chain the night before. The alarm went off at 4:00am on that very gloomy and misty morning. Johnny and I got up and got ready, then we woke the boys. They were so tired, but they still popped up out of bed screaming "We're going to DISNEY!!!!". We had put them to bed in their comfy clothes, so they could just get up, go potty and get into the limo. And they were so excited to go in a limo for the first time, they thought that was really cool.

The limo we took was having a little malfunction with the air conditioning. I think it might have been operator error, the limo driver couldn't figure out how to got the air on. But we survived and made it to the airport by 7:00. We checked in and of course one of our pieces of luggage exceeded the weight limit by 10 pounds. So there we sat transferring beach towels and some clothing from one suitcase to another. But at least we saved the 25.00 fee that we would have had to pay for the overage. So on to the security check point we went. That was pretty uneventful, although, we haven't traveled by air since 2000 and we didn't realize what extent they go to. We even had to take our shoes off...wow, that was a pain. But no biggie.

Jason and Justin checking out the Blues Brothers statues at Midway Airport

We boarded our plane on time. We were soooo ready to get to Disney, but we weren't destine to get their just yet. The weather was a bit foggy and rainy in Chicago, but down in the southern states there were some high winds, fierce lightning and terrible storms going on. So guess what...Our plane was delayed. Our plane finally took off after about 2 1/2 hours. The most amazing thing was Justin and I prayed so hard for the storms in the south to clear up and not 10 minutes later, the Pilot got on the loud speaker to say, we were going to take off in 5 minutes. The power of prayer is amazing. So we were FINALLY on our way to Disney World...yay. The plane ride was perfect, the boys loved it (as it was their first plane ride). They kept busy coloring, snacking, and watching DVD's on their little portable DVD players. For them being on the airplane for over 6 hours they were practically angelic, not practically angelic, they were perfectly angelic. They sat quietly the entire trip, unless they got up to go potty.

We arrived in Disney and it was as perfect as I expected. We got to the Magical Express (ME) Bus counter and signed in. Hopped on the ME bus within minutes and we were on our way to Port Orleans Riverside Resort.

We stayed in the Alligator Bayou section of the Port Orleans Riverside resort. Our hotel stay started out in building 17 all the way back right next to the parking lot. I was not too happy with the location and I talked to John about calling the front desk to see if they would move our room. I had always heard that if you are not happy in Disney, ask a cast member, they will do everything they can to make your stay more magical. But he said no, lets just stay in this room. So I reluctantly agreed. But later that night, John noticed the bathroom floor had tons of water on it. We called the front desk and told them about our mini flood and they offered to have us relocated to another room. And I said that would be a perfect idea and I took that time to give the cast member my opinions as to where I wanted to move to. She was extremely helpful in getting us into the building I wanted to be in. And we were moved to building 27 with a beautiful waterfront view. It was spectacular. And I was about 6 steps away from a smoking section, so that made it an even better location...lol

I know I have a lot to say...until next time.
Part 3 coming soon.

Have a blessed week.
Fran

I love "Pucca"

2008-08-17T22:05:00.003-05:00

This is my new favorite cartoon.
Isn't she so cute??

Garu and Pucca

The main character Pucca is the 11-year old niece of three Chinese noodle house owners. The Noodle House is located in Sooga Village, a small village in the mountains. Pucca is in love with the ninja, "Garu" (가루 ['garoo], a 13 year old ninja. Pucca always seems to beat him in combat and unintentional competition, simply by sheer wit.

Check her out on the cable channel Jetix weeknights at 7:30pm

First time fishing

2008-08-17T16:45:00.007-05:00

This was a great weekend. John took the boys (and their friend) fishing for the first time on Friday. They absolutely loved it!! And they both caught fish. WOOHOO!! He took some great pics. I stayed home and worked around the house. Its kinda nice for the boys to go out do fun stuff with their daddy once in a while. And John just loved taking them out on adventures. He has been doing that since they were about one year old.

Jason fishing at the pond

Justin fishing at the pond

After their fun filled Friday evening, they had their friend spend the night. The three boys woke up Saturday morning with fishing on their brains. So of course at 9:00 in the morning they wanted to go back to the pond. But that wasn't an option, cuz it was my Gram's 75th birthday bash. So the next best thing, was to practice fishing (with no hook of course) in our backyard pool. It was the cutest!!! They practiced fishing for over an hour.

Justin practicing fishing in our pool

Silly face, Jase practicing fishing

I am so thankful John is such a great dad. He makes our boys feel safe, loved and is teaching them great things.

Until next time.
Have a blessed day.
Fran

I'm an organizing maniac!!!!

2008-08-14T16:19:00.010-05:00

I was inspired by a couple of other blogs I read, Orgjunkie.com and Passionate Homemaker to get my bedroom closet and linen closet organized. Whew, that was a big job. But I did it!!! And it was kinda fun. I really do love organizing, just ask my mom, she will tell you I am her organized daughter.

Here is a before pic of my linen closet, I know its pretty bad ☺

and after all my hard work...

Here is the after pic of the linen closet

And the bedroom closet. Its very small and I really try to shove a ton of stuff that shouldn't go in there. So I took everything out and decided what I wanted to be in there. Put it all back and the rest of the junk that didn't belong in there I either pitched, donated or put somewhere else.

Before pic of our bedroom closet

After pic of our bedroom closet

I hope I've inspired you to organize your "stuff". So, now go and get to organizing!!!

Have a great day
Fran

Menu August 11-17

2008-08-12T13:55:00.002-05:00

Menu for August 11- August 17

Monday
Breakfast: cereal, fruit
Lunch: Homemade chicken nuggets and homemade fries
Dinner: chicken and ham roll ups, rice and broccoli

Tuesday
B: Muffin, Yogurt, Fruit
L: cheese quesadillas
D: Meatloaf w/mushroom gravy, mashed potatoes, veggie

Wednesday
B: french toast, Fruit
L: Chicken rings, Fries
D: Pasta, italian sausage, salad and garlic bread

Thursday
B: pancake, fruit
L: Mac n cheese, Veggies and ranch dipping sauce
D: Oregano chicken, Rice, veggie

Friday
B: cereal, yogurt
L: BLT sandwich
D: homemade pizza and salad

Saturday:
B: Breakfast casserole, Toast, Fruit
L: sandwich and chips
D: maybe out to dinner or order in

Sunday:
B: toad in a hole, fruit
L: Pizza bread, Salad
D: Asian pork tenderloin, fried rice and broccoli

For more great menu ideas, head on over to I'm an Organizing Junkie for Menu Planning Mondays.

Have a blessed week.
Fran

OAMC Marathon 08/10/08

2008-08-11T14:30:00.002-05:00

Me, Lisa and Anna after a hard days work!!!
(Justin, Jason and LouLou too!!)

We finally had our first Once A Month Cooking Marathon on Sunday, August 10, 2008. It was a huge success, we made 24 main meals and 20 side dishes total. It was definitely a marathon, we started cooking at about 10:30 and finally finished at 7:30. That sure makes for a long day, but soooo worth it!!!

Here is the list of meals we made:

meatloaf
sloppy joes
chicken roll ups with ham and parm cheese
sausage, cabbage and potato skillet
Asian pork tenderloin
Dump swiss steak
Cornflake chicken tenders
French toast sticks
Fried rice
mashed potatoes
plain rice
seasoned Italian green beans

Lisa and Anna working hard making Sausage, cabbage and potato skillet

Here are half of the meals, this pic is of just my meals and side dishes.

It was a wonderful day spent making great food and enjoying the company of two great gals, Lisa and Anna.

I will post recipes in a little while.

Have a blessed day,
Fran

Recipes

2008-08-11T14:24:00.005-05:00

Here are some of the recipes that Lisa, Anna and I made on our OAMC marathon.

Barbecue (Sloppy Joes)
Serves 7-10
2lbs ground beef 1 bottle (12oz.) chili sauce
2 medium onions, chopped 1 can (10 1/2 oz.) tomato soup
1 green pepper, diced salt to taste
1 C. celery, diced

In a heavy cooking pot add ground meat, onions, pepper and celery. Cook until meat is browned. Drain off fat. Add soup, chili sauce and salt. heat through and serve.

Cook fully and cool off before freezing.

Asian Pork Tenderloin

1/3 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup sesame oil
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
2 T. Worcestershire sauce
2 T. lemon juice
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 T. dry mustard
1 1/2 t. pepper
1 1/2 lbs pork tenderloin

In a small bowl, add first 8 ingredients; whisk until blended.
Place pork in a shallow dish, add marinade, turning pork to coat.
cover and refrigerate for 8 hours
remove pork from marinade, throw away marinade
place pork in a foil lined pan
bake at 450 for 25 minutes or until meat thermometer reads 160 degrees
let pork stand 5 minutes before serving.

For freezing, we just put the uncooked pork and the marinade in a Ziploc bag and put it in the freezer.

Chicken and Ham roll ups

4 chicken breasts
2 t Dijon mustard
1/8 t pepper
2 oz thin sliced fully cooked ham
2 T grated Parmesan cheese
non stick cooking spray
1 egg white
1 T skim milk
1/3 C fine dry bread crumbs
2 t reduced calorie margarine
1/2 t dried basil

Rinse chicken, pat dry. pound it to 1/4 inch thickness. Spread each breast with Dijon mustard and sprinkle with pepper. Place ham, cut to fit if necessary. sprinkle with parm cheese over entire chicken breast. Roll up from the short end and set aside, seam down

spray a shallow baking dish with nonstick spray. In a shallow bowl whist together egg white and milk. In another shallow bowl stir together bread crumbs, margarine and basil. Coat each chicken roll by dipping it in the egg white mixture. Place in prepared baking dish with seam side down.

Bake at 400 degrees for 30-35 minutes or til lightly browned and chicken is tender and no longer pink. If desired, garnish with lemon wedges. Makes 4 servings.

For freezing, just cool and put in a freezer container.

Menu planning July 28th - August 3rd

2008-07-28T19:51:00.003-05:00

Monday
Breakfast: cereal, fruit
Lunch: PB&J sandwiches, veggies and chips
Dinner: Bacon and cheese Chicken - Crockpot and broccoli

Tuesday
B: Muffin, Yogurt, Fruit
L: Hotdog
D: Meatloaf w/mushroom gravy, mashed potatoes, veggie

Wednesday
B: Toad in a hole, Fruit
L: Chicken rings, Fries
D: Italian pork chops - crock pot

Thursday
B: french toast, fruit
L: Mac n cheese, Veggies and ranch dipping sauce
D: Oregano chicken, Rice, veggie

Friday
B: cereal, yogurt
L: Grilled cheese quesadillas
D: Pasta and meatballs, garlic bread,salad

Saturday:
B: Breakfast casserole, Toast, Fruit
L: BLT Sammie
D: Turkey burgers, Homemade fries

Sunday:
B: Pancakes, fruit
L: Pizza bread, Salad
D: Stuffed peppers, Mashed potatoes

For more great menu ideas, head on over to I'm an Organizing Junkie for Menu Planning Mondays.

Have a wonderful week
Fran

OAMC

2008-07-22T21:30:00.005-05:00

I am FINALLY going to try doing Once A Month Cooking. With the assistance and guidance of my new friend Lisa H. She has done the OAMC several time so she is somewhat of a master at it. Right now we are in the stage of deciding what recipes to make. I am shocked at how many recipes there are out there for this type of cooking.

I found a great website that has wonderful recipes recipezaar.com check it out. You can complile tons of recipes into your own cookbook. Most recipes have nutritional value and you can change the serving sizes and it adjusts the ingredients. Oh and the best part of all, it compiles your grocery list for you....how great and easy is that.

So here are the OAMC recipes on our list so far for our August 10 cooking fest.

Chicken
-Chicken Rolls ups with ham and cheese
-chicken fried rice
-Heavenly chicken
-Chicken fingers

Beef
-Dump Swiss Steak
-Meat loaf
-Sloppy Joes
-zippy chili

Pork
-Asian pork tenderloin
-Smoked Sausage skillet

Side dishes
-mashed potatoes
-garlic seasoned green beans

breakfast
-egg casserole
-french toast
-pancakes

Wish us luck and I will post some of the recipes later.

Blessings,
Fran

Our Disney World adventure 2008 part 1

2008-07-21T15:32:00.002-05:00

One of my favorite places to vacation is Disney World in Orlando, Florida. It is such a magical place. I love it so much that John and I even went their for our honeymoon. A few months ago, my mom, who has never been to WDW, asked me what is so magical about Disney. And I just could not put it into words, I told her she would just have to see herself. And I really hope she can experiance it at least one time in her life, hopefully with all her grandchildren.

With that said, when John and I had our twin boys, I said to him that I wanted to take our boys to WDW in 2008 which is the year that they would turn 5. I always thought that was a great age to start taking kids to WDW. He looked at me kinda funny and said sure, whatever you think. He was probably thinking, this chicka is nuts already planning our boys first Disney trip and they are only 3 months old...lol If you ask my mom, she will tell you that I had their Kindergarten outfits picked out the day they were born too...that is how I like things, planned out and organized.

Well fast forward to May 2007 and I get a call from John's sister, Jaime and she asks us if we would be interested in joining the entire family (all 14 of us)and going to Disney May 2008 and I said of course we would be interested in going, that is what I was planning all along. It sure is funny how things work out. I thought, at the time, the more the merrier. It would be a great time for all 6 kids on John's side of the family to experiance WDW together.

So for that entire year, we were showing the boys pictures and videos on youtube of Disney and talking about it very often. As you can see I am a bit obsessed with WDW. Right around the end of last year, I started checking for airfare and resort rates, looking into messageboards and websites to learn as much as I could learn about taking two 4 year olds to Disney. We finally booked our airfare and WDW resort in January. It was official, we REALLY were going to Disney for the first time as a family of four. WOW, we were so excited, John too. He and I would sit in front of my new laptop (my Christmas gift from Johnny) and look at pics and plan our itinerary for hours. It was so much fun.

As I said before I am somewhat Disney obsessed. So I started my planning and making reservations for character meals, printed letters from Mickey and Donald Duck and mailed them to our boys and finalized our daily itinerary so we would make sure we got to each of the theme parks while we were there for the week.

PART 2 COMING SOON!!!

Weekly menu for July 21-27

2008-07-21T09:31:00.010-05:00

I know this sounds silly, but I love menu planning for my family. It keeps me motivated to cook myself instead of ordering out (which we still do on occasion) for dinner.
So my precious family eats healthy.

Monday
Breakfast: cereal
Lunch: PB&J sandwiches with my homemade mango raspberry jam
Dinner: Turkey burgers, homemade fries, green beans

Tuesday
B: french toast with berries
L: mac n cheese, pears
D: chicken fajitas, roasted Brussels sprouts and white rice

Wednesday
B: pancakes with apples
L: ham sandwiches, pears
D: meatloaf, mashed potatoes, broccoli

Thursday
B: french toast, pears
L:
D: Pasta with red sauce, salad, garlic bread

Friday
B: cereal, fruit
L:
D: ground turkey tacos, chips and salsa

Saturday:
B: eggs, bacon, toast and fruit
L:
D:

Sunday:
B:
L:
D: pot roast with potatoes and veggies

For more great menu ideas, head on over to I'm an Organizing Junkie for Menu Planning Mondays.

Have a wonderful week
Fran

Peace, Love and Joy

2008-07-16T09:30:00.011-05:00

Written on July 08, 2008 posted on July 16th
These past weeks have been a bit challenging. I am trying to live my life the way God wants me to. I want to be a good person, wife, and mommy.

I am Trying to be
peaceful,
loving,
patient,
kind (the Holy Spirit is trying very hard to guide me to be kind in my life)
grateful

Another thing I am trying to implement in our lives is refraining from purchasing items we don't need. Our boys have been conditioned (by us, as parents) to want something everytime we go into a store. And its time this habit has stopped. Spending money on frivolous items needs to stop. I have been staying out of stores to avoid the temptation of buying unneeded items. It has been going pretty well. When the boys ask if they can have something, I just tell them No, we are saving our money in the bank. It has worked pretty good so far.

Yet another thing I am working on is being consistent with the discipline of our boys. It has been a little rocky of a start. They aren't really enjoying it, but are starting to accept it. I really believe that being consistent makes a HUGE difference. I think its going to take some more time, but once they can anticipate what the consequence is, they might just stop and not do the bad behavior or action.

So, needless to say, we are working on our lives, to better ourselves.

Have a blessed day,
Fran

Welcome to my blog

2008-07-05T14:31:00.004-05:00

Ohhh....this is so much fun, starting a blog. I never thought I would write one, but here I am. I am not going to be known for using correct grammar and spelling every word correct. I am know for run-on sentences that keep going and going and going ;) ENJOY!!!

So lets get started....

Well...I am married to a wonderful man, John (AKA Bunz) more on that later. We got married March 26, 2000 in VEGAS! We had a beautiful wedding ceremony and reception at the Monte Carlo resort. Most of our friends and family came out to share our special day... could ya blame them, they got a vacation out of it...lol

We lived in Naperville for the first year of our marriage. And we decided, we wanted to move out to the boonies. We love it out here. It is so quiet and peaceful, a perfect place to raise our twin boys.

We had "the boys" Justin and Jason in August 2003. They are our world. Yes, our lives revolve around them...sometimes a good thing, sometimes a bad thing. They were born premature at 30 weeks. My precious little (very little) boys weighed in at just over 3 pounds each and 16 inches long. It was a very emotional time.

I also have 3 great sisters, a niece and two nephews they are so important to me. We have such a blast when we are all together. Johns family is amazing, its a world-win of fun when we are all together. We are blessed to have so many kids in the family. There are 6 kids under the age of 6.

Blessings,
Fran