apologies again!

Life is busy...I know I need to make more time to get on here but I just don't have it lately. I have one kid that stays up late (she's so my daughter) but that leaves me with little "mommy sanity" time at night. My son wakes up BEFORE my alarm clock even goes off to get up and take him to school. Needless to say I am one tired mama!
I need to make myself more a priority (I have made this same pledge 10,000 times) and do the things that I enjoy (aka stress reliever) but I am such a mom and always put myself last.

Vent, Rant, Rave
I have been miss negative lately....my favorite thing (meaning object..no I am not saying I love something more than my family) is my sewing/embroidery machine. This is how I make extra money for the family and I also LOVE sewing, creating in general. But lately it's turning on me...It keeps jamming and has broken 8 needles in the past week!! I have had this machine 2 years and have only been through 15 needles it's entire life and now 8 in one week!?!?!? Also when I monogram it's bailing out TONS of extra top thread and ripping fabrics. ARGHHHH
I have read all the troubleshooting things...it must be male b/c it only works when it "feels" like it.
Yesterday I had to make two bows for a friend with her daughter's first initial ONE STINKIN LETTER! I did the first one no problems....then the second one it snagged, broke a needle, activated the safety device, broke another needle etc... you get the idea. A simple little project that should have taken me 5 minutes took 40 minutes and I only got one bow done!!

Sorry had to vent! My hubby could care less about all things sewing

Getting to know you...

So I just found this blog on another blog I read frequently and thought it looked like lots of fun so had to give it a try! It's supposed to be on Sundays but since I was on here fixing to do my MPM I thought I would do this too!

The questions..

1. What year did you graduate high school?
1995

2. What part of your body do you neglect the most?
thighs

3. Beach house or Lake house?
lake house...I am a fair skinned redhead...beaches and I don't mix

4. Mac or PC?
we are a house divided! I am a PC girl but my hubby is a Mac guy so we have a corner desk with both of them side by side

5. Did you wear braces?
nope

6. If you could be one person for a day..living or deceased..who would you be?
Reese Witherspoon I would love to just hang out with her being a fellow southern girl and a mom

7. How many times have you moved in your life?
oh goodness probably 13 or 14 but all around Memphis area

8. Would you rather cook or clean?
COOK COOK COOK

If you want to play too copy/paste the questions and then list them on MannLand5's blogroll

MPM

It's been awhile I know but I am trying to get back on track here! Back in January my hubby switched to working nights and so our bigger meal of the day was lunch before he went into work. Then the kids and I would just do soup/sandwiches for dinner.
Then in February we stopped homeschooling and sent Parker back to public school so the only time we truly have meals together is on the weekends! Hence me not making elaborate meals much at all (ok so I have never really made elaborate meals but anyway)

This week is spring break so we are actually having lunches all together again!

Monday - Meatball subs & Pineapple
This is my son's new fav0rite meal and it's quick and easy which is a bonus for me!

Tuesday - Taco Pie

Wednesday - White Beans with Smoked Sausage
Soak the white beans overnight drain and rinse
Put into crockpot with chicken stock and beef seasoning (I use Lawry's)
Chop up smoked sausage and add
Cook 4 hours on high (but be sure to stir occasionally and check to see about adding more water/chicken stock) or 6-8 hours on low
I also make cornbread or corn muffins right before I serve

Thursday - Chicken Monterrey Potatoes & Green Beans
marinate chicken in Italian dressing (I usually do this overnight)
Put chicken in a 9X9 baking dish I usually add a little more dressing. Cook 20 minutes on 350
Top chicken with Monterrey Jack cheese and cook another few minutes to melt the cheese
I cook usually roast the potatoes (new potatoes cut up spread out and topped with olive oil and salt/pepper) and do the green beans with a little Italian dressing and Parmesan cheese

Friday - Tortilla pizzas

Saturday - going out for a family dinner!

Sunday - at the inlaws

Boy did I get off easy this week! Get more recipes and menu planning ideas here

such a slacker

Life has been crazy...I mean all the time to get on here and blog...especially MPM but life has been crazy!
I wanted to get back on track with the New Year and here it is March 11th and i am finally sitting down to do this!

Menu Planning Monday

Monday....oh wait it's Tuesday since I am a slacker lately! Life has been very busy and was at the doctor for over 4 hours yesterday getting all kinds of tests run still trying to figure out what is going on with my daughter! Hence I never posted yesterday! (I am just ignoring the fact I never posted last week)

I actually plan my menus every Thursday to grocery shop on Fridays (hubby's payday) so I am going to start listing my menus Sat - Friday since I don't always know what I am making next weekend!!

Saturday - went out to eat since we were going to Zoo Boo at the Memphis Zoo!

Sunday - Spaghetti
Ground turkey and used whole wheat fettuccine pasta

Monday - Taco Bar

Crockpot Tuesday - White Beans and Smoked Sausage
soaked beans overnight then rinsed and threw in the crockpot with chicken broth and cut up smoked sausage sprinkled with some lawry's seasoning
Also made Sally Lunn bread in the bread machine

Wednesday - Chicken Noodle soup
Once again in the crockpot Chicken broth (I use the fit & active in a box from Aldi) cube up chicken, frozen veggie mix and a few fun spices. Let simmer all day and then the last 30 minutes before dinner throw in a bag of egg noodles

Thursday - Chef Salads
chop up lettuce, boil eggs, chop up whatever lunchmeat is on hand, whatever veggies I have then set up a salad bar

Friday - Chicken Parm Sandwiches
Grill chicken breasts then top with (leftover) spaghetti sauce and some mozzarella cheese on a hamburger bun
Baked french fries

what we are eating this week or Menu Planning Monday

It's Monday again...where did this week fly? It's also that time of year where allergies kill me so I am all kinds of stopped up and full of sinus pressure! Find more great menu planning ideas here
Since I am feeling all blah I am keeping it easy this week (not that most weeks are hard or anything) i.e lots of crockpot cooking! Slow Cooker Liners are my best friend!!

Monday - Chili and homemade bread
Cooking chili with ground turkey in the crockpot

Tuesday - Pork Chops potatoes and green beans
Cut up potatoes and throw along with the green beans in the crockpot. Add chicken broth to cover. Season pork chops (I am using cajun seasoning this time) and place on top

Wednesday - Italian chicken broccoli and homemade bread
EASY recipe....boneless skinless chicken breast in the crockpot
Cover with Italian dressing and a few shakes of parmesan cheese viola!
I will just steam the broccoli a little before dinnertime

Thursday - Spaghetti with sausage
Whole wheat pasta, homemade tomato sauce (I always make a double batch and freeze half)
Also I am don't like tomatoes but eat it usually once a week in spaghetti sauce b/c I love my family. I read in this month's Kraft Kitchens mag about adding a little cream cheese and basil to make a creamy basil sauce. I tried this last week just in my bowl and it was YUMMY!!

Friday - Taco Night

Saturday - Chef Salads

Sunday - going to the in laws

Hope everyone has a great week! Thanks for reading!

MPM

So glad that it's starting to turn cooler so I can get to making soups and fun meals in the crockpot!

Here is what we are having this week and also go here for many more ideas!!

Monday - Potato Soup with bacon

Tuesday - going to CiCi's Pizza for my son's 8th birthday (we let him pick and since pizza is his favorite food he picked this...mainly for the dessert pizza)

Wednesday - spaghetti
Whole Wheat Penne with spaghetti sauce and homemade meatballs

Thursday - Breakfast
Pancakes and Turkey Bacon

Friday - Crescent Hot Dogs homemade macaroni and cheese
Used the $1 off Pillsbury Crescent Rolls coupon

Saturday - Taco Bar
Ground Turkey meat, soft and hard shells and all the fixins

Sunday - Vegetable Soup in the crockpot

Hope everyone has a great week....I am feeling rather old having my baby turn 8 this week!

Birthday Celebrations Weekend

I am Exhausted (with a capital E)
Parker is turning 8 on Tuesday and all he wanted partywise was to have his best friend spend the night and order pizza. I was excited since that meant less money and less planning on my part! We decided to have a small party at our house just for the grandparents and aunts/uncle/cousins in town.
The boys stayed up until midnight...quite humorous as this was the MAJOR goal of the night. I got them to lay down a watch a movie in their sleeping bags about 10:30 and they kept waking each other up whenever one of them would start closing their eyes! My son kept asking "How much longer until midnight?" I got so sick of this question but boys will be boys...so finally it was midnight. They jumped up and down in delight! They could now say they stayed up until midnight
Best part of the night was they were both asleep by 12:08! Cracked me up!

I will soon post pics of the little get together and what turned out to be adorable (if I do say so myself) XBox controller button cupcakes

Monday...

It's that time of the week again....sorry I missed last week craziness ensued again.

Here is what we are having this week for dinner! Go here for many more menu planning ideas

Monday - Teriakyi Chicken with brown rice
Thrown chicken, teriakyi sauce, and crushed pineapple in the crockpot then make brown rice right before ready to serve also steaming some broccoli to get some green veggies in

Tuesday - Taco Pie casserole
Cook ground beef/turkey add taco seasoning, cut up tortillas (I usually use corn and use my pizza cutter) into strips place in bottom of 9x9 casserole dish, then layer taco meat, refried beans, shredded cheese (taco blend is yummy) then do another layer of tortillas and so on....until you reach the top then cook about 20 min just to warm up beans and melt the cheese

Wednesday - dinner at church

Thursday - Chicken fried rice
Making extra brown rice on Monday to get cold in the fridge to use
There are many recipes for this online I just cook an egg in the wok and remove...then cook cut up chicken breast, add frozen veggies, and when chicken is cooked add the rice and soy sauce just keep stirring then add back in the egg (chopped up)

Friday - homemade pizza
Make pizza dough in the breadmaker roll out and let everyone top their part with whatever goodies they want

Saturday - turkey burgers with roasted new potatoes

Sunday - not sure yet...I know I am a slacker but we will probably have leftovers or sandwiches etc...

Lunch with the Ladies

I am very excited about today! A friend from my high school youth group is coming in town. We haven't seen each other much over the years b/c she hasn't lived here in Memphis in quite awhile! We keep up with each other through facebook and I went to her wedding shower last year. There were 4 of us girls that used to do everything together! The last time the four of us were together Parker was about 1 1/2 and Julie was pregnant with her first (Parker is now almost 8 and her son is in 1st grade) It's been awhile!
Sherrill is in town and Julie is driving up from Little Rock so we are all having lunch today! Turns out I was the only one bringing kids so I called up my mom to see if she could watch them and of course she will never pass up the chance to spend time with her wonderful grandkids!
I GET TO GO TO A KIDLESS LUNCH WITH OLD (ok not old in age since we are all staying 29) FRIENDS and I am way too excited about it!