What's for Dinner - Week of July 30th

We're out of here Wednesday morning. Surferman and my Dad are going Jeeping. Grom, my Mom, Grandma and I are going to see my Aunt. I'm hoping it will be a relaxing time away. We'll be back next Monday or Tuesday.

Monday - Sunday dinner with my family has been moved to Monday. (YAY! One less dinner to cook this week!)

Tuesday - Crispy Potato Quiche - Salad - Fruit

That's it. Kitchen's closed. For open kitchen's this week and more menu ideas, go to Menu Plan Monday hosted by the wonderful Organizing Junkie.

Win $250 GC at Gymboree

I don't plan for this to turn into a contest blog, but how can I pass up the chance to win a $250 GC from Gymboree. The bloggers at Love Shak, Baby are giving one away. Go enter. Again... I hope you win, if I don't.

Want a free LCD HDTV?

Those gals at 5 Minutes for Mom are giving away a 37" TV courtesy of Best Buy.

Go and enter. If I don't win, maybe you will.

It's still an "idiot box" and will probably induce "brain drain" - but it sure is pretty.

We have winners!

Wow! Who would've thought Shannon's giveaway idea would be the monster that ate Mr Linky again and again.

I didn't get to enter many giveaways myself. I'm still hoping I'll hear from someone that I won. Not holding my breath, but waiting.

So here are the winners....

The first commenter drawn was... Kristy who blogs at Raising Peas . She'll get her choice.

The second commenter drawn was... Annie who blogs at My Life as Annie . I'm glad her name is Annie, because it would be really confusing if her name was something else. :D Annie happens to be a regular commenter of mine - for Menu Plan Monday. It's nice to have a friend win.

Ladies watch your emails or blogs - send me your addresses and I'll have the prizes in the mail on Monday. CONGRATULATIONS!

Happy Birthday Grom!

Grom, you're 3 today.

I love you more than you can imagine. You have taught me so much about so many things. You have taught me about God. Through you I've learned about God's favor and grace.

In honor of your birthday, here are 3 things I love about you today.

I love your blonde hair and your "big boy" haircut. I hope you keep it you're entire life.

I love your indomitable spirit. You don't waver. I know you'll be a man who stands for his convictions.

I love your laugh and sense of humor. I know you'll be a man who defuses tense situations by cracking a joke.

A Momo Birthday Party

Updated to add photos of games.

Momo is Grom's best buddy. He's the monkey that has always been there for him. He's there when it's dark and time to go to sleep. He's there to play when it's nap time and sleep doesn't come easy. Momo is one great monkey.

It was time to plan Grom's 3rd birthday party. With Grom's fascination with tractors and diggers and Bob the Builder, I thought a Construction party would be all the rage.

I really shouldn't have been surprised when Grom announced that he wanted a Momo birthday party.

Saturday was the day. Gorgeous weather. Grom's little friends arrived (2 little boys and an older sister) and tons of adults.

We played games. Surferman made a great Banana Bean Bag Toss Game. Momo (that rascally monkey) hid and left photo clues for Grom and his buddies to find him.


We had pizza (with coupons from Costco), green salad, fruit salad AND Momo Cupcakes.

Summer Cupcake Caper - Momo cupcakes

The timing is perfect.

Grom's birthday is the 23rd and this contest deadline is the 25th.

I'm in!

GiBee at Kisses of Sunshine is hosting a Cupcake Contest. I'm the queen of the birthday cupcake. So here's my entry.

Momo (Monkey) Cupcakes

Chocolate Banana Cupcakes
Ingredients
1 package Devil's Food Cake Mix
1 cup mashed ripe bananas
1/3 cup canola oil
1/3 cup water
3 eggs

1/2 cup chocolate chips

Directions
Preheat oven to 350F
Place paper liners in 24 cupcake holes
Mix cake mix, mashed bananas, oil, water and eggs with electic mixer on low until ingredients are incorporated.
Increase speed to medium and beat for 2 more minutes.
Add chocolate chips.
Mix on low until chips are incorporated.
Scoop cake mix into cupcake wrappers dividing batter between the 24 cups.
Bake at 350F for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Let cupcakes cool before frosting and decorating.

Versatile White Icing
Ingredients
1 16oz bag powdered sugar
1 cup shortening
3 T corn syrup
2 T water
1 t real vanilla extract

Directions
Mix all ingredients in a large mixing box with an electric mixer on low until incorporated.
Increase speed to high and beat 5 minutes until fluffy.

Momo Cupcakes
Ingredients
24 Chocolate Banana Cupcakes
1 batch Versatile White Icing
24 Nilla Wafers
48 Mini-Nilla Wafers
24 Blue Froot Loops (or similar) cereal - cut in half
1 tube Black Icing
1 can purple Color Mist
1 can yellow Color Mist

Directions
Cut straight edges off large Nilla wafers from 12 o'clock to 1 o'clock and from 12 o'clock to 11 o'clock.
Cut edge off Mini-Nilla wafer to make a 3/4" straight side.
Place cookies on paper towel lined cookie sheet.
Spray cookies with yellow Color Mist.
Frost cupcakes with icing.
Spray cupcakes with purple Color Mist.
Arrange cookies to form the mouth and eyes of monkey.
Push cereal rings into side of cupcakes for ears.
Add eyes and mouth with black icing.


Here's the final cupcakes with their namesake - the famous Momo!


Grom loved them. They were a huge hit.

Two - count 'em TWO giveaways!

If I can get this post written quick enough - I can be the 350th person to link to a giveaway for the Dog Days of Summer Bloggy Giveaway thought up and hosted by Shannon at Rocks In My Dryer.

My mother is an amazing knitter. She always has projects going and has even been known to knit in the dark. You should see the cute sweaters and hats that she has made for Grom.

I've been trying to get her to market her stuff - I think she could sell a lot more of her stuff than she does. She teaches classes and sells scarves, purses and more here and there. I admire her because she uses the money she makes to support various missionaries. I like that she uses one passion (knitting) to support another passion (Jesus!).

She graciously gave me TWO items to giveaway. The first winner drawn will get first choice. The second winner will get second choice.

I have a felted purse and a felted hat for the contest.

The purse is an apricot color. It has a fun trim. It's felted wool and fully lined.

The hat is tangerine. It's floppy and can be styled to suit you. It's felted wool and is embellished with a handmade felted wool flower.

To be entered in the drawing, leave a single comment (duplicates will be deleted) below. You must provide a valid e-mail address, but you do not have to have a blog. International participants are welcome. I'll close comments at 9:00 p.m. pdt this coming Friday night, July 27, and I'll draw a random winner from the list. I'll announce the winner sometime on Saturday.

What's for Dinner - Week of July 23rd

It's VBS week around here, so dinner is going to be S I M P L E!

Monday - Leftover Steak and Potato Salad - Cherries
Tuesday - Spinach and Egg Salad - Cantalope
Wednesday -Smoked Salmon Pasta
Thursday - Vegetarian Slow Cooker Chili - Green Salad
Friday - Steak and a Movie Night
Saturday - CORD (Clean Out the Refrigerator Day)
Sunday - Dinner with my folks

Check out more great meal plans through Organizing Junkie who graciously hosts Menu Plan Monday.

Smart Habit Saturday

It's Saturday again! I'm back for another round of Smart Habits Saturday.

I had a lot more recovering from my surgery last week than I expected. I plodded along with my habits. Didn't do great with them, didn't do terrible either.

I'm feeling like I'm back, and I'm buckling down. I'm hitting my habits hard this week and am going to add another.

Habit 5 - Write down all food eaten. Evaluate food list for healthier choices in the future and ways to avoid problem eating.

Habit 4 - Daily, early morning devotion time. I want to be out of bed at 5:45 am every morning for 45 minutes with my Lord for reading of the Word, prayer and book study. - Restarting this week.

Habit 3 - Lights out by 11 pm nightly.

Habit 2 - Drink 3 qts of water daily. Back to baby stepping - goal is 2 qts this week.

Habit 1 - Wash my face every night. Was almost a habit - I'm getting it back.


Check out Lara, The Lazy Organizer for more Smart Habits Saturday.

Online with Grom

I came across a great site to play at with Grom. Build a Neighborhood -It's from Mister Roger's Neighborhood. It's computer game where you drop and drag different items onto scenes to make your own neighborhood. Today we played with the farm and the construction site neighborhoods.

I worked the mouse while Grom told me where everything should be placed. On the farm he put the cow on the roof of the house to keep it out of the vegetables (of course!). We printed a couple of the scenes and he was so proud to show them around.

Have fun!

I'll try to see if I can post some of our neighborhoods later this week.

What's for Dinner - Week of July 16th

I figure the best way to get back into the swing of things is to proceed like life is normal and adjust from there. I'm 10 days post gall bladder surgery. I'm feeling better every day. My biggest problem is sleeping - I'm tired when I shouldn't be and not when I should be. If you're inclined to pray - pray for my rest and recuperation.

We're back to our healthy eating plan. Here's what's in store this week...

Monday - Crockpot Sticky Chicken - Zucchini - Salad

Tuesday - Chicken Lettuce Wraps - Fruit (I'm going to make something like the recipe I posted - I'm not sure about the website I linked to - it's not one I'm going to go browsing around - you've been warned)

Wednesday - Chicken Veggie Soup - Salad - Fruit

Thursday - Eat out at Farmer's Market!!!! yay!

Friday - Steak and a Movie Night: Steak - Baked Potatoes - Salad

Saturday - Grom's 3rd Birthday Party! Dinner will be leftovers.

Sunday - Dinner at my folks

Check out the menu of the other Monday planners at Organized Junkie.

Smart Habit Saturday

Lara the Lazy Organizer hosts Smart Habit Saturdays. I've been sidelined for the past few weeks and my habits have taken a hit. I had my gall bladder removed. Let's just say that it wasn't on my list of things to do and it has caused a little upheaval in my life.

I've been off work for about 2 weeks and am ready for my body to be ready to get back into the swing of life.

Here's the habits I had been working on...

Habit 4 - Daily, early morning devotion time. I want to be out of bed at 5:45 am every morning for 45 minutes with my Lord for reading of the Word, prayer and book study. - On hold this week.
Habit 3 - Lights out by 11 pm nightly.
Habit 2 - Drink 3 qts of water daily. Back to baby stepping - goal is 1 1/2 qts this week.
Habit 1 - Wash my face every night. Was almost a habit - it's slipped a bit, but I'm getting it back.

Right now, I don't know when I'll be back to work, but I can start getting back into some of the habits that work for me. I haven't needed my "brain book" so that's one of the first things I'm going to get going.

Check out the great habits everyone else is working on - Smart Habit Saturday.

Win a one of a kind - hand made bag!

One of my favorite bloggers - Shelly - is giving away one of her beautiful bags.

Go now and enter.



Check out her other projects. She makes some cool stuff. I was stoked to get a seamstress apron and a craft pad for Grom in the mail recently. It was a great surprise.

And if you want to feel like you need to get off your butt and go exercice - be sure to check out her fitness blog. She's my fitness hero.

Crockpot Whole (Sticky) Chicken

Easy, cheaper and faster than picking up a rotisserie bird from the market.

Crockpot Whole (Sticky) Chicken

Ingredients
Whole Chicken
Your choice of seasonings (some ideas)
Garlic - cloves, powdered, salt
Onion - chopped, whole
Italian Seasoning
Dill
Lemon Pepper
Mrs. Dash
Aluminum Foil

Directions
Spray the inside of crock pot with non-stick cooking spray.
Take a length of aluminum foil - loosely form into circle that will fit in the bottom of your crock pot.
Wash chicken and remove giblets.
Generously season.
Cook in crock pot for 6-8 hours.
Chicken should reach internal temperature of 180F
Remove chicken and let sit prior to serving.

Save broth in crock pot for a soup later in the week.

We can get 3 meals out of one bird. The first night we eat the roasted chicken. The second night we have a casserole with chicken in it. The last night the carcass becomes soup. This recipe is a great starting point.

Done #81 - Go to a Blues game

It's a Beautiful Day for a Ballgame, for a ballgame, today.
The fans are out to get a ticket or two
From Walla Walla, Washington to Kalamazoo

It's a beautiful day for a home run
But even a triple's okay
We're gonna cheer and boo
And raise a hallabaloo
At the ballgame, today!

I grew up in Southern California. My dad had a share of season tickets and the best seats to see the Dodgers play. I have great memories of Steve Yeager (he was my favorite), Steve Garvey, Rick Russel, Davey Lopes and Roy Cey. I can't believe I remember the Dodger's infield lineup from back in the day. It was always great fun to go catch a game and eat a Dodger Dog.

We have a local team. I've always wondered what their games were like. So much that I put going to a game on my list of things to do. It happened when we were offered FREE tickets.

The team plays in a league that seems to be for players that are between community college and university teams. A lot of the players will be playing at our local university next season. We didn't recognize any names.

We got to the game at the end of the first game of a double header. There was quite a crowd - lots of families. There were seats, but also a grassy hill (note to self - next time bring a blanket) that was perfect for rolling down. The teams played well and work hard. Between games - while the local gymnastics school performed - the players groomed the field. The food was expensive, but Grom got a hot dog. It got cold when the sun went down. We didn't get to see much of the game - it started late and we were ill prepared for the cold.

We'll be back. I might even ask for season tickets.

What's for Dinner - Week of June 25th

Organizing Junkie hosts Menu Plan Monday. Click over there for more menu ideas. Here is what's cooking at my house this week. Our "healthy" eating continues... We are also at the end of the month and the food budget is basically spent. I'll be looking to my pantry to get me through.

Breakfast - Strawberry (Fruit) Smoothies
Snacks - Hardboiled eggs and raw veggies
Lunch -leftovers from dinner the night before
Dessert - Strawberry (Fruit) Smoothies


Monday - Chicken and Veggie Soup - Spinach Salad

Tuesday - Ground Beef Zucchini Pasta-less Spaghetti - Salad

Wednesday - Crockpot Sticky Chicken - Green Beans

Thursday - Chicken, Rice and Bean Chili- Watermelon

Friday - Steak and a Movie Night - Steak, Salad, Veggies

Saturday - Shredded Chicken Tacos in lettuce leave "shells" - Fruit

Sunday - Dinner with my folks.

I've been winging it while I'm cooking. I don't have recipes to share as I'm just putting things together. I want to start writing down what I'm doing and posting them, so that I'll have a source of ideas down the road.

HAVE A YUMMY WEEK!

Smart Habit Saturday

Lara the Lazy Organizer hosts Smart Habit Saturdays. It has been motivating to me and has encouraged me to work on some improvements in my life.

I'm sticking with the habits I've been working on.

I didn't do well this week with my newest habit. I'm disappointed with myself. I feel like Paul... "For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice." (Romans 7:19)

I won't give up.

FORWARD!
Habit 4 - Daily, early morning devotion time. I want to be out of bed at 5:45 am every morning for 45 minutes with my Lord for reading of the Word, prayer and book study.
Habit 3 - Lights out by 11 pm nightly.
Habit 2 - Drink 3 qts of water daily. Baby stepping is working! Increasing to 3 qts/ day this week.
Habit 1 - Wash my face every night. On track - almost a habit!

Done #94 - Sunset Picnic on the beach

I forgot to put the chicken in the crockpot today. I didn't realize it until 3 p.m. It was way to late to do anything. It was time to punt.

I wanted to go to Farmer's Market for BBQ, but that didn't fit our budget. And then I remembered...

Surferman bravely gave blood recently and received a coupon for a free pizza. It was a perfect reward for meeting his fear of needles head on. We ordered the pizza. I threw together a yummy spinach salad. And we were off to Grom's favorite pirate park. (Every park is Grom's favorite - this one has a pirate ships to climb on and seals to ride.)

We enjoyed our pizza and salad on the longest day of summer. It's a beautiful day.

ARsh Msick

Grom has always been very fond of music. His tastes differ from mine. It's hard to get him to let me play my music. It's worse when I try to sing (but that's another topic).

He favors "world music". I think that's how it would be classified. As a baby it was African Playground. He also has a great world music lullaby CD (I'm bummed that I can't find a link). He likes reggae, Christifari's Reggae Sunday School rocks.

But his favorite is ARsh Msick. He has CDs from an Irish Music Festival in Ireland. They were brought to us by friends from Ireland and I hate to admit that they are bootlegs. I'd buy them if I had any idea of what they are and where to find them. He listens to them ALL the time - over and over and over.

We were excited when we found out that there was a local group of musicians who gather weekly to play Irish music. Surferman and I try to get Grom there once a month. It's fun, but has it's awkard and strange moments.

1st - The place they play is basically a bar. They serve food and it's not a "21 and over" labeled place, it's a brew pub. I'm ok with it because the crowd is very un-bar-like. There are other kids and I've never encountered anyone who has had too much. I have no idea what the place is like when the Irish musicians aren't there.

2nd - Their food is puzzling bad. Tonight they had 3 things on the menu: Clam Chowder in a Bread Bowl, Beef French Dip Sandwich, Turkey French Dip Sandwich. The chowder was served with a side of potato salad??? The dip sandwiches were served on croissants???? The pub draws quite a crowd when the musicians are there. I would think that they would want to take advantage of the crowd and serve a bunch of food.

We think the restaurant sold a while back and have noticed that the new owners are making some changes. Tonight they moved out the pool table while we were sitting there. They've built a good sized stage, but Irish musicians don't typically play on a stage so they were crowded onto the floor with the patrons. We'll see how it all turns out.

And I guess in the end...it doesn't matter... Grom sits there enthralled. Watching the guitar players, the flautist, the drummers, the fiddlers and asking me about the stringed instruments that I don't know the names of. We clap when the songs end. He smiles when he puts the money in their tip jug.

A night out at ARsh Msick is always a strange good night