Yum, Butter
November 13, 2009 at 2:32 pm | In Household | Leave a CommentTags: spreadable butter
Yum, butter! I can’t believe I’m writing a post about butter, but I’ve just discovered the wonderful world of making your own spreadable butter…
While I certainly don’t use as much butter as Paula Deen or Julia Child, I am a fan of the “real stuff” versus margarine. I know it costs more, but to me it seems much better for you than using margarine (something my mother has said since I was a kid). I’ve been reluctant to try the spreadable butter mainly because of cost, but broke down the other week and bought some. And although hubby will tell you he can’t tell the difference, it was so much better to me than the spreads we normally buy that I’m almost willing to shell out the extra bucks. But as I discovered today, you can make your own spreadable butter for about half the cost. And use olive oil instead of canola and that makes it all that much better! It’s not hard, doesn’t take too much time, and will help you make grilled cheese sandwiches a heck of a lot faster (no spreading hard butter or waiting until it softens).
Two other tips about butter:
- If you saute using butter, start with room temperature so it doesn’t scorch before it’s all melted.
- Buy butter on sale and freeze, this cuts down on costs even more.
Just another thing added to my “make it yourself” list!
Jennifer
November 11- Happy Veteran’s Day
November 11, 2009 at 12:46 pm | In Uncategorized | 1 CommentTags: veterans day
HAPPY VETERAN’S DAY
I will be the first to admit I have little to no memory recall on events related to wars. Being married to a military man, this gets me in trouble a lot! So I won’t be completely out of the loop, today I looked up the history of Veteran’s Day. Interesting article- I did know (maybe didn’t remember, but at once time I knew) that Veteran’s Day was because of the armistice in World War I (11th hour, 11th day, 11th month) but I didn’t know that the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier also began on Nov 11 two years later in 1921.
Next week I may not remember this stuff again, but I will remember that I am thankful for all who serve in the military, thankful for all the sacrifices made by our men and women (and of course their families) to make our country and our world a safer and better place.
Jennifer
Menu Monday- AK
November 9, 2009 at 1:36 pm | In Recipes, meal plans | 2 CommentsTags: meal plan
Due to a certain hubby’s birthday yesterday (Happy Birthday sweetheart!), it seems like we’ve been eating out for the past week, or at least for the weekend! While I enjoy the meals, it seems healthier to be eating at home so I’m looking forward to getting back to making dinners this week.
Monday: Leftovers
Tuesday: Salmon, Pinto bean bake (something like this recipe, omitting the ground beef)
Wednesday: Hawaiian mini burgers, corn/lima beans
Thursday: French onion soup, steaks, baked potatoes
Friday: Chicken Paprikash, spaetzle
Saturday: Chicken Fingers (third try’s a charm?)
Sunday: Shrimp Linguine
Wow, looking back at the menu it looks like it would be an expensive week- steak, shrimp, etc. But we have pretty much everything already on hand. The shrimp is from my FIL- some he caught himself and the steak is moose unless I find a good one on sale at the store this morning. The only items I really need to buy for the week are Hawaiian sweet rolls for the burgers, and spaetzle (unless I decide to try to make it myself which is a distinct possibility).
Well, I’m looking forward to this week! What’s on your menu plan? If you need more ideas hop over to OrgJunkie.com and browse the hundreds of meal plans posted every week. Thank you Laura for hosting! I have gotten so many ideas from other people’s menu plans, not to mention inspiration to get my butt in gear to make up a plan every (or almost every) week!
Have a great day!
Jennifer
Meal Plan Monday: AK
November 1, 2009 at 11:19 pm | In meal plans | 1 Comment
Well, last week was a bust as far as sticking to my meal plan! I made the beans and rice on Tuesday and pretty much ate them all week. Thankfully they were yummy LOL! Friday night we went to a Halloween party at the armory (pizza- but they didn’t have a lot so we ended up eating more rice and beans!) and Saturday the kids had salmon quesadillas (shaped like pumpkins) and we ate at a friend’s house. By tonight I was so tired I just made some turkey ala king (a variation on this recipe). It turned out so yummy! But now I have practically an entire week planned for me 
Monday- meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green beans
Tuesday- Mexican Stroganoff (oamc)
Wednesday- salmon patties (already in the freezer)
Thursday- Chili Verde using turkey (oamc)
Friday- Chicken Nuggets (oamc)
Saturday- Spicy Garlic Chicken Pizza (oamc)
Sunday- TBD- hubby’s birthday and he’s thinking about his request (BTW- you have until Thursday morning so I can hit the store if I need to)
I hope everyone has a great week planned! For more meal planning ideas be sure to pop over to Laura’s blog I’m an Org Junkie…
Jennifer
Wednesdays
October 28, 2009 at 12:47 pm | In Uncategorized | Leave a CommentMost people dread Mondays. For me it’s Wednesdays. I babysit two other preschoolers all day Wednesdays so I have four under four. And while they all are generally good kids, being cooped up inside makes for long days. This morning we have had breakfast, two episodes of Diego, coloring, play-do, a running/screaming/jumping on the bed session, snacks, and a campout and it’s only 10:30. I’m hoping everyone cooperates enough to make cookies later because I’m running out of things to do with them. We got our first snow last night (only a dusting) so I’m hoping it will stay until after lunch and we can go run outside to get rid of some of this hyperness. Maybe have the first snowball fight of the year or build a mini-snowman!
Anyway, that’s my vent for today… Just needed to tell someone and since hubby’s out of town this week this blog is my outlet!
Any ideas to keep preschoolers occupied this winter (without too much mess) would be greatly appreciated! I’m too tired right now to come up with any ideas…
Jennifer
Menu Plan Monday- AK
October 26, 2009 at 9:58 pm | In meal plans | Leave a CommentTags: menu plan
This week is going to be low key since hubby’s out of town… So far I’m using the extra time for some organizing- kitchen, toys, basement and paperwork. I got a few cookbooks out of the library, one of them being the Once-a-Month Cooking (oamc) manual so a lot of this week’s recipes are from that book.
Here is my plan for the week:
Monday- peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (see, I said low key!)
Tuesday- beans and rice
Wednesday- salmon patties (already in the freezer)
Thursday- Chili Verde using turkey (oamc)
Friday- Chicken Nuggets (oamc)
Saturday- Spicy Garlic Chicken Pizza (oamc)
Sunday- Mexican Stroganoff (oamc)
The OAMC recipes I plan on making extra and sticking some in the freezer for future use. The holidays are coming up so I plan to use the first couple weeks of Nov for stocking the freezer with meals. Although the freezer is already full with partial meals so I won’t have to do too much. For more meal planning ideas hop on over to I’m an Org Junkie. I promise you will find enough ideas there to plan meals for the next year!!!
Have a great week!
Jennifer
Ready for Church
October 25, 2009 at 4:08 pm | In Family | Leave a CommentTags: church clothes, toddler fashion
Out of the blue this morning my son told me he wanted to wear a tie to church. We are not normally a tie wearing family (only on special occasions) so I had to take a picture. He’s growing up so fast!
I think I’m going to put ties on both of them this week because that seemed to be a precursor for good behavior today!
Jennifer
Castle engineer in training
October 23, 2009 at 2:09 pm | In Family | Leave a CommentTags: blocks, growing up
It’s interesting to me to watch my children go from one phase to another. From infant to baby, from baby to toddler, and now toddler to preschooler. It seems just in the past few weeks my oldest has suddenly jumped up a level. He’s now pretending to be superheros, dragon slayer, space explorer, etc. And instead of just piling one block on top another he is building castles. Sniff, my little baby is now a boy (and his brother’s not far behind).
It won’t be long until lego cities are being built here. (Mom- do you still have that huge box of legos?!)
Jennifer
Menu Plan Monday- AK
October 5, 2009 at 12:52 pm | In meal plans | 1 CommentTags: meal plan
This is going to be a short post as I have a sick toddler on my lap. This poor baby- he keeps crying and saying “hot” (because of a fever). His older brother and dad had something similar over the weekend so I’m hoping this illness will be short lived (and that I won’t get it).
Hop over to I’m an Org Junkie for different meal plan ideas… My plan for this week:
Monday: Turkey rice soup
Tuesday: Chicken curry (Thank you Nancy! I still need the recipe), rice, leftover turkey
Wednesday: Ravioli, broccoli
Thursday: Broccoli salmon casserole
Friday: Leftovers or pizza
Saturday: Pizza or eat out for a friend’s birthday
Sunday: Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green beans
Hope everyone else is healthy this week and enjoying fall activities!
Jennifer
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