2009 June «

Meal Plan Monday- AK (June 29)

June 29, 2009 at 2:19 pm | In meal plans | 2 Comments
Tags: july 4th, meal plan

The house is quiet for once. Oops, I probably just jinxed myself! Anyway, both boys are napping and I should be working on some cleaning/organizing projects I have going. But it’s so nice to just sit in the peace and quiet so I decided to work on my meal plan. Requires less physical labor!

I’ve been very uninspired in the kitchen lately. Although I did attempt bagels last week. They’re a bit chewy, but turned out very similar to store bought. And since they were easy enough I see myself making them again soon. A friend also taught me how to make spring rolls yesterday- they are a lot easier than I imagined they would be. So I have had a few new experiences in the kitchen.

This week is a busy week. July 2nd is our 4th anniversary. Then Friday we are off to camping for the weekend. And July 4th! A favorite holiday when I was a child, not celebrated as much in the past few years. I think we’re going to “camp” at our cabin. It’s not moved yet, so we’ll use the camper to sleep in. But camping on our property kills two birds with one stone- we get the camping experience and don’t waste a weekend that we could be working on getting the cabin moved.

So without further ado… my brilliant meal plan!!

Monday- salmon patties, mashed potatoes, green beans
Tuesday- homemade pizza, salad
Wednesday- pepper steak (Wild Bounty cookbook), rice, broccoli
Thursday- Our anniversary! Dinner out and maybe a movie? It’s been so long!
Friday- chili, cornbread
Saturday- July 4th Cookout: hamburgers/steaks, baked beans, roasted corn on the cob and potatoes, cut up veggies, chips and salsa (red salsa, white and blue chips) and patriotic cupcakes
Sunday- Brunch- mountain man breakfast; Dinner: something easy as I’m sure we will all be tired

For more meal plans be sure to check out I’m an Org Junkie.

Happy Fourth of July!

Jennifer

Blogaversary Winner

June 18, 2009 at 7:17 pm | In Giveaways & Contests, giveaway | Leave a Comment
Tags: giveaway

And our Blogaversary giveaway winner is: #8 Tara N! Congratulations & thanks for contacting us so quickly to claim your GC.

A special thank you to everyone who stopped by to enter! It’s great to hear many of us read blogs for similar reasons…learning, listening, and procrastinating!

Have a fun week!

Meal Plan Monday- AK (June 21)

June 15, 2009 at 10:44 am | In Recipes, meal plans | 2 Comments
Tags: burned hamburger meat, freezer cleanout, meal plan, Recipes

Well the summer solstace has come and gone. Yesterday the sunrise was 4:17 AM and sunset was 11:44 PM. Too bad it was such a cloudy day for it, though. And today doesn’t look any more promising Makes me feel like it’s fall rather than the middle of summer. Maybe I should be putting stew and soups on the menu this week!

I didn’t make the halibut yesterday. We were just so worn out from the day before and got a late start to the day that it was 5:30 before I even thought about fixing dinner. I pulled a few things from the freezer and unearthed some forgotton packages. So this week is going to be another freezer cleanout. Why do I aAlso this week I need to use up some potatoes.

One thing I need help on is ideas for using up 3# of ground beef that got a little more browned than I wanted it to be. I didn’t want to waste it so I stuck it in the freezer until I could think of something to make wth it. I’m thinking maybe of making chili with it. Has anyone ever successfully masked burnt burger before??

I need to go to the store before I finalize this week’s plan (I know, that’s reverse of how it should be) so here is just a list of my ideas for cleaning out the freezer. What I’m using out of my freezer/fridge/pantry is highlighted in orange.

Shephard’s pie (beef already cooked, potatoes, mixed veggies)
Lasagna (browned beef and sausage, lasagna noodles, cottage cheese)
Halibut
Chili over hot dogs

The other days will just be leftovers or I’ll find something quick to make. I’d probably be able to plan better if my 18mo old wasn’t throwing a tempertantrum for no apparant reason (other than maybe I’m not paying attention to him?) and pulling at my laptop.

For more ideas and more information on meal planning visit I’m an Org Junkie.

Have a great week!

Jennifer

Meal Plan Monday- AK (Happy Blog-Aversary!)

June 15, 2009 at 10:05 am | In Giveaways & Contests, meal plans | 1 Comment
Tags: blog-aversary, meal plan

First of all: HAPPY BLOG-AVERSARY TO US!!! I can’t believe it’s been over a year since we started this thing. Colleen- I’ve really enjoyed this adventure and am looking forward to many years of fun ahead. You are an inspiration to me in many ways.

And to everyone else- thank you for visiting our site. We appreciate everyone’s kind comments and have enjoyed reading your blogs too. As a thank you we are giving away a gift card for a magazine subscription here .

Is it Monday? I am so mixed up on days- It all started last week when the girl I babysit came on Tuesday instead of Wed. I reminded my husband on Wednesday morning that the trash needed to go to the curb (our trash day is Thursday). Friday night we went camping so that felt like Saturday to me, then yesterday even though we went to church, it felt like a Saturday again. Today feels like Sunday since yesterday felt like Saturday and… have I lost you yet??

Anyway, on to the part you are really here to read- This week is pretty much the same as the last few weeks. Since it’s summer I’ve been very un-inspired in the kitchen. I am trying to soak up as much of the great outdoors as I can since winter is just around the corner (well, relatively speaking- our summers don’t last too long here).

The potato soup last week turned out great. I added more potatoes than called for, and more Italian spice. My three year old actually asked for seconds! I was so happy! He seems to be coming out of his picky eater phase (while the only thing my 18mo old eats consistently is Pb&J). This week we are still working on salmon (this year’s season has started so we need to finish up last year’s salmon- only 20 more to go!) I was going to make lasagna Wednesday, but I don’t have half of what I need so I’m putting it off until my next shopping trip.

Monday- salmon quesadillas, Homemade Tortillas, green beans
Tuesday- grilled kebabs, baked beans
Wednesday- roast chicken (in the crockpot), salad
Thursday- leftovers
Friday- Buffalo chicken pizza, salad
Saturday- breakfast: quiche (from the freezer, didn’t eat it last week), dinner: cheesy meat and potatoes
Sunday- Happy Father’s Day!! beer battered halibut, corn on the cob, Corn Fritters with honey butter

For more ideas on menu planning visit Laura at I’m an Org Junkie

Have a great week!

Jennifer

Mama and baby moose update

June 12, 2009 at 6:05 pm | In Alaska | 1 Comment
Tags: mama moose update

Mama moose and her baby were back in our yard yesterday and today. Baby moose was tasting my flowers but thankfully didn’t think they were delicious. Mama moose was helping me by eating some shoots off the front tree that I trim back every year anyway. They are both pretty hungry- most every time I see them they’re eating. The baby is pretty feisty, he/she likes to run away from the mom. Mama seems pretty calm about that. I wouldn’t be so calm knowing there might be hungry bears nearby. Being around people probably gives her a sense of security.

We got a few more pictures of them I wanted to share. Notice how big the mama is next to our car!

A new baby in the neighborhood…

June 10, 2009 at 5:39 pm | In Alaska | Leave a Comment
Tags: mama and baby moose

Find the moose in this photo. (Yes there is one!)

Our backyard... mama moose is hiding!

This morning we noticed a moose and her new calf walking past our house. And this afternoon we had another visit from them, this time they walked back down the street, behind our neighbor’s house, and up the creek into our yard. It was fun to watch the mama with her baby. But all the time I’m thinking “Great, there goes my garden.” While I’m kind of honored they want to stop and visit in our yard, having a moose use your backyard to bed down means having to be a lot more cautious about letting your kids run around. And like I said- there goes my garden! I don’t think she’ll stay long, but who knows?

Here are the best pictures we could get of the pair… sorry they aren’t better, but they move fast, hide well and we need a better camera!

In front of our house...

In our neighbor's backyard...

I’ll share more pictures if she comes back for a better shot!

Jennifer

PS- Don’t you love the grass? Hubby takes care of that and it looks great! And in the top photo, the mama moose is in the creek. You can see her through the trees just to the left of the slide.

Menu Plan AK- June 8

June 8, 2009 at 11:26 am | In Recipes, meal plans | Leave a Comment
Tags: meal plan, potato soup, summer cooking

First of all a reminder to enter our blog-aversary contest here to win a magazine subscription gift card for your choice of Conde Nast magazines!

And onto the meal plan for the week… nothing too exciting for meals here, but some family favorites. I found a recipe for potato soup that looks really easy. Not really a warm weather dish, but I have almost 10 pounds of potatoes that are starting to go soft.

The weather here is going to be awesome this week (a downright heat wave of 75!) Let’s hope the weatherman is right for once!! Except for the soda bread, it doesn’t look like there is going to be much time spent in the kitchen this week! And the salad is lettuce growing in our garden!

Monday- crockpot pot roast, potato soup, Irish soda bread (Note: the potato soup was easy, but beware the recipe does not list the ingredients in order of use- I accidentally added twice the amount of Italian spice but it came out great just the same)
Tuesday- grilled teriyaki salmon, broccoli
Wednesday- taco cornbread(spoon cornbread batter over taco meat, bake according to cornbread directions YUM!), salad
Thursday- leftovers
Friday- pizza, salad
Saturday- breakfast: quiche (from the freezer), dinner: grilled polish sausage, onions, peppers (and pierogies if I can make it to the store to get them)
Sunday- beans and rice (still working on my 25# of pinto beans) with leftover polish sausage

For more ideas on menu planning visit Colleen’s plan and I’m an Org Junkie.

Have a great week!

Jennifer

Meal Plan Monday in MA

June 7, 2009 at 8:28 pm | In meal plans | 1 Comment
Tags: food, meal plan, Recipes

This is another week to clean out the freezer & clean up the house. Now that the sun is shining again, I can see the dust and pollen coating nearly everything. Eeww!

Don’t forget to enter our blog-aversary contest here to win a magazine subscription gift card for your choice of Conde Nast magazines!

Monday: Spaghetti & Green Beans

Tuesday: Ham & Split Pea Soup (I have a leftover ham bone from the freezer; defrost & add to the crockpot with a bag of split peas and chicken broth…YUM!)

Wednesday: Crustless Quiche (Jen’s recipe here)

Thursday: Turkey Meatloaf (from freezer)

Friday: Salmon Filets on the grill (have some neat cedar grilling planks)

Saturday: Leftovers

Sunday: Turkey Sandwiches squished in between working and an evening b-day party…

Spice up your meal plan with ideas at I’m an Organizing Junkie! .

Trogdor comes in the niiiiight…to eat cake!

June 7, 2009 at 2:41 pm | In Massachusetts | 1 Comment
Tags: birthday cake, trogdor

jim birthday 010 My DH wanted a unique cake for his birthday, so he got Trogdor! (He’s a heavy metal dragon sketched on a piece of notebook paper cake using melted coating chocolate—very yummy!)

Have a happy burninating birthday, honey!

Learning to Create

June 6, 2009 at 12:20 pm | In Crafts, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment
Tags: digital, layout, scrapbook

I had a fun time last night at a two peas online crop. This is my layout for the second challenge: scrapbooking milestones. The milestone I chose was “learning to create.” Bean really took me by surprise when she started making this sandwich, using lingo she’s picked up from watching cooking shows with me. I guess I need to let her make lunch more often! create layout The digital kit is from Shabby Princess—their products are great!