Ready for Easter tomorrow! I was having a hard time coming up with ideas for the kiddo's Easter baskets. I had almost decided just to put in the candy and put some cash into a plastic egg. Well, DH thought it be nicer to give a gift instead. I think it would be nicer too, but I was having a hard time coming up with ideas. Together we brainstormed and came up with a gift each child will like. Sooooo, it's off to the dreaded Wal-Mart for Easter gifts. And, DANG it's cold outside! We had a record high temperature of 85* on Monday and it hasn't got up 36* today. BRRRR! If it gets into the teens tonight(which is predicted) the farms will lose all of their wheat and corn they have planted Not good...

But, the good news for me is that I have all of my food prepared for tomorrow's Easter dinner. We'll go to church and then to my sister's to have a frosty Easter feast!

Well, we are back in school after a restful week of spring break! We had great weather and we REALLY enjoyed our camping trip! We are looking forward to a summer full of camping

My menus are a bit late. I've already prepared three of the meals I have planned.

#1 Fresh rainbow trout(caught on camping trip), mac and cheese, salad
#2 Spaghetti w/meat sauce, garlic bread, salad
#3 Chicken and stuffing casserole, green beans, cottage cheese
#4 Roast, mashed taters and gravy, salad, biscuits
#5 Ham and beans, cornbread
#6 Leftovers
#7 Church potluck

In no order:

*Tacos with lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, onion, and salsa
*Cheeseburgers with baked french fries, baby carrots w/ranch dip
*Cashew Chicken with fried rice
*Nachos for a crowd, salad
*Chicken and Stuffing Casserole, Cal. mixed veggies, salad
*Crockpot Pizza, garlic toast, broccoli
*Leftovers/every man for himself night

Crockpot Pizza is a new recipe. I actually made it for church potluck today. It made a crockpot full, which means there's plenty for supper tonight and probably lunch tomorrow too!

Ahhhh. Mother Nature is finally giving us a break from this bitterly cold, icy, snowy, bleak winter. It's 53* and sunny This is the first day we've been above freezing in so long I can't remember. The warm temps and sun are melting down the snow and ice that has been on the ground for well over a month!

Because of the warm weather predicted this week, I've included a couple of meals cooked out on the grill. Usually our winters are mild enough that we grill all year long...NOT THIS YEAR! Our grill has been stuck in several inches of ice on our patio!LOL DH was able to clear most of the ice away earlier today

Menu in no particular order:

*Grilled chicken leg quarters, baked taters, salad, biscuits
*Cheeseburgers on the grill, tater tots, green beans
*BBQ Meatballs, mac and cheese, cornbread, Cal. mixed veggies
*Chicken Enchalidas(leftovers), salad
*Taco soup
*Leftover night
*Every man for himself night

Well, I kinda made a big mistake with my shopping this week. DH and I went shopping on Friday night instead of waiting for my usual Saturday shopping trip. The problem with the Friday night shopping was that I didn't have a menu planned out yet So, it made planning my menu this week kinda difficult since I can only cook the ingredients that I have on hand. Oh well, I think it's going to work out okay.

Sunday-Tonight I'm not cooking. We're having a chili feed at church this evening so I just need to bring a desert.

Monday-Leftover spaghetti, garlic toast, and green beans

Tuesday-Sausage/potato bake, corn bread, and Cal. mixed veggies

Wednesday-Individual pizza(each person assembles their own small pizza with favorite toppings) and salad. This is something fun for Valentines Day since we don't buy each other gifts or treats.

Thursday-Hamburgers, tater tots, and carrots with ranch dip. The burgers will be cooked on the grill if the weather is half decent. If not, I'll make sloppy joes instead

Friday-Leftovers or "every man for himself" for the kids. DH and I will probably go out for our Valentine dinner.

Saturday-We're having a Young Adult Valentine get-together for church. It's potluck and then we're watching a lovey dovey chick flick in honor of Valentine's day. I'm bringing Chicken Enchilada's

Well, I've had a VERY costly weekend...for me anyway! Friday I got my van back from the body shop and left my big fat $500 check with them But, my van really does look nice. Unfortunatley, we haven't had ANY warm weather so we are going on week #3 with ice still on the ground and roads. Hopefully I won't wreck again before the thaw.
Friday night we picked up carry out. We had a $10 gift card so the meal "only" costed us $15. Yesterday I did grocery and household shopping. I walked out of Wal-Mart with $210 dollars worth of food and household supplies!! YIKES! In my defense, I was reimbursed by hubby and kids for $55 of that. Also, I haven't made a "real" shopping trip in close to 3 weeks because of the weather. We were out of everything! You know, furance filters, deoderant, tampons(for 2 of us gals), shampoo, toothpaste, soap...you get the picture
Last night our church group went out to dinner to plan this year's activities. DH didn't go(he stayed home with kids), but it still ended up costing me about $15 for the Chinese buffet. Some of that was extra tip money I put in because I didn't think that some of the other's in my group tipped well enough.
Anyway, I'm glad this costly weekend is about over!LOL

Here's my menu plan for this week. I only plan 5 meals for the week. That leaves 2 nights for leftovers or "any man for himself" evening. Some of these are a repeat from last week. I ended up not closely following my menu last week because of some free leftovers from my sis
#1 Beef Pot Pie(made from leftover roast, carrots, taters, and gravy), biscuits, and salad
#2 Polish sausage, mac and cheese, corn bread, and green beans
#3 Ravioli, garlic toast, frozen mixed veggies,
#4 Frito Pie and applesauce
#5 Potato soup, grilled cheese, baby carrots w/ranch dressing

Because of the weather it's been ANOTHER day at home. So, no spending Luckily the temp is up today so some of the thick ice and snow are melting to some degree. I'm glad I have had plenty no spending days this month because we have FOUR doctor appointments this week...ouch!

I haven't done much of anything today. I browned about 4lbs of ground beef and put it into the freezer for future meals. BTW, this is a wonderful tip for anyone cooking at home with limited time. Now, any recipe that calls for ground beef, I already has a lot of the work already done. For example, if I were making spaghetti this week. All I would have to do is pull out the already browned ground beef and add it to the sauce. It's perfect for crock pot meals. Just throw everything in the crock pot because your meat is already browned.

I also planned my menu for the week. I usually only plan 5 meals a week. The two remaining nights will either be leftovers, a bowl of cereal, or "any man for himself" meal.
#1 Aztec Chicken over rice(great crock pot meal), salad
#2 Spaghetti Pie(made with leftover spaghetti I have in the freezer), garlic toast, green beans, salad
#3 Roast(again, crock pot), baked taters, biscuts, Cal. mixed veggies
#4 Burritos with fixin's
#5 Frito pie(make with leftover chili I have in the freezer), apple sauce

It's still frigid and icy here. We did lose power last night, but only for about 1 1/2 hours. Just long enough to be quite an adventure for the kids, but not long enough that it was uncomfortable

We're getting out of the house for a while this afternoon/evening. When DH is done working he's going to drive us into town so we can replenish some groceries. Also, we got a gift card to Applebee's for Christmas so we're planning on using it tonight. YUM!

Here's my menu for the week:
Monday-Applebee's
Tuesday-Sticky Chicken, mashed taters, biscuts, and steamed broccoli
Tuesday-Nacho's For A Crowd, salad
Wednesday-Ravioli, garlic toast,green beans
Thursday-Cashew Chicken and fried rice
Friday-Muffin taco's, refried beans, salad
Saturday-leftovers
Sunday-Cheeseburger soup in homemade bread bowl