Skipped a week but who cares?

So I skipped a week.  I told you I wasn't into this blogging thing.  I'm really starting to get anxious about a few things and I'd rather not focus on them....wait, that didn't sound right.  I'd rather not sit around worrying about them all the time.  As much as I really don't want a job, I need one.  It's that simple.  I'm lonely right now.  I feel I have no real connection with my husband and that makes me very sad.  


Anyhoo, last week I had this dinner theme "Meals from Around the World".  But then life kicked in and I didn't even cook for 3 of the 7 days.  So this week we are finishing up what was left uncooked.  There is no zumba this week so I don't have to do crazy dinner nights on Tuesday and Thursday, and Friday and Saturday we'll be eating out, so really I only had to create 2 meals for this week.  As I'm typing, I still haven't decided on Sunday dinner.  Maybe I'll figure it out by the time I'm done!

Monday
We had this Asian Style Grilled Tilapia along with an Alton Brown broccoli recipe and I made rice on the side that I cooked in my recently home made chicken stock.  It was yummy!

Tuesday
Today I'm planning on cooking Wonderful Clam Chowder from my Fix It and Forget It Recipes for Entertaining cookbook.  If you have this book, it's page 188 (2002 edition).  We'll see how this goes over.  It's a little plain, but I like plain sometimes.  

Wednesday
We are having Greek Chicken with Orzo.  Now, I'm not sure yet what else we'll be having with it or what I'm doing with the orzo, but it'll be good.  I hope!

Thursday
Mexican Pasta!  This one is easy.  Cook ground beef, I always season it as I go and since this is mexican I'll throw in a bit of taco seasoning.  Drain and then add a can of corn and a can of enchilada sauce.  Oh, and while all this is happening, cook some egg noodles.  When the noodles are done, toss everything together and serve with tortilla chips.  We like to crush them up in the pasta for a fun crunch!

Friday/Saturday
Friday we are headed to B.E. for their fall fling.  I'm sure we'll be eating out.  Saturday is a PA reunion at Jackalope's and we'll get to eat Matt's food for $10!  

Sunday
It'll be a brunch day.  I'll cook this Ham and Cheese Pie along with this Hash Brown Casserole and otherwise it can be a YOYO night (You're On Your Own).  Hopefully any leftovers will be finished off!


So that's it.  I get really tired of eating the same thing, I get really tired of eating all the leftovers, I get really tired of planning all the meals.  But hey, that's part of The Joys of Motherhood.....right?

Week 2 of the Insane Schedule

So I'm a few days late posting.  We had a wonderful time in Gatlinburg with my parents, brother, and nephew. The food was amazing, we grilled some pork chops (marinated in Italian dressing), and some of them were pan fried with some sort of Chili, Lime, Basil rub.  Then my husband made a sauce from the pan drippings.  Baked potatoes, garlic bread, and green beans finished off the meal followed by birthday cake I made for my mom.  Later that evening, after the kids went to bed, I enjoyed a nice long soak in the hot tub!

Here is our meal plan for the week:

Monday
Left over pork chops with mashed potatoes (Bob Evans has the BEST instant potatoes if you don't want to make your own) and a can of field peas with jalapenos.  THe chops didn't get cooked Saturday night and we got home too late Sunday to make them, so I wanted to get them cooked before they went bad.

Tuesday
Last night we had stuffed shells with a salad and garlic bread.  The kids didn't want a salad so they had some carrot sticks.  I mix ground beef in my cheese mixture (ricotta and mozzarella) and last night I decided to add 2 large spoonfuls of pesto to the mixture.  I stuff the shells and cooked at 350 for 30 minutes, covered, added some shredded parmesan cheese and cooked an additional 7 minutes (which is when I cooked the garlic bread).  

Wednesday
Tonight we are having my daughter's favorite meal.  It'll be rotini pasta with turkey smoked sausage, broccoli, and mushrooms.  What I do is start the pasta, then I slice the sausage and add it to the pan with olive oil and minced garlic.  Then I cut up the broccoli and add it to the pan.  Then I slice the mushrooms and add them along with some ground savory to the pan.  I turn it to low, cover, and wait for the pasta to finish up.  Then I toss it all together with a bit more olive oil and top with shredded parmesan.  Easy Peasy!

Thursday
We're having fried rice, I have to provide my daughter with something she can eat in the car between dance and Civil Air Patrol.  I'm still trying to decide if we are going to have chicken, beef, or shrimp fried rice!

Friday/Saturday
It's going to be chilly so we are going to do soup and grilled cheese one night and have Noodles and Mexican Cornbread the other night.  I smoosh up a piece of cornbread in a bowl and pour the noodles over them, then mix it all up. So good and warm!

Noodles:
Bring shell noodles to a boil in a large pot.  Cook for about 10 minutes.  Then add a large can of tomato sauce and a small can of tomato paste to the pot.  Cover and let simmer for 30 minutes.  (You can season however you want, I just add salt and pepper).

Mexican Cornbread:
Follow the directions on a corn meal mix for a pan of cornbread.  However, only use one cup of milk.  Add a can of creamed corn and a cup of shredded cheddar cheese.  Add some diced jalepenos to the mix and cook as directed.

Sunday
I'm roasting a chicken in the crock pot.  I think I'm going to have herbed potatoes in the oven and some other side dish that I haven't decided on yet.  Preferably another crock pot dish (I have 3!).  Here's the  chicken recipe:

CROCK POT ROAST STICKY CHICKEN

Ingredients:

4 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 large roasting chicken
1 cup chopped onion

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, thoroughly combine all the spices. Remove giblets from chicken, clean the cavity well and pat dry with paper towels.

2. Rub the spice mixture into the chicken, both inside and out, making sure it is evenly distributed and down deep into the skin.

3. Place in a resealable plastic bag, seal and refrigerate overnight.

4. When ready to cook chicken put the onions into the cavity, put the chicken into thecrockpot and do not add any liquid (as the cooking process goes on it will produce it's own juices).

5.   Cook on low 8 to 10 hours.

Crazy Dance Week 1

Ok, I need to figure out how to add pictures and jazz up this site.  I'm not sure what I'm doing, but I need to feed my brain!  So here goes week 1 of my family's crazy dance schedule.

Monday (This was Labor Day so it wasn't it's usual crazy self.)
I made these awesome Brown Sugar Glazed Pork Chops (LOOK!  I figured out how to add a link!)  with Zucchini Fries (Panko, Garlic Powder, Basil, S&P, 400 degrees for 20 min) and Bob Evans Home Style Mashed Potatoes.  Yes, I cheated on the potatoes, but have you tried these?  Even my hubby agrees they are soooo good, and he prides himself on his home made mashed potatoes!  The best compliment I got was when he said he'd gladly pay $20 for that meal at a restaurant.  MmmmmMmmmm Good!

Crock Pot Tuesday:  Chili
It's wet, windy, and rainy and the temps have dropped enough to justify this meal.  Tuesdays are going to be crock pot meals because I take my daughter to dance at 4, meet the hubby around 5:30 to hand over my son, head to over to zumba from 6-7pm, meanwhile my hubby and son will pick up my daughter at 6 and when they arrive home, dinner will be ready for them to eat.  Then I can enjoy some food when I get home from zumba!

Wednesday (It's my BIRTHDAY!)
We are having tilapia in packets with pesto and white wine, zucchini and carrot strips.  And I think I'll make some rice to go along with it.  Then my daughter and I are off to modern dance class.  I teach, she learns.

Thursday
The complexity of this day is that my daughter has dance from 4-6pm then Civil Air Patrol from 6:30-9pm.  I'm going to make my spaghetti bake, pack a slice in a container for her to eat between the studio and the CAP meeting.  I'll have to meet the hubby in town again to trade off my son and give him the dinner so he can transport our daughter to her meeting while I go to zumba.  Whew, I'm tired!

Friday
Another crockpot meal, Fajita Chicken.  Always a hit!

Saturday we are headed to Gatlinburg to celebrate my mom's 60th birthday.  We are having grilled pork loin, mashed potatoes and green beans.

Sunday
Pasta with sausage, broccoli, and mushrooms.  An easy meal after we return from the B-day shindig.

Well, there it is.  Week 1.  I can do this!

Challenges of a busy life

Next Tuesday begins the 9 month flurry of dance dance dance.  The kids will be dancing and I'll be dancing.  I've been taking zumba with Ellen and I want to continue, but I'm not sure that I'll be able to do that.  Eva has the most hectic schedule and the challenge this year will be to come up with dinner options that can be packed for her to eat on the go.  She'll be stuck with sandwiches for Monday nights.  She thinks that ramen noodles will be her Monday meal....I don't think so.  So she'll be sick of turkey and cheese by memorial day, but she doesn't like much else!  Tuesday's are a zumba night.  I'm thinking I can meet Jason in town somewhere to hand over Riley and then he can get Eva from the studio at 6pm.  However, I need to have a meal ready that won't need much input from him.  Which means we'll be having crockpot meals on Tuesdays.  Wednesdays will be ok for the first couple of weeks, until rehearsals start.  I don't want to spend the money I made teaching on chick-fil-a again this year.  That means I'll come up with relatively light meals that I can get to Eva before she consumes her ramen noodles at the studio.  That's the other thing, I'll have to tell her she gets no freebies this year.  If she wants snacks from the snack bar she'll have to buy them like everyone else.  Then Thursday is like Tuesday, but I can make dinner and fix Eva a to-go plate that she can eat in the car between the studio and C.A.P.  And then it'll be the weekend!  Wow, 4 nights of creative dinner plans.  Can't wait to see how it all turns out!

Really Bad at Blogging

I see all these blog sights and wonder at the discipline it takes to do every day. I am just not that kind of person. After reading my last blog, I can tell you the week at the beach was awesome! A week with the family, no fights, just good fun. So what's been going on since then? Eva turned 13. She's the usual sullen teenager who gets offended if she feels we are invading her privacy. She dates a 16 year old boy on occasion who she tries to hide from us then gets offended that we are upset about her dating the 16 year old boy. Obviously the problem isn't the boy, but the fact that Eva feels the need to keep him a secret. She's also gotten involved with a gang, which I still don't know the details because she's not talking to us about it. The other big issue is that she is cutting herself. That's the most heart-wrenching. I expected her to be dishonest and secretive, she's always been that way even if her father never realized it. But to mutilate herself. I suppose I should have seen it coming. The way she's always wanting to change her hair...a friend once told me that is a sign of someone who can potentially turn into a self-mutilator. We don't know what is going on with her since she's told us she is not being honest or trust-worthy with us. And she refuses to speak about any of it. What she does tell us about her frustrations are things that everyone deals with and we've tried to explain to her that it is something she will always deal with and she needs to find alternative ways to calm down. Harming herself does not make her life better. She is getting counseling, but she's only had one official session so far so we'll see if it helps or not. I pray that it does. Meanwhile, I lost my job in November and have yet to find another one. We've been able to get along fine but now all the money I had squirreled away is gone. So the pressure is on. I was hoping we could get through the summer, save on daycare and all that stuff. But I'm not sure if we can do that or not. Having a roommate who is not contributing but is simply consuming is starting to get on my nerves. I just don't appreciate the guy helping himself to whatever he wants and acting pissed because I don't have the money to buy food for lunch. I didn't realize when I allowed him to move into my home that I would have to share everything with him and get nothing in return. He is supposed to give us $100 a week and so far this year we've gotten $372. Yes, I am a bit bitter about this situation. I'm not sure what to do about it. On a positive note, my husband and I have quit smoking!!!! It's not as hard for me since he doesn't smoke around me and I've not been around other smokers since I quit. I've realized that not having a job is not a good thing for me. I need stimulation. Maybe I'll start blogging. I like the food blogs. But I wish I could be creative and come up with my own recipes. My fear is that most of my stuff is just like everyone else's. Well, until next time......oh, Riley is just as hyper as ever! He's in Pre-K at a school that I really love, but he'll be going somewhere else next year. I only hope it will be just as good.