Menu week of January 4th

Monday January 4, 2010:

breakfast-Whole Wheat Toast with Peanut Butter
lunch-Egg Sammies
dinner-Picnic Chicken (freeze some), Slaw, Corn on the Cob

Tuesday January 5, 2010

breakfast-Oatmeal and Yogurt
lunch-Freezer Burritos (oamc)
dinner-Lovely Leftovers

Wednesday January 6, 2010

breakfast-Cereal and Toast
lunch-Sammie and Chips
dinner-Santa Fe Pizza, Chips and Salsa

Thursday January 7, 2010

breakfast-Oatmeal and Yogurt
lunch-Leftovers or Freezer Burritos (oamc)
dinner-Breakfast for Dinner-Eggs, Bacon, Fried Potatoes, Biscuits

Friday January 8, 2010

breakfast-Pancakes
lunch-Sammie and Sliced Apple
dinner-Mixed Beans, Rice, Breaded and Fried Okra, maybe Cornbread

Saturday January 9, 2010

breakfast-One Eyed Sailors, Link Sausage
lunch-The World's Greatest Potato Soup
dinner-Bean and Cheese Quesadillas, Salad

Sunday January 10, 2010

breakfast-Oatmeal and Yogurt
lunch-Crock Pot Cajun Chicken, Noodles, Peas, Rolls, Red Velvet Cake
dinner-Leftover Soup?

Our home at Christmas

Here's a picture of our home with the Christmas candles in the windows. I think these make a house look very cozy and warm. I'm not really big on lots of Christmas lights although we do like to drive around town and look at them. I asked Robert to get a photo of the house before taking down the rest of the Christmas decorations. I have a friend who calls that job "de-santafication." Don't you just love that word. I told him I was going to steal it, and I did!

Pam

My resolutions for this year

Here are my resolutions for 2010.

1. Read through the Bible. Dh is joining me in this one. I've done this before. I use a chronological Bible.
2. Lose weight and exercise (Isn't this a given on everyone's resolution list?)
3. Declutter the house. We have already started on this beginning with dd's room and guestroom.
4. Attend my Adult Bible Fellowship (ABF) more consistently. Mornings have been very rough for me for a long while.
5. Take my vitamins.
6. Drink more water.
7. Take more photographs.
8. Get scrapbook albums up to date.
9. Work on heritage albums.
10. Practice more hospitality. We started on this last year by hosting our small group in our home. This year, I would like to have more guests over for meals and such.
11. Pray daily for dh to find the job that the Lord would have him to have.
12. Have at least one yard sale this year to bring in extra cash.
13. Pray about teaching at VBS this year.
14. Enjoy my family more and have more family nights playing games, watching family movies, and just being together.

How about you? Do you make resolutions? Share.

Pam

Daughter's Bedroom

Dear Daughter is away on a trip to Florida and the Bahamas with her grandmother and great-great aunt. While she is away we were given "orders" to paint her room. She has been wanting a change in there for some while. When she was younger we put a pinkish mauve glaze faux finish on her walls. She is now done with that and wants a nice spring green color. She also received a Tinkerbell comforter for Christmas from her Grandmother Sue and wants the walls to match it. So, dh and I are attempting to get the "junk" out of her room so that we can do this. This is embarrassing, but here is a before picture of her room.



Here is a before picture of the guest room across the hall.



Yes, I said before. This is even more embarrassing. But I'm just being real here folks. When we are sorting and getting things out of her room and making a quick pick-up before sleepovers this is where everything goes to never be seen again. Needless to say, we haven't had guests sleep over in a while. It will be so nice to have a nice fresh guest room again.

What a job this is. We are going through and getting all the missing items of clothing, some dirty, some clean. We are bagging up trash. So far four kitchen size trash bags of trash and odd and ends have been thrown out. We are also sorting through toys for items to give to our Knoxville Area Rescue Mission (KARM) which operate several thrift stores. Also, nicer items which she no longer plays with, are going to be photographed and sold on e-bay. What doesn't sell can be given to KARM. This sorting and cleaning process will take much longer than the paint job. But it needs to be done. We should have done this a long time ago. Actually, you should see our basement. There are tons of toys there too that were taken out of her room a while back. They haven't been sorted or taken to KARM and we will get to that when this job is done.

Dh's mother told us about a new Behr paint that has the primer in it. We are going to go look for that, probably tomorrow. That will save us some time and work. I think I will go simple on the window treatment and just pick up some green and purple sheers to layer on her window. Those, and pink, are her favorite colors.

When the work is all done and her room and the guest room are all spic and span and sleepover ready, I will post after photos.

Pam

Menu for this week:

Monday:

Breakfast-Pancakes
Lunch-Turkey Sammie
Dinner-Broccoli Ham Au Gratin (eat one-freeze one)

Tuesday:

Breakfast-Bacon and Eggs, Biscuits
Lunch-Leftovers or Sammie
Dinner-Split Pea Soup with Ham

Wednesday:

Breakfast-Oatmeal and yogurt
Lunch-soup
Dinner-"out"

Thursday:

Breakfast-Peanut Butter on Toast
Lunch-Quesadillas
Dinner-Homemade Pizza

Friday:

Breakfast-Muffins
Lunch-Egg Sammies
Dinner-Pintos, Fried Potatoes, Fried Cabbage, Cornbread

Saturday:

Breakfast-Crescent Sausage and Cheese Roll-ups
Lunch-Leftovers
Dinner-Chili

Sunday:

Breakfast-Muffins
Lunch-Spaghetti Casserole (eat one-freeze one), Salad
Dinner-Leftovers

Broccoli Ham Au Gratin

1 Onion, chopped
1 tb Butter, melted
1 cn Cheddar cheese soup
6 oz Sharp process cheese roll (using Cheez Whiz)
1/2 t Garlic powder
8 oz Mushrooms, sliced, drained
10 oz Chopped broccoli, thaw & drain
3 c Cooked rice
2 c Ham, cooked and diced
2 oz Pimiento, diced & drained (I omit)
1 cn Fried onion rings

Saute onion in butter in a Dutch oven until tender. Add soup, cheese, garlic powder; stir until cheese melts. Add mushrooms, broccoli, rice and ham. Gently stir in pimiento, and spoon into a lightly greased 12 x 8 x 2" baking dish. Cover and chill 8 hours. To bake, remove from refrigerator and let stand at room temperature 30 minutes. Bake, covered, at 350 for 40 minutes. Sprinkle onion rings over casserole, and bake an additional 5 to 8 minutes. Note: Unbaked casserole may be frozen. To bake, thaw in refrigerator 24 hours. Remove from refrigerator and let stand at room temperature 30 minutes. Bake, covered, at 350 for 40 minutes. Sprinkle onion rings over casserole, and bake 5 to 8 minutes. From: Southern Living.


Spaghetti Casserole

(Makes 2 casseroles, 6 servings each)

16 oz. pkg. angel hair pasta
1 ½ pound ground beef (I use ground turkey)
26 oz. jar spaghetti sauce
2 cans (8 oz. each) tomato sauce
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup sour cream
2 c. shredded Colby-Monterey Jack cheese

Cook pasta. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, over medium heat, cook beef, drain. Stir in spaghetti sauce and tomato sauce. Remove from heat. Drain pasta. Combine soup and sour cream. In two 8 inch square baking dishes, layer half of the meat sauce, pasta, soup mixture and cheese. Repeat layers. Cover and freeze one casserole for up to 3 months. Cover and bake the remaining casserole 350 degrees 55-65 minutes or until cheese is melted.

To use frozen casserole: Thaw in fridge overnight. Remove from fridge, 30 minutes before baking. Bake as directed.

Merry Christmas to all!

This is our tree in our dining room. Robyn decorated it this year all by herself. I think she did a very good job.

My house if filled with wonderful Christmas scents today. I can smell the broccoli and cheese casserole and the green bean casserole baking in the oven. I can smell the Cider Wassail heating on the stove. We will be taking these to my mil's today for Christmas dinner. Yum-o!

I just want to wish all my family and friends a very joyous and merry Christmas from me and my family. Please have fun today and enjoy your family and God bless you.

Christmas Blessings,

Pam

I need some accountability.

So, I'm going to start a weekly post on my tasks that I need to accomplish for the week. This is what my week of December 21st looks like:

Monday: Grocery Shopping, Clean-up Main Floor of House, Photograph dd for Christmas card (I know, I know...nothing like getting those cards out early! Dh is the photographer in the family for the Christmas cards). Guests at 6:00 for Pizza, Soda and Sweets!

Tuesday: Take dd to my folk's house to spend a couple of nights. Possible lunch date with dh. Pick up stocking stuffers. Wrap dd's gifts while she is gone. Quiet evening with dh.

Wednesday: Do some Freezer cooking. See this week's menu. Clean up kitchen afterwards and as I go along.

Thursday: To my folk's house to spend afternoon celebrating Christmas Eve with them and bringing dd back home and to church for 6:00 Christmas Eve services. Later, cookies and hot cocoa by the fire as Daddy reads "Twas the Night Before Christmas." Robyn doesn't believe in Santa Claus, she's 10 ya know. But fairies, Tinkerbell, you betcha! "Fairies aren't real!" Dems fighting words!

Friday: Christmas Day! Watch dd's excitement as she opens her gifts. Off to mil's to spend the day and have Christmas Dinner. Daddy is going to read Luke 2, the Christmas passage.

Saturday: Do some work here in the house-hmmm...where to begin, probably in the master bath and bedroom and under kitchen sink, as the garbage disposal died and we need to get a plumber here to replace it. Must get all the junk out from under there so he can do his work! Ugh!

Sunday: Church, no Sunday School services today. Home for a day of rest and menu/grocery shopping planning (shouldn't have much of that to do as I am well stocked right now). Just some good quality time with family. Next week there will be much more to accomplish around this house as well as taking down of Christmas decorations. Seems like we just put them up!

What's your week look like?

Blessings,

Pam

Okay, it's Wednesday and here is where I am. Haven't gotten groceries yet. That will happen today after the plumber gets here and leaves. Garbage disposal died and he is putting in the new one that dh bought today. Dd is at her grandparent's house and we didn't pick up any stocking stuffers yet or done the Christmas wrapping. We will do that tonight too. Just being honest here. I'll update more later in the week.

Okay, it's Sunday afternoon and I've stuck to everything but working in the Master Bedroom. So, not too bad. How did you do? Did you accomplish everything on your "to-do" list?