Fun website

If you love shoes, then I have the website for you! :) I discovered this site when visiting bzzagent.com. They send out products for people to try and then "bzz" about to others. Bzz agent also has a "frogpond" which highlights different websites. I visited myshoes.com and thought others would enjoy the site as well. I am not hugely into shoes, but this site was fun because it has many different ways to find shoes...by style, by price, by color, by brand, etc... Check out the link below and see what you think:

http://www.bzzagent.com//p/9058429956/ilovemyboys12

Better late than never--Weekly Menu April 18th

I've been a tad disorganized the last week or so, but I do have my menu for the week now. :) I even made up my own recipe on Monday since I had no car and some ingredients to use up.

Sunday--I can't remember what we had...
Monday--Kara Burritos (Burritos with rice, tomato, black beans, green pepper, leftover ground turkey)
Tuesday--Macaroni and Cheese Casserole (AMAZING!) I changed up the recipe a bit by adding a dash of garlic powder and ground mustard.
Wednesday--Buttermilk Pecan Waffles and homestyle potatoes
Thursday--Spinach Salad (from Family Circle) and cheese bread
Friday--Quesadillas
Saturday--Calzones (cheese for K, pepper and onion for grown-ups)
Sunday--Turkey Burgers and grilled potatoes

I have an addiction...

to looking at blogs. :) Blogs about cooking, recipe blogs, decorating blogs, blogs with DIY ideas...I just love browsing and reading blogs! Do you have the same addiction?

I have gotten so many awesome recipes and weekly menu ideas from blogs. I have shared some of those with you in the past. I have also found some great ideas for organization too. And, of course, there are so many great ideas out there for the kids! Here a few of my favorite recent finds..

Check out this amazing crate idea from Blue Cricket Design for keeping your child's school papers neatly organized all in one spot! I have already purchased K's crate and now just need to let him pick out the ribbon. I'll post a picture when it's done. Isn't it a great idea??

Another fabulous idea for keeping the kiddos occupied on road trips was found at Somewhat Simple. I am so excited to start printing things out and filling a book for K. It will be great for our trip to CO this summer!

I tend to stick with the simple ideas, but I really want to try this Clothespin Art Center over at Crafts by Amanda. What an awesome way to share your little one's artwork!

Mike and I have never spent money on a bedroom set since we felt there are many other things we'd rather have. SO, we don't even have a headboard and I guess our room is a bit boring. Well, I hope to liven things up with this super simple headboard! We have some leftover baseboard from redoing the guest room so I'm hoping Mike will have some time to get it cut for me and get the headboard up!

There are so many amazing ideas out there in cyber world and I LOVE finding them! :)

YUM

This morning K, Grandma and I made Deceitfully Healthful Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Muffins which I found on a great blog called "Frugal Homemaking". They were easy to make and taste so good! I am going to freeze half of them for quick breakfasts/snacks later on. I did make a few simple changes to make them even healthier and think the results are rather tasty. :)

1.5 cups oatmeal (I used quick oats.)

2 and 2/3 cups flour (I used 1 cup whole wheat flour and the rest was all-purpose flour.)

2/3 cup sugar

4 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

2 eggs, beaten (I used Egg Beaters egg whites.)

1.5 cups milk

.5 cup vegetable oil (I used canola.)

6 oz. mini-chocolate chips (half of a bag)

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Grease 24 muffin cups. Combine the dry ingredients--oatmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt and create a well in the middle of the mixture. In a separate bowl, mix the wet ingredients--eggs, milk and oil. Add the wet mixture to the dry and stir just until moistened. Add the mini chips until evenly combined. Fill the muffin cups about 2/3 full. Bake for 16-18 minutes, or until tops are light golden. Remove from oven, and allow to cool for 5 minutes before handling.

Weekly Menu--April 5

My mother-in-law is coming tomorrow! I'm looking forward to having her with us for a week. We aren't on break so it'll be a busy week, but it will be fun to have her here. :)

Here's the menu for the week..

Monday--used an Entertainment coupon for Domino's Pizza
Tuesday--Zucchini, Carrot and Black Bean Quesadillas, baked potatoes
Wednesday--Pizza Rolls and cauliflower w/light cheese sauce (new recipes)
Thursday--Creamy Black Bean Salsa Chicken and brown rice
Friday--Eegees on the way to Chorale Fest in Phoenix (with carrots and chips)
Saturday--Absolutely Delicious Turkey Burgers and Tomato-Basil Pasta Salad (new recipe)


Creamy Black Bean Salsa Chicken
2 to 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup salsa
1 can corn, drained
1 can black beans, drained
1 pkg taco seasoning (I make my own)
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup grated cheddar cheese

Place chicken in greased crockpot. Pour broth, salsa, corn, beans and taco seasoning over chicken. Cover and cook on low heat 6-8 hours or high heat 3-4 hours. Remove chicken with slotted spoon and place on serving dish. Stir sour cream and cheese into sauce in crockpot, then pour over chicken. Makes 3-5 servings.

Serve with warm tortillas and Spanish rice.

Insomnia

UGH...it's 3 AM and I'm wide awake--again! I hate my sleep patterns lately. I have no trouble falling asleep--often before 10 pm. Then I'm awake before 5:30, which isn't too awful. But, 2:30 AM? That just bites! I'll play on the computer a bit and then crawl into bed and fall back asleep until K wakes us up around 6. I wish I knew why I have these sleep issues. It's very frustrating...

Anyway, yesterday was my birthday and I had a really nice day with my guys. I had a few hours to myself in the morning and then we went to a nearby state park to hike. The wildflowers are in bloom so it was a pretty jaunt. :) I wish we could have stayed longer, but we had a full day of activities planned. After hiking we went to M*mi's Cafe for lunch. The whole restaurant resembles a French bistro so I love it there! Then we ran into the mall for a bit. I ended up buying stuff for K, but nothing for me. We all enjoyed the first "Chipmunks" movie so we went to the cheap theater to see the Squeakel. It was okay. We then went home to dye Easter eggs, give K a haircut and bath and then get him to bed early since it was Day #3 without a nap. (He was asleep by 6:30) Mike made homemade pizza for supper and we watched "The Informant"...interesting movie, I guess...

Speaking of birthdays...did you realize how awesome it is to sign up for restaurant e-clubs? You can really get lots of freebies on your birthday when you do! I think I got around 20 different emails for free dessert or appetizer, free meal, or money-off coupons. It's fun! We used the F*mous D*ave's email for a free rib dinner. I took K out for lunch and used my free dessert at Chili s. (SO YUMMY!) The best part is that you usually have about 2 weeks to use the coupons so you can actually have some time to use more than one, if you want. Just head to the website of your favorite restaurants and sign up for their e-club. It's so worth it!

It's Easter morning! It's so cool to talk with K about Good Friday and Easter. He understands so much better now that he's a year older. He knows that today is a very happy day to celebrate what Jesus has done for us. I LOVE Easter morning services--especially with the trumpet playing. I think singing "I Know That My Redeemer Lives" with the trumpet is the best. It never fails to bring tears to my eyes. What an amazing God we have! Happy Easter!