Menu Plan Monday-Feb 28

Sunday: Grilled chicken breasts and shrimp marinated in Soyaki Sauce, Uncle Ben's Rice and Steamfresh veggies: Cauliflower, Carrots, and Broccoli with cheese sauce (All good, all healthy too) **loved the shrimp in the Soyaki!
Monday: Breakfast for Dinner: scrambled eggs, bacon, oven baked potatoes.
Tuesday: Baked fish, salad, chix nuggets for Olivia and ?? for Shelby
Wednesday: Happy Birthday to me...hoping to go out for dinner tonight.
Thursday: Grilled pork chops, baked potato, green beans and corn.
Friday: basketball game and team party
Saturday: ??

Need more meal ideas...here you go.

A BIG effort is being put forth for me to eat better so I am counting points and nearly one week is down and it's going well. I really hope all of the eating changes will result in a few pounds being shed. I will keep you posted. Pin It

Smart Talk Women: Connected Conversations

(photo credit)

This will be my third year attending the Smart Talk Media-Connected Conversations women's speaking series. I have been lucky enough to see (and briefly meet) Anne Compton, Helen Hunt, Billie Jean King, Valerie Bertinelli, Patricia Heaton...and a few more! Dang, I sound like a name dropper :)

This year I cannot make all of the dates but I am very excited to see Soledad O'Brien on Monday night at the Aronoff. I was such a big fan when she was on the Today Show. I will admit that I have not followed her as much since she made the move to CNN so I am anxious to "catch up" and hear about her life and assignments as anchor for CNN’s special investigations unit. Tickets are still available and can be purchased here: BUY SOLEDAD O'BRIEN TIX. Pin It

you know that feeling...

That feeling when your heart is so full it feels like it could burst?
I felt that way today when this little girl did a humongous solo at church. For those of you who are Catholic, she sang the entire Responsorial Psalm (3 verses and the chorus 4 times!). She sang her heart out in front of the entire school (and me, her Dad, two grandmas and one grandpa). Because of her I am:

so blessed
so proud
so fortunate

Good stuff.

Tonight we ate the Weight Watchers Chicken Casserole. OK but not a fav. One issue is that I don't think I love mushroom soup much in baking so if I did try this again I'd sub cream of chicken. Pin It

Menu Plan Monday-Feb 21

Sunday: Dinner at Flipdaddy's (2 thumbs up)
Monday: Spaghetti and Meatballs (Armor frozen meatballs and jarred LaRosas Sauce), garlic bread and salad
Tuesday: Baked Potato Crusted Cod (frozen pre-made), mashed potatoes and veggie. Chix nuggets for the girls.
Wednesday: Chili for the bigs, burgers for the littles.
Thursday: Dawn's Casserole - a weight watcher's recipe. I plan to add a bag of frozen broccoli directly to the casserole and I will reserve a chicken breast on the side for Shelby and Olivia will likely have chicken nuggets...again.
Friday: ?
Saturday: 40th Bday party

If you want to view a ton of other people's weekly menus, visit this blog. Pin It

Ree: The Pioneer Woman

(photo treatment: polarize)

Not from lack of trying (curses to my iPhone refusing to upload directly to Facebook for 2 whole days!) but here is a photo of my friend Amy, the Pioneer Woman and me! We attended her book signing on Friday night at Joseph Beth. Ree was genuine when she addressed the crowd and just a real joy to see and hear in person. She denies being a celebrity, saying it is all "relative" but I think the 700 or so people there to see her, would argue her status just.a.little.bit.

(photo treatment: hipstamatic)

In order to meet her in person you had to buy a book so I am now the owner of the Pioneer Woman Cooks, a great gem to add to my collection. Since I am such an avid blog reader, not much is new to me but I love it in this format so it's all good.


(sooc: sorry Ree!)

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food finds

This is a Hipstamatic shot of Clementines. I am not breaking new ground here with this announcement but...Clementines are delicious. My Shelby has eaten several each day. Which has me believing in the idea to leave "good food" in their line of vision b/c she is seriously picking these over anything else.

Wholly Guacamole 100 Calorie Packs. Um, yes please! Not only is this a great portion size but since there are 3 individual packs, the other two portions will keep nicely without turning brown. I did use a handful of chips but I spread the rest on a wrap sandwich and hope to use the other packs as dip for carrots and celery.

Moving on...Trader Joe's Soyaki Sauce. This is an oldie but goodie. Because the weather topped 50 degrees, we have grilled out several times this week. Instead of doing the Deen Bros Recipe, I marinated my split chicken breasts in this and then grilled. Magic stuff, Soyaki Sauce. When googling for links, I found tons of Soyaki recipes. And by the way, Soyaki is less than $3 a bottle if I remember correctly.

One food find that can stay on the shelf (in my opinion) is the Budweiser BBQ sauces. I bought two bottles when there was a BOGO offer plus coupon and I just don't care for it. And you should know, in this house a certain someone consumes WAY more than his share of Bud products so I had high hopes. Pin It

meal plan monday

I created my own graphic for Meal Plan Monday using product from Pamela Donnis at Little Dreamer Designs. I took the major shortcut, easy way out, and created this using Picasa. For ideas on how to use Picasa to make digital scrapbook pages, visit Persnickety Prints. I love the inspiration to use my digital products, and Picasa, in an all new way.
Now for my weekly meal plan...

Sunday: Pork BBQ ribs on the Grill, baked potatoes, corn or green beans
Monday: dinner out at Acapulco
Tuesday: Deen Brothers Lime and Dijon Chicken (I hope to make this on the grill and I use split chix breasts), mashed potatoes and a veggie. Chicken Nuggets for Olivia.
Wednesday: Restaurant Night to support the school at By Gollys
Thursday: Pizza and Carrots with Ranch Dip (school skating party)
Friday: the family is on their own b/c I am headed to see The Pioneer Woman

Happy Valentine's Day. Pin It

a story about the sun and a grateful heart

The sun is out today. It is nearly 60 degrees. Those two things combined had me racing inside after lunch for one thing...

my camera. First click and I got this.

Second click and I got this.

A bit later and I get this. I introduce you to Shelby's fashion sense. Plaid pants (with a hint of glitter), rainbow socks and the Sketchers' Twinkle Toes. Oh my.

And a dog who is beyond pleased for sunshine and outdoor interaction with humans!

Grateful for:
the sun
my girls
my 50 mm camera lens
class valentines that are totally complete and already packed into book bags for tomorrow
the warm temps
this wee one who is hopefully on the mend
the internet for allowing me to make connections to people like Kayla Aimee and her daughter.

the end.

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handmade kindle cover

This time, I used some of my vintage sheet collection.

Actually, I only used scraps. I sewed an assortment together and then cut them to size. This kindle cover is padded, front and back.

The inside is lined with a yellow, patterned vintage sheet. The closure is a simple button and loop. I already cut supplies to make 2-3 more of these in just slight variations.

This one is headed to GA to a very sweet person who is enduring some difficult challenges lately.

If you'd like one, leave a comment with your info.

Not sure I could make a career out of it, but I enjoy making these and am willing to sell a few. Next week I may even do a giveaway for one :) Check back and thanks for visiting.

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It's meal plan monday..

Monday: Breakfast for Dinner: Biscuits, Potatoes, Sausage and Scrambled Eggs (For the first time, I tried "par baking" the potatoes by cooking them until nearly done in the microwave and then frying them. It worked great, cut down on the cooking time and they were good and crunchy).
Tuesday: Heavenly Angel Chicken (Crockpot)


Wednesday: Tacos or BBQ (something with ground chuck), Burgers for the girls
Thursday: Spaghetti and Meatballs, salad and garlic bread

Friday and Saturday are always on the fly so I am no longer planning for those. Sunday is usually a meal at home though.

What are you making?

Find more meal plans ::HERE:: Pin It

up to date

My iphone photos on Flickr ------> HERE.

Yikes, good thing I reviewed them before much more time went on b/c some were missing or marked with the incorrect date.

I know, I know-so what? Well, I am committed to this little project so I am resolved to see it through which includes the photos and dates being correct.

Happy Sunday.
Waiting for my 4th grade darling to return so that we can complete an entire scrapbook on Ulysses S. Grant today. Good times. Three guesses who that charmer is above... Pin It

what the heck?

This photo was taken during a recent snowstorm. This car was less than 1/4 mile from my house. I had to pull over and take a picture but without the added text it is hard to see what is going on. What is going on? Someone (a fellow clermont county resident) planned ahead for the snow by pointing their car facing OUT of their driveway, covering the windshield with an oversized chair cushion and positioning their windshield wipers like so. Crazy? I think so.

I share this b/c it is evidence of a sad state of affairs. I only used my "good" camera once during the entire month of January and that was to take pics of the cute neighbor baby. All other photos were taken with my phone. And while I am happy to have those, I may need to stretch myself a bit.

Don't get me wrong, I am excited that I have a "picture a day" on my phone, and am really pleased with my plan for those. But I L O V E the happy surprise of a really great photo. And to get that, the Rebel is going to have to come out a bit more often.

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remember...

That thing called the sun? It came out today!

So I was able to take pics of my new fabric like I promised.

Love this one.

And this one.

And the whole stack together with a bit of sunshine coming down on them. Hooray for the sunshine. Hooray for 8 yards of fabric and a One Yard Wonders sewing book in da' house.

I got a great deal on fabric from Aunt Bea's Fabric and now, with only a bit of inventory remaining, you can save even more.

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dark and gloomy

The ice storm did not impact us much, in fact, my kids went to school on schedule. Others around us are not faring quite as well so I did not make the trek to a business meeting in SE Indiana today.So...I did manage to take at least one photo a day in the month of January with my I Phone. Although I am happy to have them stored on Flickr, it just wasn't having an impact on me viewing them there. So, this weekend I ran across this great template from Designer Digitals and realized it would be the perfect home to 7 photos. Ta-da! Above is week one. Easy Peasy. All of the digital products are from a great kit at Little Dreamer Designs: Fashionably Late. I am so pleased with the pairing of these products, my photos and the template.

I ordered and received the most awesome fabrics from Aunt Bea's fabrics. They are going out of business and their designer fabrics are a steal right now. Check it out. Once the sun decides to shine again, I will share what I bought. Pin It