Menu Plan Monday

I can't believe that Christmas is almost here. This will be another busy week for us, so we are keeping our meals simple and easy for now.

Monday: Leftover Pizza

Tuesday: Chicken Parmesan, Garlic Mashed Potatoes & Sauteed Zucchini

Wednesday: Eating at Nana's (celebrating my Grandma's birthday)

Thursday: Tacos w/ all the fixings

Friday: Meatloaf, Garlic Mashed Potatoes & Corn

Chocolate Chip Cookies In a Jar

My best friend Laurie came over on Saturday and we had a great time shopping, chatting and staying up until wee hours of the morning making these cute Chocolate Chip Cookies in a jar for Christmas Gifts. Our hubby's were enjoying their Xbox time as well! :)

Laurie and I making the Cookie Jars.

We finished doing our last jars.

I made six jars to give out as Christmas gifts. I added cute Christmas fabric to the tops of the jars, but I still need to finish adding ribbon, recipe cards & a cute Christmas Ornament. They will look adorable when they are completed! :)

Ingredients:

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup white sugar
1 ½ cups semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup packed brown sugar

Directions:

Combine the flour, baking soda, white sugar, and the chocolate chips. Place 1/2 of the mixture in a clean quart sized glass jar, and pack firmly. Place the brown sugar on top, again packing firmly. Place the remaining flour mixture on top. Cover with a lid.

Attach an index card with the following directions: Empty contents of jar into a large bowl. In separate bowl combine 3/4 cup of butter, 2 eggs, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat until creamy. Add to dry mixture. Drop by tablespoonful onto an ungreased cookie sheet, and bake in a preheated 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) oven for 8 to 10 minutes.

Fruity Candy Popcorn AKA: Jello Popcorn

I was searching food blogs the other day and found this scrumptious recipe for Fruity Candy Popcorn on the website http://www.bestbites.com/ and thought I would give it a try. My boys love popcorn and what a way to make a movie night with special popcorn to enjoy! It was a hit and I will definitely be making this again.

Fruity Candy Popcorn

8 cups popped popcorn
1/4 C butter (that's half a stick)
3 T light corn syrup (honey is a good substitute)
1/2 C sugar
1 3.5oz box jello, any flavor (not the sugar free kind)

Preheat oven to 300°F. Line a jelly roll pan with foil or parchment. If using foil, spray lightly with non-stick spray and set aside. Place popcorn in an extra large mixing bowl. Place butter and syrup in a sauce pan on medium heat. Stir until butter is melted. Add sugar and Jello and stir to combine



Increase heat and bring to a boil. Then reduce heat so it just simmers. Continue simmering for 5 minutes. You'll start off with a mixture that's sometimes thick (depending on the flavor, see note at end) and as it cooks the sugar will dissolve and it will become a little more liquid-ish.



After the sugar mixture simmers for 5 minutes, immediately pour over popcorn in bowl. Be careful, it's super hot!! Mix right away and keep stirring so everything gets well coated. Spread mixture onto prepared pan and spread out evenly.



Pop in the oven and bake for about 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and let cool to room temp. Then break into pieces and enjoy! You can certainly eat this un-baked as well and it's just soft and gooey, but definitely bake it if you're going to pack it up for giving, or serve it as party food so it will be light and crunchy.

Enjoy!

Menu Plan Monday

Now that Thanksgiving is over, I can finally relax a little. I took two weeks off from menu planning and I'm so ready to start back up again. During the couple weeks off, I never knew what I was going to make for dinner or what I should put on my grocery list. Would I use everything I bought or am I going to throw food away?!?! I forgot how menu planning makes my life so much easier! It's definitely time to start back up. I have a busy week ahead of us, so I will make it simple this week.

Sunday: Thanksgiving leftovers for us and mac & cheese & applesauce for the kids.

Monday: Turkey Sandwiches & fresh fruit.

Tuesday: Turkey burgers, tator tots & fresh fruit.

Wednesday: Chicken salads w/ all the fixings, homemade rolls and grilled cheese sandwiches for the kids.

Thursday: Fish Stick Sandwiches

Friday: Eating Out (My hubby's work Christmas Party)

Saturday: Chicken Parmesan, garlic mashed potatoes, corn & homemade rolls.

Fun Thanksgiving Crafts

The kids and I had fun making Thanksgiving day crafts today. We made turkey's made out of their hands & feet and we also made a Thanksgiving Tree painted with their hands and forearms. I posted pictures below for you to see. :)

After painting the tree with their hands & forearms, I had them tear small pieces of construction paper and glue them on as part of the tree. The kids had fun ripping the paper and giggling. I then asked the kids what they are Thankful for and this is what they came up with!

Preston with his finished Turkey.

My little Noah excited he got to finally finish his Turkey. He was the last one!

Fall Leaves

I love Fall! I love when the trees start changing into the beautiful colors of yellow, orange & red. It's amazing to see God's beauty all around us! I took pictures of the boys last year during this time, so I wanted to do it again this year, only this time I have a new little guy to take pictures of. The boys had so much fun playing in the leaves and Jeremiah kept trying to eat the leaves. Sheesh.........I didn't think it would be this exhausting trying to get a few good pictures, but it's all totally worth it! :)


My sweet little Jeremiah giving me his cute little look.


He was having too much fun!


Jeremiah's best little bud Spencer. They are two peas in a pod.


Preston was entertaining the boys and making them laugh.

The boys were having fun throwing the leaves in the air. I was trying to catch them in action.

This was a cool action shot. I just love Preston's smiling face!

My cute little guys.

The boys were giving the tree a hug.

Meal Plan Monday

It seems as though the past couple weeks have crept up on me and I haven't been as organized as normal. It's just going to get crazy busy with the holidays approaching. So much to do and so little time. Well.......here is my meal plan for this week!

Sunday: Fish Stick Sandwiches & Mixed Vegetables

Monday: Trip-Tip, Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Corn & Garlic Bread

Tuesday: BBQ Tri-Tip Sandwiches (leftover from previous night) & Salad

Wednesday: Grilled Cheese Sandwiches & Tomato Soup

Thursday: Pork Chops, Broccoli Au Gratin Rice-A-Roni & Peas

Friday: Make Your Own Pizza Night (movie & popcorn night w/ the kids)

Saturday: Eating Out (my hubby and I are celebrating our 11 year Anniversary!) :-)