MENU: 4/9/15 - 4/15/15

Let's start things off with a few new recipes.

* roasted cabbage with garlic - We sometimes have roasted cabbage with lemon, but I liked this version too. I should probably try roasting some with both lemon and garlic at some point, like this roasted cauliflower. That would be tasty!

* creamy butternut pasta - I bought some butternut with the intention of finding a new way to use it and this is the recipe I chose. Pureed butternut, noodles, and a bunch of seasonings.

* blueberry oatmeal cakes - These were a fun twist to the regular oatmeal we have several times a week and were like hand-held servings of baked oatmeal.

ADVANCED COOKING (These aren't always planned, so they'll often be things I did the previous week.)
* I'll make peanut butter and crockpot beans, just like I do once or twice every week.

BREAKFASTS
* scrambled eggs/English muffins
* doughnuts at church
* oatmeal with brown sugar, cinnamon, milk, homemade peanut butter, maple almond butter, raisins, dried cranberries, fresh or frozen fruit, huh-koe-pee milk, and/or energy mix as optional toppings x5

DINNERS
* sesame honey chicken (crockpot, raw in marinade from the freezer)/rice/peas & corn (This got skipped last week because Tim cooked up some salmon from a friend.)
* sweet potato & chipotle soup (from the freezer)/toast
* lentils & rice (This got skipped last week because we had an unplanned dinner with friends, though we have it about once a week anyway.)
* upside down pizza/mandarin salad
* egg salad sandwiches/apples
* tacos - seasoned meat from the freezer, crockpot beans, and some other toppings served in a tortilla or bowl, as a salad over a pile of greens, or with mound of rice

* leftovers 

SNACKS & DESSERTS
* peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies
* Crunchy Flax cereal (We've scored a few cases of 12 for $4.99 at a local discount store over the last few months, so we've been using it as a snack. We either eat it with milk as a cold cereal, over yogurt with fruit, or mixed into homemade granola.)
* produce 

* popcorn with seasoned salt (kernels from the Winco bulk department that get popped in my Lodge Dutch oven, but you can see my thoughts on both the wonderful Dutch oven and the fantastic West Bend Stir Crazy in this post. )

(This post contains affiliate links.)

4/9/15 - THANKFUL THURSDAY

I'm thankful for teamwork, whether within our family or among friends.

What's something that you're thankful for?

MOVIES I WATCHED: 12/1/14 - 4/7/15

When the Game Stands Tall, starring James Caviezel, Michael Chiklis, Alexander Ludwig, and Laura Dern
A good movie and a true story, this is about a coach who values character far more than winning and works hard to teach his players to do the same. As it turns out, they end up winning over 150 consecutive games before they all get a chance to see what really matters most to them when the rubber meets the road. I loved the life lessons packed into this movie, both for the adults and little Ws in this home.

Mary and Martha, starring Hillary Swank and Brenda Blethyn
Motherhood, malaria, and using one's grief and experiences to inspire others to make relatively minor sacrifices to bring about great change. That's this movie in a nutshell.

 

Annie, starring Jamie Foxx, Cameron Diaz, and Quvenzhane Wallis and Annie, starring Albert Finney, Carol Burnett, and Aileen Quinn
We watched the newer version first, then I realized I'd never seen the older one, so we watched in next. Miss Hannigan is sleazy in both, so there's some sexual innuendo in each version.

Fireproof, starring Kirk Cameron and Erin Bethea 
We watched this with the big boys, though Tim and I had seen it before. A man whose marriage is falling apart agrees to complete The Love Dare, a 40 day challenge that his dad gives him, an unenthusiastic last ditch attempt to reconcile with his wife.

The Girl, starring Abbie Cornish and Will Patton
I watched this alone one night, just a random movie that was suggested to me by IMDb when I was looking at another film. It's the story of a young mom whose child has been placed in foster care and who decides to smuggle people over the border to earn the money she needs to get her child back. That plan backfires and she ends up maturing quite a bit as she tries to make things right.

The Mighty Macs, starring Carla Gugino, Marley Shelton, David Boreanaz, and Ellen Burstyn

The true story of a hopeless women's college basketball team who ended up winning the first ever national championship. The predictability of a story about an underdog beating the odds is certainly there, but I like true stories and we all enjoyed the movie.

Big Hero 6, starring Scott Adsit and Ryan Potter
Super heroes and techy stuff aren't my thing, so I didn't expect to like this movie. It was great, though! Loyalty, bravery, and humor. Can't beat that combo!

Courageous, starring Alex Kendrick, Ken Bevel, Kevin Downes, and Ben Davies
Tim and I had seen this before, but we watched it with the big boys. After tragedy strikes a police officer, he and three of his co-workers vow to be intentional about being people of integrity who take their roles as husbands, fathers, employees, and men very seriously

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MY FACEBOOK HERO IS ....

.... Kristal!!

Last week I asked for help creating profile and cover pictures for the new Facebook page I'm linking recipes at. This week I have those pictures!

Kristal came up with a profile picture that I love. If I had the skills to make one myself, then this is what it would have looked like. It's like she read my mind.

She also made a cover photo that coordinates and thought ahead to move the salad picture over to make more room for the profile picture. Smart lady!

Go check out For the Love of Grub's Facebook page, then visit the Facebook page for Kristal Davis Photography just for kicks (or if you're looking for a photographer in the Akron area).

EASTER WEEKEND 2015

Our weekend started off with a really mellow morning. We rolled out of bed Saturday morning, ate some oats, then opened our Resurrection Eggs while our boiled eggs cooled down a bit. We didn't do any of the readings that come with them, but just went around the table and took turns opening eggs and talking about what part of the resurrection story each item in the eggs represented.

We gathered items on this pot holder as opened the Resurrection Eggs and ended up leaving them on our table for the rest of the weekend, a good reminder of what all the celebrating is for.

Devon, Naomi, and Teebs (with some help from Tim) dyed eggs.

We spent the rest of the morning watching movies and puttering around the house, then took off to an Easter party that some friends host every year. We saw lots of familiar faces, I met a bunch of new people, the kids heard a neat Bible lesson before collecting tons of candy and goodies, and we all ended up staying late for some extra chatting, laughing, and eating. Super fun afternoon and evening!

This morning we went to church, then came home for low-key afternoon that we all needed. The little Ws hung out inside while Tim and I hid the eggs in the back yard, then they all went outside and each found a few.

They like eating their eggs on the spot, so I went in to assemble some Easter goodies while they ate eggs in the sun. I like keeping things simple, which means not storing baskets all year for a few minutes of use on one day, so each kid got a pile of stuff on the table. A little bit of candy (they got a truckload yesterday) and snacks, gum, and a puzzle. Why Pop Tarts? Because the kids recently pointed out to me that they'd never had them before.  One wasn't a fan, one hasn't had theirs yet, and I scored some "cool mom" points with the two who thought they were wonderful.

Just some proof that Tim and I were around for the festivities.

These are the Easter surprises that some of the kids bought for Tim (on the right) and I (on the left) with their giving money. Super thoughtful!

The rest of the day consisted of naps or down time, Tim cooking some salmon from a friend, the kids having a candy fest for dinner (after eating some salmon), the kids talking to my dad on the phone, everyone working on various projects, and just spending time working, reading, or playing together. Pretty fantastic weekend!

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MENU: 4/2/15 - 4/8/15

No new recipes to share this week, but I'm trying a couple new ones this week that I hope will be good and making some old recipes we haven't had in a while.

ADVANCED COOKING (These aren't always planned, so they'll often be things I did the previous week.)
* Taco Tuesday was a low-effort meal and we had some sweet potatoes to use up, so I decided to use the extra time to prep some meals for later. I made one batch of sweet potato & chipotle soup and a quadruple batch (which works as a double batch for us, even though we could easily eat a quadruple batch) of the sweet potato part of chipotle sweet potato nachos.
* I mentioned last week that I was picking up 80 lbs. of Zaycon chicken. I froze 44 pounds in 3-ish lb. increments without doing anything to it and you can see the five different ways I prepared the remaining 36 lbs. before popping them in the freezer in this post from over the weekend.
* I'll make peanut butter and crockpot beans, just like I do once or twice every week.

BREAKFASTS
* new recipe/fruit, yogurt, & spinach smoothies
* doughnuts at church
* oatmeal with brown sugar, cinnamon, milk, homemade peanut butter, maple almond butter, raisins, dried cranberries, fresh or frozen fruit, huh-koe-pee milk, and/or energy mix as optional toppings x5

DINNERS
* carrot soup/cheesy muffins
* sesame honey chicken (crockpot, raw in marinade from the freezer)/rice/peas & corn
* lentils & rice
* new recipe/asparagus with lemon cheese sauce
* Greek chicken (raw in herbs from the freezer)/rice/roasted cabbage (skipped last week because my dad treated us to dinner)
* tacos - seasoned meat, crockpot beans from the freezer, and some other toppings served in a tortilla, bowl, as a salad over a pile of greens, or with mound of rice

* leftovers 

SNACKS & DESSERTS
* brownies from a boxed mix with chopped up Three Musketeers from our harvest festival freezer stash mixed in or sprinkled on top
* Crunchy Flax cereal (We scored a case of 12 for $4.99 at a local discount store, so we've been using it as a snack.)
* produce 

* popcorn with seasoned salt (kernels from the Winco bulk department that get popped in my Lodge Dutch oven, but you can see my thoughts on both the wonderful Dutch oven and the fantastic West Bend Stir Crazy in this post. )

(This post contains affiliate links.)

4/2/15 - THANKFUL THURSDAY

I'm thankful that I was able to snuggle Teebs all day yesterday while he battled a high fever and that he woke up fever-free and super chatty this morning.

What is something that you're thankful for?