{FREE} Download and Menu Monday!

So my sweet Husband finally hung up my new magnet board in the kitchen! (can I get a woot-woot!?) I have been super excited to have a place to hang my notes, announcments, and of course.. my weekly menu! So I took one of those little photo albums (you know the $1 ones at walmart?) and cut out a page. (cut neatly!)

Then I took a roll of magnet tape (go buy some of this stuff! youll use it all the time!) and cut out 4 small squares....

then stuck them in all 4 corners.

I printed my 4x6 menu planner, and slid it into the sleeve! It is SO nice to have my menu out where I can see it all the time! It makes it a lot easier to stick to your plan when you are constantly seeing it!

This downloads as 2 4x6 card on an 8.5x11 paper. All you have to do is trim them down and fill it out!

Download

Now for out Menu for the week!

Monday: Shake and Bake Chicken with stuffing

Tuesday: Spicy Asian Salmon (recipe to come)

Wednesday: Chimichangas

Thursday: Date Night

Friday: Spaghetti and Chili (recipe to come)

Saturday: Hawaiian Haystacks (recipe to come)

Sunday: Crock Pot Roast Beef and mashed potatoes

My Take on Spray Paint

I had a question about spray paint, and I thought I'd answer it in a post! I only use one brand, you could call me a 'spray paint snob' of sorts! :)

This paint is amazing! I had started out using Krylon spray paint, and liked it alright, but it always took 2-3 coats to get a nice even finish. This paint usually only takes one coat! I'll sometimes do 2 because I get in a hurry and miss spots the first time, but it covers SO well! I mostly only use Satin finish. I have used flat, and it looked a little too 'chalky' for my taste, and they dont have as many color choices.

Speaking of colors, there are a few that I keep around, just because I love them so much :)

From L to R: Espresso, Aqua, Colonial Red, Heirloom White, Eden, and Canyon Black

These colors are ones you will find everywhere in my house. Green, black, red and white in the main living areas. Green, brown and white in the Master bedroom, Aqua and Black in my craft room. Green and Brown in my little boy's room. I honestly go through a can of the white at least once every 2 weeks! They don't sell this paint at my walmart, so I either buy it at Home Depot or Ace Hardware. It runs about $3.50-$4.00 a can. Which seems like a lot, but it's worth it to only have to use 1 coat!

Here are a few places I've used the paint in my house... (you may recognize a lot of these!)

 Here are a few colors that I drool over every time I'm in the paint isle. If I could just find some reason to use them, I'd take them home to live on my shelf with my other 20 cans :)

From L to R: Aubergine, Strawflower, Real Orange, Berry Pink, Brilliant Blue

PS. No, I didn't get paid to write this... I just REALLY love this spray paint!

Stocking Your Pantry {and a peek into mine!}

Let me start out by saying that I do NOT have a large pantry! In fact, I have 2 rather small ones. I split them into 2 categories, My "opened" pantry is in my kitchen, it has all of the opened boxes, cookies, crackers, cereal, things we are in the process of eating. The second pantry is in our laundry room, and it had my "stock pile" in it. I thought I'd give you a peek into that pantry to see what our family likes to stock up on. I love seeing other people food storage to get new ideas, so hopefully I can give you a few!

I don't keep a lot of your average food storage items, I don't have wheat, oats, powdered milk, things like that. Mostly because I have no idea what to do with that kind of stuff!! Okay I lied, I have powdered milk because I use it in my rolls. But for the most part, I stock up on things that my family eats everyday, and that will keep for long periods of time. Here's a few examples...

  Rice, Pasta and Boxed Dinners: I got all of this for SUPER cheap, and thats why I started stocking up on it. The Rice a Roni I got for like .50 a box, the pasta was .25 a box. All these things keep for a fairly long time, so I knew it wouldnt go to waste. I use the rice often for a side dish, or add chicken and veggies for a super fast dinner.

 Cans: I just have one stock up tip on cans. When you buy one, buy another. You'll be amazed at how fast your pile grows if you just buy one or two extra everytime!

 Condiments: These are my FAVORITE pantry item! they come on sale for really cheap and I get as many as I can! I think I payed like .40 for the mustard, .50 for the hot sauce, and .42 for the soy sauce. Other than that, I always try and remember when I take the 'spare' out of the pantry, to write it on my grocery list, so I always have 1 or 2 extra.

 Bottling: I've just gotten into bottling, and when I say just, I mean last week! My father in law has an AMAZING garden, and was kind enough to stock me up with tomatoes! Between that and our garden... My mom and I went to town the other day and ended up with all this! This weekend will be homemade relish, peaches, pie filling and peach jam! This is a cost efficient way to get veggies! I know that the church farms here is southern utah sell peaches for really cheap, and I'm sure everyone has a neighbor or two with extra produce!

Beverages: Normally, I'm a water kinda gal, but sometimes you need a little something else! We have a lot of koolaid, mostly because it's inexpensive and quick to make. I dont buy a ton of pop, but I will usually pick up 2 or 3 when they go on sale for .69 cents. I use lemonade to BBQs and parties with friends, I will make a big pitcher and add frozen mixed berries, and that's it!

Laundry Soap: Laundry products are another good item to stock up on! These come on sale fairly often for like $1.50 a bottle. I usually stock up like this once or twice a year, and then I never have to worry about running out!

I hope this gives you some new ideas, or at least a little inspiration to start stocking your panty!

I'll leave you with my stocking motto...

"I'd rather but 20 at a time at 1/2 price, than 1 at time for full price"

Meatloaf Muffins

2 pounds lean hamburger

8 oz. tomato sauce

2 eggs

1/2 c. milk

2 t. onion powder

2 t. garlic powder

1 t. oregano

1/2 t. red pepper flakes

1 T. Chili Powder

1 sleeve saltine crackers, crushed

1/4 c. Ketchup

2 T. yellow mustard

2 T. Brown sugar

Topping: Mix 1 cup ketchup, 1/4 cup mustard, and 1/4 cup brown sugar.

Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Fill (sprayed) muffin tins 3/4 full and top with a spoon full of the topping. Bake at 350 for 30-45 min (or until insides are no longer pink) Allow to cool for at least 10 min. for the muffins to set a little more.

These can also be FROZEN! Just flash freeze them on a cookie sheet until hard, so they wont stick together! They to thaw, just pop in the microwave on defrost! I wrap mine in a damp paper towel for the first half so it doesnt get too dry!

Recipe Binder

When I was in High School, I started a recipe binder for when I got married. It started with a 1/2 inch binder, which slowly, but surely, evolved into a huge 3 inch binder, FILLED with every single recipe that I ever came across! Ones from magazines, from online, handwritten, typed, you name it, it was in there! It got old taking out that heavy binder and thumbing through hundreds of recipes I had never even tried just to get to the few that I made often. SO I downsized! I got a 1/2 inch binder, and filled it with only the BEST of the best recipes! The ones I use over and over, family favorites, only the greats! It has been so nice to be able to find a recipe quickly! You can see that the recipes are a little 'loved' to put it nicely, but the sheet protectors help a lot! TRY IT! You'll use your recipes a lot more if you don't have to search!

Notice this list on the back cover!

What I love {Wednesday}

I love this lotion SO much! it's made to take the nasty kitchen smells off of your hands, and it works! I keep it by my kitchen sink, and I use it all the time!

This cereal is honestly the yummiest cereal you will ever have!

We use this seasoning a ton! I put on chicken and fish, in pasta, and pretty much everything else! It's like Lemon pepper, but SOO much better!

and... I leave you with my current FAVORITE song!

Chicken and Artichoke Alfredo

This recipe was SUPER easy! It took like 15 minutes to throw together (granted I had the chicken precooked in the freezer)

Chicken and Artichoke Alfredo

1/2 lb penne pasta

1 cup shredded chicken

1/4 cup chopped marinated artichokes

1 jar Alfredo Sauce

Cook pasta, and drain. In a sauce pan, combine alfredo sauce, chicken and artichokes, heat through and pour over pasta. Serve with garlic bread.



Menu Plan Monday 8/8-8/14

Monday: Beef Stroganoff (This was on the menu for last week, but it somehow turned into cold cereal!)

Tuesday: Buffalo Chicken Street Tacos

Wednesday: Waffles, sausage & eggs

Thursday: Spaghetti and Meatballs with garlic bread

Friday: Date Night

Saturday: BBQ Beef Pizza (I told you this was a new favorite! My hubby asked to have it again this week!)

Sunday: Chinese (pictured above)

Kitchen Tips and Conversions {FREE Download!}

I can't be the only one out there that is CONSTANTLY checking online to see how many teaspoons are in a yeat packet, or trying to remember the rice to water measurments! Please tell me I am not alone here! So I finally decided (after seeing a little inpiration on Pinterest) to make a few cheat sheets!

\They Print on an 81/2x11 piece of paper, and come out to be about 5x7 each. I just printed them onto cardstock, laminated them, and taped them up inside my spice cabinet! They are so fun and helpful!

Go here to DOWNLOAD

BBQ Beef Pizza

This is honestly my new FAVORTIE pizza! It was so simple too!

BBQ Beef Pizza

1 1/2 cups shredded beef

3/4 cup BBQ sauce (I used Kraft Honey Mustard BBQ Sauce and that TOTALLY made the dish!)

1/4tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4tsp (or more) Franks Red Hot Sauce

Pizza Crust (I used the recipe here)

Shredded Cheese

Shredded purple cabbage (optional)

Bake your Pizza crust about 3/4 or the way, just before it starts to brown, I'd say it was about 8-10 min.

While the crust is cooking, mix the shredded beef (mine, again, was leftover roast) BBQ sauce, onion and garlic powder, and hot sauce. Pull your crust out of the oven, and spread the beef mixture over the top. Cover with as much cheese as your family likes, and put it back into the oven to resume baking. Bake for about another 10-15 min. or until the cheese is bubbly and the crust is browned. Pull the pizza out of the oven and top with the shredded cabbage.

This was REALLY good reheated the next day too! 

Quick Frame Makeover!

Frames are one of the main decor items in my house! I LOVE pictures, and naturally they need a place to go, so I have TONS of them around! When I got married, my color was black! Black word blocks, black candlesticks, black clocks... and black frames! 3 years later, I'm not so into the black anymore! So instead of going out and buying all new decor... I turned to my best friend... SPRAY PAINT!

Here is the 'before' picture. I got this frame at a yard sale for $4. STEAL! It's HEAVY and chunky, in a Decor store this would cost you at least $25-$30! It sat on my shelf a long time like this, until I went through one of my spraypainting moods and this ended up out in the garage! 2 coats later... I had this...

You can see where I got excited and stared sanding before I took the picture! Anyways, all I did was took a sheet of coarse sand paper and went to town on it! I sanded each ridge, corner, and bump until I had the worn look that I was looking for! And I LOVE it! I think it looks so much better than it did! Updated picture. A few new accesories. And VOILA!

 Refinishing old frames is a great way to update your decor! It's super cheap and makes a big difference!

I buy most of my frames at yard sales, look at elderly peoples houses, they have the best! Look for really ornate, chunky frames that have a lot of ridges on them.

My sister in law finds AWESOME frames at the DI near her house! The one by me is usually pretty picked over, but I have found a few there!

Here are a few other frames I've spray painted...

Funny story about the frame above! It's actually 2 frames that I superglued together. The top frame was the teired one, and I loved it, but it was a little too small, so I bought a plain flat frame and glued it behind it! My husband calls these (I made2) the frames of many colors! They have been black, green, maroon and white. I like white the best :)

Green Chili Beef Street Tacos

1 cup shredded beef (you could also use chicken)
2tsp taco seasoning
1 can chopped green chiles
1TBS water
6 corn tortillas
lettuce
taco sauce
cheddar cheese

In a skillet, heat precooked (I used some roast I had in the freezer) beef, add water, taco seasoning and green chiles and heat through. Spoon onto steamed corn tortillas. Top with lettuce, cheese, and taco sauce.

What I love Wednesday.

I thought I'd start a day to tell about some new (and old) favorite things of mine! I always love seeing what products people love or can't live without, so I'll follow along! :)

This weeks...

 I LOVE this vacum! I have to admit that when we got it for our wedding, I kind of wanted to return it, you knowthe whole, "if your mom didn't use it, you don't need it" thing? That's totally how I felt! But I use this every single day! I hate sweeping with a passion, but I just sweek this over the kitchen floor once/twice/3times (I have a babyboy... okay sometimes 4 times!) and it picks up everything visable! I still sweep the normal way to get all the small dust and things like that, but this thing saves my life!

This has been my go to snack all summer! I have them in the fridge all the time! It's a quick, not too sweet snack to tie me over until dinner! I am SUCH a snacker!!

I am sure you have noticed this chili sauce in a lot of my recipes recently! I have a slight addiction with it! I had never dared try it, since I dont really like hot sauce, but my husband asked me to buy it for him, and now I put it on everything! It's SO yummy!!

I'll keep it to these 3 things this week, so I have something to write about next week!

Beef and Bean Chimichangas

Mexican food is BIG at our house, and my poor husband gets tired of the same routine of tacos, taco salad, enchiladas. So I decided to be ambitious and try Chimichangas! I worked at Taco Time for YEARS and made them all the time, but I had never tried them at home! They are EASY PEASY! and If you have the meat already cooked, they are super quick!

Beef and Bean Chimis

4 flour tortillas

1 cup shredded beef (i used leftover roast)

1 TBS taco seasoning

1 can refried beans

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

vegetable oil

Toppings: sour cream, cheese, taco sauce, guacamole etc.

Warm the shredded beef in a pan with a little water, just enough to moisten the meat, you could also add a bit of beef broth. Add taco seasoning, mix well and set aside. on the tortilla, spread a spoonfull of beans across the center. Add a little cheese, and a spoonfull of the meat. Roll* up tightly, and repeat with the remaining tortillas. In a large skillet, heat 1/4 inch of vegetable oil until bubbles form around a small piece or tortilla dropped in. Fry your chimis for about a minute on all 4 sides. Top with anything you'd like and enjoy!

 *I learned how to roll burritos at Taco Time, but if you don't know how, heres a simple explanation,

With your bean and meat line going ACROSS, fold the bottom of the tortilla up to the middle. then fold the sides in about an inch, and roll the whole thing up tightly! If you are still confused, there are lost of youtube demonstrations!

Menu Monday!

I'm actually doing this on a Monday this week! YAY! One of my cute friends mentioned last week about how I post a lot of meals with the 'racipe to come!' I know... it's kind of annoying! But my husband gets sick of the same meals FAST, so I cant make the same meal more than once a month or I supposedly make it, quote "ALL the time!" (don't you just love husbands;)) So bare with me and I'll get the recipes posted ASAP after I make them! Onto this week's meal plan!...

Monday: Beef Stroganoff
Tuesday: Mexican Chicken Parmesan (recipe to come!)
Wednesday: Tamale Casserole (recipe to come!)
Thursday: Egg Drop Soup (recipe to come!) and Egg Rolls
Friday: Date Night :)
Saturday: Burgers and Steak Fries
Sunday: Philly Cheesesteak Subs (recipe to come!)

Lemon Poppy Seed Cake with Swiss Meringue White Chocolate Frosting...with fresh Raspberries.

A cake with a name like that has to be good. 
and it's even better...


Found the Original Recipe HERE.


I modified mine a little, to make it faster and easier. 


Cake:
-2 boxes of cake mix, one yellow cake and one lemon cake, just mix together in a big bowl.
-follow each recipe on the back of the box for eggs, water, and oil. 
-3 teaspoons of poppy seeds


mix and put into cake pans. I used 4 square 8x8 pans and filled them all half way. 
bake 2 at a time for 25 minutes. perfect, yummy, delicious smelling, cake is ready!
let it cool while you make this uber intense frosting....but it's totally worth it!




Swiss Meringue White Chocolate Frosting:

-5 Egg Whites

-1 cup Sugar

-Pinch of Salt

-2 cups (4 sticks) Unsalted Butter, Softened

-1 tsp. Vanilla Extract

-8 oz. Good Quality White Chocolate, chopped

**noticed that I split the recipe in half. and it was more than enough frosting to cover all the cakes.

While the cakes are cooling, make the swiss meringue buttercream frosting. 

Place the white chocolate in a heatproof bowl.  Set the bowl over a pot of simmering water. Melt the chocolate until completely smooth.  Take the bowl off the heat and let sit on the counter until completely cooled. 

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the egg whites, sugar, and salt.  Place the bowl over a pot of simmering water.  Whisk constantly until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture reaches about 150 degrees F.

Take the bowl and attach it your mixture, fitted with the whisk attachment.  Whisk the egg white mixture until it reaches room temperature and stiff peaks have formed, about 5-10 minutes.  At this point the mixture will be thickened and white.  With the mixer on low speed, add the butter, 2 tablespoon as a time.  Once all the butter is added, raise the speed to medium high and mix until the mixture starts to come together.  Remove the whisk attachment and replace with the beater attachment.  Beat until the buttercream comes together fully and is smooth.  This will take time, about 5 minutes.  So don’t worry if you think you did something wrong, it will come together and create a smooth and creamy buttercream.

Once finished, mix in the vanilla.  Gradually add in the melted and cooled white chocolate.  Be careful to not let it touch the sides of the bowl because you don’t want it to harden.  Beat until the frosting is smooth.  You can also color your buttercream at this point if desired.  If the buttercream is too soft, you can place it in the freezer for about 5 minutes to let it slightly harden.  Then beat the frosting again to smooth it out and get it to the right consistency. 

**I put mine in the freezer for 5 minutes and then whipped with a whisk to get it fluffier. 

Assembling the cakes. 

I layered 2 cakes on top of each other, putting a little frosting with whole raspberries in between each cake. You then cover the cake with frosting and top it off with fresh raspberries. 

IT'S AMAZING!

they don't look perfect or pretty, by any means. but we were to much in a hurry to eat them...they are soooo yummy!

Wingers Sticky Finger Quesedilla {Copycat}

My Hubby and I LOVE Wingers! We have been going there since we stated dating, actually he started going there long before that! Him and his buddies would flirt with the waitresses to get free asphalt pie :) (He's lucky I came along:) flirting for pie... how embarrassing) Anyways he gets the same thing pretty much EVERY time we go there. the Sticky Finger Quesedilla. So when I found the recipe online and made it for him, he was on cloud 9!

(The sauce recipe is everywhere online, this was the recipe I used for reference, but I tweaked it to fit our tastes)

Wingers Sticky Finger Quesedilla

Sauce:1/3 c. +2 TBS Franks Hot Sauce

1 1/2 c. brown sugar

1/2 tsp white vinegar (this cuts the sweetness. just do it. trust me.)

Heat the Hot sauce, brown sugar to a boil and remove from heat, it will thicken as it cools. Add vinegar last and mix well.

Quesedilla:

flour tortillas

Tyson popcorn chicken

The sauce you made :)

cheddar cheese

ranch dressing

After baking the popcorn chicken (dont microwave it, it'll be soggy) drizzle the sauce over the chicken and toss to coat. cover the tortilla with cheese, add you chicken, top with more cheese and then the other tortilla. place onto a hot griddle until cheese is melted and both sides are browned! For YUMMY dipping sauce, mix a little of the wingers sauce with ranch! DIP, and ENJOY!

Family Photos for your 72 hour Kit!

I thought it might be a good idea to go a little more in depth into what I did for our family pictures for our 72 hour kits! It was VERY simple actually! All I did was find the photos I wanted to use (family, my hubby, me, and my baby) and opened them with photoshop. Make sure they are photos that your faces are visible, these can be used for anything from photos from children to look at to pass time, to photos needed for a search party! I typed our full names underneath and printed them onto regular paper. You could also just write the names under the photos. Then I cut them out and laminated them, punched holes in the corners and tied them together with some ribbon. If you arent able to get to a laminater, you can use packing tape over both sides and then just trim it!

This was SO fast and easy! And it was cheap so I can redo the book every time we get our new family photos!

Isn't he a cutie!?

Chicken and Veggie Egg Rolls

These were SOO yummy! I have a slight addiction to egg rolls... but who doesn't? I'm not a huge fan of the baked kind, I like 'em fried up and crispy! Here's mine...

Chicken and Veggie Egg Rolls
(makes about 10)
10 egg roll wrappers
2cups finely shredded purple cabbage
1 cup shredded carrots
1 cup shredded chicken
1 TBS soy sauce
1 TBS teryaki sauce
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp powdered ginger

In a wok, or a large skillet, saute cabbage and carrots until slightly tender. Add chicken and all of the other ingredients and cook for 5-10 min until everything has cooked down together. Lay out your egg roll wrappers and fill them with a spoonfull of filling in a line down the center of the wrapper on a diagonal. roll the wrappers (while tucking in the ends) and seal the edge with a little water to make it stick. (the package for the egg rolls should have pictures to show you how to do this) Fry in about 1/4 inch of vegetable oil on all 4 sides until golden brown. Dip in soy sauce or teryaki.

Menu Plan Monday... (on Thursday?)

I really have been planning my weekly Menus!... I just keep forgeting to post them! I'm going to TRY and do better!
I figured that mostly people just want dinner ideas from these anyways, so I'll go ahead and post the menu I made for this week, even though the week is more than 1/2 way over!

Monday: Dinner with a couple from our ward (I made Summer garden Pasta Salad)

Tuesday: Beef and Bean Chimichangas (recipe to come!)

Wednesday: French Bread Pizzas

Thursday: Meatloaf Muffins (recipe to come!) Mashed Potatoes and Zucchini

Friday: Crock Pot French Dips -shown above (had to make it an easy night... we will be getting ready for a yard sale!

Saturday: Date Night :)

Sunday: BBQ Beef Pizza (recipe to come!)