Craft Project(s)

We went shopping this weekend and bought a flower arrangement for me to carry at the convalidation ceremony Saturday. While I was working on that - I made the bow and wrapped the ribbon on the handle, Robert decided to make me a cat! (Pictures taken by Robert)

Nachos with Refried Beans

Well, we tried them! And we liked them! ... They were cheap and easy - and I froze the rest so we can have a quick bean meal next time.

Don't they look delicious?!

If you missed my last post and want to know how to make your own refried beans - check it out on The Happy Housewife!

Change to the meal plan ...

We didn't have the quiche tonight because Robert had duty. I was really hoping to try that but for some reason, I always forget to schedule his duty days into my meal plan! Hopefully I'll make it sometime soon, as it is one of my new recipes to try.

Tonight, I'm cooking pinto beans to make refried beans - with the help of The Happy Housewife. I love her blog. She has great tips and great recipes.

I'll post some pictures tomorrow and tell you about my new "food expedition". We're having bean and cheese nachos with tomatoes, olives, green chiles, and onions! It's another treat. I don't think I've made nachos for a meal since high school. But it's one of my cheap meals for the week -- especially since I'm making my own refried beans.

Remember the Fallen

Take a moment today to pray for all the men and women who have died to keep us free. Also remember to thank the veterans and those still serving for their sacrifice.

To all the members of the military (past and present): Thank you, for everything you've done for your country.

Navy	Army	Marines	Coast Guard	Air Force

Grilled Chicken Pasta Salad

We didn't end up making French Dip sandwiches yesterday. Robert wanted hot dogs with homemade cheese dip and Frito's for lunch (we never eat hot dogs anymore, but I decided they were okay as a special treat - we bought the Angus Beef Ball Parks which were really good!). Then he wanted pancakes for dinner so I made buttermilk pancakes from scratch and sausage to go with them. It was a pretty easy cooking day for me!

Today we (Robert always gets out my ingredients and puts the dirty dishes in the sink) made Grilled Chicken Pasta Salad ... a new recipe from Parents.com! We had that and cooked bratwurst on the George Forman (since we don't have an outside grill) for our Memorial Day "barbecue". I was going to cut the recipe in half because it made 8 servings, but I didn't remember until after I had half the ingredients in the bowl - so it was too late! But it was delicious. Robert liked it too - and he took the pictures for me! : )

Meal Planning 5/24 - 6/6

This grocery shop was a little short because next week we will have family here for our marriage blessing! I'm getting so excited to finally be able to take communion again. I also decided to cook dinner all this week (instead of doing leftovers Sun & Thu) because we pretty much cleaned out the cabinets, refrigerator, and freezer this week! I also tried to plan more meatless meals to save money -- but instead we were $50 over budget! I chalked it up to having to buy a bunch of paper products and some hygiene items.

I also decided to try making a table on here! Well anyway, here's our new meal plan.

Sun	5/24	French Dip Sandwiches
Mon	5/25	Grilled Chicken Pasta Salad
Tue	5/26	Mushroom & Spinach Quiche
Wed	5/27	Nachos
Thu	5/28	Creamy Chicken & Rice
Fri	5/29	Pizza
Sat	5/30	Mexican Style Mini Meatloaves

Sun	5/31	Leftovers
Mon	6/1	Tuna & Egg Salad
Tue	6/2	Spinach & Artichoke Dip
Wed	6/3	Bean Burritos
Thu	6/4	Guests
Fri	6/5	Guests
Sat	6/6	Guests

Photos

Yesterday and today I spent (literally) hours going through all my old photos of which I'm sure I have had well over a thousand. I have 4 large photo albums, 4 small photo albums, and 2 scrapbooks. Plus I had hundreds of photos just sitting in ziploc bags. Most were sorted into groups like: family, friends, pets, etc, but even in the groups there were tons of bad shots.

Now, though - I've got it down to 2 groups: me and immediate family. I have an album of extended family already finished. I need an new album to put all the immediate family in. I also need a bigger album to put "me" into (lol). I started one already but it's not nearly big enough to put all the rest of the photos in - there were over 100 photos in the stack that I did count (and probably another 50-100 in the other stack).

And yes, it's probably completely horrible to put photos into ziploc bags, but that's the only storage option I have right now AND it's kind of "encouraging" me to finish the albums that way!

Pile of trash - I would estimate 300+ photos


Stack of trash (same as above, just stacked up)


Photos of me


Immediate Family


My Albums - and my little Clowny (he's as old as I am, but I still love him!)

Double Decker Confetti Brownies

Well, I finally made the dessert (even though there was still one more brownie in there)! This was from a recipe card I got in the mail (as an advertisement to buy more).

I tried one when I was cutting them up... : ) They are sooooo good!!!

Double Decker Confetti Brownies
from Easy to Bake, Easy to Make
Makes: 24 bars Bake: 25 - 30 minutes

¾ c	butter, softened (1 ½ sticks)
1 c	sugar
1 c	brown sugar
3	eggs
1 t	vanilla
2 ½ c	flour, divided
2 ½ t	baking powder
½ t	salt
⅓ c	unsweetened cocoa powder
1 T	butter, melted
1 c	M&Ms semi-sweet chocolate mini baking bits, divided

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease 9x13-inch pan; set aside.

In a large bowl, cream ¾ c butter and sugars until light and fluffy; beat in eggs and vanilla. In medium bowl, combine 2 ¼ c flour, baking powder, and slat; blend into creamed mixture. Divide batter in half.

Blend together cocoa powder and melted butter; stir into one half of dough. Spread cocoa dough evenly into prepared pan. Stir remaining ¼ c flour and ½ c M&Ms into remaining dough; spread evenly over cocoa dough in pan. Sprinkle with remaining ½ c M&Ms.

Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until edges start to pull away from sides of pan. Cool completely. Cut into bars. Store in tightly covered container.

Meal Planning 5/10 - 5/23

This week I'm using up a ton of leftovers in the freezer - so there were only 4 meals I had to buy for! And I'm trying a new recipe! Hopefully, I will make my new dessert around Wednesday - the brownies aren't getting eaten up as fast as I thought!

S	5/10	Leftovers
M	5/11	Creamy Chicken & Noodles
T	5/12	Tuna Casserole
W	5/13	Chicken Tortilla Soup
R	5/14	Leftovers
F	5/15	Pizza
S	5/16	Sloppy Joes (new recipe!)

S	5/17	Leftovers
M	5/18	Salmon Patties
T	5/19	Lasagna
W	5/20	Tacos & Burritos
R	5/21	Leftovers
F	5/22	Pizza
S	5/23	Spaghetti & Creamed Spinach

Robert's Photos

I haven't blogged much recently (again) as it seems there's not much to write about lately. I did try a new pizza crust recipe yesterday that Robert really enjoyed but I forgot to get a picture of it before it was all gone! As soon as the midweek brownies (b/c I needed a snack!) are gone, I will make my new dessert. It's like half brownies/half "blondie" with M&Ms instead of chocolate chips. It looks really good - hopefully it tastes just as great!

Just a few of Robert's photographs. He's not as happy with his photos as I was with mine. (Maybe that's because I'm the amateur!)

A rainbow of colors.


A soft bed of flowers


One stands alone


Low tide in Puget Sound - I thought the clouds that evening were beautiful

Skagit Valley Tulip Festival

A couple pictures from the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival 2009! Aren't they just gorgeous!!! I tried to count all the different kinds in the field - at least 15. We had lunch at this great little seafood place - LaConnor Seafood and Prime Rib. (But of course, Robert got a hamburger!) We were out all day and Robert got some great pictures too. Maybe he'll let me put a couple on here after he "fixes" his!

Just a few of the beautiful colors


Mount Baker and a sea of pink!


A little yellow