Menu Planning (Try #1)

Okay, so a while back I posted about meal planning - whether I should give it a shot or not.  Consensus being that I should, I promptly started waited a year before giving it a go.

Well, that's not entirely true.  I occasionally menu plan in my head.  Which is sort of the same thing, right?

So, here we go.  My menu plan for the week:

Monday:  Meatloaf muffins, with potatoes, carrots, and green beans (vegetables left over from Sunday dinner...see menu planning working already)

Tuesday: Mr. 31 is on his own.  I'll be out of town for work.

Wednesday: Shrimp sauteed with garlic, Lone Star Rice, and broccoli

Thursday: Penne pasta bake with Italian sausage and Caesar salad

Friday:  Leftovers

Saturday:  Making up a crock pot recipe involving beef and vegetables.  Sort of like a roast, but not.  I'll let  you know how that goes.

I'll be linking up with Menu Plan Monday at I'm an Organizing Junkie.

The Saga of Dead Power Cords

I have oodles of projects and recipes and an introduction to the newest member of our family coming.  But the power cord on my husband's laptop died - and that's where we keep all of our photos.  Sad face.

I tried to plug the camera in to another computer to pull off my photos, but my husband had decided to be ultra efficient and loving and supportive of my blogging and had already emptied the camera card for me.  Onto his computer.

Since the laptop is still under warranty, the manufacturer promptly sent us a new cord that promptly got lost in transit.  Then they not-so-promptly sent us a second replacement which we just received.

So, posts coming! 

I Went to the Dark Side

Remember this post?  You know, the one where I espoused my love of books and vowed that I was anti-Kindle/eBooks of any kind.

Yeah, about that.

I got one of these from Mr. 31 for our anniversary:

photo from Amazon.com

And I big-fat-puffy-heart love it.

Here's how the leap to the Dark Side went down:  Mr. 31 is super into electronics and has wanted to get me one for quite some time.  He suggested it at Christmas and, in his words, I "almost murdered him" at the thought of him getting me one of those as a gift.

Then I discovered that I'll be taking a couple of lengthy trips next summer.  And the thought of schlepping a lot of books through airports and hotels made me tired.  And so the evil thoughts began that maybe a Kindle would make that problem go away.

Mr. 31 took that little crack in my armor and ran with it.  So, on our anniversary, my extremely nervous husband handed me a Kindle and then ran for cover waited for my reaction.  At first, I wasn't sure...then I discovered free books.

And look out!  Now my Kindle is ever present by my side.

And my husband rubs it in my face is really glad I like my gift. 

Now, I will say that I still prefer the feel and comfort of holding an actual book!  I also really like when I pay for something to have it in my hand rather than have it just appear as a line on an electronic device (but I know that's just a psychological thing I have to get over - it doesn't bother me with music, but I've yet to make that leap with books).

But I do love my Kindle.

(Disclaimer: I have not been paid or given anything for this post.  Amazon.com, despite the thousands of dollars I've probably spent on their site, does not know who I am.)

Slow Cooker One Dish Chicken

I threw the contents of this recipe in the slow cooker before church on Sunday.  It was ready for us after church; I just whipped up some mashed potatoes (Idaho instant...the football game was coming on!), green beans, and salad to go with it, which took less than 20 minutes.  Not bad for a Sunday dinner!

Now, let me say it was yummy, but decidedly NOT photogenic. Hence no photo.  So you'll have to take my word that it was very good!

Slow Cooker One Dish Chicken
Adapted from Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook: 700 Great Slow Cooker Recipes (Fix-It and Forget-It Series)

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

10 3/4 oz. can cream of chicken soup

1/3 cup milk

1 pkg. Stove Top stuffing

1 2/3 cup water

1/2 cup raisins or dried cranberries

1 T. butter, cut into small chunks.

1.  Place chicken in slow cooker.

2.  Combine soup and milk.  Pour over chicken.

3.  Combine stuffing mix, seasoning packet (if separate...mine wasn't), raisins/cranberries and water.  Let sit for a minute for stuffing to absorb water.  Spoon over chicken.

4.  Dot butter over the stuffing.

5.  Cover.  Cook on Low 6-8 hours.

I'll be linking up to the following linky parties:
Crock Pot Wednesday at Dining with Debbie

Happy Birthday to The Padawan!

Today is my brother-in-law, The Padawan's, birthday.  He is twelve years old.

In honor of his twelfth birthday, here are twelve reasons why I love The Padawan:

12.  Because he very patiently explains things like Ninjago and the Marvel Universe to his clueless sister-in-law (that would be me).

11.  Because he loves sports and is fun to watch football games with because he knows all the players and their stats.

10.  Because he can take a foul during a basketball game like no other.  Then he gets up with a big smile on his face and helps up the guy who just creamed him.

9.  Because he adds "Cha Cha Cha - Charmin ULTRA!" after every time he sings Happy Birthday to someone.  I have no idea where it came from, but you have to respect his dedication.

8.   Because he is kind to our puppy, Bailey, who weighs more than him and plays with him tirelessly.  The Padawan even watched over the dog the day Bailey was sick and Mr. 31 and I had to go to work.

7.  Because he really gets into singing along with the radio.

6.  Because he is respectful and well behaved.

5.  Because, even at 12, he's not embarrassed to give us big hugs and tell us when he misses us.

4.  Because he has the ability to make a friend out of anyone.  It has happened more than once that he is talking and laughing and playing with another child at a store or the park and later, when we ask him where he knew the kid from, he says, "I didn't know them."

3.  Because he is compassionate and caring to humans and animals alike.

2.  Because he is sweet and kind to the point that he doesn't even want to beat anyone at a board game.

1.  Because he loves the Lord and desires to walk in His ways.  And he does a SUPER job at it!

HAPPY 12TH BIRTHDAY!!!  Cha Cha Cha - Charmin ULTRA!!

I Know What Room I'm In

...which means I don't need my wallpaper border to remind me.

...which leads to my current project: redecorating our full bath.

As I've mentioned before, we rent our home and weren't planning on living here for very long, so I was willing to live with certain things.  Like bathtub wallpaper border.  And purple walls.

And purple rose wallpaper.

And generic gold light fixture.

And sharing it with my cats.

But I've hit my limits.  This was brought on by a couple of things.  The first was that our ceiling began to peel.

This has happened with a number of our ceilings.  I'm not sure what the previous owners used, but it sure doesn't like to stick.

The other was that our toilet began to leak from the tank.  And then the cat toilet decided to not work anymore. (Yes, our cats had a toilet.  I just had to hit a button for deodorized water to clean everything out and then flush it all down my toilet.  It made our lives much easier, except for the fact that it broke every few months.  But I digress.) 

So, I decided in for a penny, in for a pound.  I'm kicking the cats out (of the bathroom anyways), tearing the place apart, and rebuilding it into a better version of itself.  Certain things, like the tile, bathtub, tub surround, vanity, and mirror have to stay, so no major changes will go down.  But I can certainly paint and decorate it up a little bit.

I'll be updating as I go.  I'm hoping to have the entire project done by the end of September.    And I've already got a jump on it - the purple rose wallpaper is gone!  Woohoo!

I'm baaaaack!

In case anyone noticed I've been MIA on my own blog for almost a year - I'm back!

I was going to write a post about all the reasons why I haven't posted, but I decided I wasn't going to do that.

1.  It would be a really long, uninteresting post.

2.  It would just be a long list of excuses and would sound suspiciously like whining, neither of which I tolerate very well from other people, so I won't subject you to mine.

So I'll just say I'm back.  I have some projects in the hopper and some new obsessions (can anyone say Pinterest???), so I'll see you here real soon!