2 Week Meal Plan #1 Part 1

Here's the first of my two week meal plans. This one is about two weeks old. The grocery store here had really good BOGO sales on chicken, shrimp, italian sausages, bratwurst, pork chops, and chuck roasts. It just made sense to buy the stuff on sale and make my money stretch further.

Anyway - as usual, I'll add a grocery list and substitutes. Grocery list wont include the subs, so you'll have to pay attention there. Also, I keep things like milk, flour, spices and herbs in my kitchen so these things wont be on the grocery list either, you'll need to pay a bit of attention there too. Anyway, Happy Cooking!!!!

Time

Ya know, life is funny sometimes. I've been writing one single blog post for weeks now. I just can't ever manage to find the time to complete the meal plan and grocery list. Part of the problem is that my original grocery list and meal plans were ruined and have since been lost, and part of the problem is that there is just never enough time in the day to do all the things I want to do. And we're not just talking blog posts here. There's so much sewing I want to do... So much crafting I want to do (I found a pin on pinterest with instructions on how to modge podge comics to heels.... I MUST try this.)... Never enough time.

I'll find a few minutes here, a few minutes there, but then as soon as I remember I want to finish the post, I remember there's a more pressing task to complete (OH!! I gotta feed these kids!! Guess I should cook dinner now!.... OH! Maybe I should do these dishes....) and then that few minutes of free time just... evaporates.

I guess this is my apology for not having finished the post yet. Soon, very soon. I promise. AND I'll even  add another two week meal plan to it. So, a total of 4 weeks worth of meal plans and grocery lists too.

Any way, in the mean time, I hope you'll accept this link to Stephanie O'Dea's blog, A Year of Slow Cooking.  I LOVE her blog. Her recipes are all pretty awesome and super simple to follow. She literally used her crock pot every day, for a whole year.

Meal Plans!!!

Looks like its time to start putting up some new meal plans... These will be for two weeks at a time, and I create my meal plans based on what's currently on sale in my area. So mix and match or whatever!

Anyway, I'll write another post later today (have to go and ready myself to leave the house, one of the girls has cheer practice!), with the first two week meal plan, and then will add a meal plan (hopefully) every week.

In the mean time.... I JUST became an Avon representative, like... yesterday. I have a website and all, so do me a favor, go look at my estore and get me some page views because you love me!!!

http://ashapaul.avonrepresentative.com/

Making clothes....

We realized the girls didnt have much in the way of summer clothes and that we needed to get some. But I remembered that I had tons of fabric left over from a previous project and decided to make some stuff for the girls, rather than buying them clothes. They grow so quickly that by this time next year they wont fit in the clothes anyway!

So, I did some looking around and found some simple tutorials. I made the girls a couple skirts and some pillow case dresses. Big thanks to Dana at Danamadeit.com and Melissa at sewlikemymom.com for the awesome tutorials!

The tutorials I used can be found here:

http://www.danamadeit.com/2008/07/tutorial-a-simple-skirt.html

and here:

http://sewlikemymom.com/easiest-pillowcase-dress-ever-serger-edition/

And, here is one of the skirts I made!

Beef Veggie soup

I threw this one together last minute, but it turned out super awesome. I had thawed out a chuck roast two days ago and needed to use it before it went bad, so I threw it in the crock pot with some other stuff as well!

Crock Pot Veggie Soup
You'll need:

• a Chuck roast (probably 3-5lbs, i think mine was 3lbs)
• 3cups of beef broth (this was just enough to cover everything, you may need more)

I used the following veggies:

•  two handfuls of green beans (frozen)
•  a cup of corn (frozen)
•  a cup of peas (frozen)
•  a can of tomatoes and okra
•  and a can of sliced new potatoes

 Seasonings (I used garlic, salt, and pepper)

I literally just threw the meat and all veggies but the new potatoes in the crock pot and covered them with the beef broth. 3 cups was enough to cover all the veggies and meat, depending on the veggies you add and how  large your chuck roast is you may need to add more. I didn't add the new potatoes until about 45 min before serving because I didn't want them to get all mealy and mushy. Cooked on low for 6 hours and the chuck roast was falling apart. I served it over rice and the girl child was asking for seconds, so I'd say it was a success!

Week 3 Recipes

Week 3!

Just like the last week, I have tried to include substitutes for those who don’t eat beef or pork. I don’t include the substitutions in the grocery list – so you’ll have to pay a bit of attention there. Also, I’m a bum – ALL of this week’s recipes are crock pot recipes. Don’t judge me.

Vintage Inspired.....

Soooo I am a glutton for all things vintage - more specifically, all things 1940's and 1950's.... Well, I finally decided to give pin-up girl make up and hair a try.

I won't say that I spent hours watching YouTube tutorials on hair and make up. Or that I spent like.... 2 (possibly 3) hours in my bathroom with a laptop and my phone pausing and unpausing videos every few minutes trying to do Victory Rolls and classic pin up makeup. No, wont say that because that's just silly. I didn't do that. I only spent 20 min doing hair and makeup and it was effortless! .....

Sweet stuff!

While working this week I ran across a recipe for a really EASY dessert. It's literally 2 ingredients. Super simple.

Any way, I'm not sure what to call it but its YUM. All you need is a regular sized can of crushed pineapple and a box of yellow cake mix. Mix the two together, and bake according to package directions. Then, BAM. You have a sort of pineapple cake. 

I was also feeling adventurous this morning while cleaning, and took a can of green apple soda (not even sure why we have it in the house, none of us drink it...), a white cake mix, and 2 cans of apple pie filling. I preheated the oven to 350, then mixed the cake mix and the soda together and let it sit for a few minutes. While the cake mix was sitting, I sprayed the pan with baker's magic (think PAM but made for baking) and then poured the cans of apple pie filling in the pan. I baked for 30 min. Its in the kitchen smelling amazing. I havent tasted it yet, but I will be soon. I'll update as soon as I do!

Anyway, happy day to you!!!

***UPDATE!***

So, my apple cobbler was... well... Amazing. I'm not sure that it qualifies as cobbler but it was AWESOMESAUCE.

And a major thank you to MH for the pineapple cake thing. =)

A little update!

Man! It has been forever since I posted! I have soooo much to update on!

The baby, life.... all sorts of things! This will have to suffice for now, but over the next week or so I plan on adding more recipes (including more crockpot recipes), updates on the kids and life, and some crafty craft stuffs!!!