Well, I was intending to write something rather mundane, but when I logged in, I saw that this was going to be my 100th post!  I'm finding it a little hard to believe.  Although in some ways, January feels like it was a very long time ago (especially since it's close to 100° today), but when it comes to blogging, I still feel like a very new newbie!  Well, are you ready to see what I have for you - my very exciting 100th post?  Hmm, I wonder what it will be.  A sappy retrospective?  A montage of all my favorite cute kid pics?  A highly profound exposition on the meaning of life and how it applies to blogging?

Nope, I'm just gonna give you my menus!  So there!

Now that the rest of life is more on a schedule, my blog will be too.  So back by popular demand because I feel like it . . . our menus!

 Monday:

• grilled steak (cheap cut from Sam's)
• fresh green beans sauteed in olive oil and butter with garlic
• cous cous

Tuesday:

• chicken spinach pasta bake (double and freeze extra)
  • recipe here
• salad
• garlic bread

Wednesday:

• Super Easy Chicken parmesan
  • precooked chicken patties baked with jarred sauce and mozzarella
• spaghetti
• frozen veg (probably broccoli)

Thursday:  Celtic battle and "feast"

• rotisseri chicken (eaten with fingers)
• grapes
• french bread (torn off in huge barbaric chunks)
• I'll post pics when we're finished.

Friday:

• hot dogs
• tater tots
• fruit salad

Saturday:

• mini-meatloaves (already made and in the freezer)
• potato salad
• frozen corn

Sunday:

• chili (premade in freezer)
• cornbread
• canned fruit

So there's my super-exciting 100th blog post!  I'll be selling commemorative coins as soon as I can complete negotiations with the Franklin Mint.  For some reason they aren't returning my calls.  *shrug*  Go figure!

Have an awesome week!

Jennifer

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Hubby's been out of town since Sunday and will be until Saturday afternoon, so I'm a little behind on some things, including this blog.    "Ringo's" decided that this is his week to be especially two-esque, and "George" is, well, let's just say he's developed hearing problems.  *sigh*  Anyway, instead of actually thinking of anything interesting to say, I thought I'd let you know how I handle food when Hubby's away. 

Oh, on the plus side, ALL, yes I said ALL, of our extra-curricular activities finished last week.  There is NO soccer, NO Cub Scouts, NO mid-week program at church.  Praise God and pass the remote (kidding!). 

Monday:

• chicken salad sandwiches (apple, raisin, onion, mayo, honey) using leftover rotissery chicken
• canned fruit

Tuesday:

• Mexi-meatloaves (already made and in freezer from a doubled recipe a few weeks ago)
• mashed potatoes
• sauteed greens (using up a bag of spinach)

Wednesday:  "Paul" will help cook with the end goal of him being able to prepare this meal himself in a few weeks.

• Spaghetti and meat sauce
• salad (All the greens came from our garden.  How cool is that!)
• bread

Thursday:  Anticipate running out of steam by this night

• chicken patty sandwiches (bought at Sam's for rushed evenings)
• canned fruit

Friday:

• pancakes
• baked bananas

Saturday:  Hubby hopefully home by dinner.

• Tuna melts
• salad
• chips & salsa

Sunday:  Happy 11th anniversary!

• Hubby and I going out for nice dinner.
• Kids having . . . don't know.  We'll decide later.

So far I've resisted the urge to just have pizza delivered every night!   Sadly the boys don't like cereal enough for me to ever manage to have it for dinner without more whining than I can handle.  On the fun side, we decided to have school at the park today.  The weather was fantastic, and the boys actually got some work done.  We even survived the ducks.   I'll probably write more about that later.

Have a great week!

Jennifer

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Well, we did really well eating dinner at home this week.  The problems came with lunch.  For dinner Tuesday we had an impromptu hot dog roast for Cub Scouts, and Wednesday's dinner was our usual midweek program at church.  The reason that's a problem is that we didn't have any leftovers for lunch, and the fast food nature of those meals set our taste buds to "grease" and turned the safety off.  I've found that we will eat  lunch out if I don't preplan lunches for those days.  SO, this week I'm really going to focus on planning breakfast and lunch each night before I go to bed.  That'll also give me a chance to check the menu for things that need to be defrosted, etc. 

Here goes:

Monday:  Soccer practice (5:30 - 6:30ish)

• mini-meatloaves (have in fridge ready to pop in oven when we get home and double recipe for freezing)
• smashed potatoes (potatoes cleaned, cubed, and in water ready to boil)
  • These are just mashed potatoes with the skins on and sour cream and cheese added.
• Whatever frozen veg I find in the freezer first.

Tuesday:  Cub Scouts (7-8pm)

• Chili (premade in freezer)
• cornbread (make extra mixes to put in freezer)
• salad
• pineapple

Wednesday:  Midweek program at church (dinner provided).

Thursday:   George's last soccer game (6-7ish)

• homemade pizza
• fruit salad
• icecream sandwiches made with homemade oatmeal cookies (in freezer) and vanilla icecream

Friday:  Lovely time @ dentist getting crown.  Will be nauseous and sore.

• whole wheat pancakes
• fruit salad
• scrambled eggs

Saturday:  Mother's Day!  We always celebrate Sunday holidays on Saturday because of church responsibilities.  It also avoids the crowds.

• I have no idea what we're doing, where we're going, or what we're eating.  I'll fill you in after.

Sunday:

• Sauteed shrimp with veg. (peppers, onions, green beans, spinach, etc)
• rice
• fruit and spinach salad

Lunch ideas:  leftovers, tuna sandwiches, bean & cheese quesadillas, pb & banana, egg salad sandwiches . . . ummm . . . Any ideas?

Have a great week, and don't forget to check out my new blog Losin' the Fat Suit!

Jennifer

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I haven't done this for a few weeks, but now that I'm getting back into my groove, I thought I'd pick it up again.

Monday:  Soccer practice - 5:30 till 6:30

• Steak slice with Lemon & Thyme (Nigella Express)
• Potato & Mushroom gratin (Nigella Express)
• Green Beans

Tuesday:  Cub Scouts - 7:00 - 8:00

• Chicken poached in stock (Make extra for chicken salad on Thursday)
• Rice with butter and herbs
• Baby carrots or frozen veg.

Wednesday:  Midweek program at church (dinner included)

• Defrost fruit salad for tomorrow night.

Thursday:  Soccer Game - 6:00ish - 7:00ish

• Chicken Salad Sandwiches (made ahead)
• Chips & Salsa
• Fruit Salad

Friday:  Diabetic congregant over for dinner.

• Grilled Pork Chops
• Spinach salad with strawberries & mandarin oranges
• Whole wheat pita chips (baked at home) with hummus
• Lowfat icecream with fruit

Saturday:  Hubby at Presbytery meeting all day.

• Chicken Schnitzel with bacon (Nigella Express)
• Sweet Potato Fries (in oven)
• Dark Chocolate Chip Oatmeal cookies (balls of dough already frozen and ready to bake)

Sunday:  Hubby has meeting at church in afternoon and all have potluck that p.m.

• Chicken and Spinach Pasta Bake (recipe can be found here.)

Have a great week, and maybe I'll let you know how much of this stuff I actually cook. 

Jennifer

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You asked for it; you've got it!  Now brace yourselves, this is really complicated.

1. Bake some brownies.
2. Layer them with pastry cream and berries.
3. Put whip cream and berries on top.
4. Pretend to look tired.

But seriously, it's not hard and that would get it done, but here are a few more tips.

1. Bake some brownies.  Use a cakey type brownie.  I used this one from Martha Stewart, and it worked really well.  Bake the brownies in  three round cake pans or something that's similar in shape to the container for your trifle.  They will bake a lot faster because they're thinner, but you'll just be able to plop them into your container once they've cooled.
2. Make pastry cream.  You should be able to find this in any decent cookbook.  It's basically egg yolks mixed with sugar and flour and then cooked in milk.  I used one from a French cookbook, but Martha Stewart has one here.  She calls for a real vanilla bean, but you can just use a teaspoon of vanilla instead.  If you don't want to fool with it, you could use vanilla pudding.
3. Clean and chop your berries.  I used strawberries, raspberries and blackberries, but you can use whatever you like.  Fresh is best, but frozen (and thawed) works too and is much cheaper out of season.  I like them best at room temperature which means you'd have to assemble the trifle at the last minute.  It works either way.
4. Make or buy whipped cream.  If you want to make your own, just use a mixer to whip a cup or so of cream until it makes stiff peaks, adding a teaspoon or 2 of sugar as you go.  The stuff in a can works too, but I don't recommend Cool Whip.
5. When you assemble, place one round of brownie in the trifle container.  Spread 1/3 of the pastry cream over it, and cover that with 1/4 of the berries.  Then repeat until the last round is on top.  Cover the last round with the whipped cream and remaining berries.
6. This is best eaten in one go, but it's still tolerable  for a few more if you keep it covered in the fridge.  I'd say the whole thing could easily feed 8 adults and a few kids.

Now, since I don't want all my cyber-buddies getting busted (right click, you'll see what I mean!), I'm going to try to upload this in a word bmp file to the HBB file thingamagiggy.  If it works, I'll come back and add a link.

Here's the link (I hope).  OK, so I just tested the link, and it worked.  However, I couldn't figure out how to select text.  No matter.  You can still print it without the background stuff.  Sorry, I don't have time to make it any more high tech than that.

Happy Trifling!

Jennifer

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