Monday - Chicken Lasagna and homemade rolls.  This is my simple (could be considered boring) lasagna recipe.  I decided to add lean ground chicken instead of ground beef.

Tuesday - Family to fend for themselves.  I have a gathering for a good friend which is potluck...yahoo I am off the hook for the evening.

Wednesday - Corn chowder and rolls

Thursday - Chicken chili.  My chili recipe changes depending on what I have on hand.  Should I have leftover mushrooms in the freezer, in they go.  Leftover corn or beans, their in their as well.  Makes things interesting and a great way to use up those tiny portions of veggies kicking around.

Friday - turkey Divan pizza

Saturday - Pumpkin waffles.  I have been cooking and preserving pumpkin so I plan to get my fill of these.

Sunday - sweet and sour chicken over soaked butter baked rice

With the arrival of fall and subsequent shorter days, we find ourselves spending more time at home.  For this reason, I decided to tweak my menu plan to a monthly basis from my current sporadic weekly plan.  This will ultimately change the way I grocery shop as well.  The past few days have been spent scouring my master menu list ... Read More »

 or one woman and a multi purpose cleaner.

I am utterly shocked when I walk down the cleaning supply aisle to see the multitude of products lined up.  They promise the moon, the stars and hopefully a clean house.  Yeah *rolling eyes"* right.  Unless they ship those two British cleaning ladies free with purchase, I am not buying into it. 

I only use one multi purpose solution.  Is is concentrate and one full bottle lasts me over a year.  For $9.99 I have cleaning solution for nearly every surface of my house.  I have a spray bottle on each floor of the house filled with one part solution to 10 parts wate ... Read More »

This is on the same par as writing your will, not pleasant to think about but very important and necessary to address. 

Let's say fire broke out in your house.  Your family and pets were all safe and sound outside and you had two seconds on the way out to grab one thing...what would it be?

I often think about this as I glance around our precious memorabilia and photos adorning our walls. Everything we have accumulated and love is in this house and I could not imagine losing it in the blink of an eye.  I know that "things" are replaceable and lives are not, but IF I was granted a few precious moments to grab a few things, would I know what to reach for?

 

 

 

Recently I received from the ladies at Organizing Connection a handy zippered house manual.  Having one of these is not a new concept but rather my view on what I place in it was.  Should I have two minutes to grab one thing, this binder would be it.  With that in mind, I included all things vitally important and meaningful to myself and that of my family.  Read More »

Days like this make it all worthwhile. 

As you could very well imagine, living on a farm with my parents and two lively boys can be trying at times, but days like these make up for all of that.  Mom and Dad had several days of fencing to work on in order for the pastures to be ready for winter.  We dressed Landon up and sent him up the field with them where he remained until lunch.  Mark spent the morning tilling gardens and preparing them for next years harvest while I got to work making lunch.  At noon the whole crew came down for a feast of egg salad sandwiches on homemade bread with my relish, kefir smoothies and chocolate chip cookies.  As lunch was winding down we glanced over to find Landon trekking across the ring back towards the field.  He decided then and there lunch was over and it was time to get back to work. 

He has since been designated foreman, white hard hat and all.

 

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I barely broke a sweat on this one but at least I accomplished something this weekend.

I purposely avoid starting a job when I am alone with the kids.  If a task involves cleaning it normally ends up looking worst, not better.   With hubby home and able to amuse the kids, I got to work emptying and sorting our back closet.  Since fall is officially upon us, what better time to sort through winter attire.  Several hours were spent weeding and sorting all of our clothes and outfits that no longer fit or fashionable were tossed or given to goodwill.  The kids clothes were sorted and outgrown outfits were stored in totes for future children or passed down to Dane.  During the process I made notes of items needed such as several footed pyjamas, brown socks or hats to match specific jackets.  This list helps me stay focused when scouring sales or thrift stores. 

The winter totes (one for each of us) descended to the bottom shelf for ease of access while the summer associated totes moved up.  Sandals and swim shoes were put away with the summer clothes stored in totes and spring jackets were ... Read More »

Laura decided to designate this Monday's Menu plan Monday's on family favourites.  When scouring for new meal ideas, I should find recipes from others that are tried and true and near and dear to their heart's.  Although my menu has a few new ideas, several of them are repeat offenders in our household. 

Monday - sweet and sour lentils and homemade buns

Tuesday - steak dish Read More »

 If I could only stop burning pots I would not need this next tip.....seeing as I'm writing about it, I have yet to accomplish this.

Unfortunately for me, steel wool soap pads are a "must have" in my house.  On numerous occasions I find myself dealing with a burnt pot and more so during canning season.  For some recipes no amount of stirring prevents the contents from sticking to the bottom.  Before reaching for the wool pad, I fill the pot with some water and a generous sprinkle of baking soda and let boil for 10 minutes.  This should loosen some of the residue making it easier to scour the rest off.  Since the vast majority of the stuck on mess is gone, a full size pad is not usually necessary so I cut them in half or better yet quarters.  This size is usually sufficient to tackle that burnt pasta your dishwasher only helped in further fusing to the casserole dish.  If you have had an exceptionally tough night or you left the cooking up to your hubby (not all hubby's) you may require the full piece to get the job done.  Before tossing it out, try sticking it in a small plastic container stored neatly in the door of your freezer.  By leaving it out on ... Read More »

After our disastrous attempt to bless our old apple tree (my husband says it backfired and we were cursed) and the new baby trees I just planted, harvesting our own apples may be a few years away. 

On our way to the campground this weekend, I could not help but notice the heavily laden apple trees lining the road.   After a few attempts to pull over, I finally found a small abandoned driveway with a huge tree next to it.  Luckily this sheltered me from not only getting creamed by a truck but more importantly from shame.  I did my best attempt to shake the fruit down without suffering any major concussions and in no time I had a large tote full in the back of the truck.  Pleased as punch we headed back to the campsite.

Once home, I immediately started the process of peeling them using this handy little gadget I picked up from a thrift store.  Thanks to someone who got sucked in to one of those Saturday morning infomercial's, I got mine for $2 as opposed to the typical 3 instalments of 9.99 or something foolish like that.  In no time the apples were peeled and soaking ready to be boiled and pureed for sauce.

< ... Read More »

 

Four of these massive trucks pass our house every day.  Each and every time my kids squeal in excitement and everyone around are ordered to the nearest window to watch the spectacle unfold.  These windmill parts are huge and several flag cars are needed in front to ensure all oncoming traffic are pulled to the side to allow the large cargo to manuever by.  This has been going on for months and soon there will be dozens of giant windmills set up close to home.   To celebrate the occasion my Dad (the same one who jimmy rigged his gator) gave the boys their own cargo to haul around.  Now they only need the flag cars....Don't give my Dad any ideas.

Now if we can only find our dry garbage can.

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When planning my meals I never fail to ensure the main course is looked after, I only wish I could put the same thought process into those all important side dishes.  I guess it's because they are not as exciting. The same scenario plays out every night.  Several hours before starting dinner I have to begin peeling potatoes or boiling long grain rice at precisely the time my kids are starting to climb the curtains.  I needed to  have all parts of the meal ready and waiting.

I picked up two 20lb bags of potatoes on sale and got to work prepping them for frozen dishes that I could easily pop in the oven.  I started with several servings of mashed potatoes mixed with cream cheese and fresh chives.  Normally potatoes don't freeze well but the addition of cream cheese Read More »