WINNER

WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER! This morning my beautiful assistant, helped me with our very high tech drawing! (:

She had pulled 2 names out when I realized that I had missed a name! So we re-did the drawing and...the same person won! I guess she was just meant to win!

First place for the cookbook Pioneer Woman Cooks is Angie at The American Homemaker!

Second place for the Southern Living Comfort Food cookbook is Tracy Pine!

Congrats ladies! Angie I will need your snail mail address so I can get this out to you. It is Saturday on Guam so it won't get sent out until Monday!

Tracy I will send yours with Ben on Thursday!

Soon I will be posting pics. from my son's luaua, and on Monday am starting a pantry/$50 a week grocery challenge with more GIVEAWAYS! So come back again and again!

I am really trying to get this blog up and running so I appreciate all of you stopping by!

Cooking Thursday-comfort food

This will be my first time participating!! Fun Fun.

So the past few days have been rough on me and my family. So yesterday I decided that we were in need of some comfort food. Nothing says comfort to me like peanut butter and chocolate! Whoever came up with that combo...well I love 'em.

I made one of my favorite cookies, cake mix cookies! They are so easy! My favorite part is how moist they are though. I love a good soft cookie!

You can make any combo that you want.(: We also like yellow cake mix with choc. chips, choc. cake mix with mint choc. chips in them! There is a lot of variety. The recipe I follow is this

1 box of cake mix
2 eggs
1/3 c. veg. oil
a few tsps of water as needed
whatever chips or other add ins that you want!

Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes. My oven cooks very slowly and so I usually have to do at least 15.

I baked these and then my daughter came in with the question, "what's for dinner?"
Oops...cookies before dinner. LOL

So I looked at what I had out and decided on a quick and easy chicken, rice and brocoli casserole.

2 cups cooked rice ( I just used minute)
chicken, chopped I just eyeballed it ( I had bought a clearanced rotisserie chicken that I cut up)
frozen brocoli (defrosted)
1 1/4 cup milk
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup cheddar cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes. Yum!

I forgot to take a picture of it in the casserole dish but this is what my kids' plates looked like. Casserole, corn and toast. For dessert, cookies & milk! Pure comfort food!

I am also having a giveaway for the cookbook, Pioneer Woman Cooks. It is over tomorrow so if you want to enter go here

WFMW-planners

Posting this link to Works for me Wednesday over at WE ARE THAT FAMILY

I have two older sisters. And growing up, of course, I wanted to be just like them. They both organized their lives using a planner. When I would get bored in church, I would always look through their planners! (:

So I was raised with a planner in hand. I have never, ever found one that really truly works for me. Why? The squares just aren't big enough!! I write big. I make lists. I make notes. I plan menus. That little square just never has enough room.

My sweet husband bought me an ITouch to use as a PDA. But I am not very techy. So I use it for music, checking my email & facebook and playing Tetris. It doesn't work for me as a PDA because I forget it...ALOT. Usually at home plugged into my laptop.LOL

I finally discovered what works for me. I realize that this won't work for everyone, but it does for me.

I now carry a planner and a notebook. Yep. I have doubled up. I do carry a diaper bag so I don't have to worry about my purse being big enough.

I knew I needed a calender to keep track of appts. etc. But rarely, do I just need to know what day I have something. For example, today on my calender it says "E's field trip". What it doesn't say is, I volunteered to bring in a snack for his class and that the trip is $5.

So the calender portion stays next to my desk or goes to church and school with me. That way I can write down dates.

My notebook goes EVERYWHERE. To my bedroom, to the kitchen, to the living room. Next to the computer, in the car...

In here I write...a to do list for the day, (written out the night before...after checking my planner)what events, if any, and what they require. Example, "piano lessons at 3:30. Make sure to bring check to pay for this month. Also make sure all piano books and folder are brought in."

It has really worked for me. My notebook has 5 sections so I also use it to write lists, make menus etc. It keeps me organized and on track!

Also, there are still a couple days to enter my giveaway!If you are interested in winning a copy of The Pioneer Woman Cooks you can go here

If you are interested in checking out more tips, head over to We Are That Family!

cupcake or ice cream cone?

(practicing my decorating skills)

(baked in the cones)

(without the sprinkles)

(sprinkles and frosting)

(all done and ready to go to school!)

My darling son turned 8 last Saturday!! With his birthday falling during the school year, you know he wanted to bring a treat in!

One morning while dropping my 5 yr. old off at school, I saw a friend carrying these fun cupcakes in. She told me they were totally easy and guess what? They were!! They were fast, easy and he LOVED them. He had a huge smile plastered on his face as he walked into his classroom!

All you do is make cupcakes according to pkg directions. I chose strawberry. Then fill up the cone until it starts to get to the fat part. Bake according to box directions. You just stand your cones up in a muffin tin. Once they have cooled, you frost them. I added sprinkles to make them look even more like an ice cream cone.

A couple of tips
1) If you need to transport these, once you take them out of the muffin tin, place them inside a 5 or 3 oz dixie cup. That way they are easier to carry and are more stable.

You can also cut the bottom off of the cup, and place it inside.

2) Use a dab of frosting to "glue" the cups to whatever pan/tray you are using.

3) I am very interested in learning how to decorate cakes...but I am not there yet!! I bought a "Wilton Dessert Decorator" from our local BX. It basically looks like a really big syringe. I put frosting in, changed it to the tip I wanted (which was included in the box) and easy as pie, they were done!

Happy Homemaker Monday

I have missed doing this!If you are looking for the giveaway just scroll down to the next post! (:

Weather in my neck of the woods: summer all the time!

One of my simple pleasures: watching the sun come up

On my bedside table: Legos, clock, lamp, books, to do list

On my tv: nothing! It is blissfully quiet!

On my menu for tonight: pork tenderloin, couscous, rolls, steamed brocoli

On my to do list: too many things to list! LOL

New Recipe I tried last week: Pioneer Womans potato skins (yummo!)

In the craft basket: I finished making my son's birthday invites for his luau

Looking forward to: my son's party on Saturday

Homemaking tip: clean as you go! Don't save it all for one day!

Favorite blog post of the week: I read so, so many that I forget where I find them

Favorite photo of the week : posted at the top

Lesson learned this week: Last Saturday, I was gone from early morning until 1 pm. I had 3 out of 5 of my kids with me. After a tiring morning I was hoping to come home to a nice clean house. I didn't. I couldn't come home and relax.I had to get things done. It made me think about all the times that my husband has come home from a hard day at work, and the house is a mess. I am sure he has a hard time relaxing too. It really opened my eyes that I need to be more aware of what he is coming home too. I need to make our home a peaceful place to come home too.

On my prayer list: family and friends and troops overseas

scriptures or devotionals: I have been reading a lot lately. I will try to share one next week!

Menu and a GIVEAWAY!

Another menu plan Monday! At this present time, my freezers/pantry and fridge are overflowing. I love having lots of options but totally need to do some planning...So here goes:

Monday:
B-fast: pancakes, ham slice, juice
Lunch (in my kid's lunch bag): mini corn dogs, dried apples, crackers, applesauce, juice
Dinner: cresant dogs (kid request), baked beans, french fries, cucumber slices

Tuesday:
B-fast: applesauce, muffins, boiled eggs
Lunch bag: leftover cresant dogs, cherry tomatoes, string cheese, orange slices,juice, Girl Scout cookies
After school snack: poppy seed muffin bread
Dinner: pork tenderloin, couscous, steamed brocoli

Wednesday:
B-fast: cold cereal, leftover muffins
Lunch bags: pb&j, fruit snack, string cheese, apple sauce, leftover eggs
After school snack: chocolate chip cookies and milk
Dinner: mini meatloaves, pasta salad, rolls and a vegi

Thursday:
B-fast: egg, ham, cheese, biscuit sandwiches, apple slices
Lunch bags: leftover meatloaves and pasta salad, dried fruit, peaches, leftover cookies
After school snack: graham crackers, string cheese
Dinner: spaghetti w/ sausage, garlic bread, salad

Friday:
B-fast: cereal & smoothies
lunch bags: leftover spaghetti, carrot sticks w/ dip, fruit snack, string cheese, juice
After school snack: yogurt and toast
Dinner: pizza

Saturday:(busy, busy day with a birthday party)
B-fast: muffins & cereal
L- leftovers
D- having a luau for my son's birthday. Menu is chicken/beef kabobs, pancit, vegi trays, fruit trays, chips & dip, ice cream, cake...

Sunday:
B-fast: scrambeled eggs w/ sausage, biscuits
lunch: make your own
dinner: friends home

Thanks for looking at my menu! If this is your first time visiting, I am having a Giveaway for the cook book Pioneer Woman Cooks. You can enter here

I will be closing the giveaway this Friday, so enter now!

Bento Love

(Harmony's lunch on Friday. Tuna salad w/ crackers, cherry tomatoes, Hello Panda snacks, string cheese, juice and in the closed container is a dried fruit trail mix)

(the bento boxes)

My interest in healthy kids lunches has been festering for awhile. Having 5 kids (although only 4 that eat "real" food) I know that I will be making lunches for a long time. So I might as well make it fun right?

Well, a little over a year ago, I googled the phrase "ideas for healthy kids lunches" and I came to a site about Bento lunches. You can visit the site here

Bento is in laymans terms a Japanese brown bag lunch. Everything the Japanese do is beautiful right? So you can imagine what they do with their lunches!

I oohed and aahhed at people's creativity but knew I so wouldn't be doing that. I showed some of the most fun ones to Harmony and she loved them too!

Harmony finally convinced me to buy her one! I bought mine off of Amazon. Anyway I started making hers and the boys got jealous! So eventually *gulp* I bought one for them too. I am going to say it right now...not a cheap purchase. They better last forever! (:

We have had so much fun putting their lunches together. They are a fun way to use up little leftovers.

Now here is a disclaimer (lol) I use the term Bento very loosely when I talk about what I make. People have way more time and creativity then I do. I just like to look and get fun ideas!