Menu Plan Monday

Monday: Poppy Seed Chicken Casserole and green salad

Tuesday: Low Carb Beef Enchilada Bake Casserole

Wednesday: Slow Cooker Autumn Pot Roast, green beans, and rolls

Thursday: Santa Fe Chicken Casserole

Friday: Sandwiches or left-overs

We are remodeling our kitchen...and it will be dysfunctional for a while starting sometime next week! Soooo, that is why you see all the casserole dishes above. A casserole in a 13 x 9 dish will feed my family for two meals, so I am making a full casserole and we will eat half for our meal and then freeze the other half so as to have some meals to "nuke" when our kitchen is not functional over the course of the next few weeks! I already have some meals frozen like this from the previous week. I am figuring if we rotate left over casseroles, grilling our meals, sandwiches, and some take-out then we should be covered for about two weeks or so while we wait for our "dream kitchen!"

Have a great Monday and head on over to Organizing Junkie for other great meal plans!

Bed-Time Deep Thoughts...

Last night, this is the conversation I had with my little princess right before bed. To preface, our little Prince has had the sniffles and we had just discussed whether he might be coming down sick or if it was just allergies...

Princess: Mommy, can you catch being well like you catch getting sick?

Me: (They are so precious) No honey, unfortunately we cannot catch being well, as being well is the normal, or what you hope is the normal for your body. Being sick means we were exposed to microscopic, teenie-weenie things that invade our body and make us feel bad.

Princess: Oh, that is too bad...it would be nice to catch being well.

Me: (Wow, don't kids just blow you away sometimes) Yes honey, it would be grand for so many ill people if we could just be around them and they could "catch" wellness.

What a great thought that left me to mull over as I drifted to sleep last night...No, we cannot "catch well" as in catch bodily wellness, but positive affect can be passed on to others. I am often drawn to the thought of how our behavior can influence others and especially our children we are raising. If we are not modeling what we are teaching or what our words are saying, then truly, we are teaching something all together different. It is the same thing as "actions speak louder than words."

I adore that commercial out right now about how one person sees another person help someone out. The person doing the helping helped because they were there and in the position to and the person watching just catches a glimpse of it and then it shows that person helping out another later on, and so on...paying it forward...I LOVE that commercial. It just reinforces that truly we never may know who or how many we make a positive impact on by our actions, so it is important to always strive to be the best "me" I can be. Yes, I will have a bad day, we all do, but perhaps that is the day I might "catch well" from another soul out there modeling their positive behavior.

I LOVE that my little girl already has these sparks of reason floating around in her consciousness!

Just For Fun...

I came across this neat little "Internet gadget" on Rocks In My Dryer's Blog...It is very fun...and she is right, it is hard to pull your self away from it! You can enter text and the program finds pretty letters for you! Go try it! Here is my name all prettied up.




I just love pretty things that make me smile! ;-)

It has been far too long since I posted but I have been so busy getting back into the "school routine" as our little princess started the FIRST GRADE three weeks ago! Also, we are in the midst of a kitchen remodel so that has kept me busy as well. And since the evenings have become so pleasant out, when I am finished with work, I just cannot bear to sit in front of the computer when instead I can take my two little ones out to play.

Fall Is Just Around the Corner!!!

Now that school is back in session and our summer fun has been had, I am gearing up for Fall! I can feel it, a change is on the horizon!

I am dusting off some old and new recipes for autumn. Here is one I am going to try that I just found. It is for a dutch oven, but I think I may try this in the crock pot!

Enjoy!

Autumn Chicken and Apple Stew

1 chicken, cut in parts (I am going to just use chicken breasts)
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
6 whole cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 carrots, peeled, sliced
1/4 teaspoon pepper
6 apples, peeled, sliced
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 cup shredded cabbage
1 3/4 cups low sodium chicken broth, warm
1 cup applesauce

Spray large Dutch oven with vegetable cooking spray and heat over medium high temperature. Add chicken and cook, turning to brown on all sides, about 10 minutes. Sprinkle with nutmeg, salt and pepper. Spread mustard over chicken pieces; add warm broth, vinegar, cloves and carrots; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low and cook 15 minutes. Add apples and cook 5 minutes. Add cabbage, stirring into liquid. Cook, covered, about 10 minutes more or until fork can be inserted in chicken with ease. With slotted spoon, remove chicken and vegetables to warm serving bowl and keep warm. Into liquid, stir applesauce; boil on high temperature 5 minutes and pour over chicken and vegetables. Serve with brown rice, if desired.

Makes 4 servings.
Per Serving: 159 calories; 19.8 g protein; 2.2 g total fat; 0.6 g saturated fat; 14.8 g carbohydrates; 49 mg cholesterol; 574 mg sodium.