On Vacation!

I forgot to mention earlier that our family is going to be on vacation this week. That's right, no meal planning or grocery shopping for me, as my mom, grandma and mother-in-law are treating us to great meals through the 4th of July holiday. Aside from helping cooking, I'm looking forward to swimming, fishing and enjoying all of the holiday festivities. You can expect my return sometime after Monday, July 5th. Have a happy holiday!

This Week's Menu Plan

Ah, another week...and I really didn't even have time to share any recipes last week! Things are really starting to pick up with summer activities here, so I will try to post as much as possible. I am cooking up a storm though these days, so if I could carve out some time, I would have good things to share. Here's what we're having this week: Monday: B- toast with peanut butter and honey D- Chow Mein Casserole (new recipe) Tuesday: B- Scrambled Eggs D- Leftovers Wednesday: B- Strawberry Rhubarb Muffins from the freezer D- White Bean and Apple Chili (new recipe) Thursday: B- Apple Cranberry Granola D- Egg Salad Sandwiches Friday: B- Breakfast Burritos (new recipe) D- Pizza Night Saturday: B- Pancakes D- Sunny Broccoli Salad for a potluck Sunday: B- Egg Bake (new recipe) D- up in the air, we may be visiting family for this meal For more menu plans and recipes, head on over to I'm an Organizing Junkie.

This Week's Menu Plan

Ah, another Monday and another menu plan and grocery shopping day. Today is my bigger shopping trip to our neighboring town, while next week's trip should be fairly small as I will pick up most items today. We have a family camping weekend coming up this week, so I have a few dishes to make for a group of about 20. The women in my family really got detailed with our menu plan this year, which I think is great! A weekend of fun and great food sounds amazing to me! Last week we had some delicious dishes. Top on my list were homemade refried beans and skillet enchiladas. If you're looking a dish that is a 10 out of 10, those enchiladas from Amy are your best bet! I will share the refried beans recipe this week. Who knew making your own refried beans was so easy and tasty!

Mmm, the best enchiladas!

Oh-so-yummy refried beans

Here's the plan for this week

Monday:

B- Granola

D- Homemade Chicken Nuggets and French Fries (moved from last week)

Tuesday:

B- Scrambled Eggs

D- Leftovers Wednesday: B- Strawberry Rhubarb Muffins (from the freezer) D- Spaghetti with Homemade Sauce and Meatballs (new recipe) Thursday: B- Apple Cranberry Granola (new recipe) D- Dinner Our (we will be gone all day and evening) Friday: B- Perpetual Pancakes Camping Weekend: Appetizer- Cowboy Caviar Main Dish- Seasoned Chicken for Tacos Snacks and Desserts: Crockpot Yogurt Oatmeal Chocolate Cake (new recipe) Homemade Chewy Granola Bars (new recipe) Oh, did I mention that I scored a TON of rhubarb at our Farmer's market no too long ago? I froze it and am so excited to use it all up!

Do you have any foods (like my refried beans) that you make from scratch and are extremely easy to make? I'd love to give them a try! Now I know that some of you make everything from scratch...so just one idea will be plenty :)

For hundreds of menu plans and recipes, head on over to I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Windowsill Garden is Growing

As we have limited space in our garden, I decided to try growing some herbs on my windowsill this year. We have a wonderful window in our kitchen that is very sunny and I hope it will be perfect for this purpose. Last weekend I planted parsley, thyme, basil, cilantro and chives and as of yesterday, all five had showed their little green heads! I just love that I can be doing dishes AND be admiring my little herbs too.

Have you had any luck growing herbs indoors?

This Week's Menu Plan

Last week was filled with some great recipes and some not-so-great recipes. We loved the granola bars I made, the Amish Oatmeal Bake, the spinach and blueberry smoothies were tasty, as were the apple squares. Also, this recipe for egg salad sandwiches was a big hit with my husband.

What didn't work for us was grilling artichokes. We looked for weeks for artichokes in the grocery store and after finally finding them, the end result was disappointing. They just did not soften up and so we ended up wasting most of them. I also tried out making fruit leather from apple sauce. While my husband and I thought it was great, our son just was not liking the texture.

Aren't they pretty though?

Tough artichokes (the chicken and dip were great though)

Apple Sauce fruit leather...not so tasty for an 18 month old

Well, I do think they taste great, but since the little one didn't care for them, they don't make for a very good fruit snack substitute. I'll have to ditch that idea and try to think of something new.

We did try grilling up sweet potatoes this week. WHAT AN AMAZING DISH! I didn't take pictures, but trust me, slice those things up, put them in tin foil with some butter and salt and you will have a GREAT side dish for steak or any other grilling fare. Here's our menu for this week: Monday: D- meatloaf, baked sweet potatoes (both new recipes) Tuesday: B- Granola (new recipe) D- Leftovers Wednesday: B- Scrambled Eggs D- Skillet Enchiladas (new recipe), salad Thursday: B- Perpetual Pancakes D- Tuna Salad Sandwiches on Whole Wheat Rolls, Carrots, Apple Slices Friday: B- Granola D- Baseball Game...dinner at the stadium Saturday: B- Potato Pancakes, Sausages D- Birthday Party for some friends' kids Sunday: B- Butter Braid D- Homemade Chicken Nuggets and French Fries (new recipes)

What do you have planned for this week? Are most of your recipes tried and true, or are you adding in lots of new dishes? For more menu plans and recipes, check out I'm An Organizing Junkie.

Amish Oatmeal Bake

We were going to have oatmeal with raisins this morning, until I found this recipe for Amish Oatmeal Bake while blog hopping on Monday. It sounded tasty and I liked that you could make it ahead of time and have it ready to go in the morning. We had it this morning and it was so delicious! I adapted it from the original recipe to cut down on the sugar and add raisins.

Amish Oatmeal Bake

modified from RecipeZaar

Ingredients:

1/3 cup butter

2 large eggs

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 t baking powder

1 1/2 t vanilla

1/2 t nutmeg

1/2 t cinnamon

1/4 t salt

1 cup milk

2 T milk

3 cups oatmeal (regular or quick)

1/2 cup raisins (that's just approximate)

Directions:

1. Melt butter. Grease a 1 1/2 quart baking dish and drop eggs into it. Beat eggs well. Add brown sugar, baking powder, vanilla, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt. Mix well until there are no clumps.

2. Whisk in butter and both measures of milk, then add in oats and raisins. Stir well and refrigerate for 8 hours (either over night or prepare it in the morning and bake it later in the day so it's ready quickly in the morning).

3. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes, or until set in the middle. Serve with hot milk poured over.