Meal Planning

With school starting and football ruling our lives these days, I've been trying to plan meals and make one trip to the grocrey story every week. I've also changed grocery stores. I'm buying 90% of our groceries at Aldi. Aldi is a new chain of stores that offers only their brand of most products and only one size too. The prices are significantly cheaper! Each week I've spent less than $50 for breakfast and dinners for our family of 4. I still go to W@l-Mart for our paper goods and frozen meals for lunches.

Last week's meals:

Sunday - Sandwiches/leftovers
Monday - Breakfast (Landrie's request for 1st day of school dinner)
Tuesday - Cheeseburgers
Wednesday - Kara's BBQ Meatballs and Mashed Potatoes
Thursday - Tacos
Friday - Fast Food (Game Night)
Saturday - Out to Eat!

This weeks' meal plan:

Sunday - Chicken Enchilada Ring
Monday - Sloppy Joes and French Fries
Tuesday - Jambalaya
Wednesday - Dickey's BBQ ~ Kids Eat FREE!
Thursday - Sub Sandwiches
Friday - Fast Food (Game Night)
Saturday - Out to Eat!

I'm trying to find some other simple recipes to try over the next few weeks. I'm also looking forward to the cooler weather when I can break out the crock pot and soup recipes!

Karsyn's 1st Day

Today was Karsyn's 1st day of Kindergarten Prep--also known as her last first day of preschool. She was so excited to go today. She popped out of bed and got dressed so easily and quickly! She kept talking about being a grown up today. She said she didn't need her guckie (blanket) at school because she was grown up now. Cute for her, but a little sad for Mommy.

Getting her packback ready

Little poser!

She was already too busy doing puzzles to pose for one more picture for me.

Karsyn had a great first day! Her teachers were so proud of her and so am I!!!

Lollypalooza Part 2

Last year Lolly was honored at Celebrity Bakery as a Local Celebrity. They honored her and 4 others at a party, gave her a spot on the Celebrity menu and also gave her a VIP Baking Experience Party.

You may remember some of these pictures:

Fast foward to yesterday's VIP Baking Experience with our cousins and close friends:

The kids started off with "tea", sandwiches and fruit before the real fun began! Each kid was given an 8-inch cake to decorate all they wanted...and decorate they did!

We had a blast!!! I would highly recommend one of these parties! We're even considering it for Landrie's 7th Birthday in just a few weeks!

First Grade!

Today I sent Miss Landrie off to first grade!! I feel so old and she seems so big!!!

Yesterday, to prepare for the big day, the girls went with me to get "pedicures". They got to soak their feet and got their toes painted. They loved it!!!

Landrie with her new backpack - it's almost as big as she is!

Daddy with his girls! Lamar started his 10th year of teaching today!

Sweet Landrie in her desk ready to tackle the year.

Landrie had a great day and Karsyn did too. It was her first Lolly day all to herself! She was thrilled, but can't wait to start her school year next Monday.

New Recipe ~ Mexican Chicken and Rice

We have a family favorite recipe at our house - Baked Chicken and Rice. Tonight, I modified it to make it Mexican Style.



Here's the original recipe:



1 cup of long grain rice

1 can Cream of Chicken

1 can Cream of Mushroom

1 can of Creamy onion or another creamy soup

2 lbs chicken pieces



Mix all ingredients together. Put in greased 9 x 13 pan. Top with chicken. Season with salt and pepper. Melt 1/2 stick of butter and pour over top of each piece of chicken. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.





Here it is with a Mexican twist:



1 1/2 C Rice

1 Can Cream of Chicken

1 Can Cream of Mushroom

1 Can Mild Rotel

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp garlic salt

1 onion finely chopped

1 can black beans drained and rinsed

1 can water

1 cup Mexican shredded cheese

2 lbs of chicken (I used breasts and thighs)



Mix rice, soups, rotel, onion, spices, beans, water, 1/2 cup cheese and pour into a greased 9 x 13 pan. Season chicken with salt, paprika and garlic salt and place on top of rice. Melt butter and pour over chicken. Bake covered at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Uncover and sprinkle remaining cheese on the chicken. Bake for 15 more minutes.



My taste-testers approved!!! Might have to add this to our rotation!

A Tale of Two Chairs

Last summer I rescued two chairs from my neighbors trash pile. They had good lines and I saw lots of potential, but they were UGLY!!!

This doesn't really do justice to how ugly they were. The seats were covered in a rust corduroy fabric and they were extremely weathered.

I painted the first one black and added a wooden decal to the back. I distressed it all and then recovered the seat in a goldy damask print that I found in the remnants at JoAnn's.

I saved the second one not sure of where I would put it. I decided to paint it white and use it as my daughter's night stand. I painted the first coat of white and it was weathered just like the rest of her furniture so I left it like that. I added the other wooden decal to the front of the chair and cut a piece of MDF for the top. I love how it turned out and it really finishes her room.

Candlestick Revamp

After seeing Ashley's awesome work on her entertainment center, my husband and I decided to build the same one. The only thing different was that we left out the vertical dividers.

That left me with spaces to fill, so I cleared off my mantle and moved things in to the entertainment center.

A good family friend had these candlesticks in her garage and said I could have them if I wanted. The brass wouldn't do, so...

I mixed a brown with a copper paint and brushed it on. I didn't really like how it turned out, but wasn't sure how to fix it. I decided to dry brush some black over it and was really pleased with the turn out!

I filled the bottom with some rocks from JoAnn's and added my painted candles.

I still need to add something underneath the picture, but I'm really happy with how it turned out!!!