Menu Plan Monday

Always a day late and a dollar short.

I actually made my menu this morning but just didn't have time to post it until now.

I am linking up again with I'm An Organizing Junkie.  Check it out.  Lots of ideas and recipes.  No more boring dinners. 

Sunday

Birthday Dinner/Father's Day Dinner Out

Monday (Meatless Monday)

Cheesy Tostados
Spanish Rice

Tuesday

String Cheese Pasta*
Green Salad

Wednesday

French Fried Onion Chicken*
Corn on the Cob
Baby Red Pototoes

Thursday

Smothered Mozzarella Sandwiches
Carrots N Celery w/Dip
Chips

Friday

Shrimp Risotto*
Garlic Bread

Saturday

TBA


Hope everyone has a fabulous week and eats well!


*I will be posting the recipes for these in the coming weeks and will add them to my "Easy Peasy" Recipe page.

What I'm Lovin'

In light of the weekend birthday extravaganza (two birthdays, two days & Father's Day thrown in there too) on Saturday when I was preparing all the kids fare for Hayden's party there were a few "tools" that I was lovin' and thankful I had. 

Without them I couldn't have pulled it off.


Thank you for my tuna press for so faithfully draining all the water out of the can. There is nothing worse than soggy tuna.

My melon baller.  What can I say.  I am so ever grateful to you and your consistency in shaping the cantaloupe in such perfect round shapes.

And the last but definitely not the least, the stars of the show.  My heart & star cookie cutters! 

I don't know what I would have done without you guys!  You ROCK!

No Excuse Sunday

Our sermon today was on excuses not necessarily on excuses of why people don't attend church but excuses in general.  Our pastor did however read this poem and I felt compelled to share it. 
 
No Excuse Sunday~ Author Unknown
 
 
To make it possible for everyone to attend church next Sunday, we are going to have a special "No Excuse Sunday."
 
Cots will be placed in the foyer for those who say, "Sunday is my only day to sleep in."
 
We will have steel helmets for those who say, "the roof will cave in if I ever come to church."
 
Blankets will be furnished for those who think the church is too cold and fans for those who think the church is too hot.
 
We will have hearing aids for those who think the preacher speaks too softly and cotton for those who think he preaches too loudly.
 
Scorecards will be available for those who wish to list the hypocrites present.
 
Some relatives will be in attendance for those who like to go visiting on Sunday.
 
There will be T.V. dinners for those who can't go to church and cook dinner also.
 
One section will be devoted to trees and grass for those who like to see God in nature.

Finally, the sanctuary will be decorated with both Christmas poinsettias and Easter lilies for those who have never seen the church without them.



Have a blessed Sunday evening! 

Hearts & Stars

Yesterday was Hayden's 4th Birthday and mommy (that would be me) decided to make cute little finger sandwiches for our guests along with other "kid" friendly fare since it was a kids birthday.  Make sense, right?

What I didn't realize when I decided on this "grand" idea is how time consuming it was going to be.  I had to make enough sandwiches and ants on a log for 16 people. I was literally cutting and making sandwiches and putting raisins on the logs minutes before guests arrived.  Talk about cutting it close.

They however turned out so *cute* and Hayden loved them so I would do it again in a New York minute (or in this case 120 minutes). (However I hope he doesn't always expect me to cut his sandwiches up in shapes now...lol)


Here is what they looked like:

I told you they were cute!

I made two kinds Crunchy Tuna Salad (Stars)  and PB&J (Hearts) . 

It was fun watching the adults eat the PB&J sandwiches.  Kinda brings you back to when you were a child.  (Although I still eat PB&J as an adult sometimes with a nice cold glass of milk.  Yum!)

The Crunchy Tuna Salad turned out so good.  Want the recipe?

Crunchy Tuna Salad

Ingredients

(3) Cans of drained tuna
1/2 Cup (or 1/2 of the bag) shredded cabbage w/carrots (Coleslaw mix you can buy in produce section)
(2) tablespoons of plain yogurt
1/4 cup of mayonnaise (or more or less depending on how mayonnaisy you like your tuna)
Bread (how ever many slices you need based on guests and/or if you are shaping them like I did)

Directions

1. Combine all items in a bowl.
2.  Mix until tuna, coleslaw mix *smothered* with yogurt/mayonnaise
3. Using your cookie cutters cut your shapes from the bread slices.*
4.  Spread your tuna mixture on one side of the bread shape.
5. Top with the other side of shape.

*Each bread slice was able to cut two shapes.  Depending on the size of your cookie cutters will obviously determine how many shapes you get from a piece of bread.

And the ants on a log.  That is a simple one.  Celery stuffed with cream cheese or peanut butter and raisins.

These were a little messier since I was kinda in a bit of a hurry at this point.  Oh well, everyone ate them anyways.  I guess it doesn't matter what they looked like.

I also made a Fruit Salad and  Pasta & Ham Salad.  I will save the Pasta & Ham Salad recipe for a later time. 

(The addition of the feta cheese was for me.  Love the feta!)


And viola.....

Everyone had a great time and Hayden made out like a bandit!


Now onto another birthday today, my oldest is turning 19!  We are taking her out to dinner tonight with extended family.  No cooking or making food for me today. Thankfully!

Have a great Sunday!

Six Word Saturday

Good Morning, Good Afternoon, Good Night....

Do you know what time it is?  It's Howdy Doody Six Word Saturday Time!

That's right.  Describe your life (or something) at the moment in Six Words and then link up with Cate over at Show My Face.  No need to be all serious either.  You can have fun with it!  I love this meme!  I love seeing what everyone else comes up with.

Hayden's Birthday.  Kyleigh's Birthday. Father's Day.

Phew.  We have back to back birthdays this weekend.  Hayden's 4th today.  Kyleigh's 19th tomorrow and then of course Father's Day.  It's funny, you can't wait for the weekend so you can slow down a bit and yeah, it never works out that way in this household. 

We are having a party for Hayden this afternoon.  Serving fun "kid friendly"  finger foods to the guests and yummy cake.  He is beyond excited.  This is all he has been talking about for about the past week.  So cute. He just melts my heart.  Happy Birthday!  I love you, my little tornado!

This is a picture of him taken at the parade a couple weeks ago.  That is one of those balloon yo-yos.  It didn't take long for that to get popped and water all over.

Happy 4th Birthday, Hayden!

And then tomorrow we are taking Kyleigh out to a nice dinner with several other family members and we are using this as kinda a "Father's Day" dinner too. 

Husband gets to go golfing for a few hours after church tomorrow as his "Father's Day" gift.  I think I will take a nap with the kids while he is gone.  I am sure I will need it after today.  LOL!

Happy 19th Birthday, Kyleigh!

It's hard to believe I "birthed" you 19 years ago.  Where did the time go?  I am so proud of what you have accomplished in your life so far and look forward to seeing you continue to blossom into a young woman.   You are truly beautiful on the inside and out.  I love you, My Sweet Babe!

Happy Father's Day to my husband and the "best" daddy around.  Thank you for being such a loving & caring father to our children.  I love you!


Hope you all have a great weekend!