Weekly Menu - July 12 through July 18

I've found some great-looking recipes from fellow bloggers to try this week! Be sure to click through and check out their blogs. There are a lot of good recipes out there.

As usual this time of year, I can't plan ahead for what will be coming from the garden for some of our side dishes. Right now we're getting a lot of cucumbers, zucchini and a few green peppers, but I see the first tomatoes will be ready this week, too!


Sunday, 7/12 - Spicy Shredded Pork in Flour Tortillas

Monday, 7/13 - Louisiana Chicken Pasta

Tuesday, 7/14 - Spicy Shredded Pork (this time on buns)

Wednesday, 7/15 - Leftover Louisiana Chicken Pasta

Thursday, 7/16 - Easy Peasy Chicken, Tater Tots

Friday, 7/17 - Grilled Steaks, Curly Fries

Saturday, 7/18 - Shrimp Scampi over Pasta

Quick Monday Post

I thought I'd publish a short post this morning just to say "Here!". I think some people (A.Marie?...LOL) are concerned I'm either not going to post again or have gotten lost somewhere in the depths of my house as I clean it.

It was a busy week last week. I'm only about halfway finished with my room-to-room cleaning of my house. Part of the reason it's taking me so long is that, while I clean, I'm also sorting out items for a garage sale. And trying to keep up with laundry and meals. And trying to keep the rooms I've already cleaned looking good so that I don't feel an urge to start over as soon as I'm done.

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Some special events happened last week, both warranting celebration, but neither getting much attention at the request of those who would have been in the limelight.

On Thursday, my parents marked their 60th wedding anniversary! Isn't that amazing? They married as teenager, so they are now in their mid- to late-70s and going strong! We had small parties for them on their 25th and 50th anniversaries, but they didn't want a fuss made for any of the others, not even this one.

On Saturday, my daughter and her boyfriend got married! I'm not sure if it's an elopement if everyone knew ahead of time that they were going. :) They've been talking about getting married for a while, and after watching another couple go through the stressful planning of a large wedding, they decided a big ceremony wasn't for them. I can understand their sentiment; Shane and I were married in a similar manner. Anyway, Shane and I are happy for them and wish them the best.

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On a totally unrelated note, I was finally able to trap the mama cat that's been living in the back yard. A volunteer from the shelter came on Friday with a drop-style trap and sat for a couple of hours waiting, baiting her with tuna and smelly wet cat food. The volunteer left, I put a bowl of familiar dry food in the trap, and had her within five minutes! The kittens are already back from the vet/shelter, and the mother should be back this week, so they can all live happily (and kitten-free) ever after under our deck.

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I'll be posting my weekly menu today. Some of the recipes I've chosen from other blogs are just so tasty looking (to me, anyway) that I didn't want to let them pass by. But like last week, those may be the only posts I publish this week. I promise, though, to get back to more frequent posting next week...clean house or no.


See you then!

Stay Tuned!

It's summer, but I'm taking a few days off from the blog to spring clean my house. I mean really clean it, one room at a time, for as long as it takes.

See you on the other side!

Weekly Menu - July 5 through July 11

When people talk about the lazy days of summer, I can't relate. It seems our summers are always far busier than the rest of the year. Between camping, working on projects we can't do (or don't want to do) in cooler weather, having Kat home from school, having family picnics and birthday parties, and gardening, there's little time for downtime.

This week I'm going to try to be a little lazier than usual. Some of our recent meals made enough extra for me to put a meal-sized portion or two in the freezer. I'm going to rely on those frozen meals for our dinners this week. All I'll need to do is add a fruit, veggie or salad. Now that's lazy!


Sunday, 7/5 -Ham and Beans with Corn Muffins

Monday, 7/6 - Chicken Azteca in Flour Tortillas (burrito-style)

Tuesday, 7/7 - Tourtiere Burgers on Buns

Wednesday, 7/8 - Chicken Azteca in Flour Tortillas (chimichanga-style)

Thursday, 7/9 - Ham and Beans with Corn Muffins

Friday, 7/10 - Fish Sticks with Mac & Cheese

Not homemade, but from the freezer all the same. And very kid-friendly.

Saturday, 7/11 - Sausage Pancakes with Hashbrowns

This isn't from the freezer. I'd almost forgotten about sausage pancakes until a family friend mentioned on Facebook that he loved it when my mom would make these when we were growing up. They are simple to make; just cook and drain some breakfast sausage, crumble it into very small pieces and toss it into your pancake batter before you cook the pancakes. Yummy!

A Good Time To Review The Budget

It's hard to believe the year is half over already!

I like to review our budget every six months and make any necessary adjustments. I wasn't surprised to learn we were way over budget in our Lawn & Garden category. In the past, that category has mainly been for things such as lawn mower maintenance, items like citronella candles or Tiki fuel so we can enjoy our time outside more, and things like charcoal that don't really fit in any other category. Since the gardening bug bit us this year, it seems we've gone overboard! Luckily, a lot of those expenses are either one-time purchases or things that won't have to be replaced for a few years.

I'm happy to say that most of our other budget numbers were still good or just needed minor tweaking.

I also took Kat to the doctor today. She wasn't feeling ill at all, but she'd found two small lumps in the back of her neck. They were under the skin and about the size of BBs. I remembered that a few days after our last camping trip, I found a tick biting her scalp behind her left ear. I'd missed it when I checked her earlier or she may have picked it up later. I didn't think it was a serious problem, but did suspect the lumps were related, so I wanted to have a doctor take a look. The doctor said the lymph nodes had some infection from the tick bite. She also noticed some infection in Kat's left ear, which she said was probably caused by the infection in the lymph nodes. The doctor prescribed an antibiotic, so hopefully the infections will go away before Kat feels under the weather or in pain at all.

Tomorrow Kat leaves for the weekend with her mom (and another birthday celebration), while Shane and I go camping again. Since it will just be the two of us, I've planned some foods that are a little less kid-friendly than usual. I'll post about them early next week.

I'll also try to get next week's menu ready for Sunday, although I've noticed (and read) that Blogger has been having some issues with their advanced scheduling options. Hopefully it will be fixed soon.

That's it for me until at least Sunday. Hope all of you have a fun and safe weekend, wherever you are!

That's Not A Cat!

Remember those feral cats in my backyard? I managed to capture two kittens on Monday evening and the third yesterday evening. They were so cute; the third one even let me pet it through the cage and didn't seem very frightened at all.

The mother remains elusive. And smart. I saw her go into the trap, manage to take the bait (which I put under the trap, not in it) and hop back out without stepping on the release plate.

This raccoon wasn't as quick. He (she?) was in the trap this morning. In keeping with our habit of naming all the neighborhood rabbits, birds, etc., I decided this raccoon looked like a Buddy; I named him and let him go.

Back to square one, I guess. I'm just glad Buddy wasn't a skunk!

Sweet and Tangy Meatballs

Last week I had Ginger Ale Meatballs on my menu, but the recipe called for pre-made meatballs. I've been known to buy those from time to time, but I didn't have any in the freezer. I came up with this recipe using what I DID have on hand that day.

This recipe makes lots of meatballs. For me, lots means 52. Plenty for us to have two tasty meals.


Sweet and Tangy Meatballs

1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup milk
3/4 cup fine graham cracker crumbs (yes, graham cracker crumbs)
1 teaspoon smoke-flavored salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 Tablespoons dehydrated minced onion
2 pounds ground beef
2 cups ketchup
2 cups ginger ale
1 Tablespoon minced garlic (the kind from a jar) (adjust to suit your taste)

Heat oven to 450°F.

Combine egg, milk, graham cracker crumbs, salt, pepper and dehydrated onion. Crumble ground beef over egg mixture, then mix well using a wooden spoon or your hands.

Form into meatballs of desired size. (I used a small ice cream scoop and was able to make 50.) Place meatballs in glass or metal baking dish. Bake for 20 minutes.

Combine ketchup, ginger ale and garlic.

Transfer meatballs to Crock Pot. Pour ketchup mixture over all. Cook on High for about 3 hours. If desired, thicken sauce by adding 1 T. cornstarch combined with a little cold water, then letting sauce continue to cook for about 30 minutes. Spoon meatballs and sauce over hot cooked rice.

Makes 6-8 servings.

Kat's Birthday

I've mentioned that Kat's birthday is on the 4th of July. Her mom's (my daughter's) birthday is sometimes on Labor Day. While holiday birthdays sound like fun, I've learned it's hard to find friends -- especially when they're young -- to attend a party because they usually have other family plans.

It's not unusual for us to celebrate Kat's birthday the weekend before the 4th. This year we invited two of her cousins and two friends from school to go with us to have lunch at the Crayola Cafe and to play in the Crown Center Fountains, then come back home for cupcakes and ice cream.

Here are some photos of Saturday's fun.