Menu Plan Monday - Week of June 17, 2013

Woo, posts three days in a row! lol Don't get used to it - we are going to Walt Disney World next week (YAY vacation! YAY Mickey! YAY not cooking!), and while I DO want to schedule some posts (not sure if I'll be bringing the laptop or not) I know that I probably won't! So, sorry if I go dark.

Anyway, this week is the last week of school for J., one more YAY! to add to the awesome pile. So I thought I'd make some of his favorite dishes! He sometimes complains because we rarely have anything more than once, so I thought this would be a nice treat! I also have no chicken left and don't want to buy any before payday, so this is also a use up what we have before vacation week.


Monday: leftover lasagne from Father's Day (from MIL, so good!)

Tuesday: Crock Pot Mac N Cheese
 
 Wednesday: leftovers

Thursday: Pepperoni Pizza Puffs (didn't make 2 weeks ago!)

Friday: Impossibly Easy Cheeseburger Pie

Saturday: either leftovers or chicken quesedillas

Sunday: leftovers

Dessert of the Week: the rest of the Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars


More menus at OrgJunkie's Menu Plan Monday!

Father's Day Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

Father's Day Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

J.'s family loves desserts. LOVES desserts. Unfortunately, they don't like anything too odd or out there, so I am learning to hide my fun dessert streak and just make plain ole boring desserts for them. Every year for Christmas Eve, J. makes some sort of complicated cake, and his family is more likely to make fun of it (even with a look or turned up nose) than to simply say "Thanks for making this"

So for Father's Day, I asked J. what his dad might like for dessert. His dad is diabetic, so he doesn't really eat dessert, but it IS Father's Day. J. suggested chocolate chip cookies. BORING! Thankfully I found this recipe in my bookmarks and was  able to pump up the regular ole chocolate chip cookie.

I baked them the full 20 minutes, but they are still a bit undercooked in the middle and flaky on top. So. So. GOOD!!!

Father's Day Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars - chewy in the middle, flaky on top

Happy Father's Day!


Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
from Brown Eyed Baker

Ingredients:

1½ cups all-purpose flour ½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
¾ cup light brown sugar
¾ cup creamy peanut butter
½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup peanut butter chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x13-inch baking pan; set aside.
2. In a small bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the brown sugar, peanut butter, butter and granulated sugar on medium speed until creamy and light. Add the egg and vanilla extract and mix until combined. Reduce speed to low and add the dry ingredients, mixing only until the flour is just incorporated. Using a rubber spatula, mix in the chocolate chips and peanut butter chips.
4. Turn out the mixture into the prepared pan and press into an even layer. Bake for 16 to 20 minutes, or until the center is set. Cool completely in the pan on a wire rack. Cut into bars and store at room temperature in an airtight container.

The kiddo couldn't wait until I was done taknig pics to try to nab one!

 

Italian-Style Skillet Pork Chops

Italian-Style Skillet Pork Chops

As a treat and change from chicken, I bought pork chops this week. I wanted an easy, non-oven or slow cooker recipe that show cased the meat. This one was perfect! We served it over pasta, but you could also serve it  over rice.

Italian-Style Skillet Pork Chops
originally from All Recipes

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil (could probably use less)
6 bone-in pork chops, 3/4-inch thick (I used boneless!)
1 (24 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce

pasta or rice - optional

Directions:

1. Heat the oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chops and cook until they're well browned on both sides. Remove the chops from the skillet and set aside. Pour off any fat.
2. Stir the Italian sauce in the skillet and heat to a boil. Reduce the heat to low. Return the chops to the skillet. Cover and cook for 10 minutes or until the chops are cooked through, stirring occasionally. Serve the chops and sauce over the pasta or rice.

Muddy Buddy Rice Krispie Bites

Muddy Buddy Rice Krispie Treats

What a few days it has been. We are having some water issues, so we can't do laundry, use the dishwasher or the water too much .We can take quick showers but that is about it! Today is day 4 of this, and day 3 of the guys working on the issue! So I haven't wanted to cook so much, between the water issue and the guys being here near dinnertime and not wanting to dirty too many dishes. Hopefully the issue will be resolved today!

I did manage to whip up these yummy treats, though. They are originally from Mallow and Co. I changed the recipe a little to make it more Weight Watchers friendly. I made 60 bites for 1 Point Plus each.

Muddy Buddy Rice Krispie Treats

4 Tbsp butter
3/4 cup chocolate chips
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
6 cups (1 bag) mini marshmallows
1 tsp vanilla
6 cups Rice Krispies
3/4 cup powdered sugar


Pour half of the rice krispies in a large mixing bowl. Set aside. Stir together the butter, peanut butter, and chocolate chips in a large saucepan over medium heat until melted. Turn the heat down to low and add the marshmallows and vanilla extract.Stir, stir,stir until the marshmallows are all melted.

Once fully melted, take them off heat and pour over the rice krispies. Add the rest of the krispies. Stir quickly but gently to combine. Dump into a lightly greased 9x13 pan and let sit 5 minutes (on the counter). Lightly grease your hands then press down the krispie mix until even. Refrigerate for about 20 minutes.

Pour your powdered sugar in a bowl and pull out your cooled treats. Cut them up in into bite sized pieces (I cut them into squares, then cut the squares in half or in fourths), then roll them around in the powdered sugar. Tap them to shake off some of the excess sugar. You could also dump the powdered sugar in a bag and shake some pieces in that. Enjoy!!

Menu Plan Monday - Week of 6/3/13

No menu plan last week... the long weekend got me all off track. We did ok, but once again I was reminded how menu planning just makes everything go more smoothly. Also check back this week for the soft pretzels bun recipe - thy were amazing!! This week I turned to Pinterest for inspiration - we are going on 2 weeks of E. waking up between 5 and 5:30 a.m., and I am too tired to think!!


Monday: leftover mac and cheese


Tuesday: Slow Cooker Brown Sugar and Garlic Chicken
 
 Wednesday: leftovers

Thursday: Pepperoni Pizza Puffs

Friday: Parmesan Chicken Bake

Saturday: Hot Dogs with a Twist

Sunday: leftovers

Breakfast of the Week: Cinnamon Roll Baked Oatmeal

Dessert of the Week: Either Caramel Cookies or Crackle Spice Drops


Snack of the Week: Clinton Kelly's Mozzarella Sticks


More menus at OrgJunkie's Menu Plan Monday!

The Fault in Our Stars Review

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Ignore the author's note in the beginning - don't let it turn you off of this wonderfully sweet book.Even more well written and absurdly different than Looking for Alaska, The Fault in Our Stars tells the story of Hazel and Augustus, two teenagers who happen to have cancer as a part of them. Similar to LFA, the characters are a bit too "perfect" and seem to say the correct things more often than not. But they are also more realistic in dealing with their cancer and living a regular type life. I do recommend this book - solid 4 stars - and am looking forward to the movie.

View all my reviews

Menu Plan Monday - Week of 5/20/13

 When I hear people say that teachers only work from 8 to 3, I laugh and laugh. Last week J. worked late four nights, and this week he is going back twice. That is just for night school and events. I an go on and on about how he works weekends and after school hours, but somehow people think teachers do nothing outside of 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. Monday through Friday. Just a minor rant of the week!!

Monday:  pulled pork, served on  Soft Pretzel Buns (got pushed back to this week)

Tuesday:  homemade pizza SERIOUSLY I AM MAKING IT THIS WEEK!!

 Wednesday:  leftovers - J has night school

Thursday: Creamy Rice Casserole (trying it in the slow cooker)


Friday: leftovers

Saturday: We are going out on our annual Memorial Day weekend outlet shopping trip, so we will eat a big lunch and a snacky dinner

Sunday:  leftovers

Dessert of the week: We seriously still have cake balls from Mother's Day!!

Fine more recipes at OrgJunkie

Allstate Foundation Drive It Home Show

On Tuesday, we attended the Allstate Foundation Drive It Home event in East Islip, NY. This event is intended to help you keep your teen driver safe. Research from The Allstate Foundation shows nearly half of parents express regret about not monitoring their teen driver after they get a license, and more than two-thirds wish they spent more time practicing driving with their teen in high-risk situations. To educate parents on driving risks, the Allstate Foundation is helping NSC launch Drive It Home, a new program offering specially created resources to help parents keep their teens safer on the road, especially after a teen gets a driver’s license. Designed by parents for parents, the unique program includes an interactive website – driveithome.org – featuring engaging videos, practice tips and other valuable resources. It included a skit by the Second City Communications comedy troupe and speeches by local Allstate agents, John Ulczycki from the National Safety Council and a woman who lost her teenage daughter in a car accident.
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Allstate Drive It Home event

The evening started off on a fun note with a skit from Second City Communications. The skit included a mother and teenaged daughter on a talk show discussing the teeanger's driving. The funniest part of the skit was what the talk show host called the "Biscuit Show" where the mother and daughter were pretending to drive while the host made comments. The skit helped to illustrate that teenagers have been learning how to drive from their parents since they were very young - watching their parents on their cell phones, speeding, yelling at other drivers, etc.It was a good way to show parents that they need to communicate with their teens and give them some ground rules for driving. Research shows that inexperience is the No. 1 cause of teen crashes, but in New York, only 18 percent of parents say a teen's lack of driving experience is the top cause of crashes. Despite the fact that nine in 10 parents say it's very important for teens to learn to manage night driving and driving with passengers, nearly 31 percent of parents in New York are not setting rules around some of the most dangerous behaviors including nighttime driving and passengers in the car.

John Ulczycki spoke of the statistics about teem driving and gave parents ways to help their teenagers drive more safely. Just driving with a new licensed teen 30 minutes a week can be very helpful. Parents can also practice specific skills together and provide teens with feedback in the following critical areas: 

• Scanning the road ahead to recognize and respond to hazards. 
• Controlling speed, stopping, turning and following distance. 
• Judging the gap between vehicles in traffic – such as when exiting parking lots and making left-hand turns.
• Managing the highest driving risks, such as nighttime driving and with young passengers in the car.

The evening was fun and informative. Second City set the tone while John and the other speakers gave out valuable information.  There are 5 more dates, so please check it out if you have a teen driver. Also at driveithome.org, parents can sign up to receive weekly driving practice tips and suggestions via e-mail, and print, discuss and sign a Parent-Teen Driving Agreement.

While I did not take any pictures of the show itself, (since I would have had to use flash while the theater was dark) I did take this picture of my kiddo sitting the seat all by himself. This was before he fell down into the crack where the seat part folds out. Yup, that's my kid!!

He never sits still!!

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective, and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

Menu Plan Monday - Week of 5/13/13

So last week I didn't plan my menu until Monday morning - this week I planned it Friday night! Had to get the idea in my head out! LOL We are heading into J.'s busy time at school, so more crock pot and freezer leftover meals are on the horizon.

Hope everyone had a good mother's day!

Monday:  Chicken Pot Pie, using potato soup as a base! (idea by my friend Lu)

Tuesday: Chicken Giardino (did not get to last week)

 Wednesday:  leftovers - J has night school

Thursday: leftovers - J has a concert

Friday: homemade pizza (yup still haven't made it!)

Saturday: pulled pork in the crock pot, served on  Soft Pretzel Buns

Sunday:  leftovers

Dessert of the week: I made cake balls for Mother's Day, and we have TONS leftover!!


Find more menus at Org Junkie :)

ZzzQuil Review

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of ZzzQuil. All opinions are 100% mine.




My 2 year old has never been a great sleeper. He finally, FINALLY started consistently sleeping through the night in Feb - after a month and a half of waking up 3 to 5 times a night 4 to 5 times a week - no exaggeration. So, I have had many many sleepless nights myself, and that has totally messed up my sleep schedule. Even now, after almost 3 months of uninterrupted sleep, I am still waking up several times a night then taking awhile to fall back asleep. This mom is tired!!

The makers of Vicks NyQuil now have the perfect solution for occasional sleeplessness - ZzzQuil! ZzzQuil’s active ingredient, diphenhydramine HCI, helps reduce the time it takes for you to fall asleep when you have difficulty falling asleep, so you can sleep soundly and wake up refreshed. Not for colds, not for pain relief, ZzzQuil is just to help you sleep. It is non-habit forming as well as safe and effective when used according to package directions.

ZzzQuil is available in both liquid and  LiquiCap® forms. I used the liquid. The packaging looks similar to NyQuil, excerpt it has purple undertones. The liquid does have the usual medicine-ish taste, but it also had a hint of berry flavor. not hard to swllow at all. It is a warming liquid, and I could defiantly feel it warming my stomach right after I took it. ZzzQuil started working almost right away, making me sleepy. I fell asleep quickly, and only woke up one time in the middle of the night - then fell back asleep right away. I did have a little bit of a "sleep hangover" but it went away fairly quickly, and I did feel more awake and refreshed as usual.

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