New Stromboli Recipe!

RecipeZaar has got to be my favorite recipe website. It's the first place I turn when I'm looking for a new recipe. And of all the recipes we've tried, I can't think of any that we haven't liked! I'm going to start a list of fave recipes on here but here's one to start!

I bought a roll of Hot Sausage last week to use as a topping for my personal pizza. I wanted to find a recipe to use the rest (well I still have a little left...) and I found this recipe for Stromboli and we made it tonight. It is definately a keeper! Everyone loved it. Super-picky, eats like a bird Hannah even ate her whole piece!

I made a few changes though. I've never used frozen bread dough so I followed the reviewer and used refrigerated. I was a bit worried because I thought it would roll out bigger but It turned out perfect (I wasn't even sure what stromboli was supposed to look like...LoL) I didn't have the individual spices so I substituted garlic salt and Italian seasoning. The toppings I used were browned hot sausage, turkey pepperoni, black olives, mushrooms and a little cheddar/moz cheese. It was so yummy! We'll definately make it again!

New Design!

Now that Spring is here, I thought I'd get rid of my Winter layout. Thanks again to my friend, Elizabeth, for making me a great banner and siggy! Welcome to Spring Everyone!

Menu Plan Monday~ 4/27/09

DH has been out of town so the girls and I were at my Mom's for most of last week. So no menu plan. DH gets homne today so I can actually make some of the meals we didn't get to weeks ago! (Thank your, Freezer!)

Saturday 4/25: Poppy Festival! (Fair food)

Sunday 4/26: At Mom's (again!)

Monday 4/27: Sandwiches, Leftover Mac and Cheese, Chips/Dip

Tuesday 4/28: Chicken Potpie

Wednesday 4/29: Steak Sandwiches with Mushrooms

Thursday 4/30: Stromboli (using pepperoni, cheese, spicy sausage, mushrooms, olives)

Friday 5/1: Tacos (This homemade seasoning is great! It's pretty peppery/spicy though so I added a little tomato sauce and it was perfect!)

Head over to Laura's for more menus!

5 Things I'm Thankful For!

My wonderful friend, Elizabeth, posted on her blog today about 5 things she's thankful for. I thought that was a wonderful thing to do and wanted to remind myself of all the wonderful things in my life. Jason and I have had some ups and downs in the past few years and things are finally starting to look up for us. But right when we were getting ahead, I blew a hole in my motor in my car (well the motor blew a hole in itsself!). And you know what? We stayed positive. We were at a loss on what to do but we figured it out and the car is fixed! We used our house savings but we're still chugging along and determined to get that house!

Anyway, I want to post 5 things I'm thankful for today!

1. I have a husband who I can honestly say I'm completely myself with. In the past, I've changed for men in relationships. I've hid my likes and tried to only be interested in theirs. I haven't changed for Jason...I've changed because of him. I've learned a lot about myself and realized who I am and what I enjoy doing. We have different hobbies (trains for him, books for me) and we're ok with that. I'm not a big fan of his hobby (and he's not a big reader) but we respect our differences.

2. I have two little girls who really are good kids. I get frustrated with them but that's my own fault. They're actually very warm, loving, pretty well behaved kids. They make me want to be a better parent and really focus on enjoying time with them.

3. I love my job. It's not ultimately my career (well sorta...I don't want to be a secretary forever...but I plan on working as a nurse! LoL) choice but it's shown me that I made the right choice in going back to school to become an RN. With past jobs, I hated going to work every day. My bosses were awful and I hated my job. There was no respect and no positive feedback. At the hospital, the only reason I don't want to go in the morning is the drive! LoL My bosses, doctors and nurses tell me constantly that I'm great at my job. It's an amazing feeling. And it tells me that I'm going to be a great nurse!

4. I'm thankful that Jason and I have the same goals right now. It's not just one of us who wanted another baby or who's working to save for a house. We're in the same place which makes things much easier. We're partners, through and through.

5. I'm thankful that this school semester is half over! I over did it with classes I don't need and I'm so tired. Between going back to work FT and taking classes I don't want to take, it's very frustrating. It make take me longer to get my RN but I'm going to take one class a semester until I get into the program. And hopefully during the day. I can't stand having to go at night on the only day I have off with the kids! Only 2 more months left!

What are you thankful for today?

5 Things I'm Thankful For!

Patience...

I think I need to start working on some of my bad traits. I find that writing things down makes them easier to acheive (I'm a list maker...you should see my grocery list!). So the first thing I'm going to work on is Patience.

I find myself losing patience very quickly especially with Hannah. This morning I've yelled at her and sent her to her room for not getting dressed when I told her to. I think my view of time is so different from hers. She doesn't realize how long its taking and I really should give her more time. Yelling (me) and crying (her) are not a good way to start our morning. And really, I make them wait to get ready while I take my long shower in the morning. It's more my fault we're late!

So I'm going to work on being more patient (and along with that, not losing my temper over nothing!) especially with the girls.

How do you all learn more patience?

Time to Go from 4 to 5!

DH and I finally decided to start trying for baby number 3! I am SO excited! We're officially trying now. I just finished my first cycle off the pill! Hannah was a surprise and Avery took 5 months of TTC. We're hoping it takes even less time this time!

I'm hoping for a boy...so send BLUE dust this way!

Finding My Way To Him!

I was raised Catholic. I went to a Catholic school from 1st-8th grade. You would think that would have cemented my faith and kept me on the path to God. But for me, I found that the Catholic church wasn't the best fit. I believe in God and Jesus but I typically don't take the Bible so literally. I found myself being drawn more towards the Christian church once I entered highschool and chose not to be confirmed as a Catholic. After highschool, I fell away from religion in general and haven't been to church much since.

Now that my girls are getting closer to school age (Hannah at least), I decided I want them to experience school the way I did. I feel that I was better off and more stable in my beliefs and values because I went to a religious school. While I ended up not staying in the same religion, I was able to make that choice myself. I think a lot of people my age follow a certain religion because their parents did. Without really being immersed in religion, they can't really make the decision themselves. So I decided to send the girls to a Christian school. Making that choice has made me realize I need to start to practice for myself. I went to my sister's Chrisitian church yesterday and thoroughly enjoyed myself. It's too far for us to go on a regular basis but the church at the school the girls will be going into is not.

So we're going to start going to church when we can. I work every other weekend but there's no reason we can't go the weekends I'm home. I also want to do something for myself and join a bible study. I plan on going to school during the day in the Fall (I go at night now) so I should be able to join a group them.

I'm very excited about my choices and can't wait to become closer to God again!

Menu Plan Monday~ 4/13/09!

Ok seriously...someone needs to point me in the direction of some other daily blog posts. This is the only day I've posted 3 weeks in a row...I need something to post Tuesday-Sunday!

I am SO excited about the new Mexican recipes I've made lately! We normally only have tacos made with ground turkey and a packet of taco seasoning. That gets old after a while. So a few weeks ago I made Chicken Taquitos that turned out so yummy! And this past week, I decided to try to make a different version of tacos. I finely diced about half an onion (I'm trying to include onion more since I've been trying to eat more things I didn't "like" in the past.) and sauted it with some garlic. I added 3/4 lb of ground turkey and then added this seasoning (about 1/2 of what it makes). I tasted it and it was a bit too spicy and peppery. I remembered I had some tomato sauce frozen in the freezer. I broke off a few chunks and mix it in. It turned out perfect! I then fried it in tortillas with a little cheese.

Both were so good but I don't like to fry things. So I'm going to try baking both of them next time to try and get the tortillas crispy. If that doesn't work, they'll just be a treat every once and a while!

And now on to this week!

Saturday 4/11- Steak and Mushroom Fajitas, Watermelon

Sunday 4/12- Easter at Mom's! Ham, Cheesy Potatoes, Mac and Cheese etc. I brought 2 homemade Pecan Pies (I'll post the recipe later this week when I get the link to work!).

Monday 4/13- Easter Leftovers!

Tuesday 4/14- Steak Sandwiches (cube steak, cheese, mushrooms, pizza sauce), Fruit

Wednesday 4/15- Turkey Bacon BLTs, Fruit

Thursday 4/16- Spaghetti with Meatballs, Salad

Friday 4/17- Pizza Pockets, Salad

Head on over the OrgJunkie for more weekly menus!

Menu Plan Monday~ 04/06/09

One of these days, I'll actually start posting something other than MPM! :) At least I post these...LoL

The Broccoli and Cheese Soup from last week's menu turned out really good! I added minced garlic to the onions while they sauted and used about 1/3 of a small package of velveeta. Even Hannah (the super picky, no veggie eater) liked it. Avery LOVED it. DH was impressed and he's really into Broccoli and Cheese soup lately. The only downside was that it didn't reheat well. I think that might be the Velveeta. I'd still make it again though!

This week I only spent $28.01 on groceries! I tried to make a plan based on mostly what we already had on hand. It doesn't hurt that we just made our monthly Costco trip and have most of our meat for about 2-3 months!

Saturday 4/4: Grilled Steak, Mushrooms, Corn on the Cob, Salad
Sunday 4/5: BBQ at Mom's
Monday 4/6: Shake N Bake Chicken, Rice, Asparagus
Tuesday 4/7: Tacos, Black Beans, Chips/Salsa
Wednesday 4/8: Passover at Dad's
Thursday 4/9: Pizza Pockets, Salad, Fruit
Friday 4/10: Spaghetti with Meatballs, Bread, Salad

Check out OrgJunkie for more Menus!