New Recipes Added

I know I said I do a month worth of menus all at once. Life here has been crazy. Bryon was gone three days last week and so I was single moming it. This week I am working all week. I am really struggeling getting a months worth of menus done. I am hoping on getting it done in the next day or two because like Old Mother Hubbard my cupboards are getting bare. I did take a few minutes this morning and planned a few days worth of menus. I have them posted on my recipe site. You might want to take a look. Here is the link:
http://scrumdilliteyumpschous.blogspot.com

Surprise Party 4-19-08

So this weekend we held a surprise party for my mother-in-law, Dorothy Kennedy. She turned sixty on April 4. Because of trying to get schedules to work, we ended up having to wait until this past weekend to celebrate. We actually threw her a little party on Conference weekend (her actual birth date) just to try to throw her off. I really think by her reaction, we succeeded in surprising her. Everyone but one son and one daughter-in-law were able to attend. Even her father who has struggled with health problems recently was able to make it to the event. My father-in-law talked her into going furniture shopping in order to get her out of the house. While she was gone, the rest of us were busy decorating the house, picking up food, and trying to keep 15 grandchildren from tearing up the house before they got back. My father-in-law was in charge of the food. We had plenty to eat. He had ordered Chinese food from her favorite restaurant, chicken and salads from Albertson's (in case someone didn't want Chinese), and two pizzas for the grandchildren. We had a great lunch together. Then we spent the afternoon just relaxing and visiting. We had put together a book for her of tribute letters from family and friends. What would a birthday be without cake and ice cream? My sister-in-law made one of Dorothy's favorite desserts, angel food cake. My father-in-law wanted to make sure that we put sixty candles on the cake. Yes, my mother-in-law was able to blow out all sixty candles in one breath. That night we finished out the days festivities with the adults attending an endowment session in the Rexburg temple.

Birthday Bowling 04-12-08

Sam's birthday was on April 13. We always let the kids choose their favorite place to go out to eat. It is usually Leo's in Idaho Falls. Since Sam's birthday fell on Sunday, we decided to go out Saturday night. We thought Sam had chosen to go to Leo's. At the last minute, he decided he wanted to stay here in Rexburg and go bowling and then out to Craigo's (a pizza and pasta place). We had a great time. We all went bowling. We rented the lane for one hour. We were able to bowl a full game in that time. It was a pretty close game for Bryon, Sam and I. At the very end, Sam pulled ahead to beat us all. That's the way it should be! Logan and Natalie didn't bowl. They had a great time sitting at the table, playing, and eating snacks. Sam wanted to go to dinner at Craigo's because he loves their Monster Cookies. We all had the All-You-Can-Eat Pasta and Pizza bar. We were all to full to order dessert. We went home and Bryon went back later to pick up a monster cookie to bring home for a treat.

Recipe Blog

Well, I finally decided to start my recipe and menu planning blog. I am still in the beginning phases so bear with me. If you stop by make sure to leave a comment! I look forward to seeing you there. Here is the address: http://scrumdilliteyumpschous.blogspot.com

I Need Some Blogging Help

I am wanting to make my blog to have more of a scrapbook look to it. I have no idea what I am doing. I want to change my backgrounds to some files I have downloaded on my computer. How do I do that? I have messed around with it for a half hour and can't figure it out. Can anyone help me? It seems there was a website that gave step by step directions. Does anyone know what that address is? Any help you can give me will be greatly appreciated.

She's Here!

No we are not adopting again! (Well not in the way you would think.) My baby turns nine on Sunday. It is so hard for me to believe. I have to give you a little background. He has wanted a hampster or a gerbil for a while now. He hasn't been that vocal about a pet until recently. Now he has been vocal and instead of a hampster or a gerbil he was wanting a reptile: Bearded Dragon, Turtles, Lizard, or Snake. None of which I am open to having in my house let alone as a pet. So when the topic came up heavy on Monday night, Bryon and I visited the pet topic with him. We informed him if he got a pet it would be his birthday present. Monday night we had basically told him he could get a hampster or gerbil. On Wednesday morning, I called my sister-in-law, Bryn, whose kids have two gerbils. She was very positive about having gerbils as pets but after getting off the phone with her I wasn't quite convinced it would work for us. The thing she said is her kids don't really get them out to play with them. I worry that after the "newness" wears off, and it will with any pet, they won't be as responsible for them if they can't play with them. I decided to start thinking about a dog. I have always said if we get a fenced in yard (hopefully ours will be fenced in within the next few months) we could get a dog. Neither Bryon or I grew up with a dog. Bryon has kind of drug his feet on this one. I don't blame him because we know when it all boils down to it, he will probably be the one helping Sam clean up after the dog. Well by Wednesday afternoon, I had found a free dog house, a lady who had a liter of Border Collie mixes for a reasonable price, and we had some ground rules set for Sam with his responsibilities with a dog. When I talked to the lady on the phone, she had one boy and two girls. I really wanted the boy for obvious reasons! So Thursday afternoon, Sam, Conner, my friend Linda and I drove out to this lady's house to look at the dogs. They were so cute! Sam, however, fell in love with one of the girl dogs. We left it there last night and then Bryon and Sam went to Idaho Falls to go to a reception of one of Bryon's co-workers. They borrowed Bryon's dad's truck to bring the dog house home. They stopped in Ririe and brought Molly home. I must admit she is pretty cute! The boys have had a blast playing with her tonight! So Happy Birthday Sam and Welcome Home Molly.

Broccoli Slaw

This recipe is a new one for me. My mom had recently gotten the recipe from a good friend and made it while I was home about a month ago. I really liked it. I have been really anxious to make it for my family. They weren't quite as excited about it as I was but I still really liked it and have had it for left-overs every day for lunch since. I am going to publish the recipe except I am going to half it. There are six of us and it made oodles, especially if you have little ones.

1 1-pound package Broccoli Slaw (this is tricky to find. I know
Win-Co sells it. I have also found it in the Associated Foods
Grocery Stores.)
1 Package of Ramen Noodles (Throw away the seasoning and crush the dry noodles.)
1/4 Cup Shelled Sunflower Seeds
1/4 Cup Slivered Almonds

Dressing:
1/4 Cup Apple Cider Vinegar
1/4 Cup Salad Oil
1/4 Cup Sugar

Mix dressing together and pour over salad. Stir to coat well. You don't even have to refrigerate this one before serving if you don't have time!

Finger Steaks

This recipe is a family favorite of mine since I was growing up. This is one of those meals when I make it, everyone eats it. Notice I didn't say, they don't complain. I swear I could cook the best "kid-friendly" meal and someone would still find something to complain about!

Round Steak -- take the round steak and with a meat mallet pound it to tenderize it. Then cut the meat in bite size pieces.

Batter:

2 Eggs

1 Cup Milk

2 Teaspoons Sugar

1 Teaspoon Salt

1 Teaspoon Garlic Salt

1 Teaspoon Seasoning Salt

1 1/2 Cups Flour

Beat eggs until fluffy. Add milk. Beat. Add sugar, salt, garlic salt, seasoning salt, and flour. The batter should be fairly thick. Dip bite-size round steak in the batter. Then deep fry at 375 degrees for 3-4 minutes on each side. To deep fry, I just fill my electric skillet with oil and heat it up and fry them in it. I grew up with having catsup to dip them in. I admit that is still my favorite to this day. My family likes to use Heinz 57 sauce. We also really like Sweet Baby Rays Barbecue Sauce to dip them in.

The night I served these, I made twice baked potatoes and green beans to complete the meal.

Recipes

Okay! So all of you who know me, know I really enjoy cooking. I have found I have a lot of shortcomings as a mom but the one thing I do and do really well for my family is I plan a whole month worth of menus buy all of my groceries once a month at Win-Co and then all I have to do is an occasional trip to the grocery store to buy my fresh produce. I have found a couple of blogging websites that have some recipes I am really excited to try. When I get a minute I will have to post the links on my blogs. I have debated about starting my own recipe blog so I can share my month worth of menu plans and the recipes to go along with them. I have decided for now to just share my recipes here on my blog. If you use one of my recipes, let me know how your family enjoyed it.

How Fast Can You Type

92 words

Speedtest

I found this little typing test on my cousin's blog. I have had a blast trying to beat her and then trying to beat myself. Go ahead and give it a try. I guess the two years I went to school to be a secretary paid off.

April Fools

I am not one to pull of big practical jokes. However, last year I made "French Fries" for breakfast and my kids loved it. It had kind of slipped my mind until they brought it up at dinner last night. So I decided to make them again. They really are quite tasty and my kids get the biggest kick out of them. Here is how you make them: You buy the breadsticks that come in the "popping" cans (like biscuits and crescent rolls). You cut them in half down the middle and then cut the length about that of a french fry. You then roll them in sugar so they look "salted". Then you bake them in the oven at 350. I cooked ours for about 15 minutes but it depends on how hot your oven cooks. Then you take a sealed envelope and cut it about 2 inches high. Then you put your "french fries" in the sleeve. In a bowl, you take seedless strawberry jam and stir it really good with a spoon so it isn't gloppy anymore it is more the consistency of catsup. Wal La! There you have a fun April Fools joke that your kids (at least mine) get a good laugh at.