Wednesday, November 30, 2011

New Menu, Recipe File and Grocery Shopping List

New Menu, Recipe File and Grocery Shopping List

       Hey everyone!  I know it's been a while but we had so many leftovers there was no need to go grocery shopping this week!  I am so excited for this next 3 week rotation!  We are going to have fondue night among many other fun recipes.  Some are low key, some take a little preparation but regardless they are all worth it.  I hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving and were able to spend some much needed R&R with your family.  I know for me it was so nice to take it easy and feel no pressure to go or be anywhere on time.  We also got a lot of Christmas shopping done, no, we didn't go Black Friday shopping...I seriously don't think I could have woken up even if I wanted to!  I think I would rather stay in bed then get pepper sprayed!  Let me know if you have any questions or problems!  Enjoy!




- Kristin

Monday, November 14, 2011

Week 2 Recipe Cards

Week 2 Recipe Cards

       Hey everyone!  Hopefully you are gearing up for Thanksgiving next week...yes that's right...I said next week!  Can you believe it? I am not a fan of turkey...gasp!  I would prefer ham, or roast or anything to turkey...I know weird, but it's true.  My favorite part about Thanksgiving is getting together with the family and letting all the cousins play while the grown ups mingle and chat.  Don't get me wrong, I LOVE eating all the delicious food, especially since my family and my in-laws are such awesome cooks, but seriously the atmosphere wouldn't be the same without the family.  Hopefully these new Recipe Cards are working out okay for you being 2 to a page.  The last one has an extra recipe card for you to fill out and use for your own fun recipes!  Enjoy!

- Kristin









Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Bread Braid Tutorial and Thanksgiving Printable

Bread Braid Tutorial and Thanksgiving Printable

       Hey friends!  As promised, here is the braided bread tutorial!  Sometimes I like to see things just to see how they make sense so hopefully this helps you.  Okay first, roll your dough in a large rectangle like it is listed below.  Don't worry about it being perfect...seriously...look at mine, it all turns out fine in the end :)


       Next I like to brush it with a little butter to keep it moist...when I say a little I mean a little...you don't want the inside to be soggy.  Then layer all your toppings as desired.  Next cut slits on the side as pictured below...about 1 inches apart...again, no need to pull out your measuring tape...just eye ball it.  Starting from the short end at the top, fold that in then take the left side and fold over, then the right one over, just like the picture below.  I like to make the ends touch the opposite end of the filling.


       Finish the last short end just the way you started the first end.  Brush the top with butter and cook according to directions.  I like to let mine rise a little before cooking...but it turns out great the other way too if you can't wait a minute longer :)  See how delicious this looks below!  My kids LOVE this sandwich and always ask for seconds.  Add a salad on the side and you're good to go! Now get going!


       Okay, as promised I have a fun Thanksgiving Printable for you...let me explain how it works.  These should print off fine on an 8.5X11 piece of paper...just off of your computer.  Print out a copy of each, or with my family we did 2 copies of each.  The first is your "Thankful" tree and I stuck mine in a sheet protector instead of laminating it but you could do either.  Then cut out each leaf and acorn and each day have your children write something they are thankful for (or you can all decide on one thing and have a leaf for each day of November).  Now you can tape it or attach with glue dots to your laminated or sheet protected tree!  We displayed ours in our kitchen so we can see it throughout the day and be reminded of all the things that we are grateful for!  Why did we print off 2 of each??  We chose 1 family who has done a lot to help us or others and we got it all ready for them, cut out the leaves, put it in a sheet protector etc. and gave it to them so they could share in the fun!  Make as many copies as you would like, share them, have fun spreading your "Thanks" but please remember these are for personal use only, no gain from my pain :)  Send them back here if they want to make copies so you can share the wealth :)  Enjoy!

- Kristin



Monday, November 7, 2011

Week 1 Recipe Cards

Week 1 Recipe Cards





       Hey everyone!  Hope you guys are getting ready for Thanksgiving! I can't believe it's only 17 days away (not like I'm counting or anything ;) ).  As I was driving down the street today and saw all the beautiful colors that fall gives I truly felt grateful for all the different seasons that we are so lucky to have!  It made me so thankful for this time of year and all the fun holidays, traditions and lessons I get to teach to my family and be apart of.  So tonight we are making our thankful tree!  I will post a free printable tomorrow so stay tuned for that!  Here are your recipe cards for this week.  I posted them 2 at a time so you can print off 2 on 1 sheet of paper, hopefully saving you ink and paper.  Let me know if you have any problems with this.  It seems these were far easier to download than the other way so hopefully I am making this easier for you guys.  If you are looking for the recipe card for the Red Apple Walnut Salad you can find it here and the PF Changs Lettuce Wraps are here which by the way I hope you tried the Lettuce Wraps yesterday, they are delicious and easy!  Enjoy your Ham and Cheese Sandwich Braid and I will post a tutorial for that later if anyone is having problems or is confused.  Enjoy!!

- Kristin

Thursday, November 3, 2011

New 3 Week Menu Plan!!

3 Week Menu Plan

       Alright everyone, your new 3 Week Menu Plan for November is here!  I didn't add any recipes for the last 3 days of the rotation since it is Thanksgiving and most people will be out of town or crazy busy to cook and using leftovers :)  It sounds like most people had an easier time with the recipe cards being posted that way so I will keep posting those the same way to make them easier to download. It's a fun way to add some new recipes to your file! In this new menu plan I posted a Chicken Masaman Recipe, this is a Thai cuisine recipe.  My husband and I love Thai so occasionally I will make it here because as picky as my kids are, they LOVE this recipe too.  I encourage you to try it, however it is totally different with curry and such so if you don't like ethnic foods you might want to stay away from that and make something easy that night!  On the grocery shopping list I noted which ingredients are for the Thai dish to make it easier.  The Masaman Curry you have to purchase from the local Asian or Thai Market.  I usually do NOT go anywhere else but Walmart and Costco as that would defeat my purpose for trying to make my life easier but I have my husband pick up this on the way home because I haven't found this anywhere else.  If you need an idea of where a market is let me know and I can hopefully point you in the right direction.  Let me know if you have any question!  Enjoy!

- Kristin



Grocery Shopping List

P.S. the menu is uploading weird and I can't get it to switch sideways...I promise to get it fixed next week but for now at least you have an idea of what the menu is for the next 3 weeks!

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Recipe Cards For Week 3

Recipe Cards for Week 3

       Hope you all enjoyed your Halloween and had lots of fun with your families! Now to get back to real life....sigh.  Okay I tried something new with the recipe cards.  To download them click on the links below.  Let me know if you have any problems or would rather me continue to do it the other way.  I don't even know if anyone is taking the time to upload and print them so if you want me to continue making them leave a comment here so I know if they are useful to you guys :)  Now you can print off 2 recipe cards on 1 sheet of paper!  Let me know if there are any problems!


Come back in a couple days for your new recipe file, menu and grocery shopping list!  Enjoy!

- Kristin