Category: Recipes

Mom, What’s For Dinner – Weeks of June 17 and 24th, 2018

This morning I was up early before the family.  I watched 2 episodes of Grey’s Anatomy before heading outside with a cup of coffee.  While I was outside, I sat down and menu planned for the next two weeks.

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After menu planning, I headed to the grocery store so that I could be ready for the week.

Here are some things I had to take into consideration when creating the menus:

  1. The boys will be at day camp all this week during the day.  I’m going to either be going on some day trips or at work for professional development.
  2. Molly will be visiting next week so some of the meals are mere ideas of what we are going to eat.  They are not set in stone.
  3. The Wee One will be at overnight camp next week so there is one less person to feed.
  4. The Wee One turns 13 on Friday so I’m leaving the meal up to him.  We are going to go out to eat and then watch the Incredibles 2 for his birthday.

So without much further ado, here is the menus for the next two weeks:

Menu Plan Monday - June 17

Menu Plan Monday - June 24

Happy eating,
Traci

Molly and My EPIC Adventure #4 Plans

This summer, I’m not taking a vacation.  Last summer, I took 1 vacation, 1 EPIC adventure, and 1 road trip.

This summer I’m going to have an EPIC adventure.  Plans have been put into place.  Both Molly and  I are excited for the 4.5 days she will be here because they are jam packed.

She arrives on the 24th at 2ish in the afternoon.  Day 1 is only going to be driving around to where I grew up, work, and where my sister is buried.  Mom is going to be going along on this drive because she can give more detail about the history of some of the places.

We’ll eat dinner at my place that night and either swim or get into the hot tub.

On Monday morning, we are going to get up early and hit the road.  She had never been to Kentucky before so we are traveling down to Louisville.

While in Louisville, we are going to the Ali Center, the Louisville Slugger Museum, the Kentucky Derby Museum, and taking a boat cruise in the evening.

(Tuesday)  Since she had never been to Indiana either, we are traveling back to Ohio via Indiana.  We found a roadside attraction in Versailles, Indiana that we are going to try to find called Paulhedge.  I have only been to the part of Indiana that is along I-70 and Indianapolis and northern Indiana.  I’ve never been to south east Indiana.

We are going to go to Jungle Jim‘s on our way back and depending on how tired we feel we may also head over to Lebanon to see the Golden Lamb.  The rest of the evening will be spent relaxing.

On Wednesday, we are going to eat breakfast at one of my favorite brunch spots.  Then we are heading to Carillon Park and Hawthorn Hill.  Afterwards we are going to hit up a donut shop, a coffee shop, a quick service restaurant featuring gourmet hot dogs, and a store that specializes in chocolate.

After going home for a rest, we are going to a baseball game in downtown Dayton.

On Thursday of that trip, we are heading north east to see the Ohio Caverns and maybe a castle.

On our way home, we are going to eat ice cream at Young’s Dairy and once again explore Yellow Springs.

She is leaving Friday morning.  (Insert sad face)

After I drop her off at the airport, the Imaginative One and I are heading down to King’s Island for a day of fun.

All this fun during the week is the reason we call it EPIC adventures.

There is so much more I would love to do with her but there is not enough time.

Have a magical day,
Traci

 

My Top Ten Breakfast Foods

Today I’m back with my Top Ten List. I know it’s been about a year since I posted one.

Today I’m going to share my Top Ten Breakfast Foods

Hopefully this list will help you when you are trying to decide what to eat for breakfast.

1. Yogurt Parfait – Greek Yogurt, sometimes honey, granola, fruit

yogurt parfait
Yogurt Parfait ready to be eaten

2. Green Smoothie – Juice (oj), spinach, and frozen fruit – That is all that is needed to make a green smoothie.

Power Up Green Smoothie

3. Granola

4. Chocolate Croissant – Especially when I’m at Disney.  For some reason, I love them there.

5. Eggs – Scrambled or Fried – If I have fried eggs, I like to eat butter toast with it.

6. Cottage Cheese with canned peaches – Yum!

7. Granola bar with string cheese and fruit – Usually a quick breakfast on the go!  Kashi bars or some of the granola bars from Aldi are usually my go to for the granola bars.

8. Lara bar with string cheese and fruit – A variation of #7.

9. Hard boiled eggs with string cheese and fruit – I like Trader Joe’s Everything But the Bagel seasoning on my hard-boiled eggs.

10. Waffles especially at hotels – Yum!

 

Some other contenders for the top 10 list are:

Overnight Oatmeal

Pancakes

Oatmeal
What are your top breakfast foods?

Have a magical day!
Traci

Quick and Easy Stir Fry Sauce and a Very Veggie Stir Fry (GF and Vegetarian)

When my aunt was here, we cleaned out my fridge. I had a bunch of veggies that needed to be used up, so I decided to make a stir fry. This is the quick and easy stir fry sauce that I used when cooking the stir fry.

Here is what you need:
  • Soy Sauce, gluten free soy sauce, or coconut aminos
  • Sesame Oil
  • Corn Starch
  • 2 to 4 c. veggies (I used snow peas, broccoli slaw, onions, mushrooms, and green beans.)
  • Cooking oil


Quick and Easy Stir Fry Sauce

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

Ingredients

Stir Fry Sauce:

  • 1/3 c. plus 2 Tbsp. soy sauce, gluten free soy sauce, or coconut aminos
  • ¼ c. sesame oil
  • 1 Tbsp. cornstarch

Stir Fry:

  • 2 to 4 c. veggies – snow peas, carrots, broccoli, mushrooms, onions, broccoli slaw, etc . . . (Use whatever you need to use up.)
  • 1 to 2 Tbsp. water or cooking oil


Directions

  1. Add ingredients to a mason jar. Place the lid on the jar and then shake to combine. OR Add ingredients to a blender. Blend until combined.

To Make the Stir Fry:

  1. Heat a medium to large skillet or wok over medium high heat. Add either 1 to 2 Tbsp. of water or cooking oil to the skillet or wok.
  2. Add the veggies to the skillet. Allow to cook until tender crisp (5 to 10 minutes depending on the veggies you use).
  3. Pour the stir fry sauce over the veggies. Cook for an additional 3 to 5 minutes or until sauce has thickened.
  4. Enjoy over rice.



You could add a protein if you would like. If it is a raw protein, cook it up first, remove from the pan, and then add it back to the pan when you add the stir fry sauce.

Have a magical day,
Traci

Source of recipe

My Kitchen Reorganization

As I mentioned in my June 3 – Monday Menu Monday post, my aunt came into town.  While she was here, she helped me reorganize my kitchen.

I did not take photos of my kitchen before she organized my pantry / kitchen.  So, these are only after shots.

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Previously, there were two plastic 3 tier shelf.  We reduced it to one 3 tier metal shelf.  The other 3 tier shelf was located where the Sprites are located.  It made the pantry space be very tight.  The pantry is also our laundry room, so it was hard for us to get clothes in and out of the washer and dryer.

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When we moved in, Hubby installed these shelves.  We made one the grains and broth shelf.  Another one is the pasta and other convenience shelf.  A third is the Thanksgiving/ holiday shelf.  The items on that shelf are only used during the holidays or for big family dinners.  Finally, one of shelves is for some of the bigger items and my bread machine.

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On the left-hand side of the photo, you see a wooden piece.  That is our set of cabinets for all plastic ware and cleaning supplies.

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This corner cabinet holds all my baking supplies and some of my smaller appliances.

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We had a white cabinet located in this spot.  My mom decided to get us a new cabinet.  This is our breakfast/ snacky foods pantry.  The boys can quickly get them food when they are hungry.  Teenagers are ALWAYS hungry.

 

We also cleaned out the fridge, freezer, and chest freezer.  The baking pan area was cleared out.

I reorganized the coffee and tea cabinet, the former spice cabinet that is now the sauce cabinet, and the miscellaneous cabinet.

The dish cabinet was freshened up.  Around Thanksgiving, I reorganized the dish cabinet.  It has pretty much stayed the same except for a few stray dishes.

Above our cabinets is an area where we can store some of our memorabilia.  We pulled all the memorabilia down, washed them and the area, and decided which items we wanted to go back up above the cabinet.

I must go through the cabinet with all the cups and mugs, decide what to do with our plastic ware, and get a 4-tier wire shelf for our bigger appliances that we use on a daily/ weekly basis.  We are also going to repaint the kitchen.

Once all of that is done, we’ll be done reorganizing the kitchen.

Have a magical day!
Traci

 

Mom, What’s For Dinner? – Week of June 3, 2018

It has been a hot minute since I have made a menu plan.  For a while, I was eating out way TOO much.  Like almost every day.

The cost of eating out plus the unhealthiness of eating out was wearing down on us.

My aunt came into town for a week.  While she was here, she wanted to help me reorganize my pantry and kitchen so that it was more functional.  Living in a small house means very little space for extra goodies.  It was easy for the kitchen and pantry to become cluttered which frustrated me.

Now that the kitchen and pantry is reorganized, it is easier to make dinners.

Because of my pantry and kitchen reorganization, I made a menu plan for this week.  Here is what I have planned to make for dinner:

 

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I’ll have another post showing my new kitchen reorganization.

Have a magical day,
Traci

Sundried Tomato Garlic Noodles – A pantry meal (Vegetarian)

My aunt came into town and helped me rearrange my pantry. Once I knew what was in my pantry, it was easy to decide what to make for dinner.

I had some Pasta Roni’s Butter and Garlic noodles, sundried tomatoes, black olives, chickpeas, and canned chicken in the pantry. What could I make for dinner?

I cooked up one box of the butter and garlic noodles and added the drained chicken to the noodles.

Once I cooked up the other box of the noodles, I placed half of it in the other bowl. With the other half, I added sundried tomatoes, black olives, and drained chickpeas. YUM! It sort of reminded me of my favorite dish at Piada.

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Sundried Tomato Garlic Noodles

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: very easy
  • Print

Ingredients

  • 1 box of Pasta Roni, Butter and Garlic
  • ¼ c. sundried tomatoes
  • ¼ c. black olives or Kalamata olives
  • ¼ c. drained and rinsed chickpeas
  • 1 to 2 tsp. grated Parmesan cheese, optional


Directions

  1. Make the Pasta Roni according to the directions on the box.
  2. Once the Pasta Roni is cooked, add the sundried tomatoes, olives, and chickpeas.
  3. Sprinkle Italian seasoning and Parmesan cheese.
  4. Enjoy!



Happy eating,
Traci