Slow Cooker Thursday - Souper Roast Beef

In my blogging travels, Menu Planning Monday led me to Diary of a SAHM and Sandra hosts Slow Cooker Thursday each week. In fact, this is the site where I found 40 Clove Garlic Chicken. So, here is my contribution for this week:

SOUPER ROAST BEEF
2 large onions, sliced 1/4" thick
1/4 c. butter
1 bottom round roast 3-4 pounds
5 c. water
1/2 c. soy sauce
1 envelope onion soup mix
1 garlic clove

Saute onions in butter until tender and put in crock pot. Place roast over onions. Mix remaining ingedients and pour over roast. Cover and cook on low for 7-9 hours or until tender. Let stand for 15 minutes and slice. Serve on hard crusty rolls with a side of the juices for dipping.

A "little" accomplishment

When I was pregnant with Kyra, I got to that point in pregnancy where my rings were just getting a little too tight so I inevitably took them off and Rich put them away for safe keeping. Of course, after Kyra was born, they wouldn't go back on and I didn't want to have them re-sized to a larger size considering I had just had them made smaller about a year earlier. Well, tonight Rich was downstairs putzing around and I saw my rings so I decided "what the heck" and tried it. Guess what? I can wear my wedding ring again!!! It's another small victory for me!

Only because I am waiting . . .

Yesterday I received an automated phone call from UPS telling me that I was getting a package that I would need to personally sign for - it's my new camera. Of course, the window they gave me was between 8:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. Gotta love a window like that. So, Kyra and I have been camping out in anticipation. In the ideal world, he will be here before Kyra wakes up from her nap, but somehow, I'm not counting on that. Of course, if I drove down the street to get a gallon of milk, THAT is the exact moment he would show up!

Tackle It Tuesday - Late edition

How could I have forgotten Tackle It Tuesday? Really, I didn't - I just never got around to it. Anyhow, I made up for it this morning by going through Ian's drawers and weeding out the too small clothes to donate to Goodwill and creating a pile of clothes for him to try on to see if they still fit. Only my skinny child can still have several pairs of 3T shorts that STILL FIT!!! (and they don't look like "short shorts" either.

My new appreciation of hi-def TV

The blessed moment has arrived! We are now the proud owners of a 46" LCD flat screen TV which (with a few obstacles) was mounted on the wall above our fireplace last week. To say that Rich has been in techno-geek heaven is putting it mildly. My husband, who typically turns into a pumpkin after 10:00 at the latest, was up past midnight playing with remote controls, manuals and various wiring scenarios.

We rented Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire on Friday night to test it out. I must admit, I can see where this TV is going to be worth the investment; however, it was not until Saturday evening when I truly began to appreciate the wonders of HD. You see, with the DirecTV HD package, there is a special HD movie channel and on Saturday evening they were showing Top Gun. Rich asked me if I was truly going to watch it considering I can probably still recite it from memory. I told him, I was going to watch it up until my "favorite" scene and he had not a clue what it was. I told him that every girl who remembers anything about Top Gun would have to rank the sand volleyball scene as one of the most beautiful moments in film. And in hi-def, the sand volleyball scene has never looked so good!

Tasty Tuesday - Crockpot 40 Clove Garlic Chicken

I'm getting an early jump on Tasty Tuesday at Many Little Blessings because I don't know what time I will be able to get online tomorrow (and you need to go post a recipe too because Angie gives away prizes!). I got today's recipe ironically as a part of blogging Menu Plan Mondays. I noticed this Crockpot 40 Clove Garlic Chicken popping up on many a meal plans. I figured, if there were that many people fixing this, it had to be good! I got this recipe from Susanne at Living to Tell The Story. Since we are low carbing it, we opted not to make the gravy. I used a 4 pound chicken and cooked it for approximately 7 hours on low and the chicken literally fell off the bone! And don't let the 40 cloves of garlic discourage you from trying this recipe! The flavor was very mild. And to boot, both Ian and Kyra had seconds!!!! (a major miracle in this house!)

CROCKPOT 40 CLOVE GARLIC CHICKEN

-1 large broiler/fryer whole chicken (as big as your crock will fit)
-thyme, rosemary, sage, parsley
-salt
-fresh ground pepper
-40 cloves UNPEELED garlic
-2 stalks celery, washed and cut into 3 inch pieces
-baguette or french bread slices, toasted

Place the celery slices on the bottom of the crock. Season the chicken in and out with salt, pepper, and generously with the herbs. Place on top of the celery. Place the cloves all around and on top of the chicken. Cover and cook on low 8 hours.

Remove chicken and celery to serving platter. Remove garlic to small bowl.

GRAVY

-1/4 cup cream
-2 - 3 tablespoons cornstarch
-salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Skim the fat off the liquid in the crockpot. Turn to high. Add the cream. Mix cornstarch with a small amount of water until smooth and add to liquid. Stir, cover and heat until thickened. You can pour some on the chicken and put the rest in a gravy boat. We served it with noodles.

The roasted garlic can be squished out of it's skins onto the toasted bread.

I need to just get over it

Yesterday, we drove back to Sun Prairie for a Memorial Day weekend BBQ with some great friends. The weather couldn't have been more perfect and the kids had a blast playing outside all day. The food was amazing (as usual) and the drinks were oh-so-refreshing. Our friends Steve & Brenda sure do know how to put on a great party!

On the way home, we decided to drive by our "old" house. I had a beautiful perennial garden at that house and I hemmed and hawed whether to take some of the plants with me - including my peony bushes. Alas, I opted to leave it there for the new owner to enjoy. We also had a beautiful arbor and white picket fence covered with a beautiful vine as well as several rose bushes that bloomed for most of the summer. Now, I fully realize that once we signed the papers, what this woman chose to do with the house was her perogative; HOWEVER, what I saw just made me physically ill! All of my beautiful perennials are gone! No trace. They've been yanked out, cut down, etc. To see that arbor and fence "naked" just cut through me. I know it's not my house anymore, but I really took pride in that garden and it just breaks my heart that I didn't do more to "rescue" those plants.

Menu Plan Monday

What do you know? I actually pretty much stuck to a meal plan last week and now I have to think about what will be on the menu this week! Here goes:

Monday: Crockpot 40 Clove Garlic Chicken
Tuesday: Turkey Burgers
Wednesday: Garlic Halibut
Thursday: Teriyaki Chicken & Mushrooms
Friday: Soy and Sesame Pork
Saturday: Beef & Veggie Kabobs
Sunday: (some sort of roast - depends what is on sale this week =) )

Contest time again!

Yes, it's me back with yet another contest for you moms of girls! Again Five Minutes for Moms has found another great website to point me toward: Tutu Fantasy. Ok, so Rich will think I have totally gone off the deep end if I go right out and buy one, but they certainly are beautiful! So, if you head over to Five Minutes for Mom, you can enter to win one for the little girl in your life.

Hmmm, I wonder if they come in adult sizes?

Fabulous Finds Friday

About two months ago, I hosted a Pampered Chef catalog show. One of the items I got was the Salad Chopper. These things are amazing! They make such short work of chopping up romaine lettuce! Another amazing use is to chop up chicken for chicken salad. If you are looking for a new handy kitchen tool, I would highly recommend finding your nearest Pampered Chef consultant and getting your hands on a pair. If you don't know a consultant, I know two very great gals who could help you OR my friend Angie is hosting a show at the beginning of June.

Just wanted to share!

Friends know when friends need Diet Coke

It's another beautiful day here so after our errands this morning, Kyra and I decided to hit a local park before coming home for naptime. I called my friend Jen to see if she and her daughter Mallory would like to meet us. She wasn't there, so I left a message but didn't know if she would make it.

They did, indeed, come to the park and Jen was bearing two bottles of Diet Coke. She just "gets it" when it comes to our shared need for a Diet Coke fix. It was a great mommy moment to share!

Soon it will be mine!

Ever since my viewing screen went out on my beloved Canon Powershot G3 (two weeks after the extended warrantee ended, mind you), I've been increasingly frustrated with its performance. However, with two mortgages to pay, a new camera was not in my immediate future.

After the sale of the house in Sun Prairie, Rich told me to start researching cameras and he would get one for me for Mothers Day. Boy! What a task this has been! I've gone from "what I thought I wanted" to "something completely different" and then I just couldn't make up my mind. After a lot of careful research, I decided that I would like to see the Canon Powershot G7 - easier said than done! It seems that no one or their brother carries this camera. It is a special order only. Call me crazy, but if I am going to invest $500+ in a camera, I would like to hold, feel, fondle, etc. to make sure I am in love with it before I make the true leap of faith.

Last Sunday, we ended up traveling to the northern burbs of Milwaukee to make one last attempt to find the ellusive G7 and went to Ritz Camera where I discovered the Olympus SP-550 UltraZoom. To tell you the truth, I was a little hesitant when I saw it was an Olympus, but after playing with it for a good 45 minutes (thank goodness there was a Thomas train table in the store to keep both Ian and Kyra occupied), I was amazed by how much was packed into this camera. I've been completely happy with the 4MP on my Canon, but this one is 7.4MP with an INCREDIBLE 18x optical zoom. Because I'm not at the point where an SLR is practical for my usage, this is the perfect fit for me. I just placed the order this afternoon, so hopefully it will be here soon!

Tasty Tuesday

Here is my first entry for Tasty Tuesday on Angie's blog. I'm always up for some new recipes. Here's mine for today:

Bacon Bit Burgers with Steak House Smothered Onions

6 bacon slices chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
6 T EVOO (extra-virgin olive oil)
2 onions, 1/4 finely chopped, 1-3/4 thinly sliced
1.5 pounds ground sirloin
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp hot sauce (optional)
1 T grill seasoning (I used McCormick Montreal Steak Seasonin)
1/4 c plus 1T steak sauce

Add bacon and a drizzle of EOO to the hot skillet and cook until crisp (4-5 minutes). Transfer to a paper towel lined plate and drain off all but 1 T of fat from the skillet. Return the pan to medium low heat and add the finely chopped onions to sweat out in the remaining fat (2-3 minutes).

Preheat a second medium nonstick skillet with 2 T of the EVOO over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add all the thinly sliced onions and top them with a plate that can fit inside the skillet. Top the plate with a heavy can and smother the onions for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Lift the plate with ongs; it will be hot!

Place beef in a bowl and top with Worcestershire, hot sauce and grill seasoning.

Remove the chopped onions to the plate with the bacon to cool. Turn off the heat and reserve the pan. Once the onions are cool, add them and the bacon to the ground sirloin and combine well. Score the meat into 4 even sections and form 4 large patties. Add 1 T of EVOO to the skillet and reheat it over medium high heat. Add the burgers and cook for 4 minutes on each side for medium rare, 6 minutes on each side for medium well.

Stir steak sauce into the smothered oninons and top burgers with onions.

Serve on Kaiser rolls. Enjoy!

Less of Me

As promised, here is a picture Rich took yesterday of me after completion of my first cycle of Lean for Life.

Tackle It Tuesday - The Guest Room Edition

Tonight, my friend Tracy is coming to be our first houseguest since we moved here. Now, our house does "technically" speaking have a guest bedroom, but I use it as my scrapbook room 99.9% of the time. Thus, I today's tackle means I have to get the room ready for Tracy. Of course, Tracy is a fellow scrapbooker, so she is just as excited to be sleeping amidst all of the scrapbooking goodies. Anyhow, here is a "before":


(There is really a bed under all of that)


(creative genius thrives on clutter)

And here are the "After"





And for those of you who ever wondered what every became of my infamous ribbon organization tackle, here is what I finally came up with as a solution.

Another "I'm officially old" moment

This morning, I was getting Ian's breakfast ready while he was sitting at the island in our kitchen. He ran out of vitamins last week, so I just picked up a bottle of Flinstones sour gummy vitamins on one of my trips to Wal-Mart. I think his last bottle was Curious George and the time before that was Spiderman. Anyhow, he looks at the vitamin and then says "What is this?" and I told him it was his vitamin which subsequently got me the "duh" look. He asked me who it was and I told him it was Fred Flinstone to which he replied "who's that?" And I had to think about it but then I realized he probably never has seen the Flinstones. I see some Boomerang in our future!

A New Pair of "Goal" Pants

So, yesterday we finished up our first cycle of Lean for Life. I even managed to lose 3 more pounds during my two weeks of maintenance bringing my total weight loss for the phase to 18 pounds.

Today we begin the cycle again. The first part of this plan is always a little difficult to tackle because it's three straight days of nothing but protein. Strangely, I am not really hungry when doing this, but it does leave a little to be desired in terms of meal variety. I mean, there's not too many ways to pretty up a chunk of meat on a plate. But, this is what "kick starts" the plan into action and who I am I to judge when I get such good results.

Each time I begin a new cycle, I review how the last cycle went and if I met any goals. Well, of course I met the weight loss goal, but I also now fit into a pair of pants that I haven't worn in probably about six months. So, I now am going to dig through my closet and find a new pair of "goal" pants. This will be another size down from my former "goal" pants. I am also going to make a conscious effort to exercise more. I figure I lost weight the last cycle with some exercise, but not nearly what I should have been doing to really keep my "furnace" burning. So, this morning, I woke up at 6:15 and went for a 30 minute brisk walk. I was amazed at how much ground I covered when I'm not stopping every two feet to look at a dandelion or pinecone (though I do very much enjoy my walks with Kyra). We'll see how I do in the next 4-6 weeks. If I get the chance, I'll have Rich take a picture of me in my "old" jeans.

Menu Plan Monday

Hmmm, I really didn't do very well sticking to my menu planning last week, but I was treated to a dinner out by one of Rich's co-workers and then we had a banquet at church on Thursday that I had forgotten about. So, I'm just keeping one of the dishes from last week (alas, BBQ Chicken Flatbread Pizza will have to wait until the next "maintenance" phase):

Monday (Protein Day #1): Grilled Chicken (Cub Scout BBQ, bring your own meat)
Tuesday (Protein Day #2): Mesquite Roasted Chicken
Wednesday (Protein Day #3): Sirloin Steak Patties (Market Day)
Thursday: Cilantro Lime Halibut w/green beans
Friday: Italian Turkey Breasts w/snow peas
Saturday: Pork chops w/mushrooms
Sunday: Ka-bobs (BBQ at friends house)

Yum! Asian Chicken Slaw

Ok, so it might not be true "Asian" cuisine, but I went to a BBQ tonight and made a rather tasty recipe: Asian Chicken Slaw. I am not usually a big fan of coleslaw, but this one really looked interesting on paper and I was even more pleased with the end result. It makes a huge bowl too.

1 bag (10 oz.) broccoli slaw (I used a bag with brocolli***, carrots and red cabbage; I found it pre-bagged in the produce department)
2 cups shredded red cabbage
3 scallions, chopped
2 cups diced chicken breasts
6 oz. slivered almonds
7 oz. sunflower seeds
2 packages Oriental flavor ramen noodles
1 cup oil (I used canola)
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup splenda (you can also use sugar, but for us low carb folk, splenda worked really well)

Toast almonds at 350 for 15 minutes; set aside. Mix together dressing - oil, vinegar, sugar/splenda and seasoning packets from ramen noodles. In a large bowl, combine broccoli slaw, cabbage, chicken, scallions, toasted almonds and sunflower seeds. Crumble up raw ramen noodles and stir into salad. Mix salad and dressing together.

My preparation hints/notes:

I mixed up the dressing about two hours before I even put the slaw together to let the flavors blend (you just have to shake it up periodically because it will separate).

When I combined the slaw and the dressing, it probably was in the fridge about 2 hours before serving and the slaw was still very crunchy.

*** Angie: if you are reading this, yes, I did put broccoli in a recipe and did not subsequently die!

It's Date Night!!!!

Ok, I am so excited! It's time for Rich and I to finally have another date night!!! Our last date night was in February, so needless to say, it's been a while. We have the babysitter lined up and then we are off to our favorite steakhouse, Prime Quarter. We like going there because we get to grill our own steaks and have conversations without being interupted every 20 seconds with a fascinating fact about a specific Pokemon or cutting up food into small pieces (though for fun I may try cutting Rich's steak for him and making choo-choo train noises).

We are also going shopping for our new TV and a camera for me. I just can't wait until he gets home from work! Hopefully today will fly by!

Who doesn't need a few bandages every now and then?

The gals at
5 Minutes for Mom are at it again. This time, the prize is a year's supply of Nexcare bandages. Now, I am not sure what qualifies as a year's supply of bandages, but they want to make sure that they have you "covered" so the prize is 45 boxes!!!! Just think of the scrapbook pages you could create if your little ones get ahold of all the boxes and cover themselves like a mummy! All you need to do is go enter and post a link on your blog!

I guess I'm not as quirky as I "think" I am

I got this one from Wendy, who got it from Beshka

Your Quirk Factor: 42%

You're a pretty quirky person, but you're just normal enough to hide it. Congratulations - you've fooled other people into thinking you're just like them!

How Quirky Are You?

Now I know what it feels like to be stalked by the papparazzi!

Ok, that's probably a big overstatement, but since appearing last week on the front page of the newspaper, I have been interviewed by a TV station (a little blurb about why I love my mom) and it actually aired (unbeknownst to me) and now a reporter is coming to the house next week to take pictures about a story on moving with kids. So, if you hear about any high-speed chases through this town, it's just me trying to escape the onslaught of fans!

Prayer Request

My friend Angie is having some tests performed. Hopefully, it is nothing serious, but it's a problem that hasn't gone away and I know she's scared and I just want her to know I'm there for her and I will be praying her through.

Tackle Me Tuesday

Ok, so maybe it's the fact that yesterday at this time it was 85 degrees and sunny and today it is 63, rainy and dropping quickly, but I just can't seem to get motivated to do anything today.

I did, however, finish this layout which I began on Sunday:



so it is something tackled (at least technically speaking).

Not all soy nuts are created equal

One of the protein snacks that I periodically munch on is soy nuts. Granted, they aren't peanuts, but they satisfy that crunchy, salty craving I sometimes get. We ran out of the brand that we had been using over the weekend, so I was at Fleet Farm (yes, I have turned "Wisconsin") and picked up one of their bulk bags. I don't quite understand exactly how soy nuts can vary from brand to brand, but these are definitely not going to make their way back into my cart again.

Meal Plan Monday

Last week, I did fairly well with my meal plan. I stuck with it every day except for Wednesday which I had forgotten that I had an eye appointment and Ian had baseball practice. This week is also a little different. It is the last week of our "Maintenance Phase" before we hit the plan again starting on Monday. As a result, we are going to "splurge" a little bit towards the end of the week and have a couple of evenings out. So, here we go:

Monday (Protein Day): Honey Mustard Pork Medallions
Tuesday: Crock Pot Roast Beef
Wednesday: BBQ Chicken Flatbread Pizza
Thursday: Cilantro Lime Halibut
Friday: Dinner out
Saturday: BBQ at friends house
Sunday: FREE DAY

Daddy does it (again!)

Well, if you remember last week, Daddy managed to pull off an upset win in our Amazing Race contest.

Fast forward one week to the Survivor finale. Guess who won? You got it! Ian hasn't seen the episode yet as he won an all-expenses paid weekend in his room for some school issues, but we did record it so when he begins earning privileges back, he can see it. Of course, he'll be upset I'm sure, but it's a good lesson for him. I, on the other hand, do not mind Daddy winning this one because I had Earl in the Lifetime Moments Survivor swap game and won $115 in gift certificates! Add this to the box of Fruity Cheerios I won from Five Minutes for Mom and I am on a roll!

My head is shrinking

Last night I went into the office to catch up on a couple of tapes. I was getting mildly annoyed because my earphones kept falling out. I haven't really had much of a problem with this in the past. Upon further examination, I realized that my head size must also be decreasing because of the weight loss - not a bad problem to have, but it will be frustrating until I get a new pair of ear phones!

I'm having one of "those days"

UGH! I'm just having one of those days where, to the best of my efforts, I keep screwing things up. The first thing I did this morning was erase a memory card that I hadn't transferred over yet! Luckily it was only a 256 card and not a 1GB, but still, it hurt!

Then I went to Ian's school for "special friend day" (which was really grandparents day) and it made me a little sad that I was there instead. It's times like this where being away from family really its me.

Alas, the sun is out and I know that things can only go up from here, but thanks for letting me share a "down" moment.

She's front page news!

Look at Kyra!

Tackle It Tuesday - Revisited

Remember last month when I attempted to tackle my ribbon and failed miserably? Well, I have a new idea and so I am going to revisit this one today. Hopefully, I will come back with a picture!

I made it through!

Yesterday was the last day of my 4-week weight loss cycle with . I now am beginning two weeks of "metabolic adjustment" which basically means gradually getting my body used to my new weight. Which through four weeks, I have lost approximately 15 pounds (not knowing what my true "start weight" was because I didn't actually go buy a scale until two days into it). Since this isn't my first time on this plan (the first time was pre-Kyra), I knew it would work but I still get amazed at seeing the numbers drop so quickly. In fact, I have a couple pairs of jeans that I can no longer wear. I've still got quite a journey to go to get back to my pre-baby weight, but at least it's a start and I'm determined to maintain my focus!

Meal Plan Monday

It's time for another week of meal planning.

Monday (protein day): Italian Turkey
Tuesday: Bacon Bit Burgers with Steak House Smothered Onions
Wednesday: Pecan Pork Tenderloins
Thursday: Thai Chicken in Lettuce Cups
Friday: Scallop Stir Fry
Saturday: Steak Kabobs
Sunday: TBA

National Scrapbook Day Projects

So, I didn't get as much scrapping done as I would have hoped to do this weekend, but I did more than I have in the past month. I was contemplating heading back up to my scrap room tonight, but I have my brain set on a certain layout and I can't find the picture anywhere so I am waiting to see if my mom has it. Anyhow, all of my projects can be viewed in my gallery at Lifetime Moments, but here's a recap:



This is for Kyra's 12 on the 12th album. I was very happy with the color combinations.




This was a neat little National Scrapbook Day project. It's a summer reading chart for Ian. I used our library's summer reading theme at the bottom.




I love how this layout turned out! Even though it didn't turn out "exactly" as I had envisioned it, I was pleased with it.




This one threw Rich right over the edge last night - meaning I got the big "eye roll". One of the challenges for NSD weekend was a photo swap. When I first got these pictures over e-mail, I wasn't sure what I was going to do with them, but I really like the layout.

And so, that pretty much sums up my efforts this weekend. I may complete another challenge or two tomorrow if time allows since the contest deadline is tomorrow evening, but even if I don't, I'm happy with what I've done.

Even purely by chance, Daddy can't be stopped

Ian doesn't watch that much TV, but he is hooked on Survivor and Amazing Race. It's a fun family viewing activity with some "wagers". In the past, we've waited until the season finale for each of us to select our "favorite". The end result is that the "winner" picks some sort of family activity to take place at a later date. For the past few seasons, it doesn't matter which show, but Daddy has won them ALL. So this season, we decided to pull names out of a hat and those would be our "teams" for the season. We figured the random nature of the draw would produce even odds. HAH!

Ian went into tonight's season finale of the Amazing Race with 2 of the 3 teams. Daddy had 1 team and, as luck of the draw would have it, I had none. Guess who won? Needless to say, we have a very disappointed little boy on our hands right now!

HAPPY NATIONAL SCRAPBOOK DAY!!!!

In my mind, this should be a national holiday. In fact, at Lifetime Moments, we are having a week-end long cyber crop with lots of great projects. I stayed up until 1:30 last night and will probably go at least as long tonight. I'll be sure to come back and post my creations, but for now, get out there and get scrapping!

National Day of Prayer

Take some time today and talk to God. =)

Mothers Day Contests at 5 Minutes for Mom

Be sure to check out the Mothers Day contests at 5 Minutes for Moms. There are some great prizes. Just link through on the button on my side bar.

Random Musing

Why is it that we wait so long to have children but once they are born, we can't wait for them to take naps?

Tackle It Tuesday - May 1, 2007

I am not even going to post a picture today because you really don't want to see it, but my "tackle it" for today is the walk-in shower in our master bathroom. I just can't seem to ever get it "clean enough" so today I am armed with some CLR and am heading upstairs to tackle it. Wish me luck!

Shoo! I got it done. I will have to say that CLR is truly an amazing product. Now, to see if Rich even notices (but it looks WAY better to me!