Quantcast

Menu Plan Monday: We Are Finally Live

 

mpm Menu Plan Monday:  We Are Finally Live

So, my site has been down or all wonky since about 5 o’clock on Friday evening. Made for a very frustrating weekend! I am looking into other hosting options, but the problem is the down time and email loss if I switch. Since I have been down all weekend, I don’t really want to go down again!

OK, so I had a lady complain that I put the same menu on all 3 of my websites. I tried explaining that I do that because I have 3 different blogs and that different people read different blogs… however, they are ALL me and all MY menu plan.

So, my question to you is, does it bother you that I have the same menu plan on all three sites?  If it does, do you have a suggestion?

Be sure to print out your coupons this week!  Remember, you should be able to print them twice.

This week, I am in my Recipes to Try: Chicken board on Pinterest to choose a couple recipes for my menu.  I will also be checking into a new cookbook Frugally Delicious (I am published within it!) to see if anything strikes my fancy.

Ok, on to my menu plan for this week:

Monday: Easy Shepherd’s Pie (Frugally Delicious)

Tuesday: Chicken Fryer in the Crockpot (Pinterest)

Wednesday: Leftovers

Thursday: Crockpot Pizza (didn’t make last time)

Friday: Garlic Brown Sugar Chicken (Pinterest)

Don’t forget to visit Org Junkie & Susie QT Pies for Hundreds more menu plans and before heading to the grocery store… Print coupons for your favorite brands and save at Coupons.com. Menu Plan Monday:  We Are Finally Live

Looking for more ideas?  You can find plenty of recipes as well as a free menu planning sheet on my kid friendly recipes page!

Menu Plan Monday: Another Busy Week at 3 Boys and a Dog!

 

mpm Menu Plan Monday:  Another Busy Week at 3 Boys and a Dog!

Whew, in addition to heading to the Ballpark twice this week, 2 days of Acrobatics, 1 day of Jazz, and Easter coming, I am also busy here on the blogs and at my home!

#1 – Southern Mom Cooks has been super quite the past few days.  So, I made a fun Easter Week Menu Printable for my readers.  I also have some fun recipes I am wanting to try out and get posted there.  PLUS, I have an Easter Recipe Linky going on!

#2 – Here at 3 Boys and a Dog, I have several reviews and giveaways to get posted this week.  I am also working really hard to get through all the junk in my office so I can figure out what supplies I need.  Oh, I have some more fun Tropicana things coming this week including a giveaway and recipe!  What else? OH!  That’s right!  I am expanding the things I will do for companies and PR!  Oooh, 3 Boys and a Dog is growing up.  We now offer multi-week product promotion packages (includes all 3 of my sites in your campaign!), multi-blogger promotion packages (don’t worry dears, the sign ups sheets for this will be coming VERY soon… I am trying to figure out the best way to do it right now), and Twitter Growth Packages!

#3 – 3 Boys and a Dog, Deals has some goodies happening, too!  For example, this week I have a new Rada Cutlery giveaway happening!

Be sure to print out your coupons this week!  Remember, you should be able to print them twice.

 

Ok, on to my menu plan for this week:

Monday: Roast, Mashed Potatoes, Gravy, Green Beans, and Rolls

Tuesday: GAME TIME! Once again, we will be at the High School Ballpark wlEmoticon smile Menu Plan Monday:  Another Busy Week at 3 Boys and a Dog!

Wednesday: Southwestern Cheesy Chicken, Corn, and Spanish Rice

Thursday: Beef Tips in Mushroom Sauce

Friday: Leftovers if we have any, if not Salad and Jerk Chicken Nachos

Saturday: GAME TIME! We will spend all day (Double Header) at the Park.. that means probably leftover burgers or ordering in Pizza.

Sunday: Easter Dinner – not quite sure what all we are having yet. My guess is that we will be having Ham and Potato Salad. Probably Macaroni and Cheese and Greens. Hmm.. oh, I am also sure we will be having deviled eggs and a cake for dessert. Other than that, not really sure.

Don’t forget to visit Org Junkie & Susie QT Pies for Hundreds more menu plans and before heading to the grocery store… Print coupons for your favorite brands and save at Coupons.com. Menu Plan Monday:  Another Busy Week at 3 Boys and a Dog!

Looking for more ideas?  You can find plenty of recipes as well as a free menu planning sheet on my kid friendly recipes page!

Menu Plan Monday: Winter Doldrums!

 

mpm Menu Plan Monday:  Winter Doldrums!

I just feel kinda icky!  Like I should just crawl back in bed. I really have nothing to complain about.  It isn’t as if it is so cold that we are all stuck inside.  No, in fact, we have been running our air conditioner for the past 4 days!  Not sure what it is.  Oh well, I will try to make us some sweets this week to help me get over it.

If you are reading this post, I have to assume you haven’t jumped to my menu plan at the deals site.  Well, the menu is the same, but the difference is that I have a giveaway going on over there.

Be sure to print out your coupons this week!  Remember, you should be able to print them twice.

 

Ok, on to my menu plan for this week:

Monday: Southwestern Cheesy Chicken

Tuesday: Saucy Beef Chili

Wednesday: leftovers

Thursday: Chicken and Broccoli Casserole

Friday: Jerk Chicken Nachos

Don’t forget to visit Org Junkie for Hundreds more menu plans and before heading to the grocery store… Print coupons for your favorite brands and save at Coupons.com. Menu Plan Monday:  Winter Doldrums!

Looking for more ideas?  You can find plenty of recipes as well as a free menu planning sheet on my kid friendly recipes page!

Review: Dream Dinner Store

Review: Dream Dinner Store

I had no idea that the Dream Dinner Store even existed until I was asked to do this store review. Let me try to explain what it is. You go to their website, pick your session time, pick your menu, then show up to the Dream Dinner Store at your scheduled session time to prepare your food. When you get there, you will wash your hands and get an apron. Then get a clipboard with your menu and get to work. Each station has 2-3 menu items to prepare, which includes all seasonings and ingredients for that recipe. You find a menu item that you chose and start preparing. This is a great  idea. You can prepare your meals for the week or for the month and freeze them, and not have to dirty up your kitchen, or have keep so many ingredients on hand. The meals are prepared either in a pan ready to cook or in a Ziploc bag, and all you have to do is but it in a pan and pop it in the oven.

private session group Review: Dream Dinner Store

What the website says:

 

DREAM DINNERS,
WHERE QUICK & HEALTHY MEALS
BECOME REALITY

What’s for dinner?
Do you ever come near the end of a busy day and wonder, “What’s for dinner?” At Dream Dinners we answer that question for you. Our monthly menu includes over 14 different recipes each month, along with additional pre-assembled dinners, sides, breads and desserts ready for purchase while in one of our stores. A wide variety of options means there are plenty of meal preparation choices to satisfy everyone in the family.

We provide everything you need to assemble delicious dinners from easy-to-follow instructions to fresh, pre-cut ingredients. Learning how Dream Dinners works is easy.

DreamDinners1 Review: Dream Dinner Store

Service:

18 recipes, which guests choose according to their preferences, and then assemble all at once at Dream Dinners locations – only taking about an hour. In addition, guests can supplement their main meals by purchasing preassembled frozen side dishes, desserts and breakfast menu items that complement each monthly menu.

Benefits:

Dream Dinners is perfect for keeping busy families together at dinnertime, with significant benefits including:

Saving Time

– all of the menu planning, prep work and clean up is taken care of by Dream Dinners, so guests simply assemble and go!

Saving Money

– food is purchased in bulk by Dream Dinners to pass savings on to the customer, plus there is no “unused” grocery waste for the home cook.

Eating Healthier – Dream Dinners uses low and nofat options wherever possible, and most dishes are between 135 340 calories per serving.

Cost:

 Guests make a minimum 36serving purchase to participate in a session. The average serving cost is $4.25.

 Mission:

Dream Dinners is founded on a mission to bring families together at dinnertime. Food and families are at the heart of everything Dream Dinners does by providing guests all the ingredients they need for a great meal. Dream Dinners offers freedom from the hassles surrounding the planning and preparation of meals night after night, and allows families to come together at the end of day to eat a healthful meal as a family.

DreamDinners2 Review: Dream Dinner Store

Right now they have a special a going on……ALL new customers get a FREE dinner. You will get 24 dinners for $75.

www.dreamdinners.com

http://www.facebook.com/dreamdinners

http://twitter.com/#!/DreamDinners

 

 

Simple Food for the Good Life {Book Review}

Simple food Simple Food for the Good Life {Book Review}Simple Food for the Good Life: Random Acts of Cooking and Pithy Quotations by Helen Nearing

This little book has been through multiple editions since it’s original publication in 1982. Helen Nearing and her husband Scott were pioneers in homesteading and there have been over 30 books written about their lives. The book is much more than a cookbook ; it is a blueprint for living a more simple, basic, back to the land life. The author did not consider herself a good cook or a willing one. She was convinced, finally, by French friends to put her recipes on paper {anyone that knows anything about French cooking knows how they feel about the way they do things in the kitchen so this was a major compliment}.

Once she finally became convinced by her French friends to put her recipes on paper, she spent countless hours in rare book rooms in the New York, Boston, and Philadelphia libraries, researching previously written cookbooks because she was concerned she would be writing a book someone else had already done; she wanted her book to be unique!

 

 

Description from the publisher, Chelsea Green Publishing:Chelsea Green Simple Food for the Good Life {Book Review}

Fifty years before the phrase “simple living” became fashionable, Helen and Scott Nearing were living their celebrated “Good Life” on homesteads first in Vermont, then in Maine. All the way to their ninth decades, the Nearings grew their own food, built their own buildings, and fought an eloquent combat against the silliness of America’s infatuation with consumer goods and refined foods. They also wrote or co-wrote more than thirty books, many of which are now being brought back into print by the Good Life Center and Chelsea Green.

Simple Food for the Good Life is a jovial collection of “quips, quotes, and one-of-a-kind recipes meant to amuse and intrigue all of those who find themselves in the kitchen, willingly or otherwise.” Recipes such as Horse Chow, Scott’s Emulsion, Crusty Carrot Croakers, Raw Beet Borscht, Creamy Blueberry Soup, and Super Salad for a Crowd should improve the mood as well as whet the appetite of any guest.

Here is an antidote for the whole foods enthusiast who is “fed up” with the anxieties and drudgeries of preparing fancy meals with stylish, expensive, hard-to-find ingredients. This celebration of salads, leftovers, raw foods, and homegrown fruits and vegetables takes the straightest imaginable route from their stem or vine to your table.

“The funniest, crankiest, most ambivalent cookbook you’ll ever read,” said Food & Wine magazine. “This is more than a mere cookbook,” said Health Science magazine: “It belongs to the category of classics, destined to be remembered through the ages.”


Though we aren’t vegetarian, I really enjoyed reading this book and looking through the recipes because I do want my family to have healthy and yummy meals.  After all, you don’t have to sacrifice yummy for healthy!  What I loved about the book was that it is full of simple recipes with emphasis on a minimum number of ingredient and as many raw ingredients as possible. Here is a three course meal example:

Salad: Apple Slawapple slaw 300x199 Simple Food for the Good Life {Book Review}
Ingredients:

  • 3 apples, grated
  • 1/2 head red cabbage, grated
  • 2 cups of celery, chopped coarsely
  • 1/4 cup raisins
  • 1 tablespoon of honey
  • 1 tablespoon of lemon juice
  • 2 tablespoons of oil

Directions: Combine the apples, cabbage, celery and raisins.  Add the honey, lemon juice and oil.  Tossing well after each addition to coat the ingredients well.  Serve on a bed of lettuce leaves.

 

Soup:  Super Supper Soupvegetable soup 279x300 Simple Food for the Good Life {Book Review}

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup of any kind of dry beans, soaked over night in two quarts of cold water
  • 2-3 tablespoons of butter or oil
  • 2 onions or leeks, sliced
  • 2 potatoes, scrubbed and cubed
  • 2 stalks of celery, sliced
  • 2 turnips cubed
  • 1 clove of minced garlic
  • a pinch of thyme, marjoram, aniseed

Directions: Bring the bean and water to a boil, lower the heat and simmer until the beans are soft (about an hour).  In a large skillet, heat the butter or oil and saute the vegetables until they are soft.  Add the vegetables with the beans along with the seasonings and simmer for 30 minutes.  Serves 6-8

 

Dessert:  Peanut Butter Balls

Ingredients:Protein Peanut Butter Balls 300x199 Simple Food for the Good Life {Book Review}

  • 3 Cups of Old Fashioned Oats
  • 1 cup peanut butter
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1 and 1/2 cups of honey
  • 1 teaspoon of vanilla
  • 1 cup of chopped nuts

Directions: Bring the oats and peanut butter to a boil with the 1/2 cup water.  Add the honey, vanilla, and chopped nuts.  Stir well and being once more to a boil.  Cook for a minute or so.  Remove from the stove and let it cool.  Spoon unto a buttered plate or pan and roll into balls.

The chapter on herbs and other seasonings is particularly informative especially if you or your family are watching your salt intake.  In this chapter you learn how to substitute spices, seasonings and herbs in place of salt.  Along the way, the book is peppered with delightful quotes from cooks and cookbooks over the centuries.

If you would like to simplify your life and your diet, learn more about why you should absolutely do this for the mental and physical well being of you and your family, this is the book for you!

To order a copy of your own, please visit Chelsea Publishing,  or order it from Amazon.  If you want more information on Chelsea Publishing visit them on Facebook or Chelsea Green’s Twitter feed we’re @chelseagreen.

 

266 Simple Food for the Good Life {Book Review}
Like this book? Digg it!

0diggsdigg

gbs preview button1 Simple Food for the Good Life {Book Review}

Book Data

ISBN: 9781890132293
Year Added to Catalog: 1999
Book Format: Paperback
Book Art: index
Number of Pages: 6 x 9, 309 pages
Book Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing
Old ISBN: 1890132292
Release Date: January 1, 1990
Web Product ID: 266

Also By This Author

6 Simple Food for the Good Life {Book Review}
200 Simple Food for the Good Life {Book Review}
251 Simple Food for the Good Life {Book Review}

Simple Food for the Good Life