Emma's 10th Birthday

For the queen's double digit birthday, she decided she wanted a movie night party.  She had lots of ideas and plans, so I just followed her lead!  She invited 8 girls to spend the night, (WHAT, 8????) and I went to town planning and decorating.

I found the cupcakes on Pinterest (of course) and LOVED how they turned out!  

Most of the decorations I bought from Oriental Trading Company ( love that place), the subway art I found free online and the popcorn bucket I stuffed with foam and hot glued popcorn on top!  

I filled these containers with candies and cut the labels off the boxes to hot glue one.

Here is the queen with her cupcake!  This girlfriend is such a diva, she cracks me up! 

I bought these popcorn crafts for them to do, along with decorating their own popcorn bags.  Needless to say they were all sugared up for a week!

For their parting gift, we gave away popcorn bags (duh).  Emma had such a great time and said it was her best birthday ever!  I think she says that every year, haha.  We are very proud of this girl, she continues to make us proud with her soft, sweet spirit along with all of her diva-ness!!

Lentil Vegetable Soup

I love meat, don't get me wrong, but sometimes I enjoy a good meat free meal.  And this soup fits the bill.  If I were to serve a meat free supper, I am pretty confident that my husband would pack up his things.  He is a farm boy, meat and potato raised.  I don't believe the term "meat free" is even in his vocabulary.  That's ok, it just means I get to enjoy all the tasty recipes good ole blogland gives me!

This recipe is from a sausage lentil soup I have and have made before, this time I left out the meat and added more veggies.  I made a big batch and plan to eat it all week for lunch.  It's one of those soups that tastes better the longer it's in the fridge.

Lentil Vegetable Soup-

1/2 bag of lentils rinsed and drained

2-3 medium carrots- chopped

1 red bell pepper- chopped

1/2 green bell pepper- chopped

1/2 onion- chopped

2 cloves garlic

1/4-1/2 tsp. cumin

1 bay leaf

2 cans broth (I used 1 can vegetable and 1 can beef)

salt and pepper to taste

Olive oil

Saute carrots, peppers and onion in olive oil 5 minutes, add chopped garlic.  Mix in lentils, cumin, bay leaf and broth.  Bring to a boil and simmer until lentils are soft.  Remember to take out the bay leaf!

Freezer Cooking Day

One thing I have started doing since working outside the home is to do one day a month of freezer cooking.  I love having meals in the freezer that I can pull out and are ready to be baked when the girls get home from school.  My work schedule has changed for now because it has been so slow.  I've always had Friday's off, and now I get Monday's off too.  I know, don't hate me...*ducks*

Obviously, I love this schedule as it gives me lots of freedom to do things that I haven't been able to do since having kids!  Like go out to lunch with friends, volunteer in school and so on.  

I sure enjoy having that day to get things prepared for the week!  This week I made meatballs ala Pioneer Woman, they are soooooo delicious, and flavorful.  I also made Tator Tot Hotdish, Cheeseburger Quiche from my 30 Day Gourmet Freezer Cooking Manual, red sauce for lasagna, granola, pancakes and homemade Lara bars.   My fail for the day was the pancakes.

I found a recipe online for pancakes using coconut flour that I've had on hand for awhile, but never used.   I don't know that I will keep the flour, as it is very hard to work with.  Coconut flour absorbs liquids very quickly, therefore you need to use more liquid than normal.  This recipe called for 6 eggs.  Yowsa!  The pancakes were very eggy tasting and none of us cared for them.  Emma said she would eat them with a lot of syrup...Alayna said it tasted like a sugared homelet (her version of an omelet).  Not sure if my flour was old, or if that is really how they are supposed to taste???

Anyone else ever tried coconut flour?

Our Gourmet Dinner

Rachel started taking a liking to cooking when she was 9.  I was doing daycare at the time, and she would make breakfast for the daycare kiddos.  It was usually pancakes/waffles or baked oatmeal.  She loved making smoothies and cookies too.  Now she is bumping up her confidence and trying her hand at making suppers.  I love that she has no fear, and nothing is off limits.  Tonight she decided to make venison sausage (one of our favorite meals that we eat weekly), Pioneer Woman's twice baked new potatoes, and her whiskey glazed carrots.

The funniest part of the whole night was when she sent me a text asking me to stop at the liquor store for some whiskey.  Ummm, excuse me???

She did get some help from Dad, but I thoroughly enjoyed putting my feet up and watching TV while they cooked.  SCORE!

The Girls' Craft Room

With three girls, crafting is as much a part of our lives as bathing.  It's a necessity.   I love seeing the different projects they come up with.  I don't, however, like seeing the mess they create in my kitchen!  I decided it was high time for them to have their own space.  In our third level, we have the family room finished, but none of the other rooms.  My office has sat idle for a few years,  and has been more of a dumping ground than anything else.  I took everything out (the things I could move, that is.) and created a space for them.

I still have to buy another craft table, but this works for now.  The big frame was given to me by my girlfriend who was going to Goodwill it.  It had different types of herbs in each window.  I took it apart and made it into a crafty  window now (one of the pics has fallen down and I need to fix it).  

Being that it is in an unfinished space, I wanted lots of color.  One of the things I love about creating something new, is shopping around the house to see what will fit.  Most everything I had, but I did buy the cute colored baskets on their tables as Crafts Direct for $5.  I think I might keep the desk, as it has a lot of storage for their crafts.

I love knowing that they can make anything in there, and do what they want...paint, scrapbook, color and just plain ole play!

I am amazed at how much they have created already.  I have a basket filled with odds and ends that is their favorite.  Lots of creativity flowing here!

It's Snowing....Again.....

This week we are enduring our 150th snowstorm.  From the month of April.  Seriously.  I am trying to stay positive and taking advantage of my day off by cooking.  So many good recipes, and so little time.  I decided to watch one of my all time favorite movies while in the kitchen...Julie and Julia.  Love, love, love this movie.  

I re-pinned this recipe from Pinterest and decided to make them for the girls snack this afternoon.  Oh my....they were scrumptious.  So scrumptious, that I am contemplating eating another before they get home....

They are mini apple pies, with caramel.  Oh yes I did.  The girls will be thrilled, and I will make Mom of the Year (I was demoted last Saturday, as I forgot Alayna had a birthday party, oops....) again.

You have to try them!  I also have monkey bread going dough doing in the bread machine for Miss Emma's birthday breakfast for tomorrow morning.  Supper tonight is Rachael Ray's Mediterranean Chicken, with sauteed green beans and homemade bread.  It's gonna be good!!

Menu Plan Monday

It's that time again, to join Organizing Junkie's Menu Plan Monday.  Last week was a busy week, and was very happy to have some freezer meals to rely on.  I also decided to make Indian food one night.  We had Chicken Curry, Garlic Carrot Rice and Naan.  It was one of my favorite meals EVER!  Everything was so flavorful, even the family liked it all.  Of course I didn't think to take a pic until after my plate was licked clean....

This week is all about Rachael Ray.  I looooooove her magazine, so this week I found all RR recipes to try.

Monday:  Mediterranean Chicken and homemade french bread

Tuesday:  Emma Jo's birthday!!  Out for supper

Wednesday: Pasta with Grape Tomatoes, Ham and Peas 

Thursday:  Tex Mex Bacon Cheeseburgers with fries

                             Friday:  Prayers.  Yes, I will be needing prayers on Friday, Emma is having 6 girls overnight.  Six emotional, dramatic, loud, crazy girls.  This is my first time with this many girls.  If you would like to send some wine along with the prayers, I won't object.  Just sayin...

So, that's my week, what does your look like?