Good Things

I have been so enjoying my kitchen lately. I worked so much during the school year, that I seemed to never have the kind of time that I like to prepare our meals. I was pleased that even though I was gone most days, we still ate at home and mostly together. I learned new and different things about home management skills this past year. I love to make freezer meals, so that we can still have satisfying and yummy dinners when we are all so busy. Life can definately throw us some curve balls, and these meals sure help on those days that don't turn out like you hoped. I will post my favorite frozen dinners later, but for now I want to post some of the recipes that we have enjoyed lately. I don't think I have had any more time to prepare them, but I have had more time to put some thought into our meals. So here goes:
Breakfasts: Usually around here it is a help yourself kitchen. However, I do try to keep these kinds of things available for the kids. We also do smoothies, toast, cereal, etc.
Chocolate Chip Muffins (I double the recipe and put half in the freezer for more hectic mornings)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cp sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup milk
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs lightly beaten
1 tsp. vanilla
chocolate chips and nuts if you like. (I always add some carob chips to cut down on the chocolate intake around here)

Preheat oven to 400. Grease 12 muffin cups. Stir together first 5 ingredients. In another bowl stir together next 4 ingredients. Make a well in center of dry ingredients. Add milk mixture and stir just to combine. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts. Put into muffin cups. Bake for 15-20 minutes.


Strawberry French Toast (I have been using this recipe for myself as I am trying to be more health conscious. The kids don't mind it either, but I usually make theirs a little more traditionally.)
Mix together
2 egg whites
1 Tbsp. Orange Juice
1 Tbsp. Milk
2 tsp. vanilla protein powder
1/4 tsp. vanilla
Soak a slice of rye bread in the mixture. Fry in safflower or canola oil until cooked through. Serve with sliced strawberries.

I also need to add that I try to make things that are yummy as well as cost effective. With 4 growing kids and lots of friends always around, that can be quite a challenge.

Dinners for this week:
Grilled Tomato Bruschetta and Creamy Garlic Pasta
Barbecued boneless ribs in Red, Hot and Blue barbecue sauce and Baked Potato Salad and homemade cornbread
Pasta Salad (using whatever vggies I have on hand) with THIS dressing and homemade french bread
Spaghetti, green beans, and homemade breadsticks
We leave on our trip on Saturday, and so I will be packing picnic lunches and dinners for our travel day. If you have any recies up your sleeve, let me know. I am thinking about some spicy beef roll ups and homemade strawberry pies for dinner. I am open to your suggestions though!

last days of school

The end of the school year has come and gone. What a year it has been. Audrey and Maddie enjoyed field trips, projects, great teachers, and great friends. We wrapped up the year with field day activities and pizza parties. Enjoy these cute pics!

Dallas Zoo

I was able to go with Madison and her second grade class to the Dallas Zoo on a field trip. We had such a good time seeing all the animals. Maddie's favorite was feeding the giraffes!

Hippity Hop

I know I am so far behind on our blog, but better late than never. We had a nice Easter Sunday at Dad's house with Jayne and her family. Jayne, Kevin, and Dad did a great job hiding the Easter eggs, so much so that even Whitney was stumped.

Backtracking...

With all our recent events, I failed to write about our Valentine's trip to Disneyworld. We went just the two of us with my sister and her husband. It was a ton of fun. I hadn't realized that most of our favorite rides we had never even ridden together. I guess that happens when you go there with your kids. Kevin and Jonathan spent many hours trying to get the highest score on the new Toy Story Mania. They had a blast, and actually got a score of 470,000. That's pretty incredible! My mom stayed at our house with the kids and managed all their comings, goings, homework and music practice. I hope I told her how grateful we were for that. I am sure she is grateful for that alone time with the grandkids.