January Meals

Happy New Year 2013 everyone!  Here is this months meal plan with links to recipes and those without links (and are not obvious recipes, ie BLT's) recipes are below meal plan.  Have a great month!

Tues 1  chicken wings (I just by a bag of frozen chicken wings and add barbecue sauce, marinate for a couple hours and grill)
Wed 2  chicken quesadillas
Thur 3  BLT's
Fri 4  Pizza
Sat 5  Grilled bratts
Sun 6  flank steak with mushroom sauce
Mon 7  Spaghetti with meatsauce
Tues 8  garlic pesto chicken with tomato penne
Wed 9  crockpot cream cheese chicken chile
Thurs 10  crockpot pot roast and veggies
Fri 11  Pizza
Sat 12  Sloppy joes
Sun 13  Simply parmesan chicken
Mon 14  Lasagna soup
Tues 15 crockpot creamy chicken and tomato soup
Wed 16  crockpot teriyaki pork tenderloin
Thurs 17  crockpot chicken cacciatore
Fri 18  Pizza
Sat 19 cheesy chicken noodle casserole (already made and in freezer)
Sun 20  Ranch chicken tacos
Mon 21  Brocolli and pasta alfredo (I use store bought sauce)
Tues 22  Baked ziti
Wed 23 crockpot chicken and dumplings
Thurs 24  crockpot turkey chili
Fri 25  Pizza
Sat 26  Mac and cheese and hotdogs
Sun 27 weeknight enchiladas
Mon 28  cheddar chicken bacon ranch pasta
Tues 29
Wed 30  ranch cheddar chicken
Thur 31

Crockpot chicken cacciatore  from Fix it and Forget it cookbook
2 onions, thinly sliced
4 boneless chicken breasts cubed
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 tsp pepper
2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
2 15 oz cans diced tomatoes
8 oz tomato sauce
4 oz can sliced mushrooms

Place onions in bottom of slow cooker and add remaining ingredients.  Cover and cook on low for 8 hrs.  Serve over hot spaghetti.

Crockpot pot roast and veggies  from Fix it and forget it cookbook
3-4 lb chuck roast
4 medium sized potatoes cubed
4 medium carrots sliced or 1 lb baby carrots
2 celery ribs sliced thin
1 envelope dry onion soup mix
3 cups water

Put roast, potatoes, carrots and celery in crockpot.  Add soup mix and water.  Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Cheesy chicken noodle casserole by Anna


1 box spaghetti noodles
1 jar of cheese wiz
4 cooked boneless skinless chicken breasts cubed
2 cans of cream of chicken soup
crushed saltine crackers or bread crumbs for top

Cook chicken and cube. Cook noodles and drain. Combine cheese wiz and cream of chicken soup and warm on stove. Stir cheese mixture into noodles and combine everything into casserole dish. Top with crushed crackers or bread crumbs. Bake at 350 until warm and bubbling.

Baked ziti from slice of Forsyth cookbook
1 lb dry ziti pasta
1 onion
1 lb ground beef
2 jars spaghetti sauce
6 oz provolone cheese sliced
1 1/2 c. sour cream
6 oz mozzarella cheese shredded
2 T parm cheese
Preheat oven to 350.  Cook ziti on stove top for about 8 minutes or until al dente.  In a skillet, brown onion and ground beef.  Add spaghetti sauce and simmer 15 min.  Grease 9 x 13 dish and layer 1/2 of ziti, provolone cheese, sour cream, 1/2 sauce mixture, remaining ziti, mozzarella cheese and remaining sauce mixture.  Top with parm cheese and bake for 30 min or until cheeses are melted.

Ranch cheddar chicken from slice of Forsyth cookbook
1/2 c original ranch dressing
1 T flour
4 chicken breast, boneless, skinless
1/4 c shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/4 c grated parm cheese

Preheat oven to 375.  Mix together dressing and flour.  Coat each chicken breast with mixture.  Arrange on a baking sheet.  Combine both cheeses and sprinkle over chicken breasts.  Bake 25 minutes.

Weeknight enchiladas from Southern Living
1 lb ground chuck
1 small onion
1 10 oz tomato soup undiluted
1 10 oz mild enchilada sauce
8 flour tortillas
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided
sour cream optional
olives optional

Cook beef and onion in large skillet until meat is browned, drain and return to pan.  Stir soup and enchilada sauce into meat mixture.  Spread 1/4 c meat mixture onto each tortilla, sprinkle with 1c.cheese evenly.  Roll up tortillas and place seam down in a greased 13 x 9 baking dish.  Pour remaining mixture over tortillas.  Cover and bake for 350 for 20 minutes.  Uncover and sprinkle with remaining cheese and bake 5 more minutes.  You can serve with sour cream and olives. 

Interview with a 9 year old

My annual, always anticipated interview with the kids.  They are always excited to answer these questions and his consistency over the last few years is interesting!  I won't let the kids see their answers from the previous year, but after I am finished we get a good laugh over what they said the year before. 

Mommy (M)-What is your favorite color?
Aidan (A)-yellow and neon yellow
M-What is your favorite food?
A-I guess I would say probably Salmon..I don't know, I like everything!
M-Really?? There isn't any that you dislike?
A-Well, probably green bean casserole and red peppers
M-What do you want to be when you are daddy and mommy's age?
A-I will be a coach probably.
M-What kind?
A-High school football
M-What is your favorite subject in school?
A-Social Studies
M-Why? 
A-I love history and learning new things everyday.
M-If you could be any animal, what would it be?
A-Cheetah

M-What do you like to do with your sisters?

A-We like to play this tag games outside with points.

M-If you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be?

A-Australia, because I like their accents and it is across the world.

M-What is your favorite thing to do with me?

A-Play games

M-What about with daddy?

A-Play football or basketball.

M-Do you want to get married some day?

A-Yes.

M-How many kids do you think you will have?

A-2

M-Who is your best friend?

A-David

M-What makes you happy?

A-When I make my friends laugh, especially David.  He has a funny giggle.  That makes me laugh and smile!

M-What makes you unhappy?

A-When Brenna hits me.

M-What???

A-Well what else am I suppose to say?

M-What is your favorite song?

A-Home by Phillip Phillips

M-What do you like about your sisters?

A-At least there is someone to play with.

M-HA!

M-What is your favorite memory from this year?

A-When we beat Lambert, postseason, under the lights.

M-What does mommy do all day?

A-Pretty much works or does chores.

M-What does daddy do all day?

A-Teaches all day and coaches and drivers ed

M-What is your favorite restaurant?

A-Cheddars

M-What are you looking forward to most about being 9 and the year 2013?

A-Not having an problems at amusement parks..I am already 54 inches and have been.  Now that I am 9, hopefully we won't have any problems.

M-(Let's just say that we had a couple problems at Six Flags last summer.)

M-What is your favorite verse?

A-Phil 4:13

Happy Birthday Mr. Aidan

Happy 9th Birthday to our first born, Aidan Bradley.  Mr. Math reminded me that this was his last year in single digits.  Yeah, yeah, don't remind me is all I could think.  I know I say this all the time, but Brad and I are so proud to be this boys parents.  I mean who couldn't resist those dimples?      

 

This kid loves Life!  Get it?  This is one of the things he asked for his birthday.  This involves some of his favorite things...competition, math and strategy. 

He lives and breathes not just football, but competition in any kind of sport.  His drive to do better and be the best he can be is really amazing to see in a boy that age.  It is not only his strength, but something that he will have to work on all the time.  He is his biggest critic!   

He loves the Big House!  The Big House meaning University of Michigan football stadium.  He has never stopped dreaming of going to school there!  His teachers believe he is well on his way. 

This boy loves to have fun no matter what.  Give him a challenge and challenge will be accepted.  He is loyal to all his friends although will get his feelings hurt easily.  He loves routine and is my melancholy choleric if you know anything about personalities.  When you meet Aidan, you know exactly who he is. 

Happy Birthday son!  May you continue to shin your love of life and determination on the rest of the world!  Here is to another year! 

Fall review

The girls and I had the opportunity to go to Michigan for a few days for a wedding and to visit family.  They sure didn't mind me pulling them out of school!  It was the first time that I drove by myself overnight with the girls.  They did great and slept the whole time.  We arrived in Detroit just in time to have lunch with Brad's Grandma Kudlas. 

While in Detroit, Grandma K made us a lovely lunch.



At Kelly Jo's wedding. 



The girls admiring Kelly while she got changed.





Mr. Tom walking his daughter down the isle.



The big kiss!







Dance time with the bride.



Some of my cousins, my Aunt Lisa and two more babies on the way!



The cousins minus Aidan.  What a cute bunch of kids.  Next time there will be 2 more added to this picture. 
Ages from 7-1.



Brenna, Carsyn and Sadie.



Aidan and his team had an awesome football season.  We took on a huge challenge and went to play in a travel league.  These boys grew so much this year.  They exceeded every goal they had for themselves this year, including this late night win vs Lambert.  Way to go Eagles!



Even though they lost the championship, Aidan was more than excited to know how much they learned and how far him came a quarterback including throwing for a 30 plus yard touchdown pass in this game.  We are so proud of him! 



For the week of Thanksgiving, we took another trip to Shreveport, LA to surprise Brad's brother Devin and all the kiddos.  My sister in law was in on the surprise and it was so much fun to plan.  The kids played hard all day including this big kid in the picture!



Love this swinging shot.



Can't leave out their dog Lou Lou.  She got wrapped up in some bows.



Our silly kiddos after we celebrated Christmas.



Bren and Aidan



Carsyn and Aidan



Jackson, Brenna, Brooklyn, Kaia, Carsyn, Aidan and Zoe



Devin Kudlas family



Brad Kudlas family




These are some of the best moments of my life...




Love, love my sweet babies!



Brenna's first gymnastics meet.



My little beamer.  Taking after her mommy.  That little hot shot got 2nd and scored a 9.2.  Way to go Bren!



Her level 2 team.





December Meals

Tis the season for basketball.  It has begun.  Time to get a little meal craziness.  This is my hardest month to plan with Christmas parties, vacation, kids being gone and basketball.  I heard positive feedback on the links, so I will try that again this month.  So here it goes...
Sat 1st            Out to eat for Aidan's birthday
Sun 2nd          Spaghetti -I would assume everyone has their own favorite spaghetti recipe. 
Mon 3rd         Mia's pizza-"dining for Claire" charity dinner.  One of Brad's co-works has stage 4 colon cancer and this is to raise money for her medical bills.
Tues 4th          Aidan's 9th birthday!!   Grilled steak and shrimp
Wed 5th          Football banquet
Thurs 6th         crockpot creamy tomato soup 
Fri 7th             subway
Sat 8th            coaches x-mas party
Sun 9th            sloppy joes
Mon 10th        chicken spaghetti
Tues 11th        beef tips
Wed 12th         crockpot applesauce barbecue pork  (this is a chicken recipe, but I am going to add pork)
Thur 13th          hot and cheesy chicken casserole 
Fri 14th            Pizza
Sat 15th           Broccoli cheese soup
Sun 16th           cheesy chicken and rice bake
Mon 17th          chicken salad
Tues 18th       crockpot ranch chicken tacos  (I am just adding ranch seasoning)
Wed 19th        honey glazed dump chicken
Thurs 20th        chicken and dumplings
Fri 21st            Pizza
Sat 22nd          South Carolina
Sun 23rd          SC
Mon 24th         SC
Tues 25th         SC  Merry Christmas!!
Wed 26th         SC
Thurs 27th        jambalaya  -I buy the mixed Jambalaya rice and the sausage and combine.
Fri 28th            Pizza
Sat 29th            Sesame chicken strips
Sun 30th           Grilled pork loin
Mon 31st          Happy New Year!


Broccoli cheese soup
4 c chicken broth
1 c water
1 c half and half
4-6 slices cheddar singles
1/2 c all-purpose flour
1/2 c finely diced onion
1/4 tsp ground pepper
4 c broccoli florets-bite sized
Garnish with cheddar cheese and parsley

Combine chicken broth, water, half and half, cheese, flour onion and pepper in a large sauce pan.  I use a pot because I double this recipe.  Although this will feed a family of 5 comfortably.  My family just loves left overs.  Whisk to combine and break up any lumps of flour, then turn to medium/high heat.  Bring to a boil then reduce heat to low.  Add broccoli to soup and simmer for 15-20 min until broccoli is tender but not soft.  Serve with garnish

Cheesy chicken and rice bake
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 1/3 cup water
3/4 cup uncooked rice
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
4-6 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Added fresh, canned or frozen veggies if you wish.  We always add green beans.

Mix soup, water, rice, onion powder, pepper and veggies into a shallow baking dish.  Top with chicken.  Cover and bake at 375 for 45 min or until rice is tender and chicken is no longer pink.  Top with cheese.

Sesame chicken strips
2 c mayo divided
2 tsp minced onion
2 tsp dry mustard
1 c crushed ritz crackers
1/2 c sesame seeds
1 3/4 lb chicken breast tenders
1 Tbls honey
2 tsp prepared mustard

Stir together 1 cup mayo, minced onion, dry mustard in a small bowl.  Combine crushed crackers and sesame seeds in a separate bowl.  Dip chicken in mayo mixture and dredge in cracker mixture.  Place on a lightly greased rack on a foil lined baking sheet.  Bake at 425 for 5 minutes or until chicken is done.  Stir together remaining 1 c mayo, honey and mustard.  Served honey sauce with chicken.

November Meals

Happy Thanksgiving!  This is one of my favorite months for food!  Although I am on some diet restrictions for the lovely kidney stone I had, I am not doing keep me from having some good food while we are on vacation.  I am going to try something new and put a link to all the recipes and if it is one of mine, that I will try to get it written out below the calender.  Hope that will help you all!  We have football for 2, maybe 3 more weeks, basketball has started for both the older two and Brad's xc season is starting to slow down and basketball starts this week.  Out of any months, this has got to be the busiest! 

Thurs 1st cheesy chicken noodle casserole (make 2- 1 for next month)
Fri 2nd      Pizza
Sat 3rd     BBQ sandwiches
Sun 4th   Extra creamy mac and cheese and hotdogs
Mon 5th    BLT's 
Tues 6th      crockpot cream cheese chicken chile (make ahead)
Wed 7th     chicken alfredo and rice casserole  (make ahead)
Thurs 8th     crockpot ranch porkchops  (make ahead)
Fri 9th       Pizza
Sat 10th    Grilled chicken burritos
Sun 11th      honey glazed dump chicken (make ahead)
Mon 12th     goulosh
Tues 13th     chicken enchilada pasta bake   (make ahead)
Wed 14th     pork and veggie crockpot  (make ahead)
Thurs 15th     hot and cheesy chicken casserole  (make ahead)
Fri 16th       Pizza
Sat 17th  ???
Sun 18th vacation
Mon 19th vacation
Tues 20th vacation
Wed 21st vacation
Thur 22nd vacation-Happy Thanksgiving
Fri 23rd vacation
Sat 24th vacation
Sun 25th    chicken tortilla soup  (make ahead)
Mon 26th    beef strogenoff
Tues 27th   easy chicken and cheese enchiladas
Wed 28th     chicken pot pie  (make ahead)
Thurs 29th    Tacos
Fri 30th         Pizza

Cheesy chicken noodle casserole by Anna
1 box spaghetti noodles
1 jar of cheese wiz
4 cooked boneless skinless chicken breasts cubed
2 cans of cream of chicken soup
crushed saltine crackers or bread crumbs for top

Cook chicken and cube.  Cook noodles and drain.  Combine cheese wiz and cream of chicken soup and warm on stove.  Stir cheese mixture into noodles and combine everything into casserole dish.  Top with crushed crackers or bread crumbs.  Bake at 350 until warm and bubbling.

Beef Strogenoff  by Joy Belt
1lbs ground beef
1 medium onion
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup sour cream
1 can beef broth
1/2 cup water
3 cups uncooked noodles (I use egg noodles)

In skillet brown beef and cook onion until tender.  Drain and blend all ingredients into pan.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat.  Cover and simmer for 10 min or until noodles are done.  Stir often.

Goulash   by Joy Belt
1lb ground beef
1 medium onion
1 large can of crushed tomatoes
3/4 box of elbow macaroni
cheddar cheese for top

In skillet brown beef and cook onion.  Drain and blend all ingredients into pan.  Bring to a boil and reduce heat.  Cover and simmer for 10 min or until noodles are done.  Top with cheese and let melt before serving.

Chicken potpie  Parenting magazine 06
2 skinless boneless chicken breasts cubed
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 jar of chicken gravy
1/2 tsp pepper
1 cup frozen veggies (I used mixed bag)
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
9 inch refrig pie crust

I bowl, combine all ingredients except pie crust.  Pour into 8 or 9 inches round foil pan.  Place pie crust on top and tuck edges under.  Cut steam bent in crust.  Cover with foil and freeze until you need to use or bake covered at 400 for 45 minutes.  If frozen, bake for 1 hour and uncover and bake for 20 more minutes.  Cool for 10 min, before serving.

7 years and counting

Brenna kept asking me when I was going to ask her "all those questions."  She insisted that she see what she answered last year, but I didn't let her until she was finished.  She just giggled the whole time that I interviewed her.  I don't know if she giggles when she is just excited or happy, but she also giggles and has a huge smile when she is playing defense in basketball.  It is hilarious!  She has the basketball defense shuffle down to near perfection for a 7 year old, but she can't wipe that smile off her face and "look mean."  I will try to get a picture of it sometime during the season.  Anyways, here is the interview from my 7 year old....

Mom (M)- What is your favorite color?
Brenna (B)- Silver, because it has sparklilies in it and has gray in it and I like that color too.
M-What is your favorite food?
B-Mommy's homemade mac and cheese
M-What is your favorite song?
B-"Call me maybe" by Carly Rae
M-What do you want to do when you are Mommy's age?
B-A mommy and gymnastics coach.
M-What is your favorite activity to do in school?
B-Science!
M-Why?
B-It is now a special in our school and we have a new science lab and we learn lots of new things.  (This is pretty cool...I would have loved this in elementary school!)
M-What about your least favorite?
B-The daily 5.  (Not sure what this is, but she had that "gross" look on her face!)
M-Who is your best friend.
B-I changed it.  It use to be Gabby, and now it is Olivia.  (I think it changes every week.)
M-What do you love about your brother?
B-He is sweet.....sometimes!
M-Your sister?
B-She plays with me all the time.  (This is an understatement people..these girls are glued at the hip.  I only play it will be that way when they are teenagers!)

M-What is your favorite thing to do at church?

B-Singing and singing, "Jesus is a good friend."

M-What makes you happy?

B- When people are kind.

M-What makes you sad?

B-When people are mean to me.

M-What do you love about Daddy?
B-(While giggling with a huge smile...) He is my favorite daddy in the whole world!

M-What do mommy and daddy do? 

B-Daddy coaches basketball and mommy does chores.  (Really?!!?)

M-What is your favorite restaurant?

B-Taco Bell

M-What don't you like to do?

B-Homework!

M-If you could be a dog or a cat, what would you be?

B-Dog, because I had a pet dog and they get to go inside.

M-What do you look forward to most about being 7?

B-Learning bigger and larger words.  (Interesting...we had just talked about this in her conference about using more complex words in her writing.)

M-If you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be?

B-Papa and Grammie's

M-Do you think you are going to get married and have kids?

B-Yes mom!  I have no idea, maybe 3 kids.



Add caption

M-What is your favorite memory from this year?

B-Winning one of my soccer games!

Here is to another year!  You have got to love this girl!

Happy 7th Birthday

Happy 7th Birthday to our Brenna Caroline.  When your brother turned 7 I thought, "Cool, he is 7!"  With my oldest daughter I thought, "Oh my goodness, she is 7!"  You are kind, compassionate and love your little so much, there is nothing you would do without her.  You are every little girls best friend.  You look past what they look like or who they are friends with and you just ARE their friend...just because.  You love everything girly and can't wait for your 8th birthday to get those ears pierced.  You have really hit your stride with reading and your sister especially loves that you can read to her in bed.  You love your daddy more everyday.  You always have been a daddy's girl, but you take it to a whole different level.  I really hope it is that way when those boys are coming to ask your daddy to take you on a date.  You frustrate your mommy and daddy almost daily.  Quick temper and a read head....what can I say?  You are just like me!

Bren, you make your mommy and daddy so proud.  We look forward to watching you grow more and more into a young lady!

Happy Birthday! 

A way to celebrate

Even though Brenna's birthday is Friday, we celebrated this past weekend while my parents were in town. The girls and I drive to Michigan tonight and are there until Sunday, so we will be doing a lot of celebrating up there.

After Aidan's football game we all met up at Chick-fil-a per Miss Bren's request.  We set up everything there and they even gave us free ice cream.  My mom, dad, my cousin Doug, his wife Angie and son Logan were able to celebrate with us.  This girl couldn't be happier!

 She wanted to ice skating, but I got the open skate hours messed up, so we went across the street to the rollerskating rink.  We had just as much fun!

My dad, Carsyn and cousin Doug

 Mom, Bren and Brad

 Hotshot, Aidan

You are never to old to hold your dad's hand! 

                                                                         Bren and I

Aidan ran into some of his buddies!



My crazy dad running into the wall.

We had such a great time!