Monday, December 31, 2012

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. 

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

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

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

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! 

Saturday, December 1, 2012

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.