What a difference a day makes...

I am on the internet at home, now. YAY!!!! Now, all is right in the world! I am loving how quickly it loads pages. We had to go with a new internet service provider in this area. I haven't even taken a picture of the house yet, but I will soon and then I'll post it on here. The kids are enjoying having their own bedrooms, but spend plenty of time in each others room playing together or looking at books. I am still trying to find a home for everything (gained a bedroom and bathroom, but lost some storage - basement, garage, coat and linen closets) and have been giving things away. I gave away a ton of baby items to my pregnant sister and friend, I also am giving away some maternity clothes to the Crisis Pregnancy Center that my pregnant friend manages. I have also Freecycled several items!

Very soon, I will put my Home Management Binder on here - well, I will start with a picture of it, but the insides aren't ready for public viewing yet. I have been able to scrapbook some this year even with moving and all. My friend has a scrapbook night once a month at her house. I try not to take a lot with me and always regret not packing more, so I am going to make up my own scrapbook kits and put them in 2 gallon zipper bags that I purchased at Aldi. WM might have them now, but they didn't when I hunted everywhere for bags large enough to hold 12x12 papers.

Liam got a couple vaccinations yesterday and doesn't even seem phased by it. He slept right afterwards, but it was nap time anyways. He is such a little monkey and climbed on Laurana's toddler bed today. I couldn't catch him fast enough. Luckily, he hit the carpet, but he fell backwards and hit his head. That boy seems to fall a lot! He took off walking all over the house once we moved. Having carpet everywhere you're supposed to and not where you shouldn't helps. (The house we just moved out of had carpet in the kitchen, dining room, and bathroom! EWW!! The kids room had carpet, too). We hated the carpet in all the rooms except the kids room wasn't so bad. The new renters are going to rip it all out and refinish the hardwood floors. I just didn't feel like improving someone else's house. Well, I will have to chat with my virtual friends later this evening (I hope), since today is grocery day. I have to double check my menu and grocery list and shower. Oh, and for now, I can't be on the computer all night because I hooked the computer into Laurana's room. We have to buy a wireless router so I can be mobile with the computer.

I am going to have a Homemade Gourmet Open House the beginning of April. Those that order $50 or more will be entered in a drawing for $15 in free product! Go to Homemade Gourmet to see what you would like to order - please order directly through me, so I can turn one big order in at once. We have a lot of really great new products and all are backed with a 100% satisfaction guarantee. You can email me at shaykarena@yahoo.com or call me at 812-498-3561 with your orders. I prefer to take just cash, checks, or money orders right now. I do not earn as much money when I take cc. Thanks!

Moved but not settled in yet

We are moved and I'm waiting on the phone company to fix the exterior phone line, so I can be on the internet at home. They are taking their sweet time now. I am at the library just to let you know that I am still going to keep up with my blog.
We are enjoying the new house and still have a mountain of boxes to unpack. It is hard to find a place for everything since we no longer have a garage or basement. The kids don't have to share a room now and we have a 2nd bathroom, so we sacrificed some things to get some other things we needed. I can't stay long because Liam is walking everywhere and even though a laptop is mobile, it isn't mobile enough to chase him all over the library. Well, he is getting away again, so I will be on SCS again to chat with all my friends very soon. You can email me, since I get that on my phone. shaykarena@yahoo.com I miss chatting w/ all my virtual friends.

Menu Plan Monday...Late Again and Moving This Week

My Menu plan won't be much this week, since we are moving Thurs., Fri., Sat., and Sun. I also had a mystery shop for dinner on Mon. Some of the meals might be boring, but hey, we are moving and we won't go hungry. Friday will be our busiest moving day, since it's not supposed to rain. check out orgjunkie.com for great menus and organizing ideas.

lunches:
Mon. - leftover cheeseburger pie, fruit
Tues. - turkey sandwiches, fruit
Wed. - leftover fried chicken, green beans, mashed potatoes (all leftovers from Tues.)
Thurs. - chicken salad sandwiches (cooked chicken in Crock Pot already), grapes or bananas, veggie sticks
Fri. - turkey sandwiches, veggies and dip
Sat. - chicken salad sandwiches, fruit, veggies
Sun. - turkey pot pie (from freezer meal I made)

dinners:
Mon. - mystery shop dinner out
Tues. - HG Asian Pork Chops (from previous menu that didn't get made) for DH while kids had McD's and I ate fried chicken at MOPS.
Wed. - Sausage, Pepperoni, and Veggie Pizza (going to use premade crust and make my own. making an extra for the freezer)
Thurs. - turkey tetrazzini (from freezer) I can just pop it into the oven when it is almost time to eat dinner and add some yeast rolls to it.
Fri.- hamburger dip (cooked ground beef, cream of mushroom, Velveeta, salsa) served w/ tortilla chips - going to have a crockpot of this at both houses, so we can eat when we are hungry no matter where we are
Sat. - Subway
Sun. - meatloaf (from freezer), mashed potatoes, peas

Sunday Roast Chicken

Sorry I forgot to post this recipe. The Grandmother's Sunday Roast Mix is very versatile. You can make an onion dip, use it on pot roast, chicken, pork chops, in many different dishes. It is one of our top sellers and comes in an individual mix or as a pantry staple w/ a container, scoop, label and a larger mix. Most mixes are equal to at least 6 mixes. I would have to check on this one, but I think it may be more than that. I am offering a special to get this pantry staple for $20 + shipping if you order by the end of the month. Orders have to go through me instead of my website to get the discounted price.

You can look at my website for many different uses for this mix as well. www.homemadegourmet.com/ShaySpeer

Here is the Sunday Roast Chicken Recipe:

6 chicken breasts

1 can cream of mushroom soup (or cream of chicken)

4 scoops (4 T) of Grandmother's Sunday Roast Mix

Put all ingredients in a freezer bag, seal, label, smoosh to get seasoning mixed throughout. Freeze. Thaw just enough to dump into crockpot. **Please do not put that bag into the microwave or you will get cancer-causing agents in your food.** Thaw a bit in the fridge.

Just dump it in, turn crock pot on low. Cook 6 hours. It is a forgivable recipe and can cook longer if you work away from home all day. It is great served w/ green beans and Mom's Smashed Potatoes. If you prefer to bake or grill it out, ask me how to do that, because you can do it any of the three ways. So, if you want to try HG, please email me (or call) shaykarena@yahoo.com I now get email on my new phone, so I can get in touch w/ you quickly.

Little Lincoln

We started going to the library for a preschool craft on Wednesdays. This is the first project Laurana got to make. The library provided a kit for free. The beard is just a fun foam beard that we glued black pom poms to. The hat is three pieces of fun foam. There is elastic to hold the hat and beard on her. The library bought a premade kit, but it would be pretty simple to make one yourself if you can find foam large enough for the tall hat. She loves it and wants to wear it almost nonstop. I hope you enjoy.

Menu Plan Monday...A Little Late

Please check out http://www.orgjunkie.com/ for many other great menus and organizing tips.

I know I am late, but I am actually sticking to my plan this week. I am relying heavily on Homemade Gourmet and on my trusty crock pot (CP by each that used the Crock Pot) to pull me through while we pack and move. We aren't doing all the moving this week, but we are making several trips. {We have a trailer we can pull behind our Chevy Tracker. It is amazing what we can haul in that. In one load, we got two adult-sized bikes, 3 lawn mowers, a weed eater, a park bench, and a rototiller on it.}
So, anyways, back to my menu. We save leftovers for lunch the following day, if we have any. I also try to do COST cooking - that is Cook Once, Serve Twice. I will do more COST in the future. That is where you make extra of something and change it up to make a new meal a couple days later. It saves a lot of time and effort in the kitchen and leftovers are not just the same old meal again.

Monday: Homemade Gourmet Garlic Basil Italian Sausage and Peppers, (CP) green beans, cheddar broccoli rice, applesauce

Tuesday: Homemade Gourmet Skillet Fried Rice (used ground turkey), carrots, chocolate chip cookies for dessert

Wednesday: German Pork Chops (CP), applesauce, Apple Cheddar Walnut Bread, peas

Thursday: Homemade Gourmet Sunday Roast Chicken (CP) (should be on HG website, but I will put it below), green beans, Easy & Elegant Twice Baked Potatoes

Friday: Homemade Gourmet Cheeseburger Mushroom Pie (using HG Taco Soup Mix seasoned ground beef that I cooked and froze), baked potatoes, steamed broccoli, peaches

Saturday: Asian Pork Tenderloin (CP), rice, mixed vegetables

Sunday: Lunch - Turkey Tetrazzini (CP) (from freezer, using leftovers from a turkey baked), dinner rolls, green beans

Dinner - Garlic Lemon Tilapia, carrots, oven baked fries

* For Breakfast: We will probably have bacon, egg, and cheese biscuits on Sat. morning. The remaining days will have a simple breakfast of some of the following: oatmeal, banana, yogurt, cereal, milk, fruit smoothie, or juice.

*Lunches: leftovers, lunchmeat or PB&J sanwiches w/ fruit and milk.

Fruits of My Labor

I have been a bit busy the last few days enjoying the fruits of my labor (and my husband's), since we got our tax refund. He works, but I labored these two beautiful children that are great tax deductions. I bought a new camera, cell phone, clothes, and took the kids to Build-A-Bear for their first time. It felt so good to buy things I needed ( and wanted) and the kids had so much fun at the bear store. Laurana got a dog w/ a Cinderella dress that perfectly matches her Halloween costume. Pics soon to follow w/ them dressed alike. Liam got a cowboy dog. His hat is being shipped from an online purchase, since the store was out of them. I also got a ballet costume for her dog for a later gift. I love my new phone and camera! I am so excited to get some new things.
My son was sick and w/ us shopping so much, I didn't cook as much as planned last week, so I had to carry over most of my menu. I will have a great menu posted on Mon., though, so stayed tuned. He is all better, but the doctor wasn't sure if he had pneumonia, so we even had to get a chest x-ray done last week.