Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance....Right??

This is the year of Homemade Gifts......There! It is declared...now I need to get to work :>

So many ideas...

I really love the gift basket thing. Here are some cute baskets that I found. I find these fun and easy to make. Check out stores like: Ross, TJ Maxx and Marshalls for Gourmet foods and cool containers.

Everyone has a "thing" that they are in to and these can be personalized and not crazy expensive to put together.

You could also pull from your talents and make up batches of things to make multiple baskets. How about Soap? Sauces? Cookies? Candy? Something Sewn?

Here are some photos that I found on "Yahoo!" that I found inspirational.

Cute...simple for the "Tea" lover......

What's their favorite candy? This is cute!

This container is great! Recycle and Reuse right?....I also like the little wrapped gifts in it.

For the coffee couple....

How simple and beautiful! Check out Ross!! This bath stuff is super cheap!

Just a couple of their favorites in a cute basket....

What girl wouldn't love this...How about using their favorite color as a theme...

Fill the basket up by opening the boxes and displaying the packages....I love this container too!

How about a container with a lid....think about wrapping it up with a fabulous bow....filled with their favorite kind of magazines or books.....stationary.....the sky's the limit!

Menu Making Monday....and Tuesday :>

The men on my husbands side and the women on my side all have had problems with their hearts.

My husband and I are both pretty active people and we eat fairly well. We try to keep our kids active and aware too. Of course we get off track like everyone else.




I find that we all do much better when I plan our meals for the week. I like to post the menu here for you to get some ideas and myself to follow too. The 5 "P's" right....Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance :>

Some Facts:

- Adolescent girls who have frequent family meals, and a positive atmosphere during those meals, are less likely to have eating disorders. (University of Minnesota, 2004)

-Family dinners are more important than play, story time and other family events in the development of vocabulary of younger children. (Harvard Research, 1996)

What are the benefits?
-You can extract a grocery list from your menu choices.
-Because you buy only what you need, less food is wasted.
-You know with plenty of notice what’s for dinner – no more frantic 5 p.m. crazyness.
-Cooking is more enjoyable, because odds are you’ll be more prepared.
-You’ll have more variety, because you’ve planned it.
-It’s healthier, because it cuts down on drive-thru runs.
-It’s cheaper, too, because you’re eating out less, you can menu plan around your coupons, and you can intentionally cook with seasonal ingredients.

(borrowed from "Simple Mom")

I know that there are a ton of ways to do this.... I am kind of old fashioned and like to write everything down. I went over to Michaels and found a Weekly tear-off, magnetic Calendar for a Dollar. I write it down and then hang that on the fridge for everyone to see. I do browse through several websites for the ideas and them save them under "cooking" in a folder on my favorites. There are some online Calendars too.

Here is a printable calendar. Print 1.....

Here are some great sites that I found for more neat ideas on Menu planning, recipes,

and different ways that others do it .

"Hillbilly Housewife"

"Serious Moms"

I think that this is a fun blog....right up "my" alley. Another fun idea for my blog too. I'll be joining "Menu Plan Mondays" @ "I'm an organizing Junkie." Check it out for tons of Menu ideas or join us to help keep yourself on 'Menu Planning Track'.

So Here it is for the week:

Monday: Stir-fried Veggies and Couscous

Tues: Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup (Lots of Chicken, carrots and whole wheat pasta)

Wednesday: Lime and Cilantro Pork Tacos (Shredded Pork and Corn Tortillas) with Black Beans

Thursday: Grilled Pepper, Onion, Sausage Calzones (Turkey Sausage and whole wheat dough)

Friday: Chicken Souvlaki Salad

Saturday: Chicken Fried Rice (Brown rice)

Sunday: Eggplant Parmesian

I want to have some healthy Breakfasts and Desserts available too...Halloween Candy overload!

Here's what I have planned for those:

Chopped Baked Apples and Homemade Frozen Yogurt

Cherry Almond Crumble

Apple Butter (yummy breakfast choice too!)

Light and Fluffy Dream

Maple Nut & Pear Scones

Power Granola

I'd love to hear your ideas for Meal Planning too!

Crazy for Cornbread..."Foodie Friday"

I have a confession to make........

....until last nights dinner I had been a

"Cornbread in a Box/Bag" Girl!

I really had a craving and thought it would go great with the BBQ chicken

that my kids requested.....no mix! What's a girl to do....go to the internet.

I had no idea that Cornbread was so stinkin easy to make!!!!

This is the best Cornbread that I have every had!

Ingredients
2/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 2/3 cups milk
2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup cornmeal
4 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

Directions
In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Combine the eggs and milk. Combine flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with egg mixture.
Pour into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking pan. Bake at 400 degrees F for 22-27 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cut into squares; serve warm.

I wish that mine was this cute.....another time :>

So many recipes...so little time.

Everything is better with Bacon.....

Red Onion...hmmm

Did you know>>>>>>>>>>>

In the USA, we've known about and eaten cornbread since arrival of the Europeans.

The native Americans learned early to dry and grind corn into corn meal, the basic component of cornbread. (Read more here)

Here is a Non-American version....I guess it scans the globe.

So, what do you add to Cornbread??

Here are some that I came across...yumm!

You have to check out this recipe! A Casserole...hamburger...cornbread...

How about shapes.....how cute...Corn-bread Man

The classic "Corn" shape.... I still want these.

A Sahuaro.....a special place in my heart :>

How about giving these a try:

Mandarin Orange Cornbread

Pineapple Cream Cheese Cornbread

(Click here for these and some others)




Butternut Squash Cornbread

“What’s Cooking” in South Pittsburg, TN.

A Cornbread Festival of course! Complete with Classic Car Show, Beauty Pageant and 5K! See it Here.

Do you have any ingredients that you add to your Cornbread? How about a special Pan?
Thanks again to "Designs by Gollum" for hosting another "Foodie Friday"

Click on the Icon above to return for more recipes.

Jolly Thoughts.....

Maybe it is because Target and all of the other stores have had their Christmas stuff up since before Halloween....or maybe because there are only 62944 Minutes and 3776612 Seconds until the big day that I am now thinking "AHHHHH!!!"

Last year I bought those Huge boxes of unbrakeable ornaments on sale after Christmas with the intention of making one of these....if I start now.......

Then I started thinking about Wreaths and what I could "Make" this year. These are some beautiful ideas!

Magnolia trees are in abundance here and they have the coolest pod things on them...this would be an inexpensive one to make.


I am inspired by this one.... I have been saving Christmas cards for years....with the intention of doing something fabulous with them. This is cute and the kids would probably enjoy cutting out the pictures.

Sooo Cute! EASY too!

I love this green and white this would be a pretty wreath for the window by my dining room table which I could set in these colors too.

Wouldn't this make a nice gift? I think of my Mother in Law when I see this.

Pinecones....again all over the place here...another kid friendly project.

Darnit!!! I wish I would have seen this before Halloween!!!! Wouldn't this make a great Halloween wreath!! some candy corn accents....black ribbon...spiders! I am so gonna keep this in the Halloween file.

I love this idea.....the Mom part of my brain thinks it could be very noisy around here with these hanging all over the house.

This year like most families, I am trying to think of more creative and frugal gift giving options.... I think that these two wreaths would be beautiful gifts and the children would love to participate in the project too......What a great opportunity to again teach them the spirit of the Season....and who wouldn't want an adorable, fantastic smelling Gingerbread Wreath!!!

Looking up more frugal holiday gift giving ideas to do with the children....stay tuned for that!

(Pictures thanks to Martha Stewart Online, Home Depot, and William-Sonoma)

A "Scrapin'" Bee in my Bonnet......

I guess today was Scrap Day.....and I have the flat butt and sore back to prove it.

Somehow I managed to do 5 loads of laundry, Teach my Spin class, Take another Master Spin class, make a decent dinner and do these............. (How many shots were in that Mocha this morning.......and where are those kids!)

Did I mention that I love this Digital Scrap thing! You want it...you got it!

Where does the time go????

.....................I know.....hit fast forward to Halloween and don't stop till after the New Year!

Our Halloween was Spooktacular....unfortunately I didn't get the pictures that I wanted to post....I may have thrown my camera away!!! I know what your thinking! CRAZY! It's a long story.... but, Santa if you are reading...now would be a great time for that Digital SLR that I have been hinting for :)

So...what have I been doing with my time??? Well, I have been working out every day ...20 weeks now until my Half Ironman ...run,run,run....swim,swim,swim...ride like the wind!

I did get to go to Balboa Park on Tuesday with my son....it makes me excited to take my kids to places that I loved to go to when I was a kid. The BONUS is that residents get FREE admission on Tuesdays....so we headed over to the Science Center....perfect for a little boy! We also got to go visit Grandma's Art Studio in Spanish Village....

So, now it is time to think about Thanksgiving!! I really do love to cook, but what I love the most is setting the table......Here is some inspiration that I found online (sorry, not sure where I picked these up now, if you know please let me know so that I can give credit ).

I really like the brown and white with the little touches of gold

Unfortunately....or fortunately (depends on how you look at it I guess)......the family has decided to meet in the middle of our towns and have Thanksgiving brunch at the Queen Mary!

I think this will be a great time and the kids will really enjoy it.....me too! I haven't been on the Queen Mary and am facinated by it's history.

So....what are your Holiday plans?

Ohhh Halloween.....I love Halloween!

What Kind of Halloween Pumpkin am I?

You are undoubtedly An elaborately designed pumpkin!
Halloween is not just about tricks and treats for you,

it's a chance to make and display beautifully crafted decorations to

celebrate this magical holiday.

(Thanks Martha Stewart online for this fun quiz)

Ok..Ok...I know I'm totally a Halloween Dork. I have been dressing up for Halloween and trying to scare Trick-or-Treaters forever. I am so excited to have a Sweety that is equally as dorky as I am when it comes to this fun Holiday too (sorry Dear).

So, my favorite Holiday is approaching and we are having a little family and friend get together..... I figured I share some of the stuff I have come across during my rediculous amount of time spent searching for creepy food and cool decorations.

The Food is the coolest part....I found some really disgusting stuff too! I'll have to save some of those ideas for when my children are a bit older I think....

How cute is this.....this is as "cute" as I am planning to get!

....okay! I guess these cute little Mummy Dogs will make their way on my table too...

Devil Eyes anyone?....
I just laugh outloud at this!!! Cat-litter cake!! complete with poop!

ugghhh I hat cats too! (sorry Grandma)

Check Here for the recipes above and a ton more.

The Graveyard is out...the moving lighted, huge spider is crawling its way through the glow in the dark spider webs....the strobe-light is set and my Sweety got out the fog machine and juiced it up....

This is the addition to this years front yard Decor ... it really does look cool at night!

thanks again Martha Stewart Living.

These little numbers will make their way around my house too!!! Brains, guts and stuff in a jar...cooool!

I think that this is so pretty for Fall in general...I'll be trying my hand at it too......

I buy "Martha Stewart Living Magazine" twice a year....The Halloween and the Thanksgiving issues. Good ol' Martha always comes up with things that I can use during these times. What I really liked about the next two are the low cost and cool look.... black paper! Hello! I can do this!

The kids will have fun with these Bats on a clothspin.

I guess I have enought ideas to keep me busy for the next couple of days... Hopefully I'll be able to post some pictures of it all pulled together. I would love to hear some of your ideas and even see some pictures...... Have a Spooky One!!!