Monday, June 07, 2010

Menu Plan Monday

This week's contenders:

That might be too many new recipes in one week, but we'll see since all the flavors are familiar. New recipes are from Health.com. I get the magazine and really enjoy it.

Homestyle Chicken Hash is from Cheap. Fast. Good! It's a good kid friendly cookbook but absolutley NOTHING is seasoned. I add my own.

Monday, May 17, 2010

Menu Plan Monday

Again with the menu planning? Yes. It really does make it easier for me.

  • Chili Colorado*, tortillas, refried beans
  • Pork** and Bean Casserole, a vegetable*** yet to be determined
  • Garlic Tilapia, couscous, vegetable
  • Chicken Ziti Bake****, garlic bread, vegetable
  • Pizza Friday

*I'm using leftover pork and NOT beef, so it's not really Chili Colorado, but don't tell anyone.**

**Mike grilled a pork shoulder roast which resulted in lots of leftovers.

***The vegetables depend on what looks good at Trader Joe's.

****Sam wants Chicken Parmesan but this is easier and everyone likes it.

Monday, January 18, 2010

Menu Plan Monday



In no particular order:

Brought to you by I'm an Organizing Junkie. Her post wasn't up when I did mine, so you'll have to look around for it.

Sunday, January 03, 2010

I stand corrected

I missed a zero in my geocaching post.

As a nice reader pointed out, there are 966,614 geocaches around the world, not just a mere 95,000.

It's going to take a while to find them all.

A Hidden Gem

While geocaching over a long weekend, we happened upon a great little Mexican restaurant in downtown Henderson. Dos Potrillos Mexican Food was a fantastic Madre y Padre place on Water Street. It was one of those great little "hole-in-the-wall" places that just screams local color.

Besides having wonderful authentic Mexican food, it's located across the street from the El Dorado and Rainbow Club Casinos. Talk about great people watching! It was New Year's Eve so there was an abundance of drunk people already at noon!

And, unlike other downtown establishments, Dos Potrillos is open on the weekends. Many restaurants close Friday through Sunday as they cater to city workers and the city offices are only open Monday through Thursday.

If you happen to be on Water Street, I recommend Dos Potrillos.

Saturday, January 02, 2010

Geocaching

Recently, Mike and I have taken up the hobby of geocaching. There are more than 96,000 geocaches hidden throught the world.

I bought him a hand held GPS unit for Christmas.

We weren't very good at it when we first started. There are a few tricks to learn, but we're catching on.



I also bought him Geocaching for Dummies. That seems to be helping, too.



At first, we were really discouraged that we couldn't find any. Then we changed our outlook. We started viewing it as an activity we can do together outside in the sunshine. If we happen to find geocaches, that's just a bonus.



Now that we've been at it for a few weeks, we are finding more and more caches.



And we get to spend time together outside in the sunshine.

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

2010

It's not a New Year's Resolution. Many, many years ago I resolved not to make any more resolutions and I've stuck with it.

I do think I'd like to blog more (and perhaps Facebook less) in the coming year.

I'm going to start with Menu Plan Monday. It helps me prepare healthier meals and I don't have to wonder what's for dinner at 4pm.

We'll be serving more vegetables around here, too. My health is deteriorating since a knee injury. I've found an exercise routine I can do, so I'm at the gym every day now, too.

I'd prefer NOT to have a stroke this year, so changes are needed.

Looking forward to seeing all of you in the year to come.

Saturday, December 26, 2009

Christmas Eve

Mexican Train arrived from Oregon. We had a great time playing it!
The kids being silly.
The tradition is to open one present that came in the mail on Christmas Eve.

Ana got TONS of nail polish.


And Sam got a shirt with a guitar on the front that plays music! Very cool.

Friday, December 04, 2009

She's a Whiz!

A new post is required because I'm tired of looking at colonoscopy prep!

The wine glass is not hers. The sippy cup is.

Friday, October 23, 2009

Colonoscopy Prep Made Easy(er)

Let's face it. Colonoscopy prep is not easy. It's long, dreadful and tedious. It's also a LOT more tolerable than chemotherapy and radiation, and so, we endure.

Four litres is A LOT of liquid to consume. And the stuff tastes nasty. I discovered the following on my most recent prep.

  • The package (TriLyte) now comes with flavor packs! Big whoop.
  • Throw away the flavor packs.
  • Buy bottled water (in 16.9 ounce bottles) to mix with the powder
  • After the powder and bottled water are well mixed, pour the liquid back into the bottles.
  • Pour Crystal Light on-the-go packs (or something similar) into each bottle. I used Propel fitness water packs since they are clear. NO RED food coloring is allowed!
  • Chill well.
  • Be sure to mark your bottles with big black XXX or something so they are not mistaken for plain old water in the fridge.
  • Slice a lime into small wedges and have ready with your Prep solution.
  • Drink through a straw as far back in your mouth as you can stand it.
  • The cold liquid through the straw can produce a slight "Brain Freeze" but pressing the tongue to the roof of the mouth usually fixes it.
  • If you start to gag (which I do) take a quick squeeze of lime and drink some more.

See #5 on Day Before the Examination on this website. This doctor does the prep slightly different than my doctor, but puts on his website that the use of Crystal Light is okay. The manufacturer says not to add anything else. I'm listening to the doctor in Utah.

All of these things got me through the prep much more easily than the last time where I threw up roughly half of what I managed to swallow.

See you again in five years for an update. The pharmaceutical companies really need to come up with a better prep!

Monday, August 31, 2009

Menu Plan Monday

Yes, there is a plan this week.
I went back to old stand-bys that everyone will eat.
Ana has her pre-test to determine her eligibility to test for Second Degree Black in October on Wednesday, so I'm making her favorite, Chicken Dijon.

  • Clam Chowder, salad, crusty bread
  • Spaghetti, tomato sauce, Italian sausage (I had Mike grill the sausages with last night's dinner)
  • Chicken Dijon, couscous, broccoli
  • Tacos, refried beans

Brought to you by I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Sweet 16

My baby is 16 today.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Menu Plan Monday

What's for dinner this week? So far, this.

  • Carmelized Onion Penne, garlic chip greens (Sorry. TWO food network recipes. Their website sucks, but the food looked good so there you are.)
  • Breakfast - Pancakes, eggs, bacon
  • Turkey Burgers, Macaroni Salad
  • something else. I'm going to end up at the store again (we're out of dog food) so I'll probably put fish on the menu.
  • Pizza Friday (which I dislike, but the family likes it so I'll eat salad or something.)

Bon appetit!

Brought to you by I'm on Organizing Junkie.

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Happy Birthday

We have two family birthdays this month.
Ana is Sweet 16.




Mike is 46.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Random Things I LIke

  • crushed up saltines in my chili - there was a time when I wouldn't eat saltines because they are carbs!
  • Earl Grey Tea - Hot or cold
  • summer
  • black tea with honey and lemon - hot, when I have a cold
  • Tropical Black Iced Tea from Fresh and Easy - but I only buy it on clearance, because I'm cheap
  • the smell of rain on pavement - a rarity in Las Vegas
  • freshly mowed grass - although it makes me sneeze
  • being able to provide frivolous things to my kids on occasion
  • pesto, especially homemade - so bright and fresh and green
  • listening to Sam play his electric guitar - but I'm still buying him headphones

  • Naveen Andrews - a little mancake on Lost
  • Traveling to Utah by car if I'm not driving. Seven and a half hours to do NOTHING!
  • Las Vegas 51's baseball

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Not Quite.

They look rather the same to me, but I realize upon closer inspection that they are not.




Mark Harmon and Bruce Greenwood



Monday, August 17, 2009

Menu Plan Monday

Ah, yes. Meal planning time again. Here we go!

  • Turkey burgers, chips (I buy two snack size bags and we split them between four people.)
  • Ground Beef Stroganoff, broccoli (Yes, I'm using ground turkey instead.)
  • Chicken something. A family favorite. I have frozen chicken breasts. I have NO IDEA what they will turn into for dinner. I also have frozen vegetables.
  • Ummm...There's pasta and eggs in the house. Maybe Pasta Carbonara (a la Rachael Ray.) I'll have to buy pancetta, but it's pretty cheap at Fresh & Easy.
  • Payday! The sky's the limit! I'm hoping to avoid Pizza Friday. I really don't like pizza very much. Don't tell Joe. He'll unfriend me!

Another pantry/freezer week. Somehow I managed to spend all of our money last week so this week is a little tight. Happily, I keep a pretty well stocked pantry.

As always, more menus to steal at I'm an Organizing Junkie. I'm posting the blog, not the Menu Plan Monday entry because it's not up yet and I'm lazy like that.

Bon Appetit!

Friday, August 14, 2009

Food Update

It's interesting and helpful for me if I have a Menu Plan, but I don't lose any sleep over changing it.
This week:
  • Monday: Leftover buffet
  • Tuesday: Baked Teriyaki Chicken (What's that weird sauce on it?)
  • Wednesday: Karen and kids to Joe's for a karate thing. I made tacos earlier in the day so Mike would have something to eat.
  • Thursday: Roast Chicken. I found a whole chicken at Fresh & Easy for $2.04. The execution of the dish was less than stellar. Next time I'll stick with my Williams-Sonoma prep and skip Tony Bourdain. Mike's prep of the Tony Bourdain Roast Chicken results in a fabulous meal. Mine resulted in having Mike come home and having to rescue dinner. Sigh.
  • Friday: Mike's birthday! He's bringing home steak to grill on the barbecue. When he told me he wanted grilled steak, I was sure to tell him that I would ruin it. He already knew that, so had planned to grill it himself.

In case you didn't know: we have a Weber Kettle Charcoal Grill. No gas or propane is EVER used to grill our food. If we had gas or propane, I could probably be trusted to grill. Mike uses kindling, briquets and real mesquite charcoal to build a perfect fire. He then waits for perfect coals and cooks over indirect heat.


Because I know you're all worried about us eating charred beef which will kill us!!


Monday, August 10, 2009

Menu Plan Monday

Brought to you by Laura at I'm an Organizing Junkie.
There are many, many menus to cheat from.

My plan looks something like this.

  • Monday: Leftovers-including: roast chicken, asst cheeses, salami, artichokes, marinated mushrooms, harissa beans, homemade pesto, homemade hummus, pita
  • Tuesday: Baked chicken. There are two breasts with ribs leftover from the weekend.
  • Wednesday: Pasta, I think. Lots of it in the pantry. Sauce? Pesto or maybe I'll whip up a tomato sauce. I might just serve it with butter and cheese.
  • Thursday: There's frozen ground turkey in the freezer. Maybe tacos. Sam likes them.
  • Friday: Mike's birthday. He hasn't decided if he wants me to cook or if he wants to eat out. He doesn't usually like to eat dinner out, especially after a busy week at work.

Updates as they occur, I guess.

An update before it even posts! I'm making Baked Teriyaki Chicken.

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Just Getting Here?

Then you're too late. The home page of K*Bot World has already changed.

You gotta be fast to keep up with some people!