Menu Plan Monday

or...How do you want your ham?


Brought to you by Menu Plan Monday at I'm an Organizing Junkie.


I went out on Christmas Eve and stood in line at the Honey-Baked Ham Store to get a ham. When I returned home, the box on the porch held the ham that Mike's brother sent us. We have (had) over 15 pounds of ham to consume. Not easy when only three of us will eat it.

Monday - Curried Ham Popover Pie, broccoli, couscous

Tuesday - pasta with Red Pepper sauce (courtesy of Ana who volunteered to cook tonight!) The recipe calls for gnocchi but Ana is using pasta (probably penne) which is easier.

Wednesday - New Year's Eve! How many ham appetizers can I come up with? We usually snack all night instead of eating a meal. So far I've come up with Glazed Ham Balls and Ham and Cheese Puffs.


Thursday - New Years's Day! Leftover leftovers.


Friday - Mike has the day off, so he will work his magic

Happy New Year everyone. Drink responsibly and drive safely.

A Money Saving Tip

from Sam, age 12

The best money saving tip is...



Don't spend it.

Bolt

I'm on vacation, so you just get a quick note. The review will come later.

It was a Disney movie, so you KNOW it was a single parent household. No Dad.

At least they didn't kill the mother.

Thanks to this blog, I love Germany!! I traveled there as a teenager to play soccer one summer. I liked it then, but I really, really want to go back.

News Flash from Las Vegas

It's snowing!

This is our neighbors palm tree.

Photo courtesy of Ana

A Small Piece of Culinary Advice

If you should happen upon a recipe for Clam Chowder that does NOT call for black pepper, skip it and move on!

Who wants Clam Chowder without black pepper? Also, minced clams are better than chopped.

One other sad note; we're out of saltine crackers.

The Results

Holiday Family Fun Night was a great success!

Tamales, cheese and chili.....delicious
Tamales, shredded pork.....yummy
Tamales, beef.....ask Mike
bunuelos.....not what I expected, but still very good
brownies.....TO DIE FOR!!
atole.....not so much
horchata.....pretty good
punch (apple cinnamon with fruit chunks).....tasty
diet Coke.....whatever
popcorn, freshly popped.....good
chicharrones.....didn't try them


We sampled most of the available fare. Drew the line at chicharrones. I didn't know what they were but they were fried and the kids couldn't get enough of them served with hot sauce. I thought they might be fried pork rinds, and they are. Never did find a churro. They must have been too hard (or expensive) to come by.

The tamales were all homemade by the moms from the school. They were so good we bought some to bring home. At a dollar each, it was a steal! The bunuelos turned out to be deep-fried tortillas with cinnamon sugar on them. Also good enough to bring some home.

Sam had a great time hangin' out at school and our money was well spent. We had a really good time.

Holiday Family Fun Night

Thursday evening is Holiday Family Fun Night at Sam's school.

Since the school is in a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood,

the food is usually great!!

This week it's tamales, horchata, atole, bunuelos and churros.

I can't wait!

Bread

My first attempt at making bread.

I left in the middle of the job to drive Ana around.

When I got back home it was already baking.

Kneading the dough (by machine. Are you kidding? Not by hand!)

Rising

The finished product.

It was delicious and not really very hard.

Next time I could do it myself from start to finish.

But I thank Mike for taking over when I left.

Photos by Ana

Taken near Hoover Dam.

The Economy

Doing my part.

I spent $493.86 today.
Of which $291.70 was on Christmas gifts.

This does not include the electic bill of $124.50 which automatically comes out of my account.

Not a single penny went on a credit card.
I've started a new family policy.
Nothing goes on the credit card.
If we don't have cash, we arent' buying it!

The family is not really liking it, but that is what the economy has done to us.

Happy holidays everyone. I hope this Friday of shopping left you feeling merry instead of frazzled!

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving came with all the traditional dishes.Turkey carcass

I wasn't there to see the whole turkey.

Someone carved it while I was elsewhere.

Stuffing

No, I don't have a picture of this finished dish either.Olives

Big enough for some people's fingers.Pumpkin pie

It's still in the oven.

That's how I managed a picture. Ana made apple galette.

Dinner.

Be patient

I'll get to it. I'll post after we eat. Then I'll have pictures.

The Drive

What she does for fun on the drive from Phoenix to Las Vegas.

Look carefully to see Sam in the back seat.

I guess the scenery isn't to her liking.

Not a good sign

If your hand weights are sprouting cobwebs,

you should probably use them more often.

Late Birthday

Sam invited his friend to go to a movie, eat cake and play video games as a late birthday party, of sorts.

Happy Birthday Sam!

The Sock

Is this your sock?

It appeared at my house.

It doesn't belong to me.

It's a Champion.

You know I'm too cheap to buy brand names.

If you'd like to claim it, leave a comment. And there's only ONE!!

National Adoption Day

This is my contribution.

Did all of you know my children are adopted? They are.

I also rescued these two.

And this one.

Irregardless

ir·re·gard·less (ĭr'ĭ-gärd'lĭs)
adv. Nonstandard
Regardless.
[Probably blend of irrespective and regardless.]


Usage Note: Irregardless is a word that many mistakenly believe to be correct usage in formal style, when in fact it is used chiefly in nonstandard speech or casual writing. Coined in the United States in the early 20th century, it has met with a blizzard of condemnation for being an improper yoking of irrespective and regardless and for the logical absurdity of combining the negative ir- prefix and -less suffix in a single term. Although one might reasonably argue that it is no different from words with redundant affixes like debone and unravel, it has been considered a blunder for decades and will probably continue to be so.



Irregardless of your opinion, this stupid word got it's very own post on my blog!

Fiddlesticks

Whenever we travel to Phoenix, the kids drive Go-Karts

at Fiddlesticks.

I actually had to yell out onto the course for Ana to get off her cell phone while driving!

She wants to get her driver's permit in February.

I'm not so sure. Sam will clearly never be able to drive a subcompact car.


They look pretty good moving at speed.

Sam liked to skid the back end around the turns.

When Sam was an infant, I had a recurring dream that he died in a car crash.

This does not help me sleep well at night.