Menu Plan Monday: 8/22 - 8/28

We went camping this weekend. It was wonderful to get away, relax and enjoy family time. The weather was perfect. Warm, but not too hot. I was pretty tired, though, and slept for a really long time last night. That's not a bad thing, right? Today Peanut and I are resting up and getting some things done around the house so that we can go to the zoo tomorrow!

We're implementing Meatless Monday in our house starting this week. I lead one Weight Watchers meeting each week. The center where I work is starting a challenge/contest for our members to do this in their own homes. I can't wait to see the recipes they try and share what I'm doing in our home. I definitely get just as many new ideas from our wonderful members as they get from me.

Here's our plan for this week:

Monday: Cheese Tortellini with Spinach and Tomatoes

Tuesday: Unstuffed Yellow Squash

Wednesday: Chicken Noodles

Thursday: leftovers

Friday: Homemade Sloppy Joes, Sweet Corn

Saturday: Cheeseburgers, Steak Fries, Lima Beans

Sunday: Homemade Pizza

Hope everyone has a great week! Good luck to all those moms (and dads) out there sending your kiddos off to school, especially if it's the first time.

Homemade Taco Seasoning

A few months ago, my father-in-law's doctor told him that he needed to drastically reduce his sodium intake. One of the recipes my mother-in-law found and shared with me was for homemade taco seasoning with much less salt than store-bought.

I made my first batch a few weeks ago, tweaking the recipe just a bit to fit our family's taste. It's earned rave reviews used with both chicken and ground beef. Next time I'm going to try it with ground turkey.

Homemade Taco Seasoning

1/4 cup flour

1/4 cup chili powder

3 tablespoons dried minced onion

1 tablespoon garlic powder

2 1/2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons dried oregano

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons cayenne pepper (more or less to suit your taste)

1 teaspoon ground coriander 

Combine all ingridients. Store in a cool dry place in an airtight container (I used an empty bulk seasoning container, washed and dried first.). Will keep for up to 1 year.

Use 1/4 cup of seasoning mix to 1 pound of meat.

It's better for you, costs much less than the pre-packaged stuff and (in our opinion) tastes better. Win-Win-Win.

I'm linking up with the following fabulous parties:

What I'm Loving Wednesday



I'm loving the Rose camera bag from Jo Totes. Actually, love might not be a strong enough word. I've been a bit obsessed with these lately. I love the Teal & Pewter, but I think the color I love most is Marigold.

I'm loving TOMS shoes. They're the awesome company that donates a pair of shoes to someone in need every time a pair is purchased. The red canvas is my favorite style.

I'm loving sun tea, clothes drying on the line and the 12-mile bike ride Peanut & I took today. It's all thanks to Mr. Sunshine!

(photo from **Mary** on Flickr)

I'm loving these camera lens coffee mugs. Aren't they awesome? They include a lid that looks like a lens cap. Coffee and photography, two of my favorite things in one!

I'm loving this new clutch design from Gussy. They're made from an upcycled vintage house coat. Environmentally conscious AND adorable!

Menu Plan Monday: 8/15 - 8/21

Week #3 of just cooking for Peanut and I. I hate not having my husband at the dinner table with us. Hopefully his schedule allows that in the near future. In the meantime, I'm trying to look on the bright side and prepare dishes I love or want to try, but that I know he wouldn't care for. Then, on the weekend, we make all of his favorites.

We have a busy week so lots of quick and easy meals on the menu. This is when having a freezer stash really pays off.

Monday: Chicken Baseballs, mac & cheese, corn

Tuesday: Brown Rice with Turkey & Tomatoes (from the freezer stash)

Wednesday: Chicken Parmesan (from freezer stash), whole wheat pasta, lima beans

Thursday: Tacos (I know we just had tacos last week, but I'm on a kick and craving them again.)

Friday: Hot Dogs and Brats at camp

Saturday: Cheeseburgers at camp

Sunday: Breakfast for Dinner (pancakes, sausage, eggs)

Happy Monday to all of you! Hope your week is off to a great start and that it gets even better.

Fair Week: Day 8

The county fair had their closing ceremonies last night. Today there was a steady line of campers and stock trailers streaming out of the fairgrounds. It was also pickup day for the Home Arts building. All of my projects are now safe and sound at home. My winnings totaled $26! Not bad for something I did 100% for fun and for the love of crafting.

My final project to share comes from the Wreaths department.

I won 1st place on my diaper wreath! When I picked it up, the ladies at the booth said they received lots of comments on it throughout the week. That made me smile. :)

In case you can't tell, the wreath is made by tying rolled-up diapers onto a wreath frame using ribbon, then adding baby washcloths and other small toys or baby gear as embellishments. I've made these for every baby shower I've attended for probably the last 2 years or so. They're always a huge hit!

I definitely can't take credit for the creativity of this project. I learned about the process from my friend Shannon. She has fabulous posts detailing the instructions and materials. Check them out here and here.

I'm a little sad that fair is over. I love crafting in general and don't need ribbons or kudos to continue doing so. However, there's something about the excitement of entering projects in the fair that I love. I think it's because it makes me feel like a kid again. :)

My sister-in-law said it best on the way back from recovering our projects: "Only 358 days until time to drop off our fair projects."

Here's where I'm linking up with this project:

Fair Week: Day 7

Today's project comes from the Pot Holders department. There's a funny story behind this one.

My sister-in-law and I are both pretty competitive. Okay, we're really competitive. Put the two of us together, entering against each other in the same competition and it gets pretty heated. Fortunately, it's a good-natured kind of competitive spirit. We take competition very seriously, but we're not going to genuinely get mad if we don't win.

Last year we jokingly bantered back and forth about our fair projects, but we weren't entering anything in the same categories so there was no head-to-head competition. My father-in-law said this was a good thing because he didn't want to witness World War III.

Fast forward to Christmas. My mother-in-law pulled out two identically wrapped gifts, handed one to each of us and said we had to open them at the same time. They were pot holder weaving looms, the kind with the plastic square of pegs and a bag full of brightly-colored loops. These particular kits were specifically packaged for kids and even said "For ages 5+" on the box. I'm not sure whether or not my mother-in-law meant them to be gag gifts, but my sister-in-law and I didn't take them as such. We both had the exact same thought when we opened them. "Game on!"

Guess what? I won 1st place! LOL

And in case you're wondering, my sister-in-law got 3rd. I'm going to guess there will be some purchasing of extra loops for a rematch next year. :)

Fair Week: Day 6

Happy Friday! We have a pretty exciting weekend planned. I'm loving the MUCH cooler temperatures and praying the rain holds off.

Ready to see another of my fair projects? Of course you are! :) Today's department is Creative Card Making.

3rd place in the Get Well category. I found this idea on Pinterest and thought it was adorable. It took me about 5 minutes to make.

2nd place in the Christmas category. I actually made and mailed these cards for our first Christmas as a married couple back in 2008. Oh, the memories! I actually learned this design in a card makihng class. I love that it's Christmasy, but with a more non-traditional color palette.

I was a teensy bit disappointed that this card didn't place. I'm excited to actually send it to someone for their birthday, though. (It's supposed to be a vertical card. Not really sure why they displayed it horizontal.)

In the humidity, the adhesive holding the cardstock together on either side of the window let go and it was a hot mess in the display case. This is the picture I took just after completing the work. The saying and the cracker idea originally came from this idea on Pinterest. I guess it's better as a favor box gift than as a card. :(

I submitted a sympathy card too, but I didn't take a picture pre-entry and I couldn't find an angle to take a picture of it in the display case. It wasn't anything super facy so you're not missing out. :)