Friday ramblings

I’ve been craving cupcakes the last two days. Eric offered to go get me one last night while we were laying in bed and we said goodnight… I said “yeah I’m going to be dreaming of cupcakes.”  Of course, I told him not to go out at 10 at night to get me a cupcake! That’s crazy. But he is bringing me one home today!! YAY!!

Our toilet has been leaking since we moved in on February 22^nd. The maintenance man has come out twice. First time saying he fixed it, second time saying he thought there was a hairline crack and if it kept leaking to call.

I bought some of the blue bleach tablets to put in the tank a few days after the second time he was here…yep there’s a crack. I now have blue all over my floor! Jakey loved pointing this out to me. Three weeks after we call them for the 3^rd time (actually I went to the office and complained) they replace the toilet!

Tonight is our date night. We get Jakey back in the morning, so tonight we are renting movies and grilling burgers and corn. Oh and I’m having a cupcake! =)

Have a wonderful weekend!

~ Cassey

Monday Menu - Yeah but it's Wednesday!!

I know it’s Wednesday and I’m just now posting my “Monday Menu” but I haven’t been on the computer much this week.

Last Saturday I took my GED test, pretty sure I passed it. Results take THREE weeks!! WOW, but they do have to grade the essays, so it’s not all computer graded. Tentative date to start school is May 24^th! I can’t wait.

Here is what I had planned for this week, but Monday and Tuesday I didn’t cook, we ate sandwiches. So those will be moved to next week.

Monday – DiGiorno pizza (love their stuffed crust one)

Tuesday – Hamburgers

Wednesday – Chili spaghetti (Eric will cook)

Thursday – Mozzarella Mushroom Chicken (We loved this, plus it was easy)

Friday – Hot Dogs (actually more like sausages, we cook them and add sautéed onions and bell peppers! YUM)

Saturday – Chicken Pot Pie (new recipe)

Sunday – Stir Fry Meal (frozen, just cook and it’s done!)

It’s a pretty easy week. I think we’ll have pizza tonight and move the Mozzarella Chicken to next week.

Taco Casserole from last week was great! Tasted like a taco salad/7-layer dip type of thing. Can’t wait to make it again.

How is your week going? Mine is ok. Missing my kiddos and really ready to find a job!! Didn't help on Sunday when I opened the paper and the first article is "St. Francois County Unemployment Rate Increases" - yeah not a good sign for someone who has moved around a lot in the last year, so her resume looks horrible. Not giving up though!! 

Have a wonderful day!!

~ Cassey

Mozzarella Mushroom Chicken

Last night I fixed mozzarella mushroom chicken.

It was very good! Quick and easy too.

I used Monterey Jack cheese instead of mozzarella. Not on purpose. I didn’t buy mozzarella cheese at the store since I have a couple packages. When I was cooking I just assumed the Monterey jack cheese was the cheese I had got for this dish.

Eric even asked about the cheese being different after I made it. I thought it was funny he thought I was SUPPOSED to use mozzarella.

This morning I woke up and realized…OH NO that Monterey jack cheese is for my taco casserole. WHOOPS!

I guess I will be going back to the store today or tomorrow.

The chicken was still great! If you like mushrooms and garlic, you’ll love this.

I think I’m going to start buying boneless skinless thighs instead of breasts. Eric and I both like dark meat better. He doesn’t mind eating the breast and I will eat it every now and then, but really I don’t like it.

I also made veggies and pasta salad to go with our chicken.

Have you ever tried the Suddenly Salads? I love them. We had bacon ranch last night, yummy!

Eric and I like frozen or fresh vegetables better than canned. So I started getting the ones that you can steam in the package. So easy! Throw in the microwave and 5 minutes or so later they are done. I always add a little butter and season salt.

I think I’m going to make spaghetti tonight instead of meatloaf that was planned.   What’s for dinner tonight at your house?

Have a wonderful day!

~ Cassey

Monday Menu

Our menu for this week

Monday – Shepherd’s pie

Tuesday - Mozzarella Mushroom Chicken

Wednesday – Meatloaf (Eric will make this)

Thursday – Taco Casserole

Friday – Sausage Dip

Saturday – Spaghetti

Sunday – Baked Chicken in the crockpot

We are trying to not go out to eat for at least two months. 

~ Cassey

Migas

Good Morning!

Last night Eric and I fixed Migas from Pioneer Woman’s Cookbook.

Excellent!!

I messed up on buying cheese and didn’t have enough, so next time we will definitely be putting in more cheese. But this dish was so good. When I read the recipe I was thinking it would be like a breakfast burrito without the tortilla.

It was better! Although this morning we were wishing we had flour tortillas to use the leftovers to make burritos.

Eric said the cilantro and jalapenos make this dish and I agree.

I found the recipe on Ree’s website so I can share with you…

Migas

Have a wonderful Sunday!

~ Cassey

New Recipes

So far this week we have had two new to us recipes.

The crockpot chicken was so good. Definitely will be making this again. I served it over rice, but I also think it would be good with chips. When the chicken was done, Eric pulled it apart instead of leaving the breasts whole. Also we had to add some cornstarch mixed with water because it was so runny…yeah I need to READ the directions before just dumping the ingredients in the pot. I didn’t drain the beans and corn…whoops!

We didn’t get to try the sandwiches that were planned for Thursday night, will try another time.

On Friday night Eric grilled burgers. YUM! I love homemade grilled burgers. Eric has heard about people putting peanut butter on their burger. My first thought was YUCK. Well I let him try it first and he said it was good. I still had reservations, but I did try a half of a burger. Just peanut butter, meat and the bun…it was actually good. Not something I would eat every time we grill burgers, but it will be something I have again.

We also tried some bbq jalapeno poppers from my Pioneer Woman's cookbook. Very good! Jalapenos stuff with cream cheese and cheddar cheese, wrapped with bacon, brushed with bbq sauce and baked.

I had planned on making the poppers, but had a bad headache, so Eric made them. He did an excellent job cooking our dinner Friday night. Not that I had any doubts as like I have mentioned before he loves to cook and I’m just starting to like it.

Tonight I’m planning on making Migas from the Pioneer Woman’s cookbook. Another new recipe! Can’t wait to try it.

Have you tried any new recipes lately? How did they turn out?

Have a great weekend!

~ Cassey

Menu Planning

I found "I'm an Organized Junkie" and decided I wanted to start planning our menu for the week.

One of the things I hated most about cooking is deciding what to fix each night. I am hoping this will also help to make sure I have everything needed to cook the recipes I want.

This is what our menu looks like for the rest of this week –

Wednesday - Crock-pot Chicken with black beans and corn

Thursday – Sandwiches from my new Pioneer Woman's cookbook

Friday – Hamburgers on the grill

Saturday – Migas also from my new cookbook

I’ve started my menu for next week, I plan on having it finished by Saturday and posting on Monday.

Do you plan a menu?  Do you plan all three meals or just dinner?

~ Cassey

Learning to cook

I already know “how” to cook; I just never really liked cooking. When the older two boys were little, I cooked just about every night. Then I quit and it has been a struggle to make myself cook ever since. I blame it on the limited foods that were liked in the house. I couldn’t cook with onions, limited veggies (had to be can corn, peas, carrots or beans), no casseroles, no experimenting. I cooked the same things over and over and I just got burned out on those few recipes. Or that is my excuse anyway.

Before E and I moved into together he knew I didn’t cook but he loves to so we were all set, he would cook and I would clean the kitchen. While we lived in Louisiana I think I cooked twice. Once we moved to Missouri I started cooking more, I hated for him to work all day and then come home and have to cook dinner. Didn’t seem fair since I’m still looking for a job.

After cooking a few nights one week I was proud of myself and decided this might be something that I can do and actually enjoy it! I ordered a cookbook and can’t wait to get started trying new recipes!! Thankfully E will try just about anything, so I’m not limited on what I can attempt to cook. I will let you know how the meals turn out!

~ Cassey

I worked for a lawyer!!

I've been job-hunting the last month or so. I've signed up with one of the staffing agencies here in town, even told them I would do temp work. They have had nothing in the field I'm looking for, until yesterday. I received a call at 1:50, the lady asked if I could work for a couple hours. Since I don't have Jacob this week and I was just sitting here playing the stupid hamster game, I said yes. Thankfully, I had gotten my hair cut earlier in the day so my hair and makeup were done and I just had to change clothes.

The lawyer is located in an old church building and the inside is beautiful! It was worth going just to see it. I've been thinking I would enjoy working for a lawyer, I have even been told recently that I should become a lawyer...I don't have the desire to do that, but I would like to work for one. Now I can say I worked for a lawyer, just wish I had the chance to work on some of the cases and learn about them.

While talking with the lawyer before I left, we were discussing the job market here. He said it's not good. He could think of a dozen people real quick that were looking for jobs. Not a good sign for me, but I'm not giving up...I will find a job.

~ Cassey

Starting...

I've wanted to start a blog for some time now, but just didn't do anything about it. I don't think I'm very good at putting my thoughts into writing...but I plan on changing that!! Now that I'm planning on going back to school, I know there is going to be a lot of writing to do. First I am facing an essay when I take the GED test, which I'm a little nervous about. So today I decided I would take the plunge and start the blogging.

I'm sending in my application today to take the GED test. To say that still seems a little strange, because I have my high school diploma. So why am I'm having to get a GED? I applied to a college that won't accept my diploma as my high school wasn't accredited. I'm determined to get a Bachelor's degree, so I'm doing everything I have to do to get it done.

I would love any feedback as to how to change the layout for my page and where to find clipart and different fonts. I love the fonts that look like handwriting.

~ Cassey