My favorite meals...

This week's menu is perhaps reflective of my trip to my hometown over the weekend. These are some of MY favorite meals and I hope they are favorites at your house too! We're cooking up 5 dinners this week and two nights feature entree's that can be split between a meal for tonight and one for the freezer. This is my absolute new favorite thing to do! Enjoy!!

Miss Daisy's Turkey Divan- this is one where we'll serve half and freeze half. It will give your family 2 amazing dinners. If I'm making this on Sundays I'll serve the whole thing, but for a weeknight this works for us twice. Its simple southern comfort food at its absolute finest!

2- 10 oz. packages Frozen broccoli

2-3 cups cooked turkey, diced or sliced

Sauce

2 cans cream of chicken soup

1 cup mayo

1 tsp. lemon juice

1/2 tsp curry powder

1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1/2 cup toasted bread crumbs (half if freezing

1 tbsp margarine (half if freezing)

In a glass baking dish, put a layer of broccoli and turkey. Prepare Sauce by mixing remaining ingredients and pour over broccoli and turkey. Top with bread crumbs and margarine. This can be made ahead of time and heated.

***SIDE NOTE***

I just had to share this-Miss Daisy herself shared this little blog on facebook with her followers!

She's just wonderful and I want to say Thank you for the kind words and welcome to those of you who may be visiting and are also fans of Daisy King. I've never gone wrong turning to one of her recipes and I truly appreciate the kind words.

She shared this recipe of mine on facebook. 

***NOW BACK TO OUR MENU***

Pork Tenderloin, biscuits, apple butter, green beans, corn-I'm going to coat my pork tenderloin in Dijon mustard and sear it on all sides in a medium-high skillet. Then I finish it off in a 350 oven for about 40-50 minutes. Let it rest while baking some biscuits and cooking my veggies o the stove. I told you about my love of canning in this post, so I'm using some of the apple butter I made! You, too can can!

Meatloaf, Mac-n-cheese, Lima beans. Sometimes you just go with what you know, and for me this meal is just that.

Baked pasta with sausage-using mild or sweet Italian sausage that you've browned and sliced make a no-fuss pasta bake by boiling your favorite pasta (rigatoni, shells or fusilli are easiest for my kids!), tossing it into a Pyrex dish that you've prepared with olive oil--OR TWO SMALLER PYREX-one prepped with oil the other lined with foil then a dash of olive oil--toss pasta with sliced sausage, a large can of diced tomatoes (drained) and about 1.5 cups of grated mozzarella or slices of provolone bake at 350 for 23-30 minutes. 

Breakfast for dinner! Pancakes, sausage links, cheese grits, fruit

The oven is working overtime this week! I'm putting together some items to donate to a bake sale and serving these beauties for the family! Yum!!

Baked Blueberry Muffins

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 generous cup canned blueberry pie filling
• 
  

Preheat your oven to 375 and grease (i use real Crisco when making doughnuts) and flour 2 pans.

Mix of sift together flour, baking powder and salt, set aside. Using a mixer, combine butter and sugar then add egg, buttermilk and vanilla and combine. Mix in dry ingredients until just combined. Fold in pie filling and fill doughnut pan wells 2/3 full. Bake 13-17 minutes. Let cool in pans for  a few minutes then turn out onto wire racks. I buttered some and they were extra tasty. Yield one dozen. 

These are the pans I use and I am LOVING them. 

That's what's cooking with the Wests this week, I hope you have a great one! Come back next Monday for another week of family dinners!

So grown up!

We took a quick trip to Nashville for the weekend and I kept findings self thinking how grown up Jay and Lizzy seem these days.

We had a quick trip to the doc on Friday for Liz and spent some time taking pictures to pass the time.

We visited Mimi and went to Jay's favorite restaurant-The Cracker Barrel.

"They have chicken AND toys!"

We ran errands for Mimi, went to church on Sunday for a wonderful All Saints service. The kids did so well in big church and the nursery! I was so proud of Lizzy for making herself right at home and very proud if Jay who shook hands with lots of men at church and had the best big-boy manners when meeting new people and friends of Nanny's.

Where did my babies go?

I'm also so proud of Kelsey and CJ who sang beautifully in front of the congregation!

We played outside in our church clothes, then grabbed some lunch and headed back to Mom's then home to Alabama.

The kids had a wonderful time and I date say it was an easier trip since these two we're acting so grown up!
Jay told CJ he was his "best frand" and kept putting his arm around him during church. So cute!

Oh, and since we had three hours to fill before preschool this morning, Lizzy taught herself how to open Capri suns. I took the above pic to send to Joseph to show him how she was entertaining herself. Then this happened. 

At least she shared....these two are quite the team.

Lots of Thanks and littles giving

Behold! We've entered the sweet season of GRATITUDE and BLESSINGS!

Gone are the bats, ghosts and candy-coma extravaganzas.
(Sorry y'all Halloween just isn't my bag.)

So, I'm sharing a fun little gift tag I'm using to share fun treats with people in our lives for whom we're grateful for....

teachers, nursery workers, friends, neighbors, helpers at school....

maybe you can print them and use them to tell someone you're thankful for them, too.



And, I wanted to share with you a very simple way I'm getting the kids into giving as well.

I drop Jay off in carpool at school. Except for Fridays when they both go to school. On Fridays we walk in through the lobby so that I can take Jay to class and then drop Lizzy at MDO. Donations to the church food pantry are left in the lobby and Jay asked about them.

So, this week I picked up the items they are collecting and let Jay and Lizzy drop them off on Friday on the way in to school.

Because we can, we do.

I want them to know that now and always, always participate in giving whenever and however they can.


Some simple truth that has been pounded into my heart lately-
15And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful. 16Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. 17And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.
Colossians 3:15-17

I hope that these words can be at the forefront of my thoughts. I pray these instructions will guide my decisions, plans and reactions. In this season of thankfulness and giving, let's put these words into action and carry them with us throughout the year.

Let us represent the Lord in our actions. Let us be his hands and feet at work-no matter how small they may be.

Introducing Holiday Hostess (Prep the Pantry)

It's November 1st-otherwise known at our house as "bring on the Holidays".

There will be meals and merriment, guests and gracious blessings. It's my job to help make all of this happen without driving myself and everyone around me bonkers.

Behold the "blog-series"---

I'm starting my Holiday Hostess prep now and sharing my steps to managing the household for the holidays and happy hostessing. Because, if there's one thing I can do, it's make a plan.

I hope you'll join in the fun!

I say fun, because to me it IS FUN.

It requires the use of a bit of logic, a little forethought and lots of been-around-the-block-experience. That's all.

Its not rocket-science. Its party science. There's a difference.

I think there are those of us who enjoy Hostessing and those who are burdened by it, if you want to embrace it then stick with me and we'll hostess our way through the Holidays together.

Holiday Hostess- Prep the Pantry

As the hub for all of your everyday meal planning, holiday treat prep and perhaps last-minute sanity saver, it's helpful to get your pantry in tip-top shape well before the craziness begins.

At our house, the pantry needs extra attention this time of year because ever since Christmas ended last year, it's gradually accumulated unexplainable junk. Its as if every holiday and birthday leaves us with a few extra random "treats" that somehow wind up in the furthest reaches of my pantry. 

Easter Grass, party blowers, floral wire, camouflage napkins, super why treat bags anyone? No? Okay, they're going to the trash then...

So, now is the perfect time to clean out (yes, everything), clean up (might as well since you've emptied everything anyhow) and rearrange. This also enables you to inventory what you need and organize your storage space in a way that works for you.

(This is where I could tell you exactly how to organize your pantry, but you see your is yours and mine is mine and it isn't for me to say what method works for you.)

Here's my "after" pantry and I will tell you that for me I have sugars and sweeteners together, oils together, flours and meal together, pastas, canned goods (soups, veggies then fruits), I have a section of bevereages and mixes, baking needs, sweet seasoning, savory seasonings, snacks for the family. Breakfast is always on the top shelf for us. I have no explanation for that one. It just is.

Do what works for you and makes sense to you. 

I can't tell you how much better this feels once you have it done and out of the way. You must know that if you are hosting any type of holiday gathering or any company that they will inevitably want to "help" while they are at your house and the last thing you want is the dread of embarrassment when they go to try to grab the flour for you and are engulfed in a pumpkin-bubble-piñata-peep-avalanche. What a way to go.....

Now that you're all prepped and organized, your guests safety's no longer an issue! Ha!

Now, for the inventory. Here's my (probably incomplete) list of items I stock for the Holidays. If I am out (or currently have the same one I bought LAST November) I put these on the list of things to get:

Sugars- White, Brown, Confectioner's

Poultry Seasoning

Cinnamon

Nutmeg

Cloves

Extract-Vanilla, Almond, Peppermint

Sweetened Condensed Milk

Canned Pumpkin

Cream Soups- Mushroom, Chicken, Celery

Chicken Stock

Salt-Kosher and Table

Flours- All Purpose, Self Rising

Cornmeal Mix
Dipping Chocolate
Emergency Jar of Turkey Gravy

The good news is that most if not all of these items will be on sale now or in coming weeks.
Take inventory now and stock up. 

Let me just tell you that the canned goods and dried items in the store on Thanksgiving eve are not one iota fresher than the ones in the stores now. The only difference is you can save yourself some sanity by getting what you know you'll need now instead of battling the holiday chaos at the last minute.

While you're in the pantry--also take a moment to inventory your food storage containers and bags/wraps. This is another tricky area that can cause a less-than-helpful moment when you have a kitchen full of company.

Match up tops and bottoms of containers, evaluate what you need now. 

Get some containers for sending home leftovers with folks that you never plan to get back. 

Pick up a few disposable pans for taking items to neighbors and get-togethers. 

Get gallon sized storage bags for meal prep and leftovers and make sure you have extra aluminum foil on hand. 

Thank me later. :)

Next time we'll talk about prepping the rest of your kitchen for success as a Holiday Hostess. Be sure you're following along here or on Bloglovin' for the rest of the Holiday Hostess series. 

I'm working on my 12 Goals for Christmas 2013 that i shared last week and these are just steps in the process to be prepared for the holidays. I hope your holidays are happy, too!

Halloween Roundup

Happy Halloween from the Wild, Wild Wests!

Jay and Lizzy had a fun day! 

Since the weather was iffy we put on our costumes in the morning and played outside, then went to CFA for lunch then to the mall for a merry-go-round ride and some impromptu trick-or-treating.

Home for naps then off to Dede and Papa's for more trick-or-treating and dinner.

Yee-haw!

Dad in a tiny hat. Happy Halloween!

And now just for fun, a look back at Halloween past-

2012

2011 (also the same day we found out Lizzy was a girl and sold our house!)

2010

and my favorite Halloween photo to date--"Cousins 2012"

Pumpkins 2013

Ta-dah!

Jay wanted one drilled and one "Jack-a-lan" so that's what we did.

We also rinsed his flip-flops a zillion times due to "pumpkin squishing my toes".

Peanut Butterscotch Krispie Treats

This is the first thing I can remember cooking as a child.

It was the only way I knew of to make Rice Krispie treats until I was an adult. I've since tried the marshmallow way, but to me these are the real thing.

1 cup creamy peanut butter (give or take)
1/2 bag butterscotch chips
3-4 cups rice cereals n a large bowl, combine peanut butter and chips. Microwave at 60%power in 30 second intervals, stirring after each interval until chips are melted and smooth. (It took three intervals.) Stir in cereal and pour mixture into 8x8 buttered dish. Chill for one hour.

Enjoy and share!