Dinner in a Dash

"So much to do, so little time".  I find myself saying this quite often these days.  I don't think I have ever been as busy as I am right now.  Sure there have been other times of great busyness, like when we brought our third baby home and our oldest was three.  Or, when my husband was working in Pittsburgh, PA for five long months and I was in Knoxville, TN taking care of our children alone.  But right now has to be the busiest I have ever been.  I commented recently to a mother who raised two children how busy the kids were keeping me and she said, "Been there, done that".  Nope, it's different.  A wonderful, fun, sometimes crazy, different.  Is eating two doughnuts the same as eating six?  

I have some recipes I use when I am super busy and since everyone I talk to voices the busy complaint also, I thought I would share.  These are quick, easy, and inexpensive.  Oh, and they are delicious!  My family is very happy with these meals. 

Ranch Noodles and Chicken

8-oz pkg medium egg noodles, uncooked
1/2 cup butter
1-oz pkg ranch salad dressing mix
2/3 c. frozen peas and carrots
3 c. cooked chicken, cubed

Cook noodles according to package directions.  Meanwhile, melt butter in a skillet over medium heat.  Stir in dressing mix and peas and carrots.  Cook until warm.  Add drained noodles and chicken; toss to mix and heat through.  Serves 4. 


Easy Burrito Bar

Large can of refried beans
1 envelope Taco seasoning
soft tortilla shells
chopped onion, tomato, lettuce
salsa
shredded cheese
sour cream
tortilla chips

Heat beans on stove top and mix in taco seasoning.  Warm tortilla shells in microwave.  Set up topping bar and allow everyone to make their own burrito. Serve with chips and salsa.


Skillet Macaroni and Beef

1lb. ground beef
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 c. onion, diced
1/2 c. green pepper, diced
2 8-oz cans tomato sauce
1 cup water
1 1/2 T. Worcestershire sauce
1 cup elbow macaroni, uncooked

Brown beef in a large skillet over medium heat.  Drain; sprinkle with seasonings.  Add onion and green pepper; saute.  Add remaining ingredients. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally to separate macaroni.  Uncover and cook an additional 5 minutes, until thickened.  Makes 6 servings.  

I like to serve this with tossed salad.  

You don't have to give in to drive thru food during the busy times.  You can still put a good meal on the table with just a little planning.  Save the big commitment meals for times when there is less going on and find recipes that are on the simpler side for busy days.   

Reflections

Sometimes there are little things about my life as a mother that make me laugh.  I can't believe how differently things have turned out from what I "planned" as a young girl.  Praise God for His grace in my life!  I was reflecting, if you will, and I got a kick out of some of the interesting facets of my life.  (A while back I celebrated my 40th birthday and if you didn't know, birthdays are a fantastic time for reflecting!)

• Right now at our house we have kids learning to drive and learning to walk at the same time.  
• Next year we will plan a high school graduation party while potty training. 
• My favorite things to do now, are things I hated as a girl. (cleaning, gardening, cooking, laundry, etc.)  
• If I had listened to the advice of family members, half of my children wouldn't be here.
• The subjects I didn't do well in as a student, I love teaching in our home school.
• I just threw birthday party #62!  Yes, I have done 62 birthday parties for our kids.  You can check my math.  
• I would rather receive 200 rolls of toilet paper, or 10 gallons of milk, than jewelry, as a gift.
• Clothes and shoes don't excite me anymore but coupons absolutely thrill me!
• The only material things I'm attached to AT ALL are my washer and dryer.  I spend more time with them than my husband some weeks. 
• It turns me on when my husband runs the vacuum.  
• My pregnancies total 4 1/2 years.
• I've changed diapers for 12+ years.  (almost 1/3 of my life!)
• Because of my precious 6 children I've become an expert at answering dumb questions from strangers.  I can even field birth control questions at Walmart from people I've never met.
• I no longer consider it strange when people talk to themselves.  It seems more like a survival skill to me.
• Before saying anything to my older sons now, I stop and think if I would want them to tell their future wives one day.  This is a new thing for me.   
• If gray hair is a sign of wisdom, then white hair is a sign of geniuses.  And if that's the case, I am a most incredible genius.   
• I'm able to make it without a lot of the "must-haves".  I don't need an alarm clock.  I have a baby.  Don't need a check register.  I know the balance of our checking account by heart.  It's usually a round number!  I don't need a timer when baking.  The kids camp out in the kitchen waiting and checking and checking and asking.  I don't even need Google really.  I have teenagers and they know everything. 

My Mother's Day

I hope all of you moms had a wonderful Mother's Day yesterday.   I hope you feel blessed to be a mom.  The Mama job is sometimes hard (if you are doing it right) but there is no greater privilege in all the world.  I'm so thankful to God for His grace and for the tremendous blessing of being a mama to my half-dozen babes.

I enjoyed spending the day with my sweet honey and kiddos yesterday and have just a few pictures to share.  The boys made pies that were out-of-this-world and I have their permission to post the recipe.

My sweet 6 year old set the table and made it so special.  She found these napkins leftover from a recent birthday party and used them to make the table "fancy".

She added this rose I was given at church.

  
Ethan made my chicken salad recipe and we ate it with croissants and crackers.  It was a lovely table.

At lunch, my honey read from Proverbs 31 and we prayed.  After lunch the children gave me letters they had written and cards they had made.  I loved reading their words and looking at their artwork. I will keep them forever.  

 And then...we had this!

Heavenly!

My oldest 2 silly boys making pies Saturday night.

Lemonade-Ice Cream Pie

1/2 gal. vanilla ice cream, softened
12 oz can frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed
16 oz container frozen whipped topping, thawed and divided
2  9 inch graham cracker pie crusts, frozen

Mix ice cream, lemonade and half of the whipped topping together; divide and spread equally into pie crusts.  Spread with remaining whipped topping.  Freeze uncovered until firm.

Cover with plastic wrap and freeze an additional 4 hours.  Garnish with lemon slices and mint sprigs before serving (optional).  Makes 8 to 10 servings.

So good!

Friday Dessert

Every Friday I make a special dessert for the kids.  There are other days of the week we eat dessert of course, but ALWAYS on Fridays.  Fridays around here are referred to as Moran Family Fun Night.  The older boys started saying that about 12 years ago.  We usually play games, have friends over, or do some other special thing.  I make a yummy dessert for this family night and everyone looks forward to it.  I'm usually making the dessert on Friday mornings while the kiddos are working on their school work (and Clare naps).  My being in the kitchen right across from the dining room where they are working always starts a lot of chatting about what we are going to be doing, or eating.  I usually have to remind them several times to settle...and get their work done.  It's fun for me to see how this little tradition makes them so happy.


This Friday's dessert was Ice Cream Bar Dessert.  This is so easy...and delicious, and great for a crowd! 

12 ice cream sandwiches
11 oz jar hot fudge sauce
12 oz pkg salted peanuts
12 oz jar caramel topping
8 oz container frozen whipped topping, thawed


Arrange ice cream sandwiches to cover the bottom of a 13x9 freezer-safe dish.

Spread with a layer of hot fudge sauce.

Sprinkle peanuts over the top.

Spread with caramel sauce.

Cover caramel sauce with a layer of whipped topping.

Freeze.

Slice into squares to serve.  Makes 24 servings.  Scrumptious!!

The Minnie Mouse Party

This past weekend really wiped me out!  We had grandparents visiting from out of state, and a birthday party for our youngest, a soccer team end of year function, and church activities, and so forth and so on.  It was a wonderful weekend but the recovery has taken me just a bit longer than usual.  I'm washing all the sheets, blankets and towels that come along with overnight guests.  We're putting the house back together as we plow through dishes, newspaper, dirty clothes, and toys.  And now I'm happily posting some pictures I've meant to post since Friday.  How is it Tuesday already?   


Since I was the hostess of the birthday bash I failed to snap as many pictures as I would have liked.  One of my sons is usually very good about taking pictures but he was busy visiting with our party guests and didn't take many.  From now on when I host a birthday party I will make sure to designate a photographer.  (My honey was busy with the camcorder.)


Here is Clare's birthday cake.  

I baked a devil's food cake (2 layers) and slathered them with icing.  After stacking them together I lined Kit Kats all around the cake and put candy on top.  Lastly, I tied a ribbon around the outside.  I must say it was pretty tasty! 
(Devil's food cake mix, chocolate icing, raspberry m&ms, some little white candy I had, and ribbon from Hobby Lobby.)   


Here are some of the decorations we used.  I failed to get a picture of her cake table and I don't know how I let that happen.  Like I said before, I was the hostess so I guess I was busy talking and "hostessing" and forgot to take the pictures I wanted.  UGH- don't you hate when you do that?  I even forgot to take a picture of the cupcakes!  Anyhow...here's what I have.

We filled these containers with chips (in the bowl) and popcorn (in the pail).

The cupcakes went on the stand behind this Minnie.

Minnie sat in a chair near the gifts.  She was a gift for Clare Grace from her siblings.

  Here's our little sweetie.  (We were singing to her.)  This is also the only picture you are going to see of her Minnie Mouse cupcakes we made.  

The party was a lot of fun and we were glad to get to celebrate with family and friends!

We're Getting Ready to Party!

Tomorrow is the big day!  My little gal turns one!


We're celebrating with a Minnie Mouse birthday party.  Today the kids and I have been getting ready.


We hung this on the front door.

Ethan and I made this.

Olivia, Nic, and I made these.

Tonight I'm working on the cake and cupcakes.  I will hopefully post pictures tomorrow.  I cannot believe her first year is already behind us.  We are so thankful to God for our "bonus baby"!

May Goals

It's May 1st {already} and I've decided to post my goals for the month.  Each month I set goals on the 1st day and evaluate my progress on the last day.  I promise to let you know how things turn out.   ~smile~

1. Finish the writing curriculum with the kids.
2. Learn how to french braid.
3. Play more music in the house.
4. Drink 8 glasses of water each day.
5. Find a music teacher for the kids.
6. Cut grocery bill to $200 per week.
7. Finish the wall hanging.
8. Do government unit study with the kids.
9. Learn how to make hair bows.
10. Eat out no more than 4 times.
11. Get pictures hung in our bedroom.
12. Be in bed every night no later than 12.
13. Clean out little man's closet and donate his clothes.
14. Exercise 6 times each week.
15. Shop the Publix sale each Wednesday.
16. Not miss any days of read aloud time.
17. Get hanging baskets on the front porch.
18. Catch up our photo albums.

I will admit some of these are going to be pretty hard, especially the grocery budget one.  Someone ( wish I could remember who) once said, "If you aim for nothing, you'll hit it every time". I might as well aim for something, right?