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progresso panko winner
Congratulations to our Progresso Lemon Pepper Giveaway winner, Aimee! Aimee will receive, courtesy of MyBlogSpark and Progresso, a complimentary box of Progresso’s Lemon Pepper Panko and a copy of Michael Chiarello’s Bottega.
good sites
I discovered a few really good websites over the past week or so. You may have already heard of or even visited these sites, but I wanted to share them anyway in case there are some who haven’t seen them yet. Here’s the list ~ they’re all live links, just click on the website’s name and the site should open in another window or tab:
- Food with Kid Appeal (Attison is an extremely difficult/picky eater ~ this site has some great ideas for encouraging little ones to eat good foods)
- Grass Point Farms
- Kellogg Valley Farm ~ this family-owned organic farm is local to me, and they don’t have a website as far as I can tell so this is a link to their Facebook page
- Cascadian Farm
- Natural Pantry/Wholeliving.com
- Make-Ahead Meals for Busy Moms
- Whole Foods Market
- Wheat Montana
- Sunfood
I have a lot more links to share, but I’m going to try to list them in groups ~ so more link lists are forthcoming. Enjoy these for now.
If you have any good links you would like to share that are relevant to topics I like to write about here on my blog ~ organic food/living, kid-friendly things (foods, coloring pages, games, websites, clothes, etc.), mommy interests, Christian interests, couponing/simple/frugal living, homeschooling, etc., please send them to me. I’ll choose some good ones and add them to my future posts.
chicken with basil cream sauce
Here’s an easy recipe that tastes amazing!
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup dry Italian seasoned bread crumbs
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
8 oz. sliced fresh mushrooms
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 cup heavy whipping cream (half & half will do in a pinch)
1/2 cup grated fresh Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup minced fresh basil
freshly ground sea salt and black pepper to taste
8 oz. angel hair pasta, cooked al dente
fresh lemon wedges
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Place milk and bread crumbs in separate shallow bowls. Dip chicken in milk, then coat with bread crumbs.
In a skillet over medium heat, melt butter; add olive oil. Brown chicken on both sides in butter/olive oil. Remove chicken and place in glass casserole dish. Bake in preheated oven until chicken is no longer pink in the middle.
Saute mushrooms in skillet.
Add broth to skillet. Bring to a boil over medium heat and stir to loosen browned bits from pan bottom. Stir in whipping cream; boil and stir for 1 minute. Reduce heat. Stir in Parmesan, basil, salt and pepper, and cook until heated through. If necessary, mix 1 teaspoon corn starch with 1/4 cup chicken broth and stir into skillet to thicken sauce.
Pour sauce over chicken, reserving about half. Pour reserved sauce over angel hair pasta. Serve chicken and pasta with lemon wedges ~ squeeze lemon over chicken and pasta just before eating. Enjoy!
easy menu planning
It seems that menu planning is the hot topic of the week. Since both of my friends Holly and Meredith decided to write about menu planning over the past week or so, I guess I’ll throw my hat in the ring and offer a small contribution that I hope will encourage you as well as be helpful.
I have long failed at the homemaking art of meal/menu planning (I use the terms interchangeably). When Roger and I were first married, I had no idea how to even cook, much less how to plan what to cook. Since then I’ve made some strides in the cooking department, but occasionally I still fall flat when it comes to meal planning.
Before Ashley and Attison moved in, I had a lot more free time. I made meal planning and grocery shopping lists something of an art form. Just ask my husband ~ I would spend a whole day planning the menu for 2 weeks, then make a grocery list that was separated according to our commissary’s aisles (a commissary is simply a grocery store on a military base). I would even coordinate my coupons with the shopping list. That way if the brand I had a coupon for wasn’t available, the coupon could be quickly located and removed from the pile of coupons that would be given to the cashier once the shopping was completed.
To be honest, I kind of enjoyed being so “persnickety” about my menu plan and shopping list. I started a homemaking notebook which contains about 300 recipes ~ that way I wouldn’t have to look through a stack of cookbooks to find the recipe I was looking for ~ they were all right there in my homemaking notebook.
The grocery list organized by aisle was wonderful ~ it really made grocery shopping easier. Roger usually does the grocery shopping. At first he sort of chuckled at my coordinated list. After a while, once he realized how much easier grocery shopping was with my list, he came to love it. The last time he went to the grocery store, he went with just a list, not an organized list, and he told me it was awful! He now appreciates my coordinated grocery shopping list!
I was teaching Ashley my system for meal planning and grocery shopping before Attison was born. Once Atti came along, all bets were off. I had forgotten what it was like to have an infant in the house. I’ve had only teenagers for 4 years now, and even though we homeschool, I had TONS more free time than I do now.
So, I’ve concluded that my all-day event of menu planning and grocery list coordinating is no longer feasible. I’ve had to re-think my methods and find quicker, easier ways of doing the meal planning and making the grocery list.
I’ve learned a few secrets over the years that I would like to pass along. My first secret is Menus4Moms. Oh goodness, are they a time-saver! Each week they send out a menu plan for the next week, along with a shopping list of what you’ll need for that week’s meals. All of the planning work is done for you!
One thing I don’t like about Menus4Moms is that at least once a week they include a pork meal. I have a thing about pork. Can’t do it. Nope. Just can’t. We lived in North Carolina for 5 1/2 years. All of their barbecue is pork (what’s wrong with these people?), and there are tons of pig farms. Pig farms are gross. Living in NC cured me of ever liking pork again. The rest of my family likes pork, but I don’t, and I can’t even bring myself to cook it.
Another glitch I ran into was that Menus4Moms only sends out meal plans for dinners, and they only cover 5 days a week. Avoiding the pork on the Menus4Moms plans also meant a little bit of extra work in coordinating the menu and grocery list, but it wasn’t rocket science. But add into that the need to plan meals for the other 2 days a week, as well as snacks, breakfast and lunch…well, it just took up more of my time that I was willing to part with.
Another solution to my meal planning dilemma I have found extremely helpful is Meal Mixer. It’s a paid subscription meal planning service, but it’s much more flexible than Menus4Moms, and it provides menus for 3 meals a day, 7 days a week. You can also request snacks to be included in your personalized menus.
Meal Mixer is wonderful. You can change the recipes if you don’t care for one of the recipes provided. The ability to upload your own recipes is included. And you get a full shopping list for everything you will need for all of your meals that week.
Meal Mixer will calculate calories, carbs, fat, protein, sugar, fiber and more for each meal and each day. It’s truly an amazing menu planning service.
I have used both Meal Mixer and Food Allergy Meal Mixer ~ they’re the best menu planning service I’ve come across. There are other paid menu planning services out there ~ I’ve even tried a few of them. In my opinion, Meal Mixer is superior to any of the other menu planning services available.
Right now Meal Mixer is running a special 10-day free trial offer which includes 2 full menus. When you sign up for the free 10-day trial, you’re given the opportunity to choose the length of your plan should you decide to stay with Meal Mixer. They’re offering a FULL YEAR’S MENUS for $48.00. That’s less than a dollar a week for a full menu plan including 3 meals and snacks 7 days a week, custom tailored to your tastes, food choices, diet restrictions, and even the size of your family!
If you ask me, there’s not a better deal out there (that I know of).
With Meal Mixer you can sit down at the computer and plan your week’s meals according to your family’s schedule. Then simply print off the shopping list, check your refrigerator and pantry to see which items on the list you already have, cross those off the list and viola! your menu and shopping list for the next week are completely taken care of.
I haven’t even listed all of the customizations available through Meal Mixer. If you click here you’ll see a run down of all the customizations available, as well as the costs for different lengths of subscriptions.
In order to be completely upfront about it, I am an affiliate with Meal Mixer. I became an affiliate because I LOVE their menu plan service. I would not recommend it so highly if I hadn’t used it myself. Being an affiliate is an added perk for me. I make a little bit of money from every subscription that comes in through my affiliate link, so if you do decide to try the 10-day free trial of Meal Mixer or Food Allergy Meal Mixer I would greatly appreciate it if you used my link. 
I know there are other online helps and choices out there. If you’re already good at planning your menu but you’re looking for some good-tasting recipes to add variety to your menu, please check Meredith’s cooking blog and Holly’s cooking blog. Both of these ladies have wonderful recipes they have shared online.
I have other sources for great meal planning tips and fantastic recipes. I’ll have to write another post about those ~ this one’s long enough as it is!
the american frugal housewife
My sweet friend Joanne (http://thesimplewife.typepad.com) has been writing about economy in the home and using the resources available to you. Frugality, simple living, economizing, downsizing and want vs need are things that have been on my mind and heart for well over a year now. We’ve had a couple of additions to our family within that time, and a lot of other things going on, so I haven’t had time to explore this topic (or is it more likely that I’ve been ignoring the call God has put on my heart??).
Joanne’s writing always inspires me. I enjoyed her book Living Simply and I’m looking forward to the release of her new book Misplacing God in February. She plans to continue writing about economy in the home and in our lives on her blog every Friday.
I asked Joanne’s permission to copy the I’m An American Frugal Housewife. Are You? button from her sidebar. I’ve linked the button to her original post about economy. It’s a wonderful post; if you haven’t read it yet, you’ll find it here.
Joanne asked me if I would like to join her in posting on Fridays about economy in our homes and in our lives. I think that’s a great idea. I was raised in a home where I was the only child, so just about anything I wanted I was given. When Roger asked my dad’s permission to marry me, my dad said very plainly, “She’s very spoiled, you know. Are you ready to handle that?”
Economy in our home will be a new and strange topic. I was not taught to be frugal, to save money, to use coupons or even to shop the sales racks at department or grocery stores. Simply making sure we use what we have, including eating leftovers (gasp!), will be a challenge for us (at least in the beginning).
The “economy” Joanne is writing about is so much more than clipping coupons or saving a few cents by making your own laundry detergent. I do believe that being a good shepherd of what the Lord blesses us with is a responsibility He gives us. But living a life where nothing is wasted, and understanding that where God is concerned everything, e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g. is used to the fullest (and for our good) goes infinitely deeper than eating leftovers.
Joanne has given her permission for you to “steal” her button, too. She would like for you to link it back to her original post, but she won’t send the cyber button police after you if you don’t.
I think there are things about God’s economy that we can all learn, whether you’re new to the idea of economy or an old hand at it. I’m going to start a new category here on A Joyful Heart titled joyful economy. I plan to join Joanne in writing about joyful economy every Friday.
Would you like to join us?
cloth diapers
I haven’t written much about the fact that we use cloth diapers. There were a lot of reasons for our choice to cloth diaper, but chief among them was Attison’s very sensitive skin. When she was a newborn she broke out in a rash until after we brought her home and started using cloth diapers. Since then she hasn’t had any problems at all.
For daytime we’re currently using Bumkins Organic Bamboo Fitted Diapers with the Bumkins diaper covers. We have also used Indian prefolds with Snappis and LiteWraps with good success.
At night we use Green Acre Designs Windpro fleece stuffable diapers. They’re the coolest thing I’ve seen in a long time. They’re fleece, and they don’t need a diaper cover! We “stuff” an Indian prefold in them for overnight absorbency, and we haven’t had any problems at all.
If you haven’t used cloth diapers in a while, or even in ages, take a quick look at those diaper links above. You’ll be amazed at how much cloth diapering has changed, even over the last 10 years or so.
So many cloth diapers today are akin to disposables, but of course they’re much better for our environment, and little ones with sensitive skin may find cloth diapers a better choice. Here’s a quote from the Costco website about Bumkins’ All-in-One cloth diaper:
Cloth diapering has never been easier with Bumkins’ All-In-One cloth diapers, providing the convenience of a disposable with the comfort of cloth.
The outer shell of the All-in-One diaper features Bumkins’ ultra-durable yet silky-soft waterproof fabric. Inside the diaper are 6 cozy layers of 100% cotton flannel, providing natural absorbency and comfort. Gentle elastic at the legs and waist minimizes leaks, and velcro® closures provide a quick and adjustable fit.
Each Bundle contains a delightful selection of 6 assorted print(prints will vary) All-In-One Diapers and 6 additional Cotton Inserts. Inserts can be layered inside the diapers to provide extra absorbency for naps or outings, each adding three more layers 100% cotton flannel, tailored to give maximum coverage.
Features:
These diapers are really amazing to me! I’m considering using an all-in-one (AIO) once Attison gets closer to potty training age. That’s a ways away, so I have plenty of time to consider all of the different choices for cloth diapers.
One of my favorite blogs is All About Cloth Diapers. Autumn Beck writes about the wide variety of cloth diapers available today. I’ve enjoyed her insights on this topic. Since Attison will be in cloth diapers for at least another year, I still have time to try out different diapering systems.
I’ll write about our diapering system, how I store clean diapers, how I wash them, and what I do with the dirty diapers in another post.
from the recipe files ~ mexican chicken corn chowder
I’ve had several people ask me for this recipe, so rather than emailing it to just a few, I’m posting it for everyone to enjoy! My friend Cheri gave me this recipe; I don’t know where she got it, but I’ve made a few modifications of my own ~ you’re welcome to make your own modifications so it fits your family’s tastes.
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Mexican Chicken Corn Chowder
- 1 1/2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
- 1/2 C. chopped onion
- 1 – 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 3 TBS butter
- 2 chicken bouillon cubes + 1 C. hot water, or about 2/3 can (14oz) chicken broth
- 1 tsp. (or more, according to your tastes) ground cumin
- 2 C. half & half
- 2 C. shredded Monterey Jack cheese
- 1 (11 oz.) can Niblets corn (can also use creamed corn)
- 1 (4.5 oz.) can chopped green chilies
- fresh cilantro, chopped tomatoes, and hot pepper sauce for garnish
Saute onion in butter until it turns translucent. Add garlic, cook on med. low for about a minute. Add cut-up chicken; cook on medium heat until no longer pink inside. Add chicken broth (or bouillon + water) and cumin. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 5 minutes. Add half & half, cheese, corn and chilies. Cook on low, stirring until cheese is melted and chowder is heated through (do not boil).
Offer chopped fresh cilantro, chopped tomatoes and hot pepper sauce as garnish.
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There you have it! It’s a simple recipe, but WOW does it taste good!! It ‘s definitely not for one of those days when you’re feeling as though you should be eating low calorie, low fat foods though. It’s more of a comfort food ~ just forget about the fat and calories for one meal and ENJOY!
nana blanket
I like to make baby blankets for my friends. I’ve done about a jillion of them ~ for friends who are having babies themselves and friends who are being blessed with grandchildren. I made a “Nana blanket” for myself ~ and since there’s so much baby pink in my house (see post below), I thought I might as well go ahead and stick with the color scheme.
mexican chowder
Those two words don’t really go together, do they? Mexican + chowder. When I think of chowder, I think of the yummy bowls of hot clam chowder I would always order in restaurants every year up and down the coast of New England as we made our way to Maine for vacation.
I have been freezing all day. The temperature dropped about 20 degrees from yesterday to today (and the fibro is acting up a bit). So I’m thankful Sawyer has offered to make us one of his favorite dinners ~ Mexican Chicken Corn Chowder.
This is an absolutely fantastic chowder. It’s not at all bad for you (she said tongue-in-cheek). Since Sawyer and I like this soup so much, I thought I’d share the recipe with you. This is a recipe I received from my friend Cheri quite a few years ago. We’ve made some modifications, and this is our version of that original recipe Cheri gave me:
Mexican Chicken Corn Chowder
1-1 1/2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into bite-size chunks
1/2 C. chopped onion
1-2 garlic cloves, minced
3 Tbs. butter
2 chicken bouillion cubes + 1 C. hot water, OR about 2/3 can of chicken broth
1/2-1 tsp. ground cumin (feel free to add more ~ yum!)
2 C. half & half
2 C. shredded Colby+Monterey Jack cheese
1 (11oz.) can Niblets
1 (4.5oz.) can chopped green chilis
fresh cilantro, fresh tomatoes, & hot pepper sauce for garnish
Saute’ onion in butter until it turns translucent. Add garlic and cook for 1 or 2 minutes, but don’t let it burn! Add cut up chicken; cook until chicken is no longer pink on the inside. Add chicken broth (or chicken bouillons + hot water, if using) and cumin. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cover; simmer 5 minutes. Add half & half, cheese, corn, and chilis. Cook on LOW , stirring frequently, until cheese has melted and chowder is warmed through (don’t boil).
Offer chopped fresh cilantro, chopped fresh tomatoes, and hot pepper sauce as garnish.
I’m looking forward to warming up with some hot Mexican Chicken Corn Chowder tonight!
blogger friend school #10
Are we really on assignment #10 in Blogger Friend School already? Wow! I know I haven’t done all of the assignments, but I didn’t think we were that far along yet.
We’re sharing favorite Christmas/holiday cookie recipes this week. I don’t have pictures of my cookies like Tamara does, but you probably already know what these recipes look like when they’re baked! 
Blossom Cookies
1 3/4 C. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 C. shortening
1/2 C. peanut butter
1/2 C. sugar
1/2 C. brown sugar
1 egg
2 Tbs. milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 bag Hershey Kisses
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Mix together flour, baking soda & salt. In a separate bowl, mix shortening, peanut butter, sugar, brown sugar, egg, milk & vanilla. Add flour mixture a little at a time , mixing well after each addition. Form into small balls, and roll in (white) sugar. Bake for 6 minutes. Remove cookies from the oven; place a Hershey’s Kiss in the center of each cookie, using the Kiss to slightly flatten the cookie. Bake 2 minutes longer. Cool on pan 2-5 minutes before removing to cooling rack.
If you make these cookies, be careful. They are seriously addicting! I think this mix makes a couple dozen cookies ~ you’ll be surprised at how quickly they will disappear!
This next recipe was given to me by one of the best baker/cookie maker moms I’ve ever met. I know it’s not technically a holiday cookie recipe, but they truly are the best chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever had ~ the recipe merits being shared.
The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever
1 C. butter
1 C. brown sugar
1 C. granulated (white) sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2 C. flour
2 1/2 C. blended rolled oats (measured before blending)
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 C. semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/12 C. chopped nuts (optional)
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Cream butter & sugars. Add eggs and vanilla; blend well. In a separate bowl, mix together flour, blended oatmeal (oatmeal flour), baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add to creamed mixture; mix together well. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts (if using). Let the dough rest for a few minutes (if you’re in a hot & humid climate, you can place the dough into the refrigerator for a couple of minutes). Spoon tablespoon-fulls of dough out and roll into balls. Flatten with the back of a spoon. Place 1 to 2 inches apart on cookie sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes ~ remove from oven before they begin to turn brown (unless you like crunchy chocolate chip cookies ~ if you like crunchy cookies, let them bake until they begin to brown a bit). Cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes, then remove to cooling rack.
The second part of our assignment this week is to share a special memory about baking Christmas/holiday goodies. One of my fondest memories is from when Roger was a 1st lieutenant (or maybe he was a captain by then?) in the Air Force. We were stationed at Reese AFB in Lubbock, Texas. We couldn’t afford to go to Colorado (home) for the holidays, so we stayed in Lubbock. We hung out with our also “financially challenged” 1st lieutenant/young captain friends, who couldn’t afford to travel for the holidays either. My friend Stacey lived just down the street. That year Stacey decided that I needed to learn how to bake cookies. We spent a couple of days in her kitchen baking cookies. I think we ate the majority of the dough before it could ever be baked, made one enormous mess after the other, had a couple of good-natured cookie dough and frosting fights, and let our very young children eat way more sugar than they should have. It was the most fun I’ve ever had baking!
My verse this week is Galatians 2:20:
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.