Friday's Foto Fun with Sunshine

It's time for Carrie's Friday Foto Fun:-)

It's been raining a lot here lately. On this first day of May, I wanted to share my sunshine:

Tulips Tulips Everywhere

Homemade Bird Feeder

Now, it's time for another Wordless Wednesday at 5 Minutes for Mom or Wordful Wednesday on SevEn cLoWn CirCus:-)

I love preschool!! Look at what they made last week:

Instant bird feeder:

Pinecone, peanut butter and bird seed!

So far, the squirrels have gotten to it yet:-)

Tackling the Basement

Check me out at Happy to be at Home where I am talking about cleaning up family messes.

Here it's time for Tackle It Tuesday with 5 Minutes for Mom and I am cleaning up actual messes.

It was very, very yucky outside this weekend. What better project to tackle when the weather is frightful than, the basement? This has been nagging at us for a while but with our older daughter moving back in from college for the summer, we really needed to buckle down.

We dug out several bags of garbage and lots of boxes of junk. And, we identified what needed to go to the dump to be recycled and what we could sell on Craig's List. This is the first time I have used this resource and I must say, it was really, really easy:-) It took me 15 minutes to post these items that I am hoping to sell:

It's pretty pathetic since my youngest daughter is 5! This stuff should have been gone years ago. But, I am doing it now so, we have that going for us:-)

Grilled Steaks

Check me out over at At Work, At Play or At Home All Day talking about girlie stuff:-)

Here, I am doing more menu planning with I'm an Organizing Junkie and finding more deals at Pick N Save for $5 Dinners .

They are having a HUGE steak sale at Pick N Save this week! Beef Tenderloin for $5.99/lb and it's normally $8.99/lb! We treated ourselves to a couple of them and ate like kings for a night:-) Steaks for $15.28 for four people?? That's awesome!

My husband Jeff makes the best grilled steaks anywhere. When I asked him to write down the recipe for me to post, he said, "They are just plain old steaks.). So, that's what I called it.

Here is what I am serving this week:

Sunday: Jeff's "Plain Old Steaks" Steak (see recipe below)

Monday: Semi-Homemade Spaghetti Dinner

Tuesday: Garlic Chicken Risotto

Wednesday: Fried Fish and French Fries

Thursday: Eat Out (Soccer tonight:-)

Friday: Left Over Buffet

Jeff's "Plain Old Steaks" Steak
4 Servings

2 lb Beef Tenderloin
1/2 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Pepper
1 tsp Garlic Powder
1 Tbsp Minced Onions
2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1. Take steaks out of frig for 10 minutes before seasoning them to take the chill off.

2. Season the steaks with salt, pepper, garlic powder and minced onions. Pat the steaks down to make it stick. Place the seasoned steaks in a food storage bag with the Worcestershire sauce. Close the bag and tumble to mix. Allow to set for 10 minutes.

3. Throw steaks on a screaming hot grill. Cook to desired finish (i.e. rare, medium, etc.) about 5 minutes a side.

4. Allow steaks for rest for 10 minutes before serving to redistribute the juices. Serve with sauteed mushrooms and baked potatoes.

Nutrition (calculated from recipe ingredients)
----------------------------------------------
Calories: 287.71
Calories From Fat: 205.68
Total Fat: 22.42g
Saturated Fat: 9.09g
Cholesterol: 71.00mg
Sodium: 412.50mg Potassium: 368.02mg
Total Carbohydrates: 2.20mg
Fiber: 0.14g
Protein: 18.06g
Recipe Author: Jeff Ewing

Recipe: $18.28 ($15.28 w/sale)
Serving: $4.57 ($3.82 w/sale)

Friday's Foto Fun with Food Buzz

It's time for Carrie's Friday Foto Fun:-) This week, my Food Buzz community hit 2000!! Check it out:

2,000 FOOD BLOGGERS FLOCK TO FOODBUZZ FUELING 1000% ANNUAL GROWTH AND CREATING THE THIRD LARGEST ONLINE FOOD PROPERTY

San Francisco – April 23, 2009: Foodbuzz announced today that is has surpassed 2,000 food bloggers in its online food community. These partner food blog websites, when combined with the foodbuzz.com “hub” website, reached 6.7 million people per month according to third-party traffic measurement service Quantcast. This ranks Foodbuzz as the third largest online food property after less than two years of operation. (See Quantcast Media Planner.)

“Our goal is to be the number one online food community by promoting the talent, enthusiasm and knowledge of food bloggers around the globe,” said Ben Dehan, founder and CEO of Foodbuzz. Of the top three properties, Foodbuzz is the only true community that combines social networking for foodies with food content search for everyone. “Both our monthly users and page views grew over 1000% in 2008, and we are on pace to reach the number one spot within the next 12 months”, said Mr. Dehan.

Foodbuzz digs deep into the “long tail” of food publishing to discover and promote thousands of small, yet high-quality, food bloggers. “We are providing a platform for food bloggers to pursue their passion in a community that nurtures and encourages the sharing of quality food and dining content daily,” said Ryan Stern, Director of Publishing. Foodbuzz offers these bloggers a compelling solution for building their traffic, connecting with like-minded foodies, and making money. Foodbuzz has exclusive advertising relationships with partner bloggers which provide brand advertisers the reach and share-of-voice they need to effectively engage the food community.

About Foodbuzz
Based in San Francisco, Foodbuzz is a global online food community of over 2,000 food bloggers connected by the foodbuzz.com “hub” website. In the past month, this community reached 6.7 million people and 33 million impressions according to Quantcast. Foodbuzz.com provides a full suite of social networking features enabling foodies to interact and share their food experiences. With over 900,000 high-quality food blog posts in its searchable database, foodbuzz.com is an essential resource for everyone interested in exploring the world of food. Foodbuzz is a 2009 Webby Awards Honoree!

Spring Cleaning the Compost Pile

This weekend, we cleaned out our compost pile. It was full of beautiful black gold for the vegetable garden. And, there were a ton of leaves from fall that hadn't broken down. So, we crunched them all up and used them for mulch on our flower beds. I love how the trees in our yard produces mulch that matches the French brick on our house:-) What do you think?

We have enough mulch left over to cover the vegetable garden once it's planted and refresh the gardens throughout the season. And, I have a new pile of raw materials started for next year. If I continue to feed and turn this new pile, I will have wonderful black gold for next year's garden! I love how my compost bin is nature's recyle bin:-)

Ouch!

First, check me out at Happy to be at Home. I want my Judy Jetson kitchen!

Now, it's time for another Wordless Wednesday at 5 Minutes for Mom or Wordful Wednesday on SevEn cLoWn CirCus:-)

When baking your pork roast in an oven safe skillet, don't forget

...the handle is HOT!! Ouch:-(

Tackling Rewards

It's time for Tackle It Tuesday with 5 Minutes for Mom .

This week, we tackled a chore chart for our youngest daughter. We are trying to teach her about responsiblity and saving money and so, we thought it was the perfect time to institute a chore/allowance system. She is only 5 so, we had to keep it simple. This is what we came up with:

Everyday, she has 4 chores: 1)Make your bed, 2)Put away clothes, 3)Set/clear the table and 4)Pick up your room. If she completes a task, she get a sticker. At $.05 per sticker, she has the ability to earn $1.40 a week. Half of that goes into the savings jar and the other half into her wallet to spend however she wants. She is very excited about this and so are we. It will be a fun way to teach her very important life skills.

What about you? How did you teach your kids about money?

Honey Dijon Pork Loin Roast

Check me out over at At Work, At Play or At Home All Day talking about girlie stuff:-)

Here, I am doing more menu planning with I'm an Organizing Junkie and finding more deals at Pick N Save for $5 Dinners .

Pork Loin Roasts were on sale at Pick N Save this week for $1.99/lb and it's normally $3.99/lb. I scooped up a 6 lb. roast and cut it into thirds. Now, I have two dinners in the future and a Honey Dijon Pork Loin Roast on my menu this week.

Here is what I am serving this week:

Sunday: Honey Dijon Pork Loin Roast (see recipe below)

Monday: Semi-Homemade Spaghetti Dinner

Tuesday: Chicken and Pasta

Wednesday: Pulled Pork Sandwiches from the leftover pork from Sunday

Thursday: Leftover Buffet (Soccer tonight:-)

Friday: Eat Out

Honey Dijon Pork Loin Roast
8 Servings

Ingredients:
2 lb boneless pork loin
Salt and pepper
2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp Honey
1 Tbsp freshly chopped parsley- leaves
1 Tbsp freshly chopped chives
1 Tbsp freshly chopped sage leaves
3 Tbsp vegetable oil

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Season the pork loin with salt and pepper.

3. In a small bowl, mix the vinegar, mustard, honey and herbs together. Reserve honey mustard sauce for pork.

4. In a large ovenproof saute pan over medium-high heat, warm thevegetable oil. Sear pork loin on all sides. Brush with mustard sauce and roast in the preheated oven until the internal temperature reaches 145 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer, about 20 minutes.

5. Remove from oven and let rest for 15 minutes before slicing and serving.

Nutrition (calculated from recipe ingredients)
----------------------------------------------
Calories: 271.96
Calories From Fat: 162.62
Total Fat: 18.26g
Saturated Fat: 4.66g
Cholesterol: 64.19mg
Sodium: 339.54mg Potassium: 312.89mg
Total Carbohydrates: 3.89mg
Fiber: 0.63g
Protein: 22.48g

Recipe Author: Susan Ewing Web Page: http://susieshomemade.blogspot.com/2009/04/honey-dijon-pork.html

Recipe: $11.04 ($9.04 w/sale)
Serving: $1.38 ($1.13 w/sale)

Friday's Foto Fun with Music

It's time for Carrie's Friday Foto Fun:-)

My first baby's last show is this weekend. She started when she was 9 and now she is 18 and hanging up her clarinet. A 9-year band career is coming to an end and we were there to see it last night:-) We are so proud of her!

The Daffodils are Finally Here!!

Yippeee!!!

Easter Through Young Eyes

It's time for another Wordless Wednesday at 5 Minutes for Mom or Wordful Wednesday on SevEn cLoWn CirCus:-)

Easter bag made in preschool

Humpty Dumpty Egg

Tackling Wine Cupcakes

It's time for Tackle It Tuesday with 5 Minutes for Mom .

I tackled another Iron Cupcake: Milwaukee Challenge . This time, the ingredient was wine. Remember these from Wednesday? I used those to garnish these:

" Wine on the Vine Cupcake Pops"

I took a page from Bakerella and made my submission into cupcake pops. These are Pinot Noir chocolate cupcakes mixed with Pinot Noir buttercream dipped in white chocolate. I built the pops around a styrofoam form to make them into a bunch of grapes. I thought it was a pretty cool idea. What do you think?

Cincinnati Chili and a Virtual Bake Sale

Cooking During Stolen Moments is hosting a Virtual Bake Sale today! They are a selling an ebook filled with recipes from the Virtual Great American Bake Sale participants (I am one of them!!). The books are now available for a donation of your choosing and all of the proceeds will go to Share Our Strength. So stop by and help to stop hunger today!!

Now, that I have helped feed needy families around the country, I need to feed my family. I am doing more menu planning with I'm an Organizing Junkie and finding more deals at Pick N Save for $5 Dinners .

Ground beef is on sale at Pick N Save this week for $1.99/lb. (normally $2.99/lb.) So grab some up! I did and it is showing up on the menu in Cincinnati Chili:-)

Notice I didn't say "my menu"; I said "the menu". That's because this week, in honor of his birthday, my husband Jeff is off of work and he is doing the cooking:-)

Here is what he is serving this week:

Monday: Eating out for Iron Cupcke: Milwaukee's Wine Challenge.

Tuesday: Cincinnati Chili (see recipe below)

Wednesday: Baked Chicken

Thursday: Eating out again for a trip to Madison to visit my older daughter in college.

Friday: BBQ Ribs

Cincinnati Chili
10 Servings

Ingredients:
1 lb spaghetti
2 lb ground beef
2 medium onions, diced fine
1 Tbsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp cinnamon
6 bay leaves
4 Tbsp white vinegar
1/2 tsp dried crushed red peppers
3 tsp allspice
3 Tbsp chili powder
salt to taste
1 8oz can tomato sauce
1 1/2 qt water (aprox)
For Garnish
Diced onions
Grated chedar cheese
Red kidney beans

Directions:
1. Prepare spaghetti per package directions.

2. Brown hamburger and onions together in a large pot.

3. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for 4 hours or until chili thickens.

4. Serve as 3-way (spaghetti, chili and cheese), 4-way (3-way + onions) or 5-way (4-way plus kidney beans).

Nutrition (calculated from recipe ingredients)
----------------------------------------------
Calories: 534.19
Calories From Fat: 218.29
Total Fat: 23.93g
Saturated Fat: 10.16g
Cholesterol: 79.91mg
Sodium: 476.62mg Potassium: 655.64mg
Total Carbohydrates: 50.84mg
Fiber: 6.56g
Protein: 28.36g

Recipe Author: Lu Ewing

Recipe: $12.40 ($10.40 on sale)
Serving: $1.24 ($1.04 on sale)

Happy Easter!

Here is what Easter looks like at our house:

Colorful eggs


Gilded Eggs

Robin-Blue Eggs

What does it look like at your house?

Friday's Foto Fun with Eggs

It's time for Carrie's Friday Foto Fun:-)

You will be decorated today!!

What's Going on in Susie's Garden?

It's Thursday and that means all things gardening. I have a couple things going on today. First, check me out on Happy to be at Home . I wrote a neat post about the herbs that I planted waaaaaaay back in November. The second thing is this:



I thought I would give you an update on my seedlings. Everything seems to be doing really well. My lettuce, cucumbers and pumpkins need to be repotted like yesterday. All of my pepper varities could probably go a little bit long before heading up. Either way, in a couple weeks, they are all going outside to start acclimating. I can't wait!!

Secret Project

It's time for another Wordless Wednesday at 5 Minutes for Mom or Wordful Wednesday on SevEn cLoWn CirCus:-)

This was my day yesterday:

THIS

PLUS THIS:

EQUALS THIS:

What do you think I was working on?

Tackling Pieces

It's time for Tackle It Tuesday with 5 Minutes for Mom . I have tackled a lot this weekend however, I haven't anything to show for it. Here is what my list looks like:

1. Get ready for Easter.
2. Bake a pie for hubby's birthday on Saturday.
3. Continue working on cookbook.
4. Rearrange bulk storage as my stock grows.
5. Make cupcakes for Iron Cupcake: Milwaukee Wine Challenge on Monday.

So, as you can see, I am busy but not done. Busy, busy, busy.

Easter Menu

Check me out over at At Work, At Play or At Home All Day talking about girlie stuff:-)

Here, I am doing more menu planning with I'm an Organizing Junkie and finding more deals at Pick N Save for $5 Dinners .

Chicken is on sale at Pick N Save this week for $1.99/lb. (normally $4.79/lb.) So grab some up! I did and it is showing up on my menu in Rachael Ray's Chicken Tortilla Soup with Chipotle and Fire Roasted Tomato!

But is also Easter!! So, check out my Easter Menu below too:-)

Here is what I am serving this week:

Monday: Semi-Homemade Spaghetti Dinner

Tuesday: Chicken Tortilla Soup with Chipotle and Fire Roasted Tomato

Wednesday: Special Fried Rice

Thursday: Soccer Starts today so we are having a Leftover Buffet!

Friday: Eat Out

Saturday: Hubby's Birthday and it's a His Choice Day:-)

Sunday: Easter Menu:
Virginia Ham (see recipe below)
Potatoes Au Gratin
Bacon Wrapped Asparagus Bundles
Cranberry Orange Bread

Virginia Ham
12 Servings
10 lb ham
10 whole cloves
1 cup Dijon mustard
1 cup brown sugar
3 cups apple cider
4 cinnamon sticks

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. With a sharp knife, score the ham. Insert cloves where the lines intersect. Place ham in a large roasting pan. Spread mustard over the ham and top with brown sugar. Pour apple cider in the bottom of the roasting pan with the cinnamon sticks.

3. Bake for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, basting frequently.

Nutrition (calculated from recipe ingredients)
----------------------------------------------
Calories: 720.43
Calories From Fat: 197.40
Total Fat: 22.00g
Saturated Fat: 7.06g
Cholesterol: 207.90mg
Sodium: 5278.07mg Potassium: 1364.10mg
Total Carbohydrates: 30.34mg
Fiber: 3.25g
Protein: 95.87g

Recipe Author: Susan Ewing

Recipe: $29.52
Serving: $2.46

Friday's Foto Fun with Cocktails

It's time for Carrie's Friday Foto Fun:-) What a week!! I have been working hard on my cookbook but, I have so many recipes! It's hard to narrow it down and get everything done. Especially since I am doing it part-time. I need one of these:

Poker night tomorrow. Maybe I will have one then:-) Happy Weekend!

Is Susie's Homemade...

?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

APRIL FOOLS:-)

Check out more pictures on Wordless Wednesday at 5 Minutes for Mom or Wordful Wednesday on SevEn cLoWn CirCus:-)