Are You Ready for Some Football?

If you don't already know, tonight is the kick off to the 2011-2012 NFL season.  I know it is a welcome day for many a sports fan.  College football kicked off this past weekend.   I found some fun football themed goodies for any tailgate or party. 

One of my favorite sites for snacks and party foods is Snackpicks.com. Check out some of the great recipes I found there. 

How about this guacamole dip made to look like a football field.   You can find this recipe here.

Love this football shaped cheese ball, found here.

Football mini subs from Familyfun.com

Subs with football shaped buns at TasteofHome.com

Barbeque Chicken and Bacon Footballs.. YUM! from CookEatShare.com

Football shaped truffles from Bakerella.com

If you dont have time to prepare food yourself, not to worry.  Nabisco is now making football shaped Oreos.  I saw them at my local Meijer on Tuesday.

Go Team!!

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Banana Burritos

I picked up some bananas at Meijer last night, so I was able to make this yummy treat this morning.  Banana Burrios are great for a nutrious on the go breakfast or the lunch box.  They are also easy and quick to make. 

The best  tortilla for the banana burrito is the 8 inch, enchilada  size.

Spread on your favorite peanut butter.  I love Chunky Jif!  You could probably also use Nutella if desired.  If can not eat peanut butter, you could even leave it off. 

Spread on your favorite jelly.  I used cherry preserves.  The jelly can be a little messy if it drips, so if you are worried about that, you could leave it off. 

Lay a banana along to top edge of the torilla and wrap tightly.    

This is what the burrito looks like in the middle.  When wrapping for a lunch box, I suggest wrapping in a layer of plastic wrap first and then wrap in foil.  The plastic wrap helps the burrito keep its shape, and the foil keeps your lunch box safe from any jelly drippings. 

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Overwhelmed..

Sorry for my lack of posting yesterday.  The first day back to school with 3 kids in 3 different schools means there are a lot of things that have to be done.   Once I finally got everyone where they needed to be and had worked on some of the laundry, I was literally falling asleep.    I only had 4 hours of  sleep the night before.  I got into bed late, and then was woken up a few times by one of my children who could not sleep.  Since I am a light  sleeper, if someone is taking a shower at 3 a.m, I know it.  The 3 a.m. shower taker was even thoughtful enough  to come tell me that they were already up at 5:30 am, 30 minutes before my alarm was set to go off.   By 11 am, I had already been up for about 6 hours and knew I could not make it all day.    I took a nap for about an hour, and then I had enough energy to tackle some of my afternoon to do list.  I needed to go to Staples for ink (didn't happen),  I needed to file the giant stack of coupons (pictured), make a grocery list, pick up food for the lizards and turtle (didnt happen until almost 9 pm), and do  6+ loads of laundry (only got 2 done).   The plan was to go to the grocery store once all 3 kids were home from school, so I could get their imput on what they wanted for their packed lunches.  I did not want to repeat the morning of packing when they had no idea what they wanted to take, they just knew they did not want to take my suggestions.

I got a good start on the coupon sorting by about 1 pm after making my list.  I like to file my binder alphabetically.  I do it that way because for years I had a coupon box with coupons in alphabetically order. I liked my coupon box, but I wanted to have my coupons where I could find them quicker.  I spent a lot of time looking through the box instead of just glancing quickly at a page.  The binder does have its downside.  It is not as easy to file the coupons into the different pages, as it was to just drop it in the box. I tend to put it off to long, which is how I got the giant pile.   I divided the piles into smaller piles by breaking up the alphabet.  I then divided each of those piles by each individual letter. 

I was on my second pile of coupons  when I realized it was time to pick up 2 of my kids.  I found one quickly, but the other one did not see the car which took some extra time.  Once they were home, and I had heard about their days, I had only 30 minutes before child 3 was due home.  I worked on a few more coupons and then went to the bus stop.  That bus was over 20 mins late.  By the time I got back to the coupons, it was almost 5 p.m.    I finally got everything filed and was ready to go to the store it was already  after 6. (so much for my plan)  Once I got there, I realized half the town was there as well.    Seemed everyone needed snacks, lunch food, last minute school supplies etc.  

I went to Meijer, which has some great snack deals this week.  We finally finished at 8.  Since I had not had time to make dinner, we went to the Taco Ball drive thru.  Many other people had that same idea at the same time.  There were at least 10 cars in line.   I picked up the 12 pack of tacos for dinner, and stopped for the pet food, (crickets) on the way home.     By the time the groceries were brought in, and we had some tacos it was already after 9.  I then had to tackle the giant pile of papers the kids needed filled out and signed.  3 kids in 3 schools, means at least 15 forms to fill out.    I fell into be exhausted around 11.  

So now it is day 2, and time to catch up on what was not completed yesterday.  I will be posting the Staples deal that I hope to pick up today.    I would post my Meijer best deals of the week, but as you can imagine from how my day went, I didnt even bother to take a picture yesterday.  

Hopefully I will be all caught up by the end of the week.

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1st Day of School

Today is the first day of school in my state.   I love that we don't go back until after Labor Day, but then it always makes for a busy Labor Day.    All 3 of my kids changed schools today, so it may take a bit to get into our new routines.

One thing that I have done the last few years is have each of the hold a paper with their grade on it. It is so much easier to figure out which year is which when looking at the pictures, since they are geting to  the ages when it all blends together.   I was pleasantly surprised with how smoothly the morning went today.   I had one on one time with each one of them, and everyone cooperated with pictures.   I did realize until after downloading my pics, I missed getting one of Kara by herself with her #5.  I can do that when she gets home.   I was also able to get walking pictures of each one on their way to the bus stop or school 

Its dark when the high schoolers have to get on the bus.   Doesnt she look thrilled.  LOL!

This is how my son really feels about going back.  He won't admit it, but he did show some excitement this morning.  He is really looking foward to  Robotics class. Not the rest of the classes, just Robotics and maybe Discovery.

His way of  telling me to stop taking pictures already. 

I know she was nervous this morning, but I think once she gets to school and mets the new kids, she will have fun. She also already knows she has a handful of friends in her class.   I can't believe how fast she grew up!

Now that I am on my own for the day, I have so much to catch up on.  On todays agenda.. several loads of laundry, make a grocery list (didnt have much for lunches today) and file several weeks worth  of coupons.  I might even try to sneak in a small nap.  I was up most of the night, and then the high schooler woke me up at 3 am  and  5:45am   YAWN! .  I am so not a morning person, so it will take some time to get used to the early mornings again.  

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School Lunch Ideas

In less than a day, my kids will be back in school, and once again I will have to figure out what to pack in my kids lunches.    My kids all have their food likes and dislikes, which make things a little harder for me.   High Schooler will probably pack her own lunch.  I have been asking her if she wants me to buy anything in paricular from the store, but so far I have not received an answer. She just said she will pack whatever.    Middle schooler who has Aspergers tends to stick to a few items that he likes, and rarely wants something different.  His lunch consisted of a sandwich,  chips and pudding cup.  Occasionally he would take a hard boiled egg.  He did tell me he might try something new this year.  That is yet to be seen.  5th grader does not like to eat normal sandwiches.  She tends to want to eat snack type items, and she eats like a bird.   A typical lunch last year consisted of a cheese stick, yogurt, something crunchy, and maybe some fruit.  Half of her food would come home because she was too busy talking and did not have enough time to eat everything. 

I have been searching online for some easy and nutritous ideas that hopefully at least 2 out of 3 of my kids will eat. 

I think that this sandwich on a stick   from Family Fun might be a go for 5th grader.  She could eat her favorite snack foods and technically it is not a sandwich.

This California Roll Sushi Wrap  fron Family Fun might be good for the high schooler. She likes sushi and wraps.  

Technically this is not a sandwich and probably healthier than the pre packaged version.  I found these mini cracker sandwiches     on Kraftrecipes.com

I would not have thought to make a fruit sandwich, but I think this is one that the 5th grader would eat.   I found this on Eattingwell.com

I found this link orginally on 5dollardinners.com.  She has many different fun themes that  I am definitely going to go back and through through.  One that caught my eye right away was lunches with personality on the blog by Lisa Storms.  She has several fun items with faces and personalities of their own.

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Pizza Pasta Salad

I absolutely love this pasta salad recipe.  I found it in a Taste of Home magazine many years ago, and  have made it countless times since. 

First you will need to make a box of spiral pasta.  I had several boxes of Ronzoni Garden Delight Rotini from a recent sale.  You can use plain rotini if desired, the garden version just makes the pasta salad more colorful.

Drain the pasta.   Add 3 medium diced tomatoes, 16 oz of cubed cheddar and 3 ozs of sliced pepperoni.  You can also added  1-2 green onion bunches if desired.  I left them out.  If you are a follower of my recipes on the blog, you know that I dont aways follow directions exactly.  Today I used an 8 oz block of cheese. I personally feel that 16 ozs is a bit too much and I LOVE cheese.  I also did not add the entire  3 ozs of pepperoni.    Mix the ingredients throughout the pasta.  

The next step is to make the dressing.   You will need 3/4 c of canola oil,  (vegetable oils is also okay), 1/2 c of red wine vinegar, 2/3 c of parm cheese, 2 tsp oregano, 1 tsp garlic powder and 1 tsp of salt.  I did not have the full 2/3 c of parm cheese today, but did not realize that until I got to this step.  I just added what I had.    Mix well. 

Pour the dressing over the pasta mixture.   Chill several hours before serving.  I love how colorful it turned out with the Garden Delight.    Enjoy! I plan on serving ours at our church Labor Day picnic tomorrow. 

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Its the Final Countdown

I wanted to get the kids out of the house since it is our final weekend of freedom.   I saw that the Smurfs were still playing at our local theater, and the kids still wanted to see it.   I have to admit, I actually enjoyed it.  There were many moments when I laughed out loud with my kids. 

The movie theater was right next to Borders, so we went in to see if there was anything else we could find that we wanted.   The current discount is 60-80% off.  The kids each found a book or two, I found 4 or 5.  We were just about done, when I found our best deal of the day.    Red tag books were 60% off.  I found hardback Jonas Brothers books on sale for only $1, which meant they were only .40 each.  They were originally $21.99!   Since Kara has a some  friends that like the Jonas Brothers, I bought all 5 to give out as future gifts. 

Our last stop was Kroger.  I needed to pick up some cheese for the pasta salad I am making for our church Labor Day picnic. Now I need to make the salad.   Watch for the recipe shortly!

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Must See Polka Dot Cake

While I am still not ready for Halloween,,  I do have to admit it is getting closer and it's not totally unreasonable to start thinking about it.   Snowy Bliss   shared how to make a polka dot cake using her cake pop maker, which has actually got me kind of excited about  fall and Halloween.  I just think this cake is so cute, and very orginial.  Not only does she had a great tutorial, she has FREE printable cupcake toppers.   Make sure to check out Snowy Bliss and all her creativity here.

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Last Minute Labor Day Ideas

Are you hosting or going to a Labor Day get together? This is a big weekend for picnics and barbeques, which often means bring a pot luck dish. I will be posting the recipe and pictures of one of my favorite pot luck dishes in the next day or so. It is Pizza Pasta Salad, and my entire family loves it. Until then I am passing on several Labor Day recipe links in case you need a last minute recipe.

Have you ever tried to grill pizza?  I have not, but this grilled pizza recipe from Pillsbury  looks easy and interesting.  

I receive the Ocean Spray newsletter, and one of the recipes I thought look delcious was this Strawberry Party punch made from ice cream Ocean Spray Strawberry Juice. 

The bhg.com newsletter had a couple of interesting recipes such as grilled chicken with watermelon glaze

and several new twists for potato salad

You cant forget the deviled eggs.  The Eatting Well Newsletter has a recipe for a healthy version of deviled eggs and other better for you recipes. 

If you prefer to serve burgers,  Taste of Home has several great burger recipes such as this BBQ burger. 

Enjoy this last summer weekend, not matter what you decide to serve. 

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Fresh From the Garden Goodness

I picked these from our garden today.  One of my favorite meals of the summer is a veggie dinner with homegrown food. 

We decided to make a cold  veggie pizza.  While this is a pretty common recipe, this is how we make ours.  I used refridgerated pizza crust that I got on sale.   I sprayed a cookie sheet with cooking spray, laid out the dough and followed the directions on the package.  The Meijer brand cooks at 400 degrees for about 14 minutes.     When it is lightly golden brown, take it out of the oven, and let it cool a bit. 

I like to cut my veggies and mix them together in a bowl before putting on the pizza.   From the garden I used the tomatoes and cucumber.   From this weeks sale at Meijer,  I used broccoli, cauliflower and peppers.  You can use whatever veggies you like best.  We change it up often.  Sometimes I add carrots, mushrooms, and others depending on what I have on hand.

I made the "sauce" from cream cheese and Miracle Whip.  I used 2/3 of a brick and 2-3 spoonfuls of Miracle Whip. I then spread the veggie mix on top of the "sauce. 

I added a couple of handfuls of shredded cheese and then placed in the refridgerator until we were ready to eat. 

I tried something new with the green beans that I picked from the garden.  I like them best when I place them in a plastic pan with just a little bit of water and cook them in the mircowave.   After doing that I thought of somethings I could add to give them some flavor. I was going to put Italian dressing on them, but realized the bottle had an expiration date, dated a month ago.  I then saw a bottle of balsamic vinegar dressing, and decided to try that.   I didn't know there were recipes similar to this online until after I made them.. LOL!   I felt they also needed a little bit of seasoning, so I added a bit of salt and pepper.    I hope to get a few more batches of beans before the garden is through, and will make them this way again. 

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WOOHOO! New Month = New Coupons

While I am not thrilled that we are staring the month of September and summer is almost over,  I am happy that a new month means new coupons.  Groceries have become so expensive lately,  that coupons have really helped me keep my grocery budget in line.   I see several of the new ones that I am going to print and many more on Coupons.com.   My kids have been wanting to try the Pizza Stuffers

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Updates from the Chaos

We had quite a morning..  All 3 of our kitties had their annual check ups at the vet today.  They were a few weeks overdue for their shots, and with the crazy school schedule starting next week I wanted  to get in before that happened.  I also wanted to go when I had extra hands to help,  since I was taking in 3 kitties at once.  

One thing they check at the appointment is a "sample from what comes out of a cat".   Since we are a multicat household, they just take a family sample because unless you are at the box at the time, its impossible to tell what belongs to who.   They gave me plastic contatiner, and I put it in my purse without looking at it.  When I got home I was surprised to see a tootsie roll and some cat treats inside.  I have taken cats to to the vet for years, and have never had a tootsie roll in the contatiner before.   I called the vet's office just to see if I was to do something special with that tootsie roll.   The vet tech just laughed and said that it was a treat for me. It was also a bit ironic that the name on the container was our gray cat in the 1st picture. Her name just happens to be named Tootise.   I had to admit, it was pretty funny.    

Updates on the frogs..  The frogs were doing great in their habitat the last few days, that it until this morning.   When I came downstairs I noticed a lot water all over the kitchen floor, and a funny smell. Then I saw what was causing that water and smell.  One of the cats had knocked the habitat off the counter and it had landed upside down.   We have found 2 of the 3 frogs and let them free back outside.   We have no idea where the 3rd and smallest frog is, we are hoping it is not in a cat belly.    At the moment my house smells like a pond.. Ewww!!!  I need to mop the kitchen floor ASAP.  I did not have time before we left for the vet appt. 

Since I heard many good things about the Canvas People deal that I posted about yesterday, I decided I wanted to give it a try.   I could not find a certain picture from when the kids were little that I wanted to use, but I did come across another one of my favorites.  This was taken Halloween 2006, and all three of the kids are smiling and having fun. I cant wait to see how it turns out!

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