The 3rd day of the month......

Soooooooooooo ...... The last couple of weeks I have been hunting, pecking and dropping some serious gold in the Auction House on WOW..... Been trying to get to my 600 pet achievement because .... well, I'm obsessed.   Yesterday I was down to TWO .... 598 out of 600 and I'm like COME ON....... and then I finally got enough Timeless Isle Coins to by the Sky Lantern.  So I did.  And then I was 599 out of 600 and I was going NUTS!!!!  NUTS!!!  I mean I was ....... RIGHT...... THERE..........

I still don't have my Perky Pug.  OMG I know it's horrible, and I should be ashamed of myself.  But come on - I don't like doing dungeons.  So ran some cuz I'm only 20 people away from getting it.  Come to find out.... it has to be heroic .... Really - ugh.  UGH.   So now?  Who knows when I'll get him.

So then I am like, what profession made pets do I not have.  And I found one.  A non-combat pet.  I never look in the none combat pets!!  OMG how dumb.  So I got it...... Yu'lon Kite.  It's made by Inscription along with the Yu'lon Kite which I also bought but later found out I already had one.  Didn't think I did ....  so I'll give the other one to DB or someone ....  or repost it on the AH I guess.  But OYE..... 600 finally .....

So then I got THIS amazing beast......  Stormwing.

I got my 600!!!

http://www.warcraftpets.com/collection/Lunaeve/  <<<<<-------  My collection.

My temp today is nothing to write home about.  Seems to be pretty much my normal temp these days.

Things are just NOT okay.

If that weren't enough.  

I played an April Fools joke on my husband.  Back fired.  But I have a feeling it won't end well. 

One-Pot Chicken Dinner - as per our Meal Planning :)

Today has just been a mentally and emotionally draining day.  :(  Just don't feel like writing much.

Went to the Beach ....

We didn't get our normal family BLUE picture done this year.  Just been so busy the last few days.  Everyone wore their blue and I didn't even get pictures of everyone.  Boo!!

Got a meal plan going for the next few days.  Have a budget to the 8th .....  and gotta stick to it.  We are trying to stick to this because we have a budget for food and it seems like we're running out at the end of the month, so we really gotta try to do this and stick to it

Stopped by to get a box of baby stuff from Ash and saw my sweet little niece!!!  Awwwww I lubs her too!!  Kaedyn was with and was shy guy the whole time going "can we go now" .... lol....   she's getting teeth and she's walking!!!  And she turns ONE next month!  Where has the year gone???  I didn't get to see Autumn because she was napping :/

I stopped by back at home and picked up Shila and then we took Jaxson (and Kaedyn) down to the beach.  Jax had the BEST TIME... he was sooooooo funny.  Running back and forth and up and down the beach, picking up clam shells and rocks and digging and playing a bit in the water... he just had a BLAST.

We saw two Eagles ....

Saw one of the ferries leaving the Bremerton

My favorite Six Year Old.....

Jellyfish...

We came across a German Shepard named Jasper (or George, I guess they call him George at home and he answers to both) ...  and he's about a year and a half old.   So they played a bit on leash and once we both felt comfortable they'd be okay, we let them both off leash and oh my gosh they just played and played and played and played - it was great.

Got home and I *think* Noah drew a Tardis outside

Had hamburgers & 7 layer Salad for dinner.... NUM....

While at Ash's today, she gave me Noah's birthday gift she had for him (and has had for him since before his birthday but this is the first chance I had to grab it) ...  I had to sew up the top a bit and fix a few things on it - but the boy LOVES it and wouldn't take it off.   Once I showed him, after I got home, he kept coming in asking if I fixed it yet because he wanted to get it on his head.

After Nathan's bath, Jax thought he needed another one.  Or at least, he wanted to lick the water off of him.  Ha ha ha ha ha .....

Recipe: Ham & Cheese Wrap ...

Back in Highschool I was in Home Economics with some good friends and I remembered a few days ago this little recipe that we made and really liked.   It was simple and easy to make...

You take a tortilla shell and spread some cream cheese on it (thin or think to your liking) ...  then you layer some ham .... I added 2 slices of sliced cheese to the middle of ours this time .... and then you just roll it up.  You can serve it cold, or throw them in the microwave for a few to warm it up slightly ....

Super Simple, Super Easy and you can do a TON of variations to it ....  the sky is the limit with this one!  I know my kids were up at the table helping with this one too.  It's a good chance to add some good veggies to it also ... FUN FUN FUN .... 

Recipe: Crunchy Ranch Chicken

So Dennis wanted to make this easy dish ....  CRISPY RANCH CHICKEN...

Crispy isn't in reference to the skin, no ... it involves Rice Crispies Cereal ...

 (prior to cooking)

Prep Time: 10 minutes  ... Bake Time: 20-25 minutes 

Ingredients:  (Serves 4)
2 cups crispy rice cereal
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 envelope (1 oz) Ranch Salad Dressing mix
2 egg whites, beaten
8 skinless, boneless chicken thighs (about 5oz each)

Directions: 

1: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a large baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray. Combine the rice cereal. Parmesan and ranch salad dressing mix in a large bowl.

2: Place beaten egg whites in a medium bowl.  Dip each chicken thighs in the egg whites and then in the cereal mixture to coat evenly.

3: Arrange the coated chicken on the prepared baking sheet.  Bake until golden juices run clear when chicken is pierced with a knife.  20-25 minutes

Serve Hot.... 

Doesn't it look tasty???

Other Ideas:
* For a different texture and flavor in the coating, substitute crushed corn flakes for the rice cereal in Step 1.
* For a buttery taste, drizzle 1/4 cup melted butter over chicken before baking.

(Nutritional Info: Per Serving:  calories 331, fat 15.4g (sat fat 5.4g), carbs 12g)

Pizza Cups

So awhile back a friend of mine posted on her facebook that they made "Pizza Cupcakes"  ...  I was all, "what the heck is pizza cupcakes??"  ...  so she messages me back and said "it's little pizza things made in cupcake tins" ...  eh... interesting.

She sent me the recipe, I printed it out and gave it to Dennis ....  he made the initial "what the heck...." comment but then did the same thing I did.... huh ... interesting.... 

So .... after that, I have no clue what happened to the recipe and I couldn't just reprint it off because it didn't go in my FB email, it was just a message ....  so there was no record of it!  BUGGER right!?

Well, when I decided to "Meal Plan" ...  I was looking for easy amazing recipes that would be easy to make the kids for lunch.  I mean, I still have about a month of making daily lunch for the kids (before school starts) and just wanted to make things interesting....  hot dogs, peanut butter, etc... it gets boring after awhile, even for me.... 

So I just happened to come across another recipe for the same type of thing, only this one was just called "Pizza Cups" ...

What it is - is - biscuit dough, in a muffin pan, shaped around the muffin tin, filled with pizza sauce, cheese, a little basil , and pepperoni ....  easy enough right?   And it was so good!!!   So I'll share the recipe, and then share the little things I did or would do differently ... 

What You Need:

* Muffin Tin 

* Cooking Spray

* Kitchen Sissors

* 1 Tube of refrigerated biscuit dough (I used Grands)

* Pizza Sauce

* Mozzarella Cheese, diced or shredded

* Pepperoni Slices (reg. or turkey) 

* Parmesan Cheese, shredded

* Dried Basil and/or Oregano

Instructions:

* Preheat oven to 375 degrees ... and spray the muffin tin with cooking spray

* After opening the biscuits, one is to thick for this, so you take your kitchen scissors and you clip around the middle of the biscuit until you have it cut in half.

* You take your twin biscuit halves and you press it around a muffin tin.  (I found that sometimes the middle was a little thin, so you have to press out and re-form the dough a little to get the right consistency in the middle - at the bottom of the muffin tin area -)...  repeat until the muffin tin is full (or you run out of dough)

* Once you have your dough in each of your muffin tins, you then start to put some sauce in the bottom. 

* Then you add some cheese (mozzarella)

* Add your pepperoni

* Sprinkle a little more cheese on top (Parm) and then sprinkle a little bit of Basil and/or Oregano...

* Place in the oven and bake for 15 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and the cheese is melted.

Here is my picture of different steps ...   The first row is done until the pepperoni, the second row until the first layer of cheese, and the other two have just the sauce in the bottom...

 This one has the cheese on top, I sprinkled the basil under the pepperoni ....

 Here is a lovely finished product. 

Now I didn't use Mozzarella or Parm... I just used a shredded cheese blend, because I forgot to specifically get Mozz and Parm....  Which was good, but next time, I definitely want to get Mozz and Parm... specifically ... 

The other problem that I ran into, was that I put about a quarter sized puddle of sauce in the bottom, but I don't think that was enough, so next time, I'll use a little more.  It'll mean when the kids bite into it, it'll be messer ... but I will take that chance.  It just wasn't saucy enough for me, but different people like different amounts of sauce, so ...  experiment a little.  I just know I'm not going to be afraid to use a little more sauce (or cheese for that matter) next time... 

The last bit of advice is that my first batch (15 minutes) was over cooked.  I got busy with my kids and next thing I knew the timer was going off so I asked my oldest to get it out while I finished doing what I was doing....  when I got into the kitchen, I saw them a little more then golden brown and only moments from being burnt.  So the next batch, I put them in for 12 minutes and they came out PERFECT!!  So be sure to watch your first batch through the last few minutes of cooking time to figure out the perfect cooking time for your oven. 

Other then that! ENJOY!!!  Please let me know if you try it and what you think!

Menu Planning ....

We have a large family.   Food is one of our biggest expenses ...    so we're always looking for ways of cutting our bill ....   coupons w/ ad matching, etc and so on....   and now, we're going to start meal planning.  I want to do a month at a time, however, it's a lot harder then it looks.   So right now, I finished off this week and have next week done.  

This is what we have so far.  

August 10:  We're going to be grocery shopping tomorrow, and will probably get something for lunch. 

                  Dinner: Honey Glazed Pork Chops w/ Broccoli 

August 11:  Lunch: Pepperoni Pizza Cups

                  Dinner: Crispy Ranch Chicken  w/ Garlic Mash & Corn

August 12:  Lunch: Ham & Cheese w/ cream cheese Tortilla

                  Snack: 7-Layer Salad (close to dinner) 

                  Dinner: Papa Murphy's 

                  Dessert: Rolo Cookies (didn't have time to make this)

August 13: Breakfast: Chocolate & Peanut Butter Filled Crescent Rolls

                 Lunch: Angle Hair w/ Zucchini 

                 Snack: Taco Dip didn't end up doing any of these, we had left overs

                 Dinner: Tacos

August 14: Breakfast: Toads in a Hole Traditional Breakfast

                 Lunch: Sandwiches & Stuffed Peppers ended up having "Brunch"

                 Dinner: One Pot Chicken Dinner  Went over to my mom's for Roast Dinner

Next Week: 

August 15: Lunch: Pigs in a Blanket

                 Dinner: Cilantro-Lime Chicken w/ Chimichurri Sauce

August 16: Lunch: Sandwiches & Ants on a Log

                 Dinner: Spaghetti w/ Pepperoni & Zucchini and Texas Toast

August 17: Lunch: English Muffin Pizza

                 Dinner: Honey-Glazed Chicken Stir-fry w/ Rice

August 18: Lunch: Hot Dogs (?) 

                 Dinner: Cola Pot Roast

August 19: Lunch: Peanut Butter Sammichs

                 Dinner: Homemade Pizza & Salad

                 Dessert:  Cake in honor of Jessa's 7th Birthday

August 20: Breakfast: Cinnamon Cresent Rolls

                 Lunch: Back-Wrapped Chicken Stuffed w/ Jalapeno Poppers

                 Dinner: Taco Salad

August 21: Breakfast: Classic Breakfast

                 Lunch: Sandwiches (or left overs) 

                 Dinner: Slow Cooked Barbecue Chicken 

So there you have it..   Took me all day to plan that.  I found some new recipes to try and we're looking forward to some of them.                   

I will be sure to share in our success or failure of this! LOL.... and some of the recipes :)