Menu Plan August 1-5

Can you believe the first week of August is here already? It's only 145 days until Christmas! Where has the summer gone?

This week I'm falling back on some old stand-bys. Easy is what I like, so easy I'm going to do. How about you?

Here's the plan:

Sunday
Out with friends

Monday
Sloppy joes, fries

Tuesday
Lentil rice burritos, refried beans

Wednesday
Potato soup, homemade bread

Thursday
Cheeseburger rice, green beans

Friday
Chicken fingers, mashed potatoes

Saturday
Grilled burgers, corn, salad

For more great menu plans, visit Organizing Junkie's Menu Plan Monday. You'll find tons of inspiration from busy moms like you.

From the Inside Out

I've joined the children's ministry at our church and we're gearing up to start a new year. In the process, the leaders are receiving some training and evaluating our own spiritual lives so we can better minister to these kids. I'm seeing areas that I need to change and ways I can draw closer to God.

When I was growing up, my church put a great deal of emphasis on the outward appearance. Girls didn't wear pants, boys had to have short hair, no shorts for either group. And so I watched as people who conformed outwardly were patted on the back by the church leadership, knowing that they were as rebellious as the non-conformists. I also watched many people who wanted to serve the Lord turned away because they didn't hold the same dress standards. Spirituality was measured by how one looked and dressed, not by a person's love for Jesus. It was discouraging for many young believers, to say the least.

I'm determined that in my own children, I will do my best to foster a love for God, knowing that is the first and great commandment. Do I want them to abide by our family's rules? Yes. But I want them to do it because they love the Lord and want to honor Him, not because they want to "perform" for us. I want them to look and act like Christians, of course. But more important than their outward appearance, I want God to have their hearts. The rest will fall into place as the Holy Spirit leads them.

And so I want to carry that over to our children's ministry. We're going to emphasize heart knowledge and not just head knowledge of Jesus. We're going to teach the young ladies to be modest and feminine. We're going to help the boys become gentlemen. We want them all to live their lives to the glory of God. But we're going to do it from the inside out.

Mixbook.com Works for Me!

I love to scrapbook. I really do. But it takes a great deal of time, creativity (which I lack), and supplies. After our family's first trip to Disney World in 2007, it took me nearly two years to create two books. I barely finished in time for our trip in October of last year.

So I decided this time I'd use an online photo book maker like Shutterfly or Snapfish. But as I looked over their background options, I wasn't really happy with what I saw. I wanted a more "scrapbooky" look.

And I found it with Mixbook.com. They have several themes and layouts to choose from. I love that I can fit multiple pictures on a page, something that would be hard to do the old-fashioned way with paper and pictures.



Mixbook offers digital elements to enhance your pages, too. This gives them a more scrapbooky feel.


Don't you just love my new word - scrapbooky?

Anyway, the Disney book I created was 20 pages, about the same amount I'd use in a scrapbook album. I chose an 8x8 format, but there are other sizes such as 12x12 and 8 1/2 x11. My book cost about $30 with shipping, which is cheaper than I could buy an album, papers, and embellishments for the same size book. I saved hours and hours in putting it together. And the memories contained in the Mixbook are no less memorable because I didn't scrap them myself.

Will I give up paper scrapbooking all together? Probably not until I use up my stash of supplies. In the meantime, Mixbook.com works for me!

For more helpful tips, visit We are THAT Family's Works for Me Wednesday.

Mexican Dip

I found this recipe last week over at my friend Wendy's blog, Faith's Firm Foundation. I knew I had to try it, especially since we were expecting company and I needed a quick munchie to have on hand.

I tweaked the recipe a bit based on what I had on hand, and my guests devoured it! This was all that was left.


Here's what I used:

1 (8oz) pkg cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup sour cream
1 TBSP taco seasoning
1 cup salsa (I used Newman's Own)
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 green onions, thinly sliced
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

In a bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Combine with the sour cream and taco seasoning. Then stir in the remaining ingredients and refrigerate until serving. How simple is that?

I served mine with Fritos Scoops and regular tortilla chips. This would also make an excellent spread for quesadillas or a tortilla roll-up. You could add lettuce and olives like Wendy does in hers. And if you like some spice, use a hot salsa. Make this dip your own. But just go make it! You'll love it!

Menu Plan July 25-31

It's the last week of July! The last week! And it's been hot. The last four days we've been under a heat advisory with temps reaching 100 with heat indexes of 110. Ugghh! I just melt in this kind of weather.

So I'm trying to stay cool in the kitchen. We bought a little oscillating fan that I keep on the counter by the stove. That little thing's been a HUGE blessing, keeping me cool while I cook. I've had to resort to keeping my stash of mini Reese cups in the fridge so they don't melt! Ha ha!

Here's the somewhat cool menu plan for the week.

Sunday
Sausage veggie calzones (didn't get to this last week)

Monday
Grilled burgers and brats, hash brown casserole, orzo salad

Tuesday
Baked egg rolls

Wednesday
Homemade chicken nuggets, fries

Thursday
Pasta with veggie sauce

Friday
Taco soup, homemade bread

Saturday
Chicken strips, mashed potatoes, green beans

For more meal planning ideas, head over to Organizing Junkie's Menu Plan Monday. You'll find tons of inspiring menus and recipes to jumpstart your own meal plans. Have a great week!

Baked Egg Rolls

I love to make Chinese food at home. But I wanted to try baking egg rolls instead of frying them. Who needs the extra calories from frying anyway?

Here's what you need:

1 lb ground pork, cooked and drained
1 pkg cole slaw mix
2 TBSP soy sauce
1/4 teas ground ginger
1/4 teas garlic powder
1/4 teas salt
1 pkg egg roll wrappers (you'll find these in the produce section of your grocery stores)


Combine the cooked pork and cole slaw mix in a pan and cook until the cabbage in the slaw mix is softened. Add the soy sauce and spices and stir well.


Remove the wrappers from the package and fill one at a time. They dry out easily, so keep them covered until you're ready to use them. Place the wrapper in front of you so it looks like a diamond. Arrange about 2 TBSP of filling across the widest part of the diamond.


Fold the sides and bottom to cover the filling. It will look like an envelope. Wet the edges with a little water so they stick together.


Now start at the bottom and roll up tightly. Add a little more water around the edges if necessary.


Place on a greased baking sheet seam side down. Repeat with the remaining wrappers and filling. I think the package has 20 wrappers and I only used 14. If you used less filling in each egg roll, you could probably stretch it to make all 20.


Brush the tops of each roll with a little olive oil. Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes. Then flip over and bake an additional 10 minutes or until the egg rolls have reached desired level of crispiness.


The kids devoured these! They were just the right mix of meat and veggies. You could, of course, leave out the meat and add in more cole slaw or carrots to make a vegetarian egg roll. Or you could swap out the ground pork for shrimp or chicken. The possibilities are endless. And no calories from frying!

For an easy sweet and sour dipping sauce, combine 1/2 cup vinegar with 1/3 cup sugar in a small sauce pan. Whisk in 1 TBSP soy sauce, 3 TBSP ketchup and 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder. Bring to a boil, then simmer for a couple of minutes until thickened.

Update for freezing instructions: If you want to freeze these for later, follow the directions up until baking. Lay the egg rolls on a pan lined with waxed or parchment paper and flash freeze for a couple of hours until solid. Then place in a freezer bag and squeeze out as much as air as possible. When ready to serve, pull out as many egg rolls as you need and place on a baking sheet. Allow to thaw on the counter for about 10 minutes, then brush with oil and bake as directed.

New Look! And a Giveaway!

So, I've got a new look around here. What do you think?

I adore it! The colors, the graphics, the button! I love it all!

It was created for me by Lisa of My Trendy Blogs. She was simply a dream to work with! She captured my personality and vision for this blog perfectly. In honor of her wedding anniversary coming up, Lisa is giving away a FREE blog makeover. Whoo hoo!

Head over to My Trendy Blogs and enter the giveaway by leaving a comment. You can receive extra entries by blogging, tweeting or Facebooking about the giveaway, too.

Thank you, Lisa, for your hard work and creativity! This has been a pleasant experience from start to finish. May God bless your all of your endeavors!