Menu Plan...Tuesday?

Since the commissary is closed on Mondays, I am going to start doing my menu planning/grocery shopping posts on Tuesdays because, well, that's when I go shopping anyway. So! Here is my plan for the week:

Tuesday:

Sloppy Cornbread

Wednesday:

Chicken Fricassi

Thursday:

Leftovers (hubs has 24hr duty)

Friday:

Sweet and sour pork chops

Saturday:

French Onion Burgers

Sunday:

Leftovers (hubs has duty again)

Time for Action!

We got our leave chit approved so it is time to set the gears in motion for the princess's birthday! Since snail mail is soooooo 1990's (and I don't have everyone's addresses) I posted an invitation on Facebook, called my mother to let her know we would be up, and started worrying over how exactly to theme it.
I'm thinking Princess/Dora. (She had a movie where she was a princess, right? RIGHT??) So I'll order a cake from either Publix or Winn-Dixie, find some decorations online, and commence panicking!

Dare I?

I'm considering making Aurora's cake.

Yes, you read that right. I'd of course use a cake mix, because I absolutely fail at baking without the boxed stuff. And even then I typically find a way to have a wet middle and a burnt outside. But I figure if I practice enough and can get ahold of something like this or this, I may be able to pull it off. However in the end it may be a better idea to just buy a cake from Winn-Dixie...we'll have to see.

This site has given me good ideas for her party. I think I can finally (somewhat) relax about it--now we just have to wait and see if the hubs gets his leave chit approved!

Your Baby Can Read and Birthday Parties

So I have been having Aurora watch Your Baby Can Read as of late, and she really seems to enjoy it. She especially loves when the songs come on; she loves to dance to Itsy Bitsy Spider! She also has started waving when "wave" comes on the screen :)

So next month my baby girl turns 1 year old! I am trying to figure out exactly what to do for her birthday. I know to get the traditional smash cake for her, but other than that I don't know really what to do. I figure have food for the guests of course, maybe a little play pool for her and any friends to play in, but are there really any party games you can play with a 1 year old? She loves Dora so that's what I'm going to theme her party as. Other than that, I'm kind of at a loss. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!

I'm bad about that...

So I realize it's been almost 6 months since I last posted...so I figure it might be a good time to update this. As of now my little punkin can walk (though still unsteadily) while only holding onto one of my fingers. It's only a matter of time now!

In slacking off on my blog, I've also slacked off on the weekly meal planning. Not good! We got back to eating out much more than we should, therefore driving up the bills. Time to refocus and regroup! Now to hunt up some cheap and healthy meals...I'm hoping to lose about 15lbs by the time Aurora's birthday (June 28th!) rolls around. We'll see how this goes!

Chicken Fricassi

This is the recipe my good friend Angie shared with me recently. I must say, it is DELICIOUS!!! Here is the recipe as she wrote it (with a couple of notes from me) and pictures I took while making it the other night :)

4 bone-in chicken thighs
1/4 cup flour
1 tsp paprika (or until flour looks pink)
dash white pepper (optional.. i always forget it)
at least 1 tsp salt

Mix up in gallon sized ziplock (or whatever is handy) and shake chicken in it to coat.

1 tbsp light oil
1/2 cup an onion, chopped
1/2 cup celery, chopped

(I used my Ninja Master Prep! Though I accidentally pulsed it a little too much and basically pureed my onion and celery x.x)

Heat pan to medium-low heat. Add oil to coat pan.



Add onion and celery and cook until semi-tender. Scoop out and set aside.



Add more oil to recoat pan. Lightly crisp chicken in pan; DO NOT COOK THROUGH.



2 small cans (10 3/4 oz each) cream of chicken soup


In a crockpot, add 1 can cream of chicken soup.



Lay chicken on top.



Lay onions and celery on top of that.



In a bowl or measuring cup, add second can of soup and 1 can's worth of water. Mix up and pour in crockpot to cover everything.
Cook on high for 1 hour.
Reduce to low and cook for 6 hours.
Do not remove lid while cooking.



When time is up, use tong to grab chicken bones. If meat does not fall off the bone, recover and cook on high for 1 more hour.

Stir up contents of crock pot and serve over wide egg noodles (or preferred choice of base, i.e. potatoes, rice, ect.)
Enjoy! =D

Happy December!

I have to say December is probably my favorite month of the year. I love the excitement that seems to fill the air as soon as it turns December first, and the extra bit of kindness people seem to show this month. I love giving gifts to those I love and seeing the looks on their faces as they open them. I honestly could go without receiving any gifts; seeing others happy is honestly enough for me.
All of my gifts this year are going to be handmade, so I hope that the people I am making them for will be a bit forgiving of how they look! Also I am very excited because my mother actually gave me my gift early--a home canning kit! I can't wait to start using it. Just another way to be frugal!
Today I'm going to attack a little bit of freezer cooking in attempt to keep us from relying on Pizza Hut for days I forget to thaw the chicken or buy an important ingredient in one of our meals (I have a bad habit of being forgetful).
I won't be freezer cooking for the whole month, but I figure this is a good way to start! If you want to join in with Freezer Cooking Daze, head over to Life as a Mom or Money Saving Mom!