Menu Plan Monday #5

It's that time again!

Last week's menu got changed up at the last minute. I had two cooked chicken breasts left over from the chicken enchiladas I made for church, so Thursday night we had BBQ Ranch chicken salad. Delicious, but two chicken breasts don't make nearly enough! I also knew I would need room in the refrigerator for Saturday night's dinner so I put off the Taco Soup for this week. Friday night we ate some of the chicken enchiladas from the freezer. And since I didn't make the soup, we picked up supper from Sonic on the way home from the Fall Festival at church. The boys weren't very hungry after eating popcorn and cotton candy. Oh, and add a pickle to Jacob's list.

This week is pretty busy, so the meal plan looks a little boring. Maybe next month I can get back to cooking some different things...

Monday: Taco Soup (I have a meeting tonight, but I figure I can get the soup going early enough and eat some before I leave.)

Tuesday: sandwiches (This is Billy's last night of class!)

Wednesday: left over soup

Thursday: left over soup (Yes, I'm planning on making a lot! Whoever is tired of soup can have a sandwich...)

Friday: pick up something on the way to see my parents for the weekend

Saturday: Out! (We'll be celebrating my mom's and my birthdays. I wonder where we'll go eat...)

Sunday: sandwiches (AWANA night)

For more inspiration, check out other meal plans at I'm an Organizing Junkie!.
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Pumpkin Cheesecake Trifle

Since my menu plan for this week isn't very inspiring, how about the dessert I came up with last week for Saturday night's missionary dinner? Pumpkin Cheesecake Trifle. Mmmmm...

I needed to make something quick and easy. The easiest thing I could think of was the Chocolate Trifle I make at several of my shows, but I wanted something more festive. I decided to go with pumpkin and some coordinating pudding flavor. I found cheesecake and knew it would be a hit.

Here's the recipe:

Pumpkin Cheesecake Trifle

1 box Pumpkin Quick Bread mix (+ ingredients listed on box to make bread)
1 pkg. fat-free, sugar-free cheesecake pudding
1 can sweetened condensed milk (You can use the low-fat kind; I probably should have.)
1/2 c. water
1 8-oz. container sugar-free Cool Whip
1 12-oz container sugar-free Cool Whip
pumpkin pie spice

Prepare quick bread as directed on package; cool completely and cut into cubes.

In Classic Batter Bowl, combine pudding mix, sweetened condensed milk, and water using Stainless Whisk. Fold in 8-oz. Cool Whip with Small Mix 'n Scraper until no streaks remain. Refrigerate while bread is baking and cooling.

In Trifle Bowl, layer 1/2 of the pumpkin bread cubes, 1/2 of the cheesecake pudding mixture, and 1/2 of the 12-oz. Cool Whip. Repeat once more; top with a sprinkling of pumpkin pie spice. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Serves 15-18.

Everyone loved it! I forgot to take a picture of it when I finished making it, but since I'll be making it for a Holiday Open House this weekend, I'll be sure to do it then. I'll post it next week.

Silence

Today's Photo Friday challenge is "silence".


Ceiling of the prayer chapel, Thanksgiving Square, downtown Dallas.

Yes, this is another picture from our Dallas on the DART Rail trip. You think maybe TPTB at Photo Friday have been looking through my picture files...? :o)

Here's another favorite picture representing silence. It's from our trip to the Dallas Arboretum last Friday afternoon. (More to come on that later.)



Which one do you think best represents silence?

13 Characters on Lost

Thank you, Cindy. I'm loving this show! Billy and I have watched the first 16 episodes of season 1 over the course of the last week and a half. I'll be getting discs 5, 6, & 7 from the library tomorrow, so we'll be watching the last eight episodes of season 1 and perusing the bonus features disc over the next week or so.

For this week's Thursday Thirteen, I'm blogging about 13 characters from Lost. (Lost fans, keep in mind that I'm a newbie and don't fully understand all the characters and their relationships just yet. I'm just basing this on what I've seen so far. And please don't spoil any of the plotlines for me. Thanks!)

1. Jack - A surgeon in the real world, Jack is now the general practitioner and the leader of the survivors of the plane crash.

2. Kate - She's a criminal who's trying to turn over a new leaf on the island. She and Jack are friends, but he doesn't completely trust her, with good reason. She's shown some surprising skill in tracking and outdoor survival.

3. Charlie - He's a bass player for a defunct band and a drug addict who's managed to kick his habit while on the island. He's sweet and loyal, but has a poor image of himself.

4. Locke - Formerly paralyzed from the waist down from an accident 4 years earlier, he now walks and runs freely on the island. When Jack said something about the island having mystical qualities, he answered, "More than you know." He mentioned having been a scout as a boy, but he knows much more about the ways of the wild than a scout would. It's almost like he was in the CIA or something at one point. I like him, but sometimes the things he does weirds me out.

5. Sawyer - He's a jerk and a con-artist with a smart mouth and a southern drawl. Still, you can't help but like him. I keep waiting for him to do the right thing, but he just never quite crosses that line.

6. Sayid - An Iraqi who served in the Republican Guard during Desert Storm, he's guarded but friendly with the rest of the survivors. He's very intelligent and conscientious. The writers and the actor have done a great job portraying Sayid as a person and not a threat or a terrorist.

7. Claire - Alone and very pregnant, she was on her way to the US to meet a couple who would adopt her baby. She quickly finds a friend in Charlie. After being attacked and abducted by Ethan, she manages to escape and eventually rejoins the other survivors. She steps up to be bait so the group can capture Ethan and find out how he came to be on the island since he wasn't a passenger on the airplane. With all the stresses she's been enduring, how can she not have had that baby yet?!?

8. Hurley - I love Hurley! He's lovable and funny, and he really cares about the welfare of the people he's stranded with. From building a golf course so the survivors can have some fun to encouraging Sayid to talk with Charlie about killing Ethan, his heart comes through. And he's always got something funny to say.

9. Sun - A seemingly brow-beaten and controlled wife, this daughter of a Korean mobster can secretly speak English. Michael is the first one to find out, then Kate, but she asks them to keep it secret.

10. Jin - Sun's husband and her father's "associate", he is very controlling. He doesn't know Sun can speak English, but seems to be suspicious of her relationship with the other survivors. He's had some violent altercations, particularly with Michael, but there have been some kind moments, too.

11. Shannon - She's spoiled and selfish and will use anyone to get what she wants. She also has a poor self-image and thinks she's useless. At times I almost want to like her, then she does or says something to make me loathe her again. At least she's trying to help Sayid discover some things about the island by translating French from a distress call and from some island maps Sayid found.

12. Boone - Shannon's older step-brother, he's come to her rescue many times but also resents her. Through the use of a hallucinogenic paste he made in the jungle, Locke helps Boone comes to terms with his feelings for Shannon and seemingly frees him from her grip.

13. Michael - Separated from his infant son, he must now raise 10-year-old Walt, who never knew Michael was his father. He feels pressured to set a good example for his son and to protect him - all while living in a strange place with other survivors of the plane crash. He's not ready to take anyone's advice on how to raise his son, but he's not sure what to do with him, either.

13 1/2. Walt - His mother just died and he's been reunited with the father he hasn't known since he was a baby. Other people have noticed there's something "different" about him, but I'm not sure just what they're referring to yet.

Bonus: Rose - She was seated across the aisle from Jack and he tried to reassure her when the flight first got turbulent. She survived the crash, but has no idea where her husband is. (He was in the tail section of the plane when it broke off before the crash.) She's a believer and prayed with Charlie when he lost Claire and was nearly killed by Ethan. She's wise and soft-spoken, but firm. I really wish she were a more visible character.

Do you watch Lost? Who are your favorite characters and why?

Out of the Mouths... (Part 2)

Here's a conversation Jacob and I had yesterday as we were driving around town:

Jacob: Are you a kid of God?

Me: What? A kid of God? Like a child of God?

Jacob: Yes. Are you a kid of God?

Me: Yes, I'm a kid of God.

Jacob: Why?

Me: Because I want to be.

Jacob: No, you need to be a grown-up of God.

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Other questions he's asked lately about God:

Is God fat? (I would think not.)

What is God made of? (????)

Mmmmmm... Pizza.

This isn't the pizza I made last night, but doesn't it look good? I think I could eat pizza every day! I'd rather make my own pizza than order one. I love to load my pizza down with toppings! I prefer veggie pizzas, but I'll occasionally put a little meat on one. Oh, and I always sprinkle a little extra cheese on top! (And I prebake my crust so it doesn't get soggy beneath all my piles of toppings.)

The pizza pictured above is on a homemade crust, topped with Great Value brand pizza sauce, shredded Colby and Monterey Jack cheeses, fresh mushrooms, black olives, a little onion, and some Canadian bacon. It was delicious!

Last night's pizza was topped with GV sauce, a blend of shredded Italian cheeses, fresh mushrooms, black olives, onion, and some slices of fresh jalapeno pepper.

Another favorite pizza is my Garden Veggie Pizza, which is topped with a mixture of olive oil, Italian seasoning, and garlic instead of a tomato-based sauce. I layer whatever blend of cheese I want along with slices of zuchinni, baby spinach leaves, fresh mushrooms, black olives, red onion, diced tomatoes, and chopped marinated artichoke hearts. (The one pictured below has white onion instead of red, and I was out of olives. Billy doesn't like tomatoes, so his half has extra artichoke hearts instead. Oh, and it's all topped with some fresh grated Parmesan cheese.)



A new pizza I made recently was a Mediterranean Hummus Pizza. It was good, but a little saltier than I like. Leftovers were good the next day, but not after that. The cucumbers and tomatoes got spongy and the crust was a little soggy. Ugh!

The crust I make is pretty filling. Billy and I can now eat only half of a 15-inch pizza. The boys typically eat a little less than half of their 13-inch pizza, but they must have been starving last night. They ate 3/4 of it! I'll let them have their last two pieces for lunch today and make them some mac & cheese tonight. Billy and I will enjoy our other half tonight while we watch Survivor.

I've eaten BBQ chicken pizza before, and it was really good, but I haven't ventured to make one yet. I'm not sure the boys would like it, but since I always make two pizzas anyway, I could make them their standard - pizza sauce, cheese, mushrooms, and black olives.

I'm not a big fan of Alfredo sauce, but the few pizzas I've had with it have been really good. I may try to make a white pizza one of these days.

Other varieties I'd like to make: Tuscan chicken, Hawaiian (pineapple and ham), and Thai (peanut sauce instead of tomato).

What pizza flavors do you recommend?

Menu Plan Monday #4

Well, last week's craziness affected my menu plan. I had to take the van in Monday to see what was causing my "check engine" light to stay on. We spent the morning homeschooling there in the waiting area. When they finally finished getting that figured out and changing my oil, I found out they would have to order a part and I would have to come back in Wednesday afternoon to get it put on. That, and being tired from everything else we'd been doing, put off my grocery trip a few days, which threw off my menu.

On a more fun note, even though I veered from the menu plan again, the boys and I spent about 2 1/2 hours at the arboretum Friday afternoon. It was so much fun! I think we're definitely going to have to buy a membership for there so we can go more often - just like we do the zoo. I'll try to post some pictures from there before too much longer.

So with all the changes to last week's plan, this week's is a little off-kilter from what I had planned earlier on. (I plan for a month at a time.)

Monday: - leftover Baked Potato Soup and Tomato Basil bread from Panera (We have a class at church tonight.)

Tuesday: - Totino's pizza (Billy's class night)

Wednesday: - Homemade Pizza (I know, the boys and I will have just had pizza the night before. I love pizza and can eat it any time!)

Thursday: - leftover pizza

Friday: - Taco Soup

Saturday: - ?? (Our small group from church is coming over for our monthly gathering. This month we're hosting a missionary team from our church who will be going to Budapest with Campus Crusade next year. After everyone signs up for something to bring for dinner to go with Jane's roast and gravy, I'll make what's missing.)

Sunday: - leftover soup (Fall Festival night at church; I need to make sure the boys eat before they go or they'll be eating too much candy on an empty stomach. I'd rather them have homemade soup than the hot dogs they'll have on hand there. Caleb and I don't like hot dogs anyway...)

Looks to be an easy week for cooking. It's still going to be a busy week, but not as busy as last week. Maybe the week after that things will slow down a bit. Once the holidays get here, things don't seem to slow down until mid-March. I'd like a little time to rest before all that gets started.

Check out more menu plans at I'm an Organizing Junkie.