stage debut

Elliott was so excited to have a speaking part in the very first holiday program at his school last night!!  He did an awesome job, too.  Nervous butterflies were definitely present, but he was so thrilled that he was going to get to have a "solo" part in the night that he could not stop smiling - so cute.

He chose his own outfit and let us know that he looked "cool".

And Grandma even made it over to watch him, too!  We love that you were there with us!

So proud of you Elliott!

thanksgiving

Went to my mom and dad's for Thanksgiving this year.  On the way we stopped at Grandma's and helped decorate a little for Christmas.  We had such a good time talking to her and catching up while we figured all the decorations out.  She actually ended up with 2 trees - lucky girl! 

We got to see Eli and Ben.....a reason to travel over there all on its own :)  These 4 boys are totally goofy and totally love each other.  And look how color-coordinated they are.....we didn't even plan that.  What awesome moms they have!

And they love their Aunt Meemer, too.

Making Thanksgiving dinner.  She actually made 2 huge dinners within 2 days!!  



pantry organization

My pantry had not felt very loved for such a long time.  If you look closely (or maybe you don't have to look very closely) you can see things just thrown in there, canisters toppled over, bags spewing everywhere, nowhere to put your feet when you do actually need to step into the pantry.  It was driving me nuts.

I would really love to have one of those Container Store dream pantries.......but I don't see that happening anytime soon so I opted for this much less expensive version that really only involved sorting, purging, and reorganizing.  I did buy a few items to solve some issues, but nothing major and I think it all totaled out to less than $60. 

It's not very dramatic, but it radiates calmness and simplicity to me (and we can actually get into the pantry now, so it's way more functional)....here's the before and after

 See how you can see the floor again?

This is one of the items I bought - to stack cans so that I can see what we've got in there without lifting each can. 

Got to use the label maker - LOVE the label maker.  I put things like cookie decorating, kids' treats, kids' snacks, medicines, etc. into these plastic Glad containers.  I even did this with my common baking staples (baking soda, salt, baking powder, vanilla, etc.), so now when I'm baking I can just pull out the whole container - so much easier!

This is my favorite purchase.  These are 18 inch turntables that we got at Bed Bath and Beyond.  We used to have to reach over bottles to reach whatever was in the back corner of the pantry.  Which was fine if you miraculously didn't knock any of them over in the process - I'm not that graceful.  Now we just turn the thing to get to whatever we want.  So perfect!  I was cringing at spending $15 a piece for each of these (we have 3), but it was definitely money well spent - highly recommend them!!

Veterans' Day

We were so excited that Grandpa and Grandma came over for the Veteran's Day celebration at the boys' school!  The boys even got to sit by Grandpa during the assembly instead of with their classes AND got to stay for the cookie and drink reception afterwards. 

Each of the boys made a poster about a veteran.  Ethan created his about Grandpa.  It's in the picture above, to the left and a bit above Elliott's head.

Elliott made his poster about PaPa.  It's right in between the boys in this picture.  We wished he could have been at the celebration too :(

Both of them (PaPa and Grandpa) were military policemen in the army.  We're very proud of you!!



menu on monday

Thinking about menus for the week.  Saw a good recipe for Garlic Parmesan Chicken over on allrecipes.com so I'm thinking about that now.  But here is what was at our house last week.  And, yes, we ate mostaccioli 3 nights in a row :)

Monday - make your own pizzas

Tuesday - Tuscan Chicken with pasta straight from Italy (thanks Amber), green beans, bread

Wednesday -  corn dogs, salad, green beans (*these were veggie corn dogs from Trader Joe's - I never would have bought them, but the boys chose them and I didn't see that they were veggie until they were already in the oven.  I didn't have one, but Brian and the boys all liked them and even commented that they weren't greasy like other corn dogs tend to be.  I never did tell them they were veggie dogs :)

Thursday - chili and cornbread

Friday - mostaccioli (my contribution to an Italian feast that was brought to our house for a student ministry meeting - YUM!)

Saturday - mostaccioli

Sunday - mostaccioli for the adults, PBJs for the kids

mostaccioli

I'm not sure how you're supposed to pronounce this.  I would say mah-stuh-choh-lee, but since moving to St. Louis I've heard many many people pronounce it mah-sKuh-choh-lee.  To me, there is definitely a "T" in there, but then I'm not Italian and I have a feeling some of these people grew up in an Italian family.  However you pronounce it, this is something our whole family eats.  It's easy, too, so thought I would share.


Mostaccioli

1 lb ground beef
4 cups mostaccioli, cooked, drained
1 (30 oz) jar spaghetti sauce (I usually add more so it doesn't get too dry)
dried basil
dried oregano
3/4 cup grated Romano cheese, divided
1 (8oz) pkg shredded Mozzarella cheese

Brown meat in large skillet; drain.

Stir in mostaccioli, spaghetti sauce, dried herbs, and 1/2 cup of the Romano cheese.  Spoon into 13x9 inch baking dish.  Top with mozzarella cheese and remaining 1/4 cup Romano cheese.

Bake at 375 for 20 minutes

Menus

This was the menu from last week.  I get such great ideas from other people who post their menus so I thought I would contribute, too.

monday - leftover chicken and noodles, mashed potatoes, peas
tuesday - chicken quesadillas (recipe below), chips & salsa
wednesday - pork burgers
thursday - toasted turkey and cheese sandwiches, carrots, red pepper slices
friday - pizza
saturday - dinner out
sunday - cilantro-lime chicken, roasted asparagus, risotto, salad


Chicken Quesadillas


4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 green pepper, diced
1 medium onion, chopped
15 oz can petite diced tomatoes
8 flour tortillas
2 cups Monterey Jack or cheddar cheese, shredded


In large skilllet, cook chicken with garlic and ground pepper until thoroughly cooked.  Remove from skillet and set aside.  Next, simmer tomatoes, green peppers, and onion, continuing to simmer until liquid is evaporated.  Remove from skillet and set aside.  (I usually chop the chicken into smaller pieces with a food chopper while the tomato mixture is simmering).


Mix the chicken back into the skillet with the tomato mixture.  Top half of a tortilla with some of the chicken mixture.  Sprinkle desired amount of cheese on top of that and then fold the other half of the tortilla over the mixture.  Place the tortilla in a nonstick skillet or a griddle over medium heat until each side is lightly browned.


Cut into wedges and serve with sour cream, salsa, guacamole, whatever your heart desires.


**We usually only end up eating four of these (the recipe makes 8), so I freeze the filling and just warm it up for a quick, easy meal another day