Back to Menu planning--lest I die

I've been winging it since we got back from our camping trip (with the Dutch Oven, and very YUMMY recipes, which gave me back 3 of the 7 lbs I worked hard to lose!)  But let me just say, winging it is cruel.

It tempts me...   

(no planning!)

It tantalizes me...  

(don't worry about it now, you've got a freezer and pantry... SOMETHING will magically come to you)

It seems exciting...

(maybe someone ELSE will appear at our door at dinner time with a piping hot pan of delectable dinner)

But, what really sucks is that it always ends up with me out of ingredients for what I panic-stressed and thought up, so we end up with unhealthy pizza (and happy boys) or eating a dinner of salad (and very unhappy boys) or wait till 8pm and have cereal (and a VERY unhappy husband).

So I'm back on the bandwagon. Again.

TWO WEEK MENU PLAN

BREAKFASTS:

monkey toes

McMom's 

Muffins

French Toast

Waffles

Pancakes

baked omelette

baked oatmeal

breakfast tortillas

LUNCHES:

grilled cheese

burgers

sandwiches

cheese bread sticks and pizza sauce

chicken patties with rice

pizza rolls

smokies and fries

hot dogs and mac

fish sticks

DINNERS:

French Dips (roast beef from the deli, heated in au jus sauce from the foil packet, served on hoagie rolls)

Tom's Meatballs (from a friend who is an awesome cook.  NOT WW friendly, but should be worth the points!)

Grilled Italian Chicken Sandwiches

Easy Stroganoff

Homemade Pizza

tacos/taco salad

BBQ Pork sandwiches (pork shoulder in crockpot with Sweet Baby Ray's cooked, shredded, served on rolls)

Italian Baked Bow Ties

Sour cream enchiladas

Crock Pot Chicken Lasagna  (this is going to be taken to a potluck! Hope it's good!)

Patty melts (burgers with grilled onions and mushrooms served on rye. YUM!)

homemade pizza

Chicken Patty Parmesan chicken (Costco Chicken patties, baked, with spaghetti sauce and a sprinkle of cheese... easy and you don't even miss the pasta. 9 ww points!)

Let's hope this will make for a smooth transition into another year serving in AWANA and the new school year... 

which is going to be HOMEschool.  

For three boys.  

By me.

Lord help us!

Camping with the Dutch Oven

 

So for the last 2-3 years, when we go camping we take our Dutch Oven. It is SO much fun and so much more enjoyable than hot dogs and burgers for 8 days.

We tent camp, so we just have a cooler, small grill, and dutch oven, but it's all we need to eat delicious food!

My friend has a dutch oven too 

and each day we cook a breakfast,  

dinner, and dessert in them.

Lunch is the leftovers or burgers or dogs.

This year I decided to make it even easier and pre-prep EVERYTHING I could.  

And it should be SO easy 

to just dump the stuff in the D.O. 

and enjoy!

The recipes I'm responsible for:

Scout Breakfast

Zippy Chicken and Au gratin potatoes

Enchilada casserole

Pizza

Pumpkin Delight

Mississippi Mud Cake

Carmel Apple Crisp

German Pancakes

Cinnamon Rolls

Blueberry pound cake

 I pre-prepped everything I could, put each step of the recipe in separate bags, and put that in a gallon bag with the recipe tucked in.  

So now when we are at the site, 

I don't have to dirty a bunch of pans and bowls and utensils, 

but just dump and go!

Should be fabulous!  If you don't have a dutch oven, and get sick of the same ol' same old during camping, you should definitely invest in one.  You can get the 12" size one for about $35 to $40 and it is WELL worth it.  Pack that, charcoal, and matches and you're on you way to deliciousness!

Praying for my boys

My name is Kari, and I struggle with prayer.

Prayer is hard like math and exercise.  And prayer in the midst of unending, ongoing, and exhausting struggle requires a huge amount of effort on my part, and I don't really know how to do it.

But today, as I'm struggling through things that happened yesterday and last night, I dug out my Warrior Prayers e-book and flipped to a section and started skimming.

Then I stopped and re-read:

"Perhaps the bet place for a weary mom to be is physically and emotionally exhausted...on her knees.

With each day that passes I'm more convinced that I have absolutely no power to change the hearts of my boys.  Oh, I can change their behavior if I try hard enough.  Anyone can do that.  But I know that what's in the heart eventually comes out.  I know that if their knees are ever to bend to Jesus as Savior their hearts must bend first.  And that's God's business.

I'm praying that you'll grasp this concept so clearly that it will bring you strength and peace in the midst of your wildest storms.  You cannot change the hearts of your boys.  You can't.  Period.  It's not your job.  It's so important that you get this, friends, because you're going to want to be able to change their hearts more than anything in the world.  Days, months, maybe even years of endless toil and labor for the sake of your sons will go by with no apparent fruit.  Night after night you will cry out to the Lord for change.  Day after day you will parent intentionally seeking the heart of your son.  But until the King of kings and Lord of lords turns His heart of stone to a heart of flesh, your son's actions will be motivated by what is pleasing to him rather than by what is pleasing to the Lord."

Amen.  I need to read this EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.