Meal Plan-ish

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So.. I didn't post my meal plan last week. I just really didn't have the time! We DID eat though! :) I came down with strep the week before and I. was. miserable. I had a high fever, chills, horrendous body aches, and of course a sore throat. I went to the doctor on Wednesday afternoon and got some meds that evening. I started feeling better by Saturday. I shared it with Corey, so in essence I was caring for 4 children at one point! Poor guy came home early on Wednesday so I could go to the doctor sans kiddos and by the time I got home, he was miserable. He never got it as bad as I did b/c we got him on meds before it got worse, luckily! I'm not sure I could have handled his drama- lol. Men are wusses.

Anyway, the sickies put my plan out of whack, so many things were shifted to other days or not made at all. I did make several of the things though. I have decided that although the table I made last time with breakfast, lunch, and dinner is pretty and all organized-like, it really isn't realistic... yet. I think I will just post some meal ideas and select from them. This is better for me right now!


Here's some highlights from meals past:

Baked oatmeal.
I added chocolate chips, so it came out pretty dark, but it was good- not great though.
Crock Pot chicken-n-dumplings. Delish!!
Calzone.
Birthday calzone!
Oatmeal smoothie.
It was very tasty!
Meatloaf. I made mini loaves for Benjamin (using his egg replacer and rice milk).  
I was going to be gone for dinner time, so I left directions for the hubs! :)

Loaded chicken nachos night. 
These brown sugar muffins were really good- and Benjamin loved them!

Crock Pot taco soup- yum!
Mini pizzas for lunch one day.
The kids LOVED the mini pepperonis! Brooke says normal sized pepperoni's are too spicy, but not the baby ones... mmmkay! Ben's are the ones w/out cheese.
Loved the crock pot sloppy joes! Served them on rolls with a slice of provolone!
Crock pot steel cut oatmeal. This was pretty good. Benjamin LOVED it and ate seconds and thirds on the days he ate it! Winner! 
 This is the cilantro lime Chipolte-inspired rice. Totally loved this!!
The crock pot salsa chicken was SO good and I served it over the rice.
Banana cookies made so Ben could eat them. He ate them. LOTS of them.
Dump cake. Yummo! Apparently I forgot to take pics of the cookies and cake after they were cooked and before they were all gone! Oops! 
This was crock pot country style pork ribs and skillet potatoes. Yummy!
And finally.. Monster cookies! These are so good!

They have oatmeal in them. Oatmeal=healthy. So, yeah, they are healthy cookies... or something.
I made a delicious crock pot beef stroganoff.
This week we are really focusing on using up what we have in our freezer and pantry.
So, we will have leftover bbq pork tonight and the rest of the week we will have:
Tilapia w/ potatoes
That dang vegetable beef soup that I keep saying we are going to eat but haven't yet! (My mom made it and it is frozen).
Pot stickers.
Frozen skillet meal.
Baked chicken.
I know I will see something that I will have to try.. and I will throw that in the mix!

Sorry for the lame meal plan this week, I will hopefully do better next week! :)

Howdy Folks, I'm Big Tex!

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 Not me, him ^^. Well, I am big and I am from Texas, but I digress.
He is awesome and we love making our annual trek to the Big D to visit him and all of the fried food fabulousness that abounds in his "home". Pretty much, if you can think it, they can fry it. More on that later. Since before we were married, Corey and I have been going to Dallas to The State Fair. We just love it. We don't go for the stupid games that the inbred carnies try to get you to play by telling you that "every kid wins" or "come on dad, your son would love this (stuffed piece of crap that you would have to haul around for the rest of the day)". We don't go for the rides, although I would move up a few notches on the "cool wife" scale if I could stomach them. We go for the ambiance, the corny dogs, the dog show, the farm animals, the trade shows where they try to sell you things like the Vita Mix (I waaaaaannnnttt one!!) & the rubber brooms (we got one years ago and still use it!). It's just fun. It better be to get us to drive to Dallas. I just don't think too many things are worth the stress of the traffic to get there. Last year we took the train and that was super awesome. This year we didn't bc we had to drop the baby off at my mom's and the train station was out of the way. Next year we will though! We had a great time and can't wait for next year when all three kids get to experience it!
No trip is complete without a picture in front of Big Tex.
That is Corey with the kids... in case you can't see the specks down there in front.
And that is moi.
We headed straight to the dog show. We enjoy it, since we are huge dog people, but I have to say that each year they seem to add more to it, but don't make it any longer. It seems so rushed and isn't as fun as it used to be. Oh, and you can NEVER ever understand the dude who mc's it. Sort of sounds like Charlie Brown's teacher. 


Best Friends (except when he hits her and pulls her hair...)

Frisbee catchin' dogs!
 I love this picture of him!
"Dock" jumping dogs. I had to include this picture even though you can't see the dog. This one was a three legged rescued Pit Bull named Hobbles (I think? His name had something to do with his lack of a limb). It was awesome that he did this and he loved it! He jumped pretty far too, 23' I believe. His competition, a four legged canine, jumped 28'.
This is such a cool exhibit. It's called Little Hands on The Farm.
Who doesn't love a good face cut out?!
They give each kid an apron and a bucket to take with them along the way. First you are given a baggie of dried corn.
Then you "water" the tree and take a peach off of it.
How sweet are they holding hands!   
They got to "milk" a cow.




 Plant some seeds in the dirt using a little shovel.
Harvest some veggies.
Hold hands with daddy while mommy walks behind and thinks "oooh how sweet, I must take a picture b/c that is too cute". *click*
This little tractor is so cool!
 
Feed the chickens.
Then, at the end, they put all of the things they have gathered and harvested into their respective bins at the "market".
They turn in their apron and basket and are "paid" for their work.
From there they get to spend their money in the little store. They are allowed to pick one item. Brooke got trail mix and Benjo got animal crackers.
Corey to the kids on the big Ferris wheel. 
LOL! (she is not about to barf, she was excited!)
So cute.. holding on to her little brother! <3

We had worked up an appetite, so I got this chicken taco thing. It was pretty good, and NOT fried! *gasp!*
Then we went to the bird show. It was awesome and we almost got tweeked in the head by bird feet.
This bird was SO close. I may or may not have screamed.

That is the big ferris wheel the kids and Corey were on. They also had a bird in one of the cars that they had fly out and was part of the bird show.
Fletcher's Corny Dogs = THE State Fair of Texas
They have some big football game here during the fair. It may be the ONLY time I root for the University of Texas.

She was tiiiired..
So we had to pep her up. We headed for the Fried Bubblegum!! Check out some of the other fried things at this years fair.
When I heard "Fried Bubblegum", I rolled my eyes. Really?! How the heck does that work? How can you eat it but not swallow it... Well friends, it's simple. It's not really gum. It's a fried marshmallow dipped in bubblegum flavored stuff. And, it is GOOOOOOD!


When you bit into it, it was soft, melty, sweet, and gooey. Perfect.
We stopped at the petting zoo on our way out! Look at the little baby in the pouch! Awww!



Here is the 2011 butter sculpture. Makes me want to get a big 'ole piece of bread.
Look, a sign for my husband....
We had an amazing time! On the way home I drove past this.. What in the free world?! At least its not a real person on that bucking bull! Only in Texas!