Jauary Freezer Meal Recipes

Okay, I admit it. I am trying potatoes in the freezer for the first time. But I found a link where a woman describes how she does all kinds of potatoes for the freezer and I am giving it a shot. These are the best oven fries I have ever eaten, I will let you know how they do in the freezer! After all, wouldn't it be wonderful to pull out precooked fries (homemade and yummy) to go with a meal, or maybe even Roasted Red Potatoes?? I will let you know! This is my mom's made from scratch Sloppy Joe recipe too...love the curry! Enjoy.

Sloppy Joes
1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
1/2 onion, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Mix and brown. Drain off grease (if necessary) and add 1 T. flour.

Add:
2 cups ketchup
2 cups water
1/2 tsp. curry powder
2 bay leaves
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

Simmer on low heat for 2 hours. The longer you simmer, the thicker it will be.

From freezer: defrost overnight and warm on stove. (Add a little water, if needed.) Serve on hamburger buns.

Oven Fries (wedges)
6 unpeeled, medium sized potatoes cut into 6-8 lengthwise wedges
Canola Oil (just enough to coat potatoes)
Spices:
1 1/2 tsp. garlic salt
1/4-1/2 tsp. coarse black pepper
1 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. parsley
1/2 tsp. sugar

Wash potatoes and leave skins on. Slice into eighths, lengthwise. Put oil, potato wedges and spices in gallon sized Ziploc bag and toss until evenly coated (or stir together in large bowl). I add a little sugar to the spices to help brown and crisp the wedges. Place on non-stick baking sheets or baking sheets sprayed with non-stick spray; bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. (These will only be partially cooked.) Place on brown paper bags or paper towels to cool. Place on clean cookie sheets and freeze solid. Place in labeled freezer bags and return to the freezer.

To cook from frozen: DO NOT DEFROST!! Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Spray a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray. Bake 30 to 45 minutes, turning halfway through. Cooking time will depend on the size of the fries or wedges. The oven fries can also be finished in a deep-fryer.

It Came Upon a Midnight....Wet!

Last night we were sound asleep (about 12:30 a.m.) when our 17 year old daughter, Lisa woke us up a little panicked! Apparently she had started the washer and the "float" that controls when the water shuts off has apparently quit working. (Who can blame it, really? 10 years of slave labor and abuse with at least a load or two a day...) Luckily she hadn't started it and just gone to bed or who knows what damage we may have had! She put a load in and went to get ready for bed. I don't know how long it had been running (for a little while at least!) but after she washed her face, then shut off the water she could still hear water running. So she went to investigate, discovered a mess, shut things down and came to get us!

There was a good inch of water all over the laundry room, kitchen and entry tile floor and it had seeped down the walls into the basement. In the storage room directly below the laundry room there was at least 2 inches of water. It was dripping and leaking and running all over the place. So we spent the next 2 1/2 hours sucking up all the water with the shop vac, and sopping up the carpet with towels and our carpet cleaner, and catching drips in buckets and wiping down very wet things.

Today we had a flood recovery service come and start cleaning things up. They have all sorts of fans and de-humidifiers running. They had to rip up the carpet just outside of the storage room door and it is toast....so new carpet, I guess. They had to cut holes in walls to dry the sheet rock out and what a mess we are in. Hopefully the adjuster can come tomorrow and get things going.

The good news is I'm getting my tile cleaned! And who cries about getting new carpet? I just have a huge mess to deal with for a few days.

Fun Find!

Just look at these cute receipt/gift card/coupon holders I found while surfing today! She sews them! Too cute. Check it out, it's called Swankadot.

Might be able to find stuff in my purse if I had one of these!

Hey, thanks, PBS!!

We were driving in the car with several of our kids (I think we were on the way to Grandma's funeral). Our son, Matt was riding in the back seat with the little girls. He started to laugh! I asked him what was so funny and instead of answering me, he proceeded to ask Kelsey (our 5 year old) where she had heard that word. "Word Girl." came the answer. I guess I have PBS to thank for educating my baby! Apparently it was "sweltering" in the back seat! We could all use a couple more words like "sweltering" in our vocabularies! I think I will start watching "Word Girl" myself.

Thoughts on Ear Piercing and Parenting...

My girls have all gotten their ears pierced for their 8th birthday. Katie just turned 8 and couldn't wait for the big event! Kelsey will be 6 in February and really wanted her ears pierced, too. So, being the worn-out mother that I am, I figured "what the heck" and I let them BOTH get their ears pierced. You know, kind of a 2 for 1 deal....1 trip to the mall, 1-6 week stint of applying ear solution and twisting earrings. I guess am just getting old and tired! Well, you should have heard some of my other girls complain about it (who, of course, all had to wait until they were 8 for the blessed event...you would have thought I had just committed some major injustice!). Well, all I have to say is....."Get used to it, girls!" I am old, I am tired and if it's the easy thing to do I will probably do it again! ;)

I am finding that I say yes more easily and more often...which benefits all of them! I am still trying to be a diligent parent, but some of my hard and fast rules have become soft and slow!! Hopefully it is not only because I am old and tired, but because I have learned a little something about parenting that I didn't know before and discovering not everything I thought in the beginning of my life as a parent was accurate!! good or true. Here's to always trying to improve and hoping to someday get it right!

Happy 19th Lauren!

Last week we had yet another birthday!! Lauren turned 19 on Thursday. Happy Birthday, cutie! I am so proud of her. She just graduated from Evans School of Cosmetology yesterday, too! She has been plugging away now for just over a year. She gets up and gets herself off every morning, no complaints, no sleeping in, she just gets up and gets it done! She is a hard working gal, too. She has been working part-time for most of the time that she has been in school....and they love her, because she really knows how to work! She is a beautiful, fun loving, tender-hearted sweetheart and we are so happy to have her be a part of our family! Love you Lauren! Hope you had a good day. Good luck with the exams in the next couple of weeks. (Just when I thought we were finished with birthdays until after Christmas, I learned that Lauren's boyfriend, Chris (pictured above) has a birthday on Dec. 11.....I told him he couldn't marry Lauren as we already have too many pre-Christmas birthdays.) :)

More Hallowe'en Pictures

This is my son Matt ("V" from V for Vendetta) and his wife, Kelli (ladybug!).

Left to right, Michelle, Matt, me, Stacy, Marisa, Dylan, Katie and Kelsey. Five of my seven kids, and two grandkids in this picture!

My sweet DIL, Kelli posted these pictures on her blog! Had to show you how cute my little family is! We went to their house before we went trick or treating and took these.

Ben's Birthday!

My son-in-law, Ben, had a birthday on Thursday! Happy Birthday, Ben! He has been a part of our family now for almost a year and is a great son! We love him! He is kind of quiet (which might not be the case if we weren't all so boisterous!!) and contemplative. He is very bright and handsome and kind! The two youngest girls LOVE him and pester him to death...and he is very good to them. He is the big brother who never grew up! He loves to play with them and jump on the trampoline with them, and spin them upside down...and they love it. Hope you had a good one Ben!!

Grandma Sally's funeral

My grandma Sally, aka Clara, passed away last Tuesday morning and was buried on Saturday, November 15. She married my grandpa, Howard Oliver in 1980, and has been the only grandma Oliver most of my siblings and I have known. Our grandma passed away in 1970 when I was a young girl.

Sally always had the energy of someone half her age and she was always up for an adventure. I remember her loading us into the car and hauling us around shopping all day, or for a quick trip across the border to do a little Mexican shopping, or site seeing all over the place. We would get worn out, she was still raring to go! She loved getting in her car and driving...anywhere. No place was too far, it was just a little jaunt for her.

She was very generous and forgiving and genuinely concerned for every one's well-being. She joined our family almost 30 years ago and from the very beginning has made me feel like I really belonged to her. I never felt like I was a step-grandchild. I just always knew that she loved me. She accepted and loved us all just like we were her own. I'm going to miss her.

Katie Bug's Birthday

Aaaah! Missed a birthday posting. November 7th was Kaitlyn's 8th birthday. She is getting soooo big! Smart, fun, sassy, usually silly, busy, busy, busy...and she looks a lot like the jack-o-lantern she carved for Halloween too! She is missing a whole lotta teeth! Look carefully and you will see them....or NOT see them, I mean!

Freezer Meals

OK, so as if I need one more "group" to be a part of....book group, card group lunch, card group make and take.....LOL. Anyway, I am now part of a freezer meal group! Once a month (or every 6 weeks, I think) you meet and swap (just like card group only with food!) homemade frozen dinners. I just made mine today! Of course, since I had my old energy-hog freezer hauled away about a year ago, I had to purchase a new freezer first! But it was delivered on Monday and is up and running and beautiful! I made crock pot ham and potato casserole x 20. There are 10 people in our group and all but 1 of us want half meals (which means they get 2 of whatever meal I make and the full meal gets 1 double sized one). It was crazy trying to figure out how many pounds of ham=30 cups! But it turned out perfect! And the really wild thing is that in the past two weeks, everything that I needed for my recipe just happened to be on sale at one store or another! Here's the recipe in case you want to try it!

Crock Pot Ham and Potato Casserole

1 1/2 cups ham, cooked and cubed

2 cups cheddar cheese, divided

1/2 tsp. pepper

1 tsp. salt

1 can evaporated milk
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 bag frozen hash brown potatoes (32 oz.)

Mix ham, 1 cup of cheese, pepper, salt, evaporated milk and cream of chicken soup together with frozen hash browns. Place in greased 3 1/2-5 qt. crock pot and cook on low for 4-6 hours. 1/2 an hour before done, sprinkle last cup of cheese on top.

Yearbook Yourself

Oh, my gosh....how funny. Some of these could be out of my real yearbook! Like the first picture is supposed to be 1984....I looked just like that!!! Too much fun! Of course, some of these were from before I was even born! The site is called Yearbook Yourself....check it out!

I've been tagged!

Susette Fisher tagged me...and I guess I am supposed to name 6 quirky things about myself! I don't think I'm quirky at all...LOL!

1. I have never slept very well...sort of an insomniac. I had trouble falling asleep and sometimes would wake up in the middle of the night.....until this job at Costco (where I start work at either 4 a.m. or 5 a.m.). Now, I have NO TROUBLE falling asleep, and nothing wakes me during the night, but if I wake up at all.....I very rarely am able to fall back asleep. I might as well get up and get something done!

2. I have never found a food that I didn't like....except maybe some bad sushi at a chinese buffet!

3. I LOVE to exercise. I mean it, I really LOVE it. And not just afterwards, you know, when you are proud of yourself for doing it. I mean before, during and after.....I LOVE IT! If I had no other responsibilities, I think I would exercise several hours every day!

4. I sing all the time. I bet you didn't realize there is a song for EVERY subject. Sometimes things that people say will remind me of a line in a song and I can't help myself, I belt it right out! Maybe not at that exact moment, I don't usually like to sing for an audience (unless it's my family....they are so used to me singing I'm not embarrassed any more). Too bad I don't have a better singing voice!

5. I am kind of a perfectionist....but only selectively! I like things neat and tidy (I organize my spices alphabetically in my kitchen cupboard, sort my stamp sets by size of box, socks by color, you get the picture) but I can go a week without mopping my kitchen and not have it bother me...? Hmmm.

6. I can't stay awake in a vehicle while it's moving....especially on trips longer than about 15 minutes! Even if I'm driving! Aaaah!

So there you have it, I'm really not quirky at all! I tag you! Gina, Ginay, Dana, Deena, Stacy, Kelli, Susan and Janelle.

Twilight Movie Tickets

I just found out about this site from a friend of mine (thanks, Susette!). It is called Gracious Rain and she is running a contest where you send her your favorite soup recipes and she enters your name into a drawing for 2 Twilight tickets at the Jordan Commons in SLC. Just thought I would pass along the news. Give it a try! http://www.graciousrain.com/ Can't wait for this movie!

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween from the Melvin household! Can't wait for tomorrow night. I really do love Halloween. Carving jack-o-lanterns, dressing up, haunted houses and lots of candy (especially chocolate!)!! What could be better? Speaking of haunted houses, check out this incredible show of spookiness from our neighbors the Price's. This is from 2 years ago, and every year he adds more, believe it or not! Pretty cool!

What a Handsome Group

This is a family photo taken with the Melvin crew that was at Grandma Vickii's house this summer. Todd's sister, Lorii was the only sibling missing, but lots of grandkids were MIA. Not a bad looking group though, eh? (We are Canadian after all!) Back row, left to right: Michael, Mitch, Laura, Todd, Julie, Lisa. Front row, left to right, Danny, Megan, Aimee, Grandma Vickii, Kelsey and Katie. I don't remember the dog's name (he belongs to a neighbor), but I'm sure my girls would.

We Now Carry Cricut Cartridges!

Crop and Stick now carries Provo Craft Cricut Cartridges and other supplies! Check it out here. Isn't this Hello Kitty set adorable? It should be here any day now!! I got one of the Cricut machines for Mother's Day last year....so much fun! My daughter in law, Kelli has even cut her own vinyl lettering on it! How cool is that?

Just Can't Thank You Enough

Card group time again. This time we went to the new Olive Garden in town...yum! I had the Ravioli de Portabella which was FANTASTIC. Can you tell, I'm all about the food? Oh, yeah. The cards were FANTASTIC too! Such talent and creativity. It's so fun to see how someone else puts something together. My card uses the new scallop square punch from Stampin' Up and the stamp set that is made to go with it, can't remember what it's called. I picked a ribbon and based my card off of those colors....voila!

Happy Birthday, Michelle!

Another Birthday! This time it is my eldest, Candace Michelle's birthday. 26 years old and cute as ever! This is her with my two grand-kids, Dylan and Marisa and Katie (my 7 year old) at Lava Hot Springs, earlier this spring.

I remember becoming a mother for the first time, it was overwhelming to say the least. I remember feeling so awe struck that this little person was totally reliant on me for all of her basic wants and needs. All I ever wanted to do was to get married and raise a family, but I don't think I realized completely the awesome responsibility this was.

Michelle has always been such a beautiful girl. Blonde curly hair and big blue eyes! She is very talented and creative and loves to do a lot of the same things that I do. She is a dedicated mother, she loves to lift weights and work out (and is pretty tough!), she enjoys reading and scrapbooking and shopping. I love her so much and wish they lived a little closer to us (they are about an hour and a half away in Ogden, Utah). She is a good friend and very reliable and responsible person. Love you, Michelley! Hope it was a good day.

The House FIre that Wasn't

Last evening we were at Albertson's doing a little grocery shopping, when my cell phone rang. It was my friend, Gina, calling with a message from a neighbor who had just driven by my house and seen "tremendous amounts of smoke pouring out of my house".


This is what I'm picturing. (This picture is not of my house, by the way!! Just in case you were worried!)

My dh, Todd, overheard me and immediately picked up his cell phone to dial 911. We left our grocery cart where it stood and RAN for the car, both of us on cell phones, dragging kids as we went. I called a neighbor across the street. Her teenage son answered. I asked him to look out his window to confirm "smoke" pouring from my home. Not that he could see. Hmmm....would you please go to our back yard and see if you see anything. He obliged me, but again, nothing that he could see. I (only slightly panicking) gave him my garage code and asked him to enter my home to see if he could see or SMELL anything unusual. Again, same answer. We are still racing towards home.



We pull up (emergency vehicles preceeding us! They are FAST!). No smoke. We enter the home. Can't smell anything. Hubby goes to the basement and I head upstairs. Nothing. We go to the backyard. No evidence of anything out of the ordinary. The fire chief is following us around curiously. None of us can find "tremendous amounts of smoke pouring out" of the house or any evidence that it was at any point. By this time, curious neighbors and passers-by are stopping to see what is going on.



We get word from a neighbor that a block south of us they were having a barbecue and the grill caught on fire. I guess that might be described as "tremendous amounts of smoke pouring out". Just not out of my yard, and certainly not my house. But, I guess, better safe than sorry. Never did get my groceries though!

Scarecrow Festival

Yesterday, was the beginning of UEA vacation for all the kids in Utah. It was also the first day of an annual event that we have at Thanksgiving Point called the Scarecrow Festival. It is a fundraiser for a non-profit organization called the West Ridge Academy. We had a great time in the Junior Haunted House (my 5 year old waited outside for us as it was "too scary"), and playing on a wide array of inflatable slides. Then we decorated and launched paper rockets. They really FLEW and Katie (7 year old) was convinced that her's flew the highest of everybody's. We rode in a "train", played all kinds of kiddie games, won prizes and candy, and even got to see some Irish Dancing from a local performing dance group. There was a Country Craft Store and pumpkin stand (where we picked out a couple of pumpkins to take home). It runs through Monday, Oct. 20 and if you are interested in more information visit West Ridge Academy.
Left to right: Gina Bagley, Katie Melvin, Cassie Bagley, Ginay and Jake Thurston, Calea Bagley, me, Kelsey Melvin, Lauren Williams (?). Front row: Korden, Jade and Kallin Bagley.

Happy Birthday, Kelli!

These next two months are non-stop birthdays for our family! Happy Birthday, Kelli! Kelli is my one and only daughter-in-law and WE LOVE HER!! She is so sweet, and kind, and thoughtful, and cute, and funny, and talented, and creative....and I could go on and on and on. I am so glad to have her be part of our family, she is one of my girls! Matt and Kelli are also celebrating their 2nd anniversary this month-Congratulations, you two! Kelli manages/works at Seven Salon here in American Fork and does a terrific job as a stylist. She is in my card group and makes darling cards. She is an immaculate housekeeper, a great substitute mom for my little gals, a good friend to me and her sis-in-laws, and just a lot of fun all the way around! Love you, Kelli!

Happy Birthday, Todd!

It was my man Todd's 48th birthday yesterday! Happy Birthday, honey. We have been married for 26 years and I love him more every day. He is my best friend and I can't imagine life without him. He is a very intelligent, can do anything, and does! He works hard and long hours and hardly ever complains (I do enough for both of us!). He is a perfectionist in all he does. He's a great father, sweetheart, friend and grandpa. He has a great sense of humor and makes everyone around him laugh.....often. He helps out around the house, or maybe it's me helping him around the house, who can tell these days??? He makes me feel safe and secure and although he makes me crazy sometimes with his "attention to detail", I am so grateful to have him in my life. Here's to at least 48 more!! Love you to pieces.

House Hunting and the Nervy Realtor!

My one and only son, Matt and his sweetie Kelli have been house hunting for a little while now. I went with them the other night and talk about fun! I LOVE looking at houses, but it almost made me want to move....ok, maybe not....but at least remodel or something. It's great to have kids so you can live vicariously through them and not have to experience things AGAIN and AGAIN and AGAIN......Did I mention that I hate moving! I just love new houses! Well, not necessarily NEW houses, but houses that are new to me! It's so fun to see decorating ideas and color combos.


So, get this! It's 8:45 pm, we are at the last house for the evening. We pull up and there is no porch light on, just a light in a room upstairs that we can only assume is the bedroom. The home belongs to a single guy, and the realtor (my good friend and partner, Gina) informs us that she doesn't have a set appointment time, she had just told them we would come that evening. We ring the bell. No answer. We knock loudly. No answer. She starts looking around for a lockbox. Using the cell phone for a flashlight, she opens the door. She calls "HELLO! WE ARE HERE TO LOOK AT YOUR HOUSE!" Still no answer. I am a little panicked at this point, thinking he is up there in bed asleep or in the shower! Still, we proceed to look around the main floor and Gina decides to go up to the bedroom to find out once and for all if someone is actually home. She knocks (loudly) on the bedroom door, "Hello...."

She comes back down the stairs and says, "Well, the bed is turned down, but I don't see anyone." I want to crawl in a hole!! We skip the master bedroom, but continue to look through the house, moving to the second floor. Kids bedrooms....empty....but he is a single father with shared custody, so the kids could be with mom. Finally we brave the master bedroom....

Bed turned down, lamps on, shoes beside the bed, still don't see anyone....The master bath.....dirty shorts on the floor (how embarrassing!) but nobody home! Thank goodness!! My heart can stop pounding out of my chest now. And thus ended the stressful viewing of the last home of the evening. Kicker is...they want to make an offer. It WAS a great house!!

Monkey Bread

Cooler weather makes me want to bake. We had these yummy pull apart cinnamon buns last Sunday morning....I can't get enough of them-and they are soooo easy!! Enjoy.

Monkey Bread

4 tubes refrigerator biscuits
1 1/3 cup sugar, divided
2 tsp. cinnamon, divided
1 tsp. vanilla
½ cup butter

Cut each biscuit into 3 pieces. Mix together 2/3 cup sugar and 1 tsp. of cinnamon in a bowl and roll each biscuit piece in the mixture. Grease a 12 cup bundt pan. Drop the biscuit pieces into the pan.

In a small saucepan, stir together the remaining sugar, butter, cinnamon and vanilla. Heat until boiling. Pour over the biscuit pieces and bake in a 350 degree oven for 40 minutes. When done, turn the monkey bread onto a plate and serve warm.

For variety: can add chopped pecan or walnut pieces or raisins.

October already!

This past weekend, Todd, my DH and I went on a little 2 day get-away. We left our kids home in the capable hands of older siblings who have married and moved on! When we came home, we were greeted by a houseful of Halloween decorations. From a witch hanging on the front door with her black cat nearby to little wooden "BOO" blocks on the entertainment center. I can not believe it is fall already, and almost Halloween. It seems like school just let out for summer. Before you know it, snow will be falling (it has already on the mountain tops near us!!) and it will be--dare I say it?--Christmas!!! Where did the summer go?

Actually, fall is one of my favorite seasons. Crisp, cool air and crunchy leaves, a fire in the firplace, baking goodies! It just seems to be gone too quickly and, after about 3 days of winter, I'm done!! I love living in Utah with 4 distinct seasons, I just wish winter didn't seem like the longest one. Don't get me wrong, I love the snow...when I am inside and it is outside and I have NOWHERE to go! Just curl up with a blanket and a good book in front of the fire. Looking for a good one (book) by the way, if anyone has any good suggestions!

Only Cook 3x a Week?

I was talking to a friend of mine recently who gave me a great idea for simplifying a week of meal planning and cooking. It may not work for everyone (I'm skeptical, but I'm going to try it!), but it sure sounds good!

She told me she only cooks 3 times a week! Sound too good to be true? Here's the plan. You cook a big meal on Sunday and eat leftovers on Monday. Cook again, another big meal (2nd time) on Tuesday--saving the leftovers for Thursday. Cook 3rd meal on Wednesday (again, enough for leftovers-are you getting the picture?) and eat them on Friday. Saturday: EAT OUT!! (or order pizza or whatever take-out).

Sunday-cook
Monday-Sunday's leftovers
Tuesday-cook
Wednesday-cook
Thursday-Tuesday's leftovers
Friday-Wednesday's leftovers
Saturday-eat out!













Now, this would probably work better if my husband liked leftovers!! But like I said, I'm going to give it a try. This could free up more time for making cards! :)

Halloween Card and Other Card Group

Ok, crazy I know! But I am in two card groups that meet monthly. They even happen to fall on the same week. But it is so much fun, I can't help myself. I mean, really, look at all the cute cards I am collecting!! This is from the evening "make and take" card group.

This is a Halloween card I made for the group. I used the technique of masking for the jack-o-lanterns. This is where you stamp an image. Then you stamp the same image on a sticky note, cut it out, and use it to "mask" the first image when you stamp the second (different) image to make it look like it is behind your main image. Worked for the faces as well. The inside of the card says "you make me smile"! Stamp set is from Stampin' Up.

Card Group

Here are the pictures I said I would post from our latest card group at Harley's!


What a cute group of ladies, don't you think!! They are most definitely some of my FAVORITE people (and what a collection of talent)!

World Card Making Day

Did you know that on Saturday, October 4, 2008 it is World Card Making Day! It is a time to celebrate handmade greeting cards, creativity and the bonds that paper crafting brings to those of us who do it! We are a unique group, you know! We have our own language (CASE, TFS, crop, acid free, mount, embellishments, etc.), we love to teach others what we know (especially what we have learned recently that is so COOL!), we are perfectionistic to a degree (keep on tweeking that scrapbook page or card until it is just right/has the right amount of embellishments or BLING)! So take the day off, get together with a few of your favorite crafty people and make cards to your hearts content!

This card made using Autumn Leaves "Winter Wonders" by Amy Grendell.

Card Group and Harley Davidson-what a combo!

It is my favorite time of the month again!! Card group time-12 of us meet at a local restaurant for lunch and a card swap. The cards are actually just an excuse to get together-it is a nice BONUS! We have such a great time. Today we ate at a new place called Marley's Gourmet Sliders in Lindon, Utah at the new Harley Davidson shop/restaurant. The food was so good. You choose your meat: beef burger, chicken, turkey or coney dog. Then you choose your toppings like cheese, grilled onions, avacado, bacon, cranberries, mushrooms, etc. I had 2 sliders (they are small burgers/sandwiches). One was beef with cheese, onions and spicy buffalo sauce. The other was turkey with avacado, cranberry sauce, tomatoes, lettuce and red onion. It came with a drink and fries for about $10. Everything was yummy! It is definitely a repeat! Will definitely have to take my DH as he is a burger fanatic. Will post pics of cards later!

Fun with words

Check out this site wordle.net that I just found. It allows you to enter a bunch of random or related words and make a fun word "cloud". You can then choose to print. I am going to have to play with this! I'll let you see if I come up with anything exciting. I'm thinking of printing it on a page that has a background print and using it for making cards....or as background paper for a scrapbook layout, or cover of a mini album (like the one I made with bind it all) in August (see August 6 blog). The designs are NOT copyrighted and you can go ahead and use them to make up T-shirts, scrapbooking transparencies, etc.

ATG

We have been selling ATG products since April 2008 on our website. I know that prices on everything from toilet paper to applesauce are going up (I work at Costco and have seen huge increases on food products) I guess mostly because of the cost of gasoline. But since we began selling ATG Adhesive Applicators and ATG tape refills, 3M has raised their prices TWICE! The first time, we just ate the cost because we were brand new and trying to compete with some of the big boys out there. The second time, we just couldn't, we had to raise our prices too. Luckily, so did our competitors...but, ouch! Twice in 4 months seems a little much, doesn't it? Good thing it is such a good product or we would have to kiss it good-bye! Gotta have that ATG 714! Just had to gripe a little. It doesn't change anything, but it makes me feel better to complain about it! :p

Smoothies for an after-school snack

Anyone with kids in school is familiar with the first words out of their mouths following a gruelling :) day in class....."What is there to eat? I'm starving!" This is one of my favorite afterschool snacks (and let's face it, midnight snacks, midmorning snacks, etc.). Whenever I have fruit that needs to be eaten....I pop it in the freezer, then add it to a smoothie next time the mood hits! I don't feel like I'm throwing away perfectly good food and my kids get a little more fruit in their diets than they would otherwise (not to mention calcium).

Fruit Smoothies

1- 6 oz. container of yogurt (any fruit flavor) or 1 cup

1 packet of crystal light (for individual drink bottles) the orange is really good, so is the pink lemonade

4-6 ice cubes

1 cup strawberries (frozen or not)

1 banana (preferably frozen)

1 cup milk

1 cup water

Mix up in blender and enjoy. Can add more ice depending on thickness desired and whether or not fruit was frozen. I have also added other fruit (today it was honeydew melon!).