August 30-September 5 Menu Plan

Monday: Stroganoff-Topped Potatoes, Winter Mix Vegetables, and Green Beans

Tuesday: Bratwurst, Chicken Fiesta with Black Beans, and Salad

Wednesday: Cranberry Chicken, Rice, and Corn

Thursday: Tuna Noodle Casserole, and Spinach

Friday: Homemade Pepperoni Pizza, and Salad

Saturday: Out to Eat

Sunday: Ham, Scalloped Potatoes, Green Beans, and Steamed Yellow Squash


Submitted to:
Visit I'm an Organizing Junkie to see more menu ideas

Chicken Fiesta with Black Beans

3-4 boneless chicken breasts
15 oz. corn, drained
15, oz black beans, rinsed and drained
1 Tbs. cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
onion, sliced
green pepper, sliced
14 oz can diced tomatoes
6 oz tomato paste

Combine all the ingredients in the crockpot and mix well. cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours. Garnish with cheese and serve over cornbread or in tortillas.

Cranberry Chicken

1 cup sliced onion
1 1/2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup whole-berry cranberry sauce
1 tbsp. beef bouillon granules
1 tsp. white vinegar
1 tsp. prepared mustard

Spray inside of slow cooker with cooking spray. Place onion on bottom of slow cooker: place chicken breasts on top. Combine remaining ingredients and mix well. Spoon cranberry mixture over chicken and onion and coat well. Cover and cook on low heat for 6-8 hours or high heat for 3-4 hours.

Servings: 6
Calories Per Serving: 159

Stroganoff-Topped Potatoes

1 1/2 pounds extra- lean ground beef
2 meduim onions, sliced thin
2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
1/2 tsp. minced garlic
2 tbsp. flour
1/2 tsp. paprika
1 10 3/4-oz. can low-fat cream of mushroom soup
1 cup nonfat sour cream
3 baking potatoes, baked and sliced

Spray large nonstick skillet with cooking spray. Add ground beef, onions, mushrooms, and garlic and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until beef is browned and crumbled. Drain well. Remove from heat. Add flour, paprika, and soup and mix well. Spray inside of slow cooker with cooking spray. Place beef mixture in slow cooker. Cover and cook on low heat for 6 hours or high heat for 3 hours. Just before serving, stir in sour cream and heat 10-15 minutes, stirring constantly. Serve beef mixture over sliced cooked potatoes.

Serves: 6
Calories Per Serving: 343

100 Calorie Snacks: Angel Food Cake & Strawberries

3/4 Cup Strawberries (Sliced) 35 Calories
1/6 Slice Sugar Free Angel Food Cake 60 Calories
Total Snack 95 Calories

If you want to sugar your strawberries use 1 packet of no calorie sweetener.


Submitted to:
Good Cheap Eats
Works For Me Wednesday
Ultimate Recipe Swap

100 Calorie Snacks: Banana & Blackberry Jam Toast

1/2 Medium Banana (Sliced) 53 Calories
1 Slice Lite Wheat Bread (Toasted) 35 Calories
1 Tbs. Sugar Free Blackberry Jam 10 Calories
Total Snack 98 Calories


Submitted to:
Good Cheap Eats
Works For Me Wednesday
Ultimate Recipe Swap

2010 Reading List

I’ve read 47 books this year! This does not count books I looked at but didn't fully read which was a lot. I usually have at last 10 or so books checked out from the library that I look at throughout the month like craft and cookbooks an such that I never have time to finish. You can click on the links to read my monthly reviews.


In January I read:

Rick and Bubba's Guide to the Almost Perfect Marriage by Rick Burgess and Bill (Bubba) Bussey

Cowboy Christmas Series

A Rancher’s Heart by Catherine Palmer

Undercover Cowboy by Lisa Harris

The Outlaws Gift by Linda Goodnight

Tucker Mills Trilogy by Lori Wick

Moonlight on the Mill Pond

Just Above a Whisper

Leave a Candle Burning

A Town Called Hope Series by Catherine Palmer

Prairie Rose

Prairie Fire

Prairie Storm

Four Seasons Series by Catherine Palmer and Gary Chapman
It Happens every Spring
Summer Breeze
Falling for You Again
Winter turns to Spring


In February I read:

A Victorian Christmas Series by Catherine Palmer
Angel in the Attic
Lone Star
Under His Wings
Behold the Lamb


In March I read:

The Flowering Cross by Beth Ryan

The Mitford Years Series by Jan Karon
At Home In Mitford
A Light In The Window


In April I read:

The Mitford Years Series by Jan Karon
These High, Green Hills
Out Of Canaan
A New Song

Quick and Easy Ways to Organize Your Life by Marie Ricks

Country Living Shortcuts to Decorating Country Style by Caroline Atkins


In May I read:

The Mitford Years Series by Jan Karon
A Common Life
In This Mountain
Shepherds Abiding
Light From Heaven
The Mitford Bedtime Companion


In June I read:

Prairie Legacy Series by Janette Oke
The Tender Years
A Searching Heart
A Quiet Strength
Like Gold Refined

Country Living Cottage Style by Hearst

Cottage Retreats by Schlang

Mary Jane's Ideabook Cookbook Lifebook by Mary Jane Butters


In July I read:

Abram’s Daughter Series by Beverly Lewis
The Covenant
The Betrayal
The Sacrifice
The Prodigal
The Revelation

Semi-Homemade Desserts by Sandra Lee

All Cakes Considered by Melissa Gray

Christmas Traditions in Plastic Canvas by The Needlecraft Shop Edited by Judy Crow

Running Fit by Jamie Baird


Submitted to:
Life As Mom I’m Booking It in 2010!

July 2010 Reading List

Abram’s Daughter Series by Beverly Lewis

The Covenant book 1

This story is about Leah the 2nd daughter of Abram’s 4. Since Abram never had a son Leah took on the duties of a son working alongside her father. She was close to 16 years old when she realized she needed to learn woman’s work in preparation to one day be a wife. She started courting Jonas not long after her birthday and was allowed to go to singin’s. Her father was disappointed because he wanted her to marry the neighbor boy so that they could inherit both farms one day.

Her sister Sadie was nearing her baptism and sneaking around with an English boy. Not long after Sadie’s joining the church she discovered she was pregnant and the boy didn’t want anything to do with her. The mother realized she herself was pregnant too which was a surprise at 43. Sadie gave birth 2 month’s early to a boy who was still born. The doctor was the boy Sadie had courted father. They asked him to get rid of the baby so Sadie didn’t have to tell her parents after he left to go home he realized the baby was moving and took it into the house and put it in an incubator. He realized it was possibly his grandson and didn’t know what to do return the baby or put it up for adoption. Leah’s mother delivered a baby girl 2 weeks or so later.

Leah and Jonas planned to marry next fall but he got asked by a cousin in Ohio to come learn cabinet making which was a dream come true for him. They made plans for a long distance relationship when he would return in the fall before his families Apple picking season on their farm.

The Betrayal book 2

Jonas wants Leah to come to Ohio for the last couple months before their wedding. Sadie is troubled by her loss of her baby and beau Lea helps her by sending her to Ohio to stay with the relatives that Jonas is staying with instead of going herself. Leah before becomes a baptized member of the church and tells the leadership of her keeping her sister’s secret of courting an Englisher. Sadie is upset because Leah told and tells Jonah that she saw Sadie with Smithy Gib and later throws a letter away answering Jonah’s concerns as unmerited. Jonas breaks it off with Leah and his family shuns hers. Later Jonas and Sadie get together while Leah morn’s her loss. The family struggles with losing Sadie and her subsequent shunning. Leah’s parents tell her about Aunt Lizzie being her birth mother.

The Sacrifice book 3

Ida asks Leah to raise her children before she dies during childbirth. The family struggles with the loss of losing Sadie to the Shun. Sadie after many years comes home after the death of her husband and asks the community to left the shun so she can be with her family but she have to go thru a 6 month proving period. Mary Ruth mores to town after the death of her beau and become Mennonite and eventually married Robert who becomes a pastor and have a daughter. Gid and Hannah marry and have three children and Gid get elected pastor after one of the older ones dies. Leah’s father and Aunt Lizzie marry and assure Leah she will still be the mamma to her mother’s children.

The Prodigal book 4

Leah is raising her mother’s children as her own and still unmarried. Lydiann becomes courting age and starts dating Jacob Mast. Leah confronts the doctor who delivered Sadie’s still born baby all those years ago about the possibility of Jacob being Sadie’s natural son and he confesses the whole story. Leah tells Sadie and then they later have to decide to send Jacob to Ohio. A group of boys are being trade amongst the two Amish communities because they are concerned about too much intermarriage deformities and what fresh blood. Lydiann and Jacob are Aunt and Nephew even though they don’t know it. Jacob goes to Ohio and apprentices with a master carpenter who ends up being his brother Jonas. Jonas goes home to find out what happen to Jacob and reunites with Leah and promises to get the shun lifted.

The Revelation book 5

After Jonas return he is reunited with Leah. Leah and Jonah plan their fall wedding as they enjoy their courting time. It is told to Jacob and his family that he is actually Sadie’s son that she thought was stillborn. Jacob’s father throws him out of the family house after finding out this news because of his feud with the Ebersol’s. Jonah and Jacob move in with Eli until matters can be worked out. Eli and Sadie being to court and eventually decide to marry in the fall after Jonah and Leah. The Mast and Ebersol’s end their feud after Leah saves John’s life when he gets drunk and his buggy is running lose.

Submitted to:
Life As Mom I’m Booking It in 2010!