Super Cheater Cinnamon Rolls

My kids love love love cinnamon rolls.  When I can, I make them my no rise cinnamon rolls, but with my kids lack of sleeping in, I have been so tired and not been up to making them lately.

Much to my kids joy, I have discovered an even easier way to make cinnamon rolls!

Enter in Trader Joe's pre made pizza Dough!  Add some cinnamon, butter and brown sugar.  

And my kids are happy!

You really can't get more simple than that.

Turn your oven to 350

Dust your work surface with some flour and roll out the dough into a rough rectangle.  

This is a bit harder when you are tired.

This morning my butter was frozen so I sorta chunked it out onto the dough, 

normally when it's softer I used my hands to spread it out. 

 I think I went a bit overboard with the butter, but it was good.

Then you add the brown sugar and cinnamon, no measurements, sorry!

Gently roll the dough up and cut into pieces with a serrated knife.

When you put the pieces into the pan, you can leave a bit of room between them, 

but they won't rise much more.  

Bake for about a half an hour, but keep on eye on them.  

When they are turning a nice golden brown, they are done.

ENJOY!

Menu Plan Monday

I realized last week that right now I shouldn't be planning any meals that take extra effort for the end of the week.  I need to keep those at the start of the week when I seem to have more energy.  I didn't make the Eggs Up but rather pulled a meatloaf out of the freezer.

We have a pretty low key week.  Other than a visit from my homeschool teacher to see what I've been up to and Karate for the boy tonight we are free and clear.

Remember you can click on the picture of the meal to lead you to my pinterest page, then to the website with the recipe.

MONDAY
left over sweet and sour chicken and left over meatloaf
rice
salad

TUESDAY
Oven Baked Chimichangas
Homemade refried beans
Mexican Style Rice
 

Source: tastykitchen.com via Tara on Pinterest

WEDNESDAY
Quinoa Patties
Salad

Source: eatingwelllivingthin.wordpress.com via Tara on Pinterest

THURSDAY
Baked Ziti and Sausage - from the Freezer
Salad

FRIDAY
Spaghetti and Meat Sauce
Salad
no-kneed bread

Source: frugallivingnw.com via Tara on Pinterest

SATURDAY
Homemade Chicken Soup
Crackers
left over bread

SUNDAY
leftovers

I'm excited to try the no-kneed bread this week and my family always loves spaghetti.
For more menu planning ideas be sure to check out The Organizing Junkie

Yes, it's true!  I'm back. 
We have had a busy time the last few months and I'm hoping things will settle down now a bit.  I need to get back into my routine of posting my menu plans and stay on top of them.  Our week is pretty mellow and not to much happening.
So here goes....

MONDAY
Cheesy Farmer Sausage and Potatoes
Salad

Source: angelfoodskitchen.wordpress.com via Tara on Pinterest

 

TUESDAY
Turkey Soup
Cut Veggies
Crackers

WEDNESDAY
Chicken Fajitas
Salad

Source: stacymakescents.com via Tara on Pinterest

 

Source: tasteofhome.com via Tara on Pinterest

THURSDAY
Eggs Up
Salad

Source: tastingtable.com via Tara on Pinterest

FRIDAY
Sweet and Sour Chicken (from the freezer)
Rice
Salad

SATURDAY
Tomato Basil Soup
Crackers

Source: randomthoughtsandthrills.blogspot.ca via Tara on Pinterest

SUNDAY
Family Lunch
Easy dinner like popcorn or fruit and yogurt

For many more menu planning ideas be sure to check out The Organizing Junkie every Monday

Menu Plan Monday

I'm one week post op and I can feel it.  I'm grateful for those people who dropped of meals last week.  It was so so helpful.  My recovery is 6 weeks so I need to make sure I don't overdue it.
Today I'm still not feeling great and don't know if there are any more meals on the way so I need to make sure I do my menu plan so I can remember what I need to take out of the freezer each day.
So my menu plan will be lack luster with no fun new things to try.  But plan I will.

MONDAY
(from Freezer)
3 Cheese and Chicken Enchiladas
Rice
Salad

TUESDAY
(from Freezer)
Turkey Chili
Salad

WEDNESDAY
(from Freezer)
Farmer Soup
crackers
cut veggies

THURSDAY
Grilled Cheese
Tomato Soup
Cut Veggies

FRIDAY
(from Freezer)
Lasagna
Salad

SATURDAY
left overs

SUNDAY
pancakes
farmer sausage

Breakfast will be oatmeal or toast or eggs.
Lunch's will be frozen pizza from the freezer, frozen pizza rolls, tuna, popcorn, cheese and crackers.
I'm expecting to be feeling better next week, but I still need to take it slow.

As always, be sure to check out The Organizing Junkie every Monday for more menu planning ideas and help.

Menu Plan Monday

It's that time again.  Monday. 
Last week I was asked what we do for breakfast and lunch and where I get me recipes from.
I really should plan breakfast and lunch, but I don't.  So often it's on the fly.  Breakfast will consist of most often toast, from sprouted grain organic bread, my boy loves eggs and will often have an egg on toast.  I'll make pancakes, french toast or another favorite of the kids is oatmeal.  We rarely do cereal as I can't find a nice organic one we all like that doesn't cost a crazy amount of money.
Lunches, if there are leftovers we will do that.  If we didn't have toast for breakfast we may have for lunch.  My kids love guacamole so I often will make that for lunch or popcorn and yogurt.  It's generally pretty low key.   My boy doesn't like cheese, but for a treat I'll make the girly Annie's organic mac and cheese and the boy will have an egg on toast.

I'm a Pinterest Junkie.  The majority of my recipe are from Pinterest or my own head.  I love to search recipes for a base idea and then change it up to suit my family.  I add as many veggies as I can to whatever I'm cooking.  So my kids are used to eating things like kale and swiss chard mixed in with everything.  I don't believe in hiding the veggies in a meal, I want my kids to realize they are eating it and do like it. 
I try to remember to plan my week with my more labor intensive meals at the start and easier ones later in the week, when I'm not as energetic to make something big.  Also, checking the calendar to see what we have going on for the week is always a good idea so I don't plan a big meal when I have an appointment and realistically can't get it made.
I have a handful of meals that I know are my family favorites and my kids don't argue about eating.  I almost always make sure to have a family favorite the day following a new meal.  I try to make soup once or twice a week and I also try to have a vegetarian meal once a week.  I don't always accomplish all this, but the key work is try.
And if I don't stick to my menu plan I don't stress.

MONDAY
3 Cheese Chicken Enchiladas
from my community cook last week
as we are canning 40 pounds of peaches
and something easy
Rice
Salad

TUESDAY
Homemade Hamburgers
Salad

WEDNESDAY
Spaghetti Squash Casserole
I didn't get to this last week
Salad

Source: recipes.prevention.com via Tara on Pinterest

THURSDAY
BBQ Chicken
Lemon Greek Potatoes
Salad

Source: dailyunadventuresincooking.com via Tara on Pinterest

FRIDAY
Crockpot Minestrone Soupt

Source: skinnytaste.com via Tara on Pinterest

SATURDAY
Greek Yogurt Pancakes
(with zucchini shredded into them)
Farmer Sausage
Veggies

Source: macheesmo.com via Tara on Pinterest

SUNDAY
Left Overs or Popcorn
something simple

As always, be sure to check out The Organizing Junkie for many more weekly menu plan ideas.

Homeschool, Day 2

I'm fairly certain the above picture clearly demonstrates how our day went.  Things pretty much deteriorated and crashed right after this picture.  And remained that way for the rest of the day.

I had planned a trip to the library and the lake to see the ducks, to go with the book we are reading.  However, due to bad attitudes all around, yes, including mommy, this was cancelled.  We headed home after some errands and we were all sent to our rooms, yes, including mommy.

I had a feeling that the day was going to be difficult.  My kids were very amped up when we sat down to start.  I should have made them run laps first or something.
We did have some good school time, but not what I planned.  And I have a hard time when things don't go as planned.  I need to learn to be more flexible with this and have a 'plan B'.

I sent an exasperated email to a friend and she sent me back some encouragement.  And reminded me it takes time to figure out what works for each kid.  It's good to be reminded I can do this.  And growing pains are going to happen.

The entire day was a difficult one.  And I won't be receiving any Yay Mom awards any time soon.
Tomorrow, I plan to take it a bit easy and ensure we do some fun 'school' things.  I knew I would have some difficult times with homeschooling, I was warned.  I just didn't expect it on day two!

What our first day of Homeschool looked like

People have been asking me why I'm starting early with homeschool.  I have a lot going on the next two months including surgery and a 10 day trip to Mexico.  So I wanted to get started and get some things set.  Not to mention how excited my kids are to get going.  I think I'll take advantage of their excitement while it's there.
I wanted to get going by 9am, with the kids dressed and breakfast in them.  It worked out well considering my girl was up at 5am.  Breakfast was some organic ancient grain pancakes, a favorite of ours.

We started with a series that has come highly recommended.  Five in a Row.  You read one book for the week and it covers Math, Art, Science, Geography and Social Studies.  It's pretty great.  You read the book each day and review one subject.  Today we did math, which consisted of counting a lot of thing in the book.  This week we are doing The Story of Ping.

The kids were excited, but 5 minutes in, they wanted to know when recess and snack time were.  But they seem to really enjoy the story and looking at the pictures to count different things.
Next we did some color recognition and sorting with beads, to help with their fine motor skills.  I then had them string the beads on corresponding pipe cleaners. 

Then we had recess!  I sent the kids outside to play.  I didn't time them.  But they came back in about 20 minutes later wanting more 'school'
My boy sat down to practice number writing and my girl sat down to color.

I would say it was a great first day.  We cleaned up and headed out to the dentist and come home to have cereal.  Yup, that's right, nothing fantastic, just cereal.  They had a great rest of the day.  And in the afternoon they wanted to play volleyball.  Daddy has been teaching them volleyball.  So after dinner it was some volleyball, trampoline time and races.

And yes, my boy is in his underwear, and yes, it's on backwards.  He is fully aware of this.  He likes to see the pictures...so he wears them backwards.  I don't ask anymore.