January Meal Plan

The reason that my menu plan works for me is because I am very familiar with my recipes and their names. What you may find as you are reading through my list is you don't know what an Egg MoMuffin is or Dagwood Sandwiches. So if you come across anything like that, just leave a comment and I post the recipe instructions. For now, here are the ones I mentioned above.

Egg MoMuffin

Yes, you read that correctly MOmuffin. Many years ago, a friends elderly grandmother was just getting to know me during a Christmas gathering I was attending. She was a quirky lady and was reading off the names on the gift tags when she came across one belonging to me. Now I don't know why she would read it as she did, but instead of reading Michelle, she read MOchelle. Well, that got everyone laughing and ever since I have been MOchelle to this family. It has even translated into my own family with my niece calling me Aunt MOchelle. So when I started making these yummy breakfast sandwich at home, they became "Egg MOmuffins". lol, I also make a killer Sloppy Mo's.

Ingredients

English Muffin (I like Thomas Lite Multigrain)
2% American Cheese
Canadian Bacon
Egg

1. Spray you frying pan with nonstick oil spray. Heat to medium.
2. Break egg into pan as if you were making a dippy egg.
3. While this is cooking, pop your English Muffin into the toaster.
4. Once egg is starting to solidify, break yolk and continually push egg towards center, or fold it on itself until it holds and is the size of your muffin.
5. Flip egg, cook until the yolk is no longer runny.
6. Place toasted muffin on a plate, lay cooked egg on top. Add Cheese.
7. Toss Canadian Bacon into hot pan. Cook for 20 seconds on each side. Don't overcook as this will dry it out.
8. Add Bacon to your sandwich and enjoy.

Dagwood Sandwiches

This are really simple and you can adjust them to your own tastes but this is how we like them.

Ingredients

Deli Turkey Breast
Salami
Colby Jack Cheese
Sweet Italian Loaf

1. Cut the loaf of bread length wise.
2. Generously layer Turkey, Salami and Cheese.
3. Close bread and slice into individual sandwiches.

Optional Ingredient Ideas: Lettuce, Tomato, Banana Peppers, Bacon, Red Onion, Ranch, Mayo, Mustard, Oil & Vinegar Dressing.

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January 2014 Family Menu Plan

Starting next Monday, I'll be headed back to college full time, still homeschooling 4 kids and working part-time. Needless to say, organization is a must around here. I simply can't do it all so I developed a working menu plan for myself and 3 of my daughters.

Yellow Recipes are for my 13 year old to prepare, blue is my 16 year old, pink is my 19 year old and I am teal. It is all based around availability and skill level. I will still shop once a week because I prefer fresh ingredients, but making a grocery list will be a breeze now that I have a plan.

I was even a bit adventurous and threw in a few new recipes such as Navy Bean Soup, Chicken Fried Rice and Ham and Cheese Frittatas. I am on the Trim Healthy Mama eating plan so a few of these meals I'll have to skip or modify for myself but overall I think it is a pretty healthy and balanced meal plan.

January		BREAKFAST	LUNCH	DINNER
M	6	Muffins & Milk	Mac & Cheese with Ham Chunks - Fruit	Chili – Cornbread - Applesauce
T	7	Dippy Eggs & Toast	Hot Dogs – Chips – Apples	Baked Parmesan Chicken – Broccoli - Rice
W	8	French Toast Sticks - Milk	Baked Potatoes & Fruit w/Whipped Cream	Tacos w/lettuce & tomato – Yellow Rice
TH	9	Waffles	Ham/Cheese Bagel Sandwich, Goldfish, Jello	*Navy Bean Soup – Crusty Bread
F	10	*PB Banana Smoothie & Bacon	Chicken Quesadillas – Whipped Cream/Fruit	Pulled Pork Sand. - Applesauce - Chips
SA	11	Cereal	Ham/Broccoli Quiche – Grapes – Bread	Pizza Night
SU	12	Cereal	Enchiladas – Yellow Rice – Apple Slices	Leftovers
M	13	*Breakfast Burritos	Hamburgers – Fries – Deviled Eggs– Apples	French Toast – Eggs – Oranges
T	14	Muffins & Milk	Taquitos – Refried Beans/Chips – Apples	Steak – Baked Potatoes - Salad
W	15	Scrambled Eggs & Toast	Club Sandwiches – Chips – Apples/Dip	Spaghetti – Garlic Bread - Salad
TH	16	Baked Oatmeal	Dagwood Sandwiches – Chips - Fruit	*Creamy Chicken and Rice Soup - Bread
F	17	Waffles	Spahettio's & Meatballs, Apples	Ham and Cheese Potato Soup – Bread/Salad
SA	18	Cereal	Bean Burritos – Fruit Salad with Yogurt	Pizza Night
SU	19	Cereal	Meatloaf – Mashed Potatoes – Green Beans	Leftovers
M	20	Strawberry Banana Smoothie & Bacon	Chicken Soup, Biscuits, Yogurt w/Teddy Grahams	Cheeseburger Pie – Corn - Applesauce
T	21	Egg MoMuffins	Sloppy Joes, Chips & Veggies	*Chicken Fried Rice – Fruit w/Cream
W	22	Muffins & Milk	Grilled Cheese – Chips – Apples/Dip	Cool Taco Salad – Apples
TH	23	Scrambled Eggs & Toast	Paula Deen Mac & Cheese – Bread - Veggies	Pork Chops *Broccoli Casserole, Applesauce
F	24	Oatmeal, w/Fried Apples & Cinnamon	Dagwood Sandwiches – Chips - Fruit	Lasagna – Garlic Bread - Salad
SA	25	Cereal	Cheesy Ham & Potato Soup, Bread, Salad	Pizza Night
SU	26	Cereal	Roast/Potatoes/Carrots – Bread - Coleslaw	Leftovers
M	27	*Breakfast Burritos	French Bread Pizza – Pears	Tacos – Refried Beans
T	28	*Ham & Cheese Frittatas	Baked Potatoes / Fruit w/Whipped Cream	Porcupine Meatballs–Cornbread – Salad
W	29	*PB Banana Smoothie & Bacon	*Amish Casserole – Apples	Steak, Steak Fries, Veggie
TH	30	Muffins & Milk	Chicken Nuggets, Macaroni & Cheese, Fruit	*Chicken Burritos, Yellow Rice, Apples
F	31	Scrambled Eggs & Toast	Hot Pockets – Chips - Fruit	Turkey – Yams – Stuffing – Mashed Potatoes

The various colors indicate different cooks in the family. The stars indicate recipes online. 

Trim Healthy Mama Recipe - Mounds Muffin in a Mug

Attention dark chocolate and coconut fans! Introducing the Mounds MIM!


(Dark Chocolate and Coconut MIM)
1 egg
1 Tbsp coconut oil
2 Tbsp flaxseed meal 
1 Tbsp extra dark cocoa
1 heaping Tbsp regular cocoa
1 tsp baking powder
1 Dash of vanilla
2 Dashes of coconut extract
Sweetener to taste (I use 4 stevia drops, 3 xylitol packets, 2 Truvia packets)
Dash of Sea Salt
1 tsp water, almond milk, cream

Mix well. In separate bowl make coconut filling with 2Tbsp unsweetened coconut and 1- 1 1/2 Tbsp low fat ricotta cheese and another dash of coconut extract.Push into center of muffin mix. Microwave 1 minute. Top with a sprinkle of more flaked coconut and a dollop of whipped cream.
If you have skinny chocolate to melt and drizzle over this you will be in heaven.

"GREEN" Theme Christmas...

This year for Christmas, I would like to give out gifts that reflect all that I learned in my Environmental Science class at University. I was so moved that I have begun making changes in my own life to take better care of our world on a daily basis. So for my first project, I am going to make shopping bags to replace all those plastic ones you get everywhere you go shopping.

Reusable Shopping Bag

Another Shopping Bag Tutorial and Packaging Idea

Produce Bag

WHY should we NOT use plastic bags???

Fact: Globally, over 1 million plastic bags are consumed per minute.

Gut-wrenching Fact: Marine wildlife mistakes plastic bags for food and dies.

Frustrating Fact: It’s taking too long for supermarkets and politicians to sort it out. Plastic bags are still blowing in the wind and choking the whales.

Happy Fact: Making your own bags will help, with immediate effect.

Plastic bags in water are serial killers. They are ingested by marine wildlife, as plastic bags are often mistaken for jellyfish. The dolphin, whale, turtle or bird dies by suffocation or starvation and decomposes around the bag. The bag floats off, ready for its next victim…

No one knows how long these treacherous bags take to biodegrade. Humans have only been using them for 40 years but they are already covering the planet. Plastic bags photodegrade (break down into smaller and smaller toxic bits) and the pieces infiltrate every part of the food chain, for marine wildlife and humans.

A young female minke whale was washed up in Normandy, France, on April 6^th 2002. These were the contents of her stomach:

1 x plastic/aluminum crisp packet

2 x English supermarket bags

7 x various coloured dustbin bag bits

7 x transparent plastic bags

1 x food packaging wrapper

Factoids at a glance:

•  Over 500 billion plastic bags are used worldwide each year (so that’s about 70 plastic bags per person – if everyone had a trusty 10 or so morsbags to keep and use, problem solved!)
• Retailers and governments are struggling to make the difference that is needed through taxes and bans – we – the consumers – need to take this into our own hands.
• “The impact of this plastic waste can be seen littering our landscape, threatening our wildlife and accumulating as ‘plastic soup’ in the Pacific Ocean, which may cover more than 15,000,000 sq. km,” Janez Potocnik – European Commissioner for the environment.
• According to MSN, the production of plastic bags creates enough solid waste per year to fill the Empire State Building two and a half times.
• In some parts of the ocean there are six pounds of plastic for every pound of plankton.

These are unreferenced facts and there are plenty more out there on the web. However, it is generally acknowledged and accepted that plastic bags are harmful in one way or another, so we think time would be better spent making a reusable cloth bag than googling! Hope you agree…

The staggering amount of plastic bags freely handed out in shops is boggling and consequently shoppers habitually forget that plastic bags are not the only option.

Course Reflection

As I complete my first semester at the University, I look back amazed at what I have been able to accomplish. First and foremost, I have realized I am capable of a lot more than I expected. A lot of people tell me they are astounded that I can go to college, homeschool four kids, work part time, and run my household as a single mom. I hate to say it but, while it is exhausting at times, it hasn't been hard because I love what I am doing. (Well, maybe not my job, but that is another story.) 

I am truly thankful for college and the things I am learning. I was never able to have this experience when I was 18, but in the end I know I would not have appreciated it then like I do now. The experiences I had in my fist semester made me realize I can do even more, and that is why next semester I am doubling my class load.

In my Digital Media online class, I worked with so many new programs I had never heard of before. I really thought I was a "computer person" but I realized we get into our little niches and never see some of the wonderful creative resources out there.

I love how the class forced me to take my photography skills to the next level. I had to learn about pixels and mega pixels. I really think there is a ton more to learn here, and I plan to take a photography class to further expand this area.

One of my favorite assignments was creating music and the mash-up video to go with it. This is my niche and I loved all 32 hours I dedicated to both assignments. Prior to this, I didn't know how to create digital music, but now I have a product I can be proud of and the skill to create original music for future film projects.

The course also gave me the beginning skills to create a fantastic website with Wix and the ability to create graphics in 3D and GIF animation to showcase products I may want to feature on my site. My ultimate goal is to be my own business owner, and the exposure I had in the class has only helped in showing me the possibilities that digital media can play in my future online endeavors.

I wish I would have had more of an opportunity to learn how to create my own digital illustrations with a program like Adobe Illustrator, but I was able to play around a bit with this genre of art using the Scribbler and Flame programs. The typography assignment was fun, too, and I can see a ton of possibilities in using words and images as logos for any business I might launch. I am excited to take the skills I learned and continue on them throughout my college journey.

Unlikely Holiday Movies

Not all holiday movies have to be "Christmas" specific. Some of my favorite movies have little if nothing at all to do with the holidays but somehow they just seem to be a perfect fit for this time of year. Here are a few to get you started. Enjoy!

Seelio!

Find my work on Seelio now!

Click Here for My Seelio Website

The Ultimate Christmas Movie List

There is just something about November and December that makes me want to cuddle in with a tasty treat, warm blanket, soft pillow and a good holiday movie. I've already watched quite a few this season and decided to go on a quest for some old favorites and a few new goodies. This led to The Ultimate Christmas Movie List 2013.

Now while it may seem I have found every Christmas movie ever made, I have to say, I left out quite a lot of movies. The sheer number of holiday movies available is astonishing. My list includes movies from the 40's through today. It spans movie theater quality films to made for TV specials. I have seen a lot of them, but not all so this list is as much for me as it is for you.

Some of these movies could be hard to find but not impossible. Here are my search methods:

• Netflix Instant Video (Monthly membership about $7.99)
• Netflix By Mail DVD's (Monthly membership starts around $4.99)
• Amazon Instant Video (If you have Amazon Prime $$, you can usually watch for a few $)
• Library (FREE!)
• Youtube (Sometimes it is there, FREE!)
• TV Channel Websites (FREE) Such as ABC Family, etc…
• Family Video (My local Video Rental Store)

Today I am presenting my Christmas movie list, but if you come back tomorrow, you'll find my Ultimate Unlikely Christmas Movie List 2013. Hope to see you back!!!

Health and Fitness

Well, my first semester of college is nearly complete and I am so excited with all I was able to accomplish. Of course, being a homeschool mother of 4 children and one college student in addition to working part-time, taking care of all the household business and going to college myself, it is no wonder a few things slipped by the wayside.

That leads me to my own health and fitness. I am pretty sure I put on about 5lbs this semester due to poor eating and little extra exercise. So as the semester winds down, I want to take this opportunity to get back and track and set in motion some new habits that will hopefully stick as I start classes in January. Here is my plan...

Diet - I have been on many eating plans over the years and I have found nothing works as well as Trim Healthy Mama. It is a low glycemic eating plan that does not limit amounts of food, just the types of food you can eat either together or at all. Basically if you are eating high carb at a meal, keep the fat intake to a minimum. However, if your craving something with a higher fat intake, go low carb. Both meals need to have a good portion of protein included. The book is over 600 pages long and includes tons of recipes. I have gleaned many additional ones online at their Facebook page and THM blogs. I even have a Pinterest board dedicated to the plan. Just do a Pinterest search and a ton more will pop up. It is a wonderful way to eat but as all diets do, it requires planning ahead so you have the food you need available.

As far as exercise goes, I am going to get back into running. My favorite resource for this is the Couch Potato to 5K program. I have an amazing app on my iPhone that allows me to listen to my own music while getting cues when to run and when to walk. Before I had this app, I used NHS podcasts.

Two other apps I use often are My Fitness Pal to track my nutrition and Endomondo to track my distances when running outside.

So I have decided to also start adding in some weight training and I have currently requested "You Are Your Own Gym" and "Body By You". I need to be able to work out at home a few days a week. Just getting out is difficult as it takes so much time out of my day. I am hoping these will keep me from needing to purchase a bunch of equipment.

I would also like to add in Yoga and I have found a wealth of Youtube videos on the subject. When doing some research, I learned that Sadie Nardini is considered a great teacher so I will be trying out some of her videos.

So, finally, the plan is 3 days a week of running, 2 days of weight training with 1 day of Yoga starting Monday!

Gif Animation

Animated Turkey Gif

Click on the link above to see the Animation!

This week we had an extra credit assignment to create a Gif. This project felt very much like a problem solving task. From my research there are many paths to creating a Gif. After several failed attempts that included setting up scenes and photographing them, I decided to create my animation in steps using a Paint Online program. As I finished each step, I took screenshots of my turkey. Once I got to the banner portion of the project, I transferred my last image to PicMonkey and added the text. Finally I uploaded my images to Gif Maker, ordered them, chose a speed and finalized the project. Overall I think it was a fun project and I learned a lot. I am sure I will make more of these in the future. 

Alaska Inspired Learning

One of the reasons I love homeschooling is because we can explore whatever topic happens to interest us. Today during reading we opened my daughters reading curriculum to find our story was about a boy who had moved to the Yukon and was traveling by sled to his uncle's home, who was a doctor. This got us talking about the tundra, Alaska, sled dogs and more so I requested a bunch of resources from my local library to help us explore this topic deeper and I am sharing them with you. 

Who knows how deep we will go with this but I can assure a lot of learning will take place and I wouldn't be surprised to see "sled dog teams" made out of Legos. 

Books that Teach

Alaska, Sled Dogs, Northern Lights, Tales

3D Imaging

So glad this one is over! Actually once you figure out this program, it is really easy to use. But until you find all those buttons, and pages, and save features your going to spend hours upon hours trying to do so.

This is a 3D Model of a doll I made a few years ago for my daughter. Her name is Dorinda Gabriella and she stands at about 18" tall. I photographed her with natural light about mid-day and used crayons set in patterns around her instead of newspaper as my reference points.

I used all the tools in creating this model. First I cut away the excess background, rotating and resizing as I went along. Then I smoothed out my lines. I used the Plane Cut to bring her back to earth and that was about it. She looks great! Source: http://www.123dapp.com/catch

Bananas & Ham Oh My!

Banana Bread Oatmeal, Banana Smoothie, Ham and Cheese Casserole

Ham and Cheese Crescent Rolls, Fettuccine Alfredo, Banana Muffins

This weeks menu is dominated by Bananas and Ham, but don't think it is the same flavors over and over! Oh, no, you'll find plenty of variety here. Enjoy! 

Meal Plan: Week of November 3rd-9th

BREAKFAST

Cereal

Smoothie & Banana Muffins 

French Toast Sticks & Sausage

Banana Bread Oatmeal & Milk

Peanut Butter Toast, Banana Slices, Milk

Egg MoMuffins (English Muffin, Egg, Canadian Bacon, American Cheese)

Smoothie Recipes

1. 1 banana, 1 TBSP Honey, 1/4 c. Banilla Yogurt, 1 scoop Protein Powder, 1/4 c. Milk, Ice
2. 1 banana, 2-3 tsp.Truvia, 1/4 c. greek yogurt, 5 frozen strawberries, 1 scoop Protein Powder, 1/2 c. almond milk, ice
3. 1/2 c. almond milk, 1/2 c. water, 1 scoop protein powder, 1 TBSP Peanut Butter, 1 TBSP Cocoa Powder, 4 frozen strawberries, ice.

LUNCH

Ham & Cheese Crescent Rolls, Veggies & Ranch

Club Sandwich (Turkey, Tomato, Bacon, Lettuce, Mayo), Fruit & Whipped Cream

Egg Salad Sandwiches, Cucumbers & Ranch

Toasted Peanut Butter & Chicken Noodle Soup, Grapes

Sloppy Joes, Mac & Cheese, Pickle

Baked Potatoes (Butter, Salt, Sour Cream, Cheddar Cheese, Bacon Bits), Apple Slices

Leftovers

DINNER

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas, Yellow Rice

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup, Biscuits

Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes, Gravy, Corn

Chicken Fettucini Alfredo

Lasagna, Garlic Bread, Salad

Cheesy Hashbrown & Ham Casserole

Pulled Pork Sandwiches, Smiles Potatoes, Green Beans

SNACKS

Apples & Peanut Butter

Cheese & Crackers

Graham Crackers

Deviled Egg

DESSERTS

Chocolate Covered Frozen Bananas

Art with Everyday Items

I am simply mesmerized....

fascinated....

delighted...

tickled...

and Inspired!

Check out more amazing illustrations by Ecuador-based  artist Javier Perez. His simple mix of everyday objects with line drawings are simply enchanting over at Instagram.

Typography and Text-Based Art

Mikhail Baryshnikov

This image of Mikhail Baryshnikov, the famous Russian ballet dancer was created using GlassGiant's ASCII Art generator. I looked for a photograph that had a high contrast so that the photograph would come through more clearly. I feel this image accomplished that. My only gripe is for some reason my image was elongated once it was converted. I could see using this program again in the future.  

I added the color image below of my daughter when she was 6 years old. I wanted to show an image in color since I chose to use a black and white above. 

The previous 3 photographs were created using Text-Image. The first is a photograph of my sister when she was little. It is HTML and I used the word "sister" as my letters for creating this piece. The second is a picture of my oldest daughter and is done in ASCII. The third is a photograph I took in Williamsburg, VA and is done in Matrix. I think these programs are interesting and could be a lot of fun with the right photograph as a base.

I L-O-V-E Tagxedo and I expect I'll be using it again, often! If you can't tell, I created these two images of Mary Poppins using the line from her famous song, "A Spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down". I love the way it turned out and decided to make two! :)

Scribbler Week 10

Scribbler

I enjoyed working with this application although it took quite a bit of time to work out how to utilize the different tools. It was also a challenge getting the images to still look like what I had drawn once Scribbler began. Using a mouse to draw is also very difficult as I am a bit of a perfectionist and wanted perfect circles when that was not going to happen. I added 3 images because I couldn't decide which ones I liked best. 

Scribbler 2

I did not like this program at all. I actually found it more difficult to work with than the older edition of scribbler. I am not very fond of the connectivity of the lines. It made it nearly impossible to draw details. After a lot of experimenting I did find ways around that but ultimately, this is not a program I would use again. 

My first picture was copied over a sunset scene. I tried to mix the different shades of orange, yellows and reds to make a smooth background. The second was a free sketch of dancing feet. 

Flame

I thought Flame was fun. My first image is of a Phoenix, which ironically is a bird made of fire. I really love the way that one turned out. My second image was inspired by the video we watched of the paint that was photographed while being tossed about by sound waves. I thought this looked like an explosion of color as well.

This final image was my attempt at a screen shot while experimenting with the extras you posted. I kept trying to get a good shot but by the time I would get the image captured, most of it had faded. 

New Slide Show - A Day in My LIfe

Revised slide show 
Please note: My animations are not able to be shown here, so you're missing part of my work. 

This movie was created using Keynote on my iMac. I had a lot of fun creating this as there are a lot more features than Google Slides. I decided to do an alphabetic representation of things in my life. I spent a good part of the morning coming up with items for each letter and revised them as the day went on. Then I proceeded to make sure I photographed these events. I hope you enjoy this revised "Day in My Life" Slide presentation.

Becher Grid

It took me a few days to figure out what items I wanted to photograph to make this Becher Grid. I needed to find something that I owned 16 of or go out on location somewhere to find 16 items. I loved the idea of leaves being the huge nature lover that I am, but alas, it was already done. I considered my son's Angry Bird collection but he only owns 12 even though it feels like 100 as they propel through the air in endless hours of enthusiastic play.

It then hit me that I have an immense sewing supply stash that I utilize every Nov./Dec. as the gift making frenzy starts and my overwhelming urge to "Get Crafty" takes over. So I pulled out the spools of thread. My only regret was my limited color choice. Apparently I love blues, reds and greens. Missing were the pinks, yellows, and oranges. Forget about purple, I have a strong distaste for that shade and I reject any mention of it in my home. It literally makes me feel ill to look at it. lol

As I was working my way through the assignment, (L-O-V-E the video tutorials Prof. Ballard!!!) I began experimenting with the values when I strayed from the RGB tab and started altering the individual colors of Red, Green & Blue. By doing so, this allowed me to pull out the natural reflected colors from the shadows. I was thrilled with the results! One problem I could see with the Becher Grid was the inconsistency with the white level. I wanted all my squares to have the exact same brightness but that was difficult because of the reflected color coming from my spools of thread. By bringing out the natural hues in a very strong way, I was able to create a color rich environment, in some cases using complementary colors. I decided to make a black background and go for a warm and cozy quilt look with my Becher Grid. Overall, I am very happy with how it turned out and I hope you like it too!

A Day in the Life Slide Show

I can see how this could be a really useful tool for communication of ideas and pictures. I had never created a slide show before so I am sure there is still a lot I have to learn about it. I enjoy the simplicity of a white background and allowing the pictures to add the pops of color. I could see myself using this application to make slides for art or history class or even my future educational films business. It is exciting that it is all online and free, which makes me even more motivated to utilize it. Overall, I am excited to continue to explore this product and use it in future endeavors. 

Menu Plan for October

Black Bean and Corn Taco Bake

1 lb ground beef  - cooked

1 can black beans

1 small can corn

1 13 oz jar salsa

1 1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese

Dump all into a crock-pot on low for 2-3 hours. 

Eat with chips or in a tortilla with sour cream.