Seven on Sunday: Week 18

Day 1: Sunday--Scott left for another work trip on Sunday morning :( We really had nothing going on, so I decided to make use of the time so I taught the kids how to do the laundry from start to FINISH--sorting to putting away! Besides the gifts I want to instill in my children...grace, humility, perseverance, hard work, kindness, integrity and fortitude...ranking very high on the list is being able to do their own laundry :)

They did really well. Pretty sure if I kicked them out of the house today, they could at least make themselves breakfast and have some clean clothes :) It's all about life skills!! LOL!

Day 2: Monday--My monkey after soccer practice showing his strength!

Day 3: Tuesday--Little Miss Independent NEVER wants to cuddle with me. But this evening, she said she wanted to and climbed up on the couch with me! Gotta savor these moments!!

 

Day 4: Wednesday--My littlest helper...she loves to help me in the kitchen! Today we baked an Apple Cinnamon Crunchy Cake!! (she helped me eat it, too) :)

 Day 5: Thursday--Not sure what's going on here but Will had a a mid-week birthday party that involved too much sugar!! :) Crazy people live at my house, I tell you...

Day 6: Friday--Brookey's class did the monthly Mass at school to celebrate St. Francis. I will never, ever get tired of hearing these kiddos sing!!!!

On Friday, we also had a little 4th Grade Moms night "out" at my friend's house :) Love these gals!

Day 7: Saturday--The kid's soccer games were rough with the HEAT! Scott ref'ed Will's game (luckily) at 9am! His first ref'ing gig....he did great considering he knows nothing about soccer (although he does now!)!!!! Will scored 4 goals...not as good as last week--LOL! Poor Brookey's game was at noon and we were all roasting to death. The girls were dripping with sweat but played so hard. The beat the only undeafeated team, so now they are 6-1. Brookey had a great assist for a goal.

Scott as the Ref :)

Brookey after her 95 degree game! I don't know how she did it. I was dying in the shade!

Have a great week!!!

XO ~ Casey

Repcipe Wednesday: Hobo Dinners

Not sure if I'm just in a nostalgic mood lately, but I seem to be posting recipes that have been on my "rotation" for years and years! I've been making my Turkey Chimis for over 10 years and today, my Hobo Hamburgers are another Rooney Family staple. I've been making these for over 10 years as well!

There are a zillion "foil wrapped" dinner ideas out there that include all sorts of meats and random veggies, but I really believe mine is the best :) Nothing random (AKA: peas!), nothing complicated (AKA: a fancy way you have to wrap the foil) and it has more flavor that most of the other "foil wrapped" options I've tried.

5 Reasons This Recipe Rocks

1. You can make it a day or two in advance and just pop it in the oven about 45 minutes before you're ready to eat.

2. Virtually NO CLEAN UP!!! You can eat your dinner right out of the foil pouch and toss it when you're done!

3. No need for "side" dishes--it's like a one-pot meal--everything you need is in the pouch..meat, veggies..a little cheese...what more do you need?! :)

4. You can really customize it however you want. Switch to ground turkey, swap out veggies, different sauce, etc. But like I mentioned, I really think my version is the best :)

5. These are also great for camping...you can make them ahead of time and throw them on the grill whenever you're ready! Did I mention: NO CLEAN UP!?!

Here you go!

Hobo Hamburgers
**Makes 4 "pouches" that serve 4 people (or at my house, 2 adults and 3 little kids!)

1 lb lean ground beef
1 egg
1/2 cup breadcrumbs (i use Panko, but any kind works)
1 cup grated cheese (i use sharp cheddar)
1 teaspoon seasoning salt OR (1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon pepper and 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder)
1 green bell pepper, finely chopped


1 medium onion, sliced into rings
Any kind of potatoes, sliced into thin rounds (i use about 3-4 red potatoes)
Your favorite BBQ sauce

1. Cut 4 pieces of foil approx 12 inches x 12 inches. Spray with cooking spray and set aside.

2. Combine first 6 ingredients and mix until thoroughly combined (i use my hands!)

3. Shape mixture into 4 patties...this doesn't have to be perfect! Just get them all about the same size and thickness so they will cook evenly. I like to make mine fairly flat so they cook faster.

4. Lay each patty onto the foil. Top each patty with: a layer of BBQ sauce, onion slices, 3-4 potato slices, more BBQ sauce)

5. Carefully bring the edges of the foil together to seal the pouch. There are several ways to do this (don't even Google how Martha Stewart does hers!!), but I just make sure it's sealed well, but also not so tight where it doesn't let the contents of the pouch "steam" in the oven. Mine usually end up looking something like this:

6. Place pouches on a cookie sheet and bake at 400 degrees for about 45 minutes or until potatoes are tender and meat is cooked though. Cooking time really depends on your oven and how thickly or thinly everything is sliced.

7. Let cool for about 5 minutes, put pouches on a plate, open them up and dinner is served!!

XO ~ Casey

Seven on Sunday: Week 17

Day 1: Sunday--Scott left for San Diego for a conference today, so I was on birthday party duty! Buddy had a great time at a park bday party with one of his besties. Look at these two!! Up to NO GOOD!! :)

Day 2: Monday--Sarah and I spent the morning shopping for a bday gift for a very special someone. I'm wondering if she'll ever just be able to smile without being a cheeseball???

Day 3: Tuesday--Waiting for Brookey to finish soccer practice. Definitely worse places I could be--gorgeous sunset!!

Day 4: Wednesday--Ok, it's been a long-ass, crappy week since Scott's been out of town. I blew out my hamstring (or SOMETHING) on Tuesday and could barely walk, almost fell down the stairs because I could barely walk down them, Sarah came down with a bad case of the sniffles and starting sneezing green snot...the list goes on...sometimes it's just a VENTI kind of day...or week!!!!

Day 5: Thursday-- Selfie Thursday with my girl who is always willing to smile!!

 Day 6: Friday--Thunderstorms and a downpour in September??!! We'll take it!!!

 Day 7: Saturday--We went to Napa and Calistoga to celebrate my mom's birthday!

Epic family pic at Sterling...of course, no one is looking :)

Selifie with my honey at Sterling :)

Cheers and hoping this week will go better than last week!!!

XO ~ Casey

Friday Funday: Food Favorites!!

I didn't think Friday could come fast enough this week, people!!! So let's celebrate with some of my favorite foods and recipes!!!

#1: Soy Nut Butter...O.M.G!!!

In March of 2007 while vacationing in Florida, Brookey took a TINY bite of PB&J. This picture was taken from a Venica, FL Emergency Room...notice the swelled face and eyes---looked SO much worse in person!! Since then, we've stayed away from peanut butter. I've been so bummed because it's SOOO yummy and a great source of protein.

Until this week when I found this: Soy Nut Butter. It tastes as close to the real thing as I think you can get...all the same fiber and protein benefits, too! Amazing! The link is from Amazon, but I got ours at Target. Major score!!!

 #2: As the weather cools down (as hopefully it does, SOMEDAY!), I always crave a big bowl of pasta. My simple Spaghetti and Meatballs fits the bill!!

#3: I absolutely LOVE this stir fry recipe! It's great with broccoli, too!! Beef with Snow Peas:

#4: These Turkey Chimichangas have been a staple in my house for TEN YEARS! So easy and so good!!!

#5: You can't get through the fall without making this Pumpkin Gooey Goodness Cake! It's everything you want from a fall dessert and more!! :)

That's it for today!! HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY FRIDAY and HAPPY EATING!! :)

XO ~ Casey

Recipe Wednesday: 5 Days of Lunches

Last month I wrote about being nervous that I actually had to make lunch for my kiddos this year. Well, it's turning out to be better than I expected....so far :) I refer back to this post often and mix and match my main course + fruit/veggie + sides lists. So far, I've kept it pretty tame but hopefully in the coming months I can experiment with soups and other thermos-type items.  I also pack lunches with the kids, so they can give me input about what they want. I find they are much more likely to eat it if they have some sort of say in the process.

Here are a five of my recently packed lunches:

** Don't forget you can Pin all of the images to Pinterest and refer back to them later!

Day 1
Main Course: Tortilla chips with shredded cheese
Fruit/Veggie: Nectarine slices, juice (optional!)
Sides: Whole wheat cereal, Nutri Grain bar

Day 2
Main Course: Cheese Roll Up (made the night before)
Fruit/Veggie: Plum, Juice (optional)
Sides: Sun Chips, Yogurt

Day 3
Main Course: Jelly sandwich & turkey pepperoni and cheese kebab (Will was HUNGRY)
Fruit/Veggie: Grapes
Sides: Fiber One lemon bar (Yumm!!! Found them at Costo), Pirate's Booty

Day 4
Main Course: Waffles and Syrup
Fruit/Veggie: Apple slices (you can toss them in a little orange juice to keep them from browning)
Sides: Nutri Grain bar, Cheese stick, Danimals Smoothie

Day 5
Main Course: Ham and Swiss sandwich
Fruit/Veggie: Grapes
Sides: Fiber One lemon bar, Sun Chips

Happy lunch-packing!!!

~XO

Seven on Sunday: Week 16

Day 1: Sunday--Ahhhh...perfect Sunday morning of church, Scott's homemade breakfast, coffee and People Style Watch! Heaven :)

Day 2: Monday--Clowning around at Target! Why in the world is this hat being sold in California??!

Day 3: Tuesday--Helping my baby pack for her first trip away from home!!! Seeing her so excited kept me from getting emotional! She's going to learn and grow so much on this trip--I am so happy and excited for her!

Day 4: Wednesday--Off to camp! Loving the outfit she picked...camos, a glitter tee and leopard earrings...she had on a bracelet and camo hat, too but I had to draw the fashion line.....she is going CAMPING!! She was so excited but then on the bus, got emotional and teary eyed. So blessed my friends are the female chaperones and took great care of her! She definitely wasn't the only "sad" one!! For most of these kiddos, it's their first time away from home. Really glad Scott is the chaperone for the boys! At least he's around even though they won't see each other that much.

Day 5: Thursday-What's for dinner when Daddy and Sissy are away? Mac and Cheese and french fries OF COURSE!!!

Day 6: Friday--MY BABY IS HOME!!! Wow-- she had a fantastic time at camp and learned so much! So did Scott!! Very blessed they could share this experience together. Maybe I will go with Buddy when he gets to 4th grade...I'm sure he'll LOVE that!! Ha!

Day 7: Saturday--Epic soccer day for the goal-scoring duo! Both kiddos scored goals in their games. Brookey's team played a HARD fought match and won 3-0. Her team is GOOD. Such a fun, competitive game to watch! The girls played their hearts out!

Have a super week!!!

XO ~ Casey

Friday Fun Day: Five Favorites Under $10!

It's FRIDAY!!!!! Yay! My baby comes home from camp today and all will be right with the world again :) Today I'm linking up with a few awesome blogs and sharing 5 of my favorite things under $10!!

#5: The Wet Brush-$9.00 at Target. Apparently, I'm the only mom who didn't know about this thing! Wow-it works SOOOO well on Brookey's hair right out of the shower. No more complaining about tangles in her hair! Lifesaver.

#4: Gina Rispoli All Natural Marinara--$5.00 at Safeway. I've tried a zillion, and this one is the best! I use it in so many recipes as a shortcut for a homemade sauce. Here's the recipe from last Wednesday: Perfect Meat Sauce. I also use it for my Simple Spaghetti and Meatballs. As a side note, the checkout gal at Safeway sees me buying this EVERY SINGLE WEEK and I keep telling her to try it. The other day she said, "I finally tried your sauce and you were right--it really is the best!" Bam! :)

#3: NYC Lip Gloss. I don't leave the house without lip gloss. I love it, and I've tried a whole lot of brands--expensive and cheap. This one is awesome. It compares to my favorite Mac and Bobbi Brown glosses but a FRACTION of the price! $1.97, people!! $1.97??!!! I wear it alone and layer it over lipstick. My color is Rivington Rose. It's perfect :)

#2: THIS scarf from Nordstrom Juniors section. I bought it last spring on sale for $8. Eight dollars!! I seriously wear it alllllll the time--people are probably getting sick of seeing it, but it really goes with everything. Leopard is a neutral :) This one is sold out since it's from last season, but this year's version is cute too! If you don't own anything leopard, start here :)

BP Leopard Infinity Scarf: New Version $18

#1: This quote!! I ran across it and it's FREE, but I swear I want it on a T-shirt that I wear everyday, I want it on my classroom wall, I want it framed in my house....heck, I'll tattoo it to my forehead for everyone to see! LOL! Not really :) But it's something everyone should think about and take to heart--myself included! Patience is definitely not one of my strong points :)

HAPPY, HAPPY WEEKEND!!!

~ XO