Father's Day -- Uh-oh, It's Here!

It's the proverbial: "What do we get Dad for Father's Dad?"
Am I right, or am I right?
We all wait until the week of, and then decide that a card will have to cut it this year.

However, I'm sure that you've all seen the cute little questionaire's floating around in the blos-o-sphere
(and hence Pinterest).

I liked all of them.
But, I either had trouble getting the link to work
OR I was asked to purchase it.
I didn't want to do that.

So, I made my own (don't you just love moustaches? -- I'm kind of hooked on them right now)
So I share with you --- go ahead and download it, share it, make it your own.
Have your kids fill it out and give itt o Dad with handmade, drawn card and he will cherish it for always.

you may download the pdf here

Foods I LOVE to Make & Bake, But Especially Eat

So I’m a little bit obsessed with cooking and trying new recipes lately. Actually, I've been like this ever since my husband I got married almost nine years ago. These are some of the REALLY good ones I’ve come across recently, and although not at all healthy, by all means, ENJOY!!

Oreo Crunch Cupcakes

http://www.littleinspiration.com/2011/07/oreo-crunch-cupcakes.html

Some people thought it was too much cookie and so I would take one side of the cookie off and use that in the batter.  I loved the taste of the frosting, but it was really flat.  I’m a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to my baking. :o)

German Chocolate Monkey Bread

http://www.heatherchristo.com/cooks/2012/02/17/german-chocolate-monkey-bread/

The only adjustment I would make to this is mix everything in together instead of layering.  Heaven!

http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/pan-roasted-chicken-lemon-garlic-green-beans-10000000780291/index.html

Definitely follow the comments and cut back on the lemon, unless you like a lot of lemon.

Dried Strawberries

http://www.theworldwidegourmet.com/recipes/dried-strawberries-ruscalleda/

Oddly addictive.  

Honey Lime Tilapia

http://www.onelovelylife.com/?p=3118

If you like tilapia, divine.

Nachos... Yum :)

http://www.pamperedchef.com/recipe_search/recipe.jsp?id=75015

I love nachos and this is a light version

Sweet Potato Gnocchi

http://www.sassyradish.com/2009/10/sweet-potato-gnocchi/

First time I ever made gnocchi and oh there were good.

Spicy Kabocha Soup

http://naturalnoshing.wordpress.com/2011/11/21/spicy-kabocha-soup/

My new favorite soup.

Eggplant Focaccia

http://www.marthastewart.com/317126/eggplant-focaccia

One of my favorite eggplant recipes.

Peanut Butter Cups

http://www.sweetestkitchen.com/2009/04/homemade-peanut-butter-cups/#.Twsg-WBqOt8

These put Reese’s to shame.  If you aren’t a fan of chocolate & peanut butter... make this... it’s worth trying one.  I recommend making them in the mini-muffin tins instead of the standard size because they are so rich.

Avocado Chicken Parmigiana

http://ellenaguan.blogspot.com/2011/11/avocado-chicken-parmigiana.html

Simply delish!

Crispy Parmesan Asparagus

http://www.howsweeteats.com/2011/03/crispy-parmesan-asparagus-sticks/

Better than bacon-wrapped asparagus.

Sweet Potato Chips

http://www.marthastewart.com/317420/baked-sweet-potato-chips

This one was a huge hit on pinterest.  My husband is currently obsessed and could eat them every single day.

Man Pleasing Chicken

http://www.wittyinthecity.com/2011/08/man-pleasing-chicken/

Gotta love the name.

Meal Planner

I know, I know. Neither papercrafting or jewellery today. But as I was pondering what to write about I ALSO happened to be working on my meal plan/grocery list, and I realized, DUH, I had something to share. :-) I mean, when I saw the idea for the first time I thought it was GREAT, so hopefully someone out there will agree with me and find it useful, too!

I have some friends who are far too artistic and one day saw a post on Facebook from their company, Ollibird, about a meal planner. Well, I happen to have a degree in kinesiology and am studying to be a bona fide health care professional, so I LOVE all things health-related, and to me, meal planning fits in that category.

So I clicked on their link to see what was up.

Sheer genius. I LOVE it. And then I started surfing around and found other design options for the same thing - a beautifully designed weekly menu planner you print out and pop into a frame, then write on with an erasable marker.

I can't tell you how much I love these, and how WONDERFULLY the fun, bright colours will go in my kitchen!!

Buuuut...even at a measly $10, with neither my hubs or I working right now (BOO to layoffs!), I couldn't justify spending the money, even though I was looking at this for myself and a friend as a Christmas present. (I TOTALLY will purchase one as soon as I have a job - I LOVE LOVE LOVE the colours of the 'bright & mod' planner! SO FUN!)

So...I made my own!

It's not NEARLY as fun and fancy - I don't have any of the mad skillz the Ollibird group do, but I can click and drag shapes in Google Docs like a superstar; here's what I came up with:

I then bustled my butt over to WalMart, where I found some fabulous black frames for like, a buck, and grabbed a black "lumocolor" marker (you know the kinds your profs use on overheads in lectures?).

Voila!

I currently have two weeks' dinners planned out on it - necessary when relying on outside assistance for groceries, OY! - and LOVE that each day instead of trying to rack my brain to answer "what should I make for dinner" all I have to do is glance over at my meal planner and get started. It's wonderful!

Feel free to download my amateur version, above, but definitely look at the fun options Ollibird has to offer - they are only $10 (USD) and you can print them as many times as you like! AND they're way prettier than my perfectly adequate copy.

Happy Thursday, everyone, and get your meals organized! It's FABULOUS!