Recipe Organization and Menu Planning

I have been realizing more and more lately that I love cooking for my family! It brings me such joy to make them happy with the food I prepare. I am constantly looking for new recipes to try. That is actually one of my favorite things to do! The other night I was telling Craig about how much I love to do that, and he kind of snorted-laughed and said, "That sounds so boring!" Well lucky for us he isn't the one doing the cooking!

I wanted to share a great new system that I have come up with. I have recipes galore, and they are on cards, papers, magazine pages, in cookbooks, everywhere! I wanted to come up with something that organized all of our favorite recipes in one place. This is my answer:


I LOVE my little binder! I found it online through Amazon. It has tabs that I have labeled "Breakfast" "Lunch" "Dinner" "Sides" "Breads" "Desserts" etc. When I find a good recipe to try in a magazine I tear it out and put it in another binder that is my "To Try" binder. When I find a recipe online I copy and paste it to a Word document and save it on my computer. Then after we have tried it we determine if it makes the cut or not into the Recipe Saver.

Every Saturday morning is my time to prepare the next week's menu and grocery list, then go do my shopping. I write out the menu on a white board that we have sitting on the kitchen counter. Craig refers to it often throughout the week when he is curious about what's for dinner. I love this routine! It works great for us. I would love to hear what you do! So come on all you "shy commenters" out there...Let me hear from you!

Good Times

It is definitely time for an update from the Engelbrecht Household! As I previously posted, Craig is now lifting the boys again, which makes my life so much easier! Those 6 weeks were grueling, but we had some great times in there too!

Craig's brother Kevin and his family came to visit! Dalton is just one month older than Gage, and Bentley is 3 months now (2 months when they were here!).

We had lots of fun having them here!

And these two little leprechauns were here for a few days during Spring Break.

Gage had fun watching Will play the Wii.


And we went to Jordan Creek for some shopping and playtime.

That afternoon while we were enjoying the beautiful weather, Gage locked himself in the Envoy ...long story! But the good news is that our 2 year old is so smart, he can also UNLOCK the door as well!


We also visited Gma & Gpa E. in there, and had visits from GrandMary too. So really, as you can see, those 6 weeks went by very WELL!

Here I Come!

Well, a GREAT thing happened last week...We (or should I say Craig) hit the 6 week mark of post-surgery recovery!!! So that means he can start lifting more. He is still taking it easy, but I am no longer tied down to being the only one who can lift Gage and Eli, which means I can actually leave the house, alone! Don't get me wrong, I absolutely adore my boys, but everyone needs a little freedom too!

So miscellaneous appointments, women's Bible study, Bunco, and girls night out...here I come!

Gage-isms

My sweet Gage is 2 years and almost 2 months old now. Being that age, he can truly exasperate me and stretch my patience sometimes, but mostly...Oh how I delight in him!

Our bedtime ritual consists of this these days:
We read books, say prayers, sometimes rock and sing, and then every time I lay him down he says, "Wait Mama, wait Mama!" I lean on his crib rail and say, "I'm waiting sweetpea." And he relaxes and smiles and we talk about things like what he is going to dream about. Usually "Thomas" is first on the list.

The camera is his favorite "toy"! He loves to take pictures of himself, and other things as of late. "My's" is his word for "mine". Something about that makes it easier on the ears. Although I am sure his little brother doesn't think so.

He so cutely and neatly lines his cars and trucks up in a train.
And then little brother comes along...You can see he's starting to move his cars away from those approaching little hands...

"I need that _____!" is his newest phrase. He fills it in with whatever he thinks he needs at the time.

He says in the sweetest voice you can possibly imagine, "Holda Mama, holda Mama" when he wants me to pick him up...usually it's a ploy to take him out of the grocery cart so he can walk, or have me put him up on the counter, etc. He sure knows how to get me to do it.

His belly is his favorite place to draw on, and place stickers.
Gage is definitely a typical two-year-old who likes to test the limits, but more than anything he makes being a mama so much fun!

Joys

I just love moments like these...

On a walk on a beautiful day...

This is what I get to see.

Valentine's Goodies

I give credit to my mother for my love of holidays! Growing up she would always make them special, in very simple ways. Just waking up to my valentine gift waiting for me on the table every Feb. 14 was so fun!

This year, more than ever, I really got into Valentine's day! I think having children to indulge makes it so much more fun, even more than indulging my sweetheart (sorry hon!).

It all started with the adorable yarn hearts I found in a magazine that are super easy to make. Just a little homemade corn starch glue, yarn, and heart shaped cookie cutters are all you need!


To start the day off right the boys found their little presents on the table (red baskets from Hobby Lobby filled with Target dollar spot items) and then we had heart-shaped pancakes.

Eli still doesn't really have a clue what's going on, but he liked his pancake!

For lunch we cut out cheese hearts.

Between breakfast and lunch a little neighbor friend and her mommy came over for some Valentine fun (playdoh, coloring, and cookies!).

During naptime I worked like mad to finish Craig's homemade gift (a heart-shaped candy box filled with his favorites - Reeses PB Cups!) which I had to redo after a frustrating battle with the hot glue gun. The gun won the first round but I eventually conquered!

I did not expect it to be so challenging! The boys' homemade heart cards are the best part. :)

These are the cards we made for the grandparents:
The card I made for Craig: Which I presented to my sweetheart after the boys went to bed, along with steak, garlic mashed potatoes, grilled asparagus, and this:

Whew, what a much needed treat after some very early mornings and late nights lately due to a teething baby/toddler (still not walking yet, can he be called a toddler??), and long days trying to keep my head above water! There just seems to be so much to do and so little time these days.

But how I love to craft...and will always make time for that, even if it is at the last minute! :)

Recovering

This is what life is going to be like for Craig for a few weeks...


Lounging in his chair with the boys! Poor Mr. Craig had back surgery on Wednesday. He had a herniated disc and two bulging discs that needed repair. He has been miserable for quite some time so the surgery was a welcomed relief.

Grandma & Grandpa E are here so everything can continue to run smoothly...until Sunday that is, when they leave who knows how things will run! Craig is not to lift anything over 10 lbs for 6 weeks, so I think we're looking at a long month and a half ahead. I'm hoping that the extra work I'll have will burn off some extra calories.?!

On a side note, the "photo shoot" I had this morning with Craig and the boys got me laughing, hard! Eli was actually fussing and reaching for Gage's cup, but everytime I held the camera up he smiled a big grin.
It was so funny! I think our boy has figured out the concept of "cheese"!

Building Towers

I caught Eli building a tower today! I have never seen him do this before. I'm going to say this is the first time he's ever done it on his own. So proud! Then Gage joined in. My boys, playing together, it makes my heart swell!

Cornbread Goodness

Oh.My.Goodness. Oh my yummy goodness! Craig and I both agree, I have found the best cornbread recipe! If you would like it too click here. It really has to be the world's best! So that's what we had for supper tonight, along with some chili, which in comparison, was the 'supporting role'.

Well, that's what Craig and Eli and I had anyway. Poor Gage went to bed with an empty tummy. He immediately pushed his bowl away when I sat it down in front of him. I even picked out most of the beans and tomatoes ahead of time so it was mainly just yummy hamburger goodness. But he didn't want any, or any of the leftovers that I offered from last night's pasta dinner. All he wanted was the cornbread. Yes, the boy takes after his mama, the carbs are his favorites too. But he was not allowed to have any until he had just one bite of meat or veggies. Well the child is very strong-willed and I am very weak, especially when he is looking at me with big teary eyes saying "peeees". I must say, if it wasn't for my strong, grounding husband, I would have given in. But he reminded me that we can't let Gage have his way, which is an on-going battle in all arenas right now.

So tonight I had a heartbreaking tough love moment, that I hope pays off eventually. And I had some delicious you've-got-to-try-it cornbread. I hope Gage gets to try it too before it's all gone.

Pella Friends

It's always fun to do a little something out of the ordinary, don't you think? Last Friday we did just that. After the boys woke up from their afternoon naps we headed to Pella for the evening. Craig had a little meeting with this guy, seen here with Gage at 4 months:


Mike.
This picture was taken during Tulip Time a little over a year and a half ago. Mike looks just the same, but wow, what a difference a year and a half makes for a baby! :)

Mike works at Central College and although I graduated from there I never knew him until he and Craig became colleagues through a Central/QAS project many years ago. Since then we have traveled on a few business trips together...and bumped into each other at Tulip Time. Craig has been in touch much more often than that. I met his wonderful wife Sheryl a few years ago, but didn't really get to know her until Friday night. What a special person she is! They both are, so I just had to dedicate a post to them! Our boys were particularly "high maintenance" that night, but they were so gracious and laid back. That is just who they are.

Unfortunately I was not thinking and did not get a picture of both of them on Friday. I am so mad at myself! But I did get some pictures from my phone at the library...We had a little time to kill while the guys were meeting at Mike's office before dinner.

Gage found the perfect little spot for us to make a mess...



And look at books.Eli's face just cracks me up! He wanted that Clifford book Gage has so bad, but is making do with another one, for now.


Well, somehow he managed to get it away from Gage and now is as happy as a clam! :)