What's for Dinner?- Sausage and Potatoes

Some days we just need a quick and easy meal for dinner. Sometimes we just don't plan out our meals or what we had planned will take more energy than we're willing to dole out.

On Monday, we were busy. I was getting ready to leave in less than an hour, the kids were doing homework and Michael was tired from being a parent volunteer for both Sidda and MJ's classes. It makes for a busy long day.

We really didn't have a dinner planned but we needed something fast. So I opened the 'fridge and saw some smoked sausage, and DING I had an idea.

I started by washing up a chopping 4 potatoes and one onion.

Next, I heated up a little olive oil in a large skillet. After it had warmed up a couple of minutes I added the potatoes and onions. Be sure to add salt to your potatoes. Cook until the potatoes are soft to your preferred texture. If you let them cook a little longer at little higher heat they can get crispy.

 While the potatoes are cooking, chop your sausage into bite size pieces.

Add it to the pan and cook until heated through.

We served it up with a side of scrambled eggs for the kids and fried eggs for the adults. 

Including chopping, this meal took less than 30 minutes from start to finish. It's would also make a delicious breakfast.

So, tell me, what is your favorite go to meal when you are short on time or energy?

Book Review: The Blood of Olympus

And it's over. The Blood of Olympus is the final installment of The Heroes of Olympus series by Rick Riordan.

I'm a little sad that it is over. I've been reading through since I discovered Percy Jackson and the Olympians. I love the adventures of the books and after I read each one I listen to the audiobook with my kids.

They love listening to books when we are in the car or cleaning the  house. Especially Sidda.

The Blood of Olympus does not disappoint.

The seven demigods of the prophecy are heading to Athens. They are on their way to stop the ritual that will bring Gaea back to life.

But not without a few hiccups along the way. They must face psyco gods and battles that will make them face their own fears and even their own mortality.

Across the Altantic, Nico, Reyna and Coach Hedge are making their way back to Camp Half-Blood with the Athena Parthenos. They are hoping to make it back before the Roman demigods start attacking the Greek demigods. Their only hope is to make it in time and unite the two camps against the rising earth mother.

I loved reading every minute of this book. And I look forward to letting the kids enjoy this final installment.

What's for Dinner?- Salmon, Garlic Pasta and Green Beans

 In an attempt to try new things WE ATE SALMON!  Woot!

We don't really consume a lot of fish around here.  I've only had salmon once or twice in my entire life.  So we gave it a shot.

I found a recipe through Pinterest at Running a Ragnar.

I followed the recipe exactly and it turned out great!  It was flaky and delicious.  Even Sidda liked it; she is my picky eater.

Line a baking sheet with foil and place salmon skin side down.

Drizzle with olive oil and add salt and pepper to taste.

Place in a cold oven set at 400 degrees for 25 minutes.

MJ is checking it out. 

The results were great!  The fish flaked easily and tasted great along with the garlic pasta.

Anya will eat just about anything.

Sidda loved it!

We finished dinner off with Popsicles.  Anya stole mine.

What's for Dinner?: Veggie Pizza My Way

One of my favorite things to do with Sidda is to make homemade pizza.  She loves helping with sauce and the toppings.  I love making a delicious pizza crust that my whole family likes.

We always make 3 pizzas whenever we have pizza night.  A cheese for Sidda and Anya, a pepperoni for MJ and a third one for Michael and me that's not so basic.  Lately, we have been making veggie pizza.  This is more than your average peppers, mushrooms and onions pizza.  It's so much for and I love it!

I put a little oil in a pan and saute some stir-fry frozen veggies.  In the bag there are green beans, mushrooms, carrots, broccoli, celery and red peppers.  Then I added some frozen pearl onions (these are super tasty!).  And finally I added some spinach.  I let it saute until the veggies were crisp.

On the pizza crust I put some marinara sauce, then the sauteed veggies followed by some pizza cheese.  We put the veggies under the cheese because it helps keep them from following off while eating it.  Put in a 500 degree oven for 10-12 minutes, until cheese is melted and crust is crisp.  This time we added a couple of pepperonis to the tops too.

Don't let the picture deceive you.  The veggies are under the cheese!

Book Review: Moving Day

I love when I get to spend time reading with my kids.  Recently I got Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls: Moving Day from the library with the intention of reading it with Sidda.  When I started reading to her MJ decided to join in to.  They both loved the story and are excited that we are starting on the next book.  But let me tell you a little about Allie Finkle.


Allie Finkle just started fourth grade.  And now she has just found out that her family is moving to another part of town so that her parents can be closer to work.  For Allie and her brothers this means new house, new school and new friends.

Allie doesn't want to move.  She likes her house and her room.  And her rock collection that she keeps on the floor of her closet.  If they move she has to get rid of her collection!

But at the same time Allie has started having problems with her best friend Mary Kay.  After Allie accidently spills the beans about moving to a classmate on Mary Kay's birthday, she has stopped being Allie's friend.

Allie is determined to be a better friend so she starts her book of rules.  It's a book that Allie writes to keep track of the rules of friendship and as she discovers them on the way.

Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls: Moving Day by Meg Cabot is a fun book that was right up the alley of my 7  and 5 years olds.  I found it entertaining and often laughed right along with the kids through Allie's adventures. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to sit down and read an easy entertaining book for kids.

Book Review: The Mark of Athena

I actually finished reading The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan back in January.  I've just been so busy preparing for the baby that I just never sat down and wrote my review of it.

Can I tell you that I absolutely loved it!?  I get a huge kick out of this series that Riordan has put together.  I started reading the Percy Jackson series years ago and have followed it along ever since.

The Mark of Athena is his best work yet.  The 7 of the prophecy have finally all joined forces in an attempt to save the world.  There was so much more than the past books had to offer.  There is a lot of wit and humor and action that I have come to expect, but this book was just more.  I think what helped seal a lot of it for me was getting to be in on Annabeth's point of view.  This is an angle we've never gotten to see before, since Percy Jackson and the Olympians was all from Percy's first person perspective and in The Lost Hero and The Son of Neptune Annabeth was hardly present in.

Annabeth is the daughter of Athena. She is smart and logical and really thinks things out.  She is crazy about Percy, her boyfriend, who she has just been reunited with.  But the trouble is that even though she finally has what she has been looking for for month, Percy, she now has a new task that has been given to her by Athena.  She can't tell anyone about it.  It can cause a lot of problems what she has to do and she is scared of losing what she just got back.  We get to see a lot of how Annabeth thinks and the fears she faces.

The other highlight for me was Leo.  I think out of everyone Leo is my favorite.  The son of Hephaestus he is creative and useful.  He is also just down right funny.  Leo keeps the story rolling with his one liners and comments.  But he is also just and awesome character.

One of the best thing about this series is how much my kids love it.  After I finish reading the book I get the audio version and we all listen to it together as a family.  Sidda and MJ and even Michael really enjoy hearing the story.  And I'm sure as soon as Anya is big enough she will enjoy this family time that we have together as well.

I can't wait to see what happens in The House of Hades.

Movie Review: Here Comes the Boom

 Oh, wow.  We went to the movies last night.  We took the kids to the drive-in to see Hotel Transylvania and the following movie was Here Comes the Boom.  I don't know what it is about him, but Kevin James is hilarious!  I love his movies.  I honestly can't think of one that I didn't like.  I even loved Paul Blart Mall Cop.  I know it's crazy.

But back to Here Comes the Boom.  Kevin James plays Scott who is a high school biology teacher who has given up.  He feels like he is handcuffed by the school system and no longer makes an effort for the school or the kids.  He just really doesn't care.  Until the school is ready to shut down the music department. He wants to help his fellow teacher keep his job, but has to raise $48,000 to do so.  So he starts taking side jobs and working at night.  Making a little here and a little there.  Then he hears that UFC pays the $10,000 to the losing fighter.  So he starts training in MMA.  I mean who wouldn't lose a fight for ten grand?

I recommend it.  Both Sidda and MJ fell asleep and missed the movie, but I would've been perfectly ok with them seeing it.  It has a good story and a lot of laughs.  The language is mild and even the fighting isn't graphic.  I was happy that we stayed to watch it.

What's for Dinner? Roast Beef Sandwiches

I haven't made roast beef for sandwiches in forever!  But I knew that last night I needed something easy to make that I wouldn't have to worry about.  I knew that we wouldn't be home until after 6pm because Sidda was in her first school play last night!  It was so much fun to watch and I loved every  moment of it!

So back to dinner, roast beef.  This is something I make in the crock pot, and its made similar to how you would make a pot roast, but I don't really like pot roast in the crock pot.  I personally cannot stand mushy carrots and the potatoes never seem to come out quite right.  But the meat cooking by itself always turns out great!

In the pot I put 2 cans of cream of mushroom, a 2.5lb beef round and topped it off with onion dip mix.  Make sure to turn the round to coat in the cream of mushroom.  Then cover, set to low and cook for 8-10 hours.

When it's done all you will need to do is shred to beef with two forks, and stir in the gravy that the soup created.  The beef will soak it right up.

Then you put the roast beef on a bun and enjoy!  Put any fixins on that you might like.  Tastes great and super easy!

The Secret of NIMH

Do you remember The Secret of NIMH? I have to say that this was truly one of my favorite cartoons growing up. I really couldn't tell you why I was so drawn to a cartoon movie about a mouse, some hyper intelligent rats, a crow and cat. But this movie is magical.

Last night as we were sitting down to try and decide what to watch together as a family we came across this on Netflix and immediately Michael and I were ready to watch. More so than Sidda and MJ were. This was a movie of our childhood and we wanted to share it with our children. And watching it last night, it was as good as I remember.

There are so many movies and TV shows that you remember as a kid only to view them as an adult and see how truly terrible they were. The Secret of NIMH is not one of those movies. I loved watching it again. It was brilliant!

Book Review: Cinderella Ate My Daughter

Cinderella by Peggy Orenstein was a very interesting read. I read this book over 2 days and could hardly put it down.

The book is nonfiction and about what the princess phenomenon could be doing to our daughters. How girls are getting older, younger and they are being sexualized while losing their ability to understand sexuality in themselves. That girls do things because it's what you do, not because it's what they want, or what they feel, it's just what they do.

Girls are caught in an in between of wanting to have it all and wanting to be rescued. They feel that their identity is only in the way they look and lose out on so much on the inside.

There is so much to this book that I thought was great. There a few things that I didn't agree on with the author but most of the book made me think about what I desire for my daughter. I want Sidda to have a solid identity that is not based on looks alone (or clothes, make-up or accessories). I want Sidda to have a strong sense of self. I want her to know who she is and know that it's ok if she decides to have a career or be a stay at home mom, or tackle both as time comes.

I do recommend this book to people with young daughters. It talks about how things are marketed to them and how the princess craze began. I enjoyed it. It was worth my time.