My Mix of 6

Happy Monday everyone!   Did you have a great weekend?   The Mister and I were able to slip away for a couple of nights to the coast for the annual Newport Seafood and Wine festival.   It was an adults only getaway and much needed for us.   We don't have date nights all that often so anytime we can get together, just the two of us, we savor every moment of it. When we had arrived at home yesterday, a little tired and worn out, I had really wanted our lasagna, which I had in the freezer and ready to be cooked.  However, unfortunately, I found out the hard way, that our oven decided that it was no longer going to cook.   So, that's what our week is going to be focused on…shopping for a new oven. So with that said, here is our weekly menu.   It's going to be 100% crock-pot meals and/or the grill, since that's how we are cooking everything these days.   Monday: Rotisserie Chicken with grilled veggie skewers   (yellow and green zucchi...

Hey there everyone!   Our family was blessed with a 3-day weekend.  We NAILED IT! in the relaxation department, but yet, very productive at the same time.  I hope all of you were able to enjoy an extra day and relax too.   I almost missed getting this post up since I was thrown off my game for my schedule.  I am hoping that I will get my computer back up and running this week , so I can update you on some progress that I've been making in the tween's bedroom.  It's coming together quite nicely; plus I have another project I've snuck into the mix while working on Baby Girl's room. Last week, when The Mister and I did our grocery shopping, I was blown away by our total bill.   It was way over my weekly budget, and to be honest, I hadn't remembered my manufacture coupons, luckily I did remember my $10 off $50 spent.  At any rate, when I look back at what we had bought, we had snagged some really good deals; some buy...

Hey, hey!!  Happy Monday to you all!  Did you have a great weekend?  I know that a lot of us were snowed in and loving it.  Some of you were getting a little stir crazy, but I was soaking up the time with my family and getting some chores finished.    We had a winter storm move in Thursday afternoon and leave us with about 8 inches of snow in some areas, and up to 18 inches of snow in other areas. Then this same lovely storm brought us some freezing rain overnight, which was not so much fun, or safe, for any driving the next day.   It didn't bother me the least bit though, I was getting some much needed projects tackled around the house. We were able to get out yesterday and do our weekly grocery shopping, which I was nervous about.  My best friend was telling me how picked over the local grocery store was and how the store didn't even have any milk, so I was expecting to only be able to get a few things, and was pleasantly surprised when I was...

Happy Monday!  Happy February!  Can you believe that?  It’s already February!  January just passed me by. Well, I hope all of you have a fabulous weekend.  We were very productive in getting some paint on the walls and some other fun projects done around the house.  Which, hopefully, I’ll be able to post about those sometime this week. I'm back at it and planning our weekly meal plans.  It honestly, helps keep my family on track.   In the two months that I didn’t do the meal planning, it felt like I was running to the grocery store every single night on my way home from work.   Having a menu/meal plan really helps me get the week in order as well and to know which nights are our busiest and what needs to be in the crock-pot.  With The Mister and I being on a little bit of a specialized meal plan, this menu may be heavy on the chicken for some you, but you can always alternate either fish or a red meat into it for your own family...

Happy Monday!   I have to start by saying Happy of Happiest Birthday's to the best brother a girl could ask for...Happy Birthday Jeff!!! Boy, we sure had a wet, wet, weekend, didn't we?!  My poor kiddos played some great soccer games on Saturday through the rain and the wind.  I was thankful they didn't play on Sunday, the worst of them all. We had counted that last week we had a combined total of 7 soccer practices and 8 different soccer games.  One of my daughters had played 4 of those 8 games last week. This week is, thankfully, a little more calm and a little more routine. Monday:   Crockpot:   Brown Sugar & Maple Pork Roast Tuesday:   Crockpot:   Roast with baked potatoes Wednesday:   Garlic Lime Chicken Fajitas Thursday:   Taco's Friday:   Date Night   Saturday:   Steak, spaghetti, zucchini, garlic bread Sunday:   Rotisserie: Chicken I hope that everyone has a great week! ...

Recipe swaps.   They used to be a very common thing when women would get together and share all their baking secrets.    Now with the day in the age of the Internet, blogs, Facebook, and Pinterest we still swap recipes, just in a different way.    I’d like to share with you the zucchini bread recipe that we recently inherited from The Mister’s Grandmother’s recipe boxes.    This came from her Aunt Lula.   I have been making bread like crazy with all the zucchini’s we’ve been getting from the garden.   Ingredients: 3 eggs 1 C of oil 2 C of sugar 2 C of Grated zucchini (1 medium-large zucchini) 2 tsp. of vanilla extract 3 c flour 1 tsp baking soda ¼ tsp baking powder 1 tsp salt 3 tsp cinnamon Optional: ½ c chopped walnuts   Pre-heat oven to 325 Large Bowl: Beat eggs until light and foamy.   Add the next 4 ingredients: oil, sugar, grated zucchini, vanilla extract.    Mix lightly, but well....

Hello everyone!   Hope you all had a great weekend.   Did you stay dry?   We did, for the most part.   Although our Saturday was filled with soccer games; 4 games, 3 kids, 1 double header, it was busy and a lot of traveling, we got drizzled on a little bit but stayed dry for the most part. Saturday evening I was able to slip away with 2 of my favorite girlfriend's for a few hours.  It is always good to have girl time.  Sunday was wet, windy and wet.  I stayed indoors and loved it.  I planned out the weeks meals and made about 4 loaves of zucchini bread to freeze for later in the year.  :) Monday:   Grilled Cheese Sandwiches with Clam Chowder Tuesday:  Slow Cooker :  Pesto Ranch Chicken Wednesday:  Slow Cooker:   Salisbury Steak with mashed potatoes and peas Thursday:  Slow Cooker:   Lemon and Garlic Chicken Friday: Homemade Calzones Saturday:  Grilled Steak w/ Green sal...

Hi everyone!!!   We are baaack!   We just spent the last 9 days camping over in Montana and it was simply amazing.  The scenic beauty is more than words can express.  I will post more on those later. So last week, I mentioned that with the upcoming school year, soccer season, and whatever else our busy lives bring us, we have started to enlist the kids with the meal planning and sometimes, meal making process.   This worked great for when we were on our trip.   Everyone loved what each other picked out, and with having 6 of us in the family, this will help with my new work schedule (started today and I couldn't be happier). Here are the meals that have been picked and planned out for next week, with one repeat from last week since we never got a chance to make it. Monday:  Shredded Pork Enchilada's Tuesday:  Crock Pot:  Honey Apple Pork Loin Wednesday:  Country Fried Chicken w/ biscuits and gravy and...

Good Morning everyone!   How is it that it is already August??  How did the summer go by so quickly?  I can't believe that we are already starting the preparation for the end of summer and the beginning of a new school year.  With that, there are a lot of changes that our family is going to be going through.   So we, all credit goes to The Mister on this one, we have decided to start something new in the Mix of 6 household.   The kids are all going to start planning 1 meal a night, and they are going to cook it.  So, here we go with some kids favorites!!  Enjoy! Monday:  Taco Ring Tuesday:  Lasagna w/ Texas Toast and Caesar Salad Wednesday:  Crab Cakes w/ Fruit and tater tots Thursday:  Steak, baked potatoes and a green salad Friday:  Chicken Fajitas Saturday:  Crock Pot:  Honey Apple Pork Loin   Sunday:  Chicken kabobs Cheers to a great week and kids in the kitchen coo...

I sure hope everyone had a great weekend.   We were laid back this weekend, not much going on.  The Mister was on call, so that keeps us pretty grounded.  I went to see The Heat on Sunday with two of my girlfriends.  My cheeks hurt so bad from laughing.  It was funny.   I also managed to whip up a cute little yard project that I will show you later this week. My girlfriend at work has been cleaning out her kitchen and gave me this really neat Crock-Pot Cooker, cookbook.   So, I've been thumbing through some recipes and decided we were going to try a few this week.  I just love the simplicity of the crock pot.  Load it.  Set it.  Forget it.  Then eat it.  Easiest thing ever.  If these recipes are good ones, I will post them later on the week. Monday:  Flat Steak w/ Green Beans and a Spinach Fusilli Pasta salad Tuesday:  Slow Cooker:  Teriyaki Chicken Wednesday:   Seafood...

Happy Monday!!!    Did you get out and enjoy the sunshine this weekend?   We got our Hotrod back Friday night, so this mom is a happy girl!    He had a fantastic trip with the boy scouts.   I can’t believe that we are almost done with summer.   It is going by so, so quickly! Tonight, some girlfriends and I, are going to see Bruno Mars in concert, so I wanted to make dinner simple.   Super excited! Monday:   B.L.A.T (Bacon, lettuce, Avocado's, Tomato's) w/ watermelon and tater tots Tuesday:  Rotisserie Chicken, w/ garden salad and asparagus Wednesday:  Taco Salad Thursday:  Chicken Enchilada's Friday:  Salmon, on the grill, w/ green salad and brussel sprouts Saturday: Chicken Fajitas Sunday:  Smoked Spare Ribs w/ green salad and green beans and cantaloupe I hope you all have another fabulous week!   I have a “surprise” post for tomorrow and the remainder of the week.   Super ex...

Hey y'all!  I wanted to say thank you to those of you who have reached out to our family via text, Facebook, phone calls, and even cards giving your condolences regarding the passing of Grammie.   She was a shining star in our world and is missed immensely, that is for sure. Did everyone have a good weekend?   We ended up going on a little get away, to our little slice of heaven.  We just needed to regroup as a family.  Isn't this just beautiful? So, as we are trying to get a little bit of normalcy back into our lives, let's kick it off with another Meal Plan Monday. Monday:  BBQ chicken drumsticks, corn on the cob, green salad and watermelon cubes Tuesday:  Simmer Sauce: Salmon, salad, cantaloupe and steamed broccoli & cauliflower mixture   Wednesday:  Slow Cooker: Pot Roast Thursday:  Slow Cooker:  40 Clove Chicken Friday:  Sub sandwiches with fruit chunks (watermelon, cantaloupe, honey dew, a...

Happy Monday!  Happy July!  Happy Birthday to my Daddy!  It's a happy day today!  Oregon is getting quite the heat wave, and I am NOT complaining in the least bit.  I love it.  Love the sun.  Love the heat. Let's get on into the menu.  This is the time of the year where heat is in, eating is light, and salads are big for our family. Monday:   Leftovers    Tuesday: Slow Cooker: BBQ Chicken Cobb Salad Wednesday: BLT's w/ watermelon and tater tots T h u r s d a y : BBQ chicken & Ribs BBQ, garden salad (our friends will bring side dishes & desserts) Friday:   Taco Salad Saturday:   Homemade Burgers w/ corn on the cob and green salad Sunday:   Pizza I hope all of you have a wonderful Independence Day and to remember why we are celebrating this beautiful country of ours.  We are going to have some friends over and their kids, so it will be more fun times.

Have you ever just sat back and said, "Where DID the weekend go?" Man, oh man, that is totally how I am feeling today.  Where did the weekend go?   Where did MONDAY go? I hope you had a great weekend.  I was able to get some more yard work in, which is always good.  We also had a birthday party and a BBQ to go to on Saturday.   Plus Hotrod, was off with his Boy Scout Troop on a hiking/backpacking camping trip, and The Mister went off to Ohio on a red eye last night for work.  With all that said, I just figured out where our weekend went.  Yikes!  It sure goes by fast.  So before Monday completely slips away from me, here is our meal plan for the week: Monday:  Burritos bowls (Chipotle style) Tuesday:  Scout Olympics Side Dish: Fruit Salad Wednesday:  Breakfast for Dinner   Thursday:  Chicken Caesar Salad Wraps w/ Cantaloupe    Friday:  Teriyaki Chicken Burgers w/Pineapple sli...

Good Morning!!  I hope all of you had a fabulous weekend and had fun celebrating those father's in your lives.   The Mister was on call for work all weekend, so we laid low on our activities.  Which was fine.  He ended up not getting a call at all yesterday and he was able to enjoy his special day in a very relaxing way. I, on the other hand, was busy working in the yard.  Working with the garden and more importantly, I was working on sprucing up the front yard.  I also managed to sneak in a little birthday gift for a little buddy of Bubba's.  Which the birthday party is today, so I will post that gift later this week. As for our meal's, I hope that this week is much better than last week.  Since I was cramming for my test last week, my family had to pretend I wasn't around.   I noticed a few things from that: 1)  Planned meals, unless pre-made by me, were a no go.  They just didn't happen. 2)  Grocery shopping ...

Happy Monday everyone!  The sun is shining here today, although we are expected to get some rain this week, our kids are officially on summer break and outside playing.  In celebration of summer we escaped a little bit this last weekend and I got some studying in before my test, which that date is quickly approaching.   So because I'm limited on my time with my breaks while I am quizzing and cramming, this will be quick. **I try to serve a healthy green salad with all our meals.  Just a small variation on them each time. Monday:   Lasagna, corn on the cob, garlic bread and green salad Tuesday:   Slow Cooker:  Chicken Enchilada's Wednesday:   BBQ Ribs with potato salad and green salad Thursday:   Slow Cooker:  Garlic Chicken and Couscous Friday:   Teriyaki Marinated Steak Bites w/ baked potatoes and green salad Saturday:  Weekly Leftovers Sunday:  Chicken Marsala with Angel Hair Pasta Have a ...

Hey all!!  Did you have a good weekend?   We had a great weekend.  Bubba turned 8 and had a few of his friend's over for a camping themed sleepover party.   I'll post more on that later. Yesterday, Dustin Lynch, Tate Stevens, and Little Big Town came to Portland for the Country Fest, in downtown Portland, right on the water for our Rose Festival.  So we decided the best way to listen to this concert was via the water.  We and our friends, grabbed the boats, the family, some food and headed out on the water for a fun afternoon. Since I'm still studying, as the test date approaches, my meals are needing to stay on the easiest of easy sides.  No thinking involved.   This is what we will be having this week.  Anything I can make in advance, I will. However, I will need to take one day as a break, since Tuesday is expected to be...wait for it... 85!!!!!   So, in our house that means, boat night after work! Monday:  Lef...

I'm baaaack with my Meal Plan Monday's.  I took a short hiatus and quickly found that it just doesn’t work for me to not have a menu planned out.    So, even if these don’t help you get through the weekday “What’s for Dinner?” crunch, these are for me too. This week is filled with slow cooker meals.   I’m currently studying for a major test for my work.   So I need simplicity right now.    I need to come home and have dinner completely ready so that I can get maximum study time in my evenings.   It’s the least I can do for my family, as I will be non-existent in their eyes, until my test date. **All meals this week, will also be paired with a nice garden salad Monday:   Memorial Day BBQ at a friend’s house.   I am bringing this side dish.   It’s a hit with my hubby and kids.  Crab and Pea Salad Tuesday: Slow Cooker: Pork Loin with homemade canned applesauce Wednesday:   Slow Cooker: Salisbury Steak with mashed...

If you're my friend on Facebook .  Or if you follow me on Instagram .  Or if you even follow me on Pinterest .  You have seen the smoothies I've been making. The Mister and I have been working on changing our eating lifestyle for a while now.  Not that it was terrible, but there is always room for improvement, as with anything.  Not to mention, we always want to teach the kids the difference between right and wrong types of foods and why it is very important to eat healthy and how it helps your body.  It is very important to us to have a healthy family.  Unfortunately, in today's society there are a lot of processed foods,  boxed dinners, fast foods, and many other unhealthy choices.  Also, one of my goals this year was not to only eat better, but to eat out less and at home more, since we got into a terrible habit of that in 2012. A few months ago, came across this group on Facebook, called Young and Raw an...

Note:  Sorry this is late.  Is it just me?  Or is this week cruising by fast?  Too fast! Hi there!   How are ya?!  Man, we have been busy!   I wanted to get this up today, so if any of you are out there wondering the age old question, "What's for dinner?" that maybe this will help you a little. Do you shop at Safeway?   I do primarily most of my shopping at Safeway.  I take advantage of the Just for U coupons, the manufacture coupons, the Club Card Savings, and of course, when the $10 off $50 comes out...I'm all over it.  But have you seen this little piece of goodness? Safeway Select Simmer Sauces.  Umm, yeah, DELISH!  I've made a few of them now.  My bestie has made a few of them as well.  We both really, really like them, and to top it off, so incredibly easy.  If you haven't tried them yet, you totally should! Seriously!  The EASIEST, quick fix dinner...EV-AH!!!  Try it! ...