Make A Meal Monday

And because I didn't do it last Monday, because there was no meal involved while making many, many cookies, I am doing it in surround sound today! I realize that it is late on Monday, but I actually made this today for dinner. Hence the wait! No, we usually don't have what I have on Make A Meal for dinner that same night. It's just been pictures of meals we have on a weekly basis, just most likely not that night. Is that too much information? So here we are on a Monday evening with a yummy meal post! Ready?

Brown Bag Turkey

Prepare the turkey with stuffing (tho' stuffing isn't necessary to put in the bird).

Spray the breast of the bird with Pam.

Place the turkey in a brown paper bag.

Secure the opening by tucking it under the bird.

Mash the paper down so it sticks to the Pam.

Place the turkey in a COLD oven...

Set the oven to 500 degrees and bake for 1 hour.

Lower the temperature to 400 degrees and bake 1 hour.

Lower the temperature to 300 degrees and bake 1 more hour.

Perfect Bird!

This works for a 12 lb or a 20 lb turkey.

Add 15 minutes to every hour for a bird larger than 20 pounds.

Look at that! This is the first turkey I've cooked and I have to say I did a superb job!

We had to have all the stuff to go with the turkey, too...
It felt like Thanksgiving all over again.
Only this time, I get all the leftovers. I have turkey in my freezer, in my fridge and in my belly.
Daniel and I will eat the pumpkin pie after the kids go to bed.
So there you have it. A wonderful and fast way to cook a turkey of any size!

ENJOY!

Thank you Santa, for making the children of Mars very happy!

I am so glad this week is over. Wait! I should start over... We had a wonderful week! But I am glad it's over. Here is our week in review...

We started Monday with snow.

Ruthie and I made lots of cookies to take around to some neighbors.

Then we delivered them. Whew!

Tuesday started with the school sing a long. Yawn. Oops. It was so awesome! I love sitting for 1 1/2hours singing and listening to kids sing and stuff. Yawn.

That afternoon we headed down to grandma and grandpa's house to make candy houses. Yum!!

Wednesday. Well now Wednesday was Christmas Eve. We headed down to Abbie and Poppy's house for dinner. We decided to not do a gift exchange this year and it was a really nice evening.

The kids put on the annual Nativity story...

My Wise Guys. I mean Wise Men.

My angel and her cousin.
Here is the cast. Aren't they cute?!
The one gift that has to come every year is the Christmas jammies from Abbie.
Thursday brought with it Christmas morning! Early!

My cuties waiting for the OK to head to the front room!

This was a simple Christmas. I say simple, but it just means 1 big gift.

But they started with one small family gift...Operation!

(I have secretly wanted that game since I was 12!)

There was one clue to the big gift!

The big gift could be found somewhere near the computer desk...

And there it is!!!

It's a Wii system!

Isaac's face says it all. Ruthie must have bumped something!

Then we went back to Abbie and Poppy's house for Christmas dinner and fun.

Our arms all hurt from playing baseball!

Friday brought another family party with grandma and grandpa and more cousins.

Here are all the "original" children with mom and dad...

And with the spouses.

Can you tell who is the shortest??

(and I was even standing on my toes!)

Hope you all had a very wonderful Christmas, too!

The children of Mars are happy. They are also very tired! We're heading to bed early tonight.

Christmas is coming.

On Saturday we to Salt Lake to see the Christmas lights. We usually drive down, but this year we took public transportation. The fun kind. We went to dinner at the California Pizza Kitchen. The kids had a blast! Isaac gave it a thumbs up.

Sam just couldn't keep his eyes open. And yes! That's a diet pepsi. Thank you. I had been looking forward to that for quite some time!
Mmmm...
Isaac would like a job advertising for the California Pizza Kitchen.
Or maybe as a food critic.

The kids enjoyed looking in the big hole through the window.

It was so cold, but the fountain was running. Just in case you can't tell...Those are my kids.

There was a bride and groom out getting pictures taken. There were so many people around, they will have lots of faces in their wedding pictures. There were lots of gals walking around Temple Square with high heels on. It was like 40 below! C'mon! I understand the need to look good and tall and thin. But the walks were really icey. I'm sorry to say I didn't see anyone slip. Wait! No! I'm so glad no one slipped! Yeah. That's it.

Trax was fun. They especially liked sitting in the circle that spins a little when going around a corner. See that lady? She was wearing terribly high spikey heels.

And the best part of all was the train.

On Sunday afternoon, Sam cut out a Santa for grandpa.

Because Sunday night, Santa (grandpa) and grandma came to visit.

Have a Merry Christmas Week!

A Piece of Cake

So tell me. Does this look like a Camaro?

I didn't think so.

I was comissioned again to do a birthday cake.

This is going to be a Transformer birthday extravaganza for a new 5 year old.

His favorite Transformer is Bumblebee.

He's a Camaro.

So I thought and thought and looked around the internet for an idea.

Then I saw one.

Here's the back bumper...

The front and top view...
And Bumblebee in profile.
Now, I realize I didn't put headlights on. Oops.
Camaros are hard to duplicate with cake.
But I think it turned out okay.

Happy 5th Birthday, Kaleb!

Are you kidding me?

Last night Daniel and I were flipping through channels trying to find something to watch. Daniel kept stopping on this show called Things Removed From The Human Body. Sounds ominous! We started watching and they start talking about this young man in India.

In India the men are men and the women are women. Meet so and so. He thought he was a man...

He started having stomach cramps and was in so much pain he went to the emergency room. Knowing what's coming, I start being very cynical at this point of this young man. Buck up!! Pull up your socks!

They misdiagnose him with a hernia and take him in for surgery. As the surgeon is probing around his abdomen trying to find the hernia, he finds something else...

A UTERUS!

This boy had a uterus and went to the emergency room for cramps! Waaahh! Sniff sniff! I feel so sorry for him! Not! As I'm trying to be empathetic for this young man who, when he wakes up will be introduced to a totally new idea about himself, I found my empathy lacking. They did remove the uterus after checking hormone levels to see if he was a man or woman. He's a man.

No man should have a uterus. The emergency rooms wouldn't know what to do with all the men who come in every 28 days complaining of cramps.

How would the rest of us function if they had cramps?? I think I have PMS. Yep. I handle all this with chocolate and cold caffeinated beverages...only 2 a day. Chocolate knows no bounds, though.

I don't go to the emergency room.

Ortho-Don-Cha

The Wicked Cross Bite...

I grew up going to the Dentist. I didn't grow up going to the Orthodontist. I have pretty straight teeth. My sister wished she had been taken to an Orthodontist when she was younger. oh well.

Daniel grew up going to the Dentist. He also grew up going to the Orthodontist. He had braces when he was 12 to fix a mean cross bite. He has really nice teeth. I love his teeth.

Isaac has grown up going to the Dentist. Isaac will now grow up going to the Orthodontist. He has a case of the Wicked Cross Bite. We can't wait till he's 12. It will be too late. Starting the first week in January he will begin his love of the Orthodontist. And his parents will begin Ortho-Don-Cha payments.

Isaac's wicked cross bite necessitates a spacer across the top palate that will widen his top jaw. He will also get to have braces on his top 4 front teeth. He is so excited! Seriously. He really wanted to get braces when we went in for our consultation on Wednesday. He was sorely disappointed when I said we were just going in to TALK to him. When he's 12 he will likely need braces on all his teeth to finish the job.

My kids have been looking at their dad's childhood pictures to see what his braces looked like. Isaac is excited and grateful he will be just like his dad. I'm not sure I am.

How Could I Forget?

SHWIIING!

SHA-WING!

THE QUOTE!!!

It's Wayne's World!!!

"Party on!"

"Car! Game on!"

"Buuunjamin"

"I definitely smell a pork product of some type."

"It's a gun rack"

"I don't have A gun much less many which would necessitate an entire RACK!"

"And she's O.K."

And then there is my favorite which Daniel told me means not what I thought it means. So had to leave out the some young guy quote. Bummer. I have a reputation to uphold. Does Wayne's World uphold my reputation? It's questionable!

Here are the winners....

Laurie
Holly
Kim K.
Melanie
Jen

I will be making the cookies this week and will get them right to you. If you don't want to eat them right away because it's such a treat kind of time, just put them into a freezer ziplock and delicately place them in your freezer where they can await your tastebuds for about a month!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Another Quote...

"If she were president, she'd be Babraham Lincoln."

I keep thinking of them and I haven't seen the movie in YEARS!

Quote Update...

I have only gotten one correct response for the quote 2 posts down. Do you want another clue?

Here it is...

"Camera one. Camera two. Camera one. Camera two."

Did that help?? No??

"Scooby-Doo ending!"

Email me. Call me. Catch me in front of the school. Just get yourself a plate of cookies!!

There is also another quote at the bottom of the original post....

Make A Meal Monday

It's back! My throw up muscles no longer hurt and I'm hungry!! This is a lasagna recipe my mom has been making for a while now. It's yummy!
You see? Doesn't that look good??

LASAGNA


1 lb. hamburger
1 small chopped onion
1 garlic clove, crushed
Brown hamburger with onion and garlic and drain the fat.

Add:

1 28 oz. can crushed or diced tomatoes
1 12 oz. can tomato paste
1 tsp. basil
1/2 tsp. oregano
2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. ground black pepper
12 large fresh mushrooms, sliced (optional)

Simmer over low heat for 1 hour.

Cook 9 large lasagna noodles as directed.

While cooking noodles, prepare:
1 lb.(approx.) shredded Mozzarella cheese
add (approx.) 1 handful Cheddar cheese to Mozzarella
Grated Parmesan cheese to sprinkle over each layer.

Layer sauce, noodles, cheeses 3 times. On third layer, put some sauce over the noodles, then the cheese.
May be refrigerated at this point (it's better when baked the next day)
Bake at 375 degrees uncovered for 30-40 minutes.

ENJOY!

Here's another one...

"Do I Scare You? Do You Want Me To?"

Is there something that just scares you? Something that makes your knees shake? Something that makes your tummy hurt?

I was just asking.

But you know, there are a few things that do scare me...

• John Malkovich
• losing one of my kids
• getting in a fiery car accident
• throwing up
• men who wear tights
• water
• losing Daniel
• anchovies

That's just a few I could think of off the top of my head.

So here's my question....What Scares You?

And...

What movie is that quote from?? If you can answer it, I'll bring (or send) a dozen of my absolutely divine chocolate chip cookies. Come on! Don't be shy! It's not something your kids have seen. Daniel couldn't think of it. Can you?

This seems to be a tricky one. Here's a hint (another quote):

"I'm definitely gonna get a place like this when I move outta my parent's house."

The Lack

There has been a slight lack in my immune system lately. I'd like to blame it on a lack of something else....
I have cut back on the cold caffeinated beverages in my life. There must be something in this stuff that bolsters your immunity. Or not. I have to blame the illness factor on something.

And I just wanted to share my pain. My uncaffeinated pain. My Only 2 Cans A Day pain. That's a huge lack! 2 cans go so fast! Sniff sniff...

Ketchup

Or is it catsup? Oh, wait! No! It's Catch Up!

Well, I guess I've said it one too many times. Or maybe 15 too many times... "We never get sick!" "We never get sick!" "We never get sick!" "We have immune systems of steel!" Umm. I jinxed myself. 2 colds in the last 3 weeks and the stomach flu on Monday. Yuck!

So I will no longer gloat about not getting sick. But if I get sick one more time this season, I'll be really upset.

On to much happier things...

Abbie's Cookie Party....
Here's the whole group. Abbie made new aprons for the coming years. Some of the bigger kids looked like they were wearing bibs last time. This is my favorite group shot. Sam couldn't keep his arms down and I had to threaten to cut them off. Jeremiah just wasn't up for posing and decided to take a rest.

And here we have Isaac who frosted every cookie green and still hasn't eaten any of them.

Sam is just cheesy. He seriously would not do a nice face. It must be from his father's side!

And here we have Ruthie. Each cookie was just so with lots and lots of sprinkles.

The littlest ones were the best...Josh doesn't get much sugar. He was dancing and wiggling and smiling away with his dose of sweet! And Jeremiah loved to lick the frosting off.

The Draper Temple...

My brother Alex is a Lego connoisseur. He still loves to build things. His latest project was the Draper Temple.

Isn't it awesome?? It has flowers, a fountain, benches to sit and reflect on.

He just needs an Angel Moroni to top it off. Although, the Mountain Dew can there says a lot!

And...

For most of today I have been at the school helping with the Santa store thing. I have now caught my blog up and have done my school duty for a while to come. I have a messy house, dirty clothes, dishes to wash and mouths to feed.

I guess I should ketchup on those, too

What?? No Make A Meal Monday??

NO!

I've been puking all morning. I just barely got a popsicle down. I'm so dehydrated!

So you'll just have to wait...

Lucky for me I puked before Daniel went to work. So he's been doing all the kid running today. I heard it snowed. That's a good day to be home.

I'll share tomorrow. Maybe.

More Oodles of Noodles

In a flash of brilliancy (I have those every once in a while) I bought Ramen to appease the crying crowds wanting Noodles! (Click on Noodles if you missed it!) The crowds roared with praise. They love their mom! We snacked on them last night and then had some for lunch today...

Isaac would still like to move to China and sell them. Maybe if he can't figure out how to make noodles, he can just buy a whole ton of Ramen and cook it up and sell that to the hungry masses.
He sure did enjoy eating them!

Speaking of the Melamine scare in China... We weren't?? Well, now that we are... I took Ruthie in to the doctor one afternoon and had some blood and urine testing done to make sure she doesn't have any kidney problems resulting from possible Melamine contamination. Later that day, the doctor called and said the bloodwork looked good, but the urinalysis didn't. He wanted us to just come back earlier in the morning and pee in a cup again. (Pee in a cup??? Talk about giggle fest!) So we went in again and it's all clear. Peeing in a cup is an exciting experience for a 5 year old. Believe me! But we are very relieved and grateful that she wasn't "contaminated", or at least doesn't have any effects of it.

If you have a daughter adopted from China as early as 2005, go get the testing done!

Night Maneuvers

Night: When it's dark outside

Maneuvers: A procedure or method of working usually involving expert physical movement

My children like to get their snow boots on, their big coats on, their flashlights in hand. Then they head out to the backyard where they have "Night Maneuvers".

I'm not really sure what they do. They just run around in the tall grass out in the eastern forty. Then they yell their tactical movements to each other. They are very evasive in these maneuvers.
All we see are flashlight movements in the dark. These training exercises always have to happen after dinner when it's pitch black out and they are full of hot food. The operations are always done in extremely cold conditions.
I like to sit in the nice warm house and close all the blinds and pretend my sweetie and I are all alone. Sometimes we'll look outside and pretend we are watching fireworks on the 4th of July!