Our New Pet

We have a new pet at our house.  It's small, quiet, doesn't eat a lot, needs no expensive bedding, and doesn't require trips outside at all hours of the day and night.  This pet was discovered by my 4-year-old son and has been a great delight all afternoon.  What is this fantastic new pet and where did we get it you ask?

It arrived sometime during the last few weeks and took up hiding in my 10-year-old son's bedroom.  It is, tah dah, a ladybug!

At first I thought the ladybug was dead and began to express my sympathy to my son, you know, explaining that we'd have to bury the dead bug.  But then the bug moved.  Happy Day!  Of course we needed to find a box for this newest member of the family.  And some food too.  I was able to cover both bases with an empty clamshell salad container with some leaves still in it.  (Don't know if aphids eat leaves, but they probably do, right?)  I have a very happy son!

No name has been given to the said pet, but it has been proudly shown off to both older sister and brother.  I'm pretty sure the novelty will be gone by tonight, but it was a fun to see my youngster excited by such a find.

I can't wait until he finds a callerpitter this summer!  Better keep that clamshell container handy.

Menu Plan Monday

My husband is out of town until Tuesday night.  Here's our menu for this week.

Monday  Salmon Burgers, veggies with dip

Tuesday  Baked Ziti, jell-o, green beans

Wednesday  Soy Chicken (recipe below), cresent rolls, applesauce

Thursday  Beef Tacos w/ all the toppings

Friday  Homemade Pizza

Saturday  open - could be visiting with friends

Sunday Brats, baked beans, salad

Soy Chicken

4 lbs. chicken

1 cup soy sauce

1 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon ginger

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Mix soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger, and garlic powder.  Pour over chicken and soak for a few hours, or overnight.  Bake at 350-degrees for 1 hour, or cook in a crock pot on low until chicken is no longer pink, about 6-7 hours.

**This is a great freezer recipe.  Simply prepare the marinade, place chicken in a large zipper baggie, add marinade, and freeze.  Thaw, and cook as directed above.

For more Menu Plan Monday visit Laura at I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Leftovers and Food Waste

We usually do not have leftovers at our house.  It's not that we're too good for them it's just that I try to plan our food amounts to keep leftovers to a minimum.  If we do have leftovers I put them in my son's lunch the next day, or eat them myself for lunch, and that's the end of them.  But, because of a busier-than-usual schedule and absent kids this week, we had LOTS of leftovers.

So, rather than our usual Friday night pizza, we had a smorgasbord of yummy leftovers!  I decided to clear out more than the fridge, and went to the cupboards too.  Here's what we ate:  french dip sandwiches, salmon, 3 kinds of chips, trail mix, carrots, celery, peppers, and applesauce.

Now our refrigerator and cupboards are back to the basics, no more half-open  bags of chips, no more food waiting to go bad.  That makes me feel good.

Here's something else to think about.  Blogger Jonathan Bloom at www.wastedfood.com says that "about 25 percent of the food we bring into our homes isn't eaten."  You can visit his site to get some ideas of reducing food waste.  Since visiting his sight I have tried to make myself aware of how much food I am throwing away.  Now I try to save and reuse as much food as possible.  And that makes me feel really good!

What about you?  How do you combat food waste?

Welcome!

Well, I've finally done it.  I've just jumped in feet first and I really don't know what I'm doing or what I'm going to say, let alone think I might have anything important or impressive that you would want to read!  Anyway, welcome and I'm glad you're here!