Danny's Basketball Tournament

Danny had his first basketball tournament today. They did very good! They won both games. The score for the first game was 46-18. I don't remember the score for the second. Not that it matters to them. It was awesome! Everyone on the team scored a basket in the first game. A couple guys hadn't so the rest of the team set them up so they could score. They will be playing in one more tournament in March sometime and then they will play in the State Tournaments the last weekend in March.

Danny and Coach Kara and Coach Jason

Goulash and Pizza Crust

I've been a little lax on this blog. I thought I'd post one, then decided to post two recipes. My sister Sarah called me tonight for a Goulash recipe. This is from the old Betty Crocker cookbook. I've modified it a little. My mom used to make this when we were kids and it always reminds me of those days. I don't make it very often. I made it recently for the first time in years and remembered how much I like it. The kids ate it well enough but I don't think they were overly impressed.

We were having homemade pizza tonight and I called Jennifer for a good recipe. This is one she used recently. It's adapted from Emeril Lagasse. Jennifer found it on acozykitchen.com. (I hope you don't mind me posting it, Jen.) I thought it was really good. Two things though, I forgot to par-bake the crust and I wish I had made three pizza's instead of two. The crust was quite thick. I thought it was a very good pizza crust.

Goulash

4 ounces elbow macaroni (about 2 cups)

1 pound ground beef

1 medium onion, chopped (about ½ cup)

1 cups celery, chopped

½ cup ketchup

1 can (14 ½ ounces) tomatoes

1 teaspoon sugar

2 teaspoons salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

Cook noodles as directed on package. While noodles are cooking, brown ground beef and onion in large saucepan. Drain off fat. Stir in drained noodles and remaining ingredients. Cover and simmer for 30 to 45 minutes.

Pizza Dough

1 cup warm water

1 packet dry yeast (2 ½ teaspoons)

1 tablespoon sugar

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon honey

2 ¼ cups flour

½ teaspoon salt

In large bowl combine warm water, yeast and sugar. Stir to dissolve yeast. Wait ten minutes to allow the yeast to activate. Add the olive oil and honey. Stir until the honey dissolves. Add the flour and salt. Mix together until dough forms. Knead about 5-8 minutes on floured surface. Place the dough into a greased bowl and cover. Raise for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until doubled in size. Pat in greased pizza or jelly roll pans. Makes 2 thick crust or three thin crust pizzas.

Maggie Turns 5

I got home from work yesterday and Danny informed me that it was Maggie's birthday. Jeanie and Danny thought she needed a birthday cake so they made her one. That's Butter Cream frosting with food coloring. It's purpley/brown with sprinkles. They did a good job and even cleaned up their mess!

He's Ready!

We ordered these warm up suits for Special Olympics about a month ago. They passed them out last night at basketball. Were the kids pumped!! They feel like "professional" players now!!! We had to purchase them for $25. I do believe they were going to buy for the athletes that couldn't afford it. So hopefully everyone was able to get one. They are going to participate in the State Tournaments in March. Hopefully it will work out for Danny to go. I think the kids are more excited about staying in a Hotel then competing!

Do You Meal Plan?

I finally made a meal plan last week. What a difference it makes in my life! I haven't done this for over a year and I'm not sure why. It does take a little time and "planning" but is so worth it in the long run. Especially now when I'm working three days a week. It is such a bonus to wake up each day and know "what" I'm making for dinner AND that I have all the ingredients in the house. To help you get started, this is my week's plan:

Day 1- Goulash - Betty Crocker Cookbook
Day 2- Sweet 'N Sour Pork - My family cookbook
Day 3- Taco's
Day 4- Spaghetti
Day 5-Hotdogs and Baked Beans
Day 6- Chicken Enchilada's - My family cookbook

I went mostly with what I had in the house. Next week I'll get a little more "meat and potato" meals. I only do six days as Sunday's we usually just eat left overs and have fried egg sandwiches for supper. Goulash, taco's and hotdogs were my work days. I made the Goulash and taco filling before I went to work and had the kids heat it up so it was ready when I got home. I have to plan what I want to make for work also. I kind of double up. Especially if it's a recipe I haven't tried. I make it at home first.

January

I've been meaning to take a picture of the first day of the month for about 6 months now. I always forget. It's fun to remember what kind of weather we had. I decided I'll take a picture the first week of each month. Maybe that will actually be possible. We got a bit of snow yesterday. Although this being the midwest, we could have 40 degrees by Wednesday and it could all be gone. But we do have snow today and it should be around for awhile. I can handle snow through January but after that.......I'm ready to be done.