Kid friendly cookies & this week's menu plan from one cookout

We had a cookout Saturday that will provide most of the meat for this week's menu plan. Not only do we really enjoy our cookouts, but they are a super efficient way to prepare food for a crowd! (or in this case a family for the week) Much of what we cooked had either been stockpiled from sales or the "reduced for quick sale" section of our local IGA. Do you shop the "reduced for quick sale" bin? We find some great selections there, though it's definitely hit or miss. This week's gem was a pair of porterhouse steaks, flavorful and tender, for $6 each! They were fairly sizable, though I didn't check the exact weight. Here's what is on the menu for this week (because I can tell you, the porterhouse steaks didn't make it past Saturday night!)

Monday: Grilled chicken and pasta salad
Tuesday: Steak salads, oven fries and milkshakes
Wednesday: Brats and corn on the cob
Thursday: ribs and corn cake
Friday: leftover potluck

I also wanted to share a tasty and kid friendly cookie recipe that my friend Julie found in Parents magazine. I'm not sure how I missed it, but I'm so glad she tried it! I'm including the recipe as I made it, which includes a few variations on the original that I think make it a bit quicker and more to my taste.

Oatmeal Cranberry Drops
1C all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1C butter, softened (2 sticks)
3/4C brown sugar
1/2 C granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3C quick oats
1C semi sweet chocolate chips (I've also used and loved the chocolate/peanut butter chip mix)
1C orange flavored craisins

Preheat oven to 350F. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt.Beat butter and both sugars in a large bowl with electric mixer until creamy. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Beat in flour mixture. Stir in oatmeal one cup at a time. Add chocolate chips and dried cranberries. Drop batter by heaping teaspoonfuls, 1 inch apart, onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 10 minutes. Let cool.

Definitely try and keep these to about a tablespoon or they will get a bit crumbly and take several more minutes to cook. Sweetpea loved helping measure and mix ingredients and drop the cookies onto the cookie sheet. There is quite a bit of butter and sugar in there, but lots of healthy ingredients too!

What's on your menu this week? For more menu planning inspiration, visit OrgJunkie.

30 second magic wand tutorial

Sweetpea is such a fun combination of girly girl and tomboy so far...her favorite place to play is outside, either in the water basin we use as a staging station for watering the garden or in the dirt of our front flower bed. That said, she's equally at ease twirling in her princess dress and hop skipping around in a pair of fairy wings. I've been working on her dress up wardrobe little by little at garage sales and the dollar store and even from my closet!

What other accessory does the budding princess need, aside from a tutu, a pair of wings, a twirly dress and a crown? A magic wand, you say? But of course! For those of us with little ones that are still pretty rough on their toys, I give you super simple instructions for a 30 second magic wand:

1 colorful straw
2 equal sized stickers
Place stickers at the top of straw opposite each other, sticky sides together.

Sweetpea spent an hour running around the house with her twirly dress saying "Ta Da!" and waving her little wand this evening. If it gets mangled, just whip up a new one. I've seen some fantastic tutorials for making intricate magic wands, and someday we'll get there, but for now, this is doing the trick!

Don't blink

When did this sweet little boy...

Become this charming young man?!?

I can still remember like it was yesterday the days when we watched WCW (did I just admit that? yikes!) and played action figures and Lego's...and now big T is graduating this weekend and starting college before summer's end. We are so proud of you, big T, it has been a pleasure to watch you grow and mature, and I know the future is full of opportunity for you!