One Little Word 2015

My One Little Word for 2015 is cherish.

Menu Plan week of July 20

My son is having issues with his appetite so this week's menu plan is made up of some of his favorite things to eat.

• Monday - Eat Out
• Tuesday - Crispy Crumb Chicken
  with Lemon Thyme Dijon - making just the sauce from the recipe
  & Rice
• Wednesday - Five Spice Chicken
  with Green Pea Salad
• Thursday - Pumpkin Pasta
• Friday - Pumpkin Pasta Leftovers 

Green Pea salad will be a side with dinner on Wednesday & will be eaten with lunches for the rest of the week. I will make extra hard boiled eggs when I prepare the salad which will be used in Egg Salad Sandwiches for Thursday's lunch.

Watch my Instagram for photos of this week's food & activities http://instagram.com/sparrowapril
Instagram Photos of this week's recipes from the past can be seen below.

Potatoes Stacy Ala April, Cheesy Hashbrown Potato Casserole

I've adapted this cheesy potato casserole from a recipe given to me by my friend Stacy Gaither-Tabor when I first moved to Texas. I began making these as a potato side dish for holiday meals, but I also find it's great along side ham steaks and eggs for breakfast. I used sharp white cheddar for the casserole in the photo.

Cheesy Hashbrown Potato Casserole

1/2 cup butter

1 onion chopped

1 can cream of mushroom soup, condensed (not ready to eat)

Small Sour Cream, all natural or regular NOT reduced fat

1 pkg frozen hash brown potatoes

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

2 cups shredded cheese, I like sharp cheddar

Melt the butter in a large skillet & add the onion, cook until soft, allow to cool slightly.

In a very large, giant bowl whisk together, soup, and sour cream. Mix in the butter & onions. Dump the hash-brown potatoes on top, try to break up any large clumps. Sprinkle salt & pepper over the potatoes, try not to dump it all on one spot so that it will be more evenly distributed when you mix.  Use a large spoon to begin mixing just the potatoes at first, when you feel the salt & pepper are mixed fairly well, begin to stir everything the soup mixture & the potatoes together.  Sprinkle in shredded cheese as you mix until it is all incorporated.

Spray a 9x13 baking dish with non-stick spray & spread the potatoes evenly in the dish, use a light hand do not pack the potatoes down tightly.  Cover with foil & back at 350 degrees Fahrenheit until heated through (about 30 minutes) then remove the foil & allow the top to brown for an additional 10 minutes.

Note: if the potatoes are fully frozen or your casserole was made ahead and thoroughly chilled through you may need to extend the baking time accordingly.

Serves 6-8

Here's to a PLAYful 2014

My aim for this year is to be more playful,
to give myself permission to actually DO the things I want to do,
instead of thinking about what I want to do, but never doing it.
To worry less,
to celebrate more.
To pursue laughter and joy whether or not I have earned or deserve them.
I will stop beating myself up and give myself unconditional love.

The short version…
Here is a metaphor for what I'm trying to accomplish this year…

This year I get to have dessert
without ever asking if I have eaten all my vegetables.