I Tri and Craft

thoughts from a mother of boys, a marathoner, a triathlete, a crafter, a wife, and a scientist

Author Archives: Dawn Marie


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Menu Plan Monday Nov 17th

How closely o you follow your meal plan?

I would say most weeks I follow it with the exception of Sundays.  Although sometimes I end up switching days, but I still make all the meals I had planned for that week.  Sometimes things don’t go according to the plan though.

Last Wednesday I planned on making this baked chicken and Mac & Cheese.  As it turned out I ended up with a migraine that afternoon.  However, the kids still need to be feed.  I looked at the baked chicken recipe and it was sooo easy! So I was still able to make it, even though I was dying.  I did change the recipe from using yogurt to a mix of cream cheese and sour cream.  Everyone agreed the chicken was wonderful.  Instead of making mac & cheese from scratch, my husband made some from a box.  I know, I know, Kraft isn’t the same, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

Seriously though, the chicken was so easy and very yummy!

IMG_3912

Here’s the boys in our ice storm last week.

 

Menu Plan 11/17-11/23

Mon: Lemon Garlic Chicken with Creamy Garlic Pasta

Tues: Slow Cooker Philly Cheese Steak Sandwiches 

Wed: Parmesan Chicken Fingers Garlic Cheese Sauce and orzo

Thr: Baked Spaghetti 

Fri: Leftovers

Sat: Kitchen is Closed!

Sun: Beef Stew

 

 

Happy Cooking

 

Dawn Marie

Need something to help plan your meals?  I use the Plan to Eat online meal planner.  Try it free for 30 days

Simple Meal Planning - Plan to Eat

 

Find more recipes at I’m an Organizing Junkie


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Menu Plan Monday Nov 10th

Happy Meal Plan Monday.

We are already on the second Monday in November!  how did that happen?

I skipped a couple of menu planning weeks due to us being out-of-town, and then recovering from being out-of-town…

Since it has been so long since I made a plan, I’m actually excited to do one.  I’ve been finding new recipes on Pinterest that I am looking forward to trying out.

I know people are getting up set because we are already seeing Christmas commercials and Christmas stuff in the stores and November just started….but I don’t really mind.  I am trying to start getting things ready for Christmas, I would love to be early this year.  But we shall see if that really happens…

 

Menu Plan 11/10-11/16

Mon: Crock Pot Balsamic Pork Roast with potatoes

Tues: Ham  & Cheese Gnocchi

Wed: Melt in Your Mouth Baked Chicken with Mac and Cheese Bake

Thr: Tomato Soup with Cheesy Orzo and Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Fri: Leftovers

Sat: Kitchen is Closed!

Sun: Tater Tot Enchilada Bake (my husband loves tater to casseroles)

 

 

Happy Cooking

 

Dawn Marie

Need something to help plan your meals?  I use the Plan to Eat online meal planner.  Try it free for 30 days

Simple Meal Planning - Plan to Eat

Find more recipes at I’m an Organizing Junkie


Top Mommy Blogs - Mom Blog Directory

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


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Thank You Gift ~ Mini Canvas Picture

This summer I ran a half-marathon located in another city.  The location wasn’t that far, maybe an hour or an hour and a half from home.  But when you need to be there at six in the morning that is very far!

So my cousin and I decided to stay the night before the race.  The race was in the wine country and there are not a lot of hotels around there.  But there are a lot of bed and breakfast places.  The other thing the surrounding city had was rooms for rent located in people’s houses.  You could rent the room, like a bed and breakfast, but there wouldn’t be other guests.

As it turned out my cousin had a friend who grew up down there and that friend’s parents still live there.  And they had a room that they rent out to guests and they were gracious enough to let us stay the night there.  Because of their generosity, I want to make them a thank you card and a little gift.

MSS_Thank You Gift

I first used some crayons from my son’s art kit and made a little rainbowish pattern on a mini canvas.  The min canvases and easels can be found at Michel’s Craft Store and are about 3″x3″.

MSS_Thank You Gift

Using my Silhouette Cameo I cut out the dandelion, floating seeds and words out of different colored vinyl.  Because of the waxy nature of the crayons and the texture of the vinyl I went ahead and sealed it all with some Mod Podge, then added the adhesive rhinestones.

I thought the words ‘relax’ and ‘breathe’ fit well with the room they let us use.  It was a very calming house and atmosphere, which was just the thing we needed prior to our race.

MSS_Thank You Card

 

I also designed and cut out this thank you card using my Silhouette Cameo.

 UPDATE:

My dutiful sister has informed me that the canvas says ‘breath’ when I intended it to say ‘breathe’

*sigh* such is my life. it is always after I post it that she finds the errors…

 

 

Dawn Marie

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Mini-Mummy Treat Boxes

I have confessed to you all how much I love Halloween and now that I have my Silhouette Cameo I love making things for this holiday.

OK, let’s be honest, I love making things for any holiday.

I had started to make these little bags for Ian’s preschool class, but scrapped them and went a different direction.  The bags just weren’t the right size for the kids (but it was perfect for his teachers).

Instead I used a mini nugget holder from SVG Cutting files.

MSS_Mummy Treat Box

But, I didn’t want there to be just plain rectangle opening, so I altered it into a spiderweb.

MSS_Mummy Halloween Treats

On the card side I used the Mummy from this Halloween set, also from SVG Cutting files.  If you remember, I used the Werewolf from the same set for a Halloween themed birthday card.

MSS_Mummy Treat Box

 

I had designed it to say “Happy Halloween, from Ian” on the front with the mummy, but the end product was just too small, so I had him write his name on the back.

I had never cut a mini nugget holder before and didn’t really pay attention to the actual size of it.  I just figured I could put a couple of pieces of Halloween candy in there.  It was way smaller than I thought it would be.

and that mummy with the tiny wrappings was a b!*ch to put together and ink! I’m lucky I only had to make 10…

The candy I had didn’t fit, so I took one to the store with me (and no they didn’t have any Halloween Hershey Nugget candy) and figured I could put two of the mini-milky-way/snickers candy bars in there.

MSS_Mummy Treat Box

Next time I will make an actual prototype first, just to see if everything fits.

I still think they turned out super cute!  Seriously, that mummy is just so stinkin’ cute!

 

 

Now don’t think I stopped there! I was in charge of the snacks for one of Ian’s soccer games sooo….

MSS_Pumpkin Teeth Treats

Come on! It was almost Halloween, what was I supposed to do?

This is the same pumpkin that I used in my Candy Corn Dish that I got from SVG Cuts.

MSS_Pumpkin Teeth Treat Bag

I wasn’t the only snack I got them, and the kids were thrilled.

 

 

Here is to Spook-tacular Halloween!

 

 I used this project in the SVG Cutting Files Blog Challenge.  This month’s theme was “Let’s make a treat”  Head on over and see some other projects.

 

Dawn Marie

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