Family Favorite: Homemade Chips

Tonight's menu was Pot Roast Sandwiches {we haven't had them in a few weeks}. They were delicious and delightful as usual. Tonight I served them up with a side of homemade potato chips. I thinly sliced some plain old Idaho baking potatoes using this mandoline {mine is the older version of this one}. I love using a mandoline because everything comes out sliced perfectly thin and uniform {be careful...I almost sliced the tip of my finger off once}. Then I threw my chips into the fryer full of oil...

...and waited until they were a perfect cripsness. I lightly salted them and served them along side my sandwiches!

A new family favorite! Mary Reese already has some packed in her lunch for tomorrow!

Halloween Happies

The first day of Fall was Tuesday. My crew is getting geared up for Halloween. Yesterday we sent our teachers some happies in honor of the next big holiday:
I dipped the pretzel rods in Candiquick and let the kids do the sprinkling...

Then we wrapped the pretzels up in a bag and attached a Halloween kitchen towel...

and wha la...a fun {and inexpensive} Halloween Happy for all our favorite teachers!

Owen is 6 months

I can't believe that Owen is already 6 months old! Time has flown, yet it seems like he has always be apart of our family. He officially turned 6 months on the 10th but we didn't have our check-up until this morning.

The stats:

Weight - 20 lbs, 4 ozs

Height - 27 1/4 inches

Comparison to the siblings:

Banks - 19 lbs, 2 ozs & 27 inches long

Mary Reese - 15 lbs, 3 ozs & 26 1/4 inches long

The boy loves to eat! He is eating oatmeal, apples, pears, sweet potatoes, carrots, green beans, butternut squash and any flavor yogurt. He doesn't seem really picky when it comes to food {you can probably tell by his weight}! He is also starting to sit up some on his own. He loves his brother and sister. He always gets the biggest smile on his face when he sees them. They are also the ones who can get him to laugh hysterically! It is pretty fabulous to see them all smitten with each other {hopefully it will always be this way}!

All About...MARY REESE!

Mary Reese's class has been taking turns with the special gold "About Me" bag. Each child gets to bring it home and fill it up with things about them. Mary Reese has been patiently waiting her turn! She has been home all week with a fever virus {thankfully it wasn't ear infections, strep or flu}. When she returned to school today, the gold bag was waiting on her! She filled it with: Her favorite book: Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Her favorite game: Zingo Her favorite toys: dress up clothes, Barbies and stuffed animals {aka friends} Her favorite vacation: Disney World {our picture scrapbook and pin trading lanyard}

We also made a poster of pictures about her life so far:

We included some baby pictures, pictures of her brothers, pictures of places she likes to go and pictures of things she likes to do!

National Treasure

While I was up to my elbows in chicken, Mary Reese was helping Debbie clean out her bathroom. She came home last night with some wonderful treasures... She got a variety of bracelets... A new watch and necklace... The necklace is circa 1988 and can be seen here... Sub Deb Winter Formal 1988. I am the one on the front row in the "Minnie Mouse" dress. Did you notice the necklace gleeming from around my neck? {I might still have the dress, if anyone wants to borrow the entire get-up for their next formal affair...got to love the 80s!} She also found tons of makeup and perfume samples... If you need your makeup done to compliment your 80s look, I have the perfect makeup artist for you... Mary Reese spent the afternoon doing her makeup and mine as well... She gave us "rainbow eyes" and even Owen got some "baby powder" Thanks Debbie for all our wonderful treasures...they have provided us with an afternoon of entertainment {and smells...yes our house smells like a perfume counter}!

Eat More Chicken

"The Pig" had their chicken on sale for 99₵ a pound. When it goes on sale, I like to stock up for some easy weeknight meals. I ended up with about 10 pounds of chicken. First I boiled my chicken {in 2 batches in the pressure cooker} with onions, celery, carrots, rosemary, thyme and salt and pepper... ...then thankfully my head chicken-picker-off-the-boner rolled in from Atlanta to debone my chicken... ...he has experience! Seriously, his first job out of college was a supervisor at a chicken plant. While he was picking chicken, I chopped onions, celery, garlic, green and red peppers. Then I sautéed the veggies in some butter {Paula Deen would be proud...I used 2 sticks} with some salt and pepper... I ended up with 2 nights worth of Cheezy Chicken, 2 nights worth of Chicken Spaghetti, a batch of Chicken Salad and 4 bags of chicken broth... The casseroles {& broth} are in the freezer...waiting on a night when I need a quick and easy meal! The chicken salad will be my lunch this week :)

More peppers

I used all these great red peppers {bell, jalapeno and habanero}... to make some red pepper jelly to go with my green pepper jelly. It will be a festive gift for the Christmas holidays! I used the same recipe...just red peppers and red food coloring instead of green. Easy peasy!

F is for Friendship & Football

Mary Reese's class has been studying about the letter F this week. They ended their week on Friday by making a friendship cake... ...doesn't it look delicious! {Mary Reese said she was in charge of the orange swirls.} They all got to eat a piece at school and bring another piece home to share with family. She shared her piece with Banks and Owen... ...and guess what? He liked it! I would have never let the other 2 children have cake at almost 6 months! Guess that is one perk of being the 3rd child! After our cake, we headed to a little football party... ...they always have a tailgate party in the courtyard of my alma mater for the first home game. {This tradition was actually started by my brothers' class.} We watched the band play and the cheerleaders cheer... We ate Chick-fil-a sack dinners with friends... The we headed to the stadium for some Friday night football... ...with even more friends!