It's the Back to School Countdown!

I cannot believe that school will start 2 mere weeks from Monday. Where has the time gone? What happened to our summer? I've got so much left on my "list" for the summer! Yikes, is all I have to say!

The next week will bring a float trip for daddy and Colton and a trip to Incredible Pizza for the other boys and myself. It seemed like a fair trade.

There will be school supplies to buy next week, a trip to Six Flags the following week, a trip for the last nephew to spend a night with Auntie, shopping for school, and trying to fit in just a few other things.

With school comes preparations for our next AWANA year, training, getting leaders in place, and getting all the details for the kick off ready to go.

It all makes me dizzy to think about it.

Oh, and we've got to make sure the old or too little clothes are out, the new ones ready to go, drawers and closets cleaned out, and what we don't keep, donated.

So, what's for supper in such a busy day? I've got a few of what I call, "skillet" suppers that don't heat up the kitchen...key on hot summer days! One of my new favorites is Kielbasa and rice...so easy! Here goes:

2 pounds of Kielbasa or Polish sausage cut in half lengthwise and sliced into 1/4 inch pieces
1/4 cup chopped onion (or in my house minced dried onion, about 1 tablespoon)
4 bacon strips, chopped
1/2 cup barbeque sauce
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon water
1 tablespoon prepared horseradish
1 tablespoon minced garlic
dash of red pepper flakes
Hot cooked rice enough to serve 6

Saute the Kielbasa, onion and bacon in skillet until onion is tender. Add bbq sauce, brown sugar, horseradish, water, garlic and pepper flakes. Bring to a boil and stir until sauce thickens. Serve with rice. The total time from beginning to table is 20-25 minutes...it's quick and easy and cool.

Here again...

I'm going to try to be more faithful this time around to blogging a bit about our life. I keep thinking that somewhere, someone may very well need the information I've just learned...hopefully that's so.

One of my new favorite crock pot recipes...seriously easy...discovered just the other day. I found a great swiss chicken recipe and thought, "why can't I do that in the crock pot?" So, I gave it the old college try and it worked! Wonderfully! Put your frozen chicken breasts in your crock pot and layer a slice of swiss cheese on top of each chicken breast. Dice a fresh portabello mushroom cap and spread over the chicken and sprinkle with just a bit of parsley and basil. Quarter about 10-12 new potatoes freshly scrubbed and layer them around the edge of your chicken. Cook on low for 4-6 hours and serve with the vegetable of your choice. This is a great, easy recipe that will be ready when everyone arrives home from the long, busy day! Enjoy!