Turkey (Chicken) Rotini Casserole:

Ingredients:
1 c reduced-sodium chicken broth
1/2 c water
1 sm stalk celery
1/2 tsp dried thyme leaves
1 dried bay leaf
2 turkey thighs (about 1.5 pounds) - or - chicken breasts
1 envelope alfredo sauce mix
1 can (10 3/4 oz) condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 pkg (9 oz) frozen chopped broccoli, thawed and drained
8 ounces uncooked rotini pasta
1/2 c grated Parmesan cheese

1. Pour broth and water into slow cooker. Add celery, thyme, and bay leaf. Top with turkey.
2. Cover and cook on low heat setting 6-8 hours. Remove turkey, celery and bay leaf; discard celery and bay leaf.
3. Increase heat setting to high. Mix sauce mix (dry) and soup; stir into slow cooker. Stir in broccoli. Cover and cook about 30 minutes or until thickened.
4. Cook pasta as directed on package. While pasta is cooking, remove turkey from bones and cut into pieces. Discard bones. (If using chicken breasts, use this time to shred with a fork)
5. Return turkey to slow cooker. Stir in pasta and cheese.

** Notes: I use chicken breasts and shred them. I also leave out the celery and don't always remember the cheese. **

And now I'm here again and it's Tuesday again and I'm pondering what I should tackle today. There's always so much to get done around here and with it being just me, I swear I feel like none of it ever does. Well, I've decided to continue tackling "the wall." For those who don't remember, the wall is actually the front room on the house. It was dubbed the wall by my children when the boxes were stacked up so high, you couldn't even see into the room, let alone walk into it. It's really going to be our office/craft room, but there are tons of boxes still in there. So, my goal for today is to unpack 2 boxes. Note that I do not say that I'm going to put the contents away. The reason for that is there are so many boxes, I can't even get to most of the places where things go. So, I've decided to start unpacking the boxes, moving anything in them that doesn't belong in there to the proper rooms and then I'll start getting it organized. Sometimes it's easier to organize when you can actually see everything you own, anyway.

So, that's my goal...to tackle 2 boxes in that room. What are all of you tackling today?

Yes, I know it's Tuesday, but seriously, I just didn't have time...Ok, I didn't make the time yesterday to come here and post. Why? Don't I love you anymore? Well, of course I do! It's just that I did something seriously silly this weekend and I had to fix it yesterday. What did I do? Well, I had Roger put my wallet into his backpack and well, I forgot to get it out again. So, yesterday I had to drive over to Hastings to get it and while I was there, I did a bit of grocery shopping. By the time I got back home, I'd totally forgotten about posting my menu. But, I do have to say that I did make my menu yesterday before going shopping, so well..I get half credit, right?

Monday - Pizza
Tuesday - Steak
Wednesday - Chicken Rotini
Thursday - Leftovers
Friday - Chili
Saturday - Spaghetti w/ Meatballs & Garlic Bread (Roger's choice)
Sunday - Leftovers

Wow! I almost forgot to post this! Dang nabbit. I went and got semi-productive and the day slipped away. Well, I made it...ok, technically it's Thursday but you guys won't tell on me, right? *grins* Well, good. Thanks, guys!

Now, on that note...I've been sick all week. My company brought me a case of the creeping crud and sure enough, I caught it. I have managed to get bits and pieces done around the house and after emptying one of my favorite baskets, guess who else decided they liked it? Give up? Well, here you go...

It's Monday again and I had a nice weekend. My friend Jim came over for the weekend and we hung out here at the house for a part of the weekend. For the other part, I got to show him a bit of the area. We went to lunch at Swede's and had delicious wet burrito and nachos. I love their wet burritos, but they only make them twice a week plus I can't really afford to go out, though I could get a wet burrito for $5 and its huuuuuge. Then, we went over to Lansing and after being a bit turned around because of construction, we found the movie theatre and saw the Toy Story 3D double feature. It was wonderful! I loved it! Plus, they had a 10 minute intermission where they did Toy Story trivia and fun little video clips. Afterwards, we had a really nice dinner at Texas Roadhouse where we talked about advice and therapy and teaching and such. I really enjoyed that. Then, after a trip to Meijers, we came back here to the house and hung out for a bit before bed. Sunday, we grabbed breakfast at McDonalds and not long after he headed out. It was nice.

Now, it's Monday and you might have noticed I'm not as cheerful as I usually am. I dunno what it is, but I'm not feeling so great today. I'm snuggled up on the couch and thinking about some stuff that I need to start doing. This week is a bit of chaos so I"m not doing any sort of real meal plan. But, I'm still going to do a basic one that I can pull ideas from.

Monday - Ravioli (leftovers from Friday)
Tuesday - Mac n Cheese w/ tuna & peas
Wednesday- Soup
Thursday- Grilled Ham & Cheese
Friday- McDonalds treat for boys (if finances will allow it)
Saturday- Homemade Pizza
Sunday- Eggs, Toast & Sausage

It's Friday! Wow! Where the heck did the week go? I coulda sworn that yesterday was Monday or something. Yet, here it is Friday already. I have company coming for the weekend (yes, for the 2nd weekend in a row. no, my house isn't much more ready than it was last weekend!) and in theory, he ought to be already on the road, but I haven't heard a peep from him.

I'll admit that I'm a tad nervous about having him here. While he, at times, has been a really good friend, he can also be on the judgmental side and that sure can ruin a fun weekend. Well, I'm going to think positive and just know right now that we're going to have a nice weekend catching up.

So, the real question is..what am I finishing today? I'm going to be flat out honest and say I haven't the slightest idea. I'm not totally sure when he'll get here, so I don't want to pull out or start working on a big project just to have to abandon it midstream...so my big plan for today is to just putter around and do what I can do. My Finish It plan for the weekend includes getting that a/c unit out and put away so if we need to, we can turn on that furnace! I've been putting it off because a) a/c unit in the window means cold air leaking in/warm air leaking out and b) I am nowhere near ready for the winter heating bill. All this being said though, it is currently 63 inside this house and I slept in a scarf last night. Let's hope that getting that a/c unit out and that window closed helps with that!

Well, I'm off to haul the recycling out to the curb. They only pickup once every two weeks so I don't want to miss it! My bin is overflowing as usual. I need to ask about getting a 2nd bin. We try to recycle as much as we can. Take care and be sure to sign the MckLinky and/or leave me a comment, letting me know what you're finishing today!

Wow...the day is nearly done! Today has just been one of those days where nothing has gone as planned. Not a darned thing. I went to take some boxes to the barn and the cat jumped out through the torn screen. I chased him around the neighborhood for a good 20 minutes. It was a total game for him. When I finally said to heck with it, come home when you want and walked away, he turned around and started to follow me back to the house. Course he wouldn't let me grab him to bring him inside! Geez! That kind of exercise was not on my list!

I also tore my jeans, discovered my old doctor is not taking new patients so his office doesn't know if he'll take me back and did I mention that the house is like 63 inside? Brrrr! I don't want to turn on the furnace until I get the a/c unit out of the window, which will hopefully happen this weekend. Until then, I'm wrapped up in a blanket and drinking hot drinks.

So...what am I doing for me today? I'm giving up on the day, deciding that perfection won't happen and I'm going to work on just enjoying the rest of my day! How about all of you?