Linda @ Linda’s Lunacy

In the Kitchen with Linda & Dinner Menu

February 22, 2016 by Linda @ Linda's Lunacy

I have been so busy going to the hospital, and doing everything else I have to do, that I didn’t take any food pictures last week! We did eat every day. Promise. lol

I did share a recipe last week, Easy Chicken Curry. I have been making this recipe for a couple for years, but never shared it here. It’s easy to make, flavorful, and it’s not too spicy. My family loves it.

This week looks as busy as last week for me. So we are having mostly easy meals again. Easy meals get boring after a couple of weeks. I sure do miss spending time in the kitchen trying new recipes!

In the Kitchen with Linda & Dinner Menu

Now…. to answer the question that I get asked about a hundred times a day……….What’s For Dinner?

Saturday – quick & easy- Deer steaks, homemade macaroni & cheese, corn

Sunday – soup & sandwich day – Pizza

Monday – chicken or turkey – Chicken strips, tater tots, green beans

Tuesday – pizza/pasta – Skillet Sausage Pasta, broccoli

Wednesday – Taco Night- Venison roast with potatoes, onions, carrots

Thursday – pork or beef – leftovers

Friday – venison – Venison Steak, oven roasted potatoes, broccoli

For more ideas, visit Menu Plan Monday

Easy Chicken Curry Recipe

February 18, 2016 by Linda @ Linda's Lunacy

I’ve been using this Easy Chicken Curry Recipe for a couple of years now. I just recently realized that I hadn’t shared it here!

It’s a fairly quick and easy recipe to make. It’s a favorite with my family, too. It has a spicy flavor, but it’s not spicy hot. I don’t like spicy hot food, and this recipe is perfect to me.

Easy Chicken Curry Recipe

2 tablespoons oil, divided

1 onion, sliced

3 tablespoons red curry paste

2 chicken breasts, cubed

Salt and pepper to taste

1 1/2 cups chopped carrots

1 1/2 cups broccoli florets

3 cloves of garlic, minced, or 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder

1 teaspoon dried basil

1/4 cup chicken broth, I use water & chicken bouillon paste

1 14 ounce can diced tomatoes

1 1/4 cups coconut milk

In a large skillet, cook the onions and curry paste in 1 tablespoon of oil. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, for 5 minutes.

Add remaining oil, cubed chicken, and season with salt & pepper.

Cook the chicken until golden on all sides. Add carrots, broccoli, garlic, & basil. Cook & stir for 2 minutes.

Add chicken broth, tomatoes, and coconut milk. Bring to a simmer.

Let simmer for about 20 minutes, until chicken is cooked through and sauce has begun to thicken.

Serve over rice.

This recipe serves 6-8 people when served over rice.

If you happen to have leftovers, it’s good the next day, too!

In the Kitchen with Linda & Dinner Menu

February 15, 2016 by Linda @ Linda's Lunacy

The most important thing that happened in my kitchen over the last two weeks was a birthday dinner! Mine! haha

We grocery shopped on the way home from visiting my mother in the hospital that night, so I bought a frozen lasagna for dinner. Since we arrived home at dinner time, dinner was late that night! lol It takes forever for a frozen lasagna to cook! I guess I would know that if I ever bought frozen lasagna. lol So we had a late, but good dinner that included Garlic and Herb bread knots from the store. They came in a foil bag, and you put the whole bag in the oven, shaking before serving to distribute the garlic and herbs. They were really good!

My daughter made cupcakes for my birthday! Happy Birthday to me! lol

One night my son cooked before I got home from the hospital. He made chili and poured it over macaroni. It was good. And so nice to not have to cook!

Our pizza nights have consisted of frozen pizza lately. No time to make the pizza from scratch. I always serve it with carrot sticks or celery. With Ranch dressing, of course. Plus, pizza crust tastes good dunked in Ranch, too!

I put some venison in the slow cooker one morning before going to the hospital, along with some taco seasonings. Not from a package. I stand there and pour some of this and some of that in, until it smells like a taco. lol One of my daughters prepped the taco fixings. So I had it easy when I got home from the hospital that night, too. I made myself a Taco Salad, while the rest of the family had tacos.

So while we have still been eating quick and easy meals, we have been eating good! Of course, we need more vegetables. My husband and I eat more than the teenagers. Teenagers are worse about eating vegetables than toddlers!

In the Kitchen with Linda & Dinner Menu

Now…. to answer the question that I get asked about a hundred times a day……….What’s For Dinner?

Saturday – quick & easy- Tacos

Sunday – soup & sandwich day – Leftovers

Monday – chicken or turkey – Chicken strips, tater tots, corn

Tuesday – pizza/pasta – Pizza, carrot sticks, celery

Wednesday – Taco Night- Venison roast with potatoes, onions with mushroom sauce, carrots

Thursday – pork or beef – Venison Steak, oven roasted potatoes, broccoli

Friday – venison – Homemade Chicken Soup with noodles

I’m changing up the meal plan this week to better fit our schedule. Menus are a tool. If it’s not working, change it!

For more ideas, visit Menu Plan Monday

GrubMarket Review & Giveaway

February 5, 2016 by Linda @ Linda's Lunacy

I recently received a GrubMarket regular-size California Fruit Bounty box. It sure was convenient to have fresh, organic fruit delivered right to my door! I had fun unpacking the box. Pulling back the shredded paper to discover what fruit was inside.

GrubMarket

I received apples, oranges, a grapefruit, a pomegranate, an avocado, a pineapple, and medjool dates. The fruit was well packed to protect it during shipment. I did email GrubMarket to ask what would happen if the fruit arrived damaged. He said that they would issue a refund for the damaged fruit. So that’s good to know!

GrubMarket

GrubMarket makes fresh and delicious food accessible to all people by keeping their prices consistently lower than all comparable grocers. GrubMarket believes that everyone should have the opportunity to eat well, & that price should never be a barrier between you and fresh, healthy, and delicious food. They offer free delivery across the U.S. for all orders above $59.GrubMarket works with a variety of farms and artisan producers to bring you high quality foods and other items at prices that are up to 50% OFF what you’d typically find at Whole Foods and other grocers.

I placed all the beautiful fruit I received on a tray with a little of the shredded paper from the shipping box and used it as a dining room table centerpiece. I have found that my family eats more fruit if I leave it out in the open for all to see. Sometimes I place fruit in a bowl. but this time I wanted to be sure we could all see the beautiful fruit. If they see it, they will eat it!

GrubMarket Centerpiece

My family loved everything in the box. After seeing the fruit, my teenage son announced, “I claim all the apples!” lol

For more information about GrubMarket, visit the GrubMarket Website, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest.

Receive 20% off your first order by using code GRUB20 and get free shipping on orders over $59.

Enter to win a GrubMarket regular-size California Fruit Bounty Box! Simply fill out the Rafflecopter from below!

GrubMarket Giveaway

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Disclosure (in accordance with the FTC’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”): Many thanks to Propeller Consulting, LLC for providing this prize for the giveaway. Choice of winners and opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation. I did receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post.

Only one entrant per mailing address, per giveaway. If you have won a prize from our sponsor Propeller / FlyBy Promotions in the last 30 days, you are not eligible to win. Or if you have won the same prize on another blog, you are not eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification.

Homer Learn to Read Review with $75 Visa Gift Card Giveaway

February 5, 2016 by Linda @ Linda's Lunacy

Sponsored Post

I recently tried out The Homer Learn to Read program. The Homer Learn to Read program is a fast, effective way to teach your child how to read that was designed by teachers and experts. Homer is a step-by-step method that will leave parents feeling proud and worry-free. Homer works with homeschool curriculums, or as a supplement you work on at home with your child.

Homer Learn to Read won the 2015 Teacher’s Choice Gold Award. Using Homer for just 15 minutes a day has been proven to boost early reading scores by 74%.

Homer Pickle Wickle Park

Homer Learn to Read is for ages 3-8. Here are a few features of Homer:

22 levels, over 1,000 lessons and activities that included phonics, phonemic awareness, spelling, vocabulary, reading comprehension, quizzes. There are new lessons added every month.

After you sign up on Homer, you kids get to choose their own avatar from cute little animal pictures, then a thinking cap to put on it. Kids are then taken to Pickle Wickle Park, which is on an island. From there, they can choose which activity they would like to do. Storytime, Discover the World, Music, Learn to Read, and Adventures in History, with more activities coming soon.

Storytime is divided into 4 sections, Poetry, Fables, Folklore, and Homer Stories.

Homer stories

Homer screenshot

Discover the World is divided into 4 sections, Marvelous Mammals, Feathered Friends, The Human Body, & Seasons and Celebrations. Discover the World has over 70 lessons that teach over 300 vocabulary words.

Homer

Adventures in History is also divided into 4 sections, Biographies, Cool History, Time Travelers, and World Bookshelf. Adventures in History covers history, geography, and biographies. These cover dozens of important people and places. Also included are traditions, celebrations, and customs from around the world.
In the Learn to Read section, the kids do just that. Learn to Read. The first lesson is A. Kids learn the sound, recognizing the letter in upper and lower case, then identifying pictures that start with the A sound, then pictures that have A as the middle sound. After completing the section, kids get to draw.

Homer screenshot

The site has music that is easily turned off. The colors in the program are bright, and all the pictures kid friendly.

As a homeschooling parent, I love that you are able to track your kids progress, view the gallery with all their drawings, print worksheets and coloring pages.

Homer parent

You can also see what progress they are making with their reading.

Homer Track Progress

Over all, Homer Learn to Read is a great educational website that is kid and parent friendly. This award-winning program is available for web and iPad. A Homer Learn to Read iPhone app will be available mid-February

You can get a free 30 day trial to try out Homer. Use this link to Homer Learn to Read and get a 50% discount on an annual subscription!

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*Disclosure: This is a sponsored post. My opinions are my own and are not influenced by monetary compensation.

In the Kitchen with Linda & Dinner Menu

February 1, 2016 by Linda @ Linda's Lunacy

I had some chicken and rice left over last week. Leftover chicken and rice can be rather boring. So I threw together a casserole type dish.

I used two cooked boneless skinless chicken breasts, each one cut into 4 pieces. I laid those around the edges of a small roasting pan. I put the about 3 cups of leftover rice in the middle and spread it flat. I then placed some thinly sliced raw onion over the top of everything. I sliced it really thin so it would cook quickly. I seasoned with salt, pepper, and a little onion powder. You can never have too much onion flavor! Unless you are asking my 15 year old son who hates onions. lol

For the sauce, I mixed about a half a cup of water with two teaspoons chicken flavored bouillon. I then filled the measuring cup up to the two cup mark with heavy cream, stirred it all together and poured it over the chicken and rice.

I baked it covered for 30ish minutes.

I served it with broccoli and my family practically licked the pan clean! Easy and tasty. My kind of meal!

In the Kitchen with Linda & Dinner Menu

Now…. to answer the question that I get asked about a hundred times a day……….What’s For Dinner?

Saturday – quick & easy- Leftovers – Chicken and Rice, broccoli

Sunday – soup & sandwich day – Breakfast!

Monday – chicken or turkey – Skillet Sausage Pasta, peas

Tuesday – pizza/pasta – Pizza, carrot sticks, celery

Wednesday – Taco Night- Venison Tacos with all the fixin’s

Thursday – pork or beef – Spaghetti & meatballs, green beans

Friday – venison – Venison roast with potatoes, onions with mushroom sauce, carrots

For more ideas, visit Menu Plan Monday

Kentucky Blizzard 2016

January 29, 2016 by Linda @ Linda's Lunacy

Here are a few pictures we took after the blizzard came through last week.

My youngest son gave up on sledding in the deep snow and just laid there. Some of the dogs thought he was trying to play with them. lol

Bear, one of our Morkie puppies loves the snow.

For some reason, he likes digging in the snow with his nose. lol

The front of our house, looking across the yard.

Looking down our road. Our house is on the left. That’s Piper, the Morkie, walking down the tire track. Max, the German Shepard and Lab mix, in the background.

That’s our picnic table buried under the snow! Notice that the snow is up to the seats on the picnic table!

The big pine trees are weighed down by all the snow.

My husband parked my car next door up by the road before the blizzard hit. We have a long driveway with a hill that goes up to the road. That makes it hard to get out after snow and ice storms. So he parked my car up by the road so we could get our easy. Can you see my car in the picture below?! It took my husband over 4 hours to dig it out!

This is my husbands car in the driveway! You can see a little bit of one mirror, and a glimpse of the front tire!

When my husband took this picture, it was still snowing. It snowed for almost 2 hours after he measured. So we are calling it 17 inches of snow! That’s a LOT of snow!

While I was standing on the front porch, because I don’t do snow, taking pictures of three of my kids trying to sled in the deep snow, a neighbor went by with his tractor. He was scraping the road! That’s how it goes when you live in the country. The county takes care of the bigger roads first. Leaving us on the smaller, back roads for last. Thankfully, we have awesome neighbors around here that pitch in to help!

Did the blizzard blow by where you live? How much snow did you get?

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