Finding My Posting Groove (again)

Life happens.  So much that sometimes things get away from us.  Everyone always has something going on and we have to schedule and plan weeks in advance to be able to accomplish things at times.

This is where I am now.  Having begun in my full-time class schedule again, I am once again re-learning to find my new routine to accomplish all my work and make sure my life outside of college is not left in a void.  My intentions were pure and true in the post from Jan 21st about posting once a week.  As I had even made a picture showing what was on the menu for that week:

It just hasn't worked itself correctly into my planner (Erin Condren Life Planner "ECLP"- this is how I was able to stay on track and get my AA Degree with Honors) This leads me into I need to work it into my planner.  I have added it and have carved out a time for it to happen. Yay me! This past month was also odd for me because I made two trips south to Georgia; one to pick up my grandson (keep him for 3 weeks) and then return him to his parents and meet my new granddaughter. So, there was that dinner that ended up like this:

 The very last picture shows how I use my monthly spread in my ECLP to keep up with what we had for dinner.  I normally do not like to serve/make/prepare/whatever the same meal twice in a month.  However, January was a touch odd because I shared with my mom and daughter how I make the Chicken Penne Pasta meal we had already in the month.  It was a touch different this time, as my mom made a Spinach Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing to have along side of it and as always, my Dad wanted garlic bread.  It rounded the meal out nicely and will be added to my Menu Book. (That's carrots on the salad, not cheese. Cheese would have tasted weird with the dressing.) 

Notes from the shared menu above: Poppy Seed Dressing - My mom just randomly Googled a recipe and combined several of them to make this dressing, so that means at this time, I do not have a recipe or link to share with you.  It is on my todo list, because I really want to make it again. Can't remember if I have shared this before or not; the Chicken Penne Pasta DOES NOT make good leftovers.  It is edible, but not something that you'd really want as a leftover.

Garlic Bread - This changes a bit depending on what spices I touch in the cabinet.  Basically, it begins it's life loosely based on the recipe from this post from 2010. However, it is still nice to make Cheesy Garlic Bread every now and again.
Venison Tacos - I used my grinder on my Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer on some deer I pulled from the freezer, added salt & pepper, taco seasoning, and a touch more of cumin after browning the meat.  The flour tortillas were good just seriously time consuming.
Papa's Spaghetti - I have seen him make this hundreds of times - it changes just a tad each time, so it never taste exactly the same, but really close and it is REALLY good. I have tried doing this and it does not work for me. My daughter watch him this time so, maybe the magic of this recipe skips a

generation?  The ciabatta bread was sliced, drizzled with EVOO, sprinkled lightly with salt & pepper then baked at 350 until lightly golden brown.  

Spaghetti & Meatballs - I had some 'meatloaf' mix (ground beef, pork & veal) in the freezer, so I added some of this and some of that from the spice cabinet, rolled the meatballs, fried them up, dumped a jar of Bertolli's Tomato & Basil Sauce on it and severed with angel hair pasta.

I know the writing is light on my January monthly menu, but I do it in pencil.  The red * mark the new recipes we tried in the month.