Pump Up Sunday

You know how so many people dread Monday?  Well, Cliff and me may dread Monday from time to time and we will joke around about "being depressed," but today we said no more!  We are going to start calling Sunday "Pump Up Sunday."  So anytime we feel like whining about the upcoming week we will just stop and get pumped up instead.  Anyways, there is a lot of food to post about so get ready.  First of all, Friday night we had some snickers ice cream that was totally loaded

 I added reese's, pb, choc. chips, and had a peanut cluster (maybe 2) with it.

We did not have any real plans Saturday so we had a lazy morning and I made biscuits and gravy.  Cliff said you have to title this Our Vegetarian Breakfast because we did not have meat.  I pulled sausage out to thaw and forgot it on the counter so I just trashed it:(  Our breakfast was good without it though!

 Homemade gravy, biscuits, potatoes, and scrambled eggs.

 The gravy is really simple, I will post it at the end.

 My plate

 Cliff's plate-I will admit his looked a little better!

We had a fun day.  Did a few things around the house we have been meaning to do.  Then we ate lots of cinnamon whole wheat pretzels and rented Midnight in Paris. Then we went to the park to throw the frisbee and came home to make dinner and have game night.  We had a few people over to play Yahtzee and grill out.  I made these really good potatoes.  They were supposed to go on the grill but I thought they were going to fall apart so I put them on my panini grill. 

 First, I washed the potatoes and poked holes in them.  Microwave them for about 6 minutes, flipping halfway through.   Let them cool and then slice like so.

 Drizzle olive oil on them and season them to taste.

 Heat the panini grill to sear (the hottest heat).  Place potatoes on it and flip once they are starting to get seared as seen below (it took about 8 minutes on each side).

 Simple and delicious.

Okay, I have been on a major peanut cluster kick.  I am in the habit again-yikes.  I had 2 peanut clusters then we played Yahtzee which was a lot of fun:)  Oh, did I mention we grilled chicken and sausage.  I also made a salad to go with our potatoes.  I felt really full so when I woke up this morning I just wanted something simple and light.

 Ben and Danielle gave us some Oat Nut Bread so I had peanut butter toast with butter, choc. chips, butter, and cinn. sugar.  I also made a simple smoothie to go with it.

 Even though I had a "light" breakfast, I made Cliff and awesome breakfast quesadilla.

 Egg, potato, bacon and cheese...with gravy for dipping sauce.

 This is a completely awesome idea and Cliff loved it!  I hope to make it again soon because it looked mighty tasty:)

 We went with our small group to Chili's after church.  We had a lot of fun hangin with them:)

 I made home-made meatballs for the first time for dinner!  They are really easy and I don't know why I waited so long to make them myself (I usually buy frozen ones).

We had a very relaxing dinner!

I tend to eat really fast, but I made a conscious effort to eat slowly and enjoy time with Cliff-it was no nice.

Here we go again.  I had the last of the snickers ice cream with pb and a cluster!

Sorry this post is coming so late.  Hope everyone had a great weekend.  Also, here are the recipes for the gravy and meatballs:

Simple Gravy from Mom (serves 3)

2 Tbsp. oil or butter

2 Tbsp. flour

1 1/2 cup milk

salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil over med-low heat.  Stir in flour until it makes a smooth consistency (I usually stir it for about 1 minute so the flour can heat up).  Pour in milk while stirring constantly.  At this point I turn up the heat a little and stir often.  Bring to a boil and then simmer for about 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly.  It should start to thicken at this point and you can take it off the heat.  Season to taste and enjoy!  

I mostly eat this on biscuits but it is also very good on egg noodles for dinner.  That is something my Mom used to make me often and I love!  

*Note:  if your gravy is not thickening, take 1-2 Tbsp. of flour and mix it with about 1/4 cup cold water.  Pour it into your gravy and it should thicken after a few minutes.

Easy Meatballs

1 lb. ground beef or sausage (or you could do half a pound of each)
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup dry bread crumbs (I did half bread crumbs, half instant oatmeal)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup milk
2 Tbsp. dry onion flakes
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp. garlic salt
pepper sprinkled in as well

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl, combine the egg, bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, milk, onion, and seasonings. Add meat to the bread crumb mixture and mix well. Shape into 24 meatballs.  Lightly grease a cake pan lined with foil.
3. Bake for 20 minutes or until meatballs are cooked through. Serve with your favorite sauce and spaghetti.  

*slightly adapted from allrecipes