Tasty Tuesday - Corn Dog Mini Muffins

I apologize for not getting this posted last week as planned. It was worth waiting for though, in my opinion! Corn Dog Mini Muffins are a HUGE hit at our house. Even little Z (who eats almost nothing) tried them last week. He did pull the hot dog out and leave it behind, but at least he ate the muffin part!

I originally discovered this recipe on a different blog, The Young'ns. I have changed it a tiny bit to suit my own needs.

Corn Dog Mini Muffins

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup yellow cornmeal

2/3 cup white sugar

1 tsp salt

3 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 egg

1 cup milk

1/3 cup canola oil

3 or so hot dogs, cut into coins

1.Mix together dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, mix together egg, milk and oil. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Mix well.

2. Scoop into greased mini muffin pan. Or if you absolutely despise cleaning muffin pans, use the paper liners like I do. :) You should fill them about 2/3 full. Push one hot dog "coin" into each muffin cup.

3. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

I have also been known to be very lazy and bake this in a 9x13 pan, just pushing the hot dog "coins" into rows on the top. It has to bake a bit longer...maybe closer to 15 minutes, but it is still a hit!

You can see more Tasty Tuesday recipes over at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam.

Remember, you can view all of my recipes here.

Meal Plan Monday - August 29

Happy Monday all! Hope everyone had a fabulous weekend. It was pretty relaxed around here. After a busy week last week with school starting and everything, relaxing was just what we needed!

We've been enjoying the last couple of days because the weather has been much cooler. This has been especially nice because our grill seems to have decided that it doesn't want to work anymore. Last week I tried to light the right side burner and it lit a fire underneath the outside of the grill. I tried to use it again on Friday and it wouldn't turn on at all. It really needs to be replaced anyways, so I think we're done grilling until we can find a new grill in the spring. Or maybe even a heavily discounted clearance model this fall!

Here's my plan for this week:

Monday - Tuna & Pasta Cheddar Melt, Salad

Tuesday - Individual Meatloaves, Perogies, Carrot Sticks

Wednesday - Waffles with fruit, Scrambled Eggs

Thursday - Southwest Chicken Bake (this is a new one for me!), Salad

Friday - Spaghetti & Meatsauce, Garlic Toast

Saturday - Calzones

Sunday - 7 Layer Dip, Chips

I also plan to bake a double batch of Banana Muffins.

You can check out more menu plans over at I'm an Organizing Junkie!

What I'm Printing

Haven't done this in awhile....but thought you might be interested to know which high value and otherwise interesting coupons I have printed this week.

From coupons.com:

$1.50/2 Ziploc Containers
$0.75/1 Philadelphia Cooking Creme (Use this to make my Rigatoni w/ Chicken recipe)
$1/1 Minute Maid Juice Boxes, 1o pk

You can check out my Savings Center to print these and more coupons directly from coupons.com

From target.com:

$1/2 Morningstar Frozen Products TARGET coupon (combine with $1/1 here for a great deal!)
$1/1 Danimals Smoothies TARGET coupon (these are on sale at Target for $2 this week. Combine with $0.50/1 from the 8/14 Smart Shopper insert to get these for $0.50!)
$0.75/1 Clorox wipes TARGET coupon (the 3-pk are on sale at Target for $4.40. Combine with $0.25/1 from the 8/21 Smart Shopper insert to get these for $3.40, or $1.13 each)

Remember, you can always view my Coupon Database to search for coupons on specific items that you may need.

A Tribute to a Friend...and the story of a little boy growing up

I always said I would never be one of those parents that let their child become too attached to a stuffed animal or blanket. That rule worked out very well with my daughter. Not so much with my son. It was pretty much love at first sight.

His name is Mr. Georgey and he has been Z's sleep friend for two years now. Who would have thought a silly monkey that we bought on clearance at Target would become such a good friend.

A friend once commented after seeing this picture that she could see why Z didn't sleep with a pacifier. He had Georgey to chew on. Georgey has tiny beads in his hands which I guess makes him even more enjoyable to chew. Z has chewed those poor little hands for two years.



Georgey has been chewed and yanked and thrown around our house for years now. He has travelled internationally. His trips out of the house have been rare, because one day it hit me that if he ever went missing, it would be trouble. I looked to see if I could buy a second one. Yes, I could. For $50!! Um, no thanks. We would just be careful.

Well, we were careful. But all those days of chewing finally caught up with him. Monday morning I discovered that Z was now chewing on the little beads that were supposed to be in Mr. Georgey's hands. The dreaded day had come. Georgey was confiscated. Upon further inspection, I discovered that he had tiny holes in both of his hands. Guess it's time for him to retire.

If this had happened two months ago, I think there would have been major drama. But over the last little while, Z has become more and more attached to some of the other six stuffed animals that now sleep with him. He's growing up. I still worried. I looked for a Mr. Georgey on eBay. Inflation has apparently also hit the stuffed animal community. $100 or $149!! I don't think so! We would try to make do.

And we have. It has been two days now. Z did ask for him last night, but we gave him "No Name" (his other monkey) to comfort him. It seemed to work. So sad to hear him calling out for his buddy.

I think we'll keep Mr. Georgey around for awhile. He will need to stay hidden for a month or two to avoid any possible meltdowns. Z will miss him. And I will lament the fact that my baby boy has grown up so much that he is no longer dependent on a lovey to help him sleep. This day came way too soon.

Menu Plan Monday - August 22

It's the first day of school!

L had a good first day of Kindergarten! It started off with a few tears, but she recovered quickly and had a busy day. She came home completely exhausted. Choosing the half day option was definitely the best choice for her!

Now that we are working ourselves back into a school routine, I am hoping that I will be more organized....with meal planning, chores, grocery shopping, etc.! I'll let you know how that goes....

Here is my meal plan for this week:
Monday - Grilled Italian Sausage, Baked Beans, Green & Red Pepper slices
Tuesday - Corn Dog Muffins, Salad
Wednesday - Grilled Pizza, Carrot Sticks
Thursday - Tostadas
Friday - Grilled Chicken, Rice, Green Beans
Saturday - Something easy for the kids, Nacho Night for hubby and I!
Sunday - Leftovers
I plan to share the recipe for corn dog muffins with you tomorrow for Tasty Tuesday so stay tuned!

You can check out more menu plans over at I'm an Organizing Junkie!

School Starts on Monday!

We are heading into our last official weekend of summer break. It has been an unbelievably busy, but fun summer. Here's a recap of what we did:

Hubby and I visited Seattle.


L turned 5!

We took a family trip to Alberta.


Z turned 2!

We played at the pool and at the park. L went to two different churches for VBS. We had play dates and swim lessons. It was a fantastic summer!

It doesn't look like things will be slowing down as we head into the fall. Stay tuned to see what we'll be up to in the next few weeks!

Weekend Guests

Over the weekend, my husband's sister and her husband came to town for a visit. We always have a lot of fun when they are around!

We took the kids mini-golfing for the first time. It rained a bit, but I think fun was still had by all!

Paddleboating time!



Z and I hung out on the shore during the paddleboating.


We are so blessed to have family members that are willing to make the (long!) drive to come visit us. I often hear people talk about how they don't see their families for years...or how their kids have never met some of their own aunts and uncles. I feel fortunate that God has given us the resources to be able to afford to see our family often. We love and appreciate them all so much!

Wordless Wednesday - Z turns 2!

Z turned two on Thursday...he had a great day! We went to the All Aboard Diner for a family dinner...the boy was in heaven!


He got a beginner Thomas train set, which he is completely in love with. Can't believe my baby is no longer a baby!

Back from Vacation!

We arrived home yesterday from what is becoming our annual road trip to Alberta. It feels great to be back! It's a three day drive each way...which proved to be very difficult for my almost 2 year old. We had fun spending time with my family and being out in the country for a few days!

We celebrated Z's birthday while we were there...he will be two on Thursday! What happened to my baby??

The kids love being on the farm...and no trip to the farm is complete without a tractor ride! They even get to take their pick of which one to ride...."Johnny Tractor" or "Big Red". Z was terrified of Johnny....I guess a huge machine like that can be intimidating.

Picking strawberries was L's highlight of the trip. We weren't sure if we would be able to do it this year, as the strawberry farm recently got hit with a terrible hail storm. But fortunately, the nice strawberry lady let us come pick whatever we could find before she mowed the plants to prep them for next year. We got four icecream pails worth...SO tasty!


One of the highlights for me was getting to take my almost 90-year-old grandpa out for lunch. (That's him next to my mom). I still laugh to myself when I think about how he was showing L how old he is by using his fingers. It was nice to see that even though he is getting older, he still has a sense of humor!

I took quite a few more pictures which I will try to post later this week. Now that I'm home the reality that school starts in two weeks has hit me like a brick. So much work, so little time. Can't believe my little girl is going to Kindergarten!