DIY GPS Sign

Without a cutting machine!

Hey guys! In case you haven't caught on, we're getting a new Mouse House super soon! I have been so excited. We don't close until next month, but that hasn't stopped me from making. all. the. things. The first thing I wanted to make was a GPS sign of our new house. I thought I'd add a compass rose on the sign, but decided halfway through to switch it up for the Whitman quote. Because it's perfect. I love these things, so I included affiliate links to help you find what I used.

I have a cutting machine (a silhouette cameo), but decided I didn't want to use it for this project. Sometimes dragging it out and setting it up seems like more work than necessary. It has it's uses, but today I didn't want to mess with it. And now YOU can make one too if you don't have a cut machine.

The first thing I did was go to this website to find the GPS coordinates for the new house. Easy Peasy. I typed it out in Word and picked a font that I thought was thick enough to trace.

Next I took an old piece of scrap wood and painted it brown with acrylic paint. If you stain it instead, the white acrylic paint won't stick as well. So I just used a dry brush and some brown acrylic and wiped it off with a paper towel to get a dry, wood-like look.

Then I took out my printed coordinates and quote and took some good ol' kid sidewalk chalk and chalked up the whole back of the paper. (Full disclosure, whenever my kids get sidewalk chalk I immediately take and hide the white chalk... Mom of the year here, folks!) Then I placed the paper on the wood and used a pencil to trace over my letters. This works like copy paper. Tracing the white chalk onto the brown wood.

Next I used an extra fine Sharpie Paint Pen and filled in my chalk letters. This also came in SUPER handy when writing out the quote. Just take your time.

After using the Sharpie pen, I went back over the letters with a fine brush and white acrylic paint to finish it up.

So easy! I did this whole sign in less than an afternoon (and had to chase after a few little kids while doing it... So that was fun.)

Enjoy!

Weekly Meal Plan

We have a busy week here this week (with Cor working late nights) so we have a few easy recipes for the week (here's looking at you, pizza and pasta). But we also added in a few of our favorites that have been a bit forgotten (here's looking at you, Tofu Stuffed Shells!)

(Aldi's even has VEGAN Italian sausage now!)

As always, here's links to recipes and a color coded shopping list!

Day	Dinner
M	Pasta and Sauce with Salad
T	Red Pepper Wraps
W	Tofu Stuffed Shells
R	Gumbo
F	Potato Tacos with bean dip and rice
S	Pizza
S	*New Recipe Night*

Produce Dairy Packaged Goods Spices/Sauces

M

Bag of Salad
Cucumber
Tomato
Croutons
Dressing
Bag of Pasta
Sauce

T

4 large whole wheat wraps
2 cups (or less) your favorite hummus
2-3 cups shredded lettuce
2 whole roasted red bell peppers, sliced thinly
1 cup grated carrots
1 avocado, thinly sliced
1 cup alfalfa sprouts
1 red onion, sliced

W

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1.5 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 16 ounces extra firm tofu
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
• 10 ounces frozen spinach, defrosted
• 1 box jumbo shells
• 1 jar of your favorite marinara sauce

R

3 Cups of Vegetable Broth
1 Cup of Beer (substitute broth if you do not want to use beer.)
1 Green Bell Pepper, diced
1 Yellow Onion, diced
3 Cloves of Garlic, minced
2 Celery Ribs, diced
1 Red Bell Pepper, diced
1 Can of Kidney Beans, rinsed and drained
1 Can of White Beans, rinsed and drained
1 Can of Fire Roasted Tomatoes
1 Cup of Diced Mushrooms
3 Tablespoons of Flour
1 Teaspoon of Oil
2 Bay Leaves
2 Tablespoons of Cajun Seasoning
1 Teaspoon of Liquid Smoke
2 Teaspoons of Smoked Paprika
1/2 Teaspoon of Cayenne
Veggie Sausages (optional)

F

bean dip
1 can pinto beans, drained
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1/4 cup pepper of choice (anaheim, pasilla, jalapeno, etc), chopped
1 tsp sea salt
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 Tbsp nutritional yeast (optional)
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp fresh lemon or lime juice
1 Tbsp olive oil
5 russet potatoes
salt
tortillas
tomato
avocado
Lettuce

Rice

Weekly Meal Plan

We did this really cool thing this week to save money on groceries - everyone got a stomach bug and no one ate anything... I don't recommend it. Thankfully, we're all feeling much better and we have a new plan this week that incorporates a lot of the leftover food we had hanging out in our fridge from last week.

Enjoy!

Day	Dinner
M	Veggie Burgers
T	Eggplant Parme
W	Avocado Hummus Taquitos
R	Spicy Buddha Bowl
F	Couscous Salad
S	Pasta & Sauce with Salad
S	New Night!

Produce Dairy Packaged Goods Spices/Sauces Bread

M

1 can black beans

1 egg

1 ⅓ cup panko

¼ cup chopped red onion

¼ cup chopped cilantro

2 tbsp chopped green chilies

1 tbsp fresh lime juice

¾ tsp cumin

1 large garlic clove

Salt

Pepper

Hamburger Rolls

T

1 medium eggplant

1/4 cup unbleached all purpose flour

1 cup panko breadcrumbs

2 Tbsp parm. cheese or 1 tbsp nutritional yeast

1 tsp dried oregano

1/4 tsp sea salt

1/2 cup unsweetened plain almond milk

1 tsp cornstarch

8 oz spaghetti

2 cups marinara sauce

W
2 medium avocados

8 (6 inch) flour tortillas

1 cup plain hummus

½ cup shredded pepper jack cheese (Mexican blend would also be good) or vegan cheese sauce

2 tsp. olive oil

R
1 cup Cooked Brown Rice
1 Sweet Potato, cut into large chunks
1 teaspoon Olive Oil
Salt/Pepper
1 can Organic Chickpeas, drained
1½ tablespoons Sriracha
2 teaspoons Maple Syrup
½ teaspoon Paprika
½ teaspoon Garlic Powder
Salt/Pepper

1 cup chopped Red Cabbage
1 cup Baby Spinach
1 Avocado, sliced

Turmeric Tahini Dressing:
4 Tablespoons Tahini
4 Tablespoons Warm Water
1 teaspoon Maple Syrup
¼ teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
½ teaspoon Turmeric
½ teaspoon Sriracha
Salt to taste

F
2 Cups Israeli Couscous
1 Tbs Olive Oil
1 Veggie Bullion Cube in 2 cups of Water
1/4 Red Onion, Diced
10 Greek Kalamata Olives, Diced
1/2 Cucumber, Diced

S
Bag of Salad
Cucumber
Tomato
Croutons
Dressing
Bag of Pasta
Sauce

Bread

What (our) Vegetarian Kids Eat

Whenever I show my meal plans to someone new, I usually hear something along the lines of "Your kids will eat that?"
Short answer - Usually...

Our kids don't know much about fast food and what we make is what they eat, but we do make some slight accommodations. Typically we modify whatever the meal may call for into a kid-friendly version that doesn't take any extra time to make.

A big secret to getting our kids to eat (or really any kid to eat) is to deconstruct their food. Really - they want uncomplicated dinners. I remember when we realized we could just throw cut up peppers, black beans, and some tortillas at our kids and they would gobble it up in a second instead of making beautiful, fancy fajitas that they would whine over, rip apart, and barely eat.

And honestly, it doesn't take any EXTRA work to create a deconstructed meal for them. If anything, it's like the opposite of that! It saves time (who wants to be making a ton of rolled up fajitas anyway!)

Sometimes they want to construct their food like what we are eating. Or they want to make their own version of something, and that's totally fine with us! We don't deconstruct every meal, but if it's easy to do, we work smarter - not harder. Ha!

So what do our vegetarian kids eat? Everything you see on our meal plans! In some form or another. Deconstructed or not.

We're not saying we're super parents - there's plenty of nights where our kids turn up their noses. If you ask Cam, he'll tell you he's 'allergic' or Orzo. We don't fight it. He'll make up for his lack of orzo when he eats all those sliced peppers instead. ;)