Planner/Calendar Holiday Stickers

I've always been a calendar person, I like to be able to look at our schedules at a glance and keep up with birthdays, even though I'm never good at getting cards out on time (sorry family and friends!). 

In college I was a HUGE Franklin Covey person, now I need something with a lot more function. I take a lot of notes and have a running to-do list for my job so I needed something that was dual purpose so I finally broke down and bought an Erin Condren Notebook with the added Calendar to the front. So far I am really liking it and think it will wear well, although regardless if I did like it or not I was going to use it for the money I spent for it! But I wanted to do some more stickers for the calendar pages since I'm a visual person but I didn't want to spend $3.50 on an electronic download from Etsy that I was going to have to print and cut anyway so I just made my own. 

This honestly took me all of 30 minutes to create and the best part is now I have a template that I can make other stickers in the future. These stickers will be just a little smaller than the Notebook Calendar squares because I wanted to be able to write in the spaces as well if there is another activity going on at that time. I then just print them on a Avery Sticker Sheet (mine is #15265) and cut them out with my hand Martha Stewart paper cutter I bought for wedding crafts. (Thanks to Michael's Crafts and their 40% off coupon!) 

You will notice there aren't things on mine like Back to School and Spring Break because well we don't have kids nor are we teachers,but those items could be easily added in place of our Roping stickers. 

Here is a link for a FREE download the PDF file of the stickers, or if you want the Publisher file I set up just leave your email in the comments section below and I will email it to you! 

Savory Onion Soup Pork Chops and Gravy - Sunday Suppers

This is a SUPER simple recipe that would be great for a week night or even a Sunday Supper with family or friends.

The recipe starts with bone-in pork chops, if you have a think about bone-in meet then you can use a boneless but it won't taste as good. I would go with at least an inch up to two inches, mine were 1.5. Smothered on the seasoning, threw in the crock pot with some broth, I used beef broth because I had it open from the chili I made the night before and let them cook. The key is to keep an eye on them and add more liquid as needed and to move the pork chops from standing on end to laying down half way through the cooking process.

To go along with the pork chops and gravy I made simple garlic mashed potatoes and roasted broccoli and mushrooms. You can make mashed potatoes really flavorful by adding tons of fresh garlic (I used three cloves for 3-4 small potatoes) and broth to moisten and you don't have to use as much butter and milk.

Savory Onion Soup Pork Chops and Gravy
4 bone-in pork chops, 1-2 inches thick
1 packet of Onion Soup Mix
1/2-2 cup of broth, divided (chicken or beef work fine)
2 tsp butter
3 tsp flour

Trim any excessive fat off the pork chops. Dry rub the onion soup mix all over the chops, pour any remaining soup mix in the bottom of your crockpot. Place the pork chops upright, like they are standing up on their edges leaning them against the sides or each other then add 1/2 cup of broth. Cook on low for 2-3 hours then place the pork chops in the bottom of the crock pot and stack them on top of each other and add more broth. Remember you will be using this broth to make the gravy so make sure you don't cook all the liquid out so keep adding it to the crockpot. If you feel like it is getting too rich then feel free to add a little water to balance it out. Cook the pork chops for 2-3 more hours, the meat should be falling off the bone and fork tender.

To make the gravy, pour the liquid and all the goodie from the soup mix into a liquid measuring cup. In a shallow skillet, melt the butter on medium-low heat, whisk in the flour until it forms a paste and let it cook for a couple of minutes making sure it doesn't burn. Slowly whisk in the cooking liquid from the crockpot until all lumps are gone. Turn up the heat and whisk occasionally until comes to a simmer and thickens, turn the heat to low and serve over the pork chops and mashed potatoes.