Menu Plan Monday

Oh, it is a bit late in the day, but it's a holiday, so I'm sure I can be forgiven!


We were lucky enough to be invited to a dear friend's home for swimming and a fabulous dinner on Sunday, plus we had enough leftovers for a leftovers night, so some of last's weeks meals were pushed up a couple days, and you will be seeing them again...


8th MONDAY (Labor Day)- Lunch: picnic in the park Dinner: Fish tacos with white sauce and cabbage, black beans, quesedillas for kids

9th TUESDAY (Teddy Bear Day)- Tomato Soup and grilled cheese "teddy bears" (cut with a cookie cutter), grapes

10th WEDNESDAY (TV Dinner Day)- TV Dinners all around! (So bad, I know, but Daddy will be out of town, and we funny and silly things to entertain when he travels...)

11th THURSDAY- Spaghetti and meatballs, salad, breadsticks

12th FRIDAY- Chicken strips, carrot sticks, ranch dip, fruit salad

13th SATURDAY- Pizza Night! (Usually on Friday, but moved so we can enjoy it when Daddy returns.)

14th SUNDAY- Chicken and pasta with guiltless alfredo sauce, broccoli, garlic bread

Menu Plan Monday

I have found some kindred spirits that also love to have a weeks worth (at least) of meals planned and written down and all organized. So, Laura, over at Organizing Junkie (orgjunkie.com) has started this, and I am so excited to join in! Woo-Hoo! Here's the plan for this week...



DINNERS

Monday- Orange Chicken, rice, steamed pea pods, pot stickers

Tuesday- Tamale Pie, tex-mex salad

Wednesday- Uncle Sam's B-day: Hamburgers on buns, sun chips, salad

Thursday- Crock pot night: BBQ pork strips, roasted rosemary red potatoes, cole slaw

Friday- PIZZA NIGHT!!

Saturday- Fish Tacos with white sauce and cabbage, black beans, quesedillas for kids

Sunday- Pasta with guiltless alfredo sauce, chicken strips, broccoli, bread sticks


BREAKFAST

Choice of cereal, oatmeal, homemade whole grain toaster waffles with pb&j, scrambled eggs, toast, homemade oatmeal and fruit muffins.


LUNCH

Mom and Dad mostly eat leftovers from dinner. Throw in a fruit and/or veggie, and we're good to go. Kids are the challenge...pb&j sandwiches, yogurt and granola bars, cheese and crackers, turkey or ham sandwiches for Franky, but not for Hannah.

Cheater, Cheater!

Oh, I am a cheater. I've been cheating all day long. I know that I should just work harder to stick with what I've got, but it's all so overwhelming, you know? And this other thing is just so exciting...






I'm talking about scrapbooking, what did you think I was talking about?

I got so far behind and I had no idea how I would ever catch up. I haven't done a page in nearly a year, and I still haven't finished Franky's baby book. I knew that it would take something drastic for me to ever dig out of the scrappy hole that I am in. I tried digital, but it seemed as time consuming as cropping it myself by hand. Then I found this nifty little cheating thing...Smilebox. I'm not sure how I found it, but it's connected with Hallmark. Basically, it is a digital stationery maker, plus scrapbook pages. The pages come already put together, like those kits that I never buy. You just drop your photos in, do a little journaling and hit save. I did about 20 pages this morning. It goes so fast! I am now finished with the pages that I lacked to complete my 2007 album. It's about time! At this rate, I may finish all that I need to before the free trial period is up!

Smilebox will never replace all my lovely paper and glue sticks. I love the way my layers of paper and stickers and pictures look and feel. I want to put my own time and work and creativity into our albums, but... it sure is nice to throw a few cheat sheets in here and there to help catch up!

My Rock Star

Recently, a house on our street went up for sale, and I started thinking about how I wanted someone with young kids to move in. If I really thought about it for a bit, I also hoped that the new owners would be friendly. Well, I got so much more than I even wished for. Our new neighbors have kids that are 7,5, and 2. Hannah and Franky love to play with them, and they all play together so nicely. The mom and dad of said kids are very nice people, and I have come to know that Yony (the mom) is perhaps a kindred. We have lots in common and really like spending time together. All of this is fabulous and more than I could have hoped, but there is still more!

Yony is an awesome portrait photographer. She really has a gift, and I am a huge fan. I don't know how I got so lucky, but she has taken both of my kids for portriat sessions for "practice" she says. Who am I to look a gift horse in the mouth? Franky had his taken this week, and he was feeling pretty shy. He wanted to wear his rock n' roll t-shirt and be a rock star, he just didn't want to look at the camera. When Yony asked him the name of his band, he said they were the "Love Handles." How funny is that!!?

Holidays, Special Days, and Silly Days in September

Well, in order to make meal planning fun and interesting, or sometimes to jump start my imagination, I like to plan meals around holidays and other special days. September has some good ones! Occasionally (when I am VERY organized) I get a book to read to the kids about the topic of the day. I found a book based on the song On Top of Spaghetti, and the kids loved it. I hope this gives us all some good ideas...

3rd Uncle Sam's Birthday- I was thinking of hamburgers and maybe apple pie for desert.

8th Labor Day- Last cook out of the summer, so throw whatever you like on the grill!

9th Teddy Bear Day- Maybe a Teddy Bear's picnic? Teddy grahams for a snack?

10th TV Dinner Day- This one is sooo obvious...

17th Apple Dumpling Day- Umm, Yumm! I found a recipie online that uses canned crescent rolls, which would make this so easy.

18th Rosh Hashana- Apples and honey, noodle kugel, all kinds of good stuff!

22nd First day of Autumn- I'm thinking a stew or soup or something warm from the crockpot.

23rd Pot Pie Day- easy peeasy! Have chicken, turkey or whatever kind of pot pie you like.

25th Native American Day- this might take a little research, but it would be worth it.

27th Johnny Appleseed Day- Lot's of apples this month! Applesauce, apple pie, how many ways can you serve apples? Maybe apples and sweet potatoes roasted with a pork loin?

29th Confucius Day- Maybe it's time to get some Chinese food delivered?

Well, that's what I found, and I hope it helps with the meal planning this month!

Chili Colorado (for lack of a better name)

In the interest of being frugal, I try very hard to get great deals on the groceries. A while back I got a good deal on some not great quality steaks that were pre-seasoned. I didn't want to grill them, cause I was pretty sure that they wouldn't be good enough for that, so I wrapped 'em and froze 'em. Now of course, they must be used, or that great deal is NOT a great deal, so I had to think about it a bit. This is what I came up with on the fly, and it came out to be very delicious, and B loved it. Of course he is very partial to anything that contains beef and tortillias!

Laura's Made-up Chili Colorado

2-3 not too great steaks
1 can Rotel
1 can pinto beans
1/2 onion, chopped small
1-2 tsp mexican-style chili powder

Spray your crock pot with pan spray, then throw the first four ingredients in. It's ok if the meat is still frozen. Do not drain the rotel or beans! Let it cook all day. About an hour before dinner, pull the meat out and cut into bite size pieces. Season with chili powder to taste. Serve with flour tortillias and taco fixings, or with rice.

The broth is super beefy and flavorful; I couldn't get enough of the broth, cause it was so yummy! If you try it, let me know.

Well, we have seen kind of a change in our little guy the last couple of weeks. Rather than that super-challenging, super-active, super-naughty but still my baby little guy, we are seeing this new boy in our house. He says he's going to be a good listener, and then he is. He tries to get to the door ahead of me (the big heavy storm door, mind you!) so that he can hold it open for me. He plays nicely with his sister, and the hitting-poking-pushing-swordfighting has become much less (though not entirely gone.) He picks up his toys and is eager to help set the table or put stuff in the recycle bin for me. He is generally just so darn pleasant! I'm not sure what has happened, but I am not questioning it too much. I'll just chalk it up to growth and development and hope like everything that it's not a stage that will end soon. But, I'll tell you, even if this current good behavior goes back to naughtiness, he's still my baby boy.