Menu Planning

Monday: Speghatti

 

 

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Tuesday: Bumpy Beans and Cornbread (recipe to come)

 

 

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Wednesday: Eating Out-It's the Welcome Dinner at our Pastor's home. I'm excited!

Thursday: Crockpot Chicken (recipe to come)

 

 

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Friday: Goulash

 

 

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Saturday: Leftovers

 

 

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It seems like I haven't done this in forever. I also haven't been regular at knowing what's for dinner. Thinking they go hand in hand. Lately, I've been doing the "Oh my, it's almost six! If I don't get something made soon, these kids will never get in bed!" It's not fun feeling that rushed and frustrated.

 

 

We've been busy

Just to catch up:

Monday (April 11th) we celebrated our two year anniversary.

We had a small celebratory dinner on Tuesday for our anniversary. Nothing fancy. We were going to go to the race at TMS but my head hurt (for good reason). I did have a three day weekend so that was nice. Not really sure what I did with it though, I think I slept. That's good enough for me.

My phone's dead. It's causing some minor withdrawals from social networking. Such as, can't check in at foursquare, update or check facebook, twitter, email. Without it being in my hand I kind of forget.

Warrior Dash was this past Saturday. Should have some more pics soon. Here's what I do have (taken with a phone camera, so please excuse the poor quality)

I am counting this dash as part of my The Shine Project. I've never been in any race like this before (or anything past 8th grade cross country for that matter). It was awesome and painful and one of the best things I've ever done. Couldn't have finished without the people I ran with. Love ya'll (Olivia, Matt, and Ian)! We all worked hard for our "free beer", medal, shirt, viking hat, and handlebar moustaches! We'll they forgot to give us the last item.

My nose. It's still pretty painful. The swelling has gone down. I no longer look like an avatar. I did have a nice black eye (or two) for a bit. Most of the coloring from those are gone (or easily covered). I am sad to say that when I played softball last Friday night I was pretty scared that I would get hit in the face again. So I let the ball go over my head. Twice. I'd have updated pictures but my phone sucks.

I had plans of decorating and preparing and teaching for Easter. That didn't happen. I have been able to get Kinzey to learn a few things as we read through her and Houston's bible.

"Baby Jesus is the saviour" (saviour sounds like salve your)

"Baby Jesus' mommy is Mary."

"Baby Jesus' daddy is God."

"Baby Jesus' other daddy is Joseph." (Joseph sounds like Joe-suess)

They're pretty nifty to pull out at parties to make mommy and daddy proud.

3in30 Goals:

1. Read the bible every day: I think I've only missed this past Saturday. Doing great so far, and even hubby jumped on the bandwagon!

2. Run 4x+ a week. Didn't happen. At all. In face the ONLY running I've done so far was at Warrior Dash. Bad Cris!

3. Catch up on The Shine Project challenges. It will happen! Probably.

 

Meal Planning

Before I begin today's post, I just want to say thank you to my new followesr and my old. I love all the comments I get on my blog website and on my facebook page. Your kind words help get me through the day.

I've been lacking lately on the meal planning, as well as falling behind in my house cleaning. A few hard hits in the past couple of weeks have knocked me down, but it's time to pull myself back up.

Sunday: Baked Chicken and Sweet Potatos

Monday: Winger Crock Pot Chicken and French Fries

Tuesday: Pizza Rolls and Salads

Wednesday: Crock Pot Venison

Thursday: Cod Filets and Rice Pilaf

Friday: Mac and Cheese Casserole

Saturday: Mini Chicken Pot Pies

To Do:

• Sort through the kids clothes, make an inventory list of spring/summer clothes we need to obtain
• Run
• Pray
• Spend time in God's word every day

What we really ate

Tuesday: Chicken baja Tacos
Kinzey helped me make this dinner and it was super easy, too! I'll have to do a recipe post about this next time we make it!
Wednesday: Chicken Fried Venison and Navy Beans

I made grease gravy! First time to not burn it or end up with lumpy stuff! It was soo good! This entire meal took about an hour (plus beans in crock pot) to make and about .025 seconds to disappear. I think they liked it!

Thursday: Salmon Croquettes Jason's Deli

I went to yoga at 6:30, and hubby worked out while I was in the class. Neither of us felt like cooking after that.

Friday: Taco Salads

Even though I forgot to buy the taco bowls because well, did you read my things to never do? I forgot them, okay? Hubby still picked some up while he was at work and made this for us!

Saturday: Date Night

Well, it's tonight and I still don't know what we are going to do. We do have a soccer game, birthday present shopping (HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY GREGGORY! CAN'T WAIT FOR YOUR PARTY TOMORROW!), cars and coffee (hubby's teamdriven stuff), and laundry on the agenda for today.
I also need to post tot school from this week, but was having trouble with pictures and such this week, sorry about that!

Meal Planning

So last night we had Chicken Baja Tacos. They were AWESOME.

The rest of the week should be great, too:

Wednesday: Chicken Fried Venison and Navy Beans

Thursday: Salmon Croquettes

Friday: Taco Salads

Saturday: Date Night

Two quick notes before I sign off:

• NEVER under any circumstances, take two tired two year olds grocery shopping. Even when you  have an adult-child ratio of 1:1.
• Kinzey amazes me with her memory. I read her bible stories every night at bedtime, and yesterday when we were doing school she goes: "You love me?" "Yes." "God loves me too!" "Yes he does!" "God's Jesus's daddy!" Couldn't melt my heart more.

Menu for this week

Sunday: Tailgating!

Monday: Mini Chicken Pot Pies
Tuesday: Crockpot Venison
Wednesday: Orange Tempura Chicken and Rice
Thursday: Navy beans and corn bread
Friday: Leftovers
Saturday: Date Night

What we really ate last week

So, I don't know about you but I like going back through the past week to see where I stayed on track, where I detoured, and where I need to make improvements. What do you thin of these posts?

Sunday: Chicken Taco Bake

We had Chicken Taco Bake. It needed a little more salsa, but it was easy to make and healthy all around.

Monday: Pulled Pork Tacos

Yum! Game night was awesome with pulled pork tacos (Hubby cooked everything) and homemade queso. Smaller crowd this week, so that will help with the left overs plan. I also sent some left over pot roast home with the college couple that joins us.

Tuesday: Left Overs

Thawed out potato soup. Great on the snow/ice day we had. Hubby still had to work, but everyone else was pretty much home. Also enjoyed some hot chocolate and coffee with my neighbor Ansley.

Wednesday: Cream of Chicken Casserole

Again, I stuck to the plan and made this. Yummy stuff and so simple to make!

Thursday: Shrimp Chowder

I'm doing great this week with my planning! I made this and it was fabulous! It was so close to the shrimp chowder they have at Abuelo's! Very heavy and rich so not something that my waist line needs every week, but a great indulgence!


Friday: Crock Pot Chicken

One whole week of sticking to the plan! I'm proud of myself (is that okay to say?)! It may be in part to the fact that we are stuck inside but I don't care.


Saturday: Date Night

Aaron had to work, so the rest of us had leftovers. I think the chicken was even better the second time around!

Menu Plan

Little late posting this, but oh well.

Sunday: Chicken Taco Bake
Monday: Pulled Pork Tacos
Tuesday: Left Overs
Wednesday: Cream of Chicken Casserole
Thursday: Shrimp Chowder
Friday: Crock Pot Chicken
Saturday: Date Night

Nothing too special this week. Just trying to get motivated to want to cook again. It's hard with hubby only working the night shifts right now. We'll get into the groove of this yet.

What We Really Ate #2

Sunday: Shrimp Gumbo
So instead of cooking, I took a nap. I mean did you see that refrigerator before and after? I was exhausted! So I mixed a box of scalloped potato mix with some frozen turkey meatballs. It was pretty great actually!

Monday: Mexican Stuffed Shells
Mexican goulash? We didn't get large enough shells to stuff, so everything got mixed together instead of stuffed into some shells. It was still pretty awesome and everyone at game night loved it too!

Tuesday: Hamburger & Fries
So I ended up rearranging our week. Kinzey and I ended up having some cream of chicken soup because she wasn't feeling good. (Having deja vu, because I could have sworn I already wrote this day down). I also spent the day looking for hubby's champion Green Bay hat, and buying the cute necklaces you see in the Challenge 21 post here.

Wednesday: Breakfast for Dinner

We had hamburger and fries, my mother in law ate with us, and Aaron got to learn how to make hamburger patties the way I make them. Nothing special (my way of making them, not the dinner).

Thursday: Turkey Spaghetti and Salad

Kinzey and I had leftovers since hubby was at work, and I was organizing all day. Hopefully, have the results for you soon!

Friday: Pulled Pork Tacos

Well, we never actually picked up the pork for this recipe. So, again gunny was at work so Kinzey and I sandwiches for dinner. I always forget how much I love toasted peanut butter!

Saturday: Date Night

While I did finally finish my challenges, I still didn't cook. We had Wendy's for dinner. Frostys too!

This week's to do list!

• Hubby's closet
• Clean off the front porch
• Find tension rods that are the correct size this time!
• Find/Make small curtains for entertainment center

What We really Ate...and To Do

Sunday: Lemon Garlic Shrimp & Grits
Sunday we really had this, and it was awesome. The grits were interesting, and I did add cayenne so the kids wouldn't have been able to eat this (Kinzey got pre-cayenne'd shrimp) without modification. Everyone loved it!

Monday: Chicken Taco Bake
Monday we had frozen lasagna. Not because the Chicken Taco Bake was too hard or anything, I just completely forgot to defrost it. Oops!

Tuesday: Italian Baked Chicken & Pastina
This was my favorite from last week! It was amazing, and still tasted great for lunch on Friday!

Wednesday: Zucchini Stew
So hubby and I didn't have any kids. I forgot to make this in the crock pot, another oops for me this week. We skipped eating at home and went to Simply Burger. I tired sweet potato fries for the first time, and did not like them. Fail. Plus, this place was way too expensive for a burger joint.

Thursday: Shrimp and Corn Chowder
My parents came over for dinner this night. My mom had told me Wednesday that she didn't eat chowder. So I decided to make the Zucchini Stew. Big mistake, I added the rice to the slow cooker and let it cook for the entirety (about six-eight hours) and it turned into mush. I also didn't add salt and pepper to try and cut back, which made it bland. Another fail for this week.

Friday: Leftovers
Friday we went out to eat with one of our friends to Genghis Grill. Another place I think is too expensive, but the food was at least great!

Saturday: Date Night
Another night out, but this time with the girls We went to Panda Express (guess we were in the mood for Chinese this week?) and it wasn't too expensive, tasted great.

So last week, we ate out more than we should have due to some laziness on my part. Husband starts training for a new position this week (yay!) so he schedule has changed to nights now (boo!). Our approach to meal planning might also change, we'll see.

So today is game night at the house. Tomorrow I have a few things I need to get done besides the regular cleaning. To get caught up on the 21 day organization challenge I have today's challenge of organizing my pictures, and one from last week of organizing mementos. So here's my to do list (sans any new organization challenges):

• Organize Mementos
• Organize Photos
• Organize Deep Freeze
• Organize Aaron's Closet
• Organize Aaron's Dresser
• Start on my craft area (this area holds my mementos and photos)
• Take donation items to Good Will and Crib to Mother In Laws.

I'll keep this post updated with my progress, even if I don't get around to posting pictures.

Menu Plan for the week of Jan 23-29

Another week of menu's for the Nonstop. family!

Sunday: Shrimp Gumbo
Monday: Mexican Stuffed Shells
Tuesday: Hamburger & Fries
Wednesday: Breakfast for Dinner
Thursday: Turkey Spaghetti and Salad
Friday: Pulled Pork Tacos
Saturday: Date Night

Can't wait for Friday! Those are awesome!

Menu Plan for the week of Jan 16-22

So I usually write down a meal plan. Right now I have written down from now to Jan 30th. (If you say my weekly calendar it would make sense to stop on a Sunday, it's an academic calendar from Five Star)

I don't always stick to it. Trying more in 2011 right? I think if I put it down here we will be more accountable. Plus it might give me a reason to post a recipe IF someone asks for it after seeing here.

Sunday: Lemon Garlic Shrimp & Grits
Monday: Chicken Taco Bake
Tuesday: Italian Baked Chicken & Pastina
Wednesday: Zucchini Stew
Thursday: Shrimp and Corn Chowder
Friday: Leftovers
Saturday: Date Night

Let me explain our schedule a bit so you can see where I'm planning longer meals, etc. Sundays I am home all day with the kids. The kids love to help make dinner. So besides trying to make a great Sunday dinner for the entire family, I also need something the kids will be able to help with. Monday's are the beginning of the week here and I am at work all day. It's usually a long one. I try to make this easy so that if I need Aaron to start it he can. We also have game night on Monday's and company comes over, so it needs to be something more than just our family can eat. Tuesday's and Thursday's I'm home most of the day (sans errands or minor work meetings) I'm mostly at home. So I try to find something I haven't tried before and make that, that way if it messes up, I usually know by six and can pull out some leftovers or a box of mac n cheese. Wednesday's are similar to Mondays. Friday's, Aaron has what he and his guy friends call Woo Night. Which means I'll have a bunch of hungry guys over, where I can either unload all my leftovers, throw something quick together. We also can pick something up. Saturday will always be date night in my mind. The only thing this means is "I don't want to plan anything AND I'm NOT cooking." So we could also rename it to fend for yourself. The weekends are always so busy that if I tried to plan something it would spoil while it was thawing out. So nope, not gonna try. This will adapt in the fall and when we have sports practices etc. But for now this is how I plan my meals. We go grocery shopping once a week (I try for one every other week, just depends on how fast certain things get gone). I don't plan breakfasts or lunches. If we have leftovers those are Aaron's lunches the next day and I eat lean cuisines. The kids buy or eat whatever I toss to them on the way out the door.