What We're Eating 6/4/12-6/10/12

I don't know where in the world I've been for the past two months!  I've been planning, but not always following my plans, and really, I've been feeling a bit like it just doesn't really matter.  It's been beautiful outside and I've been leaning towards having dinner on the grill.  Plus, it's hard to sit down every few weeks and decide what I'm going to cook ahead of time and it doesn't help that I've been in a bit of a rut and not much has appealed to me.  Whine, whine, whine!  We've had hot dogs and watermelon for dinner more times that I'd like to admit over the past few weeks.  At least the boys have been pleased!

One beautiful day last week, while the boys were playing outside and Chris was doing yard work, I sat on the deck with my recipe binder and a giant stack of Taste of Home/Healthy Cooking magazines and pulled out every recipe that looked good at that moment.  I ended up with 28 recipes.  A few days later, I sat down and plugged all of those meals into a plan for the entire month of June.  I doubt I'll do that again, but at least June will be a little easier. ;)

Monday
L: Grilled Cheese, Veggie Sticks, Watermelon
D: Blueberry Orange Pancakes, Fruit Salad

Tuesday
L: Leftover Pancakes, Bacon, Fruit Salad
D: Slow Cooker Orange Chicken, Brown Rice, Carrots

Wednesday
L: Leftover Chicken
D: Egg Sandwiches, Watermelon (to go - Charlie has an end-of-the-year show for school)

Thursday
L: PB&J, Cucumber Sticks, Cantaloupe
D: Linguine with Walnut Sage Pesto (using sage from my garden!)

Friday
L: Leftovers
D: Homemade Steak & Cheese Subs, Veggie Sticks (quick & easy after t-ball practice)

Saturday
L: Hot Dogs, Macaroni & Cheese, Watermelon
D: Basil-Orange Chicken (using basil from my garden!), Couscous, Sugar Snap Peas

Sunday
L: Leftovers
D: Southwest Steak, Crispy Potato Cubes, Fiesta Corn

For more menu planning inspiration, visit I'm an Organizing Junkie.

March Recap

"The habit of judging ourselves severely disguises itself as an attempt to help us to live better lives and to be better people, but in actuality the habit of judging winds up functioning as an irrational tyrant that can never be satisfied."
The Mindful Way through Depression -
Mark Williams, John Teasdale, Zindel Segal & Jon Kabat-Zinn

March was not the best month, and I've been reflecting on the quote above quite often. We began the month with a 5-day visit from the Noro virus. I knew it was coming (we had friends who had it days after we were with them), and my stomach was not right for weeks after we had recovered. The sickness destroyed my exercise streak, which in turn destroyed my positive mental state. There were far too many days without a workout, meditation or fruits and veggies. I've been quite critical of myself in every way possible, and the criticism is not helping me in any way. I've attempted to find some positive aspects of this ordeal. I did lose a few pounds thanks to the Noro and just how much my mood is linked to exercise was also strongly reinforced.

There were a few fun things that took place in March. I was able to pull off a surprise diaper party disguised as a play date for a girlfriend who is due any day now. (And not a single picture was taken!) We had a great family cookout during a week of amazingly warm weather, and a wonderful lunch was enjoyed at Pickity Place in celebration of my birthday and my college roommate's birthday (the day before mine) as we enter the last year of our 20s (not such a positive event!).

We're only a few days in, but April has been shaping up to be a bit better than March. We had a great Easter dinner with family last weekend, and we have a date (love gift certificates) and a family outing planned for this coming weekend. The exercise is back on track, and the boys have been sleeping really well and really late. Chris and I were up before them both on Saturday morning (never happens), and they both slept until 8am on Monday! Woohoo! I so hope I didn't just jinx myself by mentioning this!

I finished four books in March which puts my total at 16 for the year.

Tana French - Faithful Place
Jennifer Haigh - Faith
Joanne Harris - Five Quarters of the Orange (Library Bookclub pick) - LOVED it
Jodi Picoult - Salem Falls

What We're Eating 4/9/12-4/15/12

Last week's meals were pretty tasty! We love the coconut crusted chicken strips - I need to make some ahead of time to put in the freezer. The boys both enjoy them, and it'd be nice to have some homemade nuggets on hand when we need a quick option for lunch or dinner.

Meal planning has been going so well this year, but I need to start planning something different for the weekends. By the time Friday rolls around, I have little interest in cooking. Maybe I need to start planning crockpot meals that I can start early Friday morning? Any ideas for easy meals? This Friday, we ended up at Friendly's for dinner, and on Saturday night, we cooked up some ravioli with red sauce as an easy option.

Our contributions to Easter dinner were Paula Deen's Pineapple Casserole (sounds so weird, but tastes so good), Coconut Cream Cupcakes and Lemon Cookies with White Chocolate.

Tonight, Master Charles ate a few bites of stuffed peppers. I prepped him ahead of time, telling him that it was a new meal, and he only had to eat a few bites. Same rule as always: if he didn't like it, he could have something else (aka a bowl of cereal). I put four small bites on his plate, and he ate the first one pretty quickly. He hardly tasted it before he told us he didn't like it, but we've learned to read him and could tell he liked it (and he hadn't had enough time to taste it to decide he didn't like it). He ended up finishing the four bites, and we let him move on to a bowl of cereal when he didn't want to try any more. We are so happy that we continue to make progress with this. I'm also quite amused that several of the meals he's liked have been atypical meals.


Monday
L: English Muffin Pizzas
D: Peppers Stuffed with Cranberry Bulgur

Tuesday
L: Leftover Peppers, PB&J, Melon
D: Cranberry Stuffed Pork Chops, Leftover Pineapple Casserole, Broccoli

Wednesday
L: Grilled Cheese, Apple Slices
D: Asian Beef with Noodles

Thursday
L: Leftover Asian Beef with Noodles
D: Split Pea Soup with Ham (so, so, so excited!!!!)

Friday
L: Leftover Soup
D: Ham & Swiss Egg Sandwiches, Fruit Salad

Saturday
L: Leftovers
D: Date Night at Mile Away

Sunday
L: Lunch at the Made in NH Expo
D: Spaghetti with Meatballs, French Twists

For more menu planning inspiration, visit I'm an Organizing Junkie.

What We're Eating 4/2/12-4/8/12

I have sad news. We didn't like the Spinach & Ricotta Lasagna Rolls from Jamie Cooks it Up. I've tried several recipes from this site and have loved them all, but this one just didn't do it for us. It wasn't awful, but it's not a meal we'd make again. The recipe didn't specify fresh or frozen spinach, but I had frozen on hand so that's what I used. We like spinach, but that's all we could taste! I like the lasagna rolls idea, but I would use a different filling recipe if I were to make them again.

The rest of the meals from last week were hits. (Although we subbed hot dogs on the grill with a side of frozen French fries for the Asian Chicken with Gingered Veggies Thursday night - I didn't feel like cooking.) We were pleasantly surprised to watch the boys gobble up pork chops and hot dogs (2 for Isaac!). Isaac normally won't touch pork chops, and neither of them would touch hot dogs until a few weeks ago. We're making progress!

In my hurried post last week, I forgot to mention that I will never again buy beets. We used them in the Baked Veggie Chips recipe a few weeks ago and were not fans. Chris said they tasted the way corn husks smell, and I kept taking bites to see if the taste might improve. Sadly, it did not, and the beets tainted the taste of the sweet potatoes and regular potatoes also used in the recipe. I've been told we might like them cooked another way, but after this experience, I'm not sure I'm willing to try. Blech!


Monday
L: Leftover Lasagna
D: Coconut Crusted Chicken Strips, Mashed Potatoes, Snow Peas

Tuesday
L: Leftover Chili
D: Bacon, Cheese & Potato Chowder, Ciabatta Bread

Wednesday
L: Leftover Chowder
D: Apple-Glazed Pork Chops, Brown Rice, Carrots

Thursday
L: PB&J, Apple Slices
D: Easy Beef Stroganoff

Friday
L: Leftover Stroganoff
D: Lemon-Pepper Tilapia, Lemon-Dill Potatoes, Lemon Green Beans

Saturday
L: Leftovers
D: Saucy Parmesan Chicken, Egg Noodles, Peas

Sunday
EASTER

For more menu planning inspiration, visit I'm an Organizing Junkie. After reading Laura's menu plan for this week, I'm going to have to plan to make Shepherd's Pie soon! One of my favorites!

What We're Eating 3/26/12-4/1/12

We've got nothing exciting this week. Our menu is almost the same as last week's....last week was so beautiful, we changed up the menu a bit so we could use the grill. There were 5 meals I was able to plug into this week's menu. Ooops. :)



Monday
L: Leftovers
D: Homemade Pizza (dough in freezer)

Tuesday
L: Leftover Pizza
D: Lasagna at Mum's

Wednesday
L: Hamburger Soup (freezer)
D: Simple Sweet Pork Chops, Sweet Potato Fries, Broccoli

Thursday
L: PB&J, Cucumber Sticks
D: Asian Chicken with Gingered Veggies

Friday
L: Calico Beans (freezer)
D: White Bean & Chicken Chili

Saturday
L: Leftover Chili
D: Pancakes (freezer), Fruit

Sunday
L: Leftovers
D: Spinach & Ricotta Lasagna Rolls, French Twists

For more menu planning inspiration, visit I'm an Organizing Junkie.

What We're Eating 3/19/12-3/25/12

I almost forgot to post!

Last week was another low-key week apart from a family cookout yesterday with my stepdad's side of the family. And what a beautiful day for a cookout! We had a bunch of appetizers, steak tips, hot dogs, Cheddar Bacon Penne, salad and some pretty amazing cupcakes (an early birthday celebration) that I would definitely make again - Coconut Cream Cupcakes. Yum, yum, yum! The highlight of the cookout (apart from Bruce not having had a cigarette in 5 (I think) days - woohoo!!!) was watching my children (more Isaac than Charlie) eat the same meal as us! Isaac chowed down on the steak tips. So awesome!

The only meal we missed last week was our St. Patrick's Day dinner. We started the day with a somewhat themed breakfast - we had chocolate chip scones with Emerald Mint Milkshakes. Ice cream for breakfast! LOL The crazy part is that the boys didn't even finish their milk shakes! They probably would have eaten more of a green smoothie if I'd had anything in the house to make a green smoothie. For dinner, we had planned to make a Beef & Stout Stew with Irish Soda Bread and Baileys Cookies but were too busy running errands (needed to get some Stout and some Baileys among other things) and got distracted spending some time with my mom/stepdad/sister and then my dad/stepmom and didn't get home early enough to cook the stew for three hours. Oh well!

I ended up getting a little creative and used the stew meat that I had thawed for Saturday today in our French Dip sandwiches. It was a bit of a pain to shred the tiny cubes of beef, but the sandwiches were delicious (as always). Our little meat-lover Isaac ate a bit of his sandwich, too. He was so cute with his little hands and his big fat sandwich!

A mentionable meal from last week was Thursday's Chicken Enchilada Soup. My sour-cream-hating hubby had two big bowls and he requested this soup for our next family night - you'll have to try it before then, Sara and Molly, and see what you think! We'll have to plan a Mexican feast this time. ;)

Jamie Cooks It Up has not failed me yet! The Coconut Cream Cupcakes were from her website, too. Loved them!

This week, we'll be eating...

Monday
L: Grilled Cheese/Cucumber Sticks (boys); Ham & Cheese Sandwich with Leftover Cheddar Bacon Penne (Chris); Leftover Salad and Leftover Cheddar Bacon Penne (me)
D: French Dip Sandwiches, Red/Yellow Pepper Strips, Coconut Cream Cupcakes

Tuesday
L: PB&J, Grapes
D: Rosemary Shrimp with Spaghetti

Wednesday
L: Leftover French Dips with Mashed Potatoes
D: Simple Sweet Pork Chops, Sweet Potato Fries, Broccoli

Thursday - My Birthday!
L: PB&J, Cucumber Sticks
D: Spinach & Ricotta Lasagna Rolls (I plan to freeze half), French Twists (bread machine)

Friday
L: Leftover Lasagna
D: Homemade Pizza (dough from freezer)

Saturday
L: Leftover Pizza
D: Asian Chicken with Gingered Veggies

Sunday
L: Leftovers
D: White Bean & Chicken Chili

For more menu planning inspiration, visit I'm an Organizing Junkie.

What We're Eating 3/12/12-3/18/12

We had a pretty low-key week last week with not much on the calendar. Apart from the normal schedule of school and story time at the library, Isaac and I took a trip to Walmart, we signed Charlie up for t-ball and then we spent the majority of the weekend at home (even though I was dying to get out of here) so Chris could boil sap to make more maple syrup. (We unfortunately have nothing to show for all of the boiling Chris did on Sunday because it was so windy that his pot was knocked over and spilled everything inside. Horrible!)

The only exciting thing that happened last week (exciting to me, anyway) was that I did a lot of organizing and some spring cleaning. I cleaned out and rearranged my baking cabinet and several other kitchen cabinets (so excited about the new stands I got to hold all of my pans - LOVE them!), my junk drawer and utensil drawer, the craft/game closet (finally found the bag of Campbell's Labels for Education and box tops that I'd been looking for over the past two weeks), the bathroom cabinets and the rack going down to our basement. I wish I had before and after pictures - what a difference! I also washed the kitchen floor, washed windows and picture frames and cleaned the ceiling fan and lights in the bedrooms. I tossed some junk, re-purposed some items and put a few things aside for if we ever hold the yard sale we've been talking about for a few years now. What a freeing feeling! I have a few more projects in mind for this week. ;)


Monday
L: PB&J, Apple (Chris, Isaac)/Mac&Cheese, Grapes (Charlie, me)
D: Rib Eyes, Egg Noodles, Green Beans, Biscuits (from freezer)

Tuesday
L: Leftovers (Chris)/PB&J, Grapes
D: Applesauce Glazed Pork Chops, Rice, Honey-Glazed Carrots

Wednesday
L: Grilled Cheese, Carrot Sticks
D: Hawaiian Beef Burgers, Baked Veggie Chips

Thursday
L: Leftover Burgers
D: Chicken Enchilada Soup

Friday
L: Leftover Soup
D: Chicken Cordon Bleu, Egg Noodles, Broccoli

Saturday - St. Patrick's Day
L: Leftover Soup
D: Irish Beef & Stout Stew, Irish Soda Bread, Baileys Cookies

Sunday
L: Leftover Stew
D: Cheddar Bacon Penne, Parmesan Zucchini

For more menu planning inspiration, visit I'm an Organizing Junkie.

February Recap

February didn't go as smoothly as January because of a trip to DHMC and a visit from a nasty stomach bug, but I'm going strong with my goals and Charlie's doing well with trying new foods. We had broccoli several times and he just pops it in his mouth!

To start, my goals were as follows:
-Meditate for 20 minutes every day
-Exercise for 30 minutes every day
-Drink at least 2 Nalgene bottles (roughly 10 glasses of water) every day
-Eat at least 5 servings of fruits and veggies every day (still one of the harder goals)

I've also added two smaller goals:
-Write down 3 things I am grateful for every day
-Write down 1 positive event from the last 24 hours

I attended the Second Sunday Sit at my yoga studio at the beginning of the month and my instructor mentioned a video she had recently seen about training your brain to be more positive. She later emailed us a link to the video (which is pretty funny). The speaker, Shawn Achor, believes there are five ways to train your brain to be more positive: write down three things you are grateful for daily, journal about one positive experience in the past 24 hours, exercise, meditate and perform a random act of kindness (he suggests sending off a quick email praising or thanking someone in your social network).

Exercise (which I can never spell correctly - I always use a z) and meditation are already a part of my daily routine. Keeping a gratitude journal is something I've seen pop up several times in the past year so I decided to make use of one of the old journals I had tucked away in my desk drawer. I've missed a few days, but I'm really enjoying reviewing my day by writing down three things I'm grateful for and one positive event from that day. I do it after I meditate and it takes less than five minutes out of my day. Although my journal is pretty short right now, it's been fun to look back at other days and see what I've written. I'm looking forward to seeing it at the end of the year.

I completed 7 books in February which puts my total at 12 so far this year.

February
Stacy Hawkins Adams - The Someday List (Mommy Bookclub pick) (not a fan)
Laurie Halse Anderson - Speak
Margaret Atwood - The Handmaid's Tale
Tatiana de Rosnay - A Secret Kept
Darien Gee - Friendship Bread (Library Bookclub pick) (fun fluffy read)
Jodi Picoult - Change of Heart
Alexandra Ripley - Scarlett (loved it)

What We're Eating 3/5/12-3/11/12

Our family has been a mess over the past five days.

On Wednesday night, Isaac was fussy at dinnertime. We figured he was tired and Chris was going to bring him down to the bedroom to get ready for bed. Chris stood up and Isaac puked all over Chris and the dining room floor. (Thankfully, we were done eating dinner.) We spent the rest of that night and most of Thursday fighting Isaac to puke into the puke bucket that he wanted nothing to do with and hoping he wouldn't choke during the breath-holding spells he had because he did not like puking. (Not that I blame him.) Isaac and I spent the next two nights camped out on his bedroom floor while Charlie slept in the living room and Chris in bed. We thought we were on the mend until Charlie and Chris came home from a quick shopping trip for supplies on Friday afternoon. Charlie was fine throughout the two stores they went to and was fine in the car. Five minutes (seriously) after they got home, Charlie destroyed the couch and we started all over again.

Chris and I were hoping we would make it through without catching the bug but knew the odds of that were pretty low. The house reeked of bleach, the washing machine had been running pretty much non-stop, and my hands were (still are) red and bleeding from being washed so many times, but we both had the bug on Saturday. We've done a lot of sleeping, reading, watching TV, changing diapers and emptying puke buckets over the past five days. The only good thing to come out of this bug was that I lost almost 4 pounds on my steady diet of toast and Jello! Ha! ;) After four nights on the floor with Isaac, I was finally able to sleep in my own bed next to my husband last night.

And now we go from puking to meal planning..... :)

Times like this make me so grateful for my menu plan and even more grateful that I've been planning two weeks at a time. This stomach bug's timing worked out because I don't think I could have handled looking at recipes this weekend. Even better, I had planned a bunch of freezer meals for this week so I don't have too much cooking to do. And, the next time I plan will be a little easier because we missed a few meals over the weekend.


Monday
L: Leftover Soup/Grilled Cheese, Grapes
D: Macaroni & Tomato Casserole (freezer), Biscuits

Tuesday
L: PB&J, Pepper Slices, Chips
D: Pretzel Crusted Chicken Strips, Rice, Green Beans

Wednesday
L: Leftover Chicken Strips & Rice, Apple Slices
D: Turkey Tetrazzini (freezer)

Thursday
L: Calico Beans (freezer)
D: Chicken & Cheese Rice Bake (slightly modified)

Friday
L: Leftover Rice Bake
D: Baked Potatoes (maybe in the crock pot?)

Saturday
L: PB&J, Grapes
D: Rib Eyes, Egg Noodles, Honey-Glazed Carrots, Biscuits (I froze a few uncooked biscuits tonight - they're best fresh out of the oven)

Sunday
L: Leftovers
D: Overnight Hash Brown Egg Casserole

For more menu planning inspiration, visit I'm an Organizing Junkie.

What We're Eating 2/27/12-3/4/12

Last week was a a bit of a wash in terms of goals. Our appointment at Dartmouth last Wednesday went very well, but it messed with my schedule. I missed several days of meditation (4!) and I'm feeling it. Friday night was a blast, but otherwise, I didn't have the best weekend - I think I enjoyed a few too many glasses of wine Friday night. My body was sore and tired, and I was pretty cranky. Chris actually told me to go back to bed Saturday morning. Ooops! :(

The weather last week was nice enough that the boys and I were able to get outside for a long walk with my dad early in the week; we also did quite a bit of walking at the hospital on Wednesday. Our trip to Dartmouth was Isaac's first ever time having Chris and I all to himself and he was such a good boy! We were able to keep him awake on the ride up (a steady supply of pretzels and conversation hearts helped) and he had fun exploring David's House. At the beginning of the EEG, he did NOT want to have anything to do with being on the bed. We had to hold him down but once the tech started marking his head for the electrodes, he settled down. It probably felt like a little head massage. Luckily, he was pretty sleepy and he did fall asleep for the second half of his test. He was so cute in his head wrappings, but it kinda looked like he had a head injury!

His EEG readings were all normal and the doctor gave us some more information on his breath-holding. It's a lot more common than we realized! The doctor said it normally starts around 18 months when kids are learning to speak and assert their independence. It normally ends by 6 years old! Yikes! We're hoping that Isaac may stop sooner, and the doctor indicated that might be the case, because he started the breath-holding earlier (around 12 months) and has been a little more advanced with his speech.

The doctor asked if anyone in the the family has a history of fainting easily or has problems with fainting or getting light-headed at the sight of blood or when having blood drawn. Poor Chris! We're joking that Isaac's breath-holding is all his fault. He tends to pass out when he has blood drawn and has passed out after a few injuries. The doctor indicated that the breath-holding and easy fainting are related - it had something to do with blood flow to the brain. Isaac and Charlie (who also passes out, just not to the extent that Isaac does) will probably have the same issue when they're older.

The appointment was very informative and it was nice to speak with an expert in seizure disorders. I'm glad we made the appointment, but I'm also glad it's over!

For this week, the meal planning continues. Woohoo! I'm trying to keep our grocery bill down and I'm also trying to use up food we have in the cupboards and the freezer. This week's menu is made up of meals that mainly use up what we already have here. I won't have to do much shopping other than cheese and a few perishables. Next week's menu is similar, but I've also planned in some freezer meals so we can eat some of the meals I've already prepared. It seems to be getting easier the more I menu plan, but I don't want to jinx myself either!

Monday
L: Leftover Chicken Parmesan
D: Cheesy Baked Ravioli

Tuesday
L: Leftover Ravioli
D: Potato Spinach Sausage Casserole

Wednesday
L: Leftover Casserole
D: Roasted Shrimp & Broccoli, Corn

Thursday
L: Leftover Casserole/PB&J, grapes, chips
D: Easy Italian Stew

Friday
L: Leftover Stew
D: Peppers Stuffed with Cranberry Bulgur

Saturday
L: Leftover Stuffed Peppers
D: White Bean & Chicken Chili
Sunday
L: Leftovers/PB&J, melon
D: Leftover Chili

For more menu-planning inspiration, visit I'm an Organizing Junkie.

What We're Eating 2/20/12-2/26/12

When I planned this week's menu, I made sure to make it easy for a few reasons: I have several meals in the freezer than need to be eaten, I want to have an inexpensive grocery week and we'll be taking Isaac up to Dartmouth for an EEG on Wednesday morning. He had a 3rd seizure a few months ago and although we're 99% sure it's because of his breath holding spells, we decided that we want to get him checked out. The last seizure was a lot longer than the others and it scared me pretty badly. He went through so much in the first few weeks of his life during his battle with RSV and pneumonia, including a collapsed lung as the doctors tried to intubate him in the emergency room, that we sometimes worry that there could be some something wrong that we aren't aware of. I would rather find out now and do what can be done to fix it than have something happen later in his life and blame myself for not getting him checked.

Isaac has to stay awake two hours later than normal the night before the EEG and we need to wake him 2 hours earlier than normal that morning (so he's tired during the test and will hopefully fall asleep); I can't imagine trying to keep him awake on the 2-hour car ride, so we'll be spending the night near DHMC and Auntie George will spend the night with Charlie.


Monday
L: Leftover Sesame Chicken
D: Stuffed Shells (from freezer), rolls

Tuesday
L: PB&J, Chips, Apple Slices
D: Macaroni & Cheese for Charlie; Take-out for us - We'll be on our way to DHMC

Wednesday
L: Lunch at DHMC
D: Take-out - Not sure what time we'll be back from DHMC

Thursday
L: PB&J, Grapes, Cheese
D: Hamburger Soup (from freezer)

Friday
L: Leftover Soup
D: Dinner at Sara's! Woohoo!

Saturday
L: Leftover Soup
D: Homemade Pizza (dough in freezer)

Sunday
L: Leftovers
D: Crockpot Chicken Parmesan, Green Beans

For more menu-planning inspiration, visit I'm an Organizing Junkie.

What We're Eating 2/13/12-2/19/12

This week and next week's menus were the easiest menus I have ever planned! We missed so many meals last week that I was able to fill a few days this week and I planned a few freezer meals for next week.

I haven't uploaded any pictures to the computer yet, but Isaac turned two on Saturday! We had family over to celebrate and had such a fun time. We had both sides of my family (my parents are divorced), as well as my grandmother (the boys' great-grandmother), Chris' mom, Chris' older sister and her son who is 15 days younger than Isaac. I made pizza dough and we supplied sauce and cheese but asked everyone to bring whatever toppings they wanted with them. We ended up with some great pizzas!

I am so grateful that I have the ability to stay at home with my boys and to witness every aspect of their growth. There was so much I missed in Charlie's first two years but I didn't realize it until I was home with Isaac.

Right now, we're enjoying listening to Isaac's speech improve every single day. It blows my mind to hear some of the words he knows and to hear him put words together to tell about something that happened. When Chris got home tonight, Isaac was able to tell him "cookie" and "Peanut" with quite a bit of emotion behind his story. I had to clarify for Chris what he was trying to say (Peanut ate his cookie - he was pretty mad), but it's just so cool that he's telling about something that had already happened versus what was going on right then.

I love to ask him to say certain words - my favorite right now is "worm." So cute! And tonight at bedtime, Chris told Charlie it was time for prayers. Before Charlie started, Isaac started saying a few words from the beginning of the prayer! Chris and I were shocked and so proud of him. I love watching him grow, but I do miss my baby. :(

On to the menu....


Monday
L: Leftovers
D: Pistachio-Crusted Tilapia, Parmesan-Coated Potato Wedges, Honey-Glazed Carrots

Tuesday - Valentine's Day
L: PB&J, Chips, Grapes
D: Pork Chops with Pears, Rice, Broccoli

Wednesday
L: Egg Sandwiches, Fruit Salad
D: Citrus Crunch Chicken, Couscous, Green Beans

Thursday
L: PB&J, Apple Slices, Cheese
D: Honey Sesame Chicken, Rice, Sesame Broccoli

Friday
L: Leftover Sesame Chicken
D: Cheese Ravioli with Pumpkin Alfredo Sauce

Saturday
L: Leftover Ravioli
D: Hash Brown Eggs

Sunday
L: Leftovers
D: Rib Eyes, Egg Noodles, Green Beans, Biscuits

For more menu-planning inspiration, visit I'm an Organizing Junkie.

What We're Eating 2/6/12-2/12/12

Just because I plan our meals doesn't mean we always follow the meal plan.

Last week ended up being quite a mess. We missed the meals scheduled for Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday! We missed Wednesday because we were supposed to get our taxes done (unfortunately the computers were down and we have to reschedule). On Thursday, I sent Chris a text asking (telling) him to order a pizza because I didn't want to make dinner. Ha! Friday, we went to my sister's basketball game and ate pizza (again) there and we picked up steak & cheese subs on Saturday. It was just a mess! I'd like to blame part of it on my elliptical being broken. Getting a workout in gives me a ton more energy and I was dragging the two days that the elliptical was out of commission. The rest of it was a mix of me being lazy and us being on the run for part of the weekend. Hopefully, this week will be back to normal. At least when I plan my next menu, I only have to find 3 meals instead of 7! LOL



Monday
L: Pulled Pork Sandwiches
D: Skinny Coconut Shrimp, Butternut Squash Puree, Corn

Tuesday
L: Pulled Pork with Mashed Potatoes
D: Tacos!

Wednesday
L: Taco Nachos
D: Chicken with Berry Wine Sauce, Rice, Broccoli

Thursday
L: Leftover Tacos
D: Triple Cheese Spirals, Salad

Friday
L: Leftover Spirals
D: Tortilla Pie

Saturday
L: Leftover Tortilla Pie
D: Hash-Brown Eggs

Sunday
L: Leftovers
D: Baked Ravioli with Meat Sauce

For more menu-planning inspiration, visit I'm an Organizing Junkie.

January Recap

Charlie has been working on trying new foods and I've hinted that I've been working on a few goals, but apart from my reading goal, I never spelled out what those goals were. As so often happens with me, I was afraid I wouldn't follow through and I didn't want to set myself up for failure.

I started with three small goals and have been working on them one week at a time. There's a little chart in a notebook under my bed that I check each night and I'm happy to say that I've been meeting my goals!

To start, my goals were as follows:
-Meditate for 20 minutes every day
-Exercise for 30 minutes every day
-Drink at least 2 Nalgene bottles (roughly 10 glasses of water) every day

Last week, I added one more goal (which has been the hardest one so far!):
-Eat at least 5 servings of fruits and veggies every day

Gretchen Rubin's book The Happiness Project and blog have been very helpful to me with my goals. I am what she calls an abstainer - I find it easier to commit completely or not to commit at all. With a goal to meditate three days a week, I would tell myself that I would sit the next day any time I didn't feel like sitting. Setting a goal to meditate every day doesn't give me the option to push it off. I have, however, given myself a little leniency by following another of Rubin's rules - never skip two days in a row.

It's been easiest to meet my water goal - I only missed it once in January and it was on New Year's Day. We were driving all over the place and I ran out of water in the car!

Meditating has been easier than I expected. I've sat for at least 20 minutes all but two days - once because of a girls' night that lasted until 2am(!) and once because we had company over and I wasn't able to fit it in. I also attended my yoga studio's Second Sunday Sit for an hour-long meditation at the beginning of the month. Meditating with a group of people and discussing the experience afterwards is quite a positive experience!

There have been a few kinks in exercising - I use the elliptical during the week to get my workouts in, but I prefer to get outside to do something different with the family on the weekends and I had been giving myself one rest day a week. I haven't missed any weekdays, but mentally, I've discovered that I'm better off not taking a complete rest day on the weekend. If we can't get outside, I plan to compensate by doing a very slow 30 minutes at the lowest setting on the elliptical.

Yesterday, an issue arose with my elliptical. As I was working out, the machine was very wobbly, leaning to the left and it was moving around quite a bit. I was so excited that I was able to work out while the boys were sleeping because it meant I wouldn't be jumping off every few minutes to help someone (or yell at someone). Instead, I kept having to get off the pull the elliptical away from the wall and eventually got off to move it onto the carpet hoping that would reduce the movement. Arg.

When Chris got home, I asked him to take a look at the machine. It turns out that the main shaft of the base is cracked!!!!! He took it apart and is going to attempt to weld it back together. But, I don't know when he's going to be able to do the welding and I'm in a panic about getting my exercise in. (I am, however, very thankful that I have such a handy hubby.)

It seems like every single time I get an exercise routine, something messes with it. The exercise and meditation have been helping immensely with my moods. That benefit has made it easier to keep my goals but it's also the reason I'm worried about getting my workouts in. I'd love to get outside for a run or walk, but the weather and Chris' work schedule make that difficult. My fingers are crossed that he's able to do the welding as soon as possible and that the welding actually fixes the issue.

In terms of my reading goal, I completed 5 books in January and I'm halfway through Scarlett, the 800+ page sequel to Gone with the Wind. I loved Gone with the Wind and I'm loving this book, too!

January
Diana Gabaldon - Lord John and the Hand of Devils
Ernest Hemingway - A Moveable Feast (Library Bookclub pick - I'd never read any Hemingway before and I really enjoyed it)
Rebecca Hunt - Mr. Chartwell
Tom Perrotta - Little Children (Mommy Bookclub pick - did NOT like this at all, but that will make for a good discussion next week)
Deanna J. Smith - Dreams Change (I follow Deanna's blog - check it out!)

What We're Eating 1/30/12-2/5/12

I cannot believe it's almost February!!! And we're still on a roll with the menu planning! A few meals have been missed, but not because we didn't feel like cooking. We had more leftovers than expected last week so we were able to bump a few meals off the menu. We were also able to skip Saturday night's meal thanks to my dad and stepmom - they watched the boys so Chris and I could go on a date to Georgio's with a gift card we got for Christmas. Love cheap (free!) dates!

Charlie is doing well trying new foods. Chris' mom wanted to try a new Chinese restaurant near her work and brought us dinner last night. We were shocked when both boys started eating their chicken fingers with no comments or complaints! That has never happened before and we were so excited.

This afternoon, Charlie asked what we were having for dinner, I told him we were having egg sandwiches. Eggs and ham are new foods for him, so I gave him the option to try one or the other and told him that once he tried the new food, if he didn't like it, he would be able to take it off his sandwich and eat it with just cheese. He decided to try the egg. Compared to some nights, getting him to take that first bite was actually pretty quick! We asked him if he liked it and without thinking, he said yes! Then he caught himself and quickly changed his answer to no. LOL Why is it so hard to admit that he likes something?! Stubborn boy!

On to this week....


Monday
L: English Muffin Pizzas, Pepper Strips, Grapes/Melon
D: Ham & Swiss Egg Sandwiches, Fruit Salad

Tuesday
L: PB&J, Fruit Salad, Cheese Sticks, Chips
D: Coconut Crusted Chicken Nuggets, Egg Noodles, Herbed Green Beans

Wednesday
L: Leftover Nuggets, Veggie Sticks
D: Pork Medallions with Pears

Thursday
L: Leftover Pork Medallions with Pears
D: Honey Sesame Chicken, Brown Rice, Sesame Broccoli

Friday
L: Leftover Sesame Chicken
D: Pistachio Crusted Tilapia, Sweet Potato Fries, Honey-Glazed Carrots

Saturday
L: PB&J, Apple Slices, Pepper Slices
D: Cheese Ravioli with Pumpkin Alfredo Sauce

Sunday
L: Leftover Ravioli with Pumpkin Alfredo Sauce
D: Pulled Pork with Root Beer Sauce, Veggie Sticks

For more menu-planning inspiration, visit I'm an Organizing Junkie.

What We're Eating 1/23/12-1/29/12

We're still going strong with the menu plan! We ended up having tons of leftovers from a few of last week's meals so some meals got bumped but that will make planning the next menus easier. ;)

If you're looking for an easy and AMAZING crock pot meal, you need to try these French dip sandwiches. Soooo good and soooo easy! We had them as sandwiches and had some leftovers over mashed potatoes. Amazing both ways. Try them!


Monday
L: PB&J, Cantaloupe, Grapes
D: Spinach & Cheese Quiche

Tuesday
L: Leftover Quiche
D: Pineapple Beef Sti-Fry

Wednesday
L: Leftover Stir-Fry
D: Pork Chops with Orange Sauce, Rice, Green Beans

Thursday
L: PB&J, Apple Slices
D: All-American Chili (Family Circle magazine recipe)

Friday
L: Leftover Chili
D: Blueberry-Orange Pancakes (Parents magazine recipe), Bacon, Fruit Salad

Saturday
L: Leftover Chili
D: Citrus-Crunch Chicken, Couscous, Minty Peas

Sunday
L: Leftovers
D: Rosemary Shrimp Skewers, Mashed Sweet Potatoes, Fiesta Corn

For more menu-planning ideas, visit I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Cornbread Chicken Pot Pie

We roasted a chicken for Saturday night's dinner and had enough leftovers to cook up one of our favorite meals for dinner last night - Cornbread Chicken Pot Pie. I first found this recipe in a Campbell's cookbook I received years ago from my mother-in-law and I tweaked it just a bit. It's quick, it's easy, and it's in one dish so there's not much to clean up.

Cornbread Chicken Pot Pie

Ingredients

1 can Cream of Chicken soup

1/4-3/4 cup milk (as needed to moisten chicken mixture)

12 oz frozen corn (or more if you like it chunky)

3/4 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

4 cups cubed cooked chicken or turkey

1 package corn muffin mix

3/4 cup milk

1 egg

Method

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix soup, corn, cheese, chicken and milk (if needed) in 9-inch pie plate.

Mix muffin mix, milk and egg. Pour over chicken mixture.

Bake for 30 minutes or until golden.

Enjoy!

Linked up at The King's Court IV: What's Cooking Wednesday.

What We're Eating 1/16/12-1/22/12

We're on a roll with meal planning! I took some time last Wednesday night and planned out another 2 weeks worth of meals. When I don't have a meal planned out, what to make for dinner is on my mind all day; it is much easier to have them all planned out. All I have to do is take a look at my plan the night before, pull meat out of the freezer to thaw if necessary and we're ready to go the next day! Woohoo!

So, for this week, we've got:

Monday
L: English Muffin Pizzas
D: Spinach & Cheese Lasagna, French Twists

Tuesday
L: PB&J, Cucumber Sticks, Grapes
D: Cornbread Chicken Pot Pie (recipe coming this week)

Wednesday - Nana's Birthday
L: Leftover Pot Pie
D: Balsamic Glazed Filet Mignon (with leftover Beef Tenderloin from our Christmas Eve fondue), Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans, Velvet Cake

Thursday
L: Leftovers/PB&J, Fruit, Cheese Sticks
D: French Dip Sandwiches, Cucumber & Carrot Sticks

Friday
L: French Dip Sandwiches, Carrot Sticks, Melon
D: Pork Medallions with Pears

Saturday
L: Leftovers
D: Loaded Potato Soup

Sunday
L: Leftover Soup for boys/Lunch at Pickity Place with Nana, Jenn & Aunt Linda for me!
D: Spinach & Cheese Quiche, Fruit Salad

For more menu-planning ideas, visit I'm an Organizing Junkie.

2012 Reading Challenge

No matter how tired I am when I climb into bed, I have to read before I can fall asleep. There is always at least one book on my bedside table and a few more tucked away under the bed next to my enormous pile of magazines. And now, thanks to my Mom and Brucey, my Kindle is on my bedside table as well!

My goal for 2011 was to read 30 books and I surpassed that goal by reading 46! I attempted to track what I read last year on the blog, but I had some severe issues with the formatting that left me beyond frustrated every time I tried to update and I eventually gave up trying to update. Luckily, I did manage to keep my Goodreads account updated so I have a list of what I read.

In 2011, I read the following:

January
Alexander McCall Smith - 44 Scotland Street
Alexander McCall Smith - Espresso Tales
Tana French - The Likeness (Library Bookclub pick - LOVED it)

February
Jodi Picoult - Keeping Faith (LOVED it)
Jodi Picoult - House Rules
Sunny - Mona Lisa Awakening
Kathleen Kent - The Heretic's Daughter (Library Bookclub pick)

March
Amy Weintraub - Yoga for Depression
Dan Brown - The Lost Symbol
Pam Jenoff - The Kommandant's Girl (Library Bookclub pick - LOVED it)

April
Diana Gabaldon - The Fiery Cross (reread - finally!!!!!)
Peter Arenstam - Nicholas: A Massachusetts Tale
Peter Arenstam - Nicholas: A Maine Tale
Sara Gruen - Water for Elephants
Sara Gruen - Ape House
Kristin Hannah - Winter Garden (Library Bookclub pick)

May
Alan Brennert - Honolulu
Harper Lee - To Kill a Mockingbird (Library Bookclub pick)

June
Gretchen Rubin - The Happiness Project
Stieg Larsson - The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (LOVED it)
Adriana Trigiani - Lucia, Lucia (Library Bookclub pick)

July
Annie Barrows - The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (LOVED it - highly recommend!)
Danielle Trussoni - Angelology
Stieg Larsson - The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (LOVED it)
Stieg Larsson - The Girl Who Played with Fire (LOVED it)

August
Ian McEwan - Atonement
Kathryn Stockett - The Help
Khaled Hosseini - The Kite Runner
Tatiana de Rosnay - Sarah's Key

(Our summer Library Bookclub pick was John Treadwell Nichols' The Milagro Beanfield War. It's rare for me to not finish a book, but I just could not get into this one. I found it funny when I picked it up to read it, but I had to force myself to pick it up and I wasn't able to read much before our meeting.)

September
Lynn Sheene - The Last Time I Saw Paris
Mark Williams - The Mindful Way through Depression: Freeing Yourself from Chronic Unhappiness
Nonna Bannister - The Secret Holocaust Diaries: The Untold Story of Nonna Bannister
Abraham Verghese - Cutting for Stone ( Library Bookclub pick - LOVED it)
Todd Burpo - Heaven is for Real: A Little Boy's Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back (Mommy Bookclub pick)

October
Brian Weiss - Many Lives, Many Masters
Paula McLain - The Paris Wife (Library Bookclub pick)
Emma Donoghue - Room (Mommy Bookclub pick)

November
Michael Pye - The Pieces from Berlin
Ransom Riggs - Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
Lisa See - Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (Library Bookclub pick - LOVED it - highly recommend!)
Suzanne Collins - The Hunger Games (Mommy Bookclub pick - LOVED it)
Suzanne Collins - Catching Fire (Mommy Bookclub pick - LOVED it)
Suzanne Collins - Mockingjay (Mommy Bookclub pick - LOVED it)

December
Diana Gabaldon - Lord John and The Scottish Prisoner (Jamie! *swoon*)
Sammy Conner - The Dirty Parts of the Bible
Steve Thayer - The Leper (Library Bookclub pick)

Feel free to pass along recommendations for 2012! My goal is to read just as many, if not more, books as I read in 2011, so let's see if I can hit 46 again! I've already finished one and have a few in the works. I'm going to attempt to update a list of what I've read every month. ;)