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.