Menu Plan Wednesday

I have many a recipe to post from past menus.  We had the Chicken Cordon Bleu from a crock pot last night.  It was okay.  I am still trying to debate if I would make this again.  I think I would totally have to have all the things on hand and probably would not go out of my way to make it again.  I don't know.  The jury is still out.


Husband will be happy this week as there is a bit of red meat in this week's menu.

• Spaghetti, veggies, bread
• Tacos
• Italian Meatloaf, veggies, pasta? (it was a serving suggestion, but I am not so sure)
• Hamburgers
• Crispy Southwest Chicken Wraps
• Bourbon Chicken over a rice & veggie mix

Sunday evening will be filled with leftovers, quesadillas, or hot dogs. Pretty simple this week.  I am hoping over the long weekend to finally get more green chile sauce made (we ate all the rest!), make up a couple of extra Italian Meatloaves for the freezer, and a couple of trays of Pioneer Woman's Chicken Spaghetti.  I need to get some prep stuff done in the next couple of days so we can just rock it out.  We'll see.

What are you having for dinner this week? 

Whew...What a Weekend!

I knew well in advance that this weekend was going to be packed full of fun, work, and celebration which in turn would probably wipe us all out... in a good way.  It worth it all.  I learned a few things which is always good but it didn't take away from all that was going on around us.

Friday, Husband and I celebrated five years of marriage!  Amazing.  He is my best friend and there is no one else that I would rather be doing life with.  Yeah, I am not even sure that words can adequately express all that he means to me.  I was a little concerned in the morning that I wouldn't be up for our evening out as I had a severe headache that was causing a disturbance in my sight as well.  Miss L understand when I say, "Momma is sick."  I think Miss A clued in that something was wrong and was pretty content on her own most of the morning.  Miss L kissed my head, gave me her dog and elephant to cuddle with, and put a blanket on me to make me feel better.  Sweet girls.  I was doing better by lunch time and was good to go by late afternoon.  I was doing all I could to make sure we made it to our reservations at The Melting Pot.  It was a delightful time in our private booth partaking in the goodness that is fondue.  It turned into a long night with Miss L awake when we got home -- she had to go potty -- and then having a hard time going back to sleep.  Such is life.

Saturday, Miss A turned one!  I spent the day getting a small cake ready for her to tear through and cupcakes for everyone else.  I spent a lot of time in the morning baking, prepping frosting, and decorating.  My pregnant feet and back were shouting at me from time to time so I tried to sit at a table to decorate, etc.  I should have done this earlier in the week but I was unsure as to where to store things and for how long.  It worked out fine in the end.  It just made for a tired mama.  Grandparents arrived not too long after the girls woke up from their afternoon naps.  We opted to do gifts at this point.  She was SO funny.  She was kind of liking the paper but once we got the first toy out (an elephant shape sorter) she just wanted to play with it!  She was so intrigued!  However, Miss L was more than happy to help with the presents and show Miss A how everything worked.  We had dinner (chicken nuggets with mac & cheese) and then brought out the cake as we were nearing bed time.  It was such a fun time watching Miss A dig into the cake!  I'm pretty sure she would have been fine to play in it all night.  After a good 10 to 15 minutes of playing in and eating (some) cake we put her in the shower which she also thought was great fun.  We are still finding cake bits in her high chair and Husband found some cake I missed in the shower.  So funny.  The day ended by both girls zonking out from all the stimulation and laughing.  It was also a fun day watching Miss L learn more about birthdays and sharing the limelight with her sister.  She's ready for her birthday!

Sunday.  Miss L loves Sunday.  She knows that is when we go to church and she loves going to church.  I love how excited she gets.  This Sunday was a big day in the life of our household as we were joining as members after being "church-home-less" for a little over a year.  What a sweet day, indeed.  Of course, as Murphy's Law goes Miss L and Miss A had some small issues here and there during the service.  Laughable really...now that it's Monday!  But really, nothing too big.  Littles being littles.  We are so thankful to be a part of a congregation again that values children in all stages being in the worship service.  A sweet moment during communion was when Miss L looked up and said (without being prompted), "Jesus died me" -- Jesus died for me.  Yes, I cried.  After church the congregation was having a monthly gathering at a deacon's home.  As we were leaving for the party Miss L says, "Church fun, Daddy."  Sweet girl.  We weren't sure how long we would stay at the party with the girls being so close to nap time and all.  We just went into the whole thing understanding they may be cranky and we may need to leave early.  The girls did great.  Miss L swam with Daddy and I hung out inside with Miss A -- and about 50+ other people!  We left around 2:30.  Both girls fell asleep on the way home... Miss A well before Miss L.  We got them both in the house and settled in for naps.  Husband and I snoozed for a bit as well... you know, until about 5:00!  We had a nice quite evening and the girls, for the most part, were ready to go back to bed around seven.

It's a pretty down day around here today.  Some laundry, dishes, food prep for the week, etc.  We probably won't get out of pajamas until later.  I'll post pictures of Miss A's cake in another post.

Blessings to you all!

Freezer Meals: Keeping Inventory

Obviously you have seen that I have quite a few things planned to go in my freezer over the next few months.  How in the world will I remember what is in there with a newborn and two other littles in want of my attention -- which I am sure will take up all the remaining sleep deprived brain cells.  (It's only for a short and precious season)  Also, we want to make sure we use things up in a timely manner and not find some lone meal  hanging out a year later.  No, no, no.

I am not sure where I came across this originally but I thought it would work for me beautifully!  Just write down the name of the item and the appropriate number of hash marks.  Then when you take on out you complete the "x" to note that one has been used.  I will slip this into a sheet protector and tape it to the top of my freezer.  Handy, handy!  You can download this Freezer Inventory free here.

I have read about people just using a dry erase marker to write on the top or on the door of their freezer with their inventory list.  However, my freezer is in my laundry room and naturally attracts things that are constantly placed upon it.  That would quickly be the end of my inventory list!  I already have my laundry list taped in a similar fashion to the top and that has been great.  What's one more list?

How do you manage the inventory of your freezer?

Menu Plan Wednesday

It's been awhile since I have done one of these.  Mostly because my menus, in essence, have been fly by the seat of my pants.  Also, the menu was at the mercy of how I was feeling from day to day.  Cooked vegetables are still a nemesis and so there has been a slight suffering nutritionally in that area.  It makes me sad.  So, I am trying to remedy that and kind of just suck it up.

I don't usually put days of the week to go with the meals but this week we are going to because certain meals this week need to go on certain days.  Some are flexible and others are not.  This gets us to the end of the month!  YAHOO!

• Wednesday - Chicken, Spinach, Alfredo Pockets
• Thursday - BBQ Chicken & Corn (Crockpot Meal)
• Friday - Hot Dogs & Veggie Fries (only the girls will be having this, Husband & I are going out to celebrate!)
• Saturday - Chicken Nuggets, Veggies, Mac & Cheese (Miss A's Birthday Dinner and of course cake)
• Sunday - Leftovers, Sandwiches (It's a big day for our household and I am pretty sure we will be wiped out!)
• Monday - Hashbrown Crusted Quiche with Bacon & Biscuits
• Tuesday - Ham & Cheese Sliders with Veggie Fries
• Wednesday - Chicken Cordon Bleu (Crockpot), Broccoli, Red Potatoes  

What are you having this week?  I know you want to share your recipes!  FYI:  At least 4 of these meals came from Pinterest.  Thank you!

Freezer Meals: Update

This month has been full of a variety of changes.  Miss L is now potty trained so we have a few less diapers to change and purchase.  Miss A is in the process of being weaned from formula and the bottle.  So, less formula to purchase for a few months and then a break from washing bottles for a few months.  I have also gone back to cloth diapers on Miss A almost full time so as to build up that part of our budget.  Good times.  We also have an anniversary to celebrate this weekend and a birthday.  So, while I wanted to get more meals in the freezer this month I am satisfied with what we did get done.

I changed "My Chile" to two batches rather than three.  If I get another batch in that's fine.  If not it is SUPER easy to make on a whim.  In my had written notes I had it down to make three trays of Husband's Lasagna.  However, when I transposed them here I had it as two trays.  It worked out that I purchased supplies for three and we just ate one for dinner that night as it was a lot of work along with all the other things we had going on that day.  It was good stuff.  Also, it was nice not to have to cook more after that adventure.


One of my dear friends who is also expecting a baby in a few weeks told me about a deal she found at Costco.  She bought a package of 30 half steam trays that would be used for catering purposes.  Well, wouldn't you know they are the same size as most casserole dishes!  Score.  For 30 trays was just over $6.  They take up a bit more space in the freezer but I love not having to clean up much when using them.  I looked at the individual trays at the grocery store and even on sale they run about $2/tray.  Totally worth the savings even if you don't use them all you can store them away for a potluck or taking a meal to another family.  While these are pretty heavy duty always use a cookie tray when cooking or transporting.  Just in case.  I learned the hard way when taking a meal to a new mama in a lower quality tray.  Oy.

So, here's my list.  Hopefully, more will be crossed off by the end of September.  I post this now because I know that more will not be done by the end of this month with another full weekend ahead of us.  I have found some more sites with yummy meals.  More may be added to this list.


Husband's Lasagna x 2
Italian Meatloaf x 2
My Chile x 2
Veggie Chile x 3
Ren's Chocolate Muffins x 2 (has good stuff like pumpkin, flax, etc -- it's not ALL sugar)
Chicken Pot Pie x 2
Fiesta Chicken x 2
Fiesta Chicken (Green Version) x 2
Spaghetti Sauce x 3 or 4
Spinach & Artichoke Mac & Cheese x 2
Green Chile Enchiladas x 3 (or more at the request of Husband)
Spaghetti Pizza x 2
Turkey & Vegetable Meatloaf x 2
Meatballs (not sure how many yet)
Brown Bag Burritos x 1 (makes 20-ish)
Chicken Spaghetti (Pioneer Woman) x 2
Pulled Pork x 1 (more if meat comes on sale again)
Breakfast Burritos x 1 (will probably make more - cranks out about 16)
Chicken & Rice (Quinoa) Burritos x 1 (makes about 8?)
Baked Ziti x 2
BBQ Beef & Bean Corn Bread Casserole x 2
Bacon, Egg, Cheese Biscuit Cups x 1
Ham & Cheese Pockets x 1
Sausage Biscuits x 1
Twice Cooked Mashed Potatoes x 2
Cranberry Chicken x 2
Broccoli & Cheddar Soup x 2
Healthy Mama BBQ Chicken x 2
Lactation Cookies x LOTS!

From Costco:
Ravioli (will probably give us three meals)
Fish (will probably make fish tacos a few times)
Chicken nuggets (easy lunch for the girls)

Mayoral (Hopeful) Meeting

On Saturday, we all headed out to cast our vote for our city's next mayor.  Yes, some early voting places were open on a weekend.  Yes, they should just combine it with other elections to improve voter turn out and lower overall cost -- but obviously the country's fifth largest city hasn't clued into this common sense.  However, the candidate that we voted for has clued into this.  YES!

We heard good things from our candidate on the radio and then watched the debate.  While he didn't start out as the most poised speaker I thought that he came into his own by the end of the debate.  We were still confident that he was the man for the job.  While anything would be better than current administration this man would be MUCH better for our city.

Anyway... that was a bit of a tangent.

When we were approaching our voting place we encountered a man.  Husband recognized him right away and called him by name.  I had never met a political candidate before.  It was more exciting that it happened to be the person that we were voting for in this election.  Husband shook his hand and introduced me.  At that point W.G. looked at Miss L and asked her name.  She went right up to him and shook his hand.  (Proud mama moment!)  He asked he how old she was -- at this point she has never been really consistent in answering this questions -- she promptly said two and held up the appropriate number of fingers. (Proud mama moment!)  So, W.G. chatted with us some and with Miss L until she pointed out that he had blue eyes as did her sister.  It was a humorous conclusion to say the least.

We walked in and did our civic duty.  Miss L all of a sudden wanted to see the "baby" which meant trying to expose my tummy.  Ummmm... thanks!  HA!  She put my envelope in the box and all was good to go.

As we were leaving Miss L caught sight of W.G. and pulled Daddy along with her to talk to him again.  I appreciated that he found her so entertaining and worth talking to.  He got down on her level and they had their own little conversation again.  At the end of the conversation W.G. gave Miss L his sticker off his shirt.  She was SO excited.  Why?  Because it was a BIG sticker... at least in her world.  She took off her "small" sticker and gave it to Daddy.  She was a pretty happy girl.

Funny.

Needless to say she spoke about the encounter all day.  She mentioned it a few times Sunday.  She cannot say his last name very well but I can generally figure out the "g" and "t" sounds and put it all together when she randomly references W.G.

We hope W.G. makes it to the run off and is ultimately elected to office.  However, beyond his political stance we found him to be a very kind man.  Someone that we would most likely be friends with in every day life and would love to have as a neighbor.

Yes, so that was our brush with political fun.

Bright Spots

Moments that I want to remember of my girls right now.  Things that I will most likely forget by next week and will feel bad for not remembering.  I need to cherish these little things.

Miss L

• Trying to do the cha-cha with Angelina Ballerina. "1, 2 cha-cha - 2, 2 cha- cha"  I hope to get a video.
• Hugging and tickling her sister without being prompted.
• Trying to help set the table with an enthusiastic and happy heart.
• Not wearing diapers
• Wanting Daddy to chase her and the giggles that ensue

Miss A

• All of a sudden catching on to how the sippy cup works (we are weaning in a couple of weeks!)
• Following her sister everywhere.
• Learning how to take some steps with the toy grocery cart and being so excited about it.
• Sleeping with Baby Moose.
• Belly laughs when people take a deep breath like they are going to blow really hard, or when Miss L blows on the harmonica.

The laughter that floats down the hallway while I finish making dinner and my three favorite people are having a tickle fest on our bed or playing in the fresh laundry.