Menu for June 30th through July 6th

Being a California native, I really love the sun and enjoy being outdoors. However, I have never liked weather that is above say 90 degrees. Well here in the good old Puget Sound area we are having a little bit of heat wave. It would be considered nothing in California; however, with the humidity here it is almost unbearable. It feels hotter than it is. Today was a little cooler, but still over 80 degrees this morning when I woke up. What does all this weather talk have to do with meals? Well my meals for the beginning of the week are cooler meals that won't heat up my house.

Dinner
M: Quesadilla Salad
T: Grilled Dover Sole, seasoned rice and a salad
W: Spicy beans, rice and veggies
Th: Turkey burgers (special recipe from a cousin's hubby) with fixings and salad
F: BBQ/Grilled chicken and brats, grilled sweet potato fries and rice crispy treats for dessert (It is the Fourth of July...this menu is tentative because my in laws just arrived back into town for the summer and I am not sure when we are getting together)
S: Appetizers for dinner (smoked salmon appetizer, won ton wrapper appetizer, fresh veggie appetizer, maybe one more)
S: The Corn Chowder Soup I still have yet to make

I had this post all typed up this morning, but unfortunately, I am having network trouble and it was lost when my office computer would not connect to our network. I had breakfasts in that post. I will try to add them back in later on. For now I just want to get this posted. :)

Meal Planning Week of June 23

Well I am a little overwhelmed with listing my meals tonight. My hubby is an educator and is now off for a few weeks for summer. This sort of throws me off my game a little and I need a week or so to adjust. Meal planning is my domain and he ends up throwing my meals off a little when he is home.

I am hoping that I will be better at following my plan this week. I never made the Thai salad from last week. Maybe on Friday of this week I will try that recipe…we will see.

No breakfasts listed this week…I am lucky I got the meals planned with hubby home and some other things that are going on it has been a little hectic around here.

Monday: Leftover Southwestern Salad and homemade tortilla chips

Tuesday: Tostadas with all the fixings and Spanish rice

Wednesday: Grilled Chicken, Cuban Beans and rice, grilled veggies

Thursday: Easy Chicken Corn Chowder (I will probably alter the recipe a little bit, but I think it looks so appetizing.), homemade bread and homemade Snicker Doodle cookies (I have Bible study that night and I am responsible for treats, so I will make a double batch for my family to enjoy as well).

Friday: A salad of some kind

Saturday: Turkey Burgers, French fries (sweet potato fries), artichokes

Sunday: Chicken Tortilla Soup (Freezer meal)

Menu Plan Monday: Summer is Here

This weeks meals went fine, but I need to take better inventory with what I have in stock. I had some requests to post the Chicken Enchilada Pie recipe which I will do shortly. It is really simple, a kid and hubby pleaser as well…my kind of recipe. I switched up some meals this past week and made a salad inspired by California Pizza Kitchen Original BBQ Chicken Chop Salad. My husband loved it and told me I could make it a staple of our weekly meals.

This Week's Meals

Sunday: B: Homemade Pancakes with fresh strawberries and whipped cream, D: BBQ Chicken and Brats, chicken rice, wedge salad and cheesy bread appetizer

Monday: B: Pancakes D: Chicken Enchiladas with Red sauce, artichokes

Tuesday: B: Fruit and cereals D: Special Casserole and special bread like the Macaroni Grill’s

Wednesday: B: Waffles and fruit D: Pork Tacos, salad and Spanish rice

Thursday: B: Eggs and sausage D: Freezer meal (my new Bible study starts up tonight)

Friday: B: Cinnamon Toast and banana D: Thai Crunch Salad Copy

Saturday: B: Banana Bread D: Go Out to celebrate school is out

Sunshine...I need sunshine

Well up until now I have really tried to post uplifting things on this blog. I don't complain about the weather much here, however, I am oh so cold and it is almost the middle of June. We are not talking December, but June. I am starting to teach my two year old the song "Rain, rain go away..." It is just too darn cold, rainy and down right yucky here in the Pacific Northwest right now. I just NEED some sun and for it to be at least 65 degrees. Is that too much to ask for? The forecast is calling for a mixture of sun and clouds the next few days. I am really hoping for more sun than clouds. I will keep you posted. I know it could be worse. I feel terrible for all those people in the Midwest who are flooded right now. I am thankful although we have had a lot of rain lately we are not flooded.

My Favorite Things Tuesday: Crystal Light Immunity Drink

If you have not tried this little gem, I highly recommend tasting it. I use to be addicted to diet soda, mainly Diet Dr. Pepper Cherry Vanilla, but now I have found some new beverages that satisfy just as well but, without all the sodium (there's still some sodium). My new favorite is the Crystal Light Immunity Cherry Pomegranate drink. I received a free sample in the mail the other day and it was just delightful. It is hard to believe it doesn't have any sugar in it. There is just the right mix of sweet, tart and refreshing. I was drinking the Metabolism Booster Crystal Light in Green Tea Mango, but now the Cherry Immunity Cherry Pomegranate blend is my new fav.

Menu Planning Monday

Well our menu planning went alright last week. I ended up getting sick on Monday so it wasn't the great week of cooking, but we made it through the week with no complaining. Here is our line up for this week. Last week I said I was going to try to post breakfast too. Here it is...

Monday: B = Pancakes and bananas D: Salmon Cake sandwiches with sweet potato fries and spinach salad
Tuesday: B= Frozen Multi-grain Waffles and fruit D = Chicken Enchilada pie

Wednesday: B= English Muffins with Jelly and fruit D= BBQ Hamburgers (Marc’s cousins recipe), zucchini casserole bake and fruit salad

Thursday: B= Banana Bread and fruit D = Frozen Pasta Casserole

Friday: B = Frozen Waffles and fruit D = Homemade pizzas

Saturday = Eggs, turkey sausage and toast D = Grilling (hopefully fish, but I have not purchased it yet)

Sunday: B = Pancakes and fruit D = Sloppy Joes, wedge salad and baked tempura veggies

I may end up editing this menu another time, but for now it will do. Breakfast is a tricky one for me. Not only do I have two kids that eat totally different things, one is two and one I ten months, I have hard time mixing it up. I only have so many things I make for breakfast. I also have this idea that breakfast is a meal that should be fast...hence the word "break fast." How do you mix up your breakfasts? Please share your breakfast ideas and recipes.

About Me...

Just in case you wanted to know a little more about me here it goes....

1. Where is your cell phone? .................in my purse on the counter.

2. Your significant other?.......................watching television, getting off of his back…difficult day for pain.

3. Your hair?.................................... My hair is where it always is, hanging off of my head. I guess it is a little dirty. Looking forward to my morning shower.

4. Your mother? .................................a good mother and now a good grandmother

5. Your father?....................................He is Heaven, smiling down at his daughter having to mother an incredibly strong willed, first child who is just like her mother, only busier.

6. Your favorite thing?..........................I am not sure I have one...my kiddos, but they're not things...would a bargain count?

7. Your dream last night?......................non-memorable

8. Your favorite drink..........................Crystal Light Immunity drink in pomegranate cherry.

9. Your dream/goal?..............................this is a tough one. I have a few that I am not willing to really share…I guess my dream, goal is to live a happy, simplified, earth friendly, fun, loving life. I want to be the best me I can be.

10. The room you're in?..........................my new office/scrapbooking/craft space

11. Your children?.....................................sleeping in their bed and crib

12. Your fear?...................................something happening to my husband or children

13. Where do you want to be in 6 years...........happy, healthy, and out of debt.

14. Where were you last night?...................upstairs in my bed

15. What you're not?.............................a good pregnant person.

16. Muffins......................................are yummy, but are just cake that you can legitimately eat for breakfast.

17. One of your wish list items?.................there are just too many to really name. I guess a little camera that is really small and fits inside my purse.

18. Where you grew up?..........................sunny California

19. What you read last........................Velvet Elvis (well I have a few chapters still to go)

20. What are you wearing?....................... Jeans, J Crew hooded sweater I bought used. Oh, don’t forget the open toed shoes.

21. Your TV?.....................................watched when I work out every morning.

22. Your pets?...................................Annoying! I think pets are just too much work once you have children.

23. Your computer? .........................overused

24. Your life?...................................in transition

25. Your mood?...................................neutral

26. Missing someone?..........................I miss my friends back in California. Don’t get me wrong, my Washington friends are great, but I miss the old ones that know me so well, especially the pre-pregnant Jen.

27. Your car?....................................Honda (which I love), but gas is so expensive I think we are homebound.

28. Something you're not wearing?................socks

29. Favorite Store?..............................Three way tie between the kids thrift store, Target and Pottery Barn (although, I can’t afford to purchase much of anything there) Craigslist is my online favorite place to purchase.

30. Your summer?.................................not started yet, it is still pouring rain in the great state of WA.

31. Like someone?................................I like all of my wonderful friends. There are so many wonderful women in my life. I am very fortunate to have the mom network that I do.

32. Your favorite color?.........................the color of my office walls…in the blue family, not light blue, not slate or azure, but the perfect Pottery Barn Blue

33. Last time you laughed........................tonight after dinner at Marc’s cousin and her husband’s stories.

34. Last time you cried?........................I can’t remember…it wasn’t that long ago though. I tend to have at least a bad day once a week if not more frequent. Although, lately I have just been getting angry instead of crying.

By the way the pillow picture is just something that I thought was cute and would love for my new office. The sweater and bag are something that I want to try to make one of these days...when I have the time of course. :)

Menu Planning Monday

Sunday: BBQ for MIL's Birthday
Monday: Left overs
Tuesday: Crock-pot Basil Thai Chicken with special spinach salad
Wednesday: Grilled Chicken, Broccoli French Fries
Thursday: Chicken Enchiladas (make enough to freeze)
Friday: Chicken Soup or Stew (I am looking for a good recipe if anyone has one)
Saturday: Fish Tacos
Sunday: Dinner with In-laws/family (This is not for certain, so I may just end up pulling a freezer meal out, we will see)

As you can see I am still only posting my dinner menu for the week. I hope to get organized enough and brave enough to commit to a full three meal a day menu, we will see. Maybe next week I will start by posting breakfast in addition to dinner. I hope you all had a wonderful weekend.