Pictures!

Okay so I'm biased but I LOVE this little face! That's one of my favorite recent David photos. I know it's been awhile since I've posted anything other than menus so here's a few snapshots I've been meaning to share.

These are from Easter. David got a nice sugar fix compliments of the Easter Bunny as well as some eggs stuffed with matchbox cars. He had a lot of fun hunting for eggs although even with the eggs "hidden" in plain sight he still needed help finding some of them. We didn't get around to dying real eggs this year but he still thoroughly approves of this holiday.

Love at first sight

 

And then here's a few more just enjoying the beautiful spring weather that FINALLY decided to arrive!

Meal Planning Week 19

I can't believe another week's gone by! This week we've decided to tackle a vegetable garden and have been fairly busy getting everything ready to plant. My cousin recommended a book by a local author that outlines how to garden in this climate and it seems to have some good advice though I've always had a pretty brown thumb so only time will tell. If it turns out I'll obviously incorporate our produce into my menu planning and probably learn to can some tomatoes. We'll see. I've planted some tomatoes, zucchini, squash, red pepper, basil, parsley, and cilantro. For the fall I'm also hoping to grow some carrots, lettuce, spinach, and snap peas. Wish us luck!

The only recipe I haven't already reviewed from last week is the turkey burgers. These were scrumptious though I did make a few modifications. For one I halved the recipe and still got 8 good-sized patties made. I really can't imagine if I'd made them as big as the recipe called for. Also I didn't have any Major Grey's chutney so instead I chopped up a few mango chunks and fresh ginger and a dash of apple cider vinegar, cinnamon, cloves, and allspice (a little goes a long way). These would taste great fixed up luau style with some grilled pineapple.

• Sunday: Orange salmon with broccoli and rice (eventually I'll get around to making this)
• Monday: Swedish meatballs over egg noodles with salad 
• Tuesday: Macaroni and cheese with steamed broccoli, cauliflower and carrots
• Wednesday: Mulligatawny soup and bread (yes, another repeat)
• Thursday: Grilled hot dogs and veggie kabobs
• Friday: Polenta, sausage, and mozzarella casserole with salad
• Saturday: Leftovers or eat out

Meal Planning Week 18

Well this week it was Derek getting sick that interfered with the menu plan. Since the honey goat cheese pizza is one of Derek's favorites I decided to wait until he feels better to make it. And I also decided to make some soup for tonight. Hopefully he'll be able to eat it and next week will find all of us in good health.

• Saturday: Mulligatawny soup and bread
• Sunday: Lemon pesto ravioli and salad
• Monday: Turkey burgers and roasted cauliflower
• Tuesday: Honey goat cheese pizza with salad
• Wednesday: Frittata and fresh fruit
• Thursday: Taco salad with white bean chicken chili
• Friday: Going out to celebrate my grandma's birthday!
• Saturday: Orange sauced salmon with broccoli and brown rice

Meal Planning Week 17

You may notice there's a couple of repeats this week. I really did mean to stick with the plan this week but when David came down with the stomach flu we had to make adjustments. Thankfully he seems to have recovered.

As for last weeks recipes the beef stew was delicious although a bit heavy on the beef for my taste. Next time I would only use 1 lb of stew meat and add in a few more veggies like celery and green beans. Also I used 1/2 C red wine instead of beer and thickened it by adding some butter and flour. The only other recipe I have to review are the potstickers. These take a lot of time and effort to assemble and the recipe makes about 40 of them which is way too much for us so I tried freezing the uncooked leftovers in bags of 10. This week I cooked up one of them and found that they reheat well although you do need to be very careful not let the skins tear. They taste great so it might be worth it once in awhile to go through all the effort of making them since I wound up with enough to last for 4 meals.

• Sunday: Spinach pasta salad and bread
• Monday: Black bean burgers with salad (I've tried a couple of veggie burger recipes and so far this is our favorite but if anyone else has one that they enjoy I'd love for you to share it)
• Tuesday: Thai chicken pizza with cucumbers and carrots (reviewed it before and it's a great recipe as long as you go easy on the sauce)
• Wednesday: Spaghetti and salad
• Thursday: Honey goat cheese pizza and salad
• Friday: Going to a friend's graduation party
• Saturday: Leftovers or eat out

Meal Planning Week 16

Happy Easter everyone! We've been loving having Derek around once again and life is sort of getting back to normal. I say sort of because I'm feeling more and more pregnant all the time and it's starting to sink in just how little time there is to get ready for this baby.

As for new recipes, I loved the flavor of the squash soup but it was time consuming to make. I didn't make all the garnishes either, just the cardamom cream. I bet the cranberries and pecans would have been a great addition though. I already mentioned that the crock pot chicken was a tried and true favorite but I didn't mention that I do make one slight modification. Instead of laying a slab of cream cheese (actually I use Neufchatel) over the top I zap it in the microwave for a minute and then whisk all sauce ingredients together before pouring it over the chicken. I like the smoother consistency this gives it.

• Sunday: Babyback ribs and potato salad (courtesy of my mom) while I will prepare homemade bread, roasted asparagus, the squash soup from last week, and a strawberry shortcake (I plan to take the advice of some reviewers to substitute the shortening with 1/2 C butter and to cut the baking powder to 2 tsp)
• Monday: Eat out
• Tuesday: Dinner fell through so eat out again
• Wednesday: Stir fry with brown rice and potstickers
• Thursday: Fettucini alfredo with asparagus
• Friday: Spinach pasta salad and Honey goat cheese pizza (I think I've reviewed these both before but they're great!)
• Saturday: Beef stew and homemade bread

Meal Planning Week 14 and 15

OK so I technically did make a menu for last week but we wound up eating out a lot or heating up frozen food more than I care to admit. Let's just say that we're all a bit relieved that tax season is winding up and excited for life to get back to normal. I honestly don't know how single parents do it day in and day out. Last week was also eventful in that Derek and I celebrated our 5th anniversary and I'm now in the last trimester of pregnancy. I guess now we really need to buckle down and start getting things ready for this little guy. Here's what I'm thinking for next week to get back on track.

• Sunday: Eating at my mom's
• Monday: Scrambled eggs and cheese
• Tuesday: David and I are going to take the train to meet Derek downtown and going out to celebrate the end of tax season. Yay!
• Wednesday: Tomato spinach tortellini with tuna and salad
• Thursday: Crock pot Italian chicken with brown rice and asparagus (We've had this recipe before and it's a keeper. Very easy with lots of flavor)
• Friday: Stir-fry and potstickers
• Saturday: Savory squash soup (I've been meaning to try this for a long time. It sounds like such an interesting mix of flavors!) and salad

Meal Planning Week 13

I've really hit a wall when it comes to menu planning (and pretty much everything else). Thankfully tax season is coming to a close but we're all basically running on fumes at this point. And of course being a glutton for punishment I chose to potty train David in the midst of it all. I won't bore all of you with the details but want to warn any of you that haven't yet had the pleasure of potty training a little boy that you cannot simply sit them on a full-sized public toilet without making a mess. You either need to sit them backward or sideways or have them face frontwards but completely take off their pants so that they can sit far enough back that, ahem, the stream falls where it's supposed to. Not the most pleasant subject I know but now all of you who will someday deal with this can thank me for not letting you find all this out AFTER you had already spent weeks working on your toddler to finally get him to sit on a big unfamiliar potty so you could leave the house once in awhile. Now I've trained David to sit in a way that results in getting me or his clothes doused in pee half the time but he FLIPS OUT if I make him do it differently. So yeah, we're back to square one in that regard. If any of you parents who have already dealt with this really fun issue have any helpful suggestions I'd love to hear them.

And after that very appetizing introduction I'll get back to the food. Hey, I'm a nurse AND a mom. It takes a lot more than bodily fluids to phase me. No new recipes to review since I barely cooked. Here's what's up for this week.

• Sunday: Barbecue chicken salad wraps and cornbread muffins
• Monday: Pancakes
• Tuesday: Chana Masala with brown rice
• Wednesday: Baked cinnamon yams with salad and cornbread muffins
• Thursday: Egg sandwiches
• Friday: Tomato spinach tortellini with tuna and garlic toast
• Saturday: Leftovers or eat out