Monday, December 30, 2013

Menu Plan Monday - Week of December 29th



Christmas is over :(  We packed up the decorations on Sunday and while it's nice to (slowly) get our house back in order this is definitely the lame part.  It's so much more fun decorating, and planning, and anticipating than it is to find places for the new stuff or try to get the house back in order.  Boo.

Anyhoo, we have another holiday week to ease us back into reality.  Here's what we're eating:


Sunday:  Meatloaf with Mashed Potatoes and Broccoli

Monday:  Meatloaf Sandwiches

Tuesday:  New Year's Eve!  We'll be eating apps and drinking bubbly!

Wednesday:  New Year's Day!  Mark's making Chicago-style Pizza

Thursday:  Leftovers/Freezer Meal

Friday:  Out

Saturday:  Out/Apps


Happy New Year!


I'm linked at Menu Plan Monday hosted by OrgJunkie.com

Monday, December 23, 2013

Menu Plan Monday - Week of December 22nd



It is looking decidedly un-Christmas-like but Christmas is HERE!  (Almost.)  And I'm super excited!

This weekend we've had unseasonably warm weather.  All of the snow still blanketing the ground melted and it rained, and rained, and rained.  So it's muddy and flooded in areas and it looks and feels much more like spring than it does Christmas, that's for sure!  I was baking cookies yesterday with the sliding glass door open to welcome some fresh air and I haven't needed a coat all weekend with temps in the upper 50s and low 60s.  So strange.  But more importantly, cut-outs!

We also went to check out the holiday train display at the main library downtown and had some play time with friends.
Another busy week with a lot accomplished including an 8pm run to Target along with seemingly everyone else in the world (don't people ever go home?  I see that some stores are staying open round the clock right now, which I think is insane and unnecessary, but maybe I'm just out of the loop and a lot of people really do need to shop at 3am?  I don't know).

This time, Jack actually sat on Santa's lap.  He asked for, "a garbage truck, a trash truck, and trucks," haha!


On Thursday, Molly and I hung out for Jack's Christmas party at school and while fun was SO not relaxing for me (see: 20+lb baby in the carrier for hours and then when she was over that she entertained herself by walking around and getting into everything!).  Later that same night we went to see the zoo lights.  Long day!



A ridiculous amount of packages have arrived at our house over the last week or so.  I've done a lot of online shopping.  Something that hasn't arrived?  Our Christmas cards.  Whomp whomp.  I ordered them with plenty of time to receive and send them out.  I even got 7 day shipping to ensure we received them in a timely fashion.  They shipped out quickly and then nothing, nothing, nothing.  The date they were supposed to arrive by came and went and I crossed my fingers hoping that for some reason they would show up the following day, which they did not.  I finally contacted the company and they sent out another rush order for us, but I doubt we'll receive them until Chrismas Eve.  SO annoying!

After a marathon wrapping sesh on Saturday afternoon the gifts have all been wrapped!  I was so annoyed because as I was attaching ribbon to the next to last gift I ran out of tape.  Who runs out of tape?!  I can't even remember the last time I had to purchase some.  Annnnd that's probably why we ran out.  Later that night we picked up some tape and I was able to quickly finish up, but it just didn't give quite the same satisfaction as really knocking it all out at once.  Unfortunately we can't put our gifts under the tree because we have a very inquisitive baby who would never leave them alone (just like the tree that she still hasn't lost interest in).  They're making our bedroom look quite festive though and Kitty is doing her darndest to eat all of the bows.

We've already had two Christmas celebrations with Mark's side of the family and we have plenty more festivities ahead of us.  It's great spending time with family, but back-to-back gatherings really made the weekend pass quickly by.  It's Monday morning and I feel all disoriented like it should still be the weekend.  Luckily, Mark only works Monday of this week and then he'll be home for 6 days, woot!

In true Stephanie fashion it's down to the last minute and I'm still not 100% finished with Christmas shopping, but I'm really, really close so I'll take it!

Merry Christmas!


Sunday:  Family gathering

Monday:  Freezer Meal

Tuesday:  Christmas Eve!  Family Gathering

Wednesday:  Christmas!  We'll be kicking off the day with some homemade cinnamon rolls and then we'll be with family

Thursday:  Homemade Pizza

Friday:  Out

Saturday:  Out/Apps


I'm linked at Menu Plan Monday hosted by OrgJunkie.com

Monday, December 16, 2013

Menu Plan Monday - Week of December 14th



Another busy week.  Errands, cleaning, cooking, checking things off our Christmas list, school for Jack x2, play with friends x2, another round of turkey stock (this time from my parents' turkey!), another crochet project completed, another book read, an event for Mark that made for a long day for me, a cookie exchange with friends, froze 40lbs of beef, we finally got our tree up, Mark's work party (which was amazing!), and I helped a doula friend with a picture project.




This weekend begins our Christmas festivities and we're not quite ready yet!


Here's what we're eating this week:


Sunday:  Tortellini-Minestrone with Garlic Butter Breadsticks

Monday:  Chili-topped Sweet Potatoes with Broccoli - carried over from last week

Tuesday:  Pasta with Six Cheeses with Salad

Wednesday:  Chipotle Barbacoa Beef (Crock Pot) with Cilantro-Lime Rice and Sweet Corn Salsa

Thursday:  Leftovers/Freezer Meal

Friday:  Out

Saturday:  Family holiday gathering


I'm linked at Menu Plan Monday hosted by OrgJunkie.com

Friday, December 13, 2013

Five on Friday

Here are some random ramblings for this week:


{One}

It was just a whole week of random things like this.  Gathering things to begin baking and bam!  Powdered sugar falls out of the cabinet and gets everywhere.  SO annoying!  

It's been one of those weeks that just won't let up.  The kids have been more than a handful, Molly is going through a period of development that's challenging for everyone, we discovered a fraudulent charge on our credit card and have to go through the dispute process again, basically a bunch of little things have added up to leave me annoyed and frustrated, buuuut it's Friday!  And that's a good thing.


{Two}

I remember a friend of mine posting on Facebook that they felt like they were the last ones to decorate for Christmas.  That was Thanksgiving weekend.  I know they're not the last ones because we still don't have ours up.  Hey, I can't help it that people insist on forcing the Christmas season to start in the middle of September!  Hopefully we'll have the situation rectified after tonight.  We've been busy bees!


{Three}



I don't care what anyone says about UGG boots being ugly.  They may be ugly, mine probably more than most considering they've been kicking around since 2005 (ermahgerd I can't believe that means they're 8 years old), but I live in Ohio and nothing beats their comfort, warmth, and practicality when it's snowy and slushy and gross out.  I have a pair of riding boots for when I'm trying to pretend like I have a sense of fashion, but sometimes you just gotta call in the big guns.


{Four}



COOKIES!  I had a cookie exchange with friends last night and a great time was had by all!  A fun friend night was much needed by me and I had been looking forward to it all week.  Love getting a variety of cookies!  And also, I love when it's cold enough outside to chill stuff on the back deck.  No shuffling stuff around to find room in the fridge for a giant mixing bowl!  Fall Almostwinter win!




{Five}

There's still plenty of snow on the ground from last week + early this week snow and we're in for another several inches starting this evening.  I really hope we end up getting by without too much accumulation as we've got places to go people to see tomorrow.  Ain't nobody got time for dat!







Monday, December 9, 2013

Menu Plan Monday - Week of December 8th



Whew!  Busy week last week!

I had 2 pre-natal appointments with the doula I was shadowing
Went to see Catching Fire with friends
Jack went to school twice
Another round of dress shopping with my sister
Lots of freezer cooking - 4 turkey pot pies, a half-pan of turkey tetrazzini, more than 3 quarts of turkey stock, and a homemade pizza are now in the freezer
Random errands that needed checked off the list
Read a book
Crocheted most of Molly's Christmas stocking
Made Rugelach
Dinner with family
And laundry/cooking/cleaning/taking care of kids x too much to count!

ANNND Miss Molly is officially walking!  Look out!

Plenty to keep us busy coming up this week too.  Happy Monday!


Here's what we're eating this week:


Sunday:  Dinner with family

Monday:  Broccoli Cheddar Soup in Bread Bowls

Tuesday:  Honey Garlic Chicken (Crock Pot) with Brown Rice and Veggies

Wednesday:  Chili-topped Sweet Potatoes

Thursday:  Leftovers

Friday:  Out

Saturday:  Apps


I'm linked at Menu Plan Monday hosted by OrgJunkie.com

Monday, December 2, 2013

Menu Plan Monday - Week of December 1st



December already!

Our 4 day weekend passed by quickly!  Thursday we were all over the place for Thanksgiving celebrations.  Friday we stayed home and avoided the Black Friday madness.  I did do some online shopping though!  Mark got some things done around the house and worked from home.  Saturday, I ran some errands, including grocery shopping.  Grocery shopping the Saturday after Thanksgiving during the OSU/Michgan game was awesome!  I've seen the grocery store more crowded during the day mid-week.  Good decision on my part!  Sunday I cooked a turkey and did some laundry and pretty much had an enjoyable lazy day.

Monday again and we have a busy week ahead of us!

Here's what we're eating:


Sunday:  Turkey!  There will be sides too, of course.

Monday:  Leftovers

Tuesday:  Turkey Monte Cristos

Wednesday:  Cheddar-Stuffed BBQ Mini-Meatloaves with Mashed Potatoes (because Jack requested meatloaf!)

Thursday:  Turkey Tetrazzini

Friday:  Out

Saturday:  Apps


I'm going to be doing a lot of freezer cooking this week.  On the list:

Shepherd's Pie
Turkey Pot Pies
Half of that Turkey Tetrazzini

We'll see if there's anything leftover after that.

This is why I love to make a big turkey!  They're on sale this time of year and it's really not too much work to get it roasted.  Then there are plenty of leftovers and I can use the meat for freezer meals.  I'll also be making turkey stock.


I'm linked at Menu Plan Monday hosted by OrgJunkie.com