Menu Plan Monday - Week of April 27th

This weekend passed by in a flash!  I had several meetings to keep me busy, but we were still able to get outside and enjoy some lovely weather!  Mark smoked some ribs on Sunday (yum!) and now it's Monday again.

Jack picked and gifted me with a beautiful flower this weekend :)

It should be a pretty low-key week for us and this coming weekend is the first in quite a while that I don't have any doula work scheduled.  Although I really enjoy the work I'm doing and it doesn't monopolize a lot of time it's nice to have a wide open weekend up ahead with nothing to schedule around!

Here's what we're eating:


Sunday:  Smoked Ribs with Corn Pudding and Southern-Style Green Beans

Monday:  Honey-Lime Tequila Shrimp Tacos

Tuesday:  Teriyaki Chicken Stir Fry with Brown Rice - carried over from last week

Wednesday:  Monte Cristos with Fruit

Thursday:  BBQ Chicken Pizza

Friday:  Out

Saturday:  Out


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

Menu Plan Monday - Week of April 20th

Forgive my absence.  Last week was kuh-razy!

After an extended prologue, I attended a long birth last weekend and didn't return home until early Sunday morning, the same day I was hosting a bridal shower for my sister.  Everything turned out well all around, but I was super tired!  I only made it through because Mark was such a hugeastic help behind the scenes.

That dress?  Mark picked it out and bought it for me because I didn't have time to shop.  One of the many things he did to help me last weekend!

Then, everyone came down with an icky cold.  I was sicker than Mark, probably because I was so run down.  Molly recovered quickly, Mark never got very sick, and it lingered for a while for poor Jack.  He wasn't feeling better until pretty late in the week, but thankfully he is feeling better now!

I did make some Tortellini Minestrone (because, it snowed last week.  In mid-April.  Amongst 70-degree days.  Ohio... ) and Chicken Fajitas (because it snowed and then was back up to 70-degrees 48 hours later.  I'll take it!), if you're interested.

Easter Egg painting

We had a very nice Easter!  The weather was the loveliest I can remember in years and the kids were able to enjoy an outdoor egg hunt!  Can't beat that!  We spent the morning at home and then were out at my grandparents' for late lunch/dinner.

Easter Egg hunting.  Molly was all over the hunt.  She caught on very quickly!

After two pretty challenging weeks in a row I'm hoping to get our lives back on track a bit this week!  I'll be doing some catch-up cleaning around the house and hopefully enjoying some more beautiful weather!  We hit the park this morning to play with friends - great start to our week!

Here's what we're eating:


Sunday:  with family for Easter

Monday:  Leftovers

Tuesday:  Grilled Salmon with Strawberry Avocado Salsa and Asparagus

Wednesday:  Teriyaki Chicken Stir Fry with Brown Rice

Thursday:  Buffalo Joes with Ranch Potato Wedges

Friday:  Out

Saturday:  Out


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

Menu Plan Monday - Week of April 6th

Busy, busy weekend!

My book-loving girl snuck off and settled herself with a book while at a play date on Friday.  Love it!

I had Zumba on Saturday morning (where I was greeted by a new instructor, effectively knocking me from my mini-pedestal of hard-won mediocrity), then hit up a consignment sale afterwards where I scored some great clothes for Miss Molly to wear for spring and summer.  I only got 2 shirts for Jack and a book, but seeing how hard he is on his clothes doesn't leave the reason there aren't a lot of used clothing available in his size much of a mystery!  Then it was home to shower, fight with my printer gather needed items, and I was off to a prenatal meeting with a new client!

Sunday, my sister came over and we looked at wedding invites while the kids played and Mark did the grocery shopping.  Then I had a postpartum visit with a client where I got to enjoy teeny baby snuggles, popped into the library to pick up a book so that I don't forget to read this month's book club selection and was back home for the rest of the day.

I am loving the warmer weather and although it's kind of chilly and very rainy today we were able to open the windows to fresh air this weekend and Jack was about to get outside to play for a bit so I'm happy!

Mark does such a great job of caring for the kids while I'm not around.

My being gone all Saturday morning meant that daddy did Molly's hair.  He's working on perfecting a pony tail.  Getting there!

This week is likely to be just as busy as I have a couple of social events, I'm on-call for a birth, and I have doula work in addition to hosting a bridal shower for my sister next weekend.  The shower that I haven't yet done much to prepare for.  Eeep.

Here's what we're eating this week:


Sunday:  Grilled Burgers with Baked Sweet Potato Fries

Monday:  Creamy Lemon Chicken and Asparagus with Bacon with Roasted Potatoes

Tuesday:  Homemade Pizza

Wednesday:  Freezer Meal

Thursday:  Leftovers

Friday:  Out

Saturday:  Out


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

Tried & True Recipe: Sweet Potato Nachos

I love sweet potatoes and my favorite ways to eat them always involve spicing them up a bit!  Sweet potatoes are especially tasty combined with Mexican-style spices or other flavors like BBQ or chili for a sweet-savory combo.  A quick meal I love are baked sweet potatoes topped with BBQ meat or chili that I pull from the freezer.  Quick, healthy, and filling!  Another regular favorite of ours are these Baked Sweet Potato Fries that are seasoned up with Mexican-style spices.

When I saw these Sweet Potato Nachos I thought - genius!  I can't believe I've never thought of this before!  These came together with just a few minutes of work, everyone was able to top their portion how they wanted, and it was a hit with the whole family!  This will definitely be a quick go-to meal for us that will surely be making a regular appearance on our menu!


Sweet Potato 'Nachos'
Inspired by Peas & Crayons

3-4 Sweet Potatoes (depending on size and need.  I used 3 1/2 sweet potatoes and that filled a large baking sheet yielding enough for dinner + some leftovers for lunch the next day), peeled and sliced into rounds ~1/4" thick
Taco Seasoning (I just used the taco seasoning I always keep on hand, but you could certainly just sprinkle some chili powder, cumin, garlic and onion powders, salt and pepper, and maybe just a little pinch of cayenne for a kick!)
Oil (I would recommend coconut or extra virgin olive oil), for spraying or drizzling

Preheat oven to 400-degrees.  Drizzle/spray a large baking sheet with oil to prevent sticking.  Arrange potato rounds in single-ish layer (it's okay if they overlap a little, but try to get a single layer as much as possible) and drizzle/spray rounds with oil.  Sprinkle seasoning to taste.  Bake 30 minutes or until potatoes are tender.  Top with warm toppings (I added cheese and beans here) and pop back into the oven for a few minutes to allow toppings to heat and melt.  Remove from oven and serve with your favorite toppings!

Nacho toppings: we topped ours with cheese and black beans, and to my portion I added lettuce, tomatoes, salsa, pickled jalapeno slices, sour cream, and guacamole.  Another great topping would be some taco-seasoned meat, but feel free to add whatever you like to eat with your nachos!  These would also be awesome as chili cheese nachos, or BBQ nachos.

I love nachos!  Keep in mind these are definitely roasted sweet potatoes.  They're not going to be crispy like a tortilla chip, but the seasoned sweet potatoes make such a delicious and nutritious base for all your favorite toppings!

Give it a try!

Menu Plan Monday - Week of March 30th

Yes, I realize the week is half over, but we're going to roll with it.

Our one-year-old computer was in the shop getting fixed and I just got it back.  I'm sure you can imagine just how happy I am about the computer needing fixing, but we're not going to talk about it. I'm just happy to have it back.

Another busy weekend!  I had prenatal meetings Friday, Saturday, and Sunday of this weekend.  We also fit in a Zumba class (for me), fantasy baseball draft (for Mark), and grocery shopping and other miscellaneous household things.

Molly is waving at a flamboyant flamingo who was putting on quite a show for us.  She thought it was great and kept waving hi and talking to it!

Monday, the weather was finally nice enough for a trip to the zoo!  Jack has been begging to go for weeks now and was pretty disappointed that the weather wasn't appropriate for a trip last week when he was on spring break (although, he did get to enjoy some fun times indoors during spring break!) so he was pretty psyched about our visit.

The nice weather continued into Tuesday and I was able to line-dry diapers for the first time this year and snuck in 20 minutes of reading time in the sun while Jack was at school and Molly was napping.  Jack was very excited as he got to play outside on the playground at school and again when we went to the gym afterwards.  Plenty of fresh air and sunshine for all!

And now it's rainy, but it's not freezing cold, nor is it supposed to be for the foreseeable future so I'll take it!

We're already on freezer meal night and I'm once again so very pleased to have a delicious dinner ready to go with no more effort than popping a previously made meal into the oven!  Freezer cooking, you've gotta give it a try!

Sunday:  Late dinner - apps

Monday:  Chipotle Bean Burritos

Tuesday:  Grilled Burgers with Baked Sweet Potato Fries

Wednesday:  Freezer Meal

Thursday:  Leftovers

Friday:  Out

Saturday:  Out


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