Menu Plan Monday - Week of May 25th

Menu Plan Tuesday.  Because it was a holiday weekend and I'll likely be a day behind all week.  I'll just accept it now :) 

We had a busy, but great, weekend.  So grateful for a long weekend this week!  The weather was awesome so we were able to enjoy quite a bit of time outdoors.

My sister got married this weekend!  Friday evening was filled with the rehearsal and a cookout at my parents' house afterwards.  We had some errands to run earlier in the day and Jack and I made dessert for the cookout. He's a great helper and the cream cheese squares suggested by a friend were a hit (and utilized some items I already had on hand that needed a purpose - win)!  After the festivities we were late getting home and I still had things to do to get ready for the following day.

4 hours of sleep later, Saturday was an early day.  I had a 4.30am (yes, that's still night time in my book) wake up call to get up, grab last minute things, hot roller my hair, and be out in the door in time to make it to my sister's house at 5am 5.10am.  7 bridesmaids, 2 kids, the bride, hair, makeup, dresses, mimosas, breakfast, pictures, and several hours later we were ready for a wedding!  Everything went wonderfully and a good time was had.  Jack acted as ringbearer and did really well!  I basically let his 5-year-old cousin handle the situation and I was right in doing so!  Molly had a blast at the wedding and looked adorbs in her dress.  Now my sister and her new husband are off enjoying a beach honeymoon and I'm jealous of their getaway!

Sunday we did some things around the house and I had an interview.

Monday we enjoyed a bonus weekend day by visiting the Ice Cream Festival.  The weather was perfect and it was a good time.  We explored, the kids played, we had lunch, and of course ice cream was consumed because you can't go to the ice cream festival without eating ice cream!  Molly even enjoyed her first few bites of ice cream and she approves.  Although I think she's a little confused about why it's so cold.  She also enjoyed playing with the spoon.  I'm unsure why it fascinated her so, but it was funny!

We don't have too much on the agenda for this week and it's a nice feeling!  I'm sure we will still have plenty to keep us busy. 

Here's what we're eating:


Sunday:  Out

Monday: Grilled Burgers with Baked Sweet Potato Fries

Tuesday:  Tacos

Wednesday:  BBQ Chicken Salad with Cilantro-Lime Dressing

Thursday:  Leftovers

Friday:  Out

Saturday:  Out


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

Menu Plan Monday - Week of May 18th

We kicked off our weekend by attending a huge Touch-a-Truck event on Friday morning.  Jack had a blast!

Saturday was kind of rainy and icky, but I did the early morning gym thing, then had a prenatal visit, stopped by the library, and headed home to get a grocery list together so Mark and Jack could make a store run.  Molly and I stayed home to do some laundry, destroy all the things (Molly), and watch Cheese Paradise whilst way too hungry to torture oneself by watching a show about cheese fries, grilled cheese, and all things cheesy delicious (Me).

Sunday brought beautiful weather and after the boys went on a bagel run and brought me some disappointing coffee (Boo, Panera, boo!) we visited a local greenhouse to pick up some plants for the garden.  This is our year - I can feel it!  Or maybe that's just my black thumb twitching.  Urrgh.

Why I can't seem to grow things is beyond me.  I give plants sunshine, water, love.  What more can a seedling ask for?  I feel like I'm the only person in Ohio who can't plop a zucchini plant in the ground and end up with more zucchini than they know what to do with a few weeks later.

Clockwise from back left: beefsteak tomato, cherry tomato, bush beans, early girl tomato

None the less, this is it.  Every year has been a little better than the last and this is round 4.  Last year we did get minimal produce and some herbs, at least it was something.  I've got a couple of new ideas we're going to try out and good things will happen!  This is the year our garden is a true success!   Hopefully... 

Clockwise from back left: zucchini, red pepper, jalapeno, lettuces

Jack is very excited about the garden this year (as he was last year too) and he was a great helper with preparing the beds and getting plants in the ground.  He even watered the plants.  (Please grow, plants!)  Molly has a check-up at the doctor's this morning and then hopefully we'll hit a garden center to pick up a few larger pots for our herbs.  I'm hoping maybe some more dirt and space will yield healthier plants this year.

Sunday also brought smoked ribs and other yummies.  Because: Rib Sunday.

My sister is getting married this weekend!  My bridesmaid dress is with a seamstress getting about a foot of fabric hacked off the bottom and I pretty much waited til the last minute to begin this process.  Hopefully I have the dress in-hand and wearable soon :)

Here's what we're eating:


Sunday:  Smoked Ribs with Mac & Cheese and Green Beans

Monday:  Bang Bang Chicken and Veggie Skewers with Cilantro Lime Quinoa

Tuesday:  Chicken Enchilada Verdes with Mexican Rice (from the freezer!)

Wednesday:  Kentucky Hot Brown Burgers with Baked Sweet Potato Fries

Thursday:  Leftovers

Friday:  Wedding Rehearsal

Saturday:  Wedding


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

Menu Plan Monday - Week of May 11th

Goodness it has been busy around here!  Hence, Menu Plan Monday: Wednesday Edition.

This weekend was kind of crazy with little sleep due to a long labor situation, but I got to spend part of my Mother's Day supporting a mother bringing her new baby into the world.  If that doesn't celebrate the essence of motherhood I don't know what does!

My first little Mother's Day gift from Jack.  He brought home from school this little potted flower and a card.  Adorbs!

I did get to enjoy my own Mother's Day celebration as well.  We went to a lovely brunch with family and Mark and the kids gifted me with a hybrid tablet/laptop (I don't even know if that's the right term because I know nothing about electronics) and some accessories.  Really nifty!  I have no idea how to use it, but Mark insists it will be great for business purposes.  I think he's right I just have to learn how to best utilize it!

And both kids cooperated for a picture.  This has pretty much never happened before.  Wonderful treat!

After brunch it was time for fun (not) things like laundry and while the boys were grocery shopping and Molly was napping I used the quiet time to do a much needed massive closet clean out.  I'm an admitted hoarder and despite the fact that a solid 90+% of the items in my closet were merely taking up space it was super hard for me to clean it out.  It was all getting too ridiculous, even for me, so I finally buckled down and did what needed to be done.  Mark loaded all the bags up and took care of donating them and now my nice spacious closet and I are happy that the task is done!

Jack is finishing up his last few days of his first year of preschool (ahhh!) and Molly has learned how to climb up on furniture much too high for my comfort levels.  Yesterday I found her standing on the TV stand like she belonged there.  Uhm... no.  My life just got more challenging.



Sunday:  Late dinner - apps

Monday:  Grilled Burgers with Baked Sweet Potato Fries

Tuesday:  Strawberry Spinach Salad with Poppyseed Dressing

Wednesday:  Macadamia Crusted Tilapia with Mango Pineapple Salsa

Thursday:  Leftovers or Homemade Pizza

Friday:  Out

Saturday:  Out


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

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!