Week 76: School is OUT!

School is OUT for the summer!  I'm so excited to be able to let my kids sleep in!  I'm amazed at how quickly they adjust to this whole 'sleeping in' thing!  We've gone from waking up around 6:15am to sleeping until 8am or later (for my oldest as least).  I love the quiet time in the morning when everyone is sleeping.  Hey, maybe I can actually start blogging again with this wonderful time?

Well, I am looking forward to this summer!  I am in the process of having a screened in porch finally put on the back of my house, so this is a fantastic start to our summer!  It's so much nicer to have a protected place from the mosquitos during a Georgia summer.  We used to have a screened in porch, but knocked it down a few years ago because it was structurally unsound.  This one is going to be awesome!

Here's a picture of my husband and his dad hard after the first day of work on the porch! Tomorrow we get a roof!  It's off to a great start!

Week 76 Menu

Sunday - Salmon with mixed roasted veggies
Monday - Thai basil shrimp, cabbage, red peppers, white rice

Tuesday - Sirloin pork roast with roasted carrots, potatoes, and sweet potatoes

Wednesday - Spaghetti with meatballs, zucchini noodles, angel hair
Thursday - Mahi Mahi, rice, black beans, mango salsa

Friday - Out to dinner?

Saturday - Grilled chicken, baked sweet potatoes, green beans

Happy cooking to you all and don't forget to honor our Veteran's this Memorial Day!  We are so grateful for the sacrifice that all of you make to keep our country safe!

Sarah

Week 75: Time to Blog!

Hey there friends!  It's been tough to get anything written lately, but I really need to get some menu planning done for the next few weeks, so I'm on a mission to get back to blogging!  This month, I've planned lots of swimming lessons for all three of my kids, so that means we'll be making a 30-minute drive after school three nights a week and that doesn't leave me much time for 'real' cooking over the next two weeks.  I'm hoping to find some good crock pot recipes. . . I'd love to hear your ideas!

I made some biscuits a few days ago for a meeting at church (and I honestly made them to try some of this awesome jam we received from a recent wedding we attended).  The bride made jam for all of the 150 guests!  She is a total rock star in my book and it is delicious!  She made a few different flavors, but we took home pear/apple with cardamom and also mixed berry with port!  That's the pear/apple in the photo above and I'm totally addicted.  I will have to try my hand at jam making. . .

So, now for the menu this week:

Week 75 Menu

Sunday - Spaghetti with meat sauce, green peas
Monday - Ginger chicken soup, spinach salad

Tuesday - Roasted marinated salmon (from Costco) with mixed veggies

Wednesday - Chicken tacos in the slow cooker, black beans, zucchini, rice (FYI - I also use a whole chicken for this recipe if it's all I have)
Thursday - Braised short ribs, roasted potatoes & sweet potatoes (I've got to use these things soon, so I hope I can get to them this week)

Friday - Leftovers

Saturday - Out to dinner (or breakfast for dinner?)

I hope you all have a great week and as always, I'd love to see what you weekly menu looks like!

Take care,
Sarah

Week 74

I'm finding that I still love to cook and bake, but I stink at taking pictures of the process.  I so wish that I had a buddy to just hang out and take photos all of the time so that I could easily post recipes every week!  However, I do not have a 'buddy' that just hangs at my house, ready to try all new recipes and creations at any minute because all of my friends are moms like me.  Our lives generally require quick, immediate responses rather than calm, patient planning.  All that to say, that I'm still cooking, but forgetting to take pictures almost every time.  Working on this. . .

This is Annabelle modeling their dessert creation: strawberries, coconut whipped cream and chocolate sauce!  

Also, I've turned on verification if you want to post your menus because I've been getting lots of spam, so you'll just have to prove you are a 'human' by entering the secret code when you post!  I would be so very happy to see some of your weekly menus!

Week 74 Menu

Sunday - Leftovers (What a great way to start this week!)
Monday - Shredded chicken tacos, white rice, black beans

Tuesday - Roasted marinated salmon (from Costco) with mixed veggies

Wednesday - Chicken Teriyaki stir fry, broccoli, red peppers, carrots and white rice (I made this teriyaki sauce and just add it to my stir fry and dinner's done.  It lasts for a few weeks in the fridge!)
Thursday - Spaghetti with ground beef, zucchini pasta, whole wheat pasta (for kiddos), green beans

Friday - Out to dinner

Saturday - Shrimp something. . .

I would love to see what you all are cooking!  Post your menus!!!  :)

Sarah

Week 73: Rest?

I was thrilled  to attend a women's retreat this past weekend with a ton of other moms at Winshape Retreat in Rome, GA!  It's such a beautiful place nestled up in the foothills of Northern Georgia!  They make amazing food and the rooms are really peaceful!  It was a great weekend away, but I was very happy to return to my sweet family!

Chicken Ginger Soup

A few weeks ago we started our Paleo challenge, but I've been sick and that's really putting a damper on my ability to work out.  I got a double ear infection and it's giving me a feeling of vertigo when I over-exert myself.  I just went back to the doctor and I'm now on a second round of antibiotics and I'll be going to an allergist soon to see what is going on with me.

Week 73 Menu

Sunday - Chicken ginger soup
Monday - Leftovers

Tuesday - Rotisserie chicken, roasted cauliflower, green beans

Wednesday - Tomato basil soup, mixed green salad with leftover rotisserie chicken
Thursday - Pan seared salmon, mango salsa, broccoli

Friday - Ground beef tacos, black beans, seared zucchini

Saturday - Out to dinner

I would love to see what you all are cooking!  Post your menus!!!  :)

Sarah

Week 72: Sleepovers. . .

As a parent, I must admit that I have a love/hate relationship with sleepovers.  I love them in the beginning when the kids are happily eating, playing and watching movies together.  However, the next afternoon is always challenging as they get older.  My 6-year-old, Emilie, still feels like it's SO late when she goes to bed at 9:30pm-10pm.  I enjoy sleepovers at her age.  Now, my 9-year-old stays up really late now and it makes the next day torture.  Girls are so sensitive, so she cries at the smallest annoyance or inconvenience and she's just so overtired that she can't seem to take a nap.  So, today is a sleepy day and basically a family snuggle day in order to recover from their sleepovers last night.  Praying for a very early bedtime for everyone tonight!

Here's Emilie and my sweet little niece, Josephine!  

I've been having some issues at the gym over the last week or so with dizziness and nausa, so I finally went to the doctor last week to discover the crazy stuff going on with me is the result of a double ear infection and sinus infection.  I don't think I've had an ear infection since elementary school, so I'm amazed at how much it really has messed with my equilibrium.  Bending down to get the laundry or put dishes away makes my head throb and it feels like the world is spinning.  So, I'm on antibiotics and taking a respite from the gym until I feel better doing daily chores.  The timing sucks because we were supposed to start our CrossFit challenge last week, but I couldn't complete the 'starting' workout, so I won't be able to participate in the challenge.  Maybe next year?

So, back to meal planning. . . How's the going for all of you?  It's been a struggle in my house and so has baking since we are limiting our sugar intake.  Poor me, right?

Here's the weekly menu:

Week 72 Menu

Sunday - Ginger chicken soup
Monday - Beef Stew with red wine and green beans

Tuesday - Leftovers

Wednesday - Roasted salmon with normandy vegetables
Thursday - Chicken with 40 cloves of garlic, roasted veggies

Friday - Grilled chicken legs, roasted sweet potatoes, broccoli

Saturday - Out to dinner

Well, have a great week everyone!

Sarah

Week 71: Back to Meal Planning

Well, it's been quite awhile since I was able to post a meal plan, but I'm hoping that I'll get my stuff together now for the rest of the year.  It's so hard to get back into the swing of things after having everyone at home for a few weeks.  My hubby took off from 12/14 through the New Year and the kids only went back to school last Tuesday.   So, I am beginning to feel like we have a routine in our house again!  ;)

These are Paleo Chocolate Chip cookies made with almond flour!  Delicious!

I'm not much for New Year's Resolutions.  I sort of gave them up a long time ago, but I do set goals that seem more realistic to my mind.  One of my goals for this year is to curb our diet a lot more towards Paleo meals.  For those of you unfamiliar with this diet, it's a focus on lean meats, veggies and fruits.  No processed foods and also no dairy, grain, legumes).  I am doing well for dinner, but I need to make it work all day long.  We have a challenge starting at the end of January with our CrossFit gym, so we'll be eating carefully and exercising a lot during that 6-week time period.  The prizes are really awesome, so we're going to give it our best shot!

Veering away from my goals, we have a 'Go-Dairy' weekend coming up and the kids are so excited!  Alain is going out of town on a snowboarding trip with his buddies, so in an effort to make his absence 'not so sad' I told the kids we could have food that we can't eat with Daddy around (ie. wheat and dairy).  So, this is not fitting in very well with my Paleo diet, but I'll be making bread and making meals with cheese and sour cream!  Might seem lame for some of you, but this is an exciting adventure in my house!

Week 71 Menu

Sunday - Grilled chicken thighs, roasted cauliflower and carrots
Monday - Seared steak with collard greens, mushrooms and green beans

Tuesday - Leftovers

Wednesday - Roasted salmon with normandy vegetables
Thursday - Chicken enchiladas with green salsa

Friday - Beef stroganoff (special treat for our Dairy weekend)

Saturday - Out to dinner

Enjoy your week, everyone!

Sarah

Week 70: Warm December. . .

This warm weather is creeping me out!  Seriously, it should not be 70 degrees on December 9th in North Georgia!  I am enjoying the outside time for the kids (and for my hubby who is working on our deck), but it just feels strange to see people wearing flip-flops in December.  Ok, enough of my soap box and onto the menu. . .  ;)

Thai Basil Shrimp with red peppers and cabbage!  Sent this picture to Alain to lure him home last week!  

We finally bought our Christmas tree today and decorated it, so it was a sweet family night for all of us.  The kids proceeded to pay with legos as soon as the decorating was complete and I made some oatmeal chocolate chip cookies for a special treat!  I've been using coconut oil in these cookies rather than butter and they are delicious!  It's really interesting that they seem to hold their shape better with the coconut oil rather than spreading out on the cookie sheet to be a bit thinner when I use butter.  Not sure if any of you have tried it, but I'd love to hear from you want to share your thoughts!

Week 70 Menu

Sunday - Rotisserie chicken, green beans, white rice
Monday - Leftovers

Tuesday - Pot roast, carrots, potatoes

Wednesday - Chicken Cacciatore, pasta, zucchini pasta, roasted cauliflower
Thursday - Shrimp tacos, white rice, black beans, cabbage slaw (romaine lettuce for Paleo taco shells)

Friday - Roasted salmon with normandy vegetables

Saturday - Out to dinner

Hope you all have a great week!

Sarah

Week 69: Playing Catch Up!

Well, I totally missed posting last week's menu with my post-Thanksgiving craziness.  My SIL came into town to visit her sister (who had pre-eclampsia and delivered a preemie a few weeks ago) with my niece, so we had a little time with my sweet niece, Josephine (Zach calls her 'JosePine' and I love it).  The 'no-menu' weeks are always a challenge, but we did almost totally Paleo meals all week despite the chaos.

Now this picture is not a Paleo meal, but I made these right before Thanksgiving and I was thrilled with this pita bread recipe!  It was the easiest bread I've made and the kids devoured this stuff as it came out of the oven.  I cooked it in the oven on a cookie sheet turned upside down and they only take a few minutes to puff up and cook!  Pita bread was a really fun recipe to make with the kids, so give it a try if you like pita bread.  They are SO much better than anything you get in the store!

Week 69 Menu

Sunday - Rotisserie chicken, broccoli (from our garden)
Monday - Mexican beef (or lettuce wraps), roasted cauliflower, guacamole

Tuesday - Spaghetti with meat sauce, green beans, zucchini noodles

Wednesday - Leftovers
Thursday - Thai basil shrimp, cabbage, red peppers, white rice

Friday - Grilled steaks, spring mix salad, grilled asparagus

Saturday - Roasted salmon with normandy vegetables

Happy cooking!

Sarah

Week 68: Birthday Boy Turns 4!

How is it that I have a 9-year-old, a 6-year-old and a 4-year-old?  Really, life is just flying by and I know that if I close my eyes for just a minute they'll all be graduating High School and having their own kids!  So, my youngest, Zachary, turned 4 last Wednesday and we celebrated his birthday 2 weekends ago with family and a few friends!  His birthday is so close to Halloween that we had a costume party and did a Spider theme and bought leftover Halloween decorations for the party! It was fun to have spider webs all over the house.  Zach loved to throw things into the webs to see what stuck and what fell down!  Sadly, I still have some spider webs hanging around my house. . .

Cinnamon rolls for Zach's 'real' birthday at home!

Time is slipping by, so along with the speed of my children growing, starting Cross Fit is kicking my butt (quite literally)!  I am so exhausted every night, but it's oddly addictive.  My husband has been going to Cross Fit for over a year and I have picked on him about the incredible pain he's in after every workout!  However, I am now able to see this pain from a 'personal' perspective and I'm finding that the pain is intense, but the fact that I completed the "mac-daddy' workout really makes me feel amazing!  So, I'm hooked, but my blogging is totally suffering (as is my menu-planning), so we've had some interesting meals lately that include chicken nuggets for the kids and eggs for Mommy and Daddy!  It's all good.  ;)

Week 68 Menu

Sunday - Rotisserie chicken, broccoli, potatoes
Monday - Roasted chicken legs with cauliflower, couscous

Tuesday - Spaghetti with meat sauce, green beans, zucchini noodles

Wednesday - Chicken tacos, black beans, rice, seared zucchini
Thursday - Thai basil shrimp, cabbage, red peppers, white rice

Friday - Out to dinner

Saturday - Out to dinner

I am not certain that I'll make any of these meals this week.  It's just been that crazy around here with homework and all of the neighbors begging to play outside in the afternoons.  We don't even do sports yet, and it's just busy all of the time.  I hope that some of you will share your attempts at menu planning too!  Just post your menus (or what you think you might cook) in the comments below, so that we can all get ideas from one another!

Happy cooking, everyone!

Sarah

Week 67: Cul-de-Sac Dinner!

Well, we planted a winter garden for the first time ever in our Cul-de-Sac and it's now just starting to come together for us!  In celebration of our first harvest (collard greens), we got together and cooked some good, old fashioned southern collard greens with smoked turkey legs and cornbread!  We used Paula Deen's recipe for collard greens and they were really amazing!  I am from the Chicago suburbs originally, so we never ate collard greens growing up and I've never served them in my home!  I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed them!

My daughter, Annabelle (9 years old), just got a new cookbook from some friends and she wanted to use it to make dessert Sunday.  She picked a recipe for cake truffles (aka cake pops) and we made the cake from scratch and I used leftover icing that was in my freezer to complete the recipe!  Then, we rolled them in powdered sugar!  Delicious!  I'm so proud of her because she made almost everything by herself.

Cake Truffles actually looked like chocolate donut holes to me!  

Week 67 Menu

Sunday - Turkey legs, collard greens, corn bread
Monday - Meatloaf, green beans

Tuesday - Mahi-mahi, roasted mixed veggies

Wednesday - Chicken tacos, black beans, rice, seared zucchini
Thursday - Spaghetti with meat sauce, broccoli, zucchini noodles (angel hair for kids)

Friday - Leftovers

Saturday - Out to dinner

Have a great week, everyone!

Sarah

Week 66: How Sweet it Is!

It was definitely a sweet weekend in this house! Our friends from New York visited this weekend, so we had cinnamon rolls, brownies and carrot cupcakes scattered over the past 2 days. The kids are in heaven and most of the adults were pretty happy too. ;)

 

We did also have 'real' food, but I enjoy recalling the sweets so much more fondly! It was a fun weekend filled with my kids attacking my hubby's college roommate with crazy wrestling matches, some great hiking at Sope Creek and lots of good food.

Week 66 Menu

Sunday - Chicken salad sandwiches
Monday - Leftovers

Tuesday -  Beef tacos, black beans, white rice

Wednesday - Chicken stir fry, cabbage, red peppers, leftover rice (didn't get to this last week)
Thursday - Spaghetti with meat sauce, broccoli, zucchini noodles (angel hair for kids)

Friday - Roasted salmon with mixed roasted veggies

Saturday - Out to dinner

Have a great week, everyone!

Sarah

Week 65: Welcome Fall!

Loving this cooler weather this week!  We went camping with some friends this past weekend to Cloudland Canyon State Park in Georgia and it was in the 40's when we woke up Sunday morning!  That was a bit colder that I was ready for during an already very rainy weekend!  My sleeping bag was calling to me on Sunday morning saying 'don't leave me yet!'  If you've never checked out Cloudland Canyon, you really need to take some time to visit it!  The canyon is not like you might imagine a canyon out West, but it's deep with waterfalls at the bottom and the hike down into the canyon is awesome!  The hike around the rim is beautiful as well!  There's great hiking, mountain biking and the camp sites are very spacious!

Annabelle enjoying a toasted marshmallow! 

I had my first day at our local Cross Fit Gym today!  I was totally wiped out this morning, but very excited that I made it through day 1!  I have 2 weeks of beginner's training and then I get to go to the 'big kid' classes with everyone else!  The owner of this gym is really a great leader and teacher, so I was fortunate to have a private lesson with him this morning because no one else wants to get up and be there at 6am.  Imagine that?

So, it's been a good 2 weeks since I posted a menu, but I'm back and ready to have a menu up.  It's been fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants with cooking here lately and that makes dinner time really stressful for all of us!  I spent a week helping coordinate the CCC MOPS Children's Consignment Sale in Smyrna, GA two weeks ago and then I spent last week recovering and dealing with a few sick kids.

Onto the menu. . .

Week 65 Menu

Sunday - Marinated salmon with roasted mixed veggies
Monday - Pork sirloin roast, cauliflower, potatoes and carrots

Tuesday -  Leftovers

Wednesday - Chicken stir fry, cabbage, red peppers, white rice
Thursday - Chili, steamed broccoli, salad

Friday - Pizza

Saturday - Out to dinner

Have a great week, everyone!

Sarah

Week 64: Dairy is Not My Friend!

I've been browsing through pinterest over the last few days looking for interesting recipe ideas, but I'm literally blown away by the amount of recipes that have dairy as the main ingredient.  I know how most people feel about their milk, cheese, yogurt and ice cream, but it was really causing both my hubby and I pain and suffering to ingest dairy!  I am not completely dairy-free, but my husband has an allergy to milk protein, so I steer clear from it as much as possible.  I would say that I am on a low-lactose diet and it definitely agrees with me.

Zach helping put the frozen broccoli in the steamer! Broccoli is an awesome source of calcium!

It's a shame she doesn't love her broccoli!  LOL!  This girl has been eating broccoli for dessert since she was a toddler!

In my case, I seem to have trouble with milk, yogurt, ice cream and sometimes cheese.  I had an issue with lactose as an infant, so my mom never really pushed me to drink milk as a child.  I found that when I did drink milk, a milk shake or ice cream, I would suffer with severe sinus headaches within an hour of my meal (I especially noticed this around the time when I stopped eating dairy with my husband for the Paleo diet)!  It was awful!  Milk products also made any cold symptoms I had so much worse (as far as nasal drainage and coughing), so it wasn't a big deal to minimize my dairy intake.  However, I still use milk in baking and I find that I don't have any issues when milk is baked into my food.

Love this stuff!  It's not high in protein, but it is a great milk substitute in our house!

I think that, for most people, the answer lies in moderation.  Most people would not even correlate a sinus headache with a dairy intolerance, but I can tell you that there was a huge connection in my world.  Here's an article about dairy allergies: link.  For those of you who don't struggle with any health issues as a result of heavily processed food, you are so lucky!  Check out this story of a couple changed by the Paleo diet: http://bit.ly/OHfRPU

Week 64 Menu

Sunday - Chili with Chimichurri, salad, broccoli
Monday - Grilled pizzas (red sauce & pesto with no cheese for paleo man)

Tuesday -  Leftovers

Wednesday - Mexican beef, rice, black beans, seared zucchini
Thursday - Baked chicken legs, green beans, asparagus

Friday - Pork sirloin roast, cauliflower, potatoes and carrots

Saturday - Out to dinner?

Thanks for letting me get that out!  Now, I would be so excited to see some menus this week!  Have a wonderful week, everyone!

Sarah

Week 63: Grilled Chicken Legs

One of our favorite meals in the house is grilled chicken legs!  My kids flip for any food they can eat with their hands, so a favorite for them is chicken legs, corn on the cob and asparagus because they are all finger food!  We worked with what we had on hand tonight, so we couldn't do all finger food.  Emilie (our 6-year-old) was Daddy's big helper tonight, so she seasoned the chicken with Emeril seasoning, helped season the roasted potatoes and put the green beans in a steamer.  I can tell you she raved about her accomplishments all night and it was very sweet!

I'm getting a bit bored with my go-to menu items, so I'm trying to find some easy recipes that I can integrate into the weekly menu plans.  The picadillo is one my friend, Jeannie, made a few years ago.  It's great as-is on top of rice (or cauliflower for the Paleo man), but it's also delicious in tacos.  Picadillo has a much deeper, richer flavor than normal taco meat.  If you don't like all of the ingredients, it's easy enough to leave them out.  The other two just sound awesome.  I'm hopeful the slow-cooked pork will turn out great.  We can always use more crock pot meals!

Week 63 Menu

Sunday - Grilled chicken legs (pictured above), green beans, roasted potatoes

Monday - Picadillo, rice, roasted cauliflower

Tuesday -  Leftovers

Wednesday - Grilled mahi-mahi and some sides (not sure about them yet)
Thursday - Chinese slow-cooked pork shoulder, cabbage, bell peppers, rice (I'll post recipe if it's a good one)

Friday - Chili with Chimichurri, salad, broccoli

Saturday - Out to dinner?

Have a great week, everyone!

BTW - My blog post got featured on BlogHer Food page this week.  Check it out if you haven't already!   http://bit.ly/PV3rRu

Sarah

Week 62: Happy Labor Day!

Some weekends just don't turn out as you plan them, do they?  I was planning on traveling to visit my mom with the kiddos, sleep in and generally get a bit spoiled, but a stupid stomach bug had to invade my life and cancel all my awesome plans!  GRRRR!  Happy Labor Day!

Roasted asparagus with salt, pepper and olive oil!  Yummy! 

My husband and I are about to begin a fitness challenge this week!  I think he's participating in two separate challenges simultaneously.  The first is the just a general improve your endurance challenge using the Army Physical Fitness test at the beginning and the end of the 6 week challenge.  I had a total score of 201 (not great at all), but the idea is to improve over the next few weeks.  The test is a workout that included 2 minutes of push-ups, 2 minutes of sit-ups and a timed run for 2 miles.  The running totally did me in.  I barely passed on the sit-ups, but actually did fairly well 88/100 for the push-ups (that's my score, not how many push-ups I did, BTW).  ;)

The second challenge he's going is a CrossFit Challenge at his gym, so I'm on strict orders not to bake over the next month!  I absolutely hate being told 'not to bake.'  My first instinct is to run to my cookbook and bake something totally new and amazing!  I know that would be an 'Epic Fail' on my part as a supporting wife, so I will do my best to resist the sweets this month.  We have agreed, however, that I can bake as long as it does not linger in our house and I give it away immediately.  I know I can work around that rule!  So, I'll be doing lots of Paleo meals over the next month on the menu plans.  You will still see starches on my menu for the kids, but Alain and I will not be eating them.  Click on the paleo link if you are curious about the Paleo diet.

Week 62 Menu

Sunday - Rotisserie chicken (Costco), green beans, rice

Monday - Mexican Style pork, rice, black beans

Tuesday -  Leftovers

Wednesday - Thai basil shrimp, cabbage, red peppers, white rice
Thursday - Hamburgers, roasted sweet potatoes, broccoli

Friday - Grilled mahi-mahi, roasted carrots & cauliflower

Saturday - Out to dinner?

I'd love to see your menus!

Happy cooking,

Sarah

Week 60: Oregonians Invade! :)

Well, last week I mentioned that we were just getting over leaving the Pacific coast of Oregon and now my BIL, SIL and their 2-month old sweetie, Josephine are all staying with us for the next week and a half!  I'm so excited to see them again and my kids are thrilled that they finally get to meet their cousin!

First week of school starts tomorrow for my kids and it's always bittersweet!  They have a brand new school, so they are really excited, but a little nervous for a new school year.  

Week 60 Menu

Sunday - Spaghetti with meat sauce, zucchini noodles or rotini, steamed broccoli

Monday - Chicken tacos, black beans, white rice

Tuesday - Leftovers 

Wednesday - Grilled salmon, roasted mixed veggies

Thursday - Thai basil shrimp, cabbage, red peppers, white rice

Friday - Burgers, roasted potatoes, sweet potatoes and carrots

Saturday - Out to dinner

Happy menu planning!  Have a great week, everyone!  I'd love to see your menus!

Sarah

Week 59: Home from Oregon!

Well, we arrived home on Wednesday, but I felt that it was just too much to try to make a menu with only a few days left in the week, so we struggled along this week.  My hubby and I spent 3 days on the coast in Lincoln City, Oregon to celebrate our 12th wedding anniversary and then we spent 4 days with my BIL and SIL (in Bend, Oregon) who just had their first baby, Josephine!  We left the kiddos home with my FIL and I don't think they missed us at all because they had so much fun with him.  It's the first time we've left our kids for more than one night in 9 years, so this was a big deal for us and it was amazing!  

We ate amazing food while in Oregon!  It was my second visit, but I just love the food there!  Everyone seems to be a foodie and they are SO focused on using locally grown ingredients!  It just makes everything taste amazing!  The picture above is grilled salmon with crab risotto and vodka sauce! OMG! It was so amazing! Thanks to Tidal Raves in Depoe Bay, Oregon!

One of the best breakfast sandwiches in the world is pictured above!  It's a bacon & egg sandwich with arugula aioli on a homemade croissant.  Thank goodness for Sparrow Bakery in Bend, Oregon!  I think that I will visit this place even if Josh & Mary move back to Atlanta one day!  ;)

This is the precious little bundle that inspired the whole trip!  This is Sarah Josephine and we had such a wonderful time with her last week!  That was one of the first smiles her Mommy was able to catch on camera!  Love that sweet girl!

Onto the menu. . . 

Week 59 Menu

Sunday - Rotisserie chicken, green beans, potatoes

Monday - Pho Ga (Vietnamese chicken noodle soup) - this recipe looks a little complicated to make the broth, but Annabelle has been begging for this since we went to a Pho restaurant a few months ago, so we'll see how energetic I feel Monday morning!

Tuesday - Leftovers

Wednesday - Roasted salmon with assorted frozen veggies roasted

Thursday - Ground beef tacos, black beans, rice and asparagus

Friday - Out to dinner

Saturday - Sirloin pork roast, roasted cauliflower, potatoes and carrots

Happy meal planning!  

Sarah

Week 58: Garden Goodies!

Check out this basket of goodies our garden yielded yesterday!  We stayed overnight near Augusta, GA on Friday because Alain ran a Tri the Parks triathlon on Saturday and came back to all of this yummy stuff ready to eat in our garden!  He ran a great race and the overcast day made it really pleasant to be an observer!  The storm came just as we were leaving, so that was great for us (not so great for the organizers of the race).  :(

We've been going non-stop in this house for a week and my hubby and I are about to take our first vacation away (alone) in 9 years!  We celebrated our 12th anniversary last week, so we are taking a trip to Oregon primarily to meet our new niece, but with a side trip to celebrate our anniversary on the Oregon coast!  We are really getting excited!

Since I won't be here for the week, I'm making a menu for my sweet FIL who will be watching my children.  I can't guarantee he's going to stick to it, but at least I'll provide everything he needs to make dinner while he's here.

Week 58 Menu

Sunday - Thai basil shrimp, cabbage, asparagus

Monday - Grilled chicken legs, yellow rice, steamed broccoli

Tuesday - Beef stroganoff, egg noodles, steamed green beans

Wednesday - Hamburgers or Italian sausage, baked potatoes & sweet potatoes

Thursday - Leftovers

Friday - Grilled salmon, pan seared asparagus

Saturday - Out to dinner

There are so many weekly menus that pass where I don't get to everything on my menu!  It happens more often than not, but I always feel better if I've made a menu.  It's not stressful at all if I choose to veer from the menu.  Anyway, I hope you all have a wonderful week! 

Happy cooking and menu planning!

Sarah

Week 57: Grilled Pizza!

Grilled pizza has always been in the back of my mind since I saw a show on The Food Network years ago demonstrating how the whole thing works.  So, today was my sweet Emilie's 6th birthday and she adamantly begged to have homemade pizza for dinner.  I tried to explain to her that our oven is broken, but that really doesn't mean much to a 6-year-old birthday girl!

This is the photo before it went on the grill.  We ate it so fast that I didn't get any pictures after it came off the grill!  ;)

Wow!  I can't say enough amazing things about grilled pizza!  It tastes just like it does cooked in a stone oven!  It was just the perfect crispness on the crust and perfectly browned.  Each bite was heavenly!  Alain and both felt like we were tasting pizza perfection!  We're such food geeks!  We've made our own pizzas before, but only in the oven and they were always good, but this just really took it up a notch.  The kids made their own pizza and Alain and I made ours (side 1-pesto, pulled pork, artichokes mushrooms, and buffalo mozzarella; side 2-red sauce, sausage, mushrooms, buffalo mozzarella and basil).

Emilie's 6th Birthday!

Week 57 Menu

Sunday - Homemade pizzas

Monday - Mexican beef, black beans, white rice

Tuesday - Leftovers

Wednesday - Thai basil shrimp, cabbage, green beans

Thursday - Chicken stir-fry, broccoli, white rice

Friday - Grilled salmon, pan seared asparagus

Saturday - Out to dinner

I'm hopeful that the oven will be fixed this week!  I was cooking this weekend and I heard this awful "POP" sound come out of the oven and it looked like there was a fire inside!  I quickly turned off the oven and took out the food, but the heating coil on the bottom seems to be damaged.  So, I tried to keep our menu out of the oven this week!  

Happy cooking!

Sarah

Week 55: Jalapeños!

We have some beautiful looking jalapeño's growing in our garden right now!  I have 5 still sitting in my fridge, so I have to make some serious salsa this week and break out my favorite Mexican cook book, 1000 Mexican Recipes by Marge Poore to be inspired!

One of our first jalapeños from our cul-de-sac garden!  

Weekly Menu #55:

Sunday - Rotisserie chicken (this is becoming a pattern), green beans, roasted cauliflower
Monday - Angel hair pasta, pasta sauce with ground beef, zucchini noodles, asparagus
Tuesday - Pork sirloin roast, green beans, roasted potatoes & sweet potatoes
Wednesday - Out to dinner

Thursday - Beef tacos (didn't get to these last week. . . )
Friday - Leftovers
Saturday - Grilled salmon, mango salsa, yellow rice and some veggie. . . 

Have a great week, everyone!  Eat well!  :)

Sarah