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 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