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 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 61: Return to Normal?

It feels like August was gobbled up by the time goblin!  Seriously, we traveled for one week to Oregon, had a week home, and then were blessed with almost two weeks with visitors!  During all of the excitement, the kids started school and now I feel like things are slowly starting to come together!  I don't think we've encountered 'normal' yet, but we're enjoying each day!

We had a special treat this weekend by visiting with my best friend from high school, Stef, and her family!  Here's a picture of the girls with Stef's 2 kids!  We visited a barbecue festival up in Kennesaw and then ate dinner at our house!  It's been over 6 years since we've seen each other, so it was indeed a special treat for everyone!

I did not even attempt a menu plan last week while we still had family in town!  Now, I'm back and ready to get creative with some cooking. . .

Week 61 Menu

Sunday - Marinated salmon (Costco) and roasted frozen veggies

Monday - Sirloin pork roast, potatoes, broccoli

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

Wednesday - Leftovers 

Thursday - Roast chicken, carrots, potatoes, couscous (just use whatever veggies you have on hand)

Friday - Out of town

Saturday - Out of town

Have a great week!  I'd love to see those menus!  Doesn't matter if it's fancy or simple!  We can all inspire one another!

Sarah

Week 54: Pesto is SO yummy!

We always plant lots of basil in our cul-de-sac garden, so it's finally big enough for us to begin really enjoying it.  I crave this time of year because I'm totally and completely addicted to basil-walnut pesto.  I eat it on everything: eggs, potatoes, shrimp, chicken, fish, asparagus. . . the list could go on and on!  So, I made our first batch this weekend and we ate dinner with one of our neighbors to enjoy one of the first feasts from our community garden!

My hubby got me started on pesto with scrambled eggs and it's really amazing!  All we do is lightly scramble a few eggs with salt and pepper, then add the pesto once the eggs are on the plate.  Mix the eggs up in the pesto and you have a wonderful new zip for your scrambled eggs!  Pesto is SO easy to make!  You just have to try it!

This is our awesome basil!  It really does make me smile!

Weekly Menu:

Sunday - Rotisserie chicken, steamed green beans, corn on the cob
Monday - Sirloin pork roast (one of my favorites), roasted cauliflower & asparagus, couscous
Tuesday - (Annabelle's 9th birthday, so she chose the menu) Beef stroganoff, egg noodles, broccoli
Wednesday - Leftovers
Thursday - Salmon with sautéed mango-pineapple chutney (from Rachael Ray's 365: No Repeats), yellow rice, roasted carrots & cauliflower
Friday - Out to dinner?
Saturday - Burgers, baked potatoes/sweet potatoes, grilled zucchini, salad


Happy cooking this week to everyone!  Remember that I'm not picky about what you list on your menus, but just excited to see what you all cook in your homes too!

Sarah

Sirloin Pork Roast

This is my new favorite way to eat pork!  We don't actually eat a great deal of pork in our home.  It might be because I wasn't really raised eating a lot of it or maybe I just haven't found enough recipes to make pork my go-to evening meal, but I crave this recipe every week!  Lately, I like to roast it and add veggies on the cookie sheet after 30 minutes of cookies!  It's great with cauliflower, carrots, potatoes and onions.  Whatever you have around the house and it makes this a really easy one-dish meal!

My hubby picks these pork sirloin steaks up from Costco.  They are cheaper than pork tenderloin, but just as tender and there's barely any fat!  I usually make 2 at a time so that we can truly appreciate the leftovers.  So delicious. . . 

Sirloin Pork Roast  (adapted from allrecipes.com)

Ingredients:
1 1/4 tablespoons paprika
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
2 tablespoons olive oil (plus more for searing roast)
1 (3 pound) sirloin tip roast

Directions:
1. In a small bowl, mix the paprika, kosher salt, garlic powder, black pepper, onion powder, cayenne pepper, oregano, and thyme. 

2. Stir in the olive oil, and allow the mixture to sit about 15 minutes.

3. Place a medium-sized skillet on med-high.  Add a bit of oil (maybe 2 tbls.) to the pan and sear all sides of the roast before moving onto the next step.  It shouldn't take more than 5 minutes to sear the roast on all sides.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
5. Place the roast on the prepared baking sheet, and cover on all sides with the spice mixture.
6. Roast 1 hour in the preheated oven, or to a minimum internal temperature of 145 degrees F (63 degrees C). Let sit 15 minutes before slicing.