Meal Planning Monday

I'm making up my own day-of-the-week blog feature. You know, like a "Wordless Wednesday" or "Insta Friday". Except this is one I'll probably be the only person participating in, and it's only for my own benefit (sorry). Meal planning is always one of those things I intend to do, and then I don't do it and find myself on Allrecipes.com at 5:30pm, searching for something to make for dinner with whatever ingredients I can remember we have at home. I figure if I try to blog my meal plans every once in a while, it will help me stay accountable, be creative, and maybe you'll find a good recipe or two.

I gravitate toward recipes that are simple and I can either prepare them the night before (or morning of). I also have to take into account nights where I work later than usual, so slow cooker and cold meals are my favorites for those nights. I also try to go meatless one night a week.

These days I've been collecting recipes I want to try on Pinterest, so I spent a few minutes today browsing my Edible board and compiling a meal plan and grocery list for the next two weeks...

Monday: Lettuce Wraps
Tuesday: Buffalo Chicken Egg Rolls + Quinoa Salad with Lime
Wednesday: Tomato Soup + Grilled Cheese
Thursday: Mel's Crock Pot Cream Cheese Chicken
Friday: (Date Night-- dinner out)
Saturday: (Rehearsal dinner for a friend's wedding)
Sunday: (Wedding)

Monday: Spicy Honey Chicken + Garlicy Mashed Potato Cakes
Tuesday: Chicken Meatball Subs + Baked Parmesean Fries
Wednesday: Greek Style Quinoa Burgers
Thursday: Barbacoa Beef Burritos (this makes awesome leftovers)
Friday: (Giant's game-- garlic fries!)
Saturday: Chicken Enchiladas (these are the best EVER)
Sunday: (Date Night-- dinner out)

Do anyone else actually meal plan? Where do you find your recipes? Please share.

Weekend in Pictures

Graduation party. Way to go, Katie!!!

Love restaurants on the river. I am so ready for summer.

Poker night (I lost, but Matt won about $60!)

Bacon Pancakes. Thank you, Pinterest.

A walk to the park with my three M's.

A gorgeous, relaxing weekend. And I'm ready for another week...

Weekend in Pictures

Saturday we had a birthday dinner for a friend...

Which makes for a fun play date for Mase...

Meet Moby! Our newest addition.

He is a 4 year old lab mix from the animal shelter. He loves racing cars...

Playing with Dad...

And naps...

We love him. :)

And now, for your viewing pleasure, a duet by the V&M Band...

I heart Pinterest

I'm not on the Twitter bandwagon. I do have a Facebook and will occasionally post some pictures there. Obviously, I'm addicted to my Google Reader. But THIS? This is awesome.

Let me explain.

I have always been one of those tear-it-out-of-the-magazine people.

Always.

My high school bulletin boards were full of horoscopes, newspaper clippings (with my water polo highlights, of course), and pictures of Tim McGraw. After college I discovered Martha Stewart Living and Real Simple magazines and my bulletin boards turned to binders full of recipes, paint colors, and decorating ideas. More recently, I've learned to bookmark sites, or just email the links to myself and keep them in different folders in my Gmail.

Not any more, thanks to Pinterest.

There, I can keep folders with images labeled:

Decorative

(For decorating ideas, duh)

Creative

(For things I want to make)

Festive

(Party ideas)

Stylish

(I need style help, desperately)

and, Edible

(Easiest meal planning EVER)

You can "follow" other users and stuff they've pinned will show up on your Pinterest home page, or you can just follow certain boards. Or don't follow anyone and just do your own thing.

For me, Pinterest is full of inspiration, an awesomely organized and efficient way for me to store things I want to remember or refer back to, and just a lot of fun! Check it out, but it's invitation-only, so if you want to join, let me know and I'll invite you.

Are you already on Pinterest? What do you think? And let me know so I can follow you!

10 on 10 :: May 2011

I did it! I remembered and took 10 pictures of our day today to share. Here we go...

You know it's going to be a good day when 7:15am looks like this:

He'll eat pretty much anything served on licensed "Cars" dishes.

Technically two pictures, but the build-a-fort meets hide-and-seek game is better represented with both.

An early birthday present for Jaime. Chocolate chip pancakes in a basket. Just add an egg and a cup of water.

Nanna, graciously fixing Mason's new crew cut.

Nap time! Mostly wasted spent on Pinterest and Blogger. Please note the laundry waiting to be folded in the background...

Mason's "cupcake" (a blueberry muffin with whipped cream on top). And yep, dirty dishes in the sink. Let's be real here.

The last of Matt's birthday week. Mel's Oreo Cookie Cupcakes I made and dropped off at work for him.

4 months from TODAY I'll be in a wedding dress! So until then, you can find me here at least 3 days a week. Thank goodness for the massive and well-staffed Kids Club.

Finally, a little silliness to be found on the kitchen floor while I made enchiladas for dinner tonight. My favorite part is how you can see M's cars perfectly and meticulously aligned. That child is no doubt his mother's son, wouldn't you say?

And how was your day?

29

That is how many days I have left of being 29 years old.

I can say I'm in my 20's for only 29 more days!

So just for fun, here are 29 things I want to do or accomplish in the next 29 years. (A shout out to two of my favorite math teachers, Veronica and Mel, who will appreciate todays numbers post. P.S. This post is scheduled for 5:05PM on  05/05. :)

Ready? Here we go...

29. Shark dive. (It WILL happen.)
28. Climb Half Dome. June 27th!
27. Have my tatoos re-inked or re-designed.
26. Marry the man of my dreams. (Only 4 months to go!!!)
25. Have more babies.
24. Travel to Ireland.
23. Learn to play the guitar.
22. Visit Washington, DC.
21. Scuba dive in Australia.
20. Read through the Bible in a year.
19. Road trip across the United States in a summer.
18. Complete a marathon. (Don't ask me why.)
17. Backpack through Europe.
16. Take a vacation with my girlfriends and our families.
15. Take a vacation with just the girls-- someplace requiring a passport.
14. Be a "Team Mom" for my kids' sports teams.
13. Learn to speak sign language fluently.
12. Play in a co-ed softball league.
11. Sew a quilt.
10. Earn my masters degree.
9. Get a DSLR and be able to use it manually.
8. Grow a garden.
7. Start an annual family camping trip tradition.
6. Learn to make really good apple pie with crust from scratch.
5. Master homemade cinnamon rolls.
4. Get out of debt.
3. Learn to use power tools.
2. Give birth naturally.
1. Learn to surf.

I think that's enough to keep me busy and distract me from the fact that I'm getting older.

What is on your list?

It started out so innocently...

Mason's hair has gotten long.

Like, in his eyes, looks like a mop, long.

I think to myself, "How hard can it be to trim it?"

The answer? Way harder than you (I) think.

What started out as an attempt to clean up the mop, ended up with Matt's clippers and a vow to Tage that I would never again try to cut anyone's hair.

Oh, how these pictures make me laugh though...

More pictures to come of the newly bald toddler.