Menu Plan Monday – 1/25

It’s a short menu this week since the kids and my hubby will be going out of town this weekend.  While they’re gone, I may try a new recipe or two.  Or, more realistically, I’ll just fend for myself from the pantry/freezer/fridge for the weekend since I don’t “have” to cook.

Monday – Asian Chicken Salad (recipe below) with breadsticks

Tuesday – Spaghetti (with sauce from the freezer), salad, and yeast rolls (I’ll make a big batch of rolls and freeze the leftovers for later meals.)

Wednesday – Chili (E has dance classes – 3 of them – on Wednesday’s so we eat from the crock pot.)  I’ll have tortilla chips and crackers on hand to be served with the chili. 

 

Asian Chicken Sesame Salad (originally found on Slim Fast website)

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 0 minutes
Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 6 cups lettuce, romaine, chopped
• 1 pound chicken breast, boneless/skinless, raw
• 1/4 cup onion, green, chopped
• 11 ounces mandarin oranges, canned in juice, drained
• 1/4 cup almonds, roasted, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 cup chow mein noodles
• 1/2 cup Wishbone® Light Asian Vinaigrette

Preparation

1. Grill and thinly slice the chicken breasts. 2. Toast almonds. 3. On serving platter, arrange lettuce, then top with chicken, green onions and oranges. Sprinkle with almonds and chow mein noodles, then drizzle with Wish-Bone® Light Asian Sesame Ginger Vinaigrette Dressing.

My Weekly To-Do List 1/25-1/29

Sunday:

• prep for school
• bake bread
• laundry
• submit job application
• clean game room

Monday:

• grocery shopping
• send pics to Walmart to be printed

Tuesday:

• library
• Emma’s dance class
• socks for dance team

Wednesday:

• Emma’s dance class
• laundry (again)
• make room for new furniture
• move our bed to Isaac’s room

Thursday:

• pack for the kids to go to visit grandparents for the weekend
• make Emma’s wreath

Friday:

• new furniture will be delivered today
• sew initials on dance team leotards
• make Valentine’s wreath

Saturday:

• Mom’s Night Out (WOOHOO!!!)
• pic up pictures from Walmart and put them in album
• grocery shopping before kids come home

Week in Review 1.10-1.16

Another week in review from the Zoo Keeper...

Sunday 1.10 Yummy!! I LOVE HOMEMADE BREAD!! I bake it several times a week. I don’t buy store-bought sandwich bread anymore. I even tried a cinnamon raisin bread this week that was fabulous! I will post my sandwich bread recipe in another post.

Monday 1.11 ~ Isaac reading ~ I love to see the kids “plop” down with a good book and read, read, read! Here he is reading The Extraordnary Adventures of Alfred Kropp.

Tuesday 1.12 ~ Emma at the library ~ Our home away from home – the library! We never have less than 50 books checked out between Isaac, Emma, myself, and our school books. We visit the library at least once a week.

Wednesday 1.13 YAY!! My Project Life scrapbook/album by Becky Higgins arrived today. This is where I will store my pictures and tell my stories this year!I have been so excited for this to arrive!

Thursday 1.14 I ALWAYS have a HUGE stack of books waiting for me on my nightstand. Some I am reviewing for various publishers, some I am previewing before I assign them to the kids, and the rest are pleasure books.

Friday 1.15 ~ The boys left tonight for a weekend of Disciple Now. They were broken into to age/gender groups and assigned a “host home”. They met at the church throughout the weekend for worship and other activities. Back at the hose home, they held Bible studies and small discussion groups. Both were very excited to go!

Saturday 1.16 ~ Day out with Emma ~ Since the boys were gone, Matt and I spent the day with Emma. Emma started her day at dance team rehearsal. Afterwards, we took her to Gymboree to pick up a couple of new outfits. Then, we headed to JoAnn fabric where I purchased fabric to make a curtain for her room (and picked up a few supplies for some dance team projects). Then, we took her to Target to get a treat out of the dollar spot (a purple cell phone) and a snack for the movies. To end our “Emma day”, we took her to the movies to see The Princess and the Frog. We all really enjoyed the movie. Instead of a picture for today, I will add her ticket stubs and a Gymboree tag to our scrapbook.

Burlap Wreath

After seeing this wreath featured on Tatertots and Jello, I decided I must make one for my house. I love it! I followed the tutorial found on her site. Here’s how mine turned out.

I wanted to display mine inside instead of outside. So, I chose fabrics that would match my decor. I chose chocolate brown burlap – which I found on sale for $1/yard!! I then chose fabrics that featured reds, browns, and creams to match my furniture/fabrics.

I started out with a 14” straw wreath that I found at JoAnn’s for $2. For the brads, I used pewter mini-squares that were on sale at Hobby Lobby. I had the mini clothespins on hand as well as the ribbon. I inked the clothespins and paper with brown ink. The wreath cost less than $10 total to make. Even better than the cost is the fact that this project took about 4 hours from start to finish! Now, I’m thinking Emma needs a pink one in her room with polka dots, stripes, and lots of tulle!!

I linked this with Making the World Cuter.

Project life (my 365 album)

Well, I'm still patiently waiting for my Project Life album to arrive. The shipment was pushed back. It should have arrived Saturday, and it is now scheduled to be delivered tomorrow.

While I wait, I've been checking out ideas to use in my album. Jessica, at Mom Creative, has started a weekly link-up where others participating in Project Life 2010 are posting their "week in review" pictures/stories. (Please note, you do not have to use your album as a 365 album. I've blogged about other ways I intend to use this in the future. Check out that info here.)

I like this idea of linking to Jessica's blog, though. It keeps me accountable - no, I'm not obligated - but it keeps me motivated to stay on top of my photos and allows me a chance to document my stories (in case I don't have time to journal in my album during a particular week.) I'm hoping this will deter burn-out by keeping me excited to look for everyday opportunites to document. I'm also hoping it will inspire me to think outside the box in some of my photos. For instance, I photographed my homemade bread yesterday (which will show up in next week's review post). While this is something I do several times a week, it's not something I've ever deemed important enough to photograph or blog about. However, it really is a part of our "every day" life.

Since my family lives cross-country, they don't see our "daily life". And, since they visit us here in TX just a few time a year, I thought this would be a good motivation for staying on top of the "week in review" blog posts. This way, our families can know what goes on in our everyday life. It also serves as conversation starters when the grandparents call. When there is a lull in the conversation, they can talk about something they've seen on the blog. It sure beats the "I don't know" they will likely encounter when they ask "So, what have you been up to this week?" I've begun posting our seeks in review such as our 12.27.09 week in review or our 1.3.10 week in review. **Just a note, I plan to document our weeks from Sunday through Saturday. Because the first week of the new year actually started with the end of 2009, my first few pics are from the last week of 09.**

Can you tell I'm a bit excited about my year-long project?

To see what others photographed this week visit The Mom Creative here.

Week in Review 1.3-1.9

Make a Smilebox collage

1.3.10 ~ Isaac and Emma love to pop some popcorn, grab the pillows off my bed, and watch a movie on my bedroom floor in the evenings.  I love that they get along so well!  She really looks up to him, and he really takes care of her.

1.4.10 ~ The treadmill – Isaac and Emma both wanted to learn to use the treadmill.  So, I decided to make it a regular part of their school day.  Wonder how long the “wonder” will last?  Not long if they’re anything like their momma!!

1.5.10 ~ I took Isaac and Emma to the Dallas Museum of Art.  It was the first time any of us had been to an art museum.  You can read more about our visit here. 

1.7.10 ~ I got my new camera lens in the mail today.  Somewhere between Gulf Shores, AL and home back in June, I broke the lens on my Nikon camera.  I have used a crummy point and shoot since then.  After Christmas, I decided I’d gone long enough with mediocre pictures.  It finally arrived!!

1.8.10 ~ Logan got the “hard copy” of his driver’s license in the mail.  He’s had a paper copy since his birthday last month.  Can you see how excited he is?!?

Menu Planning Monday

Here’s what we’ll be eating this week…

Monday:  Chicken Noodle Casserole

Tuesday:  Pulled BBQ sandwiches w/ chips

Wednesday:  Bean burritos (using this refried bean recipe), chips/salsa

Thursday: Sloppy joes, homemade fries

Friday:  left overs

Saturday: Hubby is cooking something???

Sunday: Chicken Noodle Soup (new)

For more menu planning ideas, check out I’m an Organizing Junkie.