Menu Planning Monday 1/9-1/15/2012

This weekend I finally felt like cooking again. During the holidays, there's way too much that I HAVE to cook, either as gifts or family tradition or whatever. I was pretty burned out on the whole cooking thing. Plus we had enough leftovers to feed a small country. Finally they're all outta here, and thanks to Pinterest (you have heard of Pinterest, haven't you? More later, I'm sure) there were several new recipes I wanted to try. Chicken breasts and pork butt were on sale last week, two things I find hard to resist, so I got some of both--about 8 lb. of chicken and a 7 lb. of pork. I probably have enough food in my house for two or three weeks.

However, this week I will be getting my kitchen ready for a semi-remodeling--we're getting new floors and some cabinets where we didn't have any so far--so I had to get a jump start to have time to clean everything out. So, before a day-by-day meal plan, I'll explain what I made on Sunday and how I did kind of a bulk cooking day to make this week easier.

I made Chicken Gyros, Broccoli Cheese Soup, Pulled Pork, and Goat Cheese Quiche with Hash Brown Crust. It was a busy day, but well worth it. First, I started with the pork because it had to cook the longest. I use a variation of my girl PW, otherwise known as Ree Drummond, the Pioneer Woman. We're tight. OK, not really. I have ea bit of a girl crush on her. More like I want to trade lives with her. I mean, who wouldn't want her hunka hunka burnin' love cowboy husband AND seemingly unlimited shopping budget that allows for $300 blouses she later decides she doesn't really like and gives away on her blog AND living on a gorgeous ranch with two houses in the country AND homeschooling her four beautiful babies. Just sayin.... Anyways, a la PW I put my giant pulled pork in my brand new giant slow cooker on a bed of onions with  some salt, pepper, crushed red pepper and Dr. Pepper. Yes, you heard right, Dr. Pepper. Turn that baby on low and let her go for a good 10 hours. I have enough pork for three meals, at least one of pulled pork BBQ sandwiches and another of pulled pork tacos.

Next, I started on the Chicken Gyros from Bitchin' Kitchen.

Yummalicious, no? First the marinade, then the tzatziki sauce. We love tzatziki around here. Mmmm...

While the chicken marinated, I worked on the broccolii cheese soup like Panera's. I had picked up a couple heads of broccoli that were on sale and searched online for a recipe using fresh broccoli and real cheese, not processed cheese product. :/ This imitation is what popped up first. http://www.food.com/recipe/Panera-Broccoli-Cheese-Soup-150384   It looked yummy and easy to make. It was both. I will never make a single batch of this recipe again. Double for sure, maybe triple, from now on.

                                           

Last up was Martha's Martha's Goat Cheese Quiche with Hash Brown Crust. I've made quiche a lot, but this was a little different with the hash brown crust and the goat cheese and looked scrumptious.

So with all of this yummy goodness already prepared, planning the meals for the week is pretty easy.

Day #1: Chicken gyros and broccoli cheese soup. All that was left to do for the gyros was bake the chicken, chop some tomatoes and onions and warm the pitas. I also just gently reheated the soup, and dinner was on the table in a flash. Plus, there's some left over for lunches later in the week.

Day #2: Goat cheese quiche (sliced and reheated in the microwave), tossed salad and zucchini bread that I made in the summer and retrieved from the freezer for dinner.

Day #3: Chicken fried rice and soy braised bok choy. I will share with you my own personal recipe for fried rice later this week.

Day #4: So, have I mentioned Pinterest yet? Well, I found this AM-A-ZING looking recipe from Kayotic Kitchen for Country Club Chicken. I can't wait to try it.

 

Day #5: Leftover night since with all this cooking we will have lots of them and my stove is not going to be accessible.

Day #6: Pizza night. Again, stove, floor, kitchen, blah, blah, blah....

Day #7: We've been invited to dinner with some friends, and since the kitchen will surely be pure chaos, I'm all in.

I share my recipes on Organizing Junkie's Menu Planning Monday.

Someone should have warned us

NEWS FLASH: Adulthood is hard.

I remember when I was a kid--all kinds of rules, someone always bossing me around, watching my little sister all the time while my parents worked, grounded again, not allowed to go out on a Friday night, no cable on our TV, limited to ten minutes phone calls with my friends since we didn't have call waiting, forced to do chores like the laundry and dishes, refused stylish new shoes because they cost as much as my mom made in a day.

I couldn't wait to be an adult. Making my own decision. Spending my money however I want. Going out with whoever I want. Talking on the phone as much as I want. Staying out as late as I want. Sitting on my couch eating chips whenever I want.

Yeah, right. That's not what being an adult is like. That's what college is like. Maybe. If you're lucky. I was really lucky, and I didn't have to worry too much about bills or other responsibilities as a college student, got to do mostly what I wanted to all the time as long as I went to class and got good grades. Even a part-time job didn't infringe too much on the whole doing-whatever-I-want thing.

But we all know that's not real adulthood. College is just a tease. It's a lot of fun, but it only lasts four short years. Well, more like six and a half short years if you are my husband, but I digress.

Lately adulthood has been smacking me around more than usual, and I don't like it one bit. Nothing major really. Sometimes my list of things to do just seems insurmountable. Positively endless. With no time for any fun. Who doesn't feel like that? The house, the kids, the business, the family (as in parents, siblings, grandparents, etc.), an empty rental house that needs work, insurance claims to follow up on, unexpected bills to manage, time for hair appointment, nail appointment, and dress shopping to make this middle-aged body appear party-ready, a holiday dinner for my hubby's office, cookie baking, adopt-a-family gift buying/wrapping/delivering, preschool craft projects, field trips, Christmas shopping, holiday parties, crafting homemade Christmas gifts, wrapping, parties. I got overwhelmed. Which is probably much more a result of who I am than anything out there in the world because I know it's like that for all of us. Like I said, who doesn't have all of that plus a job and their own craziness?

Nonetheless, it's put me in a funk, and since I like to appear to the world as a confident, capable, I've-got-this-all-under-control kind of woman, I tend to keep to myself a bit more when I'm feeling like that. It's also why I haven't so much been writing lately. I'm still writing in my head, but when I start to put it down in print it sounds all whiny and bitchy and petty to me so I delete it. So, if I sound whiny and bitchy and petty and you don't like that, you might want to come back in a week or so. I hope to be over it by then. But I am also hoping that if I write it out, I can kick off the funk and be back to my usual perky (yeah, go ahead--laugh; I can't hear you anyway) self.

My mind is much the same as my to do list--rambling on and on--but I'm going to stop there for now. Despite the craziness that is my life, I have so so so much to be thankful for. And I'll take my crazy life over someone else's any day. That's not to say this is the end of the "adulthood sucks" theme. More soon. Promise.

Menu Planning Monday Nov 14-20

Easy, peasy family favorites this week since I have a full schedule and want to save some time and energy to gear up for the upcoming holiday cooking frenzy. I am SO excited. I know, it's shocking that I am excited about food, but really, I am. Sorry if this week is a little heavy on the sandwiches, but I promise I'll make up for it in Thanksgiving leftover yumminess and holiday baking goodies in the coming weeks.

Day #1: Smoked sausage and peppers on hoagy rolls with baked potatoes.

Day #2: Slow cooker pulled pork sandwiches, fried green tomatoes and cole slaw.

Day #3: Tuna melts and roasted butternut squash. I am not even sure how the butternut squash in my pantry got there. Did my mother leave it when she came to watch the kids? Did my mother-in-law leave it when she visited and I was (blessed to be) out of town? Did my neighbor drop off her extras? Who knows? Who cares? I have delicious butternut squash that I will roast with a sinful amount of butter and brown sugar and call it a vegetable.

Day #4: Meatball subs with chips and dip. Yes, I occasionally serve chips and dip. For real.

Day #5: English muffin pizzas. It's pizza night, and I've realized I like pizza from our favorite pizza shop a lot more if I don't have it every single week so I've been trying to mix things up with something homemade at least every other week. Just so happens English muffins were on sale last week, and I have some pepperoni kicking around in my fridge with nothing planned for it.

Day #6: Beef with Broccoli. I can't wait to try this recipe from Rainy Day Gal. It looks soooooooo yummy. I love love love Chinese food, but since we have been eating less and less restaurant food, when we do have it, it tends to not agree with me so much. I am hopeful this is yummy but somewhat healthier version of one of my favorites. http://rainydaygal.com/2011/02/03/beef-with-broccoli/

Day #7: Black bean soup with cornbread.

I share my menus on Organizing Junkie's Menu Planning Monday.

Good Old Days

Oh man, how I miss the good old days sometimes.

When "fall back" actually meant an extra hour of sleep.

When a night out with friends didn't require more pre-planning than a phone call and usually ended closer to sun-up than sun-down.

When taking a "nap" with my husband on a Sunday afternoon didn't require closing the door, locking it, covering the keyhole with a towel in case anyone got curious about what we were doing in there.

When Saturday mornings meant garage sale shopping with my best friend instead of soccer, judo, gymnastics and the Home Depot craft of the month.

When I drove a compact car.

When no one talked to me during Wheel of Fortune.

When getting sick meant lying on the couch and resting.

When I could have a phone conversation longer than 43 seconds without being interrupted.

When I could eat a whole meal without getting out of my chair.

When making a pot of chili meant we'd have leftovers to eat for lunch the whole week.

When the DVR (OK, then it was a VCR) wasn't full of Power Rangers, My Little Pony, Strawberry Shortcake, and Ben 10: Ultimate Alien.

When a roll of toilet paper lasted more than one day.

When I could clean the house and it would stay clean for a couple of weeks instead of a couple of minutes.

When sneezing didn't mean changing my panties.

When there were only three loads of laundry to do each week.

When white carpet seemed like a good idea.

But then this tiny little girl with big brown eyes wraps her arms around my waist and says, "I wub you, Mommy." And a little boy smiles at me and says, "We have 23 minutes left to snuggle before bedtime, Mommy." And a bigger boy says, "Mom, I'm so glad you got to come on my field trip today. It was nice to have you there." And I forget all about the old days.

Until someone yells from the bathroom, "MOOOOOOOOM, I need HEEEEEEELP!"

Menu Planning Monday Nov 7-13

Tying to get back on the menu planning....er, horse, so to speak. Thanks to a little big batch cooking the weekend before, last week worked out just fine without a plan, but I know it won't be pretty if I try to do that for long. So, here's my plan for this week.

Day #1: I knew today I needed something fast and easy, that I could throw on the table in just a few minutes time since we'd be getting home late, have to to eat dinner, and clean up before I had an appointment later in the evening. Crock Pot to the rescue! Except Monday mornings are extra busy too, so it had to be something I could throw in the slow cooker super-fast, with no prep and preferably no recipe and no need to go rummaging through my cabinet for long, lost spices. It took me five minutes to put together Cheesy Chicken and Stuffing Casserole. I usually do it in the oven, but it worked great in the Crock Pot. Plus, the kids loved. it.

Cheesy Chicken and Stuffing Casserole

2-3 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 can cream soup (mushroom or chicken work equally well)
1 8 oz package shredded cheese (I like cheddar, but your favorite would work fine)
1 box Stove Top Stuffing chicken flavor, prepared according to package directions

Place chicken in the bottom of slow cooker. Spread soup on top. Sprinkle with cheese. Spoon stuffing on top. Cook on low 8 hours.

Day 2: Cashew Chicken with Noodles. I'm using a recipe from my new favorite magazine, Simple & Delicious, Easy Meals for Busy People. It has a ton of simple, fast and yummy-looking recipes in it. There are several recipes I can't wait to try.

Day #3: The weather report says our beautiful Indian summer is going to end later this week, and it will be replaced with chilly rain. I think that calls for Sherried Tomato Soup and Cheesy Garlic Bread, both from my very favorite blog in the whole world, The Pioneer Woman.


Day #4: One evening this week is parent-teacher conference night. We usually get a sitter so we aren't rushed or stressed out worrying that the kids are running rampant in the halls, torturing the parents or teachers with their noise. Since we have a sitter, we also make a date night of it. I'm thinking sushi...mmmmm..... yummmm.... Anyway, for the children it will be fish and macaroni and cheese.

Day #5: Sauteed sausage and peppers with oven roasted vegetables.

Day #6: Some friends invited us to pot luck this weekend so I am planning to bring my oft-requested apple crisp. I love pot luck!

Day #7: Taco Roll-ups from Family Fun Magazine. Don't they look delicious?


I share my menus on Organizing Junkie's Menu Planning Monday.

Dream Big Dreams

A week or so ago I mentioned how extremely blessed I am to have some amazing women in my life who keep my attitude positive, my spirit uplifted and my vision inspired. It is one of the best things about the work I do, and I am thankful for it every day. That same week, I got to attend a weekend retreat with some of the top women in our company. I was blown away. So much to learn. So overwhelming to be in the presence of such grace, knowledge, experience, beauty.

I learned a lot over the course of the weekend, many related to business, some related specifically to our business, but many things just about life and how to live a better one. In one of the classes, our teacher talked about dreaming. Not the kind you do when you are asleep. The kind you do about your hopes, your future, your life. She asked us to think about what a kindergartner says when you ask them what they want to be when they grow up. I have a kindergartner (and a preschooler and a third grader) so this was easy for me. They say something like this: "I want to be an astronaut and an artist and a firefighter and a ballet dancer and a singer and a book writer and the President."

What does a kid graduating from college say when you ask them what they want to be when they grow up? What does a 30-something or 40-something say when you ask them what they want to be when they grow up? "Uhhhhhhhhhhh....." Sad, isn't it? At some point we all had a whole bunch of dreams for our life, but somewhere along the way, many of us forgot them or gave up on them. We lost our dream mechanism-our ability to dream big dreams for our future, to see our lives as an amazing possibility, to plan for wonderful things to happen.

So she gave us an assignment. Write down 100 dreams you have for your life. One hundred. Oh, that's easy, I thought. Umm hmm. Try it. No really, I want you to try it. You don't have to show anyone. You don't have to do it all in one day. You don't have to go out and buy a special notebook to write your list in. They don't have to be written in complete sentences. But I would love for you to get busy, take a few quiet minutes for the next few days, and make your list. It's harder than it sounds. I thought I had plenty of dreams. There are lots of things I want to do before my time is up. But honestly, I got stuck around #26. I kept thinking and pushed through to #53. Now I'm stuck again. GASP! I have some more work to do.

Another thing that surprised me was what I think my list says about me. I had very few things on there about me. I want to do lots of traveling and take classes on a bunch of stuff, but beyond that, what showed up on my list over and over are the things I want for the ones I love. Now, it's not that I didn't think I cared about those things or that I think it's bad to want things for your family. I just thought when given the freedom to dream about what I want in my life, that my list would be a lot more about me. In fact, for the next 47 things I need to write down, I am going to try harder to focus on the things I dream for myself. That's the idea, after all.

I was also pleasantly surprised that a whole lot of my dreams were about learning things, going places, and having new experiences. Yes, I am super thrifty, some might even say cheep. I am the coupon queen. I never met a screaming deal I didn't like. The little voice in the back of my mind always said that I would go a little crazy with the budget if I had the opportunity and an unlimited budget. So I was pleased to see that while I could spend a whole lot of dough on doing things, it's not likely I would be piling up a mountain of stylish sweaters, slamming shoes and sparkly jewelry as I secretly feared I would if given the opportunity.

There are two more things I loved about the list. First, not everything was out of reach. Some things on my list I could be and should be working on right now. What am I waiting for? When I grow up? Well, NEWS FLASH, SISTER!! I AM A GROWN UP! I just need to get to it! And the last thing I love about my list is that it reminds me that who I am is very much who I have always been. Once you get past #26, you have to really open up your mind and think some thoughts you probably haven't thought in a good long while. But the same ones are still in there, just like they were when you were fourteen.  It's kinda nice.

I'm still at work on my list. I've given myself only a few more days to finish it up no matter what it takes. I'd love to hear if you start writing your own list and what you learn from it. And remember to DREAM BIG, my friends. 

Confused Mom's Guide to Surviving Halloween

It's Halloween. There will be no meal plan today. Enough said.

I did spend a whole lotta time this weekend doing some big batch cooking for the freezer, including enough Skyline to last us until Christmas, several pounds of meatballs, some yummy steamed Asian dumplings with shrimp and pork for both my mom and us, and a giant vat of cauliflower soup.  So, we're not going to starve this week. Just whatever happens to call out to me when I open the refrigerator is what it will be.

Plus, this weekend was Halloween Eve and Halloween Eve Eve and Halloween Eve Eve Eve. You get the idea. So there were parties, festivals, last minute costume touch-ups, even later-minute costume repairs, baking, goodie bag making, school party preparations, and much excitement, anticipation and sugar-loading. I will neither confirm nor deny which of these activities were my idea. It is irrelevant whose idea they were since just because one has an idea weeks and weeks before Halloween does not determine how much one will enjoy that activity when the day actually arrives.

So here is my Official Confused Mom's Guide to Halloween. Probably too late to help anyone out this year, but next year please remember to THINK before your volunteer.

1. DO NOT MAKE HALLOWEEN COSTUMES. I always make my kids' Halloween costumes. It's this weird obsession I have. Probably some psychosis my mother saddled me with during my childhood. Every year, the kids tell me what they want to be, and I start planning. It always seems simple enough in August. In September. Even on October 8th. I mean seriously, how hard could it be to paint a box silver, cut some holes in it, paint on a few buttons and call yourself a robot? That is until your eight-year-old informs you that his robot will have buttons that you can push and a speaker that he can talk into that makes him sound like a real robot. What do you mean, you can't do that MOM??? Tears, pouting, sulking. Not what I call Halloween spirit. 
2. DO NOT VOLUNTEER TO BE ROOM MOM. Those PTA people always make room mom sound like such as easy job. "You will have a helper for each party and several people who are happy to send in all the supplies you will need so you don't have to actually do anything--just call and coordinate everyone and show up at the party." That is until you have eight moms calling your house campaigning to be the one picked to come to the party as your helper so they can see their little darling dressed up in his Spider Man costume along with seven other mini-Spider Men plus fifteen more sugar-hyped kindergartners. Oh, and those lovely people whose volunteer form said they'd be happy to send things for the party, even the one who dotted her "i"s with a smiley face, growl at you over the phone, "Well, how many do you need?" and sigh, "I guess I can do that," when you tell her you will need 24 Capri Suns please.
3. DO NOT MAKE GOODIE BAGS. I know they are cute. I know it is fun to buy candy so you can have the leftovers all for yourself. I know those glow-in-the-dark skull rings are only a buck for 48 at the dollar store and are just so darn irresistible. But the other moms want to do the same thing with all that crap that you do--toss it in the trash. So don't waste your money, time, or gas. 
4. TAKE A BEVERAGE. An insulated travel coffee mug filled with coffee looks exactly like an insulated travel coffee mug filled with hot cider and rum. Or hot chocolate and peppermint schnapps. Or orange juice and vodka. Who's ready for trick-or-treating now? I AM! I AM!!!
5. HAVE A CANDY STORAGE/DISPOSAL/HIDING/DISTRIBUTION plan. Most likely your kids are going to get enough candy to feed a small country for weeks. Mine would not only get sick from eating that much candy, but actually get bored with it waaaaaaaay before it's all gone. So once they have basked in the awesomeness of their haul for a while and had a few pieces, I ask them to pick out their favorite 24 pieces (or however many days it is until Thanksgiving). We put those in a brown lunch bag or ziplock with their name on it, and they get one piece a day until Thanksgiving. The rest I use for.....uh, something else. Yeah.
6. DO NOT LEAVE YOUR COSTUME LYING AROUND. Of course, I say this 78 times to my children before the big day arrives because they like to wear it around, showing everyone who will look how cool their costume is. Leave it lying on the floor and eventually, some part of it will get broken, torn or otherwise damaged. The mom who just made that costume is not going to be happy. More importantly, I am talking about YOUR costume, Mom. Say for example, you peeled your snazzy fake eyelashes off while on your way home from a party and left them stuck on the dashboard of your mom van, you might mistake them for a family of spiders taking up residence in your mom van when you get in it the next morning. You might then pee your pants in fright and in your attempt to escape their viciousness. But only if you are scared of spiders. And haven't had your coffee yet and so cannot tell the difference between spiders and fake eyelashes. And have given birth to three or more children. Just maybe. 
7. DO NOT COOK DINNER. Plan to trick-or-treat with friends, whose house you can hang out at before beggar's night begins so that your friend can make dinner for your kids while you sit quietly in the corner, drinking from your insulated coffee mug, trying to recover from repairing costumes, being room mom and making all those goodie bags.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!