Menu Plan Monday - 7.4.11

Happy 235th birthday to America!


Here is this week's plan:

Monday - BBQ
At my parents' house. I made a big 7-layer salad to bring with us. I also made a smaller one on the side so Jon and I would have it for the week.

Tuesday - hot dogs
I love grilling things in the summer (even though we can't use a REAL grill)!

Wednesday - Chicken quesadillas
Using the leftover grilled chicken from last week.

Thursday - Steak and a veggie
On the fake GF grill.

Friday - leftovers
As usual.




If you want to join in with the weekly menu planning, head over to Org Junkie every Monday!

Menu Plan Monday - 6.27.11

Here is this week's plan:

Monday - Cheesy Ravioli Casserole
Found this recipe in a crockpot cookbook my mom lent me. I am using our brand-new crockpot that my grandma bought us as a bridal shower present. I spent some time yesterday tenderly washing the pot and eagerly reading over the manual. And taking pictures. Seriously. It should NOT have excited me so much.



Tuesday - Sandwiches in the car
This is our 3rd and last time eating dinner in the car while driving an hour away to see the LOTR movies in theatres.

Wednesday - Chicken
Honey teriyaki sauce, and a veggie.

Thursday - Burgers, green, potato salad, pasta salad.
I need a break from corn on the cob. I got small containers of potato salad and pasta salad when I bought cold cuts at the deli. If I made either one from scratch, we'd be drowning in leftovers.

Friday - leftovers
As usual.




If you want to join in with the weekly menu planning, head over to Org Junkie every Monday!

I've been sitting here on the couch (with its pretty new slipcover, another gift from the bridal shower), listening to dance and trance music on pandora, taking advantage of my awesome Next buttons, reading blogs, looking at photos, and totally ignoring responsibilities, for a good 2 hours now. And while I could easily do this for several more hours, there are clothes to be folded and dinner to be made[nope, that's done!] and homework to be done for pre-cana (premarital counseling that is required by our church).

Not to mention wedding planning! While the invitations were mailed out 2 weeks ago, I still have to make several phone calls to confirm details. My mom and I went to pick up the favors today, and the placecard holders were already delivered. It's a lot of little things now, like printing actual placecards, designing the programs, scheduling dress fittings, etc. I can't believe it's less than 2 months away!!

MPM & i heart faces Challenge - Let's Hear it For the Boys!

This week's theme for the i heart faces challenge is Let's Hear for the Boys. The Shutter Love theme is Father's Day.

The main men in my life are my father, my 2 brothers, and my fiance. I chose a photo of my younger brother and my father because the other 2 don't like to pose for me.

Click on the button to see more entries!

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And now for Menu Planning Monday
on Tuesday.


Sunday - 3 cheese chicken and noodles
Jon and I had his parents over for dinner for Father's Day, so I made this meal in the crockpot. The recipe called for 6 to 10 hours on Low, which made me anxious. I planned for 7 hours, to be done at 5:30, but when I check it at 3:30, it was more than done. I made a note to do 4.5 hours on Low next time I make it.

Monday - Chicken quesadillas
My brother gave me this idea to use leftover grilled chicken and make quesadillas on the GF grill.

Tuesday - Sandwiches in the car

Wednesday - Sloppy joe's
Over rice, with a veggie.

Thursday - Pasta with vodka sauce
We had an off-week from our every other week grocery shopping routine, so I'm out of fresh ingredients.

Friday - leftovers
As usual.




If you want to join in with the weekly menu planning, head over to Org Junkie every Monday!

MPM & i heart faces Challenge - Bright and Vivid

I'll start with the i heart faces challenge. Here's how they explain this theme:

This could be through the colors that are in your photo, the personality that is shining through or any other way you choose to show off the theme.

No one has a brighter personality than my little brother, Matty. He is always cheerful, and he doesn't like to see anyone upset, so he does whatever he can to make people happy.



I hope this works, even though his face is turned to the side. I just love the big smile!

Click on the button to see more entries!

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And now for Menu Planning Monday.


Today - 7 layer salad
This is already prepared and in the fridge so the dressing can set. My eyes are still twitching from cutting up the green onions.

Tuesday - On the go
Jon and I have plans for the next 3 Tuesdays; the LOTR movies are being shown in theatres again, and we are going to an IMAX theatre an hour away. Thus, dinner for the next 3 Tuesdays will either be sandwiches or fast food (yuck) so we can eat in the car.

Wednesday - Grilled chicken and a veggie
One of my bridal shower presents from last weekend was a new George Foreman grill, with removable plates! The one we have now doesn't have this feature, so cleaning it is a task that we seriously fight over. Now, we can just pop the plates off and clean them in the sink! I'm uber-excited about this. Way more excited than I expected.

Thursday - Burgers and corn on the cob
As I said last week, this is a summer thing. Even though we can't grill outside, just the meal itself screams summer to me.

Friday - leftovers




If you want to join in with the weekly menu planning, head over to Org Junkie every Monday!

MPM & i heart faces Challenge - From A Distance

I'll start with the i heart faces challenge. The theme this week is From A Distance. Not my favorite way to photograph people, I have to admit. I prefer to capture emotions on faces, or people doing fun things, or hands. I have a tendency to zoom in as close as I can.

Luckily, I found this photo from a family beach party last year. The beach is one place where I can comfortably zoom out and include pretty backgrounds, especially this beach!

Click on the button to see more entries!

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And now for Menu Planning Monday. An off-week from grocery shopping means I have very few fresh ingredients left and I'll be making some boring meals this week.

Monday - mushroom & beef stew
I found a mix that is gluten-free, with no MSG/sodium/preservatives. It's kinda pricey though, so I won't be making a habit of buying it.

Tuesday - grilled cheese
Tuesday nights are becoming Jon's night out with friends, so I need a quick and easy meal. I just hope this greasy sandwich doesn't become a once-a-week habit.

Wednesday - burgers and a veggie
This, however, I do NOT mind as a once-a-week habit! I love burgers in the summertime.

Thursday - grilled chicken and a veggie
Soaked in honey teriyaki sauce.

Friday - leftovers
I try to do this for lunch or dinner on weekends so A, I don't have to cook; and B, we keep the fridge clean and organized.



If you want to join in with the weekly menu planning, head over to Org Junkie every Monday!

Menu Plan Monday - 5.30.11

Happy Memorial Day to all of my American friends! Enjoy your day off today, just try not to forget why we all have the day off.

Here is my menu for this week:

Monday - BBQ at a friend's house

Tuesday - chicken
Never made it last week; I'll be soaking it in leftover honey teriyaki sauce.

Wednesday - grilled cheese
I had a random craving the other day, so I decided to add this to our menu.

Thursday - burgers
With corn on the cob.

Friday - broccoli & beef pasta in the crockpot
I am really excited about this meal! If it tastes good, I'll add it to the list of recipes that I plan on posting.... eventually.


If you want to join in with the weekly menu planning, head over to Org Junkie every Monday!

Menu Plan Monday - 5.23.11

I am so excited to be back to planning real meals this week, now that Jon is home again.

Tonight - Pasta fagioli in the crockpot

Tuesday - Leftovers
We need to clean out the fridge from this past weekend.

Wednesday - Burgers
With a random veggie.

Thursday - Chicken
I had leftover honey teriyaki sauce from when I made it in the crockpot a few weeks ago. I think I just going to soak the chicken in the sauce all day, and grill it when we are ready to eat.

Friday - Sloppy joe's
Usually over rice instead of buns, and with a random veggie.


Remember the simple coq au vin in the crockpot that I had mentioned a few weeks ago? Well, it didn't taste as good as it smelled. The sauce was DELiSH, but the chicken (to me) was dry. Jon thought it didn't have enough flavor. I'm not sure if it's because of the adaptations I made, or if I overcooked it. Regardless, I probably won't be making it again. I'm cooking my way through some cookbooks my mom lent me when she lent me her crockpot. I've been keeping copies of the recipes for the meals we like, and I added a crockpot to our wedding registry.


If you want to join in with the weekly menu planning, head over to Org Junkie every Monday!

Tieing up Loose Ends

The purpose of this post is basically just to update everyone on some little things in my life. If you are reading this in a reader, I'd highly recommend that you click over and see my new header. I'm celebrating spring!

Wedding update: My invitations arrived a couple weeks ago, and they are perfect! They are simple yet stunning, no extra ribbons or cards, no outrageous designs. Just one folded sheet, one insert, and one envelope. (Well, technically, 2... outer and inner. But I'm told that's necessary.) And I'm so happy that the red ink is perfect, not too bright or too dark.

HOWEVER. I am not looking forward to addressing all these bad boys by hand.



Onward. A few weeks ago, I posted photos of the 2nd bathroom in our condo. I finally finished decorating it as I planned, with 3 small square frames and scrapbook paper.

My plan:


How it turned out:


Thank you, iPhone, for some crappy photos. You can't really tell, but the left-side frame has blue & green striped paper, the middle frame has green polka-dotted paper, and the right-side frame has blue tile paper. It looks much cuter in real life.

I also decided to use the small white shelf that I had originally bought for the bathroom, in the dining room. I am almost done with my black and white gallery wall; I am waiting for one thing to come in the mail (something I ordered from etsy), and then I just need to fill up one spot that is approximately 12" x 6".

I completed the April 2011 photo hunt!
CLICK HERE to see my photos.

And last but not least, Menu Plan Monday!



Not much of an exciting menu this week. Jon is away at his new job's corporate office for training, so I'll be eating dinner alone for 2 weeks. I made a big 7-layer salad this morning, and we have some leftover pizza. Later, I'll split the salad up into smaller portions and put it in plastic containers. Honestly, that's about all I have planned for this week.


If you want to join in with the weekly menu planning, head over to Org Junkie every Monday!

MPM (on Tuesday) and a new Photo Challenge!

I was WAY too busy yesterday to get this post up, but there's nothing wrong with posting it now, right?!

Jon (for new readers, he's my fiance) is going to be at the corporate office for training for his new job for 2 weeks, starting this weekend. I decided to make some new meals this week, since I'll be eating dinner alone for 2 weeks.

Last night - I made chicken with honey sauce in the crockpot, along with corn for a veggie.
It was basically a homemade honey teriyaki sauce, and the chicken was really moist and tasty... But I had SO MUCH sauce leftover and I have no idea what to do with it.


Tonight - Simple coq au vin in the crockpot.
I made a few adaptations to this recipe, I'm not sure how it will turn out. It definitely smelled good this morning, so if it works, I'll post the recipe.


Wednesday - Steak on the GF grill
With some sort of veggie, of course.

Thursday - I'll be traveling all day (last day of travel for the spring season for my job), so Jon will be eating leftovers.


Friday - breakfast!
Bacon, eggs, and toast. I'll be saving the extra bacon to make a 7-layer salad for next week.


If you want to join in with the weekly menu planning, head over to Org Junkie every Monday!
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And now for a new photo challenge... Quotography! This is run by Nicolasa over at My Perspective. This week's theme is Fun.



This makes me giggle every time I look at it! _______________________________________

One last note before I leave - I posted my photo for the April Photo Hunt!
CLICK HERE to see them.

Menu Plan Monday - 4.25.11

I don't have a very exciting menu planned for this week. This was our off-week from grocery shopping, since we only go every other week, so we don't have enough for me to throw together several meals.

Tonight - leftovers
My mom made ham and a turkey last night, and my dad made his famous mashed potatoes, and I made sure to sneak some home in plastic containers. Those, plus some salad, will be dinner tonight.


Tuesday - Jon is fending for himself.
Once a month, we do Family Call Nights at my job and everyone stays late (later than usual). I'll be eating dinner at the office.


Wednesday - Lemon Chicken in the Crockpot
Not my favorite recipe, but it only requires a few ingredients and can cook all day while we're at work.


Thursday - burgers, pasta side, and a veggie
We don't have buns, though, so I hope Jon is okay with using bread.


Friday - pasta
I'm definitely out of meal options at this point, so it's time to dig into my stockpile of pasta and various sauces. Not a problem... We love pasta!



If you want to join in with the weekly menu planning, head over to Org Junkie every Monday!

My first Menu Plan Monday!

Yay! I am so happy to finally be able to participate in this meme. I have seen these posts by many of my bloggy friends, and my stomach would rumble. When I lived at my parents' house, I was able to give my input on meals, but I wasn't the decison-maker. Now that Jon and I are responsible for feeding ourselves, I've been dutifully planning out meals and collecting recipes.

However, with Jon's crazy, always-changing work schedule (which we never knew until 3 days ahead of time), menu planning was spotty and our meals together were very rare, maybe twice a week if we were lucky.

GREAT NEWS! Jon landed a sweet new job with a new company, one that he had interviewed with a few months ago. We went out over the weekend and bought him a small wardrobe of dress clothes (since he wore a uniform for his last job). Today is his first day on the job with a set schedule, regular work hours, extra pay on holidays, no overnight shifts, and so many more factors that we are hoping will make our lives a smidge better/easier.

Now that our work hours coincide 92% of the time, rather than the 12% that it used to be, I was able to plan an entire week's worth of meals for this week:

Today: grilled chicken with salad and couscous
We have a George Foreman grill that we use constantly, so that's how we do our chicken.

Tuesday: Crockpot pasta pizza casserole
This is a meal that Jon absolutely loves, and can really be adjusted to your own taste. I'll have to post the recipe one day. And I love that I can throw together some ingredients in the morning, go to work, and come home to a fully-cooked meal that is ready to eat.

Wednesday: grilled steak with a veggie and leftover couscous
Again, GF grill. I don't know which veggie I'll make; we always buy a stock of frozen veggies when they are on sale.

Thursday: breakfast - french toast, eggs, bacon
I love having breakfast for dinner, and cinnamon swirl bread was on sale this past weekend. Plus, we have lots of bacon from when that was on sale a couple weeks ago.

Friday: pasta with veggie sauce
I had made veggie pasta sauce in the Crockpot a few weeks ago and frozen some of it for later on. Jon and I observe the "No meat on Friday's" rule during Lent, even though most people don't anymore. It's a small sacrifice that we are willing to make, considering the sacrifice that was made for us, the reason for the season.


Jon and I do our grocery shopping every other weekend, and we pick out the meats that are on sale and freeze them to use later on. Actually, we really only buy the items that are on sale, and I make meals around those things. We don't generally go for fancy or elaborate meals, as it's only the 2 of us and we are not that picky. Also, I'm not afraid to admit that I use frozen vegetables. Gardening isn't my thing, and besides, we are not allowed to have gardens in our condo complex.

On weekends, we head over to either his parents or my parents for dinner (or both). His parents will be away visiting his brother and SIL this weekend, so we'll have Easter dinner at my parents' house.

If you want to join in with the weekly menu planning, head over to Org Junkie every Monday!