Saturday, October 28, 2017

Keeping Up With...Food (Meal Plan for Oct 30 - Nov 5)

Last week we were a little thrown off our plans by a power outage at the kids' school (and our house) one day and a sick kid for a few days.  We also changed a lot of our plans for the weekend.  And Adrian and I decided we need to get our butts in gear and start eating better so we are doing that starting this Wednesday after Halloween.  So I switched a few things around to eat the less healthy food over the weekend and leave the healthy stuff for next week.  We normally have pizza on Halloween but we decided to have it last Saturday instead so we could also enjoy the leftovers.  The goal is to save enough for the kids to eat it as leftovers on Tuesday night before heading out for candy.

We actually have a fairly light week this week as far as commitments and hardly anything on the calendar this weekend (by choice).  We need a weekend to catch our breath and catch up on a bunch of stuff around the house that we haven't done for the past almost two months.  It has been a crazy fall around here and with the holidays and our Disney trip coming up in the next two months, we are taking this whole week to catch up, refocus and do some planning for the upcoming busy season.  I will also take advantage of the downtime to do some stock up shopping and some cooking so we have lots of leftovers and maybe some freezer meals set up too.

You'll notice a few leftovers from last week since I made pasta one night that I didn't feel like cooking, ordered pizza one night and made this crockpot ravioli which everyone loved.  The ravioli was such a hit with the boys that Adrian and I didn't even eat enough for dinner because the boys all wanted seconds so we gave them some of ours.  And of course there were no leftovers.  You will also notice the shift from not super healthy food at the start of the week to pretty healthy food at the end of the week.  And finally you will notice over the next few weeks lots of recipes using hummus, eggs and spaghetti squash.  My mother in law brought us a bunch of both things from the food bank so I need too use them up.  She also brought a huge box of oranges so I'll be using those in my water.

Here's what we're eating this week:
Monday - Spinach Tomato Tortellini
Tuesday - Sheet Pan Chicken and Brussels Sprouts
Wednesday - Loaded Bell Pepper Nachos
Thursday - Creamy Tomato Hummus Soup with Breakfast BLT sandwiches
Friday - Shrimp Fried Rice and Egg Drop Soup
Saturday - Pesto Chicken Spaghetti Squash Bake
Sunday - Cheeseburger Meatballs and Parmesan Roasted Carrots

Water Flavor - Orange

Overnight Oats - Banana Chocolate Chip and Pumpkin Pie  

Saturday, October 21, 2017

Keeping Up With...Food (Meal Plan for Oct 23 - Oct 29)

I didn't mean to skip a week of meal planning but we have been super busy with soccer and fall fun that I just didn't have time.  I did meal plan for last week but just never had time to sit down and write out a blog post.  We had some pretty good food in between lots of activities and we ate fairly healthy all week.  Some of the recipe highlights from last week included Sweet & Spicy Cauliflower, Garlic Rosemary Pork and Potatoes, Zucchini Medley and Homemade Mac and Cheese.  All three kids liked the mac and cheese, and Daniel declared it better than the box!

This week is another busy one as we have Scouts, our last week of soccer, extra work for me and Halloween events 5 of the 7 days this week.  I'm making a plan for us and we'll stick to it the best we can but I also made sure to stock up on salad and sandwich stuff so if we need to we will fall back on that.  We also have a few parties where we need to bring things so I'm making my first dirt cake with a fall theme, spider snacks and witches' hats.  I'm also making these pumpkin chocolate chip bars and hoping Daniel will eat them for breakfast.  If not, I'll be making another loaf of the banana chocolate chip bread.

Other than all of that snacking, here's what we're eating this week:
Monday - Salads (before we head to a Cub Scout Halloween party with more food)
Tuesday - Taco Tuesday!
Wednesday - Chicken Parm Stuffed Peppers
Thursday - Sheet Pan Chicken and Brussels Sprouts
Friday - Loaded Bell Pepper Nachos
Saturday - Apple Honey Baked BBQ Ribs
Sunday - Spinach Tomato Tortellini

Water Flavor - Mango - Thanks Aldi for a reduced price for the mango this week!

Overnight Oats - It continues to be only me eating these so I'm not eating them very fast.  I have also bought peanut butter chips and butterscotch chips at Aldi so I'm enjoying experimenting with them for flavor.  This week I'm making the Banana Chocolate Chip ones but with peanut butter chips instead of chocolate.

Saturday, October 14, 2017

Keeping up with...Family (Weekly Wrap 10/6 - 10/12)

Friday (10/6) We made it to another Friday!!  I got everyone out to school and then I headed to AJ's school for his annual IEP meeting.  His teachers had great things to say about him and he will only be focusing on a few more sounds for speech therapy this year.  The goal is to have him off his IEP by middle school next year, we'll see how it goes.  After the meeting, I headed to Meijer to pick up a few last minute things for AJ's Cub Scout camping trip this weekend.  I came home and got a few things done and then it was time to pick everyone up from school.

When they got home from school, the boys were super excited to watch the first episode of the new season of Skylanders Academy on Netflix.  Then Adrian packed up himself and AJ and they headed to Camp Falling Rock for Webelo Woods for the weekend.  I took Daniel and Zak out for the night.  We started at Zak's soccer practice, then headed across the street for Glow Putt with friends.  Their church hosted a Mother/Son Night there so we played 18 holes, had some snacks and had a lot of laughs.  After golf, we stopped at Menchie's for a sweet treat then came home and watched TV for a short time before heading to bed.

Saturday (10/7) Everyone slept in!!  Zak didn't come in to wake me up until around 8am.  That may be a record for him.  We had a lazy start to our day watching TV and video games before getting ready for soccer games.  Zak played first and his team won by a ton!  He got his first assist on a goal and had a great time.  Then we ran over to Daniel's game.  His team lost 5-4, but they played tough.  Daniel played his best game so far, he had multiple defensive stops and was even a little aggressive, which is a big step for him.
 

After soccer, we headed up to Lynd's Farm to pick apples.  They had Melrose and Suncrisp so we picked a giant bag of them and then finally headed home to rest after a full afternoon in the sun.  We watched the brand new "Max and Ruby" which Zak loved so much he watched it twice in a row!  We spent the rest of the night watching TV, playing video games and playing board games.  It was a fun night together!
 

Sunday (10/8) Today started a little earlier than yesterday but Zak slept until about 7am so I'll take it!  We were pretty laid back this morning since we didn't have to be anywhere until church at 11am.  I was supposed to volunteer in childcare but since they had enough people (that never happens!) I was able to go to service.  It was another great sermon and I'm glad I was able to be there for it!  We rushed home after and just as we were eating a quick lunch, AJ and Adrian returned tired and dirty from their camping trip.

I still made Daniel and Zak go to swimming lessons, even though they really wanted to stay home.  It gave AJ and Adrian time to rest and shower and catch their breath.  When we got home from swimming, they boys played video games together, Adrian and I watched football and we ordered pizza for dinner since it was raining so we couldn't grill the steaks that I bought.  In between all of that we tried to figure out what the boys would be for Halloween.  We figured it out and ordered everything but then when AJ and Zak saw how cool Daniel's Ninjago costume is they changed their minds.  So now we have Daniel as the green ninja (Lloyd), AJ as the blue one and Zak as the red one if we can find one in his size.  It was very stressful!

We finished as much as we could around the house but we were both really tired and overwhelmed.  We finished watched the football games, we had 3 since Adrian didn't watch the Buckeyes yesterday.  We had some wine together.  And once we had the boys asleep, we relaxed and headed to bed early ourselves to be ready for another busy week.

Monday (10/9) Happy Columbus Day!  This has become one of our favorite holidays because Adrian is off but the boys still go to school.  We got to sleep in a little since AJ didn't take the bus (we drove him in) and then after we got everyone to school we headed out for a date day.  We stopped at Target first so we could finish the Halloween costume shopping.  We got Zak's red ninja costume and also got the size Daniel needs for the green one.  Then we headed to Easton for some day drinking!
We went to Cooper's Hawk for our monthly wine tasting and really enjoyed all of the wines this month.  The special wine they have this month, Doldici, is delicious and we got two magnum bottles of it.  While we were tasting we ran into one of my friends and her husband who were doing the same thing as us.  So we finished our tastings together and then decided to all have lunch together.  I got the short rib grilled cheese and soup that I had been thinking about since I saw the email describing it.  The food was amazing, as was the company.  Such a fun surprise double date!
After lunch, we wanted to walk around a little and I needed to have my ring inspected to keep the warranty current.  Soon enough it was time to head back to reality and go pick up the boys from school.  We hung out with them for a little while and then got ready for our night activities.  Adrian took AJ and Daniel to Daniel's soccer game.  His team won pretty big!  While they were there, I took Zak to Cub Scouts.  He had a fun time making a lion puppet and learning the Scout motto "Do Your Best."  He was also super excited to get his pack t-shirt.  He couldn't wait to get home and show it to Dad and the other boys!
Tuesday (10/10) Since Adrian had the other 4 days off this week, he decided to take today off too.  We again got to sleep in and then he took AJ to school while I got the other two ready.  I dropped them off and went to teach my Silver Sneakers class.  Adrian went to the dentist for a cleaning and then to get a hair cut.  We met back at home for a quick lunch and then I headed to school to help with the book fair.  I finally let my boys shop and we came home with 7 new books.

After school, we relaxed for a bit then had dinner together.  Adrian volunteered to take everyone to AJ's soccer practice so I could get a few things done around the house and then go to the Cub Scout meeting to fill our popcorn orders.  Daniel and Zak had a great time playing at the park with Adrian while AJ practiced.  We all got home, finished packing up AJ and Adrian for camp in the morning and headed to bed early because it would be a busy few days ahead!

Wednesday (10/11) We got to sleep in again since AJ didn't need to be to school until about an hour after his normal start time to catch the bus to 5th grade camp.  We got AJ and Adrian out the door to camp and then I dropped off the other two at school before heading in to help at the book fair all day.  It was a super busy day in the library and I had a blast helping all of the kids shop!  We ran home from school for a brief refresh and then headed to the Y for my Zumba class.  When we were done, we came home and enjoyed ravioli for dinner and a relaxing night of board games and TV.  I got a few updates from Adrian and he said that they were having a great time so far!  He sent a picture of AJ and his two friends from Cub Scouts which I loved seeing.  I'm so thankful they are having this trip together!
 
Thursday (10/12) I got to sleep in again since I didn't have to get AJ off to school.  I got Daniel and Zak up and to school and then headed to teach my two Silver Sneakers classes.  I had a bunch of small errands to run so I ran those quickly after class and then got home just in time to meet the garage repairman at my house.  We finally got our broken panel replaced and now have a fully functioning garage door again!  I'm very thankful we had the warranty on the door so it wasn't too costly.  I did a few things around the house and then picked up the boys from school.  They had an early dinner and then my mother in law came in to take them to soccer practice while I went to teach my Zumba class.  I met them at practice and took the boys home when it was over.  We were all exhausted so we did a quick snack, show and then headed to bed.  I did a little clean up but decided I needed to get some rest so I headed to bed early as well. 

I did get some updates during the day from Adrian that everything was going really well.  He had some free time so he went into town for coffee and to explore a little, and probably to escape the kids!  They learned about birds, including our favorite bird the Coopers Hawk who brings me wine each month.  The last I heard they were going out on a night hike together and were very excited.  I know AJ is also doing well hanging out with the other kids, especially playing chess and cards during their free time.  I got this picture late last night and it made my heart SO happy!  Can't wait until they get home and I can hear all about it!

Monday, October 9, 2017

Keeping Up With...Food (Meal Plan for Oct 9 - Oct 15)

We had a busy weekend with Adrian and AJ away camping and me and the other boys keeping things going on the home front.  I did pretty good sticking to my menu plan from last week, although there were a few changes.  I asked Adrian to take out a pork loin for Friday's dinner and he accidentally grabbed ground turkey so I made chili mac.  It worked out better because he got stuck at work and Zak had soccer practice so we ate on the run.  Then I decided to bump meatball subs to this week and have steak on Sunday since I got a good deal on them at Meijer on Friday.  But it was raining at dinner time so we decided to order pizza instead and threw the steaks in the freezer.

This week is another busy and weird one.  Adrian and AJ leave on Wednesday for 5th grade camp so they'll miss two dinners.  We are jam packed all weekend, including play tickets, CPR training, soccer, swimming, church and hopefully our annual trip to the corn maze.  I have planned easy dinners for the week but we also have a lot of leftovers and a lot of lettuce to use up so I may make leftovers or salad one or two nights and bump the rest of the meals to next week.  We'll see how it goes.

Here's what we're eating this week:
Monday - Deli Meat Salads (we have soccer & Scouts so it's dinner on the run)
Tuesday - Black Bean Taquitos
Wednesday - Ravioli
Thursday - Creamy Prawn Soup
Friday - Meatball Subs
Saturday - Steak on Grill
Sunday - Garlic Rosemary Pork and Potatoes with Zucchini Mozzarella Medley

Water Flavor - Lemon/Strawberry

Overnight Oats - I have some bananas to use up so I set up Banana Chocolate Chip.  I'm also making Daniel his favorite Chocolate Chip Bread.  

Saturday, October 7, 2017

Keeping up with...Family (Weekly Wrap 9/29 - 10/5)

Friday (9/29) We got up and out to school on time again today, although we just made it to get AJ on the bus in time.  Daniel is working so hard to get to school on time everyday so he can get perfect attendance.  We only have three more weeks to go!  I came home and got a bunch of stuff done while waiting for our replacement couch to be delivered.  The best decision we ever made was to buy the no questions asked warranty for our couches.  With three boys, they get very beat up and this is the second replacement we've got in the past 4 years, with 3 or 4 other service calls as well.

After they dropped off our new couch, I headed to Kroger to pick up a few things and then picked up the boys from school.  We headed to the Y for my barre class, although no one really wanted to leave the house.  When class was finished, we went to Taco Bell and White Castle to grab dinner for the boys using their coupons from the summer reading program.  Both drive thrus took forever and I had irritated kids when it was done, but once they got some food all was good.  We came home & I cooked for Adrian and I while the boys watched video games.  We finished the night with family movie night watching "TMNT" from 2007.  It was just OK for me, but AJ and Daniel loved it.  Daniel wants to watch another ninja turtles movie for his next movie night pick.
Saturday (9/30)  Started early again because Zak was up at 6:30am.  Adrian got up with him and I got another hour or so of sleep before getting up and getting moving.  Both AJ and Daniel had soccer games at the same time so I took AJ to his game and Adrian took Daniel and Zak.  Both games were super exciting and super close!  AJ's team lost 5-4 when the other time scored a goal with less than 2 minutes remaining.  And Daniel's team played a tough team to a 4-4 tie.  Both boys played well and had fun!  And we were all thankful it wasn't as hot as it has been the past few weekends.

After the games, we came home and had a quick lunch before heading out to see the Lego Ninjago movie.  Zak didn't want to go so thankfully my mother in law was able to come and stay with him while the rest of us went to the movie.  We all loved it, it was a fun story and very different from the show.  AJ especially liked how it bounced from "real life to Lego life."  And Daniel thought it was very funny and hopes we can watch it again for family movie night, this time with Zak.
After the movie, we came home and had an easy dinner since we were all exhausted from running around all day.  We did a few things around the house and then settled in to watch the Buckeyes game.  We decided to let the boys stay up a little later to watch the game.  But since they lost interest about 5 minutes in, we put them to bed at halftime.  I also lost interest since they Buckeyes were up by a ton so I headed to bed early too.  Adrian stayed up to watch the end of the game and a few other college football games.

Sunday (10/1) We all got up and moving and headed to first service at church as a family for the first time in weeks.  Our church had a guest speaker, Roddy Chong, the violinist from Trans Siberian Orchestra.  He played with our band and then gave an inspirational sermon.  I loved every minute of the service!!  Adrian and I quickly posed for a picture with him after service and then he headed home with the boys while I went back to volunteer in childcare for the second service.  I had a fun time with the kids, although it got a little rowdy since services ran long.  All in all it was a great way to start the day, week & month!
After church, Adrian took the boys to swim lessons while I stayed home to get a few things done and watch the Jets game.  The boys did great at swimming, even after two weeks off.  And the Jets game was exciting, and they won!  When the guys got home and my game was over, we watched the Cowboys game on the DVR.  Too bad they weren't able to pull out a win too.  We grilled delicious steak on the grill for dinner, decorated for Halloween and finished everything on our to do list.  We finished up with a few comedies on our DVR before an early bedtime to get ready for a busy week.  Fun and productive Sunday for us!

Monday (10/2) We got back to our regular schedule today and I got everyone to school today on time and then I went in to Daniel and Zak's school to help with the book fair.  I helped the students make wish lists for books they would like to buy.  I took a break in the late morning to go into Zak's classroom and do letter sounds with his classmates.  He was super excited to see me again.  I don't get emotional very often about him being in school but today while he was working with me in the hallway, he looked so much older and mature I did get a little teary.
After a full day at school, we rushed home to meet AJ who got himself off the bus and used his own key to get into the house.  This is a trial for him to see how he does so I know if I can sub in the afternoons or not.  He did great today!  We all grabbed quick drinks and snacks and then headed out to the Y for my Zumba class.  After class we rushed home so Daniel could get ready for soccer and I went to a meeting at church for a new position I will be doing there.  After all of that we came home and had a quick snack, watched a little TV and went to bed.  What a busy Monday!

Tuesday (10/3) Was another pretty typical day for us.  We all got out to school on time and then I headed to Harcum to teach my two Silver Sneakers classes.  We changed the start time so now I teach 30 minutes early.  Today was the first day and it seemed to go pretty well.  After class I ran a few errands, including going to my newly remodeled Aldi.  I'm so happy to have it back around the corner from the house!  I never realized how often I go there for quick grocery runs until it was closed for six weeks.
After running a few errands, I headed back into school to help with a few classes at the book fair.  Then we all came home and as we were getting ready for soccer AJ said he wasn't feeling well and asked if he could skip tonight.  Adrian and I didn't really want to go either so we decided to let him skip this one.  The boys played outside with Adrian for a long time while I got tacos ready for dinner and got a handle on the dishes and laundry.  When the boys went to bed, Adrian and I caught up on last week's "This is Us" and were shocked by the ending!

Wednesday (10/4) Another great morning of everyone getting up and moving on time.  I got everyone off to school and then headed back into the school to help with book fair.  I got to help Daniel's class today, he was so happy to see me in school.  I also had a quick parent teacher conference with his teacher.  She said he is doing great!  He's a super hard worker, very smart, extremely good at Math.  She did say he needed to keep practicing reading to get better at that and also that she wants to refer him for speech, which he already wants to do.  Third grade seems to be going great for him!  After school, we headed to the Y for my Zumba class.  Then we came home and dinner and then Adrian headed out to Bible study.  When he came home, we got the kids to bed and then he and I watched "Survivor" and headed to bed ourselves.
Thursday (10/5) Everyone got up and out on time again, we are kicking butt this year with everyone getting up and out on time.  I think it helps that AJ gets up and out before the other boys get up.  Less chaos and distractions for everyone.  After I dropped the boys off at school, I went and taught my two Silver Sneakers classes then headed to Easton to meet a good friend for lunch.  We enjoyed yummy Panera food and lots of good conversation.  The only downside was that it was raining the whole time so we were able to walk around Easton.  But it was also kind of nice to just sit.
After lunch I headed home to get everyone from school and found out that AJ and Zak's coaches decided to cancel practice because of all of the rain.  Daniel was upset and said he didn't want to practice in the rain so we decided to let him skip too.  It wasn't our most responsible soccer week but I think sometimes you just need a break.  So the boys stayed home with Adrian while I went to teach my Zumba class and then headed to a Cub Scout meeting.  I was supposed to just pick up a form and I ended up being elected Secretary of the pack.  It's time for me or Adrian to step up and help volunteering since we've had kids in the pack for 3 years now and Zak is planning to continue.  It's not a huge commitment and I'm actually excited to help them out.  Now to find time to do all of the required training for that!  When I got home, we put the boys to bed, cleaned up a little, made sure we were ready for tomorrow and watched a quick episode of "The Goldburgs" before heading to bed.

Sunday, October 1, 2017

Keeping Up With...Food (Meal Plan for Oct 2 - Oct 8)

I got back on meal planning last week and we did pretty good sticking to our plan and eating healthy.  We didn't feel like cooking last night so we made quesadillas instead of our planned dinner of salmon and we pushed that to today.  Our meals yielded a lot of leftovers last week so we have a lot of meals set up for lunches this week.  I'm hoping that happens again this week.  I also stocked up on salad essentials for myself for lunches since I'll be eating at school every day while volunteering for the book fair.

The next two weeks are going to be weird and crazy for us.  I will be in the school just about every day for the book fair.  Adrian is going camping with AJ this weekend and then to 5th grade camp three days next week.  And we get to celebrate our favorite holiday, Columbus Day, when the kids have school but Adrian is off from work so we're planning a lunch date that Monday.  So there will be a lot of easy meals, crock pot meals and salads in these two weeks.  I planned out meals for every day this weekend but there is a good chance I will do leftovers Saturday night and then bump that meal to next week.  We'll see how the weekend goes!

The biggest excitement for me as I'm meal planning for this week is that "my" Aldi is opened again!  It closed about 5 weeks ago for remodeling and I have hated not having it around the corner.  I made due with the one in Gahanna (only about 15 minutes away) but it's not the same!  I hear the new store is beautiful and I can't wait to go see it.  It wasn't supposed to open until tomorrow, but it opened early last Tuesday...the day after I stocked up at the one in Gahanna.  I'll be there tomorrow or Tuesday for sure though!

Here's what we're eating this week:
Monday - Steak and Lemon Green Beans
Tuesday - Taco Tuesday!
Wednesday - BBQ Chicken Drumsticks and Salads
Thursday - Butternut Squash Soup and Grilled Cheese
Friday - Garlic Rosemary Pork and Potatoes with Zucchini Mozzarella Medley
Saturday - Greek Totellini Salad
Sunday - Meatball Subs

Water Flavor - Pear & Strawberry.  Woo hoo it's not grapefruit!  I enjoy the citrus tastes but I am really looking forward to some sweet water the next few weeks.  I actually forgot to plan anything but I have a bunch of pears that are not going to make it much longer so I want to use them up.

Overnight Oats - Adrian isn't eating them anymore but I love them for breakfast so I'm still making them for myself.  I made my favorites this week, chocolate with butterscotch chips and Banana Chocolate Chip.