THis Week's Menu Plan

I thought I'd post one more time today.  I still do a weekly menu plan, and I thought I'd share this week's plan.  With our baseball schedule, we end up eating out a couple days a week because none of us can wait to eat until we get home after 7:30.  Sometimes, you just do what has to be done!!

Sunday- Last night I made Creamy Cauliflower Soup and Roasted Butternut Squash and Quinoa Salad.  It was definitely inspired by Pioneer Woman's latest episode, but it was tweaked to fit our family.  I had leftover squash and Quinoa for lunch today, YUM!

Monday- Thai Beef with Basil
This one is so delicious!  A friend shared this recipe with me and I love it, so easy to make and adapt, and my whole family devours it!

Tuesday- Dinner out for baseball

Wednesday- Barbacoa Pork Tacos

Thursday- Dinner out again, baseball

Friday- Homemade Pizza

Make it a GREAT week, and share with me what your favorite recipe is this week.

Our Summer List

Hi Friends,
I know, my posts now are few and far between.  I apologize.  My schedule is so hectic with my 12 year old playing baseball and a 4 year old doing swimming and soccer.  Throw in some family time and sleep, and there's not much time for anything else!  I do miss writing and blogging, though so I'm hoping to be able to post more often as baseball season winds down.

As some of you know, I'm a teacher.  I've been in the same district for 19 years. This year I went back to teaching kindergarten.  I think I left my heart here in kindergarten, because I really love being back.  As much as I LOVE teaching, I also love the time I get with my boys at home in the summer.  Its 8 short weeks, but I love having that time with my boys  The lazy days, adventures and fun at home.  Its wonderful!

Its almost May and I'm dreaming of those days right now!  I wanted to start a list of places we want to go and some adventures we want to take.  Some are things my 12 year old reminds me we need to do before summer is over.  Some are places I've never been, or at least its been a LONG time.  Let me know if you have any other ideas of adventures the boys and I can do.

For the first time, we have a membership to Gilroy Gardens, so I'm sure we will will be there often!

Favorites of our Family...
Berry Picking at Gidzitch Ranch
Monterey Bay Aquarium
Pier 39
Camping at Riverside Campground
Vasona Park

Places to visit this year...
Hiller Aviation Museum
Shoreline Park
Lawerence Hall of Science
Curiodessey
Train Town in Sonoma

And of course, the beach!  I'm hoping to do a few more trips to the beach than I have in the past couple years!

I don't think we will be able to cross all these trips off our list, but we can make a good dent!  What are some must-do adventures with your family?

Asian Turkey and Rice Bowls

There's so many leftovers right now, but I'd hate for them to go to waste. After turkey sandwiches for lunch, I wanted to make something delicious, but not just turkey on a plate.

This was a big hit with my family, and my husband had 2 helpings. I think I'll make it again this week.

1 1/2 cup chopped veggies (I used broccoli, peppers, squash and onion from a fresh mixed vegetable box I had)
2 eggs
1 cup cooked turkey (chicken or any other cooked meat would be yummy too)
Oil for pan
2 cups rice
For the sauce-
4 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon soy sauce
4 tablespoons orange juice
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon garlic granules
Pinch of red pepper flakes, if desired
Method-
Combine sauce ingredients and set aside. Heat oil in pan. Combine eggs with 1 teaspoon soy sauce and mix with fork. When pan is hot, add eggs to pan. Cook through and flip. Allow eggs to brown. Remove the eggs from the pan and set aside. Hear pan again and add chopped veggies to pan. Allow to brown before turning, 2-3 minutes.

When veggies are browned, but still firm, add turkey and heat through. Add sauce to pan and cook for 2-3 more minutes, until most of the sauce has cooked down.

Serve over rice.

Vegetarian Enchiladas

One evening while we were enjoying lots of down time (and a little too much TV) I started in to make dinner.  I was going to make one of our family favorites, vegetable enchiladas. As I pulled out the ingredients, I realized we were out of  black beans.  Hmmmm, just spinach and corn wasn't going to cut it.  I thought about ordering out, but thankfully looked in my pantry and noticed the half bag of of leftover potatoes.

 I don't think my family will ever let me go back to making them with the black beans again!  These enchiladas were a huge hit, and they're our new favorite.  If you make the sauce the night before, this is an easy weeknight dinner.  I hope you enjoy these as much as we do.  I usually have enough filling to freeze for another meal.  

Vegetable Enchiladas

**adapted from www.recipegirl.com

For the filling

6 yukon gold potatoes, cut into 1 inch pieces and cooked in boiling water until aldente, about 6-10 minutes

1 box frozen spinach, defrosted

1 cup frozen fire roasted corn

1 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp. ground chili powder

1/2 tsp. granulated garlic

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Make the homemade sauce from the recipe link above, its worth it!

8-10 corn tortillas (I have found wonderful soft ones that don't require preheating before filling)

Preheat over to 375.

Defrost the frozen spinach until you can break it apart with a fork.  Combine potatoes, corn, cumin, chili powder and garlic until just combined.  Lightly cover the bottom of the pan with sauce. Put about 2 tablespoons of filling in the tortilla and roll it up.  Place seam side down in baking pan.  Continue with remaining filling and tortillas.  They should be touching in the pan.  Cover enchiladas with sauce and sprinkle with cheese.  Bake for 20-25 minutes until sauce is bubbling and cheese is melted.

Antipasto lunch

Mornings are a race in our house. I often say I feel like I've run a marathon by the time I get everyone where they need to be in the mornings. This was a quick and easy lunch this morning. Antipasto sounds so fancy, but really it was just crackers, turkey, some cheese slices, olives, sliced cucumber and an applesauce pouch because there was extra room!

Long time, no see

Hard to believe its been over a year and a half since I've actively posted on my blog.  Between an active toddler, a 10 year old, and teaching full time, there hasn't been a lot of time to sit down and write.  I've been missing it.  I was recently asked to write an article for a friend's ezine.  I was reluctant at first, but after thinking about it, I decided to jump in and give it a try.  I'm hoping it will give me an outlet beyond just mom and work.

As our little one gets older, it seems easier to do a little more of the things I enjoy.  I've done a little sewing again, regular yoga once a week, and now writing.  I'm hitting a place in my life where I wonder what's next. Do I stay in teaching, or move on to something else?  Lots of exploring to do, and I feel like I have a little time to ponder.

The next year brings many changes for our family, the biggest being our 10 year old moving to middle school.  Along with that comes new taxi challenges and new sports schedules.  It will be interesting to see where our next turn takes us.  I hope you'll come along too.

Spring is almost here

Spring is a busy time in our home.  Baseball season starts up again, lots of birthdays, and I just want to be outside playing with my kiddos.  Our baby boy is crawling and getting into everything right now, and I'm lucky if I can get anything done in the kitchen!  I've been trying to get a lot of prep done on Sunday afternoons to make weeknights easier.  Spring Fever?  In our house, its summer fever since I get off work in about 9 weeks, and I get to play at stay at home mom for the summer (with a 9 year old, that means I have a lot of taxi-driving to do!)

Here's our meal plan for this week:
Sunday-
Monday- Spicy Asian Chicken
Tuesday- Corned Beef in the Crockpot (baseball night) and steamed cabbage
Wednesday- Asparagus Frittata with spinach salad
Thursday- Corned Beef Hash
Friday- Pizza and Movie night