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

Cooking Up a Storm!

While we were on vacation, my copy of Weelicious came in from Amazon.  There are so many great recipes in there, and last week I tried a few.  I'll post a couple of my versions next week.  Here's my menu for this week:

Sunday- Pork Tenderloin with roast carrots

Monday- Chicken Cordon Bleu Bake 

Tuesday- Veggie Calzones 

Wednesday- Pepperocini beef Sandwiches with cherry tomato salad

Thursday- Leftovers

Friday- Pizza and movie night

Hope you have a great week!

I'm back

I'm not sure I like wordpress either, so I'm back and going to fool around here some more.  I've been gone for a year, and now I have a one year old!  Its been a whirlwind year between our new little one and all the activities my older one has!  I need to start meal planning, and I've also been making some pretty cool recipes for my little one that I want to share.  I'm starting back up with our meal plan.  This week, we have 2 birthday dinners.  Little one is going to be one on Monday and my husband's birthday is Wednesday.  I'm trying to keep it simple since its a back to work week, but I still want to make it special.  Here's our plan...

Saturday: BBQ chicken sandwiches in the crockpot
Sunday: Crockpot Beef Stew
Monday: Hamburgers for Little One's birthday
Tuesday: Empanadas with leftover BBQ chicken
Wednesday: Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos
Thursday: Artichoke and Spinach Paninis
Friday: Pizza and Movie night

Freezer Meals

Well, it happened.  I went into preterm labor on Thursday night and I'm on bed rest for as long as I can keep our baby boy in!  I'm sending my darling hubby to Costco today to pick up meats for us and I think I'll be doing some kitchen directing from the couch this afternoon!  Its so rare for me, but I don't even want to watch cooking shows because it makes me sad that I can't get up and cook.  Fortunately, I have a wonderful hubby and friends who are pitching in :)  My friend set us up an account on mealtrain.com.  Between that and my directing skills, I think we will be fed :)

Sunday- ordering Bucca Di Beppo to celebrate for my dad's birthday dinner
Monday- Chicken and Broccoli Bake
Tuesday-leftovers
Wednesday- Flank Steak with Chimichurri sauce
Thursday- A friend is bringing us dinner
Friday- Homemade Frozen Pizza
Saturday- Tortellini with pesto sauce

Some additional things we'll be making for the freezer:
Carne Asada
Spicy Asian Chicken
Easy Ranch Chicken
Spicy Shredded Pork
Italian Muffaleta Sandwich

Weekly Menu Plan

I'm getting to that point where everything hurts :(  My mantra right now is 3 more weeks of work, 3 more weeks of work.  I'm ready to be home and do some nesting and some resting and prepare our family for our new addition!  This week is a lot about comfort food.  Comfort food and easy!

Sunday: Family birthday party
Monday: Crockpot Chicken Tikka Masala
Tuesday: Fundraiser for school, I'm picking up dinner there
Wednesday:  Tortellini with Broccoli and Homemade Alfredo
Thursday: BBQ Joes and Sweet Potato Fries
Friday: Leftovers

Hope you have a great week!  What's on your menu?

Weekly Menu Plan

Its hard to believe our baby boy will be here soon!  We took our childbirth class yesterday, and the boys' room is coming together.  The crib is put together, and we ordered monogram letters for baby boy.  I start my every other week appointments this week.  I have 4 weeks left at work.  My priority at work right now is getting my adorable first graders assessed in reading and getting report cards.  I also need to get loose ends tied up for my sub to take over.  Starting next month, I'll be stocking our freezer with some meals for after our little guy is born.  I'm trying to prioritize and not get too overwhelmed with the list of things that need to get done!

Here's our menu plan for the week:

Monday: White Bean Soup with spinach and feta paninnis
Tuesday: Crockpot Beer Cheddar Tacos
Wednesday: Tortellini with Mushroom Sauce
Thursday: Honey Garlic Chicken Sandwiches (I'm using this crockpot recipe and adding some cilantro and cucumbers to make a sandwich.  I'll serve it with sweet potato fries)
Friday: Pizza and Movie night

Another week, another menu

I'm excited this week because I got word from my doctor that she's going to put me on maternity leave starting 2/17!  That means I have 5 weeks to go.  I know I'll miss my students, but my body is ready for some relax time.  I'm kind of on overload.  I don't know why, but I've been feeling very emotional.  I'll make it though, and everything will be ready when I leave, but I'm definitely ready to have the end in sight!  I'm excited to meet our little guy (although, my son was born at 35 weeks, and I'd like this one to stay in a little longer than that!)

Here's our menu for the week:
Sunday:
Monday: Pesto Minestrone Soup (crockpot) and breadsticks
Tuesday: Asian Spicy Chicken and crab rangoon
Wednesday: Meatloaf with Chili Sauce
Thursday: Leftovers
Friday: Tortellini with homemade marinara sauce

What's on your menu this week?

Menu Plan Week of 1/9

My husband and I went and sat in the sunshine today at one of our favorite wineries and talked.  I had a sip or 2, then found an amazing pinot soda that I enjoyed the rest of the afternoon.  We both realized that in about 9 weeks, our baby boy will be here.  I can't believe we'll be able to hold him that soon!  I'm having difficulty sleeping and being comfortable now.  My husband says I'm not waddling yet, but I'm definitely slower when I'm walking.  I'm trying to keep it simple this week.  I want to make it to yoga on Wednesday and I have a couple appointments this week too.  Oh, and hubby and I decided I need to get my hospital bag packed this week so I can check that off my list!

Menu Plan Week of 1/9
Monday: Broccoli Cheese Soup
Tuesday: Pork Shoulder in the crockpot
Wednesday: leftovers
Thursday: Chicken Tikka Masala (we never had it last week)
Friday: pizza and movie night

Hope you all have a great week!

New year, new menu

Happy New Year!  I hope that you had a wonderful 2011 and that 2012 is a great year for you and your family.  I know our family is looking forward to spring when we get to meet our new baby boy!  What are you looking forward to in 2012?

Here's our plan for the week:

Sunday: Dinner out
Monday: BBQ Chicken Soup
Tuesday: Turkey and Artichoke Lasagna
Wednesday:  Turkey Chili Hand Pies
Thursday: Leftovers
Friday: Homemade Pizza and Salad

After Christmas Menu Plan

Christmas in our family is tomorrow.  My little man was with his dad for Christmas this year. I'm antsy.  I'm really ready for him to be home, to hug him and know that he's sleeping in the room down the hall.  I'm ready to know he's home safely.  I'm ready to see his face light up tomorrow morning when he comes downstairs.  I'm ready for my little man to be home!  I think these last 2 hours will probably drag on!  In anticipation of his arrival home, I got up this morning and made cinnamon rolls, 3 batches of cookies, and then spent the day finishing his last Christmas present at the sewing machine.  Now, I'm ready!  While I wait for the clock to keep ticking by, I thought I'd work on our plan for the week.

Monday: Picking something up for dinner
Tuesday: Christmas dinner: prime rib, spinach souffle, green beans, and cookies for dessert
Wednesday: Chili Cheese Dogs while we watch the football game!
Thursday: Pasta with Pancetta and Leeks
Friday: Pizza and movie night

Menu Plan Week of 12/19

I'm planning to do a lot of sewing and baking this week.  I have lots of gifts to get finished and cookies to bake.  Our Christmas has been postponed until next week since my little man is with his dad for Christmas this year.  I'm really looking forward to another week of crafts and some fun outings next week when he gets home!

Here's our menu plan for this week:
Sunday: Creamy Pancetta and Leek Soup
Monday: Leftover soup
Tuesday: Spinach and Mushroom Quesadillas
Wednesday: Asian Style Chicken Wraps
Thursday: Tortellini with Creamy Pumpkin Sauce
Friday: Pizza
Saturday: Chicken Tikka Masala


Have a Merry Christmas!

Menu Plan Week of 12/11/11

I think we have something every day after school this week.  Nothing major, but its going to be a busy week!  I also have to get working on sewing Christmas presents.  I'm hoping to have the energy to do some sewing a couple nights after my little man goes to bed, we'll see!

Its been cold!  I know in other parts of the country, its been colder, but for us, its been cold!  I'm opting for some warm and comforting dishes this week.



Here's the plan for the week:
Sunday: Honey- Walnut Prawns
Monday: BBQ chicken soup
Tuesday: Chicken Fajita Crescent Braid
Wednesday: Beef and Broccoli Stir-Fry and Pot Stickers
Thursday: Tortellini with peas, parmesan, and proscuitto
Friday: Pizza and movie night

Have a great week!

Weekly Menu Plan 12/5

Report cards are done, and we're in the home stretch toward Christmas Vacation!  Two weeks left, and then 2 weeks off.  I plan to do lots of sewing and crafts those 2 weeks.  I'm looking forward to it.  This week, there's not much on the calendar.  The one thing I am looking forward to is taking my little man to see my Godmother at the local book store for her "slipper stories" its a great family tradition!

Here's the plan for this week:
Sunday: Tomato Fennel Soup and Grilled Spinach and Cheese Sandwiches
Monday: Swiss Chard and Chicken Pie (I'm going to make mini pies)
Tuesday: Broccoli and Cheese Soup
Wednesday: Macaroni and Cheese and Roasted Brussel Sprouts
Thursday: Black Bean and Rice Quesadillas
Friday: Homemade pizza
Saturday: Dinner with friends



What's on your menu this week?

I'm linking up to www.orgjunkie.com

Menu Plan Week of 11/28

We enjoyed a week of lots of downtime, some shopping, and lots more downtime!  i think we all needed it.  I walked a 5k on Thanksgiving morning, which felt really good.  My son got lots of lego time, I did a lot of reading and some baking.  I also tried making cheesecake for the first time.  My husband, who doesn't like pumpkin pie devoured the cheesecake and he's asking me when I'm making another one!  Now its back to work and finishing up report cards.  I have 3 weeks, then 2 more weeks off.  Its hard to believe that in a couple short months, I'll be on maternity leave, getting ready for our new baby boy to join our family!

Here's our menu plan for our week:

Monday: Ginger Beef Stir-Fry from Eating Well When You're Expecting
Tuesday: Ham, Swiss and Spinach Paninis
Wednesday: Chicken Chilaquiles
Thursday: Jerk  Turkey Burgers
Friday: Pesto Pizza
Saturday: I'm hoping my hubby will take me out to dinner!