Menu Plan Monday: Week of 4/25/11

Talk about sporadic blog posts. Packing to move into a new house in three weeks, trying to sell our current house, a low-energy-want-to-sleep-all-the-time pregnancy while chasing after two kids, and planning and celebrating a 4-year-old's birthday has led to very little time (or desire, to be real truthful) to blog. But I hate entering the week without a meal plan, so sitting down and writing it out on my blog today actually helped me make one for this week. We have some delicious ham and mashed potatoes left over from Easter dinner yesterday, so we'll be using that up throughout the week. I'm also trying to dig into the freezer to use up some food before we move. Here's our plan:


Breakfasts:
Ham and cheese omelets, toast
cold cereal, toast
Whole Wheat Muffins, bananas
Oatmeal, raisins

Lunches:
Ravioli with marinara sauce (I just whipped up today a can each of tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, and tomato paste, and added some garlic, basil, oregano, salt and pepper, and a little brown sugar = a quick and easy pasta sauce), orange slices
Turkey sandwiches, cottage cheese, carrot sticks
leftover pizza, apple slices
Mac and cheese, green beans

Suppers:
Monday: hubby working late - soup and sandwiches for me and the kids

Tuesday: pizza party fundraiser for my son's Early Childhood Education school

Wednesday: Cheesy Ham and Pasta Bake, mixed vegetables, lettuce salad, orange slices

Thursday: leftovers

Friday: Cheddar Ranch Burgers (new recipe), potato patties (made from leftover mashed potatoes from Easter), peas

Saturday: Baked Ziti (from the freezer), lettuce salad, carrots

Sunday: leftovers

This post is linked to Menu Plan Monday at I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Menu Plan: Week of 4/4/11

I have been half-hazardly menu planning since our decision to sell our house. Boxes everywhere + cleaning + an attempt to de-clutter = my desire to fly by the seat of my pants a bit with our meals. On that note, it's no surprise that we ate out a lot and ate a lot of unhealthy foods during this time. So, back to it. I'm trying to use up some foods we have in the freezer and pantry so there isn't much shopping this week. Here's what we have planned:

Breakfasts:
Applesauce bread
Oatmeal, bananas
Cold cereal, toast
Whole Wheat Oatmeal Pancakes (leftover from Sunday)

Lunches:
Tomato Soup and grilled cheese, apple slices
Hummus, pita chips, carrot sticks
Chicken strips, cottage cheese, oranges
Creamy Macaroni and Cheese, peas, fruit salad
leftovers

Suppers:
Monday: Turkey Noodle Casserole (using leftover frozen turkey)
Tuesday: Tilapia, brown rice, peas
Wednesday: Sticky Chicken in the Crockpot, mashed potatoes, gravy (this will be my first time ever attempting homemade gravy - pray for me.), green beans
Thursday: Chicken Noodle Soup (using leftover chicken and broth from Wed.), grilled cheese, fruit salad
Friday - Sun.: in-laws are in town so it's up to the husband and probably out to eat a couple of times

Check out I'm an Organizing Junkie for menu planning ideas!

I'm back!

The house is officially on the market. The market is slow, but we are praying that showings and interest will pick up when the warmer weather starts (hopefully!) soon. My patience and energy have really been challenged by trying to keep a house "show-ready" (clean, picked up, ready for someone to see at a moment's notice) with a 2-year-old and 3-year-old. The following sentence actually came out of my mouth the other day, as I told my husband: "I would rather take the bar exam again than try to sell a house with a toddler and a preschooler." I have NEVER said that about anything, so you know I'm a little stressed. (Granted, I think that a bit of an exaggeration on my part.)

Plus, throw the following into the mix - I'm pregnant with Baby #3! We are due in late September and couldn't be happier. So not only am I keeping a house "show-ready" with two little ones, I am doing so with the energy level of a sloth.

But I am feeling better these days and there isn't much more to do with the house other than WAIT. So I'm back, ready to blog about some stuff in the coming weeks. It's good to be back!

A blogging break

Life is very busy around our house lately. Life is always busy, but extra busy these days. We made the decision to put our little home on the market next week. Needless to say, we have a LOT of work to do in order to get our home "show ready." Lately, it seems the only thing I've been blogging about lately anyway is my menu plan which, I hate to say, just isn't that interesting by itself. :-)

So, I'm taking a small break from blogging to give myself a little more time to concentrate on getting the house ready and my kids. I hope to be back in a month or two when the house is (hopefully) sold and we've found our new house!

Blessings to all,
Holly T.

Menu Plan: Week of 2/14/11

Well, we're back from a great week's vacation in Florida. While we were gone, we had some work done to our house and let's just say that after returning late Saturday night, my house definitely was not clean. Sunday proved to be a laundry and lazy day. So here it is...Monday....hubby is back to work, the kids are already restless, my house is a disaster, and I don't have any food in the house. After a trip to the grocery store today, here is what I plan to make this week. (I'm only planning suppers this week - I have zero energy or desire right now to even think of what we'll do for breakfast or lunch.)

Monday: Spaghetti with CrockPot Marinara Sauce, lettuce salad
Tuesday: Vegetable Barley Soup (from the freezer - carryover from two weeks ago), grilled ham and cheese sandwiches
Wednesday: Chicken Parmesan (using leftover marinara sauce), green beans, whole wheat pasta
Thursday: Barbeque sandwiches, pasta salad, peas
Friday: Homemade Pizza, lettuce salad
Saturday: Clean out the Fridge Night!
Sunday: ??
This post is linked to Menu Plan Monday at I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Menu Plan: Week of 1/31/11

I cannot believe it's almost February! Despite being cooped up during this long, cold Minnesota winter, we are still eating fairly healthy in our house. I'm trying to clean out some things from my freezer and pantry this week, and so far my grocery list only has 5 items on it for the week! Here's what we have planned for the week:

Breakfasts:
Blueberry and Spinach Smoothies (new recipe - we'll see how my kids like this one!)
Whole Wheat Oatmeal Pancakes (leftover from Sunday), bananas
cold cereal, toast
bagels with cream cheese, fruit

Lunches:
Fish sticks (a new kid favorite - not from scratch but it's a treat every now and then!), apple slices, crackers
PB&J, crackers, grapes
Tomato soup, grilled cheese, carrot sticks with ranch dressing
Hummus and pita chips, orange slices
leftovers

Suppers:
Sunday: Homemade Pizza, lettuce salad
Monday: Vegetable Barley Soup (from the freezer), grilled ham and cheese, pineapple
Tuesday: Turkey and Spinach Enchiladas, refried bean dip (half of this recipe), chips
Wednesday: leftovers
Thursday: Beef and Bean Chili (yes, for the THIRD week in a row! My husband loves this stuff!)
Friday: Chipotle take-out!
Sat. and Sun: ??

This post is linked to Menu Plan Monday at I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Computer area clutter - finished!

As I've mentioned at least 5,000 times since I started this blog, we live in a very small house. The only place we've found to put our computer is, unfortunately, on our kitchen countertop. Not the prettiest of all places, but it works. This space gets very cluttered with incoming mail, recipes and coupons, notes, magazines, preschool information, pens and pencils, etc. It is a part of my home that causes me anxiety because there is really no hiding it when people come over. So, as part of my de-cluttering for 2011 resolution, I decided to tackle this mess.

Here is the before:


I decided the vertical magazine holder (which you can't even see because it's hidden behind so much stuff) wasn't cutting it anymore. I wanted my stuff even more hidden. So I found this great, small (and cute) hanging file folder container at Target for $9. The hardest part was picking the color...so many cute ones...but I went with a muted orange. Here's my new baby:

I tossed a bunch of old and/or outdated and unread magazines. I organized my piles of stuff into categories like bills, household information, preschool information, coupons, recipes, etc. Here is the "after" of my file folder box:

A good cleaning later, here is the finished space:
Hooray!