Pantry Raid Menu Monday 4.26.10

Being that I really don't want to go to the grocery until hopefully Friday, we are going to be using up some stuff in the freezer and pantry.   With that plan, our meals will be the following,

• Leftover Night (which is tonight) - There's chicken, mac & cheese, chicken salad, hot dogs, roasted veggies, and who knows what else in there ;)


• Breakfast for dinner - Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Pancakes, Scrambled Eggs, Sausage/Canadian Bacon, and Fruit


• Spaghetti and Marinara, Salad, Homemade Bread


• Chicken Fajitas, Rice, Beans


• Pot Roast, Potatoes, Green Beans

We have more stuff than I thought as I perused the pantry. Of course, this is due to the wonderfully nice church members who stocked up stuff for us before we got here.  It's been very helpful! :)

Edited to Add: Jason just came home and said let's go out to eat tonight after I said leftovers for dinner.  Little does he know that they will be still be good tomorrow.  ;0)

Sometimes we can learn from watching a 2 year old.

I just witnessed something that I see fairly regularly yet it still amazes me.  It is the fight that is in a 2 year old.  Tonight it was over vegetables.  The rule in our house is not difficult.  You don't have finish your plate if you don't want to, but if there is a treat, you do not get it unless you eat what is put on your plate. It's always been this way.

Yet, here is Caleb simply horrified that he is not with his brothers enjoying an after dinner treat.  He screamed, wailed, threw himself on the floor, followed me to another room to start it all over again, and never ate his vegetables.  He was not going to give in and I knew this from the second the tantrum started, because I know the will of this child.  Connor, on the other hand, would eventually give in but not without lots of whining.  Whereas, Cole and Caleb, are as stubborn as one of their parents, who shall remain nameless.

What amazes me even more than the fight though is the how easily he got over it.  I mean he was mad, really mad, but before I finished loading this picture on the computer, he had crawled up in my lap and gave me a hug.  After we hugged it out, there is complete restoration in our relationship.  I again was mom and not the "evil-vegetable-pushing villian" and all was right with his world.  When a 2 year old is mad, they are mad, but once they are over it, they are truly over it.  He is not currently holding a grudge or even talking about it anymore.  It's done.  He loves me the same now as he did earlier today.

At what age, do we stop just getting over it?  Watching him tonight just got me to thinking, how much easier and better would our relationships would be if when we got mad or hurt, we threw our fit and then let it go.  I'm not one to hold grudges easily, but there are definitely times I could let things go much easier.  I mean truly let it go meaning the person we were mad at is fully restored to us.  Love becomes conditional so often for us as we grow older.  However, love "keeps no record of being wronged" so maybe tonight I can learn something from my little stubborn 2 year old who loves me despite the fact that he did not get his treat.

P.S. Just in case you are wondering, Caleb is now getting ready for bed and the vegetables are still sitting on his plate on the table.

Playin' in the rain

I love that the boys can have so much fun in the rain. I'm not sure why they felt the need to dance in it, but they did and for that I wish I'd had the video camera handy.  It was quite entertaining.  Still, I got some pretty good shots of them enjoying the sprinkles.  And the last two photos are simply further proof that I do indeed have 4 children.

 

 

Menu Monday 4.19.2010

Since this past week, we ended up with sick kids I didn't end up fixing all of the meals I had planned, so there is one carryover.  You will also notice the recipes this week are primarily from Ellie Krieger.  In an ongoing attempt to eat healthier, I read two of her cookbooks this weekend.  So far any recipe of hers that I've tried has been great, so I'm hoping some of these new ones (new to us) will be good as well.  

Here's our meal list this week,

• Canjun Chicken Pasta, Spinach & Strawberry Salad


• Marinated Chicken & Grape Skewers, Roasted Asparagus, Quinoa Pilaf with Pine Nuts


• BBQ Burgers with Cole Slaw, Oven Fries


• Korean Beef Stir-fry, Zucchini (not sure what I'm doing with this yet)


• Meatballs with Spicy Tomato Sauce, Green Salad (This is seriously an awesome spaghetti & meatball recipe and it's healthy. I sometimes use lean ground beef instead of turkey. Very yummy!)

If you give a mom a muffin...

Maybe you've seen this already, but a friend shared this and I love it.  This pretty much sums up a morning here with 3 crazy boys and a slightly distracted momma.

If you give a mom a muffin,

She'll want a cup of coffee to go with it.

So she'll pour herself some.

The coffee will get spilled by her three year old.

She'll wipe it up.


Wiping the floor, she will find some dirty socks.

She'll remember she has to do some laundry.

When she puts the laundry in the washer,

She'll trip over some snow boots and bump into the freezer.

Bumping into the freezer will remind her she has to plan supper for tonight.


She will get out a pound of hamburger.

She'll look for her cookbook. (101 Things To Make With a Pound of Hamburger)

The cookbook is sitting under a pile of mail.

She will see the phone bill which is due tomorrow.

She will look for the checkbook.


The checkbook is in her purse that is being dumped out by her two year old.

She'll smell something funny.

She'll change the two year old.

While she is changing the two year old the phone will ring. (Of course!)

Her five year old will answer it and hang up.


She remembers that she wants to phone a friend to come over for coffee on Friday.

Thinking of coffee will remind her that she was going to have a cup.

She will pour herself some.

And chances are,

If she has a cup of coffee,

Her kids will have eaten the muffin that went with it.







Written by Kathy Fictorie



Based on If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff

Menu Planning Monday

Now that we are pretty much settled in our new home, I figure I need to get into my regular routine of planning our weekly meals.  Awhile back when some friends and I were talking about cooking, they asked if I would be willing to share our menu each week.  I actually really enjoy the menu planning part as I get to peruse recipes and usually pick something new to try. So, I will try to post our menu each week on here.

For me, I don't like a strict schedule of meals so each week I plan 5-6 dinners and some breakfasts to cook and simply put the list on the fridge.  This number of meals works for us since we usually eat at the church once a week and eat out once a week.  Then, we typically eat leftovers or sandwiches for lunch so I don't plan those.

For this week, the meals are primarily old favorites with a friend's yummy pasta recipe thrown in.  Here you go,

• Canjun Chicken Pasta, Spinach Salad, French Bread 


• Mini Meatloaves, Roasted Potatoes, Smothered Green Beans


• Homemade Pizza (Thai for us & Pepperoni for the boys) & Thai Cucumber Salad


• Baked Chicken Parmesan, Spaghetti & Marinara, Zucchini Cakes, Green Salad


• Pot Roast, Mashed Potatoes, Dill Carrots, Dinner Rolls

Have fun cooking this week! :)