Menu Monday {Week 6}

Here we go--5 days of Family Dinners to fill up this week! Do us a favor and pick up a piece of fresh Parm from the cheese department instead of using the bagged or canned variety. This week we'll use it twice--you'll taste the difference and it keeps in the fridge for a good while.

Pulled Pork BBQ Sandwiches-buy it, roast it, slow-cook it.... Whatever works for you.

Salmon Salads- I just do mine with lemon pepper and use a grill pan--main dish in 10 minutes flat. I serve a salad with bacon, mandarin oranges, nuts and balsamic vinaigrette. This is a chicken or grilled cheese night for the kids mandarin oranges.

Melt in your mouth Chicken. I would try to give proper credit for this recipe, but I discovered it in the  newspaper years ago and a quick Google search tells me half of the free world claims this recipe as theirs. So, here's what I do and my family likes it. Also, a great way to start using chicken thighs if you have never done so. Inexpensive and tasty.

1-2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs

1/2 (or a little more) Parmesan cheese

about 1 teaspoon garlic salt

few grinds of black pepper

Spray glass dish with cooking spray. Place uncooked chicken in your dish. Mix mayo and seasoning, spread over chicken. Bake at 375 for 35-45 minutes.

Serve with a salad and maybe fried okra or lima beans, or whatever veggie you like and some fruit for the kids. Home run, Mom.

Pioneer Woman's Beef Enchiladas. This one is one to fix while the kids are napping or at school, but it is totally worth it. Yum.

Cavatappi with turkey and peas. Yes, your kids will eat peas....just go with me on this one.

1 pound of ground turkey (or chicken or 3/4 pound diced ham)

1 pound cavatappi pasta-it's like elbows, but longer. Rigatoni or Farfalle would also work well. Perhaps small shells, whatever you like.

1 bag of frozen peas

1 1/2 cups low-fat milk

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

Brown meat (unless you're opting for ham), drain set aside.

Boil pasta 7 minutes, drain and put right back into pot, add frozen peas, place over low heat. Add milk and cheese. Stir to combine and melt cheese. Salt and pepper to taste, serve immediately.

Join the clean plate club. 

Headed to the Gulf Coast this weekend for Shrimp Festival....can't wait to share lots of new shrimp recipes next Monday!

This is what's for dinner at our house this week, what's cooking in your kitchen?

What is Menu Monday....sharing what we're having for dinner just to take the burden off of other moms who struggle with "What am I going to cook tonight?!?"

For our family, we eat dinner together every night right now. Usually at our house. Its a time to connect and doesn't really serve so much to end the day as start the evening. The "mood" at dinner is the determining factor in what kind of night we'll have as a family. It's the launch pad for whatever the next 3 or so hours before bedtime will become. Its VERY important for me that it is a positive time and not a stressful time. I will not say that it is perfect, more of a constant work in progress.

If I'm stressed about what we're gong to eat, it can negatively impact our evening.

If its a battle to get the kids to eat, we're all in an rotten mood and that's no way to end the day.

If we can't get through a meal relatively peacefully, there's a good chance the rest of the night will not be peaceful.

Planning the weekly menu, getting prepared for an hour to help make sure the week nights go smoothly is totally worth it to me. I blog these plans with the hope that it helps some of my friends or other wives with their plans as well.

It also serves as my own personal "idea archive" when I start suffering from mealtime amnesia. I think its a real condition. ;)

What is...Saturday Grace

As usual, I spent Saturday with my two favorite folks. I'm not taking a second of it for granted.

Breakfast, cartoons then off to the mall.

We rode the train, ate lunch, tool a spin on the carousel and sweet Jay tried on 15 pairs of jeans without a single complaint.

Then we had a chance to experience a moment of everyday grace that I'd be remiss to overlook. 

As we were leaving, I bypassed the elevator...opting to take one later on our route. 15 seconds later....the whole mall lost power. I was by myself with both kids, so we climbed up a stalled escalator (I carried lizzy in her stroller) I have jay my phone as a flashlight and we beelined for the car.

Once everyone was buckled into car seats and our DVD was starting, I realized we could have easily been stuck in an elevator at that moment and while we would have been fine, it would have been scary and stressful for us. 

It was just one of those small moments when you are so thankful for the invisible power of He who is in control and the everyday grace God gives us.

It is south more than we deserve.

Just like these two.

What Is....day by day

As a part of the 31 days series, i committed to writing every day about the same topic for, you guessed it....31 days.

My topic is to write about "What is" and the truthful moments of our everyday lives.

I have to tell you this has made me much more aware of all of the "little moments" and I am enjoying staying tuned into to our life instead of checking in so much with the facebook, the twitter and instagram, the gmail, tie iPad....

you understand.

Jay went a whole week at school with only 1 timeout. Praise the Lord! We have prayed and coached and reminded this kid to pay attention to his behavior and it is working.

Lizzy walked right into her classroom today without a whimper and was dry eyed and happy when I cam to get her. What a gift!

Yesterday we had a few errands, a trip to the post office and  a haircut for Jay. They were busy but without any issue. We had fun and got prizes and candy then took a picnic lunch to the park. Everyone played well, ate well and took a great bath and nap when we got home. Glory be!

This "what is" challenge has made me say yes more to fun things, forced me to stay more on top of my chores around the house so I can be more in the moment and we seem to be clicking along just fine.

Maybe there are fewer pictures being snapped because we're busy and i don't have my phone at hand, but so far what is is GOOD.

I think I am more focused on what is going on with us than what is going on around us and we're rocking and rolling and in a good place.

Lizzy 18 Months

Woo-hoo Lizzy's half way to two!

(I am not actually this excited about her getting older, I just cannot believe we're already here!

Little Lizzy is BUSY.

Here are the stats:

Weight: 29 punds, 4 ounces
Height 34 inches
Head: I don't know but her height and head are abouve 95th percentile, weight is 85th for her height.

Size 5 diapers
2T clothes, although some 18 Months from last winter fit. (I love that! Never happened with Jay!)
Shoes: 6 or 7

Loves: Blank-blank (she has 2 different ones, either one will work), Applesauce, Gogurt, Juice, Baths, playing outside
Likes: Biscuits, Burgers, Lasagna, Cereal Bars, Peanut Butter, chicken, babies
Dislikes: most fruits and veggies, not being able to do everything herself

Lizzy talks all of the time at home. She is still as bashful as can be around strangers, which is okay with me.

She love music and likes to sing.

She is non stop on the go.

She is sweet and generous and easy to please (with the exception of mealtimes).

She's 2" shorter than Jay was at this age, just about 1/2 a pound lighter. At 18 months, 2 days we moved Jay from his crib to a twin bed (not that we kicked him out of the crib because baby sister was on the way, but well, it is what it is...) 

I can't imagine moving Lizzy at this point. She seems so much smaller to me (although she is bigger than most 2 year olds we know). I guess this just goes to show that parents make the decisions that are right for them at the right time and it is definitely not the time to move Lizzy.

Now taht I've typed that I'm sure she'll start to climb out of her crib every night.....ugh.

We just love every little thing about Little Lizzy (aka Liz, Lizzy Lulu, Lu, GooBaby, Goo, Sissy, Sweet-Sweet).

She's an absolute joy and can have fun anywhere. Watching her grow and learn more every day is an excellent reminder to appreciate all that we have daily. A great report at the doctor, sweet days at church and preschool, compliments we get from family and friends are all reminders that everything in our world is a-okay.

There is no need to worry about tomorrow or try to plan for what-ifs and could-be's. Its by grace we've been given these precious gifts and it's only my job to take care of today and all that it is.

New House {Master}- Happy Anniversary (31 Days Day 2}

Happy Anniversary!!

We moved into New House one year ago today!

I thought this might be a good time to finish up our house tour.


To see the original house post click here. 

Pictures of the Kitchen and More are here.

Entry, Living and Dining Rooms are here.

Kids Rooms here.

Welcome to our bedroom--(that sounds strange, but I know some of y'all won't get to see it, so here we go..)

Didn't realize Gus was there until I added this to the blog.
Sorry for the random bulldog hindquarters.
Story of my life. 

If you want to see how great our bathroom looks when shot by a professional photographer with an adorable baby model then click here.

What is here is just our house. It's full of life and will be filled with memories for years and years.

I'm so happy to have this home and love it for what it is.

In terms of loving what you have and appreciating it's value I think its easy to see what others have and want more...or different...or wish mine could be more this or that.

But, when I look around at our home--I am grateful for what it is. A safe shelter. A comfortable respite. A launching pad for our children and their lives and their dreams.

My only hope is that our home will be as loving as it is lovely. That is something that I need to never stop working on.

I'm also grateful for all of the work Joseph put into our home and making a space for our family. I don't compare our home to others, this house is ours, this home, this zoo, this life is WHAT IS.

For more on 31 Days click here.

what isn't {31 Days Day 1}

So, if I'm going to spend a month writing about what is, it only makes sense to veer seemingly off-topic from day one and talk first about what isn't...and perhaps more clearly explain why/how we're on this topic.

About a year ago i began reading  Lysa TerKeurst's  "Unglued". It took me months to finish it.
(I have confirmed I am not the only one who took forever to finish this book--and I now have a theory that if a book titled "Unglued" speaks to you, your life may be a tad hectic and cause you to be unable to finish said book in any sort of timely manner, no matter how good and full of life-truths the book may be.)

The book is wonderful and in it Lysa talks about how and why we have certain beliefs about ourselves and the expectations we carry for ourselves. I realized about the same time that I define myself by a lot of things I am not. Which causes worry, over-analysis and regret for no real reason at all.

Somewhere along the way I've used these things "I'm not" to define what I am. Now that I've typed those words I can see that this is a senseless way of thinking.

I hope that I can appreciate more of what I am than what I am not. See more of WHAT IS than what is not. I hope that I can live more in the moment instead of worrying and planning for days that may never come. I also want to let go of the list of things I am not and enjoy who I am. Where I am. All that I have.

I'll be blogging about truths and what IS happening in our lives. Being more involved in every single moment instead of looking back or planning ahead and missing WHAT IS happening right now.

I know I'll have to be intentional about this at first and remind myself to get "in the moment" and enjoy WHAT IS. I hope that by the end of 31 days WHAT IS will be my primary focus and everything else will be in the background.

Menu Monday {5}

Y'all.

It's 11:48 on Monday Night.

Here's Menu Monday!

Tonight we did Mummy Dogs. And by we I mean Jay really did do most of this and was so proud.

Here's the rest of the week--
Tuesday-Italian Sausage Penne for the grownups and meatballs for the kiddos
Wednesday- Turkey Burgers
Thursday- I'm picking up a family dinner at Whole Foods because I have a coupon about to expire.
Friday- Big Salads for the grown ups and kids can pick their dinner tonight.

Full Disclosure: Last week was a tad crazy--we got back from a long weekend at the beach, Lizzy was at the doc with an ear infection, then Dad had to be out of town for 4 days and I hosted a baby shower. We abandoned our meal plan but my freezer supply saved us.

I'm back on schedule planning meals for next week--The Annual National Shrimp Festival kicks off next weekend in Gulf Shores and I have some new seafood recipes to try out soon! Stay tuned!

What's cooking at your house this week?