MPM Meal Plan Monday Back-to-School Edition

Yay! School has started.  I have been ready for this day.  We all needed the structure that school brings with it. I do realize that some of my days are going to be crazy-busy so I decided to go ahead and plan out all the meals (and even some of the snacks).  I'm also trying really hard to not eat out as much (hey, we have this great new house, we should enjoy it).  One great thing about LG's new school is that the lunch menu for the whole year is online, also SR will have snacks covered once she starts preschool next week.

So, here's the week's plan:
Monday:  (B) egg sandwich, (L) turkey tortilla roll-up, (S) granola bar & cookies, (D) Chinese chicken stir-fry
Tuesday: (B) yogurt parfaits, (L) buy or PB&J, (S) snack crackers & fruit smoothies, (D) chicken bruschetta
Wednesday: (B) cereal bar & yogurt drink, (L) tuna fishy sandwich, (S) teddy grahams & granola bar, (D) cider-glazed stuffed chicken
Thursday: (B) waffles, (L) noodles, (S) granola bar & fruit, (D) spaghetti & meat sauce
Friday: (B) cereal, (L) buy, (S) cookies & trail mix, (D) slow-cooker smothered chicken
Saturday: (B) hard-boiled eggs, (D) enchilada casserole
Sunday: (B) oatmeal, (D) chicken alfredo pot pies

I stocked up at the grocery store before this week but I really should have taken better inventory because I have a lot of food, especially snack foods for the kids and ground beef.  Next week's menu will definitely use the stuff already in my pantry and freezer.  I've also found that I need to make more to accommodate sharing meals with my sister and her kids (or for leftovers for Paul's lunch). Paul is starting a new food plan (aka diet) soon so I don't really have to worry about his meals (at least for a while).  I tried to choose dinner meals from a variety of resources, including Pinterest, Kraft magazine, family recipes, and cookbooks.  Once we get into the groove of the routine, my sister and I will probably do some freezer meals.

I actually used a lunch box planner I found online to completely plan out LG's packed lunches.  This will make my mornings go a little smoother.  I actually broke down the lunch options and wrote them on the back so I would include a variety of items.  Options include: main item (sandwich, soup, etc.), veggies, fruits, dairy, "treat" which includes chips, cookies, rice cakes, crackers, granola bars.  Snacks can be from any of the items with anything peanut saved for after school since he's in a peanut-free room.  Both kids will have the same lunch unless LG buys then SR will have PB&J or we'll eat out.

Meal Planning Summer Edition

With the move this summer, my meal planning has been a little crazy.  I've tried to create the plans, but I've known I wouldn't be able to stay on track.  And I was okay with that.  There were several days where we ate out everyday because everything was packed or the fridge hadn't been delivered or whatever.  Some days, the time just got away from me as I got busy unpacking boxes.  We also didn't have internet service for almost a month so I reverted to cookbooks for recipe inspirations.  I actually kind of like using the books and I even started making notes in them, including the date I made the dish as well as any substitutions I made.  Here's some of this summer's meals:

Bacon wrapped chicken

Muffins for breakfast

Chicken paprikas

Tempura battered chicken

I do think I may change up my planning a bit.  Previously, I would grocery shop on the weekends so I would plan Monday to Sunday, but Sophie Rose will be in preschool on Tuesdays and Thursdays so I think I'll switch my shopping to one of those days and plan accordingly.

WIWW Summer Catch Up

So we have had a very crazy summer so I decided to just do a few posts in order to get caught up before school starts and I can get back into a routine.  Here are some of the outfits I've worn.  Of course, I have also worn lots of swimsuits as well as clothes I didn't photograph since they were worn on days when all I did was pack or unpack boxes all day.

You may also notice that my hair is different in some of these pictures.  I finally got my hair cut, getting about 8 inches cut off and adding some more layers.  Although I like long hair, it was getting in my way too often (like when I was trying to get sleep or turn my head while driving). I love the new 'do and it is still long enough to pull up if I need to and it is so easy to style.

What I Wore Wednesday June 12

Here are the latest outfits:

1.  Navy top with green and navy skirt.  I wore this to go shopping with my sister.  I'm glad I did because I found a couple of other tops to go with the skirt.

2.  Navy hi-low skirt with one of my new Stitch Fix tops.  I wore this for my birthday dinner.

3.  Black slacks with a white button-down with red and gold stripes.  Unfortunately, I had a funeral to attend.

3.  New blue shorts (birthday gift from my sister) and a turquoise top.  I did some house hunting for my sister.

4.  Another pair of new shorts with a red tee and new khaki "tom" like shoes.  First day of summer break with the kiddos.

I am so glad that I got to go shopping with my sister.  I was in dire need of some shorts and I found 2 denim pair plus the 2 she got for me and another really cute print pair (I'll be wearing those soon).  I also got a couple of new tops and July 4th tees for the whole family.

Pinterest Tuesday June 11

In addition to a bunch of recipes, I've also completed a couple of other pins, including this one.

I used the general ideas to create Logan's teacher gifts for the end of the year.

His PE teacher got Target Gift Coins with sports themes on them and her card said "I had a Ball".
The art teacher got an orange monster with a card that had a red and yellow paint splats on the front.
The music teacher got an I Tunes card with a card that said "You Rock".
His main teacher got the Greatest Teacher Target card for "keeping him on target".
Everyone else got Starbucks and a "Thanks a Latte" card.


I've seen this idea a few times and can't believe it took so long to actually tried it.  I had to use 2 paper clips but it worked like a charm (pun intended).

WIWW June 5

Here are the outfits:

I wore this to my sister's court hearing.  I figured I would get cold (usually happens in public places) so I also had my mint cardigan.  I ended up switching to a pair of wedges because the pants were too long for flats.  I went through the metal detector 3 times at the courthouse with no problem, then on the 4th trip had to take off the necklace.  Huh?

This is what I put on to walk Logan to school and ended up just leaving it since all we did was laundry, cleaning, and a quick trip to Walmart.  Can I just say how much I hate going to the Walmart by my house.

I bought this top specifically to wear with this new red skirt.  I was trying to find a navy stripe but this was all they had.  Since I only have one pair of shorts that fit, I've been wearing cottony skirts a lot.  I've had the flip flops for a while and I always call them dark orange, but they matched the skirt just fine.

Another trip to the dentist.  My sister gave me a hard time about wearing pants (it is summer in Texas after all), but I knew I was spending the morning sitting on a vinyl chair and I didn't want my legs to stick.  Yuck!

We spent the weekend at the lake so I didn't get any pictures of my outfits while we were out there.  You can check out more outfits at the Pleated Poppy.

Scrapping Saturday June 1st

I really wanted to get some scrapbooking done before I had to pack it up for the move (knowing it would probably be the last boxes I unpacked), so I pulled stuff out and left it out so I could organize and work on a few projects.  I am still working on my 2010 annual album (done traditionally).

That's just the first 5 months of the year.

I used Project Life products to do an album for each of the kids for 2011 and really liked it.  I think I'm going to try the same process to go ahead and start working on an annual album for 2013.  When I think about trying to complete 2010 and then tackle 2011, 2012, AND 2013, it's just too overwhelming.  Of course, I'm afraid I may feel creatively stifled with just the Project Life but I figure if I want to go back then I can.  I'll continue to work on 2010 (the old way) but if this works for 2013 then that's what I'll do for 2011 and 2012.  One of the cool things is that Hobby Lobby now carries some project life stuff so if I feel the need to get my hands on stuff now I can without having to order.

My Project Life pages will fit in this album.

I also want to do individual albums for each of the kids for 2010 (Sophie's 2nd year and Logan's adoption year).  I already have the albums for those and they will be more traditional.

I've almost got the adoption album (pre-Logan) completed just need to rewrite some of the story on the actual pages.

Sophie's baby book is done (again except for some random journaling).  I've gotten their birthday books up-to-date and I'm ready to start Logan's school album (once we decide what to do about next year).

I'm also coming up on my birthday which means I will have completed a year using the smash book.  Although I was slow getting started, I've been much better these last few months.  The book is very full (probably didn't need to do the monthly pocket pages), but I haven't used all the pages.  I found the smash books on sale several months ago and went ahead and bought a new for this next year, so I think I will do it again (but without the calendar pocket pages).