February Menu Plan

Last month I planned my menu this way and it seemed to work really well. I will post the master plan here and then each week, break it down night by night.

Chicken
1. Lemon Pepper Grilled Chicken
2. Fajitas
3. Homemade Pizza
4. Grilled Chicken
5. Homemade Burritos
6. Chicken Caesar Wraps
7. Roasted Chicken
8. Chicken Tacos

Beef
1. Beef and Broccoli
2. Homemade Pizza
3. Grilled Ribeye Steak with Onion Bleu Cheese Sauce
4. Hamburgers
5. Meatloaf
6. Nacho

Meatless
1. Baked Potato Soup
2. Tostadas
3. Easy Red Beans and Rice (Not adding the kielbasa)
4. Healthy Spinach and Black Bean Enchiladas
5. Meatless soup...as of now it is undecided.

Pasta
1. Cajun Chicken Pasta
2. Skillet Penne and Sausage Supper
3. Pesto Tomato Ravioli

Fish
1. Tilapia with Lots of Spice
2. Shrimp over Simple Sesame Noodles
3. Crab Cake Burgers

Side dished will be a combination of salads, roasted carrots, steamed veggies, twice baked potatoes and rice, among other things.

petite picasso

Macie feels better...her sore throat is gone. I cancelled her doctor appointment and they have been doing this while we wait on the snow to accumulate so we can play. I found the paint set in the back of the closet a few weeks ago and we have just been waiting to use it. Today was the day...

Crank the heat up, would ya dear?!

Snow, snow and more snow!

Chili is ready to start in the crock pot when I wake up, my coffee pot is set to start at 7:30 and girls are psyched to play.

Quite frankly, so am I.

(Regardless if there is school tomorrow, my girls will not be going. Macie has a doctor's appointment at 9:45 for a strep test. She feels really well, but evidently that is what is going around...the symptoms are just a sore throat off and on. We will play as long as her throat will allow! And I am sure we will be making some more hearts once we are done.)

Wordless Wednesday: Our Night Owl

Look who I caught sneaking out of bed at 10:15 last night...

Happy Wordless Wednesday!

A "heart felt", handmade gift...

Here is a fun Valentine's Day craft for you to do...it is fun, easy as pie and cute!

Here is what you will need:


A heart shaped styrofoam wreath
About a yard to a yard and a half of red felt
A container of pins
A 3 inch template (I used a cup that was three inches.)
A pencil
Some scissors
And if you have them, two eager little girls!

First, trace some circles onto the felt. Try to get them as close to each other as possible. This was perfect for five year old Zoa to do.


Next, start cutting. And trace some more. And cut some more. Repeat as necessary.



Start folding! Fold each circle in half, then in half again. Pin the corner of the piece. We folded and pushed into the carpet...it made it quicker and seemed easier.




Start attaching to the wreath. I just attached each piece about a half-inch apart and fluffed and moved the felt to make it work. There is no need to attach the pieces to the back...it will just be hanging against the wall.


Once you have attached all the circles and have fluffed to hide any white parts, you need to attach the ribbon. Cut a small strip and just pin it to the back of your heart.


Tada! Adorable!

This was our second one tackling and we have eight more to go.
Five pre-school teachers, grandparents (hi guys!) and Macie's second grade teacher will get these for Valentine's Day. (And I had to make one for us!)

I got this idea from here! Thanks for the idea!

needles and drug tests

Nursing school is coming!

After almost two years of waiting...classes will start February 22. This week I have been through a TB test (oddest thing I have ever seen!), tomorrow I have to get a flu shot, and yesterday I had to take a drug test...

Macie asked, "Will you do okay mommy?"

"Yes, Macie. Don't worry about my drug test."

That is definitely a conversation I did not think I would ever have with my eight year old.

Menu Plan Monday: The Week of January 18

Looks to be a good week...we have had all of these recipes and they are tasty! Here we go...

Monday: Leftovers
Tuesday: Crock Pot Pulled Pork and a Veggie

Wednesday: Chicken Noodle Soup and Grilled Cheese
Thursday: Bruschetta and Cheese Stuffed Chicken, No-Knead Fococcia Bread and a Veggie


Friday: Homemade Pizza and leftover bread from last night.
Saturday: Spinach Roll Ups and a Veggie
Sunday: Salsa Chicken (I never add the oil) and Corn

For more menu ideas, check out I'm an Organizing Junkie!

Hips don't lie...

I scheduled my extra motivation today. I called the spa and booked a one hour massage and a facial appointment for early April. (I exchanged my present on this instead.) Why is this motivation?

I want to feel okay when I am laying on the massage table. And not worry about what the massage therapists is wondering...

I am having a hard time getting up at 4:45 in the morning. Something that might be causing that is me not going to bed until 11:00.

What can I say? I am a night owl.

But I want to be a morning person. How do I train my body to become that?

That is the million dollar question, internets.

Works For Me Wednesday: Our Reward Chart

Confession: I love Supernanny. The girls and I watch marathons on the weekends. Jeremy is not a huge fan of the show, but I like it...it gives me alternatives to spanking and that nanny knows her stuff!

One weekend, I got on their website and just started looking for little chore charts or rewards charts...something fun and cute that would draw attention from the girls.

I found this, printed it off and got busy!

I also printed off the little people that come with it and then grabbed a few pictures of the girls to attach their head. (Silly, but the girls love it!)

I kept it a surprise and made sure it was hidden from them until I was ready. Once I got it all done, I made a huge deal of it to the girls.

"Come into the kitchen...I have a surprise!"

I showed it to them and they were so excited!

(Macie just reached ten to that is why she is at start again.)

For the actual rewards, I chose simple, inexpensive things the girls love to do. We do these things often enough as it is, but just letting them choose makes it much more exciting to them. Our rule is once they get to 10, we immediately plan the reward...no waiting for a good time. This adds to the treat of it!

Our rewards are:

• A trip to the library
• A new set of jewelry
• Out to eat for dessert
• Spend the day with mom or dad, alone
• Help cook a whole meal
  
• Pick the game for game night
• Pick a movie for movie night
• Go to the park
• Invite a friend to stay the night

We place the chosen reward in the spot for it and they get to move up on the chart as they do a good job listening, picking up without being told...whatever works for you and your family. Zoa took some time getting used to it and actually caring about moving up, but once Jeremy and I were more consistent, she grew more interest in it. Stick with it!

I hope this can help someone...it definitely has worked for us!

(I was all about fast pictures so I apologize for the picture quality.)

Tons of pictures Tuesday....

This week is starting off great!

We started a new reward chart a few months ago. After some inconsistency on this mama's part, we are back in it full swing. (More on the chart tomorrow.)

Macie tackled her reward chart and got to *ten* last night. Notice how I had spaghetti on the menu this week? Well, that was because Macie needed a simple meal to cook since she chose to cook an entire meal by herself as her reward.

Life is good!

Here is what tonight was like in our little (rental) kitchen...

Macie filled a pot with water and cranked the heat to high.

After I put in some ground beef in, she started to break it up while it cooked.

She added salt and pepper...

I drained it and then it was time for plenty o' garlic.

Time for some of that yummy homemade spaghetti sauce. I just stored it in this container. (Wink, wink.)

She added the sauce and started on the noodles.

Yummy!

The great part of being the chef is you get to have the first taste!

The chef's assistant needed to try it out, too.

Daddy came home...obviously.

Time to mix it all up.

Macie loved cooking dinner and I realized my little girl is growing up.

And dinner was delicious, by the way.

Menu Plan Monday: The Week of January 11

It is still freezing here, but this week the temperatures should still be rising. I am all about warm, comfort food!

Monday: French dips and green beans

Tuesday: Spagetti and salad
Wednesday: Crock pot chicken chili

Thursday: Chicken burritos and corn
Friday: Homemade Pizza
Saturday: Stuffed shells

Have a great week and stay warm!

Head over to I'm an Organizing Junkie for more menu ideas!

Wordless Wednesday: Strike a Pose

Happy Wordless Wednesday!

Menu Plan Monday: The Week of January 3

Sunday: Leftovers from the weekend
Monday: Italian beef over sourdough bread
Tuesday: Garlic chicken and a veggie
Wednesday: Beef vegetable soup and sandwiches
Thursday: Shrimp over simple sesame noodles
Friday: Homemade pizza
Saturday: Vegetarian tostados and corn

For more menu ideas, check out I'm an Organizing Junkie.

change is fun.

Usually Jeremy and I skip doing Christmas with each other. You can tell we are the old married couple because we just get something for the house. We have always been completely fine with that but this year we changed things up a bit.

A while back, I e-mailed Jeremy my "Merry Christmas to Me" list. (Inexpensive) diamonds were the only thing on it. I included the link and everything. Simple, no?

On the 23rd, Jeremy called me. "I lost that email, babe. Can you re-send it to me?"

I replied..."Are you flipping kidding me? It is two days before Christmas!"

I left it at that and resent the dang email.

Fast forward to Christmas morning...

I was so excited to pass Jeremy's presents on to him...he wanted clothes actually. He got two pairs of BKE jeans...one pair from me and one from the girls...


A pair of shoes from the girls...
And a pair of khakis...
He was very happy!

Then he pulled out my presents. I really was not expecting much...the only reason I spent what I did on him is I got an unexpected bonus. I would have been happy with anything to be honest. But this year, he really outdid himself... he bought a new lens for my camera!


On top of the fact he surprised me and I had no idea...this is the one that I actually wanted! It is Nikon brand and the one we could afford at the moment. Yayay!

The girls got me something that is priceless on a bad day...

A stress-relief massage and a mani and pedi. Can I just breathe a big sigh of relief? This will be heaven.

Needless to say, it was fun to unwrap presents. As much as we try to stress that Christmas is not about presents, it is exciting to receive gifts.

Honestly though, next year we will probably just get something for the house.