Meal planning

Time to get ready for another week! We've been busy finishing up last minute baby and house projects but I made it a priority to get to the gym and grocery store this morning. Our store had having a buy-one-get-one-free sale on meat and we've been running low so I stocked up on crockpot friendly cuts (pork loins, beef roasts) for the freezer. Our supply was running low as our quarter beef we ordered last year is almost gone.

Here's what we are planning for this week:

Roasted chicken with rosemary roasted parsnips
Italian stuffed peppers
Crock pot beef roast with cauliflower "mashed potatoes"
Something protein....and Brussels sprouts

What's on your list?

Photos from the week

Early morning smoothies, my breakfast of choice for days I've got to be on the road by 6:30am. Hospital bad is packed and ready to go! Emergency vet visit for Max on Saturday night, he's fine. Peanut butter fudge for C...oh it was yummy!

What did your week look like?

Meal Planning-Paleo Style

Chris took charge of the menu this week and he was inspired by a cookbook he received for Christmas. "Practical Paleo".  We've both been reading through the very informative book (it's a mix of a book on nutrition and cookbook) and are ready to give some of the recipes a try!

Monday-Hospital Tour tonight so we'll be grabbing leftovers or take out
Tuesday-Chicken Legs with Brussels sprouts and fennel
Wednesday-Cumin Spiced Tenderloin with root veggies
Thursday-Stuffed Peppers with salad
Friday-Bacon wrapped chicken thighs and sauteed red cabbage

I'm also going to give Paleo bread a whirl this week...let's hope it turns out well!

What are you having this week?  Trying anything new?

One Dish Wonder-Skillet Supper

Last week, C and I were walking the dogs and discussing what to have for dinner as I only meal planned for the beginning of the week.  We decided to do something different and it turned out great!  We used ingredients we had on hand to create a skillet supper filled with green peppers, frozen green beans, bacon, almonds and served with qunioa (which we had already cooked and in the fridge).  The whole meal took less than 30 minutes to throw together and we both loved the flavor of it.

Ingredients:
6 strips bacon, cut into pieces
1/2 green pepper, julienned (sliced thinly)
12 oz frozen green beans
1/4 cup slivered/sliced almonds
2 cups quinoa (already cooked)
sprinkle of roasted red pepper flakes (depending on how spicy you like things)
1/4 t. garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. In a large skillet, start by cooking bacon on medium heat until crisp.  Drain on paper towels and remove extra bacon grease from skillet.

2. Add pepper and green beans to skillet and season with pepper flakes, garlic, salt and pepper.  Cover with lid to steam for 5-10 minutes, depending on preferred level of crispness of beans.  You may need to stir periodically.

3.  Add almonds, bacon and quinoa to skillet and saute until almonds are toasted.

4. Serve and enjoy!

 

Blessings for the Little One

As I mentioned, we have been showered with blessings for our pending arrival!  C and I both come from LARGE families so we did each side separately so I could talk with all the guests.  Both showers involved fun games, gifts and of course, lots of delicious food.  Here are a few photos of both showers (I had a third shower at work but forgot to take a single photo, boo).

Shower hosted by my Mom and Celeste, my brother's girlfriend:

My Aunt Mary's delicious cheesecake

Mini Cheesecakes (we also had soup and sandwiches)

My cousin Erin and I, she's due about a month after I am!

My Grandma (My Mom's Mom)

My Grandma and shower host (My Dad's Mom)

Unwrapping a clothesline gift from my friends
Kelly (she blogs at Willful Design) and
Cari (she blogs at Follies of a Fat Girl)!

Shower hosted by C's Mom, Brittany, Danielle, Alicia:

The girls: Brittany, Alicia, Sonya, Danielle and Sharon

The shower was owl themed-hence the cute
"Baby Whoo" banner!  (you will see this again....soon)

Cute decorations by Alicia

Guessing the due date and gender of the baby!
Looks like most think it's a girl :)

Chris after assembling one of our shower gifts-
The BOB Jogging Stroller.  So excited to use it!

We truly are blessed with amazing family and friends and our little one already has such a network of love and support!  Can't wait to meet this little one!

Week 36-Nursery Sneak Peek

We've officially been baby "showered" three times and this little one certainly has been blessed!  We've been trying to organize the nursery and find a home for all of the new items as well as do a few loads of baby laundry and start packing our bags.  It's still a work in progress but I wanted to share a few photos thus far:

First up, 36 week belly photo (in the freshly painted hallway):

The nursery-this is my before photo :).  Many boxes to unpack...I'm not going to post any whole room photos until we are done.

The crib skirt, I started this before the holidays but just got it finished!  Hoping to post more about it soon:

Changing table (we painted it, added new knobs and I made the topper):

The baby quilt!  I've laid out the fabric but haven't started it yet:

An entire shelf of our linen closet is now diapers.  We have an assortment of sizes ready and waiting:

Meal Planning-for the week

I was so busy over the weekend meal planning for baby that I forgot to meal plan for the week...oops!  Here's what I'm thinking:

Sunday-BBQ chicken legs and oven roasted broccoli
Monday-Mexican Qunioa (one of our staples)
Tuesday-Meatloaf and sweet potato chips (this was on the menu last week but we never got to it)
Wednesday-Stuffed Shells or Pasta (and making some for the freezer)
Thursday-???
Friday-???

At least we have a start, right?!?!?!  What are you having this week?