Some brain dump, courtesy of LunaNina:
Doing my best to enjoy the last week of summer vacay!
| |
| |
It's the busiest time of the year for myself and my family. September means we are back in school, back into fall soccer, back into choir and bells and back into scouts. This year it also means I'm back to work full time instead of occasionally. We are busy 3-4 nights a week with activities and volunteer obligations. It also means I need to get back into formal meal planning. I'd let it fall to the wayside this past year because I was only working part time and not every day. I had plenty of time to run to the grocery store and pick up last minute items. Now, not so much. After three weeks of school with no real menu plan I found that it's just not working. By Wednesday at 6:20 when we still weren't home from the day of school and after school activities and the meal I had planned would take at least an hour to prepare we ended up at Corner Bakery for dinner because I just didn't have it in me. Now I know that on Wednesdays I need to plan a meal that is either in the slow cooker or one that is pre-cooked or eaten cold. Here are my ideas for next week:
Monday: Slow cooker Honey Garlic Chicken over rice. I'm going to attempt to make this in the instant pot instead of slow cooking it. Hoping it works!
Tuesday: Chicken fajitas with rice. I use Penzey's fajita spice seasoning. It's the best! It's scouts night so this needs to be a quick meal.
Wednesday: Buffalo chicken chili in the slow cooker. This is a great recipe and I like that I can control the spiciness. My kid won't eat this though!
Thursday: No school! Will make homemade pizza dough for either pizza or Stromboli. The kiddo likes cheesy bread sticks with this dough too. This is an easy to make pizza dough that uses yeast and bread flour. It turns out great every time and I can make 2 huge pizzas with it or 3 medium ones. Served with salad.
Friday: who knows!!
Weekend: Depending upon soccer games, volunteering and church activities, meals will be planned on the fly. I do hope to get some meal prep done as well as some grocery shopping. I'd like to make these no-bake energy bites to pack in school lunches.
| |
| |
On my needles now is a beautiful project I started last summer. It was interrupted by knitting a Weasley sweater for my son and a few other projects, but I'm back at work on this beautiful shawl. The Joker and the Thief, pattern by Melanie Berg, is a fun project to knit so far. I picked up the yarn as a souvenir from last summer's Florida vacation where I discovered an amazing yarn shop in Sarasota. (A Good Yarn! Check it out if you are visiting Sarasota. Super friendly staff and a great group of ladies knitting there!) There was a sample knit of this pattern and I fell in love with it. They didn't have the yarn in stock that the sample used, but it was July and really hot and humid so I decided to try a non-wool yarn instead with the hope of using the shawl in the less chilly months. Here is the Cobasi colors I picked out with some help from the yarn shop staff.
The orange-poppy color was picked out by one of the shop ladies as she thought it added a nice pop of color to the group. After I got home and started to learn the pattern, I realized I needed one more color to make the gradients of the pattern work so I added a lavender color to the mix.
This has been a fun project to knit. I've wanted to knit a striped pattern for a while and the sample in the shop convinced me that this was the pattern. The yarn is unlike my normal merino wool that I am used to using. The CoBaSi is a cotton/bamboo/silk blend. It is very lightweight and feels almost summery to me. It is a bit annoying to knit, as it splits often, but the final product looks nice.
I decided to name this project "Beach Umbrella Stripes" because its colors remind me of all the colorful beach umbrellas I saw on the Siesta Key Beaches. Of course it's winter at the moment and I took advantage of the snow outside to photograph my progress. At least the snow helps the colors show up true to life!
I hope to finish this project in time for spring in a few weeks! I'm not sure how this type of yarn will block, but however it turns out I think I'll love it!
I've neglected my little blog for a long time. Hopefully I will be able to find the time to get it back to where it started....as a knitting blog!
| |
| |
The only fast food restaurant our family enjoys is Chick-fil-a. My son loves their chicken and it's the one quick meal spot that is our go-to and most requested by him. They have a great mobile app, chick-fil-a one, that makes ordering ahead very easy. I love their soup and salads as a healthier fast food option. My husband loves their chicken wraps. A seasonal option in the winter is the Chicken Tortilla Soup and it is amazing: full of thick broth, lots of beans and slices of spicy chicken. It's one of my favorite options to get there and I wish it was served year round.
I am a member of the Chick-fil-a moms panel this year and have had fun giving feedback to the company and taste testing menu items. Most recently I was given a coupon to taste test the Chicken Tortilla Soup and challenged to create something from the container in an upcycle challenge. This was a fun challenge and I had lots of ideas. I decided to create a container out of the soup bowl that would be beneficial to me in packing lunches...I made a lunch box joke container! Almost everyday I pack a joke, riddle or rebus puzzle for my son's lunch box(third grader!) I know the lunch ladies at his school and they love trying to solve them along with his classmates. I usually keep a little stack of jokes that I either print and cut into squares or I hand write out a bunch of jokes on a square notepad. The problem is where to keep them...and somehow the fruit basket really isn't the best place for them.
Behold: the lunch box joke container....
What started as a simple plastic container with a clear lid was easily transformed with some colorful washi tape and a sticker as a label into a fun storage container. I plan to add a magnet on the inside and stick it to the side of my refrigerator so it's easy to grab when I'm packing his lunch box at night. I taped one edge shut to create a hinged lid for easy of opening.
This was a fun upcycle challenge! (#chickfilamomsDIY) It reuses an item that I'd normally throw out and serves a great purpose in my kitchen. Plus it helps add a laugh to my son's school lunch!
What would you make out of a plastic soup container?
Disclosure: I received a sample of the chicken tortilla soup for the purposes of the upcycle challenge. Ideas and opinions shared here are my own!
| |
| |
Hello! After a long hiatus I thought I post a menu plan for this week. Life has gotten in the way of blogging, but I'm starting to miss it, so maybe I'll post here and there again. We'll see!
Fall is apparently here, in Southeastern PA. We had a GREAT summer that we didn't want to end, so I'm still in a bit of denial that shorts and sandal weather is done for another six months. Winter is coming! Ugh. Since moving closer to the equator isn't about to happen anytime soon, I'll just have to deal with the onslaught of pumpkin spiced everything (blech!) and the inevitable leaves falling. Which means...it's soup weather!
On my plan for this week is:
Monday: spinach tortellini soup! I'll alter the posted recipe by eliminating the tomatoes and adding some sliced carrots. I'll be using fresh spinach too, since we got a ton of it in our CSA share last week. Served with a salad.
Tuesday: A simple and quick meal tonight since we have an evening activity scheduled; pulled pork BBQ sandwiches, some form of potato (tots?) and salad.
Wednesday: meatballs and spaghetti, salad, green veggies.
Thursday: Slow cooker honey garlic chicken with brown rice and broccoli
Friday: Fish tacos with Asian cole slaw. (If I don't have to work...then it might just be burgers! I like to buy fish the same day I'm cooking it.)
Weekend: who knows!
School lunches:
I'm struggling to find acceptable lunch options for my second grader. Cold lunches haven't been a hit yet, so I thought I'd try some hot lunches in a thermos. HA! I'm so funny. So far the lunch things I've sent in a thermos were so horrible they made him want to vomit (ravioli with butter once, chicken and cheese rolled up in a tortilla once. The second item actually sent him to the nurse, but thankfully he went back to class just fine! He's not dramatic at all!) He doesn't like sandwiches, won't eat a cheese stick, thinks sunbutter is terrible, no longer likes pb and j. Pretty much we are down to nutella on crackers or a roll. It's ridiculous.
So, here are some ideas I may have to try:
no-bake energy bites, tortilla chips with shredded cheese (he will eat cheese if it's shredded, but not in any other form unless it's melted on grilled cheese or pizza,) smoothies, mac and cheese (although he is hit or miss with this one,) and bacon. Yep, he actually asked me to just send him in with bacon. He insists that kids bring it in regularly. This kid kills me! Have a favorite kid lunch idea? Please share it!!
Have a great week!
| |
| |
It's been a long while since I typed up a menu plan. I still plan, but it's not usually written out. I have been sick with tonsillitis and stuck inside this weekend, so I have some time to type this up without too much distraction! (Enter the child who needs something....)
Monday: Spaghetti squash lasagna
Tuesday: Old Fashioned Chicken noodle soup
Wednesday: Slow cooker balsamic chicken with brown rice
Thursday: Fish tacos with cabbage slaw and yellow rice
Friday: Turkey sliders with salads and sweet potato puffs
Weekend: TBD
Having tonsillitis meant that I was drinking lots of hot tea and only eating soup and yogurt for a few days. I ended up going to Urgent Care on Saturday because I could no longer swallow anything. It's not reassuring when the doctor looks in your throat with her little flashlight and says something like "Oh my god that's bad!" Needless to say I'm on an antibiotic now and after only three doses the pain is almost all gone. My tonsils were huge! So gross. For dinner on Sunday I made potato soup with fresh potatoes from our CSA. It turned out really good and was easy to eat! This week I'm going to try to make an authentic Jewish penicillin recipe for chicken soup. I think I'll freeze some of it for the future too. When I was first feeling bad I couldn't find any soup in the house, since I stopped eating canned soup a few years ago. I ended up buying a can of chicken with stars soup, a childhood favorite, when I was picking up my prescription from the drug store.
Last week it snowed and was icy a lot! My son had two school days with delayed starts due to icy roads and two snow days. We are looking forward to a week of more mild weather and a full week of school!
Happy Monday!
Looking for more menu plan ideas? Check out Organizing Junkie!
| |
| |
Winter needs to be over soon! We have lucked out and have not had much snow this season, but I'm so tired of being cold all the time! Overnight we had lots of ice, causing schools to be delayed today, again, for the second time this week. The forecast is calling for another night and day of snow tomorrow, and if it snows as much as they are saying, I have a feeling it will be a snow day for the school kids again. However, spring is around the corner!
Winter has kept me busy with lots of knitting and reading time. I found an amazing pattern on Ravelry that was only available in book form, so I decided to purchase the book. I haven't purchased a knitting book in years! Curls is the book, by Hunter Hammersen. It was so nice to read through the 14 different patterns. She introduces a technique of knitting a shawl/wrap in a different way, and the end result is a shawl that curls around itself. The patterns are amazing! The one that drove me to purchase the book was the cover pattern, Filemot. I have not cast on for that pattern though, because it seemed a bit complicated for learning a new technique (knitting from charts only.) I have the yarn ready for it though, and will be casting on soon!
The first pattern I knit is called Casesious. It is probably the easiest pattern in the book, but I decided that since I do not normally knit from charts, it was a good way to learn an new technique. I chose a yarn I purchased while on vacation last summer at Carodan Farms yarn shop in Chincoteague, Virginia. If you are in that area, definitely check out the yarn shop. They have their own line of yarns inspired by the colors of the island. I'm a bit obsessed with their yarns...the colors are just amazing! So the yarn I used is called Sunset at Tom's Cove and is from the Chincoteague Colors Starry Skies Collection. It is a blend of merino, silk, nylon and metallic fibers. The metallic fiber is a tiny streak of silver twisted into the yarn that is subtle (and hard to photograph!) Because the pattern I used was fairly simple, I thought using the blinged-up yarn added some dazzle to the shawl/scarf. I love how it turned out and can't wait to knit the next pattern from the book.
I found it very easy to adapt to using a chart for knitting instead of the written out pattern. In the e-version of the pattern book, the author includes links to the patterns written as Stitch Maps, a different way of looking at the pattern. I don't quite get using a stitch map for knitting, but I like being able to look at how the knitting will progress in that format. It's like looking at a street map. Within that link is also a link to the written out pattern, so if I get stuck on figuring out a chart, I can check with the written pattern too! If you enjoy knitting shawls, Curls is the book for you!
| |
| |
It's been a great year! I can't believe how fast it zoomed by and now we are looking forward to 2015. Here is a pictorial review of highlights from my year:
Morticia: the most challenging of all patterns I've ever successfully knit to completion! I love the end results of this knitting project. (And at least the one good thing about the endless snowstorms, they make good backgrounds for knitting photos!)
The wee one lost his first tooth this month! Soon followed by a number of others. The tooth fairy has been busy here!
Some of my mom-friends and I took the chance to go out for a yummy Moroccan Feast for dinner. I think it was the only time all year we managed to go out at night together! We had a great time and stayed until the place closed down! We definitely need to go out together more than once a year in 2015! (And notice we all wore our hand knit beaded shawls! LOL!)
In April, my son and I finally explored a section of abandoned rail road tracks that he had been bugging me about for months. They were formally SEPTA tracks that ran from the city into the suburbs of Philadelphia, but the line had been closed for at least thirty years. The tracks were a popualar area for walking. Over the summer I saw an article exlplaining that a joint effort between SEPTA and Montgomery County will be working on making the old tracks an actual path for hiking, walking and biking. Since then, part of the path is complete. As a part of that joint effort, the old RR ties and metal tracks were removed. This greatly upsets my son! He loved being able to explore the tracks. I think the new path will be a great addition to the area, especially for biking. I will be able to bike almost from my house and into Philadelphia's Fairmount Park by following the new trail.
An interesting note about this section of tracks where my son is standing. Just a few hundred feet behind him is the site of a famous train wreck that occured in 1921.
The annual trek to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival was a blast as usual! We had fun checking out the sheep and alpacas as well as oogling all the hand knits everyone wore!
In June my son hosted his annual lemonade stand benefitting Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation. This has become a fun event we look forward to doing each June at the anniversary of Alex's first stand. This past year we raised over $350, doubling our total from the previous year!
There were so many great memories from July this year and it was hard to pick just one! I loved seeing my son learn to overcome his fear of being underwater this past summer while we were at Great Wolf Lodge! He had a blast there! We did a lot of traveling in July, visiting Maryland and Virginia beaches, Sesame Place and the Immagination Movers in concert, Art Splash at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and stops at the farm for fresh veggies and fruit. It was a great summer!
The warmth of August was full of flowers! Like this gorgeous sunflower I spied at the Burpee Fordhook Farm open house in Doylestown, PA. After last winter's polar vortex, I welcomed the heat and sun of summer, complete with bees! If only I could get my sunflowers at home to grow this nice!
My baby turned seven in September! We had a mad scientist themed party complete with dry ice smoke on the cake! The party was a blast and proves that a home party can be just as fun as a party at a venue. The party goers had a blast with lots of fun science experiments. My favorite was making elephant toothpaste!
We headed to LBI for one more visit this year to take some Christmas card photos, visit a favorite restaurant one more time before it closed for the season, and to see one more sunset at the lighthouse. It was a fun day! Plus we got some fun photos on the beach!
Fall brought lots of leaves in our yard...and eventually at our curb waiting for pickup. The little guy had fun playing in "Mount Leafmore!"
This Christmas, Santa brought a Playmobil port-a-potty! It was a hit! We had a great Christmas season! From visits with friends and family to trips into Philadelphia to see some landmark holiday shows, it was a great month!
This year marks my tenth year of writing this blog. I can't believe it's been ten years of saving and sharing memories. I'm not sure how often I'll keep up with it in 2015, but there will be more!
| |
| |
It's the night before Thanksgiving and I decided to take ten minutes to sit down and rest! I've been cooking and cleaning all day in prep for dinner tomorrow. We are having a small dinner party filled with lots of veggies from our CSA! I'm cooking some of the usual items, such as my husband's favorite green bean casserole and my harvest stuffing, but this year I also decided to change up a few things. I made carmelized roasted butternut squash today so that I can just reheat it tomorrow. I also switched my traditional caramel apple pie and made a cranberry apple pie at the boys request. I also tried out a new pumpkin pie recipe, including a new crust too!
I made several of the side dishes and the desserts today, as we will be participating in our YMCA's Gobble Wobble walk tomorrow morning, so I didn't want to feel panicked with time limits. Tomorrow I'll cook the bird and then while it sits I'll cook the green beans and stuffing and reheat the other dishes. I'm going to attempt homemade gravy too and really like the instructions I found online. Hopefully it will turn out tasty!
Here is a list of links to what I'm serving for Thanksgiving 2014:
Green tossed salad (the kiddo asked if he could make this!)
Harvest Stuffing my own recipe
Maple Orange Glazed Carrots from Simply Recipes (an awesome recipe blog!)
Caramelized Butternut Squash by Ina Garten
Traditional Green Bean Casserole
Creamy Mashed Potatoes by Pioneer Woman
Cranberry Sauce (canned for the people who prefer that, homemade for me!)
For dessert:
Pumpkin pie with no-fail sour cream homemade crust
Cranberry Apple Pie with a lattice crust
homemade vanilla whipped cream
What is your favorite Thanksgiving dish? Hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
| |
| |
It's soup weather! The older I get the more I hate the cold weather, but I do love soup, so at least that is something to enjoy. It actually snowed here last week and today it is cold and rainy.
Last night I made a Buffalo Chicken Chili. It came out more like a thick soup than a chili, and it was really good. I made up the recipe after reading lots of different ones and not being able to find the first recipe I had wanted to use.
I like to pair a simple green salad when serving soup, and sometimes a crusty baguette. It really depends on the type of soup. I've pinned a bunch of soup recipes on Pinterest, so check out my board for more soup inspiration.
Weekly meal plan for dinners this week:
Monday: turkey burgers, homemade sweet potato fries, green salads (and a homemade pumpkin pie for the little pumpkin who keeps complaining that he hasn't had pumpkin pie in a looooong time.)
Tuesday: Chicken orzo soup, based on this recipe; green salad.
Wednesday: dinner date with my kiddo, his choice.
Thursday: Orange chicken, based on this recipe, and this recipe! With brown rice and broccoli.
Friday: leftovers or pizza. depends on the mood of the day!
For the weekend: We have a busy weekend planned. I am hoping to have time to try to make this roasted delicata squash and pomegranate salad.
I have an abundance of squash and am still trying to figure out what to do with them. The spaghetti squash lasangne was a hit, so I might make that again next week.
What's on your dinner plan for the week? Check out Organizing Junkie for more inspiration!
| |
| |
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
| 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 |
| 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 |
| 29 | 30 | 31 |
