BiWeekly Menu!

So I have noticed a trend.

When I don't make a menu and stick to it, there is LOTS of eating out to be had.

And frankly I am sick and tired of wasting money on food I can cook at home, use less fattening ingredients AND it tastes so much better. 

So I sat down this weekend and made my menu. I miss cooking. I miss adding new recipes to this blog. I know I keep saying I have a bunch to add, which I do. And I just never do it. So that ends now!

This biweekly menu looks like this:

Biscuits and Gravy

Grilled PB and Honey Sandwiches

Layered Beef and Mac n' Cheese (Little Man is gonna love it!)

French Toast with Berry Butter

Risotto

Egg Salad Sandwiches on Lettuce Wraps

Chicken and Steak Kabobs (our own recipe)

White Cheddar Chicken Pasta

Chicken Pot Pie

Pasta Alla Marlboro Man

Hot Ham and Cheese Sandwiches with Onion Butter

Crockpot Chicken Tacos

Sausage Egg and Cheese Biscuit Casserole

Chick Fil-A Chicken Sandwiches (homemade!)

Potato Bacon Casserole

Crockpot Beef Stroganoff

I will make sure to take picture before, during AND after and I will be posting each night. And I expect YOU to hold me to that (this should read JEN, you need to hound me since I know you love when I post new recipes! LOL) 

Hope you have a good day!

What's on the menu tonight? Tonight we are having Chicken Salad Sandwiches (our own recipe so will blog it) on Pita Pockets :D

Tomorrow will be a Vita Coco Giveaway. I'm excited and hope you are too! 

The Avengers and Bountiful Baskets

Please tell me that you have all gone to see The Avengers by now? If not, what are you waiting for?!? 

Not only is it filled with action, super heroes kicking some MAJOR butt, Norseman Gods, hysterical one liners but it also features some MASSIVE eye candy. Like this hottie right here...

Nom nom nom!!! 

Honestly, if I had a choice of him or Johnny Depp, I am NOT sure which one I would attack first. Just sayin' :-P

This morning I got up bright and early and headed to a city nearby for my Bountiful Basket pickup. I keep seeing people who partake in this but just never signed up myself. Honestly, after seeing all I got for only 20$...

7 ears of corn and 2 artichokes under all of that... excuse the toes!!!

I am really wondering WHY I never did it before! I got that entire box for only 20$. TWENTY DOLLARS. (the bunch of banana's is not shown) And from my understanding, the produce lasts awhile. Which is great since the produce at the commissary will last you MAYBE 3-4 days, if you're lucky. So again, if there is a pickup location near you, SIGN UP! Its such a great deal!!! 


What's on the menu tonight? Tonight we are having taco bar!!

I love four day weekends!!!

I love four day weekends. 

I love sleeping in because I don't have to get up with Little Man.

I love it even more when its absolutely BEAUTIFUL outside!! 

We had a week of cold and rainy weather so seeing sunshine and 63 today...yes. Greatly appreciated!! 

What I do like is that in ONE WEEK I find out what Gummy Bear is! 20 weeks today, 20 more to go. EEEK! 

What I don't like is that this 425 class is KICKING. MY. BUTT. Now granted sitting downstairs watching season 1 disk 1 of House for 4 hours probably didn't help any the other day BUT I was up until 1230am doing homework. And that sounds like getting a lot done right? Wrong. That only got one section of lesson 1 done. Each section is about 60 pages of reading, plus online supplemental reading, plus daily journal PLUS exercises that must be turned in with 30-35 questions for each one. In addition to all of that, I also have 7 papers due over the course of this class (which is 16 weeks). The light at the end of the tunnel, I guess, is that my daily journal also counts as my final so there will be none for this class. That's something to be happy about...right?

What are your plans for this weekend? Ours is going to be filled with the park, maybe some Baskin Robbins or Menchies, getting Little Man's room all set up, will more then likely do some grilling, homework and HOPEFULLY some reading of my book. 

I have TONS of food recipes I need to sit down and blog about this weekend as well. So be looking for those!

What's I am jamming to...BRiley took me to see her last year in concert for my birthday and it was amazing. What would I do without my BRiley!!

Oh lazy weekends!

I love my weekends usually. They are mostly laid back filled with either a CSI or SVU marathon. Laundry gets done and I just relax all weekend. Its glorious. 

And this weekend was none different.

I took a break from nesting and just spent the day watching trash TV and reading. Some days you just need those lazy days you know? A day to just recoup and regroup.

Course a hot new Blizzard game is finally out...

So when I wasn't engrossed in A Storm of Swords, I was playing this. Little Man was either watching me play and when I wasn't he was engrossed in Other Chef playing. Other Chef, and about half of my friends, have already beaten Diablo on regular mode. I just got the full game yesterday so I am still in the beginning stages. Plus I can't seem to want to play for hours on end either. Too much to do!! And this book has severely sucked me in! I have a week left for my two week break in between classes so I am trying my hardest to get really far into this book so I don't feel bad when I have to take a break for school. 


19 Weeks Pregnant shot. Yes that is a frown face. I feel HUGE!! AND I am only 5 months. Oy! 

I look outside and its pouring. Cold too, in the mid 50s. Then I look down and I see this...

Don't let the cuteness fool ya. She's been nicknamed Spawn for a reason...

Ah the life of a cat huh? Just sleep all day and not worry about a dang thing!

Upcoming Giveaway (starts on Thursday!!): Vita Coco! A chance to win a case of a flavor of your choice out of the three they gave me :D 

What's on your menu tonight? We are having chicken alfredo :D Nom!

Three Things Thursday: Ah, randomness.

1. Gas prices are really starting to kill me. The cheapest is 4.09$ in the city of Tacoma...AT COSTCO. Thank goodness we have a Costco membership but when you start seeing gas prices at 4.25$ a gallon ON base, you start to get ill. The worst part about it is there is NO reason, AT ALL, for gas prices to be this high. Ugh.

2. Not feeling kicks on the outside yet but from about 6pm on, this little Gummy Bear is extremely active. Its interesting that I can feel kicks inside but when I put my hand where its happening, I feel nothing. Can't wait to feel the first real "HELLO! I AM HERE!!!" kick. Ha! I say that now....

3. Finally finished Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin last night. I wouldn't put it down until it was done (I only had 100 pages). So today I start Storm of Swords, the 3rd book in the series so far. Not gonna lie, starting to kinda dread starting the 4th and 5th ones. I heard they weren't that great so I am like "Oh...great." I hope they are wrong. Let's see how far I can through this book before my Advanced English Comp class books get here. I bet like 200 pages! (Out of 973!)

Random Picture Blog Post

The newest furbaby in my house...Harley Quinn

That is the newest furbaby in my house. We got her as a 5 month old kitten from the Rescue Center that we got Bella from. Little did I know that naming her Harley Quinn (after Joker's girlfriend) totally fit her. Shes mischievous and gets into EVERYTHING!!! I have started calling her Spawn at times.

My Bella baby. I love that she sleeps like that.

This is my Bella baby. I adopted her at the age of 1.5 years old. First ever cat (as an adult, I had a cat named Socks as a little girl) and she does her own thing. Such a sweetheart but definetly lives by her shelter name...Miss Priss. Everything must be her way. All. The. Time. She's very very vocal about it. She also likes to steal the kitty's food so we have had to separate them to feed them. Little brat.

Rare lovable moment between them two.

If you creep around the corner very quietly when its nap time around here, you will find this. When they are awake, they fight all. the. time. But when its sleep time, those two are cuddle bugs. Its quite cute!!

Beautiful.

There is a park literally a 5 minute walk from my house. Its beautiful. The running/walking/biking trail around it is .9 miles. I can't wait to start running there come this winter. 

Little Man's birdhouse.

My birdhouse.

Need to find a spot to hang our birdhouses that we made at N's daughters birthday party. Little Man is super proud of his. Of course, mine shows my love for Starbucks. Wonder what kind of birds we can attract...

MENCHIE'S!!!

Dear goodness, this place is heaven. Literally. Its my new found obsession while pregnant. The good thing is that its still a good 20 min drive to either location SO I don't go there daily. Because if it was in the city I live in, oh dear. That would just be bad. The best kind to get is the chocolate and vanilla swirl with kiwi and cheesecake bites.

 Great now I am craving it...

Happy Mother's Day!!!

Happy Mothers Day to all the mothers out there, including the Mothers of fur-babies!! I hope you all have a special day and are being pampered :D 

Today we are BBQing with N and her kids. On the menu is some delicious steaks, corn on the cob, sliced tomatoes, pasta salad, broccoli salad and then some Klondike bars and fruit juice pops for dessert! It is a beautiful day here in WA and I can't wait to have some good eats and some good company!! Then tonight I will end the night watching Game of Thrones, season finale of Once Upon a Time and series finale of Desperate Housewives (not gonna lie, kinda bitter that it's ending :*() 


My Computer Applications class is officially done. I ended the class when an average of 93.5% so I am happy. It was that dumb B that I got on an exam but meh. Its still a 4.0 so I can't complain right? Next up is Advanced English Comp (a 425 class..eeek!) and its sad to say that I am so ready for it to kick my butt!! I hate writing and this class is extremely reading and writing intensive. Fun times right? NOT! 

Leave you with some tunes...currently playing on my iTunes:

Quick Update on Me!

My lack of posting is because of school. Every single day I am doing an hour or more of homework. Fun times let me tell you. Plus housework. PLUS Little Man's activities and his school. Yes..life needs to slow down for a minute please! 

I had my 17 week check up on the 9th. Baby is healthy, heartbeat is 154. I am measuring 2 weeks ahead which is perfectly normal. My genetic testing came back all normal (for Downs, Trisonomy 18 and Neural Tube Defects). This is going to be a healthy baby! My anatomy ultrasound is scheduled for the 31st so soon we shall know what this little person is! 

I am 18 weeks today but here is a picture I took before my appt on Wednesday!

Gotta love the towel! I literally had just gotten out of the shower. 17 weeks belly shot.

BK Gift Card Winner AND Ode to Sidekick...

I hope you all had a great weekend!! Mine entailed getting better, cleaning and getting homework done. Ah college, how I did NOT miss thee! 

First, the winner of the BK Gift Card. Random.org selected winner number:

#3

Wendy Rozema

Congrats to winner and thank you for the entries! I will be emailing her today and if I hear nothing back in the next 48 hours, I will be choosing another winner. 

Next on the blog agenda...

My Sidekick died. And by died I mean that it spiked the pavement.

Apparently, it didn't have a lot to live for. And that put me in a rock and hard spot because come April of 2013, TMobile loses this customer. So did I deal with that ghetto fab phone OR just buy one off of craigslist? 

So I did what any respectable person would do and bought one off of Craigslist! 

I scored a Blackberry Bold 9700 for 130$ so I am happy. I love it. I didn't think I would like going from Android to Blackberry but I do. The email and texting is so convenient. The camera is blah but oh well. Its gonna hold me over until April when we can sign on with Verizon. Then its iPhone 5!! 

Can you tell I am slightly excited??? 

What's on your menu tonight? 

Tonight we are having Mediterranean Chicken (in the crockpot), scalloped potatoes and some veggie (thinking some corn or something). Maybe even a ceaser salad to go with it. Not sure yet! 

Heathers Corner on Sunday!

Heather has been SUPER busy working for an amazing restaurant in Savannah BUT after much hounding, I got her to finally set up another recipe (nah, she loves that she gets her own spotlight!). This is her newest:

Shredded Chicken for Mexican Yumminess!

4 Chicken Thighs

1 Medium Yellow Onion

4 Tomatillos

1/2 Tbsp Red Pepper Flakes

1 Tbsp Cumin

2 Tbsp Minced Garlic

1 Tbsp Chili Powder

1/2 Tbsp Salt

1/2 Tbsp Pepper

1/2 Cup Tequila

1 49.5 oz Can of Chicken Broth

8 oz Pepper Jack Cheese

2 Limes

Cast of Characters:

Clean the tomatillos and cut them into quarters.

 Take the skin off of the onions, and dice.

 Put everything except the cheese and limes into a pot and give it a good stir. 

Cover and simmer on low heat for 2.5-3.5 hours, or until the chicken shreds apart easily.

 Raise the heat a bit until the broth and tequila have almost completely evaporated. Turn the heat off and add the pepper jack cheese into the mix and melt.

 Zest and juice the 2 limes and add to the mix as well! Make quesadillas, chicken tacos or chicken burritos! YUM!!!

Like with any of her recipes, if you try them, let me know how they are and I will post the review!! :D 

ENJOY!! 

Sick during the weekend?? Really?!?

So Other Chef has been sick this entire week. And I tried so hard to avoid him and clean up after him so I didn't get sick.

Yeah that didn't work out too well.

This morning I woke up with horrible sore throat. Figured since I was a mouth breather it was just because of that. Nope. Sore throat is still there 3 hours later. My nose is running horribly. My sinuses are all stuffed up and now I am running a fever. 

Fun. Times.

And it sucks even worse because there is only so much I can take while being pregnant. So this should be an adventure. I wish this area would make up their minds on the weather. Too many illnesses going around. Not fun! 

:( 

Taking my sick butt back to bed.

Mommy Topic #2: Buying the Crib

Buying a crib shouldn't be stressful. It really shouldn't. I know what kind I like. I know what I want. I should be able to walk into a store and buy it right? 

Wrong.

When you walk into Babies R Us, there in the center of the store is all their "nursery" setups. And those cribs are BEAUTIFUL. You run your hands over the wood and look at the cute little designs and then your eyes fall on the price tag...

540$ for this beautiful bad boy...

Then add in crib mattress, then bedding and you are looking at about 1000$ for JUST the crib part of your babyhood. 

Then it hits me. They get ya with this because everyone has the perfect nursery in their head. They want it to be grand and beautiful. But honestly, does the baby really care if there are roses on the headboard? Do they care if its cherry wood or black? Heck no. That is for your pleasure purely! And with me having to buy every single other thing for this bambino/bambina, I just ain't having it! SO we put ourselves on a budget for the crib. And honestly, I am happy with it. Its more about the mattress (IMO) then if a crib is going to last you into toddlerhood. Those Lifetime cribs are beautiful yes. But the more times you move, the more destroyed they become. And we move. A LOT. 

So like the bedding, you can pick our crib. I have one in mind that I am so torn and so want. The colors at this point are flexible but thinking either all black or all espresso. Guess we shall see when it's time to buy!

Crib Option #1:

The crib, not the dresser. I love how sleek and straight it is. Very modern.

Crib Option #2:

Definetly a favorite. Wanted this crib for Little Man but got something else.

Crib Option #3:

Simple yet adorable.

So which do you think? I love them all. Can't I have one on each floor of my house? 

30 Day Yoga Challenge

BRiley is my total yoga guru. She swears by it. Got her man into it. She even does hot yoga like 20+ times a month. (Can we say BA??) Hearing her talk about how much she loves it AND how easy it is to at home...I ended up in an auction for a friend's preschool.

I won. I got a yoga for beginners DVD and a super pretty mat. 

I love the design on it!

 I have done it a few times and really love some of the poses. BUT since getting pregnant, I can't do just regular yoga anymore. I really want to stay active because having talked to some of you ladies, its going to help me in the long run for delivery AND post partum. Plus I have told N that once the baby is here, I want to start doing yoga classes and possibly inch my way into hot yoga with BRiley. (I know when she reads this, she will squeal because she's been trying to get me to go for a LONG time now!). Running is great cardio but you need something you can stretch your muscles out. Plus having a newborn at home, I mean really how much workout time am I gonna get the first couple months? Oh wait...probably none. So yoga...heck yeah.

I saw on another blog I read about the 30 Day Yoga Challenge and instantly signed up. This is a way to stay accountable and actually get into the yoga groove. Its only 30 mins a day, I am sure all of us have 30 mins somewhere in our day we can commit to that. Plus its getting me active, once again, without always have to hit the gym (where I can only walk...fun times....not). So sign up with me...I triple dog dare ya! 

(Note: I had to order a prenaatal yoga DVD so I will be 2 days behind. Think I am gonna look on the net for some yoga poses I can do while pregnant!)


Whats for dinner? Tonight I am having Pioneer Woman's Chicken Soup. NOM!