Meal Plan - 9/28/09

I'm dragging with my meal plan this week. I have exactly one meal idea in my head as I type this. Time to look through my recipes for inspiration! Let's just tackle dinners for now, okay?
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Monday - Leftovers (sorry, Honey!)
Tuesday - Shepherd's Pie
Wednesday - White Chicken Chili
Thursday - Garlic Chicken Farfalle
Friday - Crust-less Quiche
Saturday - Eat out
Sunday - Lasagna Roll Ups

Dessert - Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies and Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Maternity Pics

A few weeks ago, my photographer friend, Jolie, took some beautiful maternity pictures of me. She needed some outdoor shots for her website and I was a willing model! (Sidenote: she prefers to do maternity shoots at 32 weeks and I was 31 at the time. I guess that's the ideal time when expecting moms are round and cute before getting completely swollen and lumpy???) It was extremely hot and I felt fat and disgusting, but I am shocked thrilled that Jolie was able to capture some decent photos of me and the baby bump.
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Here are a few that are edited with some fun textures over them. And I'm no cowgirl, but how cool do I look in this hat???





In this last picture, you can't even see my roadmap blue veins all over my belly! Now that's the power of Photoshop, people. There's a slide show with a few more of the pictures here.

19 pound newborn

Okay, I seriously feel like I'll be making these kinds of headlines on October 20-something. Watch out America! I won't be able to beat the current record of a 24 pound baby, but this boy's going to be big, I can feel it.
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Woman gives birth to 19 pound baby...read for yourself! Can you say, "Gestational Diabetes" - ??? If you click on the 3 slides of the baby, in the last picture, the poor boy looks like he's going to eat the kid next to him as he wails away.

PF Chang's Lettuce Wraps

If you've never been to PF Chang's restaurant and tasted their lettuce wraps, you're missing out. And you might be a little confused by this concept! You place the filling inside of an individual lettuce leaf, top it with sauce, wrap it up and enjoy. It's intended to be an appetizer, but can be eaten as a meal.
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I modified this recipe based off of a friend's suggestion and it turned out really good...easy ingredients with a little less sugar. I'm thinking bibb lettuce might work better than iceberg next time. The kids had a huge problem keeping their wraps wrapped!
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Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons oil (canola or vegetable work best)
• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1 cup water chestnuts (one small can)
• 1 cup mushrooms
• 3 tablespoons chopped onions
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 6-8 whole leaves iceberg or bibb lettuce

Special Sauce

• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon ketchup
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/8 teaspoon sesame oil (or canola if you don't hae sesame)
• 1 tablespoon hot mustard
• 2 teaspoons water
• 1-2 teaspoon garlic and red chile paste

Stir Fry Sauce

• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon rice wine vinegar

Directions

You can make the following sauces ahead to save time. Should last at least 1-2 days:

1. Make the special sauce by dissolving the sugar in water in a small bowl.
2. Add soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, ketchup, lemon juice and sesame oil.
3. Mix well and refrigerate this sauce until you're ready to serve.
4. Combine the hot water with the hot mustard and set this aside as well.
5. Eventually add your desired measurement of mustard and garlic chili sauce to the special sauce mixture to pour over the wraps.

To make the actual lettuce wraps:

1. Bring oil to high heat in a wok or large frying pan.
2. Saute chicken breasts for 4 to 5 minutes per side or done.
3. Remove chicken from the pan and cool.
4. Keep oil in the pan, keep hot.
5. As chicken cools mince water chestnuts and mushrooms to about the size of small peas.
6. Prepare the stir fry sauce by mixing the soy sauce, brown sugar, and rice vinegar together in a small bowl.
7. When chicken is cool, mince it as the mushrooms and water chestnuts are.
8. With the pan still on high heat, add another Tbsp of vegetable oil.
9. Add chicken, garlic, onions, water chestnuts and mushrooms to the pan.
10. Add the stir fry sauce to the pan and saute the mixture for a couple minutes then serve it in the lettuce leaves and wrap up into individual cups.
11. Top with "special sauce".

Next time I serve this to my kids, I may just chop up the lettuce, top it with the "filling" and drizzle the "special sauce" on like salad dressing. We practically had to feed the wraps to both of our kids, which was a pain, but they LOVED them.

Meal Plan - 9/21/09

Breakfast
{Melt-in-Your-Mouth} Apple Coffee Cake
Whole Grain Waffles
Oatmeal
Cold cereal
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Lunch
Turkey sandwiches
Cheese and crackers
Crockpot Applesauce
Carrots
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Dinner
Monday - Baked Potato Bar with leftover chili, cheese, broccoli and sour cream
Tuesday - Quesadillas
Wednesday - Tuna Casserole
Thursday - {Frugal} Bean Stew with Olive Oil Bread
Friday - Taco Salad
Saturday - PF Chang's Lettuce Wraps and Veggie Fried Rice
Sunday - {Healthy} Chicken Pot Pie
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Dessert
Rice Krispie Treats
Chocolate Pudding made with avocados (You have to try this now that avocados are cheap and in season! It's so good...very rich...kind of like the center of a chocolate molten lava cake.)

Rambling...rambling...

Sorry I've been absent for a couple of days. I think I've sort of been recovering from the crazy beginning of the week. The days have been wonderfully quiet, getting back into our routine, running countless errands while Kaylin is at pre-school, it's been lovely. Then Ryan comes home from school and everything is a whirlwind. In a few short hours, we cram in an after school snack, deprogramming "Kindergarten Ryan," homework, dinner, limited Daddy time, baths, bedtime...I collapse into an exhausted heap at the end of it all.
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Anyway, I do have lots of random thoughts that I need to get out of my head, so here goes.
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(Ryan just came out of his bed to have me scratch an unreachable part of his back and I swear my mind just went blank. Hang on...my thoughts are coming back to me. Wait for it...nope, nothing. I blame the pregnancy. I'm losing brain cells every minute.)
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Ah, here we are. I have a topic. I had a really uncomfortable day today. I think the baby was in a weird position because I couldn't breath right, I couldn't get comfortable, I just wanted to whine. Then he moved and started doing all sorts of calisthenics in there and I remembered that being pregnant is SO COOL. Feeling a baby move inside of you is incredible. Truly amazing. Indescribable. And whether I'm comfortable or not (currently, I'm NOT) - being pregnant rocks.
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But wearing a skirt while 8+ months pregnant does not rock. And tonight is the last time I will be wearing one this pregnancy. I'm so big and uncomfortable that I need to sit like a trucker with my legs spread apart so my belly has somewhere to rest. Otherwise, I practically need to be reclined to take a full breath. That just doesn't work in a skirt. I'm a real lady, I know.
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Ryan went to a birthday party tonight until 8:30. His bedtime is 7:00 now that he's in school and 8:30 is past the time when he turns back into a pumpkin. (not a cute pumpkin, like as in Cinderella...you know what I mean...) Not to mention that all they did at the party was eat. Pizza, popcorn, an ice cream sundae bar, cupcakes...they were running around being Transformers when I picked him up. We just got home (he was bouncing like a Super Ball) and he has officially hit his wall. He's crashing in tears in his room as we speak because I told him to stop coming out of his room every 2 minutes and go to bed. We're talking inconsolable sobbing, people. Getting to bed 2 hours late with a rare sugar high does that to my kids. Oh wait...I hear...silence. He must have moved into his sugar coma now. He'll wake up a new man.
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While Ryan was at the party tonight, Mike and I took Kaylin out to dinner and for frozen yogurt. She. Loved. It. It is so interesting getting to spend time with each child alone now that I'm so used to them together. Of course, I have her alone all day M/W/F, but seeing how she interacted as an only child with Mike AND me was intriguing. She was hilarious, first of all. And very well behaved. She loved the attention, but didn't require all eyes on her all the time. It reminded me that we need to start intentionally having dates with our kids individually.
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I needed to kill about 20 minutes before picking Kaylin up the other day and went into Michael's with my little 40% coupons. Do you know what I found? Their huge display of Princess and Pirate birthday party themed stuff was clearanced out. And it wasn't picked over at ALL. Sure - thanks! A month after Kaylin's Princess party and everything is on super sale. But I was smart. Her favorite color will be pink for years to come, I'm sure, so I stocked up on party favor goodies that are pink, but not necessarily geared only for a princess party. I was thinking of doing a small tea party next year and pink goodie bags work just perfectly for a tea party. I felt silly buying party favors for a birthday party that's 11 months away, until I thought of it like buying Christmas decorations in January when they're at their cheapest. Then I didn't feel quite as ridiculous!
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Switching gears, someone found my blog by searching "pampered chef batter bowl boob cake" - I'm guessing they were disappointed when they found Kaylin's Princess Cake that I made with the Pampered Chef batter bowl and not a "boob cake." Because really? Ew.
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It's been so long since I've scrapbooked. I just ordered 161 pictures online last night with the intention of getting caught up before the baby arrives. Does anyone else use Artscow? They hook you by offering 100 free 4x6s every month and 50 free 5x7s. It's a lot of free pictures, let me tell you. But their shipping is really high and unpredictable. Actually, I think I ordered just the 100 free 4x6s one month and it was $8.95, so that still works out to 9 cents a print, which IS a good deal. But they emailed me a code for free shipping on orders over $10 the other day and after adding and taking away a gazillion different products (I was thinking of Christmas gifts) - the code didn't work. Plus, they have so many "free" items logged into my account, finding $10 worth of non-free items was a challenge. I'd add an item, see that it was free, then notice my shipping jumped up $9. I called the contact line and got a voicemail. (I think the company might be international because the English on the site isn't always grammatically correct.) It was a joke, so I decided to forgo the free shipping and just order my pictures and be done with it. I'm not saying don't use the site, I'm just saying: Artscow users beware. The pictures ARE free, they just make up for it in shipping.
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Okay, I think that's it. That was a lot more than I thought I wanted to share, but Mike's entranced in a college football game and I guess I'm a little bored. Thanks for hanging with me while I ramble on and on. Have a great weekend!!!

School Paper OVERLOAD!

I have spent the last two afternoons completely stressed out and overwhelmed with school papers.
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It started Monday afternoon when Ryan came home with his new homework binder. The problem is that Ryan's class started getting daily homework assignments last week, when we were on vacation. There were a few things that happened to make the paperwork unmanageable. There were past homework assignment and detailed instructions from last week that we needed to catch up on. Plus, Ryan had shoved in-class projects that were in his cubby from last week randomly into the binder; these had no instructions since they were done in class. AND we still had assignments and work to do for Monday and the rest of the month of September. The homework binder combined with keep-at-home reference forms for writing practice, in-class assignments with at-home follow up work, the monthly school newsletter, the weekly class newsletter, forms for class t-shirts and yearbooks, forms that needed to be completed and returned to the teacher the next day and a packet of information about the PTSA was all enough to send me over the edge.
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I needed to feel structure. I needed to find a way to organize all of this paperwork. What I really needed was a system for all incoming paperwork, moving forward.
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Here's what I came up with:
- "Reading materials" will go in a designated area on our junk counter with the intention of reading them while Ryan does independent assignments at the kitchen table. Once they're read, they'll either go directly into the recycle bin or into another area if an action is needed. (if a check needs to be written or something needs to be signed and returned, etc.)
- "Action needed items" will go on top of Ryan's closed backpack and will be dealt with after dinner, when I make lunches for the next day.
- "Completed assignments" and artwork will go on the fridge, then will either get passed on to grandparents or hidden at the bottom of the recycle bin. I'll keep some choice pieces and take pictures of others to scrapbook at the end of the school year.
- "At-home follow up work" will stay in the inside pocket of his homework binder to be done after his homework is completed IF we have time. If the homework takes too long, I'm not going to feel guilty about tossing it in the recycle bin. It's unlikely we'll get to it later and I don't need the clutter.
- "Keepsakes" will go into a 3-ring binder that I have designated for Kindergarten. I mentioned before how I plan to have one binder for each child for each year of school. I'll only keep enough to fit in the binder. Period. As it is, 15 binders (counting pre-school) when they graduate high school will be A LOT of keepsakes!
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This post titled What To Do With Kids' Artwork by Simple Mom compiles all of the ideas I've heard of, used and tried over the years for ALL of the arts and crafts our kids create. It's worth reading if you have little ones.
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One other thing I'm doing to capture Ryan each month of the year is this idea from Becky Higgins. She's providing the template pages to customize for yourself and it's very low maintenance, but I know will be priceless to look back on later.
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Here are links to the cover page and August's 2-page spread to start the 8.5x11 project. (click here if you're a Mac user) I had Ryan and Kaylin each write their name and do a self portrait last night (because I clearly wasn't stressed enough...) and they turned out so sweet. I put them in the front cover pocket of their 3-ring binders for their keepsakes for the year. I'm changing the August pages a bit to include the pictures I took of Ryan at the beginning of the year. (I don't have a class picture or a picture of the backpacks, but I do have a picture of him at his desk and of him with his teacher.)

All of the pink circles at the bottom of Kaylin's picture (above) are her toes and the blue circles on either side of her head are ears and hands. I have no idea what the rest of the black markings are all over the page. As far as I was concerned, the picture was complete before the black marks took over, but it's not my picture so what do I know? Here's Ryan's:

Tuesday's Time Saving {Post-Vacation} Tips

When you're getting ready to go out of town, consider preparing your kitchen for your arrival home. I thought I did this, but I was wrong. For example, before we left for California, we ran out of milk and eggs. Knowing that both will last more than a week, I bought a gallon of milk and a dozen eggs to leave in the fridge. Both were gone within 2 days of our return, but it kept me from having to rush out to the store.
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In addition to the basics, make sure you have enough food on hand to make a few meals before needing to make a grocery run. My mom made us a casserole to eat on Sunday night so that I didn't have to cook (thanks, Mom!) - but yesterday, I found myself in a bind. I knew I'd be short on time, so I needed to make something quick. I had planned on quesadillas for dinner, but managed to run out of refried beans in the pantry. So I went to plan B. I pulled out some tortellini from the fridge that was set to expire on 10/1. But when I opened the package, I found mold. (*sigh*) I didn't really have a plan C, until I found some ravioli in the freezer that I must have bought at Costco a while back.
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This was all happening as I'm trying to help Ryan with his make-up homework from last week, complete Kaylin's paperwork to send for her first day of school today and prepare for our first Bible study for the fall semester to arrive at 6:45. Not having a complete plan (and worse...running low on my emergency food stash) made for a very stressful evening. I had a plan for dinner, I just didn't check for all of the ingredients, so it didn't work out.

We're Back!

After getting home at midnight, I have a van to unload and unpack, laundry to do, 109 emails to sift through, 231 blog posts to read and 270 pictures to download. It's going to be a long day, so I thought I'd check in quickly to say, "Hi!"

We had a great vacation...more updates soon!

Because I know you miss me...

Yes, I'm still on vacation and hundreds of miles away from my computer, but because I know you miss me so much that it hurts, I am writing this before I leave to entertain you while I'm away. (I hope I embedded these properly!)
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Things You Don't Say to your Wife:

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And for my Christian readers...Corporate Worship Songs:

Our vacation meal plan

For the first time ever, I am meal planning for our vacation. This will no doubt drive our traveling companions CRAZY (they are the "what are you in the mood to eat?" all-planning-out-the-window-on-vacations type of folks) but it will save us loads of cash. We're bringing a cooler of food and water, plus a grocery bag with dry food, all of which I pre-purchased at sale prices here in town. I just can't bring myself to go grocery shopping when we arrive in California...the prices are higher, it's harder to eat what's on sale, and you pay a premium for dumb stuff like condiments and snacks.
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We're also utilizing every online coupon and promotion I've seen recently, since we'll be eating out so much. May as well save money and eat with coupons on vacation too, right?
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Monday
Breakfast: at home
Lunch: Chick Fil A (on the road) for free sandwiches
Dinner: after checking into the hotel, we have a BOGO free coupon for TGI Fridays, where kids eat free Mondays and Tuesdays. I looked it up and there's a TGI Friday's 3 miles from our hotel.
Tuesday
Breakfast: banana bread muffins, hard boiled eggs (bringing from home) and yogurt
Lunch: at Disneyland. Packing sandwiches, apples, cheese and crackers - but we have it in the budget to blow some cash on overpriced snacks like funnel cakes, giant pretzels and Mickey Mouse shaped nonsense.
Dinner: pizza with a BOGO free coupon from Papa John's (got it in the mail yesterday!)
Wednesday
Breakfast: overpriced character breakfast @ Goofy's Kitchen (when my husband is "full," they're going to regret the day they decided it should be an all-you-can-eat buffet!)
Lunch: on the road down to San Diego. Sandwiches, cheese sticks, cut up fruit.
Dinner: out to eat
Thursday
Breakfast: provided by our hotel in San Diego
Lunch: picnic on the beach - more sandwiches, carrots, apples, cheese and crackers
Dinner: Lasagna Roll Ups, salad and bread (pre-made from home and kept frozen in the cooler, then refrigerated at our hotel - our friends have an oven in their beach house)
Friday
Breakfast: provided by our hotel
Lunch: leftovers
Dinner: out to eat
Saturday
Breakfast: will probably do Einsteins to take advantage of this coupon
Lunch: finish up whatever groceries and leftovers are lingering
Dinner: Panda Express with BOGO free coupons (near our hotel)
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Snacks and Treats
banana bread muffins
apples, bananas, grapes
mini carrots
granola bars
yogurt
cheese sticks
cheese (pre-sliced at home) and Triscuits
graham crackers
popcorn
chocolate chip cookies (made and froze the dough balls at home...will cook in friends' oven when we're in the mood)
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So that's it. My version of meal planning and using restaurant coupons on the road and on a budget. We tried "winging it" last year and Mike and I got into too many disagreements about what one person thought was a legitimate vacation purchase and what the other thought was a waste of precious dollars. (Starbuck's, alcoholic refreshment, treats from sidewalk vendors, etc) This year, we've discussed the budget and are bringing a set amount of cash for extras like dining out, entertainment and souvenirs, having already subtracted the exact cost of the hotels, Disney tickets and Goofy's kitchen from our total travel budget. I'm hoping that this bit of prep work and pre-vacation discussion will keep my frugal husband a little more relaxed!

Useless facts for your Labor Day BBQ

• No piece of paper can be folded in half more than seven (7) times.
• You burn more calories sleeping than you do watching t.v.
• Oak trees do not produce acorns until they are fifty (50) years of age or older.
• The first product to have a bar code was Wrigley's gum.
• American Airlines saved $40,000 in 1987 by eliminating one (1) olive from each salad served in first-class.
  
• The first owner of the Marlboro Company died of lung cancer. So did the first 'Marlboro Man'.
• Walt Disney was afraid of mice.
• Pearls melt in vinegar.
• The three most valuable brand names on earth: Marlboro, Coca Cola and Budweiser, in that order.
  
• It is possible to lead a cow upstairs, but not DOWNstairs.
  
• A duck's quack doesn't echo and no one knows why.
  
• Dentists have recommended that a toothbrush be kept at least six (6) feet away from a toilet to avoid airborne particles resulting from the flush.
  
• Turtles can breathe through their bums.

Fall/Winter Prep

Yes, you read that correctly. It will be 105 degrees in Phoenix today and I am blogging about preparing for fall and winter.
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Last year, we went on our first annual family trip to California. We have a few friends who do an annual beach trip with their kids and we've decided to follow suit and make the same yearly memories for our kids.
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As I pack and prepare for our trip, I'm forced to go through clothes for the upcoming season. Although we're still wearing tank tops and flip flops in these parts, San Diego's highs are in the 80s and lows are in the 60s, not to mention that wonderful ocean breeze. I've pulled out the clothes I bought on clearance early this year and all of the hand me down jeans, jackets, socks and close-toes shoes that I've stockpiled. I am so glad to have taken inventory of what we have and what we need for each child before our local weather cools off. This is turning out to be a huge benefit of traveling to a cooler climate long before the temperatures dip down here in Phoenix.
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So even though it's still stifling hot warm outside for most of you, I remember how quickly the cool weather would sneak up on us in Kansas City...consider preparing for the upcoming fall and winter seasons by going through your stash sooner rather than later. Especially for your kids - seeing a little boy in high waters is so sad! Why stress yourself out and wait until the last minute? Or worse, see a great sale and accidentally double up on things that you already have. Now I'm off to buy Ryan some jeans (I bought TOO big at the end of last season and he's swimming in them...at least I'm prepared for next year) and Kaylin some new tennis shoes to keep her feet comfy at Disneyland. Praying for a sale!

Over 75% Savings at Fry's!

Happy days are here again! I haven't scored this much free stuff in months. Fry's (Kroger affiliate) has a quadruple coupon deal this week (totaling up to a maximum of $1 per coupon) PLUS they're accepting competitor's coupons. Several of the deals resulted in free items, plus overage. Because they quadrupled my $.25 paper towel coupons and they were on sale for $.88, they paid me $.12 per roll to leave the store with them!
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To see all of the sales + coupon deals that I used, click here. I'm SO glad I keep up with Good Deal Gal's blog. She lives in Arizona, so no local deals ever miss her blog. I highly recommend finding a local deal blogger in your city/state who lists all of the sales and coupon links for you. What a blessing! Before looking at her list, I literally only had ONE thing on my grocery list for Fry's. (shows how much I pay attention when I do it myself...)
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You can also use these competitor coupons (through 9/8) to save even more:
$2/$5 purchase of meat (I saw this after my grocery trip - oh well!)
$5/$25 total purchase from AJs (expires 9/7)
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So here's what I bought for $23.15. I saved $75 and that's not even including the savings from some of the manager's special items that I picked up.

Most of these items were on sale and I had a coupon, but several items only had one or the other. I needed to buy ingredients to make Lasagna Roll Ups for our vacation this weekend, plus I bought marshmallows to make Rice Krispie Treats for dessert and found a loaf of bread on the day-old bread rack to go along with the meal. I also found plain, organic yogurt on manager's special to mix in with the Dannon (it's packed with sugar).
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Just last night, I was talking to a friend about the time she thought she wasted clipping coupons and shopping for sales. I'm in the habit of going through the ads and clipping my coupons for 1-2 hours every Wednesday...that's it! Seeing a savings of $75 ($35 of that was coupons), the time I spend is completely justified.

Kitchen Tip: Make Meatballs in Muffin Tins

I'm not a fan of greasy meatballs, so I tend to bake them in the oven instead of frying them on the stove. I was excited when I saw a great tip on Good Eats about meatballs: form them slightly larger than the size of your mini muffin tins and the grease will drip into the bottom of each tin, making them a little less fatty. Genius!
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Except that I don't like my meatballs that big.
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So I tried something new this week. I loosely rolled up a piece of foil and put it in the bottom of the mini muffin tin, then placed the meatball on top. It worked really well! Give it a try for healthier, non-greasy meatballs.

For more kitchen tips, visit Tammy's Kitchen.

Tuesday's Time Saving {Craft Caddy} Tip

This idea was born out of necessity and I LOVE it. After unsuccessfully mending a torn-beyond-recognition markers box, I didn't know what to do with the stray markers that lingered in our coloring bin. Then I stumbled upon this little shower caddy in the $1 section at Target.

Not only is there a section for the markers, but I also put safety scissors and glue in another section and in the biggest section, I put stickers, a container of large confetti pieces, a baggie of dry pasta and a baggie of Cheerios. What makes this a time saving tip: when Kaylin wants to do a craft (this will come in so handy when I'm nursing and need to keep her occupied) I just pull out the caddy and construction paper and she can create to her heart's content. I actually keep multiples of the scissors and glue for when Ryan and Kaylin want to do a craft together...less fighting sharing. :)