Menu Plan Monday 1/23

I feel like Grant and I haven't had a moment to rest in the past few weeks... between childbirth/baby/CPR classes, baby showers, visitors in town, getting our home ready for the baby and the end of the first semester of the school year, we have been going nonstop.  Perhaps it's a good thing my body has reacted to this pregnancy with mild insomnia as opposed to extreme fatigue?  Sometimes though, I think it would be easier if I was so tired I had to lie down all the time and just be "ok" with not getting anything done.  Except doing nothing is not "ok" when you are a high school teacher and have grades to submit...

I had been preparing a mental list of easy meals for once this little man comes and I will be super tired/not want to cook as much... well... turns out I realized I will actually have MORE time once I'm on maternity leave, even if it's a few hours here and a few hours there... so I had to start onto that list to just SURVIVE this next week. So I feel like at this point in the pregnancy, I'm taking the easy road as often as possible.  And eating extra desserts since 1- I was in limbo for awhile awaiting the second glucose test and 2- I never really indulged early on... and now I'm realizing it's almost over! I'm still working out though, so it's not like I'm just eating candy and then sitting around.

So here's my easy menu plan for the week...

Sunday: Crockpot Tortilla Soup

Monday: Slow Cooker Pot Roast (w/ one can of soup & some extra garlic), biscuits

Tuesday: Veggie Burgers & Garlic Parmesan Orzo (w/ a lot less butter)

Wednesday: leftover pot roast

Thursday: omelettes, hash browns and fruit

Friday: THANK YOU DADDY C. for paying for us to go out to a nice dinner... Smith & Wollensky, here we come :)

Saturday: hosting the appetizer course of our street's annual progressive dinner.  I'm making baked cream cheese (I add garlic powder, serve w/ crackers & apple slices), pepperoni pizza puffs (thank you Pinterest) and spinach artichoke dip.

Check out www.orgjunkie.com for more menu planning ideas!

Maternity Photo Shoot

I LOVE outdoor pics, and Grant and I still are slightly sad we didn't get to take any on our wedding day because it was pouring.  (But we are still very happily married, and that's what matters.)  So when I found out this little man was coming in February, one of my thoughts was how ugly it would be outside with all of the bare trees and brown grass, so I wasn't sure about the whole maternity pictures idea.  Well, a few weeks ago, I spotted a cute pic online taken outside in the snow, so I decided if it snowed, I'd take some pics.  My good friend (and neighbor) Katie Laird is a photographer and was super flexible with me and emailed Saturday after we FINALLY got a few inches of snow and said "hey let's take some," so after my baby shower, we had a little photo shoot. Thank you God for the snow... and Katie for the pictures!! You are awesome :-)

Menu Plan Monday 1/16

We had such a busy but WONDERFUL weekend. Grant's Mom and sister Brooke flew in from FL and CO to throw me a shower in honor of our little man who could be coming in the next 2-8weeks. Yes, 2 weeks or 2 months. I figure if the doctor told me I'm measuring 35 weeks at my appointment last week, that means if he was by chance that far along (I did initially have a due date a week earlier, so it is possible), and was full term, that he could arrive in 2 weeks.. Otherwise, if I'm really only 34 weeks along, that gives me 6 more weeks until my due date plus a few weeks extra in case he decides to hold out. I know all first time moms think they will go early, and often the exact opposite is true... but I also know the way things went for your Mom can have some connection how they will go for you... I arrived at 37 weeks and I am the oldest child. So who knows? 

By next Saturday, my baby showers will be over, our classes will be over (CPR class from 9-1 on Saturday!) and the first semester of the school year will be over! We are also touring the other hospital at which our little man could be born this week. It all depends on where my doctor is when I go into labor. 

Grant's Mom and sister gave us the rest of the groceries they bought for their long weekend here in Columbus, so this meal plan is based on the items they gave us: 

Sunday: homemade mac & cheese (didn't make last week, and as always, with way less butter and whatever cheese I have on hand), broccoli 

Monday: Vegetable & Chicken Stir Fry (I'm adding other veggies) with brown rice 

Tuesday: Cheese Tortellini with pesto, salad, & garlic bread

Wednesday: Grilled Turkey Reubens, tomato soup 

Thursday: Leftover tortellini 

Friday: pizza 

Saturday: not sure what's going on yet... perhaps out??

Go to www.orgjunkie.com for more menu planning ideas!

Menu Plan Monday 1/9

Grant has returned... meaning I once again have reason to cook after I get home from school.  I think if I lived alone, during the summer I'd probably still cook a lot because I truly enjoy it... but during the school year, when I leave for work at 6:15am and return at 6:00pm (if I work out), it's hard to justify making a whole meal for one person... especially since I start getting ready for the next day a few hours later. This week is going by so slowly... and I am overwhelmed with work on top of it all, trying to have things organized to be gone for maternity leave.  This probably was not a good year to redo the entire French 1 curriculum. 

Anyways, this is what we are eating this week:

Sunday: Pesto Chicken Wraps(See below- I made it up based on my fave sandwich at a restaurant here in Cbus), tortilla chips & Chili's copycat salsa (this was the perfect dead of winter salsa... tasted super fresh yet it used canned tomatoes.  I added some lime juice, 1 tsp dried cilantro, and left out the jalapenos but added a dash of cayenne pepper)

Monday: Orecchiette with roasted broccoli & walnuts, salad, garlic bread

Tuesday: Chili con carne (minus the cloves, cinnamon, green pepper instead of chili pepper), cornbread

Wednesday: Pancakes, eggs & bacon

Thursday: meatball subs, homemade mac & cheese

Friday: dinner somewhere with Grant's mom & sister and our newest nephew!

Saturday: frozen pizza

Pesto Chicken Wraps

serves 2 

2 whole wheat tortillas

1 cup brown rice

1 cooked/grilled chicken breast

1/2 cup chopped roasted red pepper (I used a can from TJs) 

1 onion, sliced 

3 Tbsp mayonnaise

1 Tbsp store-bought pesto (I used some from Trader Joes) 

Cook rice and chicken and slice chicken.  Saute onions in olive oil.  Combine mayo and pesto and spread generously over tortillas.  Put around 1/2-3/4 cup of brown rice on each tortilla, then layer on some red peppers and onions.  Top with chicken, roll up and enjoy. 

New Year's Eve

The past four years, we have gotten together on New Year's Eve with my three housemates from college and their husbands.  It has always been a ton of fun, and since we have all lived in different cities since graduation, our "Rendez-Vous" (that was also the name of our house) are few and far between.  Unfortunately, things did not work out this year, leaving Grant and I with nothing to do until our good friends Katie & Dave invited us over :-) Thanks guys, you are awesome!!

I had already decided we should have a nice dinner (aka I'd allow myself to splurge at the grocery store!!) to start off our evening. It was fun to have dinner with just the two of us (but we really did miss our usual NYE pals), reminiscing about the past year.  We talked about some of our favorite moments of the year... topping the list were finding out we were pregnant, the ultrasounds and our trip to Nantucket!  After dinner, we had a great time playing games with our friends and believe it or not, I stayed up til midnight! (But was in bed shortly after!!)

Here was our menu: 

Appetizer: Cheese Fondue with granny smith apples, bread & carrots 

Main Course: Garlic Marinated Steak, Spinach & Chive Linguine with olive oil and Parmesan

Dessert: Happy New Year sugar cookies... because sugar cookies are my favorite, ok? And I never made any for Christmas due to my glucose tolerance test situation.  

Drink: a bottle of sparkling cider... yes, we drank the whole bottle.  We are that crazy. 

Now... a few thoughts about the meal. 

#1- buying the fondue pre-made from Trader Joes does go against my desire to make everything from scratch... but this was $5.99... and it included GRUYERE, COMTE & EMMENTAL, along with the wine and kirsch... ok, seriously, that is a steal.  I was at Giant Eagle and saw a bag of the same three cheeses shredded (but you'd still need to add the wine) for ... $15.99!! Anyways, there really weren't any artificial ingredients added to the TJs blend, and it definitely tasted authentic :-) 

#2- the marinated steak was very-well marinated... I think I'd cut back on the amount the next time.  This brings me to one of my cooking goals for 2012: I want to be able to cook meat without having to cut it open & check if it's done... or perhaps just invest in a better thermometer!

#3- this sugar cookie recipe (thank you pinterest!) was the best one I've made yet. 

Happy 2012 friends :-) I can't believe we will become a family of 3 this year!!  (Ok, more like super soon...)

Menu Plan Monday 1/2

Ok, clearly it's Wednesday and I am just now posting my menu plan.  Why? Well, to start, neither of us had to work on Monday (but I was grading most of the day) so it still felt like the weekend and Grant left for Vegas on Tuesday (for work), leaving me with a fridge of leftovers.  I am eating the soup I made for lunch on Sunday all week for my lunches... and I have so much work to do for school that I am not going to plan to cook very much. 

Sunday: Lunch- Slow Cooker Ham & Lentil Soup (except I used a 12 bean mix from Trader Joes that was delish.)... Off to Tom & Sarah's for a traditional New Year's Day dinner (it was awesome- thanks guys!)

Monday: Goat Cheese, Mozzarella, Pesto & Roasted Red Pepper pizzas on Garlic Naan from TJs with salad.. I made this one up myself. It's a great combo.  And it's super easy.

Tuesday: Tomato-Basil Veggie burger & leftover pasta from New Year's Eve

Wednesday: leftover pasta from New Year's Eve & salad (this is what happens when I have enough soup for lunch all week and there is only 1 of us to eat leftovers)... I spiced it up with some additional ingredients though!

Thursday: Chicken, Rice & Broccoli

Friday: frozen pizza or something quick after picking Grant up from the airport!

Saturday: date night!

Hope you are having a good week so far :-)