Weekly Menu

 Welcome to my favorite post of the week HA!  Well, it is my most consistent that's for sure.  I find menu planning relaxing and rewarding because it is something fairly easy to control.  Even when I make changes, it is because I have control over what is cooked.  I know, weird.  That's ok.  I recently organized my recipes alphabetically (again, weird, I know) and am working on cooking my way through them to see what we actually like and what I can clear out.  It has also allowed me to plan weeks ahead.  Now, I'm the first one to tell you that meal planning is like lesson planning - nothing stays the same.  So even though I might plan through the end of September I fully know that things will come up, recipes will get moved or not made at all, and we may eat out a few times that aren't planned and that is all ok!  The planning helps me keep an eye out for sales for future meals to help keep the grocery budget in line.  The boys come back from Nana camp this weekend and, while we still have a busy week before we hit my self imposed "slow two weeks before school starts" weeks, I am back to menu sincere meal planning.  :-)

Here's the plan for the upcoming week:

Friday -My plan is chili dogs, corn, and potato salad

Saturday - It is time to "pick up the kids!" HA!  So, dinner at Nana's 

Sunday - Keeping it simple today - Shredded Chicken Tacos

Monday - Choir starts back tonight so we eat in shifts.  I'm going to throw a premade lasagna in the oven along with breadsticks

Tuesday - chicken fried chicken, mashed potatoes and corn

Wednesday - Roasted Pork Shoulder, Sour Cream Rice, and Asparagus

Thursday - Dill Shrimp Pasta with Cheesecake Factory Bread

Recap of July Goals

 July was a long, hot, humid month.  It was also busy.  As I'm writing this I thought - "Wow, this is the first day all month we have had nothing to do" and then I realized it was August . . .HA!  My teens have a pretty busy social life, which I think is great and the way it should be when you are in your mid-teens.  Friends, Church, Family - all great things to be involved with.  Here's a look back at what I did -- and did not -- accomplish in July: 

Here are my goals for July! 

1. Declutter the basement.  I have made steady progress on this and am continuing with my goal of basically going through one bin/box/bag/shelf a day - but when I start with one I usually end up going through several depending on how much time I have available.  I don't have a set goal in mind of where I want to be on this project by the end of July - I just want to continue on with progress. Still a work in progress - but progress is the key word :-)  

2. Scrapbook - If you read by 101 in 1001 days goals you know I have quite a bit of scrapbooking to get done.  Based on what I specifically want done this year - I have a few goals for July.  1) Finish two total months in 2011 2) Finish January and February of 2025 3) Get all of the memorabilia in an album if completed or ready to go in albums not completed. I had high hopes for this with my guys gone but apparently my motivation was also gone HA! 

3.  Finish up the last things in Josh's room - he and I have already talked about this and what needs to be done and plan to do it the week Nate is at camp.  Really, we have 2-3 hours total of work to do so it isn't much.  He and I did make progress on this but there is still more to do.  I think he has less motivation to do then I do so that makes it not happen very quickly. 

4.  Fix a board in Nate's bed - this is really Darryl's item BUT it goes on my list LOL  It's not a hard task - just have to find a board, cut it to size and screw it in!  (We've done this before) Nope :-)  

5. Figure out Google Workspace (Nate is helping me with this so hopefully he can figure it out HA!).  Then, once I can actually access it, I need to upload all of our co-op documents to our workspace for others to access.  Nope.  My excuse is that we have to get Nate's computer fixed to really do this LOL.

6.  Clean out all of the co-op documents on my computer. Nope 

7. Nate has asked to paint basketball lines in the driveway so I do have a goal of helping him accomplish this project - my part comes more in the motivation and buying the paint - - his part comes in painting what he wants! He and talked about this and, with it so hot and humid it was not the time to paint.  He's planning to work on it in September. 

8. Sell our unused homeschool books (or attempt to sell).  Nope. 

9. Deep clean the living room.  This will also include figuring out and organizing the "cord" situation behind the TV and in other areas of the living room.  This is about half done.  Lots of cleaning but still need to deal with organizing cords and such 

10. Re-learn/Master "It is Well with my Soul" piano arrangement. I found the book and put it on the piano, does that count? 

11. Memorize a scripture verse (part of my 101/10001 is to learn one verse a month) Nope

12. Read at least 6 books including at least one non-fiction (part of my 101/1001) I read a lot of books but not a non-fiction book.  I need to find some really good ones to read. 

13. Repaint everything that is white in my house (trim/doors).  This is on the list because we have some painting to do in Josh's room that includes, well, white paint.  I figured that if I have it out, we might as well use it! Man, I had some big dreams HA! 

14. Steam clean the dining room rug.  I did not do this when I deep cleaned the dining room as I wanted to wait until I was doing the Living Room carpet anyway.  This will get done this month! Oh my goodness, no. 

15. Deep clean my truck - I usually do this during Worship camp but it didn't get done.  Hopefully this month!  YES YES YES!!  I also deep cleaned our newer vehicle to get it ready for Darryl to drive for UBER so that counts twice! 

16.  Plan and Prep at least 4 of my Joyful classes. No.  I tried.  I just am not feeling it yet though.  I have zero inspiration on what to do this fall. 

17. Clean out my jewelry.  Nope

18. Wash the kitchen rugs.  Nope

19. Deep clean/organize the garage - this might sit on my goals list until fall but just in case we get a surprisingly cool few days in July, I'll add it.  Nope

20. Complete the Flylady room cleaning each week. Nope

21. Go on a date with Darryl. Yes! 

22. Finish up Joshua's transcripts and plan for the fall (11th grade!) This is about 50% done.  

23. Find time to have a bonfire or two - with hot dogs and smore's!  I laughed at this one - it was so incredibly hot and humid.  

24. Once the living room is done, deep clean the bathroom. Yes!  A lot of work was done in that room this month.  Is it perfect.  No.  But I consider this a win! 

25.  Complete at least 1/2 of these goals!  (This is always my favorite goal LOL ) Not even close. 

Andrew Ripp - Breakdown (Official Lyric Video)

Our Weekly Snapshot

 Here's a look back at our week.  

We sign up every year for "Kids Bowl Free".  We talk about how we should go every week since it is free and make plans to do it often just for something fun to do.  Well, this was our first time going this entire summer HA!  We some friends join us and it was a fun, relaxing time.  :-) 

I feel like we had a busy week but apparently nothing else was photo worthy LOL  

Weekly Menu

 As we enter that last full month of summer vacation, we also enter a week of Nana camp :-)  We started this simple tradition last year where my teens go to my mom's for a week of what we lovingly call "Nana camp".  They spend the week at her house playing lots of games, maybe going on an adventure if there is anything fun to do, and just hanging out for the week at her house.  She treats them well with food and fun and it is a great way to make memories! 

Friday - pork loin and broccoli rice cheese casserole 

Saturday - The guys have another bonfire with friends so Darryl and I will enjoy dinner at home - maybe something on the grill

Sunday - Roast in the crock pot with noodles and a salad

Monday - My guys head to Nana's.  Today is also our anniversary so we will get something out for dinner tonight. 

The rest of the week I'm not sure what we will do for meals - I like being able to plan by the day and even go to the store to grab something simple without putting a lot of planning into the week.  It is also a nice break from planning meals for me!  

Recipe Fun!

 Recently we enjoyed a favorite for dinner - well, actually two favorites! 

Years ago one of my favorite restaurants was called Macaroni Grill and they had amazing bread plus they created a dipping sauce at your table for the bread.  I've recreated it (kind of) and we always enjoy it with soups or this pasta dish. I keep the bread super simple and just buy a can of Pillsbury French Bread to cook in the oven.  For the dipping sauce I add Italian Seasoning, Natures Seasoning, and Parmesan cheese together in a bowl and then add olive oil.  Mix it all together and enjoy it with bread.  The amount of seasoning and cheese is up to you! 

This next recipe comes from Skinnytaste and is called Spaghetti Carbonara.  This is one of those recipes that I saw one day but wasn't convinced we would love it because, well, a poached egg?  How weird, right? I was so wrong!  This is one of our top five favorite meals to have.  I would really call it a Breakfast Spaghetti because it has bacon and eggs in it HA!.  The recipe calls for Arugula, which is amazing but also a little pricey and we don't really use it for anything else so I, instead, use spinach as the "green" in this pasta.  Now, don't let the thought of poaching an egg scare you - it is super easy!  My suggesting is to crack each egg into it's own little bowl and then pour them individually from the bowl into the boiling water one at a time. I will also confess that I use more bacon than the recipe calls for because, well, there can never be too much bacon! 

Now, what does that runny egg do to the pasta?  It makes the most glorious, silky sauce!  Slice the egg open and stir the runny yolk into the pasta that already has a "sauce" make from cooking down the small amount of bacon grease with chicken stock.  It is just luscious!  

Enjoy!  

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