Weekly Menu

This week it is back to a little more of a normal routine.  My brother and his family have headed back home and it's just going to be quiet for a bit.

I've become quite bored with our normal recipes so I've been saving and printing recipes for a few weeks as I've come across them online.

I've also been so enjoying the Pioneer Woman episodes during the pandemic because she is recording them at home with her kids as the camera crew and they are just all so fun!

Friday - I'm doing grocery shopping today.  I don't love cooking after a big day of shopping and, considering I haven't had to do any major grocery shopping in over two weeks this one will be a little bigger, so I had to plan ahead.  I put some potatoes in the crock pot, have frozen veggies to cook, and finally, Pioneer Woman Recipe #1 - Honey Chili Shrimp.  Something really quick and easy!

Saturday - We are eating with my mom.  I think we are treating ourselves to Pizza tonight.  After all my mom and I both need a break from cooking HA!  (Ok, really my mom - she's cooked a lot over the past two weeks!)

Sunday - Pioneer Woman recipe #2 - Veggie Ravioli Bake, a salad, and Garlic Bread.  I might try to put the veggie portion on only part of it so Josh will still eat it :-)

Monday - Tacos.   Nate has TKD testing tonight so we all just need to eat something.  :-)

Tuesday - New Recipe #3 - Hawaiian Chicken Sliders, a new cauliflower recipe,  french fries and salad

Wednesday - New Recipe #4 - Simple Chicken and Snow Pea Stir-Fry, Rice, and Salad

Thursday - New Recipe #5 - Chicken Legs in a new chicken marinade, Baked Beans, French Bread, and Veggies

I also have a couple of lunch ideas I'm going to try for myself and a new cake recipe.

So yes, this is the week of "new".  All the recipes look good and most are pretty simple so hopefully it will all work out!  Maybe they will even be good enough to be added into the recipe box verses the recipe being tossed in the garbage!

Inside the Mind of a List Maker

Are you a list maker?  Do you set goals . .. yearly, weekly, or daily goals?  I am a list maker and I set goals - all kinds of goals.  It makes me happy!

In our first year of marriage, as we relaxed on New Years Day, I looked at Darryl and asked, 'So, what are your goals for the year?"  He looked at me funny.  He doesn't set goals.  I made him write a goal list thinking everyone should do this wonderful thing.  Guess what?  By January 2nd he had no idea what he had written down.  For real.

Darryl has asked me the following a few times -- "Why do you make a list or set goals when you know you won't complete them?"  I think that's the secret behind the mind of a list maker.

Are you ready?  That secret is simply without a list nothing gets done; with a list something gets done.  I know when I post my monthly goals or when I write a daily list that I will not accomplish everything on the list.  Shoot, sometimes I don't complete ANYTHING on it but at least I tried!

Planning makes me feel secure.  Writing things down in my planner is my sure fire way of making sure that I don't miss an appointment or event that is important.  Plus, a planner brings me joy.

Last week was a week where I made an incredible plan.  I had a couple of days off from babysitting and I was giving the kids a "vacation" week so I didn't need to plan, prepare, and execute their plans.  With that in mind, I made a plan of what I wanted to done - some huge projects to be honest.  Do you know how much of that list I got done?  Next to nothing! 


On one hand I was a little mad at myself but on the other hand, I understand that I had other things get in the way and, honestly, it was humid and and that makes me not want to do much . As a list maker, I don't see failure, even though I'm sure some of you do, but rather I see opportunity.  I can look at my long unfinished list and break it down into smaller bites to work on in the coming days.

What We Are Eating Wednesday - Easy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Sorry for slacking last week ;-)  Since we've been eating with family a lot the last week and a half last weeks food post just slipped right by!  I gathered a few new recipes recently and am working on trying those out so hopefully I'll have some "material" for the next few months!

I also feel like I'm in a rut with cooking - which usually happens in July/August.  Searching Pinterest always brings up some new ideas along with my favorite, The Pioneer Woman.  I like to keep things real with these posts so I will share new recipes that I try and be honest about how they tasted and how they looked!

So, a friend shared a post on Facebook for these super easy chocolate chip cookies.  I used to bake a lot before we had kids.  I usually baked some type of bread as well as a dessert or cookie.  I quit baking because my kids don't really eat it so I was throwing a lot away.  Well, they are starting to enjoy treats a little more so I figured this was a good recipe to try and it was actually a hit.  Half the pan was gone before I even cut them and put them in a container and that is ALWAYS a positive sign of a successful cookie!

Here's the recipe:

And yes, it is really that easy.

Graduation Album - The Final Book

This year I created my tenth and final graduation book for my nieces and nephews.  I started this when the oldest graduated A LONG TIME AGO.  I still remember his - it was huge.  I printed off tons and tons of photos from the course of his life; I made everyone create their own scrapbook page and write a letter to him on that page; I incorporated the words of a song throughout the pages.  Wow.  Each year the books got a little more defined until about number 7 when I changed them to instead reflect family.  I searched for photos with the graduate and family members through the years.  This, I felt, made it more personal.  I also had to resort to allowing the family to e-mail or message me their letters in order to make sure I received them all.

This years book is not quite done.  With it being the final book it has taken a little more prompting to get the family letters and I'm still waiting on a few.  I refuse to give the book as a gift without it being complete so I'll wait for those to arrive before I put the finishing touches on it and send it! 

I'm not sure what I'll do for my boys when they graduate -- I might have to get creative :-)

Week 5 - Looks and Links

Wow.  We are on week 5 of our summer plans.  I actually thought I'd be ready for a Vacation week after week 2 HA!  Instead I've enjoyed planning our activities and seeing what the kids can do.

So, why is this week a vacation week?  Very simply because it's a short week.  We have family in town this week so we are doing a few things with them on Monday.  My extra kids are also taking Tuesday off.

That brings us back together for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.  I know we will be busy with our family in the evenings so I wanted to keep the day time a little more relaxed for us.

I had planned to use the week as a "project week" but that did not happen either.  We were busy, stayed up late, and I wasn't super motivated.  On Friday I finally did some cleaning and picking up around the house.

I had also hoped to have some photos of those projects that didn't get done . . .but I don't HA!  Oh well.

So, instead, I'll leave you with this cute photo.

Weekly Worship - Still Rolling Stones (Lyric Video) - Lauren Daigle

Enjoy :-) 

Weekly Photos 2020 #27

We had a good week with some family in town.  Here's a look back at some of our adventures

Saturday - We hung out at home before going to my mom's for dinner.

Sunday - Another quiet day at home.  Darryl and I were just commenting on how we always stay home on the weekend HA!

Monday - My brother and his family came into town late Sunday night.  We then all headed to my nephews house for the day.

This is proof that my mom climbed the rock wall! 

We went to the beach.  The water felt a little chilly . . .it was about 40 degrees HA!  Two days before the water temp was about 75.  Crazy Lake Michigan.  

Tuesday - We played games at my moms before dinner.  Then we headed to my cousins FroYo place.  It was fun to catch up with family.

Wednesday - Time for more games!!

Nate stayed the night at Nana's on Tuesday.  He hung out with Aunt Lynnette and they did a work out and went for a power walk.  (For the record, on Thursday, Nate couldn't put deodorant on because he couldn't lift his arms HA!) 

And yes, my mom played Twister too! 

Thursday - This was a quite day at home. 

Friday - Darryl spent the day with his dad and we spent the day at home!  The boys and I went for a drive and grabbed dinner.  On the way home, I stopped and told them to get out of the car and run down a sidewalk.  Why?  There were sprinklers!! HA!  They had so much fun!