Weekly Menu - The Unofficial Start of Summer

 And just like that it's summer.  Ok, not technically but it is the "unofficial start to summer" here in Michigan.  That is what Memorial Day does around here.  I guess because this means the snow is USUALLY done HA!  Time to plant flowers and make the yard look pretty for a month before it gets so hot that everything dies LOL!  Not sure how my brothers live in the South!! 

Here's the truth of menu planning this week - we have covid in the house so all of our plans this past week and into the holiday weekend were cancelled and we hare enjoying time at home.  I don't love grocery order/pick-up but I am using it this weekend!  Hopefully this will clear out in the next few days so we can count down to getting back to normal :-) 

Friday - Dr. Pepper Crock Pot Meatballs, Chips and Salsa and Fruit and Dip  

Saturday - Pulled Pork, Sweet Potatoes, and Corn

Sunday - Roast, Potatoes, and Green Beans 

Monday -  Brats, Corn on the Cob and Baked Beans, water melon  . . . . . plus a Summer Trifle 

Tuesday -  Josh and Nate have a piano recital so I think we will just grab something afterwards - if they are hungry (It's actually a student party for just the students so they can play for each other and have snacks and desserts so maybe they won't be hungry!) 

Wednesday -  French Toast Sticks and Bacon/Sausage

Thursday - BBQ Chicken and Fried Rice 

Weekly Menu

 Things are really settling down around here.  Music lessons are wrapping up; all of our extra stuff is winding down; school is almost done.  We are home most nights which is nice and it also makes cooking easier!  We still have a few things the next few weeks but otherwise, we are finding ourselves home more then we are not!  I'm looking forward to a slightly slower pace for a bit I think!  

Here's the plan for the coming week:

Friday: My neighbor gave us some ham leftover from a babyshower so the plan is ham, french fries and salad. 

Saturday - dinner at my mom's

Sunday - Burgers on the grill, chips and salsa and watermelon

Monday - Enchiladas, chips and salsa and salad

Tuesday - Pineapple Shrimp Fried Rice and Shrimp Egg Rolls 

Wednesday - It's my mom's birthday!  Steak, Crash potatoes, Raspberry Pretzel Salad, Rolls and dessert! 

Thursday - Beef Stir-fry and Rice along with Wonton Soup 

Seems we have a slight Chinese Theme for Dinner this week - sometimes I don't notice that until I actually type it out here!  

Weekly Menu

 We are back from vacation (we had an amazing time) and we hit the ground running.  This week was state testing so I had to go into "the big city" (HA!) 4 days so, for real, lots of "running" to get my guys to their testing each day.  My mom helped us out with dinner one night, which was great, plus I attended a ladies event on one night too. Anyway, here's the plan for the coming week. 

Friday - I picked up "street tacos" at the store - it's a premade item so all we do is build the tacos.  We've had them before and really enjoy them.  

Saturday - My guys are taking me out for the afternoon as is our tradition! 

Sunday - Dinner at my mom's for mother's day. 

Monday - Skillet Turkey and Cauliflower Rice Bowl and chips and salsa

Tuesday - Chicken Chimichangas, Salad, and chips and salsa

Wednesday - Tonight is the last regular Youth Group which means we all eat at seperate times

Thursday - Garlic Shrimp and Risotto with peas. 

I'm using the Skinnytaste Website as my menu planner.  So far we've really enjoyed the recipes from the site and I'm enjoying trying some new things. 

Weekly Menu

 After a week away (I'll share about our vacation soon!) it's back to reality and we are hitting the ground running this week!  Joshua and Nate have state testing this week so I am away from home Tuesday-Friday while they test.  Dinners need to be "old favorites" that are easy and quick.  

Friday -Sunday - We are still gone/traveling

Monday - Today is the only day we are home but it's also the day I need to unpack and go to the store!  So, Sloopy Joes, Potato Salad and Chips are the plan! 

Tuesday - Tacos on this Taco Tuesday!

Wednesday - We actually have nothing on this Wednesday now that AWANA is done!  Spaghetti and Garlic Bread for the win tonight

Thursday - I'm heading out this evening so dinner has to be easy for the guys - Leftovers :-)  There should be left over Sloppy Joes and left over taco meat.  I'll also have soup on hand just in case.  

A Little Recap

 Do you remember those spring break goals I posted a few weeks ago?  I figured it was time to update you all on the progress since spring break is done and gone. 

First and foremost, spring break was cold and wet.  I took full advantage of the dreary days to enjoy a blanket, book and coffee and I read.  I finished my book club book and started a new book!  It was great. 

Second, Joshua, Nate and I went through their clothes; cleaned out the winter stuff as well as summer stuff they had out grown; made a trip to Wal-Mart to purchase anything needed for the summer.  There was also an order placed on Amazon for the stuff we couldn't get at Wal-Mart (like Tall size Small Shorts - there really is such a thing!) 

Third, my main focus was photos/scrapbooking.  I went through and figured out where I had stopped uploading and ordering photos for the years I still needed to finish and then proceeded to upload and then order everything through 2020.  I put completed pages into scrapbooks.  I also cleaned out my file drawers and pulled out the last of the memorabilia that needs to still go into albums. I also was able to scrapbook over two weekends!  It's been since November so it was nice to get back into the groove once again.  Finally, I got all of the photos off of my phone, out of the cloud, and off my camera into my computer.  Then, I sorted them into folders by month/year.  It doesn't seem like a big deal until I state that all of that photo organization, downloading, uploading, and then uploading to Snapfish to order took about 30 hours total.  I still have to order a few months in 2021 and then January-March 2022 to be current but that is budgeted into May.  At that point, I will have everything ordered and ready to be scrapbooked so I can then just (hopefully) keep up monthly with ordering photos.  WHEW  Now I can focus on scrapbooking the photos instead of ordering them all.  

Now that I have my photos up to date again I hope to get back to my weekly "Week in Photos" post.  It's always fun to look back at it each year and see what we've done and what has changed!  

Weekly Menu

Can you believe that it is already Easter Weekend?  I will admit that I kind of miss the simplicity of what we did in 2021.  We still hadn't returned to in person church yet so we just gathered at home with my mom.  We started our day with a wonderful brunch followed by an Easter Sunday School Style Bible activity before watching a service on-line.  Then we did our traditional things - Easter Baskets and Easter Egg Hunts before heading to my moms for Easter Dinner.  It was a perfect mix of remembering what Easter is really about, having traditional fun, and, well, just relaxing.  This year is more "normal" with church, Choir, and Easter dinner at my mom's.  It is still good, just got me thinking about last year :-) 

This weeks meals will be a little more simple as we get ready to head out on Vacation. 

Here's the plan for the coming week:

Friday - Shrimp and Grits :-)  We loved this so much last time and I have almost everything on hand I need to make it so I shall!  I'll add roasted asparagus as a side. 

Saturday - My mom is cooking :-) 

Sunday - Dinner at my Mom's for Easter :-) 

Monday - Amish Chicken, Noodles, and Green beans

Tuesday - Tacos!  (It is Tuesday after all!) 

Wednesday - Tonight is AWANA awards - hard to believe both of my kids are done with this great program!  Anyway, time will be limited for dinner tonight  so it will be something I can heat up quickly like grilled cheese or leftovers! 

Thursday - Pulled Pork, Baked Potatoes and Corn

 

Weekly Menu

 The last two weeks meals shifted some due to either forgetting items at the grocery store or just forgetting about things going on!  Sometimes when I plan  -  I don't have my calendar in front of me or have more fun looking at recipes then looking at the events of the upcoming week!  But, we did eat some great food recently :-)  I love my new SkinnyTaste Cookbook as well as recipes I'm finding on her website.  They seem to have alot of flavor . .. even if they do take some extra time to prep and cook sometimes.  

With that said, here is the plan for the coming week.  

Friday - Homemade pizza and salad.  A friend shared her pizza crust recipe a few weeks ago that I've been wanting to try so I think it's time :-) 

Saturday - My mom's for dinner

Sunday - Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos (SkinnyTaste) with chips and chili cheese dip (Josh's favorite) and Salad

Monday - BBQ, Mashed potatoes, and Garlic Bread (quick and easy on a busy night)

Tuesday - Mississippi Pot Roast, Baked Potaotos and Corn.  

Wednesday - Nate's last night of AWANA (Say it isn't so!) and Josh has youth group so we all go different directions

Thursday - Roasted Pork Loin, Mac and Cheese, and Applesauce