Weekly Meal Plan: Superbowl and Week of February 4th

Update from last week's menu:

 

The braised pork shoulder with pepperoni sauce was ah. maz. ing. We definitely plan to pull this recipe out for our next dinner party.  Here is Greg getting it prepped:



 

 

And the finished product:

 

The stuffed peppers were also super good, but I'm the only one who ate them:

 

 

I also (in an effort to get Ben to eat even when he is rejecting the food I put in front of him), remembered the delicious tofu shakes that my mom used to make when I was little!  I had to get a reminder from her about what all went into them, but it's really simple. 

 

Soft tofu

Banana

Frozen Strawberries (or fresh, but I like the frozen ones as they double as ice)

Water

Sweetener (I use Stevia) if needed

= Blend!

 

Ben loved them!  Like, sucked a whole glass down with a straw.  This has been breakfast for both of us most of the week!  

 

 

 



Now for this week:

 

 

Superbowl:  We are going to Dan and Jeannette's for Superbowl, and are in charge of bringing an appetizer.  Mexican Spirals is always a party favorite, so why mess with a good thing?

 

Mexican Spirals

*Makes about 5 dozen

1 pkg (8oz) cream cheese, softened
1 cup diced cooked chicken
1/4 lb Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
3/4 teas dried coriander
2 Tab diced jalepeno peppers
2 teas ground cumin
salt
4 flour tortillas (10in)
vegetable oil
salsa and sour cream to serve

- In large bowl, combine all ingredients up to tortillas.

- Spread mixture evenly over tortillas. Roll up each tortilla tightly around chicken mixture. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 2 hours or up to 24 hours.

- Just before serving, cut each tortilla roll into 1/2inch slices. Arrange on greased baking sheet, brush with oil (or spray with cooking spray). Bake at 350 for 12-15min or until lightly browned.

- Serve warm with sour cream and salsa for dipping.

** You can make a double batch, roll up the tortillas, and freeze - easy to thaw, slice and bake at a later time.
 

Monday: Quinoa & Sweet Potato Chili

 

Tuesday: Cod with mustard-tarragon crust, roasted rosemary carrots, arugula salad.

 

Wednesday: Chicken Gyros

Thursday: Greg wants to make meatballs, so he is taking over dinner tonight while I go out to HH with a friend.

Friday: We have a groupon to use at a local restaurant, so we will try to head out for dinner if time allows!

 

 



Say what?

16 Months Old

Oh man.  Benjamin is 16 months old. 

Honest moment:

Before I got pregnant, and before I had Ben, and I would see moms out at the store chasing after or trying to wrangle their toddlers, or trying to manage some sort of a tantrum, I would pity them and think about how lucky I was to not have to deal with that ;)  For the longest time, that was what my image of "being a mom" was.  And then I had Ben, and for many, MANY months, I would think how lucky I was to not have one of those kids. 

And then he got older, and more able.

Parenting is so funny, and the stuff you have to manage changes so frequently.  The amazing thing is that even when it feels tough, it still is so rewarding, so much fun, and you wouldn't want to trade places with anyone else.  It may feel sometimes like Ben never stops (ever, he never stops), but watching him grow, learn, and change has forced me to do the same - grown, learn, change, and adapt.  I am constantly reminded that this is WHY I chose to have a baby in the first place - to love him, to show him the world and to experience all of that learning and fun from a different perspective.

Lately, both Greg and I have been feeling like Ben needs something more.  I want to get him involved in more activities, get him around more kids his age, do more projects with him - simply TEACH him more.  It's hard not to have massive parent guilt when you realize how much of a sponge they are right now and it often feels like we aren't doing ENOUGH.  I want to expose him to as much as I possibly can.  I'm going to pay a membership fee at the local YMCA so that we can start up swim lessons in March and a parent/toddler gym class that I think starts in the Spring, too. And next weekend we are going to try out a music class at Gymboree :)

It becomes overwhelming at times trying to shape and form a person while keeping up with the rest of our lives.  I've been somewhat forced into accepting that many other things (cleaning, social life, Real Housewives, sanity) truly will need to take a backseat more often so that I can feel good about the amount of time I focus on him.  I am noticing that when I try to "do it all - perfectly", I am setting myself up for failure.  My new plan will be to do some things well, some things very well, and other things not well at all.  (Not easy for a Type A to accept).

But enough about that :)

BEN.  He is so fun, and so funny, right now.  He loves to climb EVERYTHING.  He loves to rough house.  Last week I took him to Jump Planet and we had the time of our lives.

He loves to climb at home, too:

Lately (and probably forever, he just wasn't coordinated enough), he is VERY into opening and closing doors, flipping light switches on and off, putting lids on and off things, putting his straw in and out of the straw hole on his cup, etc. 

Another thing he does lately that cracks us up is his version of "All done".  Callie taught him this sign language move MONTHS ago:

Over time, (probably by mine and Greg's poor signing) it has slowly morphed into what looks like a take on jazz hands. 

But hey, at least we know what he means and he looks awesome doing it :)

Ben loves the park (and we do, too).  We have a really cute park within walking distance of our house (a decent, hilly walk so it doubles as a mini-workout).

He still LOVES baths, or showers.

 

Aunt Rachel providing bath time entertainment.

 

 

Shower time!  (Not Aunt Rachel).

Ben likes to be around other kids, I think.  He seems drawn to kid's voices especially.

 

Macking on the baby at the neighboring table last weekend.

 

"Playing" with Mason - but really, if you look closely,

I think he is about to remove his hand from his toy.

 

While it feels like he is constantly moving, right before bedtime, he loves to snuggle. His favorite thing right now is to touch bare skin. (That sounds odd, I know). But if he has a bare arm, he will just run his hand up and down it forever. And if he can snuggle in close and touch my stomach, jackpot. He will crack UP, and then settle in. There really is something to that whole skin on skin thing - must be comforting or something. (And I love it).

 
This is such a fun age.  This is such a BUSY age!  We love how much fun and purpose Ben has brought to our lives!  

Someone's been sleeping in my bed

Meal Planning: Week of January 28th

Is this blog turning into a food blog?  I need to beef up my Ben posts.  (Mmmmm....beef...)

Review of last week:

• The clam spaghetti turned out great.  I could have tripled the amount of mushrooms in it though (and I had already doubled the amount the recipe called for).  The tomato basil mozzarella salad was great, too!
• The roasted shrimp and spaghetti squash was not good.  Super bland.  I do like spaghetti squash in place of noodles though, so I will need to try a different, more flavorful recipe next time I make that.
• The beef stew was okay.  I'll give it a 6/10.  Greg seemed to like it, but I think I just prefer chili if I am making something with beef stew meat.

Now to what is on the menu this weekend and week:

Saturday: I'm so totally excited about the Braised Pork Shoulder with Pepperoni Sauce we plan to make this weekend. Greg and I just finished the Top Chef All Stars season, and Mike Isabella made this in the finale. We both were DROOLING over it, so we decided that we will teach ourselves how to braise some meat and make ourselves a bomb Saturday night meal.

Monday: Something easy, like hot dogs or macaroni and cheese.  I'm teaching yoga, so the boys can explore the fridge/pantry themselves and I'll eat cereal when I get home.

Tuesday:  Ever since we made this a few weeks back, I have been wanting it again.  Chicken Saltimbocca.  We will have it with arugula salad.

Wednesday: Another craving that I need to have again - Chicken and Potato Florentine Soup.

Thursday: Stuffed Peppers.

Friday: Beer & Bacon Mac and Cheese.

Master B

So gangsta.

15 Month Check Up

 

Sure, he turns 16 months tomorrow, but we just got around to going in for his 15 month check up this week.  (His doctor is busy and books up quickly)!

 

Here are Ben's latest stats:

 

Weight: 23 lbs 13.5 oz - (35th percentile)

Height: 33 inches - (89th percentile)

Head Circumference: 19.5 inches (95th percentile)

 

Not much else to report on!  The doctor said it's "normal" for kids his age to know 3-6 words, and I would say he is in that range.  (Mama, dada, "yesh"/yes).  I thought it was interesting that all of the things I was SO concerned about at his 12 month check up (him not taking well to "real" milk, not having much of an appetite, and his....digestive issues) are all non issues now.  It goes to show that any and everything can stress you out about parenting if you allow it to, but that most things will pass with time.

 

We ended up in a room that didn't have any kid toys, but Ben found plenty of things to get into while we passed the time.



Meal Planning: Week of January 21st

Review of last week:

• The Chicken Saltimbocca was AMAZING.  Definitely a new top 10 recipe in the Ingle house.  While I LOVED the mashed cauliflower "potatoes", Greg made a face and said, "um, no", and Ben dry-heaved upon tasting them.  So, whatever.  I live with veggie haters and it will be the death of me.
• I never made the Green Goddess Grilled Cheese - I opted for microwave popcorn drizzled in white truffle oil (TRY IT) for my dinner instead.
• The Baked Creamy Chicken Taquitos were a hit - and it was an easy make-ahead meal.
• Tortelinni with Brussels Sprouts was great!  I didn't expect Greg to like this one as much as he did.  It was a successful week of food for sure!

I wanted to add the meal I plan to make this Saturday night, as it's one of my all-time favorite dishes my mom has made for me - Clam Spaghetti!  It was always the meal I requested as my birthday dinner, along with delicious garlic bread :)  We have some friends coming over for dinner on Saturday, so I thought I would bust this recipe out.  I plan to make a simple Tomato Basil Mozzarella Salad to go with it.

Monday: Roasted Shrimp with Spaghetti Squash. This recipe sounded great to me, but I'll keep some regular pasta on hand in case the squash "noodles" don't work out.

Tuesday: Chicken enchiladas (no link to recipe).  Rachel has made this for us a few times, and I've totally worked it into my regular rotation.  It's super easy, and if you use a rotisserie chicken, even easier.

Wednesday: There is nothing I enjoy more than coming home to a delicious stew that has been cooking in my slow cooker all day. This one for Beef Stew sounded pretty good!

Thursday: Cheese Tortellini with Lemon and Brussels Sprouts. Since this was such an crowd-pleaser last week (as in, the boys picked out the brussels sprouts and still enjoyed the pasta and bacon, and I loaded up on extra veggies), and since we have extra ingredients left over, I figured I would make another batch.  This time, I think I will add in some chicken.  Another side note, simple cheese tortellini is a perfect thing to keep stocked in the freezer when you have a toddler.  Throw any sauce and vegetable together with it and you have an easy, hearty meal.

Friday: We have a coupon for a $5 pizza from Papa Murphy's. I think I'll pick up a healthier "deLite" pizza (unless Greg happens to read this between now and then and demands his 5 meat stuffed.

SATC

Yep, still obsessed.

Weekend Recap

Last weekend was a good one. 

After months and months of waiting and wanting to be SURE that I loved it, we went and purchased a couch for the front room!  Soon, Ben will have just a little less space to roam free, as his "playroom" will slowly be furnished this year.

 

(Not my living room, obviously).

 

But I really do LOVE this sofa, and I can't wait to have something nice to sit on in the front room while I watch Ben climb up and down from the window seat.  It will arrive in a few weeks - yippie!  Another fun(ny) side note - this sofa, the "Petrie Sofa" was named after Rob and Laura Petrie on Dick Van Dyke show.  Cute.  I totally watched reruns of that show when I was little :)

 

We also played around with skipping Ben's morning nap on Saturday and ran all of our errands instead.  He was so unbelievably tired that he slept for 3.5 hours when we returned home - which meant Greg and I had a long Top Chef marathon and spent a relaxing afternoon (almost) kid-free :)

 

On Sunday, we took a ferry over to visit our friends Kristin and Craig in Poulsbo!  We hadn't seen her for MONTHS (and we hadn't even met Craig yet - we absolutely approve, btw!!) so it was great to spend some time with them and watch the Seahawks lose (boo).

 

 





We learned after back to back days of skipping his morning nap that Ben absolutely still requires one.  My kid is ON A SCHEDULE (like his mama).  And I like it. :)

Meal Planning: Week of January 14th

Who is ready for another week of food?!

I have to say, with Ben's new teeth coming in (he has 10+ chompers now) it is making my meal planning a little easier.  I can actually see him moving food to the back of his mouth, so I am a lot less worried about incorporating stuff that he can chew because he is doing a pretty good job with everything now.  He also (at times) has been more willing to try different things, so I'm using that as my opportunity to develop his palate.  (Yes, still obsessed with Top Chef).

I also have to say how excited I was to see that my friend Brenna has adopted my meal planning mission!  She is an excellent cook, so I look forward to seeing what she puts together, particularly what she makes for weeknight meals when time is limited.  :)

After a few months of doing this, I have noticed that we are starting to have the right items in the pantry and in the freezer for what we like to eat.  For example, this week, we will be using frozen boneless/skinless chicken breasts and cod currently in our freezer, quinoa and chicken/vegetable stock that we always have on hand in the pantry, and goat cheese, tortillas and minced garlic that we tend to keep stocked in the fridge.  Sure, there are a lot of items we still need to pick up each week (OMG our milk budget - never thought we would go through the gallons each month!), but I am finding it is getting easier to plan our menu based on the items I know we tend to stay on top of.

A quick review of last week:

• I wouldn't make the Chicken Florentine Artichoke Bake again.  It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great.
• I never ended up making the Chicken Chickpea Chopped Salad.  I made BBQ Chicken Quinoa Salad instead, which was excellent a second time.
• The Cheesy Chicken, Bacon and Avocado Quesadillas were DELICIOUS.  Greg told me they were restaurant quality!

Now, after several tangents, here is the menu for this week:

Monday: Soup (canned) and sandwiches.  I think for mine I will try this Green Goddess Grilled Cheese I saw on Pinterest this week.  Greg and Ben will probably opt for something more "meat and cheese".

Tuesday: Chicken Saltimbocca (this is a "skinny" version, but this dish is one of Greg's favorites so hopefully it's a hit!) and cauliflower "mashed potatoes" and roasted rosemary carrots.

Wednesday: Baked Creamy Chicken Taquitos.

Thursday: Tortellini with Lemon and Brussels Sprouts (and bacon) and an arugula salad.

Friday: Roast Cod with Garlic Butter over quinoa.

Ducks: Part Deux

After our run in with the ducks a couple months ago, Greg has wanted to pay them a visit again - but this time, with snacks!

 

Side note - we have most definitely entered into what will one day be known as Ben's "bear phase".  I cannot get enough of him in this thing.

Meal Planning - Week of January 7th (and my 10 Day Cleanse Review)

Hello!  I'm back on track (sort of) with planning our meals!  I had to take a break as it was impossible to really plan much of anything when I was eliminating dairy and wheat during my cleanse.  I will start by saying a few things about the cleanse though, for anyone who is interested:

The good:

1) It worked great - I lost 4 lbs in 10 days, (even though I cheated on the plan a few times) and I feel like it helped me to remember what it was like to "watch what I eat".  I got so lost from being pregnant to then burning more calories than I ever thought possible with breastfeeding, that I needed a reminder about how to eat just for ME and what my body needs again.

2) It got me back into drinking lots of water!  After having Ben, and once I was able to drink massive quantities of coffee and diet coke (and wine) again, I most definitely did!  Now I'm drinking almost a gallon of water each day, which my skin and hair definitely appreciate.

3) It forced me into eating different things.  I had been in a (delicious) "pastries for breakfast", "cookies for snacks" and "chocolate for dessert" rut.  Now I'm taking the time to have eggs and fruit for breakfast, raw nuts or fruit for snack, and my all time favorite (healthy-ish) dessert, banana and peanut butter.

4) I feel like my energy is a lot higher!  For the longest time, I was finding myself asleep by 8:30/9 pm (at the latest), and now for the most part, I'm able to stay up later. 

The bad:

1) I am not one for depriving myself.  Sure, I don't need sweets and wine every single day, but if you tell me I cannot have it, I CRAVE IT DESPERATELY!  I went to the movies twice during this 10 day cleanse, and both times I needed popcorn.  (For the record, I only got it one of those times, and it was small and unbuttered).  I'm not even a person that gets popcorn that often when we go to the movies!  It was simply the fact that I was NOT supposed to have it that made it so tempting.

2) Meal planning for you family (particularly a family with 2 hungry boys that don't enjoy many fresh vegetables) was particularly challenging.  I did make a few things that were hits, but mostly, Greg would sigh upon entering the kitchen and would remind me that HE was not on this cleanse :)

3) Long term, I just cannot commit to this type of eating, which now I feel a little guilty about (and food guilt is lame).  SO, I am choosing to take some of the healthy habits (more H2O, less late night cookie consumption, more protein and fiber, less soda and unnecessary carbs) and call it good :)

So, back to planning for the week!

Monday:  Shauna and Bronson are coming over for dinner tonight, and I'll be making this Chicken Florentine Artichoke Bake, a spinach salad and some roasted carrots with rosemary.

Tuesday:  I'm kind of hoping we will go out to a Japanese Steak House for dinner, as Greg and I have both been talking about how good that has sounded lately.  If not, we will just have Monday's leftovers!

Wednesday:  Ben has a doctor's appointment Wednesday evening, so if Greg makes it in time to join us, we may grab something quick and easy on the way home.

Thursday:  Baked Garlic Brown Sugar Chicken, Roasted Zucchini, Carrots and Rosemary Potatoes.

Friday: Chicken Chickpea Chopped Salad and Cheesy Chicken, Bacon and Avocado Quesadillas.

The Bear

It's no secret that I love a good bear accessory.  I was so obsessed with Ben's first bear (ear) hat...

...that I ordered another one in his size a couple months ago, (which soon after got lost - keeping a hat on Ben is near impossible these days, and I think he took it off and threw it down in the grocery store at some point). 

My friends Jamie and Collin gave Ben a cold-weather bear suit that he wore and was so snuggley in last winter, but this of course no longer fits him:

So back to the present day:  Lisa stopped by a few days ago with a Christmas gift for Ben!  She got him some adorable pop-up books which we all LOVE (and read to Ben from a distance because he wants to tear apart the pages), and the cutest bear outfit!  I'm so happy to be able to "bear" Ben up once again!

This get-up has both roll over mittens and foot covers, so he (I) can choose to wear shoes with it, or stay extra cozy (like when he is in the stroller).  And when he drops down into a crawling position, he actually looks like a bear.

Anyway, I couldn't love this thing more! :)