Meal Planning: Week of January 30th

Review from last week:

I tried two new recipes that were absolutely delicious!  The beef bulgogi was amazzzzzzzzzzzzzzzing.  And so easy.  Highly recommend this one.  Next time I'll make 4 times the amount of beef to have for lots of leftovers.

Spaghetti squash with meat ragu.  Really loved this one too.  So much that I'm making it again!

Plan for next week:

Saturday: Rosemary Chicken Salad with Bacon and Avocado and garlic bread


Sunday: Spaghetti Squash with Meat Ragu

Monday: Chicken Enchiladas

Tuesday: Roasted Chicken (from the store), roasted carrots and stuffing.

Wednesday: Leftovers

Thursday: Paprika White Wine Bucatini

Friday: Leftovers

Meal Planning: Week of January 23rd

Review from last week:

Rosemary chicken salad.  I love rediscovering an old favorite!

Chicken in tomato-chipolte sauce:

A mid-week stop at Trader Joe's resulted in me in having snacks for dinner: Sauteed Kale with garlic, steamed lentils with bruschetta sauce and feta, pretzel slims and cherry tomatoes.

 

Grilled burger over arugula, topped with feta and caramelized onions.

 

Plan for next week:

Saturday: Beef Bulgogi Lettuce Wraps

Sunday: Chicken & Kale Caesar-Style Salad

Monday: Spaghetti Squash with Meat Ragu

Tuesday: Chicken Pot Pie

Wednesday: Take Out/Leftovers

Thursday: Roasted Nutmeg Delicata Squash, roasted carrots and grilled chicken.

Friday: Leftovers

Week in Photos: Sick Day(s), A Visit from Pepper, and Kindergarten Registration!

A couple Fridays ago, Ben got home from school, was uninterested in eating dinner (very unusual after school), and then barfed all over the bathroom.  The rest of the weekend was pretty low key, but he didn't ever seem to get REALLY sick (Friday evening barfing aside).

So we enjoyed the quiet:

Greg seems to have come down with something different from what Ben had, and Ben JUMPED at the chance to assist.  As soon as Greg mentioned he wasn't feeling well, Ben yelled "I'LL GO GET MY DOCTOR OUTFIT" and gave him a complete physical ;)

The Steelers are in the playoffs and Ben and Greg are particularly enjoying it :)

Bothell Birds + Sunset views from our deck.

Ben, feeling much better this week, on an afternoon rainy stroll with Grandma.

I picked up the Kindergarten registration forms this week - a milestone that feels absolutely impossible to me.  While I may not be ready, Ben is pretty nailing the top ten Kindergarten readiness skills on the checklist they gave me, which makes me know that this next step is going to be really exciting for him!

Rachel and Pepper came by to spend an afternoon with me and Ben and it was SO great to catch up with them!  Ben was really sweet with Pepper and Pepper does NOT hold back on the smiles with him, or me!  I had the pleasure of her falling asleep in my arms, too :)  While it's easy to miss the baby stage (so, so much sometimes), I'm grateful that my friends have little ones to help with the baby cravings!

 

Playing with his imagination magnets, one of the toys we got him for Christmas.  The other day he made me a Minion all on his own and it was so cute!

A beautiful sunrise!  Despite the frigid temperatures, it sure has been pretty lately!

Meal Planning: Week of January 16th

Review from last week:

Blue Apron: Chicken, couscous and broccoli and a creamy, lemon yogurt dressing.

Blue Apron: Guacamole burger and roasted sweet potato and red onion.

 

Salad week: I highly recommend you try this recipe for Rosemary Chicken Salad with Bacon and Avocado.  It's SO good.

 

Green Monster Salad and Lentil Soup.

 

Green monster salad and burgers with caramelized onions.

First time trying Sunbasket:

Chicken wings and roasted sweet potatoes and onions with a salsa verde:

Cod with grapefruit cabbage slaw:

Broccoli and Pork Curry:

Plan for next week:

I've been really into making something on Sunday/Monday that I can take with me for lunches through the week.  This week, it will be Shrimp Summer Rolls with Peanut Hoisin Dipping Sauce.

Saturday: Honey-Garlic Cod with Sauteed Bok Choy

Sunday: Lasagna

Monday: Rosemary Chicken Salad with Avocado and Bacon

Tuesday: Burgers with Caramelized Onions and Salad

Wednesday: Skillet Chicken in Tomato-Chipolte Sauce with Avocado Crema

Thursday: Slow Cooker Chicken Parmesan Pasta

Friday: Leftovers
 

1 Second Every Day - 2016

Meal Planning: Week of January 9th

Review from last week:

This simple chicken stir fry with bok choy from Blue Apron was so delicious.  

Grilled chicken kale Caesar salad - one of my new favorite salads.

Blue Apron: Korean Rice Cakes with Shrimp.  These are often my favorite types of dishes we get from them: Stir Fry types of meals.  I'm a big fan of Asian inspired dishes, and this one had the amazing addition of stirring in Creme Fraiche into it.  Unexpected and delicious.  

 

Plan for next week: SO MANY SALADS!
 
Saturday: Our Blue Apron order arrived a day late last week, so one of our dishes we will make tonight

Sunday: Rosemary Chicken Salad with Avocado and Bacon

For lunches, I'm going to make a batch of Creamy Lentil Soup and my favorite Spring Green Salad with Lemon Feta Dressing.

Monday: Burgers with caramelized onions and green monster salad with basil vinaigrette

Tuesday: I had the opportunity to try another new food-delivery service, Sun Basket!  Thai-Style Cod with Grapefruit-Cabbage Slaw

Wednesday: Sun Basket Meal: Chicken Wings Barbacoa with Salsa Verde

Thursday: Sun Basket Meal: Japanese Pork Curry with Broccoli and Cauliflower "Rice"

Friday: Parent's Night Out

Week in Photos: Christmas Vacation

For the past several years, I've always planned ahead to use vacation time during the holidays.  Starting this year, my company has instead issued a company-wide shutdown starting on Christmas Eve and has us returning to work in the New Year.  I was able to completely shut off my email and was able to REALLY enjoy the extra time with Ben.  While his school remained open most of break, he didn't go. 

Luckily, Greg had 2, 3-day weekends during that time so have loved having the extra time all together - and with friends! 

On our first day off, Ben and I hit the gym and then Starbucks for some breakfast.  While we were there, it started to snow - which was awesome and unexpected!

 

 

We braved the grocery store to do our Christmas dinner shopping (along with EVERY OTHER PERSON IN TOWN), and then headed to Toys R' Us!  Ben was gifted some money for Christmas from his grandparents and Aunt and Uncle, so I took him to pick out a few toys.  He chose the game "Pie Face" and an educational game about counting money (I swear, HIS choices)!

Still snowing!

On Christmas Eve we stayed in and tried my mom's Hot Butter Rum mix (amazing) and watched Love Actually.

Santa came!

Christmas Day was really fun this year.  We started the day with mimosas and brunch with my parents, followed by sangria and appetizers when Lisa, Evan, Shirley and Fred arrived, followed by wine and dinner, and topped off with hot butter rum and dessert. :)

Playing with his own personal cars land.

I was given a bunch of LUSH products (my favorite) so the day after Christmas I had a spa day at home :)

Ben in his new chair (on the couch):

This guy is ALL about the games lately!  He received Jenga, Monopoly Jr. and Life Jr. for Christmas and we have played them every day since.

I was able to crash "Grandma Wednesday" this week!  We went down to the pier and did Wings over Washington (so so much fun!), followed by lunch at Red Robin, and then a stop at the Seattle Center to visit the fountain and the children's museum.

On Thursday, we spent the day at home.  We did head out to the gym, followed by menchies :)

We stayed up late most of the week and one night Ben fell asleep on me :)  And I loved it.

And Ben lost another tooth!!!  It had been loose for a few weeks, and the night before he lost it it had started to bleed - which he REALLY did not like.  It was SO close to coming out, but he wasn't into the idea of Greg or I helping him get it out.  I was so happy to see that the first thing the following morning it came out.  :)

Kate, Ella and Jolie stopped by on their way home after spending the day in the area and it was wonderful to catch up with them.  Ben always loves having his friends over - plus we got to ask Kate all about Alt for Norge (the show she recently competed on) :)

We had dinner at the Christensen's house on Friday night and the boys had fun playing video games and running around like maniacs:

We haven't done much on New Year's Eve for the past several years, but we did go out for lunch if that counts for anything:

 

 

And on New Year's Day, the boys attempted to clean the gutters out (Ben there for moral support):