Meal Planning: November 26th - December 2nd

Review from last week:

I tried a new recipe this week: chicken rigatoni with vodka sauce.  It was delicious.  And probably a zillion calories!

A quick and easy dinner for me while Greg had leftovers: tuna + avocado toast:

I felt like a light dinner on Tuesday night, so while Greg had leftover vodka sauce pasta, I opted for a Kale Caesar with crispy chick peas:

During Thanksgiving prep on Wednesday, I sent Greg out to pick up a deep fried turkey club from Arby's.  I literally saw the commercial for one at the gym and decided I had to have one.  #balance  It was pretty good.

Our Thanksgiving meal!  We had such a wonderful dinner with our friends and family!  It's truly my favorite holiday of the year!!

Plan for next week:

Sunday: After Thanksgiving, a holiday get together and a couple days of leftovers, I'm sure a big salad will sound amazing by Sunday night!  And since you really can't go wrong with the Rosemary Chicken Salad with Avocado and Bacon, that's what we will have.

Monday: Lagered Turkey Chili

Tuesday:  Out to dinner at The Spaghetti Factory (our friend Jeannette's annual birthday tradition)

Wednesday: Leftovers

Thursday: Mediterranean Chicken Breasts with Spiralized Vegetables

Friday:  Turkey Bolognese with Zucchini Noodles

Saturday: Leftovers

Meal Planning: November 19th - 25th (+ Thanksgiving!!)

Review from last week:

Made the rosemary chicken salad with avocado and bacon on Sunday evening.  Truly one of my favorite salads meals.

Made brunch pizza again - this time adding caramelized onions and mushrooms to my side of it.  Delicious.

Really loved this Blue Apron meal: Pork Bolognese.  I love it when they keep the recipes simple with limited ingredients - makes them much more easy to repeat! I also noticed a huge difference using my new stainless steel skillet to brown the meat and vegetables in.  I recently learned that stainless steel (vs nonstick) is the best for browning meat and making pan sauces.  This was proof enough for me! 

The chicken recipe from Blue Apron was really good too.  I really liked the farro + carrot combination!

While I'm not thrilled with Chick-Fil-A's politics in general, they do make a damn good spicy chicken sandwich....

Ancho Beef Tacos from Blue Apron.

 

Plan for next week:

Sunday: Leftover Enchiladas (that I froze from a batch I made a couple weeks ago)

Monday: Chicken Rigatoni with Vodka Sauce

Tuesday: Leftovers

Wednesday: TBD.  Wednesday night will be for prepping turkeys and getting the table set, so dinner will be whatever we can scrounge up :)

Thursday:  Thanskgiving!  We are doing turkey two ways, (one roasted  - dry brining this one, and one smoked) and gravy!

Friday: Leftovers!!!

Saturday: Leftovers!!!

Meal Planning: November 12th - 18th

Review from last week:

Made a batch of this lentil soup that I love so much.  Too bad I'm the only one in my family that will touch it ;)

Made the stuffed acorn squash again, this time with a kale caesar.  Delicious.

Greg make some delicious Italian-style baked cod and I handled the veggies.

Plan for next week:

Sunday:  Rosemary Chicken Salad with Avocado and Bacon

Monday:  Sausage & Pepper Brunch Pizza (for dinner)!

Tuesday: Blue Apron Meal: Pasta & Pork Bolognese with Brussels Sprouts & Grana Padano Cheese

Wednesday:  Blue Apron Meal: Harissa-Baked Chicken with Farro, Persimmon & Goat Cheese Salad 

Thursday:  With Chick-Fil-A opening down the street this week, I figured we would support our new neighbors and have that for dinner ;)

Friday: Blue Apron Meal: Ancho Beef Tacos & Spicy Sweet Potato with Monterey Jack Cheese & Pickled Jalapeno 


Saturday: Dinner with Friends

Week(s) in Photos: End of Season for the Pounders, Halloween, First Cavities and Winery Playdate :)

The weekend before Halloween the weather here was absolutely beautiful.  We started out Saturday with a foggy soccer game (and win)!  One of the moms had a logo made so we could all purchase sweatshirts!  The plan is for the boys to stay on the same team going forward, so it was a good investment.

 

Grandma Nancy came with us and then we went home so I could make her a breakfast pizza for brunch to celebrate her birthday!

Next, we hit up a Halloween carnival at the local QFC for some games, face painting and cookie decorating with Sammy and Sully.  While we were there, we decided that with an afternoon free of plans, we would go "play wine tasting" as Melissa said!  (i.e. the boys could play outside while we tasted wine). Greg, Melissa and I went to Chateau Ste. Michelle (easily the most kid friendly winery due to their large property) with Sammy, Sully, and Ben.

Because it was so beautiful out with all of the leaves (and because we all were decently dressed for once), I had her snap a family photo!
 

At Ben's recent dentist appointment, we discovered that he has 3 cavities :/  Such a bummer, but he was a trooper when he got the first 2 filled.

Halloween!  (With WINE)!

Being cute at the gym one day:

Ben has really taken an interest in the states lately! I had bought him a cool book about the states for Christmas last year, and he is enjoying using that to learn all about each state's bird, flag, etc.  My mom also found an app on his iPad called "Stack the States" that helps them learn which states boarder which states and a bunch of other fun facts about them.  And being that he (seemingly) has a crazy good memory, it's so funny to watch him repeat back all kinds of information that he has learned.

This past weekend, Kristin, Melissa and I took a cycling class (SO hard, so intense) and followed it up with brunch :)

This week was Ben's "Start of the Week" at school.  We had so much fun putting this together to hang on the wall at his school.  At the end of the week he gets to present it to the class and talk all about the things he likes.

End of season soccer team pizza party!  The boys did so great this season!  They only lost 2 games, but still came in 3rd for the season.  (The two teams that beat them basically dominated the league)!  The coach doesn't believe in awards unless they are earned, which we find hilarious and kind of agree with, but since they did place 3rd - he approved them getting medals.  They were all so excited!

Such a fun season.  I can't believe how much we enjoyed SOCCER!

Meal Planning: November 6th - 11th

Review from last week:

Lunch this week was roasted brussels sprouts and rosemary carrots, caramelized onions and steamed lentils.

Made my favorite baked egg dish in my new non stick skillet :)

This turkey chili stuffed acorn squash was so delicious and filling.  I'll be making this one again for sure.

Another new recipe I tried this week was chicken Parmesan meatballs.  !!!  I recommend this one as well:

Plan for next week:

Monday: Mandarin Orange Chicken (Trader Joe's) over brown rice


Tuesday: End of season soccer team pizza party!

Wednesday: Soup and Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Thursday: Turkey Stuffed Acorn Squash

Friday: Going to Dan and Jeannette's for dinner and to watch the Husky Game.

Saturday: Grilled Cod over Chopped Salad