Ducks!

 

 

This past Saturday, we bundled Ben (and ourselves) up and went out to the Burke Gilman Trail for a walk!  It was a bright and sunny morning, but it was COLD!  I don't think I have ever had that many layers on Ben before!

Our walk was incredibly short when we realized that despite all the layers, the slight wind was making it difficult to enjoy the outdoors.  Luckily, before we headed back to the car and opted to walk around Fred Meyers instead, we ran into a flock of ducks (and one chicken!?).

Ben immediately froze and could not stop staring at them as they surrounded him.  It was hilarious.  I hope to get a "quack" out of him soon as we have watched this video over and over!

Meal Planning - Week of November 12th

Well, I have to say - last week's meal plan went VERY well!  As my friend Robin pointed out, it's a lot easier to find the motivation to cook and eat what you have when you actually HAVE what you need on hand.  We did cheat and have pho takeout for dinner on Friday, but had paninis and soup for lunch on Saturday, so it worked out :)  Here are a few pictures (can you tell I'm proud of myself for using my kitchen)?

 

We learned last week that Ben HATES quinoa.  He literally stuck his tongue out, reached into his mouth and picked out each little bit that he could.  Sigh.

Here is what I'm planning for this week:

Soup of the week: Crock pot Turkey Stew!  My friend Hilary sent me some suggestions for easy crock pot recipes, and this is one I LOVE:  Ground turkey, red baby potatoes, baby carrots, lentils, and vegetable stock.  Hearty and delicious.

And for dinners:

Monday: BBQ Pork Sliders (pork tenderloin cooked in the crock pot on whole wheat buns) and antipasto pasta salad.

Tuesday: Tex Mex Chicken and Rice Casserole with home made guacamole (and tortilla chips, I'm sure).  My friend Crystal sent me this recipe awhile back and Greg and I really enjoyed it.  I'll probably 1/2 this recipe so we don't end up with too many leftovers!

Tex-Mex Chicken and Rice Casserole

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked chicken, chopped

4 cups cooked brown (or white) rice

1 cup corn

15 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup salsa

1 cup cheese (cheddar, pepper jack, etc.), plus extra for the topping

 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.

In a large bowl, combine the chicken, rice, corn, black beans, sour cream, salsa, and cheese. Mix well. Transfer the chicken mixture to the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle a little extra cheese on top. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until heated through and bubbly.

 

Wednesday: Roasted Beet and Arugula Salad and Crispy Chicken Sandwiches. (Does this sound like a weird combo)?

 

Thursday: Frozen lasagna (Costco) and roasted brussels sprouts.

 

Friday: Leftovers from the week, probably.

Meal Planning - Week of November 5th

In an effort to better organize my life, I'm going to attempt to blog my weekly dinner plans.  We are aiming to eat out/grab take out less, and I would like to get back into the habit of grocery shopping once each week in order to buy only what we need for the week.  One of my new favorite bloggers does a "Week in Food" post each week, and along with my mother in law and her amazing home-cooked meals, I'm inspired to cook more (and better) meals for my family (on week nights, that is).

Additionally, I'm going to try to make a large batch of soup each Sunday that I can eat for lunches each week.

So, here we go.  (This will typically be Monday - Friday, but I'm starting mid-week this time).

Soup of the week: Chicken and white bean chili.  My MIL made this for me three times during her stay and I still cannot get enough of it!

Tonight: Trader Joe's Stuffed Peppers with Turkey and Rice, roasted brussels sprouts, arugula salad.

Thursday: Lemon Pepper Cod with Beurre Blanc Sauce, sauteed zucchini and yellow squash and Lemon Tomato Quinoa.

Friday:  Turkey and Basil Pesto paninis and canned soup. 

A conversation with Ben

Dude wants to talk So. Bad.

November, so far

We have had a very busy beginning to our month!  Grandma Ingle left on Saturday.  We had such a WONDERFUL time having her stay with us and we are now slowly adjusting back to managing our daily to do list on our own.  We miss you Grandma/Mom/Marcia - please come back soon!

 

PS - Marcia, we have kept up on raking the leaves.....so far!

 

 

 

On Saturday morning, Rachel came over for a visit and showed us this:

 

 

On Saturday afternoon, Greg and our friend Brandon went golfing while Shauna, Bronson, Steph and Mason came over for a play date and LONG overdue visit!  It was sooooo much fun having all three of our little guys together (for the first time)!  We attempted to get a photo of the three of them, but it was a bit of a challenge.  I'm told there is a good one coming from Steph's camera, but for now, this is all we have:

 

 

Here are a couple others - such a fun day, ladies (and babies) - can't wait to do it again!

 

 

On Sunday, our friend Charisse (and her almost 4 month old baby girl, Mila) came to stay with us for two days!  I took Monday off from work so that I could spend more time with them, and it was sooooo wonderful.  We had brunch at the Ridgeback Cafe (crepes = yum!), were lazy around the house, cooked food, drank wine, watch the season premiere of the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, and caught up!  She and I don't get the opportunity to talk too often without much distraction (she has a very busy 3 year old, too!) so it was awesome to have this time with her!

 



 

And while we're at it,  here are a few other cute Ben pictures :)

 

 

Bath time

 

He loves to look out the front window, and I just discovered today that when I put him in this chair, he will STAY there because he hasn't figured out how to get down.  This comes in handy!

 



I have mentioned that Ben has been verrrry clingy lately.  This is his signature move (leg hug/face smashed in).  He absolutely HAS to be picked up and loved on by each of us the minute we come home and he will LET US KNOW if we are taking too long :)

Vote!!

 

Today is the big day!  Here is an oldie, but it seemed appropriate today.

 

(Also, CHEEKS)!!

Halloween

 

Well, I have to say that I was VERY pleased that Ben kept his hat and beard on for about 30 minutes!  I was worried he wouldn't let me put it on him at all, but as soon as I got home from work, we put the whole costume on him and he happily went about his day :)

 

Our Halloween was pretty uneventful - We took some several photos, enjoyed some chili that had been cooking up in the crock pot all day, had both grandmas in the house, had some of the CUTEST visitors ever (see below!), listened to some Halloween music, waited....and waited....and WAITED for some kids to walk up our lonnnnnng driveway to trick or treat (they never did - we put the candy at the end of the driveway) and then called it a night!

 

 

 

 

And here is a picture of Callie, Mira and Maylee stopping by - our only "real" trick-or-treaters!

And in case anyone is interested, here is the recipe for what we made last night (aka my favorite crock pot recipe ever): Southwest Chili

• 1 lb beef eye of round (I usually use beef stew meat or turkey meat - it's good with any type of meat)
• 1 15 oz can of spicy chili beans
• 1 can garbanzo beans
• 1 14.5 oz can petite-cut diced tomatoes, DO NOT DRAIN
• 1 16 oz jar thick and chunky salsa
• 1 8 oz can whole kernel corn, drained (or frozen corn)
• 1 tbsp sugar

Spray inside of the slow cooker with cooking spray. Combine all ingredients and mix well. Cover and cook on low heat for 8-10 hours or high heat for 4-5 hours. Garnish with cheese,  sour cream, green onions or tortilla chips if desired.

245 calories, 3.9 grams fat, 27 grams carbs, 5 grams fiber, and 25 grams protein.