Meal Planning: Week of November 9th

Review from last week:

This beef and broccoli dish was super good.  I'll make this again (and again and again).

I really liked this lentil/vegetable soup a LOT.  It made a bunch and I had it for lunch all week. 

Blue Apron - Jerk chicken, stewed collard greens (so good) and plantains.

 

Salmon seasoned with pastrami seasonings (??) on rye.  SO good.

The last Blue Apron was inedible (for me - Greg was hungry enough to eat it) so no picture.

But the chicken in sun-dried tomato cream sauce was bomb.

Plan for next week:

Sunday: Kalua Pork, Cabbage slaw and cauliflower rice

Monday: Leftovers, or Spaghetti and Meatballs (from the freezer) and salad

Tuesday: Blue Apron Meal: Ras El Hanout-Spiced Cod Couscous with Acorn Squash & Rainbow Chard

Wednesday: Blue Apron Meal: Chicken Khao Soi Soup with Yellow Curry and Crispy Wonton Noodles

Thursday: Blue Apron Meal: Lentil Bolognese with Pappardelle Pasta and Crispy Rosemary

Friday: Leftovers

Saturday: Out to eat

Week in photos: Fall! (And a week of celebrating Halloween)

Ben and Greg spent some time raking leaves in the yard, so I couldn't resist a photo of him in the pile :)  I love the colors (and weather) this time of year!

 

Organizing his cars by color - an activity that can take up a good 30 minutes considering just how many matchbox cars he has accumulated!

 

 

Having a four year old around for Halloween is serious fun.  I loved that he was involved in selecting his (and my) costume.  He loved having the Halloween decorations around the house and at school.  It was such a difference from last year in terms of how into everything he was :)

On Thursday morning, I took him to story time at the Brier Library.  My mom had taken him last Thursday when she watched him and suggested I check it out - particularly because they were going to wear costumes :)  It was about 35 minutes long - they read books, danced to music, made a craft (below) and gave each of them a treat - and we came home with some new library books.  

 

On Friday, Ben's school had a "Fall Festival", and all of the kids wore costumes and went through various stations of crafts and games.  Here he is with Freya, his "best".

 

On Friday night, we made pumpkin cookies :)

 

On Saturday morning, Ben had his last soccer practice - and most of the kids wore costumes.  It was a fun practice complete with an obstacle course and all of the kids went home with a trophy :) 

 

 

And finally, Halloween arrived!

We had the Cougans and the Nikonovs over to do some trick-or-treating!

Maeve and Ben led the pack - they are total pros now!

All the "kids" taking selfies ;)

Meal Planning: Week of November 2nd

Review from last week:

I was super intrigued when I saw the recipe for this butter nut squash "Alfredo" pasta.  I made it with some brown rice and quinoa pasta I had from Trader Joe's.  I think it would have been a LOT better with regular pasta.  Worth a try, the sauce was good.

One of my favorite go to meals: tomato soup and arugula salad with prosciutto and goat cheese.  Fantastic.

One of my favorite food bloggers, Chrissy Teigen (sodelushious) is finally blogging again (and writing a cookbook).  I was interested in this recipe for One Pot Rice Pilaf and Lemon-Caper cod.  It was really good!   

 

The rest of the week was leftovers and stuff from the freezer.  Light cooking week!

Plan for next week:

Sunday: Slow Cooker Beef & Broccoli


Monday: Leftovers (and will make this soup for the week: Slow Cooker Moroccan Lentil Soup)


Tuesday: Blue Apron Meal: Salmon Pastrami on Rye with Red Cabbage & Green Apple Slaw

Wednesday: Blue Apron Meal: Baked Sicilian-Style Rigatoni with Lacinato Kale & Ricotta Salata

Thursday: Blue Apron Meal: Jamaican Jerk Chicken & Maduros with Stewed Collard Greens & Charred Lime

Friday: Chicken with Sun-Dried Tomato Cream Sauce

Saturday: I'm heading out of town for the weekend (Saturday and Sunday) so no cooking for me :)

Week in photos: School crafts, soccer and a birthday party!

Ben is the sweetest, most affectionate 4 year old on the planet.  I hope this lasts a lifetime.

Making crafts at school - which are turning into fantastic decor around the house!

 

 

  

More fun at school - Spanish Class!

 

Cuatro!

Pumpkin carving (cheating) at home:

Hung out with Maureen and Rachel last weekend, both of them trying to recover from a cold that had stuck around too long.  I made them try Ben's nebulizer ;)

Checking out the new McMenamins that opened in Bothell.  So much fun that I've been twice in their first week!

Greg had a beer tasting Groupon that was about to expire, so Ben and I kept him company.

And took photos:

 

Soccer is wrapping up - only one week left!  Ben has really enjoyed soccer!  If anything, the practices might be a tad too long - he is usually "ready to be all done" after about 45 minutes of playing.  Next week, all the kids get to come in their costumes so that should be completely crazy and adorable.

Ben's best friend from school, Freya, had a birthday party this weekend.  It was at The Nest in Woodinville.  We had never been and it was really fun!  They led a music class for them that had them running around like crazy.  It was a blast.  It was great, too, because several kids from Ben's class where there so I got a chance to meet some other parents.  Fun!

With the birthday girl.  (They REALLY love each other).

This is what Freya's mom posted on my FB wall one morning they had school together: :)

Lisa and Evan stopped by to bring me a birthday gift (COOKBOOKS - yay!) and I made them try on their Halloween costumes for us - Tetris pieces!  So funny.

Dinner at Shauna and Brandon's.  I failed to get any other pictures, but I did get one with Alivia.  Such a sweet baby.