Party Time!

Ivy was invited to one of her dance-friend's birthday party. It was serious business. Ivy had a great time!

Menu Plan Monday May 11-17

I am feeling really run down today. While I was able to sleep in a bit and had a nap yesterday, I am still feeling very lethargic. Sweet Ivy had Daddy's help to make a pretty bead necklace for me for mother's day. We had a lovely breakfast at a local diner, got Raising Canes for lunch for free, and then I made fried shrimp for dinner. Yum!

Sunday - Fried shrimp & corn on the cob
Monday - Nachos or Tacos
Tuesday - Breakfast
Wednesday - Pork chops and rice pilaf
Thursday - leftovers
Friday - Appetizers
Saturday - Parmesan crusted tilapia & couscous

Compared to my: Month of May Menu

Menu Plan Monday @ Orgjunkie.com

Strawberries

My strawberry bush had a few berries ready at the same time instead of one every day. Yum!

Wordless Wednesday: Aquarium Fun

Two Things Tuesday

1. We have a robin's nest in our patio. We have watched her build her nest and feed her young birds. This week, the babies are learning to fly!  It has been neat to watch and show Ivy up close. 

2. Health. It's been bad in our house! Personally, I've been eating larger amounts of food and snacking more than I should. I have been making an effort to eat more fruits and vegetables. Ryan is interested in the Couch-to-5K program. We got out and walked as a family today. Hopefully we can start getting ourselves healthier. My back doesn't hurt so I want to move! 

Menu Plan Monday

This week has two "events". The first is Cinco de Mayo. We normally don't do anything for this but I thought a simple regular menu item would be appropriate for this day - nachos. Yeah, go ahead and laugh. The other event is teacher appreciation week.  I'm not sure how I feel about it. It doesn't really do anything for our menu.

So straying ever so slightly from my Month of May Menu:

Sunday: Grilled hamburgers - BOGO sale on hamburger patties

Monday: Nachos with homemade guacamole. I sauté my chicken with cumin and coriander to give it the Latin flavor.

Tuesday: Chicken salad sandwiches made from a rotisserie chicken

Wednesday: Pork chops and potatoes (packs of pork chops were a BOGO last week)

Thursday: Pizza - and hopefully we will make some extra dough for the freezer 

Friday: Pan grilled tilapia and rice pilaf

Saturday: Crock pot tangy meatballs 

More Menu Plans at OrgJunkie.com

A Little Adventure

On Monday, Ivy and I both woke up feeling horrible so we both stayed home. She spent most of her day laying on the couch in various stated of consciousness. Tuesday, I stayed home with her to make sure she was better. She and I were both pretty antsy so we got dressed and headed out the door!

I gave her the lead and let her direct my driving - left, right, straight. We first ended up at Sonic and we got something to drink. Second, we drove all the way across town to a bluebonnet field. Their peak of the season was the week before but I wanted to see them anyway.

I love bluebonnets! 

After that, it was time for lunch.

She got a silly game with her meal. I interpreted it as an in ca r game of "I Spy" or a type of scavenger hunt. We kept driving around town to see if we could find things on the cards. 

We ended up at a local farm that is home to a fall pumpkin patch. Behind the farm, we found a pasture with three horses in it. We stopped to just stand on the fence and observe them. They're horses. I started clicking my tongue. They all came to visit with us.

We had fun.

Freezer Meals part 2

I spent about an hour preparing 4 freezer meals - two each of chicken teriyaki and cilantro lime chicken. We ate one of the teriyaki chickens this evening. 

I left the chicken breast whole because it was going to be a long day. I also cooked it on low in the crockpot. Ryan made rice to go along with it while I was running an errand. Everything was pretty easy.  Once the rice was ready, I shredded the chicken and we ate this easy meal.

Even though the meal was still frozen when put into the crockpot and the chicken was left whole for timing purposes, it was still pretty dry. I'm not too thrilled with the outcome. We will finish eating the leftovers and will eat the second meal of this. But if I decide to make this again, I will use a different version and make a few tweaks with my ingredients.

The other freezer meal I prepared was a hit. I spent some time on a sick day (Ivy) to make breakfast burritos. I made bacon, roasted potatoes and scrambled eggs. I ate one fresh and loved it. The only downside with the frozen version, the reheating directions are horrible. I don't know how long I tried to heat up my burrito and it was still cold. But it did taste yummy. Maybe next time I will use more bacon and cheese. Easy breakfast for the win!

Breakfast burritos - http://www.momontimeout.com/2011/08/breakfast-burrito-bonanza/

Chicken teriyaki - http://www.stockpilingmoms.com/2014/02/crockpot-teriyaki-chicken/