Meal Plan Monday

Mark starts softball today. He is the head softball coach at the high school where he teaches. It keeps him busy and it makes me more organized (I have to juggle karate class and meals at dinner time). It also makes meal planning a little easier because on game nights it's just us girls and we have easy dinners (usually pasta and veggies - no recipes....whatever i can throw together). Here is my plan for this week - They are ALL new recipes...I'm feeling lucky!

Monday: Crock Pot Brown Sugar Chicken , rice, and stir fry veggies. I love crock pot recipes and this is a new one for me. It's from A Year of Crockpotting...which I already miss dearly, but wow, what a commitment!

Tuesday: Pizza Bites and salad. The recipe is from Chaos in the Kitchen (she's has beautiful food photos). I'm making my own wheat pizza crust with the bread machine. I saw one on the family favorite's list on Organization Junkie so i might try that. This is one I will make extras for a freezer meal.

Wednesday: Crock Pot Chicken with Black beans and cream cheese. From the list I mentioned before on Recipezaar. Gotta love the lists!

Thursday and Friday: No Mark = No planned meal

This is my first submission to Menu Plan Monday over at I'm an Organization Junkie. Go check out other plans for some inspiration!

Friday Fragments - just a few to wrap up the week

Picture this.....our two black labs running full speed at Lexi and Lexi screaming "Red light! Red light!" Sure, we taught them to sit, stay, roll over, and Red light! Poor girl had no idea why they didn't stop.

Our dogs are very particular. They have run away a few times (they did not like it that I was pregnant this last time) but when the gate is completely open they won't go near it. I think the lack of boundaries scares them. Every time someone went by on the golf course this morning the one dog moved behind the fence to bark at them.

I love lists....and I love recipes...so I was excited to get Recipezaar's top 100 recipes of 2008 email yesterday. Check it out HERE. I also received the email announcing the 2010 Pillsbury Bake-Off.....Oh, to dream :)

I love the interpretations little ones make of song lyrics. I always thought it was "Hold me closer Tony Danza" by Elton John (maybe fitting?) and "Little Two Scoop" by the Beach Boys. I'll let you think about the real lyrics.....

Anyway. Lexi's version of Jingle Bells includes " Oh what fun, Mr. Ron (our neighbor), in a *mumble ~ mumble* sleigh" instead of "O what fun it is to ride In a one-horse open sleigh". I don't want to ask what the mumbling is because I'm afraid she'll learn the real lyrics.

Do you think it really could be??

More Friday Fragments at Half-Past Kissin'Time. Enjoy your weekend!

GET FIT Challenge - good idea - BUT

Earlier this week I received this email from a friend for the GET FIT Challenge. I signed up to do it but I am quickly rethinking before the Sunday deadline. I am very competitive. If someone on the treadmill next to me (obviously oblivious to my craziness - hopefully!) is running faster, I try to "catch up." In classes, the instructors that yell to push you through the hard stuff have a special place in my heart. Years ago my friend fell when we were racing and I still get grief about the possible push down (I did NOT - and this is Thursday, NOT not me Monday. I really didn't).

I already spend a good amount of time at our YMCA (they have free child care and I love the caregivers). This is often the only other place I go during the day. I think they already see me enough. If I enter the challenge I might resolve to be there a little longer. I'll probably have to get everyone at home to "get fit" with me on the weekends as well. My kids will love the extra mom time outside but my husband might make resolutions of his own. I love it that you get points for playing with your kids.

What do I do? I really am OK with losing....as long as I did every thing I could. But with me, this may be a little overboard.

I wanted to post this because I do think it's a good motivator (friendly competition and $) and well organized. It has specifics for our area but you can probably find a 5K/10K near you to fit. Maybe you have a group of friends that would be fun to challenge....

Calling all Sport and Fitness Fans!

You are receiving this email as an invitation to track your fitness activities for the next 8 weeks. Please feel free to pass this along to family and friends. The more participants the better!

We’ve got an official name and guidelines to the First Annual Fitness Challenge – GET FIT 2009!

If you are interested in joining the GET FIT 2009 fitness challenge, reply to this email and get your $20 to Brian by January 12th. (see address at end if you want to mail a check)

GET FIT 2009:

The goal for this group is to become a healthier, more fit you! We all want to stay around longer for our children and one day grandchildren, so make an investment in yourself and let’s GET FIT together! Below you will find a very easy point system for you to log your progress. This will be based on the honor system, so work hard and have fun!!

Begins: January 12th
Ends: March 14th (1st phase)

Point Guidelines:
Your goal is to earn as many points as possible using this scoring system:
§ 5 points for every 15 minutes of exercise or ANY activity that causes you to break a sweat and elevate your heart rate and keep it within a safe range.
§ Examples include: running, walking, biking, swimming, aerobic classes, flag football, pilates, strength training. Challenge yourself during this time, but be cognizant of how your body is feeling. Stop or slow down if you don’t feel well.
§ 10 points for every 15 minutes of exercise in a competitive format. This would be a 5K, 10K, etc…, triathlon, bike race... This is a racing atmosphere where you will be working a lot harder than during training. View the Track Shack website for great races!!
§ http://www.trackshack.com/events/trackshack-calendar.shtml
§ 2 points for every 15 minutes of exercise you do with your children. This would be anything active you do with the kids and would be at a much lesser intensity. Maybe playing tag or kickball or just throwing the ball around.

Points Chart:
Log your points on the attached spreadsheet. Every Sunday evening, email your points earned from that week (Mon-Sun) to _. On Monday we will email a winner of the week and that person will earn an extra 10 bonus points for that week!!!

Culminating Event:
We will start on January 12th and culminate on March 14th at the Winter Park CNL Road Race 10K or 2 mile run. I hope you all will sign up for one of the races and train for it throughout the next 2 months. We will have a celebratory luncheon later that day as well, so mark your calendars now!! (The GET FIT group will continue beyond this first phase, but we feel that short time periods yield successful results)

Grand Prizes:
Each person in the group will contribute $20 and Brian will hold the money for later distribution. Each person will win a certificate of completion and recognition. The first prize winner will receive 50% of the money collected, 2nd will get 30% and 3rd will get 20%. Additional encouraging activities may be planned along the way. We encourage all to keep track of BMI, Vital Signs, and weight redistribution during the 8 week period.

We look forward to celebrating success with you on March 14th!

Recipe Organization (for those waiting to be tried)

I am a recipe junkie. I read cookbooks like novels and would choose a good food magazine over People any day. What do you do with the hundreds of recipes you've cut out, printed off, saved on your hard drive, or have been given but have not yet tried? I first stuffed them in my recipe box until one night when it was an overflowing mess I purged everything that I had not yet made. I threw away hundreds (really) of recipes I'm pretty sure would never make it to the table. My recipe box is now designated for only those tried and true dishes. My recipe box thanked me and I am forever grateful that I don't have to sort through hundreds of recipes to find my favorites.

For all those screaming "Pick me! Try me!".....This is what I've come up with. Each category gets a file folder (appetizers, sides, main dishes, etc.). When I put a recipe in that file I write in on the front (broken down into further categories). If it's a recipe in a magazine I don't want to tear apart (Taste of Home or Penzey's ONE - never heard of Penzey's? You MUST check them out!) I write the recipe name, which magazine, edition, and page I can find it. I cross off the recipe once it has been made and it either makes it to the big leagues (recipe box) or is sent packing (trash). I use one big accordion file to keep them all together. Sound a little OCD? Whatever. It works for me!

Head over to Rocks in My Dryer for more Works For Me Wednesday ideas!

My Favorite Cookbook - for now

Over at Blessed with Grace the Tempt My Tummy Theme for today is favorite cookbooks. There are still plenty of links to recipes as well. Go check them out!



At this stage in life my favorite cookbook is Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron. This is my go-to baby food book. Not only does it have baby food instructions, recipes, index with each food listed individually, and extremely helpful charts, it has a zillion easy and healthy toddler recipes and tons more. There is an arts and crafts section that gives you recipes to make your own bubbles, dough, paint, etc, With so many ideas. It truly is a wealth of information.



The listings of individual foods tells about each food, when your baby can first eat it, the equivalents (i.e. 1 medium avocado will yield about 1 cup), when it it in season, how to choose it, when it's ripe, how to store it, cook it, freeze it, and more! I could go on and on.


Every new mother should have this book. I'll have more posts about making your own baby food as Scarlett is just starting to eat. This book makes it really easy. I don't follow it anywhere near the point she does (grinding you own grains and crazy stuff like that :) but it still has everything I need. With it I have fed my older two without having to buy more than a handful of store bought food (for trips). I can imagine I save lots of money but I'm not motivated enough to do the math.


Enjoy!

Not-Me Monday

It's time for Not Me Monday over at My Charming Kids. Check it out. I guarantee a good laugh (or at least a little chuckle). Time to get a few things off my chest....

I do NOT often think of how much better I would be as a stay at home mother WITHOUT kids...They do NOT get in the way of my to-do lists. I do NOT need therapy in this regard :)

I did NOT tell my husband several times during the holidays that he would have to quit eating the goodies because they were to give away....and then I did NOT sneak a few myself. This would be really selfish.

I did NOT eat my daughter's left over mashed banana, avocado and breast milk concoction. It was NOT surprisingly good and I will NOT do it again. Who would consume their own milk? (Do cows drink milk??)

I did NOT resolve to cut out sweets for the month of January and then did NOT dream about cupcakes the last two nights. Yikes. Who would miss them that much?

I am NOT excited for the return of 90210 this week. I am 34, why would I watch a show for teens?

So there. I'm sure glad I did not do all of those things. I feel better! Happy Monday Everyone~

I got my girls to eat spinach!!

This is a big deal :)

I used the leftover Parmesan fondue and they loved it. Super easy too.....

Cut up a bunch of spinach (use a lot - it "shrinks") and place on a microwavable plate or bowl. Place a few scoops of leftover dip on top and microwave for one minute. Sprinkle with garlic powder and salt and stir it all together. That's it. They kept asking me to make more. WooHoo! This fondue is a keeper...they even ate a whole lot of raw cauliflower when we used it for dip. I added noodles to mine for a complete meal.

I may make this every few weeks just to keep in the fridge....it's got to be better for you than ranch dip, right??