Menu Plan for the Week of 11/15/09

I planned my menu this week based upon what I had in the freezer and pantry so that I would have a light grocery shopping trip. I am happy with this week's menus. It should be a tasty week!

Sunday: Grilled Cheese Sandwiches and Crock Pot Cabbage Soup

Monday: Lemony Chicken with Vegetables and Parmesan
Buttered Orzo

Tuesday: French Dip Sandwiches
Sweet Potato Baked Chips

Wednesday: Crock Broccoli and Cheese Soup
Dinner Rolls

Thursday: Creamy Ranch Chicken
Steamed Broccoli

Friday: Baked Tomatoes with Orzo and Olives
Crusty Bread

Saturday: Make Your Own Pizza Night
Salad
Crock Rocky Road Candy

Join the Organizing Junkie at www.orgjunkie.com every Monday for Menu Plan Monday and lots of great ideas for your weekly menu plan!

Gratituesday - Beautiful Warm Days and Ice Cream

This week I am so grateful for the beautiful, sunny 70 degree weather we have been experiencing in Western Pennsylvania. As winter is knocking at our door, I really appreciate a few days of perfect weather!

This weekend, we took advantage of the warm temperatures and got the remainder of our yard work done. As a treat, we took the kids to our favorite ice cream parlor:
How could that not put a smile on your face :)!

Menu Plan for the Week of 11/08/09

Last week, I was busy with Halloween and school activities so I did not plan and shop from my weekly menu plan. While I got most meals to the table each night, we somehow ended having McDonalds for dinner one night. Yuck! I learned my lesson. Here is my plan for the week:

Sunday: Udon noodles

Monday: Go Steelers!!
Crock Pot Hot Italian Sausage Sandwiches, Meatball Sandwiches for the kids
Vegetable Tray with Dip, Chocolate Banana Muffins for dessert

Tuesday: Homemade Vegetable Soup and dinner rolls

Wednesday: Chicken Piccata, salad

Thursday: A Simple Autumn "Homespun Meal"
Crock Pot Sesame Pork Roast, Butterhead Lettuce with Parmesan and Fresh Mushrooms, Sour Cream Mashed Potatoes, Roasted Green Beans

Friday: Date Night Out At a REAL Restaurant . . . we have family visiting so we have babysitters!!

Saturday: Scallops in Lemon Butter Sauce, Baked Potatoes, Steamed Broccoli. A special treat from my little sister visiting from college!

Join the Organizing Junkie at www.orgjunkie.com every Monday for Menu Plan Monday and lots of great ideas for your weekly menu plan!

Linguini with White Clam Sauce

I made this meal last night and had a few requests for the recipe. It is very easy, very quick (30 minutes), and very yummy. I tweaked this recipe a bit from one of my favorite cookbooks, Saving Dinner Basics from Leanne Ely which can be found here.

Enjoy!

1 pound linguini
4 (6 oz.) cans chopped clams, undrained
1 (14.5 oz.) can low sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
4 cloves garlic, pressed
2 tbsp. flour
1/4 tsp. dried thyme
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
Juice of one lemon
Salt and pepper to taste

Prepare pasta according to directions. Drain.
While pasta is cooking, melt butter over medium-high heat and saute' garlic.
Stir in flour.
Cook on low for a minute or two, stirring constantly.
Gradually stir in the juice from the four cans of clams, chicken broth, and thyme.
Bring to a boil and simmer for a minute or two.
Stir in clams, parsley, lemon juice and heat through.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Serve over hot linguini.

Preparing Our Hearts and Home For Christmas, Part 1: Keeping Christmas Centered on Christ

Preparing Our Hearts and Homes For Christmas

As I looked at the calender today, I was a bit giddy noticing that Advent and Christmas will be upon us so soon. It is such a beautiful season. I have many plans this year to prepare our hearts and our home for Christmas. Over the next several weeks, I would like to share some of the celebrations, activities, prayers, projects, gifts, and food that I hope will make this season very memorable for our family. I will also include Thanksgiving in this series because I think having a thankful heart is a wonderful way to begin the season of Advent. We, as a family, want the days and weeks leading up to Christmas to be a time of reflection, prayer, calm, joy, peace , love, tradition, fun, and organization.

I have spent some time over the past few weeks thinking about how to celebrate and use tradition to keep our Christmas centered on Jesus.

I have made a commitment this year to make Advent something really special for my family each and every day before Christmas. We will have an Advent Wreath on our dining room table and have a few minutes of prayer each week as we light a candle.

Our theme for Advent will be The Fruit of the Spirit. The girls and I will be studying, reading, and doing activities to practice love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

We, of course, will attend weekly Mass as a family. I will also take my girls to Eucharistic Adoration a few times during the season. A few churches in the area have weekly Pray and Play Adoration where families with children can attend and a little noise is expected!

The girls will be reading and doing activities from Magnifikid. I will also be praying and studying with my Magnificat.

We will also participate together in a few service projects including making Thanksgiving placemats for the local soup kitchen, making a box for Operation Shoebox, purchasing a gift for a child from our church's Angel Tree, and Christmas caroling and visiting with residents of our local assisted living facility.

I am sure there will be a few more religious activities and outings in the coming weeks that I will share. I want to keep our celebrations and traditions simple and age-appropriate. Stay tuned for Part 2 of Preparing Our Hearts and Homes for Christmas: Organization!

November Gratitude Challenge

I have so many things to be grateful for! Here are a few things that have been on my mind and in my heart lately:

1. My healthy family.
2. My husband's job affording me the privilege to stay home with my children.
3. Good, no, really good friends.
4. Always having just enough. Not too much and not too little.
5. The love of my husband and children even when I am not a great wife and mother.
6. And as I sit here writing this - sleeping babies and the rare sound of silence!

What are you grateful for this week?

My Little Halloweenies

After a very busy but fun weekend, I am spending today playing catch-up. Cleaning, menu planning, food shopping . . . Here are a few images of our Halloween fun:





Our Halloween dinner : Mummy dogs, brussel sprout brains, and sweet potato witches:


Here is our stash of candy at the end of the night. I am taking everything, well, almost everything, to a local toy store to donate. They are giving out $1 coupons for every 1 pound of candy. Our bag of candy weighs more than our 15 month old.

Organized or insane?


I hope you, too, had a great Halloween. Now bring on Thanksgiving!