Rock Star!

You and I are not humble.  We are awesome and we aren't afraid to let everyone know it.  So, I will let you know that today I am a rock star!

Nathan has slept thru the night 3 nights in a row.  Maybe that has something to do with the burst of energy I've had today.

Jon's illing...  Other than snow blowing this morning, he has chilling been on his chair with a cold.  Meanwhile I've been breastfeeding a baby, did 4 loads of laundry, swept the floors, ran the dishwasher, emptied and refilled it, did the non-dishwasherable dishes, packed most of tomorrow's breakfasts, got my pump bag packed, fed the girls lunch, made this week's menu AND pulled dinners out of the freezer to thaw!  So here it is....

Sunday - It just doesn't matter to me.  Burgers?  Pancakes?  I don't care.
Monday - Pasta, GB and salad.
Tuesday - beef enchiladas and spanish rice
Wednesday - honey mustard pretzel chicken and i'd like to try to make smashed red potatoes...  We'll see.
Thursday - beef stroganoff and veggies.
Friday - leftovers
Saturday - pizza or other take out

Rock on!

Its been rough lately…

Do you know how much I hate law school?  I. HATE. IT!!! 

So, we're getting back into the swing of things with our last semester of law school ahead of us - its always rough in the beginning and we figure it out as the semester goes on.  Paul has class Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights and has a paper due every night at midnight.  So he comes home from class and writes a paper then we do it all over again the next day.  So he's pretty much checked out all week except a half a day on Saturdays AND I'm coming off of having the flu or food poisoning or something so there was no menu scheduled or even thought about for this week so we're really winging it which I hate.  I have been to Target every day this week for groceries during work and today I took the boys after work and we got a lot of stuff, which, I'll admit, is still not put away….sigh.

So this is what we ate so far this week and what we're going to eat.

Monday:  Meatloaf cupcakes

Tuesday:  Chili (johns choice for his birthday)

Tonight:  Deluxe Kraft Mac and Cheese (which I haven't made in years and I don't like anymore) and a brat cooked in the microwave?…yep, weird, and it wasn't very good and I'm mad that I wasted a meal on something I didn't like.

Thursday:  French Toast (its a broomball day)

Friday:  Chicken Parmesan Bundles.

Saturday: Birthday party with friends - someone else's kid,  dinner taken care of!

Sunday:  Johns family Birthday Party - I still have NO Idea what we are going to make for that and its 40 people.  Eeek!  Ordering pizza is my backup.  Ha!

Just Food…no Fun.

Back to the same old…Law school starts this week.  Paul has been studying all night and has class Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays and one class thats homework is going to take up Sat, Sun, Mondays………..crap.  Its fine, I can handle it because I am an organized, happy and energetic mom (about 75% anyway!)  A food plan helps and so does a trip to Costco over the past weekend…so here we go!

Monday:  Lemon Pepper Chicken, roasted sweet potatoes and roasted cabbage.  So the cabbage was new for us…Paul and I loved it, kids and dog wouldn't touch it.  If you like cabbage, try it sometime - cut it in quarters, make a sauce from Worcestershire, olive oil, salt and pepper to coat all over the cabbage and roast at 400 for like 30 min.  Its pretty good!

Tuesday:  Beef Tacos with shredded carrots, spinach, cheese and greek yogurt.

Wednesday:  Its Wine Wednesday, Jennie is making Sweet Potato cakes.  I'm bringing fresh pears and bread - That is easy.  I like this.

Thursday:  I have broomball so its always super busy.  Maybe I'll just order a pizza.

FRIDAY:  Gosh this sounds like a great day….I can't wait until Friday.  Parmesan Chicken with Roasted Brocolli.

Have a great week!!

Pork Roast with Sweet Potatoes, Apples and Onions

Pork Roast with Sweet Potatoes, Apples and Onions

• 2 1/2 pound pork roast (I tied mine, to better hold it’s shape) instructions here <-
• olive oil, salt and pepper
• 2-4 apples, quartered (I used small gala, so I used 4 apples but if you use a larger apple like pink lady or granny smith, I would only use 2)
• 2 sweet potatoes, cut into wedges
• 1 sweet onion, sliced
• 1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
• salt and pepper to taste
• olive oil ( about 1/4 cup) enough to coat

1. Preheat broiler to 500.
2. Rub pork with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
3. Place on sheet tray and broil for 15 minutes, flipping half way through cooking time (to get nice color on meat).
4. Meanwhile, chop apples, sweet potatoes and onions. Toss in oil and spices.
5. Arrange on sheet tray around pork roast.
6. Turn oven to conventional at 450, and roast for 20-30 minutes,until apples and sweet potatoes are tender and meat reaches 120 degrees. This is a preference, most might say to cook to 140, but that is how you get dry pork. Allow the meat to rest at least 10 minutes before slicing and it will continue to cook and will be juicy! Return sliced pork and juices to the pan.
7. Serve sliced pork with sweet potatoes, apples, onions and a simple salad.

Orange rosemary chicken

http://www.pauladeen.com/recipes/recipe_view/slow_cooker_orange_rosemary_chicken/

Adventures of a chicken kind.

In anticipation of my return to work this week, I managed to get all of the laundry done, take down the Christmas decorations, clean the house, make a menu and go grocery shopping. Of course I had helpers of all ages, but we got it done!  It was a great weekend. Here is our menu.

Sunday - chili

Monday - spinach lasagna from the freezer

Tuesday - orange rosemary chicken

Wednesday - leftovers or out with the Millers

Thursday - Salisbury steak

Friday - leftovers?

Saturday - pizza

My first day back went smoothly.  No tears at daycare drop off, I remembered everything I needed, and the hours flew by. I came home, snuggled with my boy and then picked the girls up from school. Then, committed to stick to my menu, I set out to prepare tomorrow's dinner. Orange rosemary chicken in the crock pot. Just make it, heat it and eat it!  The recipe seemed easy enough.  The only problem: I have to work with a whole, raw chicken. Something new for me.  Shocking, I know.  In addition to my large learning curve, my eldest child wanted to help. How does one work with raw chicken and let a toddler help without contaminating everything??  I'm not sure how I managed to accomplish any of it, but the recipe was easy enough and it's set and ready to go.  It's a Paula Deen recipe and there's lots of butter, so it will probably taste amazing!  Next hurdle: getting the littles to eat it. 

Have a good one!!

Preschool Lunch ideas - I couldnt pass posting this for us.

http://paintingsunny.com/2013/08/30/the-school-lunch-round-up-end-of-summer-fast-approaching/