Blogging Fail

When I started this blog I told myself that I would write something every day.  Then I settled for twice a week, then once a week.  And now, well, it's been 22 days since my last post.  There are lots of excuses for why I haven't been blogging, but I don't like excuses so I won't list any.  It's my blog and I'll blog when I want to/ have time to!  I will say, however, that I have some posts planned for the next few weeks.  And I got a new camera, so hopefully there will be a noticeable photo quality improvement (gosh, I hope you can tell the difference, since most of the other pictures on the blog are taken with my cell phone camera!).

Special kudos to anyone that can recommend a good beginner's dslr photography book or blog!

Menu Plan Monday November 8, 2010

Week one of MPM went suprisingly well.  It really helped prevent the last minute scramble for dinner and I feel better knowing something is planned and ready for my boys while I am at work.  We did switch around a few days, I forgot to prepare the meatloaf before work so we defaulted to a pan of lasagna I had in the freezer and ended up having meatloaf on Friday and the mushroom and artichoke chicken on Saturday.  I decided to leave the weekends free because of this type of situation.  There is usually a meal  that doesn't get made for one reason or another during the week, and we might go out to eat on the weekend or have leftovers, so having only 5 meals worth of food helps prevent waste for us.

Hopefully this week will go just as well.  Here's the plan:

Monday:
Lunch- Homemade fish sticks
Dinner- Chicken Enchiladas, Spanish Rice, Refried Beans

Tuesday:
Lunch- Egg Salad sandwiches
Dinner- Mastaciolli, Garlic Bread, Broccoli

Wednesday:
Lunch- Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup
Dinner- Crock Pot Chicken and Noodles, Rolls

Thursday:
Lunch- Mini Cheeseburgers
Dinner- Slow Cooker Short Ribs, Risotto, Corn on the Cob

Friday:
Lunch- Chicken Fingers
Dinner- Baked Ham, Green Beans, Butternut Squash Bake

Note- I've decided to leave side dish options open for lunches so the kids get to help make food decisions.  Favorites around my house are apple slices, carrot sticks, sweet potato fries, ants on a log, and pretty much any time of fruit salad.  :)

Also, I forgot to mention last week that I'm linking up at http://www.orgjunkie.com/ where you can post your weekly menus or see other people's menus for ideas.

Simple crafts are fun!

Between last week's pumpkin carving:

 ...and todays post about stamp carving at Apartment Therapy...

Photo from Apartment Therapy

 I feel like digging out my supplies and making a few stamps myself.  It's been a few years since I last made stamps, but I already have the supplies, so why not?  I'm not the best stamp carver but it's simple and fun.  I made stamps for my kids, for family gifts, and I even got to make some stamps for a craft swap!

 I'll follow up with the results.  :)

Side note: I just noticed that the majority of my posts have been about pumpkins. No more pumpkin posts until next year...I promise!

Menu Plan Monday November 1, 2010



I've been horrible about planning meals for my family lately, which means we're left scrambling and scrapping up something to eat come dinner time.  It is chaotic and costly, daily trips to the store add up to be much more expensive than a planned trip.  I've known about Menu Plan Monday for a long time and many of my favorite bloggers participate, so now that I'm writing my own blog, I decided to jump in and try to organize my menu for the week.  Hopefully this prevents the extra headache come mealtime.  I usually work Monday-Thursday evening so I try to have a meal prepared for hubby and the kids, or have something easy planned for them to make.  With my oldest in morning kindergarten this year, he always comes off the bus starving and ready for lunch or snack.  Hopefully having a plan will make it easier to have lunch ready for him on time.  :)

Here's the menu for this week:

Monday:
Lunch- Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches
Dinner- Chicken Teryaki with rolls and corn

Tuesday:
Lunch- Personal Calzone
Dinner- Meat Loaf with mashed potatoes and green beans

Wednesday:
Lunch- Corn Dog Muffins
Dinner- Crock Pot Pork Chops with biscuits and broccoli

Thursday:
Lunch- Hot Ham and Cheese sandwiches
Dinner- Lasagna with garlic bread and salad

Friday:
Lunch- Mini Cheeseburgers
Dinner- Artichoke and Mushroom Chicken with tomato bruschetta