A bit of everything....and nothing! :)

I've been looking forward to today for about a week now, my husband is finally back from a business trip! I can finally sleep again! It's seems when he's gone, I always find myself a good book and then stay up all night long reading. No one's there to make me go to bed! Myself and my children :) always suffer the next day!

The snow has fallen, and I'm looking at about 4 inches on the grass. I went to feed the chickens this morning and their water was frozen solid. Poor chickens! They have to get cold out there!

Well, here's my menu for the week (a lot of these recipes are from a cookbook called "Eat Free", I highly recommend it!)

Monday: Chipotle Lime Salmon, Artichokes with Basil Lemon Butter, Steamed Broccoli
Tuesday: Chicken Thai Curry with Basmati Rice
Wednesday: Omelets, Zucchini Muffins, Spinach Salad
Thursday: Turkey Burgers, Sweet Potato Fries, Spinach Salad
Friday: Pizza night!
Saturday: Mom's night off! :)
Sunday: Roast and Carrots, Mashed Potatoes and Gravy, and Green Salad

Beautiful Oregon!

I was lucky enough to have a few days of my husband and beautiful Oregon this week! We took a quick getaway to the land of GREEN (and red and yellow and orange--oh the fall leaves!!!!). It was a great trip, and we came back to happy boys and their mother is refreshed and ready for a new week. Here's my menu for the week:

Monday: Anniversary Chicken, Quinoa, Acorn Squash and Green Beans
Tuesday: French Dip Sandwiches, Carrots and Celery with dip, Chips and Salsa
Wednesday: Chicken Parmesan, Pasta, Green Salad
Thursday: Crustless Quiche, Pears and Peaches, Zucchini Muffins, Spinach Salad
Friday: Pizza Night!
Saturday: Mom's night off :)
Sunday: Wall Family Dinner

Pumpkin Picking!

We travelled down south for Keaton's Lacrosse game this weekend and afterward stopped at the Warner's farm! We had a blast picking pumpkins and catching flying corn! All of the pumpkins in the patch were enormous, and the boys are quite excited about the prospect of carving the massive pumpkins. But, I have made it clear that I will not be the one scraping the slime out this year!

Landon was pretty cute tonight, trying to get my attention while I was reading on the couch. He looked right into my face and said, "MOM, do you have your listening ears on?" Too cute!

I'm trying to use up as much garden produce as possible this week, so I looked at the garden and then I made my menu. We still have a lot of tomatoes, peppers, onions, green beans, potatoes, carrots, celery, tomatillos, cantaloupe, watermelon, zucchini, squash and beets! I love fresh food!

Monday: Colorful Vegetable Fajitas with Steak, fresh salsa and chips, cantaloupe
Tuesday: Shepherd's Pie, Spinach Salad, and Fresh Peaches
Wednesday: Authentic Enchiladas Verdes, Zucchini, Tomato and Squash stir-fry, Watermelon
Thursday: Roasted Beet and Potato Soup with Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
Friday: Pizza Night!
Saturday: Mom's Night Off!
Sunday: Spaghetti and Meatballs, Spinach Salad, French Bread, and Watermelon

Happy Birthdays and Conference time!

We had a fun weekend, full of fiestas and family! My mom and my darling niece celebrated birthdays, so we broke a pinata, ate mexican food and fiesta'd! Homemade ice-cream and all! And then, we enjoyed family as we watched General Conference. I have to laugh that I spend most of the last session of Conference in constant battle with my children, but I suppose one day I'll miss it....yeah right! :)

Right now we are in full sports mode at our house. There is never a day (besides Sunday) that we are not involved in some sport. Right now Keaton is on the highschool Lacrosse team, which involves a hefty practice and conditioning schedule. Chase is on the Tsunami Swim Team at our rec center, and Brooks is doing Lacrosse as well. It's fun to watch them progress. Chase had a meet this weekend, and both Lacrosse boys have games every Saturday. So we are BUSY! But it's been so nice to spend the time outside watching the games in the beautiful weather we've been having. I'm sure it won't last forever, so I'm sure enjoying it while it's here.

If you notice some repeats in my meals over the next few weeks, you'll know it's because our busy schedule didn't allow me to be home to make the dinner I had planned. I'm sure we'll get back to normalcy sometime soon.....yeah right! :)

Monday: Turkey Burgers, Relish Tray with Herbed Cottage Cheese, Chips and Salsa
Tuesday: Artichoke Chicken, Quinoa, Steamed Green Beans, and Cantaloupe
Wednesday: Grilled Pizza, Garden Green Salad, Apricot
Smoothie
Thursday: Southwest Lentil Soup and Cheese Quesadillas (The Lentil soup is from a new cookbook I'm trying out, it's called Eat Free by Rhiannon Lawrence)
Friday: Scrambled Eggs, Toast, Bacon and Orange Juice
Saturday: Mom's night off!
Sunday: Juicy Roasted Chicken, Red and Purple Garden Potatoes and Carrots and Green Beans and My Favorite Zucchini Bread

It's going to be a week of harvesting!

I've had a lot going on in the past couple of weeks and as a result, I have not been able to do any garden harvesting. So, this week is going to be a big week in the garden. I have green beans, tomatoes and beets that will all need to be canned this week. It's gonna be fun.....and exhausting!

Here's my menu for the week:
Monday: Beef Stroganoff, Brown Rice, Stir-fry Green Beans and Garden Watermelon (this was on last weeks menu, but we had a change of plans, so we'll use it tonight!)
Tuesday: Chicken Pot Pie and Spinach Salad
Wednesday: Baked Salmon, Zucchini, Onion, Tomato Stir-fry, Corn on the Cob
Thursday: Southwest Lentil Soup and Cheese Quesadillas (The Lentil soup is from a new cookbook I'm trying out, it's called Eat Free by Rhiannon Lawrence)
Friday: German Pancakes with fresh berries and jam
Saturday: Dinner at Grandma's house! Taco Bar and Birthday Cake.
Sunday: Roast, Mashed Potatoes and Gravy, Garden Vegetables, and Sweet Dinner Rolls

GREAT couple of weeks!

It's been a wild, crazy, super busy, GREAT couple of weeks! For starters, I took a whirlwind trip with my siblings and parents to Colorado to visit my sister and her family. It's a pretty happenin' time when we all get together, and this time was no different! Late nights, lots of laughing, good food, and did I mention no sleep? The whole trip was organized around the Broncos vs. Raiders Monday Night Football game, and we definitely got the full NFL football game experience. Field passes and the works! I only looked slightly stupid for my lack of football knowledge, but I cheered loud and had FUN! And quite honestly, I think my stupidity was a bit entertaining to those around me. Glad I could provide some enjoyment! :)

And then this weekend we had a fantastic family wedding and two baby blessings. I'm exhausted yet so happy! I love being around family and I'm so grateful to have a wonderful family and to have married into a wonderful family. Life is good.

Here's my menu for the week:

Monday: Taco Soup and spinach salad
Tuesday: Easy Shake and Bake Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans
Wednesday: Beef Enchiladas with Roasted Tomatillo Sauce, Spanish Rice, Shredded Lettuce Salad
Thursday: Toast Cups (Add peas and diced ham to freshly made white sauce, toast buttered bread in muffin cups under the broiler, serve the white sauce mixture over the toast cups. It really is delicious!)
Friday: Easy Bagel Melts, Chips and Fresh Salsa, Vegetable Platter
Saturday: Mom's night off :)
Sunday: Beef Stroganoff over egg noodles with Stir-fry Green Beans and Fresh Fruit Salad

Labor Day!

There is just something great about having your husband home on a week day! Even if it is a holiday :) Right now he's outside fixing all the bikes and then we're going to take off for a family bike ride and a picnic. Happy Day! Here's my menu for the week:

Monday: Labor Day! Grilled Chicken, Grilled Vegetables, Fresh Fruit Salad
Tuesday: Honey Ham, Baked Sweet Potatoes, Corn on the Cob, Stir Fried Green Beans
Wednesday: Lettuce Wraps (I prefer this recipe with ground turkey, rather than ground beef), Potstickers and Brown Rice
Thursday: Meatball Subs on these amazing Baguettes, Sliced Carrots and Celery, Chips and Fresh Salsa
Friday: Tomato soup and Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
Saturday: Mom's Night Off!
Sunday: Dinner with Awesome Friends!