week three--kinda lame

This was a busy week for us, and our meals demonstrated that...

Sunday: I worked, again, so we picked up Chili's...again...because I'm a sucker for loaded potato skins when I'm starving.

Monday: leftovers

Tuesday: finally got my act together, we had Salmon with orzo and mixed vegetables. I made a salmon that I've made tons of times before, Salmon with Cranberry Thyme Crust, it's yummy and easy and my husband loves it.

Wednesday: Mac and Cheese and roasted chicken
Pulled out another frozen chicken, bought at whole foods on supersale last month (did I mention I love my freezer) and made the easiest roast chicken known to man...the chicken went yummy with the mac and cheese, and the rest got put into bags and frozen for future use:)

In case you want to roast some chicken:

Rub two tablespoons of butter under the skin, then follow with herbs of choice (mine is herbs de provence...always) then roast at 375 for about an hour...the trick for me is flipping the chicken several times throughout the process, it keeps the meat very moist:) Then basting with apple cider, or apple juice depending on what's in the fridge...it does great things for the skin because of the sugar content of the juice.

Thursday: Robert skipped out the cville for a basketball game with the kids since I was working, which meant that I picked up a sandwich and bottle of wine from whole foods...yum for me. Oh Wait, I also make us "dinner" before I went to work at 5pm...quick Chicken Sandwiches with bacon and cheddar...just popped some chicken on leftover ciabatta then added bacon and cheese and broiled for about 5 minutes...easy for the hubby to eat in the car...the toddler ate a bar, because it's our go to food replacement, always.

Friday: Grilled cheese because we went to see the Legwarmers:)

Saturday: Breakfast Sandwiches on Bodos Bagels...double yum.

Toddler ate the salmon (after a bit of a struggle), the mac and cheese/chicken combo, the grilled cheese..obviously, and the breakfast sandwich which he, thankfully, loves.

Here's hoping this week is more productive and less lazy.

the big boy room

Even though Robert has been in his big boy room for several months, I never got around to posting the photos...here's a bit of before and after for you to enjoy:)

before (obviously right after we'd moved in)...

in case you're wondering, that's his UVA road map quilt that I made for him to drive his cars around, because, well, everyone needs a map of UVA grounds on a blanket...how else will he learn how to get from the Rotunda to Scott Stadium...yes, I'm aware that we're out of control.

Hopefully these two convey the design dilemmas with the room, namely, it's very very small, and with two windows and a radiator, doesn't leave many choices in terms of furniture placement. It took us several months, but we are really happy (and so is the big guy) with how it played out...

Made him a tufted headboard and found the tiniest bedside table known to man, plus a cheapo comforter at walmart:)

Stenciled then sewed curtains with blackout liner and spray painted some thrift stores frames orange, because well, all our rooms have orange in them:)
Daddy then swooped in and built some shelves to display all Roberts books and stuffed animals and things he loves but shouldn't touch on his own (aka his train piggy bank). Then I made a slipcover for a wing back chair, he loves to drive things on it, read in it and it serves as a place to plan out his daily wardrobe in an (attempt) to avoid a struggle in the mornings:)
considering the chair ($20 from craigslist) used to look like this:
I'd say it's a vast improvement, don't you think:)

We love his room and are working on a dresser for it at present...notice one is glaringly missing in the above photos.

week two

This week was yummy too...several recipes to highly recommend!

Sunday: Garlic Balsamic Pork Tenderloin with roasted squash and potatoes
Used this and just roasted my acorn squash and potatoes the way that I always do...at 400 with olive oil for 20 minutes, then throw in some butter and toss in the pan before cooking for about 20 more minutes...
This pork was LEGIT...highly recommended

Monday: Black and White Burritos
Black beans, white beans, quinoa (all from my freezer...more on that later), tomatoes, avocado...easy, 15 minutes total to prepare, lots of protein and kid friendly.

Tuesday: suckered into Whole Foods' two for one pizza deal...hawaiian pizza for dinner and lunches...double yum.

Wednesday: Soup and Salad
Leftover soup from the freezer, a broccoli and cheese soup from PW with carrots added because we had some and its easy to sneak in.

Thursday: On your own/leftovers...Robert and Mama had more of the pork from sunday, yum and daddy had more pizza (they go a freakin' long way friends)

Friday: Italian sausage with rice-lentil medley, mushrooms and carrots
Used whole foods rice medley and while it was easy, we weren't big fans of the rice part, I'd rather make it myself with lentils and rice separately...just sauteed the sausage with the mushrooms and carrots and piled it on top of the rice:)

Saturday: Spaghetti with italian sausage and vegetables
Spaghetti is one of those easy to hide things in meals, so I chopped up onion, mushrooms and spinach and cooked it in some sauce from the freezer (courtesy of my mother in law who makes AWESOME spaghetti sauce)

Consensus:
We loved the pork, including my son, and this week made me grateful for my freezer:)

Finally made my own bread, and probably will never buy store bought again, the recipe was so so easy and the bread kept for several days.

Also made the salted caramel brownies...got rave reviews from friends and that sauce was AMAZING.

just because I love my cute 6 month old:

6 whole months

Six months already? Or rather, only six months:) Six months of blood, sweat and tears...lots of tears...mostly his...and six months of seeing the middle of the night more times than I'd like to remember.

But our little (big) guy is sitting up, smiling, laughing and watching his big brothers every.single.move.

Joshua Dennis, we love you to the moon and back.

A look back for you.....

at the hospital
one month--gosh, such long long legs!
two months---the chunk is setting in
three months:)

four months---the smiley one emerges
christmas time!

six months...personality in full effect
we love this kid.

more baking with my big guy:)

I love cooking and I'm learning to love cooking with my toddler helping me...in part because of it's great for one-on-one time for us and also because he really, really loves it! This week, I took a new approach and prepped while he was napping for a bit of baking post nap. Here's what I did:

When we bake, it is usually more than one recipe at once...if I'm going to get the kitchen messy, might as well make several things! What did we make?
First some blondies:

I used a recipe from a healthy desserts blog because I was intrigued by her promise that these gluten free protein rich blondies would actually taste good...but instead of chickpeas, I used white beans because that's what we had in the fridge...all my big guy did was pour all the ingredients in the Vitamix and press on...easy for him and easy for me to clean:)
The results: Big Robert didn't even guess that it was made from beans! That's success to me...I ate mine last night with some ice cream, it was very yummy...it's even better today since it's hardened a bit and become a bit more "bar-like"

Next recipe was some animal crackers

Just had Robert add all ingredients to the food processor and blended it right up, then waited for the dough to firm up and just rolled it out for him to go to town with my noah's ark cookie cutters (bought at Michaels, BTW, with a 40% off coupon for a whopping $2)...he had a great time once he got the hang of it.

The results: they have a bit different flavor to the store bought variety, in part because I only use whole wheat flour in my baking...but Robert gobbled them up, and since they're bigger than the store bought version, they take up more room in the bowl so he actually eats less of them overall.

After making some sweets this way with him, I can't forsee going back anytime soon. It was easier, cleaner and faster for both of us...he didn't lose interest and also didn't get upset when I wouldn't let him scoop out the flour...a messy experience that I'd rather not repeat:)

New Years and Meal Plans

I made one rather larger new years resolution this year, and (this will surprise no one), it has many parts. One of those is to commit myself to meal planning each week in order to A. actually have a plan B. feed my family well and C. attempt to save some money in the process.

This past week was my first real commitment week and my husband commented that it was the best week of food that he's had since we were married...now, he isn't just trying to blow smoke, since he is actually one of my best critics in terms of food. He isn't shy to tell me that he loves, hates or would change something that I've made...so I accepted this as a true complement and was motivated to plan for this upcoming week as well.

I'm going to share these meal plans with you each week after I've finished cooking them in order to actually hold myself accountable to making the meals I plan (and not wussing out on Outback takeout...despite how yummy and delicious is really is), but also to provide feedback for the one person who might actually choose to make it themselves:)

Let me know if you a. try any or b. have any meal plans of your own to share...I could use suggestions!

Week One

Saturday: leftovers:)

Sunday: red quinoa with avocado black beans and corn
*I borrowed from a great website for this meal but added tomatoes

Monday: roasted tomato soup with grilled cheese
*Hubby said this was the best soup he ever had...stolen from here, but I didn't simmer on stove a second time, as I never have an extra twenty minutes and my vitamix allows me to add the stock and heat right in the blender (because it's that amazing)

Tuesday: White Bean and Shrimp Panini and Salad
*adapted from an epcurious appetizer recipe and used some frozen pesto that I already had on hand rather than the basil marinade, plus included tomatoes and cheese...because everything is better with those two.

Wednesday: Chicken, Rice and Spinach Soup
*there are several recipes out there, I adapted mine from this but changed a bunch of things...if you want the final recipe, let me know:)

Thursday: Broke out the chilis gift card because I worked until 6 and we weren't home until 630...felt ok about my slip up because it was free:)

Friday: Spinach Pasta Tortellini Bake
*This was absolutely amazing, I anticipated leftovers but no luck, Robert and I downed almost the whole thing single-handedly:) Found this recipe here but altered a bit my mixing everything together in the baking dish rather than the pan...easier clean up.

Our consensus?
we really felt healthier (minus the burger and potato skins from chilis, obviously) and fuller after these meals than what I normally cook

My toddler's consensus?
He gobbled up dinners from Sunday, Tuesday, and Friday and ate slightly altered meals the other nights...which, since we have trouble with him every night, actually made for a great week of meals for him too.

What did you make last week? or what are your plans for this upcoming week?

christmas, but no santa

Christmas is always such a rushed, busy time for us...while this year was no different, we also celebrated for the first time as a family of four:)

It was such a special thing to watch my two boys interact, and really brought back memories of my sister and I. It made me both incredibly sad and hopeful for my children to experience life together.

Even though we didn't buy gifts for our children this year (we feel like they get enough from family and relatives and we feel so blessed in this way), we wanted Robert to experience giving and choosing a gift for his brother, so Daddy took Robert to the toy store and big brother picked out two thoughtful things for his little bro...then "helped" him open them:)
Joshua took to his new gifts right away!
(You can also just make out daddy's big gift, a pair of five finger running shoes...maybe now his knees won't hurt when he runs, we'll see!)

I tried to get a successful christmas morning matching pjs photo and this is what I came up with:
Substantially better than my christmas eve photo shoot attempt, where, although Joshua was completely cooperative, my older child was not:)
No santa photo again this year because well, Robert's still afraid of him...despite the fact that he's not afraid of the 20 foot tall santa that resides in our neighbors yard, and our attempts to convince him to take his brother and to be brave for Joshua...so alas, maybe next year on that one.