Monday, October 31, 2011

Meal Plan Monday

Monday- Halloween!  Italian beef sandwiches.  Sliced raw veggies and guacamole.

Tuesday- Youth Group night.  Split pea soup and bread.

Wednesday- Pumpkin Lasagna.  Salad.

Thursday- Baked chili-cheese fries with leftover chili.  Roasted veggies.

Friday- Last week I actually made "Winter Pesto" risotto on Wednesday.  The trick is to use parsley instead of basil and walnuts instead of pinenuts.  Yum.  So I'm actually going to make last week's mac'n'cheese with cauliflower THIS week.

Monday, October 24, 2011

Meal Plan Monday

Monday-Burgers and coleslaw (probably the year's last outside grilling).

Tuesday- Youth Group night.  Red beans and rice.  Salad.

Wednesday- Macaroni and cheese with cauliflower.  (This is one of those "hide the veggies" recipes that are all the rage now.  I object to the principle- I think kids need to learn to eat veggies.  "Hidden" nutrition only impacts one meal, but good eating habits last a lifetime.  I love this blog on the topic.  HOWEVER, I like cauliflower, the munchkin likes cauliflower, and the recipe sounds yummy, so I'm gonna make it.)  Bread.  Peas, because you have to have one obvious vegetable on your plate.  :-)

Thursday- Mustard chicken, buttered carrots, bread

Friday- Garlic and parmesan soba noodles from this recipe.  Some kinda veggie, but I'm not sure what yet.

Another crazy weekend planned.  We're hosting a reunion of sort for hubby's friends from youth group during high school and attending at least two big parties.  If I cook at all, it will likely be grilled cheese.

Monday, October 17, 2011

Meal Plan Monday

Monday - Chicken tacos with sauteed red peppers

Tuesday - youth group night.  Rice and beef hot dish.  You know, the kind with cream of mushroom soup and basically no vitamins?  Yeah.  That.

Wednesday - Pasta with mushroom white wine sauce

Thursday - Baked potato bar with all the fixings

Friday - Brian's gone.  We'll eat leftovers.

Saturday - Brian's gone.  Scrambled eggs, toast, and whatever veggies are still in the fridge.

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Date #4- See a Show

See a live performance on stage.

This may take some planning for you to do in less than 2 hours and/or for less than $20.  We actually have been to see two shows in the past month, which is amazing for us.  We got free tickets to Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street at the Drury Lane theater.  We also used a Groupon deal of $10 for two tickets to see Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind in Chicago.  Usually tickets for TMLMTBGB are $9 plus the roll of a 6 sided die, so it was better than half off.

Both shows were wonderful.  I was much impressed with the actress who played Mrs. Lovett at Drury Lane.  It turns out with musicals, I like the second and third viewings more than the first.  With the first I have to think too hard about the characters and plot and general "what's going on?" sorts of things, and so I don't follow musical cues or catch most of the lyrics.  Such fun.

And TMLMTBGB is always a mixture of sublime and ridiculous.  One of the plays involved open heart surgery on a banana, one was a beautiful vignette about the passage of time, and one was an audience participation stunt involving tennis balls.  I highly recommend seeing TMLMTBGB any time you've got a spare $30 and Friday, Saturday,  or Sunday evening free.  The rotation of plays changes every week, so if you put a month between visits, you'll see an all new show.  Yay!

Happy dating.  And don't forget to share your experiences in the comments.

Monday, October 10, 2011

Meal Plan Monday

Monday - Quinoa with Broccoli Two Ways (from this wonderful recipe) and burgers on the grill.

Tuesday - Youth Group night.  Pork and cabbage soup.  Bread.

Wednesday - Stir-fry with green beans and bacon.

Thursday - Beef roast with potatoes and carrots.

Friday - Grilled cheese and home made tomato soup.

Saturday - Sukkot Party!!  I'm making 2 pots of chili- one vegetarian and one not- and a couple of batches of bread.  We're doing potluck style, so hopefully others will bring dessert.  :-)

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Meal Plan Monday (on Wednesday)

Monday - "Fresh" Pea soup with buttermilk and tarragon.  (By "fresh" I mean frozen, but what the heck.)  Bread.

Tuesday- Youth group night.  White Chicken Chili with garlic bread

Wednesday- Pork Tacos (with leftover ropas viejas from the freezer, lettuce, cilantro, salsa, cheese, and green tomatoes)

Thursday- Chicken "alfredo" and salad.  (I use a recipe from this book that is lower fat because it substitutes neufchatel cheese for the cream.  Also it's really tasty.  I highly endorse the linked cook book.)

Friday- Curry of some description with rice and pita bread.

Monday, October 3, 2011

Date #3- Making Something Together

Join The Toy Society.  Make and drop a toy.

We tried to do this as a post-bedtime date.  It did not go well.  The munchkin wasn't settled in bed until 9:00, and the tiny one refused to sleep.  So I ended up coaching the hubby through most of the toy making while jiggling the baby.  Needless to say, I wasn't much practical help.

We got about halfway to accomplishing this and a quarter of the way to accomplishing this before our two hours were up and we abandoned both projects and went to bed.  Better luck next time.