Meal Plan Monday

So I’ve been slacking, right??  The main reason is this:  Tim is umpiring 6 days a week.  Last week he did 9 games in those 6 days.  It makes life busy even if I’m not the one doing the umpiring.  I have the 6 days/week single parenting thing just about down pat, yet, it leaves me with about zero time to get anything else done except play with Cooper.  Which is A-OK with me, this blog is just going to have to suffer a bit.  Everyone out there in blogland will just have to understand, ok?  Good.

Now, I’ve got my meal plans for three weeks back,  and last week we didn’t even do a meal plan (I can only remember a few meals from plan on the week of 4/30), and I’ve got a few things ready for this week so here goes:

4/23 Week’s meal plan:

·         Picky Palate’s Chicken and Black Bean Green Enchilada Rice Bake – We were supposed to have had this the previous week, but here was attempt 2, and it was successful.

• Mama Laughlin’s Skinny Doritos Taco Bake – yummo! – Again, we were supposed to have had this the previous week and it was a fail, so I tried again, and success.
• Spaghetti – we ended up skipping it.
• Grilled pork chops/broccoli/couscous – skipped it.
• Stir Fry – Success
• Tuna Salad Sandwiches – skipped.

So, you’ll notice – we did 3 out of 6 on the meal plan – a whopping 50%. 

So, I was pretty sure we weren’t going to be that successful the following week, but I did create a plan, I just don’t remember it all.  For the week of 4/30 I remember these:

·         Tuna Salad Sandwiches - skipped

·         Tacos - skipped

·         Grilled Chicken Salads - success

·         Penne Rosa with Shrimp - success - and this was pretty good - I would make it more spicy next time, but Tim looooved it, made with chicken instead of shrimp, everything else, followed to the T.

·         Breakfast – ½ success

So….another 50% on that meal plan which is way the week of 5/7 – I didn’t plan… Not a single meal was cooked in my house last week (weekdays).  I did manage to cook the PW’s Spicy Dr. Pepper Shredded Pork again over the weekend and it was delicious.

Biggest reason I didn’t make a meal plan last week?  I’d make those meals in my meal plan (ok, realistically, only 50% of those meals), but I’d make them, and Tim wouldn’t want a full meal when he got home.  Cooper barely touches anything that’s not a banana covered with peanut butter.  Andrew wasn’t home from college yet, so that left me, cooking a meal after Cooper would get to bed, (around 8), and having to put most of it in the fridge and then in the trash when no one ate the leftovers.  What a waste of my time cooking, cleaning and our money on the groceries that got thrown away.  So…. I just decided to quit for a week and see how it went.

This week week of 5/14 – I haven’t done any grocery shopping yet (going after work today) – but I plan do cook a few things this week, but certainly not a meal every night.  Here’s why.  I am tired of cereal.  I like a hot meal at night.  I don’t want to eat noodles 3 nights again.  (noodles are easy to make, therefore they are what I went to when I needed hot food)

Meal plan ideas for 5/14:

·         Stir fry – because everyone in my house will eat it and if not, its healthy enough for me to bring leftovers for lunch.

·         Dashing Dish Lasagna Roll-ups – because they are delicious and I can eat them day after day if needed to prevent from going in the trash

·         Dashing Dish Honey Parmesan Chicken Poppers – because they sound good and I want to try something new with chicken.

That’s it.  That’s all I’ve got for you.  I hope you’re weekly meal plans are going better than mine.  I’m afraid that this will be our routine all summer.  Tim umpiring, no cooking, lots of fun otherwise!!!  I don’t think it’s too terrible!!!

Have a great week, I seriously hope to get those baby shower pictures up this week!!!



Two Posts? One Day? It's Mother Love!

I'm linking up with Holly so that I can share some about my awesome mom. 

I don’t have one particular story to share about my mom, honestly, there are just too many for me to single out one of them.

I have the most amazing Mama on the planet, hands down.  (don’t argue with me, you’ll never win, I’m stubborn and I happen to love my mom that much)

My mom is my best girlfriend, my biggest supporter and she means the world to me.  As I look back at my life, I know that my Mama made me who I am.  She’s absolutely fabulous! 

Mom ran me and my brother everywhere.  We did every sport/club/activity possible as children.  Soccer, basketball, swimming, dance, karate, gymnastics, tennis, 4-H, church youth group, plays & musicals, you name it, we probably did it at some point.  We were always going, going, going.   Mom was always there, at every event, showing her support.  Getting us ready, dressing us (think dance recitals, tons of stage makeup) and doing whatever needed to be done for us. 

My mom is always there for me.  I can call her at 3a.m. and know that if I need to talk to her, she’ll talk, or if I need her, she’ll get in her car, and drive 2 hours to come to me.  As she did when Cooper had to go into the hospital for his spinal tap & 2^nd MRI back in 2010.  As she did for me in college when I had an accident and almost lost my tooth in the middle of the night in my dorm.  As she has done more times that I can even recall. 

Mom is the most unselfish person I have ever met.  She gives, gives, gives even though most of what she gives is undeserved by whomever she is giving to.  She is smart, kind, funny, goofy, she brings me up when I am down, and brings me back to reality when I need it.  She loves unconditionally.  I can remember at night when I was a kid, saying “I love you Mom” and she’d always reply back “I love you more, Emily”  to this day, she still tells me “I love you more.”  I never understood that until I became a mom, but it’s true, and I am so thankful for a mom who does love me more.  I have been blessed beyond words for a mother like her. 

I love you Mom, always.

Cheater, Cheater, Pumpkin Eater

I feel like I need to explain that +2.5 up there on the weight loss tally......

You see, I cheated.  For 5, that's right F.I.V.E. days last week.  I ate whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted.  It was so good and so bad at the same time.  I knew that scale would go up, and I was prepared.  I actually didn't know what to expect, but now that the time had come, I weighed in.  I'm okay with it.  I didn't say I'm happy.  I said I'm okay. 

This is how I felt this morning when I got on that scale, but you know what, it could have been worse. 

 I know that this journey that I'm on is going to have its ups and downs, and that when it has its downs, I'm going to do whatever I can to get back up and kick it's butt the next day.  With that said.  I am likely to cheat at least two times this weekend.  One day and one meal/dessert. 

Tomorrow, I am taking a me day.  I'm staying home, catching up on some televison, watching some movies and vegging.  This will probably be my cheat day, as I cannot imagine staying home by myself vegging out and not eating some delicious food.  How would that be possible?  (ok, I've done it before, and I know it is possible, and I will TRY to eat carrots all day long, but honestly, it's probably not going to happen.) 

And then Sunday, Mother's Day........

So.... this quote is going to help me realize that I may have slip ups, but I will continue the good fight.

 Have a great weekend and Happy Mother's Day to all of you moms out there!

Ready.....Play!

Last night, the weather was wonderful, so Cooper and I loaded ourselves into the car and headed to the park.  Cooper with his bat, ball and glove and me with our jackets in case it got chilly.  I thought with the breeze it got chilly wayyyy before others at the park did, so most of what you’ll see was my child in a jacket. 

Anywho, I think he had a great time.  He played on the big kids playset, he played on the little kids playset, he swung, he laughed, he ran and he flirted with the girls (that’s probably his favorite part, he just loves playing with kids, and there were A LOT more girls at the park than boys last night, go figure).

Here are a few pictures of my sweet boy.  He’s such a blessing to me, his dad and everyone around him (at least when he’s in a good mood, wink wink, nudge, nudge)

(I didn’t have time to watermark these pics, so DON’T STEAL them, ok?  Good, glad we’ve got that covered.)

And that's a wrap.  Good times for a Tuesday night.  Have a great hump day!!