Monday Menu - Week 3

  

Totally love the way the weekly menus are working out.  Tina is home for the holiday already and Matt comes home tomorrow.  Making sure to have one of his favorite meals for him.  You know how dorm food is.  

What? Christmas movies in December!?!

Every year the commercial Christmas seems to start earlier and earlier. This year I saw Christmas merchandise in the stores BEFORE HALLOWEEN!!! What on earth is going on.  It is ridiculous!!  Now Christmas is my very favorite holiday of the year and I love everything about it.  The decorations, the music, the movies, the food, the cookies and most of all the story of Christmas and all that it stands for.  The nativity gets a special spot in the family room set up on the table next to the tree for all to see.

So here it was, a beautiful Saturday afternoon on November 12th and I'm resting inside because I'm just not feeling well. I grab the remote and start flipping through the channels and land on the ABC Family channel and see an advertisement that boasts the broadcast of our favorite Christmas movies for the 25 Days of Christmas.  Well, this officially starts on December 1st and if that is not soon enough for you, you can watch the Countdown to the 25 Days of Christmas.  I'm thinking this is beyond overkill even for me, a diehard Christmas nut.  So I flip through a few more channels and I come to the Hallmark channel.  They have been airing Chistmas movies all weekend!!  Insanity! As I lay there, drinking my cup of Celestial Seasonings Nutcracker Tea, telling myself how crazy people must be to watch this stuff already, I find that I am watching this stuff hour after hour, movie after movie.  Okay, I admit it, I'm one of the crazy ones. 

I LOVE CHRISTMAS!

Monday Menu

It's Monday again.  Here is my menu for this week.  Thursday will be a busy night since my son has basketball practice after school till 5:00 and then a LAX game at 8:00 so we will have something quick and easy. My daughter, Tina, will be arriving home from college for Thanksgiving break on Thursday evening too. My other son, Matt, will not get home until next Tuesday.

Last week worked out wonderfully.  There was no labored thinking each night as to what to make for dinner. I had the menu posted on the fridge so all the family had to do was take a look and they instantly knew what was for dinner.  The Pesto Chicken Pizza was a hit. I was surprised my 14 yr old liked it.  I added asparagus and it was particularly yummy.

So...It's Monday!  Here is my Monday Menu:

Meal Planning

So as we all know, financial times are tough all over.  I have decided that I am going to be more frugal and thus cut back on the thing that we spend the most on - FOOD!!! 

I have been making many trips to the grocery store and purchasing probably 2 meals at a time, including whatever snacks and treats sound good at the time. In the past, I have spent hours making a list and planning the family meals for two weeks at a stretch. This seemed to work out well.  I would also post the list of meals on the fridge so that I would know the night before what to take out of the freezer and the family would know what is on the menu and wouldn't have to ask me every mom's favorite question, "what's for dinner?" 

So the added bonus of planning out the meals ahead of time is that I can look up nutrition values and make sure that the meals are healthy AND tasty.  My husband and I could stand to lose some weight and my diabetes adds a twist.  My son is 14 and loves junk food.  He's very active in sports so really needs nutritious meals that are higher in high protein.  Unfortunately, he is also very picky.  He doesn't eat fruits and the only "veggies" are potatoes and corn.  I really question whether these are really veggies, since they are purely starches.

So I am going to start my Meal Planning Monday plan for next week.   As soon as I get it done, I will be sure to post it here.

Family Weekend!

Well, Joe and I went to Family Weekend at Niagara University this weekend.  It was wonderful seeing Tina and Matt.  Tina is a senior there and Matt is a freshman.  Tina calls often and texts me at least daily.  Matthew, on the other hand, never calls and only texts when he needs something.  I guess he is adjusting well to being away from home! 

Anyway, we had a nice weekend with them.  We went to dinner on Friday evening and then went back to Tina's apartment and just visited for a while. On Saturday, we went out to breakfast with the kids and then went to the American side of Niagara Falls.  It is beautiful even when there is no sun shining.  We took a ride on the Maid of the Mist and then we went to the Cave of the Winds.  It is truly God's creation.  We got some exercise and walked around the park, which is just beautiful in the fall with the changing colors of the leaves. Later we dropped off the kids at school and went to the hotel room.  It was quite chilly and damp outside so we were going to take a rest and warm up for a bit before going out to dinner at this Italian bistro that we love in Lewiston, NY.  Let me just say for everyone that has never been in a hot tub or a jacuzzi that this should be a standard item in every home. It was pure bliss to relax in that tub! 

On Sunday, we decided to forego having breakfast at a restaurant and bought stuff to make at Tina's apt.  While we were in the middle of making our fritattas and french toast, there was a fire drill.  Did I neglect to mention that these are on-campus apts?  We joked our way through the drill and the rest of breakfast.  It was a nice time.

It was nice to get home Sunday afternoon.  Our animals missed us.  Chopper, our faithful canine companion, was by our side all evening.  I truly can not wait until we see them again.  Tina will be home this weekend, but Matthew will not be home until Thanksgiving.  That's a long wait for the momma!

Hello again!

So it's been a very long time since my last post and I feel compelled to start writing again.  My life has changed in the last couple of months and I feel I have grown in so many ways. 

My middle child, Matthew, graduated from High School in June.  I am so very proud of him!  He is attending Niagara University with his sister, who is now a senior there.  While in the midst of all this change - going from having a busy household of 5 to a much slower household of 3 - I felt mixed emotions.  I could not help but feel trepidation at the huge change to my lifestyle that was happening whether I wanted it or not. On the other hand, I am so close to being an empty nester, I can almost taste it!  I've wondered what I will do with all of the spare time I have now that I only have one 14 yr old at home.  Will I even still like my husband when the kids are gone and it is just the two of us at home.  What on earth will we talk about?  I can cook anything I want for dinner and not worry if the kids will eat it.  My 14 yr old, Jon, is so picky the dinner selections are quite limited.

So, it has been an adjustment for me.  I feel I have handled the emptiness of missing my children well.  My daughter, Tina, talks to me often (and then some) for which I am truly grateful.  My son, Matt, would not call me unless he had to.  He is loving his life at college and is very independent.  I am very happy for him though I miss him terribly. Fortunately, it is Parent's Weekend at the college this weekend and I will get to see both of my babies. I am very excited!