Laptop Lunch At Home!

Last week I couldn't find my camera after I packed Greyson's lunches :(
But yesterday we made a laptop lunch at home. Greyson LOVES eating out of it. I like to seeing all the different containers is a great reminder to put VARIETY in our meals.


Large Lime: Green Giant Antioxident Blend. (Broccoli, Peppers and Carrots in a light butter sauce)
Dark Green: Shells and Cheese
Small Lime: Peach Yogurt
No Container: Whole Wheat Saltine Crackers


Ready to chow-down!

Laptop Lunch #2 - Easy Lunch For A Two-Year-Old

• Dark Green Container: String Cheese and a Granola Bite
• Lime Green Container: Almond Crackers
  
• Purple Container: "Before and Afters" (Sliced Organic Grapes and Golden Raisins)
  
• Light Blue Container: Sliced Deli Turkey

Verdict: G ate almost everything! Just a little bit of turkey and some raisins were left.

Our First Laptop Lunch!

I just packed Greyson's first-ever "school lunch". He starts Parent's Day Out tomorrow. I'm a little nervous, but super excited to start packing him a lunch twice a week!

Here is his first lunch!

• Dark Green Container: Pasta Shells and Chicken Breast Bites.
• Lime Green Container: Granola Bite (My Granola Bars baked in a mini-muffin tin)
  
• Purple Container: Triscuit Thin Crisps
• Light Blue Container: Mandarin Oranges

I'm also sending a container of milk so he has some dairy in his lunch.


Verdict: G barely touched the pasta and chicken - which I expected. He ate everything else though. They mentioned that he ate all the oranges first! Of course - he LOVES oranges!

Meal Plan 1/30/10 - 2/5/10

Saturday
Lunch: Turkey, Apple and Cheese Sandwiches and Chips
Dinner: Chili and Corn Muffins

Sunday:
Lunch: Quinoa and Veggies, Sandwiches
Dinner: Monte Cristos and Sweet Potato Fries

Monday:
Lunch: Chili and Corn Muffin
Dinner: Crock-Pot Pork on a bun, Chips

Tuesday:
Lunch: Shredded Pork Burritos with Quinoa
Dinner: Roasted Chicken and Sweet Potatoes

Wednesday:
Lunch: Pork/Chili/Chicken (leftover delight)
Dinner: Sausage Jambalaya, Cheese Toast

Thursday:
Lunch: Sausage Jambalaya
Dinner: Chicken Pot Pie

Friday:
Lunch: Chicken Pot Pie
Dinner: Corn Chowder

Grocery Cost this week: $65.0o

Meal Plan 1/23/10 - 1/29/10

Saturday
Lunch: Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup
Dinner: Dinner with Grandparents

Sunday:
Lunch: Sandwiches
Dinner: Sauteed Chicken, Zucchini and Onions over Pasta with Alfredo

Monday:
Lunch: Sandwiches and Chips / Leftover Pasta
Dinner: Beef/Turkey Burritos with Quinoa and Corn

Tuesday:
Lunch: Burritos, Chips and Salsa
Dinner: Chicken and Veggie Curry with Coconut Rice

Wednesday:
Lunch: Curry and Rice
Dinner: Quinoa Pilaf with Chicken, Sweet Potatoes and Carrots

Thursday:
Lunch: Leftovers or Quiche
Dinner: Baked Potato Soup

Friday:
Lunch: Baked Potato Soup
Dinner: Leftovers or Frozen Pizza

Grocery Cost this week: $62.54
Includes Beer and 2 12-packs of soda

Meal Plan 1/16/10 - 1/22/10

Saturday
Lunch: Sandwiches, Chips and Salsa
Dinner: Salmon with Veggies and Rice

Sunday:
Lunch: Homemade Mac and Cheese with Broccoli and Squash
Dinner: Pasta Bake with Zucchini and Spinach, Cheese Toast

Monday:
Lunch: Mac and Cheese, 1/2 Sandwich
Dinner: Beef/Turkey Burritos with Rice and Corn

Tuesday:
Lunch: Pasta Bake and Beef/Turkey
Dinner: Steak and Roasted Veggies

Wednesday:
Lunch: Steak Sandwiches
Dinner: Sausage Jambalaya

Thursday:
Lunch: Sausage Jambalaya
Dinner: Roasted Chicken Breast, Broccoli Rice and Potatoes

Friday:
Lunch: Chicken wraps
Dinner: Leftovers or Frozen Pizza

Grocery Cost this week: $106.06
Includes laundry detergent and dog food, stocking up on shredded cheese

A midwinter cleanout

Yesterday in the spirit of "less things" we started going through our cabinets and making a garage sale pile. Yes, I realize it is below freezing and the streets are covered with snow, but I like to start early. In cleaning out the kitchen alone we amassed a HUGE pile of things to pass on to others. I just don't need these things anymore and I want them out of my house and life.

I think it will take us all winter to properly purge the house of all the unnecessary extras. I'm really looking forward making room in our house for more life and less stuff.

Meal Plan 1/9/10 - 1/1/15/10

Saturday
Lunch: Sandwiches and leftover Mac and Cheese
Dinner: Parmesan Tilapia, Cheesy Veggies, Rice

Sunday:
Lunch: Sandwiches and Chips
Dinner: Shrimp Gumbo (add Peppers, Water Chestnuts and Corn), Cheese Toast

Monday:
Lunch: Gumbo
Dinner: Baked Chicken, Scalloped Potatoes, Spinach Salad

Tuesday:
Lunch: Chicken Wraps and Rice
Dinner: Squash & Corn Chowder, Corn Bread, Spinach Salad Tostadas

Wednesday:
Lunch: Chowder and Sandwich Leftover mexican food
Dinner: Shepard's Pie Frozen Pizza

Thursday:
Lunch: Shepards's Pie leftover pizza
Dinner: Cheeseburger Soup, Spinach Salad

Friday:
Lunch: Cheeseburger Soup
Dinner: Leftovers or Frozen Pizza

Grocery Cost this week: $54.98 $70.34
We had to run back out late in the week for baby wipes, baby food, tortillas, sliced turkey and something else that comes out the the grocery budget...

Thinking about the Holidays...

Did you realize that it is already November 11th?! That's almost halfway through November. Our anniversary is coming up quickly, then Thanksgiving, then Christmas! Wow. This year has gone by so, so fast. I think carrying around this little guy has helped it speed along. (He'll be here in 90some days)
So I'm starting to think about the holidays and what we will do to celebrate this year. I have no desire to put up any of our holiday decorations. Michael brought up our autumn decor - normally my favorite. But it has just sat out for weeks because I really don't want it out. It seems I have no time for clutter right now, even cute autumnal clutter.
I've begun knitting scarves for people for Christmas and I think I'll do a baby hat or two for the cute baby girls in my life, Miss L who will be 10 months old for Christmas and Miss A who was just born last week. Our little guy will have his pick of sassy older women it seems :)
I may also make some blankets and rice packs (you can put them in the freezer when you need a cold pack, or heat them up in the microwave when you need something hot). We use our rice packs all of the time.
Just thinking about the Holidays this years fills me with joy and sadness. The world is in such bad shape right now. There are tons of lay-offs in this area and all we can do it hope to hold on to the jobs that we have and hope that same for our family and friends. But there is always joy, this little one is proof of that and I'm looking forward to looking into his eyes in February.

That's Coat-tastic!

It’s getting cold again and that means it is time to wear a coat! Whoo Hoo!

We love coats in this little yellow house. One of my favorite Michael stories is how when he got a new coat (a vintage wool Belgian Army coat) he would wear it around the basement because it wasn’t really cold enough to wear outside. Now that is a man who loves a coat!

We both have several coats and love them all. Unfortunately I can’t close any of my coats over my baby belly any longer.

Good side – I get to buy a new coat!
Bad side – I have to spend money to buy a new coat!

There is a cute maternity coat at Old Navy (http://www.oldnavy.com/browse/product.do?cid=26258&pid=616670) that I would like to pick up with weekend. I just have to find an actual store with a Maternity section. Sizing is all crazy right now. There is one in Olathe, but that means driving out there and I may be too lazy to do that...

Tallulah is so mad at us she can barely see straight

It's snowing, wet, heavy snow. Michael took Tallulah out to play in it this morning and she came in smelling like fish. She's been fairly stinky for a few days now so a bath was in her future. So after her romp in the snow I gave her a bath. And then blew dry her. Which she HATES. But I did it anyway, because it is cold outside and she needed to get dry. So we battled through that, which ended with her sitting on the couch sulking.
A few hours later Tallulah starts barking. Running around and barking. It turns out that all of her doggy friends were across the street having fun in the snow. But since Tallulah just had a bath and a blow dry she is not allowed to go into the snowy, muddy field and get wet again.
She is really mad about this. She just keeps running around and barking. She is refusing to play with us. Instead she runs up to us, barks and then runs to the door. Or she runs to us, barks and then stares at us with rays of hatred.
She is so mad.

(I've even closed all the blinds so she can't see them out there, but she knows. And she'd pissed.)

Here she is exhausted from all the hatred.

Son of a Biscuit its cold again

Tonight I went out with the girls for dinner at the Cheesecake Factory - home of ridiculously large portions and equal prices. But it was worth the splurge for the company and for the Chicken and a Biscuit - one of my favorite eating out meals. Breaded chicken, mashed potatoes, 2 shortcake biscuits, carrots and mushrooms, all smothered in country gravy. Seriously what could be better?
The only thing would have been if it hadn't been freezing again. The temperature dropped 20 degrees this morning. Yesterday I didn't need a coat and today I could have used a tuan-tuan to cut open and warm myself up in. (Star Wars reference for Michael)
Here's hoping it doesn't stay cold much longer. But it is still January so it's the snow and cold are to be expected.

And they said it couldn't be done.

We finally cleaned the guest room!

That's right...it's clean...and awesome.

The furniture has been rearranged and the room looks much bigger. We also rearranged the office, cleaned and reordered the basement and cleaned the garage. All in all we cleared out about a dozen bags and boxes of things to take to the Goodwill and filled 2 giant trash bags. Whoo!

I feel so much better with the house clean and de-cluttered. And I sit and drink my hot chocolate in my freshly cleaned office I'm finally feeling Christmas-y. Clearly all it took was to finish the guest room project.

Grinch-er-ific

I'm a Grinch this year. I don't want to shop, the few times I have gone out have been disasters. And I don't really want anyone to shop for me either. I don't really want anything. The only things I do want are for the yard - a fence and some sod. Seriously.
Michael and I have paired down Christmas to the bare minimum too. He's getting a new bathrobe (he knows), I purchased myself some books (which I'll wrap and open on Christmas) and the 1st season of How I Met Your Mother (best show ever) is our combined gift. That's it. The idea of putting anything else into the house just makes me cringe. It could be that I've been struggling with the ever flowing pile of junk that is our guest room. I want things to leave the house, not come it. Also, I've only put up about half the decorations because I just don't want the clutter.

Yeah, I'm a Grinch this year. Sorry.

I do have a car load of non-perishable food to take to the food pantry, and gifts for most of the people on my list, so I'm not a total Grinch, but I'm not Who either.

whilst iced in i

- made the first of several Christmas presents
- knit a flapperish hat for myself out of yarn I purchased in Liberty 5+ years ago
- watched The Golden Compass, The TV Set and Stranger Than Fiction
- made tostadas for the first time
- finally figured out how to knit with double pointed needles
- gave up on making a baby blanket
- stayed in bed until noon with my family
- ate orange cinnamon rolls...and toasted marshmallows
- cleaned the bathroom with gingerbread scented cleaner
- enjoyed the quite and the stillness (even for just a moment)

Ice, Ice, baby.

Well the beautiful fat snow of Thursday has changed into typical Missouri winter weather - ICE. I woke up this morning to the sounds of frozen rain falling onto a sheet of ice. The roads are covered in a layer of ice. I'm glad we went to the store yesterday - so today we are going to stay put and work on projects. I've been knitting again and I have 2 blankets that are really close to being finished so those should be top priority.

Stay safe and if possible, stay off the roads!