Menu Monday #12

It was great having a lazy weekend at home this weekend. Oh wait, did I say lazy? I meant crazy. Ethan starts preschool tomorrow. Tomorrow!!! Um yeah, let's hope I am ready for that one. Sure, physically we'll be ready. But emotionally? I'll probably be a basket case. Where has my bright-eyed little toddler gone? He's now a preschooler. He has grown up so much over the past several months. He is now getting out of bed by himself in the morning instead of sitting there, calling out for me and waiting patiently. Instead, he hops up, turns on his light and opens the door. Still getting used to that one! Haha! We recently decided that he is ready to start doing "chores" around the house, with our help and supervision, of course. I'm not running a sweat shop here (despite what Josh says, haha), but we do think it is good for him. He loves helping out and he does really well with having tasks and jobs to do. We're starting simple with things like filling Daisy's food bowl, taking dishes to the sink/dishwasher, loading and unloading the dishwasher, helping with laundry, and picking up his toys. I am in the process of making up a fancy chart that we can use to keep track of when he finishes the tasks and then we'll use that to determine his rewards at the end of the week. We'll probably use money, as he likes it so much (surprise, surprise), but we'll see. I guess I will probably make that my next big project, though my list keeps growing of things I want to get done!

So...given that school starts tomorrow and I attended his preschool orientation last week, that meant we had this past weekend to get his school shopping done. As it so happens, that coincided with tax-free shopping weekend in Tennessee. While it was nice saving that 9% on everything (school supplies, shoes, clothes), you would have thought it was Black Friday! The stores were CRAZY!! We survived and emerged with a new Cars 2 backpack and lunchbox, new shoes for both of the boys, some clothes and almost everything from his school supply list! Woo hoo! So, I think we are ready for tomorrow and fall now. :)

Unfortunately, it stormed (again...that is all it has been doing for the past month!) Friday night, so the Touch a Truck! event was cancelled. :( I heard it is to be rescheduled, so I'll have to be on the lookout for that. I was fortunate to be able to escape for a few hours on Friday afternoon for a cut and color and some shopping, so I picked up a pizza from Mellow Mushroom on my way home for dinner instead that night.

On Saturday morning, we fueled up with some Whole Wheat Banana Bread Pancakes (one of our favorites!) before our shopping adventures. Instead of the traditional pancakes though, I made them Whole Wheat Banana Bread Squares. I put the batter into a 9 x 13 glass dish and baked it. It's a nice version because then it's all ready at one time, instead of in batches. It turned out pretty well and the boys managed to gobble up as much as we did! After the madness of the day, I wasn't up for cooking that evening and we had just had pizza the night before, so we decided to go out instead of making Margherita Pizza at home. Kingsport has a great little seafood place on the river, The Riverfront Seafood Company. I had only been there for lunch before that, so I was excited about the bigger dinner menu. So many yummy sounding dishes to choose from, but I finally decided on their shrimp scampi pasta. It did not disappoint. We started with a crab cake appetizer, also very delicious. Josh had the New Orleans style BBQ Shrimp dish and it was incredible. I think I know what I will be getting next time! ;) We finished the meal off with a piece of blackberry cake. Delicious! I am still trying to figure out how they made that one. I think maybe it was a vanilla cake base with a lot of blackberry puree added to the batter. Topped with a cream cheese icing, it was the perfect summer dessert. I must try something similar here at home. :)

On Sunday morning, I whipped up a frittata with bacon, cheese and fresh basil. Yum! I have been struggling to keep basil plants alive this past month, but we got 2 new ones on Saturday, so I am hoping my black thumb doesn't kill these too. I spent my day scrubbing bathrooms, doing laundry and grocery shopping. Fortunately, I managed to make it home from the store, despite the monsoon-like rains that plagued Johnson City last night. It was seriously insane. They actually had to cancel the first day of school today because the bus parking lot was so flooded! No joke. I'm hoping things calm down today and Ethan actually gets to start tomorrow, but given the fact that it is raining downpouring again right now, I'm not sure what will happen at this point! Thanks to a friend for sharing this picture of the damage on Facebook. Do you think we've had enough rain yet?? We broke records (by over an inch) in July for the most rain here ever in a month's time with 13 inches. Normal is around 5 inches. Awesome. So far this month, I think we've had rain every day too. Sigh.

Sadly, my diet has been suffering the past couple of weeks. I have hit a standstill on the scales, so I really need to kick it back into high gear. That means no more after dinner snacks or desserts for me. I am also determined to get back to running in the mornings. Though I despise dragging myself out of bed in the 6 o'clock hour, I really need to do it. I guess that means no more staying up past midnight anymore. :( I am definitely a night owl by choice, but with preschool starting, it's probably best for all of us to adjust to an earlier bedtime again. Goodbye summer! :'(

Sunday: Crescent Roll Pizza Roll-ups
These are a family favorite. I mean, who doesn't love a buttery crescent roll?? Stuffed with fresh mozzarella and basil, it was undeniably delicious. I used string cheese and mini pepperonis for the boys, but Josh and I enjoyed the more "grown-up" version. Dipped in some crushed tomatoes, it was the perfect easy Sunday night dinner.

Monday: Grilled, blackened tilapia over brown rice, oven roasted parmesan broccoli
Changing it up a bit this week and having tilapia instead of salmon. The Fresh Market has the biggest tilapia filets I have ever seen and I usually end up eating some of the boys' portion for leftovers. It is super yummy, so we'll all enjoy it for dinner tonight if this rain ever stops!

Tuesday: Melt in Your Mouth Baked Chicken, whole wheat rotini, pan fried parmesan green beans
We haven't had this one in awhile, and it's a great low-cal dish, so we'll enjoy it this week.

Wednesday: Spicy Hawaiian burgers, cajun grilled corn on the cob
Trying another new burger recipe this week. The Caprese burgers we had last week were awesome! I'll try to post about those soon. I found this Hawaiian burger awhile back on Pinterest and it looked awesome, so I have been wanting to try it. It is actually supposed to be made with ground chicken instead of beef, but they don't carry that at Fresh Market, so I'll be using lean ground beef instead. Topped with spicy pepperjack cheese and sweet grilled pineapple, it should be the perfect mix. We'll grill some corn on the cob, topped with a little butter and some Cajun seasoning.

Thursday: Cajun Stuffed Peppers
Another meal we haven't had in awhile, but a good one. It's packed with nutrition, but doesn't lack in flavor.

Friday: Strawberry Balsamic Chicken Bacon Pizza
I haven't made this pizza since the first time I tried it out, as it is definitely a bit involved, but it is too good to hold off any longer. I can't wait for Friday! :)

Saturday: Out to eat
Hard to tell where we will end up, but I'm sure it will be good.


Happy meal planning to you this week and I hope fellow parents of new preschoolers survive this first week like I am hoping to do! :)