Menu Monday #35

Well, we survived our first week back to a normal routine. Yay! It was a good week, followed by a great weekend. The temperatures warmed up just in time for the weekend and it was fantastic! We loved having the windows open and airing the house out. Josh and I were both bit by the productivity bug and we both worked on projects all weekend. Mine was my office. I started going through drawers and filing cabinets and throwing old stuff away. So far I have filled up almost an entire large trash bag. Yay! I also finally tackled my "to file" pile. It was at least 3 inches tall. :/ It is now almost gone, and that makes me happy. I still have quite a bit to do in that room, but at least I accomplished a good deal this weekend.

Josh's project was the basement. When we moved in, it was finished off into 2 rooms, but was a lower-end finish. So, our plan for the basement was to take out the wall between the 2 rooms to create one large room that would be the media room/playroom for the boys. So, the time came to finally start that project, as we are growing tired of all the toys in our main living room. Josh made great progress in just 2 days and we now have an open space down there. Next up will be a little bit of drywall work, getting the ceiling framed back up, then new paint and new carpet. Hopefully it won't be much longer and we can call this project finished!

Near the beginning of the demo, with just a small opening...

By the end of the weekend, it's one big room!

On Friday, I was craving some Indian food, so we headed to Sahib, our local Indian restaurant. Yuuuummmm. I splurged this time on some bhel puri (a salad) and a mango lassi (a drink) to accompany my chicken tikka masala. :) The boys had paneer (cheese) tikka masala, and Josh had a super spicy lamb dish.

 

Such a big boy!

On Saturday morning, I made one of our favorites, whole wheat banana bread pancakes, since I had several bananas left. They are always a hit! I had a little helper this time, too. :)

"Helping" Mommy make pancakes...

Topping them with maple vanilla glaze completes them!

Josh took a break from the basement to enjoy some time outside that afternoon with the boys. T-shirts in January?? Yes, please!

Crazy driver behind the wheel!

On Saturday night, we thought pizza sounded tasty, so we headed to Scratch Brick Oven because it's always good. If you're local and haven't been yet, you really must. This time, Josh talked me into a "limited trust" pizza. We let them pick the toppings, with the exception of a few that we didn't want. I am so glad that we did. We haven't had a bad pizza yet there, but this one was by far the best! We could tell it had smoked ham, bacon, sausage, spinach, jalapeño peppers, pickles, mushrooms, and Granny Smith apples for sure. It appeared to have a mix of their red and pesto sauces, too. Everything worked so well together to make a spicy, yet sweet, mix. They really know what they are doing!

The boys love the pesto cheese sticks!

"Limited trust"  - a slice of heaven!

On Sunday morning, Josh made us breakfast. Scrambled eggs with some leftover sausage and shredded mozzarella cheese and Cream of Wheat. A yummy start to the day! We continued working on our projects, with more outside breaks to enjoy the weather. We were pooped by the end of the day, but proud of how much we managed to accomplish in a weekend.

Sunday: Grilled sirloin steaks, oven roasted red potatoes, roasted broccoli

It was too nice not to grill, so that is what we did! Josh handled the steaks, while I did the veggies. I coat my potatoes (diced into small pieces) in a little EVOO, sea salt, freshly ground pepper, rosemary and grated parmesan. So delicious. I coat the broccoli in a little EVOO, sea salt, freshly ground pepper and shredded parmesan.

Monday: Baked chicken nuggets, mac 'n cheese green beans

Josh has a work dinner, so it will be something easy for me and the boys. I'll make my own chicken nuggets by coating some chicken breast strips in some bread crumbs and baking them. I'll make Annie's Organic macaroni. It tastes just like the blue box, so the boys are big fans.

Tuesday: Cajun stuffed peppers

I haven't made this meal in a long time, so it will be nice. I love the mix of quinoa and brown rice in the red peppers, and sausage instead of beef.

Wednesday: Tag Pic Pac with chicken, roasted asparagus

I haven't tried making my favorite Carrabba's dish at home yet, so I'm hoping this one goes well. I bought some tagliarini pasta from Fresh Market and I'll follow the recipe Carrabba's has on their website. I like to add grilled chicken to mine. Asparagus should make a nice side for this pasta dish.

Thursday: Pork chops, roasted butternut squash, couscous with toasted pine nuts and cranberries

It probably won't be nice enough to grill, so I'll either use a grill pan inside, or lightly bread the pork and pan fry it. I have missed the squash, so it will be a yummy addition. The couscous is super tasty and a big hit with Ethan!

Friday: Out to eat

We'll grab something before heading to Ethan's preschool's Family Fun Night! :)

Saturday: Out to eat at Scratch

My sister and her family are coming into town for a late Christmas celebration. We are excited to take them to Scratch so they can enjoy some pizza with us!

We have a busy week in store for us this week. Tiny man is 18 months old today, so we have his well-check tomorrow morning. I'll hopefully be back then for an update on how he is doing!