Beachbody Update!

I haven't been very good about blogging lately. I still need to post about Ethan's 7th birthday...that was over a month ago now!! It's been pretty busy around here lately. I'm hoping to get caught up soon though.

So I recently took the plunge and signed up to be a Beachbody coach!! I figured that I love the products so much that I should go ahead and do it, getting myself the coach's discounts, and creating the opportunity to help others find health & fitness again like I have. I truly believe that if I can do this, anyone can do this. Before starting last October, I hadn't done a "workout" since college. And yeah, I'm not 23 anymore! ;) It wasn't easy at first (I had to drag myself up and down stairs for a week or so), but now that I've found a routine, it's kind of like second nature to get up and do my workout before starting my day. I've found that it helps wake me up, gets me moving, instead of feeling like I am dragging all day, and puts me in a better mood. Add on top of that the fact that I'm burning calories, and I'd say it's a win. I love that most of the workouts are just 30 minutes or so. While getting up at 5:30 am is fun and all, I don't want to have to drag my booty out of bed any earlier than that! Some people love going to the gym, the social aspect of it all. Me, not so much. I'm an introvert at heart, and frankly, I prefer to sweat in the privacy of my own home. These workouts are perfect for me. I prefer to have Autumn push me through the TV screen than have a trainer breathing down my neck.

Now that I'm 6 months in to my journey, I've completed 3 rounds of the 21 day fix, 3 rounds of the 21 day fix extreme, an 8-week round of PiYo, and another couple weeks of the 21 day fix extreme. I also did a Beachbody 3-Day Refresh at the beginning of the year, and I continue to drink Shakeology every day. I'm in better shape than I've been since I was rowing my freshman/ sophomore years of college, and I now weigh less than I did both before kids and before I got married!! Things are distributed a little differently than they used to be, but I'm working on that. ;) As you can see, a huge change from where I was 6 months ago. I'm down 23 pounds and 11 inches (measuring shoulder, chest, waist, hips, one thigh, and one calf). I still have some problem areas to work on, but the proof is in the pics. This "diet" and exercise routine works. That's what I love most about it - it's not a diet. It's eating a portioned amount of healthy, real foods. I don't feel hungry at the end of the day, or like I'm starving throughout the day. By spreading my meals/snacks out throughout the day, I keep blood sugar stable and energy levels up. I'm still working on the little cheats I keep finding on the weekends (my sweet tooth is a force to be reckoned with!!), but overall, I do a great job throughout the week at least.

As you can see, it's possible to lose weight without eating salads every day. I actually don't really even like salad that much. It's ok, and I'll eat it if I have to, but I've found that if I cook/roast my veggies, I actually love them, and I don't have to force them down.

With the 21-day fix, you're provided color-coded containers and you figure out how many calories you should eat based on your current weight. I'm currently in the 1500-1799 range (for a little bit longer at least!). Based on your calorie range, you are given a certain number of each container to eat. I get 4 green containers (veggies), 3 purple containers (fruits), 4 red containers (protein), 3 yellow containers (carbs), 1 blue container (healthy fats), 1 orange container (seeds/dressings), and 4 teaspoons (oils and such). I'm not very good about getting my orange containers in, but I normally get all of the others. This sample meal plan from my day one contains all of my containers for the day except the orange. As you can see, it is a TON of food!! No starving myself here! Here's my detailed meal plan for the day:

• Breakfast (344 calories)
• GREEN: sautéed bell peppers, onion, spinach
• RED: 2 eggs, over easy
• YELLOW: 1 slice whole grain toast
• PURPLE: 2 clementines
• TEASPOON: 1 tsp EVOO
• Morning snack (176 calories)
• GREEN: spinach
• RED: 1 scoop vanilla Shakeology
• FREE: 2 espresso ice cubes
• Lunch (413 calories)
• GREEN: roasted Brussels sprouts
• YELLOW (2): quinoa
• PURPLE: mixed fruit (grapes, raspberries, clementine)
• TEASPOON: 1 tsp EVOO
• Afternoon snack (436 calories)
• PURPLE: Granny Smith apple
• RED: vanilla Greek yogurt
• BLUE: chopped walnuts
• Dinner (225 calories)
• GREEN: roasted broccoli
• RED: Cajun sautéed shrimp
• TEASPOON: 2 tsp EVOO
• TOTAL: 4 green, 4 red, 3 yellow, 3 purple, 1 blue, 4 tsp; 1594 calories

To make things, easy, I actually eat these same items every Mon/Wed/Fri, only changing up the dinners for the rest of my family's sake. :) I do normally cook a carb for them to eat with dinner, but I try to eat all of my fruits and carbs before 6 pm, which means before dinner for me. Sometimes I will have a carb with dinner, but not as often.

Beachbody is currently doing a #summerstrong challenge through the end of May. I am completing the 21-day fix extreme for this, but there are other exercise program options as well. Once I finish this, I'm planning to start either the T-25 program with Shaun T (the P90X guy), or the Master's Hammer & Chisel with Autumn and Sagi. There are so many great options depending on the type of workout you're wanting. I'm so happy I made the decision last fall to let Coach Fraley start me off on my journey and I can't wait to start helping others in my situation, too!! Contact me, visit my Beachbody website, or comment below, if you'd like more info! I'm getting my body beach-ready, are you?? ;)

October 2015                        March 2016

Menu Monday #54 {Chicken Parmesan Cups recipe}

On Friday night, my mom and I let Ethan choose our dinner location, and we ended up at Cracker Barrel. We had visited Bagel Exchange for lunch, so I managed to have breakfast for all three of my meals that day. Yes, that is awesome. 

On Saturday morning, I made Ethan's favorite, whole wheat pumpkin pancakes with cream cheese icing, for breakfast. After that, Grandma got packed up and headed back to Ohio. After being gone from home for a month, it was time to go back for a bit. Hopefully we didn't scare her off, and she'll be back later this week to keep us company again while Josh is still away in China! That evening for dinner, I made the boys' day by letting them make their own personal pizzas. I had made my dough earlier in the bread machine, then we topped them with sauce and cheese. I also added some chicken to mine. If that wasn't enough to make the night awesome, I won "Mom of the Year" for making them some M&M cookies, too!! I figured they would work well for bribes if I need them! ;) Haha!

On Sunday morning, I continued on as Super-Mom by making our usual egg bagel sandwiches, doing some laundry, dishes, and getting the boys ready and to church, on time!! I lucked out and scored a nap since I got them all down at the same time for their naps. Perfection. After that, we played outside, watered our garden (it's starting to sprout!), took a walk, then we came in so I could make dinner. I would definitely say it was a successful day. Let's hope I can keep it up this week!

Sunday: Chicken parmesan cups (see recipe below)

I tried out a new idea for dinner. I've made "cups" in the past using Pillsbury® Grands!® biscuits. This time I used chicken parmesan ingredients in them. They turned out awesome and were a big hit with the boys!

Monday: Chicken nuggets, mac and cheese

The boys love it and I love that it's quick and easy. :) Who doesn't love some mac every now and then?!?

Tuesday: Grilled cheese, tomato soup

Ethan has been begging for grilled cheese for awhile now, so it's time to make it! Another easy meal while we're on our own. :) I'll probably add some tomato and fresh basil to my sandwich to make it even tastier!

Wednesday: Whole wheat pumpkin pancakes with cream cheese icing
Who doesn't love brinner? The boys love these pancakes so much, and they're actually fairly nutritious with the pumpkin in them, so I figure they'll work for dinner. ;)

Thursday: Preschool picnic

The boys' preschool will be having its end of the year picnic. I'll need to figure out what I want to bring to share with the other families. It will be a fun evening with the other parents!

Friday: Out to eat

Not sure what we'll have yet. I'll probably let the boys pick.

Saturday: TBD

I may make some homemade pizza again. The boys loved their personal pizzas so much!

What's on your menu this week?

Now for the recipe...

Chicken Parmesan Cups

(Serves 4-5)

Ingredients:

• 1 can (16.3 oz) Pillsbury® Grands!® Flaky Layers refrigerated biscuits (8-count)
• 1/3 cup ricotta cheese, optional
• 1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 16 pieces/chunks Perdue® Simply Smart® lightly breaded chicken chunks, frozen
• 1 1/2 cups pizza, or spaghetti, sauce
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
• Fresh basil, optional

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Spray 16 regular-size muffin cups with cooking spray.

Pull each biscuit apart into 2 layers; press each into 4-inch round. Place 1 round in each of the muffin cups. Firmly press in bottom and up side, forming 1/4-inch rim. Put 1 tablespoon of the mozzarella cheese into each cup. If you like ricotta cheese, put 1 teaspoon on top of that. Place a chunk of the frozen chicken on top of that. I used the bigger chunks and it's ok to use them frozen - they'll cook along with the biscuits! On top of the chicken, spoon about 1 1/2 Tbsp of either pizza or spaghetti sauce. Top it all off by sprinkling on about 1/2 Tbsp of the shredded Parmesan cheese. Garnish with fresh basil, if desired.

Bake for 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Let sit in the tin for 1 minute, then gently remove.

I love how quick and easy this meal is! The most time consuming part is getting all of the biscuits flattened and into the muffin tin. After that, it's a breeze! Being able to use the frozen chicken chunks makes this so easy to prepare. I love that I didn't have to dirty another dish trying to cook the meat first. I used pizza sauce for mine because I already had an opened container of it, but spaghetti sauce will work great, too. The kids would prefer this without the ricotta cheese, so next time, I'll make some with it and some without it. Enjoy!

Menu Monday #53

I had a great Mother's Day yesterday with my babies. Sadly, Josh was out of town, but my mom came to stay with us, so I was able to spend Mother's Day with her, too! :) Before leaving, Josh made sure to get me some pretty flowers to try to make up for being gone. ;)

Daisy had a rough week after her first chemo treatment. She lost her appetite again and just wanted to lay around and rest. After speaking with the vet, she said that this is normal, but that they can adjust her dose next time so that she won't experience the GI distress again afterwards. So, hopefully it will go better for her next time. She seems to be feeling better now and her appetite has definitely returned. She is playing more and just acting more like her sweet self again. Whew!

On Friday night, it was just me and the boys before Grandma arrived later that evening, so we drove through Chick-Fil-A for dinner. Yep. Simple and easier to feed them all back at the house!

On Saturday morning, I made Ethan's favorite, whole wheat pumpkin pancakes with cream cheese icing, for breakfast. The boys literally gobbled them up. Ethan managed to eat FIVE pancakes!!! Seriously?! That's how many I ate! I guess we need to start saving up now. Feeding these three boys as teenagers may send us to the poor house! Haha! That night, I made pizza crust in the bread machine and made cheese pizza for dinner. My mom and I also had some stuffed mushrooms for an appetizer. For dessert, we enjoyed strawberry shortcake. They had strawberries from a local farm available at the store, so I figured that was the perfect excuse to make a shortcake! ;) The boys were very happy with that decision. Surprise!

On Sunday morning, I made fried egg toast sandwiches before church. Afterwards, the boys took us to O'Charley's for a Mother's Day brunch. :)

Sunday: Leftovers

Since we went out for lunch, we ate light for dinner.

Monday: Crispy shrimp pasta, roasted broccoli

We all love this tasty pasta dish and it's so easy!

Tuesday: Brown butter chicken and crispy sage, roasted cauliflower, quinoa

I haven't made this one in several weeks, but it sounded good. It's quick and easy and should go great with the cauliflower.

Wednesday: Lasagna
I haven't made lasagna in a looooong time. I wanted to make something for a neighbor who recently had a baby, so it'll be easy to put two pans of this together at the same time. :) I'm going to use a mixture of beef and sausage with the oven-ready lasagna noodles, and a mixture of mozzarella, ricotta and parmesan cheeses. So good!

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

I'm hoping for some decent grilling weather, though we're expecting a lot of rain this week. If not, I'll just sear them on the stovetop. I bought extra squash to roast so that I can stock up more food for Amos. He still doesn't seem interested in moving beyond purées yet, but I can make this a bit chunkier to get him used to the idea.

Friday: Out to eat

Not sure what we'll have yet. It'll probably depend on whether Grandma is still here or not.

Saturday: TBD

I may make some homemade pizza again. Noah gobbled it up!!

What's on your menu this week?

Menu Monday #52 and Daisy Update

We had a pretty great weekend. After starting Daisy on prednisone last week, her appetite (and thirst) returned in full force and she had that familiar pep back in her step. It's been great to see her feeling better again! Unfortunately, with the steroid comes increased hunger and thirst, so she's been famished and drinking way more water than usual. So, in addition to waking at night with Amos, I'm also getting up 1-2 times a night to let her potty. Although I've been requiring a bit more caffeine to function lately, I'm just happy and thankful that she's feeling better for now. Her first chemo treatment was this morning. I picked her up this afternoon after picking Ethan up at school, and she is resting comfortably now. We'll be able to start weaning her off the prednisone now, which will be helpful for the side effects. Like I mentioned in my last post, we're doing a single agent therapy for her chemo treatment. They're using the drug doxorubicin. It has been shown to be fairly effective when used alone. It is expected to result in an additional 6-9 months for her, though our vet was only able to get an additional 4 months for her dog with it. I guess we'll see what happens! :/ Thank you to everyone for your continued thoughts and prayers for Daisy and our family. We really appreciate it! We're holding off on telling the boys how serious it is right now. They know that she is sick, and getting old, and have continued to pray for her to feel better. I think Ethan is starting to figure out that it might be something fatal, but he is remaining hopeful for her. I don't want them to worry too much about it these last months, and instead enjoy the time they have left with her. I know I'll be doing enough worrying for all of us. :(

On Friday night, we went out for a bit and tried out a new local Asian place, Ming's Asian Cuisine, for dinner. I had an excellent spicy tuna roll, and we also enjoyed our entrée, the curry seafood Thai style casserole. With shrimp, scallops and crab meat in a spicy curry sauce, it was delicious! For dessert, we hit up Rita's Italian Ice next door. For some reason, I had never before had frozen custard, so we enjoyed some vanilla custard. :) Yuuuuuum!!

On Saturday morning, I made Ethan's favorite, whole wheat pumpkin pancakes with cream cheese icing, for breakfast. The boys went down for early naps so we could get up and head to the park that afternoon for a birthday party for one of Ethan's preschool classmates. Unfortunately, I had it in my head that it was at Winged Deer Park, when it was instead at Willow Springs Park. So, we were definitely super late, having to drive across town to get to the correct park, but they had fun when we got there. Crisis averted. Sigh. I guess my mind has been a bit preoccupied lately! After the party, we headed to Mellow Mushroom for dinner. It was a gorgeous day, so we dined outdoors on the patio. We tried their Mellowterranean pizza (it has an olive oil and garlic base with grilled chicken, onions, roasted red peppers, black olives, chives, feta and mozzarella cheese with a side of tzatziki sauce) this time and both loved it!

On Sunday morning, we had our favorite egg bagel sandwiches before church. Afterwards, we came home to get ready to have friends over for dinner.

Sunday: Grilled NY Strip steaks, roasted asparagus, poblano pesto Alfredo cavatappi

We invited friends over for dinner and made a delicious meal. Josh grilled some steaks and I made my favorite poblano pesto to top them, and we also mixed it with my favorite homemade Alfredo sauce to top the pasta. Yum! Our friends added to the yumminess by bringing a delicious Maryland crab dip with bread, and dirt pudding for dessert! :) It was an awesome feast, the kids had a great time playing, and we enjoyed some adult conversation for a change!

Monday: Cajun pork fajita burritos with cilantro lime rice, mozzarella cheese, sautéed red onions and red peppers

We'll be celebrating Cinco de Mayo with this tasty meal! I'm marinating a pork tenderloin in a mixture of dijon mustard, orange juice, Worcestershire sauce, and cajun seasoning (this recipe here). Josh will grill that, then we'll shred it up to fill my homemade flour tortillas. We'll also add in the other elements for a Chipotle-inspired fajita burrito, including this awesome cilantro lime rice recipe! I can't wait!

Tuesday: Masala chicken kebabs, roasted cauliflower

I'm finally going to try this new, yummy-looking recipe for chicken. I hope we love it! I roast my cauliflower with a little EVOO, cumin, and garam masala, so it will go perfectly with this chicken!

Wednesday: Cheeseburgers, baked sweet potato fries
We'll enjoy some classic burgers on whole wheat buns with cheddar cheese and our favorite fries on the side, complete with some of my spicy ketchup!

Thursday: Tomato basil pasta

This will be something quick and easy as Josh will be preparing for his trip to Asia in the morning! :( We sure will miss him!

Friday: Out to eat

Thankfully, Grandma Frank will be coming to keep us company while Josh is out of town. We'll probably enjoy something out on the town. ;)

Saturday: TBD

I may make some homemade pizza since I haven't done that in awhile.

What's on your menu this week?

Menu Monday #51 and Daisy Update

Whew. It was a tough weekend for us. We've been trying to come to terms with the news we received at the vet's office on Wednesday. Daisy has not been feeling well lately. She's suffered a loss of appetite, lots of vomiting and diarrhea. So, it was time for a visit to the doctor. After performing x-rays, the doctor was concerned with a mass she saw in Daisy's belly, where she should've been visualizing her kidneys. She suspected an enlarged lymph node and a probable lymphoma diagnosis (due to the high incidence - 1 in 4 - of this disease in boxers). Because she couldn't see it well enough on x-ray, she referred us to a specialist in Asheville who has extensive ultrasound training for these sorts of things. Despite nearly reaching the average life span for a boxer, and the fact that we should be prepared for this, of course we're not. Daisy has been our baby girl for the past 8 years. She has been as much a part of our family as our children. We've taken her everywhere we can with us - she's probably more traveled than our children! She's eaten dinner with us at at a restaurant in downtown Chicago, enjoyed a plush personal doggy bed at the downtown Westin in Cincinnati, and has commanded quite the presence in our king-sized bed (as in, took up over 1/2 the bed) the past 7+ years (though we swore we'd never have a dog that slept in our bed! Haha!). We've made several dog-friendly beach vacations just so that she could join us and enjoy herself, too. Though she's more of a people-person than a dog-person, she loved her friendship in Kentucky with a miniature Australian shepherd, Penny, and currently with her cousin, Pickle. We've made countless beautiful memories with her and we'll soon most likely face some difficult decisions. She hasn't been feeling well for weeks now, not interested in eating her food or playing. She has been very sick and you can tell that she doesn't feel well. It's heartbreaking. We just want her to not be in pain anymore.

She had a really rough day Friday, so we stayed in that night to be with her. On Saturday, she seemed to be feeling better, gobbling up some boiled chicken, so we wanted to do something fun with her, especially since it was such a beautiful day. We decided to take her to Warrior's Path park for a walk and some pictures with the boys, followed by a cool ice cream treat. We got some great shots of them that I know we'll treasure forever.

Her appointment with the specialist went well. She was a real trooper and didn't require any sedation for the procedures. The vet even commented that he needed to employ her in the office to show the other doggies how to behave. We wouldn't expect anything less of her. We've always joked that she's our best-behaved child, but really we're only half joking because she is so perfect. We couldn't have asked for a better doggy all of these years. We used to joke about cloning her back in the day, too, because we wanted more dogs just like her. Oh how I wish we could now. So, they shaved her little side, and did the ultrasound. They found 2 masses. One was near the liver, so they stayed away from that one, but aspirated the other one. We'll receive the results of the aspiration in 24-48 hours and at that time we'll know what we're dealing with for sure. We're preparing for the worst, but hoping for the best. I think it'll be easier that way. Until then, we need to try to get her to eat some canned food, as she is only interested in boiled chicken. :/

Thank you to everyone for your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time.

Sunday: Blackened salmon, brown rice, roasted asparagus

We had our favorite fish meal and Daisy got to enjoy some salmon skin - her favorite treat!

Monday: Flour tortilla tacos

With Josh off work for the day, it'll be easier to get these made. The boys gobble them up!

Tuesday: Spiced chipotle honey chicken with sweet potatoes

I wanted to try some new meals this week and this one looked easy and delicious. Sweet and spicy is always a great combo, so I'm sure this will be delicious!

Wednesday: Skillet lasagna
Another new recipe, it sounds fairly quick and easy, too! Annie's Eats is one of my favorite food blogs and her recipes never disappoint. The boys love pasta and cheese, so I don't think we can go wrong with this one.

Thursday: Parmesan ranch chicken with pasta and roasted cauliflower

Yet another new one to try, I don't think this one could be bad when you combine ranch and panko crumbs to coat the chicken! Pasta is always a hit and we've been loving the cauliflower.

Friday: Out to eat

We'll probably go out, or order something in.

Saturday: TBD

We'll see how things are doing. Ethan will be attending a birthday party at a park for another preschool friend that afternoon, so we may make it another picnic dinner if the weather is nice!

What's on your menu this week?

Menu Monday #50

Back to the real world. It was nice having a long weekend, spending time with Josh, the boys, and my parents, as they arrived Thursday evening. On Friday morning, everyone was home from work/school, so I made my whole wheat banana bread pancakes with vanilla maple glaze. I've had a lot of bananas leftover at the end of the week lately it seems! Haha! For lunch, we introduced my parents to Bagel Exchange. With Ethan in school every day, he doesn't get the chance to go very often, so he was quite pleased with our lunch choice. :) For dinner, we took them to Main Street Pizza Company, another of our new favorites. It was definitely a delicious day!

On Saturday morning, I made my delicious coffee cake to get our day started. Earlier in the week, Josh had ordered a piece of coffee cake from Starbucks for a sweet pick-me-up. Sadly, it was so bad, he didn't even want to eat it. That is the only downside to eating coffee cake as good as the one I make. It makes all other coffee cakes taste horrible! So, I made this for everyone at his request. That afternoon we had an egg hunt here at the house for the boys and Daisy. :)

Hmm, can you tell they're brothers?!?

For dinner, I tried a new recipe for Orange Dijon Pork Tenderloin. It was amazing. This is definitely a keeper. So simple, but so much flavor!! On the side, I made a Chipotle-copycat cilantro lime rice (it was perfect, and tasted just like Chipotle's!!) and roasted balsamic parmesan Brussels sprouts and mushrooms with pine nuts. It was a delicious meal! And I figured the pork could count as our Easter ham. ;) That's as close as I get to making ham! Haha!

On Sunday morning, Josh made our usual egg bagel sandwiches for breakfast before the Easter church service. It was a beautiful service, the choir sounded great, and the brass ensemble was amazing! And the boys looked super cute, of course. ;)

Easter 2014

Sunday: Grilled chicken, mashed potatoes, grilled corn on the cob, dark chocolate pudding with strawberries (see recipe below)

Again, it's no Easter ham, but it was a yummy, comfort meal for us to enjoy! I marinate the chicken in Zesty Italian dressing before grilling it. For dessert, I made my first ever pudding. Oh what I've been missing for the last 30+ years! Haha!

Monday: Chicken nuggets, mac 'n cheese

With Josh out of town again, this is an easy meal that the boys are guaranteed to eat! Haha!

Tuesday: Crispy shrimp pasta, roasted broccoli with parmesan

We love this easy shrimp dish, and the boys do, too.

Wednesday: Spaghetti squash "pasta" with sauce and meatballs
I'm finally going to try this out. I'm hoping the boys will be ok with the idea of squash, in place of the pasta. We shall see! To those who make this, do you prepare your squash by roasting it?

Thursday: Blackened chicken with avocado cream sauce over savory quinoa, roasted Brussels sprouts

I'm excited to try this new recipe. I'll use Josh's Cajun seasoning on the chicken. The avocado cream sauce sounds awesome, so I hope we all love it. I'll make my usual savory quinoa (cooked with chicken broth, adding some seasoning, onion and garlic) and roast some Brussels sprouts. I may try a new recipe, but the one with parmesan cheese and pine nuts is delicious!

Friday: Girls night out

I will be enjoying a night out with the ladies at a new local restaurant. The boys will enjoy the night in together and some pizza!

Saturday: TBD

Josh's parents will be visiting, so I'm not sure whether I'll cook, or we'll go out.

What's on your menu this week?


For some reason, I've always thought that I didn't like pudding. I tried a "snack pack" a couple weeks ago and it surprisingly wasn't bad. So, I figured homemade pudding would be pretty amazing. I was right. It literally took 10 minutes to make. Between the amazing taste and the fact that it had no added junk to it, it is the perfect sweet ending to a meal, especially when topped with some fresh strawberries! I found a recipe here that I altered a bit.

Dark Chocolate Pudding
(serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup dark cocoa
• 3 Tbsp cornstarch
• Pinch of salt
• 2 cups reduced-fat milk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, optional

Directions:
In a medium saucepan, stir together the sugar, cocoa, cornstarch and salt. Stir in the milk and whisk until the mixture is well-blended. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture bubbles and thickens, about 10 minutes.

Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla and chocolate chips. Let the mixture sit for a few minutes as the chocolate melts. Stir until smooth. Let it cool for about 15-20 minutes and serve warm, or refrigerate for 1-2 hours and serve cold.

Enjoy!

Menu Monday #49

So, I'm a little behind this week, but we've been busy! On Friday night, we stayed in for dinner. We can't seem to keep everyone healthy around here (Daisy appears to be feeling somewhat better, but unfortunately isn't wanting to eat much but boiled chicken, not dog food. Sigh.), as Noah came down with a really high fever on Thursday after waking from his nap. Paired with a runny nose and cough, he was pretty miserable. So, while I was out enjoying a little "me time" while the boys napped, I picked up some Chick-Fil-A to bring home for dinner. We cashed in our "buy once, get it twice" receipt, so dinner was absolutely free! Score! Despite not feeling well, Noah still had a healthy appetite through it all, so he was happy to enjoy his nuggets. :)


On Saturday morning, I made my whole wheat banana bread pancakes with vanilla maple glaze again. They are so good! After that, Ethan and I headed out to a birthday party for one of his preschool friends. It was hot, hot, hot outside in the 80s, but it was nice to soak up the sunshine! After naps later that day, Noah was feeling good and his temperature was back to normal, so we went out to Carrabba's for dinner. I really love their Tag Pic Pac dish, so I indulged in that. :) For dessert, we made our way to Menchie's for some frozen yogurt to treat the boys. Unfortunately, Noah's fever returned later that evening, so it was early to bed for the boys.

On Sunday morning, Josh made our usual egg bagel sandwiches for breakfast. We decided to stay home from church in case Noah was contagious. We didn't want him passing any germs to all of the other little ones at the kids' worship! We spent the day at home, cleaning, and later enjoying the warm temps again. Fortunately, Noah's fever finally went away for good and he is feeling like himself again!

Sunday: Blackened salmon, brown rice, roasted asparagus

A delicious meal for a gorgeous, hot spring day! It was the perfect evening for grilling out, so we enjoyed this yummy meal! The boys had grilled tilapia, while we had the salmon. For dessert, we had fresh strawberries in chocolate pudding. I'm not sure why I had never had chocolate pudding before, but I actually really liked it! Who knew?

Monday: Cheeseburgers, sweet potato tots

Ethan and I attended another fun birthday party (an awesome pool party!), so Josh got dinner ready while we were on our way back home. Normally I'd make baked sweet potato fries, but since I wasn't there, Josh was able to throw some frozen tots in the oven. :)

Tuesday: Out to eat

Tonight we will be attending Ethan's kindergarten orientation (!!!!), so we'll make things easy by grabbing a bite to eat while we're out.

Wednesday: Out to eat
My aunt, uncle and cousin are coming to town to check out a local college campus, so we'll show them around the area, then enjoy some local fare for dinner!

Thursday: Roasted cauliflower and mushroom carbonara

I'm excited to try this new recipe. I have no idea why I stopped roasting cauliflower, but I was reminded last week how incredibly delicious it is! This dish sounds, and looks, amazing. I can't wait!

Friday: TBD

My parents will be in town, so I'm not sure if I'll cook or if we'll go out. After all of the eating out during the week, I should probably get back into the kitchen though! Haha!

Saturday: TBD

Ditto!

What's on your menu this week?

Menu Monday #48

On Friday night, after the boys got haircuts, we went to a local Italian restaurant, Giovanni's. I've loved everything I've tried there. We started with their garlic knots and I decided to get their Chicken Alfredo calzone. Not the most diet-friendly, but it's absolutely delicious. I enjoyed every calorie! Haha! After dinner, we made our way home so that we could finally watch Frozen!! The boys absolutely loved it, especially Olaf and Sven. :) I also loved it and its great soundtrack. It will be a nice change from Cars 2 in the van. Haha! I can't stop humming/singing "Let it Go!" We'll see how long that lasts, huh? ;) Ask me again after we've seen it for the 50th time?


On Saturday morning, I made my whole wheat banana bread pancakes with vanilla maple glaze. We gobbled those up! After that, we headed out to check out the first local farmers market of the season! It was a little slim this first week, but we're excited to head back again soon. We made our way to Home Depot to pick up some items (including some seeds, so we can start our own garden soon!) after that and discovered that it was the kids workshop weekend. So, the boys were able to make some Rio 2 bird feeders while we were there! They had a great time getting to use hammers (as you can see by Ethan's ornery face in the first pic) and nails to build them, then paint them, too. :)

Unfortunately, Daisy became ill while we were gone that morning, so we stayed home with her for the rest of the weekend. So, that night, we stayed in and grilled our dinner. A visit to the vet this morning revealed that she may have a viral or bacterial infection. We'll have to wait a couple days to see what happens. We're hoping the poor girl feels better soon!

On Sunday morning, Josh made our usual egg bagel sandwiches for breakfast. We purchased more bagels from The Bagel Exchange for these. I don't think I'll ever be able to go back to a store-bought bagel again!

Sunday: Mellow Mushroom pizza

Since we didn't go out Saturday night, Josh picked up some pizza to bring back to the house to eat. We got their Holy Shitake Pie. It is so delicious, with its olive oil and garlic base, caramelized onions, 3 kinds of mushrooms, cheese, and garlic aioli. Yuuuuummmm.

Monday: Chicken nuggets, mac 'n cheese

With Josh out of town again for the day, the boys and I will be living it up with some nuggets and mac. Haha! I use Perdue's Simply Smart frozen lightly breaded chicken chunks and Annie's classic mac 'n cheese. I love that they both use just a few, good ingredients.

Tuesday: Brown butter chicken and crispy sage, vegetable risotto, roasted cauliflower

I haven't made this dish in a few weeks, but it's easy and yummy, so it's back on the menu. I'm trying a new mix for a vegetable risotto, so I hope it's good! I've made their butternut squash variety and it was very tasty, so I expect this one will be as well. I haven't fixed cauliflower in years now for some reason, but I've been wanting to again, so I will roast some up! When I made it in the past, I seasoned it with Indian spices (garam masala and cumin) and it was delicious, so I'll be doing that again.

Wednesday: Flour tortilla tacos
This is Ethan's favorite. He loves helping me roll out the tortillas. :) We fill our tacos with seasoned ground beef, lettuce, tomato, cheddar cheese and sriracha sauce. Delicious!

Thursday: Chicken capri over brown rice, sautéed green beans

This dish is another yummy, easy one. The chicken is sprinkled with garlic powder, and sautéed on the stovetop for a few minutes. Then you put the pieces in a dish, top with ricotta cheese (seasoned with oregano, garlic powder, salt & pepper), some crushed tomatoes, and slices of provolone cheese, and bake until cooked through completely and cheese is melted. It is really good over brown rice, spooning some of the extra sauce on top, with green beans (sautéed in a little EVOO and seasoned with minced garlic) on the side.

Friday: Out to eat

We'll go somewhere!

Saturday: TBD

We'll probably go out, unless I decide to make some pizza at home.

What's on your menu this week?