Menu Monday #23

We enjoyed a nice, quiet weekend at home. We started the weekend off on Friday with a crazy sleep-in for Noah. When Ethan was younger, he was known to sleep-in until 11 am or 12 pm on occasion. The boy could easily sleep 15 hours at times and we'd think nothing of it. Noah, on the other hand, has never been a super sleeper, and while he does a great job sleeping through the night, 9 am was as late as he would ever sleep. So when he proceeded to sleep in until NOON on Friday, I was very concerned. I was certain that he must be sick (catching what his brother had earlier in the week) and would have an outrageous fever when he woke up. I was shocked to discover a normal temperature when I went in to get him from his crib!! Not sure if a growth spurt was the cause for this extra sleep? We should find out tomorrow when we head to the doctor for his 15-month check-up! Later that afternoon, we headed to a local farm for some fall fun. More about that soon! By the time we left, it was getting late, so we headed to Smokey Bones for dinner. There is never a wait and they are pretty quick with the food, so we thought it would be a good plan.

On Saturday morning, I made some more of my yummy whole wheat pumpkin pancakes for breakfast. Instead of using chocolate chips this time, I whipped up some of my favorite cream cheese icing to top the pancakes. Oh. my. gosh. It was heaven on my plate. For real. If you love pumpkin, you really must try this combo. We decided that it is definitely our new favorite pancake (even better than the whole wheat banana bread pancakes!!), and we wondered why I only make pumpkin goodies in the fall?!? I may have to re-think that idea. ;) The kids agreed, as they both devoured two entire pancakes each! Impressive since hubby and I had only three each! Haha! These pancakes will be getting a lot of rotation time for the next few months for sure!

We did some shopping later on Saturday, then headed to a local restaurant, Cootie Brown's, for a very early dinner since we skipped lunch. The place is always packed whenever we drive by, so we wanted to see what the fuss was all about, without having to wait forever to be seated. 4 pm was a great time to check it out! Haha! It was a great little place that offered "real food," as they make almost everything they serve right there in-house. I had the Caribbean Jerk chicken sandwich and roasted sweet potatoes. They were both very tasty and had some great flavor combos! Josh enjoyed a NY Reuben sandwich. I also loved how their pizza crust options included whole wheat and gluten free! Definitely a place we will return to in the future. :) Later that night, I finally made another pan of pumpkin crunch (hubby had been bugging me all week! Haha!) to enjoy since we had such an early dinner. Recipe will be posted soon, I promise!

On Sunday morning, I was feeling a bit lazy, and the pan of pumpkin crunch was looking pretty good in the fridge. So yeah, that was breakfast, too. Haha! Pumpkin and walnuts (and plenty of sugar) are healthy for a meal, right?? ;) Josh was busy most of the day completing one of the items on our house update to-do list. Can't wait to share pics of how it turned out!

Sunday: Chicken enchilada cornbread pie

I am so sad. This was an epic dinner fail! :'( Even more so than the awful seafood paella I tried about a year and a half ago. It sounded and looked so good in the pics (I linked to the recipe above), but it was so not good at all. I think the main problem was the rotisserie chicken that I bought to use, as the author had suggested. It smelled like formaldehyde. Yeah. Like those cats we dissected in college. Ew. I couldn't get past that and the flavor ruined the entire filling for me. It was so bad, I wouldn't even share  any of the leftovers with Daisy and I definitely didn't make the kids eat it! I had also used a cornbread mix, as the recipe directed, and it was pretty crappy after having made cornbread from scratch last week. It was, however, the only edible part of the dish. Sigh. Josh came to the rescue and made eggs for him and the boys. I think this meal could be good, if made from scratch, but would be quite time consuming, so I probably won't try it again. I really want my money back for that crappy chicken, too!

Monday: Lasagna

I haven't made this in awhile and it sounded good. I normally use the no boil noodles for my version, but my local store here doesn't carry them (major bummer!), so I bought some regular whole wheat noodles to use instead. This will make plenty of food so that I can serve it again later this week if I need to, as Josh will have some late nights at work-related dinners this week! :( I like to use lean ground beef, spaghetti sauce (I'll use Newman's Own this time), ricotta cheese, shredded mozzarella cheese and shredded and grated parmesan cheese. Super yummy!

Tuesday: Slow cooker cream cheese chicken chili over rice

This is another new recipe, so I am a bit wary now, after Sunday's disaster. This one, however, comes from Plain Chicken, and I love her recipes, so I hope this is another from her that we will love! It will be easy to throw everything in the slow cooker and have dinner ready in a flash. I thought that it might be nice with rice, so we'll try that, too.

Wednesday: Grilled pork chops, roasted butternut squash, whole wheat couscous

The weather should be cooperative to enjoy another meal from the grill this week. We haven't had squash since last fall, so I am excited to get it back into the menu rotation! When roasted in the oven for an hour or two, it is so delicious all on its own, without adding anything to it at all! Mixed in with some couscous, it makes a tasty side dish.

Thursday: Grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup

If I don't use leftovers, I'll make a loaf of my French bread and pair it with some provolone cheese to make a great grilled cheese sandwich. We'll have our favorite, Amy's organic tomato soup. The perfect fall meal!

Friday: Out to eat

Not sure where we'll go yet, but a night out will be nice.

Saturday: Halloween Party

We're excited about hosting a party for friends this weekend! My plan is to set-up a chili bar, using our special recipe Spicy Italian Chili as the base, with add-ins like spaghetti and shredded cheddar cheese, hot dogs, crackers, and buttermilk cornbread. For dessert, I'll make some more pumpkin crunch, and hopefully some pumpkin cake pops for the kids. We'll probably get a fire going in the fire pit and roast marshmallows and drink apple cider as well. I love fall!!

Happy meal planning to you this week! I must get busy this week getting the boys' Halloween costumes finished up! They will be going as their favorite animals this year, per Ethan's request. :) I'll post pics and tutorials after our party!

Why My Hubby is Stuck with Me!

My husband is awesome. Yes, I realize I am risking him getting a huge gigantic ego by actually putting this in print, but it's time to give him credit where credit is due. Have I ever mentioned what an awesome husband and father he is? Not only does he work all day to support us (which included super long hours when we lived in KY and GA), but then he comes home and plays with the boys, often grills dinner, makes sure the boys' food is spoon fed or cut up as needed (at home and at restaurants!), works on house projects, vacuums the house (after I was told by a doctor that vacuuming is the absolute worst thing I can do for my back), and can fix stuff everything!! And he never gets mad when I spend ridiculous amounts of money on matching wardrobes for the boys. :) I seriously don't know what I would do without him. Back off, he's mine!! ;)

Who could get mad at that though?? Ridiculous amounts of cuteness here!

I'm not joking. From the time I met him in college, I realized he was not just a pretty face. ;) hehe. Even then, I noticed that he could build or fix anything. He can build computers from parts. He can build car engines and fix most things that go wrong with cars, too. He's really smart. That's probably why he's an engineer. :) He's probably one of the only people I know who might actually be more anal retentive than I am when it comes to attention to detail. I love it.

So I guess you are wondering, why am I now finally singing his praises? This is why...

Yes, that is a picture of my broken iPad. Yes, the incident was quite tragic. I found out the hard way that tile flooring vs. an iPad results in a win for the tile. :'( So, so sad. After 15 short months together (fortunately, I have managed to keep our youngest son safe in this same period of time!), I feared the worst...that I would be iPad-less for the rest of my life. Surely hubby would never agree to pay for a new one, especially since we had finally made the plunge and invested in iPhones just one week prior!! After hearing the news from Apple that it would cost $250 + taxes and shipping (!!!) to get a replacement from them, I was again distraught, as I knew he wouldn't go for that either. Ugh.

Enter my husband. After some online research and shopping, we managed to secure a new digitizer, the glass piece that sets on top of the LCD screen, and the only part of my iPad that was damaged.

The shattered digitizer is at the top of the picture, with the functioning LCD screen at the bottom.

Holding up the shattered digitizer after it was completely removed.

Replacing the digitizer was a process that required a lot of patience (much more than I possess!), meticulous attention to detail and a bit of electronic knowledge as well. With the help of some online tutorials, he was able to replicate the steps needed to remove the damaged digitizer and replace it with the new one. As you can see above, he had to scrape the shattered piece off first. It is stuck on there with a crazy amount of super sticky glue, so it was quite time-consuming to ensure that it was all scraped off without damaging the outer plastic lip and the wifi antenna.

This pic was after he had scraped the first edge off.

He is working around the wifi antenna here, with the batteries exposed, under the LCD screen.

Lining up the new digitizer with the LCD screen.

New glue strips set in place here, getting ready to secure the new digitizer onto the LCD screen.

By the end of the night, I had what appears to be a brand new iPad! Amazing! You can't even tell that it's been repaired!

Good as new!

So yeah, my husband is awesome. And he's never going to be able to get rid of me. I hope he knows that. ;)

Cute and handy...he's a keeper!

So, next time you break your iPad or iPhone, you know who to call! :)

Menu Monday #22

Whew! Another busy weekend with guests! With Josh out of town for work part of last week and Ethan out of school for fall break, the boys and I were starting to go a bit crazy together, haha! My sister and her family arrived Thursday night for a weekend visit. The boys love playing with their cousins and this weekend was no exception. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pics with the good camera this weekend, so iPhone pics will have to suffice today!

Poor Hannah. After Noah discovered that he couldn't pick her up, he decided the next best thing would be to sit on her. Luckily for her, she's not too much smaller than him, so it wasn't as bad as it looked. ;)

On Friday morning, I made whole wheat pumpkin pancakes (with chocolate chips, to make them Jack-o-Lanterns!) for the kids, then Uncle Mike took the 3 big kids to the local fossil museum. They had a blast! They were even able to do a wet sift of some of the dirt that had been dug up there on the site, that the scientists would later sift through again. Fun! We're excited to take the boys back again soon.

Before I forget, here's the recipe for the pancakes, adapted from this recipe from two peas & their pod, so you can make them for your little ones for some Halloween fun! :)

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Pancakes
(makes about 18 pancakes)

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 6 Tbsp light brown sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 2 cups milk
• 1 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• Semi-sweet chocolate chips, if desired

Directions:
In a large bowl, stir together the flours, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and pumpkin pie spice until well blended. Add in the milk, egg, pumpkin, and vanilla extract. Stir until combined and few lumps remain.

Heat a griddle to 300 degrees. Coat with cooking spray. Drop batter onto heated skillet. Add semi-sweet chocolate chips in the shape of a face to make Jack-o-Lantern pancakes. I really loved the combo of the chocolate with the pumpkin, so I highly suggest doing this step! :) Cook on the first side until bubbles begin to form, about 2-3 minutes. Carefully flip the pancake over and cook for another 2-3 minutes, or until golden brown and cooked throughout.

UPDATE 10.20.12: I made these pancakes this morning for breakfast, and instead of using chocolate chips, we topped them with our favorite cream cheese icing. They were absolutely heavenly. They have now moved into the top spot on our favorite pancakes list! :)

Later that day, my parents arrived, and we all got ready to go get family pictures taken! Once again, we had the fabulous Kristy Vest take them. We made our way to the local VA park and were thrilled to see that some of the trees had turned to fabulous shades of orange and red! The kids had a great time running around and playing in the leaves while she snapped away! :) I can't wait to see how great they turned out! For dinner that night, we grabbed some pizzas and donuts that we promised the kids for smiling pretty. With five kids five and under, sometimes bribery is the answer! ;)

We need a bigger table!

On Saturday morning, I made my favorite homemade coffee cake and scrambled eggs for everyone. Yum! For dinner on Saturday, we made an extra huge pot of our chili (yes, Josh would eat it every day if he could! Haha!). We decided to serve it Cincinnati-style, over whole wheat spaghetti and topped with shredded cheddar cheese. I've never been a Skyline fan (I know, it's a shame, huh?), but I actually really liked this! I think it's because I don't care for their chili, but I really like ours, so that made it ok. ;) I also made more of the new cornbread recipe I tried last week, because it was so heavenly. Later that night, we all circled the fire pit out back and roasted marshmallows. Perfect.

Grandma Frank with 80% of her grandbabies!

Sunday: Cheeseburgers and hot dogs, baked beans, potato chips

Ethan wanted another picnic, so that is what we did! I use lean ground beef, topped with cheddar and served on whole wheat buns from the bakery. We had their favorite, Bush's Grillin' beans (Southern Pit BBQ), and Cape Cod's kettle-cooked chips.

Monday: Leftover Spicy Italian Chili, buttermilk cornbread

We had some leftover chili from the weekend, so I'll get a break from the kitchen by heating up some leftovers tonight! :) With Ethan not feeling well today, we'll be headed to the doctor's office this evening, so a quick meal will be helpful.

Tuesday: Melt in Your Mouth Baked Chicken, whole wheat rotini, oven roasted asparagus

This is an easy, tasty meal that we all love. The chicken is topped with a mixture of Greek yogurt, shredded parmesan, pepper and seasoned salt, or Adobo seasoning.

Wednesday: Grilled pork chops, roasted sweet potatoes with honey and rosemary

The weather should be cooperative to enjoy another meal from the grill this week. We all love pork chops and my most recent sweet potato creation!

Thursday: Chicken Capri over brown rice, stir fried parmesan green beans

I haven't made this South Beach dish in awhile, but it sounded good this week. You start by searing the chicken breast (rubbed in garlic powder) on each side, then placing them in a baking dish, topping them with a ricotta cheese mixture, some crushed tomatoes, and a slice of cheese (I'll use provolone this time), and baking them. It is super tasty served over brown rice (not a part of the South Beach diet, oops!) with beans on the side.

Friday: Out to eat

Not sure where we'll go yet, but a night out will be nice.

Saturday: TBD - probably pizza?

I haven't bought the toppings for a pizza yet, so we'll play it by ear as to what we decide to do.

Happy meal planning to you this week!

DIY Paint Chip Wall Calendar

Welcome to those visiting from the Money Saving Expert in the UK, and others here in the US from Pinterest. This entry has become quite popular today (12.05.12) after the pic below was featured in an article about Christmas presents under a fiver! :)

Several months ago, while browsing Pinterest, one of my favorite pastimes these days, I came across a pin linking to this page. The pin was for this cute, colorful wall calendar.

Picture courtesy of Cheltenham Road

I also came across another one on this other page, too. This one looked pretty similar, using the same concepts.

Picture courtesy of Maple & Magnolia

So, I was inspired to try making my own DIY wall calendar as well. :) What's nice about this particular project is how customizable it is. For example, instead of using a poster frame like both of these people did, I purchased a floating frame (at 50% off!) at Michael's. It was 16" x 20", so still nice and big, but looks a little fancier.

You can also customize the colors that you want to use. I picked up my paint chips at Home Depot. The Behr brand has some nice big ones in their premium brand, so I chose those. I decided to go with a dark to light to dark trend with mine. I chose these blue-green hues (UL220-12: Urban Mist, UL220-7: Ozone, UL220-3: Tahoe Blue, and UL220-2: Voyage) because I like them (you'll find these colors throughout our entire house!). The calendar hangs in our kitchen/breakfast nook area, which is painted a neutral shade of tan right now, so I didn't need to try to match/coordinate to any particular colors. Each paint chip was big enough to make 2 squares, so I needed 5 chips of each of the 4 colors I used (20 total chips). Measuring everything out, to allow for 5 rows of 7 (35 total squares), I had room to make my squares 2 1/4" x 2 1/4", then space them 3/8" apart. I used a corner rounder tool to punch out some rounded corners because I liked how that looked better. Using double-sided tape, I secured the squares to the back piece of glass. Then I made a longer rectangle for the top to label the month. Once this was done, I simply put the pieces of glass and frame back together and voilà!

I can use a dry-erase marker to write in the dates and what we have going on that day. I like to use a color-coded system that matches up with the colors I assign to each of us in our Cozi calendar. Even though I use this super awesome mobile/online calendar app, I also like seeing the entire month in front of me on the wall. Now that we actually get out of the house most days with activities or appointments, it is very helpful for keeping my sometimes forgetful memory in check. ;)

Along with completing this project, we are finally starting to get more things hung on the walls. We've been in the house for 3 months now, so it's about time! We had our beautiful family pictures taken in April and July this year by Kristy Vest Photography. I decided to hang the most recent ones in our living room. The colors we are wearing match up great with the rug and pillows in that room. :)

We're getting this easy stuff out of the way, then it's time to dig in and get started on the big projects! We're hoping to start our basement remodel soon, along with the back deck/patio overhaul. Hopefully it won't be long before I am posting about those.

kreations by kristy

Since the birth of Noah, I had been taking a bit of a hiatus from my business, kreations by kristy. I recently completed an order for a bridal shower and I posted about it on my business blog. I am going to try to do a better job keeping up with that blog from now on when I complete orders. Please take a minute to check out my latest project...

...and contact me if you have any design needs! Christmas will be here before we know it, so I'll soon be working on designs for the holidays and will be offering specials on early orders! :)

Menu Monday #21

Whew! We kept busy this weekend with hubby's parents and our niece visiting us. Lots of cooking and playing. Unfortunately, the weather was kind of lousy Saturday and Sunday, so we spent most of the weekend indoors to stay dry and warm!

A little cooperation for a pic! Never an easy task. ;)

For dinner on Friday, we went to the Yong Asian House. It's our favorite Asian place and it did not disappoint. We both tried the Singapore Rice Noodles. Super tasty! My in-laws arrived later that evening and we made s'mores around the fire pit outside, while the weather was still nice. Yum! I also made some pumpkin crunch to enjoy that evening and the rest of the weekend. I will try to post that recipe soon, as it is a great alternative to pumpkin pie for the fall season. I'm not a big fan of pumpkin pie, but I love this pumpkin crunch recipe. Most people I know who have had it actually prefer it too - even my pumpkin pie obsessed hubby! ;)

On Saturday morning, I made my favorite homemade coffee cake for everyone. I really should share that recipe soon too, as it is by far the best coffee cake in the world! When I worked at UK, our brace rep used to bring it in for us when he visited and I quickly became addicted to it. His wife made it, so I finally asked for the recipe. We've been enjoying it at home ever since! Since it makes such a big amount, I usually reserve it for when we have company. We also had scrambled eggs and some fresh strawberries to accompany the cake. Delicious. For dinner on Saturday, I camped out in the kitchen (not kidding, it's a labor-intensive meal!) and made Pork Schnitzel and Warm Potato Salad. I also tried a new recipe for buttermilk biscuits to accompany the pork. They turned out pretty well and tasted great. They weren't too difficult to make, so I'll probably make them from scratch from now on. :)

On Sunday morning I made a couple of breakfast casseroles. The recipe is from my MIL, and it is a yummy one. It uses crescent rolls on the bottom, topped with your meat (I used sausage for one and bacon for the other), then shredded mozzarella cheese, then egg poured over the top. It bakes up nicely and serves as a nice filling brunch. I would like to eventually try making my own crescent roll layer from scratch, but will need to figure out what recipe will work best for that first. I would also like to try adding some fresh basil and tomatoes or mushrooms too, as I think that would be tasty.

Last week's addition of A1 sauce to the pot roast was excellent! It was just enough to give the meat a really great flavor, without overpowering any of the natural flavors of the veggies. I will definitely make it that way again. The new recipe for the orzo dish was also excellent. I think Noah ate his weight in orzo that night! ;) At ~21 pounds, it's not really that far of a stretch! Haha!

Sunday: Take out pizza

After spending the weekend in the kitchen, I needed a break! Josh had acquired a free pizza coupon from Papa John's, so that was dinner.

Monday: Spicy Italian Chili, buttermilk cornbread

Another cool, cloudy/rainy, fall day = chili weather! Josh has been bugging me to make chili for weeks months now (no joke!), so we will enjoy our first big pot of the season. We change up the ingredients in our chili from the regular variety, by using sausage instead of beef, red bell pepper, and sage and Italian seasoning. I will try a new recipe for the cornbread since I have leftover buttermilk from this weekend. :)

Tuesday: Caprese burgers, baked sweet potato fries

We'll take advantage of a nice day to throw some burgers on the grill. We haven't had these in several weeks now, but they still remain our favorite!

Wednesday: Tomato bisque, grilled cheese sandwiches

Josh won't be home for dinner, so I need something quick and easy. We loved the Amy's organic tomato bisque we had last time, so I bought that again. It pairs perfectly with a creamy grilled cheese sandwich. I'll make my own French bread and use slices of provolone. Yum!

Thursday: Scrambled eggs, fried potatoes (leftover from the weekend), multigrain English muffins

Brinner!! I can't remember the last time we had brinner, so it will be fun!

Friday: TBD

My family will be in town and we have pictures scheduled for the evening, so we may have to grab something to eat when we are done that night.

Saturday: TBD

With 6 adults and 5 kids, I'll be feeding a small army, so I need to think of something easy to make for a large crowd. :) My pizza pasta casserole is usually a hit with the kiddos and we haven't had it in ages, so I may have to make that. Any other suggestions?

Happy meal planning to you this week! Stay warm! The leaves are finally starting to change color here. I love it! :)

Wedding and Zoo Fun in Ohio

A couple weekends ago, we made a trip to Ohio, and had the opportunity to spend time with friends and family. A dear friend of mine from college was getting married and I was excited to be able to attend and catch up with some old friends. It was our first Hindu wedding ceremony, which is a very different experience from a traditional Western wedding. It was absolutely beautiful with all of the bright colors and traditions!

Yes, she was a stunning bride!

The reception was fun and beautifully decorated as well. It was so great to catch up with friends from my athletic training program that I hadn't seen in years!

The food was awesome heavenly. Hubby and I love (that's putting it mildly) Indian food, so we were excited about the menu for the evening. The fresh puffed rice salad they prepared during cocktail hour was so amazing that I think I could have consumed the entire bowl if I didn't think people might stare. For real. Sheela dear, I must learn how to make this at home!! For our main course, we had chicken tikka masala, my favorite. I also discovered that I love paneer tikka, too! I tried a little bit of everything on the buffet and actually enjoyed each dish. Sadly, I can't remember what everything was now. Hopefully, Sheela can refresh my memory. ;)

The next day, we took advantage of our close proximity to the Cincinnati Zoo, and took the boys to one of the best zoos in the country! My parents, grandma and sister and her family all came along, and we enjoyed a fun day with the animals. It was Noah's first trip to the zoo and I was excited to see how much he would enjoy the animals since he was such a big fan of them at the fair.

Daddy provided the best seat for easy viewing of the animals, like this rhino.

Noah loved petting the goats in the children's zoo!

Ethan and cousin Rachie liked brushing them!

Noah's favorite, the cow, gave him a nice big kiss to say hello! :) Ewwww...

The kids had a blast and can't wait to go again! After leaving, we decided to refuel at one of our favorite Cincinnati establishments, Montgomery Inn. Their BBQ sauce is my favorite, so it was a treat to enjoy some while we were in town. The boys dug right in too! Don't you just love Ethan's latest "smile" face?? He's such a funny little guy!

As you can see, Noah is a great milk drinker now! :)

We had a fantastic weekend in Ohio and look forward to more fun trips in the future. Yep, those are two happy, worn-out little guys! :) Love it!

Menu Monday #20

We enjoyed another great weekend here at home with lots of good food and family time! On Friday night, we decided to go out to eat. I had been shopping all afternoon and didn't get my pizza dough in the bread machine, so we didn't really have the option to eat at home. After thinking all week about the Indian food that we had last weekend, we couldn't resist going to our local Indian restaurant for dinner. Last time we went, Noah wasn't eating as much table food yet, so this time he really got to enjoy it. That boy gobbled up his paneer tikka masala! He was like a little machine. :) I enjoyed some of it as well, along with some chicken tikka masala, my favorite. After dinner, with all of our bellies nice and full, we decided on a whim that it was time to finally upgrade our cell phones. We had been eligible for upgrades for a bit, but had held off getting anything new with the recent changes Verizon has made to their plans. I was thrilled when hubby said he was thinking about iPhones this time. Yay, we were going to join the 21st century by getting our first smartphones! With the release of the new iPhone 5, Verizon deeply discounted their iPhone 4 and iPhone 4s models. Score! We happily headed home with our new phones that evening. :) I spent a portion of the rest of my weekend getting apps downloaded and organizing everything on it. I have had my iPad for over a year now, so I have been using apps for awhile, but I know I have avoided some for the main reason that my iPad only has WiFi, so I could never use the internet while I was away from home for things like coupon apps and such. So, what apps might I be missing that should be on my must-have list now? Ahh, isn't it gorgeous? :)

Photo courtesy of AppleInsider

On Saturday morning, I decided to make Whole Wheat Banana Bread Pancakes for brunch, since we hadn't had those in awhile. They are everyone's favorite pancake, so we gobbled them up! We did a little more shopping in the morning, then headed home to get comfy before the rain settled in. A dreary afternoon here, it was perfect for making my homemade Margherita pizza and watching some football! Go Bearcats!

On Sunday morning, hubby and the boys treated me to brunch, by making scrambled eggs and Cream of Wheat. The boys are so cute as they help Daddy prepare food! :)

Sunday: Cheeseburgers and hot dogs, baked beans, chips

Ethan wanted to have another picnic on the back deck since the weather was nice, so that is what we did! Josh and I enjoyed burgers topped with cheddar cheese and A1 sauce on toasted whole wheat bakery buns, while the kids gobbled up their hot dogs. I'm still not a fan of baked beans, but all of the guys are, so I made some of Bush's Grillin' Beans in the Southern Pit BBQ flavor. Trying to stick to a "real food" diet as much as possible, I discovered that Cape Cod's kettle cooked 40% reduced fat original chips are made with just potatoes, oil and salt! Sweet!

Monday: Pot roast with potatoes, carrots and onion

It's a cool, rainy day here, so this meal will be perfect for warming us up this evening! It is already smelling delicious in my CrockPot. :) I used a bottom round roast, red potatoes, organic carrots and a white onion. I also added a packet of Litpon's dry onion soup and some A1 sauce for added flavor. This is my first time trying the A1, so I hope we like it!

Tuesday: Tomato and Mozzarella Pasta al Forno

We haven't had this super yummy pasta dish in ages, and it will be another great indoors meal for another expected rainy day. I promise it tastes much better than it looks in the pic I posted. ;) I'll use whole wheat penne, fire-roasted diced tomatoes and maybe a little tomato sauce as well, fresh mozzarella bocconcini, grated parmesan cheese, fresh garlic, chicken breast tenders that I will stir-fry first, and probably some fresh basil this time too, since we have plenty still available! :) I am still debating about making some fresh French bread to go with this dish. My waistline doesn't need it, but my taste buds would sure appreciate it! Haha!

Wednesday: Pacific Pork Kebabs and Pineapple Rice

I haven't made this meal in awhile either, for some reason. It is one I tried out a year or two ago and it is really tasty. It comes from Martha Stewart, so you can't go wrong there! ;) You pair pork tenderloin, cut into bite-size cubes, with chunks of red bell peppers and onion and then glaze everything with a pineapple-honey mixture. I use brown rice instead of white, and it has pineapple chunks, ginger and scallions tossed in with it. I was wary the first time I made it, but everything works really well together for a great grilling meal!

Thursday: Grilled chicken breast, parmesan basil orzo and oven roasted asparagus

The weather will be good for grilling, so we'll enjoy it while we can. I'll marinate my chicken breast in Roasted Red Pepper dressing all day for a great flavor. I'm trying a new recipe for the orzo, so hopefully it will be a hit. The asparagus should round out the meal nicely.

Friday: Out to eat - perhaps sushi?

We'll get something quick before the in-laws arrive in town for a visit!

Saturday: TBD - possibly Pork Schnitzel and Warm Potato Salad?

With the in-laws coming, I'll let them decide what's on the menu, but I think this will be a dish they will love. I know hubby has been craving it lately, so I'm sure he would love for me to make this.

Happy meal planning to you this week! Can you believe it is October already?!? I need to start rolling out some pumpkin and squash recipes soon! Yum!!