Making myself accountable

So there I am, sitting on the floor with a pair of very groovy jeans with the realization if I ever want to fit into them again I need to really start paying attention to what I eat. It isn't like I chocolate all day and never get off the couch, it's quite the opposite in fact but when your nursing and running around a toddler, you forget to eat. So here I am, back to tracking my food intake to make sure I do eat reasonably again and even track my exercise. Something that I'm happy to say I'm finally getting beck out there. Last week I walked 14 miles and did Bikram yoga! Now, let's plan for this week, shall we?!

Sunday: dinner with the birth families
Monday: balsamic chicken and sautéed squash
Tuesday: BBQed pizza (mushroom) and salad (reminder to go walk to get salad)
Wednesday: taco salad
Thursday: tamales
Friday: food truck night!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Saturday: pork roast with veggies (YUM!!!!)

Now to plan my exercise routine:

Sunday: running 3 miles
Monday: walk 4 miles and Bikram yoga
Tuedaay: walk 5 miles and weight lift
Wednesday: walk 3 miles and Bikram
Thursday: rest (actually moving stuff)
Friday: walk 4 miles and weight lift
Saturday: rest (big event and then SPA day with my momma)

Phew, I'm going to be beat! But all in all, I think this is pretty easy to accomplish, if I can remember it (hence me writing it all down).

I'm excited for the week, lots to look forward to like movie with my birth mommas, new paint and carpet in our guest room, great cloth diaper change event I'm co-hosting, and lots of spa treatments! I can't wait to tell you hoe real or unreal these weekly goals will be. I'm crazy busy with business appts on top of it all but I know by the weekend I'll be done with the majority of it all.

miss me?

I know it's been forever since I blogged but I had a good reason... on top of work, family, garden, life, I've also been growing a little human inside me!  This week I'll be 24 weeks or 6 months along.  Time has flown by and well, my blog has fallen to the wayside.  Not to fret anymore, I'll be starting up blogging once again.

On to more important things... like what's for dinner?

• Sunday: Butternut Squash Soup with chicken in Peanut Sauce
• Monday: Turkey Meatloaf with summer squash and roasted potato
• Taco Tuesday: Shredded Chicken Tacos
• Wednesday: Mac Casserole with Procuitto
• Thursday: Chicken Bacon Ranch Panini ala Pioneer Woman
• Friday:  BBQ Baby Back Ribs Slow Cooker
• Saturday: Out to eat

So much to share so I'll be blogging quite a bit in the upcoming weeks.  Things to come are the annual  Halloween Party,  Fall decor, menus, new recipes, and much much more!

Happy for the new week...

What a wonderful weekend!  It was just perfect (aside from the Groupon/Dominos issue Saturday night that got fixed Sunday morning via Groupon). It was filled with lots of swim class, family time, shopping, gardening, some inventory, a little cooking, and a whole lotta laughter.  We finally added a trellis for our grapes this year and super excited to watch it grow.  Must take some photos this week of it.  We also planted more strawberries and got a few more plants (cucumbers, snap peas, and more cucumbers).  I have NO CLUE where I'm going to put them but I will find a place.  I always do.  I harvested about 5 lbs of lettuce and bot choy.  It was just screaming for me to snap up and can't wait to start harvesting the celery too!  All in all, it was a great weekend.

Let's plan dinner shall we?

• Sunday: Homemade Meat Lovers Pizza (italian sausage, pepperoni, prosciutto, oh my!)
• Monday: Chicken Satay (Trader Joe's) with wild rice and asparagus
• Tuesday: Marinated Chicken (in a balsamic glaze) over salad
• Wednesday: Veggie Frittata*
• Thursday: Sloppy Turkey Joe's and kale chips (hubby's new favorite)
• Friday:Homemade Beans in the slow cooker*
• Saturday: Out to eat

* denotes meals in the slow cooker/ new recipe list

Let's see, whats on the weekly to-do list?

• Fix irrigation on the hill
• Sheet mulch the crab grass. 
• Add cover to the blueberries and strawberries (evil birds!)
• workout 5 times (run 10 miles)
• Ikea trip (YAY YAY YAY!!!)
• Work on Easter stuff
• Relax

This week is shaping up to a great week.  The weather is looking up and I'm finally back in the routine of working out.  I even went to spin class today!  :)

Any fun plans for the week?

Feeling content

That is the best way to describe the weekend!  Last week's weather was uber hot but the weekend was just pleasant as can be!  Warm but not hot, just right.  Our little Kupcake had her first swim lesson and she did so good!  It was so cute to see all the little kids in the water and what was even better was to see all the dads in the water too with their children!  I played paparazzi and took a ton of photos.  In the afternoon we did an Earth Day Festival promoting green living for babies.  It was wonderful talking to a lot of parents and grand parents about it and teaching them alternatives.  Sunday, we went on a walk and had a play date with some of our friends and it was so much fun to watch the kids play with each other.  I think the Kupcake taught the other momma what needs to be child proofed in their home!  HAHA!  It was a quiet evening with the hubby out of town so dinner consisted of frozen burritos.  YUM! Let's see what we'll eat for the rest of the week:

• Sunday:   frozen burritos
• Monday:  cereal
• Tuesday:  fried rice with veggies
• Wednesday: Ribs* (will post recipe this week!  ☺) and kale chips*
• Thursday:  chicken tacos
• Friday:  terriyaki salmon salad
• Saturday:  ???

**denotes slow cooker and new recipe

What's on the agenda for this week?

• Photos of the garden.  Going to do this this week, i promise!  I've been bad but now that everything is blooming and I figured out how to upload photos via bluetooth from my camera, I will make this a priority this week.
• Work out 5 times. (one down already!  YEA)
• Put away laundry.  I have a few loads sicking in baskets.  
• Clean my room.  I don't know how it gets messy but it does.
• Finish weeding
• Work on online store and put some sales up
• Spray garden with homemade pest control (organic)
• Turn in paperwork for Earth Day Festivals coming up
• Plant blueberry bushes the hubby bought for the Kupcake. She LOVES blueberries like no tomorrow!
• Do the 30day shred DVD at least twice this week.  (I need a kick start)

Seems like a lot of stuff but it isn't.  In fact, I'm looking forward to everything on this list!

What are you excited this week will bring?

Huffing and Puffing along...

This weekend was another good one.  There was a big running/walking event in our neck of the woods.  The hubby did the 10k and walked with us on the 5k.  My lungs aren't back to normal yet but it felt good to get out there. We also had a few brunch dates with our friends.  It was so fun to see the kids together and spend some quality time with other new parents.  The rest of the weekend was pretty relaxed.  Did a lot of inventory and restocking among other things.  Let's just move on to dinner:

• Sunday:  Turkey Panini's and roasted artichoke hearts and potatoes
• Monday:  Baby back Ribs* and sweet potato fries
• Tuesday:  Taco Pizza
• Wednesday:  Chicken Satay* and veggies
• Thursday:  Pasta Casserole
• Friday: Fish or something...
• Saturday:  take out

*denotes Crockpot or new meal

This week is a busy busy one.  We have alot of stuff to do to get ready for a Earth Day Festival we'll be at.

It's a little crazy how fast this month went.  Can you believe next week is going to April?

I'm alive!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had/have the worst cold/flu/bronchitis/yuckiness in decades last week and am finally feeling more like myself (still a bit sick though).  Away from the drug induced haze I was living in, I tossed all blogging, working, socializing, living, out the window for sleep and a tissue.  By the weekend I was actually talking like a normal human without hacking up a lung or two and dragged the family out to Santa Barbara for some zoo action and bonding time.  It was oodles of fun but when we got home, I crashed once again.  On Sunday, I woke feeling like I needed something filling (since I was barely eating, throat hurt to much to even think about swallowing).  I made Banana Flax seed Waffles, Strawberry Blueberry syrup and a few sausage links.  Oh boy was it yummy.  It poured cats and dogs and we proceeded to be holed up all day chasing the precocious little girl around and trying to eat the house by baking and cooking.  I made a few different types of cookies (Kitchen Sink and Double Chocolate Cranberry), a batch of Ham and Corn Chowder, and even some veggies for the rugrat.  It was good.  By the end of the night we finished cleaning the house (something that didn't get done all week), did laundry, and even dinner planned.  Let's see what we'll be chowing down on:

• Monday:  Mushroom and Asparagus Quiche
• Tuesday:  Sausage Pizza with salad
• Wednesday:  Chicken Satay with swiss chard quinoa
• Thursday: Ham and Swiss Paninis
• Friday:  Fish
• Saturday:  Burritos
• Sunday:  Soup --undecided what kind

  Nice and easy dinners, nothing fancy over here.  This week I'll be recovering as fast as I can so I can do the race this weekend.  At the moment, running isn't an option since I'm on two different types of inhalers.  I just hope I can finish.

As for what do I have to do this week?

• Photos of the garden (seriously... i'm sure you sick of me talking about this and not showing you)
• redesign blog  (yup, it's finally time for this)
• rest

Yup, I'm busy!  I'll be back to blogging on schedule.  I hate getting sick and I think what was worse than before is being sick with my daughter.  Poor girl was one big snot ball.  This morning I'm happy to report she was able to breathe without me suctioning her nose ever 15 minutes!

  Have you gotten hit by this year's cold? 

Fun filled weekend in the backyard

I had the most perfect weekend any dirt loving girl could have.  On Saturday morning, thanks to forgetting what Pilates class I signed up for I was early and got a chance to go buy plants.  I spend the afternoon repotting and seeding, and planting lots of different things like: cabbage, purple king beans, broccoli, corn, squash, zucchini, strawberries, cantaloupe, and watermelon.  I cleaned and tilled and got dirt all over myself and it was just pure bliss.  on Sunday, we took advantage of OSH's no tax sale and bought more dirt, solar lights, irrigation kit, grass seed, and other fun goodies.  It was PARADISE!  Nothing is better than the smell of fresh dirt!  After lunch, my friend and I spend the afternoon putting in the irrigation system, planting lots of sunflowers, garlic, and cauliflower.  Everything is sprouting and blossoming I really need to take some photos to share.  It is just so nice that we have that extra hour now of light.  Now if only I can get the Kupcake's schedule back to normal!  :)

  Now onto this week's dinner menu:

• Sunday: Take out-didn't feeling like cooking
• Monday:  Chicken Pot Pie (with crockpot chicken*) -- Happy ╥ Day!
• Tuesday:  Leftover chicken & garlic lemon pasta
• Wedensday:  Cuban Sandwiches & spring salad
• Thursday: Shepard's Pie* -- Happy St. Patty's day!!
• Friday:  Grilled Salmon & veggies
• Saturday:  eat out...

    *falls into my new meal and slow cooker meal of the week

Looking forward to this week's meals.  What is on the weekly to do list?

• Run!  RUN LOTS!  12 days away till my next 5k race. 
• Start working on Kupcake's first birthday decorations... will talk more about it later.
• Clean up the website
• Finish cleaning our room (seriously, you'd think that I'd want to keep my own private space nice and clean.)
• Get everything ready for a garage sale this weekend
• Finish irrigation system
• lay rock border for shade garden

Yup, that's about it.  This week should be a good one.  I still have to get used to the new time change.  The alarm went off just a little too early for me today!  Need to acclimate myself!

How is your week shaping up?  Doing anything fun?

Kitchen Sink Cookies Recipe

You know sometimes you just need that sweet fix and don't know what to make?  What about kitchen sink cookies!  I made a few nights ago because I needed something like I needed a million bucks.  I had to have something yummy but didn't know what to make.  I started pulling out a bunch of things from the pantry and fridge and ended up with these!

Kitchen Sink Cookies

makes 1.5 dozen small cookies

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup flour (I used rice/whole wheat flour mix)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 2 tbsp crunchy peanut butter
• 2 dates chopped up
• 2 tbsp coconut 
• 1 tbsp chopped walnuts
• 1/6 cup chocolate (I have a bar of baking chocolate so I just cut off some)
• 1 egg
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

• Preheat oven for 375°
• Toss everything together
• Bake for 10 minutes

  The nice thing about these cookies is that 2-3 of them does the trick and the rest can go in the cookie jar!

Celebrating Mardi Gras: Slow Cooker Jambalaya and Bread Pudding Recipe

In our house, today is the day where we let loose and savor things we might give up for lent.  This year, I decided to make some Jambalaya for dinner and Bread Pudding for dessert to really get in the mood!  Now I don't have all day slaving over the stove so I tossed dinner in the slow cooker and the dessert into a pan for the oven when I get home! 

Slow Cooker Jambalaya
serves 4
Ingredients:

• 1 chicken breast
• 2 sausages (I used sweet pork italian sausage)
• 1 cup of celery
• 1/2 cup onion
• 1.5 cups low sodium chicken broth
• 1.5 cups water
• Cajun seasoning (to taste)
• Cayenne pepper (to taste)
• Seasoning salt (to taste) 
• Oregano (to taste)
• Thyme (to taste)
• Parsley (to taste)
• 1 tsp garlic
• 1 cup of tomatoes diced
• 1 cup wild rice

Directions:

• Cut up chicken and sausage.  Toss chicken into pot and pan sear sausage, then add into pot.
• Cut up tomatoes, celery and onion and garlic and toss into pot
• Add 1 cup of broth and 1.5 cups of waters save the 1/2 cup broth for rice
• Add seasonings
• Turn on 8-10 hours on low
• In the afternoon, make the rice with water and add the 1/2 cup of broth for flavoring.  When finished, add into pot.

It was sooo good!  Usually Jambalaya has shrimp but the hubby isn't a fan so I cooked some on the side for me. Definitely going to make this again!  

Bread Pudding

serves 2

Ingredients:

• 2 french rolls
• 1 tbsp I Can't Believe It's Not Butter! Spray
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/8 tsp Cinnamon
• 1 Egg
• 1/4 Vanilla fat free coffee creamer
• 1/8 cup Splenda
• 1 tbsp Raisins

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees
• Chop up rolls into 1 inch squares
• In a separate bowl, mix the rest of the ingredients
• Spray dish with Cooking spray and toss in rolls and pour the mix on top
• Cook for 45 minutes (until golden)

Serve Warm... Oh soo good!

The good and the bad...

That is the best way to explain the weekend.  Saturday was amazing while Sunday... not so much.  First thing in the morning the hubby threw out his back and became immobile for the rest of the day.  Taking care of the kupcake is one thing, taking care of a person how is at least 8 inches taller than me is another.  Then to top it off I had to take today off so I could be his servant help him.  He's feeling much better and fingers crossed that by Wednesday he'll be able to wait on me.  ☺

Now since I'm so tired from cooking, cleaning, laundry, gardening (of course I'd toss some of that in), I'm just going to get down to this week's menu:

• Sunday:  Easy Quesadillas
• Monday:  Turkey Burgers
• Tuesday:  Slow Cooker Jambalaya*  (Happy Mardi Gras Y'all!!)
• Wednesday:  Fish and Chips
• Thursday:  Turkey and Artichoke Paninis
• Friday:  Mahi Mahi
• Saturday:  Eat out?!

 *falls into my new meal and slow cooker meal of the week

  Now, what's on the agenda for this week?

• Gym Gym GYM!!! Go at least 3 times.  
• Pilates classes (2 -get certified to go up a level)
• Put away clothes
• Clean room
• Finish getting the shade garden ready
• Plan a side dish for get-together on Saturday afternoon
• Set up the teddy bear's physical
• Go to bed before 11pm

Yup, that's me in a nut shell.  Now, I'm utterly beat.  Until tomorrow, peace!

Waffle Mania

Ever since this bad boy came into our house we've griddling like there's no tomorrow.  We got a Cuisinart® Griddler® because we just die over panini's and this seemed like the best one out there.  When I found out that you can buy waffle plates that attach I was all over it and ordered them quickly.  When they all came, it was like our kitchen appliance cabinet was complete and filling a void.  The first day we made them, I didn't have a clue what I was doing and didn't do the best job, but the second day, I knocked it out of the park.  This weekend I decided to change things up and made some amazing Blueberry Banana flax seed Waffles with strawberry sauce. Even the Kupcake loved them.  Here's what we did:

Blueberry Banana Flax Seed Waffles 
with Strawberry Sauce

Makes 12 waffles

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of regular flour
• 1/2 cup of rice flour
• 3 teaspoons of baking powder
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 1 cup of unsweetened almond milk
• 1 egg
• 1 ripe banana
• 1/2 cup blueberries
• 2 teaspoons of flax seed
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Sauce:

• 2 cups of cut up strawberries
• 1 teaspoon of Splenda (to sweeten up)
• 1 splash of Balsamic vinegar 

Directions:

1. Turn waffle iron on to highest setting
2. Mix dry ingredients together (this include flax seed)
3. Separate egg and mix in yolk, almond milk, extract, blueberries
4. Mash in Banana
5. In a Separate bowl, mix egg white till fluffy and fold in last.
6. Spray waffle iron with Pam and pour mixture in waffle and cook for appropriate amount of time (I cook ours for 3.5 minutes).
7. While they are cooking, heat up sauce pan and toss in all sauce ingredients.  Let mix simmer and mash up strawberries in there. If you want it a little more runny, add just a splash of water.  
8. Serve up and eat!

Nutritional information for waffles and sauce (1 waffle and dollip of sauce is one serving):

Enjoy!!!

My heart is bursting...

...because my heart if full.  Happy Valentine's day everyone!  I'm a sucker for this holiday!  My first valentine's with the hubby (before he got upgraded to hubby status) I  got 30 heart shaped balloons and placed them in his condo and on the end of each one, I wrote a reason I loved him.  This year, I didn't do any grand gesture, just made dinner (it's a casserole, pop in oven and woolah) and going to have a relaxing night in.  I know, we are just WILD aren't we!  I did however help the kupcake make a few valentines for her grandparents and one of her buddies (that I delievered late last night).  This morning I decked her out in a festive top and just gave her the biggest cuddles I could!  I love my little girl! 

Moving on, how was everyone's weekend?  We worked on the garden more and even planted a few more goodies!  Late last night we planned dinner and I even prepped some stuff, been a while since I did that!  So what are we eating?

• Monday: Macaroni Casserole with Garlic bread  (Hubby choose this one) 
• Tuesday: Burger Pizza
• Wednesday: Butternut squash soup with popcorn chicken
• Thursday: Hawaiian Pork* with roasted corn
• Friday - Sunday : Out of town

*is part of the new recipe and crockpot meal item on the yearly to-do list

This week is filled with comfort foods.  I'm so excited.  I think it's just what the doctor ordered too since it's going to be a little chilly in our neck of the woods.  In other news, I'm quite excited for our trip out of town.  We are going to New Mexico to visit my relatives and can't wait, I hope there will be lots of home-cooked meals there too.  :)  DROOL! 

Onto the weekly to-do list:

• Run at LEAST 5 miles before we leave. Is that too much to ask? I think not!
• Do the workout video at least twice.  
• Pack 
• Make kupcake meals and freeze to take with.  Always easier and better than buying baby food
• Update the blog with garden updates with PHOTOS!!!  finally took some, now just need to do this.
• Update inventory on the store
•  Figure out a way to keep the cat out of the garden.  

That's my week.  Fun filled and exciting huh!

  What is your favorite part of Valentine's day? 

Cold...

...it is not here.  I spent the weekend in a tank top and shorts.  The joys of living in southern California where chilly is 60. (not it was not 60, it was closer to 80 here)  The weekend was a good one.  A little bit of this and a little bit of that.  There was some gardening (YEA, the dirt is ready to start planting in), a swing was hung for the kupcake, and an overnight trip was taken to the happiest place on Earth.  We even watched a football game, got in some pilates, took a long walk with my friend and her munchkin, made taco salad, and folded some clothes.  It was everything we wanted it to be, it was a perfect weekend.  Now because it was so perfect, there is always something that tends to drop off the radar and that was food prep.  I was so relaxed we didn't even plan our dinners until LATE (okay 730).

So what's for dinner?

• Monday:  Sloppy Joes (turkey style)
• Tuesday: Cheesy Chicken & Broccoli Rice Casserole *
• Wednesday: Sushi with Friends
• Thursday:  Asain Style Pork Wraps*
• Friday: Spaghetti
• Saturday:  Eat out
• Sunday: Chicken Fingers and Butternut Squash Soup

* works for the things to do list (slow cooker and new recipe)

  I'm looking foward to this week's meals but afraid I don't get lazy and just ask the hubby "can't we just pick something up?!"  I did that last week, I felt guilty afterward but when you are tired, you are tired.

What's on the weekly to do list?

• Workout  (more than just pilates)
• Plant broccoli, bok choy, and garlic
• Get top shelf of garden ready to plant (buy more dirt)
• Ebay some items
• Pick up a few things at the grocery store
• Clean media room and guest room
• toss dead plants (every year we get this lofty idea that big plants would look great in the house, then we buy them and kill them.  I have two dead plant corpses in the media room now.  very sad)

Looking forward to yet another week.  It's funny, I don't dread Monday's like I used to.  Now I just think of them as telescope to the the weekend.  Hope you are all having a great Monday so far!

  How do you find inspiration for your meals? Do you plan them in advance?

Good bye January, HELLO FEBRUARY!!!

Happy Monday everyone!  Where did the month go?  Seriously, I could have sworn it was just New Year's.  I have to say I'm in a rather chipper mood today.  I don't know if it's because it's chilly-willy outside or that my backyard is one step closer to being everything we want it to be.  The addition to the garden isn't quite there yet but holy moly is the the new BBQ area pretty groovy!  I can't wait to show you all our hard work but until then, you'll just have to take our word for it.  I think we have about 3 more hours of shovel duty until I can show the "fruits" of our labor!  :)

  I have to admit something, I didn't do the best job planning dinner this week.  I feel as if it's a bit redundant for some reason.  Oh well, let's see what we are eating:

• Mon:  Slow Cooked Chicken*
• Tues:  Burger Pizza*
• Wed: Spaghetti*
• Thur: Chicken Stir Fry
• Fri:    Pulled pork sandwiches
• Sat:   Eating out
• Sun:  Taco Salad and the SUPERBOWL

* works for the things to do list (slow cooker and new recipe)
 
Yup... that's it.  Nothing fancy.  For food prep, I didn't do any.  I just made dinner (Turkey Meatloaf and my goodness was it DA BOMB! BEST EVER!!!!)  I just wasn't enthused.  I did my usual shopping at Trader Joe's and wasn't... inspired.  Usually browsing through the produce section gets me excited but not this time.  I think the only thing different I bought was sweet potato slices for the kupcake to eat this week.  I think next weekend I'll need to run by one of the farmer's markets in our area and hope to find something different. I need variety!  Come on spring veggies, start growing!!!


Onto this week's to do list:

• EBay a few things
• Start making a pile for garage sale. 
• Clean media room
• Finish moving dirt for the garden
• Repot front pot 
• Relax
• RUN... i need to RUN RUN RUN!

  In other news, I'm become obsessed with my new skillet.  I'm in absolute love with it.  I even want to toss all my frying pans away and just run off with this one. I'm currently toying with cleaning out the pans (they are good but do I need them all?) we have and just owning a few key pieces.  Still undecided.  Is that wrong?  Do I really need frying pans when I have such an amazing skillet? What do you think?

Photo Source

Coffee on a Monday Morning...

There isn't anything better, wouldn't you agree?  After the weekend, I totally felt like coming to work was going to be my vacation since we were so busy but I am S W A M P E D.  Not only did we terrorize the backyard by adding onto the garden and chopping down a tree (when I say we, I mean the hubby and our good friend, I was supervising from the inside with the kupcake). We also cleaned to high heaven (still need to do a little more, yuck).  I am happy to report though we did a lot with the 48 hours we had.  Even food prepping tired me out, I chopped, sauteed, boiled, and packaged quite a few things for this week's dinners.  So what are we eating this week?

• Sunday:  Chicken Pot Pie
• Monday:  leftovers (i'm on my own)
• Tuesday:  Chicken and Broccoli Pie with Orzo & Swiss Chard
• Wednesday: French Dip Sandwiches with Quinoa & Kale, Turnip Fries
• Thursday: N'awlins Stuffed Bell Peppers with Collard Greens
• Friday:  Chicken Tortilla Soup*
• Saturday:  Eat out!

*completes the yearly to do list (crock pot and new recipe)

I'm so excited to try a bunch of new recipes and new foods.  Almost everything we are eating comes from new recipes.  The only things I need to do this week is the au jus for the French Dip Sandwiches and Thursday's dinner.  This entire menu was inspired by the box of produce we got.

On to list of things to do this week:

• Finish building extention on the garden
• Work and Finalize plans for Trellis 
• Complete BBQ ground area (will go into this later)
• Plant more
• Clean bathrooms (Lame)
• Repot two planters
• bake 
• Run during my lunch breaks
• Hang Swing

I think the backyard is going to keep us busy for the next week and am excited to show you everything we've done so far (it entails a chainsaws!).

  How was your weekend? 

Just another manic monday....

  You know you hear about those people who have just the crummiest of the crummy days and it falls on a Monday? Well, I'm living it right now.  It really started just after midnight.  Our little kupcake is teething and woke up in sheer pain.  She didn't want anything else other than for me to hold her.  Cute, but not when you are extremely exhausted.  That was from 330-430.  Moving on, woke up and low and behold, I broke out... eh.  Then, I lost my wallet.  No CLUE where it is.  Didn't fix lunch so had to grab a frozen meal from the fridge. Next, the shoes I wore, I totally forgot how UN-FREAKING-COMFORTABLE they are. Moving on to getting to work.  I was walking from the parking structure with my groceries for the week (multigrain cheerios, oranges, apples, bananas, almond milk) and my bag breaks.  The ONE time I use a brown bag instead of the reusable bags.  Of course.  Then, when I finally arrive at my office, my computer is showing the blue screen of death.  Seriously, this was all before 815.  Luckily my computer rebooted fine but still.  Oh, and it's suppose to be 84 today.  It looks so beautiful outside and I will be stuck all day inside.  Nice. YEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLPPPP!

Enough about today, how was everyone's weekend?  Our was just glorious!  The sun was shining and the birds were chirping.  We were busy but we also had time to relax.  It was wonderful. I finally got some gardening down and am just super excited about that.  YEA! 

Now, let's plan our meals shall we?

• Sunday:  Sushi Night
• Monday:  Turkey Burgers (didn't have them last week) -- on the Grill outside, can you hello 80+ weather
• Tuesday:  Fish Tacos
• Wednesday:  Cuban Sandwiches
• Thursday:  Artichoke Lemon & Chicken  Pasta *
• Friday:  BBQ turkey Meatballs (slow cooker)*
• Saturday: Eat out / Order in

Sides will be consisting of Sweet Potato Fries, Roasted Brussels Spouts, Caesar salad, Corn, veggie slaw, and black beans.  YUMM
Desserts will be apples with Peanut Butter... (i so love this combo), Frozen Yogurt, Fruit Smoothies. 

The little kupcake is eating lentil and chickpeas and whatever she grabs off our plates.  :)

The weekly to-do list:

• Work out
• Work on garden
• Repot flowers for the front porch
• Put away little girl clothes
• Catch up on reading
• Reorganize recipes into new binder
• Clean the floors
• Baby proof...someone is crawling.  

Did you ever have a morning where you wish you could just start over again?

Let the withdraw begin...

I made a bet with the hubby about giving up processed sugar for 5 days.  He didn't think I could do it (part of me does too) and I now I am sitting here, going on nine hours without.  Granted 7 of those hours I was asleep but lets not talk particulars here. You see, the last 3 weeks I've been off the sweets wagon and living the high life like I was at Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory.  Now there isn't anything wrong with a little sugar but seriously, I must have been consuming a lb a day.  So, what did I give up? Anything with the words like sugar or syrup in the ingredients.  In an effort to be ready for this week (Monday - Friday) I bought lots of fruits and veggies, plain greek yogurt, and cottage cheese for snacking.  What's at stake? A executive car wash.  I'm talking about the fancy one that even cleans the dash and makes it smell nice.  Last car wash I had was ions ago.  I do keep the inside clean and once in a while I run it through the car wash after I get gas.  It looks clean with all the rain we've gotten but still, my baby needs a little TLC.  I will give daily updates on how I do. 

Now, let's move on.  It's Monday so you know what that means: MEAL PLANNING DAY.  Yesterday while at Target, I was browsing the dollar section I found a little dry erase board. What a perfect little thing to keep us on track.  We have a saying at the planner household, "if it's written down then we must follow through." I tossed it in the cart and took it home.  It helped out a lot when I was prepping meals for the week.  So what are we eating?

• Monday: Hawaiian Pork Nachos (we didn't make this last week)*
• Tuesday: Whole Wheat Spaghetti with Turkey & Mushroom Sauce
• Wednesday: Chicken Tikka Marsala with Garlic Naan (naan came from Trader Joe's)
• Thursday:  Prosciutto wrapped Turkey Burgers
• Friday: French Dip Sandwiches (with pork meat)*
• Saturday:  Sushi with friends!  

*acts as part of yearly to do list, slow cooker and new meals.

Desserts this week will be fruit slurpees.  All fruit, no sugar.  :) YUM!

So what did I prep last night?

• Boiled the chicken and now marinating in the Tikka Marsala sauce we bought
• Slow Cooked the pork for Monday and Friday's meals
• Made the Turkey and Mushroom Sauce
• Made Minestrone soup for a side dish for this week's meals.
• Made a week's worth of Banana/Apple/Walnut/Raison Oatmeal
• Made the turkey burger patties

This time around, I had less dishes dirty since I figured out a good pattern to only get the same ones dirty so I was cleaning along the way.  I'm really enjoying my meal prep time now.  I feel more relaxed during the week and have more time to enjoy playing with kupcake.

Moving on to this week's to-do list:

• Work out 3 times during my lunch break (must bring running gear and shower gear to work)
• Finish cleaning my room.  Yup, it's dirty and it needs a good deep cleaning.
• Figure out vacation plans for Memorial day.  I'm DYING to plan another trip.  
• Fix the vacuum.  I broke it... how?  I have long hair and if you do too you'll understand. 
• Finish cleaning the garage.  Hubby did a terrific job this weekend and now all that's left is the shelves.
• Put away little girl clothes.

That's about it.  How is your week shaping up to being?

Row row row your boat...

That's how we all felt today. Southern California is getting quite a doozy of a rainstorm.  If it doesn't let up soon, we'll all have to bow down the hatches and start paddling to and from the house.  I guess we need the rain and really I don't mind it.  I think my only complaint is that I really was looking forward to taking my daughter for walks but I guess that will have to wait till later this week.

  In other news, I am all done with my Christmas shopping.  Thank heaven for amazon's app and prime shipping! HOORAY!!!  I have about 4 more presents to wrap and then completely done.  Now onto more important things... DINNER PLANNING!!!

• Monday - In & Out (grilled cheese of course... no beef for me!!!) YUMMM!!! 
• Tuesday - Shredded Pork and Potato Soup -Must share this recipe with you because it is the BOMB!!  
• Wednesday - Homemade Turkey Meatball sandwiches
• Thursday - Chicken Fried Rice
• Friday - Italian Christmas Dinner with family (it's tradition and it's DIVINE!!!)
• Saturday - Ham and all the fixings... YUMM!!!  
• Sunday - Dinner at the club...perhaps?

Soo looking forward to tomorrow's meal.  I made the soup tonight so while the kupcake was passed out.  The shredded pork will be done in the crockpot.  Isn't the crockpot the best appliance ever?!

  In other news, my weekly to-do list:

• Finish kupcake's felt sushi/toys
• Mail the last of our christmas cards.  I have them addressed but not in the mail box... bad me
• Tidy up the house
• Finish the store front main page
• Clean the inside of my car, it's never been this dirty, it's a bit pathetic.
• walk 10 miles 
• Find my Love Actually DVD. It wasn't in the case and it isn't like it walked off.  One of the best Christmas movies made.  
• Enjoy this week off with my little girl.

 Hope you have a great Christmas week!

Cake balls...

You know the hundred cake balls I talked about early on in the week? Well, our HUGE cookie swap turned into only 7 of us so I only had to really do 42 or so, 1/2 dozen a person. I ended up making some candy boxes for the hubby to take to work and wrapped mine up all nice and purrty.  :)  As hard as it was to make and decorate, I had fun with it and boy did the chocolate ones turn out good!  YUMM!

 

 I also typed up the recipe so I can hand out to at the swap.  Just in case you lost yours, here you go!

It hurts so good...

At least that is what I'm telling myself.  Another half marathon done.  COMPLETED... and boy am I exhausted. It was Summer.  BLAZING HEAT and my legs felt like heavy.  It wasn't my finest hour but whatever, I have a new medal so that's all I care about.

  Oh and this heat I'm talking about? Sorry, it's December and although I do live in SoCal, I WANT sweaters and scarves. I want sweatshirts and fuzzy warm boots.  I want fires in the fireplace and excuses to make hot chocolate.  I WANT WINTER GOSH DARN IT! (Seriously, I need to lay off of decaf coffee, look at all the cap letters already)

Moving on...I decided I am definitely going to train for 13.1 in LA next month.  I can't have another showing like this one.  Next one I want to finish in under 2:50 so I really need to start running again.  I just have to get my @ss out there. This week though, I will take it easy and rest since my knee is about to blow up.

 Let's plan dinner shall we?

• Mon:  Shredded Chicken Tacos and Salad
• Tues:  Tofu Stir Fry with Baked Crab Rangoons
• Wed:  Turkey Stuffed Acorn Squash with Roasted Brussels Sprouts
• Thur:  Nacho Supreme with Shredded Pork (reminds me of Kauai...yum)
• Fri:     Turkey Meatloaf and Potatos and Gravy
• Sat:    Dinner Out
• Sun:   Fish Night 

YUM YUM!!!  I made the chicken and shredded it last night.  It's sitting in the frig COVERED with seasonings like paprika, chili powder, pepper, among other things.  DELISH!  (there I go again...all caps)

  On the misc things to do list for the week, my life will go something like this:

• Make 100 vanilla and chocolate cake balls for cookie exchange (i know it isn't a cookie but who cares)
• Put away about a million pieces of little girl clothes
• Finish updating the store's inventory list and get CC working for it
• Walk 5 miles 
• Make felt sushi for our kupcake's first christmas present
• mail out the last of our holiday cards
• Finish christmas shopping (online of course)

So there you have it... A preview of my week to come.  How is your week looking?