March 24 weekly menu

I know I'm late posting but I figure if it's on here by midnight it counts right?  This week is all about making new recipes inspired by Pinterest photos. I'm quite excited about it. We used one tonight and wow was it easy and so tasty. 

Breakfast:

Protein shakes 

Special K cereal

Lunch:

Subway

Turkey dogs

Tostadas

Chicken salad

Chickpea patties

Dinner:

Ham and cheese pinwheels * with cinnamon & paprika sweet potatoes

Mustard chicken * broiled garlic green beans

Creamy tortellini soup *

 Turkey Parmesan meatballs* with grilled asparagus 

Homemade fish sticks * with stuffed button mushroom bites

*notes never made meals before.

Double yum!!!! 

Maple glazed pork loin and roasted Brussel sprout salad

I don't think words can describe how good this dinner was! Easier than I thought too!

Maple glazed Pork Loin 

Created by Little Miss Planner

1 pork loin sliced 1 inch thick 

2 tbsp maple syrup

1 tbsp mustard

1 tsp paprika 

1/2 tsp salt

Pepper for taste

1. Toss all ingredients together and let marinade for an hour.

2. In a medium-high pan spray oil and place slices. Flip mid cook to get a good sear on each side. Cook until done (takes 20 or so minutes). 

Roasted Brussel sprouts

Created by Little Miss Planner

Sliced Brussel sprouts

Paprika

Garlic (3 cloves minced)

1 tbsp maple syrup

1/2 tbsp olive oil

Salt and pepper for seasoning

1. Preheat oven 400*

2. Toss all ingredients in a bowl and place on sheet. 

3. Cook for 25 minutes.

For my salad I cut up the pork loin and laid them on a bed of spinach along with the Brussel sprouts and grape tomatoes. For my dressing, I just drizzled olive oil and balsamic vinegar on top. 

So filling and so good! Enjoy!

March 17 Weekly menu

Breakfast

Protein shakes

Lunch

Chicken salad

Salmon salad

Shrimp skewers

Leftovers

Play date lunch

Dinner

Taco pizza

Grilled maple salmon and salad

Homemade tostadas (new meal)

Spaghetti and salad

Breaded cod and cauliflower bites

Snacks

Hard broiled eggs

Grapes and other fruit

Nuts

Baked Prosciutto and date bites (new recipe)

Goal this week: EAT MORE VEGGIES AND FRUIT!

Banana Oatmeal Protein muffins

I'm been so lazy lately getting a healthy breakfast in. I either have been skipping it all together or drinking coffee and a piece of toast and calling it a day. I finally broke down and realized if I wanted to eat better throughout the day I probably should start with breakfast.  This is for every person on the go who needed that extra 5 minutes of shut eye (especially post day light savings) in the morning.

Banana Oatmeal Protein Muffins 

Makes 12

By LMP

Ingredients 

2 medium bananas (extra ripe)

2/3 of a container of ff Greek yogurt

2 egg whites

1 tsp vanilla extract 

1 container of applesauce (or 2/3 cup)

1 2/3 cup oats 

1/3 cup almond or cashew meal

1 tbsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

Optional

Raisins

Walnuts

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400

2. Mix wet ingredients then add dry ingredients

3. Let sit for 3 minutes 

4. Pour batter into muffin tins (if needed, don't forget to spray so muffins don't stick)

5. Bake for 13-16 minutes (or until brown, use toothpick to test )

6. Take out and let sit then take muffins out and let cook on a rack

Enjoy!

March 3 weekly menu

Another week another menu list. I love spending the week pulling out recipes to test out and drool over. This week's test run is seared scallops with lemon risotto. It's one our favorite tapas at Blue Stove, our Nordstrom restaurant. The hubby and I always fight out the last bite. This will also be my first time to cooking scallops. If all goes well I will be sharing the meal with you. 

Now onto what is going to get in my belly this week:

Breakfast:

Banana berry oatmeal

Breakfast sandwiches 

Lunch:

Greek chicken salad

Chickpea patties

Cheese quesadillas 

Tuna sandwiches 

Dinner:

Jambalaya  (will post recipe)

Homemade tortillas and beans

Girls happy hour (tapas!!)

Seared scallops with lemon Risotto

Taco salad 

Snacks:

Protein bites

Nuts in shells (pistachios and peanuts)

Recovery food:

Banana Vanilla Protein shakes

Feb 23 weekly menu

Sunday afternoon means time to prep and plan for the week:

Breakfast:

Banana berry oatmeal 

Oatmeal banana protein shakes

Lunch:

Chickpea patty with Marsala sauce

Chicken salad

Egg salad sandwich

PB & J sandwich 

Chicken salad

Dinner:

Chicken tikka Marsala with brown rice

Grilled mahi mahi tacos with salad

Grilled cheese sandwich with tomato soup

Ribs with corn on the cob 

Sloppy joes with garlic roasted potatoes

 

Snacks:

- Protein bites

- fruit cut up and prepared

- chocolate almond milk 

Taco Soup Recipe

In the midst of a chilly Cinco De Mayo, my desire for a crunchy taco dissipated into wanting soup. I had everything sitting there calling for me to make tacos so changing it up for tortilla soup wasn't going to cut it and the end result came out to a resounding success in which the kupcakes (aka the kids) cried out and signed "more more" while Mr. Planner was already up getting a second bowl full.

Taco Soup

1 package of ground turkey
Taco seasoning packet
1 can of diced tomatoes with chilies
1 can of black beans
1 cup Shredded Mexican cheese (I used 2% as well as full -- half of each)
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour (I use whole wheat)
1 individual container of plain Greek yogurt (I used fat free)
Water


Directions:
1. In one pan cook and season (with salt and pepper) the ground turkey.
2. In a pot, stir melted butter and flour together until smooth (no lumps).
3. Quickly add yogurt and 1/2 cup of water until all mixed together.
4. Toss in shredded cheese and stir until smooth.
5. Add tomatoes, black beans, and cooked ground turkey and stir a little more.
6. Next add taco seasoning and 1-1.5 cups of water.
7. Let simmer for 10-15 before serving stirring occasionally (this helps prevent cheese from sticking to the bottom.

Serve with a dollop of Greek yogurt, a little more cheese (there can never be too much cheese) and a few crushes chips.

Enjoy!

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!!!

mmmm.... peanut butter!

If you know me, I have a fascination for all things peanut buttery.  It's the cat's pajamas and to say I love love love it is a vast understatement.  When I heard it was National Peanut Butter Month (YEA!!!) I decided I will celebrate weekly by making forms of peanuty goodness at least once a week. This week I made Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal cookies.  OMG it was delish!  I had about a trillion of them (okay, I had two but would have had more but they fill you up).  I knew once I tasted them I had to share the recipe.

Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup of regular flour
• 1/2 cup of brown rice flour
• 2 cups of oatmeal
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup (or one small container) of apple sauce
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup of splenda
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt

Topping

• 2 ripe bananas
• 2 tablespoons of peanut butter (I used Trader Joe's Organic non salted peanut butter)
• 2 teaspoons of natural honey

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375°
2. Mix dry ingredients together in large bowl
3. Mix wet ingredients together in small bowl until fluffy, then add into big bowl and mix together.
4. Spray pan with Pam and spoon out cookie mix.  Push down each cookie so it's flat and not rounded.
5. Bake for 10 minutes.
6. While cookies are baking, mix and mash all the topping ingredients together.
7. After Baking, take out and let cool on rack.
8. After they are cool, spoon the topping mix on top.
9. Eat!

They are just too good to be true.  I made about 36 of them.  You can always use regular flour instead of the mix of flours I used.  I've been toying with healthifying recipes I find hence the apple sauce instead of oil and Splenda instead of regular sugar.  If you use regular sugar, use 1 cup.  

Nothing but Blue Skies....

We had a big downpour on Friday but on Saturday, the storm that was suppose to dump snow in our backyard decided to head north and instead we got beautiful blue skies. We were completely bummed but what can you do, I guess we'll just have to make a trip up to the mountains to see snow this year.  Aside from that, the weekend was just simply wonderful.  We got more plants (a few more tomato plants and two blueberry bushes).  I am thinking of trying to find a fig or date tree this week too, yummmmmm!  I've started to get better about working out again which is nice.  I'm finally not all talk, I'm also action.  I can still feel my abs from my morning of pilates on Saturday.  Sunday I fixed that nagging feeling and did some reorganization in the kitchen.  I think I will finish up cleaning out the pantry tonight and I can breathe again.  :) 

Now, what's for dinner this week?

• Sunday: Chicken Satay in peanut sauce and Garlic Sesame Broccoli
• Monday: Blood Orange Tofu* (inspired by Iowa Girl Eats) with stir fry Bok Choy & Carrots
• Tuesday: Trader Joe's Pizza and backyard Salad (Hooray we have Lettuce!!!)
• Wednesday: Taco Salad
• Thursday:  Chicken and Rice Casserole (crockpot style)*
• Friday: Mahi Mahi Tacos
• Saturday:  Pulled Pork Nachos

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

So excited for this week's meals.  I think we will officially start doing one vegetarian meal a week now this way we won't get tired of the same proteins since there are only 3 types (bird, fish, pork) we eat.  I'm also excited to finally start a little harvesting, granted it's only just lettuce but still. This week is a busy one, filled with gym trips and pilates classes.  Let's see what's in store:

• Go to the gym 3 times
• Go to Pilates twice
• Finish organizing pantry
• plant blueberry plants
• Create a new waffle recipe... will blog more about it this week
• Really post about the garden
• Get side garden set up for cauliflower, broccoli, and cabbage.
• Find a fig or date tree and buy it 

  What an exciting week coming up and to top it off, it's March tomorrow!  What are you looking forward to this week?  

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

A Farmer's Market at my front door...

A few weeks ago, Groupon offered one for a company called Farm Fresh to you.  I was really intrigued by co-op farms and this was similar to that and was orgainic too so when it came along I had to try it out.  I bought the Groupon and quickly signed up to get  a box of veggies.  Little did I know I would get so much!

In the box, I received:

• 2 Red Bell Peppers
• 1 Bunch of Broccoli
• 1 Bunch of Mixed Chard
• 1 Bunch of Mixed Kale
• 1 lb of Purple Top Turnips
• 1 Bunch of Nantes Carrots
• 1 Bunch of Bunched Collard
• 1 Butternut Squash
• 1 lb of Mixed Baby Lettuce
• 1 lb of Klamath Pearl Potato
• 1 lb of Yellow Onion

I'm so excited to cook up some great meals with all this yummy food.  If you are interested, you should definitely try it out!  Here is a promo code for $5.00 off your first order:  6164.  You can cancel after your first order.

  Now I'm off to start planning next week's meals with all this goodness!

Half way there...

Trying to get through this sugar-less week has been easy and hard.  Oh boy, what I would give to make cupcakes right now, or even macaroons.  Seriously, I never made macaroons before and there is no need for cupcakes in our house but I'm just dying to bake.  I think I'm finally having withdrawals.  On the plus, I'm half way there to winning.  Granted it's just a measly car wash but I'm in it for the bragging rights. 

Back to your regularly scheduled programming...

34 hours down... 86 to go!

  No sugar that is.  I must say I've been pretty nice.  Last night was my first real craving.  It was dessert time and didn't feel like making a fruit smoothie so I sat in the media room folding clothes and was really jonesing for something, then it dawned on me, PEANUT BUTTER!  Why didn't I think of this before?  I skipped down the hallway and checked the ingredients... just peanuts!  HOORAY!!!  I pulled out an apple, chopped it up and slathered peanut butter all over it and omg, OMG OMG OMG... it was good!  I probably ate about 10 tablespoons of it but who's counting.  The hubby saw me come back in the room and asked what I had.  The conversation went something like this:

Hubby: What are you eating?
Me: Dessert!
Hubby: HA! I win!
Me: No you don't! I'm not eating sugar. ~smirk~
Hubby: Peanut butter has sugar.
Me: NOPE, not ours. It's OHHH natural! ~dancing in my seat~
Hubby: Well..hmmm.
Me: MMM MMM MMM
Hubby: I'm going for a run! ~walks outs in a huff and comes back in a few minutes later~
Hubby: Okay, I'm going. ~kisses me~ Eww, you smell like peanut butter!
Me: I know, right?! YUM! ~big smile~

Awww... sweet victory!  I know it's only one day down but still, I'm happy I made it through day one.  It will be interesting how quickly I will finish off this bottle of the good stuff and move onto bottle numero dos.  Tonight, I think I will have some bug snacks... celery with peanut butter and raisins.  :P

  Have you ever given up sweet treats?  If so, how long did you last?

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?

WHERE'S MY SNOW???!

I woke up this morning and in my haze, opened my phone to see the latest Facebook ramblings.  Funny how almost all of them were from my friends who still live in my home town, all the same thing... SNOW!!!  Now they barely got 2-3 inches but that was still enough to close down the town.  No school, no work, nothing.  If there was any moment in my life where I wanted to live there, right now was this moment.  Oh how I didn't want to go to work today!  I stumbled to the window and said a little prayer, in hopes that there'd be snow outside our home but when I pulled the blinds back I got was wet wet wet earth. No snow, just more rain.  Something I really like but today it wasn't cutting it.  I wanted my snow day.

Now let's get this party started.  Are you ready for a new week? I am.  I spent the better part of my evening yesterday menu planning/prepping for the family.  For the adults and for the little kupcake.  Let's see what is for dinner this week:

• Monday: Roasted Chicken with potatoes and artichoke hearts (*new menu item)
• Tuesday: Butternut Squash Soup with popcorn chicken 
• Wednesday: Macaroni Casserole with Turkey meat sauce
• Thursday: BBQ chicken pizza (using leftover chicken from Monday)
• Friday: Hawaiian shredded pork nachos (*crock pot meal)
• Saturday: Dinner out

*items for yearly to do list challenge

Breakfast and lunch for the week were prepped too:

• Breakfast: Oatmeal.  Mine has Apple, Banana, Blueberry, Walnuts, Raisins, Almond Milk and a hint of brown sugar and Cinnamon.  YUMMM!!!!
• Lunch:  Balsamic Vinegar Chicken salad. 

The kupcake will be eating apples, apples with blueberry, and of course lots and lots of milk!  Exciting huh?

By the time I was done, the kitchen was a MESS!  I'm surprised the Governor didn't issue it a DISASTER AREA!  I made my breakfasts and the chicken for my lunches, made the butternut squash soup, steamed a bag of apples, got the chicken prepped for Monday's dinner, made Wednesday's dinner so it will just pop into the oven when it's time and packaged everything up.  Phew!  It was a lot of work but so happy it is over with.

Now onto my to-do list:

• Get the website up.  I tried migrating stuff over last week but broke something.  Fingers crossed we can open up the store this week and I can finally share it with you!
• Run/Walk 10 miles (must bring running gear to work this week)
• Do two hundred various types of sit ups
• Put away little girl clothes
• Take down last of the Christmas Decorations and pack it all up
• Sushi dinner with friends
• Create a chore list.  See... I totally plan everything out.  Only way to live I say!  
• Get back on track with food.  I ate at least  15 pieces a candy everyday for the past 2 weeks.  I am all for moderation, two pieces a day to combat cravings, but seriously, I dove in and never looked back. 

So that's our life here at the planner household. 

I'm looking forward to moving again.  I feel like a total sloth!  What are you looking forward to this week?

Train for a half marathon in 6 days!

  That's what I'm doing.  Did I run last week.  NO!  I even had my workout gear WITH ME but did I go? NOPE! Could I have gone at night after kupcake is sleeping? YES! Did I? NOPE! Did I have support and people at home encouraging me to go run? YUP! Did it help? Made me feel worse.

  So, because my lazy tush didn't run.  I decided to do a crash course training schedule.  It isn't like I'm asking myself to run to Bali and back.  Just to the school down the street or to the park around the bend. I'm pathetic!

 Little Miss Planner's Half Ass Attempt to train for a Half Marathon

                                                               

Mon: Run 2 miles

Tue: Run 3 miles

Wed: Run 3 miles

Thur: Run 2 miles

Fri: Run 2 miles

Sat: 2 Pilates Classes

Sun: Run 13.1 miles

Pretty Sad isn't it! Basically if I run 12 miles (less than a half) and do two Pilates classes I will be ready for this race.  Well, probably not but at least I won't die out there near the strawberry fields.

  On a lighter note, I found out something quite interesting.  I decided to check out Weight Watchers again (online of course) and noticed that things changes since I last logged on.  New style of counting points and how points are calculated. A little harder to figure out so hopefully that will get me going through the rest of the month.  And I lost a few more lbs, how that happened is beyond me since I had some See's Candy last yesterday. Okay, I have 4 pieces. Stop looking at me! :) 

  Now onto meals for the week.  My dad has been staying with us during the weekdays to help watch our little rugrat and in order to have control of everything, I have to plan ahead.  Time to introduce to you our meals for the week:

•  Sun:  Sloppy Turkey Joes (SOOO GOOD!)
• Mon: Chicken Satay & Peanut Sauce with steamed sesame veggies
• Tue:  Crock pot of Beans and chili with homemade Tortillas
• Wed: Tofu Stir Fry
• Thur: Grilled Panini's with broiled brussels sprouts
• Fri:    Order out!

Cannot tell you enough how excited I am for each meal.  YUM!  Somewhere in there I have to make cookies (8 dozen) for work.  Phew!
 
 How's everyone's week looking like?  Hopefully less busy than mine!

My Vigilante lasagna

I never made lasagna before.  I always thought it was super hard and had to make a ton.  A few days ago while flipping through my cookbooks I realized I didn't have to follow the norm and just do my own thing.  Armed with everything I needed in the cupboard, I decided I'd just go for it and what do you know, I did a great job.

Vigilante Lasagna (serves two)

1/2 package of ground lean turkey (can you any ground meat you want.  Beef NEVER enters this house so turkey it is)
1 small can of tomato sauce (the sauce can is thinner than paste but you can use either)
1 cup of water
6-8 lasagna strips (depends on how many rows you want)
Seasonings from garden or herb rack (I use the following: seasoning salt, savory, poultry seasoning, sage, basil, oregano, Italian seasoning)
2 cloves of garlic
2 chives (or mini onions)
Ricotta Cheese
Mozzarella Cheese
Parmesan Cheese

Directions:
1.  Boil some water for the pasta
2.  While that is going, heat up pan for meat with olive oil.  I don't measure it, but I'd say 1/2 - 1 tablespoon.  3.  Cook your meat, when it is 3/4 done, add 1/2 cup of water and all your seasonings (I do two or three shakes of each or a few pinches)
4.  When meat is done, add can of tomato sauce and the rest of the water.  Stir and taste.  If it needs more seasoning add more.  I usually add two or three shakes of each seasoning in it and taste until I can't stop eating it.  When you are happy with it, turn to low and cover to just simmer.
5.  Check your pasta, hopefully it is done. 

Time to put it all together:
Since it's just me and the hubby, I use French Onion soup bowl but I'm sure you can use a medium ramekin or small casserole dish.
1.  Add a little olive oil to the bottom of the bowls to it doesn't stick
2.  Order goes like this:

1. Sauce
2. Pasta (that i cut in half to fit)
3. Spoonful of ricotta (spread out to thin layer)
4. A pinch of Parmesan 
5. A bigger pinch of Mozzarella

3.  I repeat this 3-4 times until I get to the top of the bowl and then final topping of Mozzarella is thicker and thin a swig of olive oil on top.

From start to finish, prep work for it is about 30 minutes.  (photo of lasagna just out of the frig getting ready to wrapped for the freezer)

When it is time to cook, bake at 375 for about 30 minutes till the top is a golden brown.  Let sit for about 10 minutes before serving and enjoy!