Menu Plan Monday

I am now back into the routine of menu planning and feeling on top of things!





Since I don't feel like cooking a lot in this heat we are doing a lot of BBQing. I dug out one of Sandi Richard's early cookbooks called "Gettin' Ya Through the Summer" which has 5 weeks worth of hot weather menu plans. In it she includes recipes for the BBQ, crockpot and regular recipes for cloudy days when it's OK to cook inside! Easy and delish! (Note: I don't see the cookbook listed on Sandi's website...I wonder if it is out of print?!)

Anyway, this week we're having:

• Sunday: BBQ at friends...no cooking YAY!


• Monday: Honey Mustard Chicken Burgers with Fruit Salad (From Sandi's book.) Mix 1/4 cup Dijon mustard, 1/4 cup liquid honey and 1/2 tsp each of Mrs. Dash Italian and Mrs. Dash Extra Spicy Seasonings. Toss sauce with 4 chicken breasts until glossy. Grill on BBQ with lid closed approx 5 minutes each side or until center is no longer pink. Serve on buns with toppings such as lettuce, tomato, onions etc. and with fresh fruit salad topped with vanilla yogurt.


• Tuesday: Speedy Salsa Chicken Quesadillas with tortillas, veggies and dip.


• Wednesday: Salmon in Orange Ginger Sauce with Rice & Asparagus (Place salmon fillets in greased oven proof dish. Cover with a bottled sauce like VH Orange Ginger or Knorr Mandarin Sesame. Bake at 400 about 10 minutes or until fish is opaque and flakes with fork.)


• Thursday: Spaghetti with Meat Sauce (made ahead in big batch and frozen) with green salad.


• Friday: Pizza night!


• Saturday: BBQ Burgers with potato salad, veggies and dip.

Sounds like a good week! Be sure to check out lots more menu plans on orgjunkie.com!

Happy Scrapping!
Noreen

Catch-up

Since I have busy writing about scrappy things for Sharing Memories Website, I realize that I haven't written about our regular old lives on this blog for a long time. I love having this blog as a record of what we have done and what is going on in our lives, so I am going to try and keep the everyday family sort of stuff on here, as a record for myself more than anything! So to catch-up...

I have been keeping up with taking my Project 365 photos, but I haven't been keeping up with posting them. Since changing over to the Shutterfly site from Flickr it just hasn't been as quick and easy to upload on a daily basis. I think I only have to the end of MAY on the site right now! I have to get a lot of photos developed too so I can slip them in the little slots and journal while the events are somewhat still fresh in my mind!

I haven't posted a lot of photos on this blog either...again, after a recent change my hubby made as to how our photos are uploaded once I plug my camera in, it is now a more cumbersome process and I do dread it a little bit. I will have to rectify that, otherwise none of our photos will get dealt with!

The weather has been strange this month...reainy and cold for one week and then hot and muggy the next. I have come to the conclusion that I cannot LIVE somewhere hot...I enjoy visiting and lying on a beach in a hot locale, but I wouldn't be able to get on with my ordinary life in a hot climate. But, BC still looks good...I'm thinking a more temperate climate would still be better than our crazy weather in Calgary. (Interestingly enough, we may have a chance to move to BC as Hubby and his business partner look at a possible expansion. Far off still, but we'll see.)

Around the house we are slowly getting things done...Shane is adding privacy slats to the fence we installed last summer. I am still undertaking organizational tasks inside the house...does that EVER end? and we are debating about the degree of renovations we should do on our main level.
Grayson is in a very strange mood these days. I don't know if it is jealousy over Sam as Sam starts to want to play and gets into G's toys, or if I need to spend more time with him, or if he is just raring to go, go, go and do more, more, more. He is definitley touchy and easily irritated these days. He squeals and does a fake whiny cry (which is driving me nuts) doesn't listen and is quite defiant. This is not my boy! Where did he go? But we went to Calaway Park yesterday with friends and he had a good time (until we had to leave!) Sigh...

Sam is 13 months, is huge (27 lbs), is crawling like a madman, and still isn't quite walking. He walks around the furniture, but not on his own. In fact when you hold his hands ot help him walk he either lifts up his feet or justs sits down. All in good time I guess. He is eating everything in site and is generally pretty happy. Lots of noises (especially imitation sneezes!) and babbling, but not quite talking yet either, although I like to think he is saying Ma-Ma, Ma-Ma! He has just cut his 7th tooth.

Well, I think that's a pretty good snapshot of where we are right now. OK...off to make Menu Plan for this week and write SMS blog post for today!

Happy Scrapping!
Noreen

We're Back!

We're back from our "Vacation" as well as our "Stay-cation" and we had a great time!

First we took off to visit some of Shane's family at Laurier Lake and had our first camping experience with the boys. Shane's Aunt and Uncle brought a trailor and parked it on their cabin property for us to stay in. And this was no "roughing it" type of trailor...it was about a 26 footer, had a full size Queen bed, couch, table with benches, 2 bunks and a full kitchen and bathroom. Man, if that's camping these days, I am IN! The boys loved it...Grayson enjoyed the campfires, the beach and the boating, and Sam REALLY liked playing in the sand. Shane and I enjoyed visiting with family, some great food and of course a few beverages around the campfire! What a great time!

When we got back we simply laid low for a few days...I didn't blog or do a lot of work. We just relaxed and continued in vacation mode, even though we were at home! The weather wasn't great, so we relaxed indoors, read a lot of books and played with a new farm and tractor set! This past weekend I had some ladies over for an all-day scrapbooking workshop, and went to a couple of BBQ's -one with friends and one at my dad's place. Overall we have had a great time the past couple of weeks!

But now we are back to normal and looking forward to getting back into our routines. We do have a lot of fun things planned for the rest of the summer, so we certainly won't be sitting around for very long. I haven't got a menu plan going for this week yet...most likely I will be back at it next week. This week we'll eat some leftovers, do a little BBQing and maybe have one night with take-out or a pizza.

I am working a bunch of new articles and blog posts for the Sharing Memories site, and am busy putting together product kits which I hope will be available online in August. Awhile back I said I was going to have a big launch in July...well, it looks more like later in August now! I am finding that although I am very excited about my new business, I was perhaps a bit unrealistic about how fast I could get each step accomplished. But a lot of great things are in the works for Fall, including multi-consultant crops and a Fall retreat. More details to follow...I promise!

I am taking Lisa Day's "The Challenge of Me" class over at BPS and while her prompts and ideas are great, I haven't been keeping up with my assignments. I WILL be going back to complete them though, because I feel is so important to document my story for my kids...I wish I had more information on my relatives and their stories...not just the dates and places, but the REAL stories of their lives. That brings me to this week's inspiration over at Sharing Memories...we'll be talking about journaling and stories.

Once I upload my pics from our vacation/staycation I will post a few for fun!

Until then,
Happy Scrapping!
Noreen

Monday Updates

I haven't been around this blog much have I?! I have been spending most of my computer time over at Sharing Memories, blogging pretty much every weekday about some sort of scrappy inspiration! We have had a busy couple of weeks around here - Sam's birthday party and Father's Day celebrations, soccer wrap up and various fun activities like playdates with our friends, visits to the Zoo and Calaway Park. Most days we are outside and weekends have been spent ouside doing yard work and finishing off the landscaping projects begun last year (planting, putting the slats in the fence etc.) We are heading off for a family reunion in a couple of days so the meal plan this week consists of eating all the leftovers from the fridge and BBQing whatever is in the freezer! I'll get back into my menu plans once we are back from holidays.

I am taking another inspiring online class at BPS called "The Challenge of ME" with the wonderful Lisa Day. I haven't been able to keep up with one-layout-a-day, but I am creating LO's about myself, which is new and different and challenging in a whole new way. I am enjoying it and looking forward to having a bit more time to devote to it for the rest of the month.

To my Canandian friends - Happy Canada Day on Wednesday and to my American friends - Happy Fourth of July on, well, the fourth!!!

Happy Scrapping!
Noreen

Menu Plan Monday

This will be a quick post and more for my own reference than anything. I am having a lot of fun on my re-newed Sharing Memories Scrapbooking website and have been posting every weekday about themes, inspiration, great links, layouts and more. I would love you to drop by and let me know what you think. I am planning an official launch for the beginning of July with giveaways and lots of fun, so right now I am simply trying out the features and getting into the habit of writing everyday. So, again, this blog will be just my personal and family stuff, if anyone is interested!

Menu Plan Monday. So here's what's on the menu at the Smith/McAllister house this week: (Oh, and notice how many times Shane gets to exercise his grilling skills this week!)

Sunday - BBQ Hamburgers, potato salad, veggies and dip

Monday - BBQ chicken, baked potatoes, corn on the cob, mixed green salad (*make extra chicken for quesadillas on Wednesday)

Tuesday: Orange Ginger Salmon (I marinate salmon fillets in VH Orange Ginger sauce or Knorr Sesame Ginger 30 Minute Marinade then bake in the oven) with white rice & brocoli

Wednesday: Speedy Salsa-Chicken Quesadillas, veggies and dip

Thursday: Soccer night = pasta night! Tortellini in creamy 4 cheese sauce (cook frozen tortellini, drain, add half a jar of bottled Quattro Fromaggio -aka 4 cheese sauce - and a splash of cream. heat until sauce is hot. Add parmesan cheese on top) with a mixed salad.

Friday: Normally pizza night, but I think this week it will be leftover night. Whatever is still in the fridge or freezer is fair game to eat while watching a movie.

Saturday: BBQ steaks, wild rice, asparagus.

That's it! A pretty easy, straightforward week!

Don't forget to check orgjunkie.com for lots (and I mean LOTS) of links to great menus - most of which are way more inspirational than mine!

Have a great week!

Noreen

Miscellaneous Monday

How do you like the new blog design? I love the funky bird! I think I like playing with the blog design as much as I like blogging itself. I spent some time surfing to find a new design and came across Simply Fabulous Blogs (which ARE simply fabulous!) and downloaded this baby. If you want to update your blog here are 5 great sites with cute, FREE blogger templates.

Simply Fabulous Blogger Templates
LeeLou Blogs
Cutest Blog on the Block
Delightful Dots
Birdie Blogs (The little birdie in these blogs is a cutie too)

Have fun!

In addition to playing with the blog I played with the all new Sharing Memories Scrapbooking website. I really like the new design (which I did all by myself thank-you-very-much!) and although I still have a few things to fix and tweak, it is pretty much ready to go. I am planning for a big "grand opening" for the beginning of July, but do drop by and tell me what you think.

I plan on posting regular scrapbooking features, articles and layouts on that site and will leave this site for my personal and family stuf. I love keeping this blog because as I look back on it, it becomes like a diary or journal - priceless.

In other news...it's Menu Plan Monday!

What an easy week! I only have to really "cook" a couple of nights and I have most of the ingredients in the house so it will be a quick trip to the grocery store as well.

Sunday: BBQ Steaks with baked potatoes, asparagus and salad. (Since Shane had a conference meeting, we didn't have the steaks as planned last week for Saturday night, so this was ready to go on Sunday)

Monday: Texas Two-Step Chicken with rice

Tuesday: Meatloaf with mushroom gravy, mashed potatoes and mixed vegetables

Wednesday: Leftovers

Thursdays: Soccer night = Pasta night! Meat tortellini (frozen) with 4 cheese sauce (bottled) with veggies & dip

Friday: Pizza & Caesar salad. (And a little red wine for the grown-ups)

Saturday: EATING OUT! YAY!


Don't forget to visit orgjunkie to see all the inspiring menu plans others have posted. I have found many a good recipe out of that list!

Have a great day!

I Like Mondays.

*edited: I started playing around with my blog design while writing this post and have screwed it all up! Sorry if it was messed up while you were reading. I'll be fixing it in the next couple of days!

Call me crazy, but I like Mondays. I like the feeling of having a fresh start and a day to get organized after the busy-ness of the weekend. A day to get back into our routines and plan out the week, including of course what we will eat! So, here's this weeks Menu plan:

Sunday: (we had) BBQ hambrugers, buns, corn on the cob, potato salad

Monday: Pork chops in mushroom gravy, mashed potatoes, mixed veg.

Tuesday: Chicken, wild rice pilaf and broccoli

Wednesday: Leftovers!

Thursday: Skillet Mac & Cheese (sort to flike Hamburger Helper, but homemade and MUCH better) along with veggies & dip

Friday: Pizza and Caesar Salad

Saturday: BBQ steaks, asparagus and new baby potatoes

As you can tell, now that the weather is good we cook outside a lot! I love that we can BBQ again - our grill was out of commission for a while, but Shane is back at it, tongs in hand. And whenever the weather is decent, he is ready to go!

(I can remember when I was young my dad used to be crazy enough to BBQ in the middle of winter - he would be outside with his down parka and touque when it was 20 below, tending to those steaks! What can I say - We Love Alberta Beef! But I wish I had a picture of that now!)

Anyway, Sammy is still sick, so I am not sure how much work I will actually get done today, but I am hoping to plan his upcoming first birthday party, get several loads of laundry done and organize my scrapbooking supplies after finishing up LOAD yesterday. Yes, I actually scrapped one layout per day for 31 days straight! Not all of them of stellar, but I learned how to choose my themes, photos and products quickly and get them together FAST! I loved it! And If Lain does it again, I'm signing up!

You can see all 31 LO's here, but I will leave you with a few of my favorites:

Happy Scrapping!
Noreen