Meals This Week...

So I am LOVING planning my meals ahead!  It has saved me so much thought, effort, and time throughout my week.  I'm not going to pretend it works 100% every week...but probably a good 95% :)  There are days we end up grabbing a pizza or something like that, but the last few weeks, we have eaten really well, with very little mid-week thought on my part. 

This week...

Sunday - Lentil Soup...I've decided Sundays are going to be soup days and try out new recipes
Monday - Grilled cheese with leftover soup...and whole wheat pumpkin bread!
Tuesday - Garlic pesto chicken and pasta
Wednesday - Roast and potatoes
Thursday - Leftovers
Friday - Orange Chicken (from Trader Joe's) and rice
Saturday - My mom and dad's for trick or treating with Calvin!! 

Calvin is BEYOND active these days, so it has helped to have my meal preparation time be cut down a bit.  He is literally climbing on EVERYTHING!  There is very little "safe" space to put things where they can't be climbed to and obtained by Calvin.  He is definitely keeping us on our toes these days. 

2nd Annual

It's a real tradition now!  This weekend, we had our 2nd annual trip to StoneyRidge Farms.  Last year, Calvin was the only baby (out of the womb), and this year, we were a much larger group :)  I can't believe another year has gone by...another year of being blessed by the gals in my small group, and their families.  We had a great time taking photos (thanks Julie!) treating ourselves to carmel apple pie (YUM!!), then heading to the Riley's to carve our pumpkins.  The kids were great...much to our surprise and delight :) 

Our happy family of three!

Or course, my baby is the only one not looking :) 

The moms were obviously better at getting the babies attention than the dads were :)

The whole gang!  What a difference a year makes! 

My Favorite Pumpkin Recipes

I have been LOVING baking with pumpkin these days!  It is one of my favorite things about Fall.  I could eat everything pumpkin flavored...pumpkin lattes, bread, scones, pancakes...you name it, I'll probably like it! 

So I thought I would share some of my favorite pumpking recipes I've been enjoying thus far this Fall.  I have bought the large cans of pumpkin at Costco, and sometimes, it is hard to use the whole thing without making double or triple batches of a recipe.  But this week was a breeze!  Here is what I made with one can of pumpkin: 

Pumpkin Cranberry Cookies
http://www.ahintofhoney.com/2010/10/pumpkin-oatmeal-cranberry-cookies.html
These had cranberries AND chocolate chips in them...oh so delicious! 


Pumpkin Scones
http://www.tammysrecipes.com/whole_wheat_pumpkin_scones_cinnamon_icing
These will be a fall staple in our house.  They were SOOO yummy!  The cinnamon icing was AMAZING!!


Pumpkin Sour Cream Cake with cinnamon Icing
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/sour-cream-pumpkin-bundt-cake/detail.aspx
Anything with struesel in the middle has to be delicious, right?  And I used the icing recipe from the scones...so good!!

Pumpkin Butter
http://www.skinnytaste.com/2010/10/pumpkin-butter.html
I had seen a similar recipe on a friend's blog and HAD to try it!  We had it on homemade beer bread (which is pretty much the easiest thing to make ever) and it is amazing!  I only had one cup of pumpkin left, but the recipe made a full jar of pumpkin butter.  We'll have it in the fridge for a good week or two. 

Enjoy your fall baking!!  Have any good recipes I can try??  I would LOVE them!!

This week's meals...

Well, I did pretty good sticking to my plan last week!  There was one day that was really rough behavior-wise with Calvin, so we grabbed something quick, but we just made our planned dinner the next day for lunch. 

Here's what I'm planning for this week:

Sunday- Spinach and Kale soup...never tried it before, but I think I have all the ingredients...with homemade beer bread. 
Monday- Tacos with homemade tortillas (or maybe a taco casserole??)
Tuesday- Chicken Divan with rice
Wednesday- Leftovers
Thursday- Split Pea Soup (out of the freezer)
Friday- Orange Chicken (from Trader Joes) with rice and green beans
Saturday- Pumpkin Patch!!

Weekly Meal Plans

Inspired by some fellow mom bloggers, I am going to attempt to create a weekly meal plan for our house.  Mostly just dinners because the rest of our days are typically pretty random, we never know where we're going to be, if we'll be home, etc.  And if it turns out Jake won't be home for dinner, sometimes I'll make the dinner idea for lunch.  Who knows :)  But I thought this would at least keep me somewhat accountable and get me a little better prepared for the week.  And some day I might get ambitious and go for two weeks at a time!!  Now, I am blessed with a husband who likes to eat leftovers, so I am able to make extra at dinners and spread them through the week.  I know not everyone is that lucky :) 

This week: 

Monday -  Beef roast (already in the crockpot!), steamed broccoli, focacia bread
Tuesday - Meatloaf, roasted potatoes, green beans
Wedneaday - leftovers...Jake works and I have a Partylite show
Thursday - Mustard Oregano Porkchops (from Fix, Freeze, and Feast...a must have cookbook!), steamed broccoli (I bought the big bag at Costco!)
Friday - Leftovers...another Partylite show!
Saturday - Cider Pressing with family!
Sunday - Taco soup in the crockpot

There's my week!  I hope this helps me be a little more organized, and maybe get a little more creative.  If I'm planning ahead to be creative, it might help me actually accomplish it.  Creativity doesn't work very well at 4:00 in the afternoon...it must be planned ahead in our house :)

Happy eating!!