Life Updates & Wednesday Meal Plans #7

I have been avoiding this blog for a little over a week or so. It has been intentional and I should feel bad about it but I don't.

The not so pleasant parts of life have come to a bit of a head for me. Well, for us really but Emma is oblivious and Troy is way more easy going and less analytical in matters like this, so I have been feeling the brunt of it.

It hasn't been anything big or serious, just a series of teeny, tiny unfortunate events and situations. It just so happens that when enough of these teeny, tiny insignificant yet annoying things occur, it wakes up those bigger things that I tend to shove deep, deep, deep down to avoid thinking about. I can't be the only one who does this, right?

The good news is that we have a healthy, happy toddler who is growing like a weed and a healthy, happy baby who is also growing like a weed! We have all of our basic needs met and supportive families and friends. We are more blessed than most and I am working on shifting my focus to that.

Speaking of blessings, here is what we are/have been eating this week!

Monday- Pork Sausage, Zucchini & Quinoa Stuffed Peppers
*inspired by my sister in law, Sarah!

Tuesday- Turkey Sausage & Zucchini Crockpot Lasagna

Wednesday- Chicken Quinoa Enchilada casserole

Thursday- Veggie Pizzas

Friday- Shredded Chicken Tacos

Saturday- Chipotle night

Sunday- PHX for a family birthday party

Monday Meal Plan #7 & Weekend Wrap Up!

People, I am so ill prepared for this week.

Troy and I had such a productive weekend... my most favorite kind of weekend! Uncle Wawa and Aunt Mimi took Emma on a zoo adventure Saturday and Troy and I started on operation 'make room for baby Bogle'. We had high hopes for what we could accomplish and we accomplished everything we wanted and more! We definitely wouldn't have made so much progress with out Josh and Amy. Emma had a blast giving them a slice of the parenting life and I think they actually enjoyed it. I can hear the wedding bells ringing now!!

Emma loves new bedding almost as much as her mama does!

On Sunday we took a spontaneous trip up to Mount Lemmon with our nature girl. It had rained the night before so the mountain was cool and damp from the rain. It was gorgeous weather for exploring and Emma loved every bit of it! We did, too.

After coming back to the heat, napping, grocery shopping and organizing some more (I am totally nesting), we went to have family dinner with my family and wrapped up the evening with a play date with Miss Addison!

We had a really fun and productive weekend. I did not once think about my weekly menu... boo.

I am warning you, it is pretty repetitive and lacking new recipes. I feel totally unexcited to share it with you BUT I often fall back on familiar favorites when pressed for time. I can't be the only one who does this, right? I am hoping that all the cute baby pictures will make up for this boring meal plan!!

Here is what we are eating this week...

Monday- quiche

Tuesday- chicken apple skillet, fried egg noodles

Wednesday- (crock pot) beer chicken burrito bowls

Thursday- chicken salads (made with leftover beer chicken)

Friday- Troy

Saturday- out to eat

Sunday- family dinner

Monday Meal Plans #6

Happy Monday!! This post is going to be short and sweet... got my babe down for a nap AND I am all caught up on laundry and cleaning *gasp*! I still have a list of things I need to get done but I am going to take some time for me. I really want to start the series 'Call the Midwife' on Netflix and I am hoping to squeeze an episode in.

This week we are eating...

Monday- chicken apple sausage skillet

Tuesday- pasta fagioli

Wednesday- crock pot chicken gyros

Thursday- meat lovers quiche

Friday- white bean mac and cheese

Saturday- out to eat

Sunday- family dinner

I am not quite sure which recipe I will share later on in the week with you. It will be a surprise!

Monday Meal Plans #5

It was another fantastic weekend for us. Well, except for the fact that Troy had to work on a big project Friday and Saturday. Emma and I made the most of it all, though! On Saturday, we got in a little IKEA time. There were some things we were looking at for Emma's big girl room and they were on sale this weekend. We traveled north to an absolute zoo! There were a lot of families shopping for back to school. It was sweet to see these fresh faced college students to be shopping with their families for dorm room and apartment necessities. I remember being 17 and preparing for college, I thought I knew it all. Within a week of being on campus I quickly learned how little I actually knew about people and the world I was ready to conquer. I couldn't help but look at the faces of my fellow IKEA shoppers and think about how much they will experience and grown from in this next phase of their lives and how exciting it will be for them! I don't mean for this to sound superior, at all. I truly believe AND feel that the older I get, the more I realize how much I still have to learn, Aging is a humbling thing.

Any who, onto our weekly menu! I have been trying to expand our horizons a bit over here. I tend to have a few regulars in my rotation because they are familiar, easy and I know they are well loved. The problem is, I get bored of making and eating them after a while. I have been on the hunt for easy and tasty newer recipes to add to our meal plans. If you have any favorites, please pass them along!

Monday- rotisserie chicken, sweet potatoes and bacon green beans
I have a long day of doctor appointments, helping Troy at the office and grocery shopping. One stop on my list is Costco. I love grabbing a rotisserie chicken... makes a great dinner and I use the extra chicken to make a simple chicken salad for lunch!

Tuesday- burgers, corn, green bean almondine
Can you tell green beans are on my Costco list? Have to use them all up and we don't mind!

Wednesday- Chili Stuffed Baked Potatoes
I will make an easy crockpot chili and jazz it up by using it as a topping for baked potatoes.

Thursday- flank steak salads
Troy will grill flank steak for our salads when he grills burgers on Tuesday. I hope I can resist a piece here and there so that we have some for salads Thursday!

Friday- double date night!
Troy and his business partner AKA bestie for life, Matt, are taking Katie and I out to dinner. There will be some nerd talk business conversations but mostly it will be fun to get out with our friends, the Bernies!

Saturday- I could totally make something up here and you would never know, however I wouldn't do that to you. I have no plans yet, BUT I have a hunch that it will be egg drop soup. I was obsessed with egg drop soup when I was pregnant with Emma. Early in this pregnancy just the thought of eggs was enough to send me running to the bathroom. Well, that has passed my friends, and the egg drop soup obsession has set in. I have to have once every week and I prefer it from my favorite hole in the wall local Chinese restaurant. They know Troy and they know his order. They think he doesn't have a real family because they have never met us. I think they believe he lies about having a family so he won't be embarrassed that he is ordering for two. They love him anyways. Plus we get free wontons out of the deal. Another reason that I think they feel bad for him! I am not complaining, though. Wontons broken up in egg drop soup... is there anything greater? (The answer is no.)

Sunday- Family dinner
Love not having to worry about family dinner, unless I host it. We live a good 45 minutes across town, though, so my mom hosts most weeks. I try to host a holiday, Troys birthday celebration, my moms birthday and a couple others here and there.

Again, if you have any favorite family recipes please share!!

Monday Meal Plans #4

Happy Monday!

Today is my littlest brothers birthday. That little brother of mine is 29. I literally almost had a heart attack when I realized that yesterday. I know what year he was born and how much older than him that I am, but I guess it had been a while since I had done the math. Two years is exactly how long it has been since I've done the math, because I thought he was turning 27. Yipes.

I have some chocolate chip loaf in the oven and once it is done and Emma is up from her nap we are going to bring it to him at the office. Never heard of chocolate chip loaf? Yeah, me neither. It was supposed to be banana chocolate chip bread, but some monkeys ate my bananas. So we improvised. Chocolate chips, sugar... I think it's hard to mess up that combo.

Here is what we are eating this week:

Monday- Chicken Caprese Pasta
This is an Amanda original... excited to share the recipe with you this week.

Tuesday- Crockpot BBQ chicken and sweet potatoes

Wednesday- Turkey Chili and cornbread

Thursday- Roasted Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Friday- TROY

Saturday- Sausage and tortellini marinara

Sunday- Family dinner

Troy is working this weekend on a big project, so Emma and I may scrap Saturday night's dinner for a night on the town! Chipotle and Target are some of our favorite ways to spend a Saturday night!

I will be sharing some peach picking adventures tomorrow!

Monday Meal Plans #3

It has been a slow, slow moving Monday for me! We had such a great weekend. I am always incredibly thankful for such weekends, but they do make Mondays hard to swallow. Usually I have my meal plan finished and my shopping list created by Sunday. That did not happen this week. Needless to say, there was a bit of scrambling to plan and shop this morning. Do not worry, though, we WILL eat this week!

Here are my last minute carefully thought out meals for the week:

Monday- Black Bean Burritos... fancy, no?

Tuesday- Broccoli, White Bean Mac & Cheese

Wednesday- Tortellini Soup

Thursday- Troy

Friday- Crockpot Beef & Broccoli

Saturday- Burgers, Sweet Corn and salad
We are taking Emma to a local farm for a peach and sweet corn festival. I may scrap the burgers and gorge myself with sweet, fresh, local peaches all night! Does anything else sound better than that?

Sunday- family dinner

I also am whipping up some simple, whole wheat mini blueberry muffins for breakfast options this week. I am always trying to come up with some different things to offer Emma. Troy gets up with her around 6:30am and feeds her breakfast #1. Yes, you read that correctly... Emma eats multiple breakfasts. Breakfast #1 is usually small, so I thought mini blueberry muffins would be perfect and easy!

I haven't yet decided which recipe I will share with you all this week... maybe the mac & cheese? Tortellini soup? Blueberry muffins?

Leave a comment if you have a preference!

Monday Meal Plans #2

Man. It is hard to get back into the swing of things after such a fun weekend. I plan on sharing all of our weekend fun tomorrow. Hopefully by then I will have uploaded pictures to match the weekend. I love pictures with blogs. I love taking pictures. I just do not like uploading and organizing pictures. Which is strange, because I like organizing everything. Except pictures.

There are some major repeats on our weekly menu... ahem, Monday and Tuesday. I didn't end up cooking much this past week for various reasons, so they won't actually be repeats for us.

Our menu for this week...

Monday- Mom's Taco Salad

Tuesday- Cheddar Beer Chicken Tacos and Roasted Asparagus

Wednesday- Roasted Chicken Sausage, Peppers and Sweet Potatoes

I will be sharing this recipe of Friday with you all!

Thursday- Troy

Friday- Pasta and Meatballs... I would say spaghetti and meatballs but that would be a lie. I prefer fusili or bowtie pasta over spaghetti!

Saturday- Troy is on his own because Emma and I are having a stay-cation with Sarah and Allison!!

You can bet I will be sharing this fun with you next week!

Sunday- Family dinner

Monday Meal Plans

It is no secret that I appreciate organization. If I am being totally transparent, I haaaaave to be organized- it is 100% an obsessive need.  In my younger years, I used to hide this obsessive compulsive need because I was embarrassed by it. I didn't want to have to explain to people why I couldn't do anything without making a list first. I was embarrassed that I couldn't fall asleep until my room/apartment/house was picked up. People didn't understand my need to put everything in boxes with labels I had made on my personal label maker.

As I grew into my personality, quirks and all, I began to accept that this was just who I was. Being organized was a major part of my personality and quite frankly, I liked it. It helped me get things done and done well. Sure, people still poke fun at me for it and I get a lot of side eyes when I am in the 'zone', but my lists, labels and boxes keep me happy. Those closest to me have learned that these lists, labels and boxes also help keep them alive happy.

Fast forward to marriage and motherhood... obviously I have had to let some of these things go. Troy, my husband, is not an organized person. He appreciates my organization, but it does not come by him naturally. Not. At. All. Add in motherhood and the many ways it pulls you and just naturally something has to give. Our home may be a bit more cluttered at times, my regimented schedules may fall by the wayside and sometimes my best laid plans do not always get executed *gasp*. 

There are still many things that I do, which certainly help us navigate through life easier. I hope to share those things with you all through my blog, over time. They aren't any real new ideas, but perhaps they might make your lives a bit easier, as well.

One thing that helps is to plan our dinners for the week. I plan them sometime on the weekend and try to grocery shop Sunday or Monday morning. I also limit the grocery stores I have to go to. There was a time when I would shop around- that was pre-Emma. I limit the stores to 2 per week. Obviously 1 is better, but that doesn't always work out... I am picky about produce and meat.

Our weekly meal plan for this week is... (drum roll)

Monday- Chicken Sausage Pasta

Tuesday- Crockpot Enchilada Chicken Quinoa 

Wednesday- Crockpot Cheddar Beer Chicken Tacos

Thursday- TROY

Friday- Mom's Taco Salad 

There are no meals planned for Saturday and Sunday this week because we have family events to go to. We don't even have to bring anything along, just our hungry tummies. BEST family gatherings in all the land!

Oh and I should mention a couple of other ways we keep life easier around here.

* I fire up my crockpot on days that I know I will be too busy and therefore too tired to be whipping up a meal at the end of the day. I use my crockpot at least twice a week!

* I start my week strong and taper off towards the end. I put my more complex (but let's be real, they are still not complex) recipes at the beginning of the week when I am full of energy at the end of the day.

* I assign Troy a night to be in charge of dinner. It is almost always Thursday. Emma and I spend that entire day with my Grandpa and I take my bodypump class that night. Maybe we are home for an hour before it's dinner time. Usually he picks something up for dinner on his way home and I am fine with that!

I linked the crockpot recipes for you and your family to enjoy. I plan to share my Mom's taco salad recipe with you sometime this week... it is one of my favorite summer recipes and it is silly easy!