Menu Monday #18

This is going to be kind of a hodge-podge week for us, so you’ll need to help inspire me! On Wednesday, we are leaving for a weekend in Lubbock. My father-in-law’s birthday is on Sunday, but his girlfriend is throwing him a surprise birthday party on Saturday. He has no idea we’re coming, and I’m 100% sure he doesn’t read this blog. I’m pretty excited that we’ll get an opportunity to surprise the heck out of him.

We plan to leave sometime after work so that Sydney can fall asleep in the car. I’ve already gotten a bunch of laundry done, the sheets are washed, and the only thing left is some vacuuming and wiping up of bathrooms.

It will be a nice quick getaway before Scott starts back to school at Texas State and Sydney starts a new year at Candyland Home Daycare and School.

Monday – Grilled cheese sandwiches and peas

Tuesday – Black Bean Quesadillas on hatch chili tortillas

Wednesday – Spaghetti Bake (from our freezer stash)

Thursday – Out with folks

Friday – Out with friends

Saturday – Surprise Birthday Party

Sunday – Dinner on the road - our usual spot is Taco Casa on Sidney Baker Street in Kerrville, TX. It's delicious!

I really need to watch what I eat, or at least limit myself, so I don’t gain too much while we are away. Sometimes I am good, but sometimes when I’m “home” – it doesn’t work so good.

What’s on your menu this week? Let me know - I need inspiration for next week! I didn’t order from Bountiful Baskets this week because I won’t be here. Sad, but I might hit up greenling.com instead.

Until next time!

Waggoner-Conrad Family Reunion

My grandma has been organizing family reunions for several years now. The first one involved just the Waggoner side in Custer State Park in South Dakota.  My grandma grew up in this area, and she wanted to bring everyone there to experience her history.  

Lap Baby

Since then, we've gathered approximately every other year.  Some of the places we've visited are Vancouver, B.C., Glacier National Park (which I missed due to being very pregnant with Abby), and most recently - as in last week - we met just outside Traverse City, MI.

This was our first airplane ride with two kids.  All in all, it went pretty well.  No delayed flights, kids mostly in a good mood.  The only exception was on the flight from Atlanta to Traverse City.  Abby was dog tired and opted to let everyone on the airplane know this.  Also, due to being so overly tired, she decided to ignore all her potty training and let loose on the airplane seat.  During takeoff.  Ugh.  

Abby's Ride

 Also, because we have two kids, that means we have to travel with two car seats.  Now, I'm sure a lot of people just check their seats on through, but, we are paranoid.  No way will I take ANY chances of getting stuck at our destination sans car seats.  Because, what the heck do you do then?  I know some car rental places will rent car seats, but, I just don't trust that either.  Who's to say they aren't expired or that they haven't been in accidents?  Maybe someone needs to start a "car seat fax" site much like "car fax" that has the history of a car seat.  haha.  So, instead we bought these covers on amazon and Steve lugged them around.  Something else we tried out was a strap that attaches the carseat to your carry-on, and your kiddo can sit in it.  It worked ok, but, the weight of Abby+car seat seemed to squish our carry-on.  

Family Ride!

Anyway, we arrived alive and well, and the weather was AWESOME!  High 70s, low 50s.  In August!!  Oh how I loathe the Florida heat.  It really made Steve and I miss living up north.  We all stayed at a place called Moonlight Bay Resort.  It's not exactly a resort in the traditional sense of the word.  But it was on a lake equipped with several boats, a floating trampoline, and a huge fire pit.  While rustic, I think the place worked out well for a family gathering.  

We had to improvise our sleeping conditions.  Our room was the only room with a queen bed, which Abby & Steve shared, and then Will & I threw an extra twin mattress on the floor next to the bed as our sleeping/night nursing area.  It worked out ok.  It's not like we were in the room for anything other than dressing or sleeping anyway.

It was funny to see who Will took a liking to.  It's pretty much the exact opposite group that Abby did.  These kids are opposite in pretty much every way.  Will loved my uncles and my Aunt Ritsu (my Japanese aunt), but was very leery of my Aunt Yuenan (my Chinese aunt).  Abby used to let Yuenan carry her away and take her everywhere, which is totally out of character for her.  Funny how that works out.  Will also didn't care much for his great-gmaw.  Well, she could make him laugh and they played together, but, sitting on her lap was out of the question!

Our days were spent either on the lake or in town, and our nights were spent gathering over dinner and chilling by the campfire.  We went through a LOT of beer and a LOT of wine.  But it was fun.  My brother's birthday was that week, so I crocheted him something special...a domo-kun hat!  I wish I took a photo of him wearing it, but I totally spaced it in all the excitement.  :)  Maybe he has one that he can send me.

The best idea about air travel with kids was coming home on a Saturday vs. Sunday.  Having that day at home to decompress and get the kids back on schedule was great.  Abby fell asleep at 4:30pm on Sunday - what we thought was just a late nap.  But, she slept through dinner, Sleeping Beauty, and slept right on through until 7am the next morning when it was time to get up and get ready for school!  Apparently the trip wore her out!

There was a lot more about the trip I could write about, but I am not sure it would be much interesting to anyone except family.  Like our bike ride (with full on Abby meltdown), our birthday/graduation celebration dinner at Mission Table, or the stick of dynamite someone set off the first night.  But, I'll save those for memories.  :)

Wordless Wednesday: Restraint

Menu Monday #17

 

I bought a new recipe book.  I had been contemplating buying it for some time now.  I finally did it.  And, it was even on sale!  I bought “From Your Freezer to Your Family: Slow Cooker Freezer Recipes” eCookbook from Mama and Baby Love.  I have used some of her recipes off her website before and enjoyed them.  I decided I needed some new easy recipes in my stash, and the nice thing about the eCookbook is that I can keep the PDF on my iPad and iPhone, which makes meal planning & grocery shopping more convenient.  I used three of her recipes this week.  One I have had before, the other two we are trying for the first time.  Unfortunately due to copyright restrictions, I can’t share her recipes with you, but I can let you know if they were good and whether the cookbook is worth buying! 

Sunday: Spaghetti Pie** w/ side salad

Monday: Pea Soup & Salad (Recipe taken from Nourishing Traditions)

Tuesday: Cilantro Lime Chicken*

Wednesday: Italian Beef Sandwiches* w/ side salad

Thursday: Greek Chicken Pasta

Friday: Out

Saturday: Kale, Lentil & Sausage Skillet*

*Added to freezer stash

**Taken from freezer stash

 For the record, I do not know Stephanie personally, even though she is local to Tallahassee.  Nor have I been asked to “plug” her cookbook.  I have been using her site and ideas to help with our family’s meal planning since Abby was born. 

Wordless Wednesday: Family

Menu Monday #16

This week, Jessica typically posts her family menu. Well, she is family reunioning, so I’ll be filling in for her this week.

As I think about her family enjoying themselves in beautiful Michigan, I can’t help but feel semi-jealous. My family hasn’t ever organized a family reunion. The only grandparents I knew were my Dad’s parents because my Mom’s parents died before I was born. My Dad’s family is from the DC area and ever since my grandparents passed, no one in my family has really taken the reigns on trying to get together annually. It’s sort of sad, but when family matriarchs and patriarchs are gone, traditions seem to fall by the wayside. The last time I mentioned a family reunion via email, no one was remotely interested. Hopefully this does not happen with my family.

One tradition that I don't think will ever die in my family, is intimate family dinners. The last time we went to Lubbock to see my family, in-laws, and our closest friends, we all went out to dinner and it felt like a giant family reunion. So for now, that is all I can ask for – celebration with those around me.

“Vive, sigue, siempre pa'lante, no mires pa' atrás.” ~Marc Anthony (Song: Vivir Mi Vida… if you haven’t heard it, go forth and YouTube.)

Right now, we're working on the 2^nd half of our food co-op basket. This is what we received almost 2 weeks ago:

Veggies Cucumber Carrots Celery Mushrooms Artisan Romaine Cabbage

Fruits Blueberries Grapefruit Nectarines Grapes

This basket has gone toward mostly snacks for my work, so I did have to supplement with some other things at the store this week. The only thing we really haven’t utilized yet is the Artisan Romaine (on this week’s menu), Cabbage and Mushrooms – however, I foresee some of those going into a Saturday morning omelet for me.

Meatless Monday – Spaghetti w/Marinara and Broccoli Parmesan meatballs.

Tuesday – Meatloaf Patties (from my frozen stash of food) & Tater Tots.

Wednesday – Crockpot Chicken Soft Tacos & Pinto Beans

Thursday – Breakfast for dinner! Waffles (or pancakes, depending on how I feel) and Fresh Fruit.

Friday – Out

Saturday – Bulgogi Lettuce Wraps (using the Artisan Romaine here)

Sunday – Vegetarian Chili & Cornbread

And there you have it, our dinners for the week. What are your plans?

Wordless Wednesday (on a Thursday): Movies!