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menu plan monday : 1.30.12.

looking to use a few things i have on hand as well as some items i picked up on sale last week.  trying to incorporate a few more recipes that i've been wanting to try as well.  luckily, i've had pretty good luck as of late!

meatless monday : veggie fajita burritos. i made these once before and they were a great filling meal to have on our meatless day.  i bought six colored peppers on sale last week so i'm thinking i'll double the recipe as the filling can easily be used for quesadillas for the girls or just as a yummy salad type lunch for me.

i've selected monday as a night of the week for our family to eat a meatless meal as it tends to be more budget friendly as well as a friendlier option for the environment. my meat and potato eating husband tends to go along with this idea because i also make him a yummy dessert in addition to his meatless meal. what can i say, i'm nice like that.

tuesday : lasagna soup.  another recipe from pinterest that i've been wanting to try.

wednesday : asisan bbq turkey lettuce wraps.  a family favorite that we haven't had in a long time.  everyone should be happy to ese it on the menu!

thursday : tacos.  how can you go wrong with tacos?

friday : chicken tikka masala.  this is andy's favorite indian dish so when i noticed my neighbor and fellow foodie had pinned this recipe, i snagged it for my board as well.  a perfect use for the chicken thighs in my freezer that are taking up space and need to be used.

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new recipe reviews from last week :

spicy peanut noodles.  the name of this one was more than a bit misleading.  which in the end was okay as the girls loved having "peanut butter noodles" and i simply added siracha to mine to make it spicy.  will definitely make again but perhaps add a few more veggies?  really enjoyed eating the leftovers for a couple of lunches.

easy lemon chicken.  talk about EASY!  i didn't put this in the crockpot until almost noon on friday and took me less than five minutes to get all of the ingredients together.  i served it with whole grain couscous and green beans and everyone seemed to enjoy it.  will definitely be making this one again soon.

cinnamon roll cake.  i made this twice last week - once for our family and once for another family that i was taking a meal too.  SO GOOD.  and so much easier than making cinnamon rolls.  i usually have everything on hand so this could become my go to dessert when taking someone dinner.  i don't think they'd mind at all!

project life | twitter card share.

yesterday, while working on week three of my project life album, i decided i wanted to includ something from my twitter feed in one of the smaller pockets of my page protector.  this of course led to me trying to figure out how exactly i wanted to acheive this look.  after poking around online and not seeing anything that grabbed me, i decided to simply  make my own card.  a little copy and pasting later and voila.  something that i'll be able to use over and over again throughout the year simply by putting in a new thought.

of course, after creating i shared a screenshot on twitter - what else would you expect?  a handful of friend were interested in the card as well so i thought i'd simply share it with whoever was interested.  as i use twitter on a daily basis both personally and for work i hope to include a new card every few weeks to illustrate what i was thinking abotu at any given time.  as i mentioned yesterday, i can only imagine in 20 years one of the girls asking, "what is twitter?"  and that would be the reason that it's going in our album.

click here to download the PDF file that you can simply print + trim to insert into your album.

project life | week 2.

 

this would be the reason i've tackled this project this year.  two crazy girls, still in their jammies and digesting each and every tidbit tucked away into my project life album.  so much so that C demanded to know why there weren't more pages in it for her to look at.  after completing my week two spread over the weekend, i decided to put the album on the coffee table instead of hauling it back upstairs.  and i'm so glad i did.  it now has a new home.

this week, i actually ended up putting an insert in between my two main pages as i had too many photos to narrow down.  a good problem!

[left page] finally saying good-bye to holiday decorations.  a quote from C - i think these will likely be a weekly inclusion as she is quite quotable as of late.  an obnoxious elmo hoodie purchase for L.  first baby clothing purchases for what the girls have dubbed "the new baby."  an iphone photo of the girls and i at an ob appointment.

[right page] returning lizzie the turtle to preschool.  a 50 degree january afternoon.  a text from andy's sister letting us know she got her apartment as she's moving to town.  C's first bears shirt.  our first real snow.  what C has dubbed as the "nasty meatballs" - a dinner fail as after hours in the crockpot i still had uncooked meatballs.

[insert front + back] a post-call andy asleep under L's quilt as one of the cats was on the afghan we keep in the living room.  a conversation with the girls about what to name the baby.  enjoying our saturday donut tradition.  playing outside with daddy.  my weekend to-do wish list.  the ride home from church.

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PROJECT LIFE WEEK 2 | SUPPLIES USED

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weekly scrapbook layout : 1.24.12.

if you ever would've told me i would die-cut a chicken for a project, i would've laughed at you.  and then this weekend i found myself creating my very own plaid chicken.  a perfect embellishment for this layout about the hat i made for C last year.  although technically it's L's hat now.

love taking part in the weekly sketches over on the BasicGrey blog.  always pushing me to try something new and playing with things to make it work.  case in point : the chicken.  i also used my cameo to create a chicken wire background behind my photo.

another week, another layout.  so happy to add this to our albums.

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THE CHICKEN HAT | SUPPLIES USED 

InLinkz.com

menu plan monday : 1.24.12.

meatless monday : spicy peanut noodles. a recipe i tore from a past issue of woman's day that i ran across while purging stuff last week.  i cant' find the recipe online but will share if it's as good as i hope it is.

i've selected monday as a night of the week for our family to eat a meatless meal as it tends to be more budget friendly as well as a friendlier option for the environment. my meat and potato eating husband tends to go along with this idea because i also make him a yummy dessert in addition to his meatless meal. what can i say, i'm nice like that.

tuesday : salsa chicken nachos.  one of andy's favorites that he always requests.  i shred the chicken and then serve the mixture on chips topped with cheese and yogurt (instead of sour cream).

wednesday : pizza.  my love affair with pizza continues.  this baby LOVE pizza.

thursday : pumpkin pie french toast.  we loved this one so much, i'm bringing it back.  yum!

friday : easy lemon chicken.  a new crockpot recipe.  paired with couscous and a veggie and it should be an easy way to begin the weekend!

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new recipe reviews from last week :

white chicken enchiladas. super easy to put together and was thrilled that it was as good as all the reviews said it was!  i cooked some frozen chicken breasts in the crockpot with some chicken stock and taco seasoning so it was easy to shred when i was ready for it later.  definitely will be making again.

corn and potato chowder.  although it's a crockpot recipe, it took some prep time at the beginning.  that would be it's only downside.  i ended up making this saturday morning after breakfast so it worked out fine.  it makes a LOT of soup and andy said he enjoyed it even more than the baked potato soup we've had recently.

22 weeks.

this belly photo says two things to me...  one, the green wall is still there.  and still needs to be painted the new accent color.  two, i look tired.  tiiiiiired.  i don't feel that tired, but man i look like i need a long winter's nap.  and i love that i'm barefoot in the middle of january.  totally me.

feeling good.  lots of baby movement going on.  especially each night when i lay down to go to sleep.  either swift kicks or in the case of last night, lots of hiccups.  i told andy that i feel that the movements are in different places than they were with the girls.  which of course makes him immediately think it's a boy.

this morning at breakfast, C asked if i had toys in my belly for the baby to play with.  good question, but the answer is no.  love that she's old enough this pregnancy to get more of what's going on.  and always so amused by what she asks about "the new baby."

my favorite christmas gift.

i always wonder what my mother-in-law's reaction is when she receives our requested christmas lists.  more specifically, my list.  it almost always has items that i would like but don't want to buy for myself.

case in point - what turned out to be my favorite christmas gift.  a fruit infusion pitcher.  a little bit of effort at the beginning of the week and then i'm able to enjoy the fruits of my labor - pun intended - for the next several days.  so nice to simply cut up some fruit and throw it in the removable tube of the pitcher instead of cutting up a single slice of lemon for a glass of water and then having to cut more later in the day.  and the flavor intensifies each day.  i simply refill it with water when it gets low and continue to enjoy.

no seeds ending up in my water.  no extra hassles.  and i'm drinking even more water than usual which is the intended effect as i'm trying not to drink as much iced tea as of late.

my favorites thus far have been raspberries and limes.  an awesome way to get the most out of an expensive pint of raspberries in the middle of winter.  still wanting to try cucumbers and lemons.

wordless wednesday : 22 months.

glanced at the calendar yesterday and realized it was the 17th.  how has 22 months gone by so quickly?

weekly scrapbook layout : 1.17.12.

another week, another layout.  this one has a lot more "stuff" than i usually add, but i had a great time playing.  it's based on this week's sketch on the BasicGrey blog.  the original sketch was for a card, but as i haven't created a card in quite some time, i translated it to a layout instead.

lots of fun with my silhouette cameo this week.  i cut my title and a shadow behind it so that it wouldn't get lost in the rest of the "blueness" of my layout.  i also cut the fish scale pattern as well.  love the effect it gave it but wasn't so keen on scraping all the leftover bits off of my cutting mat afterwards.

all in all, simply happy to have another layout created for our family albums.

menu plan monday : 1.16.12.

getting a late start on menu planning this week as today was a holiday and the daddy of the house actually had the day off.  woot! 

so i'm skipping tonight's menu and starting the week with tomorrow...

tuesday : peperoncini beef sandwiches. we didn't get to this one last week due to a crazy day.  excited to enjoy it tomorrow.

wednesday : white chicken enchiladas.  a pinterest find.  it's gotten nothing but rave reviews so it's guaranteed to be a winner, right?

thursday : thai chile peanut meatballs.  super easy to throw in the crockpot while the girls eat breakfast.  a favorite of everyone at the table.

friday : corn and potato chowder.  another found on pinterest find.  hello comfort in a crockpot!  at leats that's what i'm hoping...

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new recipe reviews from last week :

pumpkin pie french toast.  just as yummy as it sounds!  a perfect quick dinner after a late afternoon doctor appointment for me last week.  i cut the slices in sticks for the girls for easier eating and dipping.  let's just say we went through an entire loaf of bread and leave it at that, shall we?  double the recipe.  so glad i did as i used every last drop of it.

not your mother's meatballs. UGH!  so frustrating to sit down to dinner and find that the meatballs weren't all the way cooked through.  especially when your 3 year old tells you that she's sorry they aren't done.  i spent too much time on these for them not to turn out.  grr.