Yumminess for the Week.

In honor of the end of October and the cooler temperatures, we are really feeling like grilling out these days!  We are also feeling (okay, I'm feeling) like some serious comfort food.  I have serious comfort food cravings- there are many things my mom cooked for us when we were kids (and still when we visit!) that I love. However, I can't bring myself to cook them because Mom just does them SO stinkin' well. These include:

• Creamed Tuna on Potato Chips
• Bacon, Bean, & Cheese Toasties
• Crispy Tenderloins (not the same as fried ones you get at restaurants)
• Apple Pie
• Cheesy Cabbage

My sister, Erica, has ventured to make several of the above dishes, including the toasties and cabbage.  We actually tackled the Cheesy Cabbage together for Thanksgiving last year, which was here in KC. It turned out AMAZING! But still, it's not the same as Mom making them. Below, you'll see our glorious Cheesy Cabbage in front of the ceremonial Guinness Corned Beef that James is carving. (That is a KC Thanksgiving tradition- but more about those in another post!)

Moving on: You'll find our week's meals listed, including a comfort food or two!

Monday: Pineapple Brats w/Kraut

(Leftover kraut is from our Reuben Pizzas.)

Tuesday: Pot Roast w/Gravy

Wednesday: Leftover Pot Roast and Gravy over Biscuits

Thursday: Mac and Cheese

(From the good ole' people at Kraft.)

Friday: Mediterranean-Style Tuna Panini

(Canned tuna mixed with olive oil, dried basil, chopped tomato, and green olives. It calls for feta, but I add mozzarella because it makes it a good kind of melty.)

Saturday: Out to eat

Sunday: Herb & Butter Rice w/Sliced Chicken

Five Months Old: 10/26/11

I always thought being a stay-at-home mom would make days just crawwwwl by. I was so very wrong. The days pass by so much faster- they are a blur, really, because my baby girl is already five months old!

Yumminess for the Week

Monday: Something with leftover pork tenderloin

Tuesday: Spinach & Mushroom Quiche

(Did not get to this last week.)

Wednesday: Chicken Stirfry

(It'll include bell peppers & mushrooms- our leftover produce before the new shopping week.)

Thursday: Garden Ravioli

(This link leads you to one of my first meal posts.)

Friday: Out to dinner

(Hoping to get a babysitter so we can use our Thomas muncharoo. Buttermilk Cider Chicken, I am coming for you. Om nom nom.)

Saturday: Halloween Party @ Buscher's

(The host makes delicious soups and homemade breadbowls every year! Another om nom nom.)
Sunday: Crispy Tilapia with Warm Tomato Salad

(No link to this recipe, but if you're interested, e-mail me or post in comment section. YUMMY!)

Felicia's First Football Game

When I first moved to KC, one of my first friends here was Christine (bottom photo)!  We taught at St. Michael's together and became great friends. I met many wonderful people through her, including her (then-to-be) husband, Dan.  Dan currently is a high school band director in the Blue Valley School District in OP.  James, Felicia and I had a nice little family outing last Friday night to see Dan's students perform in the marching band.  We went with Christine and her mom, Laura.  It was perfect football weather and our little pumpkin had a nice time. I think her favorite part was getting to snuggle with Daddy in her baby carrier.  My favorite part may have been the hat!!

Yumminess for the Week.

Let all who read this know that I am not a fan of Ames, IA.  This is mainly due to the fact that it is Cyclown oops, I mean Cyclone country, and I'm the exact opposite of an ISU fan. 

That being said...

There is one thing about Ames that I like, and that is Black Market Pizza. We occasionally watch the ridiculous show entitled "Man Vs. Food" and the host featured this pizza joint on one of his, shall we say, "culinary" adventures.  The owner gets inspirations for pizzas from his favorite sandwiches.  We ABSOLUTELY LOVE the reuben pizza from there. Since I do not live near Ames, I decided to try and recreate it on my own by loosely using Rachael Ray's recipe for reuben calzones. So excited.

Monday: Reuben Pizza

Tuesday: BLT Sandwiches w/Hardboiled Eggs
(Figured out the perfect way to hardboil eggs from a magazine article. Great snacks!)
Wednesday: Spinach and Mushroom Quiche
Thursday: Pumpkin Ravioli
(Any sauce ideas for this???)
Friday: Out to eat
Saturday: Ribs!
(Helping a friend move a hot tub and their payment is in smoked ribs!! Ohhhhh, yeah.)
Sunday: Chicken w/Broccoli Rice

4 Months Old: 9/26/11

 FYI: I am not getting paid for the following advertisement :) 

Felicia and I have a photo session every month to document how much she has grown.  I'm using these photos to create a photo scrapbook of her first year. The website I linked you to (Shutterfly) is an absolute favorite of mine.  I've been using Shutterfly for years (ever since I sadly lost the time in my life for "manual" scrapbooking). In my opinion, they have always created and offered the best tools for digital scrapbooking. Among the many products Shutterfly offers, it also offers you the option of ordering your digital prints online for pick-up at your nearest Target with a photo center. It's my next-favorite service.

I just discovered a new treat on this site- they recently upgraded their custom scrapbooking tools.  They are AWESOME! They offer so many more ways to customize your own layouts and have added tons of new backgrounds and added an "embellishments" section.  Here, you can find tons of cool "stickers" with different themes to add to your pages.  If I was officially became addicted years ago, and I am now officially obsessed.

Check out the website after you check out Miss F.'s four-month photos.

Let's Have a Weakness Contest.

Before I post this week's meal plans, I thought I would share...

...food can be a weakness every now and then for me. I generally consider myself a pretty healthy eater. I splurge from time to time, but I'm pretty obsessed with anything that comes from the Farmer's Market or produce section. However, there are a few things I am embarrassed to say I eat and are devoid of any real nutritional value.

It's like Pringles- ya pop, ya can't STOP! Only worse. It's ridiculous. And expensive. But I can't stop myself.

A quick and easy fix for when I don't have time for eggs or oatmeal.

Feel free to share your own in the comment section! :) Or, just check out this week's meals and recipes:

Monday: Out of town
Tuesday: Sausage and Lentil Stew
(Yep, again! We love it that much.)
Wednesday: Bacon and Cheddar Mac n' Cheese
(Never got to this last week- ended up going out to Harry's with some friends.)
Thursday: Salmon Cobb Burgers
(This is one of the first recipes I tried from Rachael Ray. Very yummy. Don't skip the lemon.)
Friday: Rich & Simple French Onion Soup
(Really simple. Really yummy. I use a good red wine instead of dry sherry.)
Saturday: Chicken Noodle Soup & Sandwiches
Sunday: Pork Tenderloin and Roasted Potatoes

Thirty and Golden.

Ahhhhh, my thirties, my golden birthday. Hello to you. I never really dreaded you, but did not necessarily like thinking of you replacing my super-fun twenties.  However, if you pack a mean punch, you certainly did not KO me this past birthday weekend.  The beginning of your decade allowed me time with many wonderful friends here in KC.

You allowed me to win games of Skee-ball at 1 AM at the Velvet Dog.  

You also allowed me to lose "graciously" to my husband. 

(He knew he was in trouble.)

You also allowed me to share time the next day (without a hangover) with members of my wonderful family who traveled to help me celebrate your arrival with some BBQ. 

And finally, you made me realize how precious time is.  I got to see my fantastic niece,who is growing up much faster than I could have ever imagined.  How did that happen? Just look at her! She's so grown-up! And beautiful! The beautiful part is not surprising, though.

I am not wistful or sad for my dearly departed twenties. I am golden. Ahhh, thirties...

Yumminess for the Week.

Last week, I began posting recipe plans for our week.  (See here.) I hope you can find some inspiration here for your next family meal! I would like to also share (following recipe list) some of the websites I use for inspiration. I often adapt recipes from these sites after I try them once (thanks for the advice, Erica).  I do this not only because I have certain preferences of my own tastebud-wise, but because I like to use things I have on hand that may be similar. Check out my fave websites below.

Monday: Chicken Stir-fry

(Use up those extra veggies you have around with sliced chicken. I season chicken w/ ginger & sage.)

Tuesday: Go Green Giant Calzones

(We love finding ways to use up the fresh spinach we buy every week for salads. Instead of buying pizza dough, I make my own using the recipe from my last recipe blog entry that I linked above.)

Wednesday: Bacon-Cheddar Macaroni and Cheese

Thursday: Chicken Cobb Salad

(Confession: I make this only because I'm obsessed with putting avocado on stuff.)

 

Friday: Iowa Weekend

Saturday: Iowa Weekend

Sunday: Iowa Weekend

My Favorite Recipe Websites

Rachael Ray Magazine 

Epicurious

Allrecipes

Kraft Foods

I do like a lot of Food Network recipes (it's where I found an phenomenal recipe for Thanksgiving stuffing from Giada DeLaurentiis). However, I stopped using this site a long time ago because it was so "busy" with too many graphics going on that it took a long time to load anything. The recipe box was also poorly done and hard to use. BUT I have since checked it again (ahem, today) and it seems they have done a bit of redesigning. I may have to re-examine this. 

Happy cooking and recipe hunting! Om nom nom. :)