Menu Plan Monday & Update

This next week is looking like it will be another busy one for us. We had a fun week last week with all of our family gatherings. We even used some of our Christmas/Birthday money to take a day trip to a near-by city for some family fun. Unfortunately, we have all been battling illness the past couple of weeks, but thankfully it is nothing too serious, just sore throat/sinus/head cold. Now that I'm nearly 34 weeks along, I am seeing my midwife more often. Last week I had another ultrasound, and we found out the gender of our baby. This was a real blessing as it has made this pregnancy seem a whole lot more real to me and has increased my excitement and anticipation, which is something I've kind of struggled with this time around. We are not planning on revealing the gender to anyone else, though :-).

 Panic is starting to set in a little bit since there are only a few more weeks to go and still so much left to do before the baby arrives. Here's what we are hoping to get done before baby's arrival in February:

* Switch Nathanael from his crib into a bed. Last night was the first night we followed through on this. It went fairly well, but he got up several times last night. He never made a peep though, so it was actually kind of cute when he toddled out of bed in a half-a-sleep state. Nap time today did not go quite a smoothly - I'm sure he got out at least 20 times before he finally crashed. This was a majorly frustrating process when we did this with Elianna, so I'm really hoping Nathanael's transition goes smoother...I think it will. They have quite different personalities ;-).
*Figure out room/bed arrangements for when baby arrives.(Right now we are hoping to temporarily move Nathanael into Elianna's room once he's learned to stay in his bed and then have the baby in our room for the first few weeks until we move baby into his/her own room (Currently Nathanael's room) until he/she sleeps through the night. After that, we will find more permanent arrangements, depending on baby's gender.)
*Freezer Meals, Massive Grocery Shopping Trip, & Menu Plans for January (& most of February)
*Purge & Organize Entire House- This is a big task we are trying to get done before baby's arrival. We have finished the main bathroom, cleaning closet, and most of the toys.
*Bring up the Baby Stuff (& Find Space for All of It)
*Decide on Baby Names - yep, running out of time and have barely even started this process.

This week we are getting cable tv hooked up (believe it or not, it's actually CHEAPER for us to get tv and have internet than to have just internet without tv. This is only because of a promo that is on right now. Doing this will save us approx $90 off our internet bill for the 6 months AND we will get free cable for 6 months because of the promo that's on right now. We will likely cancel cable after the 6 months are up (don't tell ;-) ). We are not big tv-watchers and usually just find things on the internet to watch, but we do like sports and will enjoy watching hockey while we have the channels.

 Tomorrow morning we are getting the cable hooked up, at lunch I have a midwife appointment & then in the afternoon I am getting a hair cut (I'm so excited to get my hair cut! It's been a LONG time since I've had a hair cut. I usually get mine done about twice a year.) We have a New Year's celebration happening in the evening. My family Christmas is this weekend since my brother and his wife are coming this week. I also need to book Nathanael to get his hair cut as it's getting long & shaggy. It will be a busy week.

Monday: Moroccan Lentil Soup for Lunch
           : Winger's Sticky Fingers copycat recipe, Fries, Salad for Supper (The sauce for the chicken fingers was SO good!)

Tuesday: Waldorf Salad & Tuna Sandwiches for Lunch
            : Leftover Morrocan Soup for Supper

Wednesday: Mac N' Cheese for Lunch, Carrot Sticks
                 Sweet & Sour Pork over Rice, Salad, Peas/Carrots

Thursday:  Leftovers for Lunch
                 Crockpot Curry Chicken & Rice, Steamed Broccoli

Friday: Leftovers for Lunch
           Family Supper

Saturday: Homemade Pizza & Salad

Sunday: Family Gathering

Menu Plan Monday

It's almost the time when I need to start filling my freezer full of meals for when the baby arrives. I plan to focus a lot more on freezer cooking after Christmas. I definitely found that having about 20 freezer meals or so on hand after Nathanael was born made my life a whole lot easier for the first 6 weeks.

Monday: Lazy Cabbage Roll Casserole (make a large batch & freeze half), Salad

Tuesday: Special Homemade Pizza Night & Caesar Salad

Wednesday: Leftovers
                  *Make Cupcakes*

Thursday: Christmas Gathering

Friday: Easy Beef Taquitos, Veggies & Dip

Saturday: Moroccan Spiced Lentil Soup

Sunday: Christmas Gathering

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Menu Plan Monday

Monday: Lunch - Mac N' Cheese with Tomatoes, Beef on a Bun
             Supper - Spinach Lasagna (I assembled this last week, but we had more leftovers than I expected from other meals, so I kept it in the fridge to bake this week instead)

Tuesday: Lunch - Leftover Spinach Lasagna
              Supper - Borscht (using leftover roast beef given to us this weekend) & Biscuits

Wednesday: Lunch - Leftover Soup & Biscuits
                  Supper - Bean & Rice Burrito Bowls (This is a frugal meal I recently discovered, and my whole family really likes it. I don't exactly have a recipe for this, but basically this is what I do. I will make a pot of brown rice, thaw a container of black beans from the freezer from the big batch I made a few weeks ago, add salsa to the cooked rice and then let everyone add their own toppings. Toppings  include things like diced tomatoes, shredded lettuce, cilantro, lime juice, spices, sour cream, corn, cheese, diced avocado, etc. We just use whatever we happen to have on hand for toppings/flavour.)

Thursday: Lunch - Leftover Burrito Bowls
                Supper - Crockpot BBQ Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, Mixed Veggies

Friday: Lunch - Leftovers or Grilled Cheese & Soup
          Supper - Leftover Buffet

Saturday: Lunch: Pancakes & Fruit
              Supper - Homemade Pizza, Veggies & Dip

Sunday: Loaded Nachos
            : Leftovers

Help Me Find It - Sidewalk Prophets

When I turned on the internet radio today, this is the song that was playing. I had never heard it before, but the words express almost exactly what our family is going through and feeling right now. Of course it had this pregnant Mama bawling like a baby :-).

Menu Plan Monday

We did our huge monthly grocery trip this past weekend. This time my husband came along to help me, which made an exhausting 3 hours much more bearable. I am definitely finished with going alone for the rest of this pregnancy. Doing a monthly menu plan and a huge once a month trip is not really my preference, but it is saving us a lot of money in our grocery budget, so it will likely be the norm now.

Monday: Lunch -  Skillet Light Lasagna
             Supper - Cheeseburger Pie, Mashed Potatoes, Lettuce
*Brown extra ground beef for the freezer for Sunday's nachos*

Tuesday: Lunch - Sandwiches & Potato Soup
              Supper - Leftovers

Wednesday: Lunch - Tuna Sandwiches
                  Supper - Crockpot Curry Butter Chicken, Brown Rice, Mixed Veggies

Thursday: Lunch - Leftover Chicken Curry
               Supper - Spinach Lasagna (*make 2, 1 for freezer for after baby is born*) & Caesar Salad

Friday: Lunch - Leftovers
          Supper - Homemade Pizza, Carrots & Dip

Saturday: Lunch: Pancakes & Fruit
              Supper -  Leftover Pizza

Sunday: Loaded Nachos

Menu Plan Monday

Monday: Roast Beef, Mashed Potatoes, Gravy, Steamed Carrots/Peas,

Tuesday: Leftovers &  Olive Garden Salad

Wednesday:  Moroccan Style Lentil & Chickpea Soup & Biscuits

Thursday:Chicken Stroganoff (adapting the recipe for the crockpot), Egg Noodles, Veggies

Friday: Leftovers

Saturday: Homemade Pizza & Salad

Sunday: Leftovers


On Friday night, I ended up making "Leftovers Soup" instead of pizza. I have really been trying to cut down on the amount of food thrown out, and on Friday night I had a bunch of random leftovers that needed to be used up. I had half a bag of expired (it had not gone bad yet) coleslaw mix, about 1/4 cup cooked taco meat, half of a cooked chicken breast, and about 1 cup of cooked brown rice. I had heard of others doing a similar thing and making soup with a bunch of random leftovers. So, I tossed that all together in a pot and added a can of diced tomatoes, spices, an onion, carrot, and a potato. It actually turned out really well and fed our family for 2 meals. It was nearly identical to hamburger vegetable soup, except it had a bit of chicken added as well. In the past, most of those leftovers would have likely been forgotten and tossed out.

When There's Everything to Blog About....

My blog posts have been reduced to mostly menu plans lately. This isn't because I have nothing else to blog about. In fact, I have more to blog about these days than ever before. It's just that I'm not quite sure I want to lay it all out there for the whole world to read, which is why I haven't been blogging much lately. So much of what I have swirling around in my brain is just far too complicated and personal to write about on here. And I might as well forget trying to formulate my jumbled up thoughts and feelings in a way that is coherent and concise! - That is simply beyond my pregnant self's brain capacity these days :-).

We are nearly the time when another major decision will have to be made. Family and friends have been very supportive, which we are incredibly grateful for. It is nearly impossible, however, to explain just how stressful this whole ordeal has been. Whichever decision we end up making will have huge consequences for our family, whether it be financially, personally, or professionally. The past 6 months have been a roller coaster ride of emotions. One day I'll feel optimistic and hopeful...like we have some sort of logical, plan and a sense of the Lord's direction. Then, the next day we receive some news that throws us for a curve ball... neither a "no" nor a "yes" but rather has us shaking us heads in confusion, wondering, "Huh? What does that mean? Is that a no or a yes? Now what?"

Frankly, I'm a a bit of a mess. Here I am at 28 weeks pregnant, and other than the glaring signs that I am indeed pregnant, I haven't even had a chance to really think about the fact that I'm growing a baby, much less enjoy the thought. We live in a community where gossip spreads quickly and most people know of most everybody. I dread going to the grocery store or to the doctor's office because I'm bound to run into someone I know, and I just feel so awkward talking to people these days. I feel strongly the Lord reminding me to think "day by day" rather than think too much about the future. Over and over I read things like "Give us this day our daily bread", "Do not worry about tomorrow". Thinking about the future, even 1 month from now, overwhelms and paralyzes me. Some days it excites me, but mostly it overwhelms me.

We also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. Romans 5:3-5 

I do not think I have yet learned how to truly glory in tribulations or rejoice in suffering. Regardless of my feelings in the moment, God's Word tells me that trials are good for me. Thus, I will choose to believe it. My heart may deceive me, but His Word is truth.