Meal Plan Monday

Where did May go?  As I sat down to write this post I realized that I couldn't ... I hadn't planned anything for June yet!

We still have rain so we haven't started up our grill yet. But I'm waiting.  Somewhat patiently.  As I made my picks for June, I have at least one night a week done on the grill.  I love summer cooking!

I am also excited for my pantry challenge to be over.  As educational as it has been, I'm ready to buy myself some new food!  I am proud of myself though.  I really didn't need to buy anything other than produce and some dairy.  I even made bread and used it for sandwiches this whole week!  I guess I'm doing something right in this food storage business.  I do need to restock on some stuff ... pasta especially.  I barely had enough of it stored for my boys' taste buds!

But all that isn't why you tuned in.  You are looking for my weekly menu.  I'll make you wait no longer.

MONDAY:  Hamburgers and Hot Dogs (on the grill if the rain stops)

TUESDAY:  Chicken and rice casserole from the freezer (I'd link the recipe, but I don't remember where I got it from.  I'm not even sure what it is.  This one's been in the freezer a while.)

WEDNESDAY:  Grilled fish and roasted potatoes.

THURSDAY:  Breakfast tacos (or burritos, same dif)

FRIDAY:  Subway sandwiches

SATURDAY:  Pizza, pizza, pizza

SUNDAY:  Dinner with my mom to celebrate her wedding anniversary

What's on your plate?

My Next Race

I need motivation.

If I want my house to really get clean, having a dinner party will give me the motivation to do it.

If I want to really learn about something, having to teach a class will motivate me to learn better.

If I want to run for exercise, I need a race to make me get out of bed.

I realized this last summer when I first started running again.  I had tried running the previous summer and wimped out.  I was doing it to "get fit and lose weight."  Yeah, that wasn't motivation enough.  But last summer, I had a race in mind.  I was going to run in our city's heritage day 5k.

After finishing that race, I didn't have another one planned.  I ran once after that first 5k and then my heart wasn't into it.  There was no motivation, nothing to challenge me, nothing to dare me to do better and keep going.  I did end up running another 5k for charity a few months later, but it was cold by then and I wasn't motivated enough to run outside in the cold!

Now it is warm-ish and light enough in the mornings for me to get back out to run.  And I have at least two races in mind.  They are what keep me going.  They are what drag me out of bed and make me sweat even when I really, really, really hate sweating.  They are my motivation right now.

The first one is in less than two weeks.  It is The Dirty Dash in Midway, Utah.  To sum up this race, it is a 5k along Olympic cross-country skiing trails that have been transformed into mud with the occasional obstacle in the path to add to the fun.

I don't expect a personal best in this race.  I signed up for this race because it sounded different and fun.  My husband is doing it with me, the good sport.  I haven't played in the mud since I was in high school but I'm totally looking forward to it.

The other race I am set to do is, again, the one for our city's heritage days.  I am looking for a personal best there.  Last time I was slower than cold tar ... this time I want to have a much more respectable time.

Anybody want to recommend a 5k for a good cause?  Oh, but there has to be a t-shirt involved ... I'm all about the shirt.

Weekly Goals -- Summer Challenge

It's time to re-evaluate our goals for the week.  How did your goals go last week?

In honor of school ending (ours gets out this week -- hooray!!) what goals do you have for this summer?

This week I challenge you to focus on some longer term goals for the summer.  What do you want to accomplish over the next three months? 

Here are some things I want to do over summer vacation (school starts back up on August 8, so I have less time to get this done):

1.  Lose a minimum of 5 lbs a month.
2.  Take my kids out and around Arizona.  Specifically some hikes and camping.
3.  Run at least one 5k.
4.  Enjoy our summer vacation.

I'm going to label this post as "Long Term Goals."  That way when you post your goals for the summer, you can find the label to the right and check to see how you're doing during the summer.

Good luck!  What weekly goal will help you achieve at least one of your long terms?

Meal Plan Monday

This is the last week of school for us.  I love summer vacation.  I love the school year, too, but I'm looking forward to some slow days and some grand adventures.

This crocheted tv-dinner cracks me up!

But first I need to survive this week.

And I need to keep using my pantry.

It was kind of hard this weekend as I went to the grocery store.  I WANTED to buy things that I normal buy.  I know that I'm running low on stuff.  That was the point of this challenge, but I have such a habit of keeping our food storage stocked, that letting it get this low is difficult.  I am doing better than I thought I would though.  However, if I couldn't buy produce, we would be hurting a lot more.  That's good to know because it lets me know what I need to stock up on more.

Most scary is that I'm down to my last loaf of bread.  That means that if I keep to my own rules, for the next week I can only have bread if I make it.  I love homemade bread, I've just always used it as a treat, not a mandatory part of our eating.  My boys eat sandwiches almost daily for lunch ... this could be interesting!

Here's what our dinner plans are for the week.  I sure hope it is tasty!

MONDAY:  Tin foil dinners (we got rained out last week)

TUESDAY:  Chicken Noodle Casserole (I have more canned chicken than tuna)

WEDNESDAY:  Shredded beef tacos (I have half a roast to use up so I'll use the crock-pot)

THURSDAY:  German Pancakes and Vienna Sausages

FRIDAY:  Mini-corn dogs for the kids, Date Night for the growed ups

SATURDAY:  Homemade pizza

SUNDAY:  Dinner at my mom's

What's in your plans?

Monday is Meal Plan Day

Actually, my meal plan day is a couple of days before the end of each month and then again each Saturday before I hit the grocery store.  I just do these Meal Plans on Mondays because that is what the Internet world does.  Call me a people pleaser.

I'm ready to do some grilling!  But with more rain in our forecast, I'm not banking on being out there by the grill.  Usually by this time of year, we are eating most dinners outside as well, but not this year.

Anyhoo, here's what we'll be eating this week (all prepared from my food storage collection ... except produce and dairy):

MONDAY:  Tin Foil Dinners (I'll probably go with hamburger as the meat, except chicken in mine)

TUESDAY:  Fajitas (most likely chicken, but I might have some beef hidden in the deep freeze)

WEDNESDAY:  Meatloaf and baked potatoes

THURSDAY:  French Toast and sausage

FRIDAY:  Take-out for me, Father and Son's Overnighter for a few of the menfolk

SATURDAY:  Homemade Pizza and bread sticks

SUNDAY:  Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches, roasted potatoes, cut veggies

Weekly Goals

Last week I caught up on almost everything I've been behind on.  My house is actually still nearly-clean.  It's a Thanksgiving miracle (not quite as amazing as a Christmas miracle, but a bigger deal than Arbor Day).

This week my goals include journaling my food, making sure said food is healthy, hitting the gym 4 or 5 times this week, and surviving the last full week of the school year.  The last projects are due this week and I'm more ready to have the school year over than the kids are.  Maybe because they only have one project due each, so I have three due. 

What about your week?  Are you ready for the end of the school year?  Any final goals to accomplish before kids are home from school all day, every day, all week long? 

The Prom - 15 Years Later

The end date of my goal was Saturday.

I'm terribly critical of myself.  It is really bad actually.  So, I am going to try to reign in some of that criticism when it comes to these after pictures.  But let me get this off my chest first ... I was horribly bloated and it was that time, it isn't my good side, and I wasn't standing up straight because I didn't want to look taller than my husband.  Whew.  I feel better.  

The result ... I wore my dress.  I still really like that dress.  I did have to have some alterations done to the chest area.  Apparently the girls are significantly larger than they were 15 years ago.  Other than that, the dress zipped up nicely and I could sit down easily.  Shoot, I even did the Boot, Scoot, and Boogie line dance wearing the dress.  My husband thought I looked beautiful.  I felt beautiful.

 The dance was fun.  Kevin and I danced.  We enjoyed each other.  We only bickered a little.   I didn't spend a single minute in the bathroom.  I call this goal completed and a success!

It just felt good to be in something I wore in high school.  It didn't fit anything like it did then ... four babies in the last few years will do that do a body.  I didn't get all the 10 pounds off that I wanted to, either, so maybe that would have made a difference.  I guess I'll just have to find an excuse to wear it again at that point!

Meal Plan Monday

I'm enjoying this Pantry/Freezer Challenge.  It hasn't felt hard at all ... probably why I'm enjoying it!  That gives me courage that I am storing the right foods.

My menu might be a bit different this week.  I need to not have leftovers.  My husband won't need any for lunches and I don't want to waste the food.  So,it will be a lot of kid friendly meals, perhaps not the most healthy.  Oh, well.  Here are my tentative plans:

MONDAY:  Chicken and pasta with veggies

TUESDAY:  Baked oatmeal

WEDNESDAY:  Hot dogs and french fries with green salad, green beans, and jello (not green)

THURSDAY:  Pumpkin pancakes (maybe this week I will actually make these!)

FRIDAY:  Food From Elsewhere Friday

SATURDAY:  Pizza for the kids, Adult BBQ for grown-ups

SUNDAY:  Cranberry Roast and potatoes

What's gonna be on your table?

Weekly Goals

Last week I issued a challenge: Do something impossible.

Did you do it?  Did you succeed or was it a noble attempt?

My impossible feat took a major shift this week.  It started out with me trying to get the energy to do everything I've been puting off for the last several weeks -- things that it seemed I'd never get around to doing.  I was going to be so productive that I knocked my socks off.

Then came Tuesday.

I was wondering if I could do this, if I could actually do all the things I wanted to do, especially since I was battling the worst stomach flu of my life and a sinus cold that Millie so graciously shared with me.

Tuesday night, a different ailment struck me.  I miscarried the pregnancy I'd known about for about five days.  Second one in 6 months.  I didn't know if I'd mention this on here.  After all, it's my family tragedy, not necessarily a health issue we generally deal with on this site.  But it goes along with my goal for the week.

My new impossible feat became:  Heal.

I'm healing physically.  And much quicker than six months ago.  I'm healing emotionally.  Again, much quicker than six months ago. 

There's a big difference this time.  First of all, I received a blessing that brought more peace to my soul than I anticipated.  Second, I'm in a good place in my life.  I had a routine that I enjoyed and I'm happy to get back into it.  Third, I have a wonderful family that I love and adore and I don't want to lose any time with them being sad over things I can't control.

I'm healing.  And it's liberating.  No guilt, no torment, no regret.

I have peace.  Something I never expected to have so soon after a tragedy.  It is my impossible feat.

What is yours?

Weekly Goals

How did your week and goals go?  Any great successes or particular challenges?

My biggest obstacle is getting to bed at a decent time.  It was my goal last week.  It needs to be my goal again this week. 

This week's challenge:  Do something you once thought impossible to do.  And then tell us about it.

Some of the world's greatest feats were accomplished by people not smart enough to know they were impossible.  ~Doug Larson

Here's to us!
Think you can do it?  Sometimes the hardest part is realizing what the goal ought to be.

Meal Plan Monday - Pantry/Freezer Challenge

I'm coveting this Shelf Reliance shelf.  

I love having a food storage.  We've been blessed to be able to continuously build ours over the years and it looks pretty good.  However, I'm not really sure if I've stored the right things.  Have I stored food that we will want to eat?  Are comfortable eating?  Know how to prepare?   So this month I'm doing a challenge.

This month I am feeding my family from our food storage.  I will still have one night of take-out a week (that's my reward day and I'm not giving it up), but the other days we have to eat what we have in the house.  It should be interesting.  I am allowing myself to buy produce and dairy throughout the month - no reason to be extremist or anything!

I'm hoping to learn from this challenge, rotate some of my storage, and save a few pesos in the process.  So far I haven't had to come up with any unusual or different dinner items.  Maybe I have been storing the right stuff!

Here is this week's list:

MONDAY:  Spaghetti, green beans, bread

TUESDAY:  Chicken stir-fry and rice

WEDNESDAY:  Fish and chips (maybe I'll actually make this this week)

THURSDAY:  Baked oatmeal with apples

FRIDAY:  Fast food Friday

SATURDAY:  Pizza with wheat crust

SUNDAY:  Undetermined - I'm hosting a family birthday/Mother's Day dinner and I haven't decided on the main course yet.  I may need to buy something for this meal.

What's your plan?