Menu Plan Monday

Last week we fell off the bandwagon a little bit. My husband was with his brothers in Las Vegas for the basketball tournament games so we kept it pretty simple at home. So this week I am ready for some new yummy recipes!

Dinner
Parmesan Chicken
Broccoli Beef and Rice
Sweet and Sour Chicken

Lunch


Breakfast:
Cereal
Apple Muffins
Gorilla Bread

Menu Plan

Dinners:
1. Asian Pork Tenderloin with Rice and Broccoli
2. Steak with Baked Asparagus with Balsamic Butter Sauce and Pineapple Bars
3. Island Chicken with Pineapple Salsa
4. Cheesy Zucchini Casserole
5. Spaghetti with Quinoa Meatballs
6. Grilled Chicken over Spinach
7.

Giveaways!

Check out this awesome Giveaway by Thrifty and Chic Mom.

The photography is beautiful! I would love one for my home :).

Menu Plan Monday

Last week the Ham Cheddar Chowder was very delicious! We will definitely have that again. It's a good winter time recipe. The Crock Pot Italian Chicken was fast and moist, but I think that I will tweak it more to our liking next time. There are a few recipes that we didn't get to that I will be trying this week again. I will be filling in more as I find them!

Dinners:
1. Crock Pot Macaroni and Cheese with Salad and Carrots
2. Asian Pork Tenderloin with Rice and Broccoli
3. Fettucine Alfredo
4. Panera Broccoli Cheddar Soup and Rolls
5. Cavatappi with Sausage and Broccoli and Steamed Carrots (Swanson)
6. Carmelized Butternut Squash and Balsamic Chicken
7. Spaghetti and Quinoa Meatballs

Lunches:
1. Hard Boiled Eggs, Toast, Fruit
2. Salads
3. Leftovers
4. Soft Pretzels with Cheese Sauce

Breakfasts:
1. Scrambled Eggs
2. Yogurt and Toast
3. Strawberry Crisp
4. Smoothies
5. Pancakes
6. Oatmeal and Smoothies

Tot Week - On the Move

Tot Week was quite the adventure for us this week! We were a little busier than normal and were able to visit a lot of family and do new things.

Mini Diva's favorite activity was her first bowling trip. To say she loved it is an understatement. Most of the time Mini Dude took a nap, but he did join the little diva in pushing one of the balls. Sharing is always fun, right?


She picked out her own ball - she specifically wanted the orange one. She even insisted on carrying it herself after her dad helped her a few times. She did pretty well with all 8 lbs of it, but her dad was right there to help if it slipped.

Lining up the ramp and pushing the ball off was pretty fun, too. She was able to balance it on top just right. She would count to three and then push.

And then she would wait and watch how many were knocked down. I love her little bowling shoes. I didn't know they had them that small!

We also spent a day with cousins on Friday. I watched this little guy while his mom went to an appointment. It was good for Mini Diva to play with another littler person. We worked on sharing and using our nice voices.

The toddlers liked putting round pegs into their little cars. Balls were also a big hit.

And this little guy absolutely loved his grandma's swing!

That night we went to a fun local restaurant, The Mayan, where my dad works as a manager. The kiddos loved watching the divers and fire dancers. I wish I had my camera. We even got splashed! My dad brought the divers down for Mini Diva to meet. Her favorite part of the evening was when my dad brought out a chocolate and ice cream desert that had a large sparkler in it. She exclaimed, "Birthday cake for me?"

On Saturday we helped my brother and his family move. The mini diva had a hard day, but it was still fun to play with cousins in their new house. That night we went to her cousin's dance recital. Mini Diva LOVED it! She and her cousin danced on the stairs in the back. It was almost more fun to watch than the show. They also got in some quality time with their great grandparents.

At home, we had lots of fun with imaginative play. Mini Diva used her chairs and the water bottles to make a train for herself and her babies.

She also had a lot of fun of her Melissa and Doug foot set. She made many yummy foods for me to eat.

Good Earth price list

I recently learned about lots of yummy things I could get at Good Earth. I think I got them for a pretty good. Here are some of my price points. I look forward to going on my March trip to Good Earth

Brown Short Rice .89/lb
Cream O' Wheat Germade .69/lb
Vital Gluten Flour 1.85/lb

Looking forward to making stuff from scratch!

Tot Week - Valentines and Cousins

This Tot Week began with Valentines Day. Tot in hole, as my husband calls in, has come in handy for many breakfasts lately. Just change the shape in the middle to fit your theme! Lily loved eating her hearts for breakfast.

For Valentines Day, I got each of the children a book about love and a new snuggly blanket.

This week, Lily has come up with many of her own activities - which I love! It is fun to see what she comes up with. For this activity, she put all of her feathers in the shopping basket along with her fish magnets. The fish magnets were hidden under the feathers. She would then use her fishing pole to find them. She played this for a long time.

Oranges are a great manipulative, too :). She fit an orange into each slot of our food storage buckets. She also lined them up down the hallway and tried to share them with her little brother.

In our church, it is recommended that you have a weekly family home evening. We had a short message on the importance of preparedness and then went out for ice cream. Hopefully, we will have many more family home evenings to come!

Dress up is still a big hit at our house. Dude stepped on these glasses on accident, but Mini Diva doesn't seem to mind. She wore them just like this all the way to Mom Mom's house. Her princess costumes are also getting a lot of attention.
This is my favorite thing she has taken interest in - the lace up boards! Before she would use them as kites. This week she wanted me to teach her how to lace it through the holes. She did a pretty good job!

Cousin time! We had a lot of time with little friends this week. On Wednesday, we went to a playgroup with friends from our church. We also had our cute little one year old cousin over to visit. Mini Diva loves having the play mates.

One area we are trying to work on more is sharing. Any fun games or ideas that have worked for you?