Wonky Christmas

This year I took it up a notch. The usual Costco gingerbread house kit was not for me. 

I was going to make a truly homemade gingerbread creation, on the most humid day of the year,

in the middle of a rainstorm, under a waterfall.

So it turned out pretty wonky, no?

Jack, Elizabeth, and I used our super-engineering skills 

to buttress the warping walls with much candy.

The icing slid a bit lot.

I figure it's a good lesson for my perfectionist son to see his mom, the "artist," 

satisfied with a creation that is most definitely imperfect.

He figures candy tastes good no matter how it looks.

He's right.

Monday Meal Planning {and an easy talapia recipe}

I'm still doing my weekly meal planning, although I haven't posted the plan in months. 

Lately, I'm planning in style with this fun paper given to me by a friend. 

We have a lot of standard meals that tend to show up often on the plan. One of our new favorites is 

Lemony-Garlicy-Buttery Talapia. It meets all my meal requirements: healthy, easy, fresh and pretty. 

I use this recipe as a starting point and then just wing it.

Basically, combine a few (3-4) tablespoons of fresh lemon juice with 2-3 tablespoons of melted butter, a teaspoon or so of minced garlic and a few tablespoons of fresh parsley (or dried).

Pour the mixture over the talapia filets and bake in a 375 degree oven for 15 minutes, 

or until the fish flakes when you cut it with a fork.

The talapia is nice served with Israeli couscous 

and a roasted vegetable (asparagus or brussel sprouts). 

Enjoy!

Rachel's Greek Chili

Last week we had Greek chili, a recipe passed along to us by my sister from her friend, Rachel. 

It's a lighter, healthier variation on traditional chili ~ great for cooler days.

Ingredients:

1 can Italian-style stewed tomatoes

1 can diced tomatoes

1 can artichoke hearts

1 can chick peas

1 can black olives (either sliced, or cut in half)

1/2 tsp. thyme

1 tsp. oregano

1 tsp. garlic powder

2 bay leaves

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1 lb. ground turkey

1 large onion

crumbled feta cheese

pita chips

Directions:

Brown the onion in a bit of olive oil. Add turkey and spices. Add tomatoes and simmer 5 minutes.

Drain and rinse and add chick peas, olives, and artichokes.

Simmer for a while. Serve with feta and pita chips.

Meal Plan Plan {i.e. planning to make a plan}

I am big on organizational intentions and not much on follow through. 

That's because I'm  lazy right brained, creative, and spontaneous. 

It's been a helpful thing to recognize this and learn to adapt my plans to this reality. 

Here's how I compensate for my loss of motivation in follow-through: 

keep it super-simple.

For me this involves thinking through the spaces in our home, how we use them, 

and what super-simple things I could do to maintain them. 

This is our entry/mud room/music room (below). 

Like most of the spaces in our home it does double and triple-duty. After tripping on backpacks, music bags, and shoes for years, we finally realized we needed a place, right here by the door, to keep these things.  

I'd love to have a long bench with cubbies and cute little chalkboard tags, a hook for each member of the family, and a shelf to display lovely storage-y items.  Instead I have a big basket and a wooden crate. 

It's super-simple. It works. 

Meal planning is similar. There are a few necessary steps: deciding which meals to make, 

grocery shopping, thawing/prepping early in the day, making and serving the meal. 

I used to get stalled after and even during the shopping part. 

Something about the implementation broke-down and I bought things I thought we would eat 

but didn't have a plan for, my meats were never thawed at the right time, 

and I still felt at a loss in knowing on any given day what to make for dinner.

Here's my simple solution:

1. Make a long list of meals our family eats and use this as reference while meal planning. (I keep this on my computer.) What a relief not to have to come up with meals from my scattered and uncooperative memory.

2. Look at the weather and our weekly schedule and plan meals that work for this week. (I am pretty moody when it comes to cooking and I know I'm not going to want a roast when it's warm outside.)

3. Write down which meal will be made on which day. I write mine on the chalkboard in the kitchen. That way I don't have to make a decision each day about what we will have for dinner. There's a default, super-simple list already in place to tell me what needs to be thawed or prepped or what have you.

4. Shop for those specific meals and try not to impulse-buy. (Especially at Costco!)

This works for me. What works for you?

{P.S. This week's meal plan is already on the wall.}

Monday Meal Plan

 Last week I basically stuck to the plan, with a few minor modifications. 

A few inspiration photos ~ 

{oven-roasted asparagus} 

 {grilled Teriyaki chicken skewers}

This week I'm planning fewer meals because of 

Grace EV Free's Men's Conference, which Scott will be attending.

Monday ~ Greek chili, pita chips, celery, carrots and hummus

Tuesday ~ leftovers (date night!)

Wednesday ~ fish tacos, beans and rice

Thursday ~ tri-tip, roasted cauliflower, salad

What can you inspire us with?

Party Like a Ninja

Today is Jack's birthday!

This weekend we celebrated ninja-style ~ 

silently, stealthily . . . ok, maybe not so much like ninjas, 

but we did our best.

The decorations were all black, red and white from the invitations to the cupcakes.

I made origami throwing stars for the ninja warrior training session.

{All links to inspiration and tutorials are at the end of this post.}

Jack was a red ninja ~ Hiya!

I made an enemy ninja as a target for the throwing stars.

Part of the warrior training was this string obstacle course. 

They had to try to slip through as stealthily as possible.

We had an expert ninja master to demonstrate the way of the ninja warrior.

He presented the ninja warriors with their headbands and swords.

After all the preparation and practice, the ninjas were let loose on the enemy.

I drew ninja masks on about 20 helium-filled balloons and anchored them around the front yard.

The kids attacked them and popped every last one! fast! faster than I could photograph.

I made sneaky ninja cupcakes for the victorious warriors.

Happy Birthday 5 year-old!

Links
origami throwing stars

decoration inspiration, and more

ninja cupcakes

enemy ninja balloons

string obstacle course

Monday Meal Plan

Once again I'm planning the menu for the week. 

Last week I did manage to make Giada's Pork Milanese (woohoo! cheers! hurray!). 

It was the most popular meal of the week. I highly recommend it!

{click here for the link to the recipe}

We didn't use two of the meals I planned last week, 

since we spontaneously had dinner out one night and leftovers another. 

So, I can carry over those meals to this week.

Here's the plan:

Monday ~ Costco roasted chicken and green beans

Tuesday ~ grilled salmon, couscous, salad

Wednesday ~ pizza for the kids (date night!)

Thursday ~ teriyaki chicken, rice, pineapple, salad

Friday ~ grilled steak skewers, salad, pita and hummus

If you care to share ~

What are some of your family's favorite meals?

What We're Having . . . {for dinner!}

In the last year I've actually begun meal planning regularly. 

It fits with the part of me that dreams of being organized. (key word: dreams)

I got a kick-start from a meal-swap co-op I did with friends which filled me with cooking inspiration

and helped me to form the habit of planning meals (and shopping for them!) each week. 

Mondays are my planning and shopping day.

Here's my plan for this week:

Monday ~ fish tacos, rice, and beans

Tuesday ~ leftovers for the kiddos (date night!)

Wednesday ~ Giada's pork Milanese, rice pilaf, and brussel sprouts 

(we'll see if this one happens, it's a little more involved than my norm)

Thursday ~ burgers and sweet potato fries

Friday ~ teriyaki chicken and salad

Saturday ~ salmon, couscous, and salad

I try to plan which day I'll make each meal, but we're flexible 

and often a meal or two is dropped or switched as things come up and plans change.

Care to share what you're having for dinner?

Super-Yummy Lentil Soup Recipe {this one's for you, Steph}

Here's a delicious variation on lentil soup passed along to me by my sister, Carrie. 

It's super-easy to make in the crock pot and there are a few tasty twists included: 

 balsamic vinegar, shredded cabbage and spinach (to add a little crunch),
and a dollop of goat cheese.

Yum.

                                                                                 Ingredients:

                                                                         

                                                               1 onion, chopped

                                                               4 carrots, sliced

                                                               3 stalks of celery, sliced

                                                               4 garlic cloves, minced

                                                               2 bay leaves

                                                               2 tsp. basil

                                                               2 tsp. oregano

                                                               2 cups dry lentils

                                                               6 cups vegetable broth

                                                               1 cup water

                                                               2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar

                                                               2 potatoes, peeled and cubed

                                                               2-3 big handfuls of fresh spinach, sliced thin

                                                               1 cup fresh cabbage, sliced thin

                                                               soft goat cheese

Directions: 

Put everything except the spinach, cabbage and goat cheese in the crock pot for 4 hours on high. 

Add the spinach and cabbage for the last 30 minutes. 

Top with goat cheese and serve with crusty bread.

Enjoy!

Princess Party from the Past {and how to make a castle cake}

When Elizabeth turned five we threw her a princess birthday party, 

complete with etiquette lessons and castle cake.

Even though this took place a few years ago 

I thought it might be fun to document the sweetness.

I made the invitations from scrapbooking stickers and shiny purple paper 

I picked up at a yard sale (thanks Alli!).

I perused pictures of castle cakes online and came up with this design,

cut out and fluffed up some puff ball decorations.

strung some tulle streamers,

and plotted my cake construction. Here's the basic plan.

Assemble:

• various candies (for cobblestones, entry decoration and battlements)
• wafer cookies (for doors)
• sugar ice cream cones and large granulated sugar
• two round cakes (to make the main part of the castle in two layers)
• six cupcakes
• toothpicks or (even better) wooden skewers
• plenty of frosting

• first freeze your cake and cupcakes
• layer your frozen round cakes and frost them
• layer two cupcakes for each turret, skewer them for stability (the skewer can extend up into the roof (sugar cone) area
• stack the other cupcakes on top of the round cakes for extra towers
• frost the cupcakes
• frost each sugar cone and roll in sugar, stack on top of the cupcake towers
• decorate the whole shebang with candies and cookies

The birthday girl was costumed early.

Then the little guests arrived.

We helped them decorate party hats 

with stickers, ribbons, and tulle for their craft and favor.

My dear friend Melissa dressed up and taught the girls princess etiquette.

After the princess tea the girls played outside.

 

Such a sweet group of pretty princesses.

Simple Summer Cooking ~ Caprese Salad

Caprese salad is one of my very favorite culinary delights of summer, 

along with all things grilled and ice cream. Lots of ice cream.

 

It's super quick and easy to make.

Ingredients:

fresh basil,

tasty tomatoes, 

and mozzarella cheese

Slice 'em up and drizzle with olive oil, balsamic vinegar and a bit of salt. 

Delish!

Yo Ho a Pirate Party!

(This actually took place last fall, 

but I thought it was still worth sharing.)

I think it all started with my nephew, Dominic, and the Backyardigans. 

I've never seen it, but I have heard preschooler

renditions of it a-plenty:

A pirate, a pirate, a pirate says,

"Argh!"

(You really do need to squint and growl when you say it.)

From there we progressed through lots of Yo Ho's and Aye Matey's, 

on into Neverland and the infamous Captain Hook, 

culminating in Jack's 4th birthday party: 

The Pirate Party.

The ship's wheel was a garage sale gift from Jeni at Found Rentals. 

Lucky me that she was unloading this nautical treasure just 

a few weeks before my dining room became Pirate-land. 

I picked up the red and white striped fabric at JoAnne's--

lot's of bang for my buck.

The treasure chest was another happy garage sale find.

 

Favors were part of the decor--

pirate's booty and chocolate gold coins 

wrapped in grey cheesecloth and tied with twine.

The invitation read, 

"Ahoy ye scurvy dogs! 

Get ye to Captain Jack's ship for a pirate party 

or it'll be the plank for you! 

Pizza will be served to pirates and their mateys."

I had a lot of fun with the cake. 

The Playmobile pirates and treasure island props 

were part of Jack's birthday gift.

The sand is crushed graham crackers.

The water is white frosting 

and light blue frosting mixed just a bit.

I wanted a variety of shades of blue to create a wave-effect.

 

Always freeze your cake before you frost it. 

This will cut down on the crumbs getting caught in your frosting.

 We played "Pin the Patch on the Pirate."

I made the pirate from black cardboard and scrapbooking paper.

(I found this idea here.)

 We also played "Walk the Plank," a pirate-version of musical chairs.

Instead of just being "out," the chairless child each round 

had to walk on an old board to the prize bucket and pick a pirate prize

  while the other kids chanted, "Walk the plank!"

Of course, the kids marched to Disney's 

"Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me."

You can download it on itunes.

You gotta love four-year-old boys, 

ahem, I mean pirates.

Blowing out the candles ...

Argh!!!