Dinner for a Year

No it's not a giveaway.( Although that'd be nice) It's something I saw on Pinterest. This woman is amazing! I'm not so naive to think that this is something I could do or that I even really want to do but I did want to put something together to keep me out of a cooking rut. Homemade Gourmet used to be the answer for me but after 3 years a lot of those meals found their way into a rut of their own. (Although some of our favorite meals are HG meals & pop up often in our menus) So I sat down and wrote out a list of all the meals I cook. Then I asked Rustin if there were meals on the list that he absolutely didn't want to eat unless he was stranded on a deserted island. That took out a good chunk of my list. At least I know that if I put one of the meals from the list on the table I'm going to hear ANY complaints. So I found this Menu that you could type right into.


I started filling in the blanks to fit our lives like MacKenzie had mentioned. For instance on Wednesday Rustin is on his own for dinner since Molly & I go to Bible Study. Tuesdays & Thursdays are Jazzercise nights so crock-pot/ easy recipes are a must. Saturday's I usually have time to try something new and since there were a lot of meals that I'd pinned (and I really wanted to try them not just look at them) I designated Saturdays as *NEW RECIPE nights. These recipes are completely new to us and therefore come with the Pizza Clause (If it tastes awful then order pizza). I took my finished menu and wrote out a grocery list for the recipes on the menu that way all I have to do is add the little things like lunch stuff, milk, eggs, etc. to my weekly grocery list.



After a few days of poking around I'd picked more than a few new recipes so many that I started an entirely new Board.

And after looking through my list and the board of new ideas I've come up with 3 months of recipes with very few repeats (just the favorites). I know that there are going to be things that come up (last night Rustin didn't get home until 10) and that the menus are meant to be flexible. But it sure does make it easy to know how many points I'll be having each night, what groceries I need each week, and that dinner isn't as much of a hassle as it has been the last few months. It may not be in a fancy binder but I'm pretty proud them.

Resolution Update

So I made some resolutions here and just wanted to share my progress.

Only 10 lbs left until pre-Molly weight so yay there. But what I was really excited about was my ring of prayers. Sometimes I just don't know the "right words" to say and these little cards help me keep my thoughts organized. I took the prayers from 25 PRAYERS FOR MY HUSBAND and 31 WAYS TO PRAY FOR YOUR CHILD and tweaked them a little bit. Then I used these printables to dress 'em up a little bit. I printed them out and stuck 'em on a ring. Now they're hanging in my car.

Wednesday Weigh In

These are super yummy and only 1 point! I love it. I'm using them for wrapinis (see more below) and tacos, qusadillas, and so much more!


Not the most delicious bread in the world but 3 slices for 2 points I'll take it! Overall I was surprised, it tastes pretty good and w/ 1/2T of PB and SF jelly life is good! I'm having visions of super low point French toast with SF syrup this weekend.


Must admit this is not a favorite from this week but it is a goody from past WW days. I remembered this already cooked grilled chicken strips on my way home from work one afternoon and will definitely be picking some up this week for next weeks lunches. Great over salads w/ strawberries & Mandarin oranges or in a fajita bowl or a wrapini, or anything really.


These cheese snacks are in the same category as the last "favorite", to be honest i'm not even sure if they make them anymore but they were a great alternative to cheese sticks. Plus they come in lots of fun flavors (just like laughing cow does now)


In order to better monitor my water intake I bought a gallon (my goal per day) and had planned to just use it refill my super-dooper fancy water bottle that Rustin got me for Christmas. Let's just say a gallon is a lot and it
s taken me 4 days to drain this one. I'm workin' on it though!


This last "favorite" isn't a food. It's something I came up with to help keep myself on track when I'm feeling like I'm about to make a poor food choice. I looked up 6 or 7 Bible Verses about weight loss. Then I used PICNIK to type them out onto the pictures. I uploaded them to Walmart and picked them up the next day. Now I've got one of these cute little buggers on the fridge at work and the pantry door.



I went to Jason's Deli this past weekend with my mom and I'm now really into "Wrapinis", if you couldn't already tell. Just a wrap that I press using my handy dandy panini maker. It only takes a couple extra min. and it makes a regular ol' sandwhich a little fancy. I made 2 of them this past Sunday and then put them in the fridge. I just nuked 'em for about 15 seconds when I got to lunch on Mon. & Tues.


Recipe of the Week
FROZEN PEANUT BUTTER CUPS
8oz tub of FF cool whip
3T peanut butter
1/4C SF chocolate syrup
Mix peanut butter & coolwhip. Spread into 8x8 pan. Drizzle with chocolate syrup & freeze over night.
12 servings = 2 WW points

Stats for this Week
lost this week: 0 lb
total loss in 5 weeks:10 lbs
Lbs left til Pre-Molly Weight: 10

7 months

Molly,
Month six was a little rough with these never ending ear infections & antibiotics but I know that month 7 is going to be awesome! You're still a very good eater and have tried squash, parsnips, & pears. You eat about every 3-4 hours and have started taking "big girl bottles" (7 oz) for Miss P. You really like to play in/with your food more than you like to eat it but that's alright. You don't mind sitting in your high chair and like to play with your spoon & pink bib constantly. You've started making this crazy face when you eat where you put your tongue down between your gums and bottom lip and pushing out. It's hysterical. Teething is the name of the game! We go through about 5 bibs a day with all the drool, but still no teeth yet!

The sleeping situation this month has been a little rough. You go down after your bath around 8 and will sleep until 2 or 3. Once you eat you fall right back to sleep but since you've been having allergic reactions to all these medicines you've been sleeping with Mommy in the guest bed. You look so sweet & peaceful when you're sleeping but under those covers you're just a kickin' away.

You LOVE your picnic basket & anything you can chew on. Your Lenny lamb is still the only stuffed animal you'll pay attention to. Playing with your feet is most often your "toy" of choice and every time Mommy tries to read to you you take the book and put it in your mouth. You've started playing with "Nana Betty" while Mommy and Mimi are at dance class. You'll stay with her for about 45 minutes and then you want to come out and hear the music and dance with Mommy. You still love to see Miss Kat at church and have started playing more with your friend, Athena, at Miss Ps.

You pushed yourself up onto your knees for the first time this month. You'll get up there and just rock back and forth before pushing yourself backwards. This weekend you started (or maybe it's the first time I've noticed) scooting around on your booty. You LOVE LOVE LOVE to hear yourself. Miss P thinks you're going to be a singer because you have such a set of lungs. You'll just scream (loud & ear piercing) for no reason, stop and then smile & do it again. You also rode in the seat in the cart for the first time this month & really liked it for the first 20 minutes. People would stop and talk to you and you would just SMILE.

You're wearing 6 month clothes. You're very good at getting your arms into your sleeves with very little help anymore. You're in size 2 diapers but I think you're just about ready for size 3. When it comes to socks (which you love to pay with, not so much wear) you're wearing 9 month socks. Little Princess, Peepers, Peanut, Little Buddy, Peeps, whatever we call you Mommy & Daddy love you so much! You make our life so full. I love you.
Love,
Mommy

Start your engines

I know it's a little late but I wanted to document Molly's first time up on her knees looking like she's ready to crawl!

I took this last monday while she was stayin' with my Mom. I can't believe she's already here. Right now she mostly just rocks once she gets up on her knees but she's gettin' close!

Project 365 week 8

Project 365 Week 7