Gobble, Gobble: Thanksgiving 2016

I'm still here - just slacking big time on staying up to date with all the things we are up to!  I still need to do posts about Fall Break (at the beach!), a quick trip Brad and I took to New Orleans, a girls trip I went on, Halloween, the big kids' fall sports seasons...my goal is to try to do a post at least every other day (being realistic here) to catch up!  We will see how that works out...

Since Thanksgiving just happened, I thought I'd go ahead and do a current events post :)  I have to say it was nice to not really set alarms and have more of a relaxed schedule, but goodness I am looking forward to a little bit more of a routine.  The boys are dying to go back to school, and I think Katie will be so excited to see her friends and get back into her routine as well!

On Thanksgiving Day, I got up and tried a new fitness place.  They were offering free classes for the weekend, and I knew I would be eating terribly, so it was definitely a good idea.  I met some friends there and did a long class and loved it!  Definitely a hard work out - but it was awesome!  And since I was up early (it was a 6:45 class), I figured I would see if Starbucks was open...of course it was!  So I got myself a tall skinny peppermint mocha and payed for it and the person behind me!  I love doing little things like that.

When I got home, it was parade time!  I love watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade...and I have my kids into it too!

Ryan was obsessed with it!  Everyday he has wanted to look on my phone for the "Thomas balloon" - ha!  He is also one to remember to bless the food at each meal!  Brad made a delicious breakfast and I snapped a picture of Ryan singing "God Our Father" before chowing down.

We didn't get together until midafternoon, so I actually got to watch the whole parade (and also do some laundry and other things) before starting to cook!  I made crockpot mac and cheese, cranberry chipotle meatballs, green bean casserole, brownies, and cinnamon roll monkey bread.  I also heated up some rolls and got the cranberry sauce out of the can :)  Look at this spread!  YUM!

Here was the cinnamon roll monkey bread!  I had to dump it from the bundt pan onto a cookie sheet so that it would cook a little longer. That meant it wasn't quite as pretty.  But good heavens it tasted SO GOOD!  I will definitely be making that again!

And before we started fixing plates, I got my mom to take a picture of my crazy crew.  Love this!  We didn't have to go anywhere on Thanksgiving Day, so I was in my house shoes after my shower...and I didn't wear any makeup! 

And my plate!  It was so good.  I love a good Honey Baked Ham!

I also love a full table of people we love!

After eating, I got a picture with my brother...not too shabby! The outtakes, as usual, were the best part :)

And as Cee Cee and Uncle Will were heading out, my crew wanted to sit and wave.  I got them to cooperate for a quick picture on the front steps and it turned out kinda cute!

And this was everyone's sentiment after eating all that yummy food.  Lazy.bums.

After getting the kids down, I went down the street for Round Two of desserts!  Thankful for friends that are like family!

When I got home, I marveled at the fact that there was NOTHING on the kitchen island.  No piles of papers.  No toys.  No NOTHING!  I am aiming to do better about keeping it clean.  We will see how long that lasts.  And we ended the evening by watching Elf!  That is something Brad and I have done for the past few years!

Friday afternoon we went over to Brad's aunt and uncle's house for another delicious spread of food!  His aunt is an amazing cook, so everything was delicious!  I snapped a quick picture of the kiddos in their backyard before it got dark!

And Brad's mom took a picture of the two of us!

After eating (and listening to Ryan whine and complain and cry about the food and pretty much refuse to eat - kind of like he did at my house the day before), the kids actually settled down and were still!  Even it was for only a few brief minutes.  But I documented it as it is a rare occurrence, especially at their house!

Now we have our Christmas tree and stockings up and are working on the rest of the décor!  I love having everything decorated, so I was glad to go from fall décor straight into Christmastime!

After the parade was over I had Katie read a Pete the Cat Thanksgiving book to the boys and it prompted discussions of what we are all thankful for.  I love that Jack was the leader of that conversation and asked everyone what they are thankful for.  It is so important to take some time and count our blessings!

Menu Monday

It has been a few weeks since I have taken the time to write down an actual weekly menu!  We are trying to use everything we have in the freezer and pantry - and just buy the items that we need to put together a complete meal.  Tonight is already going to have to edited a smidge - we don't have any cranberry sauce!  So we will have watermelon instead :) 

I went to an event at church for mom's of little ones - the speaker talked all about couponing (which I was familiar with most of it, but it never hurts to get a refresher and get motivated to start doing it again) and then we got a booklet of new recipes from all the other mommas!  I can't wait to look through and try out some new ones!  Happy Monday!



 

Another Week, Another Menu

I have to say - I am so proud of myself!  Though over the past week, I think I have cooked more than the last two months combined!  You see, we had Icepocalypse 2015 in these parts - and that meant no leaving the house.  So thank GOODNESS we were stocked - and that our neighbors have an AWD SUV :) I had even stocked up on wine!  Whew!

 

So I prepared three meals a day last week.  And Friday we got together with all the neighbors - and I made three things for that.  And I had most of the items on hand (pretty miraculous in and of itself).  The other items?  My neighbor picked up at Publix!  So delicious - in fact I think I may have leftovers for lunch here shortly!

 

Here is our plan for this week's meals!  I need to go to the store (likely tonight) so that we have items for these meals.  Most of it is from the freezer, once again.  That makes it so much easier!

Hope all is well!  Things will be even better if these crazy kids go back to school tomorrow (yes - they have been off since February 13)!

 

This Week's Menu

I meant to post this earlier, but I wanted to share what is on our menu this week!  I actually put this together Saturday and went to the store that evening (Happy Valentine's Day to me - ha) since we were forecasted to get snow Sunday night...I didn't want to step foot in the store on Sunday!

 

Anyways, here is what we are having this week!  Several of these items are already made and just in the freezer, so it will make for an easy meal!

The tacos last night were a hit!  I think we are actually going to swap the Tuesday and Wednesday meals - we did get quite a bit of ice (and very little snow), so jambalaya and cornbread just seems like a good meal for tonight :)  And then the chicken spaghetti tomorrow night with sautéed squash and zucchini!

 

Hope you're having a good week and staying warm!  Glad we are stocked with food here - I don't think we are going anywhere soon! 



Another Week, Another Menu Plan

In an effort to post progress with cooking and eating at home more often, I thought I'd share how last week went, as well as what we will be eating this week!

 

First of all, last week went pretty well.  If your recall, I had pesto pizza/tacos written on two nights thinking we would have one of those options the first time and then the alternate option on the second listing.  Well, we didn't have it either time!  The first time, I ended up making a pasta dish (which I already had the items for), and then last night, we ordered pizza :)  But that just means I carried those options forward to this week!  Oh, and on the "easy" night, we ended up eating out at Newk's.  So not too shabby - but room for improvement!

 

Now, here is the menu for this week!  The Crockpot Italian Chicken is a Tastefully Simple recipe and has been in the freezer from when I went to a freezer cooking workshop (it was amazing - I had to do prep work and then got together at a friend's house and we all put together 10 freezer meals...most of which use the crockpot!).  So I already have it out thawing so that I can toss it in the crockpot in the morning!  And I went to the grocery store this afternoon so we have all the items on hand through at least Thursday.  I have no idea what kind of Valentine's-themed meal we will put together....if you have suggestions for something fun that the kids will enjoy, let me know!  And I think Brad and I will go out sometime the week after.  We usually don't go out on the day itself because we hate fighting the crowds :)

And then the Friday and Sunday evenings - those are our traditional eat out spots on those evenings :)  Both loud and easy places so that the kids' noise levels are terribly noticeable! :)

 

Have a great week!

 



 

Get Your Guac On

For the last week or so, I have been really wanting some guacamole from a local restaurant.  You see, it is not just any guacamole.  They make it tableside.  And I am fairly certain they put crack in it.   It is uh-ma-zing!!  It is avocados, onions, tomatoes, lime juice, spice (not sure what kind), and some sort of green herb - maybe cilantro?  And you can request the level of spice you like.  I love it.  And this week, I think I could have eaten it every single meal.  

 Well, ladies and gentlemen...I finally got my guac last night! And it was delicious!  Every.single.bite.  Their chips are pretty amazing too - they make their own.

And when we got there last night, I happened to notice the daily specials.  And the tableside guacamole is half price on Mondays.  I know where I'll be heading at 5:00 tomorrow!