Late Summer Evening

A warm late summer night at The Edgefield. Outdoor stadium filled with blankets, beer, and laughter. The Avett Brothers singing live. Really, quite perfect.

Bonneville Trailhead

Well, I think we found our new favorite hike. Of course, it's in a federal park (which we didn't realize until we pulled into the parking lot...). I should be keeping score - I think we're winning on the Discover Pass side, but not by as much as we should be!

Adventurers

 Anyway, out by Bonneville Dam there's the North Bonneville Trailhead. It's a little steep at first but only if you're prodding a 4 year old along and packing the other one in on your back. Then it levels out and is fantastic. We took the trail toward Gillette Lake. Horses had gone before us so we spent the entire time on a hunt for HORSE POOP!!, which was as entertaining as the slug hunt we went on during the last hike.

My favorite kind of forest

We came across the horses (and their owners) on the trail as they were coming back with news of a bee's hive in the middle of the trail so we didn't make it to the lake, but next time we'll definitely plan on eating lunch on the water's edge. If we hike it again in late summer, though, I don't know if we'll have room for lunch because of all the ripe blackberries to snack on on the way there!

What? You can't see Sweetpea?
Meh, she was hardly looking at the camera anyway...

4 Months of Menus

Part 2 of meal planning! (see Part 1 here) I have a few standard meals that are well-loved and demanded. They are also really easy. I've also been threatened with rebellion if I don't include them often. (not kidding) So, I put those meals in first, then fill in around them. I don't plan every night, usually 3-4 nights in a week. This is a mental thing for me (so I don't get overwhelmed with the idea of cooking a MEAL every single night!) and allows for eating up leftovers, that take-out pizza craving, the popcorn and wine nights, a new recipe I might want to try, or an unexpected husband absence which brings me back to the popcorn and wine...

Anyway...  here we go.

September Menu

30 Salad & Bread						1
2 Salad & Bread	3 Chicken Roll-ups	4	5 Pepperoni Pizza Puffs	6	7 Tacos	8
9 Salad & Bread	10 Burritos	11 Pan Roasted Chicken	12 Spaghetti w/ Red Sauce	13	14 Roasted Potatoes	15
16 Salad & Bread	17 Burritos	18	19 Brazilian Blackbean Stew	20 Cheesy Quinoa	21	22
23 Salad & Bread	24 Spinach & Mushroom Enchiladas	25	26 Roasted Corn Chowder	27 Spaghetti Broccoli & Bacon	28	29

October Menu

	1 Spaghetti w/ Red Sauce	2	3 Potato Soup	4 Burritos	5	6 Freezer Cooking Day
7 Salad & Bread	8  Burritos	9	10 Ham & White Bean Soup	11 Mac & Cheese	12 Tacos	13
14 Salad & Bread	15 Chicken Stew w/ butternut squash	16	17 Burritos	18 Oh My Chick Pot Pie	19 Thai Lime Vegetable Soup	20
21 Salad & Bread	22	23 Spaghetti w/ broccoli & bacon	24	25 Sausage & Bean supper (freezer meal)	26	27
28 Salad & Bread	29	30 Brown Sugar & Balsamic Pork Loin	31 Tacos

November Menu

				1 Spaghetti w/ Red Sauce	2	3
4 Salad & Bread	5 Burritos	6 Café Rio Chicken (freezer meal)	7	8 Enchiladas (pork from 10/30)	9	10
11 Salad & Bread	12 Lazy Day Stew (freezer meal)	13 Spaghetti w/ broccoli & bacon	14	15 Tacos	16 Kale & White Bean Soup	17
18 Salad & Bread	19 Burritos	20 Spaghetti w/ Red Sauce	21	22 Garlic Ranch Chicken (freezer meal)	23	24
25 Salad & Bread	26 Tacos	27	28 Chicken & Blackbean Soup	29	30 Pizza (homemade, not takeout)

December Menu

30	31 Overnight Chicken					1
2 Salad & Bread	3 Rosemary Scented Lentils & Sausage	4 Chicken & Salsa Flautas (freezer meal)	5 Burritos	6	7 Spaghetti w/ Red Sauce	8
9 Salad & Bread	10	11 Spaghetti w/ broccoli & bacon	12 Chicken w/ 40 garlic cloves	13	14 Tacos	15
16 Salad & Bread	17 Burritos	18	19 White Chili	20	21 Blackbean Enchiladas	22
23 Salad & Bread	24 Crockpot Bacon Cheese Potatoes	25	26 Spaghetti w/ Red Sauce	27 Burritos	28 Pork & Veggies (freezer meal)

A few notes:
Obviously, we always have salad & bread on Sunday nights. 
I haven't included any sides. I keep it simple. Salad, carrots, steamed veggie... Possibly some corn bread for the soups/chilis.
For cost savings I make my own re-fried beans and red (marinara I guess you could call it) sauce for spaghetti
A lot of these recipes you'll find on my Pinterest board.

Let me know if you have any questions!

Meals for a Year

I hate cooking. Honestly, it is the bane of my existence that my children have to eat more than once a month. If I could justify the expense and the lack of nutritional value I would order takeout or pre-made meals from the grocery store all the time. But, as I am not rich, try to care about what I eat, and care even more about what my kids eat, I try to provide some type of meal each day. It's a struggle. If I also didn't get totally bored with food we'd just eat burritos every night. And we eat a lot of burritos. (I make my own beans, there's lettuce, tomatoes, and avocado... I've justified it.)

Anyway, I tried planning a week at a time but it was too easy to blow it off and eat popcorn when the re-fried beans ran out. A month at a time was okay but I DREADED the planning and would put it off until Steve was standing at the door with his keys in his hand waiting to go grocery shopping.

Then I found this pin on Pinterest (a sigh of adulation for Pinterest...). It was from this lady who plans a full year out. WHAT?? There's no way!  But the more I thought about it the more sense it made for me. Get all of the horrible planning done at once and then, if I already had a plan in front of me, maybe I'd be able to stick to it and have dinner on the table more nights out of the week than not. I'm going for overall percentages here.

So, I printed out her templates (link at the bottom) and gave it a try. The first year I managed to plan October through April before I lost steam - summer is bad for cooking anyway, right? (justifying again!) It was SO helpful. I wasn't close to 100% but it was so much better. No more trying to come up with something last minute, I just pulled out the ingredients and made what the calendar told me to! (Having the menu planned ahead means I can then buy just what I need when I go grocery shopping which has reduced wasted food and also makes it easier to shop)

This week, I've managed to plan September through May (it was easier this time around because I had my old calendars to help. I spent about 1 1/2 hours. The first time I split it up over a few nights). We'll see if I get to the summer months, although with grilling I think those months are easier anyway.

One of the things I did last year was try to utilize my crockpot more and, when possible, I made a double recipe (or with soups you just get a lot with the normal recipe) and then froze 1/2 and planned that into the menu for later.  This year I have one day in October already on the calendar where I plan on doing a bunch of freezer meals where I put all the ingredients together in gallon ziploc bags, throw them into the freezer, and then pull them out later as needed. (more links at the bottom)

There are a lot of really well thought out resources on the internet for this type of stuff so I'm not going to go into more detail - no need to reinvent the wheel. I will say that Pinterest is a wonderful source for recipes - both the regular variety and the freezer meal kind. (link below) On my food board you'll see that I've made notes on the ones that I've tried already...

LINKS!
Meal Planning Binder - Yes, it really is a binder. She's way more scheduled than I am, taking into account their activity schedule and that type of thing. But it gives you something to start with, take what you want, and don't re-create the wheel... Mine is a simplified version, though I have found that her recommendation to have all of the recipes you're going to use printed and then filed behind that month's calendar is actually really helpful, both for ease of creating a shopping list and when making dinner. I've printed the computer/internet recipes, haven't converted my cookbook recipes (doubt I'll ever get that far!)
Pinterest Food Board - start at my board and then just browse Pinterest (click the Pinterest logo at the top of the page), each pin will lead you down a rabbit trail of deliciousness...
Freezer Cooking - (to give you an idea of what I'm talking about. There are a TON of resources)

I'll do a separate post to show you an actual month of meals that I've planned. It's not quite as impressive as it sounds but it does keep people fed and me sane, so that's good!

Poolside

Too cold for the pool outside?  Just bring it inside and lounge around there!

Astoria

The Princess decided that she wanted to be a sailor after visiting Astoria, Oregon.

What, no fog?

Where the Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean.

Sweetpea tries her best to dive off the edge

Sleep LIke a Baby

Bear and Blankie are constant companions.
And don't get me started on how she says "Pinkie Pie!"

California Babe

This is the latest little project that I recently finished. It's now in California for Steve's newest niece.

This also makes it sound like I'm completing a lot of projects lately which isn't true. The thing about baby quilts is that they come together so quickly it's practically instant gratification, which is nice on the project front every once in a while.

The colors aren't showing as well as I'd hoped - that's the whole point of fabric, right? Putting colors together to push boundaries, evoke feelings, honor a memory or a future...  Anyway, it's girly but not too pink. Bright and sunny, but with cool greens to keep it refreshing (the purple is the back and the binding) - perfect for a little California girl, I think!

Put it on the floor and the CANNOT stay away!

Cool and Cloudy

What do you do when it's August, the temperature is climbing rapidly, and you're a complete wimp when it comes to anything over 75 degrees?  Head to the Washington coast where it MIGHT be sunny, but more likely foggy, the "breeze" is cool, and sweatshirts are so essential that you'll buy one at the tourist trap shop because you forgot to bring one with you. (Not me, the other adult in the equation...) We spent a delightfully cool weekend in Long Beach and then came back to a stifling house which wasn't quite so fun.

Delighted, yet unsure about the sand.
With much suspicion she decided that sitting was just the safer option.

Delighted and ready to get as dirty as quickly as possible.

August on the coast. Hats, coats, boots.
And a hot chocolate run when everyone started shivering uncontrollably.

Wind!
The Princess holds on for dear life, Sweetpea tries to shield herself from the sandblasting.

One of two lighthouses visited.
Discovery Pass for the win, again!

Infestation

One of my more brilliant craft ideas for the Princess and I to do together. Although, the togetherness ended up being her telling me what to make and in what colors. Perhaps more of a dictorial collaboration...  Oh well, we were bonding over it at least!

Now we have a lovely flock/swarm/family/group of colorful insects traipsing around the house and settling in odd little corners over tea cups and princesses (or being sacrificed as the actual meal for more deserving animals!)

A Girl in a Box

As this is one of the Princess' quiet time boxes perhaps she's contemplating a new role in the daily activities...

Strength

You’re so little, sitting on the bench beside me, absorbed in the books scattered around as I talk to the doctor and learn what all of the potential problems may be.

So cute as you smirk, your secret smile of satisfaction at seeing the doctor at work. She listens to your heart and lungs, looks at your eyes, checks your mouth and teeth.

Unsure as you lay down on your back and then your tummy and cold hands gently poke and prod and discover things that answer questions and cause a whole new list to cascade through my mind. We pretend to blow out candles, long slow exhales that relax and distract as I encourage and hold your hand.

Nervous as we trace veins in my arm and then in yours. I marvel at the pure white of your skin, the delicate translucence with a map of tiny blue lines.

Brave when the needle pokes. You cry into my neck but are still as the statue I asked you to be. And then you turn your head to look again, unable to conquer your curiosity of all things medical even while it makes you scream.

We hug in the hallway, your arms around my neck, me on my knees. Comforting you is the most important thing and I will extend this moment for as long as you need it. This is a different kind of strength I have to have.

Dinner Negotiations

This is the dinner I served the other night to the girls. The Princess flatly refused it until I told her that she didn't have to eat the offending potato. Then she scarfed everything else down happily. Yes, more evidence that she's a very strange child. I happily ate the potatoes instead and they were delicious!

Black beans, broccoli, carrots and a potato with Parmesan cheese.
Yes, the POTATO is the offending item on the plate...

Ladybug Hiker x2

The thing with the second child is that they clue into what's happening around them much sooner. I mean, if the older sister gets something why on earth shouldn't she get it too? So we had two ladybug hikers today...until the small one decided that ladybugs should just be carried during a hike...