**Printable** Blank shopping list

I am attempting to attach a cute little BLANK printable I made a few weeks ago.  Feel free to use it and share as you wish!

Of course the program I used to upload this document reformatted it including my CUTE little fonts...I will have to play around with it a little and see what my best options are.  Thank you for being patient with me as I am still learning :-)

http://www.scribd.com/doc/108493994/Shopping-List-Blank

Menu for the week- with grocery list!!!

I was a little ambitious this past week- must have been the new Keurig maker at home :-).... But I made a menu for the month of October!!! The entire month!!! I've split the menu into weeks for shopping lists as well as recipes. Making a monthly grocery list is something I can not wrap my head around right now... Similarly to planning food for the weekends ;-)

Anywho enjoy the menu for the month and this weeks grocery list with recipes!

Monday- chicken fried rice with egg rolls. Cook rice- add 1/4 bag frozen peas, 1 egg, and soy sauce to taste.

Tuesday- tuna noodle casserole- cook wide egg noodles- add cream of mushroom soup, 1/2 cup milk, rest of frozen peas (from yesterday), 2 cans tuna, top with cheddar cheese to taste and bake at 350 for 25 min.

Wednesday- peppered pork tenderloin with broccoli. Rub pork with pepper, olive oil, and garlic clove, bake at 400 for 15 min. Serve with steamed broccoli.

Thursday- chicken chili with corn bread- recipe from Skinny Taste- http://www.skinnytaste.com/2008/11/crock-pot-chicken-taco-chili-4-pts.html?m=1

Friday- leftovers!!!

I made my grocery list on my new iPad... But I could not figure out how to attach it here, so all you have right now is a picture of it :-)...I'll keep working on it!!

This weeks menu

Sorry it is Friday and I am jut getting around to post my menu... Basically this is what we had for dinner this week :-)

Monday- Hamburger Helper and corn on the cob

Tuesday- Pineapple salsa chicken, and tortilla chips/salsa

Wednesday- Sonoma Steaks (Time for Dinner meal- YUM!), and broccoli

Thursday- Anniversary dinner- DH is surprising me

Friday- Leftovers

Although today is Friday and because we eat our leftovers for lunches we no longer have leftovers... So I'm thinking sandwiches for dinner tonight. Or basically a fiend for yourself, unless I can whip something up real quick...

Just wait to see what I have to surprise you with next week for my "menu plan"!!! (Grocery list, recipes, and a MONTH of dinners planned!!!)

Happy Anniversary

Last night Scott and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary! Woo hoo!!! 4 years and one beautiful baby later we are still going strong!

As a tradition Scott always plans dinner as a surprise for me and this year we went to FarmHaus in the Ivanhoe district. It was yummy!!! All fresh, local, and organic ingredients. We each started with a drink- a cab for me and a scotch for Scott. And for dinner we shared 3 small plates. Nachos- sweet potato chips with sweet red sauce, blue cheese, and bacon pieces (pic below). Cotechino- sausage on a bed of collared greens with turnips. Snapper- which is a fish usually caught with a rod/reel one fish at a time = more expensive for us :-) it was served on baked apples and smoked pecans. For dessert we had roasted apple pie with smoked apple butter, and butter ice cream. As much as I LOVE desserts I was not a fan on this one. Some how I missed that it was smoked/roasted. But none the less it was a super yummy dinner with my Root.

During dinner we opened our cards- Scott told me not to get a gift this year and that he had everything already planned. ANOTHER surprise for me! He bought us an APPLE iPad! Can't wait to try it out! The traditional gift for 4th year anniversary is flower/fruit. So I'd say he stuck to it perfectly!

Another year has come and gone... Can't wait to see many many more together. <3

The beginning of Fall....

I love fall.... The weather is nice and cool, lots of events going on; and yummy pumpkin beer, apple pie, and chili time!! (but not all together because that sounds awful)

We had a wonderful weekend and I am sharing things I do not want to forget.

Allie had her first "big" fall outside and bumped her head and scraped her nose :-( she also chewed through my gel handle on my brush (which actually has gooey gel in it!!!) after a little freak out I googled info about the brush and luckily on the website it states the gel is safe for animals and humans and is food grade. Whew... I'm guessing another mother had asked the same question when her baby was covered in the goo also :-/

Thursday I went to visit my very best Friend Jen who just had a baby boy a week ago!!! He is PERFECT! Adorable and his mommy and daddy love him so much! I only caught 1 picture of him and he is crying :'( I must have made him mad. However it did give me a chance to see what it would have been like if I had another baby and Allie at this age- whew... TOUGH!! Good thing she likes being an only child!

Friday we had dinner with our neighbor/friends/coworkers who are expecting their first baby in February!!! She looks beautiful and has the tiniest little bump!! We ate at Haveli's Indian restaurant close to our homes and Allie almost grabbed a sizzling hot plate!!! Whew! The waiter caught her arm before she got it- catastrophe averted. It was nice to catch up - and give them a little taste of what they are in store for in about a year and a half :-)

Saturday Allie had a playdate with her friends Avery,Easton, and Hannah (Lucas couldn't make it this time :-( ) I was able to catch up with my girlfriends and Allie got to play with some other kiddos for a while.

Allie and daddy had a little music lesson- learning to play the guitar and dance all at one time. Allie put a goldfish cracker in the guitars f-hole when daddy wasn't paying attention ;-) it will be in there forever! Haha!!

We then caught a little glimpse of the hot air balloon race in Forest Park on our way to Sauce on the Side- calzone restaurant near the city garden. My
parents- friends/neighbors - son opened the restaurant with 2 other guys and they have some AWESOME calzones. I highly recommend the Costanza, or the Magic Carpet Ride (all mushroom- awesome name right?!)

After dinner we brought Allie to the City garden and let her run around for a little while. She had a good time, and got out some of her energy.

Today we went to Troy to visit Grams, grandma, and papa (my in-laws). We brought some cinnamon raisin bread to share and they made an awesome dinner for us. I'm pretty sure Allie ran around their house 100 times before we went home. It's always nice to see our family and man oh man Allie loves her papa! (maybe even more than me at times!)

Oh yea, and Allie LOVES our cat (Rose) and the cat is not so fond of Allie so today it came to head and Allie got bit on the wrist. Rose got in trouble and Allie is just fine... The cat barely broke the skin.... But still she hurt my baby and that made me MAD!

Whew... Can't wait until next weekend!!! Hope we have just as much fun as this one!

Week 6 menu!!!

Wow! What an amazing weekend!! I just had a blast! Not stressed about ANYTHING ( well besides selling the house) and I had some great family/friend catching up time!! Allie is sleeping, Root is at a concert... And I'm preparing for the week :-)

On this weeks menu-

Monday- spaghetti squash and turkey burgers

Cut spaghetti squash in half lengthwise and bake "meat" side down for 40 min at 350 let cool and remove "meat"- I used a spaghetti spoon/ noodle spoon, the one with all the little teeth on the edges. Add 1/2 jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce and some Parmesan and your done :-)

Turkey burgers are frozen and will be cooked on the George Foreman

Tuesday- TFD (Time For Dinner) meal- BBQ Bangkok pork tenderloin- cooked stove top and steamed veggies.

Wednesday- I haven't totally decided, but something with chicken and potatoes and corn.

Thursday- home made pizza (I didn't make this last week because we went out) I'm even making the dough from scratch!! Can't wait to see how it turns out!!!

Friday- leftovers

Week 5 menu planning :-)

As you can see I skipped week 4 menu planning because I went to Time For Dinner... Last week was awesome!!

This week I have planned-

Tonight- taco salad and corn on the cob

Monday- Pork Tenderloin and confetti corn (Time For Dinner meal)- with brussel sprouts

Tuesday- Crockpot Italian chicken with carrots and potatoes- throw everything in the crockpot add a package of dry italian mix and 1 cup broth- cook on low 6-8 hrs.

Wednesday- Fiji Fish (Time for Dinner meal) and roasted cabbage

Thursday- leftovers

Friday- home made pizza (making the dough in the bread maker!!!)

Hope you have something yummy planned also!!!

TFD dinners we have had so far....

TFD= Time For Dinner

So far this week we have had:

1) Sonoma Steaks (with red potato and BBQ lemon pepper broccoli) we grilled them on Monday (Labor day) and I thought they were SUPER yummy!!

2) Bangkok BBQ pork tenderloin (with asparagus and veggie Mac n' cheese) I thought these were great also!

3) Caribbean salsa chicken (with scalloped potatoes- I seriously think we've had that box for over a year and it REALLY needed to be used- and corn) I was unsure about the pineapple salsa that you put on top of the meat; I am NOT a meat and fruit kind of girl- but I did it anyway and I was VERY SURPRISED at how amazing it tasted! Another awesome meal!

So far so good- we have had 4 of the 7 meals and I can not wait to have the other 1/2 of them! They make it super easy to plan for dinner the night before, and they have all been so good! It is also fun trying out new meals- I wish I would have remembered some of the recipes so I could make them on my own :-)

One thing I would say is I wish I had 4 servings per meal- then we would have exactly enough left overs for 2 lunches the next day... But not having many leftover means we are less likely to let the food go to waste.

Here are my pics... ENJOY!

"Healthy" chocolate chip cookies!!

On my quest to blog more I thought I would try and make a new "healthy" cookie recipe to share with all my followers. Today I had a craving for a chocolate chip cookie- and I kept thinking about the mini chocolate chips I had left over in my cabinet.

I didn't want to make the typical egg, butter, sugar, flour cookie- but I also didn't want the dense banana based cookies that are all over Pinterest right now. Oh, and I am not yet ready to attempt the chickpea based cookie- though it would probably be pretty yummy.

I found a recipe I liked and saw there was more that could be changed to make it even "healthier" so here is my recipe-

1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup rolled oats
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
1 large egg - I used the equivalent in egg whites egg substitute (Target brand)
1/4 cup apple sauce- I use unsweetened
1 banana mashed
1/2 cup chocolate chips (I used mini)

Mix it all together and drop the dough on a greased pan (or parchment paper) and bake at 350 for 11-15 minutes.

I think they taste pretty good!! And they contain no butter, no egg yolk, no white flour, and no oil!! I will add that the cookies are more "cake" like than a regular cookie. They are fluffy and soft, so if you are looking for a crunchy dense cookie this is not for you. But if you like cake just as much or more then cookies you will enjoy these "healthy" chocolate chip cookies.

Enjoy the pics... From my iPhone of course :-)

A couple quick things...

I'm moving up in the world and my blog has a new look (and a new font :)

I just wanted to share with you a couple of blogs that I follow.

First I will start with Blissful & Domestic this chick has it ALL together!  Meal planning, once a month shopping, and great budget tips.  She is the one who has inspired me to begin menu planning when I returned to work...next on my list grocery shopping once every 2 weeks (she does a month....but I am starting small).

Second- PostSecret- this site posts only on Sunday's and the posts are from anonymous people who mail a home-made post card with a secret on it to a specific address.  Some times the secrets are funny, some times you can relate to them, and others break your heart.

Third- Enjoying the Small Things - by Kelle Hampton who is an amazing wife, mother, and photographer.  She posts raw feelings and usually daily posts about her life and family.  She has 2 daughters and they always seem to be having the time of their life.

Fourth- Chocolate Covered Katie-  Healthy dessert recipes!  Can't go wrong there!

Fifth- 5dinners1hour- This is a daily blog where you will get new recipes as well as a subscription that is possible for you to purchase.  You will pay $15/3 months worth of dinner recipes, shopping lists, and how to prep all 5 dinners in 1 hour.  You will get 5 meal recipes, the shopping list, and meal prep for each week for 3 months.  I'm thinking when my "Time for Dinner" meals are gone I may invest $15 in this.  She recently started a meal plan for "clean eating- less processed foods" as well as gluten free.

I will stop there for now....are there any blogs you follow without fail "everyday"?

Time for Dinner....

Since I have been back to work this school year I have been trying to prepare meals in advance and have a semi-plan for the week. So there is no question about what is for dinner, and it does not take an hour + of my time rummaging through the cabinets trying to figure out a plan.

This past week was kind of a bust.. We were super busy, and I'm not sure we all had dinner together any night. However on Thursday me and a good friend went to try out this store called "Time for Dinner". It is a meal prep store where they have stations set up and you prepare meals to take home and freeze/cook. You choose 6 or more meals and there are directions at each station telling you how to prepare the food. You place each dish in a foil container or a freezer bag. Each container is labeled with cooking directions and nutrition content (including WW points- very helpful if you are tracking your diet).

One meal is 6 servings and costs about $20. You can split a meal into 2 meals of 3 servings each, or even smaller servings if you are a single person or a couple. The staff is very helpful and let's you create and modify the recipes depending on your taste and what you do/do not like.

The August special was buy 6 meals get 1 free!! I had to take advantage of that deal, I've been wanting to go for about a year.

The meals I made include:
1) Bangkok BBQ pork tenderloin
2) Barclays brisket
3) Cafe burgers- burgers stuffed with Swiss cheese and Dijon brandy aioli
4) Caribbean salsa chicken
5) Fiji Fish Packets
6) Pork tenderloin with confetti corn
7) Sonoma steak

I walked out of the store with 13 meals ready to be frozen/cooked (the brisket could not be split in 2). I paid a total of $120 and it took me about 1 hour and 30 min to prepare them all. I got some great tips for preparing food at my house, and the best part.... NO CLEAN UP! The staff at Time for Dinner does all the clean up... It was the best!

So far we have had the brisket and it made the whole house smell yummy all day!! The meat shredded very easily and even the baby enjoyed it! The suggested serving instructions say to put on dollar rolls with horseradish sauce and serve with cole slaw and kettle chips. However we had bread, corn on the cob, and kettle chips. The horseradish sauce would have made it even better- but we used a spicy mustard one time and BBQ sauce the next and both were good.

I'm not sure how any of the other meals turned out, but I should know more by the end of this week!! All I have to figure out is side dishes and I am set! It is a nice break from my weekly menu planning.

Hope you all enjoy your Labor Day weekend!!

Until next time...