Monday, September 28, 2015

Meal Plan Monday: Sheet Pan Suppers

This week I will be cooking from one of my favorite cookbooks, Sheet Pan Suppers


Here is what I plan to make this week.

Monday:
  • Pork Tenderloin with squash, Apples, and Onion (p.129)
  • Roasted Beet and Orange Salad with Pistachios and Feta (p.155)
 Tuesday:
  • Bakes Apricot French Toast (p.206)
  • Baked Crab and Corn Cakes with Tangy Aioli (p.20)
Wednesday:
  • Honey-Orange Shrimp with baby Bok Choy (p.107)
Thursday:
  • Roasted Sausage and Red Grapes with Polenta and Gorgonzola (p.133)
  • Raspberry and White Chocolate Scones (p.216)
Friday: Matt is running a Ragnar so I am going to have a little ladies night
  • Baked Brie and Strawberries (p.9)
  • Pears in Prosciutto (p.13)
  • Herbed Goat Cheese and Zucchini Tart
  • Roasted Figs with Gorgonzola and Honey (p.12)
Saturday:
  • Bruce's BBQ Meatloaf and Potatoes (p.119)
  • Apple Galette

Saturday, September 26, 2015

Soccer + Creek +Love + Kings Dominion = Awesome Weekend

While the boys are napping I took the chance to edit a few photos from last weekend. Last weekend was crazy busy but full of some really great moments!

Emma had an early morning soccer game so I let the guys all sleep in and I went to the game alone... was nice to have some quite time to sit, drink my coffee and really watch the game! Usually I'm running around after the kiddos and only able to half focus on the game.


After the game Emma's friend came over and we hung out at the creek by the house. 

Literally 15 minutes after climbing out of the creek with the kiddos my mom was picking up the kids for the night and Matt and I were heading down to D.C. to celebrate the engagement of Tory and Scott! Tory was a former co-worker and I LOVE HER!!! So excited for these two!

The next day we were up bright and early to take Emma, her friend Julia, and Hunter to Kings Dominion!

GREAT WEEKEND!

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Cooking: One Pot

For the last two weeks I cooked out of Martha Stewart Living: ONE POT

Monday: PIZZA

Tuesday: Shrimp with tomatoes and orzo (p.63)


Wednesday: Sweet Potato and Sausage Soup (p.207)

Thursday: I was not feeling well and it was back to school night so Matt just got Five Guys

Friday: Dinner out with my parents and Matt's Mom at one of my new favorite restaurants, Walker's Grill.

Saturday: Hunter's Party... no extra cooking this day!

Sunday: Chicken with Creamy Corn and Bacon (p.43)

Monday: Shrimp and Corn Chowder (p.226)

Tuesday: left overs

Wednesday: Salmon with Cabbage and Kale(p.136)

Thursday: Grabbed food while out running errands

Friday: Pork Chops with Warm Escarole Salad (p.56), Sweet potatoes, steamed

Saturday: Engagement party for some dear friends!

Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Kitchen "refresh": Tile poll

We have a crack in our under-mount sink so new sink means new countertops... you know I looked and looked and looked for a replacement PINK countertop to match our current one and I was soooo sad that I just couldn't find a perfect match... So I've decided to go with something new... So sad...

No really I am SOOOOOO happy to be getting rid of the pink!!!! I HATE IT!

I wish that we were at the point where we were ready for a FULL kitchen remodel but we're not. In reality we are about 4-5 years down the road on that one. Soooo it is "refresh" time... we are going to get a new stainless steel sink, new countertops, and backsplash.

One thing that I need to keep reminding myself is that this is not my forever kitchen and that I need to keep costs LOW. This was hard this weekend as I was walking through a stone warehouse drooling over all of the gorgeous marble.

To save some money I settled on a Honed Absolute Black Granite countertop but I need some help in the tile backsplash department! What should I do? Please cast your vote in the poll at the end of this post!

Subway Tile
Via
Carrara Marble Subway Tile 
Via

Statuary white marble herringbone tile
Via

Hexagon Marble

Greecian Interlocking Marble
Via



Which backsplash should I go with?

Monday, September 21, 2015

Meal Plan Monday: Pinterest Cooking

I have 346 recipes pinned on Pinterest and I don't turn to it as a source for meal planning as often as I should! So this week I will plan to cook exclusively from Pinterest. It is going to be aggressive!

Here is the grand plan!

Sunday: TOTAL bust we were at Kings Dominion all day!

Monday:
Tuesday:
Wednesday:
Thursday:
Friday:
Saturday:
Fully aware that this is a super ambitious Meal Plan! Let's see how I do!

I'll be back later today to share how I did with my One Pot Cooking the last TWO weeks! Plan Here and Here

Friday, September 18, 2015

Favorite Things Friday: Fall Edition

how is it fall already?

here is a little round-up of some fall ideas that have caught my eye over the last week

Love these Pumpkin Crafts

Pumpkin Recipes

this adorable "Beware of Cute Monsters" sign. I've been hesitant to layer vinyl but this might be the motivation I needed.

 Love these pumpkin donuts! This is an adorable idea and I think that I might make these for Hunter's Pre-School Halloween party.

On Monday I totally bought all of the materials to  make these Mummy Lanterns! I will be sure to share how they turned out.

 I cannot wait to make this super cute fingerprint bat painting with Hunter and Gibson!

This wreath looks super easy to make!

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Hunter's 3rd Birthday Party!!! REPTILES

For Hunter's third birthday party we settled on a reptile theme and boy did he LOVE it!

Most of the food was located in our dining room

Complete with an Alligator piƱata to watch over the food. the Alligator was perched on a branch from our yard that I tied up with twine.

Some food highlights would be the amazing Watermelon turtle that my dad carved. I placed him on some graham cracker and Oreo crumbs so that it looks like the beach. Complete with chocolate rocks

These adorable grape and strawberry snakes. By the start of the party the eyes had melted a bit (they were icing)... The snakes were arranged on a wood slice.
 
veggies


a snake sub


Smashed lizards (guacamole)

Bug Wings

as well as other fruits and nuggets from, the always yummy, chick-fil-a...

The centerpiece of the food table was the birthday cake.

The cake was purchased from a local bakery. I just asked for a yellow triple layer cake with chocolate frosting... VERY plain. I added the chocolate rocks and a little plastic frog to personalize it for the event.

We also had a dessert table... Hunter made the decorations

There were chocolate and vanilla cupcakes (store-bought) and I simply added mini plastic frogs and turtles to the top.

here is a better close-up

We had worms and dirt... on another wood slice


Lizard tails

Snake brownies... on some graham cracker crumbs

Love the banner that matched our invitation for the event!

As the little guests arrived they had a blast playing on the jumper...

and once all the kiddos arrived we headed down to our basement for a reptile show... I wish that It hadn't rained all morning and that we could have done the show outdoors but it all worked out in the end.

I loved that Reptiles Alive made the show so interactive!

Hunter would NOT touch the big snake!

At the end of the show they made Hunter an honorary Reptile Ranger!

After the show the kiddos got to go outside to decorate some snakes of their own.

And bow out the candles on Hunter's birthday cake!
 

Hunter has been practicing his candle blowing skills for about a month now... so we lit the candles a second time and had him blow them out again!


At the end of the event the kiddos all received party favors...

Big kiddos received a bug catching kit and the smallest attendee (almost 4 months old) received a stuffed alligator and a book...

Here are some general photos from the celebration...


Supplies:
Alligator piƱata: Amazon
Chocolate Rocks: Amazon
Wooden slices (all from amazon) Here, here, and here
Nuggets: Chick-Fil-A
Cupcakes: Wegmans
Sub: Subway
Cake: IndAroma
Jumper: Little Tikes --- this thing is AMAZING
Wooden snakes to decorate: Amazon
Reptile Show: Reptiles Alive
Invitations and banner- 3 Little Monkeys Studio-- Etsy
Favors: bug Catching kit, Alligator, book

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www.remodelaholic.com