In the meantime...

Sorry for the absent Katie lately :) Here's what I have been up to:

1. Lesson planning and prepping for the summer program at my school. We have a new theme each week (as opposed to every month or whatever during the year), so it that means more materials (word walls, felt boards, etc.) to make. Ahhhh!

2. Planning and prepping my friend Aja's baby shower. This is turning into a monstrosity and I am happy about it :) I hope that the finished product reflects how much I love Aja and how happy I am waiting for Baby Girl Appel! Can't wait to post pictures after July 10th! In the meantime, here is an unrelated picture of this AWESOME slumber party table setup that I found while searching for decor for the shower. How cute is this?! File away, file away for my future eight year old!

(from RealSimple)

3. Re-learning how to FLY with FlyLady. Love me some routines and missions! I keep up with her on Facebook, which has helped me stay more motivated than I was just receiving the regular emails I used to get! Check her out.

4. Going on mini-vacays with my little family and our friends! Went camping with my friend Amy and her hubby, and to the beach with Aja, her hubby and puffy baby Bentley. Again, pictures to come (if my slacker friend Eric Appel would finish editing and posting the beach pictures!)

5. Meal planning! Going back to work after my hiatus has required me to get my meal planning back in order. I have my Summer 2010 two week rotation all planned and ready, so if you would like a peek, say so in the comments and I'll do a post on it. Lots of yummy fish recipes in there!

6. I've found myself a new church! Hopefully it is my forever church! It is an inclusive community of Catholics and Lutherans - they hit service and social justice hard and everyone is so kind and welcoming. I felt at home right away and look forward to continuing to become more familiar with the members and community. Not having a home church has bothered me for a long time, as both Jason and I want to feel established in a church community (that reflects our theology and values) before having a baby.

Anyway, I do have another Miscarriage Monday post in the works, but I am taking a break for awhile until I feel in the mood/have more time. Maybe tomorrow after work if I am not too exhausted? Hope all is well :)

Most People do Meal Plan Mondays...

BUT....

I am not most people.

And since I currently work Monday, Wednesdays and Fridays, it makes more sense for me to do meal plan Thursdays because I usually grocery shop on Thursdays during the day.

I have been doing a half-hearted job of meal planning because of McSexy's P90x routine (which by the way is FABULOUS! He looks RIPPED! Pictures to come!). He eats very simple, pretty clean meals, which is great for losing weight, but not that fun to plan. Now that he can eat more varied, I am attempting to come up with dinners that are still relatively healthy, but also easy and soothing for my cold weather-depressed self.

Here is our menu for the next two weeks. I plan to keep this menu through at least Christmas, probably January, with some tweaks if one of the Mc's (hubby or I) start to gain weight or I get pregnant. For us, eating the same meal twice, three, or even four times a month is more than okay. We also like to eatout (or order veggie pizza) at least one or two nights a week on a date or with friends, so that helps keep things varied :)

Notes: We are an almost completely vegetarian family, but we still have frozen chicken left to consume. When a recipe mentions chicken, it will either be the real thing, or Morningstar Chik'n strips. We also use the Quorn brand alot (my ABSOLUTE favorite!), but it is harder to find than Morningstar.

By the end of the week, we always have plenty of leftovers. If we don't, I supplement with my FAVORITE (but not great for you!) - Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, or we have soup again!

I also sometimes mix up a fruit salad in plain yogurt to go along with dinners. Also is good for breakfasts!

WEEK 1

Monday (Soup night): Soup (Red Pepper or Butternut Squash) and salad or sandwich (BLT with fake bacon).

Tuesday (Asian night): Shrimp stir-fry with rice or quinoa (recipe calls for chicken, but I do frozen shrimp).

Wednesday (American night): Chick’n (or other garden burger) patties with salad or cut veggies (usually pepper strips and baby tomatoes). Sometimes I do sweet potato fries if I swing by Trader Joe's!

Thursday (Italian night): Southwest Lasagna with steamed veggies. I am making this not in roll form, and probably adding some frozen red peppers or corn to the mix. McSexy hates when I try to sneak in veggies, but most of the time he doesn't notice!

Friday (Mexican night): Chik’n (or Chicken) Fajitas. Frozen peppers sauteed with chicken, thrown in a tortilla with black beans and cheese.

Saturday: Out to eat/pizza or leftovers.

Sunday: Out to eat/pizza or leftovers.

WEEK 2

Monday (Soup night): Soup and salad or sandwich (grilled cheese or creamed tuna).

Tuesday (Asian night): Honey glazed chicken stir-fry with rice or quinoa.

Wednesday (American night): Chick’n nuggets with soup (again, red pepper or butternut squash).

Thursday (Italian night): Calzones with steamed Italian veggies.

Friday (Mexican night): Black bean and cheese quesadillas.

Saturday: Out to eat/pizza or leftovers (or protein shake).

Saturday: Out to eat/pizza or leftovers (or protein shake).

For breakfasts McSexy has a protein shake with berries, an egg sandwich (on whole wheat english muffin), or makes a veggie omelet for both of us. I usually have Fiber One cereal with berries, almond butter and banana english muffin sandwich, egg sandwich or oatmeal with protein powder and berries.

For lunches we eat leftovers, cheese or almond butter sandwiches, or cheese and crackers. Sometimes I pack soup, too. I usually pack fishies (major comfort food for me), a hard boiled egg, an apple/grapes, yogurt/cottage cheese, and cut up veggies (peppers, baby tomatoes and carrots). McSexy packs an extra protein bar for his snack. We also bring nuts (almonds mostly) and dried fruit to work early in the week in case we (or in my case McFatty and McBossy at school!) get hungry. I rarely eat it all, but I like having lots of food in case I get hungry!

I am constantly thinking about how many fruits and vegetables we are consuming each day and each week. McSexy doesn't monitor his veggie intake (one reason he would die without me, but that's another post), so I do and will adjust meals if he or I haven't had enough in the day or past couple days.

Hope this gives you some ideas! I'll let you know of any changes or substitutions or when we change it completely in the next few months!

Santa Fe Chicken

This recipe is from my friend Shanda, who is the ultimate stay-at-home mom. She soars with Fly Lady (I sort of flop with Fly Lady) and is an expert meal planner. When I got married, one of the best gifts she gave me was a girl-to-girl talk on how to meal plan cheaply and easily. One recipe she gave me I still go to regularly (at least once or twice a month). There are two versions, vegetarian and non-vegetarian. I'll give you the vegetarian one that I made up and then mention how to change it for meat eaters....

Ingredients:
2 cans of black beans
1 can corn
1 cup salsa
1 bag of Morningstar chic'n strips (fake chicken, really yummy)
1 block of cream cheese

Directions:
Put all of ingredients except creme cheese in a crock pot. Cook for 1-2 hours on low (or since it is fake chicken, just until everything is heated through). Add a block of cream cheese and heat on low for an hour more.

Serve over brown rice, in tortillas or as a nacho topper. Delicious. I usually serve with a green salad or raw pepper strips to round out the Mexican theme. Jason loves this and it will feed the two of us at least two dinners and two lunches for the week, usually even more. It is cheap and goes a LONG way!

Carnivore Version:
Omit ONE can of beans and add four chicken breasts (better thawed but I have done it frozen and it works great! Anything that requires as little forethought as possible is my kind of meal!)

Put beans, corn, and 1/2 cup of the salsa in crock pot. Mix together. Arrange chicken on top and cover with other 1/2 cup salsa (sometimes I add more salsa to either version because I love salsa). Cook on low for FOUR hours. Add cream cheese and cook for another hour. Ta da! You are now a cook!

What is nice about this is that it is done in a crock pot. Set your timer and take off for work. The real chicken will shred into tiny pieces (you can help it along with a fork if needed).

Enjoy and let me know if you make it and how you like it!