Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Menu Plan Monday... on Tuesday!

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I am back from all of my running around. Sierra Vista, San Diego, and family staying in my home. Whew! I need a vacation from my vacation... I've slept for 11 hours each the past few nights. I am definitely worn out! I can't wait to get back into the housekeeping routine.

And that started with this week's menu. I completed the menu on Sunday morning but for some reason didn't get it typed up until this afternoon. Because I've been cooking out of a cookbook, I've been buying a lot of ingredients and my cupboards are getting rather full. This week, I planned meals around what I already had on hand instead of buying a bunch of groceries. By next week, our cupboards will be pretty bare and we'll have to do massive grocery shopping again.

Monday
Breakfast – Smoothie and banana bread
Lunch – Chow Mein
Dinner – Japanese: gyoza, udon, sushi

Tuesday
Breakfast – Banana French toast
Lunch – Pitas, chips, and salsa
Dinner – Homemade macaroni bake with spinach and zucchini

Wednesday
Breakfast – Smoothies and toast
Lunch – Stir fry with garlic sauce, pg. 182
Dinner – Breakfast burritos

Thursday
Breakfast – Smoothies, cranberry orange muffins
Lunch – Subs
Dinner – Tacos

Friday
Breakfast – Waffles
Lunch – Toasted avocado sandwiches, pg. 150
Dinner – Riblets, mashed potatoes with brown gravy

Sabbath
Breakfast – not sure yet
Lunch – Hiking! Picnic lunch
Dinner – Pizza with onions, mushrooms, and fresh basil

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Gone again

It was very last minute. Yesterday I traveled to Tucson with my husband and spent time with my sister in law while my husband worked at a client's office. While we were visiting, my sister in law invited me to accompany herself, her sister, and my nephew for a three day jaunt to San Diego. Sure!

We are headed off early this morning. My husband is dropping me off in Casa Grande at 6:30, where my sister in law will meet me at 7. Hubby returns home and we proceed to San Diego. I am so blessed to have a husband who encourages me to spend time with my family! I am also blessed to be able to afford these short trips.

In October, my brother, his wife, and their son will be moving back east for his military assignment. This will be the first time they've lived in a different state, other than my brother's assignments in Iraq. I will miss them terribly! I have been excited to spend so much time with them lately, a chance to get to know both my nephew and my sister in law better before we live over 1,000 miles from each other.

I've been gone a lot and I look forward to life returning to normal next week. My blog posts have been intermittent as I haven't been home much in the past two weeks. I miss my hubby. We are normally inseparable. But I am thankful for the time spent with family, for being close to them now. When they have moved and I don't see them for a year at a time, I will be very grateful to have these recent memories.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

What's On My Nightstand?

What's On Your Nightstand


It's already time for the monthly Nightstand link up! August has flown by as my family came to visit again. My dad spent four days at our home and then my dad and I visited my brother's family for four days.

I've spent August trying to clear off my nightstand so that I can start over with a clean slate. I've had a few books sitting there for months and way too many books checked out from the library. August saw a lot of these books completed but I still have a few books left. Hopefully I'll be caught up by the end of September!

Completed

Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne - 4 stars

Lady in Waiting by Susan Meissner - 3 stars

Journal Of Sean Sullivan, A Transcontinental Railroad Worker (My Name Is America) by William Durbin - 3 stars

The People of Sparks (The Ember Series, #2) by Jeanne DuPrau - 4 stars

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis - 4 stars

The Prophet of Yonwood (The Ember Series, #3) by Jeanne DuPrau - 3 stars

The Diamond of Darkhold (The Ember Series, #4) by Jeanne DuPrau - 3 stars

What's left in my pile

Cleopatra, a Life by Stacy Schiff - I have to return this one to the library tomorrow! 102 pages left to go.

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe - An impulse selection from the library.

Everyday Life in Traditional Japan by Charles J. Dunn - Hubby bought it for me to learn more about Japan.

1776 by David McCullough - I've seen this book highly recommended on a number of blogs. Can't wait to dive into it!

Love & Respect by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs - I plan on blogging through Love & Respect so this book will take awhile.

Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson - A good book but one I just can't seem to finish. It meanders too much to hold my interest for long.

Becoming a Woman of Excellence by Cynthia Heald - Slowly working my way through this one. So far it's alright!

Now to link up and browse through other blogs to add even more books to my to-read list. Yay!

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Away

I will be back on Tuesday next week. My dad has been in town since Sunday afternoon and I'm headed down to Sierra Vista to spend several days with my brother, SIL, and nephew. Fun! I hope everyone is having a great week!

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Last long training run before the race

We have a 5k race scheduled on Sunday. I'm so excited!

Tonight we ran 3.13 miles, the last long run before the race. It's 95 degrees outside, so definitely not ideal running weather. We ran it in 43 minutes.

I'm getting faster but I'm still not meeting my time goals. I really want a sub-40 5k. Hopefully I'll be able to run a bit faster when the weather cools down. I've read ideal running temp is 60-65 degrees. That's a bit off our 95 degree running weather.

Tomorrow - 1 mile run, fast as possible
Thursday - 1 mile run, nice and easy
Rest until race on Sunday morning

Monday, August 8, 2011

Menu Plan Monday

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I am still working my way through the Newstart cookbook. We've had some successful meals and a couple we've thrown away. But I'm glad we decided to cook our way through the recipes.



Three Bean Salad

Sunday
Breakfast – Smoothies
Lunch – Quesadillas
Dinner – Stuffed Green Peppers, pg. 109; salad; French bread

Monday
Breakfast – Meal-In-One Breakfast, pg. 22
Lunch – Leftovers
Dinner – Spaghetti; garlic bread; green beans

Tuesday
Breakfast – Smoothies
Lunch – Mini French Pizzas, pg. 125
Dinner – Tacos

Wednesday
Breakfast – Scrambled tofu with onion & mushrooms; Peach Breakfast Cake, pg. 26
Lunch – Subs
Dinner – Lentil Links, pg. 111

Thursday
Breakfast – Smoothies
Lunch – Pitas with hummus, spinach, tomatoes
Dinner – Tofu Oat Burgers, pg. 116

Friday
Breakfast – French Toast, pg. 27
Lunch – Subs
Dinner – Almond Rice Loaf, pg. 112

Sabbath
Breakfast – Smoothies
Lunch – Leftover Almond Rice Loaf
Dinner – Pizza – mushroom, onion, fresh basil, garlic

New recipes scheduled for this week - 8
Total Newstart recipes cooked - 25/269

*Linked up at Menu Plan Monday

Sunday, August 7, 2011

This Week's Memory Text - Psalm 33:3

This week I am memorizing the next verse in this passage.

Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous:
for praise is comely for the upright.

Praise the LORD with harp:
sing unto him with the psaltery
and an instrument of ten strings.

Sing unto him a new song;
play skilfully with a loud noise.
Psalm 33:1-3


I don't know why I like this passage so much lately but I've been finding joy in reading it almost every morning! I wish I knew how to praise the Lord on an instrument. Alas, all I have is my poor voice. I'm so thankful that God looks at our heart, not at our singing ability!

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Love & Respect

Would anyone be interested in reading Love & Respect, by Emerson Eggerichs, along with me? I read it last year and really enjoyed it. Unfortunately, the book was a library copy so I wasn't able to take my time with it. This time, I want to read more slowly and try to implement some of the principles.

The book is based on Ephesians 5:33. From inside the book jacket: Psychological studies affirm it, and the Bible has been saying it for ages. Cracking the communication code between husband and wife involves understanding one thing: that unconditional respect is as powerful for him as unconditional love is for her. It's the secret to marriage that every couple seeks, and yet few couples ever find.

If anyone is interested in reading along with me, just let me know. I was thinking a chapter a week and I want to discuss it in a blog post - what I learned, how I implemented it, what happened.

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Sticker Charts - for Homemakers?


It was a crazy idea but I decided to try. Tofugu is my primary resource for learning Japanese. One day, Koichi posted about "Using 'Jerry Seinfeld’s Secret To Productivity' To Learn Kanji." This strategy involves a calendar and a goal. It's a great idea for learning kanji.

Well, I thought about using this idea for homemaking. Having a clean kitchen is so nice! Unfortunately, most nights I feel lazy and just leave the dishes until breakfast. It's not fun waking up to a sink full of dirty dishes.

First - I set a goal: to wash, dry, and put away all the dishes before going to bed.
Second - I printed out the nice calendar that Koichi so kindly provided.
Third - I bought a set of really cute stickers from Walmart.
Fourth - I started trying to create a streak!

It's motivating to see a solid line of stickers! If I skip washing the dishes one night, I have to break the chain. Some nights I'm motivated to do dishes only because I want my sticker. Other nights, I'm motivated simply by having a clean kitchen. My chart currently has a streak of 35 days of clean dishes. Whatever works!

Do you think this method would work for you? How else can it be applied?

This post is linked to:

Monday, August 1, 2011

Menu Plan Monday

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Cooking through the Newstart cookbook is still going really well. Last week I didn't make everything on the menu and this week I picked out an even greater number of new recipes to make! We'll see how many of them I will actually cook. I do my best to stick to the menu but occasionally I run out of cooking time or my produce goes bad faster than expected.

I make my menus/shopping lists on Thursdays each week and complete most of my grocery shopping on Fridays. That's why they are Sunday-Sabbath, not Monday-Sunday.

Sunday
Breakfast – Smoothies (banana/peach)
Lunch – Quesadillas
Dinner – Pasta with yummy yummy sauce and garlic bread

Monday
Breakfast – Oat Waffles, pg. 30
Lunch – Stir Fry
Dinner – Pasta Italiana, pg. 127; Onion Rolls, pg. 7
*Extra – Make Tofu Mayonnaise, refrigerate overnight, pg. 158
*Extra – Make Three-Bean Salad, refrigerate overnight, pg. 141

Tuesday
Breakfast – Smoothies (banana/peach)
Lunch – Subs with Tofu Mayonnaise, pg. 158; Three-Bean Salad, pg. 141 (didn’t make last week)
Dinner – Tacos

Wednesday
Breakfast – Breakfast Bar Muesli, pg. 24
Lunch – Subs; Potato Salad, pg. 143
Dinner – Mushroom Stroganoff, pg. 139

Thursday
Breakfast – Smoothies (banana/strawberry)
Lunch – Pitas with Cucumber Raita, pg. 151
Dinner – Tofu Walnut Loaf, pg. 113

Friday
Breakfast – French Toast, pg. 27 (didn’t make last week)
Lunch – Leftover Tofu Walnut Loaf
Dinner – Better Burgers, pg. 114

Sabbath
Breakfast – Smoothies (banana/strawberry)
Lunch – Chow Mein
Dinner – Pizza (mushroom, onion, fresh basil)

New recipes scheduled for this week - 12
Total Newstart recipes cooked - 18/269

*Linked up at Menu Plan Monday