meal plan monday: august 19.

it doesn't feel like its been a week since i last wrote a meal plan post... oh wait, that would be because it's only been 4 days.

since i've totally mastered my current method of meal planning (*snortlaugh NOT) i thought it was high time for my process to go through a pretty major change. in a few weeks, Mark and I are looking to team up to plan meals and snacks that will better fuel the amped up workout regiment we are planning to start after our great western adventure. it is going to require more discipline, more real foods, and probably more than 5 minutes of forethought. the plan as it currently stands is to model our weekly plans from the portion approach of the p90x meal plan. we still have to put some time and thought into exactly how this will best function for us, and i'll be sure to keep you posted as to whether we are wildly successful or we crash and burn.

its a lofty goal, and i am glad to still have a little bit of time to figure it out because until then here's the plan for this week that actually took me LESS than 5 minutes to dream up and throw together:

Monday: pasta with meat sauce.
Tuesday: breakfast for dinner - eggs and potatoes.
Wednesday: fish packets with rice. (recipe)
Thursday: frozen raviolis in jar sauce.
Friday: probably Subway for the road.
Saturday - Sunday: sisters weekend in PA!

meal plan thursday: august 15.

is it even worth posting a meal plan if the week is already more than halfway over? its not like i put any thought into this week at all. i didnt even make a list before i went to the store on tuesday after work. but i needed an excuse to post this picture that i took on my way home from the store on tuesday, at the tail end of a scattered shower:

this rainbow made me seriously giddy with happiness for the rest of the night. God is just SO good.

no segue here, and no real point in even posting this, but because i know my mom sometimes worries that i might be super overwhelmed and failing at life when i stop blogging for a while, here's proof that we are in fact at least eating this week:

Monday: taco night.
Tuesday: crock pot salsa chicken.
Wednesday: zuchinni black bean and rice skillet.
Thursday: quesadillas.
Friday: BBQ at a friend's house.
Saturday: afternoon wedding!
Sunday: pasta with meat sauce.

meal plan tuesday: august 6.

so yesterday was... how should i put this... crap-tastic. emphasis on both the crap AND the (fan)tastic.

i left my house at 6:30am and didnt make it home again until 9pm. thats 14.5 hours, for those of you can't be bothered to do the math for yourselves. everything inbetween was non-stop action and excitement, whether it was a full day at work, or discovering the joys of a speed trap when you're already running late, or being late on your first night of being the lead herder for 20+ four-and-five-year-olds at Action Camp. (love those kids. highlight of my day by far) and then when i thought i had already crammed in as much fun as possible for the day, i wrapped it all up by dropping a giant stack of plywood on my knee. once the swelling goes down a bit more, i have a feeling that this is going to be quite a spectacular, long-lasting bruise.

needless to say, there was zero time for meal planning yesterday. hopefully the rest of the week will be a little less action packed, but since i am still going to be working during the day AND brushing up on my cat-herding skills heading up the PreK-K group at Action Camp in the evenings, i have the feeling that (hopefully minus the cops and the bodily injury) the rest of the week is going to be pretty much the same kind of crazy.

i'm very thankful that they're feeding me every night at Action Camp this week, but since Mark couldn't be a helper this year he's on his own for dinners. good thing he has an awesome wife to at least point him in some semblance of a direction:

Monday: leftover potatoes.
Tuesday: leftover soup.
Wednesday: frozen raviolis in jar sauce.
Thursday: taco night.
Friday: egg sandwich.
Saturday - Monday: beach time!


PS if you think of it, be praying for Action Camp this week - this year is the biggest year yet, and there is a lot of work that goes into effectively sharing God's good news with all of these kids, which is something that the enemy is going to do his best to prevent!

meal plan monday: july 29.

i was told by my aunts over the weekend that i needed to take some pictures of the butterfly bush in my backyard. so i did.

completely unrelated, this is our menu for the week:

Monday: turkey burgers. (recipe)
Tuesday: zuchinni, black bean, and rice skillet. (recipe)
Wednesday: soup from a can.
Thursday: fish packets with rice. (recipe)
Friday: chicken veggie quesadillas.
Saturday: veggie omelettes with roasted potatoes.
Sunday: grilled chicken and cake.

meal plan monday: july 22.

confession time: in the however many months its been since i wrote this post, i have been a complete failure at exercise and healthy living. i have not maintained my workout schedule. i have not maintained my weight. i have not maintained healthy eating habits. instead, i have remembered how much i love being lazy, and how good i am at it. i have rediscovered french fries, cake, ice cream, and skittles with a passion. (i dont think i can even still call them indulgences because i just give in to every single craving because i have lost all of my food related discipline) if faced with a choice between doing any sort of physical activity or sitting on the couch flipping channels, the tv wins every time.

(source)

but i dont particularly like any of this. (except for maybe the french fries) i dont like that all of the hard work i put in last winter was basically a waste of time. i dont like that i have gained back all of the weight and inches that i had lost and then some. i dont like the sneaky hate spiral that starts every time i choose to relax instead of work out, because i know that in a few hours as i roll myself off the couch and into bed i will wish that i had chosen a different way to spend my time.

so this is a public declaration that this will be a re-starting week.  i'll be saying hello again to Tony, and goodbye to my ice cream and sweets. and i'm going to be honest: i'm a little bit terrified by the thought of just how badly this is going to hurt.

Monday: zuchinni, black bean, and rice skillet. (recipe)
Tuesday: grillled chicken on salad.
Wednesday: crock pot chicken enchilada soup. (recipe)
Thursday: fish packets with rice. (recipe)
Friday: turkey burgers. (recipe)
Saturday: veggie omelettes and roasted potatoes.
Sunday: tacos.

meal plan monday: july 15.

conversation from this morning:

*cue alarm. Mark turns it off*
Amanda: what number is it?
Mark: six.
Amanda: what DAY is it?
Mark: Monday.
Amanda: *sadface*

i really could have used another day this weekend. that way i could have spent even more time with good people: laughing and hugging and having a grand time, and the hours i spent in the car would have been a much less significant percentage of the weekend.

oh well.

Monday: zuchinni black bean rice skillet.
Tuesday: frozen pizza.
Wednesday: crock pot salsa chicken.
Thursday: frozen raviolis.
Friday: dinner on the run.
Saturday: visit to Gram and Pap's.
Sunday: visit to Mahaffey Camp.

meal plan monday: july 8.

there are not enough words to describe all of the awesomeness that was crammed into the long holiday weekend.

 

 
but unfortunately, there are not enough hours in the upcoming week to contain all of the ongoing summertime excitement around here. so basically, we're not eating this week.

Monday: Mark plays softball. our lodger arrives with his cousin.
Tuesday: Mark plays softball. Amanda Jazzercises.
Wednesday: community group. the lodger's cousin leaves.
Thursday: Mark plays softball. Amanda Jazzercises.
Friday: birthday party for Aunt Denise.
Saturday: Amanda leaves town. Mark goes to the O's game.
Sunday: Amanda drives home. Mark starves.

meal plan monday: july 1.

so. gluten free week was... semi-successful. i did really well on Monday and Tuesday. and then on Wednesday i had a catered lunch meeting where i ate a delicious ham sandwich on a croissant and two cookies the size of my head. Thursday night i didnt feel like cooking dinner so we ordered a pizza. Saturday i went out for dinner with a friend to Noodles & Co. and then on Sunday we just ate leftover pizza. so... i made it 3 out of 7 days, and 8 out of 14 meals i managed to stay gluten-free. at best that's a 57.1% success rate, and at worst 42.8% depending on how you choose to measure.

i did notice that i felt better on the days and after the meals that were GF. i doubt i lost any weight this week, what with the cookies and ice cream i let myself indulge in here and there. (dont judge me, it was keeping my PMS at bay) and i didnt bother to weigh myself at all so i can neither confirm nor deny that. the new GF recipes i tried last week were DELICIOUS, so they will probably be repeated in the future and you should try them too.

Mark almost literally inhaled this steak, avacado and all. there were no leftovers.

based on this little experiment i'm guessing that i'll be able to manage one or two days each week that are GF, but its not looking to turn into a full-time lifestyle change in the very near future.

and that's really all i have to say about that.

Monday: citrus herb chicken with veggies.
Tuesday: chicken fried rice. (recipe)
Wednesday: 3rd of July party. typical cookout food.
Thursday: 4th of July party at the in-laws.
Friday: zuchinni, black bean, rice skillet. (recipe)
Saturday: lazy lasagna with salad.
Sunday: lunch out with college friends.

ps: MY BFITW IS COMING TO VISIT FOR THE LONG WEEKEND!!!
GET EXCITED!!!

meal plan monday: june 24.

ok. let's do this thing. you know, the thing i've probably hinted at vaguely for a while without really fully explaining it because i've been spending all my time overthinking it in my own little head: let's go gluten free. but let's not get crazy, for now its just for a week. just an experiment of sorts for a little bit to see what happens.

miss you already...

there's a history of gluten-sensitivity in my family, and i'm just curious to see what (if anything) not inhaling bagels and pasta and hot dog buns on the reg might change for me. weight loss? less bloating? less lethal flatulence? (there's really no subtle way to say that) hopefully all of those, but maybe none of those. and if nothing else, it made meal planning exciting again, and i've got not one but TWO new recipes in store for this week: check it out!

Monday: roast salmon with salsa, rice, and asparagus. (recipe)
Tuesday: zucchini black bean skillet. (recipe)
Wednesday: crock pot chicken enchilada soup. (from freezer)
Thursday: chicken fried rice. (recipe)
Friday: skillet roasted strip steak with pebre sauce and avocado. (recipe)
Saturday: citrus herb chicken and veggies on the grill.
Sunday: breakfast for dinner: veggie omelettes.

if this gluten free trial period is something we like and becomes a real thing for us in the future, i'm probably going to need to figure out even more new recipes - so dish: do you have any tried-and-true and/or quick-and-easy gluten free meals? please to be sharing!

meal plan monday: eh, screw it.

i'm starting to feel like everything in my life is little more than just good intentions.

yeah, i meant to post a bunch of vacation pictures and i meant to clean the bathrooms and i meant to plan meals for the week and i meant to attempt a gluten-free week and i meant to plant something in the garden sometime this year and i meant to put away all of the clean laundry and i meant to work out more than once in the past two weeks... but i haven't done any of those things.

but i haven't been doing nothing, because i've been busy doing the laundry and washing the dishes and mowing the grass and making dinner and organizing in the basement... so then can someone please explain to me how it is that the laundry is never done and the kitchen is a mess and we have nothing to eat and the house is a disaster and i'm starting another week feeling overwhelmed with all of the undone things that i really truly meant to do? i dont even have any kids to blame it on!

and speaking of kids: i would like to have some. someday. but how in the world can i let myself believe that i am anywhere close to being ready for babies based on my current state of being a textbook case of a giant hot mess?

ugh. even i can't stand my own whining today. and i know that if i dont have a grocery list by the time i get to the store after work today, we'll be in for another week of frozen meals and eating out and me feeling like a failure. so suck it up mando, and act like a grownup just long enough to cobble together a grocery list.

Monday: frozen pizza.
Tuesday: grilled chicken with rice and veggies.
Wednesday: crock pot beef burgundy.
Thursday: fish packets.
Friday: quesadillas.
Saturday: Ed's Birthday Party.
Sunday: burgers? maybe on the grill?

and then when you get home, after you put away the groceries and make and eat dinner, you will NOT just sit on the couch like a bum - you WILL clean those bathrooms. yay!*

*maybe if i say it with enough enthusiasm i can actually believe its really going to happen that way

PS sorry about all the whining. here's a picture of a pretty sunset on the beach to make up for it.

meal plan monday: june 3.

game plan for the week: just make it to Friday.

keeping my eye on the prize.

Monday: fish with roasted potatoes.
Tuesday: gnocchi in pesto sauce.
Wednesday: (evening meeting) probably an egg sandwich for Mark.
Thursday: (evening meeting) maybe grilled cheese and tomato soup.
Friday - Monday: beach vacation!

meal plan monday: may 20.

things i did not do this weekend: hang out with my sister and her littles. stupid NYC traffic.

things i did this weekend: went yardsailing with my best friend in maryland, went out to the movies with the hubs, put a coat of polyurethane on the dresser, indulged in a sunday afternoon nap, made decent progress on the terrible book i am reading, lounged on the couch pretty much all day, and then pretended that my legs didnt work so the hubs would carry me to bed. (he refused to carry me, so i attached myself to his ankle and he dragged me to bed instead)

all things considered, it turned out to be a pretty good weekend indeed.

also: MAY IS PRACTICALLY OVER WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN???

Monday: grilled chicken penne pesto pasta. (didnt eat it last week)
Tuesday: grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato soup.
Wednesday: boboli. (didnt eat it last week)
Thursday: zuchinni, black bean, and rice skillet. (recipe)
                        (yes we ate it last week but it is DELICIOUS)
Friday: fish, rice, and a veggie.
Saturday: let's eat out?
Sunday: Grandma's 80th birthday party.

meal plan monday: may 13.

just to prove that i DO have a plan for this week, even though i dont have time to say anything witty about it right now:

Monday: leftovers.
Tuesday: Meg's fish packets with rice. (recipe)
Wednesday: zuchinni, black bean, and rice skillet. (recipe)
Thursday: boboli.
Friday: turkey burgers. (recipe)
Saturday: taco night.
Sunday: chicken penne pesto pasta.

meal plan tuesday: may 7.

yesterday was a mess. i could go on for several paragraphs about all the frustrating, annoying, not-really-all-that-terrible-but-in-the-moment-were-the-worst-thing-EVER things that i was dealing with and muddling through and crying about, but at the end of the day that's not what i want to remember about yesterday.

instead, i want to remember that when i got home from work Mark was weeding the flowerbeds. and when he saw how upset i was he wiped my tears, made me giggle, and carried in the groceries. he worked outside until dark to make me a new flowerbed. he appreciated the dinner i made. he sat with me at the table and chatted over a glass of wine. he got me a bowl of ice cream and let me fall asleep early on the couch while he watched a replay of an O's game from last year. this morning he claimed he even carried me to bed and tucked me in, but i have a feeling he was stretching the truth a little on that one... (he told me he was just kidding, but that he would have if i needed him to)

super duper cheese alert: its nice to know that even crappy days can have happy endings.

in the midst of the mess, i somehow managed to survive the grocery store yesterday. i didnt have a plan or a list, but i bought some stuff, so here's my best guess as to how we're going to survive until next week:

Monday: chicken parmesan with angel hair pasta.
Tuesday: soup from a can.
Wednesday: but seriously, meatballs. (recipe)
Thursday: quesadillas with rice, beans, and avocado.
Friday: baked fish with vegetables.
Saturday: frozen raviolis with jar sauce.
Sunday: Mother's Day at our house. (still need to plan this)

meal plan monday: april 29.

allergies are the pits. my nose is stuffy, my eyes are itchy, and my throat is scratchy because i have survived the past three days by mouth-breathing almost exclusively. i usually have about one extra-bad allergy week every year, and apparently this is it.

i spent an entire day yesterday at Hershey Park with friends, and i have zero pictures of it because when i wasn't walking all around the park and riding as many of the coasters as many times as we could stand, i was stuck in a foggy blur of allergy pills and tissues and resisting the urge to scratch my own eyes out. there was no time for cameras. which is sad, because even with all of my allergic mess, it was still a really fun day.

weekends are never long enough.

Monday: soup from a can. perfect for a rainy day.
Tuesday: spaghetti with meatballs. (recipe)
Wednesday: fish, rice, and a veggie.
Thursday: chicken and veggie quesadillas.
Friday: burgers on the grill. (recipe)
Saturday: grilled chicken penne pesto pasta.
Sunday: breakfast for lunch.

meal plan monday: april 22.

i am so over this whole meal planning thing. i know all of the positives about it: less stress at the store, less wasted time in the evenings, and all in all the whole plan doesnt really take all that much time to throw together.

and yet.

i'm tired of the meals i have in rotation, but i'm also too lazy to figure out new ones that require minimal effort and are still reasonably healthy. it just seems like a lot of effort. i guess some days i just need to whine a little about my totally awesome life. it makes no sense. i make no sense. but i guess i'll make at least one more meal plan:

Monday: chicken and veggie quesadillas. (didnt eat them last week.)
Tuesday: fish packets with rice. (recipe)
Wednesday: crock pot meatball subs. (recipe)
Thursday: soup from a can.
Friday: let's eat out.
Saturday: boboli.
Sunday: grilled cheese and tomato soup.

meal plan monday: april 15.

i spent the weekend with a few of my favorite people. it was lazy and fun and absolutely exhausting and a fantastic way to end the week. i highly recommend it. 

 

miss them already.

i had all sorts of good intentions to do lots of laundry and plan meals for the week when i got home last night, but instead i ate a bag of popcorn for dinner and fell asleep on the couch. so this week's plan is a little lazy and a lot thrown together and the only reason i even got this far is because i'm not really sure how Mark survived all weekend on what was left in the fridge, so a trip to the grocery store is at the top of my priority list for today.

Monday: Meg's fish packets with rice. (recipe)
Tuesday: raviolis with jar sauce.
Wednesday: crock pot chicken enchilada soup. (recipe)
Thursday: soup from a can.
Friday: Stouffer's lasagna.
Saturday: veggie omelettes.
Sunday: chicken and veggie quesadillas.

meal plan monday: april 8.

when it comes to food, i am SO lazy on the weekends. not about eating it, because i do a lot of that, but definitely about making it. case in point: this weekend, during which i did not cook a single thing that required more effort than boiling a pan of water. and Mark even got that started for me, because just the thought of all the getting-up-off-the-couch that would be required to make dinner was just too much. instead, we ate out once and then survived on leftovers and quick and easy comfort foods the rest of the weekend. not to mention all of the leftover Easter candy.

and some new easter candy that came in the mail.

eh. we survived. and you know what? this week i'm still not feeling motivated to cook anything at all. anyone want to take bets on whether or not we'll make it to next week?

Monday: angel hair with zuchinni and tomato. (recipe)
Tuesday: either a bonfire at Drew's or pasta in jar sauce.
Wednesday: crock pot chicken tacos. (recipe-ish)
Thursday: Meg's fish packets and rice. (recipe)
Friday - Sunday: either a trip to NY, or
  Friday: veggie omelettes with roasted potatoes.
  Saturday: soup from a can.
  Sunday: i dont know. i give up.

meal plan monday: april 1.

in a most surprising turn of events, in the middle of a weekend that i had planned to fill with as much sleep and relaxation and rainy afternoons on the couch as physically possible, i found myself awake at 8am on Saturday morning, responding to a text from my mother-in-law. i had been planning to text her at some point later on Saturday to see what i could bring to Easter dinner on Sunday, but she beat me to the punch by asking me if i could bring a side dish. at 8 am on a Saturday morning.

 

i will forgive her this one time, because i think that she honestly forgets that not everyone works the same hours as an accountant during tax season, and that there are people in the world whose weekend plans involve staying cocooned in their comfortable world of pillows and blankets until at least 9'oclock.

 

but since i at least try to keep up the appearance of being a wonderful daughter-in-law, i wracked my still-sleepy brain for a possible side dish that would compliment a dinner menu of ham, potatoes, and no less than three types of vegetables without being repetitive. not exactly a simple task. but i think i did alright, and even though i had sworn to myself that i would stay far far away from the grocery store (and its inevitable accompanying fistfights over the discounted hams) on the day before Easter, i added a stop to my Saturday errands and came home with a metric ton of fruit. which i then arranged in an almost Pinterest-worthy spread:

 

sometimes i impress myself. 

i wish i could say that the only sugar i consumed all weekend came from that giant bowl of fruit, but that would be one of the most outrageous falsehoods to ever cross my lips. i'm thinking that i might need to put myself back on a no-artificial-sugar-diet to combat the reese's peanut butter eggs and delicious fudge brownies and that whole bag of hershey's milk chocolate nuggets that i inhaled this past week, but i'm thinking that's not going to happen until after i finish this bag of jellybeans...

aside from the jellybeans, here's what i'm thinking we'll be munching on this week:

Monday: grilled chicken on spinach salad.
Tuesday: frozen raviolis in jar sauce.
Wednesday: crock pot chicken noodle soup. (recipe)
Thursday: grilled cheese and tomato soup.
Friday: let's eat out.
Saturday: angel hair with zuchinnin and tomatoes. (recipe)
Sunday: baked fish with roasted potatoes.

meal plan monday: march 25.

on the sixth day of Spring, Mother Nature gave to me:

   - three inches of snow and more to come
   - one outfit change after cleaning off my car
   - two states full of incompetent drivers
   - 30 extra minutes added to my commute
   - all sorts of people who think headlights are optional
   - and a chance i'll get snowed in in Delaware.

today, all i want to eat is hot soup and leftover birthday cake. actually, i'm pretty sure i could survive on that all week. and since chances of me making it to the grocery store after work today get slimmer and slimmer with every snowflake that CONTINUES TO FALL TODAY, that might just be a pretty real possibility. but just in case i do make it to the store, i should probably have a plan, so here it is:

Monday: Meg's fish packets with veggies and rice. (recipe)
Tuesday: soup from a can.
Wednesday: crock pot chili. (recipe)
Thursday: boboli.
Friday: taco night.
Saturday: grilled chicken on spinach salad.
Sunday: Easter lunch with the inlaws.

PS dear Mother Nature - if it is still snowing on Easter, you and I are going to have to have ourselves a little talk...