Weekend Recap! Weekly Meal Plan

I love the holiday season, especially with all of the get-togethers, parties, getting dressed up and just the festiveness in the air.

Friday we went over to sister J's for dinner and games. She had her cheese dip that the boy loves, so he was very happy. We had one of my favorite things, which you will see tomorrow, and we played one of the best games, I will also share that tomorrow. She made chicken enchiladas which were wonderful and I am thinking about making those for a family party that I am hosting December 21st.

I would LOVE any and all suggestions you may have for food. There will be 13 adults and 5 kids,ages 10, 8, 8, 4 and 4. I want to make something that does not have me in the kitchen the whole time. My thoughts so far are lasagna, tacos, chile (not very kid friendly but I could do hot dogs for the kids which the guys would probably also love chile dogs), shredded beef or pork sandwiches. I would love some unique ideas. This is my mom two best girlfriends, sorority sisters from college, and their families. We have been getting together for as long as I can remember, and a few years back the kids took it over. This is the first year I am hosting it at my house, and everyone actually requested I host. The only reason I didn't volunteer was the whole kid thing. While my niece and nephews are fine, I do not exactly have a kid friendly house. Some of the things that have been done before are a taco bar (don't really want to repeat this) lasagna (I usually do the cooking at my sisters house since she is not a big cook, I made one beef and one white chicken and mushroom lasagna), an uncured ham, shredded pork sandwiches and last year I made three different types of mac and cheese. Thoughts?

Saturday the boy and I went to a couple of estate sales, ran a couple of errands and then got ready for my work holiday party.
We had a really good time, dinner was fabulous, it was fun to see everyone all dressed up and relaxed and we went out for some karaoke later!

Sunday morning came way too quickly. We stayed out a lot later than I had planned anyway. The boy enjoyed his cocktails Saturday night, so he was moving a little slower than normal, but we got up and got the house ready for my mom, sister and niece who were coming over for a day of brunch, train rides and a visit to The "new" American Girl Store at MOA.
We even had Julie's hair done. We finished the day with a visit with Grandpa and then the boy and I had dinner with his parents and watched the finish for The Amazing Race. It was not my team that won, but the boys, they were some serious competitors.

So this is a big week, and I did not get my menu posted, but this is what it looks like.
Last night we had salmon with roasted pineapple, chipotle salsa, SO good.
Tonight I have my JLM Christmas Party
Tomorrow dinner out on the fly as the boy and I will be finishing the food shopping for my holiday party Saturday and doing a little Christmas shopping.
Thursday is HH with sister J
Friday the boy and I are babysitting sister S's little baby, so we will probably just grab pizza or something while we are there.
Saturday is my holiday party, so not a lot of meal prep this week, but it is the holidays!

I will hopefully post another recipe for this weekend later today when I am finalizing the menu!