On the Menu Monday (MPM) - Week 41

Weekends go by way too quickly and there is never enough time to squeeze everything in. It doesn't help when the Ta Da list just keeps getting longer and longer. I was able to squeeze in an early morning nail appointment, as well as friends for turkey tacos and some wine Friday night. Saturday was a ton of fun, although we had to skip the Arboretum due to wet weather. But we did check out a MN winery that we all really enjoyed. Then it was back to our house for an Octoberfest themed dinner. We started with cocktails and some spinach/kale appetizers which I threw into the oven. They were from Trader Joe's, a new wonderful find to keep on hand. We also had some cheese and meats which were delicious. Dinner was Honey Apple Slaw from the Fall Celebrate Magazine (this is one of my all time favorite magazines, I get it both in hard copy and digital editions and I find I go back to issues over and over again), Slow Cooker Reuben Brats from Taste of Home September/October, Sweet and Spicy Beans also from Taste of Home September/October. We celebrated a couple of birthdays, so we had stopped at the bakery in town to pick up 6 different cupcakes, cut them each into 4 and tried a little of a few. It was a fun menu and a great group.

The boy recently painted the sitting room, right off of the kitchen and dining room. Actually it is inbetween the kitchen and dining room, and traditionally, is supposed to be the formal dining room. For us though, we decided to take what was supposed to be the formal living room, and convert that to the formal dining room, it is bigger and we need the space for dinner parties and such. It has really worked out nicely for us. We moved furniture around after the boy finished painting the sitting room and really transformed the space. I will have some pictures soon, but we are having a really hard time finding a love seat or settee that we both like. And believe me, we have LOOKED! We did find a great piece that we are using as the bar, and a rug that I just love, but we have a few more details to work out before I post it. I am really hoping we can find the final pieces before our holiday party, I am sure the space will be used then! The dining room is done though, so I do need to get some pictures posted soon here, we are really happy with the way things turned out. Two more rooms on the main floor left to go, but they are also big rooms that need a lot more updating done to them, the media room, or family room and the kitchen. We are thinking that we could just paint the rooms for the time being, but I know the boy likes to just do the whole thing and not do bandaids. We will see.

This week, second week on a new client site, which I am not really digging. I am in the office 5 days a week, from 7 to 4 and commuting with the boy. Not sure what I think of the whole situation yet, but I am leaving my options open. By the end of last week, I was exhausted from not getting enough sleep at night, but I also know and understand that it will take at least three weeks for my body to adjust to a new rhythm. Last week we had a lot going on after work, so we didn't get to the gym, this week we are going to try to schedule some gym time which may help. We will see.

Monday
Plans - gym, catch up at home, laundry, work on closets, fall/halloween decor
Breakfast and Lunch - Cottage cheese, berries, salad, veggies
Dinner - Turkey Chili (a request from the boy who devoured the last batch, I only had a cup, and it makes great leftovers to take for lunches). I also need to make my appetizer to bring to Bunco! Post to follow!

Tuesday
Plans - Bunco!
Breakfast and Lunch - Greek yogurt, apple with peanut butter, pumpkin soup
Dinner - Not sure if my sister, our friend L or sister J will be coming for dinner, they are going to be subs, so just in case I am going to make a big pot of vegetable beef soup (from The Paleo Cookbook: 300 delicious Paleo diet recipes) to have on hand. It is another one of the boys favorites and will be good to bring some to my aunt and uncle on Wednesday.

Wednesday
Plans - friend J is hosting a purse party, and I haven't seen her in a long time so it will be good to see her and catch up. Hoping to also go to the gym after work. Tuesday is also my aunts birthday, she lives on the same street as our friend J, so I thought I would bring her and my uncle some soup, as well as some flowers.
Breakfast and Lunch - Cottage Cheese and berries, turkey chili
Dinner - Salmon and broccoli

Thursday
Plans - Really looking forward to this, we are off to see Cirque Du Soleil, Amaluna. This will be our fourth here in the Twin Cities! We are also heading to a new restaurant beforehand, can't wait!
Breakfast and Lunch - Greek yogurt, apple and peanut butter, salad
Dinner - Firelake Grillhouse

Friday
Plans - Heading to the gym after work, then it will be home, catching up on shows on the DVR, we are SO behind on the fall season already! House chores since we have a busy weekend!
Breakfast and Lunch - Cottage cheese and berries, Vegetable Beef Soup
Dinner - Hearty Mushroom Meatloaf (also from the Paleo cookbook, I am going to use ground turkey instead of beef however)

Saturday
Plans -  Twin Cities SharePoint Saturday, all day. I am volunteering for registration as well, so I need to be there EARLY! Hoping to make some good connections and catch up with some familiar faces so that I can move on from my current client. QUICKLY!
Breakfast and Lunch - a granola bar on the go, I need to be at the conference by 7:00 am, lunch is a salad
Dinner - Garlic chicken with mushrooms and red peppers I may make rice with this, depends on. We have been staying away from starches for the most part, but this might call for a little basmati. I will also most likely double this so that we have leftovers for lunches next week.

Sunday
Plans - Canadian Thanksgiving! The boy loves this day, so we will be heading over to our Canadian friends C for dinner. I am sure it will be delicious as always and definitely will get me thinking about planning our Thanksgiving. We will NOT be doing a joint Thanksgiving again this year at our house with both side of the family. It just gets to be too much and is too overwhelming and we don't enjoy ourselves. If I am not on a client where I am working from home at least half of the time yet, that is going to make things even a little tougher, so we will need to plan plan plan.
Dinner - Turkey, I am sure everything will be delicious.

I am on my fourth dietbet, the third one ends tomorrow, and I am not 100% sure if I am going to make my goal for the third one.  Between being on a new client site last week, missing out on my usual walks, and a few celebration dinners and wine nights, I don't think I am quite there, but close. Keeping my fingers crossed after a good workout at the gym tonight. The fourth one I am going to be trying really hard to make, it doesn't end for another two weeks, so I have some wiggle room and time to get adjusted to my new schedule. Once I make the goal for my 4th dietbet, I will be down 28 pounds and well on my way to reaching my goal of being down 45 by the end of the year. I keep saying slow and steady, it took me 5 years to put this on, it will take a while to take it off, but I can feel the difference already. And while I know there are certain foods the boy misses, we try to have one cheat day a week where we go out or have whatever we want. Which usually winds up being what he wants. This week it will most likely be Sunday with Canadian Thanksgiving, lots of wine and good foods. I will most likely have fish and veggies when we go out. I find that as long as review menus prior to going out to dinner, I can usually figure out what I am going to eat ahead of time. One of our guests did bring me some pumpkin ice cream the other night, so I might have to have a little of that if I make my goal tomorrow. If not, it waits!

For more meal plans and links to recipes, check out the orgjunkie.