On the Menu Monday (MPM) - Week 5 - 2015

Nothing to report from the last week and weekend other than the fact that I was recovering from the crud that was going around. I came down with it last Monday and I really struggled to recover from it. I did not do any cooking or eating last week at all. All of our meal plans went out the window. The only thing I did was to put a pork butt into the crock pot and made Kahlua Pork, I figured that would be good for Scott to be able to have different ways. I realized though that if I wasn't eating he didn't really eat too much either. At least this week we will be able to use the leftovers in different ways.    My Stellacat didn't leave my side pretty much the whole week. She is such a good companion.  

    We did get out on Friday and see American Sniper. Scott had been dying to see it. What a great film, so well done and a great story, I am so glad that Chris Kyle was able to put his story on paper before we lost him. Clint Eastwood did a fabulous job with the material and Bradley Cooper really brought justice to the role. At the end, in our sold out theater, the entire theater clapped.    Saturday I thought I was feeling well enough to get out of the house. I should have stayed home. We did go to Total Wine though on Saturday. I really wanted to get out of the house, and we had not been there yet. I ran into a high school classmate of mine, who has changed careers and is one of their wine experts. It was fun to talk to him and catch up. I can't wait to try some of the wines we picked up.  They have a huge selection and great prices.  I am looking forward to being able to get some things accomplished this week! I feel like I lost a whole week!

Monday Plans - Catch up on all of the stuff that I wanted to get to last week! First up, clean out my sock drawers! I know, SO exciting! Breakfast and Lunch - Bacon, egg and toast, salad with some kahlua pork Dinner - Gyros - we did not get to have these last week!  Tuesday Plans - Third time is the charm. We have tried to go to the movies for the last two Tuesdays, I am hoping we can really make it this time! We still have a few movies that have been nominated that we want to see. Breakfast and Lunch - Bacon and egg, bbq pork on tortilla Dinner -Lettuce wrapped hamburgers   Wednesday Plans - I need to get our spice cabinet cleaned out, so that will definitely get tackled. Breakfast and Lunch - Bacon and egg, leftovers Dinner - Walleye (seriously, I am getting sick of seeing this on our meal plan week after week and it seems to never happen, this week it WILL). Thursday Plans - we have plans for a wine dinner with friends at Al Vento which is one of my favorite Italian restaurants from our old neighborhood. Can't wait for this! I am also getting a much needed haircut and spruce up! This is always nice! Breakfast and Lunch - Bacon and egg, leftovers Dinner - Al Vento Friday Plans - Hoping to try to get to another movie and grab a bite out.  Breakfast and Lunch - Bacon and egg, leftovers Dinner - hoping out Saturday Plans - Really looking forward to a spa day with two of my girlfriends. Massage, facials, spa pedicures and lunch. Breakfast and Lunch - Spa salads! Dinner - We are going out to celebrate Scott's mom's 75th birthday with his family. Sunday Plans - Super Bowl Sunday. My sister is hosting us again. We are having a chili and wing cook off. I am doing chili and Scott is doing wings. I haven't decided what kind of chili to do yet, debating on a white chicken chili or a traditional red bean chili. Game time decision I guess. Breakfast and Lunch - light, we will be eating lots of good stuff later on.  Dinner - chili, wings and good food! For more meal plans and links to recipes, check out the orgjunkie.

On the Menu Monday (MPM) - Week 4 - 2015

Last week just seemed to fly by, not sure why? Of course we didn't get to everything we wanted to, and having my parents in town changed things up a bit, but we had a good week. We did not get to HH on Wednesday, we are going to try again this week, but I am not holding my breath with this group. We also did not make the walleye, again, because I wound up picking my parents up from the airport, so I just grabbed takeout on the way home.  Friday, we had two couples for dinner and we had such a good time. I have been craving Ina Garten's lamb roast, and it turned out really well and we had people going back for thirds even.  

I also did a crostini bar for appetizers. We had leftover beef tenderloin which was perfect, along with some cave blue cheese, horseradish and olive tapenade. Next time I think I would add garlic roasted tomatoes, caramelized onions and a brie, or some kind of cheese.   

    The salad that we started with was a recipe from my favorite local grocery store. Blueberry, Manchego, Walnut Salad. I loved the dressing for this salad, it was delicious. Dessert was very easy, we just had chocolate truffles with mixed berries, blackberries, blueberries, strawberries and raspberries. It was a really nice evening. We needed a refresher in our guest bathroom, so I bought a new shower curtain, new rug and new shower hooks. It really brightened things up! A nice inexpensive change!

Saturday, after our family friends funeral, we stopped in to my sisters to see her new kitten, she is SO cute! Really takes me back to when Stella was that small. 

After we decided to catch Birdman. We like to try to see all of the movies that are nominated for the Oscars. We enjoyed this one, Scott more than I did, but I can definitely see why Michael Keaton was nominated. After we grabbed a bite to eat out, nothing fancy, but it was good.

Sunday we had a family lunch to celebrate G & G's birthdays. I cannot believe they will be 14 on Thursday. But boy, can you tell they are teenagers. I don't remember being so grumpy all the time at that age, but they really aren't a lot of fun. Grant would not even take a picture with me.

I started getting a tickle in my throat last night, and I am not feeling that great today, so not sure if our plans this week will hold up, but fingers crossed. 

Monday Plans - Our neighbors just got back from a two week cruise, so they are coming over to tell us about their travels.  Breakfast and Lunch - Fruit, Leftovers from Saturday, spaghetti and meatball Dinner - Joey Nova's pizza, our favorite Tuesday Plans - We have not taken advantage of the $5 movie night at our local theater yet, and Scott is really looking forward to seeing American Sniper.  Breakfast and Lunch - Egg and Fruit, Leftovers, probably broccoli and something Dinner - Yard House, I love this place Wednesday Plans - we are going to try, for the third week in a row, to get together with former co-workers for HH. Can't believe that we have such a hard time getting together.  Breakfast and Lunch - fruit, leftovers and a salad Dinner - HH @ Bacio Thursday Plans - getting together with a girlfriend who I always enjoy seeing for HH. Breakfast and Lunch - eggs, fruit, leftovers and a salad Dinner - using up some of the leftover lamb and making gyros Friday Plans - oh boy am I in for fun now. I have a root canal scheduled for the afternoon, so it will be a low key night with some DVR or movies on demand. Breakfast and Lunch - eggs, fruit, salad Dinner - I am thinking the only thing I am going to feel like eating is soup. Saturday and Sunday Plans - We haven't made plans yet for the weekend. I am sure we will try to get another movie or two in that have been nominated for awards. For more meal plans and links to recipes, check out the orgjunkie.

On the Menu Monday (MPM) - Week 18

So, seriously, where have the last 6 weeks gone? We have been really busy lately. Between both sets of our parents getting back from AZ, working on the living room transformation and celebrating my birthday, having guests in town and of course WORK!  This past weekend was a ton of fun. Friday started with having a fantastic lunch with an awesome former co-worker, I always love catching up with him (and he brought me back a ton of batteries from TRF for CHEAP!). They make their own raspberry lemonade which is absolutely delicious!  

Then we decided to do an impromptu dinner with friends J & T and our neighbors B & P. I decided to try a new recipe, I did a pasta with grilled steak and a gorgonzola cream sauce. I had seen it on the menu at lunch and it sounded really good. I think next time I would try it with chicken. We played Cards of Humanity, oh my, it was the first time for all of us. Needless to say, my stomach hurt from laughing so hard the next morning.  Saturday we spent the day running errands and getting ready for a little wine club get together. We had friends staying with us from Aurora, CO. They moved away last summer, and stayed with us for a long weekend. It was so good to see them and catch up. Great excuse to get the wine club together too! We had a great time and picked out some great desserts to go with the wine!  

Here is what on tap for this week.

Monday

Plans - Home, We both need it after this weekend. Early to bed!

Breakfast and Lunch - Banana peanut butter and toast, fruit.

Dinner - Salmon with lemon and dill, rice

Tuesday

Plans - Our neighbors lower level flooded so we are having them over for dinner.

Breakfast and Lunch - Cottage cheese and fruit, leftover pizza

Dinner - Chicken parmesan, salad and beautiful delicious desserts (see above)

Wednesday

Plans - Out to dinner. Eat Street Social is quickly becoming one of our favorite restaurants, SO good and they change their menu seasonally, This is their last week of their winter menu. 

Breakfast and Lunch - Peanut butter and banana toast, leftover chicken parm

Dinner - Out

Thursday
Plans - Silver Oak Wine Dinner at Ruths Chris
Breakfast and Lunch - Cottage cheese and berries, something light, big dinner planned
Dinner - the menu looks amazing!

Friday
Plans - not so much fun, doctors appointments in the afternoon, so just a half day of work and then it is mani pedi time and some errands!
Breakfast and Lunch - Cottage cheese and berries
Dinner - wasn't really hungry, so we just popped some popcorn

Saturday
Plans - We were going to go salsa dancing and out to dinner with friends. But our neighbors had to put their dog down after a battle with cancer and they really had a tough time with this, so we decided to do an impromptu derby day dinner and had our friends J & T over as well, and of course their puppy. Puppy kisses always help. 
Breakfast and Lunch - Peanut butter banana and toast.
Dinner - Coleslaw, homemade mac and cheese, ham and rolls

Sunday
Plans - clean out the garage, organize the house. We have been going things, rooms, closets one by one and purging and paring down. We took a load to my mom's shop and a load to Goodwill.
Breakfast and Lunch - Leftover ham and some cheese on a roll. And then we failed on our 30 day challenge. After we dropped some stuff off at my mom's shop, we were both hungry and Taco John's was calling our name.
Dinner - Popcorn again, we just weren't that hungry after having a late lunch at Taco John's.

I did pick this up at my mom's shop, makes a great spring time addition to our 1/2 bath.

On the Menu Monday (MPM) - Week 11

Starting to get caught up, this will be my last post for the past, then I can focus on staying caught up going forward.

Monday
Plans - Home
Dinner - Chicken Pot Pie - Fail, Scott went to McDonalds for quick take out. We had a chicken pot pie from Trader Joe's that may have been in the fridge too long

Tuesday
Plans - Bunco, I sub hosted for a neighbor that had water damage to her house. Went with a St. Patrick's day theme, so much fun!
Dinner - I made a Creme de Menthe trifle, a platter of green veggies, my favorite cranberry dip and had lots of fun green and fun treats out. Skittles and rolos to represent the rainbow and pot of gold were one of my favorites.

Wednesday
Plans - Look at lamps - we wound up purchasing our comforter, liked a couple of sets of lamps, but didn't love anything. Here are some looks that we liked though. Home Goods is by far my favorite place to look for lamps and such. Best prices. I am not sure if I want to go with a brushed nickel or a bluish teal yet. My favorites are the ones on the bottom, but the boy doesn't like the shape of the shades, grrrrrrr. I don't know why I let him vote.
Dinner - Bacio

Thursday
Plans - Movie - West End - Identity Thief - We came home to a cop blocking our street, so we went one strret down and tried to get through and couldn't, there were fire trucks everywhere. A girl whose parents live one down from us said we are better off just parking and walking. I saw a fireman and asked what was going on, he said there was a fire at the blue house on the corner. My heart just sank. Our lovely neighbors Al and Jane had an electrical fire in their attic, there were fire trucks everywhere. I called our neighbors, who are also good friends and they said everyone was in their driveway to walk down. Oh the feeling and thought of a house fire, so scary. Luckily they were okay as well as their beagle Emma. But the damage to their house is just too much to comprehend. We spent most of the evening at the neighbors having cocktails as the firetrucks didn't leave until after 10 and we could not get to our house. SO scary, but thank goodness everyone is okay. It also happens to be one of our favorite houses on the street.
Dinner - Popcorn at the movies, cocktails at the neighbors.

Friday
Plans - Home
Dinner - Cheese and crackers - more of a HH dinner

Saturday
Plans - Look at Parade of Homes with neighbors. We saw some great homes and got some good ideas. Of course my favorite room, at my favorite house, I did not take pictures of, so I might have to go back to it.
Dinner - Golden Nugget - Burgers

I love this sectional, I am thinking this might be nice for the downstairs or our media room. Such classic styling.

I like the way the lamps looked on the nightstands. Wanted to get an idea for shapes. Love the headboard too.

Getting ideas for dining room light fixtures, I liked this, the boy not so much.

Loved the look of the hanging and the chandelier over the table. 

Nice looking kitchen.

This is what we have in mind for our walk up bar for downstairs.Only white. 

Nice pendant lighting, possible kitchen idea. 

Sunday
Plans - Errands, Mom and Dad for dinner
Dinner - Ribs, Scalloped potatoes, steamed broccoli, acorn squash

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

Meal Plan Monday - Week 11

I left work at a normal hour and went out to dinner with the boy, sister J and our friend M on Friday. Home and to bed at a decent hour. Saturday I had Summit duty, a haircut, some errands and then I came home and took a NAP! I could barely keep my eyes open when I got home, the boy was busy mouse-proofing the pantry (I have never in my entire life lived anywhere that has had mice, EVER, here, we have mice, squirrels in the attic, bugs and woodpeckers, as one problem is solved another crops up) and I went to lay down and close my eyes for a minute and slept for over and hour and a half! The stress of last week really got to me I think and I just needed the sleep. We wound up going out for a late dinner and then home and turned in early again.

Sunday my parents came over to see the basement and offer suggestions and join us for brunch which was really nice. It had been almost three months since we had seen them last, they had just gotten back from AZ. After brunch my mom and I went to run some errands and do some shopping which was nice, we did a little thrifting which was fun too (post with my treasures later this week). My mom's laptop was on its last leg, so I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening getting one of my old ones cleaned up and ready for her to use while we watched The Amazing Race as well as Cash and Cari and American Pickers which we had recorded. I wound up having to work most of Sunday night however, which made for a later night and realistically, I don't adjust to time changes very well, and could have used more sleep, tonight I guess :).

This week, we have a few things that need to be crossed off the list. We are meeting with the contractor later today to talk about plans and timing. We decided we don't want to start any of the "work" until the snow melts and we are sure we aren't going to have any more water in the basement. We have a pretty good idea of what we want to do in the basement though which is nice. Just can't wait for it to be done. Don't worry, I will be documenting our progress and will bring you along on the journey.

We also have tickets to see The Last Lions which is a documentary that I have been wanting to see. Another item for this week is the Auto Show which is a must on the boys list every year. I have to admit, I don't mind checking out the vehicles myself, I always have my favorites and it is nice to get ideas for future purchases. So, busy week and I am swamped with work as well.

We also have some Groupons to use up, so there will not be a lot of cooking going on this week. 

Here is how the week is shaping up.

Monday
Plans - Contractors over to discuss plans for basement
Dinner - Southwestern Meatballs with rice and peppers

Tuesday
Plans -Screening of The Lincoln Lawyer Worked late
Dinner - Sakana (Groupon)

Wednesday
Plans - The Last Lion's
Dinner - Duplex (Groupon)

Thursday
Plans - Pick up race packets for both Sister J who is traveling for work and myself. Then a bite to eat and the Auto Show.
Dinner - Pizza Nea or Nye's (Groupons)

Friday
Plans - Dinner out and then home to rest for the race
Dinner - Chez Daniel (Groupon)

Saturday
Plans - Sister J and I are "running" the Get Lucky 7K, I am REALLY looking forward to this and HOPING for good weather. After the boy and I are having lunch here and then going home to get ready and set up for the Foodies and Winos event we are hosting.
Dinner - Foodies and Winos Chocolate and Wine Pairing - I am making this Seared Pork with Cocoa Spice Rub

Sunday
Plans - Both sets of parents are coming over and then we are heading to dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. None of them have been, and every time the boy and I talk about it, both of our mom's always say, oh, I have never been there, I really want to go. So we thought it would be fun to take all of them and have an evening out and then home for some Amazing Race.
Dinner - Cheesecake Factory (Gift Cards from Mystery Shops)

For More Meal Plans, and recipes, check out the Orgjunkie.

Meal Plan Monday (ummm, try Thursday. . . .)! Weekend Update!

Update. . . I really did start this Monday, but I have been swamped this week at work. And at the moment I am listening to a meeting, but I really would like to get at least one post done this week! I have SO much going on at the moment, and I feel REALLY disorganized, which kinda makes me nuts!

So I was hoping to post a giveaway later last week, but the week got away from me and I have not found exactly what I am looking for quite yet, so maybe later this week!

We had a wonderful weekend, it was SO nice to get away and we really needed it. We actually decided to skip the movie screening on Thursday night, I made tacos and we caught up on stuff at home and packed for the weekend. Wednesday we actually went back to look at a house we had looked at Monday and wound up ordering in pizza with the boys parents and his dad wrote up our offer. We are waiting to hear on the house now so we will see. Fingers crossed, when I hear something I will go into further details.

Friday morning we got some errands done, the house picked up and then headed for Duluth. We listened to a great book on CD by James Patterson, he is a favorite of both of ours. It was a beautiful day finally and we really enjoyed the ride. We got up, got checked in at Fitgers, beautiful room with a gorgeous view, opened a bottle of wine and relaxed before dinner.

We had dinner at the restaurant in the hotel. It was okay and what I mean by that is, I didn't like it at all, but the boy thought his was okay. I guess I just expect once you start hitting that $100 mark, it should be a pretty decent meal with great flavors, good service and the food should be timed to come to your table appropriately. Duluth is about 2 hours North of the Twin Cities with not a TON to choose from, and this was just okay  in my book. Again though, our room was fabulous and the view incredible. I tried to make an appointment for a pedicure the next morning in their salon to no avail. I also thought the customer service (over the phone) was terrible, again, I think my expectations were a little high.

The next morning we enjoyed a quick continental breakfast in a beautiful room off of the lobby. They had these great homemade donut holes which were really good! We planned out our day and decided to head to the Glensheen Mansion for the extended tour. I didn't know a ton about the background of this home, but a tour of a mansion and grounds sounded like a good idea in my book!

We decided to do the extended tour which included the Carriage House, all three floors of the main house as well as the attic and basement and then of course we were free to spend as much time as we liked in the gardens and grounds. It was a very impressive tour. The home is now owned by the University of MN - Duluth and it is students that work there and give tours. Our tour guide did a great job and gave us some great history. I won't go into a great deal of detail, but the home was amazing and the history was fascinating. Right down to the reason why the U of MN - Duluth owns the home now (murders and mischief!).

After our two hour tour, we were pretty hungry, so we took the advice of our friend B who went to school up there and had some Mexican for lunch at a place called Hacienda del Sol. It was a little hole in the wall kind of a place, but it was very good and very filling. We were ready for some serious walking after that. We headed down to Canal Park to take in the boats going through the liftbridge, some people watching and the Maritime Museum.

Lots of walking, a little shopping, saw some great boats coming in, it was a beautiful day! We could not have asked for better weather and we really just enjoyed walking around taking in the sights.

We had toyed with the idea of spending another night, but that was when we were under the impression that my cousin and his wife would be in town (they just moved there from Iowa 6 months ago) and the boys brother would come down and spend the day with us. But as it turned out, my cousin and his wife were in Iowa for their daughters graduation, and the boys brother had a mix up and had to work. SO, we decided to hit the road and head back. We were planning on stopping at this little casino and playing a couple of games on the machines and grabbing a bite to eat, but then the boys dad called and he said that they were up at the lake and that we should head up. So we took the next exit and headed over there. We got there in time for dinner, so we went to grab a bite with his mom and dad.

The weather was perfect and we really enjoyed all day Sunday. We got a walk in, the boys parents did some landscaping and re-planting and we all got some reading in while soaking up the sun. We all mentioned just how good it felt. It was like I could just feel that Vitamin D soaking into my body!

This week has been beyond busy. I have a very busy week at work, lots of meetings and document reviews in preparation for two big meetings next week. I have also taken on a couple of new projects, which means that my work weeks have gone from 50 to more like 65 hours. I am really looking forward to a nice long weekend next weekend.

I am also really busy with Junior League at the moment as well. Turnover to the next Cookbook and Dinner Club Chair and then getting ready to take on my next role and planning for next year. We have two Presidential Socials, one in June and the other July, so I have started the planning of those as well. I am looking forward to the new role, I know that there will be some stress involved, but I am sure it will be a good learning experience as well. After my JLM meetings on Tuesday I headed over to Joe's Garage for the Monthly Pint. It was a beautiful night and it was so nice to just sit outside, catch up with people and enjoy a glass of wine and a bite to eat.

A couple of weeks ago, someone reached out to me through my wine club asking if I could help her with  some wine resources for a gala \ fundraiser that she was working on which was coming up in the next couple of months. As I read on in her email I realized that it was a new foundation that had just been started for Ovarian Cancer. She came to the right person. We have spoken and exchanged emails a few times since and I am not fully involved! I met up with the other board members last night for a big planning session and I have to say I am SO SO SO excited. Great girls, great cause and the gala is going to be SO much fun I cannot wait! We are still ironing out the facility details, but once we have a signed contract I will be sharing the details with all of my friends and help finalize some more of the logistical details. More to come on this I am sure.

So on with the lame meal plan for the week. . .

Monday
Plans - Catch up at home, work late
Dinner - Quick Roasted Cherry Tomato Sauce with Spaghetti from June 2010 Cooking Light (very good, very easy!)

Tuesday
Plans - JLM Meetings - Monthly Pint
Dinner - Joe's Garage (fish tacos - SO good!)

Wednesday
Plans - Charlene's Light Fundraiser Meeting
Dinner - It just didn't happen. The boy had leftovers.

Thursday
Plans - Screening of Cyrus and a Q & A with John C. Reilly
Dinner - Gyros at Falafel King

Friday
Plans - a date with the boy, its been a long week already :)
Dinner - we are thinking Porter & Frye

Saturday
Plans - Graduation Party for my cousins daughter, can't wait, it is supposed to be gorgeous and I am looking forward to catching up with some family I have not seen in a while.
Dinner - Depends on how long we stay at the party I guess!

Sunday
Plans - Brunch, plant my herbs, clean the house (maybe, egads, pack some boxes)
Dinner (lets just call this brunch) - either Nicollet Island Inn or Jax Cafe (this is where my dad took my mom for their first date!)

So, now that the week is almost over. . . .well, I did start this back on Monday morning, it is just that darn work that keeps getting in the way!

Hope you are all having a good week!