Menu Plan Monday- Week of Sept 19, 2011

Just wanted to share with you all my previous post link here....

it's for a great  cause, and if you're a blogger too, 

you might want to contact Sarah to help the cause! 

Thanks!

My oldest child, Lily turned 5 yesterday..I can't believe it...sniffle sniffle. 

In less emotional news...

We had a baking party, and it went really well...going to post about it this week! 

As for our menu plan for last week, it was kind of scattered. We were expecting to have a little more income than we actually did so I had to improvise a lot and create many meals that weren't on the plan! You will see a lot of repeats this week to use up the produce.

One of my favorites that I did on the fly is these Chicken Wings....I had a ton of them in the freezer from Costco.  My husband said they were the best Sweet Wings he's had! I did switch up the recipe amounts a little because I had run out of BBQ sauce, we use Bragg's Amino Acids instead of Soy Sauce which tastes saltier so I use less, and I didn't really measure the honey....BUT... all that said, this recipe is a great starting point!

Now for this weeks Menu Plan:

Here is what we have left from our produce share this week:

CHIOGGA BEETS
GREEN CABBAGE- 1/2 head
CARROTS
ESCAROLE
ROMAINE LETTUCE
FENNEL
AVOCADOS
GRAPE TOMATOES
SHALLOTS
GREEN KIWIS

For more menu plans, visit OrgJunkie

Here is our Menu Plan for the Week:

 

Breakfasts:

Dutch Baby Pancake- serve w/ heated up jam and syrup


Morning Glory Muffins

Quinoa Porridge w/ Cinnamon Apples

 

Eggs & Toast
Cereal 

 

Lunches:

 

Salmon/Tuna Melts

Egg Salad

Snacks:

I'm going out on a limb and going to try this- never made from last week.

 

Whole Wheat Blueberry Beet Muffins!

 

 

Fruit Salsa w/ homemade cinnamon chips

Easy Roasted Red Pepper Hummus 

 

 

Dinners:

Monday:  Glazed Chicken Wings...again! Yes, they are that good!

 

 Tuesday:         Pork Dumplings...never made this last week either!Subbing in Ground Turkey

Wednesday: 

Cannellini Bean and Escarole Dish

 

 

Thursday: 

Homemade Black Bean Veggie Burgers (Vegetarian)

Friday:  Date Night!! In-laws are in town...yay!!

Saturday:  Birthday Party- Dinner Provided

Sunday: Split Pea Soup- Uses Ham Bone I froze from Ham I got from Costco.


Thanks!

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A Child Can't Wait...Ask 5 for 5

Guest Blogger: Sarah Lenssen from #Ask5for5

Family photos by Mike Fiechtner Photography

Thank you Thyme at Home and nearly 150 other bloggers from around the world for allowing me to share a story with you today, during Social Media Week.

A hungry child in East Africa can't wait. Her hunger consumes her while we decide if we'll respond and save her life. In Somalia, children are stumbling along for days, even weeks, on dangerous roads and with empty stomachs in search of food and water. Their crops failed for the third year in a row. All their animals died. They lost everything. Thousands are dying along the road before they find help in refugee camps. 


At my house, when my three children are hungry, they wait minutes for food, maybe an hour if dinner is approaching. Children affected by the food crisis in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia aren't so lucky. Did you know that the worst drought in 60 years is ravaging whole countries right now, as you read this? Famine, a term not used lightly, has been declared in Somalia. This is the world's first famine in 20 years.12.4 million people are in need of emergency assistance and over 29,000 children have died in the last three months alone. A child is dying every 5 minutes. It it estimated that 750,000 people could die before this famine is over. Take a moment and let that settle in.


The media plays a major role in disasters. They have the power to draw the attention of society to respond--or not. Unfortunately, this horrific disaster has become merely a footnote in most national media outlets. News of the U.S. national debt squabble and the latest celebrity's baby bump dominate headlines. That is why I am thrilled that nearly 150 bloggers from all over the world are joining together today to use the power of social media to make their own headlines; to share the urgent need of the almost forgotten with their blog readers. Humans have the capacity to care deeply for those who are suffering, but in a situation like this when the numbers are too huge to grasp and the people so far away, we often feel like the little we can do will be a drop in the ocean, and don't do anything at all.

When news of the famine first hit the news in late July, I selfishly avoided it. I didn't want to read about it or hear about it because I knew I would feel overwhelmed and uncomfortable. I wanted to protect myself. I knew I would need to do something if I knew what was really happening. You see, this food crisis is personal. I have a 4-year-old son and a 1 yr-old daughter who were adopted from Ethiopia and born in regions now affected by the drought. If my children still lived in their home villages, they would be two of the 12.4 million. My children: extremely hungry and malnourished? Gulp. I think any one of us would do anything we could for our hungry child. But would you do something for another mother's hungry child?

My friend and World Vision staffer, Jon Warren, was recently in Dadaab Refugee Camp in Kenya--the largest refugee camp in the world with over 400,000 people. He told me the story of Isnino Siyat, 22, a mother who walked for 10 days and nights with her husband, 1 yr-old-baby, Suleiman, and 4 yr.-old son Adan Hussein, fleeing the drought in Somalia. When she arrived at Dadaab, she built the family a shelter with borrowed materials while carrying her baby on her back. Even her dress is borrowed. As she sat in the shelter on her second night in camp she told Jon, "I left because of hunger. It is a very horrible drought which finished both our livestock and our farm." The family lost their 5 cows and 10 goats one by one over 3 months, as grazing lands dried up. "We don't have enough food now...our food is finished. I am really worried about the future of my children and myself if the situation continues."

Will you help a child like Baby Suleiman? Ask5for5 is a dream built upon the belief that you will.

That something I knew I would need to do became a campaign called #Ask5for5 to raise awareness and funds for famine and drought victims. The concept is simple, give $5 and ask five of your friends to give $5, and then they each ask five of their friends to give $5 and so on--in nine generations of 5x5x5...we could raise $2.4 Million! In one month, over 750 people have donated over $25,000! I set up a fundraiser at See Your Impact and 100% of the funds will go to World Vision, an organization that has been fighting hunger in the Horn of Africa for decades and will continue long after this famine has ended. Donations can multiply up to 5 times in impact by government grants to
help provide emergency food, clean water, agricultural support,
healthcare, and other vital assistance to children and families suffering in the Horn.


I need you to help me save lives. It's so so simple; here's what you need to do:

1. Donate $5 or more on this page (http://seeyourimpact.org/members/ask5for5)
2. Send an email to your friends and ask them to join us.
3. Share #Ask5for5 on Facebook and Twitter!

I'm looking for another 100 bloggers to share this post on their blogs throughout Social Media Week. Email me at ask5for5@gmail.com if you're interested in participating this week.


A hungry child doesn't wait. She doesn't wait for us to finish the other things on our to-do list, or get to it next month when we might have a little more money to give. She doesn't wait for us to decide if she's important enough to deserve a response. She will only wait as long as her weakened little body will hold on...please respond now and help save her life. Ask 5 for 5.

Thank you on behalf of all of those who will be helped--you are saving lives and changing history.


p.s. Please don't move on to the next website before you donate and email your friends right now. It only takes 5 minutes and just $5, and if you're life is busy like mine, you probably won't get back to it later. Let's not be a generation that ignores hundreds of thousands of starving people, instead let's leave a legacy of compassion. You have the opportunity to save a life today!





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The dirty on Shredded Cheese....(Store Bought of Course)

So I must admit, I buy used to buy already Shredded Cheese... for convenience.  

But, now I don't and I'll tell you why:

Two words, Wood Pulp... that's right, Wood Pulp....

Pretty right? 

Delicious?

I'm not so sure.

I guess if I wanted my own shredded cheese to taste like store bought, I could just have my husband gather up some saw dust and sprinkle into my cheese bag.....yech. 

You won't see 'Wood Pulp' on the ingredients list....it will be called Cellulose. Sounds harmless right? Who doesn't need a little cellulose on their salad. Um, not me when it is coming from wood! 

I've never been one to question authority, like the government or the FDA....

until I started questioning authority

and becoming educated on what my family and myself were really eating.

So my newest plea to you? Buy blocks of cheese...why?

2 Reasons, in the words of this awesome article on this very subject:

1.  Its cheaper
2. You can take Wood Pulp off of your list of things you and your family are ingesting.

It's a Win, Win! 

Unfortunately, even Organic Brands like Organic Valley are using this product...

so READ LABELS if you just cannot give up buying Pre-Shredded Cheese.

Happy Shredding,

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Menu Plan Monday- Week of September 12, 2011

This past week was another great Menu Plan Week! Our favorite meal was by far the  

Cilantro Lime Slow Cooker Chicken...

 

I served it with Cuban Beans and Rice, chopped fresh cilantro, 

tomatoes, cheese and sour cream...

delicious!

Here is what we will be receiving from our produce share this week:

CHIOGGA BEETS
GREEN CABBAGE
CARROTS
ESCAROLE
ROMAINE LETTUCE
FENNEL
LEEKS
AVOCADOS
GRAPE TOMATOES
GREEN PEPPERS
SHALLOTS
NECTARINES
WHITE PEACHES
CANTELOPES
BANANAS
FRUIT SHARES:
WATERMELON, BLACK GRAPES AND GREEN KIWIS

For more menu plans, visit OrgJunkie

Here is our Menu Plan for the Week:

 

Breakfasts:

Dutch Baby Pancake- serve w/ heated up jam and syrup


Morning Glory Muffins

Quinoa Porridge w/ Cinnamon Apples
Eggs & Toast
Cereal 

 

Lunches:

 

Salmon/Tuna Melts

Egg Salad

Snacks:

I'm going out on a limb and going to try this:

 

Whole Wheat Blueberry Beet Muffins!

 

 

Fruit Salsa w/ homemade cinnamon chips

Easy Roasted Red Pepper Hummus 

Dinners:

 

Monday:

Pork Dumplings ( Sub in Ground Turkey)

Uses Cabbage

Tuesday:

Cannellini Bean and Escarole Dish

Wednesday:

Ground Beef Wellington w/ Fennel

Thursday: 

 

Wild Rice Soup w/ Ham

Friday: 

  Leftovers

Saturday: 

 

Homemade Black Bean Veggie Burgers (Vegetarian)

Sunday: 

 

Ropa Vieja in Slow Cooker w/ Cuban Beans and Rice

Thanks!

 

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A New Tradition...

There are many things that I see other moms doing and think,

"Gosh, if only I had the time, sanity and patience

to do that...it would be awesome!" 

But alas, with three kids 4 and under, 

I hardly have time to think about doing those things.

I was sitting in my MOPS group  when an older mentor mom

told us how every year at her child's birthday,

she would write them a letter in a birthday card that praised them, 

gave them memories and encouraged them. 

She would tell them each their positive unique attributes

and incorporate it into a loving birthday card.  

She would then keep these cards and when they moved out of the house, 

she gave them all to each of her children.

I thought, once a year??? per child???? 

That's 3 times a year, I think I can handle that... so this year, 

I am starting a new tradition, to write a 'hand-written' heart-felt letter 

to each of my children on their birthdays.

And this post will hopefully hold me accountable...

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Menu Plan Monday- Week of September 5, 2011

This past week was a great menu plan! We especially loved this recipe which I added in since I had so much leftover ham:

Elegant Wild Rice Soup

I can't recommend this recipe enough..if you don't eat pork,
you can always substitute the ham for chicken.
I also cooked up collard greens and added it to the top of the soup
which ended up tasting like it should have always been there.

Here are our leftovers from the produce share:

CELERY

CUCUMBERS

ROMAINE LETTUCE

CARROTS

CREMINI MUSHROOMS

ROMA TOMATOES

GARLIC

MUSCADINE GRAPES

FRUIT SHARES: STAR FRUIT AND BARTLETT PEARS

For more menu plans, visit OrgJunkie

Here is our menu plan for this week:

Breakfasts:

BREAKFASTS:

Dutch Baby Pancake- serve w/ heated up jam and syrup


Morning Glory Muffins

Quinoa Porridge w/ Cinnamon Apples

Eggs & Toast
Cereal

Lunches:

Leftovers

Salmon/Tuna Melts (Picked up Wild Caught Alaskan Salmon in Cans at Costco)

Egg Salad

Snacks:

Fruit Salsa w/ homemade cinnamon chips


Easy Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

Dinners:

Monday: Going to friends house for Labor Day and to celebrate Brian's birthday!

Tuesday: Chicken Pot Pie- Never made from last week


Wednesday: Beef Stroganoff- uses Mushrooms w/ salad


Thursday: Baked Slow Cooker Chicken w/ Glazed Carrots and Mashed Potatoes

Friday: Leftovers

Saturday: Slow Cooker Cilantro Lime Chicken

Sunday: Grilled Fish Tacos w/ Mango Chutney

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