Monday Meal Plan! Plus, a bonus freezer meal section!

This is going to be quite the week for cooking!  I'm still in the pursuit of new recipes to try during the week for once we go back to work since I've felt like we're in an eating rut.  Plus, we just bought our new second refrigerator/freezer for the breezeway and just in time, because I'm have a four-week plan of freezer meals to make for when Baby Evan arrives!

So, this is going to be a post loaded with recipes and ideas for things you can make now for dinner or things you could freeze for down the road:

Monday -  Taco Salad Casserole!  We love Mexican foods in our house, so anything new and different is right up our alley.  Here's where the recipe came from:  Football Fiesta Casserole.

Tuesday - A different version of BBQ Chicken Pizza.  I made one before that was awesome, but I saw a new recipe for a lighter version that I've been dying to try.  Here's the recipe:  BBQ Chicken Pizza.

Wednesday - Chicken Caesar Sandwiches in the crockpot because they were such a hit last time!  Brown rice and green beans for the sides.  Here's my post about this recipe that we made a few weeks ago:  Monday Meal Plan!.

Thursday -  Cheddar Potato Soup and Organic Applegate Hot Dogs.  I found the cheddar potato soup recipe a few years ago while randomly watching the Food Network.  It was a Semi-Homemade with Sandra Lee episode...so you might be able to find it on the website.  But, it's very easy.  Peel and chop some potatoes, boil until they're soft, drain the water, add 2 cans of cheddar cheese soup, 2.5 cups of chicken stock, and you're done.  I like to add croutons to add some crunch!

Friday - Baked Classic Ziti, salad, and breadsticks.  I'm going to double this recipe and put one in the freezer as part of my freezer meals for this week.  I blogged about this recipe a few weeks ago and it was amazing!  Scott doesn't usually like meat in his spaghetti sauce, but he raved about this one.  Here's my post about it:  Classic Baked Ziti.

Okay...now on to the new and exciting part of my Monday Meal Plan post for this week!  The freezer meals!

I've decided that for the month of August, in preparation for having a newborn, I'm going to make all the meals I made last time and freeze them, in addition to many new ones I've found on Pinterest and some breakfast items like pancakes, french toast, and muffins.  We are going to be stocked!  And I finally have the space to really do this!

This week I wanted to start off simple, so I chose 3 meals that I could prepare a gallon freezer bag of the ingredients to pull out, defrost, and throw in the crock pot when we're ready to make them.  I'm also going to double my Ziti on Friday to put a foil pan of that in the freezer too.  I'm trying to avoid a lot of Italian though since that seems to be what people want to bring over.  And I'm trying to limit the amount of foods I have to cook during each week this month to 4-5 items.  Our grocery store trips are going to be painful with all this cooking...but it'll be worth it, right?

July 29^th – August 4^th:

1.        Best Ever Beef Dip Sandwiches (Make ahead for Crock Pot Meal):

4 pounds beef chuck roast

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 tablespoon dried rosemary

3 bay leaves

1 cup soy sauce

* To make ahead/freezer meal - Place all the ingredients except the water into a gallon sized freezer storage bag; seal and freeze. When ready to prepare, defrost completely. Place contents into your slow cooker and add 6 cups of water. Cook on low setting for 6 to 10 hours. Unlike most roasts, the longer the better.

     2.  Teriyaki Chicken (Make ahead for Crock Pot Meal):

                Medium – Large bag of carrots

Red Onion into Large Chunks

2 large cans pineapple (undrained)

4 Garlic Cloves

4 Chicken Breasts

1 cup teriyaki sauce

*Follow directions above, and split everything into two gallon freezer bags. shake it up, seal, label and put in the freezer. Instructions for Bag: Add 1/4 cup teriyaki sauce to crock pot, Cook on low 8 hours or high 4 hours. Serve over hot rice. 

       3.   Sausage and Peppers (Make ahead for Crock Pot Meal):

6 Italian Sausage (or chicken sausage)

2 green peppers

1 red pepper

1 large red onion

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 cans italian diced tomatoes

drizzle olive oil

1 Tbs Italian seasoning

*Follow directions above, and put everything into two gallon freezer bags, shake it up, seal, label and put in the freezer. Instructions for Bag: Cook on low 8 hours, or grill. After cooking, serve over hot pasta or on hollowed out, buttered crusty bread.

And here's my finished products:

Keeping Sean busy

Considering the majority of this month has been spent indoors, thanks to the unbearably hot weather we've been experiencing, I've had to consult Pinterest for some toddler activities to keep Sean busy.  I just couldn't handle waddling around the zoo another day in this heat right now!  I've been pinning like crazy gathering freezer meal ideas for when I start my freezer stash for baby Evan's arrival and toddler activities so I don't pull my hair out with two kids at home on maternity leave, so I have quite a few cool ideas!

1.  We decided to do an activity that works on fine motor skills and I liked that I had all the ingredients at home already and it took less than 2 minutes to set up.

What you need:

• A Styrofoam cup
• Spaghetti noodles
• Cheerios

And the object was for Sean to get the Cheerios through the noodles.  It was a challenge at times for him, but he gave it his best effort for a good 10 minutes.  Then he thought it would be fun to turn the cup around, take out all the spaghetti, and just transfer the Cheerios from the snack container to the cup.  Over and over again.  So, the activity bought me a good 25 minutes of Sean busy and happy.

2.  I saw a friend post on Facebook this neat art project where you use toilet paper rolls for them to dip the paint in to.  So, I grabbed our painting tarp, cleared a space in the garage with a box fan on high, and let Sean give it a whirl.

What you need:

• 6 toilet paper rolls
• 6 paper plates
• 6 different color washable paints
• Paper to put it on

And you end up with a beautiful picture to hang inside:

 

3.  This activity seemed perfect since it's been so hot out and because Sean is obsessed with cars!  I knew this would keep him busy since he'd be bound and determined to get the cars out.  I froze a few of his hot wheel cars in a long rectangular Glad container with water in the freezer over night.  In the afternoon after his nap, I popped the frozen block out, gave him a mini hammer we had, and let him work at getting the cars out.  He wasn't entertained as long as I thought he'd be and luckily we had the his baby pool filled with water because it came down to just putting the ice in the pool to let it quickly thaw so he wouldn't freak out about his cars.

4.  Lastly, we babysat our niece this morning who is 3.5 years old and I wanted to come up with a fun activity that both of them would be happy with.  I had been seeing recipes on the internet for making your own play dough, so last night I gathered my supplies and spent about 30 minutes making 4 batches of different colored play dough for them.

 

Overall, it was easy to make.  Here's what you need:

• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup water
• 1/3 cup salt
• 2 tsp. cream of tartar
• 1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
• Food coloring gel or Kool Aid packets

Mix all the ingredients together except the food coloring over medium/low heat in a saucepan.  When it starts to get more solid, add the food coloring and continue stiring until the dough begins to wrap around the spoon.  Flop onto a piece of wax paper to cool.  When cooled, squeeze and press the play dough to work out any lumps.

The kids really enjoyed it this morning!  Especially because Scott made bowling pins out of the blue dough and let them use the other dough as the bowling balls.  Then we made snakes.  And finally, we made a smiley face out of the snake pieces.  We got a solid 30 minutes of play out of this stuff and it's in some Glad containers ready for another day.

Of course cars have to be involved for Sean to be interested.

I can't wait to try a few more ideas I have pinned that involve pipe cleaners and boxes.  We just got a second fridge/freezer delivered and have the huge box waiting for us to transform it into something.  I'm thinking a school bus...I have the paint and black paper plates as wheels all ready to go...

My "thrifty 50.....mm"!

I got myself a new lens.  Yup.  A 50mm 1.8.

I took it with us to Chicago and used it here and there when it seemed most appropriate.  Like the pictures at the indoor pool in the evening.  And the Children's Museum.   And Shedd Aquarium since the lighting in there was horrible and they wouldn't let you use a flash.

For the price, you can't beat not having to use artificial light the flash provides.  And I'd like to think that I'm able to get much better shots in certain situations.  I love the depth of field it provides!

Anyway, I read this great article I saw on Pinterest about getting better shots of a toddler.  With Sean running around and moving constantly, I can't get great pictures of him looking at the camera anymore.  In fact, getting a huge smile on his face while looking at the camera is a rarity.  I'm usually in a squatting position, trying desperately to focus and set the settings quickly, and then poof!  He's gone!

Last night, Scott was trying to keep Sean happy and entertained while I cooked dinner.  They were in the living room, on the couch, while it was storming outside, and I was able to put the thrifty 50 to work and capture these shots.  I had the overhead fan and light on, so it wasn't the most natural light, but it still gave us some good ones:

• The article had said to wait for the opportune moment, like when they're watching Bubble Guppies, so they would be sitting still long enough to get close to them.

• I came back a few minutes later and Scott was reading new library books we had picked up that afternoon to Sean...and it was adorable.  Another moment when Sean wouldn't notice me there snapping away because the "red cruck" was more exciting than mama.

I can't wait to take the lens out tonight during that "golden hour" to see what it can do with some phenomenal natural lighting.  We're planning on going to Music in the Park so I'm hoping they'll be some great moments to capture...

All in all, it was $100 well spent.

Chi-"car"-go!

I'm pretty sure Sean is meant to live in a big city like Chicago.  Between the airplane ride there, the train ride into the city, his first taxi and bus rides, and the infinite number of moving vehicles that honked and had sirens, he was in his element here.  In fact, on the last day, when he was asked if he wanted to go home and see Bailey, his response was, "No!".  Sorry kid.

Wednesday- We left on Wednesday morning with an hour and a half delay.  Seriously, we might have gotten there faster if we drove.  But, we wouldn't have had this opportunity:

Once we landed, we quickly got on the orange line into the city and sat amongst some scary characters, switched to the red line (subway), and had a nice gentlemen show us to our hotel that was one block down the road for the cost of $3.  Scammers...

We met up with my Dad at the hotel and headed out for a late lunch at Yolk.  I highly recommend this restaurant!  They only serve breakfast and lunch, but man, everything we got was delicious!  And the free silly bands that we put on our noses were a nice addition while we waited for our food:

We continued our walk to Navy Pier since it was such a nice day and decided to let Sean let out some steam and play his heart out at the Children's Museum.  It reminded me of the Ann Arbor Hands On Museum, but much larger and some awesome rooms where they could dig for dinosaur bones or pretend fish.  Here's a few favorites:

After Sean hit burn-out mode with only a 30 minute nap on the airplane earlier that day, we decided to walk the pier and grab some dinner at Harry Carry's.  Sean had an awesome Wisconsin Smoked Cheddar Mac and Cheese and I tried some BBQ Chicken Pizza!  It really hit the spot.  So, we walked the long walk back to our hotel and decided to hit the hay since tomorrow would be another full day.

Thursday - After a crappy night of sleep (thanks, Sean!) we let Sean play in the room after breakfast downstairs and he was game for an early nap around 10:30am.  My parents and I left Scott and Sean back at the hotel to nap and decided to hit Michigan Ave. for some Garrett's popcorn, Hershey's chocolate, and Disney Store clearance treasures like Tow Mater from Car's for only $3.99!  We got back with enough time to share our treats and get ready to head to Wrigley Field for the Cubs game at 1:20.

Holy cow - taking the train to the game was quite the experience!  Everyone and their brother had the same idea.  Standing shoulder to shoulder with people while holding either the diaper bag or Sean sweating profusely on the train for 20 minutes was my definition of torture.

The stadium wasn't all that exciting to me since it was so old.  There wasn't a carousel like we have at Comerica for Sean to ride when he was bored and they ran out of ice cream in the helmets.  Seriously.  Who runs out of ice cream in the summer?  But, we were lucky to witness a Cubs' victory on a beautiful day with our seats in the shade and a great view!  And Sean was quite the trooper!  He sat in our seats for all of the game except for 20 minutes when we went on an ice cream hunt.

We headed back to the hotel, on yet another crowded train, took showers, and got ready to head out to Gino's East Pizzeria!  This is definitely a Chicago landmark in my mind and I've been supporting their business every time I'm in town.  Sean wasn't up for trying the famous deep dish pizza since it took 45 minutes to bake, so I had to break down and order him chicken fingers and fries.  Worst parent ever.  We went back to the hotel afterwards, swam in the pool (so refreshing), and called it a night!

Friday - Shedd Aquarium day!!!  We rushed to have breakfast and get put together to get ready for the aquarium knowing that it would be super busy the later we went.  We figured out the bus pick-up spot and hit the road!  $81 later for four admission tickets (2 of which were a reduced price since we're both teachers)...

Scott and I rushed back to the hotel to shower and get ready again for Linda and Quentin's wedding downtown, while Sean played with grandma and grandpa.  It was so nice to go out on the town for the night, and I heard Sean was a little crabby at Navy Pier that evening, but downed some Sweet and Sour Chicken and Mongolian Beef take-out from PF Changs.

Saturday - Our last full day here!  My Dad had to leave early in the morning to go back to the plant for shutdown, but we decided to get a late start and head out to Lincoln Park Zoo to see some animals and grab lunch out.  We decided to forgo the bus experience again and splurged on a taxi ride.  Soo glad we did!  The taxi driver and I chatted about our T3i's.  The zoo was impressive!  Sean loved the sea otters and prairie dogs!  We headed over to the petting zoo and farm animals, where Sean fell in love with the life-size John Deere tractor that we had to wait in line for him to sit in.  After that, we decided to walk over to Old Town on Wells St. for some lunch.  We had these yummy burgers and sweet potato fries, all while Sean napped in his stroller!  We walked him back to the zoo where he woke up and ate his take-out lunch and was ready for another hour or so of animals!

After his meltdown in the gift shop about not getting a tractor toy, we decided to head back to the hotel.  We swam in the pool to cool off and got ready for our last dinner in town right down the road from our hotel at the Rock Bottom Brewery.

Sunday - Time to go home.  We had a 10:50am flight and did the whole red line to orange line with a stroller and three suitcases parade and everything went off without a hitch.  Sean was awake for the whole flight this time and did great!  He loved looking out the window at the clouds and was able to see the cockpit before he took his seat.

This was truly one for the books and I'm so glad Sean was able to experience all of these firsts before we become a family of four!  The heat was unbearable at times and I don't know that I could have done this any closer to my due date with all the walking and manuvering of suitcases and strollers, but it was a wonderful family vacation and it was so nice seeing my girls from Spain at Linda's wedding!  Adios Chi-"car"-go!