House and Home

What’s for Dinner: Meal Planning

Anyone who knows me knows that I’m a “planner”. A trait passed down from my grandfather to my mother, from my mother to me. Planning is in my blood. From lists to calendars, itineraries to events… I actually ENJOY planning! I enjoy planning so much that sometimes I plan too much for my own good. Occasionally (OK, Frequently) I spend more time planning than actually “doing.” Still, I’m convinced that this trait IS a good thing… Even if my blood pressure is higher because of it. On the topic of planning, one of our new years resolutions this year was to better plan our meals at home at the beginning of each week in order to eat out less frequently. Dan, knowing me all too well, gifted me these “Knock Knock” planning notepads for Christmas this past year… inspiring the resolution.

Buy Here

Buy Here

Also available Here and Here

Lately, with surprise business trips and dinners for Dan, we’ve slacked off with actually following through on the planned meal. Too often we’ve swapped more desirable meals or meals out for the dreaded “leftovers” night… My solution. Share it here, maybe add an accountability factor at home.

Sunday mornings are usually the perfect time for planning (Liv isn’t a fan of sleeping in… so the Sunday rituals usually start no later than 8). Dan gets some quality cuddle time with Liv while I cook breakfast and peruse Pinterest (Follow Me! – @mmoguu) for recipes and ideas for weeknight meals. I usually make an attempt at soliciting input from my dear husband… but his idea of a perfect dinner is grilled chicken + roasted potatoes… and if he had it his way… that’s what we’d have for dinner 7 nights a week… OK- Actually 4 nights a week. and the other 3 nights would be taco night.

Disclaimer: I’ve never been very good at following recipes so any “Recipe” I post may include measurements of the eyeball. ie. pinches, handfuls or sprinkles.

In case you’re interested… Here’s this week’s line-up:

Sunday: Eat Out, Stackhouse Burgers

Monday: Dine In, Burrito Bowls

Tuesday: Dine In, Chinese Chicken Salad

Wednesday: Dine In, Red Beans & Rice and Cornbread

Thursday: Dine In, BBQ Chicken, Homemade Potato Chips and Cucumber/Avocado Salad

Friday: Dine In, Chicken, Sundried Tomato, Goat Cheese & Spinach Paninis

Saturday: UNDECIDED!

 

With the Fourth of July and GRAMMA G COMING TO TOWN!, next week is bound to include more dining out than normal. After that, we’ll be back on track… I’m already planning on it 😉 

 

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The Honest Company

The Honest Company Sample Kit

I mentioned here that I wanted to give the eco-friendly diaper another “go” when our gifted supply was dwindling. As much as I think it’s totally silly that every celebrity who gets pregnant wants to launch some kind of baby product line… I really like that Jessica Alba went the environmentally conscious route. The Honest Company offers chemical-free, non-toxic and totally cute diapers, wipes and a variety of other baby necessities. The best part? For $4.95 S&H you can order a free trial (above – just received mine a few days ago!). The diapers are adorable… and don’t feel half as bad as the Seventh Generation variety… my only (and pretty significant) problem… coincidence that we had blowouts in 3 out of 7 diapers? I seriously doubt it. The wipes are VERY thin but even THAT I could overlook for the environmentally-friendly factor… but blowouts… DEAL BREAKER. The lotion is olive oil based (pro), VERY moisturizing (pro), but smells like…. olive oil (con). I will say… I think the diapers may be a tiny bit big. Based on her size, the site suggested a size 2.  Although we’ll probably graduate at the end of this case… Liv still comfortably fits in a size 1 Pampers Swaddlers. SO… Either Honest runs small and I just don’t like the product  OR the size 2 we’re too big and caused aforementioned blowouts. Either way, I haven’t written the product off completely… would definitely give a second shot after we’ve worked our way through our gifted stockpile. The packaging is pretty darn cute, huh? I have a hard time believing that those bottles/tubes are biodegradable… but whatever.

Poop Stains

All moms swear by something to remove stains… This concoction works. Equal parts: Wisk, Shout and Oxi Clean. Applied directly to the stain, scrub then soak in warm water for a few hours and pop in with the rest of the load. And my mom had the genius idea of using an old spice bottle (one with larger holes works best) to store a smaller amount of Oxi Clean for easier pouring and quick access.

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