Menu Planning - Week 2

Week 2 Menu

Saturday 1.8.11 - Monthly Dinner club -- making Yummy Spinach Dip for the appetizer

Sunday 1.9.11 - Cheesy Chicken & Corn Chowder in crockpot (we didn't get to make last week)

Monday 1.10.11 - Watching National Championship Game w/ friends... not sure what the food plans are yet!

Tuesday 1.11.11 - 3-Cheese & Venison Sausage stuffed shells (a twist on this recipe)

Wednesday 1.12.11 - Dr. Pepper BBQ in the Crockpot w/ cole slaw and potato salad

Thursday 1.13.11 - Pizza & Game Night with friends

Friday 1.14.11 - Celebrating my Dad's birthday with our family

Seems like we have a lot going on this week, so we planned lots of stuff for the crockpot, things that will make leftovers, and kept some stuff in reserve in case plans change (which, inevitably, they do!). I'm trying to come up with more stuff for the crockpot especially for Wednesdays because there is so little time between work and Bible study to cook, and it's too late to cook afterward. Send all your good crockpot recipes my way :)

Yummy Spinach Dip

We have our monthly dinner club tonight and I'm in charge of bringing the appetizer, so I'm making this yummy spinach dip recipe I got from a co-worker after she brought it to a work luncheon. It's a little different than any spinach dip I've had before since it has some other vegetables and it's made with greek yogurt instead of sourcream. I guess that makes it healthier for you, too! So enjoy this recipe next time you host a party or need something quick and easy to throw together and take along with you:

Ingredients:

1 Knorr Vegetable Mix packet

16 0z Nonfat Greek Yogurt

1 cup Reduced fat mayonaise

1 lb plum tomatoes (diced)

1/4 cup red onion (diced)

10 oz frozen chopped spinach (thawed & squeezed dry)

1/3 cup green onions (thinly sliced)**

Preparation:

Stir together yogurt, mayo, and Knorr vegetable mix until smooth. Fold in tomatoes, onions, and spinach until evenly mixed. Cover and chill for 2+ hours. Serve with bread, crackers, chips, and veggies for dipping.**

**I left out the green onions since there are already red onions and I didn't want to buy a whole bunch of green onion since I didn't have a use for the leftovers. I'm serving it up in a white mountain bread loaf from Publix with extra bread, veggies, and chips for dipping**

Bible Reading & Memorizing in 2011

This year, I'm planning to read my Bible daily, in order to read it completely through in just one year. The plan I'm using splits the reading into 2 Old Testament and 2 New Testament passages daily. In the past, I have tried and failed to read "cover-to-cover", so I'm hoping this different plan will make it easier.

I also hope to increase the amount of scripture I have memorized because I find the more verses I commit to memory, the more I find their applications in my life. Last year with my Bible study, we memorized verses weekly, and Psalm 1 was one of my favorites. I know this verse will encourage me this year as I endeavor to read all of God's word and tuck away more and more of it in my mind and heart. My aim is to have 52 passages under my belt come 2012 and I'm starting by re-committing Psalm 1:1-3 to memory:

"Blessed is the one who does not walk in the steps of the wicked, stand in the way of sinners, or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord and who meditates on His law both day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers."

2010 Christmas Decorations in Pictures

This year was our first Christmas with all our decorations out, and I got a few pictures with the blackberry since my camera decided to quit life right before the holidays. Sorry for the poor quality photos, but just for the sake of remembering what 2010 Christmas looked like, here they are!

We have a tradition of collecting nutcrackers in our family, my mom gives us each a new one every year.... this year, I set them up on top of the entertainment center, but we have two more from this year, so looks like they might have to move them around next year....



We also have a Fontanini Nativity Scene which we collect new pieces to every year. (AND, in case you're curious, the pieces are rubber so they won't break if your puppy or child knocks them off). I think one day when we have a family, this will be a great thing to use to teach our kids about the Christmas story.



We hosted our first Christmas Eve dinner, so we brought out all the Christmas china for the first time. It was really nice to get out the holiday dishes and set up a fancy table. We also figured out we can seat 10 people (it's a squeeze) around the table, which will come in handy in 2011 for our supper club and other dinner parties!


We had a white day-after-Christmas and our boy Beaufort really had a blast playing in it....

I forgot to take pictures of our outside decorations, but my mom and I headed out to Michael's and made all new ribbons for our garland and a beautiful new wreath for the front door this year..... I'll be sure when Christmas 2011 rolls around to get a picture of it. Hopefully I'll have a better camera than my blackberry by then :)

Until next year, Merry Christmas!

2011 is here!

Well, the new year is finally here! We've had a crazy busy holiday season, and have enjoyed the first day of 2011 simply relaxing at home, enjoying the chance to simply do nothing. I've got lots of things I've got in mind for "resolutions," but want to really commit to them before I write more. Probably more to come on that as January moves in....

However, one thing we have already decided on for this year is to work on our budget and one major place we decided to focus was on food. In the last year, my checkbook register was filled with the MANY restaurants we frequent. We tend to do better cooking at home when we have a plan, so I've decided to get back to menu planning, especially inspired by Leigh, who posted 52 weeks of menus in 2010. (You'll probably be seeing a lot of links to her recipe blog, too, since she makes some fabulous food!)

My thought is that if I post my menu weekly, I'll be more likely to stick to it, and when I'm stumped as to what to fix, I can go back and look at past weeks for ideas. The girls from work are also starting back up with our supper-swap this month, so we'll have a good set of meals every few weeks to throw in the mix!

So, here we go for 2011.....

Week 1 Menu

Saturday 1.1.11 - Leftovers and sandwiches/soup

Sunday 1.2.11 - Venison cube steak, rice & gravy, salad

Monday 1.3.11 - California Turkey Burgers w/ Guacamole, Chips & Salsa

Tuesday 1.4.11 - Paula Dean's grilled pork tenderloin w/ Spicy Sweet Potatoes

Wednesday 1.5.11 - Taking dinner to friends... probably Lasagna Casserole

Thursday 1.6.11 - Cheesy Chicken & Corn Chowder with sandwiches

Friday 1.7.11 - Date Night Out and/or Date Night IN with Leftovers .... depending how we feel at the end of the week :)

Let me know what you're eating in 2011, so I can try some new stuff, too!

One Year in the Making

We are celebrating our first anniversary today. Wow, I think the year has simply flown by. It is somewhat strange that we woke up to a cold rain this morning, and very similar to our wedding day. So, just for the sake of recording a few memories, here are a few things that we've done this year.

1. Just a few days after we returned from our honeymoon in Park City, Utah, we celebrated our first Christmas & New Year's in our own home (I guess we can't count buying the house, since technically that happened before we said "I DO"). Christmas was pretty toned down for us since we had just celebrated our wedding. While others were unloading Christmas gifts, we spent the holidays opening and sorting through wedding gifts. We had a blast spending all the giftcards we got when we returned the duplicates and extras. And I started the writing the thank-you notes.
2. We spent our first Valentine's Weekend in Savannah, GA where Ryan was happy to learn you can order a beer to-go from nearly any restaurant or bar and walk down the street drinking it. Unfortunately, we came home to a broken heat pump. Our first major mishap as homeowners and newlyweds, and 1 very cold night. Good fortune had it that our heat pump was still under warranty and we only had to pay for labor.
3. Got in a major car accident (not our fault!) and had to spend the money we were saving for Ryan's new car to replace my Honda we hoped would run for several more years.
4. Shopped and put a deposit down on our first puppy. That didn't work out, so we chose to wait for another litter and had to wait several more months.
5. Ryan started a new position at work. Although it may not be the ultimate answer, this change was an answer to prayer that we had been hoping for for many months. This put a damper on our summer vacation plans, but we definitely knew it was for the best.
6. We watched excitedly as our college alma mater, the University of South Carolina Gamecocks won the NCAA national baseball championship.
7. Just as the college world series wrapped up, our nephew Cooper was born. He is the first child in either of our immediate families. He was a few weeks early and had to spend a little extra time in the hospital at first, but hasn't let that slow him down. He is so precious and we have enjoyed watching him grown in the last 5 months.
8. In August, we finally brought home our puppy Beaufort. Life has been a whirlwind since then. I never imagined how much work goes into raising and training a puppy. Our entire house had to be "puppy-proofed", and even still, this smart little booger finds ways to get into trouble.
9. The week after we brought home the puppy, Ryan had to go to training for 3 straight weeks. This was our first time being apart for an extended period of time and I found a new respect for people who live apart from their loved ones. Luckily, I was quite busy taking care of our furry-four-legged child while he was away. Ryan got to spend 2 weekends with my uncle exploring the Washington, DC area. He has never been before and loved seeing all the sites in our nation's capitol.
10. Throughout the year, we have celebrated with several friends at their weddings and engagements, the exciting news of babies on the way and baby arrivals, even just recently the news of a long-awaited wait list spot for friends in the process of adopting sweet children from Ethiopia. We changed churches, helped start up a supper club group that meets monthly, made some new friends, made great memories and we have truly enjoyed every moment.

We are celebrating the great year we've had and looking forward with goals in mind of what we want our next year to look like. We are so thankful that God has blessed us with so much this year. I can't wait to share the many moments of our lives together and see what the next year holds.

Happy Anniversary to us!

Leslie

S-L-A-C-K-E-R

Well, I've got a ton of partial posts written in my head. Almost daily, I think about something to write, but never actually type it out. Or, I do type it out in my email, and never copy & paste it here on the blog. BUT, I avow to do better. You can give me a smack on the hand next month when I've only posted once, AGAIN. I'm going to TRY really hard not to be such a SLACKER.

However, there are some pretty note-worthy events coming up during the next month, so perhaps I'll make it a point to have something to say. DECEMBER 2010 will FINALLY be here in less than 6 hours.

Not to worry, we are SO ready for the holiday season. We just celebrated our first Thanksgiving as a married couple, and it was awesome! For the first time in the last 6 years, we ate only ONE Thanksgiving meal. The whole time we were dating, we celebrated by eating both Thanksgiving LUNCH and DINNER. One of the only pitfalls of living in the same town with both sets of family is the GIANT amount of food there is to consume on holidays. (I know, some would not consider that a pitfall at all). Needless to say, given there was only one meal to eat, I made the most of it and ate myself silly leading to a WAY early bedtime.

The Saturday after Thanksgiving, we bundled up for the chilly Carolina-Clemson rivalry game, in which our Gamecocks won! We're excited to watch them again next weekend against Auburn in the SEC championship game!

So, perhaps you can look forward to hearing more about our December activities, which include a vacation to the beach, our first anniversary, our second Christmas, my 26th birthday, and MUCH more. And, I promise some pictures soon of Christmas decorations. You might say I'm slightly obsessed. But in my mind, it's just right.

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Lockslie