Meal Plan Monday!

Last week was such a crazy messy blur! Our baby girl is teething so it's been a week of sleepless nights and crazy days trying to prep for the big turkey day this week!

Here is our menu for this week:

Monday - Meatloaf with Scalloped Potatoes & Sweet Corn

Tuesday - Leftover Short Rib in Tomato Sauce and Rigatoni

Wednesday - We never cook on this day since we are prepping for Thursday. So it will be takeout of some sort.

Thursday - Thanksgiving

Friday -We have my niece staying over and every year we do a Holiday-ish activity. Starting the day with Sweet and Sassy and then going to Sesame Place for their Christmas fun! We are doing the dine with the characters as well.

Saturday - Thanksgiving Leftovers

Sunday - Pan-Seared Salmon with Candied Orange Peel and Cranberry Walnut Stuffing (Blue Apron Meals)


Happy Thanksgiving!!

What's for Dinner!

Happy Monday All!

Here is our meal plan for this week..


Monday -  Seared Hake with Brussel Sprouts and Warm Lentils (Blue Apron)

Tuesday - Moms night out! Hubby will make leftovers

Wednesday - Vietnamese-Style Shaking Beef with Basmati Rice (Plated)

Thursday - Cornish Hen with Glazed Pears and Toasted Fregola (Plated)

Friday - Chili-Rubbed Flat Iron Steaks with tomato rice and quick kimichi (Blue Apron)

Saturday - Pan Seared Chicken Legs with Purple Smashed Potatoes Brussel Sprouts and Warm Bacon Vinaigrette (Blue Apron)

Sunday -  Marmitako Basque Tuna Stew with Peppers and Potatoes (Plated)

Have a great week!

Five on Friday

This week was very long for me.. Kaitlyn wasn't liking sleeping by herself which made sleeping for mom and dad nonexistent, plus we are fighting bad colds. Needless to say, i'm excited for the weekend and the bit of warmer weather coming through!

Here are some things i'm thankful for this week...

Starbucks buy one get one was a lifesaver this week! I enjoyed the Caramel Brulee Latte.. DELISH!

I just recieved a print from ETSY Shop - ISEENOISE that i'm loving!!

With not feeling to swell, these leggings from the loft were ohsocomfy and just what i needed!

Hubby and  I are going to have a date night on Saturday and i'm so excited to get dazzled and enjoy a romantic dinner with the one guy who continually has me falling madly in love with him each and every day!

And if it wasn't for my AMAZING parents for watching our sweet girl..we wouldn't be able to go on Saturday!

Have a great weekend!

Thanksgiving Inspiration Board

 

I'm going to make Thursday's for this month about Thanksgiving. As I worked on my planning binder yesterday i took a few moments and browsed pinterest and the web for Thanksgiving table decor.

Here are a few photos i found  that i'm going to try to incorporate into my decor..

For my centerpieces i want to purchase these mason jars from Etsy

I love the look of the cranberries and candle in this jar. This might go on the buffet table or into the bathroom.

I thought this would be a neat jar to add. It will be filled every year and we can always look back as to what we were thankful for in the years past. 

I love this prayer. 

May our home be full of joy, May our hearts be knit with love, as we give our grateful thaks for thy blessings from above

 I'm going to make fall chex mix and put in little jars as my favor.

I love this idea from TOMKAT studio as a place card.

This is a cute idea for a utensil holder

Planning for Thanksgiving Day!

Thanksgiving is coming very soon and what that means to me is time to start planning! This year is very special since it's our 1st one with Kaitlyn. I'm excited to see her try some of our Thanksgiving Day treats! We are starting to slowly break away from fully pureed foods to ones with a little more texture, so Thanksgiving Day will be a perfect day to really make a transition.

We have hosted Thanksgiving for almost 4/5 years now. The first few were a bit rough in regards to finding a rhythm. I always remember watching the Thanksgiving parade and watching my parents prepare for the big feast and it always looked to be a smooth process. Now i know that it takes a few Thanksgiving meals to get under your belt and then your practically a pro. We used to have my parents make the Turkey. We were always scared that we would mess up the star of the feast. Mind you we love cooking and now what we are doing but it always scared us. Until last year.. my husband made the big decision to fully takeover and make the Turkey and it was the BEST turkey i've ever had.. my Dad even admitted that its better than his!!!

So now that we have our Thanksgiving Day "mastered'.. I'm now at the point of lets make a Thanksgiving Day binder that we can always refer to so there's no questions as to what did we do last year or what side did we add (since we are always adding an extra flavor to the meal). So after we sat down this weekend and made our menu, i'm now at the stage of putting the binder together. Once i get it all finalized i will share it with you all! I purchased a few templates of etsy and found some free printables but i'm not sure which I want to use for my binder. Once i figure it out i will share the links to the sellers so that you can also create your own binder!

Are you hosting? What are you doing to help make your day stress free and easy? Comment below!

Baby Clothes from JCPennys

A few weeks ago I was searching for some cute wintery outfits to get Kaitlyn and I stumbled upon JcPennies. I haven't looked/shopped in JcPennies in years years years! I know they revamped their style so I was curious to see what items they had for Kaitlyn. I found some cute items on sale and a few that weren't but spent practically nothing and when I recieved the package I was happy to see that it was a great purchase!

Here are some of the items I bought..


Joe Fresh Sparkle Fleece Dress - $19

Joe Fresh Flocked Tee - $7.99

Joe Fresh Long-Sleeve Embroidered BodySuit- $10

Joe Fresh Capri Leggings - $5.99

If you have a baby girl.. you have to check these out! Some great items for the winter!

What's for Dinner!

So I'm a bit late on the Monday post.. Hubby was off yesterday for Veterans Day and we enjoyed the time together!

We enjoyed the different meal styles Plated offered us last week and having all the food from both Blue Apron and Plated. With Thanksgiving coming up and all the planning that entails, we decided to make life a little easier and order an extra plate or two from Plated.


So here is our meal plan for this week..
Monday -  Clams and Linguine (Hubby's recipe!)

Tuesday - Skillet Lasagna with Fall Root Vegies ( Plated)

Wednesday - Pumpkin Ravioli with Pear and Pomegranate Salad ( Plated)

Thursday - Sesame Chicken with Soba Noodles and Snap Peas (Blue Apron)

Friday - Chipolte Steak Salad (Blue Apron)

Saturday - Out to Eat

Sunday - Moroccan Chicken with wilted onions and couscous

Have a great week!

Five on Friday

Fall  - I love this time of year. For me Fall represents - family, friends, traditions, football and the holidays. Especially with having a baby girl to share this all with now , i'm loving fall even more!

My Apple Pumpkin candle from Yankee Candles is constantly burning away. I love love love this scent and love the warm cozy feeling it gives my home.

It's sweater season and there's nothing i love more than a big cozy sweater to bundle up in!

Between HGTV, Food Network or Bravo  one of these channels is ALWAYS on, oh and the HUB Network for my lil miss. Earlier this week I had the Food Network Channel on and the new show - Southern at Heart with Damarias Phillips came on (winner of The Next Food Network Star). I love love her show! She helps people give those they love a yummy meal.. I'm loving this new show!

Loved the CMA Awards this week! All the performers were amazing and Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood were fantastic hosts!

My daily routine

Routine..Routine..Routine..

I've been in the workplace from high-school and I always had a daily routine at work. With my last job it was crucial to take the time each evening or when I first came in to jot down everything that needed to get tackled. I had a daily, weekly and monthly lists of to-dos. When I had the baby in March I stopped doing those lists and it went this way until I officially decided to leave the workplace and be a full time mommy. I was desperate for creating a normal routine for myself just like I had when I would go to work. Granted things that would be on my to-do list now aren't has crucial to get done like when I was at work but by having a routine and a to-do list for each day/week/month I knew I could feel less stressed about cleaning or paying bills or laundry etc.

So here is a little glimpse into my daily routine.

My morning starts around 6/6:30am. I go to Stroller Fitness on M/W/F at 9am. On those days I get up around 5:45/6am to get my AM routine done before Kaitlyn wakes up.

AM Routine - Make Coffee, Dishes, Wipe down counters/cabinets in bathroom/kitchen/living room, Quick Mop the floors in the same rooms (with Kaitlyn being mobile now I want to make sure all surfaces she touches are clean), make bed, straighten up the living room/kitchen/bathroom, put out morning snack (Fruit or Granola), Put out Water Bottle (these two things help me from grabbing unhealthy items), eat breakfast, shower and change clothes. Make Kaitlyn's bottle and cereal

Normally by the time I finish my AM routine Kaitlyn will be up and ready to go. This is normally by 7/730am. I will then change her diaper, and feed her. Depending on if it's stroller fitness day we will either leave once she's done eating or if it's not stroller fitness day she will then play until her nap (830/9am) and during her play time I do my morning Fitness routine at home.

Once she goes down for her nap I will have Mommy time. Check Emails/Computer Time/Pay Bills/Etc..I do this until she wakes up. When she wakes up we have Kaitlyn time which is us doing developmental skills together and based on the weather we will go outside.

Then throughout the day I continue to tackle my to-do list.

Around 430/5pm I will start my PM Routine which involves - Preparing Dinner, lightly straightening up from the day, make husband and his co-worker lunch, clean up after dinner, prepare my to-do list for the next day and set-up in the kitchen. Then it's TV time!

So that's a glimpse into my daily routine.. What's yours? Comment below!

Favorite baby products!

When my Husband and I were registering for our baby we were overwhelmed with the amount of baby products on the market. We heard from many friends what their tried and true products were and what their stay away from products were. I always wondered what made them so sure that having that product worked the best and why they told us. It wasn't until I had my baby and went through our daily routines and going out that I would to be saying.. "Wow this product is needed by all parents!". So that's what I'm going to try to do on these posts.. share with you what i'm finding to be my tried and true products and I will be also be doing some other mommy and baby rambling!

So my 2 tried and  true products that have really been a huge lifesaver are...

Playtex Diaper Genie
This product is definitly a must. As we all know babies go potty when they want, no matter where you are. There's been many times we've been in a location that we didn't have a garbage can nearby to throw away her diapers and the shopping bags that i would keep in my diaper bag for such an occasion, were not masking the lovely scent coming from my sweet girls diaper. So off I went to search for something that I be of better use to me then the shopping bags. I went to babies-r-us and found this travel diaper genie! The little bags help mask the odor and it came in this cute mini diaper genie replica that I could hang inside my diaper bag.  I can't recommend this product enough!

Zo-li Buzz B. Nail Trimmer
 I used to dread cutting Kaitlyn's nails. She's a mover and would not sit still while we tried to cut her fingernails and toenails. On her Christening we went to trim her nails and she moved and a tiny part of her skin got snipped. At that moment I was determined to find something that would make this process alot easier. I went searching and found the Zo-Li Buzz B. Nail Trimmer. It trims her nails and she can move around and nothing will hurt her! It comes with 3 different buffers so as she grows older we will change them out. I love this product!

What's for dinner!

My husband and I love cooking and eating. Back in December 2012 right around Christmas time, we were starting to plan for the days when our baby girl will be here. Trying to see what we needed to do to make certain "chores" less stressful to tackle so that we may focus on our baby. One area that I wanted to make easier on us what cooking but not only cooking .. grocery shopping. I knew that it wouldn't be easy to food shop like we used to and the trips had to be quick and few.  One day on facebook one of my friends posted about Blue Apron Meals - www.blueapronmeals.com . She mentioned how great the food was and how easy it was to make dinner. I don't think I blinked before I found myself on Blue Aprons webpage. Blue Apron Meals provides 3 meals a week for $9 per person/per meal. The ingredients come measured out for you already so all you have to do is cut/chop/dice/mix/cook.. The meals looked AMAZING and restaurant-y, something that I knew we would be doing less of (going out to eat) and this service allowed us to feel like we were out at a restaurant. In addition, the meals came to us every Wednesday and I didn't have to worry about food shopping. We have loved this service and It definitly has fulfilled the needs we needed it to. About a few weeks ago I stumbled onto a different meal service Plated - www.plated.com.  What's intriguing about this service is that you can select your own meals and you don't have to be a member of this service but with not being a member the meals are $15 vs when your a member it's $12 and I believe there's a monthly service charge of $10 but I could be wrong. I looked for a few coupon codes and selected 5 different meals and we are going to give it a shot this week. I will review in another post once we made all the meals to let you know our thoughts on each company.


I'm trying to create a meal planning binder so my meal planning is a bit easier. This week since we are going to be testing Plated and also have our blue apron meal service I was able to use the 2 confirmation emails I recieved for the delivery and I planned using that.

Monday - My dad's beef stew (love having my parents nearby to bring us yummy goodies!)

Tuesday- Brussel Sprout & Mushroom Polenta Pizza and Roasted Apple and Butternut squash soup (Plated)

Wednesday- Center Cut Pork with Pan Sauce and Apple Kohlrabi Slaw (Blue Apron)

Thursday - Lamb Burgers with Pickled Red Onions & Greek Salad (Plated)

Friday - Sirloin Steak with Swiss Chard & Rice Pilaf (Plated)

Saturday- Out to Eat

Sunday - Roast Beef

Building blogging into my schedule!

So it's been quite a while since I wrote on this blog and even when I did for those few days I wasn't really sure what to write. I was lost and still kinda am on what I wanted to do on this blog.  I know I want this blog to center around my home life. I love being a mommy and a wife. I want to create a home that is warm and ORGANIZED! That is what i'm trying to tackle right now and have been for a period of time. Ever since I decided to stay home with my daughter I knew that I had alot of projects ahead of me that I'm so excited to finally tackle but overwhelmed at the same time.  So that's where I'm going to start with this blog. I'm creating a schedule that I will focus on certain topics that will in turn help me with getting my home life organized.  Below is the schedule of when I will be posting my posts!

Mondays- Meal Planning
Tuesdays- Mommy&Baby related posts
Wednesdays- Home Organization
Fridays- Five things Fridays

Now you might seen random posts intermixed with the above schedule but that's okay!

I hope you all stick around with me on this journey and even though there will be some bumpy roads ahead.. it will be fun!