Menu Plan Monday - January 31

This is my second week to be a party of OrgJunkie's Menu Plan Monday and I am having fun with it!

Last week we stuck to our menu fairly well. Thursday night I was exhuasted, so I threw in a frozen pizza and made the mini meatball sandwiches on Saturday instead. Also, I didn't cook anything on Sunday because we weren't home very much at all, so I will be making those meals this week instead.

I think my favorite meal was the Parmesan Pork Chops - they turned out fantastic. Too bad I didn't get a picture of them! I am going to try and take more pictures of the food that I make to show off. We'll see how I do with that :)


Here is my menu for the week:

Monday: Church Supper (we have this the last Monday of every month)
Tuesday: Ranch Style Chicken (recipe from The Pioneer Woman)
Wednesday: Chicken Casserole
Thursday: Savory Cheddar Chicken and Rice (recipe from my friend Mel)
Friday: Honey Glazed Chicken Stir Fry
Saturday: Spinach Chicken Pasta
Sunday: Roast, potatoes, and carrots in crock pot w/rice and gravy

Ranch Style Chicken - photo and recipe from The Pioneer Woman

Amanda

My little Tiger!

Little N and I had so much fun last night at the Magic Moments pre-cirucs party and at the Circus! It was a long night with a lot of fun things to do and watch, but he made it the entire night without falling asleep. He loved it and I can't wait to take him back next year. I will have a full post up about our night later this week, but here is a pic to tide you over of my little tiger :)

Amanda

The Circus is in Town!

I am very excited about tonight! I am taking Little N to the circus for the first time! I have not been in over 5 years myself and he has never been, so it should be a blast for both of us. We will be attending the Magic Moments pre-party and then the circus afterwards. I plan on having a full blog post up on Monday about it, including pictures. I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!

Amanda

Magic City Attractions

As I listed in one of my Hopes for 2011, I want to take Little N to different local places around our city. I know there are so many places to visit where we can not only have fun, but learn a little something in the process.

Here are a few places that I would like to take Little N to throughout the year:
~ Railroad Park
~ Birmingham Zoo
~ Vulcan
~ Oak Mountain State Park
~ Baron's baseball game
~ Southern Museum of Flight
~ DeSoto Caverns
~ Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum
~ McWane Science Center

Several of these places we have already been to before and would like to continue to visit. Many of them are places Little N nor I have ever been so it will be exciting to visit them and enjoy them together for the first time!

If you have any other suggestions of great places for us to enjoy in the Magic City, please leave a comment or email me!

Amanda

Journey: The Bampire

Ok, so I know you are probably wondering what in the world that title is about and are thinking I have lost my mind. Well, it comes from Little N. As you read in this post, Big N loves Journey and has passed that love on to Little N. Anyone who knows me, knows that I am obsessed a huge Twilight fan (Team Edward). While Little N has not actually watched any of the Twilight movies, he has seen the commercials advertising them. Of course every time they came on, I would get excited! Little N picked up on that and for some reason attached it to Journey. So now every time he sees the commercial or anything Twilight, he says, "Look, it's Journey!"

Then, a few weeks ago we were at my grandparents house with my mom, aunt, sister and nephew and I was going to change Nicholas into his pajamas. He told me he didnt' want his shirt on anymore. He ran back into the room where everybody was and said, "I'm a bampire now". It was the funniest thing. I have no idea what makes him think that vampires have to have their shirt off or that having his shirt off makes him a vampire, but this might have something to do with it:



Now, every night when we get his pajamas on, he wants his shirt off and runs around the house really, really fast and "flying" saying that he is a bampire. I love how his imagination is at this age, so creative and coming up with the craziest things!

At least we can go to sleep at night knowing we are protected under the watcheful eye of our bampire child.

I had to leave just one more picture :)

Amanda

Sisters

My beautiful sisters - Abbey and Steph

My youngest sister is going out of town this weekend to look at houses with our mom. Her husband is a Marine who is currently overseas so she is living here. However, when he comes home, they will be moving into a home in North Carolina. 10 hours away.

Now to most people, living 10 hours away from you family isn't that big of a deal. But for my family, it is. We are all extremely close. My entire family goes to my grandparents house many times throughout the year - birthdays, holidays, whatever. For her to be moving that far away, it's hard.

When I was a teen, I didn't have much to do with  my sisters. I am 3 years older than my middle sister and 7 years older than my youngest. It was hard for me to find anything in common with them. However, we all grew up and grew up quickly. As we have grown we have become very close and best of friends.



Abbey and I at her baby shower last year.

 We are always there for each other - no matter what and we are always thinking of the others. We have fun together, we laugh, we cry, we act crazy - but that is the best part. I know I can be myself completely with them and not worry about what they will think. We all have our little quirks and can be silly, but I know with them they are always laughing with me and will do something equally crazy!



Steph and I at my birthday dinner a few years ago.



I am incredibly proud of both Steph and Abbey and what they have already accomplished in their lives. They have grown into two beautiful, smart women. I have a handsome nephew, who is always smiling and a niece (who I know is going to be gorgeous!) on the way. 

I love my sisters so much and even if we are 10 minutes or 10 hours away from each other - we will always be there for each other!

Abbey, Steph and I at Abbey's baby shower last year.

"To the outside world we all grow old.  But not to brothers and sisters.  We know each other as we always were.  We know each other's hearts.  We share private family jokes.  We remember family feuds and secrets, family griefs and joys.  We live outside the touch of time."  ~Clara Ortega

Wordless Wednesday

I have seen people doing this throughout the blogosphere and thought I would join in. I have no idea who started it or who to link-up to, so I'm just going to post here. This is for Jacob, my nephew who turned 6 yesterday!

Stones Throw Bar and Grill

Last week I had the pleasure to attend a cooking class held by Chef Chris Harrigan at Stones Throw Bar and Grill in Mt. Laurel. I had a fantastic time and the food was some of the best I've ever eaten!

Let me start off by thanking Lana at PoshBirmingham for this opportunity. They held a contest, where all you had to do was enter on their website to win a spot in the cooking class. I was so ecstatic when I received the email from Lana saying that I was one of the chosen few to participate! I have recently begun to cook more and this is just the inspiration I needed to keep it going.

Fast forward to the day of the cooking class and I was nervous. I wasn't sure what to expect and I don't do very well in places where I don't know anyone and I am alone. I got to the resteraunt about 30 minutes too early, so I sat in the car and daydreamed about all the yumminess that would be in my future. I saw several other ladies heading towards the resteraunt, so I figured now was a good time to go in. I followed them in and was met by Chef Harrigan himself. He introduced himself and was as nice as can be! We took our seats around the dining area he had arranged and waited for the class to begin.

Chef Harrigan was prepared and handed out recipes and a menu with what was to come for us that day. The first thing I read was the menu:

First Course

Grilled Flatbread of Prosciutto, Pesto, oven dried Tomatoes
and Goat Cheese with Baby Upland Cress

Second Course

Grouper or Chicken with roasted Cipollini Onions, New Potatoes,
Grilled Asparagus and Sauce Verde

Third Course

White Chocolate Bread Pudding with Fresh
Berries and Whipped Cream

As you can imagine, I was drooling by the end of the menu and he hadn't even started cooking yet! Chef Harrigan took us through the first course, showing us how to make homemade flat bread and giving us a lot of great information to use at home! Once the first course was cooked, we got to eat and let me tell you - it was delicious and like nothing I had ever had before! He did the same with the second course, making the sauce for us and allowing us to taste it with him. The dessert course (always my favorite of the meal) was the final thing he showed up how to prepare. He put everything into terms we all could understand and showed us how easy it was to make!

While we were eating dessert, he answered any questions we had. He was so laid back and easy going and you could tell that cooking was his passion! I am a somewhat picky eater (although getting better the older I get) and I can tell you there was nothing he served us that I didn't taste and love! I had several things I've never eaten before and enjoyed everything. It was such a great experience and I cannot wait to return with my husband for a nice evening out.

If you are looking for a resteraunt in the area that serves fresh, local ingredients then you should definitely head to Stones Throw. You will not be disappointed!

*I was not compensated or asked to post a review of my experience. I did this because I enjoyed my time and wanted to highlight a fantastic resteraunt!

Amanda

Menu Plan Monday - my first!

I am so excited to be a part of OrgJunkie's Menu Plan Monday! I have been doing Menu Planning off and on for almost a year, but this is the first time I am linking up and putting it on my blog! You should definitely check out her post weekly for some awesome recipes and menu plans!

One of my Hopes for this year is to consistantly have a menu plan so that we always know what we are eating on any given day. I am going to try and do it a month at a time, but more than likely will just post weekly. This doesn't mean we will be sticking straight to the menu with no wavering - I'm sure some things will come up and we will have to move things around. I like to be a little flexible when that happens, although it's hard for my "planner" side to do it!

Whenever possible - I will link recipes in my menu plan and include pictures as well!

Here is my Menu for this week:

Monday:  Meatloaf, Mashed potatoes, corn
Tuesday: Parmesan Pork Chops, Macaroni & Cheese, Black-eyed peas
Wednesday: Chicken pieces, brown rice, broccoli & cheese
Thursday: Mini Meatball Sandwiches
Friday: I'm taking Little N to the circus!
Saturday: Honey Glazed Chicken Stir Fry
Sunday: Chicken Casserole*

*The Chicken Casserole that I make is so yummy! I hope to have a post up just on it, including the recipe and pictures, some time next week :)

Amanda

Hopes for 2011

Photo courtesy of art.com

I decided that instead of doing New Year's Resolutions this year (which always end in disappointment because I can't commit) I am going to have a list of my Hopes for 2011. These will be things that I want to accomplish this year, without the pressure of failing if I don't complete them all perfectly.


My Hopes for 2011
*Menu Plan the entire year
*Clean out and organize each room in my house
*Take more pictures randomly
*Develop a solid saving plan and implement it
*Do more crafts at home with Little N
*Take Little N to more museums, fun places around our city
*Get out and meet new people and make new friends (I am terribly shy, so this will be a hard one)
*Spend as much time with my grandparents as possible
*Continue to cook and try new foods
*Buy Christmas gifts throughout the year
*Write letters and birthday cards to those I care about and mail them


These are just the main things I want to accomplish this year. Hopefully I can stick with it and be able to check them all off by the end of the year!

Amanda

Where in the World is . . . ???

Wow! Ok, so I kinda dropped the ball on keeping up with this blog before Thanksgiving. We have been super busy and I just got distracted with other things. I'm sorry. But as part of my New Year's Hopes (I don't do resolutions because I always set myself up for disappointment) I want to get more into blogging and be a better blogger!

So, starting right now you will hear from me much more often! I have been inspired by several people in the blogging world and a good friend of mine (although none of them realize it!) to keep up with it and *hope* I can continue through the year with it. I plan on participating in several link-ups to get more active and keep myself motivated.

Here is to a new year full of fun, adventure, new things, and most importantly Hope :)

Amanda