Menu Plan Monday - Week 172

I completely missed last week.  Last weekend was so busy.  'Prenatal In A Day' was all day Saturday, and then Sunday was church, and then my mom threw me a Baby Shower.  I was way too exhausted after the weekend to think about our meals for the week, and then the weather was TERRIBLE for the first part of the week and neither me or the hubby wanted to venture out to the store.

So, for the first time in a VERY long time, we did not have a plan for our week (or food in the house for that matter).  We went through the week eating the food we had in the house and slowly running out of supplies.  I was actually pretty impressed that we didn't eat out more than once.

All that being said, I missed the benefits of menu planning last week.

I will do better from now on!  And it will be easier now that I AM FINISHED WORK!!!! Holy smokes - this whole baby thing is getting very real!

This week looks different as the hubby, puppy and I are headed up to Harrison Hot Springs for two nights for our last hurrah.  I am super excited to not have to get up and go to work tomorrow morning!

Here's what our week looks like:

Monday: Harrison

Tuesday: Harrison

Wednesday: Dinner at The Tomahawk to welcome home my little brother from his world (Australia, Indonesia & New Zealand) travels

Thursday: Baked Chicken Dijon, Mashed Potatoes & Veggies (didn't get to this one the last time it was on the menu)

I also wanted to give a review, per se, on the Mini Honey Mustard Meatloaves that I made week before last.  It was sooooooo good.  I LOVED IT.  The meatloaves were so easy to make and were delicious.  The only thing I would change the next time I made them is to not make them as thick.  I would make them a little flatter (more surface area to cover with the sauce and cheese).  I made my own roasted potatoes, and had a caesar salad with it. All in all, I would recommend this recipe.  If you try it, let me know what you think!

As always, I'll be linking up with Orgjunkie.  Head on over for some awesome tips on Menu Planning and recipe idea's!

Laundry Hamper & A Surprise!

This is our change table.  I think it's pretty cute! (It's also fully stocked and ready for baby!)

Notice how it is on an angle?  You can't see in this picture, but there is dead wasted space behind it.

I hate wasted space!

(There is also dead air space above the change table, but don't worry, I'm waiting for a little something to arrive in the mail from Etsy.)

'What a perfect spot for a laundry basket!'  I exclaimed in my head.

I took some leftover fabric that I originally bought to make a crib sheet out with (but it was not wide enough) and decided to turned it into a laundry basket.

I measured the height that it needed to be, and then just kind of winged it from there!

After sewing two edges, and taking care of the raw edges, this is what I was left with (clearly it's inside out).

And this is the completed hamper:

I decided to use Command hooks to hold up my flimsy laundry hamper.

After 'measuring' where they needed to go, I ended up with this:

After some strategic cuts in the hamper, I had this:

It serves its purpose and looks pretty cute!

I can toss dirty clothes in there and then just grab and go! (to the laundry room)

Success.

After completing this little project I was left with this:

Well, there was more than this, but I forgot to take a picture of it.

I decided I wanted to make a pillow cover. Shazaam!

After a quick 'google', I found this tutorial and got started.

It took about 30 minutes and then I had this:

My very first ever pillow cover!

Double success for the night! Woot woot!

The tutorial was super easy to follow - thank goodness!

I see many more pillow covers in my future.

Gallery Wall

Wow, I just noticed that I originally started this post in May.  MAY!  Thats how on top of this whole situation I am.

Anyways....

I chose one of the walls in our hallway to host our gallery wall, our house is pretty small so this was really the only spot for one to go.  I wish I took a before photo, but I did take a picture of the opposite wall so you get a better idea.

So hard to get a good picture of these walls.

I originally started with only a few frames, and chose to put up a few of our wedding pictures, and then a wedding picture from the rest of our family - and of course, one of our sweet fur-baby Jasper.  After hanging those pictures up, I bought about six more IKEA frames with the very good intention of expanding it.  I even bought a print off Etsy to be the centre of the gallery - on April 8th! Geez louise... where did the time go!

And then I received my Secret Santa gift at work and was given this:

(Those people are not us, just the stock frame fillers.  We'll eventually get nice pics to put in there!)

This is THE BEST SECRET SANTA GIFT EVER! And my Santa was not so secret. Thanks Lindsay!

I got home that night, and it's like I couldn't sit down without doing something with that frame!  I originally wanted to put it in the nursery, but with the frame being black, it didn't fit.

Then the hubby suggested it go on the gallery wall.  Well, that just got me going.  Nesting in full force!

I got right down to business.  I grabbed the previously purchased IKEA frames from the basement, along with the Etsy print and got to work.  It took a bit of shuffling around and a few misplaced nail holes, but I LOVE the way it looks now!

Again, so hard to get a nice picture of this wall!

I bought this print from an Etsy shop called Frilly Chilly Designs.  They were so awesome to deal with and it was exactly like I pictured it.

I think it is the perfect centrepiece for this gallery wall.

I also made (and by made, I mean painted and mod-podged) this letter 'C' for our last name.

I know there are lots of methods of creating a gallery wall out there in the blogosphere, but I just flew by the seat of my pants.  No method, just madness.  And I think it looks great.

I smile a little every time I walk by it, which is very often as the bathroom is at the end of the hallway!

Now, I just have to get some pictures in the new frames! 

Menu Plan Monday - Week 170

As I get closer and closer to my last day of work (the 27th!) the weeks go by faster and faster!  Last week just flew by!

I did good last week with the meal plan, there was only one night that we didn't eat from the menu.

Thats a pretty good run, I'd say.

Last week, I perused some of the blogs that linked up with OrgJunkie's Menu Plan Monday and found myself a few new recipes to try.  Four to be exact.

And because I couldn't help myself, we are trying two of them this week.

I'm always a little nervous with new recipes.  I HATE wasting my time on a meal that ends up being terrible.

Here's whats planned for this week:

Monday: Chicken Parmesan

Tuesday: Mini Honey Mustard Meatloaves with roast potatoes and salad (New!)

Wednesday: BBQ'd Chicken Burgers

Thursday: Baked Chicken Dijon, mashed potatoes & veggies

Well, that looks pretty chicken heavy....  Oh well, we like chicken.

Hopefully we like the new recipes, or we'll be end up eating out or having cereal for dinner on Tuesday & Thursday.

How are you guys doing with menu planning? Started yet?  What's stopping you?

As always, linking up with OrgJunkie.

Looking Forward

Looking at the year ahead of me is almost overwhelming.  With my due date less than seven weeks away, I am constantly thinking about what our life will be like with a new baby.

It is so exciting!  I have been waiting to be a mother my entire life.  When deciding what to do after I graduated high school, I had a really hard time because universities don't offer degree's in Motherhood.  But it was all I wanted to do!

Now, I am getting my chance, and I could not be more grateful.  This little boy is an answer to many years of prayer.

Our lives will totally change.

And since this blog is a reflection of the things we do and create, it would make sense that the direction of this blog would change.

When I started this blog, my main intent was to have it focus on crafty-organzingy-diy kinda stuff.  I have found in the last few months my posts have been few and far between as the projects that I have done have been minimal.

While I have done a few projects, they have all been for my little boy.

It would make sense that as my focus changes, so would the focus of my blog.

I plan on continuing to post about projects that I have completed, but will more than likely throw in posts about my life as a new mom and my little boy.

I hope I don't lose any followers, I value each and every one of you.  I hope that you will enjoy growing with me in this new chapter of my life.

I am so excited for what 2012 will bring me, and can't wait to share it with you.

If I thought my life was 'tickled pink' before, things are about to get turned up about a million notches!

Menu Plan Monday - Week 169

I don't know what happened to last week.  It just flew by!  I'm in my last month of work (only 14 more work days to go!) and am wishing the days away, so that could be why!

I will never stop planning my menu's though, no matter how busy things get.  It is so much harder when I don't have something planned, and can't imagine adding a new baby into that mix.  I don't think we would eat, or if we did, it would all be take out.  And that gets old after a while.

I have been planning our weekly meals for almost three and a half years.  Almost as long as I've been married.  Huge life saver.  

Here are a few of the benefits that I have experienced:

• Reduces Stress : I used to spend a portion of my work day trying to figure out what to make for dinner that night and then have to use my lunch break to go to the grocery store and get the needed ingredients.  Such a waste of energy and time!
• Saves Money : By planning ahead, I can check my cupboards for ingredients before going to the grocery store so I don't end up having three containers of white vinegar (yes, I've done that).  I hate buying something and then going home and finding a can in the cupboard.  Planning prevents that.  It can also allow you to plan your meals based on sale items, using store flyers (not that I do that, but I may start).
• Saves Time : On average I only go to the grocery store once a week (early Saturday morning - way less busy!).  This saves me so much time, and gas (which also ties into the 'Saves Money' bullet).
• It Makes My Husband Happy : He likes knowing what is for dinner for the week, and then looks forward to the meals!

Wow, after writing all that down, I would be crazy to stop menu planning (I'm not crazy, I will never stop).

If you don't menu plan already, and aren't sure how to start, head over to OrgJunkie where Laura has a ton of resources for all of our menu planning needs!  Just click on the 'Menu Planning' tab for how to get started.

She also hosts a weekly 'Menu Plan Monday' linky party where TON of other blogs link up their weekly menu's.  This is a great way to get new menu idea's.  I often scan other blogs for idea's.

Anyways, enough of me blabbing about menu planning.

This is what is on our menu this week:

Monday: Lasagna & Caesar Salad

Tuesday: Veggie & Pesto Pasta

Wednesday: Chicken Cordon Blue, Scalloped Potatoes & Steamed Veggies

Thursday: Costco Frozen Pizza

As always, I will be linking up this post with OrgJunkie.  I really encourage you to check out Laura's blog and resources.

Menu Planning has made such an impact on our lives, and I'm sure it will on yours as well!