Stepping Back...

I have been feeling overwhelmed lately. Three kids, a house, marriage, pets, friends, family, focusing on getting myself back into shape, and getting acclimated to a new church, is all taking it's toll on me. I am tackling lots of life changes in a relatively short period of time. While I enjoy blogging, it is quickly slipping from my daily priorities. To be brutally honest, I have just gotten really, really lazy with it. I have always viewed this blog as a personal archive of recipes, more than anything else. Most of my favorites and things that are in regular meal rotation have already been posted...and posted, and posted, and posted some more. The weekly menu plan isn't as efficient as I hoped it would be, and is also becoming very redundant. I have decided that I don't want to continue with the same lackluster posts that I have been prone to doing lately.

Okay, I am beating around the proverbial bush now...

What I am trying to convey is that I am taking a step back from my blog for awhile. I am not ready to give it up completely; but I am not sure how I want to proceed with it, either. I really don't want to expand this site any further; and I am finding that I don't have the time, energy, or attention span, to keep it fresh and interesting. I am at an obvious standstill. I have decided I need to take a step back and figure out what I want to do with this blog in both the long and short terms. Right now, it has stopped being a fun hobby and started feeling more like another chore to check off my "to-do" list. I am enjoying it less and less, and it is showing with each and every post. I think I just need some time to focus on other aspects of my life right now. I am hoping that by taking a break, I will get a renewed sense of purpose, and be able to re-energize my efforts.

As I said, I am not ready to give it up completely. I think I may continue to post just the new and fantastic meals/recipes that we try, and leave it at that. I think posting less frequently will help preserve the quality of the overall content, and give me time to decide what I really want to do with my blog. There will be no set schedule of updates, so I won't feel pressured to catalog every (sometimes mundane) detail of our daily/weekly menu plans. It may be weeks or months between posts, but I promise to make it count when I do post an update. I plan to only post the awesome and noteworthy from here on out. If I do happen to get the cooking bug, then I will be sure to post more often. There are still so many new foods that I want to try, so I don't envision this pause to be any sort of abrupt ending. After all, I still love to cook! For now, I am just going to take my time and only update with recipes that I truly love and want to share.

Vacation

I am off cooking duty for a bit, since the boy and I are going out of town to visit some friends of ours for the next week. The husband, babies, and dogs will have to fend for themselves until our return. I will be back the week of Memorial Day with some more new recipes! See ya then!!!!

Leftovers

I am not feeling too hot tonight, so it is leftovers again for us. Tomorrow is a new day, so hopefully I will be back on top of my game, dinner-wise. I need to rearrange my menu plan, so we will just have to wait and see what I come up with for the rest of the week! Catch y'all later!

Grilled Hot Dogs, Creamy Parmesan Orzo (& Recent Meal Updates)

Last night we decided to go out for dinner to a local Mexican restaurant. We had a busy day, and I just didn't feel like cooking again. I suppose that is how it is going to go for awhile; depending on what I do during the day and how I feel afterward. It amazes me how quickly I get wiped out, energy-wise. Anyway, since we ate out yesterday, there was nothing really new to post or report.

Tonight is kinda the same way. We went out to Costco this morning and stocked up on some staples. When we got home, the husband and I worked on straightening up our pantry and picking up the house. By the time our little reorganization project was done, I was wiped out again. We decided to make an easy dinner again tonight and just grill up some regular hot dogs, served on buns. I know...nothing spectacular. To go with our hot dog feast, we are going to make an easy and yummy side dish of orzo, and then steam some frozen veggies.

Here is the link to my orzo recipe. It is truly one of my favorite side dishes!

Creamy Parmesan Orzo

Tomorrow night is another no cooking night. The family and I are going to a football party, hosted by one of the moms in my MOMS Club. There is going to be pizza and side dishes, so it should be fun for both kids and adults. I will be back on Monday with a new dinner post.

Dinner Out

Last night, we had dinner with my friend Claire and her family. We had a blast and laughed almost the entire time! It was definitely a treat to have dinner with such good friends and be off the hook for cooking!!!

I am not sure what is on the horizon for tonight's dinner. I have some ground beef thawed, so I am sure that will come into play. Stay tuned...

Dinner Out x2

On Friday night, the husband and I decided that we were going to have a family dinner out. It is a rare treat for us to eat in a restaurant, so I was pretty excited. After my nieces went back to my In Law's, the boy and I had a busy morning of errands and then we met up with friends at a public pool for more swimming. By the time I got home, I did not have the energy or the inclination to cook a meal. The boy and I have had a hectic couple of days, and I just wasn't prepared to come home and figure out what eat. So, the husband and I made an executive decision to let someone else do the cooking. I was dying for some more Mexican food, so we went to a local, family-friendly Mexican restaurant. It turned out to be a perfect choice, since it was exactly what I wanted...right down to the fried ice cream for dessert. After we got home, we put the boy down to bed and the husband and I continued our mini-date night with a Wii bowling tournament, right in our living room. We had a blast, and I loved having a perfect Friday night with my two favorite guys!!!

My fun weekend continues today with a real date night with the hubs. We are getting my In Law's to babysit our son, so we can go have a dinner out by ourselves and then go see the new Harry Potter movie. Again, I am looking forward to a night off and I am ridiculously excited to have my husband all to myself for a few hours. I hear the movie is awesome, so it should be really entertaining. All in all, this is shaping up to be a great weekend!

I will be back on Sunday with my regular dinner rotation. I am still feeling "eh" so I am going to continue my light cooking duties. The good news is that I have figured out what my health "issue" is, so at least it is no longer a mystery. I still need to take it easy for a few more weeks, so more repeats are on the horizon. I will continue to post my daily meals and try to work in a couple new things here and there. For now, I am just going to enjoy my fantastic weekend!!!

Leftovers

The boy and I went to the circus today, literally. Ringling Bros. and Barnam & Bailey circus is in town, and we went with a group of my mom friends and their kiddos. We really enjoyed it, and my son had his first taste of pure spun sugar magic...cotton candy. Anyway, I didn't have time to make a new meal, since the show ran long and we ate a late lunch. So, we just assembled/reheated leftovers and made a quick, easy dinner. I am off the hook with cooking for tomorrow, as well. The husband and I have a date night planned, so I won't be back in the kitchen until Sunday night. Have a great weekend, everyone!

Leftovers

Nothing exciting to report for dinner this evening...just a bunch of leftovers. See you tomorrow!

Leftovers

Those three kids wore me out (my two nieces that are visiting and my son makes three...all under the age of 7). I dropped my nieces back off over at grandma and grandpa's house, so I could catch a break and rejuvenate. I am seriously wiped. I refuse to cook dinner tonight, so I think we are going to stick with leftovers until I feel like a normal human being again. Tomorrow is a new day.

Dinner Out

The husband, boy, and I are going to have dinner out tonight. My mother in law was nice enough to get me a Carrabba's Italian Grill gift certificate for Mother's Day. I really like Carrabba's, so this gift certificate has been burning a hole in my pocket! I will be back tomorrow with another new Cooking Light recipe.

Leftovers

My In-Law's were nice enough to drop off some of their extra party food, since they had a ton of leftovers...way more than two people could manage to eat on their own. That means no cooking for me tonight!!! Hooray! I was really not excited about the prospect of cooking dinner tonight, anyway. That party food could not come at a better time for us. I love little unexpected surprises that make my life easier!
We have a Memorial Day BBQ tomorrow afternoon, so I am off the hook again. This is shaping up to be one relaxing weekend for me! I will be back on Tuesday with my normal dinner routine.

Dinner Out

There is really nothing exciting to report for last night's meal. We spent all days at my In-Law's yesterday, helping them get ready for a party. We pretty much ate dinner on the run, and we didn't get home until almost bedtime. It was one of those hectic and exhausting days. I will be glad to spend the rest of my weekend at a much more leisurely pace.

Vacation

As you may have guessed from reading my other posts, I am going on vacation. Be back soon. See you in about a week. I will send you a postcard (probably not). Bye.

I'm Back...Sort Of...

Whew! I am back to the land of the living! It's amazing how a bout of stomach flu can make the ol' jeans fit better! I am trying to look on the bright side of being sick for two days...at least now my pants aren't too tight anymore. (What can I say, I am a "glass half-full" type of gal.) Unfortunately, my little boy is still somewhat under the weather. There is nothing as heartbreaking as a sick child. It is so pathetic. Seriously, it breaks my heart to see my little guy so run down. Ugh. Hopefully, he is at the tail end of this bug, too.

I plan on cooking something tonight, but it will probably be bland, bland, bland. My tummy is still not 100%, and neither is his...so something easy and non-controversial will be our dinner tonight. If I make anything interesting I will make sure to post it. Or if you have any suggestions for easy, bland food for people with sick bellies, I am all ears....just leave a comment. We have been eating scrambled eggs and/or breakfasty type foods for a couple days now, and I am kinda done with that. Really, I can't even stand the smell of toast at this point. If I can't think of anything, I may just go with plain spaghetti noodles and butter or something. With fingers-crossed, I should be back to normal meals tomorrow.

UPDATE:
The husband ended up making scambled eggs, again. Perfect food for soothing a sick tummy, but you really did not miss out on anything exciting at my table.

Sick

So my son has been sick all day, and now it seems that the bug has passed to me. Ugh. I went to the grocery store and came back with a fever, chills, acheness, and an upset stomach. Double Ugh. I took a four hour nap, but still no luck feeling better. I just hope it passes soon. The husband is on duty until I feel like myself again...hopefully sooner rather than later.

Take Out Pizza/Leftovers

Today, I attended a birthday luncheon party for my friend, Laura (Happy Birthday, Laura!!!). We had take-out pizza, bread sticks and marinara, some yummy cookies, cut up watermelon, a veggie tray, and delicious chocolate cake; all at our friend Kelly's house (thanks for hosting, Kelly!). The kids played and ran around like crazy, while the mommies gabbed and ate lunch. It was a blast! Since I was the one to pick up the pizza, I was lucky enough to score a whole leftover pie. Hooray!!! That means no cooking for me tonight! So, our dinner will consist of leftover cheese pizza, and I will make up a side salad to go with it. Easy, easy, easy!

Leftovers

We have a ton of food leftover from the past couple days, so it looks like we will be combining our tidbits for tonight's dinner. We are having our pasta from last night, cashew chicken and brown rice, sweet potato fries (I have an unpeeled sweet potato that needs to be used), and salad. It is truly an international mish-mosh of foodstuffs! Whatever we don't use up tonight, will go in the husband's lunch for tomorrow. Hopefully, that should clear the decks. I am looking forward to trying a new recipe on Monday!

Leftovers

There was really nothing exciting going on in our house this evening. We were out most of the day running errands, and we did not get home until late afternoon. We decided to just defrost/reheat leftover Spinach Ricotta Gnocci for our dinner. The boy was unusually tired and cranky today, so we let him slide with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and some strawberries drizzled with vanilla yogurt. I am not sure what the game plan is for the rest of the weekend, but I should be back tomorrow with a new recipe.

Dinner Out

No cooking for me tonight! The family and I are going over to my in-law's for dinner and a visit with my husband's aunt and uncle that are in town. I am certainly looking forward to having the night off! I will be back tomorrow with the new recipe that I had planned for tonight. Catch ya later!!!

Breakfast for Dinner

I am feeling a bit under the weather today, so the husband is cooking breakfast for dinner. Hopefully, I will be back tomorrow on our regular meal schedule.