Monday, July 12, 2010

Menu Planning Monday / Weekend Recap

See update under menu planning if you've already visited!

Happy Monday Y'all!
Had yet another busy weekend, but lots of fun.

Saturday, we drove an hour north to our friends baby shower.  It was great to see old friends and make new ones.  We've known the mommy and daddy to-be since we first moved to Florida, so it was great to see them again since they moved.  I didn't realize they had never me Lallie, so that was an added bonus!  That evening, we went to Saturday night church service where everyone was thrilled to have a child there.  Lallie didn't sing during the songs, but decided to sing during the sermon and when we tried to tell her to hush, she'd yell out loud, "Shhhhh.....I'm singing a princess song!"  The parishoners loved it!

Sunday, I went to another baby shower for twin girls!  You remember my John Deere dresses I posted about on Friday?  Well, Loren LOVED them and she loved the boots too!  You see, her family is in the mulch business, so this was right up her alley!

Here's Loren in I in our cute Lilly outfits.  For any of you maternity wearing mothers...who would've thunk this dress would work!  So cute!  I'm wearing a Lilly green tee with the yellow Lilly Originals skirt.  Of course, I was wearing my McKims, carrying my Lilly bag and my Lilly sunglasses too.  Question - does Lilly make lingerie???  :-)

Look at the lovely (and oh so scrumptious) cupcakes my friend Niki made for the shower.  Little coconut nests with eggs on top, so cute and they were pineappe with cream cheese frosting, so, so yummy!!  The cupcake stands....borrowing them for Lallie's birthday party! 


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Now, for menu planning Monday.

First - did you cook with me?  I think Susan over at Five Great Kiddos might have but not sure if she got her recipe cards yet.  I know my friend Niki over at Merritt's Funny Foot will be cooking with me soon too!

As a reminder, I am using the Pocket Meal Planning from Pocket Full of PosiesUPDATE:  I am not posting the actual recipes as the receipes do come from Pocket Full of Posies and it wouldn't be fair to post them for free here, when they are trying to sell them on their site as mom-penuers!  They are reasonably priced though and WELL worth it!!


Last week the menu was as follows with the reviews:

Salmon with Cucumber Dill sauce:  This recipe was SO super easy.  Literally, 20 minutes from getting home from work to getting dinner on the table.  The salmon was perfectly cooked and Husband loved it.  I did not use the cucumbers as I despise cucumbers (if you recall), but it was still good.  I cut the recipe in half for just the two of us.  The salmon  was $9.99 for two 0.5 lb portions, so on the expensive side.

Mexican Taco Salad:  Very very yummy and also took 20 minutes to get to the table.  You do not need sides with this meal.  This was perfect for summer as the dish is actually served cold (which we weren't expecting).  A fairly inexpensive dish running around $7.50 for all items.  Need to cut the recipe in half for the two of us next time.  Also, a very high fat meal, so not something you'd want to make weekly. 
NOTE:  Would make a great party dip!

Pizza Calzone:  Unfortunately, we never got to make this.  So I'll have to put on hold!

Chicken Ceasar Salad:  Perfect for summer, again!  Need to take it a little easy on the basil next time but that's because Husband is not a big fan of herbs.  Also, could use low fat casear dressing, but honestly, for the amount made, there is not a lot of dressing.  We also used wheat pasta rather than regular pastaMade the full recipe and we both ate salad for lunch the next day.  Took about 30 minutes to the table (with chicken already thawed and ready to boil - did not buy a rotissrie as the recipe calls for, expensive).  Without the rotisserie...about $10.00 for the meal.

Cashew Chicken: Loved, loved, loved this meal!  Took about 20 minutes to the table (pre-chopped the night before the green pepper and carrots).  The sauce was super easy to fix, but will make less of it next time as most went to waste.  Need to use low-sodium soy sauce (because of my heart/blood pressure) and less of it next time, was a little over powering, but good.  Also, used brown rice rather than white.  So good.
About $10.00 for supplies.

So:  What's on the docket this week?

Monday:  Baked Ziti Lasagna (will eat this Tuesday night as well)
Tuesday: Baked Ziti Leftovers
Wednesday: Crock Pot Chicken
Thursday: Tacos
Friday:  Chicken Toes for you smarty pants out there :)  These are chicken nuggets (not actual toes) that are kid friendly.  Blame Pocket Full of Posies - it's their name!  LOL!
Saturday:  Chicken Salad Sandwiches
Sunday:  Leftover chicken salad

So, who's cooking with me????  Let me know and I'll be sure to link you up to my Menu Planning post next Monday!

Don't forget to visit Pocket Full of Posies for your meal pockets!

Happy Monday Y'all!



13 comments:

  1. Will you post some of your recipes? What are chicken toes?

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  2. Friday night is chicken toes. Really?? I'm not sure I'm up for that. I'm all for you cooking, and saving $, but I've got limits.

    I'm not real encouraged by having to post under the Southern Belle heading either.

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  3. How fun to see old friend celebrate! Those cupcakes look yummy.

    I'm sure if I've ever heard of chicken toes before ~ sounds interesting.

    Have a great day ~
    Jo

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  4. You girls look fabulous in your Lilly! Those cupcakes are adorable! Have a great week!

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  5. For those who've commented - chicken toes are kid friendly chicken nuggets (not actual toes ---we're not that adventurous!)
    For the recipes - I can't post them, you have to go through Pocket Full of Posies to order them. It's not fair to put them for free here, when they are trying to run a small business.

    As for Mr. SLPS - I'm pretty sure you are one of two men that read the blog, so you're just going to have to deal with being a "Belle." Hee hee....unless my blogger friends have any ideas! :-)

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  6. Those cupcakes are so cute! Looks like a great time was had by all.

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  7. Those cupcakes are so cute. And I love the Lilly outfits!

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  8. How about "Belles" and "Beaus" for the men leaving comments?
    Darn it! I haven't received my pocket menu yet, I'll let you know when I do. I'll post my menu like y'all do.
    Actually my cooking this weekend became a bit of an adventure in last minute changes. Cooked a big beautiful roast in the crock pot for about 8 hours on high heat, went to slice it and it wasn't just rare it almost walked off the plate. Decided to quickly make burgers on the grill and it started to literally POUR rain. Brought the somewhat wet burgers in and finished them under the broiler in the oven and almost burned them, didn't have a few ingredients that I needed for the dessert, so I skipped it and gave the family ice cream instead. That's how life usually goes around here.

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  9. Those cupcakes are adorable! Sounds like you had a wonderful weekend.

    I'm not cooking Pocket full o'posies, but I did make salmon this past week. My version's oven-raosted with fresh tomatoes and basil on top. Dill sauce sounds really good, too, though.

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  10. Pocket Menu is a fabulous ideas! I'm glad you found a great resource for cooking dinner that is quick, easy and delicious.

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  11. This has been fun to read especially the manly comments :) Hope to cook with you soon...out of town for awhile though.

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  12. Yes the hubby can be called a beau.

    Glad the cooking went well last week.

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  13. Oh my goodness! What a fun party! Love both of your Lilly outfits. Who knew Lilly could work for maternity too. Glad you had a great weekend! :)

    P.S. I've got an award for you tomorrow. :)

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