Food Friday

Wow, the pressure is on when you outline the plans for your blog! I will say, making this post is getting this blog to work for me.  I can almost certainly guarantee if I wasn't supposed to be posting my menu plan for next week, I would not have my grocery list done, I would be floundering at the grocery{have I mentioned I hate the grocery}tomorrow morning and I would be really cranky by Tuesday because I'd be wondering what the heck I was going to find in the fridge to eat.  So, here is what's for dinner...

Sunday- italian chicken soup{pioneer woman} + crusty bread + salad

Monday- grilled steak + baked potato + roasted veggies

Tuesday- english muffin pizza + spinach salad{our best bites minus the chicken}

Wednesday- chicken fajitas{best bites} + rice + beans

Thursday- monte cristo(martha everyday food} + fruit salad

Friday- spaghetti and turkey meatballs{martha stewart everyday food}

Enjoy your weekend!

Do You Do This?

I'm not exactly sure when it happened, but sometime in the last seven years I have been unable to bake a whole batch of cookies.  It started with getting distracted and burning at least two of the four batches, I then tried baking a few batches and when I got too busy with everything I would throw the dough(in the bowl, with the mixing spoon still in it) into the fridge to finish it late.  Problem was later never came and I would have 12 cookies baked and the rest of the dough in the garbage.  I then started making cookie bars but eventually started missing my round little friends.  I don't think this qualify as an Oprah "ah ha moment", but hello brilliant, and hello me for being so dense.

 

 All my cookie dough in a row

 into the freezer little cuties

frozen cookie dough just begging to become a treat.  Fresh baked cookies when my kids get home from school is one of my greatest joys.  In this manner, you can have fresh baked cookies every day-hooray! And lets just say when it's been one of those kind of weeks, these don't even need to meet the oven, "geegee balls"(as Sloan obsessively shouts through the house) are a crowd pleaser as well.

Speaking of my littlest rascal.  I present you with a montage of my favorite Sloan pictures of the week.

You know how experienced mothers put your mind at ease when your child is attempting to meet milestones. "Oh don't worry", they say, "little Billy won't be going to Kindergarten in diapers!" Well, it's a real possibility that little Sobee will be going with a paci in his mouth ;) But can you blame him? He pulls the look off so well! 

What I Wore Wednesday{with a twist}

Once in a while I run across a "What I Wore Wednesday" post from many of my favorite bloggers. It's an accountability post of sorts, you know, the mom mindfully not wearing sweats and "mom" jeans because she is going to be posting her outfits for hundreds of witnesses. I usually love seeing what others wear.  I have to say there are a lot of cute outfits on these people. 

So, in my quest to change up my blog a little bit, I thought it might be fun to post what I wore on Wednesdays{many bloggers post the whole week of outfits, but that just wasn't going to be happening here}.  It even worked out  perfectly because I'm a little more intentional on Wednesday's with my outfits since I go to a Bible study in the morning. I went to take the first picture, posed myself all cute, snapped, and felt all empty inside.  It took me by surprise.  Why was taking a picture of my outfit, making me feel like so crumby?  I didn't have much time to think about it as I flew out the door, I knew I would post it on my blog and worry about it then. I was pretty certain I was just being insecure. Who in the world would care about what I wore, other than my mom, right?

I walked into a new moms group that morning.  I knew nothing about the speaker and was surprised to see Betsy, a pretty woman, very much my{our} age, with a glorious smile and warm eyes walk up to the podium.  A mother of three boys she said, a cheerleader of Christ is how she described herself.  This morning, of all mornings, she was discussing fashion.  Fashion that is, that you wear on the inside of your body.  Her talk was titled: Clothed in Christ. Here were some of the highlights:

Taking off: Clean out your closet- finally putting to death: your anger, gossip, the comparing to others, concern of your outward appearance{hmm...}...

Putting on: in with the new-How we dress in the likeness of Christ: with compassion, kindness, meekness, patience, forgiveness, love, thankfulness, peace...

The New Little Black Dress-The calling on your life:The call that always fits. You can wear it anywhere.

Getting Dressed Everyday: Go into your {prayer}closet to get ready, embrace the opportunity, commit this to memory.

She was a dynamic, little, impressive person, and I took what she said and "chewed" on it for a long time.  What she spoke about, what I felt that morning, was all set out in front of me on my page of notes.  So what if  I managed to wake up early, get dressed, and do my hair all pretty.  What exactly does all that  say about me anyways?!  In my case, nothing.  What I woke up that morning wanting it to say was that I had my #$&% together.  I think I may have succeeded, I mean, isn't that the beauty of blogs-just one little snippet, of one little moment, of one very intentionally placed photo, and I would have walked away from my computer feeling all good about myself.  But that's not the full story, and it's not where I want the story to end .  Does a picture really tell a thousand words?  I have felt that way countless times when I have scrolled down the page of my favorite bloggers "What I Wore Wednesday" post.  Wow, she has really adorable boots, do you think she's nearly perfect in everything she does? No.

My "What I Wore Wednesday" post needs a twist, needs more explanation, needs to be a lot more real. 

What I wore on my body: "Always Skinny" jeans from the Gap, black patent ballet slippers from the gap, belted shirt from Francesca's

What I wore in my heart: That day I was happy to be headed to a meeting where I knew several girls.  I was so ,so thankful for Tisha{a wonderful Knoxville friend} and the church that has offered me many opportunities to connect with them. But, I was also unable to shrug off a guarded feeling that was creeping in and out of my thoughts.  The doubt when you least expect it. A{evil}voice that says, "Why would anyone care about you being there?" "Your certainly not good enough to be in a room full of nice little mothers, you should really give up and surrender to your loneliness" Ugh...

After listening to Betsy, I realized that I never dress my heart first, there was a lot of things I could stand to throw out of my closet, and the little black dress was something I only brought out on special occasions.  Christ lives in me everyday, and if I am ever going to see the reflection of the woman I dream about being, there just better be a heart wearing God's full armor on every morning before I do my hair.  I mean what good is a cute outfit without a heart of good. Amen.

Clothed In Christ

Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other, as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. and above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.  And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which you were called in one body. And be thankful.  Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.  And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Colosssians 3:12-17

Please note that every Wednesday post will not be this long, so don't be afraid to come back. 

Making That Again Monday

I'm afraid this post is a little too late. Are tomatoes still on the vine in your garden?  It has stayed nice and warm here, so silly me to consider the end of growing season.  This is a super yummy grilled tomato recipe that will be great on the last of those summer tomatoes, or save it for next year :)  

 Grilled Tomatoes with Oregano and Lemon{martha stewart everyday food}:

Heat a grill to medium-high. In a small bowl, combine 2 garlic cloves, minced, 1 tablespoon each finely grated lemon zest and lemon juice, 4 teaspoons finely chopped fresh oregano leaves, and 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil.  Season with coarse salt and ground pepper. Clean and lightly oil hot grill.  Halve 4 large tomatoes crosswise and brush cut sides with olive oil.   Place cut side down on grill. Grill until lightly charred, about 4 minutes.  With a metal spatula, flip tomatoes and grill until skins blister and begin to char, 2 to 3 minutes.  Transfer tomatoes to a serving platter, season with salt and pepper, and drizzle with oregano-lemon oil.  Serve warm or room temperature.

Enjoy!

I also wanted to share with you the progress we have made on the back yard(which for three months had been none!)this weekend.  Now that the weather has stayed out of the 90s, we thought it was safe to(finally)plant grass seed.  The boys, big and little, worked two very long days to get this done.  The seed, fertilizer and hay are down, now I pray that nature takes over with a little help from my constant watering.

hatching plans in the "car lobby"{I have no idea why they call it that but I live in the south and some things can't be explained} line

Here at POQAL I'm trying to make things more exciting, more predicable{for you and for me}, and just  more useful.  So I'm making a plan and it starts with food  and clothes :) 

Monday: Making that again Monday-POQAL test kitchen successes

Wednesday: What I wore{inside and out} Wednesday-hopefully not, but more than likely, posts about clothes from Forever 21{a store I should be banned from}, and what's in my heart{this might be scary}

Friday: I love food{but loath the grocery store} Friday-weekly menu with recipes and a promise not to rant about how much a can't stand grocery shopping.

That's as far as I've gotten, mainly because I can't make up any cute names for Tuesday and Thursday{I should come up with something soon, as all I do is sit in the car line at school with plenty of time to dream something up}

SO, now that I've gotten you all up to date, it's Friday and I'm not posting a menu.  I am however, bringing you a tried and true, kid friendly and husband pleasing recipe to try.  Let's pretend it's Monday shall we.

Chicken Piccata with capers{cooking light}

Stuffed Zucchini with Tomatoes and Mozzarella{Martha Stewart}

enjoy!

It's like trying to catch the wind

My Asher is six today and I am sitting here wondering how fast the next six years are going to go.  Wasn't it just yesterday that we were bringing him home from the hospital, but at the same time, thank goodness it's not.  The quandary of loving those babies, being ok that everyone is getting more independent, but wishing for just certain moments to be relived, the pause button, some way to rewind once in a while.  Do you ever feel that way? 

He started Kindergarten this year and I miss him.  Sloan and I visit school often to have lunch with him and Sloan leaves every time crying for "his Asher".  I feel the same way.  I wouldn't mind just scooping him up and taking him back home.  "We'll be back when I'm a little more ready to give him up." I'd say to the Principle. But, you can't stop progress, and Asher is ready to spread his wings. 

 Yep, this picture makes me swallow hard

 And four makes it a little bit more of a family.

Six years later, lots of laughter, a substantial amount of tears, several super hero obsessions, another brother, two more states, and he's the same joyful boy he has always been.  When his first giggle touched my ears five years and 11 months ago, I thought to myself , "hmmm, that's different" and he hasn't stopped surprising me since.  Happy Birthday sweet beautiful Asher.  We love you.

August

Well, I did it.  I survived summer vacation.  I know, that sounds like I don't know how to have fun, but I can't be the only mom out there that questions whether or not she has what it takes to survive, smile, and look forward to another summer break next year.  I am happy to report that we had a fabulous summer and our trip back to Des Moines was icing on the summer fun cake. So without further ado.  August...

 Baseball in the heartland.  Does it get any better?  My dad has the perfect yard for baseball and soccer and the boys were happy to have someone pitching to them other than me. It's possible I nearly failed PE.

 You know you're a big dork from Iowa when you drive down the road taking pictures of the beautiful corn.  I'm homesick, but I may have crossed some line here(literally, considering I was driving and taking pictures).

 We loved ourselves some best friends.  Hi best friends, we miss you! Ummm, that includes you Miss E, so stop pretending like you can't wait for me to leave ;)

The silly picture pose. Can't leave home without it.

 

 This girl really doesn't know how much she loves me(yet), but I know how much I love her.

This guy knows how much he loves me and never lets me forget it(if love is measured in toys thrown across the room, early morning wake up calls, and muddy hand prints on my behind).

 He loves his PaPa too.

 Mini me...you complete me.  Asher and his Uncle Matt. 

 The cousins(pronounced couthins)! Ahhh, look at those darling girls. They are soo good to my boys.

 Round two.  Cousins from Portland and an annual trip to Adventureland.  That's Aunt Kit dodging the camera and sweet Matteo getting ready to take the brunt of the water from the log ride.  I love you Matteo because you are the sweetest all boy guy around and the perfect playmate for a 7 and 5 year old :)

 Tullia, my very(starting high school this year) adorable, fashionable, no to mention hilarious, niece and Aunt Kit(gottcha brace face).  We had a great time together.  Aunt Jen was somewhere in all this madness.  Love you Jen.

 And look what I came home to! Glorious white! My husband worked his booty off and I was fortunate to come home to all the painting DONE.  It feels soo good. I mean so good.  Clearly more to do(countertops. backsplash, cabinet doors anyone), but it's finally white, and the house finally feels more like us. Hooray!

In case you forgot.

I'll be back September 1st with another kitchen update and more frequent posts.  Take care.