Meal Plan

Monday- hotdogs (we have a ton leftover from ruby's birthday) with chili and sour kraut and veggies
Tuesday- CG so we have to do sandwiches...nothing else works...it has been proven
Wednesday- Chili (we will not add the jalepeno and substitute black beans instead of kidney beans).
Thursday-Spaghetti Sauce with Meat Sauce and Salad
Friday- leftovers
Saturday-  Spinach Salad with Salmon
Sunday- Butternut Squash Soup with Roasted Garlic

Happy 5th Birthday!

This little 5 pound 1 oz baby is turning 5 years old today! 

Here are a few of my thoughts and ramblings about our big girl!

We are so thankful for the gift that God gave us in Ruby.  She is funny, smart, curious, generous, loves her brother and sister and loves being with her friends.

We love watching her grow into a little girl.  She asks really inquisitive questions about pirates, God, animals and anything that happens to run through her mind.  She loves to sing, dance, and do gymnastics.  She says "Lou-vey-wille" and we have never corrected her because one day she will figure it out and it is just too cute right now.  It is sad that she isn't a baby anymore but we love this new phase of watching her grow cognitively by leaps and bounds.

At bedtime tonight she said that she loved the flashlight that Mamaw and Papaw gave her.  She said that she always wanted it forever.   We said goodnight and made sure that she new that she and her sister and brother were wonderful gifts to us from God and that we hope that He gave her the good gift of children one day.

We Saw the Horses

During the week of the Kentucky Derby (back in May) we were fortunate enough to go to Churchill Downs two times.  Brian and I went with his work for an afternoon and enjoyed complimentary food and drinks and bet on a few horses.  No, we didn't win anything.  We had lots of fun though.  We decided on Wednesday before the Derby to take the girls to Dawn at the Downs.  You can buy tickets to a buffet and watch some races but we just went in one of the gates for free and watched the horses warm up.  The girls (and us) LOVED watching the horses run.  We got there around 7:30 a.m. which was no small feat but totally worth it.  This will be an annual family tradition for us Laffin's.

Meal Plan

Monday- Steak Nachos (leftover steak from today, black beans, peppers, cheese and tomato's from in laws garden)
Tuesday- hotdogs, mixed veggies and fries
Wednesday- bacon, avocado, tomato, lettuce sandwiches with sweet potato fries
Thursday- Spiced Chicken with Couscous salad
Friday-  tuna melt with salad
Saturday- Slow cooker black beans and rice
Sunday- leftovers

Six Months

Our little guy turned 6 months on the 18th.  Here he is happy as can be and growing like a weed.

Meal Plan

Okay, here is what is cookin this week here in So. Ind.  I am trying to use what I already have as much as possible.  I'm  also trying to add more vegetarian options to be healthy and to save money.

Sunday Crockpot Meatloaf (sort of following these directions ) with carrots, broccoli and wild rice.

Monday  Cobb Salad with Chicken Bacon, Avocado and Veggies (thanks to my friend Tessa for the inspiration).  I will probably check out Smitten Kitchen's Cobb Salad too.  I have had it saved for a long time but never used it.  We won't be adding the eggs, sadly, because of Brian's allergy and because I am staying away from them right now too. 

Tuesday Grilled Cheese/PB&J and Tomato Soup (Community Group night so we need to keep it simple)

Wednesday Vegetarian Tortilla Soup with Tortilla Chips (thanks for the heads up on this Laura)


Thursday  Taco Salad with Ground Beef

Friday Grilled Salmon with Baked or Grilled Sweet Potatos and Apples


Saturday  Kale and Goat Cheese Stuffed Portabella Mushrooms with Whatever Veggies are on Sale this Week

Sunday Pumpkin Pasta with Kale

I'm looking at this meal plan and not sure that it will pan out.  I will try and whatever I don't make will go on the next weeks plan.

Meal Plan...Last Week

I actually made a meal plan this past week and mostly stuck to it.  We were fortunate to get some very tasty heirloom tomatoes from Brian's parents and we also hit up the Bowling Green farmers market.  I am starting to trade meal plans with a couple of friends for inspiration and accountability so hopefully I will post here more often.

creamy broccoli soup with bread (this was really great and really healthy, no cream)
http://www.wholeliving.com/
130293/creamy-broccoli-white-bean-soup

crockpot chicken (chicken broth with heirloom tomatoes) and minty chickpea salad with couscous and tomatoes
http://www.realsimple.com/
food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/minty-chickpea-salad-couscous-10000001639803/index.html

Tostadas (fish (tilapia), refried beans, cheese, lettuce)

bean soup and cornbread & salad

cabbage and sausage with honey roasted sweet potatoes ( http://www.foodnetwork.com/
recipes/ellie-krieger/honey-roasted-sweet-potatoes-recipe/index.html)
 and roasted veggies (zucchini, tomato's, peppers and garlic).  This seems like a lot but it was basically leftover stuff from the farmers market that I threw together.  Brian loved the honey/olive oil/lemon mixture I put on the sweet potatoes.

We also made these the other day: Garlic Grilled Tomatoes
http://prouditaliancook.
blogspot.com/2012/05/let-grilling-begin.html