Menu Plan Monday: August 8- August 14

This week and moving forward, I won't be sharing my breakfast and lunch plans. Let's face it with the craziness that is about to go on in this house with school, sports, work, church and everything else we juggle those plans will more than likely not happen. 

Starting today, I am going back to work part-time. In addition to the 20-30 hours I will be working, Little Man has football practice (4 times this week) and we are finishing getting registered and prepared for school this week.We have appointments for back-to-school haircuts plus an eye appointment and extra behavioral therapy for Goalie. Goalie is starting soccer in a week or two and Little Man is also in rotation for Altar Serving at our parish and Religious Education should be starting in a month. My husband is a manager and works at least 50 hours a week (not including his hour or more drive to and from work). It's easier for me just to keep a few "quick" options for breakfast and if we have time to make a nice big breakfast take advantage. Quick breakfast ideas we rotate are frozen waffles (NutriGrain), cereal, instant oatmeal or breakfast sandwich. 

Lunch is a whole other story. My boys eat lunch at school. I like for them to have hot meals, especially with cooler weather on the way. My husband eats at his job. This leaves me drinking a protein shake or something just to hold me over for dinner. Dinner is different because it is the most important meal at my house. It is the time we all sit together and spend some time together and sometimes it's the only time we have in the day to enjoy each other's company. 

How's your fall schedule looking? I'm sure everyone starts getting busier around this time or year but I'll be honest, I love it! 

Important and Exciting News! I just recently created an account with Yummly and will be transferring my recipes to my account over the next few weeks. It should make saving and trying out recipes easier now that you can utilize Pinterest and/or Yummly. I would love to network with anyone utilizing the site and share recipes and ideas. Comment with your Yummly page so I can check out with you have to offer please! Here is my menu for the upcoming week. 

Monday: Saint Dominic

Healthier Crockpot Orange Chicken

Tuesday: Saint Teresa Benedicta (Edith Stein)
Polish Sausage with Onions and Peppers
(We will also be celebrating Saint Maximillian Kolbe this day because his feast day falls on a Sunday during this liturgical year)

Wednesday: Saint Lawrence
Crockpot BBQ Chicken with Corn on the Cob

Thursday: Saint Clare
Meatloaf with Mashed Potatoes and Green Beans 

(Special Request by my Husband)

Friday:
Spaghetti Squash Chow Mein

Saturday: 
Pizza Night

Sunday:
Leftover Dinner Buffet

Lot's of fun feasts this week to celebrate and as they happen I will link to the posts where I share what we did to celebrate and update the recipes I share with some pictures to show off how our dinner turns out. 

Healthier Crockpot Orange Chicken:

2-3 Large Chicken Breasts

1 Cup Orange Marmalade

1/2 Cup Chicken Broth

1/4 Cup Orange Juice

2 Tbsp Soy Sauce
1 Tbsp Ginger

1 Tbsp Minced Garlic

1 Medium Red Pepper (Diced)

1 Medium Onion (Diced)

1/4 Cup Sesame Seeds

Pinch or two of Red Pepper Flake

*Add enough red pepper to suit your taste of spicy flavor, my boys do not like very spicy foods*

Grease your crockpot or spray with pan spray. Place the chicken breast in the crockpot. Add the diced red pepper and onion as well. In a mixing bowl combine the marmalade, chicken broth, orange juice, soy sauce, ginger, garlic and sesame seeds and mix them together. Pour the sauce over the chicken and cover with the lid. Set the crockpot on low heat for 8-10 hours or high heat for 4-6 hours. If you have time and like a flavorful chicken, I suggest preparing the marinade a day or two early and allowing the chicken to marinate in the fridge before placing in the crockpot.

What makes this orange chicken healthier is that it is not fried and has extra vegetables. Instead of serving this over white rice I will be substituting quinoa. I suggest serving this with a green vegetable such as grilled zucchini, green beans, broccoli or snap peas. Enjoy!

Spaghetti Squash Vegetable Chow Mein:

1 Large Spaghetti Squash

2 Cup Shredded Cabbage

1 Cup Shredded Carrots

1 (8 oz) Can of Water chestnuts (Drained)

1 Cup Mushrooms
1/2 Cup Celery (Diced)
1 Medium Onion (Diced)

1 Cup Snap Peas
2 Cups Vegetable Broth
1/2 Cup Soy Sauce
3 Tbsp Minced Garlic
1 Tbsp Brown Sugar
1 Tbsp Ginger
2 Tbsp Coconut Oil
2 Tsp White Pepper

Cut the spaghetti squash in half length wise and scoop out seeds. Lay skin side up on a cookie sheet wrapped in foil. Bake at 400 degrees for 30-40 minutes. Scoop out the squash with a fork into a large mixing bowl so it breaks apart into strings. Set the bowl to the side. To make preparations quicker you can prepare the spaghetti squash in advance. Sauté the cabbage, carrots, water chestnuts, mushrooms, celery, onion and snap peas in coconut oil for 5-10 minutes. We like our vegetables still slightly crunchy so I will cook mine closer to 5 minutes. Add the vegetables to the spaghetti squash and mix together. Then combine the vegetable broth, soy sauce, garlic, brown sugar, ginger and pepper together in a separate bowl to make the chow mein sauce. Pour the sauce and toss the chow mein. Just so you know... you will have a lot of leftovers! (You can always save half of the spaghetti squash for another recipe if you don't want a ton of extra. Enjoy!

Follow my blog with Bloglovin to stay up to date with my new menus and family activities! Remember to look for me on Yummly too. This is shared at weekly linkup called Menu Plan Monday on I'm an Organizing Junkie.

#WorthRevisit: Football and Stargazing

Do any of you get excited during the change of seasons? I do! Especially during the fall. I love putting up decorations and changes the scents in the warmers throughout the house and grabbing the full experience of the season. I may even pull out the fall decorations today and prepare the house a little early this year! I also love the strict routine that comes with Back-to-School and the the structure that Football and Soccer season brings for the boys. This will be Little Man's 4th year of Football and Goalie's 2nd season of Fall Soccer. Goalie really wants to be a football player like his big brother but in Colorado, they do not allow you to play football until you are older. 

In honor of this, I decided to share some my thoughts from several Fall seasons ago and ideas to share the Liturgical Celebrations of Saint Dominic and Saint Lawrence.  Here is my #WorthRevisit post for the week, thanks to Theology is a Verb and Reconciled to You :

Sunday, August 4, 2013

Football and Stargazing

Wow! Where has this summer gone?! I have to admit that I love the summer heat and everything that goes along with it. It seems like the school year just ended and we started soccer and summer camp for Little Man.

Well...Soccer officially ended two weeks ago and this is the last week of summer camp. We did end soccer on a great note! Little Man received the award for being "The most Christ-like Player" during the last game because he helped a player from the opposing team up after they fell chasing down the soccer ball. His face lit up when he found out he was being bestowed with such a great honor. In recognition of his achievement, he received a red wrist band that says "Represent". Little Man wore that wristband everyday until it was lost in the abyss that has become his room. I am hoping we can find it because it meant so much to him. We will definitely be having a serious cleaning session very shortly to prepare for the upcoming school year. I am hoping to have clothes and toys to donate to our churches thrift shop.

Approaching the fall, we are entering into a whole new world of exciting life changing milestones. For Little Man, football tryouts just ended and we will be finding out more information about his team and the upcoming season tomorrow! Not only that, but he will be starting the 1st grade at a new school, and starting his Catechism for his first Reconciliation! I am so excited for him and to see how he is going to tackle these exciting new adventures in his life.

For Squishy, which may need a new nickname soon, will be moved up into the next class in daycare and we will aggressively start potty training. I can not believe my baby is becoming a big boy already. I received notice of his transition upward this past week and it nearly brought me to tears. I am so proud of both of my boys but I wish they could stay little forever. If you don't mind could you say a small prayer for squishy too.. he is having a hard time with his molars coming in and his congestion has been flaring up even with his nebulizer treatments.

 

Even with all these new and exciting developments for the boys, I am excited to say that I will be finishing my degree and starting classes this month as well! If you think we couldn't add anymore changes and attempting new things this month you were wrong... Eric has accepted a management position and will be starting management training right around the time the new school year starts.

 

God is showering us with so many blessings and our hearts are so full of happiness and appreciation! I have to admit I am a little nervous trying to figure out how we are going to manage all these new schedules changes and additions but God never gives you more than we can handle so I am stepping aside and allowing him to lead the way.

I touched on football a little but I am really excited about star gazing this week! The Feast of Saint Dominic, which is Little Man's Baptismal patron saint, and the Feast of Saint Lawrence are fast approaching! In honor of Saint Dominic I want to throw together a Star gazing party for the boys. Saint Dominic is the patron saint of astronomers. The story is that Saint Dominic's grandmother saw a radiant light that came from Saint Dominic's forehead during his baptism and he had a great love for learning. I think it would be fun to make star headbands for everyone to decorate and wear as we star gaze together in the backyard. Another fun fact about Saint Dominic is that he has an association with orange trees because it is said that he planted an orange tree at the Convent of Saint Sabina in Rome. I was thinking about having either star shaped sandwiches with chicken and stars soup or possible a star shaped pasta dish served with an orange sherbet punch in honor of this amazing saint. I would love some suggestions if anyone has some to give! At the Catholic Culture website they suggest making Cherries Jubilee in honor of the dream Saint Dominic's mother had of a dog holding a torch that lit the world on fire. I actually have my own dream that I had many years ago that has made me have such a strong devotion to this saint but you will have to wait until August 8th! Coincidentally, I was researching some ideas for the Feast of Saint Lawrence and I feel it really is only necessary to have a barbecue in his honor. We will either have cheeseburgers, hot dogs or some sort of kabob.... like I said I am still in the planning stages. In addition to a barbecue, I found that it is a tradition to wish pray upon a star and invoke Saint Lawrence to pray along with you. I think it is pretty awesome that the next two feasts we are celebrating both incorporate the stars. It will be a nice way to help bring our busy summer to s relaxing close.

So that sums it up! I would love some input on anything anyone has to offer as we start down the new path God has brought my family to travel. Thank you for your continued prayers and God Bless!

Football and Stargazing

Wow! Where has this summer gone?! I have to admit that I love the summer heat and everything that goes along with it. It seems like the school year just ended and we started soccer and summer camp for Little Man.

Well...Soccer officially ended two weeks ago and this is the last week of summer camp. We did end soccer on a great note! Little Man received the award for being "The most Christ-like Player" during the last game because he helped a player from the opposing team up after they fell chasing down the soccer ball. His face lit up when he found out he was being bestowed with such a great honor. In recognition of his achievement, he received a red wrist band that says "Represent". Little Man wore that wristband everyday until it was lost in the abyss that has become his room. I am hoping we can find it because it meant so much to him. We will definitely be having a serious cleaning session very shortly to prepare for the upcoming school year. I am hoping to have clothes and toys to donate to our churches thrift shop.

Approaching the fall, we are entering into a whole new world of exciting life changing milestones. For Little Man, football tryouts just ended and we will be finding out more information about his team and the upcoming season tomorrow! Not only that, but he will be starting the 1st grade at a new school, and starting his Catechism for his first Reconciliation! I am so excited for him and to see how he is going to tackle these exciting new adventures in his life.

For Squishy, which may need a new nickname soon, will be moved up into the next class in daycare and we will aggressively start potty training. I can not believe my baby is becoming a big boy already. I received notice of his transition upward this past week and it nearly brought me to tears. I am so proud of both of my boys but I wish they could stay little forever. If you don't mind could you say a small prayer for squishy too.. he is having a hard time with his molars coming in and his congestion has been flaring up even with his nebulizer treatments.

 

Even with all these new and exciting developments for the boys, I am excited to say that I will be finishing my degree and starting classes this month as well! If you think we couldn't add anymore changes and attempting new things this month you were wrong... Eric has accepted a management position and will be starting management training right around the time the new school year starts.

 

God is showering us with so many blessings and our hearts are so full of happiness and appreciation! I have to admit I am a little nervous trying to figure out how we are going to manage all these new schedules changes and additions but God never gives you more than we can handle so I am stepping aside and allowing him to lead the way.

I touched on football a little but I am really excited about star gazing this week! The Feast of Saint Dominic, which is Little Man's Baptismal patron saint, and the Feast of Saint Lawrence are fast approaching! In honor of Saint Dominic I want to throw together a Star gazing party for the boys. Saint Dominic is the patron saint of astronomers. The story is that Saint Dominic's grandmother saw a radiant light that came from Saint Dominic's forehead during his baptism and he had a great love for learning. I think it would be fun to make star headbands for everyone to decorate and wear as we star gaze together in the backyard. Another fun fact about Saint Dominic is that he has an association with orange trees because it is said that he planted an orange tree at the Convent of Saint Sabina in Rome. I was thinking about having either star shaped sandwiches with chicken and stars soup or possible a star shaped pasta dish served with an orange sherbet punch in honor of this amazing saint. I would love some suggestions if anyone has some to give! At the Catholic Culture website they suggest making Cherries Jubilee in honor of the dream Saint Dominic's mother had of a dog holding a torch that lit the world on fire. I actually have my own dream that I had many years ago that has made me have such a strong devotion to this saint but you will have to wait until August 8th! Coincidentally, I was researching some ideas for the Feast of Saint Lawrence and I feel it really is only necessary to have a barbecue in his honor. We will either have cheeseburgers, hot dogs or some sort of kabob.... like I said I am still in the planning stages. In addition to a barbecue, I found that it is a tradition to wish pray upon a star and invoke Saint Lawrence to pray along with you. I think it is pretty awesome that the next two feasts we are celebrating both incorporate the stars. It will be a nice way to help bring our busy summer to s relaxing close.

So that sums it up! I would love some input on anything anyone has to offer as we start down the new path God has brought my family to travel. Thank you for your continued prayers and God Bless!