This Week for Dinner – Weekly Meal Plans, Dinner Ideas, Recipes and More!: music

Category: music

Sunday, March 14

Week 164 Menu

This past week was GREAT. I can’t tell you how nice it was to have a decent menu plan again and actually follow it (with tweaks here and there, of course). I cooked real meals. I had the ingredients in the fridge. It was so nice.

Nate went to Costco yesterday. I like it when he goes without me because he buys splurge items like pre-cut mango, which I always feel a little guilty spending extra money on. Seriously, not having to slice mango but still getting to eat it is the BEST.

MONDAY:
- Asian Spinach Salad (I’m going to try leaving the chicken out, maybe add a few veggies to the mix…although it is really good WITH the chicken, just trying to figure out more veggie-based dishes)

TUESDAY:
- Fajitas (leftover ingredients from last week)

WEDNESDAY:
- Butter Chicken & Basmati Rice (still looking for a good recipe for Butter Chicken…any tips?)
- Naan bread
- Some sort of veggie

THURSDAY:
- Leftovers

FRIDAY:
- Frittata (I’m going to do a veggie frittata, but use the linked recipe as a base)

SATURDAY:
- Eat out

SUNDAY:
- Pot Roast w/mashed potatoes and a veggie

Please share your menu! We like all kinds of menus, no matter how fancy or un-fancy they are! Also, you certainly don’t have to assign days to specific items…we’re flexible around here.

Posted by Jane Maynard at 9:14 am 38 Comments
Categories: music
Sunday, September 27

Week 140 Menu

I can’t wait to share my fun weekend at BlogHer Food with you…but at this very moment I’m completely wiped out, so I’m going to take a nap instead. Until then, please enjoy these homegrown tomatoes from Katie at goodLife {eats}. ALL of my tomato plants died this summer…I blame the dirt and a suspected virus. It certainly couldn’t be me, right? Katie felt guilty literally swimming in healthy, homegrown tomatoes, so she carried a bag on the plane all the way from Albuquerque to share with me. Now that’s food blog love if I’ve ever seen it. Thanks, Katie!

On to the menu! You would think a weekend at a food blog conference would have me fired up to cook. Nope, it actually has me fired up to be a better photographer. I may end up playing with my camera all week instead of cooking!

MONDAY:
– Homemade margherita pizza
- Salad

TUESDAY:
– Tacos of some kind – there was a lot of taco talk this weekend, feeling a bit inspired

WEDNESDAY:
– Chilaquiles – this was on TWO menus last week and I haven’t even heard of them, so I’m giving it a try. Figure I can incorporate leftover ingredients from taco night. Recipes are welcome!

THURSDAY:
– Leftovers

FRIDAY:
– Baked loaded potatoes (Sherri S put this on her menu last week…sounds really good to me for some reason…Nate doesn’t really like potatoes…he’ll have to suffer for one night….aren’t I sweet…should I keep doing ellipses…is it annoying yet…)
- Salad

SATURDAY:
– Eat out

SUNDAY:
– Butternut Squash Risotto – doesn’t that sound good? I think I’ll add some chicken to it, as well.
- Salad

Your turn! Please share your menu for the week! I love how we’ve had lots of first-time posters lately…please keep those menus coming! As you can see, the more tired I am, the more ideas I steal from you…so, thank you for your ideas!

Posted by Jane Maynard at 2:15 pm 29 Comments
Categories: music
Wednesday, December 3

Song of the Week: ‘Tired’ by Adele

I think it’s about time for another Song of the Week! I know, it’s been more like the Song of the ‘Every-Few-Months-Or-So’ but whatever.

I LOVE this week’s song. Have you heard Adele yet? She is too cool, I mean, look at the album cover. Adele is a British singer with a hip sound and an Amy Winehouse-esque voice, but without all the “baggage,” if you know what I mean (no hard feelings, Ms. Winehouse).

I bought Adele’s whole album after only hearing one song, Chasing Pavements, and love it. The song Tired is hands-down my favorite. Check it out! You’ll be glad you did.

Posted by Jane Maynard at 10:20 pm 3 Comments
Categories: music
Thursday, August 21

Song of the Week: ‘The Hat’ by Ingrid Michaelson

Have you heard Ingrid Michaelson’s music? It’s great, isn’t it? If you haven’t, here’s a link where you can go listen! I really like the whole album.

The Hat was playing in the background the other evening and I found myself really enjoying it. So, it’s the Song of the Week. But The Way I Am is lovely and adorable. It makes me smile.

Okay, no more music and radio shows. My next post will be about food. I promise!

Posted by Jane Maynard at 6:01 pm 5 Comments
Categories: music
Friday, August 8

Song of the Week: Jack Johnson

I know you all know I love Jack Johnson and today’s post is not news, but I went to his concert this week and it was GREAT. I’ve seen him a few times before and Jack never disappoints. Seriously, that guy is just cool.

The concert this week was really fun. Zach Gill from ALO played piano/keyboard for all the songs and it added a really great sound to all the music. Loved it. We left the concert before the encore to beat the crazy traffic out of the parking lot, but when we got to the car we could hear Jack singing solo with his guitar. It was quiet except the music. A great way to end the night!

Anyway, here’s a link to the new album, Sleep Through the Static. Although, I think Brushfire Fairytales will always be my fave. (click the links to hear samples and/or buy the MP3s)

PS – I almost took Cate to the concert. There were crazy storms that day, though, so ix-nay on the ate-cay. Which was a good thing. For some reason I forgot concerts are LOUD. Cate would have hated the decibel levels, even if it was “Curious George’s Daddy” singing to her.

Posted by Jane Maynard at 7:41 am 2 Comments
Categories: music
Saturday, May 3

Song of the Week: Breathe (2 AM) by Anna Nalick

This week’s song is Breathe (2 AM) by Anna Nalick (click through for a sample). I haven’t heard it in a WHILE and it was on the radio the other day. Just a nice mellow song, and I really like Anna Nalick’s voice. I haven’t listened to any of her other music, but from what I’ve sampled on iTunes I like her. Perhaps a new album to buy!

I actually have a cool acoustic version of Breathe on a cd from a radio station in Boston. This CD is GOOD. Just so you know. It’s called “92.9 WBOS Studio 7: Live from the Archives Vol. 3″. I found on at this website if you want to buy it.

Posted by Jane Maynard at 6:10 pm No Comments
Categories: music
Monday, March 31

Song of the Week: Inaudible Melodies

I’m sure you all have this week’s song on your iPods already, but that’s just because it’s awesome: Inaudible Melodies by Jack Johnson.

I drove to Phil’s BBQ last night and turned on Brushfire Fairytales for the ride. The very first chord of the very first song, Inaudible Melodies, immediately transports me back in time…back to our first years in San Diego, back when we were younger and MUCH cooler, back to days at the beach, back to those fun times before you have kids and can be a bit more spontaneous, back to when Nate surfed all the time, just back.

Fun story…Jack Johnson was playing at UCSD years ago and we had tickets. Nate went out for a surf that morning before the show and was late coming home. I, of course, was annoyed we were going to be late…Nate wasn’t worried because he knew Jack was going on later…how did he know this? Jack told him. Yup, he totally ran into him out on the water and talked with him between waves. Needless to say, I wasn’t so mad when I found out WHY Nate was late.

This is definitely the kind of music I need to listen to this week. First off, I have so many happy San Diego memories tied to those tunes. More importantly, it’s CALMING, which is what I need right now. “Slow down everyone your moving too fast.” That’s right, Jane – slow down & enjoy your last moments in this beautiful city.

Posted by Jane Maynard at 12:23 am 2 Comments
Categories: music
Saturday, March 22

Song of the Week: Mozart’s Violin Concertos No. 3 & No. 5

This week I’m feeling a little classical…so I’ll share my most favorite classical music CD. I don’t know why I love this album so much, I just do. It’s beautiful, I love Mozart and the music sounds, well, happy. Perfect for a spring day. Perhaps I’ll have it accompany our Easter dinner tomorrow…

Here it is: Mozart’s Violin Concertos Nos. 3 & 5, featuring Itzhak Perlman (violinist), James Levine (conductor) and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Click here or on the title of the album above to listen to and/or purchase the MP3s!

Posted by Jane Maynard at 7:38 pm No Comments
Categories: music
Saturday, March 15

Song of the Week: ‘The Last Kiss’ Soundtrack

First off, I didn’t realize how powerful my word is…after I made Hallelujah the Song of the Week, it became the #1 downloaded song on iTunes. Wow. I’m amazing. Okay, maybe American Idol is the reason it hit #1, but maybe not…

This week’s Song of the Week is actually a whole album because I just can’t settle on one song! If you haven’t listened to ‘The Last Kiss’ movie soundtrack, you should! I’ve had it for quite a while and, for some reason, have only shared it with Nate in the last few weeks. He likes it just as much as I do. It’s gotten me through many a night slaving away in the kitchen. And, yes, Zach Braff is on the cover of the album, just like last week. The dude has good taste in music, what can I say?

I WILL tell you which songs I especially like on the album.

MOST favorite songs:
Warning Sign by Coldplay (which appeared previously as a Song of the Week and is my most favorite Coldplay song)
Paper Bag by Fiona Apple (which I loved before I got this soundtrack)
Paperweight by Joshua Radin & Schuyler Fisk (this song is BEAUTIFUL…albeit a bit “romantic,” if you catch my drift…)

Second most favorite songs:
Chocolate by Snow Patrol
Hold You In My Arms by Ray LaMontagne
Star Mile by Joshua Radin

Nate’s favorite song on the album:
Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk by Rufus Wainwright

I honestly like every song on the album, however. You should listen to them all! (Click here and scroll down a bit on the page to preview all the songs.)

Quick note: For some reason you can only buy this soundtrack on CD through Amazon, not as an MP3. SO…if you want to get the whole album in MP3 format in one fell swoop, you’ll have to go to iTunes. However, all of the songs listed above (except Paperweight) WILL link to individual MP3s on Amazon.

Quick note #2: I haven’t actually seen this movie, so if you decide to watch it because of this post and it stinks, it’s not my fault.

Now – GO LISTEN! These songs are great.

Posted by Jane Maynard at 1:39 pm 5 Comments
Categories: music
Sunday, March 9

Song of the Week: Hallelujah

Confession: we watch American Idol. I even vote. So embarrassing. But I would hazard to guess most of YOU are watching and voting too, so I’m in good company, right?

One of our favorite guys this season is Jason Castro. One of the reasons we like him is because he picks good, interesting songs. This week was no exception – he sang Hallelujah, originally a Leonard Cohen song. Randy & Simon talked about how their favorite version of the song was by Jeff Buckley. They also thought Jason did an amazing job, which he did.

As he was singing the song, I felt like it was in a movie or something that I really like…I did a little investigating and BINGO! It was on my most favorite Scrubs episode ever (one of the first episodes, My Old Lady, which you can download on iTunes…it made me cry both times I saw it). That version of Hallelujah was done by John Cale. The song was perfect in this episode. I think it would be perfect for my next American Idol audition, too. Maybe I’ll actually make it through this time! That is a JOKE, people.

The entire Scrubs soundtrack that Hallelujah is on is pretty cool. Yes, it was released 6 years ago, so maybe not the newest music, but I really like a lot of the songs on there. Definitely worth checking out.

Be sure to click on the names of the songs/artists to hear samples! You can also buy the DRM-free MP3s on Amazon, which means you can put the song on as many computers as you want.

Posted by Jane Maynard at 12:28 am 7 Comments
Categories: music