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  1. Sunday, September 30, 2018

    Week 594 Weekly Menu

    Happy Sunday! We had a wonderful birthday week but it was busy. Now that birthdays are done, all of the travel and events and craziness of the last 3 months is pretty much over and I am looking forward to a quiet, steady routine. Of course, the holidays are not far off! 😉

    Week 594 Weekly Dinner Menu: Monday - Kebabs; Tuesday - Carnitas Tacos; Wednesday - Grilled Salmon; Thursday - Leftovers; Friday - Spaghetti; Saturday - Eat Out; Sunday - Veggie Egg Scrambles

    MONDAY:
    – Chicken Kebabs
    – Grilled Vegetables

    TUESDAY:
    Pork Carnitas Tacos

    WEDNESDAY:
    Grilled Salmon
    Crispy Rosemary Roast Potatoes & Salad

    THURSDAY:
    – Leftovers

    FRIDAY:
    – Spaghetti
    – Salad

    SATURDAY:
    – Eat out night

    SUNDAY:
    Roasted Vegetable Scrambles

    Meal planning friends, please post your menus in the comments below! They are incredibly helpful and inspiring to all of us!


  2. Thursday, September 27, 2018

    Super Cute & Super Easy Minecraft Slime Birthday Cake

    If you’ve been around this blog for a while you know that I love making fun birthday cakes for my kids. Owen just turned 7 and it was a family year for him (the kids get friend parties on their even-numbered birthdays). In addition to it being a family year I also turned 40, so I kind of forgot about making him a cake. (WHAT?!?!?) Then, the day before his birthday, Owen was talking about his Minecraft Slime birthday cake. And I realized, “OH. I need to make a birthday cake.” There may have been a bit of panic on my part, however Minecraft saved me from a full blown panic attack because SQUARES. I looked up what Minecraft slime looks like and I was especially relieved.

    Picture of a Minecraft Slime Birthday Cake (instructions for assembly included in the post)

    This Minecraft Slime birthday cake is so easy to throw together, even a mom who forgot that she makes awesome cakes for her kids every year and had to throw together a cake last minute could do it. So, if you have a kid (or grown up) in your life who loves Minecraft, you should totally suggest this cake to them. Because you’ll knock their socks off and won’t even break a sweat doing it!

    Birthday cake that looks like slime from Minecraft (assembly instructions included in the post)

    If you’re going to make this cake, I highly recommend reading my post An Amateur’s Guide to Making Super Cute Cakes before jumping in as it has lots of great tips. In addition, I used the frosting and cake recipes included in that post for this Minecraft Slime birthday cake.

    How to Decorate a Minecraft Slime Birthday Cake
     
    Author:
    Ingredients
    • A 1- or 2-layer 8 inch square cake (I halved the cake recipe and only did a 1-layer cake, but a regular 2-layer cake works perfectly)
    • Buttercream frosting (I one-and-a-half timesed the buttercream recipe I linked to above for a 1-layer cake; if you do a 2-layer cake I would recommend 3 timesing the recipe)
    • Fondant
    • Green food coloring (I used Wilton's Leaf Green gel food color)
    Instructions
    1. Please read the "Amateur's Guide" post to get tips about frosting the cake (which includes freezing the cake, doing a crumb coat, etc).
    2. Frost your 8-inch square cake with light green frosting. Use a long icing spatula to make the buttercream look as flat as possible.
    3. Add a lot of green food coloring to a handful of fondant - the fondant will be the same green color as the icing, but it should be darker, so keep adding color until it is darker. Massage the fondant in your hands until the green food coloring is fully incorporated.
    4. Using a rolling pin, roll out the fondant into an even, semi-thin layer. When rolling the fondant, place waxed or parchment paper on the cutting board and then another piece of waxed or parchment paper on top of the fondant before rolling. Also, rolling the fondant out once and then balling it and rolling it out again is a good way to get the color to look even.
    5. Cut two 2-1/2 inch squares out of the fondant using a pizza cutter. Cut one 1-1/2 inch square. Click here to download a template for the squares and placement on the cake. Place the large squares on the cake about where you would place them for eyes if the square was a face. Place the small square around where you would put a mouth, but be sure to offset the square to the right a bit.

     

     


  3. Monday, September 24, 2018

    Week 593 Weekly Menu…and HELLO 40!

    This week brings my FORTIETH BIRTHDAY. 40. Wow. It’s also Owen’s 7th birthday! We started celebrating this weekend and the celebrations continue this week. So basically I’m a mess in the meal planning department. But I figure you only turn 40 once, seems like a good excuse to slack off for a week! So, my menu is kind of lame…but I’m at least getting this post published so you guys can share your menus. I’m not even bothering with my usual menu graphic because my menu is straight up useless. As a 40th birthday menu should be! 😉

    MONDAY:
    – Leftovers from eating at Liberty Public Market

    TUESDAY:
    – I am taking Owen to Disneyland to celebrate our special day!
    – No clue what Nate and the girls will eat. 😉

    WEDNESDAY:
    – It’s Owen’s family year (no friend party), he has requested PF Chang’s (i.e. dumplings) for his special family dinner

    THURSDAY:
    – No clue

    FRIDAY:
    – No clue

    SATURDAY:
    – No clue

    SUNDAY:
    – No clue

    HA! The laziest menu I’ve ever written! I’m so proud!

    For real, we REALLY need you all to post your menus this week. Please provide us with much needed inspiration! Have a great week!


  4. Monday, September 17, 2018

    Week 592 Weekly Menu

    How is it the start of another week already? Was about to make lunch and realized I needed to get my menu act together, so here we are.

    Week 592 Weekly Dinner Menu from This Week for Dinner: Monday, Chili; Tuesday, Carnitas; Wednesday, Kebabs; Friday, Rachel Sandwiches, Sunday, Grammy's Orange Chicken. Leftovers and eat out the other nights!

    MONDAY:
    Chili

    TUESDAY:
    Pork Carnitas Tacos

    WEDNESDAY:
    – Chicken Kebabs
    – Rice and Roasted Vegetables

    THURSDAY:
    – Leftovers

    FRIDAY:
    Rachel Sandwiches

    SATURDAY:
    – Eat out night (It’s my 40th Birthday Celebration that night!)

    SUNDAY:
    Grammy’s Orange Chicken
    – Rice and Carrots

    Your turn! Share those menus, simple or fancy, it’s all helpful! Have a great week!


  5. Monday, September 10, 2018

    Week 591 Weekly Menu

    Happy Monday! I’m finally sitting down to get this week’s plan together. I’m really loving being back into a regular routine, and it’s the first year my kids are all in school all day…which is decidedly bittersweet, but I am loving all the time to get my work done.

    Week 591 Weekly Menu from This Week for Dinner including Pressure Cooker Pot Roast, Jerk Chicken and More

    MONDAY:
    – Pressure Cooker Pot Roast
    – Mashed Potatoes + Another Side Veggie

    TUESDAY:
    – Leftovers (Pot Roast or Chicken Kai Pa Lo)

    WEDNESDAY:
    – Hamburgers
    – Corn on the cob and fresh fruit

    THURSDAY:
    Jerkish Chicken
    – Salad and Rice

    FRIDAY:
    – Pancakes (Anna cooking!)

    SATURDAY:
    – English Muffin Pizzas (Cate cooking!)

    SUNDAY:
    – Eat out night

    I love that as the school year is getting into gear more menus are appearing each week…keep it coming! Your meal plans are incredibly helpful for the rest of us. Thank you for sharing and have a great week!


  6. Monday, September 3, 2018

    Week 590 Weekly Menu

    Hello meal planning friends! I’ve been a bit remiss at meal planning the last week or so. The start of school and then a camping trip to the very remote yet very magical Coon Creek Cabin campground basically threw life into high gear. We are now home, showered, unpacked and ready to get back into the normal school-year routine!

    Dinner Plans from This Week for Dinner for the week of 9/3/18 (Burritos, Hamburgers, Chicken Kai Pa Lo & Pressure Cooker Pot Roast)

    MONDAY:
    – Whatever-you-can-find-in-the-kitchen-the-parents-are-too-tired-from-camping Night

    TUESDAY:
    – Rice and bean burritos
    – Chips and guacamole

    WEDNESDAY:
    – Homemade Hamburgers

    THURSDAY:
    Chicken Kai Pa Lo

    FRIDAY:
    – Leftovers

    SATURDAY:
    – Eat out night

    SUNDAY:
    Pressure Cooker Pot Roast
    Mashed Potatoes + Another Side Veggie

    Phew. Menu plan done! Just hoping back-to-school nights don’t totally throw me off! Please post your own weekly meal plans in the comments below! They are so helpful to me and so many others week after week. Thank you!