A peek into my menu, and an update on sleep

First, we'll start with an update on my poor teething baby -- Poor thing ... he was soooo tired on Sunday. Usually, Sundays are a tough day, because Church, lunch after church, and traveling around in the car can all add up to "messed-up naps." We usually get home late on Sundays because of lunch out, and yesterday was no exception. We got home around 3:30. Hunter was in fine form until about 4:30, when his exhaustion hit him in the face. We put him down for a nap at 4:45, and he got up at 5:30. He did NOT wake up in a good mood. I fed him dinner, which he got all.over.himself. Then, I had to put him in the tub because he was so covered in sweet potatoes, and the poor thing was fighting to stay awake. The bath did some good in calming him down, and he played for about an hour. Sunshine (my SIL) suggested that I feed Hunter some cereal before he goes to sleep, so at about 7:00, he was chowing down on some cereal and fruit, and then I took him upstairs to put him to bed. Usually, I have to rock him to sleep. But yesterday, I set him in his crib, went to the laundry room to get something, and when I came back, the poor thing was asleep. And he slept all night long until 5:00 a.m. Your prayers helped big time! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

[As soon as Blogger allows me to upload pictures, Laura's cute banner will go here]

Next, here's a peek into my week's menu. Laura from I'm an Organizing Junkie invited me to play along with her Menu Plan Monday, and ironically, this is actually something I think I can do, because it doesn't require any picture taking, additional organizing, brainstorming, or added work on my hands, because frankly, it's something we try to do each week.

Here are a couple things to remember about my menus ... yes, we are new parents, but we are new parents late in life, which may not mean anything other than we are accustomed to a "certain way of eating," and tend NOT to have a whole lot of large-family-friendly meals, but rather a lot of "I'm in the mood for ..." meals. As our family continues to grow, however, I'm pretty certain that this will change. And, our budget won't be as freely flowing on food-stuff, but rather on important stuff ... like formula, diapers, wipes, etc... if you know what I mean. So I'm sure that macaroni & cheese & hotdog casseroles are in my near future, but for now ... I think I'll pass. Also, leftovers get eaten for lunches... although sometimes, I find myself purging the refrigerator of some mystery leftovers! Those are the meals that weren't the "greatest" thing we've ever made and no one felt like eating again.

I usually sit down with my husband on Saturday morning, and we pour through a variety of cookbooks and magazines that we have. Many of them are healthy and light books, so, keep that in mind when you see my menu. But, we (okay MEEE) still have a problem letting go of pastas, rice, and taters. What can I say ... I'm part Peruvian, part Italian, part Irish, and mostly mutt, and was raised that way. Having said all that, here's a glimpse at my menu for this week:

Monday: Roasted chicken and cranberry pie with puff pastry crust (oh, calm down ... the puff pastry is frozen and so easy) with a cranberry-Caesar salad (last week, I had my in-laws and my brother-in-law over for dinner. I made roasted chicken, and instead of one chicken, I went ahead and roasted two big ol' birds at the same time, and this is the third meal I'm getting out of it!)

Tuesday: Barbecued Ribs, (we got two whole, humongo slabs at the country butcher for $8!!) locally grown (yum) Sweet Corn on the Cob, Coleslaw

Wednesday: Grilled Steak (again, we got it at the country butcher -- two strips for $8!), baked sweet potatoes, frozen mixed vegetables (of course, I cook them and season them, too!)

Thursday: Pork tenderloin roast with peach preserve glaze, roasted garlic-y new potatoes, frozen sweet pea pods sauteed in garlic

Friday: Grilled chicken salads with garlic bread (easy peasy)

Saturday: Grilled chicken adobo with rice primavera and salad

Sunday: Crock-pot Chicken cacciatore with mashed potatoes and salad

Extra Meal (in case I change my mind about something else): Chicken saltado with white rice and salad. Saltado is a Peruvian dish traditionally prepared with steak, but we prefer chicken because it's cheaper -- I use the inexpensive frozen breasts you get in a bag. (It's sort of like a stir-fry with onions, potato strips, garlic, and tomato puree)

I'll let you in on a bad secret of mine ... sometimes, both my husband and I are just down right exhausted, and we will order chinese or pizza or something like that, and then, the meat we have sitting in the fridge ends up sitting a few more days and then goes bad and has to be thrown out, because we're not sure if it sat too long, and we're not about to chance coming down with botulism or some kind of food poisoning. I'm awful with that!

Now, go on over to I'm An Organizing Junkie and check out her menu, as well as other people's menus, and please feel free to join in! Laura's got Mr. Linky doing the work for her!!!