Monday, July 28, 2014

Menu Plan Monday, July 28th: Point Roberts, some cycling fun and a bunch 'o babies



Menu Plan Monday with Laura at Org Junkie

Upcoming week: 
Monday: Spaghetti with Spaghetti Squash for me!
Last night I whipped up some spaghetti for tonights dinner - I'll make fresh spaghetti for the house, and use some roasted spaghetti squash for myself. Then I'll pop out to visit a friend and their new baby and then head home to prep lunches. 

Tuesday: Hot Dogs, Pasta salad, Spring Salad, Potato Salad & Popsicles
Tuesday night is lifegroup night and to celebrate another super hot week we're heading out to Sasamat Lake as a lifegroup for some lake play and hot dog eating. It's going to be awesome! 28+ weather, great friends, food and a beautiful lake. I CAN NOT WAIT. 

Wednesday: Pizza Night (Cauliflower Crust for me!)

Wednesday we will be be doing the first of a few room switches - moving our furniture from the downstairs guest room to upstairs (where our new guest room will be) and moving the furniture from the new guest room into the old guest room, where the new student room will be. Then I can decorate and put the room together - we have a student that moves in on Monday! 

Thursday: Mediterranean Boneless Pork Chops

Thursday I have two good friends coming over for dinner - this meal looked tasty and fun. I will add a rice medley (brown rice, wild rice and white rice) all served with mushrooms. Mmmmm.

While I'm busy hanging out with our friends Paul will be busy moving furniture. Our student Rachel leaves Thursday and Friday our new student Sam moves in. Rachel's room was unfurnished but we will be furnishing Sam's room. Paul will move in the RAD new dresser and nightstand we got, a bed and a desk. Then after my friends leave I will be popping in to make it look great, hopefully, using cool things from around the house. I hoard bedroom decor items like it's my job. Because it is my job.  Well my home job, that is. My 9-5 is an entirely different thing.

Friday: Easy Roast Chicken with grilled veggies & baked rice
Friday night Sam moves in! I'm hoping she and her family will stay for dinner so we can get to know her people, but they are coming all the way from Alberta and might want to taste and sample Vancouver food - totally reasonable. 

Saturday: Easy Garlic Chicken with grilled veggies
Saturday night we don't have specific plans but it's a long weekend so the hope is that Saturday and Sunday we can lake it up and cycle and do fun things. Also we'll be taking an hour or so to prime a few pieces we're working on for the house.

Sunday: Dry Pork Ribs with grilled vegetables
Sunday should be a day of fun and relaxation followed by church and dinner - usually someone ends up coming over! Especially on a holiday Sunday.

Monday: Cilantro Lime Baked Shrimp
Monday morning I will be painting the pieces that we prime - we have two nightstands, one buffet and one secretary to paint, as well as a couple pieces of art work to create. Then in the late afternoon we'll be picking up our new Japanese student at the airport, letting her settle in while we keep painting and then we'll all eat dinner together and hopefully Paul and I will be able to finish up any painting that night. I'm really excited to see these pieces coming together. 

In Review:
I just realized that I alluded to it above but haven't specifically mentioned that I'm not eating Wheat, Corn, Rice or Potatoes for one month - also not drinking alcohol either. I decided that a) I wanted to cleanse out my system of the harder to process foods, b) I wanted to help kick start the weight loss I've been working at all year with low success, and c) see if cutting out Wheat specifically might help add energy to my day. I started on July 14th and it's been great. I don't feel deprived, I just feel more energetic. I mean I'm still tired each day and life is still hectic but I'm no longer as sluggish as I was. I think I'll keep up the no wheat thing for sure through the fall, and slowly reintroduce corn and potatoes come the fall. I'm not decided on Rice - I've discovered I love brown rice and it's not that tricky to buy brown rice food items that totally replaced the need for white rice. I had a meal last week with some rice noodles and I felt sleepy and exhausted immediately after eating it. Wake up call! 

I still feed our household of 6-7 people while on this new plan - I just make meals that work for me or that I can customize. I'll show you how I do this! 

Monday: Mexican Pie
Monday night was Mexican Pie - I made a normal mexican pie for my housemates but before I added corn I took out some of the mixture, and rather than layer mine with tortillas I tossed mine mix with spaghetti squash and some quinoa. Topped with cheese and baked like the pie it tasted wonderfully. 

Then Paul and I were off to pick up some gorgeous furniture in Point Roberts



And then we wondered around there for a while and grabbed some gas and groceries. It felt a bit like a date - new place to explore and sun shining everywhere. 






Also Monday was exciting for two baby related reasons. 
1. We got to meet Immanuel Farai Chibota - TC & Irene's son. He was so sweet!


2. Our dear friends Josh & Ana Whitton announced their pregnancy. Finally, it's common knowledge and it should be known that we couldn't be more excited for them. Woot! A little Mexi-Can baby!


Tuesday: Pho Hong - Vietnamese Dinner with Linda
Tuesday night we were bottling our win! We ordered wine from West Coast U Brew - Chilean Malbec and German Gewürztraminer; they both need some more time in their bottles but are shaping up to be lovely. 

After bottling our wine we took our student Linda out for a farewell dinner - she'd been here for almost 5 weeks and was heading home that weekend. We loved having her in the house and loved having dinner out with her!

Wednesday: Sausages & roasted veggies.

Wednesday night Duncan and Casey kindly pulled dinner together while we ran to appointments and then after dinner we headed out to Surrey to hang out with Paul's Dad and step-mom. We always wish we could see more of them so we were thankful for a free night to hang out with them. 

Thursday: Pizza Night! Zucchini slices for me! Paul Meal
Thursday I have a dinner out with a good friend at Joeys. I had the 500 salad, which was so so so tasty and still hit all my available food groups. We had a lovely visit. Then I meant to go home and do stuff instead when I got home Paul said he was tired, so at 8pm we both went to bed! Lovely.

Friday: Easy Roast Chicken with roasted veggies
Friday I woke up at 7am with Paul - cleaned out the fridge, prepped food for dinner and cleaned the kitchen. By 9am I was tired all over again so I took a lovely nap until 10am. Then I was with my Dad all day. We started to clean out my Grandpa's house (he's gone into a home/hospital) and then we eventually headed home just in time for me to start on dinner. We had a group of friends coming over - we had BBQ'd teriyaki chicken drumsticks, baked rice, broccoli & Zucchini. Fun. We meant to play games but the conversation flowed so well that didn't happen until well after 10pm. And by that point I hit the hay!



Saturday: Mediterranean Boneless Pork Pizza Night! Zucchini slices for me!

Saturday we slept in as long as as we could/wanted then cycled around False Creek and met my parents at Granville Island for coffee - and then Paul and I wandered the island grabbing snacks and getting our bikes engraved (so they are easily found if stolen). Then we eventually made our way back home and I headed off for errands. After we put our food away we had a final going away dinner with our house - Pizza for most, sliced Zucchini with pizza toppings for me. I didn't have time to make my original meal plan but pizza seemed to be a crowed pleaser and it sure was easy! Then Paul and I watched Psych and worked: I finished sewing pillows. 


On route to Granville Island!


Just crossing onto the island - we do awkward selfies well

Burrard Bridge


Paul with food: bierbeisser sausage and Guiness Cheese

Getting our bike tats

False Creek in all it's glory


Riding home!

Sunday: Spaghetti (over spaghetti squash for me!) Sirloin Steak Roast with Horseradish Sauce, Beef broth Rice with mushrooms, grilled zucchini and baked broccoli. 
Sunday we were up bright and early to go to the states - I won't be able to get there between now and late September so I wanted to go stock up - it was successful and we had a great time together. We were back in Canada by noon, swung by my grandpa's place to pick up some furniture we were inheriting and then headed home by noon. I prepped food for a new mom friend and made Monday's dinner, AND prepped for that night's dinner. 

We were then off to church where my brother-in-law Colin preached (so good, seriously) and I hosted, and then we were back home to have a family dinner. It was Mom & Dad's anniversary so I wanted it to be a special and this meal seemed to fit the bill much more than Spaghetti would have. It was a lovely night - relaxing and fun. We laughed a lot. 

Then Paul and I stayed up to deep clean and stock the cellar - not fun work but needed and it's so nice to know where all our food is. Also turns out I have a Ziplock buying problem. Good thing we use a lot of them, we won't run out any time soon!
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