Menu Plan Monday 10/13-10/18

I will be trying hard to post this every week from now on. It makes my life much easier when I have a plan.

Mon~oatmeal, hot cereal and fruit
Honey lime enchiladas
refried beans
spanish style rice

Tues~Fruit smoothies
Spaghetti and mini meatballs
Garlic cheese biscuits
caesar salad

Weds~cereal and fruit
Chili and baked potatoes

Thurs~sausage and biscuits
salad and baked potato bar

Fri~cereal
Eating out on the way to Portland

Saturday~snacks, fruits for our trip. Eating out in Portland

Sunday
Dinner only~leftovers

more of Spain

No not apartments, its a cemetery!

Dessert anyone?
A little Flamenco for your entertainment!
Thats DH showing his moves unvoluntarily, but he was really good!

Bell Reco~a countryside manor from the early 1800s.

Another wonderful dinner! Its a good thing that we walked most of the days or else I would have come home very fat!

Our trip to Portugal and Spain

interior of the church
Nativity scene on the outside of the church
Crucifixtion scene on the outside of the church

La Sagrada Familia church~it has been under construction since 1882, they expect that it will take 20 more years to complete.

http://www.sagradafamilia.cat/sf-eng/index.php

This was our one major splurge on the trip, we had a wonderful dinner on the waterfront. We shared two grilled plates. I forgot to take pictures of our appetizers, and DH had eaten all of his mussels and clams before I remembered to take this picture. On my plate I had grilled pork, lambchops, steak, sausage, rabbit, chicken, and veggies. Total meal with three courses, drinks, and dessert was $128! I am sure that we have never spent that much on dinner for ourselves! I was a great birthday present! Thanks honey!

DH managed to find an Aikido Dojo in Barcelona. It was fun to watch him through around that very large man.

A street market in Barcelona.

We had Paella at this restaurant in the gothic quarter in Barcelona. This restaurant has been open since 1835.

Sintra City View, that is a castle on top of the mountain. It was built in the 1500s.

The view from our room at the Four Seasons.

This is the Quelez Palace, just outside of Lisbon. We had a wonderful dinner in that beautiful golden dining room. The meal was fabulous!

My Dh is a very hard working man! He earned this fabulous trip to Europe. We had a wonderful time seeing all the sights and spending time with other leaders in the company!

Learnin' the lingo

I was shopping with my son tonight and he came running over to me and said he had poop on. When you have a two year old, that is not a good thing to hear! I was looking frantically trying to find the poop, when he held out his hand and gave me a coupon ("poopon") he had found on the shelf! It looks like I have another frugal shopper in training!

Creamy White Chili

This Chili was fantastic! I thought that adding the sour cream was really weird when I read the recipe, but I had all the ingredients on hand, so I gave it a try. It turned out so great, I made two batches and DH ate one all by himself. I made this two ways too. The first one I used sour cream and milk, the second with plain yogurt and milk. We could not tell the difference between the two. I also added a hand ful of chopped fresh cilantro at the end, it finished it off very well. I served this with cornbread.


Marie Callendars cornbread.
1 yellow cake mix prepared according to directions minus and oil
1 cube of butter melted
1 cup of cornmeal.

Mix and bake 35-40 in a 9x13 cake pan.

Creamy White Chili
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 medium onion, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon oil (I used olive oil)
2 cans (15 1/2 ounces each) Great Northern Beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (14 1/2 ounces) chicken broth
2 cans (4 ounces each) chopped green chilies
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup whipping cream
In a large saucepan, saute chicken, onion and garlic powder in oil until chicken is no longer pink. Add beans, broth, chilies and seasonings. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Remove from the heat; stir in sour cream and cream. Garnish with fresh cilantro, if desired. Serve immediately.

http://realmomkitchen.blogspot.com/2008/09/creamy-white-chili.html


My changes:
I used fat free plain yogurt in place of sour cream and milk in place of the whipping cream.

Menu plan monday 9/15-9/21

I decided that it easier for me to just pick 7 meals to have during the week, rather than decide on the nights beforehand. It is hard to tell what your day is going to be like a week in advance!

So we will be having the standard breakfast fare this week, and for lunches P and I will be having mostly leftovers and salads because the girls will be in school.

Dinners
Green chicken chili
Black bean chowder
Mini dogs and Mac and cheese
Clam chowder
BLTAS
Chicken with crescent rolls and gravy

The sky is not falling yet...

The sky is not falling but...Today should be an advanced wake up call for those you that do not have your financial house in order. There has never been a more vital time to make sure your own finances are prepared for what could be coming in this country. The time for needless spending and wants over needs has truly passed. It is a sad example that major financial institutions cannot even make wise choices. I will be working even harder over the next months to make sure that we are prepared for anything that may come. I will diversify my investments, have plenty of cash around, and be truly diligent about stretching my grocery dollar to the max.
Please share any ideas that you have!

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