I think we might be finally crawling out of the Christmas busyness and hopefully settling into a bit of a routine. That is until new craziness hits, but hopefully that won’t be for a little while. I just checked the last one of these mini updates/menu plan/goals that I posted was from December 8. It’s been a while.

My favorite part of the Christmas holiday was actually the week after Christmas. I seemed that life slowed down enough to actually enjoy things. We spent a quiet New Year’s Eve home, I was able to hang out with some good childhood friends one afternoon, and another day had a movie night with another friend. It was nice to finish December with some calmness and relaxing.

We are now halfway through January with the grand intention of going through our house and organizing and throwing away. I’ve actually made decent progress but we have yet to hit the worst room in the house – my husband’s “office”/guest room/craft show storage. It will then get interesting.

I did a quick shopping trip yesterday and restocked up on produce but other than that I’m trying to use a lot of what we have in the house and make an easy menu plan around that.

Breakfasts:

• Leftover cinnamon rolls from small groups x 3
• Sweet potato hash browns and scrambled eggs x 2
• Broccoli egg bake
• Oatmeal
• Or something like that anyway. Breakfasts are easy in our house and scrambled eggs are a simple default.

Lunches:

• Baked Potatoes/Baked sweet potatoes
• Leftovers
• Bean and cheese tostadas
• Lunch at Freddy’s thanks to a gift card

Suppers:

• Leftover Thai red curry with chicken
• Small groups (breakfast theme)
• Leftover tex mex sweet potato casserole
• Breakfast burritos
• One pan chicken burrito bowls x 2
• Leftovers

Goals:

• Continue with the BeFit Youtube exercise level 1
• Thank you cards!
• Budget meeting
• Spend time in the Bible each day
• Actually post this week
• Get back into going through a blogging series

Linking up to Menu Plan Monday

The whirlwind time of year is here! Our third craft show of the year was Saturday and was the best one! It definitely helped make a long day more worth it. We had a prime location and some new products that sold really well. The craft shows really have been a lot of fun, but they are tiring, especially juggling the kids during the day. They did quite well though, until the very end. Sunday afternoon was spent picking up the house and grocery shopping, both or which desperately needed to happen.

I had no intentions of making sugar cookies this year, but when my daughter said she want to make “sock cookies like on Curious George’s Christmas” I decided to go for it. She helped mix up half a batch of dough and learned how to roll and cut out the cookies. The decorating she did all on her own and I attempted to keep brother from destroying everything. 🙂

This week and next are going to be busy ones once again. I think things will maybe slow down the actual week of Christmas. (But I probably shouldn’t say that too loudly or that won’t even happen.) I talked about this some on my Facebook page last week. Why does everything have to happen in the month of December? Can’t we have fall parties or New Year’s parties instead of Christmas ones? I, for one, would find those much more enjoyable! This time of year ends up being so busy that there isn’t time to slow down and truly enjoy it.

Homemade vanilla ice cream with Peppermint Hot Fudge Sauce! It turned out yummy. The sauce recipe will be getting posted soon.

Breakfasts:

• Eggs
• Smoothies
• Pancakes from freezer
• Granola

Lunches:

• Baked Potatoes/Sweet Potatoes with carrots and pineapple
• Pancakes from freezer
• Or leftovers

Suppers:

• Small Groups – Italian theme – brought bread sticks and dessert
• Tomato Soup/Ladies’ Bible Study
• Leftovers x 2 (or more) Our small group leaders sent us home with noodles, sauce, and bread that will make at least two meals!
• Snack supper

Goals:

• Etsy shop. . . Yep, didn’t happen again last week.
• Get ready for a mini trip
• Write two more posts (life was crazy last week and only 1 happened)
• Put away craft show items
• 18 month check up (he’s not a baby anymore)
• Sleep. I’m at that point of exhaustion where I feel like I’m practically sleep walking. I can’t control whether the kids sleep through the night, but I can’t control what time I go to sleep at. Getting to bed earlier often means leaving more things undone on my list than I would like. Even a couple nights in bed early would help, I think! But my list of things that   have to get done is too long so we’ll see. . .What’s on your menu this week? Any Christmas events going on?

  Linking up to Menu Plan Monday

This week flew by. We were busy every day just doing things around the house, keeping up with cooking Whole30 approved food, and general house stuff. I took the kids on power walks in the double stroller several times (man, is that thing a beast to push) and made a trip to the park. It’s also the time of year were we mail tickets for our local concert series association. The envelopes are all printed, stuffed, and ready to be dropped in the mail.

My 15 month old has had two of his eye teeth break through, finally. Hopefully the others will come soon. He’s been waking up several times each night crying. I’m sure that has a little something to do with the crazy exhaustion I feel. I took a nap Sunday afternoon and woke up feeling even more tired. I’m hoping this next week holds at least one night of solid sleep. 🙂

Fajitas Whole30 Style

Suppers:

• Slow Cooker Chili Verde
• Thai Chicken Coconut Soup (added bell peppers and broccoli, left out the greens, and cooked in Crockpot)
• Enchilada Pasta (Spaghetti squash)
• Crispy Italian Chicken Thighs
• Slow Cooker Moroccan Chicken
• Leftovers

Lunches:

• Paleo Breakfast Bowls (cooked in a 9×13 pan)
• Leftover Chili Verde
• Salads (Shaun and myself)
• Leftovers, baked sweet potatoes (for the kids)

Breakfast:

• Leftover Paleo Breakfast Bowl
• Zucchini and Sweet Potato Latkes 
• Eggs
• Sweet potato hashbrowns
• Possibly Twice Baked Breakfast Sweet Potatoes

If you are looking for more recipes ideas for a Whole30, check out my Pinterest where I have a board I pin all the recipes I want to try! Tomorrow, I’ll be posting my Week 2 recap. (You can find my thoughts from week 1 here.)

Goals:

• Read a couple more chapters in When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor . . . and Yourself
• Exercise. Continue redoing the #mindbodymat 3 week pilates challenge and go on some power walks pushing the double stroller. (I did well at this last week! Hope to do so again.)
• Write 2 more posts
• Work on Bible memory
• Promotional ideas for craft show

What are your goals this week? What’s on your menu?

Linking up to Menu Plan Monday