Menu Plan Monday - Weeks of 8/13/12 and 8/20/12

FINALLY vacation has arrived!!! It starts this week and leaks into next week so I have planned some quick and easy meals before - when I will be packing like crazy making sure we have all of the 16 month old's stuff and after - when I will be exhausted!

Meals include:
quiche
pigs n blankets
pasta n sauce
chicken pasta from the freezer

Applebees
Sonic

At WDW we will be eating at Chef Mickey's (E's first character meal) and the Wave (for Jeff's parent birthdays). I can't wait! The new item I am most excited about trying is the waffle sandwiches from Sleepy hollow. And of course to get an Orange bird sipper cup!

F is For...

Back on track after the past few crazy days, here is catch up post #1:

F is for.. Figaro's Feet

from dpasmagic. look in the bottom left corner. for the cuteness...

There are some rides that have cute little feature or extras away from the main part of the ride. For instance, on Pinocchio's Daring Journey in Disneyland, in the second to last scene, the main action is shown above - the Blue Fairy, Geppetto, Pinocchio... and down on the floor at the at the end of the scene, little kitty Figaro, snuggled in bed with his kitty feet moving back and forth. It is one thing i look for every time I ride. That is one reason why I love Disney - so many little details that actually do make a difference.

I was considering using Figaro Fries for this post... Oh I miss them!!!

The Insanity Continues!!!

This crazy week goes on...
Tuesday, J and I went to the optometrist... new glasses for both! We went to the Dr. we were supposed to go to last time (instead they had scheduled us with a different one who we didn't like), we we both loved her!! That night we met up w/the in-laws for the pancake supper at church. Yummy!!

Since I have no pics of anything in this post, here are a few of the baby! This was at a playdate on Sunday, and no that is not his toy, silly baby!

Wednesday, we got some shopping and laundry done. Sometimes those days are the busiest! I am proud that I should have to spend very little for food in March. Trying to change our attitude and laziness lol so far so good, I think.  Menu plan went awry when I forgot to defrost the chicken. Oopsie lol but we did use up a few odds nad ends so that was good.

We also did some more babyproofing this week... he screamed when he realized he couldn't get in the coffee table anymore, but he hasn't tried since!

Today was city day!! We saw a taping of The Chew and yes, Clinton Kelly is just as gorgeous in person!! We had to dress up all fancy because it was for the Oscar show. And i got blisters :( The sohw airs tomorrow, Friday, we will be on TV! We got a lot of great swag, including one of Wolfgang Puck's chocolate Oscars, coated in 24k gold! Only available at the Oscar afterparty. Pic below. For lunch, we ate at The Palm using a gift card I won a few years ago from NYC Single Mom. The food was good, and we only had to pay for our drinks, sweet!!!

So pretty. So edible! 24k gold dusted chocolate Oscar, thank you Wolfgang Puck!

and I want to mention that the train home was packed, and a nice man let me sit by him, which was wonderful for my feet, and I had a good time listening to him chatter. I was surprised that someone actually offered up a seat to a woman! (It was an extra eat - but he did offer to stand so Jeff could sit next to me!)

Tomorrow, Friday, we are getting our taxes done. wooo. It will be an adventure as always. Our wonderful tax gal is an hour away, and so we go to the mall and eat at Bobby's Burger Palace and make a short day of it. However, Jeff realized that we had a gift certificate to John Harvard's Brew House so we are going there.

And that is why I have not updated in 4 days!!!! LOL

I will leave you with a pic of Baby E (hardly a baby anymore!) and his new trick - he has added to his "puss" face (pursing his lips and blowing up his cheeks). He now also closes one eye, so I have dubbed it the pirate puss. He is seriously the cutest and funniest baby EVER!!!!

Cracks me up every. time!

Fiber One 80 Calories Cereal Review and Giveaway

They Say: The wait is over - brand new Fiber One 80 Calories cereal is on store shelves now! Each crunchy wheat and corn puff square in every bowl of Fiber One 80 Calories cereal has a light honey flavor.

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* With great-tasting Fiber One 80 Calories cereal, there is a new breakfast option that helps you feel satisfied without sacrificing flavor!

Look for new Fiber One 80 Calories cereal on grocer’s shelves now! Visit http://www.fiberone.com/ for great information on healthy living and coupons for new products.

I say:  This cereal was really good! I wasn't sure how an 80 calorie cereal would taste, but it did live up to the Fiber One slogan of "Fiber, yes, Cardboard, no" It is not too sweet, and you can definitely taste the wheat and corn. I was also surprised that the fiber One 80 calories cereal kept me full for quite awhile. It didn't get soggy in my yogurt either!

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Please note that the mandatory entry to to post a comment on this post answering this question: What is your current breakfast, and does it keep you full until lunch time? If the mandatory entry is not done, none of your other entries will count.










 
Disclosure: Fiber One 80 Calories cereal, information, and giveaway have been provided by General Mills through MyBlogSpark. 

Peanut Butter S'mores Bars

Since S'mores at the hottest trend, and I had some marshmallows leftover from Christmastime, I decided to make a S'mores dessert for the 4th of July.
I settled on this recipe from idle wife. (there are A LOT out there!)
Of course, I only had large marshmallows. And, upon further review, only a milk chocolate/peanut butter chips combo. But I forged ahead anyway.
And then after it was done, I realized I got the amount of butter  in the crust wrong, so the crust is really crumbly. (and excellent on ice cream!)

And this was the result:

You can see the crumbly crust!

It is delicious, if not difficult to eat. The best part: some of the peanut butter chips didn't melt all the way, so occasionally you'll get an extra bite of peanut butter. mmmm.

recipe from: http://idlewife.blogspot.com/2011/06/peanut-butter-smores-bars.html

graham cracker crust

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

3 tablespoons sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup butter, melted

Line a 2 quart rectangular baking dish (or any dish you think will work. Smaller = thicker; larger = thinner) with parchment paper and set aside. In a bowl, mix the graham cracker crumbs, sugar and salt together. Add the melted butter and stir until the graham cracker crumbs are thoroughly moistened. Press evenly into the prepared baking dish and bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Allow to cool completely.

chocolate confetti squares

1/4 cup margarine

1/2 cup smooth peanut butter (lite is all right)

1 cup chocolate chips

250 g mini marshmallows

In a medium sized pot, melt the margarine and peanut butter together. Remove from heat and stir in the chocolate chips. Stir until they've completely melted into the peanut butter mixture. Allow the mixture to cool to the point where you can comfortably place your hand on the bottom of the pot (be careful not to touch it too soon). Add marshmallows and stir to coat. Spread evenly over the graham cracker crust and put the whole thing in the fridge until fully set. Lift out of the dish using the parchment paper, cut into squares, and enjoy! It's best to keep these refrigerated.

(note from me - we calculated these at 8 points per serving for 10 servings. YMMV!)

$1/1 Chips Ahoy! Chewy Gooey Coupon

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Free Quaker Oatmeal Squares Cereal Sample

Free Sample Quaker Oatmeal Squares from Facebook
Like the Quaker page, then fill out the form
https://www.facebook.com/Quaker?sk=app_162086303857861

I received a free sample of these from somewhere else, and they were really good!!

Making a "Real" Dinner...

Back on Weight Watchers,  I am trying to broaden my cooking skills... Yeah, based on tonight it is gonig to be a long and rough journey!

One of my favorite healthy recipe blogs is skinnytaste.com. Gina has a lot of great recipes and include the weight watchers Points values.

So tonight I made Ground Turkey with Potatoes and Peas. Yes, I actually chopped up a bunch of vegetables. My hand smells so gross, like cilantro I think. It took a long time, probably a good 30 minutes to cut it all up and cook the meat. This is SO not my thing, but it is healthy and 5 points... so that is what is the most important!

It looks a lot better than this picture!

And you know what? it was REALLY good! a bit spicy for me - too much cilantro or cumin I think, but really flavorful and filling. I would make it again... err have Jeff make it ;)

Stouffer's Corner Bistro Stuffed Melts and Soups Review

Some of you might vaguely remember my other Stouffer's Corner Bistro Review, where I bemoaned the fact that my supermarket didn't have the Chicken Bacon Ranch Stuffed Melt with Baked Potato Soup
variety. When I was invited to use a Golden Key for a Stouffer's Stuffed Melt and Soup campaign at BzzAgent I accepted right away. Anything to try these soups again. Plus a new grocery store had opened up nearby, and I was hoping they wold have the Bacon Ranch flavor.

Herb-topped focaccia bread filled with white meat chicken,bacon,Swiss cheese and a buttermilk ranch sauce paired with creamy loaded baked potato soup

And they did! Like the other varieties, this sandwich was delicious. I didn't really get a ranch taste, but the sauce was very creamy and tasty. You can definitely taste the chicken and even the bacon. The soup was really good too. I wasn't expecting chunks of potatoes, but they definitely in there and not too mushy. It was really cheesy but a little grainy when it was piping hot. After it cooled though, that taste mostly went away and the soup thickened up nicely.

This soup and sandwich combo was worth the wait! Go to Stouffers.com to download a $1/1 coupon today!

You can also follow Stouffer's on Facebook or Twitter.


As a member of bzzagent.com, I received a free product coupon in exchange for telling people about the product. all thoughts and opinions are my own.

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