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Menu Plan Monday (with a weekend update)

It’s been one of those weekends where I got a lot accomplished but now I feel like I need a weekend.  How about you?

I was up waaaay too late last night, in large part because I slept for a good portion of the afternoon, but also because I was in the middle of a project I’ve been meaning to get to for the last six months and I didn’t want to quit till it was done lest I never go back to it — updating my photo albums.

I’ll pause while you all express your condolences.

Like a typical first time mom, I got all ambitious and decided that in addition to my annual family album, I would also do a baby album for each child.  And then.  THEN!  I would continue on.  Oh yes.  A baby album was not enough for this first time mom.  When my son turned one, I decided to do a “Toddler Album” for him.  And then of course when he went to school, I started a “School Days Album.”  Oh, Creative Memories, how you suckered me in with your fantastic marketing and your oh-so-cute themed albums.  What good 21st century mother wouldn’t capture every milestone for her child in his very own set of albums?

Now I have three children and I’ve gone digital for my family albums (iPhoto, how I love thee!), but I feel the need to continue the tradition of the School Days Albums.  I don’t want to be paying for therapy when my 2nd and 3rd children get to be teenagers and realize that their big brother has 3 of his very own albums and they only have a half-finished baby album to document their lives.

I try so hard to collect all of their school pictures and class pictures and sports pictures in one place so that when I finally drag out all of my scrapbooking supplies I have everything I need to document their school carreers, but somehow along the way I’ve misplaced a few.  And I realized yesterday that I didn’t even order class pictures this year.  D’oh.

And THEN at some point I realized that I didn’t even have a School Days album started for my third, and I left off in her baby album after her 1st birthday.

So.  I sat up last night, going back through three years of photos, picking out the best and ordering them through Snapfish (after my printer decided to flake on me and make smudges on all the photos I was trying to print.)  Oh the joys.

And then I went back to iPhoto and tried to finish my 2009 family album, and THAT is when finally at 12:30am, I gave up the ghost and went to bed even though I wasn’t quite done because I knew I had a good hour left on the project and I felt like someone was rubbing sandpaper on my eyeballs.  So my goal today is to get back to that family photo album and finish up and order it for goodness sake, and then I don’t have to worry about another one until January 2011.

Who wants to take bets on how long it will take me to get my 3rd child’s baby album caught up and get started on her School Days album, once my Snapfish order arrives?

Wait.  Did someone say Menu Plan Monday?  Oh yeah.  So anyway.  I did get up at the butt-crack of dawn this morning, despite my late night date with iPhoto, to make a menu plan for this week.  I never got around to it last week, what with the holiday weekend and all, and I can’t believe how many weeks (months?) of my life I spent without a menu plan.  It was misery, people, without a menu plan.  So.  Here we go.

MONDAY: Chicken In A Pot (from mary kathryn), Zucchini Pancakes, Quinoa

TUESDAY: Lentil Soup, fresh baked bread

WEDNESDAY: Shrimp Scampi, oven roasted asparagus

THURSDAY: leftovers

FRIDAY: Rib-Eye Steaks with Cornmeal Fried Onion Rings, herbed new potatoes, and steamed broccoli

SATURDAY: broccoli and potato frittata (with leftover broccoli and potato from Friday)

And there you have it!

This post is linked to Menu Plan Monday.

But wait.  Stay tuned because later today I have a giveaway to post, and it’s a goodie.  I’ll give you a hint.  It rhymes with historic.  😉

Join The Conversation

21 Responses

    1. I’ve never made them before, but I have 2 zucchini in the fridge, and I thought they looked interesting.

  1. I’m still trying to figure out what to do with the giant boxes of photos I have from before I ever went digital. I always hope to organize them, but somehow they just get shoved to the back of the closet!

  2. Barefoot Contessa is one of my all time favorites as well. Can’t wait to make the zucchini pancakes ( haven’t tried that one before).

  3. I really need to get back to my photo album work too. Ergh… I have not taken the plunge into digital scrapbooking YET but I so want to! I really think it’ll be my cup ‘o tea. 🙂

  4. I am pitiful when it comes to photos. I don’t even print many anymore. They’re all on the computer and external hard drive (as backup). I like the idea of a digitally made album since I have no patience for scrapbooking. Maybe one day…

    I like the zucchini pancake idea – I might have to add that to my plan for the week 🙂

    1. I do the simplest of albums. I choose a pre-made layout and just plug in the photos. It’s so easy.

  5. I actually started an album for each year of my children’s life. With my first it was easy and always up to date. With my second, I did well until we started homeschooling. My third child is almost 3 and his book only has up to 8 months old. My goal for this summer is to do some catch up. My only hope is that my oldest child is now 10 and started her own scrapbook when she was 9, so from now on she is in charge of her own memories!

  6. Oh my goodness! You DO cook everyday!!! How on earth do you have the time to do all that you do, Jo-Lynne?!?! Seriously… you are one ROCKSTAR in my book!

    I’m a scrapbooker-and I feel your pain… I was so great with B’s book till..um.. 4th of July LAST YEAR! And I only have one kid… Can’t imagine the stress with 3 to preserve those memories!

    1. I used to LOVE to scrapbook. I was obsessed. Now it’s a chore, but I do love the end result. My scrapbooks are VERY simple these days.

  7. Mmmmmmm! Do you fry the onion rings in coconut oil? Also, are the rib eye steaks grass fed? I’m curious what you have to pay. My farm charges $13.99/lb.

  8. If you want to feel better about the scrapbook situation, I have not finished kid # 3’s baby album and I’m going to have #7 in two months. I’m telling my younger children to get over it…I was so busy reading to you, taking you to soccer, feeding you and cleaning up after you that I didn’t quite have time to make beautiful albums. I’m happy to help out with either college or counseling if needed. I gave up scrapbooking a few years ago because it became a stressful chore instead of a relaxing hobby. I hope to go back and make some simple albums sometime soon but I still struggle with the, “must be perfect” syndrome whenever I try to scrapbook. Sigh…

    Also, we had the Curry Chicken Pot Pie last night. Yum!!! I doubled the recipe and put it into a 9×12 dish. The puff pastry sheets fit over the dish nicely so it even looked pretty. 🙂 Thanks for the suggestions!

    1. “I’m happy to help out with either college or counseling if needed.” Haha. Love it.

      I must add that the ones I’m doing now are ULTRA SIMPLE. I’m talking, paste the picture on the page and call it a day kinda simple. 🙂 But if I had any more kids… yeah. It wouldn’t be happening.

  9. Well…I’m trying to grow zucchini in my new garden out back. As of now, I have several plants! How many zucchini will each plant make? Hmmmmm….I don’t know so I’m looking for recipes to use for the winter months. I’m planning to grate lots of zucchini and freeze them. This will be an excellent meal in the winter! I can see it paired with soup/stew! Many thanks!

  10. I am so behind in photos too! I use to make them for my 1st and haven’t made one in 2 years…so behind and I feel horrible. But I get so overwhelmed on where to start. I only have two kids and I can’t do it…so I can’t imaging having 7 like DeAnn…I hope to get back to it soon. Which digital program do you use?

    1. I just use iPhoto. I make one of the photo books and I just choose one of their designs. Very simple, but it’s easy to do quickly since all my photos are already in iPhoto.

  11. I’m not sure you are trying to inspire with the scrapbooking story but you inspired me nonetheless. Now, if I can just get the hang of menu planning. I used to be on top of it and I have gotten way off track. I spent Sunday afternoon organizing my kitchen. I think a little menu planning will make meals much more enjoyable.

  12. Heritage Makers offers the convenience of digital with the fun of traditional. I have some examples of books I have done on my blog at BlogByB.com. If you are interested in a free account with Heritage Makers please go through my website at http://www.RememberWhenDS.com

    Thanks for the menu ideas.

  13. I used to scrapbook for hours. And then I had kids. And then I discovered blogging.

    (and now I don’t scrapbook anymore).

    (which is kind of sad).

    (but this mama can only do so much).

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