Menu Planning Monday

Monday: Homemade pizza, cheese for Michael, Canadian bacon and mushroom for me

Tuesday: Sloppy Joe's for Michael, Pad Thai for me

Wednesday: Groundhog Day dinner at Michael's parents

Thursday: Honey chicken tenders

Friday: Date night

Weekend Recap

One thing I know for sure is that I am loving our relaxing weekends lately. On Friday I worked from home which was nice but I was really busy. Somehow I seem to work longer hours when I work from home than when I'm in the office. But anyways, Michael came home for lunch and brought me a little surprise. I had been having a really rough week with the fertility medicine I am on and wasn't in the best of spirits. Michael always knows how to make me feel better with a surprise.

I have been lusting over this leather tote for a while now

I also got some packages on Friday, which always makes me happy. I had ordered a couple of dresses for work from Overstock. Did you know they sold clothes? I didn't either until I saw another blog and she found some great items. I totally scored on two Tahari dresses. I have some work conferences coming up in a couple months so they will definitely get some good use.

This Tahari dress retails for $148 and I got it for $46!

This Tahari dress retails for $138 and I got it for $32!

Friday night we had dinner with Michael's parents, Rich, Tif, Baby Jacob and Ken. We met up at Famous Dave's and had some yummy bbq. We ate and visited and then headed over to Rich and Tif's to hang out.

Hello there cutie pie!

On Saturday we got up and went to breakfast with Rich, Tif and Ken. After breakfast we headed home to pick up Porkchop and then head down to my parents house. We were getting together to make all of our reservations for our Disney vacation in May. We picked all of our restaurants and made reservations. I am going to do a post this week on all of our vacation plans. After we made all of our reservations we hung out and watched a movie. We watched, The Secretariat. 

 

It was such a good movie. It's a movie based on a real story about the greatest race horse that ever lived. It is an amazing story. We all really liked it. After watching the movie we headed to one of my families favorite Italian restaurants, Mama Onesta's. We had an amazing dinner. We had salads, grilled calamari, spaghetti and meatballs, veal parmesan and gelato for dessert. We definitely didn't leave hungry! When we came out of dinner it was starting to snow so we decided to head home. When we got home we just relaxed and decided to pop in another movie. We watched RED. 

This was definitely not a favorite. I fell asleep which tells you how good it was. Michael finished watching it and he didn't think it was that good either. Oh well, luckily it was just a $1 rental at Red Box.

Today we got up and went to breakfast and then went grocery shopping. After grocery shopping we came home did some cleaning and laundry and I did some baking. I found this recipe on my blog roll this week and I had to make them. I'm glad they did because they are delicious!

I also worked on a Shutterfly book this afternoon. Shutterfly sent me a promo code for a free 8x8 book and today was the last day to place my order so I had to get it done. I did a 2010 year in review book with pictures all throughout the year. 

Cover of my 2010 year in review Shutterfly book

Tonight we are just going to relax and enjoy the rest of our Sunday. I am making pesto stuffed chicken breasts for Sunday dinner. I hope all of you had a great weekend and have a good week ahead. I am really hoping we do not get the 20" of snow they are predicting on Tuesday and Wednesday. Hopefully the weather forecasts are wrong as always and the storm misses us. I am ready for Winter to be over!

Our week in pictures: 1/23 - 1/29

Sunday, January 23: Jacob bummed out about the Bears game

Monday, January 24: I had another blood test today. I wasn't a pin cushion! I only got stuck once, thank goodness!

Tuesday, January 25: Michael bought me some Valentine peeps, I haven't had them in forever.

Wednesday, January 26: Weekly manicure time, it's Essie's "It's Genius!" this week

Thursday, January 27: Porkchop, where did your ears go?

Friday, January 28: Jacob kept us entertained at Famous Dave's

 Saturday, January 29: Michael Surprised me with a bag I've been lusting after, he's the best!

This week I'm...

Loving: That January is almost over, we're one month closer to Spring!

Disliking: Pills, needles, tests, etc.

Craving: For the clocks to spring ahead as soon as possible, I need more daylight! (Ugh...not till March 13)

Wanting: To do a master closet clean-out, it's been a year and it's starting to look like the "before" picture.

Reading: I'm still working on the Hunger Games series

Watching: Vampire Diaries is back! Too bad the stupid Chicago mayoral debates are forcing it to air at 10:30 pm, RUDE!

Listening to: People still complaining about the Bears game. I get it, it was a horrible game and Cutler is a pansy, but I'm over it!

Looking forward to: Making some vacation plans over dinner with my parents this weekend

Hearing buzz about: I never eat at Taco Bell, but if I needed another reason, here it is.

Wordless Wednesday - Disney Day Dreaming

New recipe: Pancetta and pesto stuffed chicken breasts

Last week we were supposed to try two new recipes and only one made it to the table, but I"m glad it did because it was so good! I was inspired by this Rachel Ray recipe for Florentine prosciutto wrapped chicken breasts. After looking at all of the ingredients, I decided to tweak it to more of our tastes.

So I came up with pancetta and pesto stuffed chicken breasts. Michael was really skeptical, but he loved them. They were so tender and flavorful, we will definitely be having them again soon! They came together quickly and easily which makes them perfect for a weeknight meal.The only thing I will change for next time is to swap out the pancetta for prosciutto or plain bacon. The pancetta was way too salty for us so we couldn't eat it.

Ingredients
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/4 cup of basil pesto
1/4 of shredded mozzarella
2 slices pancetta (I am going to use prosciutto next time)
1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs
2 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Ingredients

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Butterfly each chicken breast without going all the way through.

Spread pesto on each chicken breast - about 1-2 tbsp

Add shredded cheese on top of the pesto. Don't overfill or it will ooze out and burn while cooking.

Close up the chicken breasts and dip in Italian breadcrumbs.

Place pancetta or prosciutto on top of chicken breasts

Bake chicken at 375 degrees for 25 minutes. Enjoy!

Menu Planning Monday

We are having a clean out the pantry and freezer week this week, so this menu is definitely subject to change.

Monday: Cheddar Cracker Chicken

Tuesday: Homemade ravioli

Wednesday: Shrimp tacos (these keep getting pushed off for some reason!)

Thursday: Strip steaks and baked garlic fries

Friday: Take out/date night

Weekend Recap

We had another really low-key weekend. On Friday, we just stayed in and relaxed and I made a new recipe for dinner. It was really good. I will be posting the recipe this week.

Yummy pancetta and pesto chicken

On Saturday, we met up with Rich and Ken for breakfast. After breakfast we ran a few errands and did some shopping. Saturday night we had a date night at our all-time favorite sushi place, Sushi Kushi Toyo. It's a far drive but so worth it. We haven't been there in almost a year and it was just as delicious as we remembered!

Mmmm...toro

Today we got up and went to breakfast and then came home to make some appetizers for the Bears vs. Packers showdown. Michael made buffalo chicken dip (what else), and I made some veggies and dip. We headed over to Michael's parents to watch the big game with them, Rich, Tif, Baby Jacob and Ken.

 This picture of Jacob pretty much sums up how we all felt about the game

Obviously we were all disappointed with how the Bears played and the outcome of the game. But we still had fun hanging out with everyone. After the game we headed home and now we're just gonna relax. I have a busy week this week and I have to get a blood test tomorrow, crap. I am not looking forward to that, especially after getting stuck 6 times last time. Anyways, I hope all of you had a good weekend despite the Bears' loss and have a great week ahead.

Let's go Bears!

Our father, who art in Chicago, football be the game. Let Forte run, another Superbowl won, on earth as it is in Soldier Field. Give us Sunday a playoff victory and forgive us our penalties, as we defeat the Packers who play against us, and lead us not into elimination and deliver us to Texas. For thine is the D-line, Urlacher, Briggs, Tillman, Hester and Peppers forever...Amen!

Our week in pictures: 1/16 - 1/22

Sunday, January 16: Jacob bouncing in his jumpy jump while we watched the Bears game

 Monday, January 17: Another snowy day, we got 3-4"

Tuesday, January 18: We made a bunch of marinara sauce so that we could freeze a bunch and have it when we need it. It's much better than jar sauce since we could control what was going in it, plus it's delicious!

Wednesday, January 19: Weekly manicure time, it's OPI's Midnight in Moscow this week

Thursday, January 20: Michael is always shopping for our Christmas Village and he found a cool LEGO loading dock house on eBay. It looks great with the Valentine's decorations, huh! LOL

Friday, January 21: I made a yummy new recipe for dinner! I'll be posting the recipe next week.

Saturday, January 22: I got the proof for the photo blocks I ordered on Etsy, I am in love! I can't wait to see them in person!! You can click on it to see it bigger.

Product Rave! Eye-Fi wireless SD card

When Michael bought me my new camera for Christmas he also bought me a new Eye-Fi SD card. It uploads your photos through your wireless network at home. You never have to hook your camera up to your computer or insert your SD card. It uploads the pictures and creates a file on your computer of the photos. It can also automatically send those pictures to your Shutterfly or Snapfish account. 

It was really easy to set up and it works great. All I have to do is turn my camera on and the pictures start uploading. It love it! I would absolutely recommend it if you take a lot of pictures like I do.

This week I'm...

Loving: We have our first vacation of the year planned, we're off to Florida in May, I can't wait!

Disliking: The frigid, arctic blast that is currently visiting us...come on Spring!

Craving: Sunshine, I need some Vitamin D and some color.
Wanting: To buy some Spring clothes. Yeah, it's too cold, but maybe some brighter colors will help the Winter blues!

Reading: I just started the Hunger Games series, I've heard really good things about it. I'll let you know!

Watching: American Idol debuted this week and I actually didn't hate it. Steven Tyler is a little crazy and Jennifer Lopez has a hard time saying no to people but that made it funny to watch. There were also some amazing auditions too. It seemed like they kept the crazy limited this year, which I think is good, time will tell.
Listening to: Bruno Mars a lot this week

Looking forward to: The Bears kicking the Packer's butts this weekend!

Hearing buzz about: So most of you have heard about or seen the video of the woman who falls into the fountain because she's texting on her phone. Well now she's suing the mall because no one came to her aide! Uh, maybe you should have been paying more attention instead of texting. The mall should sue her for loss of water in the fountain as an equally ridiculous counter suit!

I love one stop shopping!

I always like to share when I come across a product, store, or website that I like. I wanted to share a website that I discovered recently called CSN Stores. CSN Stores combines more than 200 websites into one convenient purchase.

Whether your looking for luggage, handbags, furniture, pots and pans, home decor items, or a new rug, CSN Stores has it all.

I have the opportunity to do a full purchase review for CSN Stores, which I will be doing very soon.

Wordless Wednesday - Saucy!

Valentine's Decor

On Saturday, I decided to put up our Valentine's Day decorations around the house. I got several new things this year so I was excited to get it all placed. Here are some pictures from around the house.