Putting the "thanks" back into Thanksgiving

I just have to say, Thanksgiving really gets the shaft.

As soon as all the tricks and treats are handed out, it seems like the Christmas trees pop up overnight in every store and Christmas music starts playing the first day of November. I mean don't get me wrong, I love Christmas, but I think each holiday deserves its own appreciation. I love Thanksgiving because to me it is about family and reflecting on how lucky we are. I think this is even more appropriate this year with everything that has happened in the world in the past year.

So I promise not to give Thanksgiving the shaft this year and in that spirit, here is my list of what I'm thankful for in 2009.

1. I have the most incredible husband and we make each other happy everyday
2. We are so lucky to be surrounded by wonderful family
3. We both have great jobs in a very unsteady economy
4. We are healthy and making a conscious effort to be even more so
5. Our family and parents all live close so we can see each other often
6. We have a beautiful home and a warm bed at night
7. We have a fun and crazy puppy to love
8. We are planning to expand our family in 2010
9. We were able to go on 3 vacations this year and have 2 planned next year
10. We have goals and big plans for the future and are getting close to obtaining them

Menu Planning Monday

Well it's a short cooking week for me since it is Thanksgiving and I'm not the one doing all the cooking. I only have to make an appetizer for Thanksgiving.

Sunday: Slow cooked bbq turkey legs and salad
Monday: Pizza and salad (we're celebrating Michael's brothers' birthday at my in-laws)
Tuesday: Baked mostaccioli with turkey sausage and salad
Wednesday: Katsu don
Thursday: Thanksgiving, I'm making stuffed mushrooms
Friday: Going out with my parents after setting up their Christmas tree (It's a family tradition)

Weekend Recap

We have had a great weekend so far. I am looking forward to just relaxing and spending the day cuddled up together. Yesterday we were going from 6 am till 10 pm so its nice to have a day full of rest. In fact, Michael and Porkchop are cuddled up on the couch taking a little afternoon siesta right now.

Yesterday we headed down to my parents and had a little Christmas photo shoot for our annual Christmas card. I already ordered them from Shutterfly this afternoon since they are running a 30% off special and free shipping.This is the winning photo, I will not reveal the final card design until they are out!

We went to 3 Christmas craft shows that were down in my parents area and I got a bunch of new Christmas decorations for the house. I also got a great necklace and headband I'm going to wear on Thanksgiving. It was a fun day spending time with my family. We hung out at my parents the rest of the day and went to dinner and then we went back to their house to try out the new Toy Story Mania game we got for Wii. It was super fun; it is just like the ride in Walt Disney World. My parents had a blast playing it! We ended up leaving their house a little after 9 and came home and crashed.

This morning we got up and went out for breakfast and then went to see New Moon! I loved it; I thought it was even better than Twilight. We went to a 9 am show so it wasn't crazy, but I was surprised how packed the theatre was for that time on a Sunday morning. After the show we ran all our errands and then went grocery shopping and grabbed some lunch. I am getting ready to put some turkey drumsticks in the slow cooker for dinner tonight and just relax.

I am not too bummed that the weekend is coming to a close, because I only have to work Monday and Tuesday this week, which is so nice. I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving and putting up the Christmas decorations next weekend! We are going to pick out our fresh tree on Wednesday so it will be all ready to decorate on Saturday. I will post our menu later today or tomorrow. Have a great week everyone!

So excited for the weekend!

I am so looking forward to this weekend. Tomorrow I am working from home which is always a nice break from getting up at 5 am and heading into the city and getting home at 5:30 or 6. Michael and I usually have lunch together which is always a nice treat! On Saturday we are heading down to my hometown to see my parents and go to 3 local Christmas craft shows we go to every year. We're also going to do a little family photo shoot with Michael, Porkchop and I for our annual Christmas Card. Then we are going to stay and go out to dinner with my parents.

On Sunday, Michael and I are going to go see New Moon, which I am super excited about; I can't wait!!! After the movie we're gonna do grocery shopping and just relax and watch football or try out some new Wii games we just got. We got Toy Story Mania which is a 3D game based off a ride in Disney World that we love and then we also go the new Super Mario Bros. game as well. I'll post some reviews after we play them.

I'll have more details and hopefully some pictures after the weekend! Have a great one everybody!!

Menu Planning Monday

Here is our menu for the week. There were a few things from last week we didn't get a chance to make so they were bumped to this week.

Sunday: Parmesan crusted pork tenderloin with chive mashed potatoes and salad
Monday: Honey chicken tenders and salad
Tuesday: BBQ turkey legs
Wednesday: Chicken Parmesan and spaghetti rigati
Thursday: Chicken quesadillas and spanish rice
Friday: Sesame Chicken and fried rice (this sesame chicken is honestly way better than take out!)

Weekend Recap

This past week was a rough one. With everything that happened last weekend, it just continued the rest of the week. Work was extremely crazy this past week, and Friday was particularly bad. Of course it was Friday the 13th so I think that had something to do with it.

I was having the day from hell and then my mom called me to tell me that squirrels chewed through all of the wires on her engine and she had to have her car towed from work and then she got home and got the mail and had a weird letter from some random company thanking her for her purchase only to find out her credit card was stolen. She went online and there were 13 different transactions charged to her card. So my day was not that bad, but I felt terrible for my parents since they have had just the roughest week with Chewy passing away to have to deal with anything else.

I had to work late on Friday so I missed a dinner with my in-laws which stunk, but Michael was able to go. He then surprised me by coming home with some special surprises for me! He went to a holiday open house at a local nursery by us and bought me all kinds of cool Christmas ornaments and Christmas decorations. It was so sweet and just what I needed after the past day and week. He always knows how to make me feel better. He also informed me that he hired a cleaning lady to come on Monday so that I didn't have to spend all weekend cleaning! He's the best!

On Saturday, we did some organizing and cleaned out the garage and put away all our seasonal stuff like patio furniture cushions, hoses, etc. We put away all the Halloween tubs and Michael also pulled out all my tubs of Christmas decorations for the day after Thanksgiving! I'm so happy everything is all organized and put away and I am even more excited to come home tomorrow to a sparkling house after the cleaning lady!

On Saturday night we went to an engagement party for my cousin Chris. He is actually getting married on New Year's Eve but they are only having a handful of people so this is the only celebration we get to share with them. Here's a picture of Michael and I from the party.

After the party we went back to my mom and dads and hung out for awhile. Then we got a great gift from my parents. My mom has an amazing Dept. 56 village for Christmas with literally hundreds of pieces. She never gets to put everything out because she has so many pieces and it takes up so much space. So, my sister and I were lucky enough to get some of my parent's collection. We each walked away with an entire village we got so many pieces. I can't wait to put it up in a couple of weeks!

Today Michael and I did our ritual breakfast and grocery shopping for the week. Then we spent the rest of the day shopping for Christmas and we are all done! It was great, and I am super excited for some of the surprise gifts we have to give this year! I'm just glad we are done, it takes a lot of pressure and stress out of the holidays and now we can just enjoy it.

It was such a great weekend and we got so much accomplished, I love that feeling. I feel a lot less stressed and I am excited that the holidays are so close. I have one full week of work left this week and then I only have to work 2 days Thanksgiving week. I can't wait!

What's for dinner???

 Most people dred this question every night, I used to dread it too. It's not easy to work all day long and then get home and be hungry and then have to figure out what you are going to make to feed your family. Every night when we first moved in together, Michael and I use to go back and forth with, "What do you have a taste for?", "What do you want to eat?". It was grueling; and then we probably would just give up and go out to eat. So that's why I decided to start planning weekly menus.

It just makes life easier. I've mentioned before that every Sunday Michael and I go to breakfast and while we're there we plan our menu and then make our grocery list based off of the menu. We also bring the Sunday paper with us and check the flyers for Jewel and see if there are any coupons we can use. It's really efficient and it works for us.

I think there are two main benefits to menu planning: 1) You always know what you are going to make for dinner. I will say that we don't always make what's on the menu on the assigned day, sometimes we change the order depending on if we have a taste for something else that day. 2) It saves a lot of money. We only buy the items we need to make the meals on our menu that week. If you go into the store with no plan, list, or menu you usually just buy what looks good and you end up buying a lot more than you need and then most of it ends up going to waste. The only thing we will usually buy that is not necessarily part of the menu is meat. If chicken is on sale for instance for $1.99 a pound, I will buy 12 or 15 pounds and then individually freeze the chicken breasts for upcoming weeks. Anytime meat that we like is on sale I usually try to buy a lot of it so we have it for a couple of months. I also try to plan my menus according to what meat I have in the freezer so it gets used up and then we don't have to buy meat every week

So how do I decide what is on the menu? Well I love to cook of course and we have our favorite dishes that I make regularly, but then I rely heavily on a lot of the blogs I read. I use my Google Reader to read all of my blogs so I can star and catalog any good recipes that come along. When we're in the need of some new recipes, I go to my Google Reader and pick something new to try.

Menu planning really works for us and takes the stress out of that dreaded, "What's for dinner?" question.

Warning: Chaos + Menu Tuesday

I'm running about 2 days behind on just about everything right now. It's been a rough couple of days with a death in Michaels' family and then the loss of Chewbacca. Everything is a little chaotic at the moment. Work is super busy; it just feels like everything is happening at once, it's nuts! I have all my Halloween decorations down but they are currently residing on my dining room table waiting to be packed away, hopefully this happens before the Christmas stuff goes up in 2 weeks!! The house is a mess, according to me, Michael just thinks I'm crazy! I barely got the bathrooms cleaned and laundry done this weekend. I am hoping for a very quiet and productive weekend coming up so I can get everything back in order. I'm too much of a planner type girl sometimes I guess; I have a hard time dealing with the chaos.

Anyways, we amazingly were able to get our menu planning and grocery shopping done on Sunday, so here is our menu a few days late. I still plan on doing a post on menu planning, I just don't know when, hopefully this weekend.

Monday: We ate at my parents and had ribs, onion potatoes and salad (It was delish!)
Tuesday: Turkey Sausage Ragu - I am super excited for this new recipe, it sounds delicious!
Wednesday: Buffalo Chicken quesadillas
Thursday: BBQ Chicken pizza
Friday: Parmesean crusted pork tenderloin and crash potatoes

In memorium

 I got a call from my mom tonight that they were rushing our family dog Chewbacca to the hospital tonight and when she called me back she told me that they had to put Chewy down because he had a brain hemorrhage. Chewy had been having a pretty rough year, he had been getting chemo for cancer but it had worked, and he was cancer free. Chewy was 9, I was a junior in high school when we got him. Yorkies usually live 12-15 years so its really hard that he is gone so soon. It is never easy to say goodbye to anyone, even a pet. I believe pets are true members of your family. Chewy was such a great dog; super loving with such a funny personality.

 My parents are going to have a really hard time without him. When they found out that he had cancer my parents said that they wouldn't get another dog once Chewy was gone, but I really hope they consider it. My dad especially needs a dog around since he is retired. It gives him a reason to go for walks and keeps him company during the day.

We're going to miss you Chewbacca...

How do you like me now?

The Dworianyn Love Nest has been renovated and has a new look! It was time for an update from the standard Blogger templates I was using. I got my new look from Shabby Blogs. They have all these super cute free templates for your blog and they were very easy to apply. They just so happened to have the perfect theme for the love nest!

Look for some posts this weekend on menu planning and a weekend recap. Thank goodness tomorrow is finally Friday!

Book Reviews

Here are the book reviews I've been promising for the past couple weeks. These are the books I've read in the past month. 


The Lost Symbol: Dan Brown

The next chapter for Robert Langdon lies in Washington D.C.. If you liked DaVinci Code and Angels and Demons, you will like The Lost Symbol. I was surprised to see this book is getting poor reviews on Amazon and other book sites. Some people feel that this book was too formulaic, but I just think that its Dan Brown’s writing style. I loved this book, I couldn’t stop reading it. It kept me on the edge of my seat and I literally gasped several times towards the end.

I hope they make this book into a movie like the other two, because I think it would be the best one yet.

Official Book Club Selection: Kathy Griffin

For those of you who have seen her show, "My Life on the D-List," you would expect Kathy's memoir, Official Book Club Selection, to be a light hearted tome that dishes on celebrities and reveals little about Kathy's true background. Surprisingly, Kathy has written a serious memoir that delves into where Kathy came from and her experiences that made her the comic she is today. She discusses her Catholic school nightmare that makes her question organized religion today, her difficulties with getting her family to accept that one son was a criminal and child molester, her difficulties in becoming a stand up comedienne in Hollywood, her struggles to get parts, her poorly considered plastic surgeries, her obsession with all things Oprah, and her failed marriage.

She comes off as humble and hard working. Despite her hard work, she seems as surprised as anyone by her success today. Her memoir is incredibly well written, funny and insightful.  Kathy does dish on celebrities, as you would expect, but she also gives them their due. She loves Hollywood and its excesses, even though she will never be accepted by it.

Blue Bloods: Melissa de la Cruz

Well I got sucked into another vampire series…no pun intended! It started so innocently with the “recommended for you” section on Amazon; it got good reviews it’s about vampires on the Upper East Side in New York, it’s a series of 4 books, I just had to download it! These were my vacation books and so far they are a great read. The one thing I notice in every vampire series I read is how different vampires are portrayed by the authors. Their abilities, back stories, and limitations really vary. When I was down with the Twilight series and moved to the Sookie Stackhouse Southern Vampire series, I kept thinking, “Edward couldn’t do that…” It was an adjustment period that I had with the Blue Bloods series as well.

In this series the vampires live for cycles and then go into a resting period before they are reincarnated and keep coming back in different eras starting from birth again and they don’t realize they are vampires again until their 15^th birthday, when they are flooded with all their past memories. It sounds odd, but they explain everything in the book. This series seems to be going for a Gossip Girl/Vampires thing. Trendy NYC locations, designer brand clothes, teenagers who act like they're 25. It's trashy and ridiculous; and a fantastic quick read. I am excited to see where this series goes since a lot of this first book was all of the teens turning 15 and coming to grips to their realized vampiredom.

Masquerade: Melissa de la Cruz

This is the second book in a series of 4 books so far in the Blue Bloods series that I read on my vacation. The great thing about this series is that it reads like a television show or movie. The author follows several characters and doesn't just limit you to one perspective. It is like she is telling three stories at the same time but they all work together. In this book many of the questions you have from the first book are answered and new questions are raised. These books are just so good that I literally cannot put them down until I am done. I am starting to read the third book, Revelations, this week.

Disney Vacation

I finally got all of our pictures transferred from our Disney trip last week. We went with my parents and my sister and her fiance. We spend most of our time at Magic Kingdom and Epcot so that is where most of the pictures were taken.

While we were there Epcot was hosting it's annual Food and Wine festival. It is fantastic, they have booths representing over 25 different countries with 3-4 dishes and 3-4 wines from each country. We definitely did our fair share of sampling from many of the booths! Our favorite booths were China, Poland, Germany, Italy, and Japan.

Here we are enjoying our pierogi and kielbasa from Poland.

One of the other special events that was going on while we were there was Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. It is an after hours event once the park is closed and they have trick or treating throughout the park and then a special parade and fireworks you can only see if you attend the event. It was amazing.

 

 

 

We stayed at the Animal Kingdom Lodge Kidani Village and it was beautiful. It is brand new and just opened this summer. There were animals everywhere. This is a picture of the lobby when you walked in.

Animals on the savannah at the resort.

Here are some of my other favorite pictures from the trip.

 

 

 

 

Menu Sunday

It's always nice to go on vacation, but it's good to be home! We had some amazing meals on vacation, our favorites we're in Japan at Epcot and Ohana's at the Polynesian Resort which was like a brazilian steakhouse but with some Hawaiian influence.

I am happy to be back in the kitchen this week!

Sunday: Cream of Chicken and Wild Rice Soup in sourdough bread bowls
Monday: Pub burgers
Tuesday: Honey chicken tenders
Wednesday: Homemade pizza & salad (Cheese pizza for Michael, BBQ Chicken pizza for me)
Thursday: Chicken Parmesan Paninis and salad
Friday: Sesame Chicken and fried rice

Happy Halloween!!

Happy Halloween everyone! We got back from Disney last night and we had a blast; I will be posting pictures and putting together a post in the next couple of days.

Take a look at our little bumble bee! He will be helping pass out the candy this year.

Blog Break

Well, I didn't get to writing those book reviews. I will do a full review including what I read on vacation when we get back.

Tomorrow morning we leave for Disney! We are so excited. The limo is coming to pick us up at 5:30 am so this will be the last you here of me. We won't be back until Halloween. I will be back soon with a full report and tons of pictures!

I'll leave you with a picture from our Disney trip last November. This is Michael and I in France in the Epcot World Showcase modeling our berets...

Weekend Recap

Well tomorrow is Monday again....but that's ok. I only have to work Monday and Tuesday this week and then we are leaving for Disney on Thursday!!! I can't wait; we really need a vacation.

This weekend was pretty quiet, which was really nice. Saturday we went and picked up Michael's new car. A 2009 Toyota Venza. It's really nice and he is so excited. He ended up getting the metallic gray like in the picture below which was his first color choice. It's a sharp looking car.

Saturday night we went out for dinner for Sweetest day at Bonefish grill in Schaumburg and it was delicious as usual. We love their bang bang spicy shrimp and ahi tuna sashimi, so good!

Sunday we went for breakfast but no grocery shopping this week since we are only going to be home for 3 days and then be gone for 9 days. So no menu Monday this week; we're gonna just use up stuff in the freezer and pantry. I got a lot of laundry and packing done today and will finish everything up on Wednesday since I'm off work. I love taking the day before a trip off and having time off before you go back to work too. We come home on a Friday so we'll have Saturday and Sunday to relax before having to go back to reality.

I am working on my book review posts and will get those posted this week before we leave.

For the love of reading...

I have loved reading books ever since my dad taught me when I was 3. I read everything I could get my hands on. Growing up I loved all the classics from Dr. Seuss to Little Women but I also loved fun series like The Babysitters Club, Nancy Drew or Sweet Valley High. There is something about a series where you can really commit to the characters because you know there will be another story to follow.

I’ve read all the Harry Potter books, which I just couldn’t stop reading until I finished and I’ve re-read all them multiple times. They are also fantastic movies; whenever I am flipping through the guide on TV, if I see one that is on I look just to see what part it is at and somehow end up watching the rest of it!

I got bit by the vampire bug with the Twilight series. I devoured every page of those books. I was so sad when it was over that I didn’t know what to read next. I really struggled trying to find something that would hold my attention like Twilight did. I need to re-read New Moon before the movie comes out next month!

Luckily I discovered Charlaine Harris and her great Southern Vampire Sookie Stackhouse series. These are the books that the True Blood series is based on HBO. There are 8 books so far in the series with the 9th coming out next May. They are definitely more adult vampire stories than Twilight, and if you’ve seen True Blood you already know that. Charlaine Harris has several other series that I’ve read as well. They always revolve around a heroine. I’ve read the Lily Bard series and I’m starting the Aurora Teagarden series next.

Along with reading series, I also enjoy autobiographies. I am currently reading Kathy Griffin’s book, Official book club selection, and it is hilarious. She has a really interesting story that I never knew. Now don’t judge, but two of my favorites are by Tori Spelling. Her books Storitelling and Mommywood were fantastic and extremely honest, especially Mommywood. She was very honest about her struggles adjusting to becoming a mom that very few moms would ever admit to.

I will have to start posting what I am currently reading from now on. I read a lot since I am on the train for almost 2 hours every day. Thank god for my Kindle! It seriously is the best tech device I’ve purchased. I’d choose it over my iPod any day. It is great for trips too. When I would go on vacation before I would bring 2-4 books with me depending how long I was going for and now I just have to bring my Kindle. It is so easy to buy books either on Amazon or on your Kindle and they are delivered in 60 seconds wirelessly! They are cheaper as well. A new release hardcover book is usually $25 in stores or $16 on Amazon and new release Kindle books are only $9.99. If the book has been out for a while it is usually around $6.

I will start posting weekly what I’m reading since I usually go through 1 – 2 books a week. I finished Dan Brown’s latest, The Lost Symbol a couple of weeks ago so I’ll post a review on that as well as the Kathy Griffin autobiography I’m reading.

Menu Monday!

Here is our menu for the week. I swear I will finally make the puff pastry boursin chicken if it kills me. It has been on the menu for weeks and somehow it never gets made, it's really good too!

Monday: Take-out (I have to work a 14 hour day today so cooking is not an option)
Tuesday: Katsudon - one of our favorite asian dishes that we are going to try and replicate
Wednesday: Fresh polish sausage and pierogis
Thursday: Hash brown turkey tenderloins (one of Michael's favorites)
Friday: Puff Pastry boursin cheese chicken

Weekend Recap

Well another weekend has come and gone. They always seem to go by so fast. Luckily we had a pretty low key weekend which is always nice. On Saturday we did a bunch of running around and went to look at new cars for Michael. He is getting a new business car since his lease is almost up and the deals are so great right now. He really needs something bigger and more comfortable since he is in the car a lot for work. So after a few test rides and thinking we were going to get the Toyota Rav4, we discovered the Toyota Venza. It is one of their newer models and it is a crossover SUV. It is super comfortable, luxe and spacious for hauling everything he needs. He is really excited; he should hopefully get it this week. They are just trying to find one in the colors he likes. They only had red or white and he wants the metallic grey like in the picture below or black.

So after a few hours at the dealer and lunch we came home and took a nice little nap...Porkchop decided to join in!

Today we did our usual Sunday routine of breakfast and grocery shopping, I will post my menu later. Then we came home and carved our pumpkins that we got last week at the pumpkin farm! Michael is in a Disney mood since we are going to be there in 10 days! I replicated a cute owl that I saw in a magazine and Porkchop got a fun pumpkin decorated with the power drill.

The before shot:

The after:

 

 

Vacation Countdown!

I am so excited; two weeks from today we will be on vacation! Michael and I, along with my parents, and my sister and her fiance are heading to Orlando and Walt Disney World for 8 days. To be honest I would go to Iowa at this point, because I need a vacation so bad, but honestly Disney is one of our favorite places! I have been there about 15 times. My parents belong to the Disney Vacation club so we are lucky to be able to go a lot and it costs very little. I know not everyone gets the Disney thing, but we love it. It's just one of the few places that brings back so many memories for me and makes you feel like a kid again. I can't wait until we have kids and can bring them there. The parks are all decked out for Halloween right now and we are going to this special event called Mickey's Halloween Party one of the nights. Last year we were there for Christmas and went to the Mickey's Christmas Party and it was awesome, so I am really looking forward to that. I am also excited to be celebrating my birthday there for the first time, especially since my sisters' birthday is on the same day! I will have tons of pictures when we get back and will make sure to post them.

Giraffes at a pumpkin farm?

We had a blast today at Goebbert's farm in South Barrington. We went for pumpkins and ended up feeding some giraffes while we were there! We went to Goebberts last year for pumpkins but we only walked around the pumpkin patch thinking the animal farm just had smelly goats and things like that. But they had everything from zebras to bengal tigers, kangaroos, giraffes, it was awesome! They had all the typical petting zoo animals as well. They also had pig races which is always fun and a corn maze. I would definitely recommend checking it out, there is plenty to see. It was pretty cheap as well, it's free to get in and park and only $7 a person and $3 for kids to enter the animal farm which gets you access to all the animals (there are 3 tents), pig races, haunted house, corn maze, and hayride. We did get our pumpkins but we're not carving them until sometime this week or next weekend. I'll post pictures when we're finished carving. Here are some pictures from today.

 

 

 

The weekend is here!

So happy the weekend is here!! We don't have a ton of things planned for this weekend and I am pretty excited about it. After last weekend's craziness of Oktoberfest and then a baby shower on Sunday, we can use a relaxing weekend.

Today we went to breakfast and did some grocery shopping and that is pretty much all we have to do today. We are going out for sushi tonight for dinner which I'm excited about because we are trying a new place. We tend to go to the same few places all the time so hopefully we will find a new favorite.

Tomorrow we are going to Goebbert's pumpkin farm to get our pumpkins for carving! We plan to spend the rest of the day just relaxing and watching football. Michael and I bet each week on football picks and whoever has the most correct picks wins that week. At the end of the year whoever wins the most weeks wins for the year and we each have our prize picked out. So far this year, I'm 3-0 so I'm hoping to keep my undefeated streak alive! Because if I win I get this beauty from Tiffany!

Since we did our grocery shopping today the menu is already planned for the week so I'll post it a few days early.

Saturday dinner: Sushi Ya (Schaumburg)
Sunday dinner: Pesto Parmesan crusted pork tenderloin
Monday: Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches
Tuesday: Hamburgers
Wednesday: Lasagne
Thursday: Chicken puff pastry pockets (this has been pushed off for 3 weeks for some reason)
Friday: Pizza night

Menu Monday

I did not end up cooking at all last week because every night when I came home from work I was trying to get some tasks and food prep done for the Oktoberfest party so take out was unfortunately all we had last week. We are getting back to cooking this week thank goodness!

Monday: Italian sausage patty sandwiches
Tuesday: Chicken puff pastry packets with boursin cheese
Wednesday: Baked Mostaccioli with homemade sauce
Thursday: Beer battered chicken tenders
Friday: Pesto chicken pasta (our last fresh pesto of the season, sad!)

4th annual Oktoberfest

We hosted our 4th annual Oktoberfest yesterday and it was perfect. We thought for sure that it was going to rain all day but the sun came out and no rain drops ever fell. We were even able to get the baggo set out and toss some bean bags around. We had around 35 people and it was a great time.

Personally, and probably because I'm biased since I made most of it, but I thought the food was the best part! Michael tells me every year that I make too much food but this year we had almost nothing left! Everything was a hit so I was really happy. The biggest crowd pleasers this year were the reuben eggrolls and the stuffed mushrooms I made. I will have to increase the number I make next year or find a few new appetizers.

Next year will be our 5th year hosting this party so we'll have to come up with some even better ideas to make it our best one yet.

Fall tour of our home...

I finally got around to taking pictures of the house all decked out for fall. I took way too many pictures so I just posted a small sampling.

Oktoberfest Menu

I am in full planning mode for our 4th annual Oktoberfest party on Saturday. I am making lots of lists of things to do, cook, bake, shop for, etc.

I think I have finally have my menu set. I have many items that I've had before, but I try to introduce some new items every year as well.

Oktoberfest Menu:
Vegetable crudite with dill dip
Three Pounders on pumpernickel bread
Cheese from the farmers market and crackers
Stuffed Mushrooms
Homemade soft pretzels
Reuben eggrolls
Potato salad
Beer and onion brats
Sauerkraut
Chicken Satays
Ghost cake pops
Apple bars
Pumpkin roll
Chocolate pretzels

We'll see how it goes and what everyone's favorites are this year!

It's been awhile...

I know I haven't posted in a while. It's been a very busy past few weeks. Between long hours at work, this past weekend I went on a scrapbooking weekend for 4 days. Michael's birthday is Wednesday, and our 4th annual Oktoberfest is Saturday; so needless to say its been a bit hectic!

I am taking Friday off work to get everything prepped and ready for our Oktoberfest on Saturday. I will finally take some pictures of the whole house decked out and some pictures from the party.

I'll leave you with a sneak peek of the decorations with a picture of the Halloween Tree!

Menu Monday

I will post pictures of all the fall decorating I have been doing for the past few days. I am still finishing some things up.

Here's the menu breakdown for the week. You'll notice some repeats because they didn't end up getting made last week.

Monday: Labor Day Picnic at Michael's Aunt and Uncles'
Tuesday: Turkey Sloppy Joes for Michael; Buffalo Chicken Bake for Sara
Wednesday: Fish and chips with fresh Walleye
Thursday: Pesto Pasta
Friday: Lou Malnati's for pizza

A pile of stuff...

I am enjoying Day 1 of 5 that I have off this weekend by starting the fall decorating process of the house. Oktoberfest is only 3 weeks away so I need to get moving!

Last night I brought up all the tubs and unpacked everything on the dining room table. Today I am cleaning and placing everything in the house.

What was a pile of stuff will become a cozy, fall themed home. Pictures of the final product to come!

Our Weekly Menu

Even though I worked a ton of hours last week, somehow we still managed to cook quite a bit. This week, I'm opening to keep it going, especially with only a 3-day work week. We made a pot of homemade marinara sauce with our overflowing supply of homegrown tomatoes. So we plan on using the sauce a few times this week and freezing the rest.

Sunday Dinner: Baked Mostaccioli with homemade sauce
Monday: Chicken Parmigiana Paninis with homemade sauce
Tuesday: Turkey Tacos
Wednesday: Pizza Night
Thursday: Hashbrown Turkey
Friday: Sloppy Joes for Michael; Pad Thai for Sara

A restful and relaxing weekend...

Well I survived another 70 hour work week. Things have been so crazy at work the past few months. This is our busiest time until about December. We have had a wonderful weekend though, we had nothing planned and it was wonderful. I worked out Saturday and Sunday, we did some cleaning around the house and had a nice date night last night. We went out to dinner and played mini golf, it was a nice night out. Today we went to our favorite breakfast spot and did our weekly grocery shopping and have enjoyed spending the rest of the day just hanging out around home. I have to do some work for several hours but at least I'm wearing jogging pants!

This week, I am only working Monday - Wednesday and I am going to have a 5 day holiday weekend. I cannot wait! I could really used a few days off. I'm even more excited because we have no plans as of yet. The only plans I have is going to Schaumburgfest on Saturday and I'm going to start putting up our fall decorations. I know it's a little early but I'm going to be really busy in September and this is the best time to do it. We are having out Oktoberfest early this year too so I have less weeks to prepare for it. I will make sure to post pictures of the house in all it's fall decorated glory!

Menu Monday!

I didn't end up cooking very much last week. With being sick, I was pretty much eating chicken noodle soup almost everyday.

This week I want to get back into the kitchen.
Monday: Turkey Meatball Sandwiches
Tuesday: Chicken Pesto Pasta
Wednesday: Gourmet Burger night
Thursday: Chicken tenders and fresh cut fries
Friday: Date Night

Julie & Julia

It's been a busy week, I am finally feeling better. Still not 100% but much better than a week ago.

I did get out last weekend to see Julie & Julia. We absolutely loved it. Meryl Streep was amazing as Julia Child. Michael was talking like Julia Child the rest of the day! It was a really well put together movie. It was funny, heartwarming and inspiring. A lot of people said the Julie story wasn't as strong as the Julia Child story, but I really liked the Julie story. I think its a story more younger people can relate to. All in all, I think its hard not to leave the movie feeling inspired. Inspired to cook, inspired to follow your true dream or passion. I will definitely be buying this movie when it comes out on DVD.

I heard that Julie Child's cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking has been selling out everywhere. They even sold out of it on Amazon! It's like a whole new generation has been introduced to Julia Child and French cooking. I wonder what Julia Child would think of all this?

Ugh...sick

So, not only did I have a 65 hour work week but on Wednesday I woke up with a terrible cold. I had a 103 degree fever, and because I had such a busy week, instead of curling up in bed and sleeping I just kept on working. I thought I would feel better by the weekend, but it's Saturday morning and I still can't breathe through my nose and I'm still coughing up a lung! We're supposed to go to a family party tonight but unfortunately I think Michael is going to have to go solo.

I am holding out hope that I will be able to contain my cough long enough to go see "Julie & Julia" tomorrow. I really want to see it. I will let you know if I make it and give you my review.

I hope everyone has a great weekend and I will be back to hopefully post my movie review and menu plan Monday.

Menu Monday

Here's a look at our menu for the week.

Monday: Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches
Tuesday: Pesto Chicken Pasta
Wednesday: Turkey Meatball Subs
Thursday: Homemade Pizza
Friday: Date night

I am trying to use up meat we have in our freezer for the rest of the month. I have a ton of ground turkey so I am sure that will be showing up on the menu a lot this month.

Halloween decorations and a Luau, what?

Well another week has come and gone. I worked crazy hours this week so I didn't get a chance to blog. Luckily, I took Friday off and it was so nice. I slept till 8:15 which is like sleeping in till 11 for a normal person, I worked out and made myself breakfast; it was just nice and leisurely. I went out to lunch with my husband and did some shopping. I was one of those crazy people buying Halloween decorations in August. I hit the jackpot at Home Goods and discovered some great finds. Fall is my favorite time of year so I do it up big decorating the house. I will definitely post some pictures come September when I start putting everything up!

On Saturday my brother-in-law and sister-in-law hosted their 2nd annual pig roast & luau which was a lot of fun. It was really hot, about 95 with 100% humidity but with frequent trips inside to get an air conditioning break, it was just fine. It was nice to finally have some summer weather since we haven't really had any. It only took till August to get here!

Today we headed over to my sisters house to take advantage of the hot weather and swim in her pool. It was the perfect way to spend a hot and steamy Sunday, just relaxing in the pool.

I have a pretty packed week this week with work so I don't know how much I'll be blogging again. I will be posting our menu tomorrow for Menu Monday.

Great weekend!

We had such a great weekend in Lake Geneva. It was so nice just to get away. I had such a crappy work week and worked a ton of hours so it was nice to relax. We went up on Saturday morning and went shopping and had lunch and then rented a boat for a couple of hours to tour the lake. Some of the houses on the lake were just insanely huge and beautiful. We ended our day with an amazing dinner at the Geneva Chophouse and went for a night swim. On Sunday we hung around relaxing before heading home.

When we got home I started cooking for Sunday dinner. We had Michael's parents and grandma over and it was really nice. I made dry rubbed beer can chicken, home made mashed potatoes, sweet corn and a yummy ice cream cake for dessert! It was a great weekend. I am already looking forward to the next one. This week should be a little better work wise. I am working from home on Thursday and taking Friday off.

Our menu this week looks a lot like last week. I didn't cook very much last week since I was working so many hours.

Monday: Leftovers
Tuesday: Chicken Parmesan and Penne Pasta
Wednesday: Polish Sausage and Pierogi
Thursday: Homemade Pizza
Friday: Chicken Tenders