Food This Week (1.19.15)

It's sad that I've resorted to documenting my weekly menu to get me writing on here.  It reminds me of my pathetic diaries in elementary school.  Oh well.  I'm hoping to get some photos and fun anecdotes up later this week. We've been having so much fun!

This weekend was a LONG weekend, starting with a day off for Ainsley on Friday and ending with MLK day today.  Saturday and today were awesome, Friday and Sunday not so much.  I was SO tired Sunday that I just laid in bed most of the day watching Gilmore Girls.  It was actually really nice.  Saturday we had friends over for breakfast and just had a great family day.  Today we went to the Shedd Aquarium.  It was so nice to get downtown on a beautiful blue sky day and see the kids all so excited about the fun sea life.  I LOVED the otters.  They've always been my favorite.  Then we hung out and Ainsley and I went shopping, got groceries and lattes.  I LOVE our town on these kinds of afternoons.  A 2 minute drive each way for great food and coffee.  Yum.  Then we cooked and I ran (!!!) and bathed and we had friends over for dinner.  There are hard things about winter but an excuse to have friends over more because you don't just run into people out and about in the summer sun.  There's nothing quite like a happy messy home at the end of a great weekend.

Ah!  Back to food!

Sticky Coconut Chicken with exactly what Mel suggests for a meal (coconut rice, spinach and strawberry salad, grilled pineapple)

Martha's One Pan Pasta

Potato Leek Soup and bread (recipe to be determined)

Baked Beans on Toast (kind of loosely based on this recipe, I think)

Life is getting crazy during the week and I'm succumbing to super simple meals and not even thinking about the weekends.  On Tuesdays we don't even get home from after school stuff until after 6 so I have to have dinner all ready and waiting.  For now, soups made earlier in the day seem to do the trick, though I may have to enlist some more crock pot meals.  I love them, but just don't have lots in my arsenal as of yet.

I hope you all had a great weekend.  Happy cooking!