Meal Planning & Theme Nights

Since our move at the end of August, I've been struggling to get back into meal planning.

It's not that I don't see the benefits of meal planning, in fact I've experienced them first hand. I've also seen what happens when I don't plan: higher grocery bills, more frequent trips to the store, less healthy meals, and the after nap scramble to get a meal on the table.

So, about 3 weeks ago I finally carved out time during the kids' afternoon naps to get a plan on paper.

I decided to try theme nights to make my monthly meal planning easier. Here are the themes we're using now.

Sunday~Crock-Pot (this is actually for lunch since that is our big meal on Sundays)

Monday~Asian/Main Dish Salad

Tuesday~Italian

Wednesday~Mexican

Thursday~Soup/Fish

Friday~Leftovers

Saturday~Chef's Choice (we often share meals with another family on Saturdays because Tim is off from work, so we reserve this night for new recipes or whatever we'd like to make for company)

With themes, I've found it easy to plug in our favorite recipes as well as new ones without having to worry about having the same thing too often.

It's also easy to plan meals according to the activities of the week. For example, on a busy Tuesday a quick dinner of spaghetti or pizza can be planned to fulfill our Italian theme instead of a more time consuming manicotti or fettuccine alfredo.

I've also found that with a family our size I need to plan a weekly leftovers night. This helps to clear out all of the extra food and makes room in the fridge for our weekly produce run on Sundays.

For more on meal planning with nightly themes check out these resources:

Simplifying Meal Planning :: Passionate Homemaking

List of Theme Nights for Easy Meal Planning :: List Plan It

Meal Planning Resources :: Simple Mom

Do you meal plan? Why or why not? What do you think about meal planning with nightly themes? Would you like the structure or feel too limited? If you've posted about meal planning on your blog, be sure to share the link with us.

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The Baby Is A ... (drumroll please)...

Girl!

We are officially expecting a little girl and we are all very excited. This last ultrasound went well and all of the baby's organs are present and functioning properly. She is measuring a bit on the lighter side, but since our other two were fairly small I guess we just have small babies.

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers!

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I Spy Kit Giveaway

I am so excited about the following giveaway and I hope you will be also!

So far, I've really enjoyed the process of making Emahry and Jonathan an I Spy Playmat, so I decided to see how easy it would be for someone else to get the fabrics they would need to make their own I Spy project. I quickly found Sew Together, a lovely shop on Etsy and asked Denai, mom of four, if she would like to donate an I Spy Kit to one of our readers.

This wonderful I Spy Kit includes 100 different 3 1/2 inch squares already cut and ready for your project, so you don't have to spend a lot of money getting 100 different fabrics or put in the tedious work of cutting out 100 squares.

Here's an example of the types of fabrics that are included in Sew Together's I Spy Kits. (Remember that the actual fabrics may vary from this photo.)

Sew Together's I Spy Kits contain no character fabrics, but they do have safety pins, butterflies, bees, watches, footballs, ladybugs, bees, ants, and rainbows, just to name a few.

If you'd like to purchase your own I Spy Kit, simply head over to Sew Together. Please, let Denai know that you heard about her shop here at A Heart for Home.

If you would love to have an I Spy Quilt for your children or grandchildren (think Christmas gifts), but don't have the time or ability to make your own, just pop on over to Denai's other Etsy shop Sew In Love where she offers custom I Spy Quilts in a variety of sizes. Be sure to contact her if you don't see exactly what you're looking for.

Now for your chance to win a 100 square I Spy Kit.

1) Head over Sew Together or Sew In Love and choose your favorite item from either shop. Then come back here and leave us a comment telling what you chose.

You can gain additional entries by doing any or all of the following.

~Place our button on your blog (include a link to your blog in your comment) Simply copy the code under our button and paste it into the text box for a Html Gadget on your blog's layout.

~ Subscribe to or follow our blog (let us know if you've already subscribed or followed).

~ Post about this giveaway on your blog or tweet about it (leave us a link in your comment).

Please leave a separate comment for each entry!

This giveaway will end on Saturday, November 14th at 12 Midnight EST. We will choose a winner through random generator.

Make sure you leave a way for us to contact you!

Please help spread the word about Sew Together and this awesome giveaway!

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Crock Pot Sweet Aromatic Chicken

A mouth watering aroma filled our house this past Sunday as we arrived home from church.
Soon we were seated around the table filling our mouths and bellies with this delicious chicken.

Crock Pot Sweet Aromatic Chicken
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 pounds chicken, skinned (boneless or with bones)
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1/8 -1/4 tsp ground cloves
2 - 4 garlic cloves, minced
Combine milk and water. Pour into a greased crockpot. Add remaining ingredients in order. Stir to combine. Cover and cook on high for 4-6 hours.

When the chicken is finished, use the remaining juices to make a wonderful gravy to drizzle over the chicken and pour on top of rice or mashed potatoes. Simply place the sauce in a small pan and thicken on the stove with cornstarch or flour.

Note: If you increase the chicken, simply increase the other ingredients accordingly to keep the chicken nice and moist.

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Pregnancy Update ~ 23 Weeks

It's hard to believe that I've already sailed past the halfway point in this pregnancy. Our recent move and trying to get settled into our new home and routine have made the time fly by.

This pregnancy, so far, has been similar to my previous two and fairly uneventful. After a couple weeks of being overly tired I could hardly tell I was pregnant. Then at 19 weeks my milk supply began to drop. At this point, Tim and I decided that Emahry was ready to give up her final nursing session. It's now been almost a month, my milk supply has returned and Emahry has only asked to nurse twice.

Now at 23 weeks, I can definitely tell that I'm carrying another little blessing. The maternity clothes have been brought out and all night aerobic classes have once again begun meeting in my belly.

So far all of my test results have come back good. Today we finally get to go in for my second ultrasound. Hopefully we'll be able to see all of the organs and everything will look good. I'm also hoping we'll get confirmation of the baby's gender.

Please, continue to pray that the new baby and I will remain healthy and safe during the rest of this pregnancy.

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I Spy Quilted Play Mat

At the beginning of the summer I decided I'd like to make an I Spy Play mat for the kids. For those of you who have never heard of such a thing, an I Spy quilt or play mat is simply a large assortment of printed fabric with which children can play I Spy. For example, I spy a green lizard or I spy a striped umbrella.

I didn't have nearly enough different materials in my fabric stash, so I sent out a few emails to fellow crafters. My Aunt Linda, a quilter, sent me a package full of fabric scraps that worked perfectly for this project. I also received a lot of the fabrics from Tim's Mom, or Maw as we call her. (Thank you both so much!!)

After a few days of planning and a lot of cutting, I started piecing together the top of the playmate. I decided to make the finished squares 3 1/2 inches and to sew them into a 9 square by 9 square play mat.


This past week I sewed the majority of them together. I still have to attach the top row of squares, but I'm waiting on the top left square. I'd like to get a plain piece of fabric and embroider a magnifying glass and the words "I Spy..."

So far, I'm very happy with how this play mat is turning out, especially since this is my first time doing any type of patchwork or quilting.

There are a few places where the corners of the squares don't line up exactly, but they are so few that I can very easily live with them.

Emahry already likes playing with the quilt, even though it's not finished. She's pretty good at finding the things I spy, but hasn't quite grasped the concept of getting me to look for things.

Here are a few links if you'd like more information or inspiration to make your own I Spy Quilt.

Mini I Spy Quilts :: Make and Takes

I Spy Quilts on Flickr

I Spy Quilt :: The Thrifty Home

You can even buy packages of pre-cut I Spy quilt squares online at Etsy.

I'd love to hear what you think about I Spy quilts. I'd also love to read about your latest crafting adventures.

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Happy Fall!

The kids and I finally found time to get outside and take some fall photos. I had forgotten how difficult it is to get both little ones looking at me and smilin at the same time.



We hope that each of you are enjoying this season.



God Bless!

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