Some Randomness and a Weekly Meal Plan

A Few Things You Really Don't Need to Know 

1. I had my first pumpkin spice latte of the season on Saturday and it was all I hoped and dreamed it would be.

2.  I have this unexplainable urge to watch Twilight:Eclipse today but can't seem to find it available to rent anywhere.

3.  I'm very excited about the deal I bought on Groupon today ($6 for $12 worth of food at a local Greek and Lebanese restaurant). 

4.  I think I might have felt the baby move the other night, but I'm really not sure. And I'm still confused about it.

It's going to be a short post today.  It's 3:30 p.m. as I write this and I must confess, I have had quite the lazy day today.  Let's see... I slept in until 10:00 am this morning, had McDonald's for breakfast, and have spent the majority of the early afternoon sitting on the couch reading just for fun.  And I don't feel the least bit guilty about any of it! 

We spent the first half of last week in Nashville for a conference (which I hope to write a post about soon) and the last several days have been filled with catching up on housework, attending church activities, and being out of the house for one reason or another.  So, sometimes you just need a day to do nothing but stay home and rest!

I am hoping to be a little productive this evening though.  :-)  I'm planning on doing a little laundry and picking up around the house.  I've also managed to get my week planned out, including our dinners. Before I go, I wanted to share a quick meal plan with you.  So, without further ado.....


What's Cookin' in the Kennedy Kitchen?...

Monday: Spaghetti w/Green Beans and Garlic Bread
Tuesday:  Hawaiian Chicken Stir-Fry
Wednesday: Leftovers. We have youth on Wednesday nights so leftovers is usually on the table.
Thursday: Shepherds Pie
Friday: Tortilla Pizzas (I have 4 more tortillas I need to use up.  Why do so many come in one bag??)
Saturday: Eating out! We're going to Buffalo Wild Wing to watch UFC.
Sunday: Leftovers or something easy.


Have a happy week!! :)

Meal Plan for the Weekend and Tip for Freezing Beans

I used to do a weekly post where I shared our meal plan for the week.  I haven't done one of those in a while and I always enjoy seeing other people's meal plans, so I thought I would pick back up with what's on the menu at our house for the rest of this week. 

Here's What's Cookin' in Our Kitchen:

Thursday: Baked Pecan Crusted Salmon w/grilled asparagus and garlic bread

Friday:  Homemade Pepperoni Pizza w/spinach salad  (Before when I've made this I've used The Frugal Girl's recipe for thin crust pizza which my sister showed me and I like a lot, but I think I might try The Pioneer Woman's pizza crust recipe this time).

Saturday: Not sure yet.  We're having our youth group over for games and ice cream tonight, so we'll probably do something simple like leftovers or grilled cheese and soup for dinner.

Sunday-Wednesday:  We're going to Nashville these days, so obviously we'll be eating out a lot!  My parents sent us a gift card to the Texas Roadhouse for our 1 year anniversary which I'm sure will be put to good use!  And I've been MAJORLY craving a chicken burrito bowl from Chipotle pretty much since we moved here.  Here's to getting my fix in Nashville! 


Tip For Freezing Beans

Most of the time instead of using canned beans I like to buy dried beans, cook a big pot of them and freeze them for a later time.  My problem was when I would put them in the freezer after cooking them they would always freeze into one big clump, making it difficult to get the portion I wanted out of the bag.  I recently discovered a little trick for helping the beans to freeze individually instead of in clumps.  You ready?  The trick is to freeze the beans on a cookie sheet first before separating them into smaller zip-lock bags.  This tip might not be new to a lot of you, but it was new to me!  I thought I'd share how to do it in case anyone else doesn't want a frozen clump of beans.  Here goes: 

Soak AND cook your beans, then drain them well.  Next you can:

• Spread them evenly on a flat cookie sheet (you can line the sheet with parchment paper to make bean removal easier)
• Freeze them 1 hour
• Take them out of the freezer, then put them in a Freezer Ziploc or individual Ziplocs (or a freezer safe container).
• Return the beans to the freezer.

Simple as that! A quick tip for you!  I love being able to have already cooked beans in the freezer that I can pull out and heat up real quick with a meal!

A Labor Day Post

Here it is, the beginning of September.  The cooler days, the crisper night air, the start of football games, the first pumpkin spice latte of the season....  all of these things are reminders of the closing of summer and the ushering in of autumn.  Even here in the deep south we are beginning to feel a fall breeze.  And, believe me, after seemingly endless days of temps in the 100's this summer, it is a welcome friend.

Since I let the whole summer go by without blogging and, though there are many things I could share about, instead of doing a catch-up post I'm going to just pick right up in the present.  Let's start with a labor day weekend post.  :-)

We had a great labor day weekend with Ashley (my sister), Zach (brother-in-law) and their pups who came down from Memphis, TN for a couple days.   Although it was overcast and a little rainy all weekend the temps were a blissful low to mid 80's.  Hallelujah!  We had a good time with them and enjoyed being able give them a glimpse of our lives here.  Saturday we had a relaxing morning of sleeping in followed by starting the day with coffee and cinnamon rolls.  *Sidenote*  I had my first cup of coffee that morning since being pregnant.  All during my first trimester coffee suddenly became repulsive to me and I couldn't stand the smell or taste of it.  Now that I'm in my second trimester the aversion I had to coffee has faded away and so I thought I would try to drink a little bit (don't worry, I didn't drink too much).  Well, it tasted SO good that morning that I had not one but two cups.  About an hour later I started to get the shakes really bad!  I guess being off of coffee for over 2 months had nullified the immunization to caffeine I had once had.  I knew if I was feeling super shaky my baby had to be feeling it to.  I could just picture he/she in there kicking up a storm, haha!    Later that day we went on a short driving tour of our little town and had dinner at a local restaurant.  Sunday we went to church and then made the 45 minute drive to the "big city" for lunch and some shopping.

Toby claimed this chair for himself the first morning.

Sam "sitting pretty".  She's a smart one!

What a pretty girl!

Eating dinner at Sam's Southern Eatery.

Enjoying our cups of coffee in all of our morning glory.

Zach and I also celebrated our 1 year anniversary this past Sunday.  This past year has brought us many adventures with a new state, new home, new community, new job, and a new baby on the way!  I'm very thankful and looking forward to what this next year holds.

To wrap up our Labor Day weekend Zach and I took a trip out to a nearby state park for a couple hours of hiking and spending some time praying and reading together.  The weather was so gorgeous today and I figured I better make the most out of it before I get too big to walk for very long! 

Hope your Labor Day weekend was fun and restful as well!