Dinner Menu 4/14

I have been writing up our dinner menus for a while but I always wish I had saved them somewhere to go back and look at things that we made for dinner. I love the ideas that my friend Leigh sends and posts on her awesome food blog http://onedayatatime-recipes.blogspot.com/.  I use her suggestions and recipe blogs that I read plus food that I really want to learn to make or crazy stuff that my 7 year old requests like homemade French crepes!  She is just little bit interested in France and she loves cooking with me so that's where that one came from.  I also use recipes that my grandma or mom cooked when I was a kid.  I also love cooking things that make me remember my time living in Mexico.  That would explain my extensive Mexican food pins on Pinterest. :) Cooking and baking are some of my very favorite things to do.  I love reading cook books and cooking magazines and trying new things or new techniques.  I always sorta wanted to go to culinary school.  So, anyway, I'm going to try keeping up with recipes here on my blog just for my reference and to help me with menu planning.  It's much easier to go to a link and print it or find it on my phone in the grocery store.  :)

MONDAY: Ham and Swiss Poppy Seed Sliders My mom used to make these when I was a kid and they were my favorite meal!  We'll probably have green beans, a salad, or another vegetable with it.
TUESDAY: Hearty Turkey and Bean Chili This is one of my favorite chili recipes.  I have tried a LOT! :)  I usually make this with cornbread too.
WEDNESDAY: Chick-fil-A Fundraiser Dinner for Isabel's school
THURSDAY: Pepperoncini Beef Sandwiches
FRIDAY: Spaghetti (Ground Turkey) Bolognese with Quick & Easy Garlic Parmesan Rolls This spaghetti is really good.  I tend to make different versions of spaghetti each time I make it but I really like this one.
SATURDAY: Breakfast Night.  This will probably include scrambled eggs, Canadian bacon (that I get for a great price at Costco), and pancakes or French toast.  Last week I made these upon request from Isabel...they are croissants...and croissants are from a particular country that she is fond of. :)
Croissant French Toast.  This week I'm thinking about these Strawberry Shortcake Pancakes
SUNDAY:  Normally Sunday nights are leftovers or fix whatever you find on hand nights.  Brian is at youth group so he doesn't usually eat with us so it's easier for me and Isabel to just make something easy like black bean quesadillas or soup. 

But THIS Sunday is Easter and I'm still not sure what I'm gonna do.  Up until this year, we would have my family over to our house for Easter lunch with ham and all the fun sides.  This year though, we live 4 hours away from our family so...we're not going to see them on Easter.  Also, this Easter is Lucy's 1st birthday!!!  So I'm not sure what we're going to do just yet. Our family is coming up the next weekend to celebrate!

Happy 9 months!

For those of you that actually still read this blog, I'm sorry I haven't been updating regularly...9 month olds are busy little people. :)

This month back on the 10th, we celebrated 3 months home with our Lucy!  She has grown so much since that first night home with us.  She is giving hugs and kisses and reaching for us all the time!  She is feeling more confident that we are going to feed her and that we are NOT going to leave her!  She has been going to church and even to the youth group a few times and enjoyed herself!  She is a bit of a ham.  She loves to smile and wave!

AND, today Lucy is 9 months old!  I really can't believe that in just a few months she will be one year old.  That is crazy to me.  We first saw her face and learned her name and story when she was only 6 weeks old...on May 31.  Even though she has only been here with us for 3 months, we have known her and had her in our hearts for much longer.  I'm thankful that I have pictures of when she was at Hannah's Hope and I received photos from when she was only 2 weeks old!  A mission group from our agency was visiting the orphanage where she was and they took pictures and that was actually when her paperwork was ready and they brought her to HH.  Also, just a couple weeks ago I received some photos of the hospital where she was born.  These are all just so so special for us and I know they will be for Lucy one day.

So, here is a fun PicMonkey photo I made to remember some of her accomplishments and favorites at 9 months!  Plus, I haven't shared photos in a while so here are some of my favorites!