Menu Plan for the month

I don't know about you but I love to plan.  It makes me feel prepared which makes me feel calm and in control and even if things don't turn out exactly like I planned... I still like having a plan in place.  I enjoy making up menu plans for the month because it helps me shop for only what we need to buy instead of buying random items and we tend to eat better when we have THE PLAN in place.  I also don't get asked, "What's for dinner?" anymore because they can find out by looking on the fridge where we post it.  I also love the change of seasons and how that affects our meals.  Have you seen the colors are starting to change along the Wasatch Front?  Gorgeous! 

Anywho... We're pretty simple folk so I like fast, cheap and easy because that works for a mom with five kids.  BTW, my kids LOVE breakfast for dinner so for that reason they usually inhale all the food in our fridge before Saturday night just so they can have waffles.

September Dinner Menu

Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
						1
*Recipes from Best Bites						Leftovers?
2	3	4	5	6	7	8
Black Bean soup and quesadillas *ice cream sandwiches	Bear Trapper *Stuffed Pretzel	Spaghetti and salad	Chicken casserole	Beef soup & crackers	Pizza, Subway, movie	Leftovers or breakfast for dinner
9	10	11	12	13	14	15
Orange Chicken and fried rice *Spider webs	Mac and Cheese *Pretzel Crayons	Quicky Sticky Chicken over rice and cooked carrots	Taco Salad	Chicken soup & crackers	Pizza, Subway, movie	Leftovers or breakfast for dinner
16	17	18	19	20	21	22
Chicken Enchiladas and salad *Apple Cider donuts	Spaghetti and salad *Caramel popcorn	Chicken Nuggets, corn and peas	Grandma’s Tacos	Potato Soup and rolls	Pizza, Subway, movie	Leftovers or breakfast for dinner
23	24	25	26	27	28	29
BBQ chicken with carrots and tator tots *Pumpkin cc cookies	Mac and cheese *Apple Cider Floats	Chicken Pasta Salad	Taco Soup with Quesadillas	Easy Lasagna w/ zucchini, salad, rolls	Pizza, Subway, movie	Leftovers or breakfast for dinner
30
Roasted Veggie Penne with diced ham *Caramel Apples

Parade of Homes - continued

More pictures since blogger stopped me on the last post.

Parade of Homes

This is very picture heavy - I apologize in advance. 10 bedrooms, 6 bathrooms. Sleeps 28 in beds plus 8 Costco sleeping mats for kids loft. Time for a family reunion! We won "Best Layout" and will find out later if we won People's Choice award. We had some amazing competition. It was fun being in the Parade of Homes. Now we can relax, right? :)

Cabin Sweet Cabin

This is what we've been up to the past couple of months.  Building and furnishing a cabin for future family reunions.  It's gonna be sweet once it's finished.  Hopefully it will be done in time for the Parade of Homes.  The theatre room is so nerdy cool.  I love the smell of new... everything!  Unfortunately it's a very expensive smell.  LOL

Tomorrow is my daughter's 10th birthday.  I'll try my best to post pictures before September.  :)  No promises though.

100th post - CRAZY!

I see I missed June entirely.  School got out and it's been busy with our bucket list (see previous post).  My son J turned 12, had a CRAZY fun party and received the priesthood.  We saw Madagascar 3 in 3-D then did Xtreme Paintball.

We also got to go up to Bear Lake to reunite with my mom's side.  We played minute-to-win-it games every night which the kids loved.  My aunt put together a touching DVD with tons of family pictures I had never seen before. Thanks to my Dad for bringing up his boat - it was a blast!  We even got to ride our bikes around the lake.  :)

 

As soon as we came home we got to hang out with our friends from Arizona.  Wish these guys lived closer.  J is missing because he was at his first week-long scout camp and her baby was napping with Daddy.

I see that this is my 100th post (CRAZY) so I thought I would share my crazy workouts I've been doing.  That's why I've been too busy to blog.  I wish I could post before/after pictures but I try to avoid cameras.  Let's just mention I lost over 30 pounds since end of January.  Yes, I procrastinated my New Years Goals but I had to wait until I was motivated and my 5 year old proudly telling me I was the fatest mom (like it was a good thing) was my wake-up call.  I'm getting faster on my road bike (averaged 17.8 mph last Saturday on my 32 mile bike ride).  I must say it's a thrill to pass the men on my bike since I have a little competitive streak in me.  Last time I checked I was at 14% body fat and don't want to go any lower.  Don't worry - if you saw me you wouldn't be able to tell.  I've got plenty of "mommy" written all over my body.  I used to think I had to do lots of cardio to lose weight but now I realized how important it is to strength train as well and that healthy is not a number on the scale.

Diet:  I aim for 50% carbs, 35% protein and 15% fat and about 1500 calories a day with lots of water.  I love Chobani yogurt every morning.  Cottage cheese and chocolate protein shake for snacks.  Only 1 fruit a day.  I used to eat 3 fruits a day and snacked on whole wheat bread smothered in nutella.  Delicious but not healthy.

Exercise:  Monday 1 hour elliptical or spin class (I'm taking a break from running because of past injuries that flare up when I run) and weights.  Tuesday bike ride outside 15-20 miles.  Wednesday elliptical.  Thursday spin class and "swim" with kids.  Friday 45 min. elliptical (and yoga if I have time).  Saturday long bike ride.  This Saturday I'm doing 40 miles, next week, 45, then 50 then a rest with 30.  I got tested and found I have a higher VO2 max than most females my age.  That means I'm supposedly in better shape but it also means I have to work harder to get the same calorie burn.  I'm horrible at flexibility.

Strength Training for July (below is the training plan I came up with).  In June I was doing combination weight training using a 45 pound bar so I'm excited not to have to use hand/bar weights.

Power month - Plyometrics

Perform 3 sets of 12 reps with 30-60 second rest in-between sets.  

In-between exercises rest 1-2 min. (depending on the speed your heart rate lowers)

Warm-up with 5 min. of rowing OR treadmill rotations (1 min walk then rotate at 3.5 mph for 30 seconds each to L side, back walk, R side, front, R side, back walk, L side, then front 1 minute run)

(Remember to keep abs tight and arms up shoot whenever possible for upper body)

*Squat jumps – squat then jump with hands high in the air.  Down and up as fast as you can.
*Knee tucks - Jump high, tucking knees high, tapping them with your hands in front of you.
*Lateral hurdle jumps – with both feet, side jump over an object then quickly jump back to other side.
*Power skipping OR Bounding (exaggerated running)
*Box jumps - work on progressing up to higher boxes.  Have your feet tap and jump down or walk it down.
*Plyo Push-ups - push so fast that your hands leave the floor for a second. Clap them if you want. (Work on progressing from Girl à Boy style)
*Split squat lunges. Like single leg lunges but instead you jump and switch legs with 90 degree swinging arms.

Finish with core work:

-Stability ball sit-ups 25 reps
-Assisted chin-ups 12 reps (need to work on this not being assisted)
-Plank hold for 1+ minute
Rest & repeat 3 times

Stretch it all out  (My FAVORITE part!)