eating this week

After a fog of illnesses and stomach bugs and missed school days, I think, 10 days later, we've finally emerged healthy. I had a menu to share last  week but absolutely no desire to be on this computer any more than necessary. But, for this week, this is where we're at.

monday Brussels Sprouts with Roasted Corn, Avocado, and Lime
tuesday salt and pepper tofu (new) + bok choy salad (new)
wednesday Crispy Black Bean Tacos with Feta and Cabbage Slaw (new, but with high praise from Jen!)
thursday tortilla soup
friday Creamy Ravioli With Squash, Lemon, and Chives (new) + garlic bread
saturday grilled cheese + pickle fries
sunday spaghetti

From my unshared menu last week, we had three new dishes. The hit was absolutely the herbed israeli couscous salad but the edamame, corn and quinoa salad and pappardelle with caramelized onions and parmesan (like french onion soup pasta!) were both very good as well.

I have a big (to me) project planned for May that I'll be sharing tomorrow and throughout the month. I'm hopeful some of you will want to play along with me to keep me accountable and inspired!

eating this week

As I sat this morning and planned out my menu, I was flipping through blogs and spotted Melanie's plans for the week. Those quesadillas quickly found their way to my menu so thanks to Melanie for the assist on that one!

Nothing earth shattering this week but I'm hoping to catch some weather breaks this week so I can make some progress on the yard. LOTS of rain last week (and not a little amount in the forecast for this week) means my spring yard cleaning has fallen by the wayside.

Monday romesco potatoes + salad

Tuesday grilled cumin-lime zucchini quesadillas (new)

Wednesday broccoli lemon pasta

Thursday herbed israeli couscous salad (new)

Friday  quorn and chicken stir fry

Saturday zucchini and corn quinoa nachos

Sunday potato tacos w/ avocado and tomatillo salsa


I can't forget to mention these easy raw bar cookies I made yesterday - easy and delicious (and despite the high fat/calorie count, it's mostly good fat with no added flour or sugar.) I made the oat version and for the topping, melted some semi-sweet chocolate chips with a smidge of coconut oil.
Also planned for this week, I have a few grapefruits all lined up for this jam. The cookies look fab but I just want the jam for my morning english muffin - yum! I'll let you know how it turns out - I'm a bit of a grapefruit fanatic so I'm sure I will love it.

housewarming

I've been wanting to send my sister a housewarming gift for awhile now and finally got around to shipping it off a couple of days ago. She graduated from Michigan State in December and moved a couple of states away in January for her new job. We're all proud of her bravery and accomplishments though we miss her like crazy. She's all settled in now with friends and a comfortableness with her new position so hopefully, these goodies will help make her apartment a bit more homey.

Izzy...always getting in on the act.

I included a few store bought items and a couple of handmade - a good mix that I think she'll like. Among the items in the box, a photo of me and both my sisters at my brother's wedding last summer, a small postcard sized drawing from Izzy, a print from Kal Barteski (I bought a set of prints a few years ago from her that included that elephant, I don't see it available anymore) a notebook, the candle that smells SO good I almost couldn't bear parting with it, and a small banner and set of notecards that I made for her.

She has been great about making an effort to stay in touch with everyone. I thought a small set of notecards would be a good way to encourage her to keep it up. The cards are quarter sheet size that I printed and sewed (if you'd like to print your own, you can grab the PDF here.) I thought about designing an address stamp for her but without knowing yet exactly how long she plans to stay in her current place, I went with printed envelopes instead. I just set up a template, printed a few, attached the blank envelopes with a glue stick and re-ran the sheets through the printer. I used this glue stick and the envelopes popped right back off with no residue. Here is a download link for the envelope templates - simply adjust the text size and line spacing before printing!

For the banner, I used this font (though you could easily freehand this) and a 6x6 Studio Calico pad and hot glued the letters to a length of yarn. Simple! This cordless glue gun is rad. This was the first project I used it on but I'll be using it a LOT more from now on. If I could get it in a color other than pink, I'd declare it perfect.

I still haven't done a March do something wrap up or shared an April goal but little surprises like this one is the gist of it. I'm hopeful it brightened her day when it showed up on her doorstep :)

paper play

I commented a few days ago that I was scrapbooking with paper and it felt like I was learning it all over again. There was a time when I did a layout every day and was never at a loss of ideas for designs and stories. I can't say the same for today but this is a start. I'm sketching layout ideas again and digging into my stash again. I mean, really digging into my stash:

positively ancient Sassafras Lass + brads +

a handcut title + jounaling (quote) on a transparency. This is old school Erica.

And back to my simple roots with a tiny bit of paper and fun with fonts. Not in love with either one but it's good to at least be playing again.

eating this week

Lots of tried and true on the menu this week. Settling back into our normal schedule after spring break last week.


Monday black bean soup
from last week (errr, two weeks ago): 

Tuesday pesto + pea pasta
Wednesday lentil tacos
Thursday succotash
Friday grilled cheese + corn salad
Saturday pizza
Sunday meatballs + brussels sprouts

The lentil soup + naan was fantastic. Yay, I made bread! And the soup was so perfect with it. I skipped the curry because I've discovered after a couple of failed recipes that I'm just not a fan. It was delicious without. Also really, really good? The white beans and cabbage from Super Natural Every Day. Incredibly fast and easy (it's actually the recipe shown on the cover.)