Somehow I still seem to have a very full fridge this week, even though I still need to go grocery shopping for the week.  So our meals this week will be using many items that we already have on hand in an effort to clean out the fridge and not end up with a lot of wasted food.  For my toddler lunches this week I will be using many of the recipes from the most recent 18+ month toddler menu.

Friday night I’m planning on having a date night at home with my husband.  We’ve only tried this once before and it worked reasonably well.  The plan is to feed the kids an early dinner, do the cleanup, bath, bedtime routine a little early, then enjoy a special meal with just the two of us.  I find that its hard to get out with young children at home and this is a good way to stay connected as a couple.  The meal for that evening is yet to be determined (waiting for requests from my hubby), but it will be something special and a little out of the ordinary.  I can’t wait!

Cheesy Potato Soup

Menu Plan Monday

Monday -

• Toddler Lunch – Chicken Stix, Green Peas, Applesauce
• Dinner – Parmesan Crusted Chicken with Roasted Potatoes and a Green Salad

Tuesday -

• Toddler Lunch – Football Turnovers, Green Beans, Sliced Peaches
• Dinner – Spaghetti with Meatballs and Garlic Bread

Wednesday -

• Toddler Lunch – Roasted Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese Croutons
• Dinner – Crockpot Beef Stew with fresh French Bread and Peach Pie

Thursday -

• Toddler Lunch – Green Mac-n-Cheese, Apple Slices
• Dinner – Chili (from the freezer) and crackers

Spaghetti with Meatballs

Friday -

• Toddler Lunch – Cheesy Potato Soup and Cheese Twists, Steamed Carrots
• Dinner – Date Night at Home

Saturday – Lunch – Grilled Cheese Sandwiches and Green Salad

Dinner – Leftovers

Sunday – Lunch – Pancakes with Strawberry Jam or Maple Syrup and Fresh Fruit

Dinner – Meal at church – something we do once a month and my kids really look forward to it!

For more great Menu Plan Monday menu planning ideas visit orgjunkie.com!

Yes, I know that I don’t need to dress to impress but let’s face it, it will be nice to get out of my missing knee jeans, bacon stained t-shirts and crocs for a few days. And I would really like to feel confident and stylish when I do so.

Thankfully, Lands’ End has seen fit to be my style savior for this particular event by sponsoring me to the event (EEEK! So excited). And I would like to make them proud to have clothed me for the event. And well, have I mentioned that my fashion sense is a bit lacking? Okay, but it bears repeating!

So here is where YOU come in! Want to pick what I should wear to the conference? Come on you know you want to! Please! Lands’ End is providing the duds so I enlisted my good friend Amy to assist with the pairing of ensembles. She has done an amazing job putting some Lands’ End outfits together on Polyvore and we have posted those to a Lands’ End Blissdom Conference Wear Board on Pinterest. Here is what I would LOVE for you to do:

1. Go to the Lands’ End Blissdom Conference Wear Board on Pinterest. (Not on Pinterest? Send me an email that you need an invite and I will send you one).

2. Like up to 3 day wear outfits, 1 evening outfit, and 1 girls night in outfit that you think I would look good in. And feel free to leave comments as well.

3. If you are super creative and are already on Polyvore, feel free to throw together an ensemble and send me an email with the link and I will pin it to the Pinterest board for others to vote on.

That’s it. Early next week I will take a look at your favorites and make my final selections. I will report to you what seems to be the most popular and then when I am at the conference I will chronicle my fashion while at the conference. It will be like you are right there with me! And who knows, maybe I will feel generous with some Lands’ End gift cards and share the love with some randomly selected participants.

Sound fun? I hope so! I really do need your help!

In case you need to know a few of my “vital” statistics when it comes to fashion, here they are:

• I am about 5 foot 1.5 inches and petites are usually a must in most things.
• I’ve got the standard “mommy middle”.
• My favorite colors to wear outside black, brown and grey are dark green and salmon.
• I will wear heals but you will most often find me in flats or a slight heal.
• Anything else you need to know?

Disclosure: Lands’ End is compensating me for my attendance at Blissdom and is providing me with some of their clothing line to review; however, this idea for involving YOU and PINTEREST  is totally my own! I hope you enjoy it. All the opinions in this post are mine, want to know more about how I facilitate reviews, view my full disclosure policy!

There are several reasons I plan my meals each week–it saves me time, it saves money (less temptation to grab a pizza or run through the drive-through on a busy night), and it saves my sanity when the “evil dinner hour” hits because I already know what I’m going to make. But even with all the benefits to planning our weekly meals, I occassionally find myself dragging my feet.

This week when I took my kids to the library, the cookbook section drew me in and I came home with a good-size stack of new cookbooks to browse! Finding new recipes to try was just the motivation I needed to give me a kick in the pants and get my meals planned for this week.

Did you know we have a recipe section here on Once a Month Mom? It’s chockfull of tried-and-true recipes we love, AND that freeze well. If you find yourself loving the idea of planning a week or month’s worth of meals, but are stuck in a rut, I definitely suggest searching the archives and adding a few new recipes to your menu plan.

Here’s my freezer cooking plan for the week: (See how I typically freezer cook each week)

• Refried Beans
• Oatmeal Packets with freeze dried strawberries
• Coffee Cake Muffins
• Ranch Chicken (made into bite-size “nuggets”)
• Oven Potato Wedges

Here is my family’s meal plan for this week:

Pizza Spirals

Monday -

• Breakfast - Homemade Oatmeal Packets, bananas or frozen blueberries
• Toddler Lunch -Cheese Quesadillas, Refried Beans, orange slices
• Dinner – Baked Potato Bar, green salad

Tuesday -

• Breakfast – Coffee Cake Muffins, orange slices
• Toddler Lunch – Ranch Chicken ”nuggets,” oven potato wedges, applesauce
• Dinner – Taco Pasta, corn

Wednesday -

• Breakfast – Homemade Oatmeal Packets, bananas or frozen blueberries
• Toddler Lunch – Fish Sticks, bread and honey, apple slices
• Dinner – Leftovers

Instant Oatmeal Packets

Thursday -

• Breakfast – Coffee Cake Muffins, orange slices
• Toddler Lunch – Pizza Spirals, baby carrots and ranch
• Dinner – Daddy Cooks (AKA: My work night)

Friday -

• Breakfast – Homemade Oatmeal Packets, bananas or frozen blueberries
• Toddler Lunch – mac and cheese, frozen peas
• Dinner – Fish Tacos, cilantro-lime rice

Saturday -

• Breakfast – Whole Wheat Pancakes (freeze leftovers)
• Lunch – leftovers
• Dinner – Date Night

Sunday

• Breakfast - Breakfast Cookies, bananas
• Lunch – Potluck after church

For more great Menu Plan Monday menu planning ideas visit orgjunkie.com!

This round it was time to review the Mazda 5. Honestly, after reviewing the Odyssey and the Sienna I was highly skeptical about my enjoyment level of this vehicle. It is smaller, doesn’t have all the nooks and crannies for all the junk equipment that I need for the kids and doesn’t ride as high. (I’m short so I have a short vehicle complex too). So I reluctantly took it for a spin on Black Friday to give it its first full test.

My thinking in taking it for Black Friday was that it had lots of trunk room, similar to the van; but was zippier than the van meaning that I could slid in and out of parking spots and the traffic madness that is Black Friday with less effort. I was also hauling a couple other adults and the sliding back doors seemed like a plus in that department too. Turns out, it was the best decision I could have made!

Mazda5 Cargo Room - Black Friday extraordinaire!

The vehicle, despite being the size of a car, not a van, handled beautifully. I loved that I could zip in and out of parking spots and run errands in a way that I couldn’t with the van. I also didn’t feel like I was just a little ole car like I thought I would coming from the mini van that I usually drive. And the cargo space? Well, see for yourself. We fit two bicycles, not yet assembled and a myriad of other purchases in the trunk without making the seating uncomfortable.

I absolutely LOVED the third row seat! It wouldn’t be the most comfortable for a long trip but the main reason we purchased a van with only 2 children was that we could never transport others’. That problem is solved in the Mazda 5. And it has the cool sliding back doors just like a mini van!

After my positive experience on Black Friday I drove it absolutely everywhere for the week. It even snowed that week and I had no apprehensions about taking it out and about. Again, it handled very well.

And if you don’t believe me, how about this for a true story? While we had the vehicle we had some friends inquire about it as an option they were considering for their next vehicle purchase. So we did the decent thing and invited them over for dinner and to go for a ride in it so that they could see what it was like without the influence of a sales person. After all, I’m not making commission if Mazda sells a vehicle! Turns out that they loved it as much as we did and went and purchased one around the holidays. Nice. And you are welcome Mazda!

So if you can’t tell, I highly recommend this vehicle if you are in the market for one of this size for your family. (The price tag is reasonable too). I have it at the top of our list of vehicles to replace our current sedan and that says A LOT as I am usually very loyal to my friends at Honda and Toyota.

Disclosure: I received a vehicle with gas included to test drive for the week to conduct this review. All the opinions in this post are mine, want to know more about how I facilitate reviews, view my full disclosure policy!

Menu Plan Monday

Lemon Poppyseed Muffins

Our family is following along with Get Real this year and we’re making great progress so far. We even took a trip to Bread Becker’s this weekend and bought a bucket of sucanat (sugar cane, natural) to use in our baking as well as a bucket of gluten since we’re going to be making more of our own seitan “meats” at home. It’s pretty exciting and, as we’ve discovered, an even tastier experience than we expected. In our family’s pantry purge, we found a bag of instant Lemon Poppyseed Muffins and decided to compare them to our homemade muffins. The homemade version was incredible while none of us were big fans of the instant variety. That Get Real Muffin Comparison really encouraged us to keep up with our progress.

Monday -

• Toddler Lunch – Beefy Quinoa Burgers with Homemade Ketchup
  

  Homemade Ketchup

• Dinner – Potato Kale Soup and Pear Crumb Pie

Tuesday -

• Toddler Lunch -  Macaroni with Simple “Meaty” Vegan Spaghetti Sauce and Lemon Poppyseed Muffins
• Dinner – Taco Roll-ups made with Homemade Tortillas

Wednesday -

• Toddler Lunch – Tofu Scrambler and Tangerine Ricotta Poundcake
• Dinner – Pita Pizzas

Thursday -

• Toddler Lunch – Cinnamon Raisin Bagels
• Dinner – Pumpkin Black Bean Enchiladas with Easy Homemade Enchilada Sauce
  

  Baked Seitan Pepperoni

Friday -

• Toddler Lunch – Pumpkin Oatmeal {Vegan}
• Dinner – Baked Seitan Pepperoni Pizza made with Kelly’s Pizza Dough

Saturday -

• Lunch – Grilled Polenta Cakes
• Dinner – Chickpea Broccoli Alfredo

Sunday-

• Lunch – Pear Gorgonzola Pizza
• Dinner – Vegetarian Arroz con Pollo

For more great Menu Plan Monday menu planning ideas visit orgjunkie.com!

This week is a big fun one for my kids.  They have Monday off from school, my oldest daughter’s birthday is on Wednesday (she will be 14!) and then gets to see the amazing Broadway production of the Lion King the next day.  My youngest gets to have a sleepover on the weekend and my oldest has a cross country ski meet this week.  Now, if we could only get a bit of snow so he doesn’t have to race on artificial snow, the week would be set.  :)

Menu Plan Monday

The Gluten Free Menu Swap is being hosted by Heather of Celiac Family.  She picked smoothies for the theme this week.  I have a bunch of gluten and dairy free smoothies that my family makes.  I try to keep frozen bananas in the freezer so we can whip smoothies up when ever we are in the mood.  Frozen bananas lends a creaminess and body to dairy free smoothies that we love.

Monday -

• Lunch –  Banana Pancakes, homemade turkey sausage and fruit
• Dinner –  Juicy Apple Turkey Burgers, homemade gluten free buns, spinach salad with poppy seed dressing

Tuesday-

Gluten Free Dairy Free Pizza Muffins

• Lunch –  Pizza Muffins, pea pods and pineapple
• Dinner –  Lemon Spinach Tilapia, broccoli and clementines

Wednesday -

• Lunch – Hummus and veggie roll ups, grapes and broccoli
• Dinner - Slow Cooker Pork & Apple Curry over quinoa, salad and birthday cupcakes!  Maybe the Gluten and Dairy Free Hot Chocolate Cupcakes with Homemade Marshmallow Fluff I made her last year…  Yum!

Thursday -

• Lunch – Homemade GFDF pizza pockets, veggie sticks and orange slices
• Dinner – Beef and Bean Stew, Blender Corn Bread and salad

Gluten & Dairy Free Chicken Thai Pizza

Friday -

• Lunch – Banana Bread and sun butter sandwiches, veggie sticks and fruit
• Dinner –  Chicken Thai Pizza and a salad

Saturday – Lunch – Leftovers

Dinner - Wild Rice Turkey Soup and Gluten Free French Bread

Sunday – Lunch – Leftovers

Dinner –  Cranberry Chicken, buckwheat pilaf and garlic green beans

For more great Menu Plan Monday menu planning ideas visit orgjunkie.com!

One full week into the new year – can you believe it?! Back into the full swing of things in our house! Big kids are back at school, and daycare kids are returning to their normal schedules……ahhhh….can you hear this mom’s huge sigh of relief?  I am gearing up for a OAMM cooking day, so trying to clear out my deep freezer and my fridge freezer of things that need to be eaten! One of my personal goals for 2012 is to have menu planning become a weekly habit, not just something that I do every so often.  I find myself planning, do great for a few weeks and then fall back into the chaos.  When I do menu plan, it not only saves us money, but also saves me the frustration of figuring out what ‘s for our next meal.

Menu Plan Monday

Monday -

• Toddler Lunch – Turkey sandwich with wheat bread & cheese, apple wedges
• Dinner - Chicken Supreme

Tuesday -

• Toddler Lunch – Individual Mac & Cheese Cups , carrots with ranch
• Dinner – Noodle Heaven, steamed broccoli

Wednesday -

• Toddler Lunch – Scrambled eggs, pancakes, orange slices
• Dinner -Grilled chicken salads (red leaf lettuce, baby spinach, red onion, cucumber, tomatoes, mushrooms, grilled chicken pieces)

Thursday -

• Toddler Lunch – Corn Dog Muffins, peaches, green beans
• Dinner – Hamburgers on the grill, (bun, lettuce, cheese and red onion for toppings), Cornbread Corn Casserole 

Friday -

• Toddler Lunch – Chicken & cheese quesadillas with sour cream & salsa for dipping, corn, fruit cocktail
• Dinner – Pizza Night!!  Homemade pizza crust, Toppings: ground beef, ground sausage, red onions, mozzarella cheese, cheddar cheese

Saturday – Lunch – Leftovers!

Dinner – Grilled cheese sandwiches on multigrain bread with american and provolone cheeses, tomato soup

Sunday – Lunch – Quick sandwiches after church – multigrain bread, american or provolone cheese, sliced turkey, mayonnaise, lettuce

Dinner – Turkey, Buttery Garlic Knots,

For more great Menu Plan Monday menu planning ideas visit orgjunkie.com!

I know that it is actually January 2nd, but a new year always puts me in the mood for a fresh start.  While I don’t usually make resolutions, I like to have some goals in mind for the new year.  This year my goals will be budgeting, being more regular with my meal plans, and trying to use more whole foods.  I’m really excited for the Get Real series to help with this.  This week’s menu plan is the first of hopefully many for the year 2012.

Now that the holidays are over, I’ll be doing a bit more cooking again and getting the kids back into a regular routine again.  Multiple visits to grandparents, aunts, and uncles meant far too many sweets!  We also need to get back into the daycare and work routines again so a set menu for the week will be a life-saver when 5:00 hits.  For this week’s toddler lunches I’ll be utilizing many of the recipes that I prepared for the new 12-18 month toddler food menu.  For dinner I’m resorting to some old favorites and also doing a little bit of experimentation.  I love to try new recipes!

Cheesy Potato Soup

Menu Plan Monday

Monday -

• Toddler Lunch – Cheesy Potato Soup with Cheese Twists
• Dinner – Bacon Wrapped Chicken with Roasted Potatoes and Carrots

Tuesday -

• Toddler Lunch – Peach Raspberry Muffins and a banana
• Dinner – Pork Tenderloin with White Bean and Barley Risotto, Green Beans

Wednesday -

• Toddler Lunch – Pizza Snack Cups with Green Peas and a Clementine
• Dinner – Spaghetti with Meatballs, Buttery Garlic Knots

Frozen Yogurt Fruit Cups

Thursday-

• Toddler Lunch – Mini Cheese Scones with Strawberry Jam and Frozen Yogurt Fruit Cups
• Dinner – Leftovers

Friday -

• Toddler Lunch – Macaroni and Cheese with Hot Dogs
• Dinner – Pizza made with Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

Saturday – Lunch – White Chicken Chili and Homemade French Bread

Dinner – Fish Stix and Homemade French Fries

Sunday – Lunch – Blueberry Granola Pancakes and Clementines

Dinner – Savory Garlic Marinated Steaks, Mashed Potatoes, Sweet Corn

For more great Menu Plan Monday menu planning ideas visit orgjunkie.com!

College seems so incredibly expensive, and will probably only be getting more expensive in the future. Students aren’t the only ones who feel overwhelmed by applying to college, obtaining financial aid, and all the steps in between: many parents are intimidated by the lengthy and confusing process as well.  More and more parents are realizing that they should start saving for their children’s college educations as early as possible.  What do I know about this?  My son is a high school sophomore and my oldest daughter starts high school next year.  To say we are concerned about upcoming college payments is putting it lightly!

This year, resolve not to be intimidated. Instead, lay out a plan for how you and your child will tackle the process. Make time for research, college visits, applications, financial aid prep as needed, and discussions about the final big decision. Then break it down and take on only one project at a time.

My husband usually takes care of the investments and savings – but I have to admit this one caught my eye.  And, to help boost awareness and help parents and grandparents start tucking away money for college in this tough economy, CollegeAdvantage is offering a $100 CollegeAdvantage scholarship to a reader (child of any age) to get them started on saving. Who-hoo! That is free money for your child’s education and gives you an little help in getting into the habit of starting a college fund no matter what your child’s age.

What is CollegeAdvantage?  CollegeAdvantage is a tax-free and tax-deductible college savings option. It is a top-rated Morningstar 529 plan designed to provide families with an easy and affordable way to save for education expenses. Anyone can contribute to a fund or open one on behalf of a child, making an initial investment as low as $25 with no enrollment or annual maintenance fees.  Putting aside just $25 per month in a CollegeAdvantage account from the time a child is born can grow to nearly $11,000 by the time that child turns 18.   My favorite part is that families can enroll easily online, making an initial investment as low as $25.  The CollegeAdvantage website features a handy college cost calculator to help families determine college savings goals and how to meet them.

Is CollegeAdvantage just for Ohio residents?  That is what I was wondering, but the answer is “No.”  CollegeAdvantage is Ohio’s 529 college savings program featuring tax-free savings, however anyone can open a CollegeAdvantage plan nationwide through the Ohio Tuition Trust Authority. Financial advisors can also help you invest in CollegeAdvantage, and it can be used at any accredited college nationwide.

A CollegeAdvantage 529 college savings account is the perfect gift for that college-bound young person on your shopping list this holiday season.  Enrolling online is the fastest and easiest way to enroll. You can open and fund an online account in about 10 minutes.  Don’t miss out on the $25 bonus offer when you open a new CollegeAdvantage direct account with a minimum $100 initial contribution. Promotion code PLAN will automatically populate the enrollment application when you click through here to begin the enrollment process. Offer ends December 31, 2011. Note: The $25 bonus contribution will be applied on or about March 15, 2012. View $25 Bonus Offer Rules.

Thinking about college and tuition can be scary, and not to mention paying for the books, dorms, and other expenses!  However, CollegeAdvantage is not just for tuition fees. It can also be used for room and board, books and other qualified college expenses.  And don’t worry- if your kid decides not to go to college, you can change beneficiary or withdraw the funds.

One thing we have done over the years to get our kids ready to leave the nest, is to take time to teach our kids about finances now while they are still at home.  This is a good idea, no matter how your old child is. Even if your child is young, you can can start to teach the basics of budgeting and saving, so he or she will be prepared to take on more and more financial responsibility as they get older.  Having a savings plan you can look at together and watch grow for their college education is a great teaching tool for your child while saving for their future education at the same time.

Here is how you enter to win the $100 CollegeAdvantage Scholarship (you do NOT have to live in Ohio or have an older child, any age child is eligible to receive this gift):

a Rafflecopter giveawayDisclosure: CollegeAdvantage compensated us for advertising on this site. All the opinions in this post are mine, want to know more about how I facilitate reviews, view my full disclosure policy!

The good in that is that I have added a tremendous team of individuals, and now friends, to Once A Month Mom making it a fun and exciting place to spend my time. Which brings me to the purpose of this post. We are *sort of* in a growth spurt again. Sort of.

There are various times of the year when I really feel like we need to add to our staff. We also are always on the lookout for great readers/writers who have an interest in joining our team. And occasionally, life happens and we need to replace a writer. So we come to you, because the best Once A Month Mom contributing writers are readers themselves!

If you have ever been interested in working on a blog that you didn’t have to do all the start-up work for, you like creating menus and you like interacting with a team of adults, we would love to learn more about you. We have some immediate needs on the staff as well as some more long-range needs as well. So no matter your interest level, let us know. Here is how this works:

• Email us and we will respond to you with details of writing position(s) as well as an application.
• Read over the details and fill out the application, if still interested.
• Wait for an update from us in early January 2012 as to whether or not we have a need in your interest area or whether we are waiting until later in the year.

It is just that easy! We hope that you will consider joining us and no matter what, look forward to getting to know you in the new year.

It’s another post-holiday week and it’s also gearing toward the start of the new year, when many of us will renew pledges of healthy eating. I for one, am excited to wrap up my 2011 New Year’s Resolution, 365 days of converting family favorites into vegetarian meals over at Veggie Converter, this week. And my New Year’s resolution for 2012 will involve using even more whole foods for our family. We’ve already begun this journey, but of course, we’re not perfect. I plan to follow Kelly’s Get Real series in 2012 to help our family make the transition to even more whole foods. I won’t resolve to be fully whole foods at any particular time, I think putting such strict limits can set you up for failure instead of encouraging you to continue to progress.  But, I will work to become “more whole” throughout the year.

Menu Plan Monday

This week we’re doing a bit of a Mexican theme and using a lot of fresh veggies from our CSA box. We’re also packing on the carbohydrates since we’re getting over a bit of illness and the kids lost a bit of weight.

Monday -

• Toddler Lunch – Festive Garlic Butter Pasta {Vegetarian} and Pumpkin Brownies {Vegan} for dessert
• Dinner – Pumpkin Black Bean Enchiladas {Vegan} made with Easy Homemade Enchilada Sauce {Vegan}

Tuesday -

• Toddler Lunch – Grilled Korean Sweet Potatoes {Vegan}
• Dinner – MexiBurger {Vegan}

Wednesday -

• Toddler Lunch – Chinese Green Beans {Vegan} and Potato Kale Bread {Vegan}
• Dinner – Slow Cooker Indian Potato Kale Soup {Vegan}

Thursday -

• Toddler Lunch – Pumpkin Alfredo Garlic Flatbread {Vegetarian}
• Dinner – Slow Cooker Broccoli Risotto {Vegetarian}

Friday -

• Toddler Lunch – Roasted Corn Salsa Quesadillas {Vegetarian}
• Dinner – Slow Cooker Chili {Vegan}

Saturday -

• Toddler Lunch – Chili Rollatini {Vegetarian}
• Dinner – Maple Glazed Turkey Roast {Vegetarian}

Sunday -

• Toddler Lunch – French Toast Sticks {Vegetarian}
• Dinner – Hoppin’ John Black Eyed Peas {Vegan}

For more great Menu Plan Monday menu planning ideas visit orgjunkie.com!

This week my kiddos only have school for three days.  Honestly, I wish they were home those days because I like to do extra things with my kids to prepare for Christmas.  But, being as I have to wait, I am going to finish wrapping my gifts for the family and bake a couple more treats.  The one cookie I will be making no matter what else gets baked is Russian Tea Cakes.  Do you call them Russian Tea Cakes, Mexican Wedding Cakes or Snowball Cookies?  Whatever you call them, they are my favorite cookie for the platter!

Speaking of favorites, Heather of Celiac Family is the host for the Gluten Free Menu Swap this week. The theme she has chosen is Holiday Favorites.  What are your family’s favorite recipes for the holidays?  You’ll see below that Christmas Eve is when my family celebrates Christmas.  My mom’s family is Swedish, so we always have to have lingonberries, gluten free lefse, potato pudding, rice pudding, and my grandma’s Swedish Rye Bread (now altered to be gluten free).

Menu Plan Monday

Usually we are covered in snow by now.  I live in Minnesota and not having a white Christmas is pretty unusual.  However, there is not a lick snow where I live making it a bit hard to get into the holiday spirit.   I do think baking gingerbread this week helped.  Nothing like the smell of a gingerbread cake to get the house smelling like the holidays!

I am so excited to start Winter Break and have the kids home.  I can’t wait to bake up some yummy things with them!  This week if full of easy meals leading up to our big family Christmas Eve dinner.  I did pick some of my kiddos’ favorite meals to celebrate them having a bit of time off.  I hope you all have a merry holiday!

Monday -

• Lunch –  Pizza Muffins, melon, brocolli
  

  Gluten Free Dairy Free Pizza Muffins

• Dinner – Chicken with Cauliflower & Apples and salad

Tuesday -

• Lunch - Gluten Free bagel sandwiches (sun butter and thinly sliced apples), clementines and spinach salad
• Dinner –  Fish Tacos and Red Cabbage Slaw

Wednesday -

• Lunch – Gluten Free Chicken Sandwich (using this bread), apples, and cauliflower
• Dinner –  Pumpkin and Pork Chili, salad and pumpkin corn bread

Thursday – No school

• Lunch – Pumpkin Waffles and fruit
  

  Gluten Free Dairy Free Pumpkin Waffles

• Dinner – Slow Cooker Black Bean Salsa Chicken, tortilla chips and salad

Friday – No school

• Lunch –  Omlettes, salad, fruit
• Dinner –  Christmas Pizza (gluten free pizza crust topped with spinach, roasted red pepper, and black olives and shaped like a Christmas tree, star and a candy cane – we have a lot of pizza to make!) and a salad.

Saturday, Christmas Eve - Lunch – Tasty nibbles as we wait for the BIG meal!

Dinner –  Our family’s traditional Christmas Eve dinner:  Roast (this year we are having a crown roast that my dad brought home), Potato Pudding, Rice Pudding (I do mine with Chai-style spices and a mix of almond and coconut milk), Gluten Free Lefse, Gluten Free Swedish Rye Bread, Cranberry Salad, Lingonberries, Green Beans (dressed up with fennel, orange and toasted almonds) and a big salad (to help counteract the Swedish carb-fest).  We have dairy free eggnog or sparkling juice and cookies for dessert while we open presents to each other.

Sunday, Christmas Day – Brunch – Overnight French Toast Bake with a Praline Topping, Homemade Turkey Sausage, clementines, leftover lingonberries and cranberry salad

Dinner – Leftovers

For more great Menu Plan Monday menu planning ideas visit orgjunkie.com!

Smart Sweets is another wonderful ebook from Kitchen Stewardship! If you’re looking to make a few holiday treats this season with a healthier and more whole twist, this is the book for you. There is a lot of content and plenty of recipes sure to please everyone in your house. There are helpful hints at the end of each recipe on how to cut corners if needed, easy indicators on what is refined sugar free, gluten free, grain free, nut free, dairy free and much more!

Another favorite part of mine are her indicators for time, real food rating and cost. This can help you decide which recipes are more complicated, what are healthier than the store bought versions, and how much money you’ll spend. Along with the great educational content there are a few pages of pictures to wet your palate as you peruse the pages.

One of the recipes that caught my eye for our enjoyment this season is the Whole Wheat Fruit Pizza. I am excited to try it out and see if I can even make it freezer friendly for us to enjoy for lunch dessert or snack!

Whole Wheat Fruit Pizza

Author/Source: Kitchen Stewardship Smart Sweets eBook

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1/4 cup sugar or sucanat
• 2 cups white whole wheat flour
• 3/4 cup yogurt cheese or cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar or 4 Tablespoons real maple syrup or honey
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Variety of cut fruit (bananas, kiwi, strawberries, peaches, berries, whatever you like!)

Directions:

For the crust: Cream butter and sugar. Mix in the flour. Typically one stops mixing when the dough is uniform, but beat 30-60 seconds beyond that and it will get less crumbly and more creamy. You may need to finish by hand. Butter a small cookie sheet, 9×13” glass dish or my favorite, a baking stone. Aim for a thickness of about 1⁄4′′ and be careful to make the crust very even – thinner parts will burn. Press with fingers and palms, or if using a stone, you can roll it flat with a rolling pin (plus slices are easier to remove). Bake in a preheated 350°F oven for 15-20 minutes. Watch the edges; they can brown quickly. As soon as you see brown on the edges, it’s done! Cool on a rack. I do not recommend moving the pieces of crust before frosting, and definitely not before completely cooled.

For the frosting: Use an electric mixer or beaters to whip the yogurt or cream cheese into a frosting consistency. Add a bit of sweetener, taste, and repeat until sufficiently seasoned to taste or you’ve eaten it all.

Spread the frosting on the crust once it’s completely cooled, and arrange fresh fruit on top. Cut into 2×2” squares to serve.

Thanks to Kitchen Stewardship we are giving away TWO FREE COPIES of the Smart Sweets ebook! This ebook would be a wonderful addition to your collection and a great way to start your journey with us for our Get Real Series coming in January!

We would like to thank Kitchen Stewardship for putting together an amazing ebook and would encourage you to stop by and order yours! If you do happen to be a winner we will reimburse you your cost, so go ahead and buy today!

(And if you want to buy it but are afraid you may win it, no worries, if you purchase it and win the contest we will reimburse you the cost of the ebook or let you gift it to someone. Your choice! So no worries, don’t hesitate to buy it NOW!)

Here is how you enter to win:


a Rafflecopter giveaway

This giveaway ends December 19th at MIDNIGHT (EST).

Disclosure: Kitchen Stewardship provided me with Smart Sweets ebook to review and to give to readers. All the opinions in this post are mine, want to know more about how we facilitate reviews, view our full disclosure policy!

What do you do when some of your closest friends aren’t within driving distance of your home? Does it mean that you can’t have a girls night out? Does it mean no holiday celebrating? It shouldn’t!

In this day and age we have so many technologies at our fingertips that carrying on a Girls Night In is completely feasible. As we approached this holiday season I knew that I wanted to have a Girls Night In with the seven ladies I spend the most time with online each and every day, Once A Month Mom contributing writers. The real question was how and what?

After much deliberation I settled on a theme, the date and the party needs. All of which YOU can easily pull off with your friends as well! And I highly encourage you to do so, especially if some of your dearest friends are worlds away.

Here is what we did:

• We set a date – I checked with everyone to see when the most people would be available and accessible online.
• The setting – we are used Skype as I have an account where we can video conference all at the same time. Skype has a pay as you go plan as well so you could do this with your friends. You could also use free services like Google Groups that allows you to do this at no cost. Everyone needed a webcam but that wasn’t a problem, as all my participants do.
• The food – I had been racking my brain to think of something fun we could do together and still eat, because every good party includes food, right? I was surprising my party goers with the food so I couldn’t tell them ahead of time. So I had some Once A Month Mom mugs made, researched a cake in a mug recipe, and set about acquiring the ingredients to pack in a box (details coming VERY SOON).
• If your participants know they are participating then you could decide on food you want to have at the party and purchase the ingredients prior to the party. There are so many ideas with this. You could even all think of a recipe and send the ingredients to the other members for making that food. It would be so much fun!
• The party – we made our  cakes in a mug and had a decorating contest, we played games virtually just as we would have had we been in person. We played Christmas music, wore tacky sweaters, hats and more. And generally, had a great time!

So just because you don’t live in the same city as your besties doesn’t mean that you can’t have a good time! Sometimes the best nights are the nights spend IN having as much fun as you would have OUT!

Remember to check out Duncan Hines’ website www.duncanhines.com to find some great recipes for your holiday get-together! I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective.

Disclosure: I received compensation to write this post. All the opinions in this post are mine, want to know more about how I facilitate reviews, view my full disclosure policy!

Get Real is a year long series dedicated to helping you make the transition to become a whole, real food and non processed household (if you so choose). This choice is not made overnight nor is it made without dedication and effort. We are committed to helping you every step along the way, and we’re even going to do the challenge with you!

So many people I know have shared a desire to transition their families to more healthy food choices but are often overwhelmed by the research, decisions, process and time needed for that transition. They often start only to quit soon thereafter out of frustration. Does that sound like you?

Get Real will take a month by month approach to helping you transition your eating habits gradually hopefully resulting in greater success. Each month we will focus on a different aspect of the transition. From cleaning out your pantry, reading and interpreting labels, organic versus conventional, meats, fruit and vegetables, grains and much more.

Here is an outline of the topics we will be covering:

• January – Pantry/Freezer Cleaning
• February – Grains – Breads
• March – Grains – Pasta
• April – Vegetables/Fruits – Gardening
• May – Beef/Pork
• June – Dairy
• July – Fats – Coupons/Shopping
• August – Vegetables/Fruits – Canning/Freezing
• September – Meat – Poultry
• October – Household Items & Life Transitions
• November – Grains – Rice/Beans
• December – Wrap Up

It takes a village. This is most often mentioned in reference to raising children but I would argue that it is essential to any new lifestyle change. We want to provide you with that village and help you create it. We hope that going through this journey with fellow readers will bolster your confidence.

We also have lined up some fabulously knowledgeable and encouraging bloggers to assist us on this journey. Along the way they will be providing us with topical information and helping you get your questions answered. I am so excited that the following have committed to helping us in this journey. Feel free to go check out their blogs and welcome them!

• Lisa of 100 Days of Real Food
• Rachel of Hounds in the Kitchen
• Vanessa of Chefdruck Musings
• Kristen of Dine and Dish
• Katie of Kitchen Stewardship
• Stephanie of Keeper of the Home
• Gudrun of Kitchen Gadget Girl
• Jo-Lynne of Musings of a Housewife
• Wardeh of GNOWFGLINS
• Donielle of Naturally Knocked Up

Once A Month Mom is not going all whole foods; however, it is our desire to continue to provide tools to educate families in the kitchen. We hope this series will be one of the tools that your family might use in 2012.

So mark you calendars for January when this series kicks off. And don’t forget to add this to your New Year’s Resolutions as well! We will have details about our journey starting the first of the year as well as our acquired sponsors.

Join the Facebook Fan Page – Get Real 2012

Let’s take a journey together, and GET REAL!

I am NOT a baker. My sister inherited that gene. I try my best but I simply have a difficult time. And this brilliant new cookie recipe was attempted twice before I threw in the towel and went for Pam’s Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe to which I knew I had all the ingredients on hand.

But let’s not fault the mixer for my lack of baking skills. And let’s not be fooled, not even an amazing mixer can save someone with an affinity for making cookies into pancakes. No matter how much it costs! But the mixer IS amazing.

This is a new model put out by KitchenAid. I believe it to be the perfect size for once a month cooking. In addition to making cookies I have made a double batch of pizza dough with this mixer with ease. And have you seen that pizza dough recipe? Over 12 cups of flour for a double batch? That has to be a powerful mixer! And the color, Cinnamon Gloss? It is absolutely, positively gorgeous. Put a big bow on it and it is ready to be under the tree.

My husband also decided to take this moment to do a photo session of the kids cooking with me. They had a blast. And as you can see, Tessa was our quality control staff member. Clearly the chocolate in use passed the test. Now I just need to teach her fractions so that she can help me not over measure ingredients.

We are not only five weeks away from having a second baby, but we’re also in process of finishing our basement! Each night my husband gets home from work and goes immediately downstairs and starts working again. We’re making good progress, but it sure does impede on my dinner plans since I’m corralling the toddler and trying to get food on the table. Yet again we’re relying on freezer meals to get us through!

Menu Plan Monday

Monday -

• Toddler Lunch – School
• Dinner – Slow Cooker Sweet Potato Chili

Tuesday -

• Toddler Lunch – Broccoli Chicken Roll ups
• Dinner – Burgers

Wednesday -

• Toddler Lunch – School
• Dinner – Baked Ziti

Thursday -

• Toddler Lunch – Apple Chicken Nuggets
• Dinner - Champagne Risotto (recipe to come soon!)

Friday -

• Toddler Lunch – School
• Dinner – Pizza Night

Saturday – Lunch – Sandwiches for the work party

Dinner – Elk fajitas

Sunday – Lunch – Friend’s Party

Dinner – Seaton Sunday Roast Chicken

For more great Menu Plan Monday menu planning ideas visit orgjunkie.com!

Don’t forget that we are throwing you a Virtual Christmas Party this coming Sunday evening December 11th at 9pm Eastern Standard Time! We will be LIVE broadcasting some holiday cheer as we talk about preparing for the holidays, great recipes and freezer cooking. Oh, and I mentioned that we were giving away presents too, didn’t I? Well we ARE so don’t miss out! Here is what you need to know and what you should “bring” to the party.

What to “Bring”:

• A link(s) to your favorite holiday recipes: cookies, drinks, appetizers, side dishes, main dishes, and desserts.
• Yourself dressed in your favorite holiday attire: hats, scarves, sweaters, earrings, whatever you would like.
• A beverage of choice: cocoa, apple cider, egg nog, coffee, or ?

What to DO before then. . .

• RSVP on the Facebook Page (not sure if you are coming yet, hit “maybe”).
• Enter the Show Us Your Cookies contest with ANY picture with cookies in it.
• On the night of the party, follow these directions for joining us!
• Go to the Once A Month Mom Facebook Fan Page.
• Click on the “FB Fan Night” Tab on the left.
• Hit “view live recording” – If I am live streaming it will show you what is happening in progress. If I am not live streaming at the time, you will have the option to click through other videos that I have recorded in the past.
• Enjoy!

What we are giving away. . .

• $100 Cheryl’s Cookie Gift Basket
• 3 copies of Smart Sweets from Kitchen Stewardship
• Once A Month Mom ebooks
• and more. . .

See you then!

My husband and I do enjoy wine, and we have our favorite bottles and corks, that as a slight hoarder, I save.  Some have sentimental meaning – places we visited or special occasions we celebrated, while others were just your run of the mill, everyday chardonnay corks.

Now, I had great intentions of doing something meaningful and grand with all these corks, but the follow through just wasn’t happening.  I had pinned a lot of ideas on my Pinterest boards even. So I finally decided to break down and buy a hot glue gun… (AH HA Moment…).

This is what I ended up with..and I am a little proud of myself too!

Wine Cork Board

Wine Cork Board

Supplies Needed:

• Assortment of wine corks – apx 50.  The real “cork” material works best of this project
• A frame – any size.  I had one that the back stand was broken off that I used. You can always find great deals at thrift stores or garage sales and spray paint them any color you want.
• Hot glue & glue gun
• hammer
• picture hanging bracket and small nails

Please tell me that your December is as action packed as mine! Cooking? HA! If it isn’t in the freezer ready to go, it isn’t happening. Between the cookie baking and holiday gatherings with friends and families I not only have little time to cook, we are barely around enough to eat that which I have cooked. This week we are relying heavily on the slow cooker and the freezer for meals but we have a ton of holiday celebrating that is beginning so we will be eating away from home quite a bit too.

Speaking of celebrating, we are celebrating here at Once A Month Mom with a “Show Us Your Cookies” Virtual Christmas Party! Please join us this Sunday, December 11th at 9:00 pm as we have some festive fun and pass around some cookies. It is a great time to get all of your holiday cooking questions answered and to get ideas for meals you can store in your freezer ahead of the family arriving.

**Also note that we are starting our Chillin’ for the Holidays series which includes holiday cookies all week long this week, a Show Us Your Cookies Photo Contest and RSVP for the Once A Month Mom “Show Us Your Cookies” Virtual Christmas Party!

Menu Plan Monday

Monday -

• Toddler Lunch – Toddler Pizza Cups, carrot sticks, applesauce
• Dinner - OAMM’s Favorite Pot Roast

Toddlerific Snack Cups

Tuesday -

• Toddler Lunch – Fish Sticks, California Vegetable Blend, Blueberries
• Dinner – leftovers

Wednesday -

• Toddler Lunch – PB&J, whatever else we can find
• Dinner – Slow Cooker Cheese and Broccoli Soup, Bread Bowls

Thursday -

• Toddler Lunch – Mac & Cheese, broccoli, bananas
• Dinner – Out to dinner at one of our favorite places, Melting Pot!

Friday -

• Toddler Lunch – Chicken Nuggets, cheese crackers, corn
• Dinner – Carry In Dinner and I haven’t decided yet what I am carrying.

Saturday – Lunch – leftovers/sandwiches

Dinner – Cashew Chicken, Rice, Egg Rolls

Sunday – Lunch – House Church – something with a hole – any ideas on what I should take?

Dinner – Pesto Chicken Shells with homemade pizza dough breadsticks

For more great Menu Plan Monday menu planning ideas visit orgjunkie.com!

We will still be bringing you daily content though, don’t worry. Read more about what is in store this month if you have missed those posts.

Also, if you are planning on doing some freezer cooking this month these past menus might come in handy and are still seasonal or relatively seasonal:

• Traditional Menu – December 2010, December 2009
• Diet Menu – January 2010
• Once A Month Mom Holiday eCookbook
• Create Your Own Menu Series

Since I was young I’ve loved scrapbooking and organizing my pictures into albums filled with memories.  I want to document the Christmas traditions that we have as a family so I was excited at the chance to review the photo book by Nero Kwik Media.  Their photo books are perfect to record family traditions, holiday recipes, photos, and family memories.  I began a special recipe book to share with my kids as they get older, featuring our favorite recipes and pictures of us preparing the holiday dishes.  For past Christmases I have created other photo products including books and calendars as gifts for family and friends.  They make great gifts for the grandparents too!

This particular program requires that you download and install it on your computer (PC’s only).  After the download and installation are complete you can create an account with Nero.  I would highly recommend creating an account because this enables you to save your photo book and return to complete it later.  Creating a photo book takes only four simple steps.

Step 1 – Select a Product Nero Kwik Media offers a variety of photo book options ranging in price from $9.99 to $49.99 depending on the type of cover and the size of the book.  You can also add additional pages for an extra charge. In this first step you select the type of cover you want, the size of the book, and the color of the cover.

Step 2 – Select a Theme Next, you select a theme for your book.  This sets some default backgrounds and photo layouts.  There is a pretty good selection of themes, for this project I chose the Christmas theme. The best thing about the themes is they can be completely customized when you get to step 4.  So even if you do not like one of the backgrounds in your selected themes, you can change it later!

Step 3 – Select Your Photos The next step is to select your photos.  I had all the photos I wanted to use in one folder, so this was as simple as selecting the folder.  You can also get more specific if you want and browse and select the specific photos that you want to use. A really nice feature was the fact that it told me exactly how many pictures I should have for the default page layouts.

Step 4 – Edit Your Project The final step – editing – is by far where you can spend the most time.  Here is where you can have fun changing backgrounds, adding text, moving photos around, and adding clipart. The flexibility was great, you can move photos where you want them, resize them, add additional photos.  The possibilities for customizing are endless!The bonus is that you do not have to spend hours editing your book.  If you are happy with how it looks, you can move ahead to ordering your book!

Ready to get started? Go to Nero Kwik Media and click FREE Download in the top right corner.

When you are ready to order your photo product, the discount code is:  AW-PHOT-2011

The discount is for 40% off photo products including: calendars, photo books, and greeting cards.  But hurry, the discount code is only valid until December 11, 2011.

Disclosure: I received compensation to conduct this review. All the opinions in this post are mine, want to know more about how I facilitate reviews, view my full disclosure policy!

Now she has come out with an AMAZING ebook dedicated to impressing God’s Word into your Christmas season. Truth in the Tinsel is an advent experience for you to craft with your children each day of the month leading up to Christmas Day. It is an amazing guide with wonderful crafts to do with your children.

It is laid out in such a way that you can simply print the supply list, gather the materials you need and begin teaching your children. The crafts are simple but super cute and the message is one that is too widely missed during the hustle and bustle of the holiday season.

I have my list printed out, my materials gathered and I am anxiously awaiting December 1st to start the crafts with my 3 year old son and 2 year old daughter. We are taking a preschool homeschooling break so this is perfect for that season as well.

Truth in the Tinsel also has a Facebook Fan Page where purchasers are sharing their ideas and their experience along the way. Join in or simply stop by to get ideas for implementing the ebook in your family.

The ebook is reasonably priced at $4.99 but until midnight tonight (11/29/11 midnight) you can get it for 20% off when you use the code: ONCEAMONTHMOM.

Here are some other details about the ebook that you might find beneficial:

• Truth in the Tinsel Website
• Truth in the Tinsel Facebook Fan Page
• Truth in the Tinsel Frequently Asked Questions

How to host your own cookie exchange.

It’s that time of year again, when thoughts of holiday baking dance around in my head!  I love to bake and I love to entertain, so what better way to combine my two loves of the season than with a Cookie Exchange.

Here are a few tips if you are thinking of hosting your own Cookie Exchange this year:

• Come up with a set of guidelines for the cookies – i.e.: all flour based, holiday only, or anything!
• Your invite list……Keep in mind you don’t want to have a HUGE group, because the number of cookies can be daunting for some.  Limit numbers to 8-12 participants.
• Set a date early in the month, before holiday things get too chaotic.  And decide what day of the week might be possibly less busy than others
• Will your evening be open to the whole family or will this be a ladies only night?
• What will you serve? OAMM has some great options for make ahead appetizers.

Date

Invitations

RSVP

Included with the invitation, I attach a small note, giving the participant more in depth information on how and when to RSVP and any recipe guidelines.  Recipe selection RSVP’s are crucial.  This ensures that there are no duplicate recipes – no one wants 5 dozen sugar cookies.

Follow Up Email

Decorations and Food

My favorite part! This is your chance to showcase your holiday home to all your friends.  I even decorate a tree in the kitchen with mini cookie cutters.  And of course – what will you serve?  Some years I have gone all out and served soups, with breads.  This year, I am going to simply serve holiday cookies and candy.

Be sure to check out all the great recipes we will be debuting this week for your holiday baking, as you make your cookies remember to enter the Show Us Your Cookies Photo Contest and join us for the Once a Month Mom Virtual “Show Us Your Cookies” Christmas Party! If you are looking for some great cookie ideas beyond what we have in store for you this week, you can also visit our Cookies Pinterest Board.

**My great friend Mary has a great ebook for party planning, How to Plan a Party {Without losing your mind} as well. So much great information about throwing a themed party, from cookie exchanges to birthday parties.

Vegan Stuffed Acorn Squash

We had a great Thanksgiving at our house, but of course the next week is going to be filled with creative uses for leftovers. In our part vegetarian and part omnivore family, we had both a turkey and a mock turkey, Vegetarian Maple Glazed Turkey Roast. We also enjoyed Vegan Stuffed Acorn Squash for a main vegan dish. A couple of our Thanksgiving treats were Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins and Cranberry-Orange Scones.

Among our sides were:

• Fresh Green Bean Casserole {Vegan}
• Butternut Squash Quinoa Stuffing {Vegan}
• Slow Cooker Cranberry Sauce {Vegan}
• Mashed Potatoes with Cream Cheese {Vegetarian}

**Cyber Monday sale on the Toddler Meals eCookbook, Survive Before 5. Also note that we are starting our Chillin’ for the Holidays series which includes holiday cookies all week long this week, a Show Us Your Cookies Photo Contest and RSVP for the Once A Month Mom “Show Us Your Cookies” Virtual Christmas Party!

Menu Plan Monday

This week it’s all about using up those yummy leftovers without getting sick of them. So, we’re trying to create a few fresh ways to reuse our mock turkey (and real turkey), cranberries and even a few leftover sweet potatoes.

Monday -

• Toddler Lunch – Kid-Friendly Vegan Mac and Cheese made with Homemade Cheese Sauce Powder {Vegan}
• Dinner – Thanksgiving Salad {Vegetarian}

Tuesday -

• Toddler Lunch – Beef Broccoli Pizza Quesadillas {Vegetarian}
• Dinner – Squash and Sweet Potato Lasagna {Vegetarian}

Wednesday -

• Toddler Lunch – Vegetable Beef Soup {Vegan}
• Dinner – Vegetarian Turkey Perfect Sandwich Recipe

Thursday -

• Toddler Lunch – Chickpea Broccoli Roll-Ups {Vegetarian}
• Dinner – Pesto Pomodoro Sauce {Vegan}

Friday -

• Toddler Lunch – Vegan Taco Bar
• Dinner – Slow Cooker Potato Soup {Vegetarian}

Saturday

• Toddler Lunch - Spaghetti with Meat Sauce {Vegan}
• Dinner -Black Beans and Rice {Vegetarian}

Sunday

• Toddler Lunch – Papaya Spice Muffins {Vegetarian}
• Dinner -P.F. Chang’s Lettuce Wraps {Vegan}

For more great Menu Plan Monday menu planning ideas visit orgjunkie.com!