Menu Plan Monday

Happy Halloween!!! They should really have Halloween two weeks earlier in October.. then it wouldn't be so cold! Celebrating tonight with having family & friends over! Rest of the week is pretty low key for us. Have a fun and safe Halloween!

Monday: Baked Ziti & Meatballs
Tuesday: Tacos
Wednesday: Mac & Cheese with Ham Steak
Thursday: Chicken Fried Rice
Friday: Takeout :)

Pumpkin Adventure

Last week, I took the boys to pick out pumpkins. We headed up to Storey's to find some and of course Peter wanted a really big one! After a few minutes of looking, he found one!

Jack trying to help :)

Peter pushing the wagon with his pumpkin, we picked up a couple of small pumpkins as well.

Originally our plan today was to plant tulips and to carve our pumpkins out on the back deck but with the snow storm we got last night, we had to make a new plan.  Tonight we carved our pumpkins in the kitchen once Jack went to bed.

I decided to carve out the little ones while Pete and Peter worked on the big one, it was harder then I thought! I orginally was going to carve the boys names on the pumpkins but that was going to take me awhile!

I carved a W in one of the pumpkins

Our big pumpkin!

Hey, it's Allie J!

Yesterday Allie Joellen Lesperance entered the world in record time! I was talking to my sister, Nicole, at about 9:30 yesterday morning and she wasn't having any contractions. An hour later my Mom was on her way up and Nicole was having contractions. Around 11:30 she decided she should go to the hospital. Her and Nate arrived at Franklin Memorial Hospital about 10 minutes past noon and at 1:24 pm, October 28th, Allie joined the world... and our family :)

Thanks to Jan, Mon, Mame, I was able to leave the boys down here and make a quick trip up!

With big sister Gwen :)

Allie's stats!

Nicole, Allie Joellen and her namesakes... Jo and Ellen

Look at all that hair!

Auntie & Allie J (my nickname for her) :)

Chicken Stir Fry

I made this last week and we really liked it! I got the recipes from allrecipes.com, a site I use often.  I decided to use a bag of frozen stir fry veggies, because I knew it would be faster. It was super easy to make, the perfect weeknight dinner!

Ingredients
4 (4 ounce) boneless skinless chicken breast halves
3 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
3 tablespoons cooking oil, divided
1 package stir fry veggies
1 cup water
1 teaspoon chicken bouillon granules

Directions
1.Cut chicken into 1/2-in. strips; place in a resealable plastic bag. Add cornstarch and toss to coat. Combine soy sauce, ginger and garlic powder; add to bag and shake well. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

2.In a large skillet or wok, heat 2 tablespoons of oil; stir-fry chicken until no longer pink, about 3-5 minutes. Remove and keep warm. Add remaining oil; stir- fry in bag of vegetables 4-5 minutes or until crisp-tender. Add water and bouillon. Return chicken to pan. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly.

Here are a few of my favorite blogs...

As, I've said before, I love when I get a comment here, on facebook or when I run into someone and they tell me that they check my blog every week because of my menu planning! It makes me feel good :) I thought I would share some of my favorite blogs where I get many recipes from. My husband thinks I'm ridloucus, even though he benefits from the new recipes, but I follow close to 100 blogs in  my Google Reader! Here are a few of my favorite....

Maeghan, has two blogs that I follow, this is her food blog!
The Way To His Heart

A Mom who had some great recipes!
Picky Palate

One of my favorite food blogs!
Stephanie Cooks

You know me, I love Italian cooking!
My Italian Grandmother

She has some great baking recipes!
The Mess Pot

Joelen run's the Chicago meetup and is an amazing recipe index!
Joelen's Culinary Adventures

Bethany's blog is a family blog mostly, but when she post recipes, they're great!
Siemen Family Blog

I have many others, so if any one is interested in more of the blogs I follow, just let me know :)

Menu Plan Monday

I am using recipes from two of my favorite bloggers. Meaghan always has such good recipes on her food blog... we've used her recipes before and Bethany made this recipe look so yummy on her blog . We are trying three new recipes this week to go along with our tried and true Beef Parm. I've been trying to use new recipes the last couple weeks, and it's paying off!! We have enjoyed all that we have tried and will add them all to the roatation! Enjoy your week :)
Monday: Carmelized Onion & Garlic Pasta
Tuesday: Chicken Pomodoro
Wednesday: Beef Parmesan
Thursday: Wine Braised Chicken
Friday: Takeout :)

Already Behind the Wheel!

Both boys driving around the grocery store :)

I curse the person who invented these carts usually! They are awful at turning, you can't fit many groceries in them and Peter ALWAYS wants one when we go to the store. Today, Jack is old enough to sit with him! They had a great time, and Jack also got his first cookie from the bakery today :)

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Cumberland Fair

This post is LONG overdue! We went to the Cumberland Fair last month but with getting the new laptop, I didn't want to transfer all the photos from the memory card to new computer and was lazy about putting them on snapfish, then saving them to upload to the blog! Finally did it!!!

 We love the fair!!! Pete and I have gone at least once every week when it's here since we have dated! This year the boys went three times, with Pete and I each going twice with them! The first night, we all went together and had a great time! Yummy fair food, animals, rides, tractors, big pumpkins... what's not to love!!

Peter was SO HAPPY to be on a tractor!!

He decided to "drive" one that he could give Jack a ride with!

I think Jack liked the tractor just as much a Peter :)

After the tractors, we headed over the the Old MacDonald Petting Zoo. They had chickens, goats, ducks, and sheep. Both the boys like seeing the animals up close like that!

Peter had seen this game when we went to the Farmington Fair and really wanted to play it, so we let him, with a little help from Mom... he won a green ball :)

To end the night, Daddy & Peter took a ride down the big slide!

LOVE the fair all lit up at night!!!!

The next day, I took the daycare to the fair! All the kids, Danielle & I had a great time! I'll be taking them again next year! Pete took the boys again on Friday night with his parents, when I went to my alumni weekend. Already looking forward to next year!

Corn Maze

On Sunday, I went to the Corn Maze at Sandy River Farm located in Farmington with my mother in law, sister in law and nephew. It was about 5 minutes from my sisters house so we stopped over for a quick visit before we met up with Jenny, Cameron & Pam.

View of the corn maze

Trying to get all the boys to take a photo in the corn box with Grammie was almost impossible!

We entered into the mini corn maze, we had fun!

 I had to break the news to Jenny that she couldn't eat the corn, hahaha

Peter having fun :)

Finding our way out... for a mini maze, it was pretty tricky!

After we found our way out of the maze, we hopped onto the tractor that took us out to the pumpkin patch.

All the employees wore orange vests that said corn cop, haha

Cameron enjoying himself on the tractor ride!

The boys and I out in the pumpkn patch, Peter found a great little pumpkin!

We then all got aboard the cow train! It was my favorite part of the day!

Trying to get a photo of Jack and I as we drive along

enjoying the ride through the corn field... we all had a great time, and plan to go back next year ;)

Menu Plan Monday

We got more from the farm share!! The guys that have big gardens at Pete's work gave him stuff all summer. I joked that we were part of a free farm share. One of the guys grew over 600 pounds of potatoes, so he gave Pete a bunch on Friday!! I'll be using some this week! We had another fablous fall weekend, not much cooking at all! We really like both of the new recipes we tried last week and they will be back on the menu this winter! Have a great week! 

Monday: Mom over for dinner for her bday, still not sure what I'm making :)
Tuesday: Wing Night.. haven't been in a few weeks
Wednesday: Shepard's Pie
Thursday: Chicken Stir Fry
Friday:  Takeout :)