Tag Archives: sunday meal prep

Let’s Talk – Some Changes & a Meal Plan

Posted on November 16 by Jillian416 • 9 Comments

Life is full of changes, and I don’t always cope so well with them – but if I want to become a successful solopreneur certain things need to evolve.

I have always enjoyed blogging, I’ve had 3 or 4 different blogs in my lifetime, and I’ve enjoyed writing for each one, but I always seemed to run out of post ideas. I never looked at the full picture, or the different angles that a topic can come from. Even with Baby Doodah! I haven’t fully grasped how many readers I could reach if I just buckle down and really look at this like a business. Yes, it is a hobby and I enjoy every single minute that I get to be at the keyboard, writing (90% of the time), but I do want to gain audience members, too.

Lately, I’ve been doing a lot of reading, learning and personal development. I’ve been reading blog upon blog about how important it is to have a business plan for your blog. That is literally something I NEVER considered for my blog, in fact – even right now – I have NO Idea how to go about doing that. I have an idea, but I am one of those people who needs specific instructions before I can move forward.

I’ve managed to find a couple of fantastic resources (here are a few for your viewing pleasure, How to Build a Blog Business Plan and How to Create a Successful Business Plan for Your Blog) that will help guide me in the right direction, and I can’t wait to get started. It’s essentially grown-up homework for something that I really enjoy doing, that can only lead to success. Right!?

Things around the blog won’t be TOO different from the outside. I’m thinking I will change the days that I regularly post, right now I aim for Sun-M-W-F, and then my weekend link-up post. I am thinking it will be a good idea to switch to Sun-Tues-Thurs and my weekend link-up. I will be posting less, but my content will be more in-depth, I won’t feel rushed to pump out a blog post so that I can meet my own expectations and those of my readers. I’ll be able to spend time gathering information, thinking through and actually writing multiple drafts of posts. It all sounds really exciting to me! I can be such a nerd. HA HA

Anyway, I wanted to come clean to you, my loyal and valued readers. I love keeping you up to date on everything I have planned, because it is you that I write for. I really hope you stick around!!

Kind of random to put these two together, but that’s how I roll…

My Meal Plan

Breakfast: 2 scrambled eggs & bacon

Lunch: salad with ham and sliced chicken, sunflower seeds, bleu cheese, purple cabbage and honey mustard & baby carrots

Saturday: (we’ve started meal planning and shopping on Saturday evenings) Spaghetti Squash Fettuccine Alfredo

Sunday: Pork Fried Rice (we’ll be having cauliflower rice)

Monday: Rotisserie Chicken & Baked Potatoes

Tuesday: Homemade Steak Sandwiches

Wednesday: Greek Meatballs & Spinach

Thursday: Scrounge Night

Friday: Homemade Pizza

There you have it!! My confession on changes coming and my yummy weekly menu. We do have a lot of repeats this week, but why mess with what’s broken, right!?

I’m linking up with Laura from Mommy, Run Fast! and Jill from jillconyers.com. And, also linking up with the Motivate Me link-up hosted by Janice from Fitness Cheerleader and Rachel from RunningRachel.com.

Your turn!

How do changes of any kind make you feel?

If you are making a meal plan this week, what’s on it?

Looking for a quick, easy and FREE way to get your news? Check-out theSkimm and sign-up for your daily email box delivery of the world’s news, plus if you share your birthday, you get it listed at the bottom of the newsletter on your day. It’s like celebrating with thousands of people!!!!

Filed Under: Family, Food & Recipes, Uncategorized

Let’s Meal Plan

Posted on November 10 by Jillian416 • 2 Comments

Happy Monday! I truly mean that, too. 🙂 I am off both today and tomorrow and couldn’t be more excited!! However, despite being off, we are still making our meal plan, it’s our easiest way to save money and not go off the rails when we’re grocery shopping.

How was your weekend?

Ours was pretty good! Saturday we spent a good deal inside, going between watching movies and cuddling to play with cars and trains – oh and of course being loud!! haha Yeah, Emmett’s new thing is to shout everything, even when he’s singing. It’s a good thing he’s cute! In the morning, I did get to go for a Pedicure with a friend and then out for brunch. Boy did my feet need some TLC.

Sunday, was equally as easy going. Since we have today and tomorrow off, we decided to hold off on grocery shopping until today. So, instead of needing to rush out the door to the store, we all enjoyed breakfast together and then Emmett and I headed out to do some shopping. I had intended on going to a few different stores, but Emmett had a different idea, we only made it to JoAnn’s and Trader Joe’s – better than nothing, I suppose.

After nap time, Seamus went to the gym and Emmett and I played outside. Our weather was decent, chilly but dry, so we pulled out his Little Tikes Cozy Coup (affiliate link) and rode it around the neighborhood. He was in heaven! Of course, after our walk we had to take it in the backyard, where Emmett tipped the car no less than 3 cars. haha He was so muddy, but he was having a blast, so WHO CARES!?

The rest of the evening went by in a blur, we had dinner, finished watching a movie we started on Saturday, gave Emmett his bath and then it was to bed. What an awesome whirlwind of a weekend!

Now for our Meal Plan

Sunday: Balsamic Pork & Baked Potatoes

Monday: Homemade Pork Fried Rice

Tuesday: Steak & Chick Peas & Tomato Salad

Wednesday: Rotisserie Chicken & Asparagus

Thursday: Fettuccine Alfredo Spaghetti Squash

Friday: Homemade Pizza

Saturday: Greek Meatballs

That’s a seriously yummy week, right there!!

If you share a meal plan on your blog, you should join me at either Mommy, Run Fast or jillconyers.com! Link that post up and make some new friends.

Your turn!

How was your weekend? Do anything fun!?

What’s on your menu for the week?

Looking for a quick, easy and FREE way to get your news? Check-out theSkimm and sign-up for your daily email box delivery of the world’s news, plus if you share your birthday, you get it listed at the bottom of the newsletter on your day. It’s like celebrating with thousands of people!!!!

Filed Under: Family, Food & Recipes

Flint Lockwood and a Meal Plan

Posted on November 2 by Jillian416 • 1 Comment

Making our meal plan was pretty easy this week, but before I get to that, I want to share Emmett’s costume – he was Flint Lockwood from the Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs movies.

A few weeks ago, Seamus was at Kohl’s shopping and came across a t-shirt that had the tuxedo print on it. He obviously bought it, because what’s cuter than a 2 year old wearing a tuxedo shirt. HEHE At this point we still were unsure what Emmett would be for Halloween, he had mentioned being Daniel Tiger from Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, but it has a head piece and Emmett isn’t fond of putting things on his head. So, we kept thinking…

One Saturday morning when Emmett decided to sleep in, Seamus and I were just laying in bed brainstorming ideas and he had the brilliant idea for Emmett to be Flint Lockwood. With his tuxedo shirt, and a pair of jeans, all we would need is a lab coat! Did you know you can get them in child-size lab coat and at an affordable cost?? This is the lab coat (affiliate link) we purchased for Emmett and it fit him perfectly.

This worked out perfectly, because to Emmett it felt as though he was just wearing regular clothes not a costume so there was no fighting to get dressed. Plus, he loved that his labcoat had pockets and he could hide his many necessities (ie: his hot wheels, binkie, Percy from Thomas and Friends). It was really the cutest thing!!

We made it about 6 houses down the street before we decided to call it a night. I wasn’t expecting to get far, it was chilly and drizzling, but I thought we’d at least make it down the street, oh well. At the first house, while we were waiting for Emmett to grab his candy, the family dog ran out to sniff Emmett. Very sweet dog, Emmett was not in danger, but because Emmett doesn’t have a lot of experiences with dogs, he was freaked out. So, every house going forward we had to coax him to come up, that they didn’t have a dog, that it would be okay – it got to the point where he was just crying. Poor guy! I kept asking if he wanted to go home and he’d tell me no, I asked again and he said yes. So home we went. I’m glad we got out and got to experience everything – next year will be even MORE fun. 🙂

Now our Meal Plan

Breakfast: 2 Scrambled Eggs & bacon

Lunch: Salad with ham and chicken, blue cheese crumbles, sunflower seeds and honey mustard dressing

Sunday: Pot Roast

Monday: Breakfast for Dinner

Tuesday: Tacos and Guacamole

Wednesday: Homemade Steak Subs

Thursday: Scrounge day

Friday: Rotisserie Chicken & Baked Potatoes

Saturday: Balsamic Pork & Asparagus (Seamus found this recipe, I need to get it from him so I can share it)

It’s a pretty easy week, but one that will be super yummy!! Have you seen my post with tips to make your meal planning easier? You should check it out, these are my TRIED and true tips – they really work.

Join me and link-up with Laura from Mommy, run fast! and Jill from jillconyers.com.

Your turn!

What were you or your children for Halloween? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below!

Looking for a quick, easy and FREE way to get your news? Check-out theSkimm and sign-up for your daily email box delivery of the world’s news, plus if you share your birthday, you get it listed at the bottom of the newsletter on your day. It’s like celebrating with thousands of people!!!!

Filed Under: Family, Food & Recipes

Sunday Meal Plan – Week of 10/27/14

Posted on October 26 by Jillian416 • 2 Comments

Happy Sunday! I’m so happy to have you here!

Before I get into the meal plan, I wanted to just talk about what a sweet little boy Emmett has been. Why? Because I love him and because I’m a proud momma. He’s been so full of pleases and thank yous and it just warms my heart each and everyday.

This morning, Seamus said he woke up and was telling him thank you for everything, getting him out of the crib, changing his diaper, giving hugs, etc. The best part for me is that he is using please and thank you appropriately. He doesn’t seem to have any confusion on when to use please, thank you and you’re welcome. I love it! I realize it might seem pretty silly to some, but when you have a child, you are just so proud of everything they do. 🙂

Love him!

So how was your weekend?

Ours was pretty awesome! Saturday I got up early and headed to Starbucks to get some of my work done. I have a desk at home, but as soon as Emmett starts waking up, I lose my concentration. I had a lot to do and wanted to be productive, so I showered and headed out. I’m glad I did, too! I got so much accomplished!

When I got home, Emmett and I spent some time playing with Play-Doh (Emmett is partial to the Play-Doh fun factory – affliate link). With the this set, there is a mother, father, and boy cut out. He had me help him make one for each of us. Then he took the mother and father and had each of them say I love you to the other and then give each other kisses. It was the sweetest thing! I’m so glad that we’re showing him what a loving and happy relationship is all about.

We also headed down to visit my parents which was really nice. It’s always so laid back there! Emmett plays and we chat, he loves playing with all the different toys that grandma has!

Today will be filled with laundry, grocery shopping, food prep and tidying up. Nothing exciting, but all things that need to be done.

And now, onto our meal plan

Breakfast: 2 scrambled eggs, feta & 2 slices of bacon

Lunch for the week: Chicken Soup, Rice Crackers & mini sweet peppers

_______________________________________________________________

Sunday: Chili & Corn Bread

Monday: Spaghetti Squash – Fettuccine Alfredo

Tuesday: Rotisserie Chicken & Asparagus

Wednesday: Pork Tacos

Thursday: Steak, Chick Pea and Tomato Salad

Friday: Homemade Pizza

Saturday: Scrounge Night

Lunch for the week: Chicken Soup, Rice Crackers & mini sweet peppers

Breakfast: 2 scrambled eggs, feta & 2 slices of bacon

I’m linking up with Laura from Mommy, Run Fast! and Jill from jillconyers.com, be sure to stop over and link-up your meal planning posts.

Your turn!

Anything fun, new or interesting on your meal plan this week? I’d love if you shared in the comments below!

Looking for a quick, easy and FREE way to get your news? Check-out theSkimm and sign-up for your daily email box delivery of the world’s news, plus if you share your birthday, you get it listed at the bottom of the newsletter on your day. It’s like celebrating with thousands of people!!!!

Filed Under: Food & Recipes

Sunday Meal Plan – Week #26

Posted on August 17 by Jillian416 • 6 Comments

Happy Sunday, readers!!

Another great weekend is nearly in the books. We have had an astounding weekend. Saturday we went to Dunkirk to celebrate my dad’s birthday. His actual day was this past Wednesday the 13th, but weekends are always easier to celebrate on. We had a mini-BBQ, lots of hot dogs, hamburgers and pasta salad. I didn’t eat the greatest but it was really delicious!

One of the best parts of Saturday was that Emmett got to meet one of his idols, Rolley. 😉 He seriously loves Bob the Builder and was so excited when we took a walk by my mom’s house and they had this cement roller there. I wish I had video’d the whole thing, his excitement was ADORABLE!

And then today has been super productive!! I woke up at 5:30 this morning, thinking I’d get some time to get work done, but Emmett had other ideas. He wanted to wake up at 5:45 and spend some time cuddling on the couch watching Bob the Builder. I can’t say I blame him, I am pretty awesome, but it cut into my work time. haha

Ah well!! In the end it worked out. I pulled my laptop out while he watched TV, I got a few odds and ends done, and then eventually I made him breakfast. After breakfast, we woke Seamus up, mainly so I could get to our hamper and start our laundry. I’ve gotten 4 loads of laundry done, grocery shopping, food prep and some Beachbody stuff all complete and it’s only just 3 pm. Feels good to be so productive!!

Our Weekly Meal Plan

This weeks’ meal plan has some new recipes on it, ones that I am REALLY excited to try!!

Sunday: Chili & corn bread (carry-over from last week)

Monday: Leftovers

Tuesday: White Pizza Stuffed Zucchini Boats

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Wednesday: Chicken Shawarma

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Thursday: Steak, Chick Pea & Tomato Salad

Friday: Marinated Chicken with Sauteed Corn with Bacon and Leeks

Saturday: BBQ Bacon Hot Dogs and Baked Fries

The BBQ Bacon Hot Dog is going to be a Seamus creation. He went to a food truck that sold that type of hot dog, but didn’t get the chance to try it, so now he wants to make it at home. We’re saving it for the weekend, since we like to be less indulgent during the week. I’ll be sure to report back on how delicious (or not) it ends up being. 🙂

Like I said, we’re trying a few new things this week and I am very excited about that! We needed to spice up our Sunday meal plan.

I’m linking up with Laura from Mommy, Run Fast! and Jill from jillconyers.com

Your turn!

How was your weekend?

Have you tried any new recipes recently?

Looking for a quick, easy and FREE way to get your news? Check-out theSkimm and sign-up for your daily email box delivery of the world’s news, plus if you share your birthday, you get it listed at the bottom of the newsletter on your day. It’s like celebrating with thousands of people!!!!

Filed Under: All About Me, Family, Food & Recipes

Happy Father’s Day & Sunday Meal Plan – Week 19

Posted on June 15 by Jillian416 • 4 Comments

Happy Father’s Day!

I’m a lucky woman. I met, fell in love with and married the man of my dreams! He is a hands on father, always willing to take on the dirty work, so that I can have a break. Whenever I need him he’s there, lending a hand or helping us through a difficult situation. Without him, I’d be lost, he’s the person I laugh with, cry with and lay with, thinking about our continued future together.

He knows that I love him, but I hope that he truly understands how deep my feelings for him run. I’m lucky to have him in my life, and Emmett is lucky to have him as a dad, providing an excellent role model of what a strong, focused father is. I look forward to every single day ahead!

Happy Father’s & Grandfather’s Day to my dad!

Even with All the Love, It is Sunday…

…which means it’s meal plan link-up time.

Sunday: Dinner out with my parents and siblings – I think we’re doing BBQ. Yum!

Monday: Tacos with fresh veggies

Tuesday: Homemade steak subs & veggies

Wednesday: Hamburgers & Fries

Thursday: Marinated Chicken & Veggies

Friday: Steak, chick-pea & tomato salad

Saturday: pasta & garlic bread

It’s supposed to be kind of hot this week, so we tried to come up with as many meals as possible that can be cooked on the grill. We live in an upper apartment, so those hot days, mixed with the oven being on, does not equal good things. Yuck!

As usual, I’m linking up with Laura from Mommy, Run Fast! and Jill from jillconyers.com. Everyone has to eat, join us and link-up your weekly menu!

Your turn!

How are you celebrating your Father’s Day?

If you want to start your Monday off on a generous foot and want to support cancer research, donate to my ride. I’m riding for Roswell Park Cancer Institute and their Ride for Roswell. Anything will help me reach my goal, and further advance cancer research. Just click HERE to donate.

Filed Under: Family, Food & Recipes

Sunday Meal Plan – Week 18

Posted on June 8 by Jillian416 • 4 Comments

It’s Sunday at 10 pm, do you know where your children are?

Hopefully soundly sleeping. 🙂 We had an awesome weekend, and once again I am sad to see it end. However, I am channeling my positivity and using my Tips for a Killer Monday to stay happy!

Saturday was Seamus’ birthday so we did whatever he wanted to do! He didn’t have any big requests, just wanted to relax and enjoy time with his family as well get a delicious steak at Outback. He was fortunate to do both. 🙂 As for birthday gifts, he’s difficult to buy for, but I know he’s been wanting to rebuild his computer that hasn’t worked in quite some time, so I just gave him cash. I did do it in a cute way, though.

If you put something in Emmett’s pocket he tries so hard to get it out, but typically will need help. I put the money in E’s pocket so that he could go ask daddy for help. He did and Seamus was really excited! I think I did well, now I just need to impress him with Father’s Day next week. Ha!

Sunday, we grocery shopped, Emmett napped, I blogged and then my sister came up for a visit. We spent the afternoon with her, but unfortunately we couldn’t go outside, the weather didn’t cooperate. We watched a movie and then went out for some frozen yogurt. Emmett was being so silly, he’d fill his spoon up and then dump it all back out and then lick the spoon. Such a goober!

I am loving our weekends this summer! We’re not even officially at summer and I’m enjoying every second.

This is my adorable son, and my gorgeous sister (who still happens to be single), follow here on Instagram.

This Week’s Meals

Sunday: Hot Dogs & Corn on the Cobb

Monday: Steak, Chick pea & Tomato Salad

Tuesday: Marinated Chicken and Zucchini

Wednesday: Pork Chops & Cauliflower

Thursday: Hamburgers & Fries

Friday: GF Pasta & Garlic Bread

Saturday: Cheddar Garlic Oven Fried Chicken (a new recipe, that I’m really excited to try)

Lunch: Ham & Cheedar Lettuce Wraps, baby carrots, red sweet pepper & watermelon

Workouts this Week: I’ll be doing the 21 day FIX, you can read more about it by clicking here.

Alrighty, folks – that about does it for this week!

I’m linking up with Laura from Mommy, Run Fast! and Jill from jillconyers.com.

Your turn!

Please share your meal plans / workouts in the comments below! I love reading your comments and responding back.

If you want to start your Monday off on a generous foot and want to support cancer research, donate to my ride. I’m riding for Roswell Park Cancer Institute and their Ride for Roswell. Anything will help me reach my goal, and further advance cancer research. Just click HERE to donate.

Filed Under: Food & Recipes