Menu Monday #36

by Katie @ Cup of Tea // January 26, 2015 // 8 Comments

Hope you had a wonderful weekend!! We had two late nights eating and visiting with friends. So much fun! But I think we all need a weekend from our weekend. HA!

Welcome to this week’s menu! I have one of my favorite meals on the menu – veggie chicken with a mushroom cream sauce. It’s so tasty! I grew up eating meat, and chicken is the one thing I find myself craving every once in a while. This veggie chicken is so yummy and hits the spot when I’m seeking a meat fix…. weird phrasing, I know, but hopefully the sentiment comes through.

For more information on how I menu plan, look at this. But if this is your first time reading a Menu Monday post, this is where I post what we’ve got on our dinner menu for the week. And, as always, I have links to as many recipes as I can reference. Some, though, are just “open a can” or “microwave that”, or my own DIY.

Monday:
Easy Vegetarian Meatballs

Tuesday:
Veggie Chicken with Mushroom Cream Sauce
(My own little DIY, but I use these for the veggie chicken)

Wednesday:
Mexican Lasagna

Thursday:
Big salad of some sort. I’m just feeling like salad!

Friday (Soup Night):
Black Bean Soup with Corn Bread
(From the Fields of Greens cookbook, but adapted recipe here)

Saturday:
Leftovers

Sunday:
Tacos

Need more ideas for dinner? Follow my Pinterest board – it’s where I save all of my dinner ideas!

Follow Katie | Cup of Tea Blog's board Good Eats | Dinner on Pinterest.

Linking up at Menu Monday with Org Junkie

High Five for Friday

by Katie @ Cup of Tea // January 23, 2015 // 18 Comments

Welcome to High Five for Friday – hosted by Katie, Caitlin, Tif and Della! If you want to know more, read about it here!

This week our featured blog is Kate at Green Fashionista! Her H54F post last week had a picture of strawberry shortcake and I’ve been craving it every day since. Swing by and say hi!

Here’s what I was up to this week:

1. I spent all week trying my hardest to get used to my new camera. I’m much better at learning on my own, testing settings and playing around. So I tried this week to just do it! I filmed three videos for YouTube, and took a million pictures! Blog posts will be getting exciting around here. But I’m still learning… I’m no expert photographer!!

2. TV. I’m such a TV junkie. Right now I’m loving Downton Abbey!! This season is great so far. And then I get so excited for Real Housewives of BH and Atlanta each week. (Real classy mix, there, Katie. A little high brow and low brow…)

3. I feel like I haven’t seen my husband in SO LONG. He’s been working really hard lately, plus doing classwork for his Masters program. Sigh…. He has this weekend off, so it will be nice to spend some family time together!

4. So I saw these cupcakes on Pinterest yesterday, and they looked so good! So I baked them. Because…. I just wanted to.

5. Elizabeth has been taking advantage of our sunny days to go outside for walks! Yesterday it felt more like a playground day, so we headed to our favorite one. It’s always empty!

At the playground, there are these really ugly looking bouncy toy things (not sure what they’re called…). But Elizabeth loves them! As soon as we arrive, she always walks up to them, waves, and gives them a pat.

While she was saying hi to her friends, I snapped a quick OOTD. I love that scarf! I’ve had it for several years now. I also didn’t bother curling my hair yesterday… and I liked it! My hair is pretty stick straight and fine, so I normally like some curl to it. But every once in a while, I go through a straight hair phase. And looks like we’re about to enter it.

So that’s that!

Fellow bloggers – ready to join in the link up? In case there’s anyone new to the game, here’s what you do!

Just write a blog post about 5 things that made this week awesome! It could be 5 memories/highlights, 5 pairs of shoes you wore, 5 “good job” comments you got, or 5 pieces of chocolate you scarfed down when no one was looking.

Add your link to your blog post down below (make sure it’s your blog post, not your blog home page!!). Then be sure to link back to the link up by grabbing the H54F button! Don’t forget to visit your fellow linkers and say hi!

I’m also linking up with Oh Hey, Friday, Meet @ the Barre, 5 on Friday & Diary of a Real Housewife

Elizabeth’s 15 Month Update

by Katie @ Cup of Tea // January 21, 2015 // 9 Comments

Do you know how hard it is to take portraits of a 15 month old?? Nearly impossible.

But Elizabeth is now 15 months! I can’t believe it! She turned 12 months in October, and then she became a toddler the next day. And now she’s 6. Truly. She’s become this little independent, sassy thing.

The days are long, but the months fly by!

So many changes have happened since her 12 month birthday! This has been such a fun stage, watching her explore and learn.

Height/Weight | 30″ and 19 (almost 20) lbs. She’s a wee thing, long and skinny!

Routine | There were some big changes since her birthday and the last schedule I posted!

7:00am – Wake up & Play
7:30am – Breakfast
8:00am – Play upstairs while mommy gets ready
8:30am – Get dressed
9:00am – Activity (museum, park or errands)
11:00am – Lunch
11:30am – Play time (if it’s nice outside, then we go on a walk)
1:00pm – Afternoon nap
3:00 – 3:30pm – Wake up & small snack
4:00pm – Play time in play room
5:00pm – Dinner as a family
5:30pm – Play time with Daddy
6:00pm – Bath time
6:30pm – Story time & lights out

Sleeping | The morning nap is basically gone, but there are some days she acts sleepy around 9, so she gets some ‘quiet time’ while I finish getting ready.

Eating | She went through a real food protest around Christmas time. That was rough. But, for now, we seem to be through it. She started drinking whole milk right around 12 months and never looked back! Elizabeth also loves water. Her favorite foods are basically the same – cheese, avocado, eggs, fruit, and any squeeze pouch you want to give her (which she doesn’t get often… they are my emergency diaper bag snack!).

Sizes | She wears an odd mix of 12 month and 18 month. Most of her dresses and shirts are 12 month, but all her pajamas and pants are 18 month. Elizabeth is also wearing size 4 shoes.

Milestones | Here are some of her highlights in the last 3 months!

She started walking right before Christmas. One day she just took a few steps, and then got faster each day.
Elizabeth is also no longer walking like a drunken sailor. She’s practically running!
She LOVES going to the park, now that she’s walking. Her other favorite location is our Children’s Museum.
Her favorite tv program was Peppa Pig, but now, she’s matured into Daniel Tiger.
Favorite foods are still avocados, eggs and cheese. We went through a food protest for about a month, around Christmas and into the new year. But I think we’re over that hurdle, at least until next month.
She has a few words that she says: up, down, uh oh, Dada (Mama seems to have vanished). She may very well be saying other words… I just can’t understand them.
But she knows plenty of animal sounds! Her favorite is dinosaur!
Elizabeth does this point-and-grunt when she sees something she wants.
The child loves to dance, and loves to listen to music. She also loves to turn up the stereo.
Blocks were once cool to knock down. Now they’re fun to stack!

Thank you for indulging me!! You won’t see another update until 18 months.

Menu Monday #35

by Katie @ Cup of Tea // January 19, 2015 // 6 Comments

Happy Monday!!! Did everyone have a lovely weekend? Nice weather? We had such nice weather compared to the previous week. Sunny and warm-ish.

Thank you all for the wonderful, tasty quick meals last week! Project “Clear Out the Freezer” was a semi-success. We made a small dent in it. But then yesterday, while at Wal-Mart returning something, I saw they had our favorite veggie chicken patties in stock. Target has been out for at least a month. Understandably, I stocked up on 8(!!!) boxes. So now our freezer is stuffed again. Oops!

We’re back to a traditional menu this week. I chose some comfort foods, as my husband has been working REALLY hard these last few weeks and he’s just worn out.

If this is your first Menu Monday, learn more here! But, basically, this is what we’re planning on eating this week. I’ll try to either link up the actual recipes OR leave a link to the cookbook that I’ll be using for each dinner.

Monday
Winter Vegetable Curry
(from Fields of Greens)

Tuesday
Caprese Paninis
Tomato, Mozzarella, Pesto

Wednesday
Trader Joe’s Vegetarian Tamales with Black Beans and Mexican Rice
(Tamales are from my pre-Christmas load up! They were so good!)

Thursday
Frittata with Carmelized Onions, Goat Cheese & Sage
(From Fields of Greens, similar recipe here)

Friday
Mexican Lentil Soup with Roasted Garlic & Chilies
(From Fields of Greens, but recipe here)

Saturday
Leftovers

Sunday
Tacos

Want more ideas for dinner tonight? Check out my Pinterest board where I pin all my favorites!

High Five for Friday

by Katie @ Cup of Tea // January 16, 2015 // 9 Comments

Welcome to High Five for Friday – hosted by Katie, Caitlin, Tif and Della! If you want to know more, read about it here!

First off, CONGRATULATIONS to Becky at BYBMG for winning the $100 Target gift card (lucky!). Thank you all who linked up with us last week. It was such a fun time making the rounds, reading your posts and saying hi!

This week our first blog feature is Amanda at Kids & Cabernet! I know last week I really loved her OOTD picture (the bag and bracelets were amazing!) on her Friday post! Not to mention that she’s also watching Real Housewives of Beverly Hills! (Are we the only ones??) Be sure to swing by and say hi!

Alright! Changing gears. Here’s what I was up to this week!

1. Last weekend we went up to Virginia Beach to visit the in laws and to go to the Auto Show. We had a nice time! The auto show was pretty small compared to others I’ve been to, but it just meant we zoomed through it faster. Every time my husband and I go to a car show, we always give ourselves some pre-planning, to make sure we have our list of must sees. You know you’re getting older when your list includes “Sit in all the minivans”. Ha!

While we were gone, Nana got to watch Elizabeth. Apparently Elizabeth had a dance party, and really likes Keith Urban.

2. While up at my in laws, we snagged their cable user name log in info so that I could live stream the Ohio State game Monday. And YAY! Go BUCKS! I was one pleased (and shocked!) Buckeye. My family was just group texting the entire game. And Tuesday I declared a national holiday because I needed a day to gloat.

Ok, I’m done.

3. Anyone else have dreary, cold weather this week? Yesterday afternoon was the first day it wasn’t raining or freezing and I thought I saw every neighbor outside walking their dog with a spring in their step. I’ve had serious cabin fever all week.

4. It’s been a great week for cleaning and organizing. Bad week for blogging. I’m hoping to catch up on some future posts over the weekend, and try to work a week ahead! But when one job is up (cleaning!) another goes down…

5. Yesterday I made spontaneous plans to meet a sweet friend at our library for the music and story time. She made it there before I did and called to tell me that the library was on a 2 hour delay because of “inclement weather”. WHAT??? The roads were perfectly dry and it was 40 degress. Come on, North Carolina! So we just turned around and had a play date at my house instead! It was such fun watching Elizabeth follow around her 2 year old friend! She was always right behind him whenever he moved on to another toy 🙂 I love play/mommy dates!!

So that’s some of the MANY random things that happened this week! I can’t wait to hear about your week!

Fellow bloggers – ready to join in the link up? In case there’s anyone new to the game, here’s what you do!

Just write a blog post about 5 things that made this week awesome! It could be 5 memories, 5 pairs of shoes you wore, 5 “good job” comments you got, or 5 pieces of chocolate you scarfed down when no one was looking.

Add your link to your blog post down below. Then be sure to link back to the link up by grabbing the H54F button!

« Older posts

Newer posts »