Being Prepared

This week I have to be out of town for a couple of days for a college fair; I also have a couple of other late nights due to financial aid presentations for parents at some of the schools... so I'm trying to be extra prepared for the week with meals and such for Josh. It's exhausting! I'm usually mostly prepared, but I don't always do all the preparation work on the weekend... today I made today's meal, prepped for both Monday and Tuesday's crockpot meals (before I leave), and made Wednesday's meal (so Josh can eat while I'm gone). Of course, it's also laundry day... I feel like I've been on my feet all day! Whatever happened to Sunday being a day of rest? I think I need a nap... no time - time to hit the road to take Donovan home...

Goals...

As many of you know, I have been gathering and creating recipes for a cookbook... for over a year. It has been my goal to actually put them together and print a cookbook for some time. When I finished my classes for my Bachelor's degree, I took two months off before starting my Master's so I could get actually get somewhere with this project. I've had a month, and have yet to get close to completing my project. In all honesty, I've barely spent any time on it at all in the last four weeks!

So, I'm posting this because if I write it down (and through doing so, tell someone else) then maybe I'll have a bit more incentive to complete it. My goal is simple:
1 - narrow down my recipes; choose a theme (easy meals, etc...), select my categories, and select recipes for each category.
2 - choose the format (perhaps a website?) to compile them.
3 - complete the data entry.
4 - print the cookbook.

I'm not certain I can actually complete this all within the next four weeks before I start my classes again, but I can certainly complete steps 1 and 2 and start step 3... I will have this complete by the end of this year. Wish me luck!

Country Breakfast

When I woke up this morning, I was starving! So, I decided to make a nice breakfast for the family. I got a little ambitious... when I got it on the table, I had prepared biscuits and sausage gravy, pancakes, sausage, bacon, fried potatoes, and scrambled eggs. I was only feeding Josh, Donovan, and myself! I tried to keep the portions of things smaller; for example, there were only 8 pancakes, 8 biscuits, etc..., but it was still too much food. We have leftovers for another great country breakfast tomorrow morning before church!

Chinese Buffet

I officially do not like buffets. Especially Chinese buffets. I had planned to make chicken with asparagus for dinner, but apparently my husband did not want chicken tonight. So, we decided to try this Chinese buffet that is just up the street (3 blocks away). Granted, we didn't go until 7:30, but for a Saturday night, that shouldn't have mattered. The food was cold, the meat was tough, and the desserts were non-existent. Not a fried banana in sight! Only soft-serve ice cream... seriously disappointing.

I enjoyed the idea of a dinner out with my husband, but the food was not any good at all! At least I still had the time with my husband. :) We have found that we can enjoy one another's company and have a nice evening, even if the circumstances (and/or the food) are not up to par. :)

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Last time I went grocery shopping, I bought an extra bunch of bananas so I could plan to make banana bread and/or muffins... we didn't end up eating the first bunch, so I had LOTS of bananas to make muffins with! Today I decided to get busy and use them up... I'm getting close to the end of the batter, and have made 7-dozen muffins! Obviously, Josh and I do NOT need to eat 84+ muffins. I think my co-workers will appreciate me tomorrow!

Brazilian Steak House

In celebration of both my graduation and the new record I set at work, we went to the Brazilian Steak House, Tucano's, for dinner tonight. I was slow to make our reservation, and so we had to choose to eat at either 4:30 or 8:30... we went for 4:30 - it was early, but I hadn't eaten lunch, so I was okay with that.

I've only been to a Brazilian Steak House once before, so I didn't have a lot of experience... the salad bar was fabulous, the meat was scrumptious, and the amount of food was amazing! We were both so incredibly full, it hurt to walk for a while. :)

Happy celebrations! We had a wonderful date night, and are now settling in to snuggle while watching a movie. The date night continues...

I'm a College Graduate!

So today I finished my last assignment and my last discussion board... and now I'm a college graduate! My grades won't actually post until Monday, but I don't have any additional work to do, so I'm celebrating this weekend!

I feel amazing!