Next Week's Menu with a Side of Contemplation

Well there has been too much going on to even think about blogging.  Probably should though, for myself at least; to process everything happening in my crazy life.  But taking time to sort feelings and thoughts isn’t a luxury I have right now.  So instead, I’ll settle with attempting to make my days flow a little easier now that school has started back up for the kids.  That means, planning a regular menu.  I’m sure you are well aware of how much easier your nights can be just by having dinner planned and ingredients purchased.  So here’s the dinner menu for the next 7 days. 

• Skewered Thai Chicken Satay with Spicy Peanut Sauce over white rice with steamed sugar snap peas

           Recipe and pic from www.recipe.com

•  Philly Cheesesteak Sandwiches with fries and fruit 

        Recipe and pic from www.recipe.com

•   Chicken Taco Chili (I know it’s not quite Fall yet, but it’s close enough and the pic looks amazing!)

        Recipe & pic from allthingskatiemarie.blogspot.com

•  Buffalo Chicken Pizza Sticks with Salad

         Recipe & pic from inspiredtaste.net

• Shrimp Scampi Linguini with bread sticks 

        Recipe & pic from foodnetwork.com

• Smoked Brisket Sandwiches with grilled corn on the cob and garlic roasted carrots and a cucumber salad.  (These sandwiches are built like an Oklahoma Joe’s Z-man but our spice concoction is a secret.  Need a smoked brisket recipe, click here.) 

   

Photos courtesy of : Chris Oberholtz (Z-man), http://thegingeredwhisk.blogspot.com (Garlic Roasted Carrots), s-media-cache-ec7.pinimg.com (Cucumber Salad)

• Lasagna Roll Ups with salad and garlic monkey bread

 

Photos courtesy of www.kraftcanada.com and www.knucklesalad.com

And there you have it.  Keep in mind that brisket isn’t a quick dinner.  It just so happens that my hubby, the grill master, will be home due to the Labor Day holiday and will have time to make it.  Otherwise, this would not make for a weeknight meal. 

As strange as it sounds, putting this together has allowed my brain a chance to think on something less dramatic. The act is almost mundane really.  However, at church the other day, the pastor shared how everything, even the most mundane things, should be held in just as high esteem as the big things in our life.  Take for instance, my little brother’s Dad…my former stepdad.  Sadly, his body has been ravaged by an aggressive form of cancer that doctors are saying will take his life before the end of the year.  When I complain about life being hard…I should really just be thankful I woke up that day.

So, even this small act of insignificance, making a menu and sharing it with others, is a gift.  I hope it finds some way to help you as it has me. 

~~~If you don't see a silver lining...make one~~~

A New Series to Consider

....Why oh why do I have to be a morning person?!? Oh yeah, the only quiet time I get to write is when the rest of the tribe is sound asleep.  There's also that thing called motherhood that has my brain thinking about all the stuff I have to do 5 minutes before my eyes have even opened for the day.

Thank goodness for coffee-induced alertness! Another great thing about being up before everyone else, even if it is a Saturday at 6am, is that I get to read in peace.  Now... since I'm writing today, reading might not actually happen, but it seems more and more these days, I'm up before the sun, allowing me the chance to read without feeling guilty about ignoring my kids.

Did you see a trailer a while back for a movie called Beautiful Creatures?  It's based on a book with the same name written by Kami Garcia. I did and it looked kind of interesting if you like movies about magic, supernatural powers and love. (A good love story can carry a movie a long way in my opinion).  Click the picture below to see the first trailer released in the U.S.

Photo courtesy of www.bleedingcool.com

I'm not sure what it is, but I always tend to lean towards movies and books geared for young adults.  Maybe I'm trying to relive my youth or live vicariously through the books since my young adult life was...we'll say, more grown up than it should have been.  Regardless, there's a history of great movies that surround high school kids.  Take for instance The Breakfast Club, Grease, Ferris Buellers's Day Off and 16 Candles........I just realized how old all of those movies must make me sound.  

Yep I'm familiar with this face palm too.

Oh well, I'm like a fine wine.  Better with age, right?  

Anyway, so I'm reading the Beautiful Creatures Series and currently on book 4.  I will say, I was enticed enough to read pretty quickly through the first installment.  The writing flows pretty smoothly but I found myself somewhat jumping ahead a few sentences every so often to get to the meat of it.  Now, I like a book with good long detail (think Anne Rice or JRR Tolkein), but this was nothing compared to Tolkein length-wise and I was still skipping details.

It's an interesting plot I've not read about before and the book does a great job of getting the back story intermixed with current-day plots.  I can't say if the historical references were accurate, but they sounded familiar enough.  (I could have paid more attention in history class).  I decided to go ahead and read books 2 (Beautiful Darkness), 3 (Beautiful Chaos) and am currently on Beautiful Redemption, book 4. 

Again, entertaining, but I'm not feeling like, "I can't put it down!"   Maybe it's the writing, the content or the fact I saw the movie that has me throwing this book on my list of "coffee table" books.  For those of you who don't speak Rebecca, that means it's a book that sits on the coffee table next to the magazines for light reading and you're able to walk away without feeling as if you're leaving a good friend behind. (Oh, how I still miss you Christian Grey!)

I can't say the movie did the book any justice, but isn't that the way?  The movie always seems to leave you wanting if you've read the book. I was truly disappointed at how the movie turned out.  Whole plot changes that would definitely affect future movies!  Now I know they can't make the movie EXACTLY like the book, but damn!  They changed a lot!  The characters all seemed too old for high school students.  College maybe, and too many details were off.  I guess if you hadn't read the book, maybe it wouldn't have seemed so....wrong. 

So, if I were to make any recommendations I'd say, if you haven't read it yet, see the movie first.  That way when you read it you won't be disappointed.  If after you've read the first book you like it, read on, but borrow it from the library. Don't invest in it if you don't LOVE it.  If you've already read it and haven't seen the movie, don't bother or wait till you can borrow it from someone else.  If you're like me, who read AND saw the movie..well, I'm sorry.

So there you have it.  A new series to consider.  On a side note, GO SEE IRONMAN 3. Loved it!  Action packed, funny, great effects and Pepper kicks ass!  That is all. 
 
~~~If you don't see a silver lining...make one~~~