Menu Plan Monday

Here's to a great week! Hubs helped plan the menu this week, and I think he did a great job. Sunday - tortellini or spaghetti and meat sauce (daughter and I love stuffed pasta and funny shapes, Dad likes plain old spaghetti Monday - Hamburgers, lettuce, tomato fixings Tuesday - Chili Cheese Dogs Wednesday - Hidden Valley Ranch Pork Chops Thursday - Dinner out Friday - Orange Chicken Saturday - Pasta Fagoli For more great plans check out http://orgjunkie.com

Booking it March 2012

February reading -

I've been doing a lot better this year about being intentional about reading.  I've been reading for fun, reading for knowledge, and reading for my daughter.
For fun -
I went back and read two books from the Sierra Jensen series by Robin Jones Gunn.  I wanted to be able to remember them because my daughter will read them.  She's little now, but gets bigger every day and I want to be ahead of her on the reading list.  I read Close Your Eyes and Without a Doubt.  Both books were great.  Full of teenage wonder, curiosity, and total lack of knowledge and experience when it comes to love.  I love the way Gunn handles the subjects. 
A Sound Among The Trees by Susan Meissner was by Blogging for Books read and it was really interesting.  Not at all what I expected but I really enjoyed it, especially the parts that flashed back to the civil war.  Part of the book was written as letters from a woman to her cousin during the civil war and they were really interesting.  For more about the book check out the rest of my review here.

For Knowledge -
I really want to plant a garden this year, a little bit more than just one tomato plant. :) so...
The Backyard Orchardist - I don't really plan on planting any trees this year, but I would love to have fruit, so I read it anyways.  Unfortunately I don't have the right climate for pretty much anything that I like to eat, so probably no fruit trees in my future.
The Urban Homestead - This book was great with a lot of great information about growing in small spaces, but also just what is required to grow things.  The cool part is that they have a pretty unique way of looking at things, so even if it is information it was presented in a new way.  The only problem I had with it was that it had some language.  It was still worth the read, but be aware that the language is there.
The Backyard Homestead - This book had so much good information.  I borrowed it from the library, but it is one that I wouldn't mind buying when I had the funds.  It gave information on a lot of different aspects of gardening, land use,and preserving. 

For my daughter -
Mandie and the Forbidden Attic I'm starting to read chapter books with my little girl and she loves it.  The Mandie books seem to be a fairly easy read and she enjoys it.  We haven't finished this book yet, but like it.  This is a series that was originally written by an 11 year old girl (and published much later) it is about a little girl whose father dies, but through that she finds an uncle and a mother she never knew.  This particular story is about Mandie going to boarding school.  This is her first time away from her family and it is all new for her. 

For more great reads check out Bookin' It at http://lifeasmom.com.

A Sound Among the Trees by Susan Meissner. ~ Blogging for Books

Can I just stop for a minute and confess that I found as I was reading this book that I have a bit of prejudice, or at the very least a preconceived notion, that I wasn't aware that I held.  I have found that as I read a book that I know is from a Christian author I just assume the main characters are Christians, or at least will have close contact with a Christian immediately that will help them make life changing choices.  I started reading this book with that notion and was a bit confused, I found myself getting sucked into the "ghost" side of story, but waiting for someone to share the love and joy of Jesus Christ and it just didn't happen.  All of the sudden I realized, that it was because it wasn't necessarily based on Christian characters, when it did get down to the character who had a changed life based on the love of Christ all of the sudden came together for me.  Ahhh, now I get it :)

This book was good.  It was a story that spanned a few generations of a family.  A story that kept you in the here and now, but spun the story of the family's history.  I loved the deep history and the very personal stories of civil war life.  The civil war was unique in that many of the families that were affected had roots on both sides of the line.  The girl that the story followed had been raised in Maine and was now living in Virginia with her mother's family after the death of her family.  With a grandfather fighting for the south and cousin fighting for the north her world was a mess, it fully brought out the realities of war.  The story that was told in the present was great too, but I was really pulled in by the historical sections.  If you want to know more about what the story is about look here.

If you want to get a glimpse of this great book you can read the first chapter. For more on Susan Meissner see here or here or you can follow her on twitter.  I enjoyed every moment of this book and I hope you check it out.

 Thanks WaterbrookMultnomah for providing me with a copy to review. My opinions are my own.

Menu Plan Monday

I am just not feeling well this morning.  Yesterday the day spent curled on the couch, so I am hopeful that there will be some recovery today.  That being said I am pretty sure that my menu plan won't go as planned, but I do have a couple pounds of ground beef in the freezer which tends to be my go to for a quick meal if I go off plan.  Yesterday my husband went and got us pizza so he and my daughter wouldn't starve, but I think I'm up to actually cooking today. 
So...barring disaster...here is the plan...
Monday - Baked Chicken (I have a lot of chicken quarters I'll just salt and pepper them and bake them), rice, and green beans
Tuesday - Chicken Pot Pie (I'll use the leftovers from yesterday and put together a quick pot pie)
Wednesday - Church
Thursday - Cowboy Dinner
Friday - Family Night
Saturday -Beef Stew (We have leftover roast and veggies, I'll just add water and carrots and see what happens) over rice
Sunday - Date Night
Monday- Taco Pasta

Hopefully this is enought to get us through :)
For more great plans check out http://orgjunkie.com