Weekly Meal Plan Menu (Week 27)

This week’s meal plan was brought you to by:

Foodtastic Mom | The Spiffy Cookie | Big Bear's Wife | The Pajama Chef | Pies and Plots | The Cooking Actress

Something Saturdays (8/27/16)

BUSY BUSY BUSY.

Last weekend was fun, spending time with family at Hocking Hills. I'm really happy we got to do it! Monday I went with my brother (and my 16 year old cousin tagged along) while he got a new tattoo--my mom and grandma are having a conniption because it's like a quarter sleeve, but it turned out really well! Then I got to take them to go see the house (and my grandma and her cousin and my mom joined us---and our realtor in her daughter, who we're trying to set up with my brother lol). Everyone really liked it-yay! Then my mom, grandma, her cousin, and I went to get some $5 burgers at my cousin's restaurant, Savor.  On the house front, we learned that we had really high levels of radon so we had to find someone to mitigate it and such-luckily the seller agreed to pay for it! Woot. Wednesday I watched some home movies with my brother (they crack us up every time) and then Michael and I met with a contractor at the house to get some quotes on a few projects. THEN Josh (my brother) came over to our house and watched Batman v. Superman with us and spent the night. Yesterday I spent a good chunk of the day hanging with Josh again and we also went and saw Sausage Party (ready review below). Today I have a wedding! Fun fun fun.

Currently listening to this song on repeat.

I'm so excited that this is on youtube now: my last film project in NY, and one of my personal faves, Love in Four Panels, a short geeky romantic comedy starring ME! 

Weekly Meal Plan Menu (Week 26)

This week’s meal plan was brought you to by:

Pies and Plots | The Cooking Actress | Foodtastic Mom | The Spiffy Cookie | Big Bear's Wife | The Pajama Chef

Something Saturdays (8/20/16)

Hiya guys! Michael and I are on our way to a little weekend outing with my mom's side of the family today, so I'll keep this short and sweet!

Last weekend we had my family reunion and it was super fun. And then during the week we made some more progress towards buying our house-we met with our lender to go over and sign some paperwork, and had inspections (so far everything is looking good!) We also got to spend some much needed time with Michael's mom and youngest brother and sister (and Katie! Christopher's girlfriend). And I had a fun little day off with Michael's stepmom Jeanne for her birthday :) Life is pretty good, I must say.

Here's hoping next week goes as well!

What are you doing this weekend?

Weekly Meal Plan Menu (Week 25)

This week’s meal plan was brought you to by:

Big Bear's Wife | The Pajama Chef | Pies and Plots | The Cooking Actress | Foodtastic Mom | The Spiffy Cookie

Something Saturdays (8/13/16)

Well....WE HAD AN OFFER ACCEPTED ON THE HOUSE!!! Eeeeee! Next week we have a meeting with our lender and the inspector is coming to the house so hopefully everything continues to work out!

And my brother is home-hooray hooray!! We had dinner with my dad and grandparents on Saturday, and then Sunday there was a party for him at my grandma's. Monday I went with him to a tattoo consultation (he wants to get like a quarter sleeve while he's here) and he also stayed here occasionally through the week (we may or may not have watched the Pokemon animated series). Wednesday we also had lunch with our friend Angela. Yesterday I got to work a beautiful wedding, which I was so excited about because I hadn't had a wedding since June! (It was A LOT of work though. Barn weddings are pretty but omigosh the amount of work!)

Today I work but then we're getting together with Michael's cousins on his mom's side for some fun and games (his cousin Jimmy is in town from Hawaii).

Weekly Meal Plan Menu (Week 24)

This week’s meal plan was brought you to by:

The Spiffy Cookie | The Pajama Chef | Big Bear's Wife | The Cooking Actress | Pies and Plots | Foodtastic Mom

Something Saturdays (8/6/16)

Ok sooo...I apologize. It seems like I'm not going to be able to get back to regularly posting until September. Things have gotten kind of crazy around here...

We put an offer on a house yesterday (we ended up figuring out that building was going to be too expensive when you factored in all the extra costs)-we should hear back by the end of today sooo wish us luck! AND my brother (who is in the airforce and just finished tech training) is coming home today!! He'll be here for the rest of August so....I mean...I'm gonna be spending as much time with him as possible.

Stuff with wedding planning is happening too! Michael and I had a double date with my boss Val and her husband Darrin, and that's very important of course because Val and I have been plotting get togethers for us for months now :P Val and I also met up for breakfast and discussed lots of exciting things we have coming up-in addition to weddings we have coming up, we're also going to be featured in (and designing) a boutique bridal show here in OH that is going to be so awesome (and it's FREE! In case anyone reading this is interested.) We've also been nominated for the Akron-Canton Hot List for Best Wedding Planner, if you wanted to be so kind as to cast a vote, you can click here.

So yeah. It's kind of crazy 'round these parts, I'm sorry but also like...not sorry? Because life is pretty fun sometimes.

Weekly Meal Plan Menu (Week 23)

This week’s meal plan was brought you to by:

The Cooking Actress | Pies and Plots | Foodtastic Mom | The Spiffy Cookie | The Pajama Chef | Big Bear's Wife

Something Saturdays (7/30/16)

I am WIPED OUT. It's been a crazy couple weeks, all. I had a great vacation with Michael's family, it's always super fun. (And seriously...if you're ever around Conneaut Lake area in PA...check out Vacavi Cafe. One of my absolute fave spots.) Then Saturday was Michael's sister's graduation party and that was super fun. Sunday I had a meeting with a bride and then another pool party at my grandma's. Wednesday Michael and I went to look at houses! We looked at some more on Thursday, and then celebrated Michael's mom's birthday! We worked, of course. And Michael and I are attempting to make some healthier changes. Today we're going to Michael's youngest cousin's birthday party.

House update: of the houses we've looked at, we have a definite favorite (we're actually going to go look at it again on Thursday with our parents). But, we're still considering building so we're going to tour the model of the house style we'd get tomorrow before our meeting with Ryan Homes on Wednesday-that way we can tell if it's an option or if we'd prefer to buy pre-built. Nerve-wracking stuff. 

ELEPHANTS.

Weekly Meal Plan Menu (Week 22)

This week’s meal plan was brought you to by:

The Pajama Chef | Big Bear's Wife | The Cooking Actress | Pies and Plots | Foodtastic Mom | The Spiffy Cookie

Weekly Meal Plan Menu (Week 21)

This week’s meal plan was brought you to by:

Foodtastic Mom | The Spiffy Cookie | Big Bear's Wife | The Pajama Chef | Pies and Plots | The Cooking Actress

Something Saturdays (7/16/16)

I'm on vacation!! Michael's dad's side of the family go on a weeklong vacation to Conneaut Lake in PA and it's that time of year again. This is my first time getting to stay the entire week, so it should be fun :)

Last weekend we helped Michael's mom some more with the move, and she's finally completely out of her old house! We also got a realtor (for ourselves), so the house buying process is starting to move along! Monday, I had a meeting with my boss for Perfectly Planned and we went and had a sit-down with the bakery I used for my wedding cake to discuss cross-promotion. It went super well! I love my job :) AND on Wednesday Michael had his last class of the summer-woo freedom! Aside from that we just worked and got stuff done!

Weekly Meal Plan Menu (Week 20)

This week’s meal plan was brought you to by:

Pies and Plots | The Cooking Actress | Foodtastic Mom | The Spiffy Cookie | Big Bear's Wife | The Pajama Chef

Something Saturdays (7/9/16)

Uhhh so let's address the elephant in the room (OMG IF THERE WAS AN ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM I'D BE SO EXCITED THEY'RE SO CUTE)--I haven't posted any recipes this week. And I sorta kinda have decided to not post any for the rest of July. I've found myself wholly overwhelmed with life, once again, and I just was having a hard time keeping up. So-I'm sorry. But hopefully I'll have lots of tasty recipes to share come August!!

Now, on to life. Sunday we went to a party at my grandma's for a couple hours and then a picnic at Michael's aunt and uncle's for a bit. Monday we saw Finding Dory (SO CUTE! So much more Baby Dory than expected, which was a pleasant surprise!) and then we helped Michael's mom out with moving a little bit more. And then the rest of the week was pretty much work and stuff. I did have to deal with some car issues (I scraped it...so ashamed *sigh*) and I also got to have lunch with Michael's stepmom and her sister and niece on Wednesday, which was fun! 

Today I'm working and then Michael and I are meeting with a realtor! Eeeee wish us luck!

Weekly Meal Plan Menu (Week 19)

We're in the thick of summer! My favorite time of year! And it's 4th of July weekend!

AND THERE'S FOOD!

This week’s meal plan was brought you to by:

Big Bear's Wife | The Pajama Chef | Pies and Plots | The Cooking Actress | Foodtastic Mom | The Spiffy Cookie

Something Saturdays (7/2/16)

Well last weekend was exhausting. Saturday we moved Michael's mom from her old house to her new house. Well...mostly. There's still a lot at the old house. But it was long and exhauuusting. But we got a lot done. And on Wednesday I went and helped some more. I spent some time at my grandma's again on Sunday. Monday I went with my friend Angela to Savor (the restaurant that my cousin owns and I reviewed right after it opened)-it was $5 burger Monday + they have a free s'mores bar in the evenings! Yum yum yum. And that was pretty much all that happened of interest.

But this is 4th of July weekend! Yay! Do you have anything fun planned? Michael and I are going to 2 parties tomorrow, one with my mom's side of the family and one with his dad's side. They should be fun!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Pudding

Ok let me just tell you right off the bat: there is no cookie dough in this pudding. 

BUT don't be disappointed! I was skeptical that pudding could just...taste like chocolate chip cookie dough. But it really really does!! 

Brown sugar, vanilla, and a little bit of butter help flavor this silky smooth pudding in a way that is seriously like you're eating cookie dough in pudding form. And chocolate chips help (although I'm a weirdo who prefers to not have chocolate chips in my cookie dough, so I mostly just ate the pudding chip-less. Michael thinks I'm crazy.)

Speaking of Michael, he was also pretty skeptical when I told him about the pudding. He wasn't too sure about it. But then he took a bite...and another....and another. And he said, "Ah...I get it." 

So he gets delicious cookie dough pudding. So do I. So will you!

Graham Cracker S'mores Cookies

As we know...I've made S'mores Cookies before. I made those Chocolate Insomnia Copycat Cookies not that long ago, and awhile back I even stuffed some s'mores inside of cookies. But Michael asked me to make some cookies for him to bring to work, and for some reason he suggested I make s'mores cookies. So I decided to make a new version.

I decided to keep it OG with these cookies. A chocolate chip cookie dough with a BUNCH of ground graham crackers in it is the base (and ohmygawwwd that dough is insanely delicious) and then there are chocolate chips and mini marshmallows to bring the trinity of summer desserts together!

All the yumminess of a s'more...without quite so much of a mess. Or need for fire.

I'm the messiest eater ever. And s'mores are messy to eat for anyone-so for me it's double the messiness. I usually have stuff smeared all over my face and need a wet napkin with me to aid in the clean up. These cookies don't require such up-keep.

Also, Michael's coworkers love love loved them. Of course. And gobbled them up and told their significant other's that they needed to step up to my level.

Mission accomplished. 

Weekly Meal Plan Menu (June 27-July 3, 2016)

This week’s meal plan was brought you to by:

The Spiffy Cookie | Foodtastic Mom | The Pajama Chef | Big Bear's Wife | The Cooking Actress | Pies and Plots