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I know I’m a couple of days early, but wishing everyone a Happy Halloween.  I hate when Halloween is on a weeknight.  Can’t they make it the last Friday or Saturday of October?! Don’t mind my random rantings.  I’m sure you’ll hear more in next week’s Five on Friday when my kids stay up way too late and eat too much candy on Tuesday. My daughter has a Halloween dance at school tonight.  Tomorrow we are going to have a mother-daughter day and head into the city to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory on Broadway!  Here are five from this week:

Reading – I am a big Colleen Hoover fan.  Her newest book, Without Merit, came out October 3rd.  When it came in from the library I had to rush over and pick it up.  I read it in two days.  Although it was a good read, it is not one of favorites of hers.

Family Fun – Last Friday evening we went to the Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze.  It’s a 7,000+ pumpkin display housed on a local historic site.  Artists hand carve the pumpkins and create elaborate displays.

Supper Club – We had our monthly Supper Club Sunday evening. This month’s theme was Caribbean.  I made plantains two way –  tostones with a garlic mojo sauce and these sweet plantains.  I know they are simple dishes, but they are so good!  On the rare occasions that we eat Caribbean I need one or both of these.

Watching – This Is Us, Grey’s Anatomy, Real Housewives of Dallas, New Jersey and Beverly Hills.  I haven’t been watching a lot of television so, I’m getting behind on all those Housewives episodes!

Blog Goals – I’ve been setting up monthly blog goals and I’ve been doing really well these past two months.  Yesterday I finally got around to ordering business cards.  Do you know how many events I’ve been to and have been asked for a card? I’ve had to embarrassingly admit that I didn’t have any.  They will hopefully be here by next week!  This month I also signed up as an affiliate with Amazon.  I know it’s not a big money maker, but at this point, every little bit helps!  If anyone wants to help me out, feel free to click on an affiliate link or the amazon ad on my sidebar before you make your next Amazon purchase! (shameless plug over!) Eventually, I’d like to design a new header and logo, but it’s not a priority at the moment.

ICYMI this week on the blog:

Monday I shared 5 Essential Cookware Pieces for the Beginner Home Cook.

Tuesday I posted the Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze in 7 Pictures.

I’m linking up with Katie, April and Andrea.  Have a great weekend!

Did you have a great weekend? It just flies by so quickly! Monday’s here and it’s time to start another week.  Monday  means that it’s time for another weekly meal plan.  If you are looking for some dinner time inspiration, my weekly meal plan is the place for you.  Each week I showcase what was on my previous week’s meal plan, with pictures, recipe links and most importantly, my family’s review of each dish.  There are so many food blogs, cookbooks and recipes out there and I am always on the lookout for new family-friendly recipes to try.  If you are new to meal planning, read more about how I make my weekly meal plan. Here is a look at what was on our menu this past week:

Saturday: We ate the leftover Chicken Enchilada Pizza my husband had made Friday night.

Sunday: My husband and daughter ate dinner at the Girl Scout Father/Daughter dance.  My son and I had Smash Burger for dinner.  This Truffle Mushroom Swiss Burger was surprisingly tasty!

Monday: I made Raspberry Ricotta Croissant French Toast from Half Baked Harvest.  My kids love breakfast for dinner.  Before seeing this recipe, I had never thought to make french toast using croissants.  This recipe was easy enough to make and very tasty!  I used thawed frozen raspberries, instead of fresh, which worked out fine. I also used four large croissants, instead of the smaller ones the recipe suggested using.  I had a lot of egg mixture leftover, so I made some regular french toast using bread.  I served the french toast with bacon.  Of course this dinner was kid-approved!

Tuesday: I fried up some breaded chicken cutlets and served with homemade mashed potatoes and roasted broccoli.  A simple supper, but one that was really enjoyed by the family!

Wednesday: I made Turkey Meatball Spinach Soup from Damn Delicious.  Actually, my son made most of it and I supervised.  He did make me roll the meatballs though.  This recipe was quick and easy enough for an almost 9 year-old to make.  However, I found the meatballs lacking flavor.  If I was going to make this again, which I probably won’t, I’d add some egg noodles to the broth, because….we love carbs!

Thursday: I made Slow Cooker Pork Tinga from Bread Booze Bacon. This recipe is adapted from a Rick Bayless recipe.  I love a good slow cooker recipe and this one wasn’t bad.  I double the amount of pork the recipe called for and realized I should have doubled the sauce mixture.  Mine was barely saucy at all.  I bought tortillas which we served the pork on but I also made rice which we added as well.  There was a good amount of leftovers which we just ate over the leftover rice.

Friday:  I made our usual homemade pizza.  Just plain cheese this week!

What are you having for dinner this week?

If you are looking for some dinner time inspiration, my weekly meal plan is the place for you.  Each week I showcase what was on my previous week’s meal plan, with pictures, recipe links and most importantly, the family’s review of each dish.  There are so many food blogs, cookbooks and recipes out there and I am always on the lookout for family-friendly recipes that are quick and easy!  If you are new to meal planning, read more about how I make my weekly meal plan.  Here’s a look at what was on our menu this past week:

Saturday – Last weekend we were in Rhode Island and had dinner at California Pizza Kitchen.  Although it’s a chain, we love the pizza and salads.  My husband and I shared a Thai Chicken Pizza and this California Cobb Salad. Both kids had a BBQ Chicken and Hawaiian pizza from the children’s menu.

Sunday – This was a very pizza weekend!  We brought the leftover homemade Every Day with Rachael Ray Salami and Brussels Sprout pizza from Friday evening with us to Rhode Island and had the leftovers for dinner Sunday evening.

Monday – We got home from Rhode Island Monday afternoon and stopped for a late lunch at a Turkish restaurant in Connecticut.  Since we were stuffed from lunch we didn’t have an official dinner.  We snacked on crackers and cheese and chips and the kids had some yogurt as well!

Tuesday – The kids were home from school and I was feeling lazy.  I “made” linguini with clam sauce (from a can!) and served it with some garlic bread.  I don’t often cook dinners like these, but it was nice not to cook from scratch.

Wednesday – I made Mediterranean Quesadillas from Closet Cooking.  These quesadillas had artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomatoes, olives, spinach and feta.  I used frozen, boxed spinach that I defrosted, instead of fresh, baby spinach.  I knew my son wasn’t going to eat these, so I had him grate some cheddar cheese and made him a plain, cheese quesadilla.  These quesadillas were super quick and easy to make and very tasty.  I served honey carrots with them.

Thursday – I made Fast and Easy Soy Chicken from Kimchi Mom.  I marinated the chicken early in the day, hoping it would be more flavorful.  I feel like I’ve made similar chicken dishes to this.  However, it was “fast and easy” like the recipe title notes and kid-approved.  I served this with rice and roasted asparagus.

Friday – I apologize for this week being heavy on the prepared food dinners.  I guess you can say I was feeling lazy?! So lazy that I didn’t even take a picture of this meal!  Instead of our normal homemade pizza, tonight we had tortellini and sauce.  Super quick and easy and no real cooking involved.  We had the leftover garlic bread from Tuesday evening with the tortellini.

Once again I decided to choose a word of the year.   Last year’s word was “happy.”  Overall, I think I had a pretty happy year.   This year it took me a lot longer to finalize my word.  I debated between gratitude, prosperous or success before I finally chose “growth.” Merriam-Webster defines growth as:  a stage in the process of growing.  And that is what I plan to do this year.

There is a quote that really resonates with me, “A comfort zone is a beautiful place, but nothing ever grows there” – unknown.   Although I may have been happy this past year, I was definitely way too comfortable.  I adjusted to life as a full-time stay-at-home-mom, while my husband worked on building his new business.  I think that the family has enjoyed the benefits of having me home.  However, my husband is situated with his job and the kids are half-way through the school year.  It’s now time for me.

This year I plan on focusing on my personal growth.  I am five months into my gym membership and still going to classes several times a week.  However, I’d like to work on building my arm strength so I can complete a couple of yoga poses that are currently challenging me.  Overall, I think my diet isn’t too bad.   I would like to incorporate more fruit and veggies into the rotation though and be better at having at least one meatless meal a week.

I’ve owned a DSLR camera for years now and still shoot in automatic mode (hides face behind hands).  Since I upgraded to the iPhone 6s last fall, I’ve almost exclusively been taking pictures with the camera on that. However, this year I am intent on learning to shoot in manual mode.

I love to read.  I would like to read at least one non-fiction book a month focused on personal growth.

This blog has always been a hobby of mine.  It’s a way for me to write about the things that I enjoy and use my brain.  While I’m not looking to make money from this blog, I would like to continue to grow my readership and social media following.

And finally, I have decided that this is the year that I go back to work.  I left the education field for good at the very beginning of 2016.  At that point, as I’ve mentioned, me being home was best for the family as my husband focused on growing his business.  Financially, it would be beneficial to the family if I brought home a salary.  But I’ve also been feeling restless being home.  I am really trying to be intentional about my employment though and looking for possible jobs that would be rewarding and fulfilling rather than just something to bring home a paycheck.

So, 2017 looks to be a great year.  Having a word of the year helps keep me focused and living with intention.  I hope that this year brings me lots of growth!

What is your word of the year?

I am so happy that it’s Friday!  This week has been super busy and I’m exhausted!  No time for relaxing though. This is a big birthday weekend for my husband.  Tomorrow he turns the big 4-0!  We celebrated as a family back in October when we took our cruise to Canada.  However, I of course have something special planned.  Since he reads the blog I’m not going into any more detail yet! Here are five from this week:

1. Holiday Pictures – I don’t want to jinx it, but I think I’m actually on top of things in terms of the picture for our holiday cards!  If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve seen several pics of Blue Mountain Reservation, a local county park.  We recently found this gem of a park and have been geocaching there.  This lake and surrounding area is so beautiful that we went last weekend and took some pics, one of which we will hopefully use for our Christmas card picture!

2. Mother-Daughter Bowling – Sunday my daughter and I went to a mother/daughter bowling event with our local Girl Scout community.  It was a fun time getting to spend time with the other moms and daughters.  My daughter and I made a friendly wager that the one with the lower score would have to treat the other to ice cream.  I bowled a 154 and won.  I picked up two gallons of Friendly’s ice cream that was on sale this past week for $3 and told her that would work for me.  The who family can enjoy ice cream for days for less than the cost of one sundae at an ice cream shop.

3. Reading – I just finished reading Never Ever by Sara Saedi.  It’s a YA retelling of Peter Pan that was really good!  I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series when it comes out.  I just started Truly Madly Guilty by Liane Moriarty.  I liked Big Little Lies and The Husband’s Secret.  I’ve heard mixed reviews of this one so I’m trying not to let that sway my opinion of it.  I am only on chapter 5 as of now but hoping to make a dent in it this weekend.

4. Volunteering – Most of this week was spent volunteering at my son’s elementary school book fair.  I enjoy anything involving books and it’s fun helping kids pick out books.  Last week I helped set it up and today I’ll be helping to pack it up.  Between household chores, errands and getting in gym time, I’ve had some long, busy days this week!

5. Watching – I’ve been so busy this week that I haven’t had much time to watch a lot of television.  I watched the Real Housewives of Orange County reunion.  My husband and I also watched the first two episodes of the Crown.

ICYMI this week on the blog:
Monday I shared our weekly meal plan.
Tuesday I reviewed The Wishbone Wish, a children’s Thanksgiving chapter book.

I’m linking up with Tif, Andrea and April.  Have a great weekend!

The monthly six-pack gives my husband and I a chance to sample some new-to-us beer and ciders.  The October six-pack has a pumpkin beer theme, perfect for fall.  Since many of the beers and ciders featured below are seasonal, they may not all be available now.  Here is a review of October’s six-pack:

Blue Moon:  Harvest Pumpkin Ale –  Harvest Pumpkin Ale was first created by Blue Moon in 1995 under the name Pumpkin Ale and was the first pumpkin ale available nationally.  This ale is crafted with pumpkin and spices including cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and allspice.  My husband didn’t think this beer had much pumpkin flavor.  However, I had a taste and could definitely pick up hints of the spices.

Leinenkugel’s: Harvest Patch Shandy – This is a wheat beer blended with natural pumpkin spice flavor including notes of nutmeg, allspice and clove.  My husband could taste the distinct flavors of pumpkin spice in this beer.  However, a shandy usually refers to a beer mixed with a soft drink or juice.  This beer had neither so the name was a bit confusing.  My husband has enjoyed other beers from Leinenkugel’s but this one wasn’t his favorite.

New Belgium:  Pumpkick –  This beer is only available from August through October, so you may not be able to find it in stores anymore.  This is a seasonal ale brewed with pumpkin juice, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice with additional flavors of cranberry juice and lemongrass.  My husband found this beer to be very flavorful.  He could taste the not so subtle notes of pumpkin pie flavor.  Overall, he gives this beer two thumbs up!

Samuel Adams:  20 Pounds of Pumpkin – This is a new seasonal ale from Samuel Adams.  It’s brewed with pumpkin and spices including cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg, giving it according to my husband, “a dark and spicy flavor.”  My husband found this beer to be very enjoyable.  However, he and I both agreed there was absolutely NO pumpkin flavor to it.

Smith & Forge Hard Cider – This cider is produced in Memphis, Tennessee and is made with five varieties of Washington State apples.  I found this cider to be sweet and very apple-y tasting, which I liked.  I prefer sweet ciders over dry ones and this one was perfect.

Woodchuck Hard Cider:  Amber –Woodchuck Cider is crafted in Middlebury, Vermont.  Amber is the company’s original cider, which means that this is the cider that I was probably drinking back in college!  This cider has a great apple taste that isn’t too dry.

Meal planning is a necessity in our house.  With everyone’s busy schedules, it ensures that we have dinner on the table each night.  In an effort to make dinners that my kids will enjoy, I’ve been enlisting their help in my meal planning.  Each week I ask them for one dinner that they would like to see on the next week’s menu.  Recently, my daughter requested quiche.  Quiche is pretty easy to put together.  So, using ingredients that I know the kids like, I put together this Ham, Broccoli and Cheddar Quiche.  I adapted the recipe to make enough for two quiches, which left a whole quiche leftover for my husband and I to enjoy for breakfast during the week.  This was a kid approved dinner that I served with a Caesar salad.

Ham, Broccoli and Cheddar Quiche
Recipe adapted from allrecipes.com via JenCanCook

Ingredients:
2 frozen (9-inch) frozen pie crusts, thawed
2 Tbsp. butter
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 (8 ounce) ham steak
1 (12 ounce) bag frozen broccoli
8 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. dried thyme
1/4 tsp. ground mustard

Directions:
1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Place thawed pie crusts on baking sheet.

2.  Cook broccoli as directed on bag, decreasing cook time by 2-3 minutes.

3.  Melt butter in large skillet over medium heat.  Add onion and garlic, sauteing about 5 minutes, or onions are translucent.  Add the ham and broccoli to the skillet, mixing to combine.  Evenly divide the onion mixture into the two pie crusts.

4.  In a large bowl beat eggs, milk, shredded cheddar cheese, salt, pepper, thyme and ground mustard.  Pour the egg mixture into the pie crusts, dividing evenly.

5.   Baked in the preheated oven until a knife inserted into the center of the quiche comes out clean, approximately, 30-45 minutes.  Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

It has been awhile since I did a recipe post. With the weather getting cooler I’m all about using the slow cooker to make tasty chili, soups and stews.  I made this beanless chili this past Sunday evening when my mom came over for dinner.  I enjoy chili but I’m not a fan of beans, so this chili was perfect.  This recipe does require about 20-30 minutes of prep before putting it in the slow cooker.  If your house is as crazy as ours is in the morning, you may not have time to prep this before heading off to work.  However, it makes a great weekend meal.  I prepped this in the morning and we were able to do errands throughout the day, without having to worry about what was for dinner.  This was a winner with the family and the leftovers provided lunch for us the next day.  If you want to add a little heat and spice to the recipe you can add jalapeno or poblano peppers (when sautéing the onion and garlic) and/or cayenne pepper (when adding the spices).  I served our chili over rice with sour cream and shredded cheddar cheese, but feel free to add any other garnishes your family enjoys!

Slow Cooker Beanless Chili
Recipe adapted from Half Baked Harvest

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 large cloves garlic, minced
2 pounds ground turkey
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon paprika
2 teaspoons cumin
1 1/4 teaspoons Kosher salt
2-3 cups low sodium chicken broth
1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1 (8 ounce) can tomato paste
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 bay leaves
2 cups rice, cooked
sour cream and shredded cheddar cheese for serving

Directions:
Heat a large skillet over medium heat.  Once heated add the olive oil.  Add the onion, sautéing for approximately five minutes until translucent.  Stir in the garlic cooking for a minute.  Add the ground turkey to the skillet, breaking up into crumbles.  Brown the ground turkey for approximately 10 minutes.  Once browned add the chili powder, paprika, cumin and salt, mixing to combine.  Cook for two minutes and then remove the skillet from the heat.

Pour the ground turkey mixture into the bowl of the slow cooker.  Add the chicken broth, crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, maple syrup and bay leaves to the slow cooker, stirring to combine.  Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 4-5 hours.   When finished cooking, if chili is too thick, add another 1/2 to one cup of chicken broth.

Remove the bay leaves from the chili.  Spoon rice into a bowl.  Ladle the chili on top of the rice and serve with sour cream and shredded cheddar cheese.