So my husband and I were talking about operating systems last night. I read an article on Lifehacker that the most popular operating system among Lifehacker readers is Windows 7, followed somewhat closely by Mac OS X. My husband argued that Lifehacker readers is a small biased pool that will not represent the majority of computer users. His guess is that most people will use Windows XP. It just got me curious…

What operating system do you use?

My answer: In our household I am running an iMac on OS X and my husband is a hardcore Linux user (I believe he’s running Ubuntu right now but I could be wrong, it seems to change frequently).

Kailani @ An Island Life takes it easy on Fridays by posting a simple question for you to answer – and she invites you to do the same. Just post your own question on your blog and leave your link at An Island Life. Don’t forget to visit the other participants! It’s a great way to make new bloggy friends!

I’ve been a fan of Veggie Tales for almost ten years now. Long before becoming a mother, in spite of a skeptical view of organized religion, Veggie Tales has always enchanted me. I might not agree with the guys behind the cucumber on everything, but I do agree with them when it comes to ethical living and having a good sense of humor. I have enjoyed every Veggie Tales movie I’ve ever seen – those guys are creative geniuses – and I think the moral lessons they provide are invaluable to their young audience. The fact that my three year old has become a hardcore Veggie Tales fan is just icing on the decadent chocolate cake.

Saint Nicholas: A Story of Joyful Giving is the first new Veggie Tales holiday DVD released in seven years. The movie tells the story of Saint Nicholas aka Santa Claus played by the newest VT character, Nicky the Pepper.

The movie opens with Junior Asparagus overcome with glee, trying to decide what to buy with the gold coin his grandparents have given him and anticipating his Christmas morning loot. Meanwhile Laura Carrot’s father finds himself in danger of losing his job on Christmas Eve – right before they are supposed to finally go shopping for their Christmas Tree. When Junior comments that they should ask Santa Claus to help Laura, Bob asks them what they think Christmas is really about and who exactly they think Santa Claus really is. Don’t worry – they aren’t planning to ruin Chistmas for anyone – rather Bob decides it is time to tell the children (and Larry) the story of Saint Nicholas, who made a discovery in Bethlehem as a child that changed Christmas forever.

I really enjoyed the overall moral lesson to this movie – Santa Claus and stockings and presents are fun, but the power of giving to someone in need is even better. Tis better to give than to receive. I wholly agree that the Christmas season gets overly commercialized and that teaching kids the importance of giving back to the community is a great idea. This year, why not give Christmas away?

Like all the Veggie Tales movies, Saint Nicholas: A Story of Joyful Giving entertained me, humored me, moved me and had me questioning my beliefs. And regardless of whether I agreed with everything they said, it got me thinking and in my opinion, that’s really all that matters. It features some great new songs like “Give This Christmas Away” which was written by the critically acclaimed singer-songwriter Matthew West and performed by West and Grammy Award-winning artist Amy Grant (love her). And the newest silly song “Donuts for Benny” which is performed by Mr. Lunt was just hilarious.

I also really enjoyed browsing the special features on the DVD which include:

• “Give This Christmas Away” Operation Christmas Child music video
• Behind The Song with Matthew West and Amy Grant
• Art Gallery
• Audio Commentary
• Sing Along with Larry
• Discussion Guide
• Family Activity – “Bob & Larry’s Sugar Cookies” (see recipe at the bottom of this post)

And when the story was over, I found myself jumping onto the computer to look for volunteer opportunities near me. I think that’s the sign of a successful message, don’t you? As for my three year old – he has been quoting this movie ad nauseam since we bought it and asks to watch it daily. Luckily I love it, too, since it’s in constant rotation here now.

I think this DVD would make a great Christmas present for any young or old Veggie Tales fans in your family. You can buy the DVD along with some great Saint Nicholas stocking stuffers at Big Idea’s website. Merchandise includes a Saint Nicholas Little Golden Book, plush toy versions of Larry, Bob and Nicky, two adorable ornaments and shoes and shoe charms from Jibbitz™, a subsidiary of Crocs™. A 10-song Saint Nicholas album will also be available exclusively at iTunes, which includes “Give This Christmas Away.”

Turn your purchase into an opportunity to give:

If you purchase the Saint Nicholas DVD (which retails at $14.99) you will receive an offer inside the DVD to give a FREE VeggieTales DVD to a friend in need! Just use the information inside the DVD to log onto a special website and get a free Veggie Tales DVD to send to a friend (there is a $2.99 shipping and handling charge).

Operation Christmas Child Partnership

From “What If December Looked Different This Year?” by Deborah Evans Price and Big Idea:

“This fall, Big Idea has teamed up with Operation Christmas Child, a project of international Christian relief organization Samaritan’s Purse, to help collect gifts for needy children throughout the world. More than 65,000 churches across the country will hold shoe-box gift collection events. Church leaders have the opportunity to hold a screening of Saint Nicholas where kids and families will be encouraged to “share the spirit of giving” by donating shoe-box gifts.”

“Right after watching Saint Nicholas, in the wake of being so inspired to give, that’s the perfect time to put a shoe box together,” says GRAMMY Award-winning recording artist Amy Grant, who has teamed with singer/songwriter Matthew West for the Saint Nicholas theme song “Give This Christmas Away.” “It’s love in action. It’s active learning with a great example of the joy of giving through the life of the real Saint Nicholas. And what better way to say, ‘Hey kids, we could change a life, too. We could do something just that special.’”

Are you a fan of all things Bob and Larry? Be sure to check out the Veggie Tales Facebook page and declare your fandom today!

***

Bob & Larry’s Yummy Christmas Cookies

• Prep Time: 20 Minutes
• Cook Time: 15 Minutes
• Ready In: 30 Minutes
• Servings: 30

“Christmastime means cookies are in the oven just for me! The smell of yummy morsels makes me want to hum “Deck The Halls” while my tummy starts to grumble.” says Larry the Cucumber ” I like to paint my cookies with colorful icing – or if time’s a wastin’, simply sprinkle ‘em with colored sugar.”

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¾ cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ¾ cup butter
• Decorations

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a medium bowl combine the flour and salt with a wire whisk. In a large mixing bowl cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed. Add the egg and vanilla, and beat until well blended. Scrape down sides of bowl, then add the flour mixture. Blend on low speed just until combined. Do not overmix. Gather dough into a ball. Flatten the ball into a disk and wrap tightly in plastic wrap or a plastic bag. Refrigerate one hour until firm. On a floured surface, roll out dough to a 1/4 inch thickness. With cookie cutters, cut dough into desired shapes and place on ungreased cookie sheets. Decorate with colored sugars or sprinkles. Bake for 13-15 minutes, being careful not to brown. Immediately transfer cookies with a spatula to a cool, flat surface.

A special thank you to the Family Review Network and Big Idea for this review opportunity.

I just wanted to take this moment to tell you (and the rest of the blogiverse) that I love you. No seriously, like it’s crazy how much. Yesterday when you came home after stopping by Target to pick up some tools to make me fried chicken after a long day at work, you didn’t bat an eyelash when I announced that after watching yesterday’s episode of Ellen, that I’m going to try going vegetarian. Not only did you totally get where I was coming from and understand me and support me (and understand that I still fully intended to eat the meat we have in the house because it would be wasteful not to and that this is more about how those animals are being treated before coming onto our plates than anything) but you said, “I’ll do this with you.” My carnivorous steak loving husband agreed without batting an eye lash to go vegetarian for me. To try it.

And you didn’t even break your stride when I changed subjects and started babbling about the books on comparative religion that I want to read or when I asked if dogs could eat donuts without, like, dying (this had to do with a silly song on a Veggie Tales DVD we watched and nothing whatsoever to do with the other topics). I love the way you get me and mostly follow my bizarre trains of thought and support me when I get passionate about things and take it in stride when I lose interest in other things that I was passionate about, like, yesterday.

I love that you support my blogging habits and wouldn’t be surprised to know that I’m writing this partly because I’m cheesy, partly to share this vegetarian news with my bloggy friends and also to participate in a Writer’s Workshop meme and Love Thursday simultaneously.

I love that while you support me hanging out online all day you also know when to insist that I get a life. You encourage me to get out there and meet new people (p.s. the playgroup I mentioned sent me more info on the group and a link to their new website) and you help me find time to fit in a workout at the Y and you bring me home Dark Chocolate Reese’s Cups when you can tell I’ve had a long day. And that coming home after a long day of work and cooking me dinner thing? Yeah I love you for that, too.

Plus, you’re like really cute.

Love always,

Your Wife aka Momma Blogs a Lot

I never thought of myself as one of those pageant girls, but when I saw Amber’s post about entering the Bloggers & Tiaras contest at Momdot.com I was intrigued. A pageant that focuses on creativity, participation and FUN – I can totally do that! I may not be able to twirl a baton, but I can blog like it’s no one’s business, right? Well, here’s hoping so because I’m officially throwing my name into the proverbial hat and entering the Bloggers and Tiaras contest for a chance to win a tiara, a gorgeous Tahitian Drop Pearl Bracelet and the title of  Super Ultimate Grand Supreme Coolest Blogger in the Universe – and you should, too!

The rules stipulate that I now answer the following questions and post a picture of myself, so let’s get started on the formalities, shall we?

1) Name, BlogName, Twitter: My name is Jen and I blog at several locations. You can find me here at mommablogsalot.com aka my personal blog aka what you are reading right now. I also write reviews at Mommas Review and memes at Momma Memes a Lot aka my old livejournal. And if you want to find me on twitter, well I roam around over there, too, under my main bloggy name, that’s right mommablogsalot.

2) Have you ever entered a pageant before? Nope definitely not. I mentioned the whole lack of baton twirling, right?

3) Do you have any special talents we can look forward too? Well I can edit like it’s nobody’s business (which is not to say I am grammatically perfect because well, please don’t check my grammar…) for instance there should only one “o” in the word “too” over there. Sorry, don’t kill the messenger.

4) Name your top 5 favorite sites to visit on the net..no, you do not get brownie points for putting momdot. My favorite online places to kill time would have to be Google Reader where I check the RSS feeds for the like 200+ blogs that I follow (I know, I have problems), Sluggy Freelance for some good old fashion comical chuckles (I also love XKCD), goodreads.com where I keep track of all the books I’m lusting after and Facebook so I can get in my Packrat and Farkle fills. Did I mention I’m a Farkle junkie? Yeah, so there’s that…

5) What is your favorite thing to do when you are not blogging? I looooove to read, that’s always the first thing that comes to mind when it comes to non-blogging hobbies. Sadly with the preschooler and the newborn, I only get to read for like a half an hour to an hour at night before bed. I suppose I could do a bit less blogging during the day or maybe stop watching tv or eating but at the moment that’s just where my priorities lie. Other than that? Yeah I’m pretty boring…

6) Whats your dream vacation? I have a few. I’d love to tour Europe and Asia – seeing places like France, Italy, Ireland, England, Japan, Singapore, etc. would really make my day, or um lifetime. I also want to take a long RV road trip with the kiddos and since we haven’t even done Disney yet as a family there’s definitely that. Also I’d love to do like a sunny, beach relaxing vacation – maybe a cruise or a trip to Hawaii. Have I mentioned that I looooooove to travel and my wander lust really knows no limits? Can that be my hobby? Sadly I think I get in more reading time than vacation time.

7) What blogger do you look up the most too? Again with the too? Seriously? Sorry, um, well there are a few as I mentioned I am slightly addicted to this little blogiverse. I love Ree @ Pioneer Woman. I think she is just incredible. As far as the Big League Bloggers go she’s probably my number one. I also really like McMommy, The Bloggess, Karen @ Write From Karen and Jen @ Daily Mish Mash. Oh and Simple Mom! Love her! And a million others but I think if I don’t stop now I’ll just recite my entire blog roll…

8 ) If you could be on the cover of any magazine, which would you chose and why? Well my favorite magazine is Family Circle but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a person on the cover of that magazine. But then again Ellen made it on to the cover of O Magazine and up until now that had never been done either, so I guess it’s just another milestone yet to be reached.

9) Tell the truth…you want a tiara, don’t you? Honestly what girl doesn’t want a tiara? It’s pretty and sparkles and that in my book is enough. Plus the whole “you have to win it” thing really does add to the appeal.

10) What is your definition of blogger success? If you love to blog, you are successful because it’s all about doing something you love. It’s not a popularity contest or a money making machine – although if that comes your way also then great, but at the root of it, man you have to enjoy it. The day this stops being fun is the day I change my name to Momma Doesn’t Blog So Much Anymore.

And finally, the picture:

don't hate me because I'm covered in spit up stains

So there you have it – my official entry form. You’re going to root for me, aren’t you? If you decide to enter, I promise to cheer for you, too and be one of those nice Pageant girls. I won’t grease your runway if you won’t grease mine. ;O)

For more wordless fun, check out Wordless Wednesday and 5 Minutes For Mom!

(for less wordless fun, make sure you are hovering over each picture)

What do you do when your bananas are a little too mushy to eat? When you know what’s good for you, you make banana bread – or freeze them until you have time to make banana bread. My stepmother (who gave me this recipe) gave me the great tip to just put the bananas, skin and all, in the freezer. When you thaw them and slice the banana open it will be perfectly mushy for your banana bread purposes.

To celebrate the end of Letter B Week we made her homemade banana bread because of the great Double B’s and because it’s delicious. The best banana bread I’ve ever had and you all need to try it.

So my husband made MM a paper chefs hat and we pulled out the little apron and oven mitt that we got him for Christmas a couple years back and we all went in the kitchen and baked banana bread together. We don’t do this very often but maybe we should because it was spectacular. Dan was in charge of documenting the occasion so that I could put some pictures in the ABC scrapbook I’m making MM when this is all done. There are a ton of pictures from Banana Bread night and I made a little collage of some of the best for the book but I wanted to post a bunch of them individually here because there are some real gems. I’ll post the recipe at the bottom of the post.

These days when I ask MM to smile for the camera, I get strange looks like this one. Little does he know, I think it’s hilarious and adorable and it will not stop me from taking his picture. By the way, please notice that he’s wearing an all-blue outfit because The Color Of The Day was Blue and Blue starts with the Letter B. Thanks. Moving on.

This is just a quick shot to show off our respective aprons. We got MM’s at the Christmas Tree Shop way back when. Mine was made by my amazing friend Amanda @ Funkepunkemonke.

Dan the Man wrapped up little miss Baby Blueberry in our Moby Wrap so she could face out and watch all the festivities and his hands could be free to document everything, including the two of them being cute.

I did let him use the mixer to help me cream the shortening, but I did not personally let go of the mixer. I’m not crazy.

I put him to work on clean up, throwing egg shells in the sink, putting things away and throwing away any empty packages. Because I’m smart and he thought it was fun.

I also let him help me sift flour and other dry ingredients. This turned out to be difficult for him because you have to squeeze pretty hard and he has small hands but he was a trooper and kept trying for a while. Although eventually I finished it, he seemed more impressed with my sifting skills when he saw how hard it was. :OP

Of course he loved mashing the bananas for me and did a great job on this part. He’s a natural masher of mush.

Stirring it all together at the end…

then pouring the whole thing into the pan…

Of course we had to turn on the light so he could watch it bake.

It came out fantastic and we’ve been eating it for breakfast each morning since. Delicious. Alright, here’s the recipe for anyone who wants in on the world’s best banana bread.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup mashed bananas (about 3 bananas)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 cup milk

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Cream shortening and add sugar gradually.
3. Then add the well beaten eggs.
4. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
5. Add this alternately with milk and bananas. Then add vanilla.
6. Pour into a greased and floured loaf pan and bake for 45-75 minutes or until a toothpick can come out of bread clean.
7. Enjoy!

Calorie Info: If you divide this into 16 servings there will be 210 calories in each slice. Smear it with some peanut butter (about 5 grams should do it, this is an added 30 calories if you use JIF creamy regular) and you are good to go.

Today…

Outside my window: It looks absolutely beautiful out. Blue skies, fluffy clouds and some trees even still have leaves on them! It’s been rather windy lately which means foliage season seems to have been a bit short lived in my humble opinion but who knows? Maybe that’s normal here. I’ll get back to you in like 5 years when I have a better grip on what normal means here. Weather man says it’s 46 out now with a high of 58 – sounds almost balmy in comparison to last week’s weather.

I am hearing: Shaun the Sheep on tv (not that MM is even in the room watching it anymore) and little miss BB telling me my time is short.

I am thinking: that tomorrow we are definitely going out. Mondays are typically a big catch up day for me around the house so I’m not going to fight it. But tomorrow, we’re gonna go do something. Anything.

I am hoping: to hear back from some local playgroups soon. Dan “laid down the law” this weekend and told me to look into some groups in the area and try to make some friends. He said he doesn’t care if they cost money, I need to try something. Two in the area are only $25 a year. Honestly that’s next to nothing and it’s a start. Maybe paying the money will make me feel more motivated to actually show up and not just sit here all day?

I am reading: Close Encounters of the Third Grade Kind by Phillip Done. I’m about 150 pages in, which is basically halfway I think even though I’ve only read about September through half of December. Actually I guess in the school calendar, that is about halfway.

I am creating: the ABC scrapbook for MM. Just finished the pages for Letter B week. We’re also making a mail organizer that Amanda emailed me (I’m too lazy to look for the link, I’ll do it later if and when we actually finish it) and this weekend we finally finished the quilt that I started making then bailed on and made Dan make last fall. Just in time for THIS fall! :OP

I am wearing: my favorite jeans and a red flower printed v-neck blouse. I have a sinking suspicion that this is exactly what I wore last week. It might be my self proclaimed Monday Uniform.

In the kitchen: (take note of my amazing amount of “Letter C” inspirations)

• Monday: Shepherds Pie (with corn)
• Tuesday: Chicken Parmesan with dinner rolls
• Wednesday: Fried Chicken with carrots and stuffing
• Thursday: Chili with Cornbread
• Friday: Shrimp and Black Bean Pasta

Around the house: trying to catch up on cleaning the kitchen after our fun filled baking weekend and laundry and sort of half heartedly begging MM to pick up the myriad of toys that have made their way into the living room. Just enough things so I can stop tripping over the obstacle course, please?

Plans for the week: go somewhere, do something, clean up, breathe…

A few of my favorite things: the cute chefs hat Dan made for MM, homemade banana bread for breakfast, adorable pictures of halloween costumes, MM asking me, “Where is GOLD BUG?” quoting a Richard Scarry book we started reading him, reading Peter Pan at bedtime even though MM doesn’t even really listen because it’s long and there are no pictures but I love it so I don’t care… the new Tinker Bell movie – it’s fabulous…

A picture thought:

what I get now when I ask MM to "smile"

Monday Mentions is an easy way to share any and all of the fun things you’ve discovered recently, online or otherwise. For more information read this post by the mastermind behind this whole thing, Jen @ Daily Mish Mash. Here’s what I’ve discovered this week…

Recipe ideas:

• Ree @ The Pioneer Woman posted a recipe for buttered rosemary rolls that made my mouth water pretty much instantly.
• I discovered Lifehacker last week (yes really, I know it’s like I’ve been living in a cave) and one thing that caught my interest was this collection of Coffee Shop Inspired recipes.
• These chocolate caramel apples at Blissfully Domestic just look amazing – if it weren’t for the plethora of dental woes I’m in the middle of dealing with, I’d be all over these babies.
• Jen @ Stuff Jen Says posted a recipe for a Halloween-themed Candy Cornish dessert that looks sooo good. I’m already dreaming of ways I can reinterpret the recipe for other holidays.
• This article from the Food Column at the Atlantic shows 12 breakfast ideas for anyone currently in a rut in the mornings – definitely worth a look.

Healthy Living:

• Simple Mom dished up 5 Essential Dieting Tips from Nature like: eating what is in season and remembering to keep hydrated, i.e. Drink Water! Simple stuff, but then she is Simple Mom.
• The London Times had an interesting article about how going vegetarian could help with global warming… Would you do it for your planet?
• This one is diet related but mostly just healthy related – what’s healthy for kids is healthy for adults. Another goodie from Simple Mom.

Home Renovation Revelations:

• The Inspired Room did a little post on pantries that had my creative juices flowing with new ideas on how to make our pantry a little bit less chaotic. One of the very best things we discovered about apartments in Wisconsin was pantries, pantries everywhere. It doesn’t seem to be much of a trend in New England but all the apartments here have them and I love it, but oh lord the chaos… Now I’m dreaming of wicker baskets and wishing they were free…
• Along the same lines is an article about Open Shelving and how to do it right. Maybe I should take the doors off my pantry if I ever get it pretty-fied.
• Another goodie from Lifehacker: Check out this $27 chefs knife that performs like a $100 knife. I want to get this for Dan.
• Loving this homemade play tent at OhDeeDoh – how cute is this idea? I might have to get my engineer hubby to help me whip this up for the kids at some point.
• Lifehacker’s got some cheap winterizing tips for anyone looking to stay warm but not broke this winter.

What Not To Do:

• Loved this blog mentioned on kottke last week: Joel Stickley writes a blog entitled How To Write Badly Well. Awesome. Just awesome. I really liked “Always use a thesaurus.” Really brought me back to my college writing courses round tables. :OP
• I also liked this goodie at Copyblogger: 7 Bad Writing Habits You Learned in School.
• This one isn’t about grammar – it’s about manners. Pretty strict advice but nevertheless I enjoyed One Hundred Things Restaurant Staffers Should Never Do was written by Your The Boss at The New York Times.

Nifty ‘Net Stuff:

• Similar Images just graduated from Google Labs. This tool just looks soooo… nifty! Just do a regular old image search and when you find something you like, but maybe not quite… search for similar images simply by clicking “find similar images.” As always, google makes it easy.
• Looking for a new desktop wallpaper? Lifehacker posted a roundup of autumn themed wallpapers from around the net that are really lovely. It looks like a regular thing over there so lifehacker should be able to keep your desktop in style year round. Sweet.
• The net likes to be grumpy about stuff and we’ve all read about the people on Facebook that make us go a little crazy, but Brianna @ College Candy recently wrote about the Facebook Characters That We Love. I love the positive attitude here and it definitely is a nice reminder of why we are here on the internet to begin with. Not to be annoyed constantly, but for the good stuff! The awesome people we find out here like YOU amazing people taking the time to read this and comment and be fabulous. (Thanks for that!)

That’s all for this week!

I’m back with another month of menu planning!

For those who’ve never planned a month long menu or haven’t read my little posts on them before, here’s the deal: Rather than planning my family dinners night by night, or week by week, I’ve taken the habit of planning out one menu for an entire month. This makes my grocery shopping much easier since I’ve already decided what dinners I’ll be making, I only have to pick up the ingredients missing for that week and the very regular cast of breakfast and lunch foods.

And the looming nightly dinners are now much less intimidating. No longer having to stand in front of the refrigerator scratching my head, trying desperately to figure out something nutritious and delicious to make for dinner? Love that. And by doing this monthly rather than weekly, it leaves more time for life in the days in between. It isn’t rocket science, and thanks goes to Simple Mom who inspired me with this idea.

A few things of note:

1. I’ve incorporated a lot of things in this menu to interact with my weekly lesson plans with MM. Each week we’re learning more about the different letters of the alphabet and I’ve added foods that begin with those letters to different meals throughout the week (some weeks were easier than others). I’ll italicize those foods so you can see what I mean in case you are curious.
2. I like to give myself little themes to work off of when planning my menu. I don’t always follow the theme but it gives me a place to start. So you might notice that almost every Friday we have seafood, Mondays are generally chicken dishes, etc.
3. I frequently change my mind when the day or week gets there, and I’ll swap things out and move things around, but I assure you it’s still easier than flying by the seat of my pants.
4. -update- I had to redo my menu for November because, um, we decided to go vegetarian. There are still a few meat recipes here because we have some old meat to use up, but yeah, major changes.

Here’s my monthly menu plan for the month of November.

Week One (chicken, ground beef, shrimp)

• Saturday October 31st (Happy Halloween): Soup and Sandwiches
• Sunday: Meatball Sandwiches from Copps
• Monday: Shepherds Pie (corn)
• Tuesday: Hot Dogs & Homemade Macaroni and Cheese
• Wednesday: Fried Chicken with carrots and stuffing
• Thursday: Chicken Parmesan with dinner rolls
• Friday: Shrimp and Black Bean Pasta

Week Two (salmon, boca crumbles, boca breakfast sausage)

• Saturday November 7th: Salad and Cheese Ravioli in a tomato sauce
• Sunday: Italian Style Meatloaf with mashed potatoes and broccoli (using up leftover ground beef)
• Monday: Breakfast for Dinner: Pancakes with and Fresh Fruit and Boca Breakfast Sausage
• Tuesday: Boca Baked Penne and Dinner Rolls:
• Wednesday: Rice with black beans and veggies – stir fry
• Thursday: French Onion Soup
• Friday: Parmesan Baked (wild caught) Salmon

Week Three: (shrimp, boca crumbles)

• Saturday November 14th: Homemade Pizza (feta with pesto, spinach and black olives)
• Sunday: Eggplant Paresan
• Monday: leftover Shepherds Pie
• Tuesday: Pasta Roll ups and dinner rolls
• Wednesday: Enchilada (made with Boca Crumbles) Pizza
• Thursday: Elbow Macaroni with diced tomatoes and parmesan cheese
• Friday: Coconut Shrimp with carrots & rice pilaf

Week Four: (boca bacon & fish sticks)

• Saturday November 21st Dan’s Birthday: His Restaurant of Choice or Homemade Calzones
• Sunday: Breakfast for Dinner: French Toast with Fresh Fruit and boca bacon
• Monday:Twice Baked Potatoes
• Tuesday: Asian Noodles with tofu & veggies
• Wednesday: leftover Enchilada Pizza
• Thursday November 26th (Happy Thanksgiving): Out to Eat: TBD or Baked Pumpkin with Mixed Rice Pilaf
• Friday: Roasted Pacific Cod (fish)

Since I know full well I won’t have time to write a novel (or a novella) in a month, I thought I’d jump onto that other November bandwagon – National Blog Posting Month or NaBloPoMo. The goal is, you guessed it, to write in your blog every day for a month. I’m thinking my chances of completing this challenge are much better as I already post almost every weekday. I’ve heard it’s harder than it sounds, but you know what? Bring it on, blogiverse!

And I’d feel like I was cheating by posting this, except, seriously you know I’ll be back within the hour or something with Monday Mentions, my daybook post AND my monthly menu plan since it’s the beginning of November now. This is just me saying, hey bandwagon. I’m here.