THE PETERSENS

Friends and faithful blog followers (like, the 2 that exist in the whole world…haha!), I am finally going to start posting my weekly meal plans again.  I think it will be helpful for me to blog again and exercise my brain and writing skills.

This past year has been fairly intense with purchasing a house, moving, a difficult pregnancy, having a newborn, my husband changing his job multiple times, etc.  I would be lying if I said it hasn’t been hard, but I would also be lying if I said my life is not full. Full of God’s goodness and His good gifts, full of daily reminders that God is near me and is faithful to keep His promises, full of love from a husband who would lay his life down for me in a heartbeat, full of sweet hugs and sticky kisses from 3 little boys, full of awesome friends who never fail to remind me to treasure Jesus more than anything on this earth…my life is full and overflowing with innumberable blessings. But, many of these blessings keep me fairly busy and life is always on the go.

So I will try my best to blog more often than I have been.  You can encourage me to keep blogging by posting comments (hint, hint).  I love getting comments on my blog…it is my almost-equivalent, Internet joy of receiving a handwritten letter or card in the postmail.

Okay, now I will actually post the meal plan.  You will find some familiar recipes, but also many new ones.  With increased prices in meats, we have been cutting back on those particular proteins to stay within our monthly grocery budget.  I have also tried to do much more cooking and baking from scratch as we are trying to steer away from fillers, preservatives, dyes, etc.  In addition, it ends up being cheaper.  That is a win-win in my book.  If you have any yummy, to-die-for, vegetarian recipes, please do share!

MONDAY
Breakfast: Banana Slices with Peanut Butter and Raisins; Dry Cereal
Lunch: Egg Salad Sandwiches with Baby Carrots
Dinner: Salmon-Broccoli Bake (new recipe with some revisions) with Garden Salad

TUESDAY
Breakfast: Oatmeal with Honey and Craisins
Lunch: Black Bean, Cheese and Scallion Tacos with Fresh Fruit
Dinner: Eggplant (from our first garden ever!) Parmesan (new recipe with slight revisions) with Angel Hair Pasta and Italian Cheese Bread

WEDNESDAY
Breakfast: Diced Peaches with Homemade Vanilla Yogurt (favorite recipe!) and Honey
Lunch: Peanut Butter and Homemade Strawberry Jam (another favorite recipe with some revisions) Sandwiches
Dinner: @ Community Group

THURSDAY
Breakfast: Homemade Blueberry-Zucchini Bread (revised as well) and Unsweetened, Cinnamon Applesauce
Lunch: Tuna Melts and Cucumber Sticks
Dinner: Bean Pie with Single, Homemade Pie Crust with Green Beans

FRIDAY
Breakfast: Scrambled Eggs and Toast
Lunch: @ Chubby’s Tacos (thank you, Groupon!) in Durham with my husband
Dinner: Chicken, Ginger and Onion Stirfry with Brown Rice

SATURDAY
Breakfast: Cinnamon-Raisin French Toast and Fruit Smoothies
Lunch: Deli Sandwiches with Baby Carrots
Dinner: Quinoa and Black Beans (brand-new recipe) with Fresh Toppings

SUNDAY
Breakfast: Cereal and Fresh Fruit
Lunch: Leftovers
Dinner: Leftovers

The two WF community groups combined one Wednesday for a fellowship.  Here are a few pictures of some of the sweet kids who live here in Wake Forest!

I listen to a good number of sermons preached at this church and they have been absolutely wonderful for me!  I come away encouraged every single time.  Two of my favorite series are:

Seven Habits of the Highly Effective Women

The Parenting Years I: Ages Infant to 5

They are extremely practical and really pertain to where I’m at right now in life.  If you ever get the chance, take some time to listen to these series.  And, if you have any recommendations for me, please post a link in a comment for me!