Bountiful Baskets this week...
My menu for the week. This week I got a mexipack and a regular basket through Bountiful baskets. 
So my thoughts on using it up. 
Saturday night we had friends over so we bbq'd.
So dinner was roasted butternut squash, hamburgers, chicken sausages and fruit salad. 
(Cooking extra butternut squash for a second dinner)
The Butternut squash
3 from the basket, peeled, seeded, chopped in chunks tossed in olive oil a pinch of sea salt, thyme and half a pinch of nutmeg. Wrapped in tin and thrown on the grill too cook. 
Gottaeatallthefruit Fruit Salad with a dollop of coolwhip on top. 
BB fruit - 
1 package of blueberries, 
3 peeled, cored and chopped apples, 
2 ripes pears, peeled, cored and chunked,
3 kiwis, peeled and chopped
tossed with a can of crushed pineapple (so the apples wouldn't brown and the pears wouldn't. The picture is actually from the next afternoon. The little bit that was left in my kiddos green bowl. and the fruit didn't brown yeah!)  served with a dollop of cool whip for those who wanted it.  ( The whip cream is not included in the pic because the kiddo wanted to do another picture with whip cream and a blueberry on his tongue. NERD! and he giggled and he giggled after his suggestion because he made me roll my eyes. double nerd!)
Also we grilled the green chiles for on the burgers. 
Sunday - leftovers (fruit salad is gone and waiting for the asian pears 
to ripen for lunches for the kiddo for this week.) sO in honor 
leftovers I will just let us go at it as we must. 
After Sunday I just need 4 meals because Wednesday is a leftover day. 
So Here are 4 meals that I can make depending on the time and energy I have left that day...
I will bake the chicken one night and bake extra so i can use it for the second night. so depending on the order of meals the first time I cook chicken I will double bake it. 
Meal 1 - asparagus roasted and baked chicken (asparagus cleaned up and 
tossed in olive oil and sea salt and cooked in the oven on a cookie 
sheet) Chicken recipe: just going to bake as simple as possible so we 
can have canned cranberry chutney with it and serve the leftover 
butternut squash. I could grill but the oven will be hot. and if the 
oven is hot. 
Gluten free pineapple upside down cake 
 yummmm.... 
Meal 2 ... chicken (from baked extras cut into chunks) and added to 
noodles tossed with olive oil, fresh tomato or tomatillos, parmesan 
cheese and maybe grilled onions.. kind of a mix what veggies will work 
with noodles and chicken night
Meal 3 ... 
wilted spinach and fish grilled in tin or baked in 
parchment paper with some green onions fro mexipack and fresh garlic 
from mexi packwith lemon from mexipack 
Meal 4 ...
Cheesy Sausage Zucchini Casserole (swapping in grey squash 
for the zucchini and will probably use real cheese not processed depending 
on what is on hand) 
Or I might do 
stuffed zucchini. modifying this recipe to use what I 
have on hand. and also to make it gluten free. I have a few slices of old udi bread I will throw on the counter chopped up in the a.m. and let it dry out to use later in the day. and possibly instead of spaghetti sauce use some canned tomatoes I canned last summer and blend it smooth and add oregano and spices. 
Canning plans...
I love to can. And there is a bag of pears. So I am thinking I should 
look for a recipe for these. I find pears very easy to work with 
canning. I also have some cranberries left in the freezer that maybe if 
I can I could use those up as well. I made cranberry apple relish and 
my guys totally loved it. so to make two small batches would be good.
kiddo love... This is the week we are back to the marble jar. Giving 
the kiddo the chance to earn extra items and pick up his items. If I 
pick them up, I get his marble. if he does, he gets one of mine. So 
need to be a bit more dilligent in this. Monday we have off for MLK 
day. (My sons comment after learning about Martin Luther King Day and 
the reasons and the history... His comment .. " Well I am glad that is 
all figured out because I really like **." a girl from his class he
thinks is really cool. Me too. I am glad it is figured out to and there were
strong enough folks to stand up for what they believe. 
Crafting plans...
I have a few files that are in conversion state and ready for the qmc. 
also, I am working on files for the sketch challenge, I cut a possibly 
valentines day card for my hubby which needs finished. and I have an 
idea for one for my kiddo. so hopefully finish those up.
Home Happiness.... Fly Lady.. I am not an intense fly lady follower. 
However I like how the house is broken down. I have taken to telling my 
hubby the zones for the week. and I find I work on them a little of the 
time. And he does to. Which is just awesome. So this week is the main 
bathroom and holiday leftovers. We started on the main bathroom already 
on friday. But need to fix a few things and restack the towels for the 
kiddo as they end up in ours. as for holiday leftovers. hmm... we are 
mostly down. so I have to think through this item. I have been trying 
to work on our bedroom a bit each weekend. It seems to get so much 
thrown into it. So will continue on with that. Also, the habit for 
January is Shine Your Sink. My hubby has been pitching in with that 
alot also so I find myself jumping right in with him. if the dishwasher 
is full and clean I want it empty so he can help with the shining. This 
is working great. We recently repainted our kitchen so we are also 
working on putting the trim backup around the windows. I am considering
cutting the vinyl that says. This Kitchen is Seasoned with Love. But 
havent sold myself on it. I thought it might add a touch of me to the 
space. 
Quote I saw that I really liked.. "Most people never run far enough on 
their first wind to find out if they've got a second. Give your dreams 
all you've got and you'll be amazed at the energy that comes out of 
you." - William James
Well for now that is my ramblings. Talk to you soon. Have a fantastic 
Monday! and a mahvelous rest of the week!
Enjoy!
Chris
Chris Durnan, designer at www.visualdesignsbychris.com GSD KNK WPC AI SCUT SVG files for your personal digital cutters for use with scrapbooking, cardmaking and other hobbies. Whatever your creative mind can come up with! 
My files work on many machines. Some of them are: Klik-n-kut, Pazzle, Wishblade, Silhouette, Cricut, Craft Robo. Some of the software involved with these machines are: Funtime, Scrapbooking, WinPC/Signlab, Inkscape, Create & Cut, Illustrator, KNK Studio, Robomaster, DesignMaster and the list goes on..... Enjoy! 
And our cutter file "freebies" are kept in the forum. We add to them as we can.