Menu on a Tuesday

I hope everyone had a great weekend, and those of you in the states had a lovely Memorial Day weekend and maybe got an extra day off :) We had a jam packed weekend that was 90% fun and 10% unfun but productive, so it was good :) Here are some photos that show a little bit of what we were up to:

After watching the parade in the hub's hometown and having a quick lunch at his parents (the last photo is the view from their house- how awesome, right?) we did yard work and stuff around the house for the rest of the day. I tried a new meal for dinner- calzones based off of this recipe- and made 3 buffalo chicken and 3 chicken mushroom and spinach. Of course I forgot to take a photo, but I think this recipe will be made again. It will be fun to come up with different filling combinations!

Here is what our menu for the rest of the week looks like:

Tuesday: lunch- leftover calzone
dinner- cheesy potato wedges and pineapple (not together!)

Wednesday: lunch- sandwich and apple
dinner- we are trying a new restaurant! Toro Tapas Bar

Thursday: lunch- either leftovers or a wrap
dinner- the taco salad that hubs fell in love with from the other week

Friday: lunch- whatever I throw together :)
dinner- jumbo salads

Tomorrow I will finally have some knitting progress on a new project!

Beginnings and Endings

The past weekend was crazy busy, but really fun. So that this post isn't miles long, I'll recap by saying that went to a fire at a friends house, graduated, celebrated another friend's birthday, had my graduation party, and visited with some family. I'm really blessed to have close family and friends that have encouraged me while I finished school, and celebrated with me when I was done!

(I am in this picture, but even I had a hard time picking me out!)

This week, while the first week not going to classes, is still crazy busy! Tonight after work I'm going to my dad's softball game, tomorrow the hubs works late, Wednesday we have plans with friends, Thursday is another late work night for the hubs, Friday will be a big day of shopping to catch up on all the random stuff we have needed for weeks but havent had time to get, and Saturday I have a Thirty-One party I'm going to.

This is the new normal for us. Slightly crazy work schedules, but more time to get random house errands done, more time for friends, and hopefully more time with each other as well. It is also very summer-like here, and it was so nice to be outside for my graduation party. I even got a bit sunburned on my shoulders, which I am totally ok with as it means the nice weather is here to stay!

Our menu this week:

Monday: leftovers from the graduation party for lunch and dinner!

Tuesday: lunch- sandwiches and carrots

Dinner- burgers

Wednesday: lunch- tuna salad and crackers

Dinner- lightened up chicken enchiladas

Thursday: lunch- sandwich and an apple

Dinner- leftovers

Friday: lunch- eat out!

Dinner: homemade calzones

Whew!

Posting has been a bit sporadic, and I know I mentioned that it might be, but to be honest I had hoped to stay on my schedule of three times a week. Ha. But I finally turned in my last final yesterday! Graduation rehearsal is today, and tomorrow I will be officially graduated with my Bachelors!

I thought I would make this a bit of a catch up post since I missed both Monday and Wednesday. Surprisingly, I did sort of have a menu plan for the week, it just never made it on the blog :) We tried a new recipe this week- Taco Salad. A relative used to make a similar recipe for every family function when I was younger, and I was really hoping this was it! It didn't taste exactly the same to me, but it was similar and good, so it's a win!

Last night's dinner was pretty good too. Pasta with salmon and garlic white sauce- simple but yummy. 

We also had small salads, but those don't look nearly as good! 

The knitting is coming along slowly. I have a project that is for a friend that I would really like to have done for Saturday, but there's still a lot of knitting to do. However, the exciting fibery thing that happened this week was that I got my wheel!

I have been saving for and researching wheels for about six months now, and decided that it would be a perfect graduation gift to myself. I was careful to order it as close to graduation as I could because I didn't want to procrastinate on my finals by playing with my wheel :)

After researching and going into a LYS to try out a few wheels, I decided on a Sidekick. I ordered my wheel form the Woolery, and not only did they have a good price, their shipping was fast! My wheel came from Kentucky in 2 days. 

By the time the wheel got here I already knew what I wanted to spin on it first. Last year for my birthday I ordered some yarn and fiber, and one of the things I got was some Finn wool from Pacasha in the Rosmerta colorway. I figured the wool would be good to get used to the wheel with because it has a long staple length. I spun up one bobbin between Wednesday and yesterday, and started the second 2oz last night. I love it!

Just a couple of pins to share because I know this post is starting to get long :)

This recipe is one of those things that is super simple, but looks so good! Skillet veggies on cheese toast. We might roast or grill our veggies though!

This Beef and Noodle salad just looks so fresh!

I came across a few picture of bedrooms that I really like the looks of. Maybe if we move (or stay here long enough) I will use one for inspiration to redo ours!

Well that's its for today! Here's hoping things go back to the regular schedule, maybe with a few additions? Who knows :)

Friday Pinterest Finds

Even though it was forecasted to be a very rainy next few days, the sun is out for now, so yay! I finished my last class Thursday and will be doing essays and finals until next weekend. So, somewhat quickly, I wanted to share my Pinterest finds!

Crayon Art- I'm not artistic, but I think I could do this!

Cookies and cream cupcakes... for when I want to indulge :)

I wish!

This Taco Salad reminds me of a dish that used to appear at a lot of family functions

This penne dish looks good, only we would omit the sun dried tomatoes. 

Calzones are a fun way to use up leftovers! Bonus- freeze for later.

This chimichanga recipe only feeds my obsession with mexican flavors :)

WIP Wednesday

I made it through yesterday, and half of the big projects that are due this week for school, so yay! I'm taking a quick break to share my knitting progress, my planned knitting, and some reading progress with you. I'm hoping that the first Wednesday I will share what my plans for the month are. I think its a good way to keep myself organized and accountable!

I haven't had a ton of knitting time, so the ruffly scarf looks almost exactly the same, and I didn't take a new photo. I have worked a bit on the stripey socks though, and I hope these will be done soon!

If you look closely you can see the light green stripe in the dark green at the very top of the second sock near my needles. That's my afterthought heel line, so not too much more to go!

I have four projects that I plan to start in May, but only three are patterns I can really share. The fourth is a crazy-requested-by-my-husband-self-designed-monstrosity that will have to wait for another post :)

The first thing I plan to cast on is the Monkey pattern by Cookie A.

I'll be using my Knit Picks Stroll Multi (which is now discontinued) in the Cupcake colorway.

As evidenced by the date on this photo, I've had this yarn for a while! Yay for using old stash.

The next pattern is the Spa Day facecloth.

I've been meaning to make more washcloths, some for me to use on my face and some for the kitchen. For these I plan on using some Lilac Knit Picks CotLin that has been hanging around.

The last pattern is the Chunky Crochet Basket. I think this will be great to carry knitting stuff from the upstairs office downstairs and for storage.

This is the project I am most nervous about because my crochet skills are abysmal. Still, I really want the finished project, so hopefully that motivates me to push through! I'll be using some Knit Picks Wool of the Andes doubled for this.

Wow, all Knit Picks yarns! I promise, I own other brands ;) It just so happens that I have a lot of Knit Picks old stash that I am trying to use.

Lastly, I finished two books this week. One of them I didn't read every single page, since it was a book for school, but I finished the part we were required to read and, to be honest, I don't ever see myself reading it more for fun, so in my book I consider it read!

This book, however, was pretty interesting and I'm debating keeping it. Maybe not. Who knows! If you are interested in the Vietnam War, it is definitely worth checking out. Lots of documents addressing all different sides and parts of the war.

The other one, like I mentioned, was just so so. However, it did have some good info for the paper I just finished, so yay!

My currently-reading book list is still super long, but as my classes finish up it should be a more manageable length and I hope to start sharing what books are in progress as well!

This post is linked up with Ginny's Yarn Along

Weekend Recap and Menu Monday

Hi Friends! This past weekend was jam packed with all kinds of stuff, and I actually remembered to take photos of some of it. Go me!

Friday night the hubs had signed us up for a fun night at the middle school he is student teaching at. We headed out early and decided we wanted to eat at a local restaurant, and after reviewing our choices we ended up at EBC in Fredonia, NY. Ellicottville Brewing Company is a micro brewery with their own line of beers and they also have two restaurants, one in Ellicottville and the one in Fredonia we went to Friday.

The food was great, and we got there pretty early so there was no wait! This restaurant is pretty neat- it has a rustic-yet-polished look. Here is a shot of the upstairs where we were seated:

The food really impressed me. We went a little out of our comfort zones and ordered the pork flautas for an appetizer. These babies were good! So good in fact that we ate most of them before I remembered to take a picture :)

The hubs wasn't a big fan of the salsa verde on top, but I loved it! I ended up ordering a salad with goat cheese, chicken, and dried cranberries:

Full disclosure- I ate about a third of the salad before remembering to take a photo, so I smoothed it back over the plate to look untouched ;) The hubs got a coffee rubbed steak and that was really good too!

I would highly recommend this place, so if you find yourself in Western NY look it up! After the school event we went to Point Gratiot and caught the sunset:

Saturday was a really random day. After taking care of some stuff in the morning we ended up running a few errands which included wandering into an antiques store and shopping around for a push mower. We didn't find a mower we liked, so our lawn still looks like a jungle. I'm going to have to borrow my parents lawn mower to mow it!

Sunday was mostly a work day on homework/lesson plans. We did go to a friends house to watch Django- the hubs has been waiting forever to see this! I do not recommend it if you don't like gory movies- it has some pretty unrealistic gun fights. However it was an interesting storyline. 

This week the menu is going to be pretty low key- its my last super busy week of school!

Monday- stuffed burritos

Tuesday- pack/eat out

Wednesday- not sure yet- wild card!

Thursday- polska kielbasa and potatoes

Friday- something quick! I might be going to a Stampin Up party

The hubs wont be around this weekend so I'm hoping to try one of my recipes I have saved that I know he wont like. I'll have to report back if I make one!

Friday Pinterest Finds

Surprisingly I don't have an overwhelming amount of pins for you this week even though I didn't post last week. Just goes to show how busy things have been I suppose!

First is a simple meal that I could see myself eating when the hubs isn't home: Rice and Bean Casserole with Guacamole

And this is a meal I would have to eat WITH the hubs, because he would not want to miss these! Cheeseburgers with sautéed mushrooms, arugula (maybe we would sub in spinach?) and dijon aioli. 

This is a recipe I've had sitting in my Kraft Recipes box that I moved on over to Pinterest- Cappuccino Chocolate-swirl Cheesecake bars.

I thought this was the cutest idea. In kindergarten  buy a large tee shirt and add their graduation year. Take a photo every year with the shirt!

I thought this would be a nice item for a baby nursery :)

Mmmmmm Oreo-Peanut butter bites.

This post had some great ideas for prepping ahead to make home cooked meals easier throughout the week. 

I'm a cookie lover, and this recipe for Inside Out Chocolate Chip cookies got my attention! I would probably do peanut butter or chocolate chips instead of white chocolate though.

This weekend is gearing up to be another busy one, but after next week things should start to slow down. My plan is to do lots of homework, knit a little, and enjoy the weather!

WIP Wednesday

I actually have a lot of knitting to share with you this week. April was the month of showers for me- I had two bridal and two baby showers I attended! The second baby shower was Saturday and that's what most of my knitting was for.

Mom and baby got:

A warm striped hat

A pair of socks

And another hat. I think this one if my favorite- the multi color stripes are adorable! It sort of reminds me of an Easter egg :)

The couple isn't finding out the gender before the baby is born, so I tried to keep everything neutral. The second hat might be a tad girly, but honestly most of the baby appropriate yarn I have is very one way or the other. The mom-to-be was delighted with the hand knits though so that's all that matters!

I only have two projects on the needles, and its going to stay that way until the end of the month. First is the pair of stripey socks I'm still plugging away on:

This is an old picture of the first sock, but its about how far I am on the second sock so it works :)

The other project is going to be a gift, and I'm pretty happy with how it is turning out:

At first I was worried because it takes a few inches before the ruffles really start to look normal, but I think the more I knit the better it will look. That's what I'm hoping for anyway!

I also finished two books this week, one school related and one not. The school one wasn't too bad a read- its a source for one of my research papers.

The other one was more enjoyable though :) I started this book a few months back and only read a few chapters before the ebook went back to the library. I checked it out again a few weeks ago and made sure I finished it this time!

I was a little disappointed at first- I was expecting more of a Sherlock Holmes-esque feel to it. Nevertheless, the story was good and kept you interested with multiple characters. If you like crime solving, this might be a good book for you!

This post is linked up with Ginny's Yarn Along