How to Create the Perfect Summer Movie Night

Ahhh. . .the promise of a perfect summer night . . .is there anything better? And now that school is over, and kids' activities have settled down for the summer lull, it's the perfect time to plan some quality relaxing family time, preferably in the outdoors. Thanks to Best Buy for sponsoring this post.

Family Movie Night has long been a winter favorite. When it's too blustery, dark and cold to go out, families hunker down in living rooms and finished basements, pop corn and watch a variety of popular movies and TV shows. Gone are the days of the VCR and even the DVD, replaced by Amazon Prime, Netflix and Hulu! But why should this family time favorite be kept in the cold?? Why not start enjoying your family movie night in the great outdoors this summer?

Easy Overnight Oats: Apple and Cinnamon

Have you tried overnight oats? I resisted this healthy breakfast trend for MONTHS before I finally pulled out my mason jars and got my ingredients together. I've tried several recipes, and have a basic one that works perfectly fine, but last week I stumbled across a yummy fall flavor idea.

For my basic  overnight oats, I use a half cup of oats, a half cup of unsweetened almond milk and a tablespoon of chia seeds. I mix these together in "jelly" size mason jars and put them in the refrigerator overnight. In the morning, I add a scoop of Young Living Spiced Vanilla Pure Protein Complete and a spoonful of frozen berries.

One Little Word 2019

It's that time of the year again. . .time to select a guiding word for the upcoming year. If you've been around the blog for a while, you may know that I have been a follower of this practice since way back in 2008.

Yes, ten years ago, I selected one little word, with inspiration from Ali Edwards. Every fall since then, a word has whispered at my subconscious. Last year's word was "believe." If asked, I will tell you that I am a terrible goal-setter. It isn't that I don't have goals - I do. It's that the act of writing them down and putting them into words terrifies me.

That seems silly, doesn't it? What's the big deal? Goal: I want to lose 10 pounds. Goal: I want to plan menus every week. See, I can actually do it. But those aren't my "real" goals. . .or maybe they are. Perhaps this is one of those things that I make WAY harder than it really needs to be. For that reason, I choose the One Little Word philosophy over the goal-setting, resolution-making philosophy.

5 Things I'm Doing Now to Make the Year Ahead Easier

In case you just met me, I'm a little bit of a planner. I've been called "Type-A", "particular" and yes, even "anal retentive". Truth be told, I probably have a decent amount of un-diagnosed OCD tendencies. But I'm okay with that - planning is my super power.

If planning and setting-up systems isn't YOUR super-power, I've got five easy ways that you can set yourself up for a great year ahead!

Keep Family Traditions, Even When Your Oldest Goes off to College

We are entering a new phase or season of our family life . . . we are about to send our first-born off to college next fall. I can't believe how quickly we got to this point. It seems like only yesterday we were taking him to the zoo and stopping in at our local fire station on a weekly basis.

I began to realize rather quickly that this year would be filled with last "firsts," like the last "first day of school picture" and the last "first fall lacrosse league game," as well as first "firsts," like our first senior portraits and our first college application. Needless to say there are a lot of highs and lows and emotions are running all over the place for all of us.

One of the things I've been thinking about a lot lately are our family traditions and how this shift in our every day will affect those traditions in the year (and years) to come. We aren't sure where he will land at this point, but at least all the schools he's looked at are less than a 3-hour drive away. So I can breathe deeply knowing that unless there's bad weather, he'll be home for the major holidays.

Easy Family Meal Plan 2018 Week 42

Happy Monday meal planners! So sorry I missed last week's meal plan, but I'm back on my game this week, and have four ideas to inspire you. Something new I'm trying in my meal planning is to use up things I have in my refrigerator, rather than buying new food each week, and tossing out so many leftovers.

I don't know about you, but I hate throwing away food. It's like a personal affront when I can't figure out a way to eat something we have on hand. But it's a terrible habit around here that I am trying to curb. On Sunday, for instance, I knew the temperature was going  down and I should make soup. I had leftover Rotisserie Chicken and leftover Rice. I did a quick Pinterest search, and realized I had everything on-hand for this recipe, except for carrots. So I added carrots to my shopping list, and whipped up this easy yummy Chicken and Rice Soup.

Easy Family Meal Plan 2018 Week 40

Welcome back meal planners - sorry I missed last week. What did you end of making for dinner last week? We were going away for the weekend, so I wanted to use up stuff in my refrigerator before we left!

This week kicks off October, and we are finally getting some fall-like weather around here. The kind of weather that makes me think of soups and pot roasts. Do you have a favorite fall meal to make for your family?

We are starting off the week with a night out to dinner to celebrate our oldest's birthday. It's a busy week with school activities, so our meal plan may get shuffled around a bit. Here's what we have planned for this week:

Easy Family Meal Plan 2018 Week 38

Here we go again - it's the third week of September (and back to school) and the third meal plan this fall! If you've been following along and planning your family's meals, leave a comment and let me know! I'd love to hear how it's working out for you and what's working.

I'm still not recipe inspired . . .truth be told, I'd rather have a chef do all the planning and make all the meals. But sadly, for now at least, that's ME. After I got my act together, I came up with this easy plan for this week:

Easy Family Meal Plan 2018 Week 37

Happy Monday meal planners! And a very Happy New Year to those of you who celebrate Rosh Hashanah. Do you have your meal plan for the week all set or are you still on the struggle bus with me?

Yep - I am still on the struggle bus with my meal planning, and we (and by we I mean "I") have a super busy week ahead! This week I am off for a college visit with my oldest on Monday, and then I have our annual fundraiser on Thursday for the non-profit I work with.

Easy Family Meal Plan 2018 Week 36

Well hey there meal planners! So sorry I dropped out this summer . . .I have never done that before, but I lost ALL my meal planning mojo this summer. And can I be honest with you? We ate WAY too much junk and spent WAY too much money! ugh.

So, now I am climbing back up on this horse with all of you, and digging in. I took some time over the weekend to plan out ALL of my September meal ideas. That's right . . .I'm now trying to plan out a month at a time, then fine-tune each week. What do you think??

Here's another change I'm making. I am planning for one Take Out night each week, one Leftover Buffet and one Family meal out. I am committing to paying for outside food only TWICE per week. We got up to as many as 4 times a week this summer. It was ghastly.

I have high hopes for this plan . . .implementing it from now through the end of December and then I will revisit the process for the new year and tweak it where necessary.  So with all that said and done, here is how our first week of September (and back to school for us!) looks.

So Long Summer . . .It's Been Swell!

Wow you guys - I did NOT intend to take the entire summer off from the blog. What started as a meal planning slump, morphed into a writing and planning and "doing" slump. Suddenly, the whole summer slipped by without a post. But I'm back - mostly because I missed you. Yes, YOU.

The whole reason I started a blog 13 years ago (YIKES!), was to connect with people. To reach out to other women and moms that were just like me. Or weren't just like me, but something drew us to each other's story. I still crave that connection. I want to share every single great thing I find with you. I want to inspire you to go back to school, or not stress over your kid's homework, or make something new for dinner. All. The. Things.

And in turn, I want to be inspired BY you . . .I want you to share a part of your life with me, so that my own life is richer for it. Connection. Stories. It's what life is all about.

Easy Family Meal Plan 2018 Week 23

Here we are again . . .the last full week of school (for us) and another weekly meal plan. Happy Monday meal planners! I hope you had a lovely weekend and I hope you are ready to kick this week off feeling organized and on top of your game with a meal plan all ready to go . . .

uhm . . .still need inspiration? No worries, I've put my plan together here for you to take a look at. Don't feel as if you have to follow my meal plan, it's just here to help you get your own ideas going. Sometimes, I get recipe ideas from other meal plans, but sometimes it just helps to look at my own meal planning with a fresh eye.

Easy Family Meal Plan 2018 Week 21

Hello fellow meal planners - welcome back and happy Monday!  I certainly hope that your meal planning efforts are working out better than mine . . .I'm not even sure you could call this a rut - it's like I fell off the wagon into a ditch. But I am trying to dust myself off and get back on the weekly meal planning horse. My sanity needs the return to routine, as well as my wallet.

It's funny, that you always think meal planning will get easier . . .when my kids are older, when my child eats more than four things, when it's not so cold or hot or rainy . . .you know what I've come to realize? Just like with so many other things in this life, there is no perfect time. Just stop shoulding all over yourself and take a step towards your goal.

Plan just ONE meal for the week ahead . . .or two, and do any shopping you need. Write down those two meals in your planner or on your calendar. In two weeks or so, repeat them. WOW - that's 4 meals planned for the month already! Baby steps will get you there . . .trust the process.

Easy Family Meal Plan 2018 Week 19

It's Menu Plan Monday friends! Welcome back for another easy weekly meal plan. I hope you find something that inspires your own meal planning! Not a meal planner? Give it a try - it's a great way to eat healthier and spend less. 

We are coming to the end of our lacrosse season, and very soon our nights will return to their predictability and normal schedule. But in the meantime, I'm trying to keep the fridge full and go with the flow. In fact, I went Live on Facebook today with my three biggest tips for easy meal planning. In an attempt to follow my own rules, here's what we have planned for this week:

Easy Family Meal Plan 2018 Week 18

Welcome back meal planners! Another Monday has rolled around, and we're even at the beginning of a brand new month! Thanks for stopping in, I hope that you find something here to inspire your own meal planning journey.

We are still in lacrosse season around here, with 2 - 5 practices and a 3-4 games each week, between the two boys' teams.  Add in the end of school year activities and it is crazy-town around here! But I do love the longer daylight hours and the warmer weather. I'm ready for the more relaxed summer schedule!

Easy Family Meal Plan 2018 Week 17

Oh hey there meal planner! Did you think I gave up on meal planning? So sorry I've been away the last few weeks . . . life got crazy and my meal plans didn't get much further than my own head. Needless to say, there was more take-out and junk food than I like around here!

I am back on the meal planning wagon so to speak, and getting myself organized for spring and summer ahead. We are still in a very busy season with spring sports and end of school year activities, but our family just operates more efficiently and economically with a meal plan in place!

Easy Family Meal Plan 2018 Week 14

Hello there and happy Monday! It seems spring is off to a slow start here in the Philadelphia suburbs, as we woke up to snow flurries this morning! I hope you are having nicer weather where you live!

Even if the weather outside is frightful, the grocery store is bursting with fresh produce and vivid colors again! It was a breath of fresh air to walk in over the weekend and see all the flowers and fresh produce! Maybe this will inspire me for better meal planning and cooking!

We are in high gear for lacrosse around here and schedules are changing daily thanks to the unpredictable weather! That means my plan is REALLY lose and subject to change any moment! UGH! With that in mind, here's what we have planned for this week:

Easy Family Meal Plan 2018 Week 13

Whoops - looks like I forgot to post last week's meal plan - AGAIN! I apologize to all my faithful readers. We ended up with two more snow days, my husband was stuck at work and we just sort of lived off what in our pantry and refrigerator. Do you ever have weeks like that?

We are entering our busy spring season. While I always feel like Fall is busy, spring is really when things ramp up around here. Both kids play a spring sport in different leagues, plus there are a lot of school activities going on. The longer daylight hours always make me feel as if I have way more time than I actually do . . .and suddenly it's 7:30 and we haven't really eaten a meal yet. Anyone else?

I am trying to make things that can be re-heated and thrown together when it suits everyone. . . since we can't really do a "family meal" before 8pm, and that's too late for us! Do you have any go-to ideas for that? Feel free to share them in the comments or hit me up over on Facebook or Twitter! I am ALWAYS looking for great meal ideas!

Easy Family Meal Plan 2018 Week 11

Happy Monday meal planners . . .sorry for the late in the day posting again! I prepare most of my meal plan on Saturday, but somehow I can't seem to get it up on the blog before Monday evening! My planning process is to plan on Saturday morning, using our upcoming schedule and the weather. Then I have BOTH Saturday and Sunday to pick up anything we may need.

One of the things I dislike about the whole meal planning process is going to different stores. Currently, I buy a majority of my groceries from three stores: Giant, Trader Joe's and Target. How many stores do you shop at?? I'd love to cut it down to one, but I don't really think I can.

Easy Family Meal Plan 2018 Week 10

Happy Monday meal planners! I hope you had a great weekend and are ready to hit the week off running.  There is just something about starting Monday off with a plan, that makes me feel organized and in control of my week. Any one else with me?

I put together this plan over the weekend, before I knew there was going to be more snow this week. In case you live somewhere other than the northeast, we had a wicked nor-easter move through on Friday. Many people are STILL without electricity, just in time for another storm to move through on Wednesday.

But I am over winter and holding strong to my meal plan. Keep your fingers crossed that our grill isn't buried in snow on Thursday!  Last week's winner was the One-Pan Roasted Garlic Potatoes and Sausage. Three out of four of us liked it, which makes it a total win!

Here's what we have planned for this week: