meal planning 10.30 - 11.15

sunday
...we ate out both meals...oops...

monday
reuben soup
(a recipe i am putting together...will post if it works! :D)

tuesday
bbq cheddar pitas
(a recipe that anthony found that looks pretty yummy!  we're not changing it, so no reason to wait to post my version...)

wednesday
taco mac
(one of my easy, go-to, throw it all together comfort food recipes...i can post it here if anyone wants it, but it's embarrassingly simple)

thursday
pizza pot pies 
(we are having friends over, so vegan version for at least a few of them!)

friday-monday of next week
i'm doing a weekend babysitting gig, so anthony is on his own :-)  there's plenty in the pantry for him to make, and he'll come over saturday and sunday to hang out so we'll eat their food :-)  yay for a lower grocery bill?

it's a great day to update my work wardrobe (cheaply)

on this lazy saturday i slept later

and lounged for hours catching up on my dvr

while my husband watched the end game of the world series upstairs

(he's actually in inning 3 at the moment.

whatever you do...

do NOT tell him what happens!)

(i already know)

in about an hour

natasha and mandy are coming for lunch

and then we will head super target

because i have very little clothing that i am currently loving for work

and there's 50% and 75% off racks at target

i can build something from that :-)

after that, natasha and i are going to the 1.50 theater

(conveniently about 2 miles from my house)

and we'll watch crazy stupid love

and then we'll come back to the house

where we will cook dinner for the guys my husband will be playing poker with

just a normal saturday, really

but at the end of the day

when everyone else leaves

anthony doesn't have to 

:D

it's been 3 weeks...

and i'm LOVING it.

have a wonderful weekend everyone!

gloomy day or not...

maybe next week i'll get back to normal posting


because i WANT to


i have recipes (so many recipes!) for you to try
thursday's ten lists brimming with ideas and fun stuff
wedding details to share with those who couldn't be there
our penny-pinching
random thoughts, as per usual
stories of my faith growing
updates about the amazing ways God continues to work in our lives
things that are changing, things that are improving


but today
i am at work, first of all
and it is rainy
and gloomy


i refuse to be gloomy too
because bottom line?


Papa is good.


Romans 8.14-17 


For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves.  Instead, you received God's Spirit when he adopted you as his own children.  Now we call him, "Abba, Father."  For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God's children. ;And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God's glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering
(NLT)


This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It's adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike "What's next, Papa?" God's Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who he is, and we know who we are: Father and children. And we know we are going to get what's coming to us—an unbelievable inheritance! We go through exactly what Christ goes through. If we go through the hard times with him, then we're certainly going to go through the good times with him.
(the Message)
isn't that good news for a gloomy friday? or any other day of the week? :-)

(healthier) recipe of the week: black pepper chicken

so.  i made this up on the fly after finding a whole lot of black pepper chicken recipes with unnecessary ingredients in them...or WITHOUT black pepper.  um, hello?

so, this is all kind of thrown together.  there were three of us eating, so i only used 6 chicken breast tenderloins.  i'd say a good rule of thumb is to have 2 tenderloins per person.  SO, i'll pretend that there were 8 tenderloins and say that the recipe makes 4 servings ;-)

black pepper chicken

8 boneless skinless chicken tenderloins

1 red onion, halved and sliced thinly

1/2 green bell pepper, sliced thinly

3 large or 4 regular scallions, chopped

black pepper to taste (*generous helping though)

soy sauce to taste

sesame oil for skillet

cooked rice to serve over 

marinate the chicken in soy sauce (i added gyoza sauce to this mix)

add red onion slices to oil in skillet

followed by bell peppers

and green onions

and finally a generous amount of freshly cracked black pepper

cook mixture down for a few minutes (5-8)

cube marinated chicken

and add to mixture

add in soy sauce for flavoring 

(i used it pretty sparingly so that it was lighter and you could taste the pepper)

cook until chicken is fully cooked and then serve over rice.

meal plan 10.23 - 10.30

it's easy food again this week, as my hours at work have changed, he's working lots of overtime, and we're in a bit of a money crunch from the week of not working for both of us!  between not having much time or money to spare, well, there aren't a whole lot of fancy meals on our agenda.

sunday:
we actually eat at two different houses today for lunch and dinner...so yay free food? :-)

monday
meatball subs

tuesday
hamburger helper (no judging, please)

wednesday
spanakopita (new recipe, will post later)

thursday
pizza night -- we're getting it out this week.  last week was pizza pot pies.

friday
potato leek soup (new recipe, will post later)

saturday
lunch - pigs in a blanket and mac & cheese
dinner - he's having a guys night while i do an overnight babysitting gig, which likely means leftovers or something quick and easy for both of us.

it's a great day to reappear

if i posted a wordle today it would look very much like my last post
because that was 2 weeks ago!

i cannot believe that i've been married for 2 weeks
it's been wonderful
in some ways feels longer than 2 weeks
in others, shorter

i get to share life with the most wonderful man...forever.  it's amazing, terrifying, wonderful and crazy all at once.  :-)

i'll post a few pictures and then sign off for the weekend, but i promise i'll give you details soon...in stages.  no overwhelming posts!

during the ceremony -- it was the perfect weather, perfect day.  which i kept telling people would happen -- Papa and i had an agreement! :D

individual pics

after THE kiss

our photographer was amazing.  you'll see as i post all the details of the day...seriously!

 my girls and i (minus one who fell sick the day before :( )

 the guys -- one take wonders here!

 us with our crazy wacky wonderful wedding party

and ONE of my favorites of the two of us

have a wonderful weekend!

it's a great day to walk down the aisle

in a matter of a few short hours
this ms will become a mrs
single will be exchanged for married
one ring will be joined by a second...forever

can't begin to describe all the feelings
gratitude for the amazing people we have in our corner
for the blessings of God that continually shower over us

for friends who will come in and take over everything
even the cleaning of the nasty litterbox
and gently remind me that my job at this point is just to enjoy the day

and in 13 hours
i'll be walking down the aisle.

sometime a week from now or so i'll start sharing details from our planning
pictures, etc

but for now
here's the first in a long line of photos you're sure to see
us signing the huge marriage license book yesterday

love to you all
see you...well, not within the next couple of days ;-)

3 in 30: the october edition

that's right, i'm starting back up again :-)  on this first day of october with not *that* much goin gon in my life...ha!

http://3in30.ashleypichea.com/

so here are my 3 goals for the next 30 days

1.  get the house i used to live in (anthony's grandpa's) completely cleared of all my junk.
(there's a fantastic hammock, a few random boxes, some trash...we're working on it an hour at a time, basically)
2.  (gulp) file my taxes since they're due right at the end of the honeymoon...
3.  find a home for every wedding present in a cabinet, display, etc...and give away all items they "replace"

that should definitely keep me busy for the next 30 days, considering there's a wedding and honeymoon in there too!

it's a great day to learn to dance

or, at least learn how to dance better ;-)

our friend brittany is coming for lunch and to show us a few moves other than swaying and shuffling our feet.  which is good.  maybe we'll actually retain some of the knowledge for a week.

(holycrapaweek)

besides that both anthony and i are logging in extra hours at our respective offices, i'm babysitting for sweet finn, and hopefully i'll have time to do a bit of cleaning and straightening up around the house.

hope you have a wonderful weekend!!