Little Stuff of Life is 2!

That's right! It's been 2 years since my very first post here at LSL!

And ya know what I was thinking? This isn't just about this blog or me being long-winded enough to keep yakking for two years. It's about you. No, really. Why would LSL have existed this long if it weren't for you stopping by, reading, commenting, contributing.


So I wanna make today about you!

I would lovelovelove it if every single person stopping by this week - even if it's your first time here - would also comment on this post. Kind of like we're all at a big party, and you're mixing and mingling.

Some options:

• Tell us your favorite LSL post(s), if you have any.
• Say who you are (I know, but does everyone know?)
• If you're shy/busy/whatever, you can totally just say "hi" and leave it at that.
  

The point is at least to make an appearance - and have fun seeing who else has been hanging around.

So grab a party hat and introduce yourself!

****

Photo by cdw0107.

On the menu: change

This week it's back to menu planning. And, as usual, back to plans changing before we even get started.

Tuesday my parents are going out of town, and my brother is moving to Flagstaff (three hours north of here), so it was decided that Monday we're all going out to eat. Probably to Serrano's, which is quite possibly our family's favorite Arizona Mexican food.

So here was plan A:


Here is the revised plan:

• Monday - (eat out w/ fam)
• Tuesday - 7-bean soup (with a little bit o' chicken sausage)
• Wednesday - tuna casserole and spinach salad
  
• Thursday - chicken sausage, potatoes and onions with applesauce
• Friday - spaghetti with red sauce
• Saturday - (Independence Day partying)

I don't think I told you that when I finally got around to making that "Hearty Tuna Casserole" (the one with the zucchini and no peas), it was really good. So I'm making it again. It'll help use up all these green onions. We'll pretty much be having green onions on everything except our cereal this week, since I already had extra and will inherit more when the parents leave town. Got any other good green onion recipes?

Let me know. And post your plan at Chive Talkin'!

The one where I get all old skool

I wasn't supposed to have Barbies as a kid. Instead, I had the Sunshines - a very sweet, wholesome, approximately Barbie-sized (but much more realistically-proportioned) family of dolls.


It was my Granddaddy, Mom's own father, who (probably unknowingly) went against her wishes and bought me for-real Barbies for my birthday. What could Mom do but grin, and let me welcome them into the Sunshine family?

I'm pretty sure my parents were similarly un-thrilled when Granddaddy decided that Michael Jackson doll clothes would be the perfect Christmas gift for me. But what could they do but help me write a thank-you note and sigh as I struggled to pull a single sparkly white glove (more of a mitten actually) over Crystal Barbie's built-in ring?


I was excited about the clothes, though. My older cousins had introduced me to Michael Jackson, and I thought he was pretty cool. So I happily dressed those formerly-contraband Barbies in red and black (fake) leather pants and jackets with all these extra zippers that didn't actually open, even though everything was just slightly too big for them.

In recent years, I haven't been a fan of Michael Jackson. Or Barbie for that matter. But scanning the radio stations in the car yesterday made me smile. When you look back at history, things aren't always so black or white. Remember the time before all the controversy? Before Michael Jackson - or the world in general - seemed so dangerous? Watching the Thriller video with my cousins. Trying to moonwalk on the playground. Thinking we were "bad," because we knew that bad meant good.

Those songs brought back happy memories from when I was growing up. At the same time, it made me sad to think that Michael himself didn't have a happy childhood. And neither did a lot of other kids. It made me want to do something. To protect the children, to make a brighter day, to heal the world...as if I'm the one who can do all/any of that. But, really? What can you do?

All I can think of is this: If you wanna make the world a better place, take a look at yourself, and then make a change.

*****

PS Oh yes, you did catch some MJ references in the last half of the post! From the "In recent years" paragraph to the end, there's about a dozen Michael Jackson song references, mostly titles. Find them all and you'll get....well...not a prize exactly...but definitely some survived-the-80s cred! Need a hint?

PPS Not sure where my old toys are, but I found them on Flickr - yay! I'm pretty sure those are the two MJ outfits I had. (Not the dolls, though.)

Photos by:
1) elasticcamel
2) Brimley
3) Sakurako Kitsa

Fitting in car seats

Since we've (kinda) been talking about traveling, I thought you might like to check out this Consumer Reports article about how to safely squeeze three or more kids into the car when some (or all) of them are in car seats.

Here ya go!


*****

Photo by mia3mom.

Oasis

Joshua Tree, California




*****

Photos by the Hubs. | More Wordless Wednesday.

Getting back into the swing of things

Even though I got back from California and hit the ground running business-wise, that never seems to happen with my blog. It always takes me a few days to get a post-trip summary written up and photos sorted and uploaded.

But we're back. It was fun. And I'll tell you more about it soon. In the meantime, we have luggage and laundry and shoes and water bottles strewn about. The inside of the fridge is...roomy. So I'm gonna have to get back to you on the trip thing.

Hope your week is going well!

REPLAY: First Post

Today we're taking a look back and replaying the very first Little Stuff of Life post, which went up almost two years ago. Funny how things change - and don't...

*****


My husband and I have always wanted to have kids, but we weren’t sure when, until my doctor recommended I get allergy shots – and wait at least a year to get pregnant. Having this year-minimum time frame in front of us has made us think more about ways we can prepare and things we’d like to know.

One thing I’ve been meaning to investigate is baby paraphernalia.

Of all the stuff that people claim you need to care for a baby, what’s really useful and what just takes up space, what’s worth doing yourself and what’s better to buy, what’s the best value for the cost…and those kinds of things. I thought that while I was learning, I could blog and share what I’ve learned. I can also post questions I have, and you can share your thoughts. So that’s what I want to focus on. But, just to mix it up, sometimes I’ll also post about other things related to our pre-pre-baby phase – like what I’m reading, how I’m growing my business (related because I’d like it to grow to the point I be a stay-at-home mom), things we do that will be more tricky with kids in tow.

Please check back in with me, and please post your comments. I would love to have some great discussions here! There may not be a lot to comment on with this first post, but please do say hello. It'd be great to know you're out there. :)

Quick Takes: Igniting Phoenix to Dads' Bad Rap

Ok, I'm getting ready to go, so this week's quick takes are gonna be QUICK!

1)
This past week the Hubs and I went to an event called Ignite Phoenix. Ignite is all about sharing information and sparking ideas within a local community. It was entertaining, interesting and I met (and reconnected with) some great people. There are Ignites in other places too. If you have an Ignite event where you live, you should definitely check it! I took a few pics, and there are lots more if you search "ignitephx" on Flickr.

2)
Speaking of things to do, this weekend is the first of those fee-free National Park weekends I told you about. Get outside and explore!


3)
Chanelle and I finally made it to The Coffee Shop - what a neat place! It's surrounded by a garden. And they have such pretty cupcakes! I should've taken pics, but I just didn't.

4)
So I've been doing a lot of talking about thinking about where LSL has been and where it's going. Next week I'm going to start sharing some of that with you. I'm going to have a series of posts that either REPLAY past posts from the archives or RETHINK (out loud) aspects of Little Stuff of Life. So stay tuned!

5)
Had an absolutely lovely dinner with E, Christine, and Christine's mom Rebekah last night. Just...yeah...at a loss for words here, but good times. And Christine is a fablous cook.

6)
Oh! I don't know how I almost forgot this! But I got my hair cut Tuesday. It's...shorter than I asked them to cut it. But ok. You'll definitely see pics next week when I post my California stuff, but I'm gonna hold off for now 'cuz it's kind of outta control today.

7)
Happy Father's Day (a little early) to all the dads! Don't you think dads get a bad rap sometimes? I do. I think this weekend is a good time to say something encouraging to the good dads you know.


So that's it. My very quick takes. But wait! there's more! over at Conversion Diary!

How much money do you save with cloth diapers?

The other day my dad called me up and said he'd heard you could save $7000 by using cloth diapers rather than disposable ones. (Someone had told a co-worker that he was going to save that amount.)

So he was asking, "Does that sound right to you?"

Because I had woken up only a few minutes before and because I remembered reading that you could save some large sum of money by using cloth diapers instead of disposable ones, I said...

"Sure."

"Really?!!"

"Maybe. I'll look it up and get back to you."


So I checked out a few different sources, and here are the numbers I found...

• "Diapers, Diapers & More Diapers" on The New Parents Guide says, "disposable diapers will run approximately $50 to $80 per month" If you have the kid in diapers 2.5 years , that's $1500-2400 you're spending. (Can't save $7000 if you're spending less than that.)
• In their "Costs of Having a Baby" article, Justmommies.com estimates $60 a month for "diapers." (I'm guessing they mean paper ones, since they don't specify.) That's still within the range above.
• Summer Minor's estimate was a bit higher, "Costs for disposable diapers average at about $2,000 to $3,000 per child, yet a good cloth diaper stash can be put together for around $500."
• Heather of Me and My Boys estimated she would save about $400 per child by switching to cloth.
• Finally, I checked to see if there was anything on Consumer Reports. Yep. They say, "You can expect to spend $1,500 to $2,000 or more on disposables by the time your baby is out of them."
  

The sources agree that...
a) diapers are expensive.
b) cloth diapers are a lot less expensive when all's said and done.

And, if you go with Summer's numbers (above) and you have at least three kids, you could save $7000 by the time they're all potty trained.

But saving $7000 per child? Unless you're switching from gold-coated diapers to cloth, I'm thinking not.

*****

Photos: 1) by Bethany L King 2) by Lance McCord

Digital Switchover Casualties

*****
Photo by The Hubs. | More Wordless Wednesday.

Can we build it? (This is the part where you say, "Yes, we can!")

Looking for a fun summer project? If you have kids between the ages of 4 and 17, you should check out the SKIL Building Memories Contest. ("SKIL" because it's sponsored by SKIL Power Tools - and Lowe's. Not because you have mad skilz. Although I'm sure you do.) Anyway, I think it sounds like a neat idea. It's a little inspiration to get parents and kids working on a hands-on project together.

Here's what you do:

• Sit your kiddo(s) down by the computer with you.
  
• Go to www.skilbuildingmemories.com.
• Pick out a building project - there are four different ones, categorized by age.
• Click on "download project plans" to get a handy (but not totally printer-friendly) PDF that has a checklist of the tools and materials you need, plus directions of how to make the game or birdhouse or whatever you picked.
• Take said kiddo to the hardware store to pick up anything you don't already have around the house. (Guess which hardware store they suggest. Yep. But the rules don't say you have to buy your stuff at Lowe's. I checked.)
• Designate a photographer or videographer to document the process. (You could do this yourself - after all, you have mad skilz. But you don't want to forget to take pics or be too distracted from the task at hand.)
  
• Have fun building your project together and try not to hammer any little fingers!
  
• Enter the contest.
• Win the contest! And share your prize with me 'cuz I told you about it! (Kidding.)
  

For dads who are into building stuff, this could be a really fun thing to do on Father's Day. Or maybe afterwards. The contest goes until July 12. You could also just download the plans, save them for the next time you want to do a project with your kids, and not worry about the contest/deadline. Either way, have fun!

****

Photo by 1) pmsyyz

On the menu: Outta here

Hopefully, I don't get kicked out of the Chive Talkin' Menu Plan Blog Roll for this one. It's barely even half a menu plan 'cuz we're getting ready to go out of town. But here's what I got.

Actually, first I have something exciting to tell you. (I've kinda been using that word - "exciting" - too much lately. Sorry. Easily amused, I guess.)

Anyway. My mom found the coolest little menu planner pad with a magnet on the back AND a matching grocery list pad! How cute are these?!?


So, my menu-plannin' pals, we have upgraded to writing on the front of the (very cute) page - instead of on the back.



This week:

• Monday - this tuna casserole
  
• Tuesday - Sloppy Joes on whole wheat buns with corn
• Wednesday - dinner at Christine and E's
  
• Thursday - stir fry with pork and leftover veggies over rice
• Friday - dinner out. (Waaaay out!)
  

Would you believe that I never got around to making the tuna casserole that I had on my menu plan for a couple weeks? I either didn't have the (baking) time or the ingredients. Now, however, I have everything in my fridge. I'm typing this post on Sunday and planning to put it together later on, so I can just throw it in the oven Monday evening.

This week's plan is mostly about stuff with little-to-no prep time and using up what's in the fridge. For more inspiring menu plans than this one, visit the Chive Talkin' Menu Plan Blog Roll.

Quick Takes: heroic poets to free parking

1)
A big thanks to heroic epic poets Megan@SortaCrunchy and Noteverstill! Thanks, also, to everyone who stopped by, read and commented. (Looks like there was even a last-minute entry from Noteverstill's "Gramps"!)

2)
The next Perfectly Poetical Tuesday is July 14. (Details here.) Holler in the comments if you want to be on the email reminder list.

3)
Ended up being too bogged down by a work project to get coffee with Chanelle last week, so no Coffee Shop reviews for you yet. We'll try again next week.

4)
If you homeschool or have school-aged kids, check out this giveaway of A Child's Geography: Explore His Earth by Ann Voskamp (who you may know from Holy Experience). I haven't read it, but I've heard great things about it and it looks amazing. And if you're interested in homeschooling in general, there are a series of guest posts going up on the topic over at SortaCrunchy.

5)
Remember how last May we went out to the Orange County (CA) area for my cousin Ally's graduation? Since then, she got married! She had a little teeny wedding, but the BIG celebration is next week! So we've got another California road trip in the works! Hopefully, we can avoid $4 gas this time.

6)
I have to say I'm excited about the new birthday cards I designed.

7)
And I'm really excited about the free National Park weekends! I think we should go to a National Park each of the weekends. Since we'll be going to California during one of them, we'll have even more options. Fun stuff!


What are your Quick Takes on the week? Share them and then link up at Conversion Diary.

Deals on fun stuff to do this summer

Three great deals this summer:

• National Park Fee-Free Weekends - During three weekends this summer (6/20-21, 7/18-19, 8/15-16), you will be able to get into many U.S. National Parks free! Visit the NPS website for a list of participating parks.
• Movies for Kids - Harkins Theaters showing a different children's movie each week. Admission is $2 per person. (Adults and children, but they won't let you in without a kiddo.) If you're going to at least four movies, you can buy "season tickets" for only $7. Is there a Harkins near you?
• Culture Pass - This is a great thing where you can check out a pass from your library for free admission to museums and other sources of local culture. I know that Phoenix isn't the only place that has it, but I couldn't find a central Culture Pass website. So check with your local library. If they don't offer it, whine until they do.

Local to the Phoenix, AZ area:

Sunsplash - I had heard something about a deal for water park admission on Friday nights. Here's the scoop:

• Regular admission = $26.00 ($19.50 if you're under 48" tall)
• Evening Admission (after 4pm) = $19.00 (cannot be combined with any coupons)
• Night Splash Friday and Saturday (7pm to 11pm) = $15.00

Not exactly a freebie, but going in the evening will save you some money - and a sunburn.

Museums - Besides Culture Pass freebies, here are three more Valley museums with free admission times:

• Heard Museum - 3rd Friday of the month, 5:30-9pm
  
• Phoenix Art Museum - every Wednesday, 3-9pm and the 1st Friday of the month, 6-10pm (voluntary donations accepted)
• Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art - every Thursday

Desert wildlife

*****

Photos by the Hubs and I. | More Wordless Wednesday.

The Epic Battle of the Swimsuit

My poem for this month's Perfectly Poetical Tuesday....

The Epic Battle of the Swimsuit

Watching, waiting, finally facing her fearsome foe
Thinking back on the quest that started weeks ago
Our hero saw summer catalogs and without hesitation
Began the first step in her journey: procrastination

She waited a month and then waited some more
At last, she gathered her strength and went to the store
Trudged through the forest of shirts and shorts and slacks
Past swamps of scarves and ties with slides and tacks

She caught her breath as she reached a clearing
Felt the tension grow as her goal she was nearing
Then, from above, she saw a sign she was there
It was brilliant and red and it said "Swimwear"

The enemy crouched motionless, waiting to attack
She surveyed them silently - there was no turning back
She spied surly one-pieces and snickering bikinis
Treacherous separates and deceitful tankinis

The sight of them all was a dread to behold
But there was no time to waste; she had to be bold
One swift sweep of her hand and metal clashed
Colors flashed as hangers flew across the rack

Nothing escaped the eyes or the reach of our hero
Whose battle cry was "Honestly? Who wears size zero?!"
She worked quickly, eliminating suits too big or too small
Too skimpy, too skanky, too gaudy or just not right at all

In the end, it came down to our hero and One
And she knew the real battle had not yet begun
The next fight would put the whole quest in danger of doom
The most perilous part (ladies, you know) is the dressing room

But before she could face the opponent she chose
A voice from the sky said, "5 minutes til close"
Her purchase was made and carried to her domain
Now our hero had an advantage; this was her terrain

After dinner, she decided just to face it and fight it
Without further delay, she shed her armor and tried it
It fit! But, somehow, the day didn't seem victorious
The sight of her reflection made her feel un-glorious

Surveying the damage, our hero simply let out a sigh
Repented chocolate consumption and lamented each thigh
Now, it was no longer the suit which filled her with dread
It was catalog models that mocked her from her head

She wished she looked different - tall and tan and skinny
What's a girl to do against an army of so many?

Just when defeat was starting to loom
The love of her life entered the room
Passing by, he said only "Looks great, hon!"
And then she knew the battle was already won.


****
Photo by Underpuppy.

Perfectly Poetical: (Mini) Epic

Welcome to Perfectly Poetical Tuesday (PerPoTues)!

This month's style: Epic - but I'm using the term (verrrry) loosely. We could even call these poems "mini-epics."

1. Write a rhyming tale of bravery/adventure/etc. that's at least six lines.
2. Post it on your blog with a link back here.
3. Stop back by, link up and post a comment. (If you don't blog, you can post your whole poem in the comments.)

Next month's style: Quatrain
For our purposes, 4 lines that rhyme. (ABAB, AABB, AAAA - Check out Wikipedia for more information on rhyme scheme, but don't sweat the details. This is for fun!)

Mark your calendar! The next Perfectly Poetical Tuesday will be July 14. If you want an email reminder (and you didn't receive one this time around), just let me know!

In the meantime, what does your life's poem say?

(My mini-epic will be up later on today.)

On the menu: super simple

I know I've been talking about being into simpler meals, but this week we really need to go basic. It's gonna be busy. I want to spend as little time on food prep as we can get away with - without resorting to prepackaged or fast food (hopefully).

Here's what I'm thinking:

• Monday - Rodeo Stew ('member? I froze some!)
• Tuesday - Chanelle's macaroni and cheese - only I think I'll throw in some pepparoni (leftover from our amazing pita pizzas), which will un-vegetarianize it, but oh well.
• Wednesday - Asian country-style ribs, mashed potatoes, zucchini
• Thursday - lentil stew (already made by the Hubs)
• Friday - stir fry with leftover pork, veggies, rice
  

If you're thinking, "that's a lotta stew-y stuff for June!" All I can say is "yep." Most of it is already made, and I can throw it in the crockpot or the microwave (so I'm neither standing over a hot stove or turning on the oven and heating up the entire kitchen/dining room area). It's easy. It's healthy. I can only factor in so many things, and seasonal appropriateness is not high on the list this week.

Moving on.

I wanna tell you about last week's pita pizzas:

Mom read last Monday's menu, and then let me know that she had pepperoni to contribute to our pita pizza cause. (Yay for Moms! And for online menu plans!) So she brought some over. Seriously, it made the pizzas. We did one round of pizzas with this red veggie sauce, pepperoni, tomatoes, Monterrey jack cheese and some parsley. And it was supergood.

Then we made another one to split and decided to do it Mexican style with leftover refried beans, chunky salsa, leftover chicken (which the hubs had made a southwest marinade for and grilled earlier in the week), cheddar and more Monterrey jack. Good stuff!

Speaking of good stuff, check out all this week's menu plans at Jenna's Chive Talkin' Menu Plan Blogroll.

*****

P.S. Don't forget tomorrow is epic poem day! My PerPoTues post should be up at midnight.

Photos by me.

Quick Takes: free to funny

My 7 quick takes on this week....


Free stuff is so much fun! I'm thinkin' it's kind of addictive, too. After the Hubs and I got our free rootbeer floats at Sonic, I must've been hungry for more. I say this because my mom called to see if I wanted to get up and go wait in line with her for free Chitty Chitty Bang Bang tickets, I agreed without question. We had fun hanging out, though, and I'll let you know how the show goes.



Good week for exploring new coffee places! After Mom and I scored the above mentioned free tickets, she took me to try the Human Bean. It was a cute little place with good coffee and a delicious blueberry scone (not too sweet - perfect!), and then....

...today I'm meeting Chanelle at The Coffee Shop at Agritopia. I've never been there before either, but she loves it!

I know I've referenced the book Guns, Germs and Steel here at least once. It sounds super interesting from what Dad and E (*my brother) say. So Christine (*girlfriend of E) and I are both going to read it now. I fiiiiiinally got my copy from the library. (It was only on hold for a couple weeks, but it seemed like a long time.) I've just barely started it, and he's still kinda setting things up. But I think it's going to be a thought-provoking read.

I'm putting together a t-shirt catalog to showcase the different styles of t-shirts and polos I offer (including some that are not available in my online shop) with quantity discounts for groups, etc. You'll be able to download it from my website once I get the Big Redesign done. In the meantime, if you want one, let me know.

Some of you who get around in the blogosphere know that Mr. Linky has been having server problems. If that last sentence didn't make sense to you, all you need to know is that Mr. Linky is that box where you post your link on Perfectly Poetical Tuesdays, etc. and it's been having technical problems. Anyway, the point is this: whether the little Linky box shows up on Tuesday or not, the show will go on! We'll still have PerPoTues, and you can just leave your link with your comment if there's no where else to put it.


Also? "Write epic poem" is a funny to-do list item.


More Quick Takes at Conversion Diary!

Life changes, but people still get hungry

What does having a baby, a death in the family, a prolonged illness and moving into a new home have in common?If you guessed these are all events that merit friends and family bringing over a casserole, you are correct! (Also, we would have accepted life-changing events.)


Remember how coordinating meals for someone in need used to involve phone lists and lots of calls back and forth? (Or no coordination and three people showing up with chicken surprise on the same night.) Now it tends to involve a million emails littering the accounts of everyone involved. But it doesn't have to.



There are actually a couple of free sites out there, just for this purpose:

• Food Tidings - our church small group (we call them caregroups) used this to coordinate bringing meals to a family with a new baby.
  
• Care Calendar - I haven't used this one personally, but it has a wider focus than just food - including taking care of other practical needs the person/family may have or for coordinating long-term care schedules.
  

If you think the people in your group will be hesitant to log in to a site they're unfamiliar with, send out an Evite that explains the situation and states what nights meals are needed for. Invitees could "RSVP" with the day they'll bring a meal and what they're planning on bringing.

This isn't as streamlined of a system, but most people have used Evite, and it beats all those back-and-forth emails.

In the garden now

*****

Photos by me. | More Wordless Wednesday.

June

It's June. That means...

• Some people are thinking weddings (June brides and all that).
• Most of the schools are out.
• It's hot here.
• It's been almost two years since The Little Stuff of Life began.

Realizing that last one has put me in even more of a reflective mood than I was before. So many fragments of thoughts and ideas that I can't quite tie together into posts - yet. But it's coming. I'd like to look back a little at where we've been, why I do what I do, and where this thing is going.

I just thought you should know.


****
Photo by me.

On the menu: back in the kitchen again

Like I said, I didn't do a menu plan post last week, because I didn't get it done early enough. But, it's just as well, because I didn't cook a full meal for most of the week.

The recap:


Monday, we had dinner at our friends' house, so all I did was pick up some bread and bake brownies. Tuesday we went out with my family. Wednesday we had caregroup, so Hubs suggested I heat up some leftover pasta for a quick and easy meal beforehand, which, of course, was fine with me! Thursday I was tired and popped a frozen pizza in the oven. Friday, I finally cooked and made a big batch of Rodeo stew (have we discussed Rodeo Stew yet?) (it's reeeally easy), so I'd have extra to freeze for the next too-tired-to-cook night. The Hubs cooked on Saturday. Last night I made fried rice and felt very on top of things, because I made extra rice and chopped started chopping the onions for tonight.


This week:


I'm getting back in the kitchen, but still stickin' with simple. And some of it I don't quite have figured out yet, but here's the basic idea...

• Monday - spicy beans and rice from BHG New Cook Book (yes, I'm on a beans and rice kick, but this is a new recipe!) with corn
  
• Tuesday - Hubs will be grilling chicken. Marinade and sides TBD.
• Wednesday - putting a roast in the crockpot, green beans and mashed potatoes on the side.
• Thursday - going to whip up something with the rest of Tuesday's grilled chicken (if we do an Asian marinade, I'll make stir fry)
• Friday - pita pizzas with chunky vegetable tomato sauce and whatever toppings we feel like (and can find in the fridge)

And that's where we're at for this week's meal plan! What's on your menu this week? Join in the menu planning fun at the Chive Talkin' Menu Plan Blog Roll!

****

Photo by me.