Menu Plan Monday 8/31

Pasta with Homemade Sauce and Garlic bread
Grilled Chicken with Jasmine Rice and Salt Potatoes
Chili with corn chips and corn bread (hash browns for my son)
House Autry Fried Chicken with mac and cheese and/or mashed potatoes
Sandwiches and Car Picnic Dinner
Pizza Hut Pizza
???

Last week went pretty well and we just switched Tuesday and Saturday because I didn't get things done on Thursday to get dinner on the table.  Luckily, there was leftovers and everything so that we could get dinner quickly after being at the pool.

This is our last week with the pool so I know that I need dinners that are easy enough to cook after we go to the pool so that we can eat before it gets too late.  I can't believe that summer is almost over and things going to get even more busy with expected full day virtual schooling.  We are taking the weekend to go see family so that we can drop off some of the things that we have in our house that have been here since the beginning of the year since we have been stuck at home for so long.

We have been working through the different things in the fridge and freezer through the last month but there is still a lot left.  I need to work on the menu plan for September with the inventory that I already took.  I got some of the things into the month but I am still thinking that I need to move things around a little to fit them all in.  We are going to have our first two soup and sandwich dinners to pretend that the weather is getting cooler and because they are easier to start in the morning and have ready for dinner.  Here is hoping that school makes the day easier and not harder to get dinner on the table because I know that it is going to make it harder to go grocery shopping.  How are you dealing with going back to school and how is it affecting meals?

A Dazzle of Diamonds Book Review

I was excited to read Dazzle of Diamonds (Georgia Coast Romance) by Liz Johnson even though it was the third book in the series and I prefer starting at the beginning.  I thought the cover and description had me hooked and ready to find out more.  It was worth starting in the middle of the series so that I could get to read this one.

Penelope Hunter loves her job as the events manager at one of Savannah's premier historic venues--until her ex-fiancé walks into her office with his new bride-to-be. To make matters worse, a scheming social matriarch is intent on seeing Penelope fired, especially if she insists on being seen with Tucker Westbrook.

Since returning from serving two tours in the Middle East, Tucker has built a thriving security company. His work is nearly as stabilizing as his friendship with Penelope, who has been by his side since childhood. But when the lone candidate for county sheriff goads him, Tucker loses his cool and ends up on the ballot--and on the receiving end of a smear campaign claiming the Westbrooks were traitors to the South.

To clear his name, Tucker and Penelope must join forces to find the truth behind a 150-year-old lost treasure. But the more time they spend together, the closer she comes to losing her job--and falling helplessly in love.

Penelope, also called PJ, was working in her dream job as an event planner.  She is trying to make the best times for other people's lives and worried about being fired.  Tucker is her best friend and working on becoming sheriff because he thinks that he can do a better job then the other candidate.  Both PJ and Tucker work together when the smear campaign starts making Tucker's family seem like traitors of the South which is ruining both Penelope's job and Tucker's chances at election.  There is a great mystery that no one in the past has solved but they have the best family history to work to find the answers to whether there are traitors in the past.  During this time, Penelope is dealing with her ex-finance coming into her venue with his new fiance to get married.  While Tucker is dealing with people who want the future sheriff to have a date for all of the campaign events.  They decide that they can pretend to date since they are best friends.  It turns out that makes both of them stop and think and everything changes.  You have to pick up the book to find out for yourself what happens with the treasure hunt, sheriff election, event planner job and most important between Tucker and Penelope.  I thought it was a great setting and amazing characters.  I can totally see this book turning into a movie because it is filled with everything you need to keep you turning pages.  I hope that you check it out and see for yourself!

**I got this book for my review but all opinions here are my own and I was not required to provide a positive review.

Twisted Twenty-Six Book Review

I love this series and it makes me laugh every time I read them.  Twisted Twenty-Six (Stephanie Plum) by Janet Evanovich was no different.  My father complains because they are repeats of the previous books but there are always new fun and shenanigans which have you wondering what is going to happen next.  Although this one has a murder plot, it is not super action packed with disasters.  Stephanie Plum is always doing something crazy and this book is no different!

This isn't just another case. This is family.  How far will Stephanie Plum go to protect the one person who means the most to her? The stakes have never been higher in this #1 New York Times bestseller from Janet Evanovich.  Grandma Mazur has decided to get married again - this time to a local gangster named Jimmy Rosolli. If Stephanie has her doubts about this marriage, she doesn't have to worry for long, because the groom drops dead of a heart attack 45 minutes after saying, "I do." 

A sad day for Grandma Mazur turns into something far more dangerous when Jimmy's former "business partners" are convinced that his new widow is keeping the keys to a financial windfall all to herself. But the one thing these wise guys didn't count on was the widow's bounty hunter granddaughter, who'll do anything to save her.

Stephanie isn't to blame in this book but her grandmother.  Grandma Mazur got married to a mobster who died shortly after marriage and he was the holder of the keys.  No one knew exactly what this meant but people were out to kill Grandma because they thought she had the keys.  There are many attempts by different groups and it is comical to follow Stephanie on her search for the keys.  Although she is trying her best to save her grandmother's life, she is horrible at finding things and only gets herself into more trouble.  You have to pick up the book to find out what happens for yourself.  I hope that you check out this series and all of the great books starting at one and working through until this one which is the 26th book in the series.  Super easy to follow along because they are all numbered with which book goes in order.  It used to be fun to go to the library and have my son help pick out the number.  See how everything is educational!!  I hope that you enjoy this book and the rest of the series.

Menu Plan Monday 8/24

Pasta with Sausage Sauce and Garlic bread
Grilled Greek Chicken with Jasmine Rice and Salt Potatoes
Tacos Rice with corn bread (hash browns for my son)
Spicy Honey Mustard Chicken with mac and cheese
Homemade Pizza (Pepperoni and Garlic Chicken Pizza)
Breakfast for Dinner or Leftovers with stuff from the freezer
Chicken Fries, Chicken Wraps and homemade french fries

I can't believe how quickly the month has gone.  I am working on the meal plan for September and getting ready for our next shopping trip.  I am hoping it won't be too hard with school starting and virtual learning but I guess we will see what happens.  Lots of transitions and changes ahead but looking forward to colder weather and some soups soon :)

Christmas on Main Street Book Review

I was trying to read the Shelter Bay series in order but every source said that it was a different book next.  Christmas on Main Street by JoAnn Ross, Susan Donovan, LuAnn McLane, and Alexis Morgan was supposed to be the next book because there was a short story in the book.  Plus since I couldn't pass up a Christmas book, I was ready to read it.

‘Tis the season to fall in love in this heartwarming collection of four small town Christmas romance stories.

In “Christmas in Shelter Bay,” New York Times bestselling author JoAnn Ross returns to Shelter Bay, where Kelli has long tried to keep her feelings for her friend Cole a secret. But when the local matchmakers conspire to send them to a secluded lakeside cabin, the two friends soon discover that a little love will keep them warm.

TV producer Nathaniel Ravelle knows the Bayberry Island mermaid legend is a joke— how could a statue grant a wish for true love? But when a Christmas Nor’easter lands him in close quarters with local Annie Parker, they see magic at work in matters of the heart in New York Times bestselling author Susan Donovan’s “A Seaside Christmas.”

In LuAnn McLane’s “Mistletoe on Main Street,” Clint isn’t sure how to rekindle his romance with high school sweetheart Ava—until his father bows out of playing Santa at the annual Cricket Creek holiday parade and Clint gets the chance to make this Christmas one to remember.

And in Alexis Morgan’s “The Christmas Gift”, business is booming at Bridey Roke’s pastry shop. Everyone in town stops in to sample her holiday treats.  But in her spare moments, she’s perfecting a special recipe to charm the handsome new neighbor—who has his own surprise gift for her come Christmas Eve!

The first book was the Christmas in Shelter Bay which was about Kelli and Cole.  I know that I have read about them in another book and they were totally together in that book so I don't think that I got the books in order but I was glad to get this missing piece of the puzzle.  Kelli and Cole have been lifetime family friends and although Kelli has had a long time crush, Cole didn't want to see her like that because she has always been the girl next door.  Their family pushes them into going to the secluded cabin where they discover that there are sparks between them.  Christmas is going to be different this year!

The second book was Seaside Christmas where Nathaniel Ravelle comes to Bayberry Island to learn about the mermaid legend.  Although on his way into town, the big storm hits and he falls in front of a shop on the way to the Bed and Breakfast he was supposed to stay.  Annie Parker hears the noise and goes outside to pull him inside.  There are no doctors in the small town so she follows all the instructions on what she is supposed to do to warm him up and make sure that he doesn't get frost bite in addition to the concussion.  When we wakes up naked in Annie's bed, he is very confused on what happened.  They quickly get him seen by a doctor but he is supposed to have round the clock care so he stays at Annie's and they get to know each other and retell the stories of the town.  It is a great seaside Christmas tale that has me wanting to pick up the rest of the series.

The third book was Mistletoe on Main Street where Ava runs a local toy story and is working hard during the Christmas season to keep the shelves stocked and also to be a part of the Christmas festivities in town.  She always plays Mrs. Claus but this year instead of the normal Mr. Claus, she finds her ex-boyfriend sitting in who has been gone from the small town for a long time.  Although she wants to not have any feelings, there is a spark that she can't ignore.  Clint decided with his father's suggestion, to send her gifts and things until she softened up and accepted his apology.  Their relationship picked up right where it left off and they were quickly inseparable until Clint disappeared and no one knew where he went.  The great thing about being close with someone for so long is that they know you better then family so Ava set out on the adventure to find Clint before Christmas.

The fourth book was the Christmas Gift which was a great story of Bridey who runs the pastry shop in the small town and is working towards making all her customers feel like family through her smile and ease of talking.  Although she meets Seth and feels just a little bit more interest, she is focused on making new recipes and building her new business. Seth is an artist who escaped to the small town in order to get inspiration back but feels nothing for the wood that he is supposed to work with until he decides that he has to offer to rebuild Bridey's kitchen shelves.  They work together daily and become good friends until their friendship blossoms into something more.  

This was a great book series although they were all just a little too short.  I love a long story but I know that I will be looking for a lot of these series to add to my reading list soon.  Have you read any of them??  I am going to have to find them at the library and see where I can start.  Although I have a huge pile of books that I have to get through first!!

Menu Plan Monday 8/17

Penne Pasta and Shells with sausage sauce with garlic bread
Grilled Greek Chicken with Jasmine Rice
 French Dip Sloppy Joes with mac and cheese
Chicken Tacos with corn bread (hash browns for my son)
Homemade Pizza (Pepperoni and Garlic Chicken Pizza)
Breakfast for Dinner or Fried Rice with egg rolls
Chicken Fries, Chicken Wraps and homemade french fries

I am getting really into this super easy meal plan and doing a pretty good job at it.  I might have forgotten to take out meat but it was still defrosted enough before dinner so we were still able to have the planned meal.  On the pizza day, I dismissed the timer on making the pizza dough and I almost forgot but I got in the bread machine to make the dough so it was done just before dinner time.  I used the leftover dough the next morning to make fried doughnuts for breakfast which was nice for all of us.  I think that moving it to Friday was a good move and gets us ready for school starting.

I had the whole meal plan made for the month and it has felt good to be set and there seems to be a lot of free time because I don't have to run to the store for deals and other things.  I have enjoyed it and spent the time with some different learning opportunities for my son. We just finished learning about the skeleton and bones which was interesting.  We are going to try the Holocaust next.

On the monthly grocery shopping front, I thought that I was doing really well after starting this process with my list and getting everything until I went downstairs.  There were only three Cran Grapes on the shelf.  I thought we were almost out of it and I was thinking that I really messed up and they were drinking tons!!  My husband said that he found the ones from the month that my son "helped" but he left it on the floor.  LOL!!!  I really should have looked around but I didn't even think to look.  I was going to say that they needed to slow down and drink water but I guess we are plenty fine now.  I even started thinking that I was going to have to start writing the date on that they couldn't touch the juice before.  Super excited that I was wrong and we don't have to manage the food more then just grabbing what we need from the pantry.  We are running low on potatoes and lettuce but everything else so I might need to get those and a few more items at the store since I never made it to Harris Teeter on shopping day. My son has also finished most of the ice cream in the house so we might get a little if there is some on sale.  There is still room in the budget for those things so we should be okay with a quick trip at the end of the month.

Castaway Cove Book Review

I am finally back to my pile of Shelter Bay novels after taking a break to wait for the rest of them to come in from the library.  Castaway Cove: A Shelter Bay Novel by JoAnn Ross was the next in the series which says that it is 6th.  I was excited to get back and find out what was happening in this cute small town since the last book that I read.  I was a little confused on the order of the books but I thought that this was next to read.

They’ve never met. But they’re destined for each other.... Single dad Mac Culhane has traveled to some of the world’s most dangerous war zones, but now he and his young daughter have settled in Shelter Bay, where he’s become the late-night DJ for the local radio station. The last thing he expects is to connect over the airwaves with a caller....

After a painful divorce, Annie Shepherd opened up a scrapbook store in town and started volunteering with local senior citizens. Although she loves her work, dreams of the family she longs for keep her up late, listening to Mac Culhane’s voice on the radio.  When Mac and Annie finally meet in person, the attraction between them is instantaneous. But Annie isn’t ready to lay her heart on the line, and neither is Mac. Fortunately, no one in Shelter Bay is about to let a perfect match escape the magic of true love....

I was so happy to get back to this series.  Shelter Bay is a super cute small coastal town and I was happy to meet Annie Shepherd and Mac Culhane.  I was excited to find out what was going to happen to these two people.  Annie was immediately a question mark because she keeps herself hidden and doesn't want to plan for the future.  You know that there is a mystery there that will uncovered if I am just patient.  Mac is working to rebuild his life after he came back injured from oversees to have his wife leave him with her young child.  Mac decided to move to his home town to live close to his father or grandfather so that he could raise his child around family.  I was waiting as patiently as I could to find out what was going on with Annie and why she was avoiding relationships.  Make sure you pick up the book and find out the secrets and what happens.  I hope that you check out this book and the rest of the series and enjoy it.  I know that you will enjoy the journey.