Menu 5/4-5/11

Saturday:
Breakfast:
Chocolate Chip Pancakes

2 cups pancake mix (I like Hungry jacks and all you have to add is water)
1 cup water
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat griddle to 375 degrees. Mix all ingredients. When griddle is ready, drop some batter onto griddle in small circles. Heat until it starts bubbling, then turn over and heat on other side.

Lunch: Ham and Cheese Sandwiches
We had them cold because we took them to Jungle island with us, but usually we put a little bit of olive oil on the outsides of the bread and sprinkle a little of rosa maria seasoning on both sides and put on the panini grill.

Dinner: Coley's Pizza
Check them out!! Their pizzas are yummy!

Sunday:
Breakfast: Ham and cheese omelets
Lunch: Leftover pizza :D
Dinner: Chicken Nuggets

Monday:
Pecan Roasted Pork Tenderloin

1/2 cup pecan pieces
1/2 cup French-fried onions
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
2 pork tenderloins (about 2 lb)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
olive oil cooking spray


1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Coat baking sheet with cooking spray. Place pecans, onions, and sugar in food processor; process until coarsely chopped. Place mixture on plate (may be paper).
2. Season pork with salt and pepper; roll in pecan mixture until well coated and place 1 inch apart on baking sheet. Coat top of tenderloins with cooking spray (wash hands and cutting board). Bake 25–30 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 160°F (for medium). Use a meat thermometer to accurately ensure doneness.
3. Let pork stand 5 minutes; then cut into 1-inch-thick slices.


Green Beans and Potatoes

1 (9-ounce) box frozen cut green beans
1 (20-ounce) package refrigerated red potato wedges
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
3 tablespoons garlic butter
2 tablespoons dried parsley

1. Fill large saucepan 1/2 full of water. Cover and bring to a boil on high.
2. Stir beans, potatoes, salt, and pepper into boiling water; cover and return to boil.
3. Reduce heat to medium-high; cook 6–8 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until desired tenderness.
4. Drain beans and potatoes; return saucepan to stovetop. Add butter and parsley, stirring until butter melts, using only residual heat. Add beans and potatoes; toss to coat and serve.


Tuesday:
Gnocchi and Alfredo Sauce
Boil Gnocchi add sauce

Wednesday:
Chicken Ropa Vieja 

3 (22.5 oz) chicken breast halves
1 small onion, quartered
1 tomato, quartered
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, thinly sliced
1 small green bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
1 small red bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup tomato sauce
reserved broth
1 tsp cumin, or more to taste (I like a lot)
garlic powder
 salt and pepper to taste

Place chicken, onion, tomato, carrot, and 2 cloves of garlic into crock pot. Add water to cover, and set to high for 4 hours until the chicken is tender. If cooking on the stove, cook on medium-low, and simmer until the chicken is tender, 30 to 40 minutes. Place the chicken into a bowl and shred it into strips using a fork; set aside. Reserve the liquid.

In a large deep skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic, onions, green peppers, and red peppers. Cook about 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in chicken, tomato sauce, white wine, and about 3/4 cup of the reserved broth to create a nice sauce. Season with cumin, garlic powder salt, and pepper. Cover and simmer on low for about 10 minutes more adding more broth and seasoning if needed.

Serving with Tostones:

2 Plantains

Oil

Heat oil in pan. Slice Plantains. Cook on both sides about 1 minute, then use press to squash and put back in pan for another minute on each side. Place on plate that has a paper towel on top so some oil can drain. Sprinkle with salt.

Thursday:

Ham Steaks

I Buy Turkey Ham and slice them into steaks. The round usually gives me about 10 steaks.

4 slices ham

1/2 cup teriyaki sauce

1 small can pineapple tidbits

Mix teriyaki sauce with pineapple tidbits and half of the juice. Pour over ham and cook for about 5 min.

Friday:

Chesseburgers

1lb ground beef

1 pack lipton's onion seasoning

2 tablespoons worcherstire sauce

Mix all ingredients together. Make patties and put on grill.

Serving with waffle fries. 

12 Years...

Today is May 5th and its a special day for us..its the day the hubby asked me to be his girlfriend when we were in highschool. After a looooooooooooong wait of almost 3 months, he finally decided to ask me out on May 5th at 7:30 in the morning. I will never forget this day nor the time because since I was in American Sign Language class, this was the day we had to be deaf for a day and we had to start at 7:30 am, which was when school started. The hubby (at that time the best friend and the boy I had a crush on) gave me a poem asking me to be his girlfriend and I couldn't speak, not because I was speechless, but because I had to be deaf for a day, so I signed to him yes. I can't believe that it has been 12 years since that day...we've been through so much since that day..we've grown...we've brought two beautiful children into this world....we've laughed...we've cried....we've shared so many wonderful times together..and its been amazing!

Today we decided to celebrate by going to Jungle Island. Little man was so excited, he drove us insane all morning as we got ready to go..can we leave?? Are we ready?? Then in the car..where is it?? I can't see it!! Once we got there, he calmed down. We had a coupon from the clipper magazine for $7 off so it made the tickets for adults $25.71 and for little man was $19.02. As soon as we walked in, they had us take pictures with the macaws. I was very impressed that little man wasn't scared and held one of them in his arms like a baby. Of course, I had to buy this picture! He then took a picture holding a baby monkey, and of course I bought that one too. I'm such a sucker for pictures!! The park has many birds that are not in a cage and you can feed them with "fruity pebbles." Little man loved feeding all of them, the only recommendation I have is to get there early because when we tried feeding them again on our way out, none of them wanted to eat, they were all full. The bird show was very entertaining and we all enjoyed it. They showed us all different kinds of birds from all around the world. Our favorite part of the park though was the kangaroo petting farm (warning: you must pay $5 to enter this part). I had to let little man do it especially after all the talking and studying we did about kangaroos last week during our "K" week. He spent a good 30 minutes in there, petting them, feeding them, and just looking at them. The hubby and I watched him from outside, and it was just wonderful to watch him so entertained and being so inquisitive. I love watching him be the little man he is. Other animals we saw were tortoises, baboons, orangutans, ligers, goats, and much much more. We were blessed to have nice weather..not too hot and no rain. We definitely recommend you got check them out...at least once!

The Letter D and Dinosaurs

Today is Friday and I'm getting ready for next week. We will be focusing on the letter D and dinosaur theme.

I will be using a lot of pages from this other blogger 2 Teaching Mommies. She provides you with a pre-k pack that includes pattern cards, counting cards, letter matching, and much more. I will also use some from pages from Over the Big Moon. Both websites are very gracious to give you a lot of activities for free.

Crafts:
We will also be making a paper plate mask as seen here: styracosaurus mask.

We will also make this triceratops.

Books:

Bones, Bones, Dinosaur Bones 
Dinosaur's Binkit
How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight

Memory Verse:
 "God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good." 
Genesis 1:25

 Songs:
(Note: I didn't come up with these songs...googled dinosaurs kid songs and picked the ones I liked)

All Around the Swamp
(to the tune of "The Wheels on the Bus")
The Pteranodon's wings went flap, flap, flap,
Flap, flap, flap, flap, flap, flap,
The Pteranodon's wings went flap, flap, flap,
All around the swamp.
The Tyrannosaurus Rex went grr, grr, grr,
Grr, grr, grr, grr, grr, grr,
The Tyrannosaurus Rex went grr, grr, grr,
All around the swamp.
The Triceratops' horns went poke, poke, poke,
Poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke,
The Triceratops' horns went poke, poke, poke,
All around the swamp.
Additional Verses:
The brontosaurus went munch, munch, munch.
The stegosaurs' tail went spike, spike, spike.
The dinosurs went zzz, zzz, zzz,
Zzz, zzz, zzz, zzz, zzz, zzz,
The dinosurs went zzz, zzz, zzz,
All around the swamp.
Shhhhhhhh.

Dino-Pokey
(to the tune of "The Hokey Pokey")
You put your claws in,
You take your claws out,
You put your claws in,
And you scratch 'em all about.
You do the dino pokey,
And you turn yourself around.
That's what it's all about!
Additional Verses:
feet in
feet out
stomp them all about
teeth in
teeth out
chomp them all about
tail in
tail out
wag it all about
 
Going on a Dinosaur Hunt
(Like Going on a Bear Hunt)
Going on a dinosaur hunt.
And I'm not afraid.
There's a tall mountain.
Can't go under it.
Can't go around it.
Guess I'll go over it.
Going on a dinosaur hunt.
And I'm not afraid.
There's a river.
Can't go over it.
Can't go under it.
Guess I'll swim across it.
Going on a dinosaur hunt.
And I'm not afraid.
There's some tall grass.
Can't go over it.
Can't go around it.
Guess I'll go through it.
Going on a dinosaur hunt.
And I'm not afraid.
There's a cave!
Can't go over it.
Can't go under it.
Guess I'll go in it.
It's dark and spooky in here.
It's cold in here!
I feel some scales.
I feel some big teeth!
OHH! It's a Dinosaur!
(kids say the following with you)
Run out of the cave,
Go through the grass,
Swim across the river,
Climb the mountain,
Run, hope,
Open the door,
Jump into bed.
I went on a dinosaur hunt,
And I wasn't afraid!

Activities:
Going on a Dinosaur Hunt
(kids chant back each line after you say it)
Going on a dinosaur hunt.
And I'm not afraid.
There's a tall mountain.
Can't go under it.
Can't go around it.
Guess I'll go over it.
Going on a dinosaur hunt.
And I'm not afraid.
There's a river.
Can't go over it.
Can't go under it.
Guess I'll swim across it.
Going on a dinosaur hunt.
And I'm not afraid.
There's some tall grass.
Can't go over it.
Can't go around it.
Guess I'll go through it.
Going on a dinosaur hunt.
And I'm not afraid.
There's a cave!
Can't go over it.
Can't go under it.
Guess I'll go in it.
It's dark and spooky in here.
It's cold in here!
I feel some scales.
I feel some big teeth!
OHH! It's a Dinosaur!
(kids say the following with you)
Run out of the cave,
Go through the grass,
Swim across the river,
Climb the mountain,
Run, hope,
Open the door,
Jump into bed.
I went on a dinosaur hunt,
And I wasn't afraid!

Activities:

I'm going to the dollar store today to see if they have small plastic dinosaurs. If they do, I plan on burying some in the sand when we go to the park on Wednesday and having little man dig for dinos.  

Russo's, Menchie's, & Paying it Forward

Instead of cooking today, hubby decided we were going out. We decided to check out Russo's Coal Fire Italian Kitchen. They brought us garlic bread, and we all agreed it was our least favorite part of the meal. It was a big roll and had the butter garlic cheese sauce on top...too much bread too little sauce. We then had fried mozzarella for appetizer...these were very good. For the main course, little man ordered fettuccine alfredo, hubby ordered lasagna, and I ordered lobster ravioli. Little man gobbled it up, though he was complaining that it had salad on top (fresh parsley), but he still ate it all. Hubby said the lasagna was very good and it even had vegetables in it, which he isn't a fan of, and mine was very delicious. The lobster tasted fresh and it was all cooked perfectly. We didn't have dessert there because little man wanted Menchie's which was also in the same shopping center, so we obliged. Our waiter made a remark, like really you guys are going there?? Our dessert isn't good enough?? Then he was like nah, just kidding I would go there too..I love their cake batter icecream with oreos and gummy bears. The hubby and I looked at eachother and we knew what we were going to do. We went to Menchie's and enjoyed our dessert and picked one up for Gio, our waiter from Russo's...it was time to "pay it forward." When little man saw me bring an icecream to the car, he curiously asked who that was for, so we explained to him that it was for our friend at the restaurant and that its nice to do nice things for people to make them happy. He liked that idea and it was a good lesson for him. We went back to Russo's and I gave him the icecream and told him to ask for Gio. When the hostess saw us again, she curiously wondered what we were up to. I told her that little man had something for Gio, she saw what was in his hands and went to get the waiter, who was in the back in the kitchen. I could see her getting him through the little window in the kitchen door, he walked out with a HUGE smile on his face and was so surprised we had actually bought him one. Little man was happy he made someone happy..and seeing him happy is definitely part of what makes our lives so worthwhile. Whenever you get a chance to "Pay it forward," I recommend you do...it was a teaching experience for little man and I'm sure we made an impression on our waiter, Gio.

Busy Bee Kidz

Yesterday we went to Lollipops, to get little man a haircut. There they gave us a free pass for a new indoor play facility. Due to all the rain here in "sunny" South Florida, we decided to skip the park today and check out  Busy Bee Kidz.

They have 4 play areas one for babies, one for the toddlers, an arcade area, and a movie room. They also have two rooms for birthday parties.

The baby room had an exersaucer, a bouncer, and lots of ride on toys. Baby girl enjoyed playing with the toys in the room and I was surprised that most of the toys actually had batteries in them...we have been to other indoor play areas, that didn't have batteries in their toys and it just hasn't made sense to us. In the toddler area, there are tons of toys, dress-up clothes, a small climbing wall, and a small slide and clubhouse. Little man liked this area and he especially enjoyed this toy Step Up Down Roller Coaster, but his favorite area was the arcade area. In the arcade area, the games were free. There was also a bounce house, a wii system, an xbox system, and a carousel (that was $.50 for the ride). There was a monster truck game that he liked a lot. He is all about monster trucks lately. I liked the fact that they had free arcades because I didn't have to spend anymore money, and I was worried that little man would be stuck to this area, but to my surprise he wasn't. The movie area had a big screen and had many mini chairs, rockers, and bean bags for the kids. The place was very cute and clean. I would give it a 4.5 out of 5 just for the fact I kind of felt little man and baby girl could do most of what they did there, here at home. The good thing was, I didn't have to clean it up. We will probably go back so that little man can play arcades, it is definitely cheaper than going to chuck-ee cheeses.

Either way, if you decide to check them out, make sure you tell them "The Plana Family" blog referred you.

Plus everything else...

So Sunday's family picnic was canceled due to a lot of rain here in "sunny" south Florida. We are trying to reschedule it.

Anyways I always have friends asking me if I get bored staying at home all day... And the answer is No. I love to spend time with my children and between housework, homeschooling, and having fun, who has time to be bored?

 A typical week in this house consists of Mondays=Laundry and Ironing day plus everything else, so when little man gets tv privilege or computer time, I iron.  Tuesdays= Library Day plus everything else. The Library by us has story time on Tuesdays, so I get a 30 minute break as he goes into class. Not really a break though, I take the time to pick up books to read throughout the week with him and baby girl. Wednesdays= Park time plus everything else. At 10:30, we meet up with some moms and friends from church at a local park and spend most the day there then I come home and teach and cook and clean Thursdays=Errand day plus everything else and sometimes we add a chick-fil-a lunch. On this day, we do  groceries and pick up anything else we need. Fridays= playdate day plus everything else. This day we have a friend or two come over and play. So as you can see the plus everything else is constant, but the way I see it is if I had a 9-5, housework would get done after then, so yes I'm lucky somedays I get to do it during the day, but my priority is educating little man and baby girl and sometimes the plus everything else can wait.

The Letter K

This week I'm focusing on the letter K with little man.
 So far these are the activities I will do with him. I will add more along the way if I come up with more.

Reading:
We have the My "K" Book by Jane Belk Moncure. My mom used these books with me and now I'm using them with little man. A-Z Books


Writing:
We will practice writing the letter K.  I used this site Letter K to get some tracer pages. I also used some from books I have bought at the dollar store.

 Crafts:
We also will make the letter K out of popsicle sticks.

Making a TP Koala Bear Koala Bear

Painting the letter K

Have the letter K on a construction paper and have them put chapstick on and kiss the paper to represent K is for Kisses.

Making a paper kite. Cut a construction paper in the shape  of a kite. Have the child decorate it with tiny tissue paper balls and add ribbon to the bottom to resemble a kite.

Activities:

We will also play hide-n-go seek with the letter K. I will hide it somewhere in the house and let little man look for it. I will clap faster or slower depending on how close they are to the letter.

Also going outside and flying a kite if the weather permits.

Songs that we will sing:
K Songs

Koala Bear
Koala bear, koala bear, Turn around, (Turn around)
Koala bear, koala bear, Touch the ground (Touch the ground)
Koala bear, koala bear, Dance on your toes, (Dance on tip toes)
Koala bear, koala bear, Touch your nose (Touch your nose)
Koala bear, koala bear, Give a little clap, (clap)
Koala bear, koala bear, Take a nap (Put head on hands like sleeping)

Kangaroos
Ten baby kangaroos standing in a row
When they see their mama, they bow just so (bow)
They kick to the left (hop to the left)
They kick to the right (hop to the right)
Then they close their eyes & sleep all night. (Put head on hands and pretend to sleep)

Continue with Nine Baby Kangaroos, Eight Baby Kangaroos, etc

 Math:
Count chocolate kisses.

I also made a Kangaroo worksheet for counting purposes. (Will figure out how to upload it when the hubby comes home)