We Must Eat

and having a plan helps me to make sure that we eat well without all the hassle or stress of having to figure out breakfast/lunch/dinner at the last minute.  I love to try new recipes and have hundreds of books, magazines and pins to help me stay creative in the kitchen.  My plan runs for 7 days with no specific days for any meal.  That gives me a little wiggle room in regards to eating out and having leftovers.  Because our little family will soon be 2 instead of 3, I am really working hard to make less food.  There are not many leftover fans in this house!  For the next 7 days I plan to cook....

(New Recipe)    Chimichurri Steak with Baked Potatoes and Brussels Sprouts    
(New Recipe)    Cod with Mustard Sauce, Red Rice and Asparagus
(New Recipe)     Maple Mustard Glazed Roast Chicken with Smashed Potatoes and Green Beans
(New Recipe)     Olympics Chicken with White Rice and Seasoned Broccoli
(New Recipe)     Lemon Chicken with Brown Rice and Mixed Vegetables
(Family Favorite)   Shephards Pie with Salad and Hawaiian Rolls
(New Recipe)     Greek Stuffed Pitas 

My creativity outside of the kitchen is humming along as well.  As our calendar fills up with visits, events and new travels planning down time is something new that I am trying this year.  Weekends in which I put "home" into the calendar so that we will not plan anything!  Hopefully it works and I won't end 2017 dead tired like I did 2016.  

I guess I'll start with saying that I like most of the pages that I'm sharing today.  I like them a lot.  For the first time in a while, there isn't a page that is clearly a favorite.  This one about my son eating escargot.....

is so bright and colorful and based on this sketch....

This sketch...

was the inspiration for this page.  We spend a lot of time outdoors and the kids just love it.  Bonfire's, unplanned swim trips to the lake, walks, hikes and just plain sitting and talking in the yard.  Very southern things I think:)

This one is my husband and 2 of our kids during a trip that our family took to Miami a few years ago.  Is that water beautiful or what?  The papers on this page are favorites too. There is a good mix of old (hello Sassafrass Lass music note paper from many moons ago) and the new (SS Reset Girl from one moon ago:)).....

The page design was inspired by this pagemaps sketch.  The last one for the day I promise:)...

Another page that I made for Ashley Horton's silhouette class at Scrapbook.com.  As usual I didn't completely follow the formula but in contrast to the other pages where I strayed, I love this one!  

Hip Kit Club sent me an email that my February kit will be shipping soon so I need to get on the ball.  I have barely even done a page with the January kit!  Both of the pages below are from the December 2016 HKC. 

This page makes me so happy!  I even love the plainish background:)

The shakers are made with some super old watch case covers from a company that went out of business like 6 years ago.  I had them in my hand to toss when the idea hit me to make shaker bubbles with them.  I still have a ton of sequins left from the last 2 kits so this was perfect and easy...

My last page features some watercoloring with glimmer mist.  Just a little bit even though I was super tempted to color in the whole pretty page lol.  This photo of my daughter and my sister is a fave and will get blown up for the wall....

That's it for me.  I hope you had a great weekend!