Month: August 2017

WEEK 3 {Whole30 inspired recipes for families}

I’m back with more recipes!

If you missed the first post in this series, click HERE to catch up.  I detail the reasons why we started the 4 week meal rotation and how it has benefited our family, not only health-wise but also in the simplification of meal prep and grocery shopping. You’ll want to read it for my disclaimers too, and info on how much we spend each week.

Remember, I began last week with Week 2 meals – so now I am on to Week 3 and have quite a bit of deliciousness in store for all of you!

Links to printable items directly below + short descriptions and some photos after.

WEEK 3 MENU

PRINTABLE WEEK 3 RECIPES

{Monday}

AFD/ KID NIGHT

We call this ‘kid’s choice’ night, because Craig has fire department meetings every Monday evening and eats at the fire station.  The kids will usually ask for spaghetti or PB&J.  Typically I will eat a salad or leftovers from a previous meal.

{Tuesday}

Chicken & Steak Fajitas + pineapple, avocado slices and black beans

Continuing with the ‘Taco Tuesday’ theme, but wanting to add in a bit of variety, we have fajitas every other week.  The beauty of fajitas is that they can easily be eaten without tortillas for a healthier option.  Just mix the meat and veggies together and top with some beans and avocado slices and you’ve got yourself a tasty and filling meal.

{Wednesday}

Meatloaf + mashed potatoes and honey glazed carrots

I know that meatloaf sometimes gets a bad rep – but around our house, it is a favorite.  This version is super simple to make and ultra healthy without the bread crumbs and thick glaze.  It has a lighter quality which pairs great with the potatoes and simple honey glazed carrots.

{Thursday}

Scalloped Potatoes & Ham + peas and cantaloupe

Our kids kept coming home from school saying how much they LOVED the scalloped potatoes & ham on the lunch menu, and it came to my realization that I had never made that meal for them before!  Of course, while looking into recipes I found that many of them were loaded with butter, cream and flour.  Then I spied this version online and tweaked it a bit to fit our taste.  It’s just as delicious as the original in my opinion!

{Friday}

Pizza Night!

This day on the rotation is considered a treat night.  We love us some pizza around here, and didn’t want to give it up completely. Now we look forward to the one night every four weeks when we can indulge – and either go for some home made goodness or stop in and pick up a Papa Murphy thin crust option.  Yum!

{Saturday}

Lunch: Big Salads (adults) / chicken nuggets (kids)

Our Saturdays are usually pretty busy, so we keep the afternoon meal simple and the same each week.  Our ‘big salads’ consist of romaine lettuce and maybe some spinach, topped with a variety of veggies + chunks of chicken or ham and maybe a bit of blue cheese crumbles.  We love the Newman’s Own Olive Oil & Vinegar dressing.

Dinner:  BBQ Pork Ribs + sweet potato fries, broccoli and cheese

Our middle son loves ribs.  I mean LOVES them.  When creating the meal rotation, we asked each of the kids what type of foods they would like added and of course ribs made the list.  This recipe has a great flavor to it, though it is on the mild side.  If you like a spicy or super barbecue flavor, you may want to look into some sauce options to add after the meat is cooked.

{Sunday}

Lunch:  Sausage, Egg & Broccoli Casserole + 4 ingredient granola bars

The casserole tastes sort of like a quiche – and is super simple to make.  The beauty of this recipe is that you can easily divide it into 24 muffin tins, then freeze them to use as a quick breakfast during the busy work week.

The granola bars are SO GOOD.  And although they are no-bake, they do require a bit of prep work.  I would recommend making them up the night before you plan to eat them.

Dinner:  Shredded Mexican Chicken + baked potatoes, corn on the cob, and strawberries

Another Mexican style meal that our family loves.  Craig isn’t a huge fan of baked potatoes, and he sometimes prefers to just eat the chicken mixture by itself.  The mixture would also taste awesome over rice or in tortillas!

 

For those of you interested in simplifying your grocery shopping for these specific recipes, just click on the link below for a complete shopping list that includes everything you need to make this week of healthy meals for your family.

GROCERY LIST WEEK 3

I will be back sometime next week with the menu, recipes and shopping list for week #4.  Happy cooking everyone!

In the meantime, see those cute little buttons below this post?  If you hover over them you can see that they give you multiple options for sharing the content from this blog.  Know a friend who has been asking about meal planning? Email this blog post directly to their inbox or share with them on Facebook!

ARROW HILL STUDIO SNEAK PEEK

When I mentioned in THIS post that I was planning on starting an Etsy shop, I piqued some of your curiosities – and have been asked by a few of you WHEN this little branch project is going to be open for business, so I thought today I would give you a quick update on how things are going.

Initially I had thought that I would have everything ready by the end of July.  Then, I started tackling some other projects around the house – such as {D}’s tiny bedroom and our Family Command Center – and I’m not ashamed to admit that there are only so many hours in a day/week/month… not like you didn’t already know that!

We are rounding the corner on summer break.  The kids got their school supply shopping lists last week.  Eeek!  This both thrills me (routine, again!) and has me scratching my head.  Didn’t school JUST finish up for the summer?  At any rate, I am trying my best to soak up every last second of this fleeting season with my kiddos, and as such the Etsy shop project is moving slower than I had anticipated.

But, it IS moving forward.  I have been able to create and photograph a few of the products already and am totally loving the vibe that these items send out.  They make me happy.  It is always so much fun to see an idea that was once in my head come to life for others to see.

While creating more products I am also working through not so fun logistics regarding packaging, shipping labels, and shop policies.  All told, I am now shooting for a grand opening date of September 1st.  Stay tuned here or on one of our social media venues, such as Instagram, for the big announcement!

COTTAGE ROOM DESCRIPTIONS {LOWER LEVEL}

It’s time to describe the final level of our future cottage/home!  If you missed the other levels, go ahead and click the links below to get caught up.

MAIN LEVEL

UPPER LEVEL

As I mentioned in THIS post, our building site is quite sloped.  Therefore, it was the perfect candidate for a walkout basement.  We are super thrilled about that prospect!  Not only will we have great connection to the outdoors, we will also have a basement with decent lighting – which is the stuff dreams are made of.  I’m pretty sure that natural daylight is one of my love languages.

Below is the layout of the lower level.  Use it as a guide while you read through the descriptions, and take a look at our Pinterest boards (which are linked at the end of each room description).  They show some inspiration images we have found for each space.  And here comes the disclaimer…* As mentioned before, these floor plans are currently not showing any real detail – I will be working on adding detail for future posts.

Generally speaking, the lower level is laid out in a fairly straightforward way.  The bathroom is stacked under the main level bathroom, with the mechanical space nearby – to cut down on plumbing costs.  All of the rooms situated on this level, besides the mechanical room of course, are ‘extras’ – meaning that they are not as important for the day to day function of our family.  If money runs short while we are building the house, they can be left unfinished and DIY’d or hired out at a later date.

{ELEVATOR / LIFT} Let’s get straight to the obvious. This is not a typical feature in most houses, but we felt that it was an important addition for our family.  First off, we want to be able to live in this home for as long as we can – and there is always the potential that stairs may become difficult or even impossible at some point.  Secondly, our oldest daughter {K} has arthrogryposis and even now stairs give her some troubles – we want to make sure that the entire house is comfortable and useful for her.  We have dreams that she will one day live independently, but if that is not possible, the lower level can become her apartment. Lastly, if in the future either of our set of parents live with us, we want to provide accessibility for them. Essentially, the elevator/lift will allow us to plan for multiple scenarios – and ensures that all the awesome features of the lower level are not limited to only some inhabitants and visitors.

{BATHROOM} Probably the best feature of this room is it’s location.  Located near the stairs and the lift space, it will definitely be a go-to room when the main level bathroom is occupied.  It also is across from the pool room.  Handy. This will be the largest of the three bathrooms in the house, and will feature both a tiled shower and a separate jetted soaking tub. (PINTEREST)

{POOL ROOM} We aren’t talking about a room that houses a pool table.  No, this room will feature a pool pool, the kind you swim in. Something from Endless Pools perhaps – where the water jet provides a current to swim against. It is the one surprise luxury that we are having in our house, and it’s a useful one. Our daughter {K} will be able to do her pool physical therapy at home and the rest of our family will be able to get some good exercise as well.  There will be plenty of natural light coming in through large windows and a glass door that leads out to a lower level patio. (PINTEREST)

{MECHANICAL / LAUNDRY} This space is definitely still in the idea phase.  Essentially, right now it is just a large open space where all of the mechanical equipment will be housed.  It is also where the washer & dryer will be located. When I was first designing the house, the laundry was for SURE going to be located on the main level.  But, because we decided on a smaller footprint, some concessions had to be made.  Essentially we took the space that could have been used for the laundry equipment on the main level and replaced it with the lift/elevator space.  Don’t worry though, I have a back up plan if it gets to annoying to haul laundry up and down the stairs or if we need a second set of appliances.  There is a large ‘broom closet’ on the main level that will be fitted with water hookups, just in case a stack-able washer/dryer is it’s final destiny. (PINTEREST)

{DEN / GUEST} Craig has been dreaming of this space for such a long time.  On a day to day basis it will be used as his ‘man land’ – a place to watch a football game in private, read a book, or work on some computer programming in peace & quiet.  I imagine the vibe in here to be pretty laid back and cozy.  The room will have a couple of small closets and a pull out couch to accommodate guests.  (PINTEREST)

{HALL} Rule number one of small house design is to eliminate hallways – and such, this ‘hall’ is more than just a walking space.  It is essentially a connecting room.  It will house some pretty important features.  On the wall that connects to the pool room, we will design some nice computer/ homework niches for the kids.  There will be high windows in this location, to allow the natural daylight from the pool area to spill in.  A kitchenette will be placed on the opposite wall.  Again, planning for all sorts of situations, the kitchenette will have a fridge, small sink, microwave and possibly a small cook top.  Day to day it will be a place the kids and their friends can go for snacks. The hall space inspiration images are included in the family room Pinterest board, linked below.

{FAMILY ROOM} We are imagining this room as a great space for our family to kick back and hang out together.  I envision lots of comfy seating and a large TV for family movie nights.  In one corner I would love to have a table that can be used for arts & crafts projects, and also as a place to gather and play games.  There is a set of multi-pane glass french doors in our current farmhouse that we are hoping to remove and install in the cottage.  As of right now, we imagine the family room being the perfect spot for the doors.  When closed, they would create a nice separate room that could double as a guest space when we have visitors.  The family room will also have great access to the outdoor patio space through a set of sliding glass doors.  (PINTEREST)

{PATIO} This will be located, as I mentioned, right off of the family room and the pool room.  If you look at the above graphic, it will fit in the little ‘L’ shape adjoining the two. As of right now, I don’t have a separate Pinterest board for this space alone, but thought I could share the outdoor board which has a few photos of what I am imagining. (PINTEREST)

And there you have it!  The entire house layout / floor plans!  My next step will be to take you inside each room and add details, colors, and even furniture.  I’m hoping to have the computer video recorder up and working next week to share a video.  Now… which shall I detail  first?!