Archive for March 3rd, 2008

I finally got around to posting my menu plan again! I mean to do this every week, but there is just something about Mondays!

This week, we are going to visit my parents-in-law on Friday, so I have a short week of cooking.

Sunday:Chicken Fajitas* and Spanish Rice

Monday: Pizza topped with left over fajita meat

Tuesday: Baked ziti with sausage

Wednesday: Baked chicken breast, roasted potatoes, and a veggie

Thursday:Chicken Pot Pie (made with leftover chicken breast)

* I make my fajitas using a spice blend of 2 tsp. chili powder, 1 tsp. cumin, 1 tsp. onion powder, 1 tsp. garlic powder, 1 tsp. sugar, and 1/2 tsp. salt.

Brown meat (~1 1/2 ponds chicken cut into strips); add spice blend and mix; throw in the pepper and onion (one of each, cut into strips) and a little water. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the veggies are tender crisp.

Be sure and stop by OrgJunkie and check out the rest of Menu Plan Monday.

I mentioned last week that the boys were in trouble for going out past their boundaries.

Originally, their boundaries were much closer to home.

We live in an apartment complex with privately-owned streets, accessible to the city streets only on 2 sides of the property. We live at the corner of the two sides of the property that are not accessible to city streets, in a cul-de-sac that is bordered on one side by a brook.

They were always made to stay in the cul-de-sac, unless an adult was with them.

This always worked out fine because they were best friends with the girls next door and never had any reason to want to leave.

Then the girls moved.

After a long period of mourning, they were ready to find new friends.

They did, but their new friends lived outside of where the boys were allowed to go.

One friend lives outside our neighborhood, but just across the street from where one of our streets outlets to the city street.

The others (two brothers) live in our neighborhood, but up the street, out of my sight.

I had been letting the boys go up to the park, which is at the center of our neighborhood. There, they were able to play with lots of kids.

But I was always conflicted about it.

Was I giving them too much freedom?

When I found out that they were going out of the neighborhood and a few blocks away to the store, I knew that they were not ready for that freedom.

We grounded them for a week and intended to slowly give them back their freedom.

Then last night, Big E said he wished the girls never left.

I thought he was just missing them because we were looking at some photos on their mother’s MySpace page.

When I asked him why, he said, “Then we never would have left the circle. I don’t think I was ready for that much freedom.”

Wow!

I am so amazed at that level of self realization.

I don’t know that I have ever been more proud.

But I do know that they will not be having their freedom back for a while longer.