A Little Help

So...I kind of abandoned this challenge.  Sorry.  I think it is a great idea, but things came up and we got a little busy the past few weeks.  I've really enjoyed your ideas and am asking for a little help.

3 weeks ago we moved to Eastern Turkey.  We are pretty much adjusted and I am getting used to cooking here.  There are lots of good foods, but I am getting bored of the meals I know how to make and there are foods I don't know what to do with.  So I am looking for ideas for more meals.  Here are the foods that are readily available:

eggplant
green beans
potatoes
carrots
red/green peppers - my husband and I don't really care for them and our kids really dislike them, but we are working on changing that
squash - I have no idea what kind it is, but it's some sort of squash/zucchini that I could substitute for zucchini
pumpkin - it's not our traditional pumpkin - it's green on the outside, but looks like pumpkin on the inside
broccoli
cauliflower

chickpeas
bulgar - i have no idea what to do with this
other beans - mostly white, but i don't recognize them and cannot find any translation

chicken - our main staple
hamburger - i think I found ground beef, but it's like $12/lb, so I'm trying to use it minimally
lamb - we have eaten it and it's good, but I have no idea how to cook it

We don't have a microwave, but did buy a toaster oven that can bake things pretty well, just small scale. So....if you have any ideas/suggestions for what meals I can make....I would LOVE to hear your ideas!!

Thanks!!

Help!

I have a question. Not food related. Not menu related. 'I need advice from other wise mothers' related. The pre-story first:
Sweet baby Kate has always been swaddled when she sleeps but 9 times out of 10 she breaks her arms free. It wasn't a problem a few month ago but now that our house reaches arctic temperatures at night her little hands are freezing when she wakes up for a feeding. It may be wishful thinking but I'm hoping that maybe if the icicles attached to her wrists weren't so cold, maybe she'd sleep through the night (please, Kate, sleep through the night).
So, the question: how do you keep your babies warm at night? I've tried gloves, a little heater... nothing seems to work. 
Thanks in advance for your advice on this.

Love,
Shelly

P.S. Any other sleep-related tips are gladly welcomed. I had no idea getting a baby to sleep could be so challenging! Whenever we try to let her cry it out she reaches the point of hysterics and then it's guaranteed that everyone will be awake for at least two hours...

I'm Back!

So, I am sure that it might tell you what the past few weeks have been like for me if I say that this week (Christmas week) is my down week.  I am thrilled to be done and over with those weeks.  THRILLED!!! Anyhow, I think that it is safe to say that I failed the challenge. :(  But, I am here to give you this week's menu.  Honestly, I have to say that if I had planned out monthly like I normally do, I am sure that my last weeks would have gone by a little smoother.  And every little bit would have helped.  With Mike being gone 2 out the last 3 weeks, I was a single mother. And all I can say is any mother who does that full time or any extended period of time has my complete empathy; and vote for Mother of the Year!  WOW!!!

Monday: Chicken Pillows (Samantha's favorite dinner and choice for a birthday dinner)
Tuesday: Steak, Cheesy Potatoes, Salad, Shrimp Cocktail (A Christmas Eve tradition)
Wednesday: Christmas dinner with the Weston's (I am taking rolls)
Thursday: Pizza night
Friday: Popcorn shrimp, baked fries, beans
Saturday: Sausage Penne Casserole, Peas
Sunday:  Roast, Mashed potatoes, Gravy, Corn, rolls

Chicken Pillows:
Crescent rolls
Chicken chunks
Cream cheese
Ranch dressing powder
1 can of Cream of Chicken soup
Milk

I mix together a package of cream cheese, 1 large can of chicken chunks, drained, and 1 tablespoon of ranch powder.  Then I press out the rolls on the counter so that each triangle is flat. I evenly divide the mix onto each triangle before folding them.  Then I fold the triangle over the mix until it is completely covered and looks like a pillow. I spray a square baking pan with spray, place the pillows in the pan. I melt 1 tbs of butter and brush over top the pillows.  Then I sprinkle the pillows with bread crumbs (usually Italian or whatever I have). Bake them at 400 until the pillows are brown and look done. While the pillows are baking, I heat up a can of cream of chicken soup with some milk to make a gravy.  To serve, I cut the  pillows into squares for my kids as that helps it to cool down much quicker and then drizzle gravy over top.  They eat two of these now, each. They love them!

Cassie's Menu Week 6

I can't believe it's already week 6! Where did the time go?! I really have enjoyed this blog and am excited to keep it going with the favorite recipes or the menu's that might keep coming. Thanks for all the encouragment along the way and for all the great new recipes for me to try! This week I believe will be really low key with the holidays! I hope you all have a Merry Christmas!!

Week 6

Monday- Winger's Sticky Fingers/Potatoes (carried over from last week) 
Tuesday- Christmas Eve (my contribution will be twice baked potatoes)
Wednesday- Christmas (We'll be at my inlaws all day and they are having french dip and BBQ Chicken, I think it's a traditon) 

Thursday- Date Night ??

Friday- Cafe Rio salad/burritos (Family is in town)

Saturday- Left Overs (family in town??) 

Sunday- Swiss Chicken and Rice (carried over from last week) 

Week 6 Question

Favorite holiday must-have recipes...

Shelly's Week 6 Menu

Wow, the last week of our six week challenge. Can you believe it? Thanks for joining in on this meal-planning adventure! My hopes for this blog after this week is for it to turn into a place to post favorite recipes you discover or long-loved recipes from your collection as well as a place to post food related questions you may have. If you want to continue to post your menu, go for it! But I hope, regardless, that you'll come back to post and look often.

I stuck to my menu pretty well last week (meaning I didn't stray from the recipes I had planned) but I did end up skipping out on a few of them when I got snowed in at my parents house. Yea for getting to see some of you: nay for Jens not being with us. I did learn that I LOVE this recipe that Cassie posted for Crockpot Swiss Chicken. It really is worth a try. In fact, I made it for my little family on Monday and then again in Cache Valley for my big family on Thursday.

Here's the plan for this week.

Monday: Christmas Adam (Get it? Before Eve came Adam...): A friend in Seattle celebrates Christmas Adam by eating ribs. I kinda love that tradition but if we don't have ribs in the freezer then I'll probably cop out and have Spaghetti

Tuesday: Christmas Eve: Pho (our traditional Christmas Eve soup)

CHRISTMAS!!!: Ham (Jens won a gift card to Honey-Baked Ham at a work thing and we used the entire thing on one ham!!! I'm having a hard time believing that a ham can be $50 good but we'll see...)

Thursday: White Chicken Chili

Friday: Ham Fried Rice

Saturday: I'm hoping for a date afternoon/night with the hubby...

Sunday: Shepherd's Pie

Love you guys and hope that you'll all have a very merry Christmas!

Sarah's week 5

Okay, I have thought about what I was going to cook for dinner this week and I have decided that I am going on a dinner strike.  My husband is going to be gone every night this week but Tuesday and I am going to be super busy finishing Christmas presents, wrapping and all that goes with Christmas.  So my menu is this
Monday  Wing it
Tuesday teriyaki chicken
Wednesday  Wing it
Thursday Wing it
Friday Wing it
Saturday  probably out of town 
Sunday  Family Christmas party. 
As you can see dinner is not going to be high on my list this week.  We will probably have spaghetti, pizza, leftovers,  whatever I can find in the freezer.  I hope to be on track next week