After a very busy weekend, I am hoping for some relaxation this week. The weather is slated to be in the high 90s with humidity making it feel like its 100 degrees out.  As much as many might love this heat, it unbearable with a two year old. Its way to easy even with the highest sunscreen, to not get a burn outside to actually enjoy it. Yesterday we enjoyed a nice family day at the water park and both B and I are sporting the tomato look today.

On our journey to have more kids after Ashlyns death, I have three things I want to get done before we start trying again. Getting the house as organized as I can, being as healthy as I can, and running in a 5K. The first two are so that I have as much of a stress free pregnancy and to maintain as little health issues as possible. The 5K is just a personal goal I have set for myself. I am not a runner and never really have been but I want to be and am training my body to hopefully complete my first one in August. I have setup a personal goal to get a lot of stuff done by August 2nd. With the summer heat starting to turn on some days we will have to stay inside so I am going to work on getting everything organized on these hot days. Hopefully over the next few months I can show pictures of getting everything organized!

I didnt really plan my meals around the hot weather very well this week. I think a few days it might be getting hot in here. This weeks CSA had lots of great goodies: Two large summer squash, two zucchinis, finger potatoes, green onions,2 cabbages and tomatoes. I plan to use every bit of it this week and hopefully enjoy all the great foods we will be creating with them!

Breakfast: Green Smoothies with Kale and Swiss Chard, Strawberry Rhubarb Muffins and Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins

Lunch: Tomato, Basil Mozzeralla Sandwiches, Salads and Leftovers

Monday- Stirfry with Cabbage Slaw and Rice

Tuesday-  Veggie Burgers, Cucumber Salad, German Cole Slaw and Zucchini Cakes

Wednesday- Stuffed Chicken, Spicy Carrot Slaw and Kicked Up Potatoes

Thursday-  Italian Polenta Bake, french bread and salad

Friday- Out

Saturday- Cowboy Spaghetti and French Bread

Check out I'm an Organizing Junkie for other great menu ideas!!

I adore the summertime for the fact that you can always find something to do! If its a hot day (like it has been the last couple of days) you can head to water! If its a nice day out you can walk on trails or play outside. So many options makes it hard to say that you have nothing to do!

Yesterday we planned on going to the pool but I got busy with things and we ended up just using the a blow up one at my parents house. Avery loved it and the backyard is shaded nicely so I wasnt sitting in the sun durning the heat of the day.

This is the first picture in a long time where Avery actually asked for me to take one! She likes to take pictures but not have them taken of her. I was pretty darn excited for her to actually ask! 

On the days where you dont see a blog post, we are probably enjoying the outdoor weather! I promise to try and keep up!

I think this is now my new favorite salad. I made this steak for dinner one night and ended up eating the salad everyday at lunch until it was all gone! I just loved the flavor of the salad dressing and how great it tasted when it melded together with the steak. I am hooked and it will not be a regular since I try not to eat too much meat but this a keeper for the days I am craving a steak!

Grilled Marinated Skirt Steak (from of your homebased mom!) from Emeril Lagasse

8 cloves of garlic, sliced in half lengthwise (I minced mine)

1 Tbsp. chopped fresh rosemary

1 Tbsp chopped fresh sage

1 Tbsp chopped fresh thyme ( I didn't have so I left out)

1/4 C extra virgin olive oil

1/2 C sherry vinegar (I used marsala vinegar)

One 1 1/4 to 2 lb. skirt steak

1 Tbsp kosher salt

2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Combine the halved garlic cloves, rosemary, sage, and thyme in a food processor and process until smooth. Add the olive oil and sherry vinegar, and process to combine.

Season the skirt steak with the kosher salt and black pepper. Place it in a resealable plastic bag and add the garlic-herb marinade. Seal the bag and refrigerate for at least 2 and up to 4 hours, turning occasionally.

Preheat a grill to medium high

Remove the steak from the refrigerator and allow it to come to room temperature for 30 minutes.

Remove the steak from the marinade (discard the marinade), and wipe any excess marinade off the steak with paper towels. Place the steak on the grill and cook for 4 minutes. Rotate the steak 45 degrees and cook for another 4 minutes. Turn the steak over and cook for 4-6 minutes for medium-rare. Transfer the steak to a cutting board and let it rest for 4-7 minutes before slicing.

When ready to serve, thinly slice the steak across the grain. Enjoy!

Salad Dressing From Pioneer Woman (this is now my favorite dressing!!)

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 tablespoon lime juice
2 garlic cloves, finely diced
1 generous tablespoon fresh ginger, minced ( I keep on ginger frozen in my freeze an just grind off what i need for each meal it is needed in)
1/2 jalapeno, seeded and diced

Combine dressing ingredients in a small glass jar, shake it up and pour on salad and sliced steak! (i used romaine because it was in the CSA box!) Enjoy!

Welcome to the new, Cooking Up A Family Website!! Not sure if you noticed but we changed to Squarespace from Wordpress. I have no complaints with Wordpress but my yearly dues were coming up and instead of renewing I moved to Squarespace. The reason I moved over is mainly cause the layout design is so easy for me to do on Squarespace now! I like working on the design but don't really know enough about how to do it or really the time to look more into CSS.

Cant wait to get to know all the ends and out of squarespace and hope you love the new design!

On to menu planning.....

I am kind of bummed out this week. My Friday turned into a complete mess and I couldn't get my CSA box.  I also made plans for early Saturday morning so the market was also not going to work this week. Instead I will just have to use up some pantry foods and resort back to my winter time ways, finding similar ingredients in foods and buy what is in season.

Monday- Homemade Veggie Pizza and Salad

Tuesday- BBQ Chicken Sandwiches, Coleslaw and Corn Nuggets

Wednesday- Falafel Burgers and Sweet Potato Chips

Thursday-Quiche, Salad and Fruit

Friday-Dinner Out

Saturday- Marinated Steak, Cucumber Salad and Couscous

Check out other Menu Idea at I'm an Organizing Junkie!! Hope you enjoy the new layout, feel free to let me know your opinions!