Hello Monday!

Hey hey friends!! Happy Monday!

How was your weekend?

Our's was really lovely. The weather was MAGICAL. 

Here's a quick recap!

We did our annual family tradition of going to a local pumpkin patch/farm on Saturday and then my mom came over for dinner. The kids watched a movie in the backyard on Saturday evening. Sunday, our school had a grandparents celebration! We first went to Mass, then we walked over to our school to have coffee and donuts. After that, the kids introduced my mom to their teachers and showed her their classrooms. It was such a nice event. Our teachers and administration are truly the BEST. The rest of Sunday included a long walk for Aaron and me, running a couple errands and playing outside. We always end our weekend with the kids having an ice cream sundae. We call it "sundaes on Sunday" and it is one our family traditions. We've been doing for 5 years now. It's so simple and the kids love it :)

I got our meals planned for the week! Simple is the name of the game, as usual!!

I went to Costco two weeks ago and bought a good amount of proteins- so I planning my meals around what I have in our deep freezer and pantry. 

Whatever I don't have- which isn't much- I will pick up at Aldi!

I have to be honest...I am still very much struggling with the absolute horrific events that have happened in Israel and that are continuing to take place in Israel and Gaza. As an extremely deeply feeling person, I have a hard time setting boundaries with staying informed and watching the news. I feel that it is very important to not live in a bubble- but I also don't need to expose myself to EVERYTHING. Last week, I made the decision to streamline my news sources. I have been following SmartHER News for over 3 years now and I just joined their Scoop membership. I cannot say enough good things about Jenna and SmartHer News. She is non partisan and she is incredibly THOUGHTFUL in how she delivers the news. Jenna's goal is to provide clarity in the cluttered world of media. I HIGHLY recommend checking SmartHer News out if you are feeling like me- which is pretty overwhelmed with everything that is happening in our world and in our country!

You can find Smart HER News on Instagram and HERE is their website. 

Moving onto a bit of a lighter topic- ENCHILADAS! I made a batch of enchiladas for Aaron to have for lunch/dinner this week. They were SO easy to put together and they are SO good!!

A few days ago, I made a batch of shredded chicken in the crockpot. I took that chicken and cooked it with about a cup of Mateo's medium salsa in a skillet. I put some of the chicken/salsa mixture + shredded cheese in a tortilla (we like to use the Carb Counter tortillas). After all of the tortillas were filled, I poured a jar of Siete's red enchilada sauce over them, sprinkled some more cheese and baked them for about 30 minutes. SO simple and seriously SO yummy! 

I always try to have a jar of the red and green enchilada sauce in my pantry. They are both SO good- and having them on hand makes putting together enchiladas so easy!

That's all I have for today...a meal plan, a news source recommendation and a quick way to make enchiladas. SUPER random- which is very on brand for me! HA!

I wanted to leave you with this quote. I thought it was perfect for starting a new week.

Sending love to all of you!

Hope you have the BEST day and wonderful week!