Meal Planning 101: Week 10

Oh hey! I'm back. The summer has this nice lazy facade it puts on, but really, it's always so busy! Friday until Thursday I was in Upland, Indiana at Taylor University for the annual ACSD (Association of Christians in Student Development) Conference. I barely had time to sleep in my own bed before being gone again from Friday until Sunday for Bridesmaids Bachelorette Weekend. This coming weekend I'm going to visit my dad for Father's Day. Then there is one not busy weekend. And then the wedding and bridesmaid duties weekend. July is a little more calm, which is good since August all the crazy begins again!

I'll give you a quick-ish (okay, maybe not so quick, you know I like to talk) summary/recap of my trip via Instagram pics.

Trip preparations! I have to travel to do laundry for the summer. Not fun! But then there was a pedicure and coffee
(and staying up until 2:30 am packing) and I was ready to go! 

On our way! 

Three of us went early for the New Professionals Retreat. It came with lots of fun,
lots of connections AND a t-shirt. No regrets! 

And there was a campfire. With s'mores! The weather was perfect and not Mississippi-like at all. 

Due to the nice temperatures, I drank hot coffee! A lot. Because they offered it at
everything with yummy creamer options! And cute clear mugs. Who could say no? 

And then everyone else arrived and they welcomed us with an ice sculpture.
I was impressed.

Aren't we a good looking bunch?! I mean who wouldn't want to work with us. 

I take a lot of notes. And I just might happen to color code them. #OCDproblems

There were themed hang outs each night each with cute decorations and yummy snacks. Coffee House Night was my favorite. 

The Conference theme was Cultivating Wisdom. I loved this fun play on the theme
 for sports night! There were wings, a nachos bar, fried zucchini chips and
 loaded fries. Oh and some sports game on TV. 

During free time we toured the nearby BEAUTIFUL campus of
Indiana Wesleyan University. 

And had more coffee of course. With reading. And a cute little coffee shop with huge fun lanterns and fun things on the tables. 

One of the highlights of the trip. Ivanhoe's is a famous ice cream shop and
restaurant in Upland. They have 100 shake flavors and 100 sundae flavors!
But the star is their Strawberry Shortcake! The best version of my favorite
 dessert that I've EVER had. 

To wrap up the week they had an Indiana themed picnic dinner outside. The decor and weather were LOVELY.
The food was so good and very Southern cuisine like. 

A great week indeed! Happy to home though and able to control my own food again though. Speaking of food. Meal plan! That's what you came here for right?

Monday:

Shepherd's Pie (Pre-frozen from St. Patty's Day) & Cheesy (as in healthy Laughing Cow cheesy) Broccoli

Tuesday:

Chicken Pot Pie Baskets (inspired by this recipe, but almost everything will be too different to say it's that recipe) & Fake Fried Okra

Wednesday:

Fake Fried Fish Tacos topped with Wild Rice and Homemade Salsa & Spicy Potato Hash

Thursday:

Buffalo Chicken Sliders, Blue Cheese Baked Potatoes & Carrot Chips and Celery with Healthy Ranch

Friday:

Visiting Dad and Stepmom in Arkansas for Father's Day

Saturday:

Visiting Dad and Stepmom in Arkansas for Father's Day (maybe they'll let me cook!)

Sunday:

Out with Brother (traveling home)

Secret... I kinda spent all my grocery money on the trip and buying stuff for Bridesmaids' Weekend. All of these meals were planned with stuff I already had (with the exception of the celery and ranch that I'll buy on Thursday since I get reimbursed). It's amazing what you can come up with when you think you don't have any groceries!

Since I ran out of bread but need lunchy meals for lunch too, I came up with something to make it through the week for that too! Peanut butter and jelly meet graham crackers (which for some reason I have an abundance of...)! You will make lunch time happy this week.

And just because I can't leave well enough alone, one more picture and highlight of the week.

I finally got to meet my best friend's baby, Alice! She liked me and I love her. And now I will stop talking. :) I will be playing recipe post catch up this week. Expect recipes for Eclair Cake, French Dip Cups, Espresso Chocolate Cupcakes with Crunchy Chocolate Hazelnut Filling and Nutella Cream Cheese Frosting, and maybe Chai Banana Bread Muffins (I didn't take great pictures of those, so we'll see.)