SPRING WEEKEND AND MENU MONDAY

Kenny and I had a really nice weekend. I had the day off Friday which was soooo nice. I did some stuff around the house and then Tracy came over to pilfer some music off my ITunes. That night we went to Mexican with Joe and Tracy (yum cheese dip!) and then Kenny and I watched Fireproof. Have y'all seen that movie? I knew what it was about but I told Kenny nothing to see how he would like it.

Needless to say we spend the first 20 minutes or so giggling about how really terrible the acting was but in the end we ended up liking it okay. I would definitely recommend watching it with your husband or wife because it has a really good message.

Saturday morning we woke up bright and early so that I could run in my FIRST EVER 5K RACE!!! (This is big for me. I despise running) Kenny even came to cheer me on. I told you this was a big deal. HA. I met up with one of my friends Megan to run it together. We ended up beating our goal time so we were happy. I had one really terrible picture of me that Kenny took of me crossing the finish line but I forgot my camera. Oh well.

I have to say. I really enjoyed the event. I was really surprised how much harder I pushed myself because you get into the fact that there is so many people there. I might be kind of hooked. I am already planning on signing up for a really fun 4 mile race at the zoo in May.

The rest of Saturday we just ran errands and enjoyed the nice weather. Kenny was also glued to the television the entire weekend watching The Masters. We watched Marley and Me Saturday night. I cuddled with Lena the whole time.

Sunday we went to Easter church and then over to my parents to watch more golf and eat dinner. My step-mom had made an Easter Ham that was awesome. All in all it was a really great weekend. I am looking forward to another 4 day week again. We are going to see Kenny's parents new house in Fairhope this weekend!

Since its going to be a short week and I had to keep boys in mind since our friend Dan is staying with us a couple nights the menu is only three nights.

MENU
Monday: Black Bean Soup served with light sour cream and 2% cheddar cheese (see recipe below)

Tuesday: Cheesy Sausage Meat Loaf (see recipe below) served with green beans

Wednesday: Chicken Cordon Bleu served with brown rice and broccoli florets

BLACK BEAN SOUP
1 pound chicken (I used frozen breast tenderloins)
2 cans, drained and rinsed black beans
4 cups chicken broth
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 cup frozen corn
1 jar prepared salsa (16 oz)
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 cup sour cream (to stir in at the end)
shredded cheddar cheese

Drain and rinse the beans. Add to the crock pot. Put in the chicken, and add the broth and salsa. Pour in the corn and mushrooms, and add the cumin. Stir, but don't disturb the beans---let them stay at the bottom of the pot, closest to the heating element.

Cook on low for 6-8 hours, or on high for 4-5--similar to normal soup-cooking time.

If you'd like to thicken the broth, you can use your immersible blender to blend a bit of the beans and chicken. If you don't have one, scoop out 2 cups of the soup and carefully blend in your traditional blender. Stir the mixture back into the crock pot.

Stir in the 1/2 cup of sour cream before serving, and garnish with shredded cheese and avocado slices.

CHEESY SAUSAGE MEAT LOAF
1 beaten egg
3/4 Cup soft bread crumbs (1 slice)
1/4 Cup Milk
1/4 Cup of finely chopped onion
1 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed or Italian Seasoning
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1 lb ground beef
1/3 lb of bulk Italian Sausage
4 ounces of mozzarella cheese, cut into sticks
1 1/2 cups of Jarred Tomato Sauce

In a large mixing bowl stir together the egg, bread crumbs, milk, onion, oregano, and garlic salt. Add the ground beef and Italian Sausage. Mix well.

Place waxed paper in shallow baking pan. On waxed paper flatten meat mixture into a 10-inch square. Lay cheese sticks end to end near one edge of sides. Beginning with that edge and using waxed paper to lift meat and roll up jelly-roll style. Seal ends well. Place onto pan placing seam side down. Discard wax paper. Bake in 350 degree oven until juices run clear. Let meat loaf stand for 5 minutes. Heat sauce and served with sliced meatloaf.