Thoughts Along Life's Highway

Menu Plan Monday: 8 August (Back to the Grindstone)

It’s the first week (sort of) of school here. The girls go back on Thursday and Open House is tomorrow afternoon. We’re in the Final Launch Countdown mode here in our house this week. Phone calls from the new teachers, phone calls to friends to see who their teachers are, final purchases and preparations. It’s all very exciting.

I’m looking forward to getting us back on a routine and to having my workdays a little less fragmented… but I know I’m going to miss having the girls around at the same time. Things will be busy, for sure, especially when dance classes start.

Fortunately, those don’t start for another week, so we have a little time to get our routine going.  Both girls will be taking Jazz and Ballet and both of them have classes back-to-back, so one girl dances one night and the other later in the week. It’s going to be an interesting schedule, but I think we will manage. I’d rather get it all over with in one night like that than have classes four or five nights a week! At least this way, they each have a few nights without anything and they can use that time for schoolwork and resting.

We had a great weekend – cramming in the last gasp of fun for the summer.  SuperMan had Friday off of work, so I took the day off as well and we went to tour a dairy that is close by. Well, not the dairy per-se, but the bottling facility.  It was about two hours away and we toodled around in the mountains on our way home, eating lunch by a river in the National Forest and stopping to pick up some fresh summer fruit for canning on the way home.

Now, I have to figure out how I’m going to get a half-bushel of peaches put away in the freezer that is already overflowing! But I am looking forward to having them this winter, so I will figure it out somehow. I need to get a new freezer – we used to have an upright freezer but it won’t work anymore – I miss having that extra space for storage.

This week’s menu planning is a little challenging for me. Today is the “last hurrah” at the neighborhood pool, with friends coming to swim with us right up until suppertime. I’m trying to figure out what I can prepare that would be ready when we get home from the pool (and everyone is starving) and I’m leaning towards the leftover spaghetti/lasagna from last week that I have in the fridge. Quick, filling, and get rid of the leftovers. Sounds like a win-win to me.

Then tomorrow the girls have their open house at school, which is from 4-6 and I know we will probably want to eat right after we get home. I’m thinking about some type of Mexican casserole that I can pop in the oven before we leave and have it ready when we get home. Maybe I’ll invent something. I have a Mexican Potato casserole I used to love, but can’t eat anymore because the potatoes have too much sugar for me. Maybe I’ll improvise and substitute something else (tortillas?) for the potatoes. I’ll let you know how it comes out.

Wednesday, I’m leaning towards something BBQ-ish. Not sure yet. And then Thursday is the first day of school, so I want something hearty and filling to give the girls because I know they will be hungry and tired. I’m thinking about making this cheesy chicken pasta recipe (or maybe this one that Big Girl loves).  Friday will probably be an eat-out night – maybe at our favorite Mexican restaurant. SuperMan had their flank steak last week and it was to-die-for. I’m still thinking about the taste I had. It was so good!!

I’m also in the mood to make something with an Asian flair.  I’ve got a good recipe for an Asian Flank Steak that I may dig up and cook. Or, I’ve found a recipe in a Sandra Lee cookbook for a beef & veggie stir fry I may try. It sounds yummy. So, that may be a weekend choice.

SuperMan made my favorite Chicken Lettuce Wraps (a-la PF Chang’s style) last night. That will be my lunch today and  probably tomorrow, too. They are SOOO good. I’m hoping to get the recipe to share with you but he is worse than I am about “a pinch of this and a dash of that” so I’m not sure I can replicate it reliably enough for you to try… I will see what I can do.

Well, that’s it for our eating plans this week.

Hop over to orgjunkie.com for some more great menu ideas!

 

 

 

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Menu Plan Monday ~ 1 August

What a whirlwind weekend.  Friday we spent a good part of the day buying school shoes and finalizing our back-to-school shopping. We’re all done (thank goodness) and I’m now broke (ha!) so I guess that is a good thing that we’re done.

I also spent some time Friday evening organizing my recipe books. If you recall, I bought these adorable cookbooks that I had planned to use for storing my recipes. I finally sat down and sorted and organized and purged and organized and… well, you get the idea.

Now I have three adorable cookbooks on my shelf - 

One for the “regular foods,” one for baked goods and another one that has all my cookie recipes, Christmas/Holiday recipes and candy recipes. I have quite a few cookie recipes because I hosted cookie swaps for about six years at Christmastime and everyone shared their recipes – six years times ten or twelve people per year and you end up with a lot of cookie recipes! (maybe I’ll do a virtual cookie swap this year?!?)

Anyway, back to the weekend -

Saturday we went to a sweet wedding shower for a girl who used to babysit the girls and attends our church. We’re friends with her parents, too, and it was so nice to be able to celebrate her upcoming marriage with them. The girls loved being a part of the festivities – Big Girl took pictures and Little Bit helped to hand out the gifts.

Then we came home because I had a serious migraine headache and needed a little down time. SuperMan was gone all day and Big Girl had a friend over that evening for a sleepover. Between all of that and the huge storm we had that knocked out power for about 3 hours, it was a heck of an afternoon.

Sunday we were at church and had plans to veg at home for the afternoon, but some friends gave us an offer we couldn’t refuse – to spend the afternoon at the lake with them. So, in spite of my lingering migraine, we headed to the mountains for some swim time.

Today has been all about homemaking – and work, of course – I’ve made my weekly loaf of homemade bread, gave the girls homemade chocolate, chocolate chip muffins for breakfast and baked the family’s favorite banana bread for a breakfast treat later this week.  I’ve also whipped up some spaghetti sauce and got my lasagna going in the crock pot for tonight’s supper. (and now I am tired!)

Tomorrow is a dentist appointment for me (I broke a crown last week :-( That will be fun – not!) so I picked something easy for dinner (and soft) because I have no idea how I’ll feel after my dentist visit. I also have a meeting Tuesday night, so I wanted something I could make quickly that SuperMan and the girls can eat while I’m out.

Here’s what else I have planned for meals for the week:

• Monday: Crock Pot Lasagna with garlic bread & salad (never made it last week)
• Tuesday: Creamy chicken with pasta & veggies
• Wednesday: Mexican casserole (or meat loaf, depending on my mood)
• Thursday: Stir fry chicken
• Friday: Homemade pizzas
• Saturday: Chicken lettuce wraps (SuperMan helps me with this dish)
• Sunday: Grilled chicken & veggies

Join us over at orgjunkie.com and share your menu plans – or pick up some great ideas for your own family dinners!

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Menu Plan Monday ~ 25 July

Wow – do you realize we are halfway to CHRISTMAS!!  Goodness.

It certainly doesn’t FEEL like Christmas outside. As a matter of fact, it feels as far away from Christmas-y weather as you can get. We’re baking (or, rather, steaming) away here in the South.  Temps are in the high 90s and humidity levels are in the ungodly ranges – 60-70%. UGH. 

Even us southern belles who claim to never sweat can’t escape the heat – or the sweating.  I rode bikes with Big Girl yesterday evening and we both thought we were going to die from the heat.  Granted, I was (stupidly) riding in jeans.  But it was hot regardless of how you were dressed.  You know it’s hot when you don’t mind having ice cubes rubbed directly on your skin – it actually felt good!!

We do have rain predicted for this week, but I’m afraid it’s only going to make things muggier, not cooler. We will see. It will depend on how much rain actually falls.  Those quick little afternoon “pop up” showers do little to cool things down. They just make you feel like you are in a steam room.

Ah, well, such is life in the south in July and August. I can’t complain. It is what it is. I have to say, I’d much rather deal with this than months and months of snow and below-freezing temperatures like my friends in the northern lands deal with (Wendy!)

I’m trying to get myself back onto a schedule this week after a week of total fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants-ness.  Staying at Mom’s last week meant cooking on the fly and eating out at our favorite local restaurants… much good food, but very little planning.

This week, I’m hoping to start to get the girls back into a routine, waking earlier (ugh) and eating dinner earlier in preparation for those soon-to-be-here school days.  We have two and a half weeks before school starts, so it’s time.I let the kids help choose the meals for the week this week. They picked some favorites and I filled in the blanks.  I have to go grocery shopping today so the day I cook each meal is not set yet, but here’s the general plan:

• Taco Salads (little bit’s choice)
• Grilled chicken w/ veggies & hobo pocket potatoes (SuperMan’s request)
• Beef tips with egg noodles & mushroom gravy
• Grilled steak (maybe, if it is on sale at the store) (another kid request – figures)
• Crock pot lasagna (big girl’s choice)
• Asian chicken

I’m hungry for grilled shrimp, so I may pick some up at the store and toss them on the grill one night, too.  Big Girl is not much of a shrimp eater, but the rest of us love them.

What about your plans for the week? Hop over to orgjunkie.com for more menu planning ideas.

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Menu Plan Monday ~ 27 June

Wow!

Can you believe June is almost over? It has just flown by. We’ve been busier than ever this summer with adventures every weekend. The kids are bigger this year and that is allowing us to do some things we weren’t able to do in years past – like stay out later and travel a little further from home on our day trips.

Sunday afternoon was spent on the lake in Blue Ridge with some very dear friends. I don’t there is much better than spending the afternoon floating around nestled in the mountains and enjoying the company of people you care about.

We had such a nice time!

But today we are back into what is becoming our weekday summertime routine… work, work, work in the daytime and a little fun in the evenings – usually the pool – before we end our days. I’m planning some easy suppers for this week. I did a little cooking ahead this weekend and some prep work to make things easier on me this week.

 

Here’s what I have planned:

• Monday: Spaghetti
• Tuesday: Grilled Steaks, Hobo Pockets with potato & veggies
• Wednesday: Calzone w/ the leftover Spaghetti sauce
• Thursday: Grilled chicken & veggies
• The holiday weekend will be left to chance – we’ll be spending time with family and friends and I’m sure grilling will be in our future. Beyond that, I’m not so sure what we will do.

Hop on over to orgjunkie.com for more yummy menu planning ideas.

Menu Plan Monday

Happy Monday, y’all!

I had to get up “early” this morning (well, early for Summertime standards, anyway) because of a morning conference call – only to find it had been canceled due to technical difficulties. Can’t say I was sad – I’m not a morning person and trying to be professional early in the morning is a bit of a stretch for me. I can pull it off, but I don’t like to.

I’m hoping this week is better than last week was. It was a hectic, hassled, emotional mess.  The girls are feeling better, so that is a good sign. Lots going on with work, but as long as everyone is healthy, that’s easily handled.

We have a lot of leftovers from Sunday’s dinner – had a few no-shows – so we’ll be eating that for lunches this week. I’ve a great pasta salad improvisation to share with you later this week.

I also want to share a terrific dessert recipe – Oreo pie! Oh.my.gosh, it was soooo good last night!

Dinner plans are below – true to summer, I’m keeping it loose and easy with flexible plans so we can adjust as the week rolls on.

• Spaghetti – requested by the girls
• BBQ chicken – using my dry-rub recipe
• Grilled shrimp (if I can find a bargain at the store) with cheese grits & salad
• SuperMan asked for Salmon Croquettes one night, so this may substitute for the shrimp
• I’m also pulling the slow cooker out – for beef tips in onion gravy one night
• We may also do some calzones with the leftover sauce from the spaghetti.
• Friday night Mexican
• Saturday has become grilled burgers & hot dogs as a standard

Hop on over to orgjunkie.com for some more great dinner ideas!

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It's better late than never

SO.

As I mentioned on an earlier post – it’s been a busy couple of weeks.

BUT

That does not mean I haven’t been menu planning.

I just haven’t had time to post it!

I have to say, though, that if I hadn’t been menu planning, I don’t know how I would’ve gotten anything cooked the past two weeks. We would’ve probably been doing a lot of eating out and takeout.  NOT something I want to do – both for dietary and budgetary reasons!

My menu plans save me, week after week.

They save my sanity.

They save my waistline.

They save my budget.

I can’t live without them.

And just to show you that I have, indeed, been planning -

 

That’s my last three weeks’ worth of menus. :-)

I had been using a printable calendar from busybodybook.com. I really liked using them this past school year.  They helped in keeping everyone’s schedules straight. I printed it and hung it on the refrigerator – that way there was no confusion from anyone in the house as to who was doing what and when.

Of course, I kept my own master calendar at my desk (it’s the green one on the bottom) that has everyone’s stuff in one place, but the printable pages made it easy for my family to see one week at a time what was planned. I even made a column for dinner menus!

For my master calendar, I’m using Amy Knapp’s Family Organizer. I have used it before and migrated away from it for a while, but I am back and loving the all-in-one planning space – especially having my menu plans, to-do, etc. in one place.

OK, enough about calendars – this is supposed to be my menu post!

Here’s the menu for the week.

• Monday: pizza for the girls and calzones for SuperMan and me. Using our homemade pizza crust recipe.
• Tuesday: Grilled chicken thighs, pesto pasta & a salad
• Wednesday: Grilled chops, baby Yukon gold potatoes (in hobo pockets) and veggies
• Thursday: BBQ chicken, mac & cheese & veggies
• Friday: Mexican
• Saturday: who knows – probably potluck or leftovers!
• Sunday: we’re hosting dinner for our Small Group: Roasted Chicken Salad sandwiches on croissants & homemade bread, pasta salad (minus the chicken in this recipe) and Oreo pie for dessert. (I’ll post the Oreo pie recipe later this week)

Check out Orgjunkie.com for more ideas!

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Menu Plan Monday

It’s here.

Finally.

I can hardly believe it.

The last week of school.

The girls are out as of Wednesday – and we can hardly wait!!

These last three days are really toss-out days anyway. They aren’t doing anything of value – playing games, reading books, watching movies… I don’t know why they don’t just let them out a few days early rather than waste time like this. Most moms look at me like I’m nuts when I say that, but I’m happy to have the girls at home with me – and happy to have our schedule slow down dramatically!

Menu planning this week is based around the 90-degree days we’re going to be having. Lots of grilling and quick and easy suppers. I’m thinking crock pot, grill, and salads.

What about you? Do you change your cooking habits when the weather warms up?

I certainly do.

No more heavy casseroles and soups – we’re all about light, fresh and local foods this time of year.

Here’s what I’ve got planned:

• Cool chicken salad sandwiches for lunch. Have you tried my chicken salad recipe? It’s yummy.
• Tonight: Taco Salads (with leftover taco meat from Friday's taco night)
• Tuesday: Grilled chicken with roasted corn and veggies (cooked on the grill, too)
• Wednesday: Stir Fry chicken & rice
• Thursday: Fajitas or I’m thinking we might grill some pizza one night, too. I have a great dough recipe. Maybe I’ll share that later this week. :-)

That’s probably it as I think we’re going to be taking it easy for the holiday weekend that’s coming up – maybe even taking a little road trip.

Check out orgjunkie.com for more delicious menu ideas for your family!

On another note, the Bachelorette premieres tonight.

A local boy is on the show - the son of the owner of one of our favorite restaurants. 

I will be watching, mostly because I can’t help myself, but also because I’m curious to see how he does – he has seemed like a nice boy as we’ve seen him in the restaurant through the years.

If y’all are interested, I’ll share my thoughts (and witty sarcastic comments) after I watch the episodes each week.  I say that, but I will tell you, the last two seasons I haven’t finished. I just got too disgusted with the silliness and never watched past the second or third episode.

So, we’ll see.

Okay, enough random rambling.

Back to your locally scheduled programming. :-)

Menu Plan Monday

Wow. What a whirlwind it’s been the past few weeks. Someone told me last night that I looked tired. Uh, yeah! I’m tired! BIG GIANT CAPITAL LETTERS TIRED!

I will be SO happy when school is out – one less thing to keep up with and get up early for! Our schedule will slow down drastically and I can’t wait.  I think the girls are in complete agreement, although I know they will be bored within a week or two of the summer break.

We’re all still sniffly-headed. I’m beginning to wonder if it is allergies and not a cold, because it has been going on for two weeks now.  And typical over-the-counter cold meds don’t seem to touch it. I didn’t think we’d still be dealing with allergies this late in the season, but we have a weird spring/summer thing going right now.

It’s cold and rainy/dreary here today.

Eeyore weather.

Winnie the Pooh weather.

And then, true to the schitzo weather we’re having, it will be in the upper 80’s by the weekend. Crazy. No wonder we’re sick.

I’ve sort of got a menu plan this week… trying to use some of the food in the freezer and utilize the crock pot to make it easier on me. I’m going to focus on comfort foods and flexibility, too. Cooking based on the crazy weather as well as our sniffly heads.

• Tonight we’re doing chicken & dumplings. I’m using my crock-pot short cut recipe.
• I cooked some ribs over the weekend, so we’ll have those probably Tuesday night for dinner.
• Crock Pot Lasagne (using the leftover spaghetti sauce extras from SuperMan’s manly luncheon last week)
• Chicken Pot Pie  (using the leftover broth/chicken from the dumplings)
• I’m also hungry for some grilled shrimp. May try this recipe with some pasta with a garlic cream sauce. I could do some grilled chicken for the girls.
• And we’ll most likely round out the week with pizza or tacos on Friday night.

Hop on over to orgjunkie.com for some more Menu Plan Monday ideas!

Running the Gauntlet

Well, I survived.

barely.

Well, not really. But it felt that way a few times last week.

What a week.

Gracious.

I am soooo glad I don’t travel for a living anymore. I can’t believe I did it for almost 10 years, but that was 10 years ago and I had more stamina then, I guess. I certainly couldn’t do that full-time again. Nor would I want to.

I ended up sick all week with a rotten cold and so on top of the crazy travel, I had sleepless nights (thanks to the stuffy head and wire-you-up decongestants) and lots of snotty tissues (gross, but, hey, it’s reality)

You may have noticed no posts on Thursday/Friday. Those were my marathon travel days – where I really did feel like I was running a gauntlet.  I was in survival mode and had no extra “gumption” for a blog post.

But, I have to say, the week was a smashing success.  Other than one little hiccup on Monday morning, everything went smoothly and I had the most wonderful time with my colleagues. They are a great bunch of people and I truly enjoyed spending time with them while we accomplished the goals we’d set for the week.

Here was my “office” on Monday:

I worked from the hotel room because my meetings for the day were canceled.

These are the sweet ladies I spent my week with:

  We enjoyed an early Cinco de Mayo dinner on Wednesday night…

This week, it’s back to my usual routine. I’m so happy to be home. Only thirteen more days of school for the girls and then things will really slow down.  The girls were talking about it this morning – about how they can’t wait to wake up when they want to as opposed to when the school system wants them to! I think we’ll all enjoy that.

I’ve got a big shopping trip planned today – restocking the kitchen and back to my normal cooking routine.  Here’s what’s on our menu for this week (so far) – I let SuperMan and the girls dictate the menu to me yesterday so it’s mostly their favorites:

• Pizza Braid (and maybe crock pot lasagna, I’m hungry for it)
• Asian Chicken Stir Fry
• Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo (maybe)
• BBQ sandwiches
• Meatloaf (maybe)
• Grilled chicken (on Friday when SuperMan is home to man the grill)

Join us over at orgjunkie.com for some more menu planning ideas.

Menu Plan Monday ~ 2 May

I’m traveling this week. Out west for business, not pleasure. Well, it will be fun to see all these people I talk with on the phone all the time, but the family is not with me, ergo it’s not a “pleasure” trip.

I’ve planned out the week’s dinners to make it easy for my mom, who has come in to take care of the kids while I’m gone. I’m sure that there will be adjustments and adaptations – and that is her prerogative. Make it easy on yourself, I told her. Do what works for you.

But here is what I’ve planned out for the week – mostly family favorites that I know the girls like and that are easy to prepare (can you say crock pot, people?)

• Beef with/ egg noodles
• Asian chicken stir fry
• chicken with creamy noodles
• Tacos

I hope you have a great week. I have a few posts scheduled just in case I’m too busy to write some real-time posts, but I’m taking my camera so I hope to share some photos from my trip once I get home!

Join us over at orgjunkie.com for more menu ideas.

Menu Plan Monday ~ 25 April

The kids are out of school today (queue the choirs of angels singing) and that means a slow, easy start to my Monday. Which I absolutely LOVE. I think all Mondays should be this way. I don’t mind working on Monday, but I think easing into the week at about 10AM should be the way to go. You know, kinda sneak up on things.

Little Bit is still battling her bug… guess that means we’ll be back at the pediatrician today sometime. I’m waiting for her to wake up now so that I know how good or bad she is feeling.

This week may prove to be a bit hectic, I am afraid. I am traveling for work next week and my mom (bless her) is coming up to take care of the girls while I am gone. So, in addition to my normal stuff, I’m going to be working on getting everything in order for her so that it is easy and hopefully low stress for her to step into my shoes while I’m gone. I know the girls are going to love having their Ammi here and will not miss me at all – they will be spoiled rotten when I get home, but that is a good thing to make up for having Mommy be away for a week.

The weather is warming up and I’m craving light and easy foods – chicken salad, garden salads, etc.  I think we will be doing a lot of grilling this week, as long as Mother Nature cooperates and doesn’t give us these afternoon showers that the weather people are predicting. I don’t have a lot of confidence in their forecasts, though. Daddy always said the weathermen lie. ;-)

We spent the weekend planting a small garden. SuperMan’s “Easter basket” for me. I am so excited and can’t wait to see things start to grow and produce. I’m sure I will be posting pictures here to share with you.

So, enough rambling – here’s the menu:

• Grilled Chicken, roasted broccoli, potatoes
• Homemade pizzas – still haven’t gotten around to making these! I may change things up a bit and make this instead.
• Another batch of Chicken Fettuccini Alfredo (the kids said they didn’t get enough last week)
• Grilled pork chops, saffron rice & veggies – or maybe Slow Cooker Pork Chops. I have some pork chops in the freezer I need to cook.
• “Rotisserie” crock pot chicken
• Chicken salad made with the leftover chicken.

I’m also going to bake up some of my baked oatmeal bars so that I can take some with me on my trip next week (I’ll freeze them before I go) and have them to nibble on while I’m on the plane and/or in the hotel room.

And, I have some bananas on the counter that are begging to be made into some banana bread.

What about you?

Menu Plan Monday ~ 18 April

It’s Monday. Again.

Funny how those keep popping up.

Every time I think I’m firmly ensconced in the weekend and loving every minute, Monday rears her head and takes over my week again, forcing me into structure, routine and responsibility. Bah.

Monday, you need to take a vacation and let Sunday cover for you for a few weeks. Two Sundays in my week would be really nice.

Last week was crazy busy and this week doesn’t look to be much better. It’s that season of the year for me – end of the school year and end of the fiscal year (at work) = craziness. June is looking awfully sweet to me right now.

The girls helped me to come up with this week’s menu plan. They had very strong opinions about what they wanted me to cook and I figured I’d go with it – heck, if it means they’ll eat what I cook, I’m game!

Monday: Roast & Rice & Gravy

Tuesday: Homemade pizzas

Wednesday: leftovers

Thursday: Chicken Fettuccini Alfredo

Friday: eating out

Weekend: family togetherness with the grandparents.

What about you? Anything special planned with the Easter weekend coming?

Menu Plan Monday ~ 11 April

Back to school today – back to our normal routines.

Waking up with the alarm clock after a week plus break was no fun, that is for sure!

While I know the girls are going to miss their free time and their “Ammi-time” they are excited to see their friends and ready to get back to the routine, I’m sure.

Can you believe there are only SIX WEEKS left to the school year? Hard to imagine. After this past week with the kids at home (and me on vacation) I am not ready to start finding creative ways to entertain them while I work this summer!!  They are bigger, so they are more self-directed, but I’m sure there will be days when they’re b-o-r-e-d and I’ll have to be prepared with some good activities to entertain them.

So, I’m asking for your help… what are some ways you entertain your kids when they’re bored and need some diversion?

I’d love some suggestions!!

On another note…

My clematis are blooming! Aren't they beautiful!?!?

And since we’re back on our routine, I’m back to menu planning. Here’s what we have planned for our menu for this week:

• BBQ Chicken
• Chicken & Dumplings (made with the leftover chicken)
• Spaghetti
• Roast Beef with rice & gravy
• Pizza (made with the leftover spaghetti sauce)
• Asian Chicken Stir Fry (one of my girls’ favorites)

Menu Plan Monday ~ 28 March

Counting down this week to Spring Break. I’m not sure who is more excited, me or the girls. Or SuperMan, actually. He is going on an all-guys fishing trip this weekend. It’ll be the first time in I don’t know how long he’s done something like that. I’m so excited for him and hope it becomes a regular occurrence – I think everyone needs a little getaway now and then.

The girls and I will be hanging out with my mom for part of the week, and at home for the remainder.  We’re looking forward to shopping, crafting and just relaxing. It’s been a busy past few weeks and no break since our snow days in January. It’ll be nice to just wake up without an alarm clock for a change.

I’m hoping I may actually get to scrapbook a little next week, too. Who knows? I may have something to share with you…

Rainy, rainy weekend this past weekend. It feels like wintertime again, although the trees and flowers are going nuts with new growth.  It was amazing on Saturday to look outside and it felt as if you could actually see the leaves popping out! Every time I’d look out, there were more leaves than just a few hours prior.

Of course, with all the new growth comes allergies – and we’ve all been suffering this year.  The rain was welcome on that account, although I know the pollen counts will be even higher once the rain stops. It’s a necessary evil to endure in the spring and I'll take it if it means warmer weather and spring flowers.

Because of the rain, I’m planning something soupy for dinner tonight. And maybe some cornbread.

The rest of the week will be about preparing foods SuperMan can eat while we’re gone so he won’t have to worry with cooking. He likes to cook, but his busy work schedule right now means cooking is not high on the priority list. I’d rather have things ready for him to heat and eat so he can focus on other things.

So, here’s what I have planned for the week’s cooking:

• Apple cake – using up some apples that have been on the counter too long.
• Chicken tortilla soup & corn bread
• Beef tips & onion/mushroom gravy & egg noodles 
• Homemade pizzas (or maybe this pizza braid)
• Chicken pasta salad (recipe later this week)

What about you? Anything good planned in your kitchen this week?

Menu Plan Monday ~ 21 March

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Happy Spring, y’all!

I say that as I sit here listening to the birdies chirping and my eyes are watering and my nose running. Achoo!  I am so happy spring is here, even if that means the pollen counts hover close to the 1,000’s and that I’ll most likely be miserable with allergies for a few weeks.

I’m so happy that it is finally sunny and warm – I’m so happy the kids get to play outside and the flowers are blooming.

I’ll put up with the pollen and the sneezing and itchy eyes.

As I sat on the back deck this weekend, I noticed our dogwoods are starting to bloom.

… and look at all the holes in this tree from the woodpeckers! We have three or four different kinds in the woods outside our house. I love watching them.

Bring on the spring!

I’m lightening up our menu at home, too, now that the weather is warming up. I’m thinking more about salads – green salads, pasta salads, and about grilled foods.  Less heavy items and I’ll probably be packing up the crock pots for a while – well, maybe one or two anyway. ;-)

I posted a series last week on how I approach menu planning. You can start with Part One here.

Here’s what we have planned this week:

• Monday – Baked Ham, rice, black-eyed peas (mac & cheese to go with the ham for the kids)
• Tuesday – Country-style chicken & gravy with rice & veggies
• Wednesday – leftovers
• Thursday -  Salisbury Steak w/ mashed potatoes
• Friday – Grilled chicken & grilled veggies, salads & baked/roasted potatoes
• Weekend cooking  – chicken pasta salad, Sunshine Cake, whatever else strikes my fancy – maybe some Beer Can Chicken or my Dry Rub BBQ chicken.

And here’s what I have planned on the blog:

• I’ll be updating you all on my exercising adventures this week. I’ve been practicing my yoga to get myself a little more limber and I’m psyching myself up to tackle that exercise-video-from-hell again this week.
• I’ve also got some recipes planned and and an update on my reading. Beatrice has been quite busy lately.

Hope you have a great week!

Menu planning made easy (part 2)

 

So, this is part two of a two-part series I’m doing on my menu planning process. If you missed the first installment, you can find it here.

At this point, I’ve already explained how I begin the menu planning process:

• check the sales
• check the calendar
• ask the troops
• write the plan

Let’s continue from there…

Utilize my appliances and prepare as much as I can ahead of time

I also try really hard to find at least one crock pot meal for the week. This takes a lot of stress off of me on the afternoons we have a lot going on (Mondays, for example) and allows me to get dinner started at 9AM when things are quiet and know that when everyone is starving at 6PM we’ll be good to go.

I’m finding that in the winter I can usually do two crock pot meals per week, with one being a soup or stew.  In the summer, I usually do a lot of grilling (well, SuperMan does) and that is not something you can cook ahead, but you can prep ahead!

Dinner is the only meal I plan

I don’t worry about lunches or breakfasts. SuperMan eats leftovers for lunch. If the kids don’t have lunch at school, I’ll fix them one of four or five different “standard” lunch combinations I’ve found they will actually eat.

Saturday lunch is usually a haphazard affair and we either do subs if we’re out running errands or we make use of leftovers from the week before.

Weekday breakfasts are usually one of a half-dozen things that I keep on hand all the time.  The girls love biscuits for breakfast and those nasty toaster strudel thingys.  I also make muffins on occasion and they sometimes have cereal or eggs.  I just keep a stockpile of all of this so I can adjust to their desires each morning.  We are not morning people, so it’s usually as much about keeping the peace as it is getting the troops fed.

Saturday morning breakfast is usually SuperMan’s affair and I just make sure we have plenty of the things he likes to cook on hand so he can fix whatever strikes his fancy.

Sunday mornings the kids and SuperMan eat donuts at church and I usually stick to my protein shakes.

Get ready, get set, go shopping

Once I have the general plan down on my index cards, I pull out my trusty coupon binder and check the Southern Savers website yet again for coupon matches (if I haven’t already printed out my plans from there).

I sort through and pull any coupons I need at that time.  My little coupon binder has a pocket for “today’s trip” and I load all the coupons I plan to use there.  I also love the fact that it comes with a handy tote so I can put my shopping list, my menu plan and my coupons all in one bag to carry into the store. That way, if I change plans while I’m in the store, because of an unadvertised sale, for example, I can update the menu plan while I’m there and everything is good to go when I get home.

Once I’m home I try to store my different planned menu items together – for example, if we’re having a stir fry for dinner, I’ll put the veggies in one corner of the crisper drawer so they are easy to find and I’ll group the spices and seasonings together in the pantry to be ready to grab when it’s time to cook. 

It also makes it easier for SuperMan if he has to step in and cook a meal for some reason. He knows what is planned and can easily find the components.

Keep the plan handy

One big tip here is this – keep the plan where you can see it.  I keep my index card in the same spot on the refrigerator every week – the top right of the right hand door.  That way, everyone knows it is there and knows that is where to look if they want to know what’s for dinner.

I never have to worry about losing my list and I can refer to it quickly when I’m making plans or decisions and decide if I need to rearrange things on the fly.

It’s okay to go off-plan

I don’t beat myself up if and when I don’t cook something on the plan. I’ve had weeks where everything went haywire and we ended up eating nothing I’d planned.  It was OK because most of the meats could be frozen for another time and I repurposed the other perishables as I went along with my improvisations for the weeks.

It’s really worth the trouble

And finally, I just want to say this – it really, truly is worth the trouble. I would estimate that this takes me (the planning part, not the shopping part) about 20-30 minutes total for the week.  And the amount of time it saves me in stress and worry? I can’t imagine.

I absolutely LOVE knowing what is coming and my kids do, too.  I also love the fact that planning allows me to save money by shopping the sales and save time by using my crock pot and oven for meals that would never be made if I was doing things at the last minute.

I also feel like my family is eating healthier because I am paying more attention to what we’re eating and ensuring that we’re having well rounded meals and variety at the same time.

I hope this helps you if you are thinking about dipping your foot into the pool of menu planning. It’s not hard and you will be amazed at how much easier it becomes with time.  You are probably already doing more of this than you think – just not in a formal way or on paper. By writing it down, you may find you gain more peace of mind and clarity about your plans for your family meals.  You may also find that you want to make some adjustments to your eating habits.  I was amazed at the “rut” we’d gotten into, eating the same 8-10 things most every night of the week. Now, I try to spice things up with at least one new meal every two weeks. We’re expanding our palates and I’m growing my repertoire of cooking choices!

If I’ve just muddied the waters for you, please don’t hesitate to comment (or email me) and I’ll be happy to help in any way I can.

Menu planning made easy

I’ve had a few of you tell me how much you admire me for my menu planning.

Whenever I hear this, I’m usually taken aback.  I don’t really think it’s that big of a deal to plan menus for the week. I don’t feel worthy of admiration for doing it.

But, I thought I’d share with you my technique just in case you were looking for a place to get started. It’s something that has been constantly refined based on my personal style and my family’s current lifestyle. It started a lot more loosey-goosey before we had kids and has continued to gain structure over the years, especially in the past two years as we’ve tried to manage our budget more tightly and pinch pennies where we can.

I have a lot to share (more than I thought I would) so I’ve divided this into two posts. Here’s the first installment.

Check the sales at the stores

I usually start my my menu plans by checking out Southern Savers website. This is a blog/website that is dedicated to posting sales, promotions and good deals in many of the Southern grocery and drug store chains. 

There are similar sites which focus on other national chains – such as Money Saving Mom and Coupon Mom.

Anyway, I check these websites to see what is on sale for the week. My grocery of choice is Publix, so I always look to see what meats and vegetables are on sale. I try (especially post-surgery) to try to shop the perimeter of the store (meats, dairy, vegetables) and stay away from a lot of the processed foods. So, I try to capitalize on the sales whenever I can.

Check the calendar

Once I know what is on sale, I’ll jot down the things I know I want to purchase. The next step is to check the family calendar.  For example, this school year, Big Girl has a late dance class on Wednesday nights. I usually try to do something easy on that night (even leftovers) so that I’m not worrying about something being ready on time and we can eat in shifts. Usually Big Girl doesn’t eat until after class and SuperMan will eat with her. I eat earlier with Little Bit because she is often in bed by the time the other two are home.

I also look to see what our weekend plans are and if we have any other special activities planned. It always pains me when I forget about something and I have to either make another trip to the store, or worse, end up not cooking something as planned. (and have to toss it or, hopefully, freeze it)

This also helps me to decide if I need to make any special food purchases.  For example, we had friends over last Saturday and it was a nacho/taco themed dinner. Each family contributed different things, so I needed to be sure I purchased the items we were responsible for and I really didn’t want to make a last minute dash to the store on Saturday morning with 95% of the other people in the county who were doing their weekly shopping. I’m spoiled with shopping during the week when everyone else is at work!

Ask the troops

Based on my family’s plans for the week, the next step is to survey the family to see if there is anything they are hungry for. Some weeks, I don’t do this at all, but usually I try to ask on Sunday evenings if there are any cravings that need to be addressed.  I don’t usually get much input here, but I feel like I’ve at least given everyone the chance to have their say so there is less reason to gripe later in the week when they “get what they get and don’t pitch a fit.”

Orgjunkie.com is a great website for menu planning ideas as well.  I’ve also subscribed before to menu planning services – such as e-Mealz and Saving Dinner.com  Those were good resources, especially as I got started menu planning, to help me figure out what meals I might want to try – and to add variety to existing menu plans.

Write the plan

Finally, I write my plan.  I have used many things for this before, but what I have found works best for me is to use index cards. I use the big ones – either 5x8 or 4x6 so that I have room to write with a bold felt tip marker. This is because I’m getting old and I want to be able to read the stupid thing when it is hanging on the refrigerator and I’m in the kitchen trying to remember what I’d planned for dinner that night.

The other advantage of using the index cards is that I save them and use them again. If I have a week where I’m feeling uninspired by my menu options, I can look back at them for ideas – or simply grab a menu plan I have used in the past and recycle it.  My hope is to one day have an old 4x6 photo album to store all my old menu plans so I can just flip through them like I do my recipe books for ideas.

Now, I know people who plan what to eat each night of the week. I don’t usually do that. Mostly because I like to leave myself open to options.  I may not want pork chops on Tuesday after all, and I like knowing I have everything in house and can cook any one of my choices as I feel like it (or as the monkeys request it).

Don’t plan for every single night

So, what I do is jot down between 4 and 6 different main courses, skipping a line or two between each one to allow me to go back and add in any particular side items I may decide to cook with them.  I don’t always decide those ahead of time, often waiting until the day I cook the main course to decide which sides I have on hand that I may want to prepare. That way, I can use up vegetables that may need cooking before they go bad in the refrigerator.

I also don’t plan all 7 days of the week. I know that my family is probably going to go out for dinner at least one night (usually no more than that) or else we go out after church on Sunday.  I also know we’ll have one night that we either do pizza (homemade) or Mexican (homemade) or will have leftovers we need to finish up. So 4 – 7 dinners usually works for me. 

I look at the meats/veggies I’ve planned to purchase from the sales and then figure out what menu items I can cook with those.  I also rummage through my bursting-at-the-seams recipe book for ideas and check some of my favorite cooking/recipe blog sites for inspiration.

I also think about what I can “cook once and eat twice” – for example, I might roast a chicken on Sunday and then use the leftovers later in the week for something else like chicken pot pies.  Or, plan to cook a pork roast for BBQ one night and use the leftover BBQ for sandwiches for lunch on Saturday.

more to come tomorrow

Menu Plan Monday ~ 14 March

Happy Monday, y’all.

And it is most definitely Monday today. My poor babies did not want to go to bed last night and really did not want to get up this morning – stupid time change really messes with their little body clocks. This morning was a lot of non-verbal communication – I felt like I was living with some Neanderthal girls – lots of grunts and moans and such.  Oh well, hopefully we will all adjust soon.

Thankfully, I have a menu plan for the week. I think this is going to be one of those weeks where I will be really glad I am prepared and know what I need to do on each day – SuperMan has some evening plans and I am sure the kids are going to be tired until their little bodies adjust to the time change. Having dinner sorted out will make it easier for me to focus on them when they need it – and not on a panic about what to cook for supper.

Cooking up some comfort food this week:

• Meatloaf on Monday
• Creamy chicken & noodles with vegetables on Tuesday
• Salmon croquettes and grits on Wednesday
• Spaghetti on Thursday – we’re taking dinner to a friend whose daughter just got out of the hospital on Saturday. Poor darling has mito and has had some recent challenges. We’re all praying for a miracle for her – but I’m doing what I can by feeding them with love and food this week.
• my new favorite Asian chicken lettuce wraps on Friday
  (I may try to make the girls some homemade sweet & sour chicken for their dinner)

What about you? Have your menu planned?
I’ll be sharing my menu planning tips later this week – and some recipes!

Be sure to click on over to The Organizing Junkie’s Monday Menu Plan post for loads and loads of other ideas.

(not) Menu Plan Monday ~ 7 March

I have a confession to make.

I have no menu plan today. Well, not much of one anyway.

I have spent the entire weekend playing and shopping and generally goofing off with the family.

And it was marvelous.

So, whatever shall I do?

I’ll do what we all do.

I’ll make it up as I go along.

I do have to go to the grocery store today, so I’ll see what is on sale and that will help drive my cooking decisions.

But, this leads me to a question for you - (and this only works if you de-lurk and comment!)

What meals are your go-to meals when you don’t have dinner planned and need something quick?

What are sure-fire hits with your family for which you keep the ingredients handy all the time?

Let me know!

And, here’s what I have planed so far:

• Chicken Tortilla Soup – made with some leftover chicken/broth that I had in the freezer (recipe later this week)
• This cake for dessert.

Beyond that? I’m not sure yet. But I have tonight covered.

Menu Plan Monday ~ 28 Feb

March is almost here – and we’re supposed to have some pretty big storms tonight. Wonder if the old phrase “in like a Lion, out like a Lamb” will be true for us? I think we could use the rain, but I am hoping we don’t have any severe weather and that no one suffers any major damage – I’ve seen tornados from the same weather front on the news this morning. Fingers are crossed we escape that.

As I sit here and type this, I’m enjoying the last of the homemade blueberry-lemon scones I made this weekend. They were some of the best scones I think I’ve ever had. Moist, fluffy and so, so good. I’ll post a recipe later this week, so keep watching for it. And then run out to get the ingredients so you can make them for your family next weekend. They will love you for it.

This past weekend was the weekend for making new recipes - We also made a chicken lettuce wrap recipe for dinner on Saturday and chicken & spinach stuffed shells for dinner on Sunday.  I’ll post all the recipes in the next few weeks. They were awesome, even though the lettuce wraps were a lot of work to make.

This week is a short week for cooking for me – we’re headed to the grandparents’ for the weekend so I will help cook down there, but there is nothing specific planned. After all the cooking we did this past weekend, it’ll be a nice break.

 

Here’s what I have planned so far for the week:

• Monday: Slow Cooker Sticky Chicken (this is a new recipe – if we like it, I’ll share it on the blog soon) Saffron rice, veggies
• Tuesday: Beef with egg noodles & gravy
• Wednesday: leftovers
• Thursday: Sandwiches and leftover chicken wraps