Friday, October 31

my menu

I am really enjoying having a menu plan this week. Now dinner feels more like a normal part of the day. Like washing jeans or Mondays and towels on Thursdays (not that I'm so organized with my laundry! lol) I did decide to just do leftovers last night since Aleena and Trey had to be at the school at 6 and hubby didn't get home until around 5:30. No one starved! And because I had an easy dinner planned (or no dinner at all really), I baked bread yesterday.

I was looking at one of the other blogs I've been reading a lot $5 Dinners and saw that she had hew whole menu for November planned out. I am not that ambitious. But after I thought about it for a while, I also realized that the way we do our produce impacts that too. If we get spaghetti squash in our farm share one week this winter, it will be on the menu. Right now I have an excess of potatoes, so I really need to find more things to do with them. Potato Leek soup will be on the menu again soon. In the summers, we really tend to go with what we have on hand. Another great thing about that is that we pay a flat fee for an abundance of food. Jars and jars of tomato sauce, pickles, frozen corn and cauliflower and broccoli. That's how things stay economical for us.

Now, it's almost time to make my soup for tonight. A friend is bringing over beer cheese soup, so I am going with veggie noodle. Maybe I'll even add some chicken.

I can't wait to roast that turkey tomorrow! It will really feel like fall then.

Thursday, October 30

the turkey!!!

My plan will only work if I remember to defrost the turkey in time for Saturday! ARGH!

Acorn squash was so delicious last night. I think winter squash is about the world's most perfect food. Starchy, slightly sweet, full of vitamins. YUM! I can't wait to cook up some butternut this weekend to go with the turkey.

Wednesday, October 29

why it works

One of the best things about having a menu plan for the week is a day like today. I am tired and uninspired. I would really rather be in my bed, but I have 2 children that need some supervision. But I planned ahead last night and pulled out my whole chicken to defrost. It's in the crockpot now. And I have planned to have acorn squash too. So while I was in the kitchen and moving, I cleaned my squash and got them in the baking dish and EVEN in the oven. Later this afternoon I can turn the oven on and they will be ready in no time. I think I will make some biscuits later and cook some orange and purple cauliflower and that's dinner.

Last night's dinner was really good. I haven't made meat loaf in a while and it's a favorite with everyone. I got it ready about 3;30 just before I had to take Trey to his guitar lesson. I put it in the oven with the time bake thing on and it was ready at 5:30 without me stressing. I also put some diced purple potatoes in with the meatloaf to roast alongside it. They did need a few more minutes at a higher oven temp to finish. I got the corn going and decided it didn't look like enough so I pulled out the rest of a bunch of organic spinach I had got for our soup last Sunday. I sauteed that with some garlic and olive oil and made a salad out of the remnants of a bag of lettuce, red bell pepper, apple slices, sunflower kernels and some parmesan cheese. I pulled some rolls out of the freezer to reheat and it was dinner.

My kids felt much better with a full table. Monday they were all a little disappointed to see just a casserole on the table for dinner!

Monday, October 27

Menu Plan Monday

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This is a new thing for me. I've been reading some new blogs this fall that participate in this and decided to join in. One of the reasons I haven't been posting much is that I have gone back to working a few nights a week as a postpartum doula. I love the work, but it does make my days a little weird. I find that I have to have small goals for each day and a PLAN to get me through when I am operating on less sleep than usual. I've been planning menus for a while, and I've posted them in my sidebar, but I decided to make a big production (and actual blog post) out of it this time.

The Menu Plan Monday is hosted by Organizing Junkie. Go check it out. There are lots and lots of ideas there.

Monday-stuffed cabbage casserole

Tuesday-meatloaf, roasted potatoes, corn

Wednesday-whole roast chicken, acorn squash and ???

Thursday-squash and ground beef skillet (I'll be totally improvising!)

Fiday-chicken veggie soup before trick or treating

Saturday-roast turkey (from last year's sale and still in the freezer) with mashed potatoes and veggies

Sunday- Left Overs!