A Little Like Life on a Farm... and a menu

We have a garden.

Thanks to my husband's amazing green thumb, we have an abundance of produce right now.

Including, but not limited to:

cabbage, collards, tomatoes, green beans, jalapenos, bell peppers, new potatoes, onions, cucumbers, and blackeyed peas.

And now I'm working on ways to use it.

I've made collard greens galore, and blanched them for the freezer.

I've cooked many green beans, given some away, and blanched some more for the freezer.

I've made jalapeno poppers, frozen some 'empties', and have a bucket full on my counter right now awaiting inspiration.

I've made coleslaw with the cabbage, and am trying to get brave enough to attempt sauerkraut. (Which my husband loves but I do not.) And maybe use it in stir fry.

Sliced tomatoes, tomatoes on salad, etc.

Cucumbers in salad, and a bread-and-butter pickle experiment.

We've never had a garden this big, and I'm a little overwhelmed.

Can you tell?

So here's my attempt at including this produce in our menu for this week.

Sunday~Burgers & sausage on the grill, with tons of grilled veggies to go with

Monday~ HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY! With the fam, swimming, and eating chicken. Making green beans and cucumber salad to accompany.

Tuesday~ Back to work for the last week with students. And it's payday. Pulled pork BBQ in the crockpot (on buns for ds#3 and me), collards, mac'n'cheese, coleslaw

Wednesday~ Leftovers

Thursday~ Spaghetti & meatballs, cucumber & tomatoes w/feta cheese

Friday~ WE MADE IT!!! School's out, and we'll go out to celebrate.

Saturday~ We'll decide when we get there. ;)

I'd love to hear any ideas you have for using fresh produce! And you can share your menu for the week - or get some inspiration -

at Menu Plan Monday.

I've fallen down... but I'm getting back up...

I've fallen down on the menu planning job.

Life has been insanely busy these last two weeks... and will continue to be until we get out of school, but I'm going to try to plan this week anyway.

The picture shows what hubby grilled on Sunday evening for dinner, and we'll use it all week long.

Sunday~ from the grill: chicken, sausage, hotdogs, jalapeno poppers, corn. From our garden: collards, cucumber salad, coleslaw.

Monday~ Hubz leaves early for a trip with his history club. Ds#3 and I will probably have leftovers from the fridge, or go see my grandparents and have dinner with them.

Tuesday~ Hubz comes home (relatively) late from his trip. I'll have a roast in the crockpot, with green beans from the garden, pearl onions, and some rice (for ds#3).

Wednesday~ It'll be leftovers: sausage & dogs (the chicken was overcooked and I tossed what was left... it was too hard to eat!), mac'n'cheese (for ds#3), and cucumbers & tomatoes for hubby & me.

Thursday~ Flatbread pizzas using FlatOut! flatbreads. This is a new addition to hubby's diet, and one that I am DELIGHTED to see!!! We'll top with turkey pepperoni, tomatoes from the garden, basil from the garden, and some string cheese (lowfat mozzarella). Ds#3 likes this too, as he can choose what he wants on his 'pizza'.

Friday~ WOO HOO... a long weekend! Tacos have failed to make it to the menu every time I've scheduled them in recent weeks, so we'll give it a try again for Friday!

Saturday~ TBA

I should note that we have tons of fresh veggies from the garden, and I try to have ds#3 taste them all, but he's pretty picky.

I keep offering, and he tries them, but often chooses not to partake.

We are on the home stretch to SUMMER and are sooooooo excited to see it coming...

Share your menu at Menu Plan Monday!

May... menu....

I didn't post at all last week - I was preparing to go out of town with my chorus and knew that we wouldn't be eating at home much, so I just didn't expend the mental energy!

This week, we will eat at home.... more than we'll eat out, anyway. ;)

Hubby's birthday is this week and he hasn't quite figured out how he wants to celebrate, so we'll have to see what he decides.

Sunday~ Mother's Day. But since I've been gone for three days, I ended up cooking anyway. We had collard greens, mac'n'cheese, and chicken.

Monday~ Chicken with rosemary and mushrooms, rice, fresh green beans.

Tuesday~ Ham & mushroom crustless quiche, tossed salad (tomatoes from the garden!)

Wednesday~ Tacos/taco salad

Thursday~ Hubby's b-day... my guess is a steak dinner

Friday~ Teriyaki chicken, stir fry veggies, leftover rice

Saturday~ TBA

Share your menu or get some inspiration at Menu Plan Monday!