The last week of August/start of September menu

We never had our Bourbon Chicken last week, and on Saturday I scored some great deals on reduced meat, so we grilled.  We'll be eating some of those throughout the week.

The lunchbox menu worked pretty well too!!

Sunday~ Steaks (from Sat) on the grill, stuffed mushrooms, tossed salad

Monday~ Pork BBQ (from the crock pot), baked beans, mac'n'cheese
  Lunchbox: PB&J, juice, fruit snacks, cheese stick, choc chip cookie

Tuesday~ Omelets (we haven't had them yet either)
  Lunchbox: Lunchable

Wednesday~ Leftover hamburgers, hotdogs & sausages
  Lunchbox: Slim Jim, cheese sticks, milk box, granola bar

Thursday~ Out to eat with a friend at our fave local Mexican restaurant
  Lunchbox: PB&J, cheez-its, juice, choc chip cookie

Friday~ Something easy, but I'm not sure what yet...
  Lunchbox: Lunchable

Saturday~ Out to eat with the fam (it's my birthday!)

Woo Hoo!!!  Labor Day Weekend.... we're going to ENJOY it.

Share your menus at Menu Plan Monday.

And school begins... and the menu goes on...

It has arrived... Monday, everyone goes back to school!
We followed last week's menu pretty well, except that instead of Bourbon Chicken on Friday, we had spaghetti.  We needed some comfort food. 


So here's hoping the menu this week makes life a little less stressful for everyone. :)
Sun 21st~ Tacos
Mon 22nd~ Spaghetti, cheese crisps, tossed salad  Subbing the Bourbon Chicken in here, with brown rice and green beans (lunchbox: PB&J, cheez-its, brownie, juice)

Tues 23rd~Crockpot Roast, pearl onions, green beans, mashed potatoes (lunchbox: Slim Jim, cheese stick, granola bar, milk)
Wed 24th~ Omelets w/veggies, fruit (lunchbox: Lunchable. Yes, I know.  A mom needs a break sometime, and it's a treat for him)
Thurs 25th~ Stuffed peppers, leftover Spaghetti (lunchbox: PB&J, fruit snacks, granola bar, juice)
Fri 26th~ Frozen pizza, tossed salad (lunchbox: Slim Jim, cheese stick, cheez-its, homemade cookie, milk)
Sat 27th~ Open... after the first week with students back, we may be in hiding... ;)

Lunches for hubs and I will be leftovers or salads.

Check out Menu Plan Monday for more menu inspiration.

The end of our summer and August menu #3

We officially return to school this week.
Back to routines.
Goodbye, lazy mornings, and hello, let's get moving!

(Last week's menu was very successful, and the only thing I didn't make was the Watermelon Lime Slushies.  Which I really want to try this week.)

So I've actually planned out the rest of the month.
AND I took the giant leap of writing out breakfast, lunch, and dinner for our return to school.  Which brought some huge revelations to me!

I pack lunch for my son every day.  We tried the school lunch routine when he was in kindergarten, and he did not like anything that was served (or not enough to justify paying for it).  So I pack his lunch.  He really prefers hot lunches, which is fine when we're at home during the summer, but it's pretty challenging when it comes to taking it to school.  We've done cheese & crackers, turkey roll-ups... tried tortillas (with no success), sandwich on buns (again, fail), and salad (mediocre reception at best).

This year, I decided to have a chat with him about packing his lunch.  And he informed me that he would love to have Peanut Butter & Jelly sandwiches in his lunch!!!!!!!!! 


Shocking.

"I like crunchy peanut butter," he says.
"And what kind of jelly?  Grape?  Strawberry?  Does it matter?" I ask, still stunned.
"Well, I really like grape, but strawberry's okay too as long as it's not lumpy," he replies.
"So you want crunchy peanut butter, and smooth jelly," I confirm.
"Yes, that's it," he acknowledges.

I am so amazed.
He has never let me in on this secret before, and it could have made my life SO MUCH EASIER.
Why is it that they never tell The Mother these things????????????

So with that bit of newfound knowledge, I set to work on the menu.  (This week's lunches will be a variety of out-to-eat with colleagues and catch lunch on our break from work, so I'm not listing those yet.)

Sun 14th~ Sausage, peppers & onions
Mon 15th~ Omelets, bacon, roasted potatoes
Tues 16th~ Leftovers (I have an evening meeting)
Wed 17th~ Crockpot Pepper Steak, brown rice, tossed salad or maybe spinach (I've got some that needs to be used up)
Thurs 18th~ Pork BBQ (already cooked & shredded, in the freezer, ready to reheat and add sauce), homemade mac'n'cheese (with butternut squash puree 'hidden' in there), homemade baked beans, and collards from the garden
Fri 19th~ Crockpot bourbon chicken, green beans from the garden, brown rice
Sat 20th~ Turkey breast (previously cooked, and frozen), mashed potatoes & gravy, green beans

Sun 21st~ Tacos
Mon 22nd~ Spaghetti, cheese crisps, tossed salad (lunchbox: PB&J, cheez-its, brownie, juice)

Tues 23rd~ Crockpot Roast, pearl onions, green beans, mashed potatoes (lunchbox: Slim Jim, cheese stick, granola bar, milk)
Wed 24th~ Omelets w/veggies, fruit (lunchbox: Lunchable.  Yes, I know.  A mom needs a break sometime, and it's a treat for him)
Thurs 25th~ Stuffed peppers, leftover Spaghetti (lunchbox: PB&J, fruit snacks, granola bar, juice)
Fri 26th~ Frozen pizza, tossed salad (lunchbox: Slim Jim, cheese stick, cheez-its, homemade cookie, milk)
Sat 27th~ Open... after the first week with students back, we may be in hiding... ;)

Lunches for hubs and I will be leftovers or salads.

Check out Menu Plan Monday for more menu inspiration.

August Menu #2

First... you should check out this calendar of food celebrations in August.  So fun!
We've had a great time celebrating Ice Cream Sandwich Day, and Rootbeer Float Day, and we look forward to S'mores Day this week!

Next, a quick review of our week:
Tuesday, ds#3 spent the night with a friend, so hubby and I had a chance for a date night.  Which we thoroughly enjoyed.
Wednesday, we had sandwiches at a church supper.
Friday, we were invited to have dinner with friends, so I didn't have to cook at all!
Which brings us to this week!

We are getting back into school-time routines, as hubs & I return to work next week.

Not that we ever truly left it.
We've both been working at school all summer.

Anyway.

The plan:
Sunday~ Bruschetta chicken (I'm using leftover grilled chicken and adding the topping to make it something 'new'), Low-carb linguine, tossed salad, and cheese crisps
Monday~ Roast in the crock pot with gravy, green beans, whole wheat egg noodles, and more salad  Hubs declared he did not want roast so we are having chef salads!
Tuesday~ Hubs has a dinner meeting, so it's leftovers for ds#3 and me Hubs decided to have dinner with us instead of at the meeting (he went later) so we had stuffed peppers and ds#3 had noodles.
Wednesday~ Eggplant parm with the eggplant from the garden. Earlier this summer I attempted freezing cucumbers as this recipe for cucumber salad shows, and we're going to see how successful we are with it.  (We know it's good after marinating for a day, but I'm a little skeptical about thawing...)
Thursday~ Tacos and taco salad
Friday~ Strata (that we did not eat last week), bacon, strawberries, and perhaps trying these watermelon lime slushies
Saturday~ Probably leftovers of some sort.  Or something else.  TBA.

Need inspiration?  

Check out Organized Junkie's Menu Plan Monday!

The beauty of a PLAN!

Jessica at Life As Mom is posting on today's Frugal Friday about how to eat at home and save money.

How I have learned that lesson.

And I've learned how important it can be to share the plan.

My husband loves to go out to eat.  It is one of the ways he copes with stress.  This can be tough on the budget.  So I've had to come up with some creative ways to help him feel nourished emotionally and physically in the kitchen, where it's cheaper to relieve stress!!

All of Jessica's tips are right on target, and I've learned the beauty in each one.  This very week, even.

Hubs loves to eat out, especially at lunch time.
And he has a favorite restaurant, where he loves to eat a salad bar.
So.... I intentionally purchased salad items that I don't normally have on hand to satisfy that 'salad bar' craving.  And it cost less than one trip to said salad bar.  One day at lunchtime, hubs was feeling the need to go out.  I told him of my stock-up, and threw together lovingly prepared his salad.  Which was perfect (he had seconds).  Success!

We had two unplanned events come up this week.  Ds#3 spent the night with a friend, leaving hubby & I alone for a rare date night, but I did not want to spend money out.  Then we were invited to some friends' house for dinner.  This means we had a dinner that I needed to make date-worthy, and then a dinner I didn't have to make.  These were fairly easy adjustments, but if I hadn't had a plan, we would end up spending money to go out for the date night (nothing wrong with that at all, just better for our budget right now to stay in), and I would have had to spend money to purchase items to take a dessert to our friends' home.

The plan is flexible, and can be changed, but it provides a framework for success!

Check out Frugal Friday on Life As Mom for money-saving inspiration.