It's July, and we are home!

Where we've been:

Scenes from a luau

Dancing on the beach

Climbing a coconut tree and showering the audience with flowers

Our view, almost every day

Hawaii was beautiful and we enjoyed seeing our Marine Son, but you know there's nothing like sleeping in your own bed!  We spent a TON of money there - to eat out, it cost us twice what we would spend at home.  And on vacation, our opportunities to cook in were limited.

So this will be a belt-tightening month for us.  We're also trying to incorporate more fruits and veggies into our meals (I will report our progress next week). We hiked a mountain with our son in Hawaii, and it was bitterly obvious that we need to do something.  So here we go!

Sunday~ Eggplant parmesan with homemade tomato sauce and noodles.  I scored a big, beautiful eggplant at the farmer's market on Saturday for $1.50, and we've got more than half left!  I will make a roasted veggie tart with the remainder.

Monday~ Lasagna with tossed salad.  Grass-fed, locally raised ground beef, homemade tomato sauce to make lasagna healthier; tomatoes & cucumbers in the salad are from our garden.

Tuesday~ Chef salads with ham, turkey, cheese, hardboiled egg.  Off to Scouts tonight.

Wednesday~ Out to dinner with a friend for Mexican.

Thursday~ HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY, USA! We are going to a local baseball game, with fireworks after.  We'll eat ballpark food. :)

Friday~ Roast chicken, roasted new potatoes, green beans, zucchini.  New potatoes & free-range chicken from farmer's market, green beans from our garden, zuke from a friend.

Saturday~ Burgers with homemade baked beans and homemade coleslaw.  Or homemade chili.  We'll have to see what I'm in the mood for. :)

For lunches this week, we'll do leftovers from dinner, sandwiches, and salads.

For breakfast, hubs eats farm eggs, bacon & fruit (right now it's pineapple and blackberries).  Ds#3 & I usually eat something a little less conventional.  I'm working on getting him to try different varieties of smoothies to try to get some fruit in him.  He's pretty picky, so if you've got any winners, I'd love to hear!

Pineapples everywhere!  Love them.

The world's biggest sno-cone.  Couldn't finish it.

Worth waking up for.

Check out Menu Plan Monday and share your menu marvels!

The Aloha Menu

We have been in Hawaii for a week. Wow, is it beautiful!
What we've eaten so far:
Monday- we landed and ate Subway sandwiches before heading to watch our Marine play softball
Tuesday- spaghetti in our cottage; Mom cooked to save some cash!
Wednesday- burgers and hotdogs and veggies on the grill. Yum!
Thursday- leftover pizza from lunch out
Friday- again, leftovers from lunch out
Saturday- Marine Son had a bunch of friends over for a cookout: burgers, chicken, shrimp, veggies on the grill, along w roasted potatoes, corn, and homemade Mac & Cheese. Fun time had by all!
Sunday- leftovers from the cookout. Last night we'll be able to cook- it's off to a hotel in the morning.

Pics soon!
Till then, visit Menu Plan Monday for inspiration!
http://www.orgjunkie.com

The week before HAWAII... and our 'use-it-up' menu

Next Monday, we will fly out to see our Marine Son who just happens to be stationed in Hawaii!!!!  We are terribly excited to see him, but also looking forward to a great adventure in a place we would otherwise never go.  So this week, we are using up all the perishable food... which will probably lead to some interesting meals.

The plan:

Sunday~ Blackeyed peas (from last year's garden), cucumber salad (cukes from a friend), zucchini fries (my son's new fave - yea for veggies!!!), fried green tomatoes
Monday~ Leftover spaghetti.  I may also make some pesto with our abundant basil, just to stretch the sauce for the pasta.  I will probably also make a Potato Torte for lunches during the week.
Tuesday~ Our 19th wedding anniversary!  Hubby & I will be enjoying a dinner out.
Wednesday~ Chili.  I have some taco meat that needs to be used up, and this is a good way to convert it into something interesting.  Plus my guys like it!
Thursday~ Breakfast for dinner.  We have a ton of farm eggs that I will use up, along with the potatoes that will not last for another 10 days.  We'll add bacon and perhaps some grits and call it dinner.
Friday~ If there are any leftovers, we will have those.  If not, I'll make sausage with peppers & onions for hubby, and ds#3 and I will probably have pasta.
Saturday~ Unless we have a bunch of ripe veggies by that time, everything should be used up.  We'll probably order pizza or go to our local Mexican fave.

Check out Menu Plan Monday for tons of menu ideas!

We made it! School's out...

And I have not planned a menu for this week.
Because I am breathing.
And not teaching 250 middle schoolers a day.
Pause.  Think on that.
And smile.

Instead, I'm going to post what we ate each day!
Sunday~ Graduation cookout for some students of ours whose families we grew to love. Too full for anything else!
Monday~ Good use of leftovers: coleslaw (cabbage from the garden), baked beans, zucchini 'fries' (zukes from a friend) and leftover sausage and chicken.  Yum!

Tuesday~ I forgot to take a picture.  We had comforting and easy spaghetti.  Full of tomato-ey goodness, mushrooms, basil, piled on top of whole wheat pasta... yumminess in a bowl.

Wednesday~ I made salsa early this morning so it would be ready for dinner tonight.  YUM! So easy with some fresh tomatoes, spring onions, a little jalapeno, salt... you get the idea.  We had nachos/open-faced tacos tonight for dinner - top your own with ground beef, beans, cheese, sour cream, homemade salsa.  Delish!

Thursday~ We finally had Breakfast for Dinner.  Organic sausage and thick cut bacon, potatoes, scrambled eggs.  I topped my potatoes with swiss chard and feta.  Yummy!

Friday~ Caprese salad w/tomatoes & basil from the garden.  Chicken, homemade mac'n'cheese, homemade coleslaw (cabbage from the garden) and green beans (also from the garden).

I'm seeing a tomato theme emerging here.

Saturday~ Again, forgot to take a picture.  I inventoried our fridge to see what food we need to use up in the next few days... because we're going to HAWAII!!!  Tonight, we had half a package of hotdogs, so I roasted those in the oven, and made homemade french fries.

I am linking up to Menu Plan Monday.