Monday, December 30, 2013

Here comes the New Year!

Wow... 2013 is already closing and a new year is coming quickly.
It's enough to make a girl's head spin.
But the promise of a fresh start, a blank slate, draw me in.
This year has been a sweet one, in many ways, and a very bitter pill in others.  I'm looking forward to a new beginning.

In January, we always do a Pantry Challenge.  I will also be out of town for much of the first week of the new year.  I'm mapping out our month, but here's what we're eating this week:

Sunday~ Leftover roast with pan gravy, homemade bread, mashed potatoes and spinach.
Monday~ Cleaning out some leftovers: leftover steak, leftover chicken (probably turned into salads), and a little Christmas ham
Tuesday~  NYE party; we're taking layered Mexican bean dip & chips
Wednesday~ My mom's amazing lasagna (she gave us a pan as a Christmas present!), salad, Pioneer Woman's decadent Cheese Bread using Rosemary Olive Oil Bread as the foundation! For dessert, apple pie with ice cream.

Thursday~ Sticky chicken, collard greens (from last summer's garden), cheese & cracker salad (a family recipe), and maybe another veg
You can see the collards in the back - that's what they looked like when they were picked from the garden!

Friday~ lunch with my new daughter-in-law (long but exciting story), then a Mexican fiesta a la Pioneer Woman for dinner: queso, refried beans, and tacos (her menu calls for pollo asado, but if I serve my man chicken two days in a row, there may be a revolt!)
Saturday~ I'll decide after a trip to the Farmer's Market!

We'll be eating well this week, as I try to load up the fridge with food before I leave to go out of town, in hopes that my guys will eat this food instead of going out.  A girl can hope, right? :)


1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Lasagna sounds fantastic! (making note for next week. . . )

I love the pantry challenge idea - it's so easy to "overstock" without realizing it, until you suddenly notice that there's no room in the freezer! We've started a "no shopping week" once a month for that reason - it's helped clear out the pantry and freezer AND helped me be more mindful of what I've got on hand.