Between Christmas and New Years... and getting ready for a Pantry Challenge

What a lovely time we've had, celebrating with our oldest son and his wife, with family from near and far, and with dear friends.  We are so blessed.

We have feasted immensely, so in January, we'll be working on a Pantry Challenge.  I will be gone for a week, so during that week, all bets will be off, so to speak, but when I am home, we'll be eating in.

Here's what we have planned for the week ahead:
Sunday~  chili after church.  The guys are going out in the evening to watch the Steelers football game.
Monday~ weekend leftovers
Tuesday~ Barbecue: brisket for hubs & chicken for ds#3 & me
Wednesday~ vegetable soup
Thursday~ Ham slices (frozen & packaged from Christmas), sautéed kale, scalloped potatoes, scalloped butternut squash (like the sweet potato-butternut squash gratin, but only with the squash - because that's what I've got on hand!), broccoli
Friday~ Easy peasy tomato soup with homemade croutons
Saturday~ Turkey breast w/ homemade gravy (hubs smoked it last week), greens, mashed potatoes, cranberry-cherry sauce, broccoli

And that should take us back to work, and into the Pantry Challenge!

If you have not planned menus for your family dinners before, I highly encourage you to jump in for the new year!  Even if something goes awry and you can't follow the plan, it's much easier to switch gears to adapt than to create something when the family is moody and hungry.  Check out Menu Plan Monday for tons of ideas and resources!