Crazy busy week but we have to eat...

Our garden is coming along beautifully!  We've had quite a bit of rain lately, so even though it makes me want to hibernate like a bear, I know the plants are loving it.  We even picked some lettuce for Sunday night's dinner!

This week will be ridiculously busy:
Monday: Hubs has a History Fair meeting after school
Tuesday: school-wide writing test and Scouts that evening
Wednesday: Hubs has an after-school appointment
Thursday: Hubs has class and I will be out of town all day at our Music Performance Assessment (MPA)
Friday: MPA day two for me, and after school, Hubs will be getting ready for a yard sale fundraiser
Saturday: Yard sale fundraiser for History Club, and ds has bowling.

And we haven't even started it yet!
So here's the food plan:

Sunday~ Leftover beef tenderloin for lunch.  Pizza from the freezer and salad from the garden for dinner.  YUM!
Monday~ Some form of Mexican-seasoned steak, refried beans, Pioneer Woman's Mexican Rice, quesadillas
Tuesday~ Leftover spaghetti (from Saturday) with cheese bread and perhaps a salad
Wednesday~ some kind of chicken something, specifics yet to be determined
Thursday~ MPA - fend for yourself
Friday~ MPA - we'll see how it works out because I don't know what time I'll be home and what time they have to set up for the yard sale!
Saturday~ it remains to be seen...

Share your ideas and inspirations at Menu Plan Monday.

Changing thoughts about food and how we get it... and our menu

Blueberry blossoms... can't wait for these beauties!

We are blessed to have a big back yard and my husband has a beautiful garden every year.  Not only does he grow delicious produce, but it helps keep the food bill down and we eat a little healthier as well.

Our greens: broccoli, chard, arugula, romaine, leaf lettuce, spinach, and cabbage (not in this pic)

As the weather warms, our bounty will include corn, all kinds of tomatoes, green beans, peas, and whatever else suits hubby's fancy.  We have herbs in pots: thyme, parsley, oregano, chives, and rosemary.  I love it!

I've still got a little tomato sauce, TONS of bell peppers, collards, and green beans in the freezer from last year.

Nothing from the garden is ready to eat just yet, but it gets me excited.  I'm seriously thinking that when I decide to retire from teaching, we might open a stand at our local farmer's market.  There is something so grounding about picking the food you grow, and sharing it with people.  And after watching Changing the Way We Eat online yesterday, I'm inspired to do more.

That said, here's our menu for this week, trying to be responsible and use the food we have, not wasting it.
Sunday~ homemade lasagna for the guys while I help host a wedding shower with my grandmother
Monday~ teacher work day (no school for kids) - we will have Orange Chicken with basmati rice and broccoli from a friend's garden, using up some chicken from my mom's surprise birthday party last week
Tuesday~ Roast in the crockpot with mushrooms and green beans (freezer), whole wheat egg noodles, and homemade bread
Wednesday~ Breakfast for dinner: farm eggs (supplied by some friends), bacon, cheese grits, pink grapefruit from our tree
Thursday~ Leftovers...there will be plenty!
Friday~ DS heads to a Boy Scout campout, so hubs and I will enjoy beef tenderloin, twice-baked potatoes, and salad - it will be the Valentine's Dinner we didn't have last week!
Saturday~ Not planning anything... a relaxing easy day before a crazy busy week coming up!

Share your menus at Menu Plan Monday... 

and do one thing to handle your food more responsibly. :)

New month, new menu!

Happy February!
I'm hoping this month brings a little return to normalcy...
I've been out of my classroom for 2 months while my school district has been deciding how to handle the smell of a giant tom-cat spraying all over my room.  They tried chemicals galore, foggers, and finally this week, they took the carpet out.
So I really hope that there is new carpet in my classroom when I get there on Monday!
(Try teaching choir in a gym for 2 months... while PE is having class, all manner of machines are going off, not to mention awful acoustics!)

We semi-followed last week's menu.
We've started a brand new month, so here's to a new menu!
Sunday~ Birthday lunch out with extended family; dinner was leftovers from last week (spaghetti, tossed salad, etc)
Monday~ Using up leftover chicken, and making mashed potatoes & gravy to go along with it, a green salad alongside for some veg
Tuesday~ A night of leftovers: Pioneer Woman's Mexican Rice (from Saturday), spaghetti (from Thursday), and other numerous odds & ends.
Wednesday~ Melissa d'Arabian's potato torte and green salads.

Thursday~ Pioneer Woman's chili.  It's a fave around here!

Friday~ Breakfast for Dinner: eggs, bacon, cheese grits, grapefruit

Saturday~ Planning to roast the turkey that we never got to in January... we shall see!

We also began planting our garden this weekend... so far, we've planted swiss chard, romaine, arugula, iceberg lettuce, spinach and broccoli.  Hubby also put some new herbs in pots for me - oregano, basil, parsley, thyme, and rosemary.  Yum!!!

Digging the hole for the plant

Careful...

Covering the beds with gardening fabric to help with weed control

Share in the Menu Madness at Menu Plan Monday!

Week FIVE...Pantry Challenge!

Five weeks in January makes a long marathon of a Pantry Challenge.
We'll have to go to the store on Monday for eggs, bread, and some sort of salty snack for ds#3's Boy Scout Court of Honor on Tuesday.  Trying to make it s-t-r-e-t-c-h.

Sunday~ we had leftover burgers & dogs (from earlier in the week) and I made baked beans and twice baked potatoes to go along.  For dinner, no one was terribly hungry, so I put a pan of tiropeta in the oven and everyone had a salad, lunch leftovers, and tiropeta.  Easy peasy.

Monday~ Lasagna from the freezer, tossed salad

Tuesday~ Planning sandwiches for a fast dinner before Boy Scouts.

Wednesday~ Sticky Chicken, mashed potatoes, collard greens (or salad, for those who don't do collards) and maybe green beans.  We have so many in the freezer.

Thursday~ almost there...I'm going with a roast in the crockpot with egg noodles, and something green which has yet to be decided...maybe broccoli.

Friday~ WE ARE GOING OUT TO EAT!!!!! Yes - we've made it, and this time the outing is PLANNED. :)

Saturday~ Whatever I decide.  I'm planned out.

Share your menu inspirations at Menu Plan Monday, 

and check out the Pantry Challenge at Good Cheap Eats!

Week Four of the Pantry Challenge

Wow.
This pantry challenge has proven more difficult than originally planned...we may have continue the 'minimal shopping' into February to make up for it!!!

You can see what we're eating every day right here.

Here's the plan for Week Four:
Sunday~ we went out for lunch (ugh) and had chili-topped nachos for dinner.  That part was a huge success because Hubby wanted What-A-Burger and I managed to evade.

Monday~ Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday.  Ds#3 comes home from Boy Scout Camp sometime in the afternoon.  Planning on pasta fagioli for dinner... maybe with some bruschetta!

Tuesday~ back to school.  Ds has an orthodontist appointment, so Hubs will take him and they will get home early.  Burgers & dogs on the grill courtesy of Hubby, and I'll make baked beans and onion rings when I get home from work to go with.  Yum!

Wednesday~ I'm taking a group of 8th grade girls to the opera - FUN!!!! :) Boys will be on their own.

Thursday~ Breakfast for dinner... pancakes, grits, eggs, grapefruit, fresh blueberries.

Friday~ Leftovers or pizza from the freezer with tossed salad.

Saturday~ To Be Determined, because I'm not sure what we'll have around here at that point...

Menu Marvels abound at Menu Plan Monday!

Check out the Pantry Challenge at Good Cheap Eats!

Week #3 of the Pantry Challenge

I'm home!
I was out of town from Wednesday until late Friday night, and it is nice to be back in my own bed.
I wasn't sure how we'd do on the pantry challenge since my darling husband LOVES to eat out, but he made a concerted effort to be mindful of the budget, and they only went out to dinner once.  Yea!

I had to go to the grocery store on Saturday morning - I bought celery, mushrooms, apples, cottage cheese, yogurt, and bacon.  We were good for everything else.

You can see what we're eating every day on the challenge right here.

with a few chocolate chips sprinkled in...

I felt like my guys needed a treat to keep us from feeling deprived on this challenge, so I pulled out a box cake mix from the pantry. I do not usually stock these, but I got it on a BOGO sale...ordinarily I bake from scratch.  I wanted to make it a little healthier, so I did some surfing and found the Sneaky Chef's recipe for Quick Fix for Chocolate Cake Mix.   It was exactly what I was after!  I already had some of the purees in the freezer, so I mixed it up, and my guys had no idea there were blueberries and spinach in that cake!  I left off the icing, so it's a reasonable treat.

Here's the plan for this week:

Sunday~ brisket in the crockpot with onions and mushrooms, served over a baked potato. Sneaky chocolate cake for dessert.
Monday~ It's supposed to rain. Leftover chili.
Tuesday~ Teriyaki chicken, rice, oriental veggies from the freezer
Wednesday~ Ham slices from the freezer, collards, leftover mac'n'cheese from Saturday, and maybe some swiss beans
Thursday~ I have a hair appointment & hubs has class.  It'll be a leftovers kind of night.
Friday~ Either leftovers or pasta fagioli soup in the freezer.
Saturday~ Ds is going on a campout, so I'm leaving this open.

Share your menu inspirations at Menu Plan Monday,

and stop by Good Cheap Eats to join in the Pantry Challenge!

Pantry Challenge Menu #2... and while Mama's gone, the boys will play

You can see what we are eating every day for the Pantry Challenge right here.  Some days are more successful than others, but we are making progress.

This week, I will be out of town Wednesday - Saturday.  My guys usually go out to eat when I'm gone, but hubs has said he's going to surprise me.  We'll see.  I'm not planning anything for those days except ds#3's lunch at school.

Sunday~ lunch was Pioneer Woman's chili - it's a fave around here, and an easy way for me to sneak in tons of extra veg.  Dinner was pizza from the freezer, at hubs' request.  He actually wanted delivery, but my freezer substitute was acceptable.
Monday~ lunch out at our first day back to work since Christmas. Dinner will be leftover chili atop baked potatoes or stuffed into peppers.
Tuesday~ lunch will be lunchboxes, lovingly packed by Mom :)  Dinner will be breakfast: grits, eggs, sausage, toast.  And maybe some homemade donut holes.

Wednesday........the guys are on their own.... we'll see what they come up with!

Share your marvels at Menu Plan Monday, 

and jump on into the Pantry Challenge!