Here comes March! menu

I can't believe that March is almost here!  It's only 3 weeks until Spring Break for us... and then there's a L-O-N-G stretch to finish the school year.

I made my third Grapefruit Cake for my guys... they love this!! This time, I subbed half of the flour with whole wheat pastry flour, and it worked beautifully.  When I'm experimenting, I like to make a recipe at least once the way it's written, then I know what kind of results I should get when I start playing around with ingredients.

Here's our plan for the week:

Sunday~ For lunch: chicken breasts with mushroom gravy, whole wheat egg noodles, green salad. Dinner: sliders, oven fries.
Monday~ Spaghetti, whole grain baguette, tossed salad
Tuesday~ Tacos and taco salad, refried beans (going to try this recipe for the beans)
Wednesday~ Breakfast for Dinner
Thursday~ Pasta fagioli
Friday~ Pizza
Saturday~ Mom's Choice :)

What's cookin' at your house?  Share at Menu Plan Monday!

February and the so-glad-we're-home menu!

I found a recipe to use up some grapefruit from our prolific tree... courtesy of Meal Makeover Moms.  My guys ate the whole cake this weekend, and then asked me to make another!  It's so light and yummy!

I've thoroughly enjoyed getting back into my kitchen after several days on the road.  Here's the plan for this week:

Sunday~ Chili in the crockpot for lunch, Potato Bacon Torte for dinner (I even made the crust from scratch!)
Monday~ Ds#3 and Hubs will be setting up for History Fair, so we will eat out.
Tuesday~ Fish fillets (we are going to try to incorporate more into our diet), cheese grits, baked beans
Wednesday~ Meatballs with brown gravy, mashed potatoes (healthified w/cauliflower hidden in there), green beans
Thursday~ Tacos
Friday~ Breakfast for dinner
Saturday~ Red beans & rice with sausage

I can't believe this month is almost over!  

What's cookin' in your casa?  

Share at Menu Plan Monday!

We are home!

What a blessed family we are - it was wonderful to see Marine Son arrive safely and his deployment come to an end.  We were so glad to see him and spend some time with him.

When we finally got home, it was WONDERFUL to sleep in our own beds (although our hosts were extremely accommodating) and eat food from our own kitchen.

So here's what we've been eating:
Spaghetti & stuffed peppers
Our own variation of this salad from Life As Mom, with romaine lettuce from the garden and ruby red grapefruit from our tree
Breakfast for dinner
Fabulous Supper Nachos from Hallee the Homemaker

Between laundry and cooking and getting our systems back on schedule, we've enjoyed some time off... we'll savor the weekend and then it's back to work on Monday!

The week of travel

This week, we are traveling....

Marine Son is returning from deployment

and we are going to see him!!!!!!!!!!!!

Not much of a menu plan as we are on the road -
Saturday, we packed a picnic lunch and stopped at a state park to eat lunch.  That night, we stopped at a Cracker Barrell for dinner.

Sunday~ breakfast at Cracker Barrell, visited the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum, lunch at Wendy's on the road
Monday~ another Cracker Barrell breakfast, looking at pizza for dinner
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday~ eating on the road
We hope to be home by Friday!
Saturday~ burgers on the grill AT HOME :)

Share your menu at Menu Plan Monday!

February menu, week 2

What an exciting week lies ahead!

We are getting ready to meet our Marine Son - he is due to return from deployment and we can't wait to have him back in the States.


We are also wrapping up History Fair...

Dinners this week will be of the using-up-leftovers and quick-and-easy varieties.


Sunday~ SUPERBOWL!  Sliders and hotdogs, chips & salsa
Monday~ Ds#3 has an Art Show at school, so we'll pick him up, see the art, and go out to eat
Tuesday~ Hubs has a History Fair meeting, and ds#3 will 'practice' for his interview with the judges, then we're out to eat with a friend
Wednesday~ Leftover roast and mashed potatoes
Thursday~ Breakfast for dinner
Friday~ Frozen pizza
Saturday~ on the road... picnic lunch at a state park on the way


Last week....

• Our taco night was a success.  Woo hoo!  (It only took a month...)
• I burned our spaghetti crockpot dinner.  It was sad.  And gross.                                
• So we went out to eat.

I also finished handling the last of 40 pounds of ground beef.
Have I mentioned just how much meat that is????

• I made hamburger patties & froze them
• I made sliders for Super Bowl Sunday
• I also tried making homemade beef sausage, and hubs (the sausage connoisseur) actually liked it!!!

Here's the recipe I used:
Approx. 2 lbs ground beef
1 tsp diced onion
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp ground sage
2 tsp salt

Mix together, and let sit in refrigerator 8 hours, or overnight.
Shape into links or patties.  Fry in pan or cook in oven at 325.
Can also be used as crumbles in homemade "skillets".

Share your menu marvels at Menu Plan Monday!

The end of January's Pantry Challenge...and our menu

Well, overall, the pantry challenge was less successful than I wanted it to be, but not too terrible.

• We went out to eat once a week, which I was not pleased about, but took one for the team.
• We did reasonably well with shopping, as I really did try to limit trips to necessities only.
• We did make a large purchase of ground beef through Zaycon Foods, and have been pleased with the quality and the price.  Forty pounds of ground beef is a lot.  More than it sounds.  A LOT.

We will probably continue the pantry challenge in some way this month - gotta think about it and devise a plan!

So this week?  Here's what's cookin':

Sunday~ Chili in the crockpot, served with noodles and shredded cheese
Monday~ Taco salad (have not been successful with a taco night at home yet... but I'm determine to try!)
Tuesday~ Spaghetti in the crockpot (both Mom & Dad have meetings after school, so we need something waiting for us)
Wednesday~ Roast in the crockpot, green beans  (the crockpot is getting some L-O-V-E this week!!!)
Thursday~ Breakfast for dinner
Friday~ Frozen pizza, tossed salad
Saturday~ Burgers on the grill

Share what's cookin' in your casa at Menu Plan Monday!

Menu, Pantry Challenge, and the end of January

Well, this week was amazing.
Amazingly crazy.
On Wednesday, I took LOTS of middle school girls to an opera.
On Friday, I tool LOTS of middle school boys to a "Men Sing" day at our local university.
Talk about your contrasts.

Anyway, the menu got a little wacky this week, but we managed.
Here's the plan for this week:

Sunday~ moving Marinated Flank Steak to today when I've got time to cook it.  Will serve with a tossed salad.
Monday~ Ham slices (frozen from Christmas), blackeyed peas (from the garden this summer), rice, collards (also from the garden)
Tuesday~ Breakfast for dinner: cheese grits, biscuits, eggs, bacon/sausage
Wednesday~ Leftovers (there are plenty - roast with gravy, grilled chicken, etc.)
Thursday~ Frozen pizza, tossed salad
Friday~ French onion soup
Saturday~ Out to eat for my sister's b-day

Breakfast consists of eggs for hubs and waffles for ds#3 (I use whole wheat flour).
I'm not a big breakfast fan, and have to wait to eat breakfast because of meds, so it's usually something like cheese toast.

Lunches are leftovers for hubs & me, and pb&j or 'pizza burritos' for ds#3 (pepperoni & cheese rolled in a tortilla).

Check out Menu Plan Monday for some inspiration, or visit the Pantry Challenge to boost your creativity!