Weekly Menu Plan 1-18 to 1-24, 2026

 

Hello from freezing Indiana!

I hope you all had a great week last week!  Mine was a little busier than anticipated, but all is good.  I know I can't wait for the championship IU game tomorrow night!  Go Hoosiers!!

I have had so many new visitors to the blog, and I thank all of the Linky Party hosts for all the kind comments and even a feature!  That is amazing!  I'm just hoping any visitors can find something useful here.  I do still enjoy cooking and baking!

So on to this week's menu plan.  I'm making sure to incorporate nights for leftovers.  Luckily, my husband eats pretty much whatever I put in front of him.  He's not fussy that way!  It doesn't bother him to eat the same thing 2 nights in a row.  But if your family doesn't like that, I totally get it.  My daughter's family rarely touches leftovers.  Even though I love to cook, I love my nights off in the kitchen as well!  It gives me more time to read and sew!

Here's what I'm cooking this week:  (Links are below)

Links:

Caramel Apple Pie Overnight Oats

Crockpot Beef Barley Stew

German Chocolate Poke Cake

Peanut Butter Muffins

Ham, Potato, and Corn Chowder

Grandma Sybil's Dilly Bread

Baked Ham and Cheese Omelet

Cinnamon Swirl French Toast

Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole

Peanut Butter Chocolate Cream Pie

Apple Pie Monkey Bread

Butterscotch Chocolate Chip Cookies

Lemon Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

Cafeteria Chili

Easy Amish Sour Cream Cornbread

As for reading this week, I finished Twice by Mitch Albom.  I really liked the book!  Loved the characters, it was easy to read, and it does give you something to think about.  I am thinking I might post a review if anyone is interested.  

My plan was to start The Secret Life of Albert Entwhistle, but I changed my mind and started A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman instead.   

Oh, I am loving this book!  I am about halfway through it, and it is just a heartwarming story of a grumpy, lonely, eccentric old man.  It just touches my heart.  I'll tell more after I finish it.  My sister told me she loved both the book and the movie.  So I'm excited to finish this one!  

Then after this one, I'm reading The Book Thief.  My daughter, granddaughter, and I are going to hear the author of The Book Thief speak at a presentation sponsored by one of our small bookshops near here.  I can't wait to go to that, and it's at the beginning of March.  My daughter has read it, and my granddaughter is reading it for her high school English class.  So I need to catch up to them!

That's it for this week!  You all have a wonderful, blessed week, and I hope to meet many more readers this week through the comments.  I love reading them, and I love meeting you all!  Take care!

Weekly Menu Plan 1-11 to 1-17, 2026

Good afternoon!

I hope this finds you all warm and cozy.  We had a cold front move through last night, and today is kind of blustery and very cold.  We got just a dusting of snow, though, so I'm happy that we're not buried in several feet of snow!  I could do with no more snow this winter.  Since it's just the beginning of January, though, I think that's a bit unrealistic.

I have a busy week coming up, lots going on with the family and friends.  I've got a lot of sewing to do, including hemming my granddaughter's full-length black dress for orchestra.  I'm not a fan of hemming, so I'm going to get that done today.  It's a very full skirt, so it may take 2 or 3 episodes of Grey's Anatomy to finish it.  I just started watching that show this month, never watched it before.  I love it!  I'm only on Season 1, Episode 9, and I'm hooked.  It will probably take me all year to watch all gazillion seasons, but I'll get to them eventually.

This week, I plan on baking quite a few things for breakfast.  It seems like lately I enjoy breakfast the most, and so does my husband.  By dinner time, I'm ready for something easy to throw together.

Here's my plan for this week.  As always, links are below.

Links:

 Cinnamon Spiced Oatmeal

Vegetable Soup

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Winterberry Delight Waffles

Crockpot Swedish Meatballs

Citrus Sunshine Muffins

Slow Cooker Queso Chicken Tacos

Ultimate Peanut Butter Cookies

Snickerdoodle Pancakes

Baked Cod

Air Fryer Hot Dogs

Apple Crumble

Cherry Coffee Cake

Chocolate Covered Cherry Hot Chocolate

As for reading, this month has been great so far!  I'm loving the new Heart Dive Bible Study I'm doing, I'm learning a lot every day.  I haven't gotten behind yet!  I look forward to each day of study.

I am almost finished with Twice by Mitch Albom.  It is a really good book, I have been just drawn in by all the characters.  It's easy to read, hooked me from the very start, and just wonderfully thought-provoking.  What would you do if you had the ability to redo certain events in your life a second time?  Just a great book, I can't wait to see how it ends.  I have less than 80 pages left, so I'm hoping to finish it this evening.  

My next book will be:

I'm going into this one with no prior knowledge of what the book is about.  But I love the title and the cover of the book!  I'll keep you posted on this one next.

After that, I'll be reading The Book Thief, because I'm going to hear the author of the book at a presentation sponsored by a local bookshop at the beginning of March.  My granddaughter is currently reading it for her English class, and loves it.  So my daughter, my granddaughter, and I each got a ticket to the presentation.  We all get a signed copy of the book as well, so I'm really looking forward to that!

What are you all reading?  Let me know in the comments!

That's it for today, thanks for stopping by!  Have a wonderful week, and see you soon!

Weekly Menu Plan 1-4 through 1-10-2026

Good morning!  

So sorry I'm late posting this, I totally got thrown off on my days.  I'm back on schedule now, and it feels really good to get back into a routine.  The holidays and all the hustle and bustle really threw me off!

The rest of January looks fairly routine for me, not much going on.  I'm hoping for lots of sewing time! The weather this week is almost spring-like, with highs in the 50's and lots of sunshine.  The longer that lasts, the better!  I'm counting down until spring!  11 more weeks until the leaves start popping out!  We can do this!

This week's menu plan is a mix of using things up that are in my freezer, as well as baking a few new things.  I love to try out new recipes, I still love to bake!

Here's what I'm making this week.  Links are below!

Links:

Sunday:

 Gingerbread Oatmeal

Sugar Cream Pie

Monday:

Apple Fritter Waffles

Tuesday:

Cinnamon Roll Muffins

Chicken Noodle Soup

English Muffin Bread

Wednesday:

Oatmeal Sandwich Cookies

Thursday:

Cinnamon Vanilla French Toast

Loaded Sheet Pan Nachos

Friday:

Blueberry Cream Cheese Danish Casserole

Saturday:

Chicken Lo Mein

Cookies and Cream Parfaits

I just finished reading The Authenticity Project by Clare Pooley. 

It was a pretty good read, I give it 4 snowflakes out of 5!  

It's about a green notebook that changes the lives of six strangers.  It's funny, thought-provoking, and makes you think about the connections you have and could have with other people in this digital age we live in.

Now I'm starting Twice by Mitch Albom. 

 I can't wait for this one!  I've heard really good things about it. 

What would you do if you got to do everything in your life twice??

 Read with me if you'd like!  I'll keep you posted on how it's going.  I will start it today.

Time for me to go get something done!  Have a great week, everyone!  Hugs!

Next Week's Menu

 Next week's menu will be published tomorrow!  Check back tomorrow!

Weekly Menu Plan for 12-28 to 1-3-2026

 

How was your Christmas?  I hope you all had a healthy and happy one!  I was super busy last week, trying to make a nice Christmas Eve brunch for my family.  There were 12 of us in all, not that many, but you'd think I was catering a party for 200.  It took me 2 full days of baking and cooking to get ready.  I'm old and slow, is all I can say!

But I did something that amazed myself!  I made homemade cinnamon rolls for the first time!  And they turned out!  Unbelievable!  Of course, I forgot to take a picture of them.  But I have some in the freezer, so if I remember I will snap a photo of one of them when I pull one out to give my husband for breakfast.

I made Gingerbread Cinnamon Rolls, and they really looked so good.  I am always afraid of yeast, so I don't often bake yeasted goods.  I don't know what possessed me to do that this year, but now I want to make them all the time.  It wasn't even hard!  And they turned out beautifully!  All gooey and warm, I almost wanted to taste one but wasn't willing to get sick over it.

But I'm all rested up now, the hustle and bustle is over, the weather here is turning tonight from spring break weather to North Pole weather.  We're supposed to drop 50 degrees overnight.  It's 66 degrees right now, very windy, starting to rain, and the winds are picking up.  50 mph winds are expected overnight.  So the extra blankets are back on my bed, and I've been out to the grocery store so I don't have to go out tomorrow, and I'll be sewing a lot tomorrow in my happy little sewing room.

But let's get on to next week.  My husband seems to be enjoying eating real meals again!  He didn't complain when I wasn't cooking much, and I appreciate that, but he likes his regular meals!  Plus, I have extras to send over to neighbors and family.  That's always nice!

Here's my menu plan for next week.  I know that New Year's Eve is thrown in there, but honestly, we don't celebrate it anymore.  Christmas is enough celebrating for me, I'm not ready for another round of merriment just a week later.  I'm still enjoying the peace after Christmas.  So I'm sure that any of you reading this will definitely want a different menu for New Year's Eve, or even New Year's Day.  For me, I'm just keeping it simple.

This is what I'm making for next week:

Links are below.

Links:

Sunday:

Cheeseburger Hamburger Helper

Orange Creamsicle Pie

Monday:

Crockpot Denver Omelet - this is actually a carnivore-ish recipe and I can eat it for breakfast, too! Yay!

Juicy Pork Loin Roast 

Tuesday:

Breakfast Tacos

Tater Tot Hot Dish

Lemon Coffee Cake

Wednesday:

Blueberry Lemon Coconut Overnight Oats

Thursday:

Ooey Gooey Hawaiian Cinnamon Rolls

Baked Queso Chicken

Bailey's Chocolate Poke Cake

Friday:

Carnivore Sausage Gravy - this is so yummy served over scrambled eggs, that's how I eat it!  It's carnivore!

Saturday:

Crockpot Chicken Tortilla Soup

Mexican Cornbread

Peanut Butter Icebox Cake

There you go!  A menu that will take you into January 2026!  Hard to believe 2026 is almost here!

Just a note for all you Bible readers, I have followed the year long Bible reading plan on The Bible Recap for the last 5 years.  Yep, I've read it 5 years in a row, cover to cover, and I still could fit what I know on the head of a pin.  It's an amazing program hosted by Tara-Leigh Cobble, who does a wonderful job explaining what you just read for that day.  I love her and highly recommend The Bible Recap!

This year, though, I decided to change it up a bit and am going with Heart Dive.  It's also on You Tube, as is The Bible Recap, and I'm going to follow the 2024 Phase 1 plan.  That seems to be the recommended way to go.  I will probably check in with The Bible Recap also, since they follow the same reading plan.  I can't imagine going through a day without seeing Tara-Leigh on You Tube!  

If anyone is interested in following along on Heart Dive, please let me know in the comments.  We could be study buddies!

Time to wrap it up and start dinner!  Have a wonderful, blessed week, everyone!  And Happy New Year!

Hugs,

Weekly Menu Plan 12-14 through 12-21-2025

Hello!

I had so much fun making last week's menu plan, I made another one!  And I have to say, my husband enjoyed his meals!

This week looks to be very busy, so my menu plan reflects the fact that I won't have much time in the kitchen.  I have a lot of shopping to do, plus my son is having back surgery on Friday.  So it will be a busy week.  He'll be home for 6 weeks after his surgery, so I'm not sure how much care he'll need.  We'll have to play it by ear.  

I hope you're all more prepared for Christmas this year than I am!  I thought I was doing pretty well, until this week.  All of a sudden I realized it's right around the corner, and I have Christmas Eve brunch to plan for next week.  And then Christmas Day!  AAAGH!  I better get busy!

Here is the menu plan I'm working off of this week:

Links can be found below.

Sunday:

Malted Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

Tuesday:

Creamy Tuscan Chicken 

Wednesday:

Chicken Nugget Bowls

Thursday:

Breakfast Lasagna

Hot Chocolate Poke Cake

Friday:

Beef Stroganoff

Saturday:

Breakfast Haystacks

Gingerbread Cookies

That's it for this week!  Have a blessed week, and I'll see you next week with a new menu plan!

Hugs,

Weekly Menu for 12-7 thru 12-13, 2025

 

Hello!  Tis the season to decorate!  And bake!

Well, I got nostalgic this week, and all of a sudden felt like making a menu plan for the week.  Since I've been eating a carnivore diet for the last year and a half, my poor husband has had to endure some pretty boring meals.  I don't usually feel like preparing two different meals, one for me and one for him.  But all of a sudden I started feeling guilty about that!  So I looked around and found some meals that I can prepare for him, and set some of the ingredients aside and prep them for me.  I eat pretty simple and straightforward meals. And I haven't had a dessert in a year and a half!  And guess what?  I don't even miss it.  No cravings or desire for sweet stuff.  It's a miracle, I know.  

But that's not true for my husband, and I figure he deserves some good meals from now on.  And since I will be prepping my food separate from his, I don't have to make his meals gluten free like I did before.  So he gets to eat the food he loves!  Yay for him!  I do have to send leftovers over to my kids, or neighbors, but that's okay.  There's plenty of people who love to have a prepared meal or two sent over!

So here's my menu plan for this week.  Now I know that I'm a day late, we've had a busy month so far.  But hopefully you'll find something fun to try from the links below.

And on Friday, how I make the breakfast bowls will be explained below the chart.

All links can be found below the chart.

Here you go!

Notes:

Sunday:

Overnight Blueberry French Toast

Easy Shepherds Pie

Monday:

Farmer's Casserole

Air Fryer Pork Tenderloin

Tuesday:

Orange Glazed Salmon

Wednesday:

Gingerbread Waffles

Thursday:

Bailey's Tiramisu Dessert Shots

Friday:

**Sausage and Gravy Bowl - The way I make this bowl is, I layer cooked grits, cooked home fries (which I buy and make in my air fryer), scrambled eggs, and top it with the sausage and gravy.

Saturday:

The Best Cherry Coffee Cake

Brown Sugar Pop Tart Cookies

And there you have it!  My first menu plan in about 2 years!  I guess I was due to make one eventually!

I hope you can find something you like here!

Have a wonderful week, and I will be back soon!

Hugs,