Weekly Menu Plan for November 25-December 1, 2018

I hope you all had a very blessed Thanksgiving!  We did!  And now the Christmas season is really here - I know, because I saw Santa at the end of the Macy's parade so it's official!!

I love Christmas.  Everything about it.  I am not one to say I'll be glad when it's over, because I could keep it going all year long.  

Sorry I missed a week of menus.  It was a bit hectic - thank goodness I don't blog for a living, because I would be fired!  Glad to be back on track this week - grandkids back in school, minor surgery and healing all completed, all I have to do is decorate and bake and shop and.....let's just enjoy today for awhile before we get our tinsel in a tangle, right??

So this week, it's back to regular menus.  I do have some extra baking planned for my daughter to take to her work, but other than that I plan on sewing, shopping, and decorating this week!  What will you be up to this week?

Here is this week's menu plan:

For a printable copy, please click HERE.

Recipe notes and links are below.

Sunday:

Chicken Parmesan Casserole is from The Country Cook

Monday:

Gluten Free Peach Cobbler is right HERE 

Tuesday:

Broccoli Salad is from Through Her Looking Glass

Wednesday:

Eggroll In A Bowl is from Mostly Homemade Mom

Gluten Free Coconut Cream Pie is from Mama Knows Gluten Free (I LOVE this blog!  She is THE BEST for gluten free recipes!)

Thursday:

Meatloaf is from The Country Cook

Friday:

Garlic Butter Rice is from Genius Kitchen

Crazy Good Cole Slaw is from Cook and Craft Me Crazy

Saturday:

Chicken with Mustard Sauce is from Let's Dish 

Twinkie Tiramisu is from The Domestic Rebel 

And that should take care of meals for this week!  I sure hope you have a great week, and find some yummy meals to make for your family!

Don't forget, I am a Pinterest addict and pin like crazy!  If you want to follow me on Pinterest, just click on the Pinterest button at the top of this page on the right sidebar.

To see where I share posts, please click here.

Have a wonderful week!

Thanksgiving Week

Yep, this is how I'm feeling this week!  Too much to do and running out of time!  It's not like I didn't know Thanksgiving week was coming, but then BAM it came right in the middle of me leisurely looking at everyone's beautiful early Christmas decorations on Instagram.

When I came to, it was today and it put me in panic mode.  Between doctor appointments, running errands, last-minute grocery shopping, cooking, cleaning, baking, and watching grandkids, I'm sinking fast!  But everything will work out, it always does, and God willing we will have another blessed family Thanksgiving Day.

I don't have recipes ready to blog, but here is my menu for Thanksgiving Day.  Nothing fancy, just what I usually make year after year.

Roast Turkey

Sausage Stuffing

Gravy

Loaded Mashed Potatoes

Sweet Potato Casserole

Green Beans with Bacon and Onion

Buttered Corn

Corn Pudding

Spinach Noodle Kugel

Seven Layer Salad

Cranberry Fluff

Tart Orange Jello with Topping

Yeast Rolls

Honey Butter

Pumpkin Pie (regular and gluten free)

German Chocolate Poke Cake

Peanut Butter Pie

If any of you wants a recipe or wonders how I make something, just leave me a comment and I will try and answer it before Thanksgiving.

I hope you all have a blessed, wonderful Thanksgiving and I will be back next week with my regular menus!

Beef Stew (Instant Pot, Gluten Free)

There are some days that just don't go as planned.
This week, I had planned on grocery shopping Saturday morning, but other things came up and I never made it there.  So, I went on Sunday afternoon.  By the time I got home it was almost 4:00, and the Beef Stew I had planned to make for dinner from Once Upon A Chef wasn't going to work.

Enter my Instant Pot.  I had a fresh package of beef stew meat, but was lacking hours of cooking time.  I quickly searched online (Pinterest, of course, where else?) and found the perfect recipe for Instant Pot Beef Stew from Family Fresh Meals.  The only problem was, it wasn't gluten free and I was starving.

So, I adapted the recipe a little bit to make it gluten free.  I thickened the gravy differently, using a packet of McCormick's Gluten Free Brown Gravy mix.  I also didn't add the corn or the peas because I didn't have any in the freezer.

But it was so good!  We all liked it, and I didn't tell anyone else it was gluten free and they never asked.  There were 4 of us, and even though we all had seconds, there was still enough leftover for lunch the next day.  I really liked this recipe!  It took about an hour from start to finish, and that hour includes the time for the Instant Pot to heat up and the sitting time afterwards while it depressurizes.

Here is what it looked like in the pot before I cooked it:

And here it is ready to be spooned into bowls:

And here is a bowl ready to eat:

This is a great recipe, and using the Instant Pot really saves time!  Thank you Family Fresh Meals!

Here is the recipe I used, adapted from Family Fresh Meals:
For a printable copy, please click HERE.

So yummy!  Definitely a keeper!

If you like this recipe, check out my Pinterest Instant Pot Board!  Just click on the Pinterest button at the top of the right sidebar to check out all of my boards.
To see where I share my blog posts, click HERE.

Menu Plan for Week of November 11-17, 2018

Hi there!  Hope you all had a good week last week!  Nothing much happening here, just the regular routines.  But I cannot believe that we are ready to hit the middle of November this week!

I went shopping yesterday, and the stores are all decked out with Christmas decorations.  It really made me want to come home and put the tree up!! But it's too early.  Right?? Isn't it??  It sure FEELS like Christmas out there!  Brrr!!

This week's menu plan is pretty easy, with some new desserts I'm trying out to see if they will make the cut to Thanksgiving dinner!

Here is this week's menu plan:
For a printable copy, please click HERE.
Recipe links are below.

Recipe links:

Sunday:
Beef Stew with Potatoes and Carrots is from Once Upon A Chef
Paula Deen's Banana Pudding is from South Your Mouth - definitely a family favorite!

Monday:
Black Forest Poke Cake is from Flavorite

Tuesday:
Apple Cheesecake Bars are from Crazy for Crust

Wednesday:
Hot Chicken Salad is from Paula Deen - I love all things Paula!
Harvest Bread is from King Arthur Flour - a bread machine recipe

Thursday:
Amish Country Casserole is from The Country Cook
Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake Bars are from Love Bakes Good Cakes

Friday:
Crockpot BBQ Ribs are from Six Sisters Stuff

Saturday:
Meatloaf is from Taste of Home
French Silk Pie is from Amanda's Cookin'

And that takes care of meals for the coming week!  I hope you find an idea or two here for your own family!

Don't forget, you can follow me on Pinterest by clicking the button near the top of the right sidebar.
And click HERE to visit some of the places I link up to!

Later in the week I plan to post our Thanksgiving menu!  So check back in a few days!

Fall Ginger Cookies

We have had some gorgeous fall weather here, and it just makes me want to bake and bake and bake!

At the end of October, I like to bake some treats for the neighbors and, of course, our favorite bus driver!  She is so good to my grandkids!  We just love her!

I wanted to bake something that just tasted and smelled like fall, and I decided on some fall ginger cookies.  They are easy to bake, they make your house smell SO GOOD, and they have those wonderful fall flavors everyone seems to crave this time of year.

Here they are, all baked up and ready to go into some treat boxes.  Last year, after Halloween, I bought these cute Wilton cookie boxes for $1.00 a package, and a couple Halloween doily packages (12 doilies per package) for 45 cents a package!! SCORE!!   I fit about 12-14 cookies in each box:

And here is a box all closed and ready to deliver:

So cute!  I also took a treat bag and filled it with fun size chocolates to go along with the cookies. I have to say the neighbors and our bus driver loved their goodie boxes and bags!  And there were a few cookies left for my husband, who loves them!  I made 2 batches of cookies, with each batch making about 3 dozen cookies.

Here is the recipe I used:

For a printable copy, please click HERE. 

Happy baking!

Weekly Menu Plan for Week of Nov. 4 to 10, 2018

It's about that time, isn't it? Time to be making plans for Thanksgiving - for me that means menu planning, cooking and baking, and of course cleaning!  I am in the middle of taking down fall decorations and packing them away, and this year I think I am going right into Christmas!  My plan is to start pulling out boxes and get rid of Christmas decorations I don't want any more, and re-organize the ones I keep.  We'll see how far I get with that!

I will be making most of the food for Thanksgiving dinner this year, and I have a menu that I pretty much stick to that is tried and true. Usually I add a side dish or dessert, but mostly it stays the same.  I will share it soon, along with some of the recipes.

But here's the thing:  I am not a professional blogger, I just do this for fun.  And there is one part (probably more than one, actually) of blogging I am terrible at, and that is taking pictures.  Most of the time, I forget to take pictures of the food I make.  By the time I think of it, most of it is gone or I'm too tired to try to make it look fresh and new.  I don't do food styling, I just snap a photo of what I make when I think of it.  If it's in the pan, great.  If it's on a plate or in a bowl, great.  It is what it is.

Since blogging tends to be a visual medium, I kind of fail at that.  I make so many meals, cook and bake so much, but without a picture I hesitate to put up just the recipe I used.  I just don't live my life toting a camera around with me.  I get busy, and focused, and I just don't do it.  That's me.

So forgive me if I just post a recipe now and then.  I will try and remember to snap those photos, but we all know what they say about old dogs and new tricks.

Back to this week's menu plan!  I do have that ready to share with you!  Needless to say, November and December will be crazy busy with all the things we have to do.  But let's not forget to take time to enjoy the season, fill our hearts with gratitude and love for others, and share our blessings!

And don't forget to vote Tuesday November 6th!

Here is my menu for the coming week:
For a printable copy, please click HERE.
Recipe links are below.

Recipe Links:

Sunday:  

Crockpot Polish Sausage and Sauerkraut is from Key Ingredient 

Monday:

Apple Cider Pancakes are from Crunchy, Creamy Sweet - we are still enjoying apples from the orchard and apple cider!

Italian Love Cake is from Chew Nibble Nosh - I have never made this before, but it sounds delicious and can't wait for the family to try it!

Tuesday:

Pumpkin Spice Baked Oatmeal is from Celebrating Sweets 

Cherry Pie is from Taste of Home - I have made this many times, always a hit!

Thursday:

Amish Casserole is from Jam Hands 

Broccoli Cauliflower Salad is from Genius Kitchen

Friday:

Key Lime Pie is from Southern Bite 

Saturday:

Chicken Chow Mein is from Dinner At The Zoo 

Pecan Pie Bars are from Rock Recipes - I haven't made these before, but I am thinking if they are good I may include them on Thanksgiving instead of Pecan Pie, so I will give them a try!

That's it for this week's menu!  I sure hope you find a menu you like!  Have a wonderful week!