The Life of Grammy: October 2023

Sunday, October 29, 2023

Weekly Menu Plan Oct 29-Nov 4, 2023

It's so nice to see you all! I had some of the nicest comments ever last week, and it just makes my day when someone takes time to say hello. I have the nicest readers, and I'm very thankful for that!

We have a busy Halloween week coming up! My neighborhood is quiet, but I usually go to my daughter's house, and their neighborhood is hopping on Halloween. There are hundreds of kids, and some of their neighbors grill hot dogs on their driveways and serve hot chocolate to anyone who comes by. It is the sweetest neighborhood I know of. It's like going back to the 50's! Everyone knows each other, they know all the kids, and they all look out for one another. My daughter and her husband sure lucked out when they moved there - their kids were all little and they've grown up with wonderful kids and families.

I'm busy sewing for my husband's annual family Christmas party at the beginning of December. I will share what I'm making in a future post. I have to get busy on it this week.

Here is my menu plan for the week. Recipe notes and links follow. Just in case you didn't know, if you click on the menu it will pop up larger so you can read it easier.

Sunday:

Gluten Free Chocolate Cupcakes are from Gluten Free Baking

Monday:

Gluten Free Pumpkin Streusel Muffins are from Dishing Delish - these are so good!

Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta is from The Cozy Cook - I use gluten free pasta to make the recipe gluten free

Gluten Free Chocolate Chunk Cookie Cakes are from Let Them Eat Gluten Free Cake - this is a new recipe for me, but oh, my goodness, they look really good!

Tuesday:

Gluten Free Dutch Apple Pie is from My Gluten-Free Kitchen - this is one of my favorite apple pies to make - everyone loves it!

Wednesday:

Gluten Free Pancakes are from Gluten Free Baking

Oven-Baked Chicken Breasts are from Yellow Bliss Road - These are delicious! I have made them many, many times, and they always turn out juicy and yummy!

Gluten Free Black Forest Cake is from King Arthur Baking - another new dessert recipe for this week! I don't think I'll cut the layers in half, I'll just make it as a 2 layer cake

Thursday:

Gluten Free 7 Up Biscuits are from A Virtuous Woman - I love these, and so does my family. They don't care if they're gluten free or not, they just love the taste!

Friday:

Gluten Free KFC Chicken Bowls are from Pinch of GF - we love these! I think my husband could eat them several times a week! I use Perdue Simply Breaded Chicken Tenderloins that are gluten free.

Gluten Free Apple Crisp is from Sally's Baking Recipes - I'll serve this with a scoop of vanilla ice cream

Saturday:

Gluten Free Breakfast Casserole is from This Farmgirl Cooks - I'll add browned breakfast sausage to this before I bake it - I love maple flavored sausage in this.

Gluten Free Fathead Pizza is from The Kitchn - this is my go-to pizza crust. It crisps up nice, and everyone loves it, even people who aren't gluten free. - I just add pizza sauce and toppings and bake!

This will take us into November! Where has this year gone?? It just has flown by! I hope you all have a fun Halloween week, and I hope you have cozy meals with friends and family this week! Take care!

Hugs,

Sunday, October 22, 2023

Weekly Menu Plan 10-22 to 10-28, 2023

Hello there!

Another week has flown by, and it's getting closer to November and the holidays! Unbelievable!

The leaves are falling here like crazy, but there are still a lot of them on the trees. My husband mowed the lawn and mulched the leaves yesterday, but as soon as he was done it looked like it needed it again. He can't keep up with the leaves at this point!

I felt like baking this week, and luckily one of my college granddaughters came home this weekend, so I baked her some cookies to take back to school with her. Here is what's in my cookie jar this week (they are not gluten free, so no cookies for me!)

I made peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, and oatmeal chocolate chippers. They smelled good! I haven't made cookies for awhile, I always forget how long it takes to do cookie sheet after cookie sheet. I spent most of the afternoon baking them, but everyone is enjoying them and they won't last long around here! I took my granddaughter a dozen of each, so she has some to share.

This cooler weather makes me more hungry, it seems. Does that happen to you? Maybe it's just me! But I'm craving more casseroles and soups, so this week's menu has its share of them. I tried to throw in a couple lighter meals so it's all not so heavy all week!

Here is this week's menu plan. Recipe links and notes follow.

Notes and Recipe Links:

SUNDAY:

Apple Pie Baked Oatmeal is from Quaker Oats

Smoked Sausage and Potato Cheese Soup is from Modern Farmhouse Eats - I alter this recipe to make it gluten free and it still turns out very good. I don't add any flour at all. I use 4 large potatoes, and I use extra creamy oat milk in place of the milk. Then I use 8 oz. of Velveeta instead of the white cheddar. Because I don't add any flour, it may be a bit thinner than hers, but it's still thicker than a brothy soup.

Gluten Free Chocolate Cake is from Hersheyland

MONDAY:

Marry Me Chicken is from Little Sunny Kitchen

TUESDAY:

Baked Cod is from Yes to Yolks

Broccoli Cheddar Rice is from Highlands Ranch Foodie

Gluten Free Apple Cobbler is from Fearless Dining

WEDNESDAY:

Gluten Free Beef Noodle Soup is from my cookbook Stock The Crock by Phyllis Good - I just use gluten free noodles

Gluten Free Apple Cinnamon Waffles are from Jessica Gavin

Gluten Free Pumpkin Bread is from My Gluten Free Kitchen

THURSDAY:

Gluten Free Sausage Gravy is from Self Proclaimed Foodie

Shrimp Fried Rice is from Crunchy Creamy Sweet

Arkansas Possum Pie is from No Dash of Gluten - it looks like a regular pie crust in her recipe, but I use a frozen pie shell from Maine Woods that I buy at Meijer

FRIDAY:

Potsticker Noodle Bowls are from Iowa Girl Eats

Gluten Free Cranberry Shortbread Bars are from Fearless Dining

SATURDAY:

Gluten Free Breakfast Casserole is from Gluten Free Palate

Chicken Divan is from Spend With Pennies - I use gluten free cream of mushroom soup and gluten free panko bread crumbs, both of which I buy at Wal Mart

That wraps up another week in October - next week November starts! Yikes!

Have a wonderful week, and I hope you enjoy all your meals with friends and family! Take care!

Tuesday, October 17, 2023

Weekly Menu Plan 10-15 to 10-21, 2023

Whew! I'm back from vacation, and it's been a challenge getting all caught up! My husband, kids, and grandkids all headed to Tennessee to the Smoky Mountains for a really fun week. We rented a nice big cabin, and it had a gorgeous view. We were busy all day, every day, working our way through Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg. We had a beautiful driving tour through the mountains, and the kids and grandkids went to Dollywood and loved it. I opted for less walking that day! Super fun time and lots of great memories were made!

We left here and it was summer weather, came home and fall has totally taken over. Very chilly and wet! But it's great weather for baking, which is what I love to do!

I kind of threw this menu together, based on what I have in the pantry and freezer. I don't want to spend much time at the grocery store this week. I have tons of other stuff to do! I apologize if it's a bit wonky because of that!

Here is my menu plan for the rest of this week. Notes and recipe links follow.

Recipe notes and links:

Monday:

Gluten Free Apple Muffins are from Gluten Free On A Shoestring

Maple Sausage Lentil Soup is from Haute Flavor - this is one of my fall and winter favorites

Frosted Pumpkin Cranberry Bars are from Taste of Home - I am making these gluten free by subbing gluten free all-purpose flour for the regular flour

Tuesday:

Gluten Free Waffles are from Gluten Free Palate

Hot Honey Chicken is from Half Baked Harvest - so yummy

Apple Scalloped Potatoes are from Taste Of Home

Apple Snickerdoodle Dump Cake is from Taste of Home - this is NOT gluten free, but it sounds too good to pass up. The rest of my family will enjoy it, and I will eat Monday's dessert instead

Wednesday:

Cabbage Roll Casserole is from Spend With Pennies

Thursday:

BLTA Chicken Salad Lettuce Wraps are from Cooking Classy

Gluten Free Bread Pudding is from Gluten Free Easily

Friday:

Gluten Free Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Cookies are from Mile High Mitts

Saturday:

Gluten Free Shepherd's Pie is from Meaningful Eats

Gluten Free 7 Up Biscuits are from A Virtuous Woman - these are my favorite gf biscuits!

Gluten Free Apple Pie is from Gluten Free Palate

And that will wrap it up for this week! I hope you have a great week and lots of good meals with your family! Take care!

Monday, October 16, 2023

I'll Be Right Back...

We've been on vacation, but we got home yesterday. I'm working on menus for this week. As soon as I'm caught up I will post them.

See you soon!

Sunday, October 1, 2023

Weekly Menu Plan 10-1 to 10-6, 2023

Happy October! It's hard to believe it's October already, especially since it's so hot outside here! We have upper 80's until Wednesday, then it's supposed to rain and start to actually feel like fall.

I had a productive week last week, I hope you did too! The highlight of my week was going up to see one of my granddaughters at her college. I made her this little treat basket:

She's not a big candy eater, and doesn't care for chocolate (can you imagine??), so I didn't want to put a ton of chocolate in it. So I bought a couple of her favorites - Werther's caramel apple soft caramels, and a bag of gummy bears. I know she won't throw those away! She needs a little something sweet now and then, don't you think? She tries to eat pretty healthy most of the time, which she definitely didn't get from me! I need to be more like her!

Then, I finished my Japanese Rice Bag, and I love how it turned out! I used up leftover fabric from my table runner, and some other scraps. It holds a ton of stuff!

I've already used it to carry my cross stitching supplies in, and I'm going to use it to hold snacks when we go on vacation. I can fit all kinds of gluten free goodies in there! It completely closes with the drawstring, and is really very sturdy.

Enough of that stuff, here is my menu plan for this week. I have a bunch of stuff to do this week, so there's nothing too difficult. Mostly I planned for quick and easy meals, or something I can make ahead. As always, notes and recipe links are below.