Menu Plan

 

Just a quick note to say I didn't have time to plan out this week's meals.  I am flying by the seat of my pants this week.  I have a ton of food in the freezer, and I need to use it up so I can have the freezer space.

I am feeling the stress of the holidays - not in a bad way, but constantly being busy.  Like everyone else, I have shopping, wrapping, baking, sewing, cooking, and all kinds of social events like Christmas programs and dinner parties and get-togethers.  

So for this week, it will be food from the freezer, or grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup.  In the freezer, I have pot pies, chicken soup, a ham (which I may save for Christmas Eve), frozen fish, and pre-formed hamburgers.  So we will be eating off of that for the week!

I hope to have time this week to plan for next week.  Also, I have everyone over for Christmas Eve brunch, so I have to plan and shop and bake for that.  I'll post my menu for that, coming up.

Until then, stay warm (although here it's all 40's and 50's for the next week) and enjoy the season!

Hugs!

Cranberry Orange Bread

 

I'm going to try and keep my recipes for Christmas baking at my other blog, What Happens At Grammy's...

The recipe I use for Cranberry Orange Bread can be found HERE.

In a day or two I will post my pumpkin bread recipe.  There are lots of great recipes out there, these are just the ones I use!

Weekly Menu Plan

 

Well, here we are again!  Back to the BUSY time of year!  It always seems to me that for most of the year, Christmas is way off in the future, then WHAM!  It's here!  And it seems to come faster and faster each year!  You would think that, by now, I would be more prepared, but no.  It always seems to surprise me!

This year, for me, December is full of meeting friends for breakfast and lunch, doctor appointments, school concerts and programs, shopping, wrapping, sewing, and baking.  I enjoy it all, but at the same time I am always glad when January comes and it's all over for another year.  But it's always fun at the same time!

This week, for meals, I relied solely on Taste of Home, my old go-to recipe site.  I subscribed to that magazine for years and years, and I have the entire collection.  I stopped my subscription a couple years ago because, mostly, I don't like the new magazine.  The old ones are my favorites!  But anymore, they include mostly recipes I would never make.  It's just not my kind of magazine anymore.  The old ones, though - that's a different story!  I use them all the time!  They are the best!  And the pages on the new magazine are like tissue paper.  I wish they made them like they used to!

So here's this week's plan.  It's pretty simple, because I've got lots of other things to do this month besides cook.  This week I am making some breads.  I can freeze them to give away later, but some of them I will give away this week.  I am seeing some friends I probably won't see again until after Christmas, so they will get their loaves early.  

Most of the recipes are easily adapted to gluten free, but if they're not, I have a ton of frozen gluten free meals I can use up.  For Christmas baking, I don't bake gluten free unless it's for my sister or something that I really want to eat.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  See you next week with another meal plan!

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

 Due to the holiday this week, I am busy prepping food and getting ready for Thanksgiving.  I am trying to keep the fridge as empty as I can so I have room for the salads and desserts I am making.

I am making a Cauliflower Salad, Lime Jello Salad, a Crustless Pumpkin Pie, and an Apple Pie Cake.

For the rest of the week, we are having some leftover Hamburger Vegetable Soup, Breakfast for Dinner,  Marie Callendar's Chicken Pot Pies, and a rotisserie chicken from Sam's Club.  Easy peasy for me!  And lots of room in the fridge to keep salads cold!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, and I'll be back next week with a new menu plan!  Blessings to you!

Weekly Menu Plan Nov 13-19, 2022

 

I wish it looked like this when I look out my window!  Instead I see snow and and the temps are barely in the 30's!  We definitely got a glimpse of winter this weekend!

I went Christmas shopping with my daughter yesterday, and it snowed the whole time we were out.  At least it put everyone in the Christmas spirit!  I can't believe a couple days ago we were out without coats, and it was actually warm!

Another week's meal plan is finished.  I am not hosting Thanksgiving, but I have several dishes I am taking over to my daughter's house.  But at least I don't have to do all that grocery shopping!  She is also hosting Christmas, so that really eases up my workload.  And I'm all for that!

Here is my menu plan for the week.  I don't have too much going on this week, so I hope to have time to stick to my plan.  

I hope you all have a great week before Thanksgiving!  I know everything seems to start getting rushed now, with the holidays fast approaching.  It's kind of nice to slow down and be able to appreciate everyone!  Blessings to you all!

Weekly Menu Plan Nov. 7-13, 2022

 

Hi there!

I hope you had a good week last week!  Mine was a bit crazy, and I got all off track with my menu plan.  

I had several days when I got called away from home for most of the day, which left me no time to prepare dinner or do any baking.  Sometimes that happens, right?  I am hoping this week slows down in that regard.  

Since I got behind on my menu plan, this week includes some of the same foods on last week's plan.  I have already grocery shopped, and I had everything I needed to make all the foods from last week's menu.  So I just slid the meals I hadn't made, over onto this menu plan.  I hope that makes sense!  

What I did get made from last week, were kind of so-so.  The Chicken Cordon Bleu was okay, but it definitely needed more seasoning.  I think that has happened to me before when I use recipes that have cream or heavy cream in them.  It was very bland, and no one really liked it very much.  It might have been my fault in how I prepared it.  But, I don't think I'll be trying that one again.

The gluten free orange chicken didn't turn out, either.  It looked like chicken in a dark brown really thick gravy.  It was very unappetizing looking, and none of us wanted to try it.  I made it yesterday, and then we went out and ate instead.  It might taste all right, but honestly it looks so unappealing I don't know if we'll eat it or not.  Again, it might have been something I did wrong while making it.  Sometimes things just don't come together as planned!  But we probably won't be trying this recipe again, either.  My husband asked me why I don't stick to the tried and true recipes!  And sometimes I do, but sometimes I like to try new things.  So this week, I am making more meals that aren't first time recipes.  Two fails in one week was enough for awhile!  Live and learn, right??

Here is this week's menu plan.  I cannot wait for the tomato soup and grilled cheese night!  Sometimes simple is just so comforting, and I'm really looking forward to it. 

This week is supposed to be in the 60's and 70's here all week, until Saturday.  Then the temps take a dive, and it will be highs in the 40's.  More like November!  Our town is having their Holiday Kick-Off sales at all the little shops downtown, so my daughter and I are heading down there to check it out next Saturday.  It's always fun to see all the Christmas decorations!  

Have a wonderful week!  I hope you can grab a couple ideas to use from this week's menu, and enjoy some meals with your family and/or friends!  Take care, and see you next week!

Weekly Menu Plan Oct. 30-Nov. 5, 2022

Happy Sunday!  It's hard to believe it's the last Sunday in October, isn't it?  I can't believe it turns into November in a couple days.  This year has rushed by!

So last week, I had a few disruptions in my days.  My daughter is having some remodeling work done in her house, so it turns out that on Wednesday and Thursday, I spent my entire day over at her house so someone could be there with the workers.  On Friday, my husband and I met some friends for lunch at Cheesecake Factory and spent most of the day out.  So my regular schedule took a hit.

I had planned on, and shopped for, all last week's meals and groceries.  But I think there are three days that I missed on my menu plan.  I just scrapped those recipes for now, and will get back to them in a week or two.

I had planned on reviewing all the meals I had made on Wednesday, and every Wednesday will be review day.  But I will have to try and start that this week, since last week got me all messed up.

Here is this week's menu plan:

About the only change I am making to the recipes with links is on Saturday.  I will use gluten free pasta in place of the regular pasta.  Everything else will be the same.

A few of the recipes this week are ones that are new to me, so I am really anxious to see how they turn out!  I have the chocolate cake from Sunday's menu in the oven as we speak, and it smells so good!  I can't wait to try it tonight!

I hope you find something you can use here, either a helpful link, a new recipe, or at least an idea of what to make for supper!  Have a wonderful week!