May Menu...and school's almost out...

Last week was extremely busy and stressful.  Here's to a quieter, more peaceful week.

I planned a "Veggie Night" last week, using vegetables from our garden, and made some cornbread to go with it.  I used the recipe at 100 days of Real Food and I was amazed at how moist this cornbread turn out to be - it was perfect!  This was a very filling and satisfying meal for all of us!  My husband is a meat-lover, to be sure, so he is not always excited about meatless meals, but he enjoyed this one.  Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that he grew the food???? 

So here's the plan for this week:

Sunday~ Ham, scalloped potatoes, green beans from the garden, fried green tomatoes from the garden, and homemade ice cream for dessert

Monday~ Fabulous Supper Nachos

Tuesday~ Scout Night: leftover ham, potatoes, and collard greens (cooked in the crockpot)

Wednesday~ Breakfast for Dinner: omelets, grits, bacon

Thursday~ BBQ Chicken, coleslaw (made with cabbage from the garden), cornbread

Friday~ Hamburgers & hotdogs...I may try my hand at homemade buns if I'm feeling adventurous....we'll see!

Saturday~ TBA....the beginning of a long weekend, so I'm leaving it open.

Share your menus at Menu Plan Monday!

May Menu #2.5

This week is my big musical at school, so that means I'm trying to manage stress and still be pleasant to my family. :)

Last week, our Mexican Brisket in the crockpot was pretty yummy.  We all liked it.  The leftover brisket on the Chiliquiles... was okay.  Probably not something we'll make again.  But a fun experiment, nonetheless.

My husband's amazing garden has been absolutely prolific this week.  We put together three boxes of produce to share with my family: cabbage, green beans, potatoes, collards, zucchini and lettuce.  Wowza!!!  (And that's what we're eating at our own house too!)




For Mother's Day, I got a couple of wonderful surprises.  This is the first one:

These are flowers from my Marine Son, delivered to me at school.  What a sweet surprise they were!

Then my youngest son helped me make zucchini chips for our yummy Mother's Day lunch.  We had so much fun, and he did a great job!

So here's our menu...

Sunday~ Steak on the grill, sauteed potatoes (from the garden), mushrooms, bell peppers & onions (peppers & onions from the garden), and zucchini chips.  Yum!!!  Leftover chocolate cake from hubby's birthday for dessert.

Monday~ Roast in the crockpot, new potatoes, green beans from the garden

Tuesday~ It's MULAN night.... fend for yourself!!!

Wednesday~ Veggie Plate: green beans & potatoes, corn bread, corn on the cob, tomatoes and cucumbers

Thursday~ Spaghetti & stuffed peppers

Friday~ Pool Party for ds#3.... maybe a quiet dinner for dh & me

Saturday~ Celebrating my grandmother's birthday: lasagna, tossed salad, bread, and some kind of dessert

Share your menu at Menu Plan Monday!

We survived...and here's what's for dinner

Last week was crazy and busy and very eventful, and this week will be no different.  It is as if someone tried to cram every possible life event (and school event) into the first two weeks of May.

Sigh.

So here's the plan for our week:

Sunday~ Spaghetti and zucchini chips (we harvested our first zuke from the garden!!!)
Monday~ Leftover spaghetti (we have an evening meeting at school, so it's gotta be super-fast)  
Tuesday~ Mexican Brisket (trying it in the crockpot), rice, cucumber salad 
(Scouts night)
Wednesday~ Use leftover brisket for Black Bean and Beef Chilaquiles
Thursday~ Breakfast for Dinner (using up some ham from last week)
Friday~ Sandwiches (using lettuce from the garden) and chips with salsa (ds goes to see Disney on Ice with the grandparents)
Saturday~ Hubby's b-day which means out to eat with the fam!

Share your plan at Menu Plan Monday!

What a week... and I'm not even kidding...

Last week slapped me in the face and left me staring into the sky looking for answers.

My husband had an 'episode' at school that required us to call an ambulance, and when all was said and done, tests were run, blood was taken, doctors consulted, we had no answers.
None.
Nada.
Not a single explanation for what happened.

He displayed stroke-like symptoms, but after running every test they had, the hospital found no evidence of any injury, scarring, blockage, or 'episode'.  Every result was totally normal.

Don't get me wrong - I am sooooooooooo grateful that I'm not sitting in a doctor's office examining a scan of my husband's brain and having an abnormality pointed out to me.  He looks and acts normal - walking, talking, eating, laughing...
But...
I want to know what happened.
I need a name to call it.
I want to make sure it doesn't happen again.
And I'm not in a comfortable place with it.


To make life even MORE exciting, I have to go out of town this weekend for our annual music department trip to Orlando.  I am taking 100+ middle schoolers to Disney, and all the while, I'll be thinking of my husband.

Sigh.

So, this week, the plan is to get through the week.
That's it.
And that will be enough.

Sunday, I made Rachael Ray's roasted squash chili mac recipe.  I had these on the counter that needed to be used or discarded...so I used them.
Monday, teachers are bringing food for my family after everything that has happened.  This will be a welcome blessing, and will probably carry us through the week.
Tuesday, we'll either have leftovers or frozen pizza.
Wednesday, we'll do a chicken casserole that friends brought over.
Thursday through Saturday, I'll be out of town, so the guys will be on their own.  They'll find something from the goodies that our friends bring, or they'll hit the local Mexican restaurant.  Either way, they will not starve.

And we'll get through it.

Got a plan?  Need a plan?  Check out Menu Plan Monday.

Is it already the end of April????

Wow, time is flying.
There is so much to do before the school year ends...it always amazes me how time seems to lag, and then it speeds up when we've got so much to get done!

My boys camped this weekend, and got soaked...again.  (Last month's campout was rainy too.)  But the weather on Sunday was absolutely beautiful, so we enjoyed spending some time outside.

This week's menu:
Sunday~ Sticky chicken, mashed potatoes, fresh corn on the cob, 'frenched' green beans
Monday~ Open-faced turkey sandwiches (using leftover turkey), swiss beans
Tuesday~ Taco salads & quesadillas (this has become a weekly tradition, and we love it)
Wednesday~ Pasta fagioli (leftover from earlier in the month - frozen, and reheated, adding pasta at serving time, with ground beef added), garlic bread
Thursday~ Breakfast for Dinner
Friday~ Pizza and salad (using the gorgeous lettuce that we now have in abundance)
Saturday~ Burgers on the grill, oven fries, and fresh corn

Share your menu at Laura's Menu Plan Monday!

April Menu #3

We've got a busy week....
it's standardized testing week (which all the teachers love as much as the students do...)
Hubs and ds#3 go camping this weekend
and Mom has a meeting after school too.

But here's the plan:

Sunday~ Teriyaki Chicken, brown rice, 'frenched' green beans (didn't get to it last week)
Monday~ meeting night... Fend For YourSelf
Tuesday~ Taco salad (Scouting night)
Wednesday~ Hamburgers, cole slaw, roasted potatoes
Thursday~ Turkey breast, stuffing, tossed salad (using lettuce from our garden)
Friday - Saturday~ boys are camping!!

When they camped last month, they wanted to come home and go out to eat.  It was a disappointment for them, so I think I'll have a cozy home-cooked meal ready & waiting for their return. :)

Share your menu at Menu Plan Monday!

April Menu #2... after Easter

Happy Easter!

Spring has sprung in our neck of the woods... we didn't have much of a winter, and our garden is in full swing:

This is one of our blueberry plants.  Hubs got smart this year, and built an enclosure for our berry plants.  We're looking forward to some juicy sweetness.  It's so fun to watch the fruit as it appears!

This is our first-ever attempt at corn.  There's nothing like fresh sweet corn in the summer, and we're hoping to have lots of it.

We've got peppers, zucchini, romaine lettuce (that's on the menu this week!), cabbage, and collards in this bed.  I am especially excited for the zucchini... I asked hubs to plant some last year, but he never got around to it.  This year, I'm sure to have all I want.

Potatoes!  You say potato...

Fresh herbs - love to use these as I cook.

                                     

More beds of yummy stuff - okra, tomatoes, eggplant, cucumbers.  Delish!

I love being able to pick fresh veggies from our garden.  Sigh.  Happy, happy sigh.

On to the menu for the week:

Sunday~ EASTER!  Dinner with the fam: roast tenderloin, scalloped potatoes, peas & butter beans, cucumber salad, apple-cherry pie, and triple chocolate cookies.  Not to mention the egg hunt in my parents' backyard.

Monday~ Taco salads (using our romaine), quesadillas

Tuesday~ Hubs out to dinner before a meeting; ds#3 & I will grab something quick at home

Wednesday~ Teriyaki chicken (I have a recipe I normally use, but might try this one), brown rice, steamed broccoli.  I have some wonton wrappers, so I'm thinking of doing something fun with those...

Thursday~ Omelets, home fries, bacon/sausage (transferred from last week - we didn't get to it)

Friday~ Soup & Salad: tossed green salad, pasta fagioli soup

Saturday~ Something on the grill.  Yum!

Share your menu delights at Menu Plan Monday.