Menu Plan - Week of February 8

I always have trouble figuring out what to write at the beginning of a menu planning post. It all seems sort of silly to me since the point is to share the food with you. So, that's what we're diving in to today. And I have a head cold, so I'm not in a great mood ... sorry, just the facts this week!

Weeknight Dinners:

• Crock Pot Peanut Chicken, orzo pasta, green salad
• Spaghetti, rolls, green salad
• Loaded Potato Soup with rolls
• Beef tacos
• I am looking for an easy, and frugal, recipe for fried rice. Likely I will make chicken fried rice one night too once I find a good recipe.

Baking, Breakfast, Freezer:
The first round of freezer jam turned out very good, if I do say so! I used this recipe as a start, but used blackberries and raspberries instead. It turned out so good! A bit overly sweet for me, but that's okay.

• Chewy Granola Bars (made this morning - such a good way to start the week!)
• Sweet Potato Cake

What's cooking at your house this week? head over and see Laura if you need inspiration!

February Menu Plan

The month of February is beginning with snow here in the South - an unusual sight and one that inspires soups, chilis, stews, and all arrays of comfort food. This month, I will continue to use some of the skills learned during last month's Eat From the Pantry Challenge. I will also though be making a major trip to the warehouse club to restock - after the ice melts!

Dinners:

• Spicy Fatboy Sausage Pasta with green salad
• Loaded Potato Soup with homemade rolls
• Cuban Sandwiches and fries
• Tacos, refried beans, and Spanish rice (using this recipe for the meat mixture)
• Chicken a la King with roasted asparagus
• Chicken Pot Pie
• * Jambalaya in Slow Cooker
• Herb Marinated Pork Tenderloin
• Spicy Fried Chicken
• * Slow Cooker Orange Chicken with rice and broccoli
• Super Bowl Dinner - * Chicken Nachos deviled eggs, and other assorted artery clogging yummy things!
• * Meatballs over rice with green salad
• Pizza Pasta Bake
  
• Spaghetti and green salad (2 times)
• Pizza night (3 times)

Baking, Breakfast, Freezer:
I am trying to decide how best to use up almost 15 pounds of frozen berries in our freezer. Freezer Jam will be my first choice. Then probably smoothies and on to baked goods. I will share plans and recipes as the month goes along.

Menu Plan - Week of January 31

The month of January was amazing in our house. We participated in the Eat From the Pantry Challenge and reduced our grocery spending significantly. We also had our first snow of the season in NC and we thoroughly enjoyed it. God has continued to richly bless our family over the past month and we are so grateful! This week, I am cleaning out the last few items from our freezer and pantry and will be making a big run to the local warehouse store to restock. Here's what's cooking at our house. Head over to I'm An Organizing Junkie for more inspiration!

Weeknight Dinners:

• Spicy Fatboy Sausage Pasta with green salad
• Slow cooker soup with Italian Turkey Sausage, mushrooms, carrots, and tomatoes (recipe on Tuesday is it turns out good)
• Spaghetti with green salad
• Pizza night

Baking and Breakfast:
We had a snowstorm this week and lost our heat at home, so I have been hunkered down at my parent's house with little man. Not much baking has been done, so there is a lot of carryover. Not too exciting, but - hey - it's life!

• Homemade Pop Tarts
• English Muffins
  

Menu Plan - week of January 25

It's the final week of the Eat From The Pantry Challenge and it's been quite a lot easier than I thought it would be. One of my favorite parts of our house is the huge pantry. It's been so fun to fill it up, but we don't need a full pantry with only 3 people. That is another area of discipline I need to work on - just because the space is there, I do not have to fill it.
Here's what's cooking this week:

Weeknight Dinners:

• Slow cooker roast with carrots, potatoes, and mushrooms
• Aussie Chicken, broccoli, and rice
• Spaghetti with Carbonara sauce, green salad
  
• Pizza night

Baking and Breakfast:

• Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
• Homemade Poptarts (did not get to these last week)

Head over and see Laura for hundreds more menu plans each week.

Menu Plan - week of January 18

After a wonderful 4 day vacation to celebrate our 10 year anniversary, DH, little man, and I are all getting back into the swing of normal life again. I am continuing with my goal of Eating From the Pantry and cleaning out our food stockpile. Tonight is the last night of vacation style low key cooking, and then back to the routine tomorrow. Go visit I'm an Organizing Junkie for more inspiration.

Weeknight Dinners:

• Homemade Chicken Nuggets, carrots and applesauce
• Taco Pinwheel with lettuce and tomatoes
• Quick Homemade Tomato Soup with grilled cheese sandwiches
• Oven roasted pork butt, Hash Brown Casserole, green beans
• Homemade chicken noodle soup with rolls
• Pulled pork sandwiches, coleslaw, and fries

Baking and Breakfast:

• Homemade Poptarts
• English Muffins (making these in the hopes of making lunch size pizzas for little man)
• Strawberry Fruit Leather
  

Menu Plan - week of January 4

Happy New Year! School starts back for us this week, as does consistent out of the house work. It's also going to be the coldest week in over 20 years according to the weather forecasters. There will be lots of soups and chili style meals this week because I firmly believe nothing's better than chili when it's cold. As part of the Eat From the Pantry Challenge, I am making note of which meals are freezer/pantry meals with the note "F/P". I am aiming high this week to do all dinners from our supply to minimize our grocery trip this week.

Weeknight Dinners:

• Chili and cornbread (F/P)
• Beef stew with homemade bread (F/P)
  
• Chicken and gravy over rice with corn or green beans (F/P)
• Chicken egg rolls with Asian style slaw (F/P)

Snacks, Baking, Breakfast:

• Banana chocolate chip muffins (F/P)
• Gingerbread Waffles - while not made yet, I do have all the ingredients in the pantry
• Bananas Foster Sauce for ice cream, waffles, over top of cardboard (just kidding!) - I have some bananas about to go bad and will use some for a replacement batch of muffins and some for this recipe
• Little man is trying to convince me to make an apple pie ... I have all the ingredients, just not the oomph. I've not had any luck with pies before, but I might try again for him.
  

What's cooking at your house this week? Go visit I'm an Organizing Junkie if you need inspiration!

Resolutions & Goals ... or Simple Faith?

Happy New Year!! It's time for resolutions and goals and planning the year to achieve the ever-elusive "balance." I have read - 2 times - in the past few months Nancy Ortberg's "Looking For God." First - if you have not read this - go buy it! it is so amazing and so very liberating. I want to specifically share some quotes from the chapter titled "The B Word." and how her thoughts illustrate my everyday life - as a wife, daughter, mom, friend, and sister in Christ to many fabulous women.

"You'd be hard pressed to find a person in the Bible who was noted for his or her "balanced life.""

" You can build a case for a lot of things from the Bible - picking up your cross, denying yourself, abandoning yourself to a good God, paying the cost of discipleship - but there aren't a lot of case studies on balance."

"Balance gives the illusion of control. The comfort of order."

We love the idea of balance because we love to be in control - it's part of our sinful nature. Leading an un-balanced, Christ focused life means giving up our control. We make lists, charts, color coding systems, labeling systems, ad nauseam to try to gain control over this wild ride called LIFE. You know what? God hasn't designed us to be in control - news flash, I know!

Just to give you a glimpse of a totally un-balanced life ... let me share what we've been going with a 2 week break from school and work. Spending time with family, sharing meals with friends we have not seen in ages, comforting a dear friend diagnosed with cancer, laughing hysterically while we attempt to learn a new video game and having play dates. Are there other things on my never ending list - sure! But, I am learning to give up some control, enjoy the days God has given me, find His glory in the circumstances of every day, and to try - desperately - to soak it all in.

As the new year dawns, I have things in my mind that I hope to accomplish in 2010, who doesn't? But, rather than be a slave to my list or to enlist someone to keep me accountable to a set of goals, I am seeking prayer warriors to keep me totally committed to living each and every day for the glory of God. The rest will fall into place. Will my house always be clean - nope. Will all the laundry always be done - nope. Will every wall of every room be decorated - nope. But ...

Will we always have room for visitors - absolutely. Will we laugh, hug, kiss, and love every day - absolutely. Will we give God all the glory for it - absolutely!! Will we live by simple faith, knowing that God is all powerful, all knowing, and sovereign - ABSOLUTELY!!!