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Meal Plans Week of 11-3-13

Good morning! Did you remember to give yourself an extra hour to sleep? I’ve never been a fan of the time change…especially after having kids. But with lack of sleep the past week and a half from sick kids up in the night I appreciated a little extra rest. I’m just not sure my kids are going to go along with the sleep an extra hour idea. I just hope everyone is back to full health soon.

This will be another fairly normal week. I have to go to the chiropractor, grocery shopping and to a MomBreak steering team meeting. We are also taking the kids to see Veggie Tales Live. I’m not sure if I should be excited or scared 😛

I still have a lot to do in the kitchen. My apples once again had to take a back seat with most of the family being sick. I didn’t have much energy, and my legs were really swollen and painful. So I couldn’t stand for a long time working on apples. And my son was hardly napping and up a lot in the night. So I’m really hoping I can go a bit apple crazy this week and get a good stock of applesauce in the pantry. And make more dried apples. Other than that I will probably be making another batch of yogurt. That may become a weekly thing now that we have extra milk. I also still have to make a batch of cheese crackers. I might experiment to see if I can make a version that is dairy free!

The cutest doctor and Mickey Mouse around.

My other assignment this week is my writing. I was pretty productive last week getting blog posts up. I have another writing assignment due this week that I haven’t started. I need to get on that asap!

I’m excited that I’m finally figuring out my root issue that I think is what started all of my health problems – low estrogen. It’s not that common. Most women have the opposite problem. And when you don’t ever hear or read about it, it is not the first thing you think of when looking for answers for your health. But I finally figured it out. And it makes my entire life make sense. Now that I’ve got that figured out I need to understand how to remedy it. And that could be tougher than finding the problem. But I’m working on it. One potential positive thing that could come from this is being able to add some foods back to my diet that I thought I was sensitive to. I have some experimenting to do now…which could be unpleasant at first. But it could be just what I need. I’ll give an update some time when I know the results of my experiment.

On to the menu. It is getting harder and harder each week to come up with meals the whole family can (and will) eat and that fit into our schedule. I think I managed for another week. How about you? What’s on your menu? Eet smakelijk!

****MENU****

S (prep lunch, church, make/can applesauce, roast beets, roast/freeze squash)
  B – chicken sausage, corn muffins w/ syrup
  L – cp pork roast, rice, beans
  D – grilled cheese, egg salad or pb/j, broccoli, fruit salad, chips w/ salsa

M (make/can applesauce, chiro)
  B – yogurt, muffins
  D – pork, pea and mashed potato casserole (Rebecca’s recipe), applesauce

T (prep dinner, make yogurt, make bread pudding, vote, AKM, make coconut milk ice cream, RKM)
  B – corn muffin bread pudding, grapes
  D – (quick prep) – cp chicken and quinoa

W (chop veggies and potatoes, chiro, Meijer)
  B – yogurt, granola bar
  D – chicken nuggets, roasted brussels sprouts, homemade french fries

Th (make/can applesauce, dance)
  B – hard boiled egg, toast
  D – (early/eat separate) – cp meatballs, potatoes, carrots

F (make dried apples, MBST, VT)
  B – yogurt, 
  D – (early/quick/easy clean up) – hobo dinners OR sandwiches, chips, fruit, veg

S (soccer)
  B – TBD
  D – tacos

Meal Plans Week of 10-27-13

It’s the last week of October already! How did that happen? I guess I’ve been too busy to notice. Last week was crazy busy. And to top it off the kids were sick. But we managed. And thankfully this week isn’t so busy.

I do have two chiropractor visits this week (and will for quite a few weeks to come). Rebecca has a field trip for school. And we aren’t sure yet what we’re doing on Halloween. It depends on what time Rebecca has dance that day. We also have a MomBreak meeting this week. I’m pretty sure the kids and I will be staying home from church today.

I have a list a mile long of things I need to catch up on in the kitchen. Last week my cupboards were bare. And to top it off we had Abram tested for allergies. So what was left he couldn’t even eat. I managed to make graham crackers, granola, a few batches of gummies, two batches of ice cream (one dairy free), roast beets, roast and freeze squash, make yogurt and make an apple breakfast cake (recipe coming soon). But I still have a long list. And on the top is making and canning applesauce. So that will be my focus first. After that I can get back to restocking the fridge and cupboards with healthy, homemade food for the kids, like muffins, granola bars, cheese crackers and some gluten free bars for myself.

My husband’s new toy and Abram’s new obsession.

I mentioned my son’s allergies. We found out that his main allergy is to dairy. But the list also includes eggs, wheat, rice, almonds, grapes, pears, bananas, peas and beans. So we are in the process of making this adjustment. It definitely makes meal planning harder! It’s quite difficult to come up with meals the whole family can eat. I’m not even sure what vegetable to cook anymore. I guess I’ll be making more meals that have individual components so everyone can pick and choose what they like/what they can have.

I’m trying to focus on keeping Abram nourished and doing what I can to help his body heal quickly. I hope some day he can add most if not all of these foods back into his diet.

My health seems to continue to improve. I recently had my hormone levels checked…and they are perfectly normal!!! That is truly amazing. God is good. My body temperature has been great too. 98’s and even 99’s! I learned that I do have PCOS, but not the typical form. Mine is simply from undereating/overexercising/stress. And now that I’m taking care of myself it’s reversing quickly. My thyroid problems are the same. I’m in the 10% that simply have hypothyroid due to stress, etc. instead of an autoimmune disease. So that is reverseable as well. I’m on my way to good health again. I still need to work on getting more sleep and reducing stress and making sure I’m eating plenty of nutrient dense foods that I tolerate. But I am truly amazed at how much progress I’ve made in just a few months. God has done great things. And I’m excited to experience more healing.

I also got to see the details of my scoliosis/spine issues last week. As I’ve known since I was 16 my spine curves to the left. And now it also curves back to the right at the top (must be from compensation over the years). I also have hardly any curve in my neck…the beginning stages of a hunch back that runs in my family. Thankfully the chiropractor said he could fix both! So I will be going for adjustments and traction two times a week for a while. I also had my first therapeutic massage. Wow, was that great! I’ll be doing that again for sure.

On to the menu. Like I mentioned, meal planning is becoming more and more difficult. But I think I came up with an ok menu for the week. What’s on your menu? Eet smakelijk!

****MENU****

S (prep lunch, church, make/can applesauce, prep smoothies, make kettle corn)
  B – pancakes, banana
  L – meatloaf, baked potatoes, carrots
  D – (snack foods) – popcorn, pecans, crackers w/ cheese, peas

M (chop veggies, cut butter, organize kithcen, chiro, health food store)
  B – smoothie, TBD from freezer
  D – baked pork chops, broccoli, rice

T (make/can applesauce, AKM, RKM, soak flour)
  B – yogurt, granola, fruit
  D – (quick prep) – pan seared salmon, hashbrowns, beans

W (make gf cheese crackers, chiro, make gf bars)
  B – smoothie, granola bar
  D – spaghetti, broccoli, garlic toast

Th (make dried apples, make egg puff, make yogurt, cut up butter, field trip, dance, work party?, Halloween)
  B – egg puff, toast smoothie, gf zucchini bread
  D – (prep ahead/eat whenever) – cp roast chicken and veggies

F (make egg puffs, chop veggies, make df granola bars, MB, bake muffins)
  B – granola bars, yogurt, fruit egg puff, toast
  D – sausage, gf muffins, roasted veggies, fruit

S ()
  B – leftovers
  D – chicken noodle soup, gf muffins

Meal Plans Week of 10-20-13

Rebecca eating plain butter.

Cold and rain, cold and rain…that’s pretty much the weather here this week. I guess it was bound to really feel like fall at some point. Maybe that means it’s time for lots of soup. And since I’m sitting down this morning with not a single meal planned yet I might just do that…a week of soup.

We had a pretty busy week last week. And this week will be even busier. Tomorrow is my son’s allergy test. I hope he does ok with it, and I hope there aren’t any severe reactions. I also have a psychologist appointment. We have milk pick up. I have a dentist appointment. I have a chiropractor appointment and a massage. I had x-rays taken last week, so I’m anxious to see how bad my spine is and get a plan of action. I think I’m going to live at doctors offices this week. I should make a trip to the local health food store, but I’m not sure I have time. And it’s our grocery week. I have no idea when that will happen either.

Yesterday we had a fun time celebrating my parents’ 40th wedding anniversary. My family hasn’t all been together in a while, so it was nice to see everyone.

I’m not sure what I’m up to in the kitchen this week. I have a ton I could do. But I feel like I haven’t been getting enough sleep lately. So I want to make that a priority. I guess I’ll have to take it one day at a time. These are the potential projects: make and can applesauce, make gf graham crackers, bake/freeze squash, make gf cheese crackers, make gf bars, make ice cream, make bread, make breakfast foods, cook a big batch of beans. I’ll fill in details as the week goes on.

Overall I’m doing well health-wise. I know my metabolism is nourished and healthy (with a morning temperature of 98.73 today something has to be working right!). I do need to work on sleeping a little more. My main issue now is balancing hormones. My thyroid and my reproductive hormones are still not doing what they should be. So I’m doing a lot of research on how to help that. I have noticed that doing just about any aerobic activity makes things worse. So I’m going to do more yoga and strength training. They are supposed to help raise and balance hormone levels. Basically it boils down to eat more, sleep more, lift more. I never realized before just how important weight bearing exercise was. But it can be so helpful for hormone regulation, bone health, preventing osteoporosis…all sorts of things! So I’m going to give it a try. I just need to figure out what to lift. Anybody have a weight bench they want to send my way?? I didn’t know how spoiled I was back in college when I could go to the weight room every day. I didn’t realize how much good stuff I was doing for myself when I did lift weights there.

Now for the menu. Let’s see if I can fill everything in here. It’s a crazy busy week, so I’m thinking lots of crockpot meals. Again, maybe I’ll do a week of soups. What are you eating now that the weather is getting colder (or even if it’s not where you are)? It’s time for fall foods here. Eet smakelijk!

Abram devouring chicken liver pate!

****MENU****

S (church, prep smoothies, soak beans)
  B – toast w/ peanut butter, apple
  L – skillet cheesy beef and noodles, applesauce
  D – leftovers, fried perch, beans

M (cook beans, prep dinner, allergy test, Dr. V.)
  B – smoothie, TBD from freezer
  D – (prep ahead) – cp sausage and bean stew

T (make pesto, AKM, RKM)
  B – yogurt, granola, fruit
  D – (quick prep) – pesto pasta

W (bake tbd for breakfast, milk, dentist, co-op, out for dinner?)
  B – smoothie, baked good
  D – (prep ahead) – cp beef and veggie soup

Th (grocery shopping, chiro, massage, dance)
  B – baked apples, yogurt
  D – (prep ahead/eat separate) – cp baked potato soup w/ bacon and cheese

F ()
  B – hard boiled egg, toast
  D – pancakes, bacon, peas, fruit

S ()
  B – pancakes
  D – stuffed squash w/ bacon and beans

Meal Plans Week of 10-13-13

Good morning. It looks like this week fall might actually show up. We’ve had such amazing weather in the 70’s lately. It’s hard to believe it’s actually October. I wouldn’t mind if it stayed that way for another month.

Last week I took it pretty easy. My body really needed some rest. And it felt great. My body temperature stabilized. My legs didn’t hurt. I was even able to exercise a bit more (although I’m quite sore today!). I hope this week doesn’t get too crazy. But it’s already starting with a little guy up an hour and a half early and some other stressful stuff.

F is for Fish.

I’m not sure yet about all of us going to church. My little guy has had a cold, so I’ll have to decide if he’s healthy enough for the nursery or not. I have my second chiropractic visit this week. And I can’t wait!! I’ll get the full work up with x-rays to really see what’s going on with my spine/scoliosis. And then we can figure out a treatment plan. We also have parent teacher conferences and a celebration for my parents’ 40th anniversary.

Since I didn’t do much last week I have quite a bit to get done in the kitchen. I roasted squash yesterday and froze some. But I might do more this week since we got a bunch at the orchard yesterday. I also got pumpkins to cook/freeze. I might start canning applesauce this week. I would like to cook some dry beans. I realized yesterday that we are out of regular bread. So I either have to go to the store or make some. I need to make a new batch of gluten free bars. And I have a lot of ripe pears that need to be used up. I’m thinking some kind of of bread or dessert.

I need a lot of quick prep meals this week. So it’ll be a simple menu. I hope I can keep up this week and that my body continues to show a positive reaction to adding exercise to my routine. Enjoy your week. Eet smakelijk!

****MENU****

S (prep lunch, church, prep smoothies, make bread, soak beans, chop veggies, bake tbd w/ pears)
  B – granola w/ milk, banana
  L – cp roasted chicken legs, carrots, potatoes
  D – hot dogs, peas, chips gf macaroni and cheese, peas, pears, bread

M (bake gf pear muffins, chop veggies, soak beans, clean)
  B – smoothie, muffins
  D – sloppy joes, french fries, roasted cauliflower and brussels sprouts

T (make/can applesauce, AKM, soak flour, RKM)
  B – yogurt, granola, fruit
  D – (quick prep) – chicken and veggie stir fry over rice, applesauce

W (roast pumpkin, bake gf bars, dentist)
  B – smoothie, muffins
  D – (quick prep/Justin out for dinner) – grilled cheese, broccoli

Th (boil eggs, prep dinner, roast pumpkin seeds, shopping, make squash scones, chiro, dance)
  B – hard boiled egg w/ toast
  D – (early/separate) – 7 layer dinner, applesauce

F (MB, PTC)
  B – hard boiled egg, toast
  D – (early or late) – TBD casserole

S (soccer, anniversary celebration)
  B – TBD
  D – out

Meal Plans Week of 10-6-13

Oreos for breakfast. Savoring every bite.

I’m letting out a big sigh of relaxation this morning. After two crazy weeks I finally have a “normal” week with not that much going on. And after going to bed very early and getting 8 1/2 hours of sleep last night I’m feeling a little more rested. I do have a MomBreak steering team meeting, and I have to go grocery shopping this week.

Last week was challenging on multiple levels both physically and mentally. I didn’t realize how emotional I would feel after writing my post about my miscarriage. I had more tough situations listening to other women talk about exactly when they want to have another child and hearing more birth announcements. I’ve done a lot of crying in the last few days, between trying to hold it all together for a million activities and house guests.

Saturday morning soccer.

So my goal for myself this week is to get extra rest and take it easy. I don’t want to slip back into old habits and let myself get too worn out.

I’m very excited that I have my first chiropractor visit tomorrow!!! And hopefully I can schedule some massage therapy too.

Craft time with Grandma.

I don’t have any major kitchen plans for this week. I did just get two bushels of apples from my in-laws. So at some point I need to start using those (applesauce, dried apples, baking). But it might not start this week. I need to roast another batch of beets and make smoothies. We’ll see if anything else comes up as the week goes on.

I’m going for very simple meals this week. I want to spend as little time standing in the kitchen as possible. And I’m really trying to focus on whole foods and plenty of fruits and vegetables. Simple and healthy. Eet smakelijk!

Just plain silly.

****MENU****

S (church, prep smoothies)
  B – yogurt, muesli, pumpkin muffins, bananas, grapes, toast w/ pb
  L – avocado chicken salad sandwich, squash, pears
  D – (separate) – leftovers

M (roast beets, chiro)
  B – smoothie, baked oatmeal
  D – (prep ahead) –  steak, baked potatoes, carrots (in crock pot)

T (AKM, RKM)
  B – yogurt, muffin
  D – (quick prep) – tacos

W (make granola, Meijer)
  B – smoothie, TBD
  D – pork chops w/ apples over rice, peas

Th (dance)
  B – egg puff, toast
  D – (prep ahead/early) – cp rice and beans

F (MBSTM)
  B – toast w/ pb, fruit
  D – soaked gluten free waffles, bacon, pear slices, peas

S (soccer)
  B – waffles
  D – TBD

Meal Plans Week of 9-29-13

I’m taking a deep breath and relaxing a little this morning…my husband is finally home after a week in Bulgaria and France! I think I was extra anxious all week with him gone. Plus there were other things going on. And my body felt it!! It’s good to feel relaxed and feel toasty warm (actually quite hot) again this morning.

Surprising Daddy at the airport.

I did not have much time at the computer last week since I was on my own with the kids, so I did not have time to plan meals. But I’m hoping I can fill them in this morning before anyone gets up.

This week will be super busy. There will be lots of fun things happening. But I wish it wasn’t all in one week. We have our usual church, school, Kindermusik, dance and soccer. We also have milk pick up. I have meeting at church. This week is observation week at dance, so I’ll be staying there to watch Rebecca. We have MomBreak. My in-laws will be here for the weekend. And we’ll be going to a ballet.

Rebecca’s [Cup]Cake Wars creation/display as a welcome home surprise for Daddy.

I have a lot of stuff I want to do in the kitchen this week. But I also feel like my body needs some extra rest to recover from last week. So I’ll have to pick and choose and find balance. I have to make some food for our MomBreak meeting. I want to make squash scones, pumpkin bars and spaghetti sauce (I got a bunch of tomatoes from my grandparents). It would be nice to make some breakfast foods for the family. But I might just have to use stuff out of the freezer.

Souvenirs

Last week I learned that I still need to be very careful about some of my sensitivities. Especially gluten. I made some delicious pizza, but my body was not too happy with it. I had a lot of little stresses last week that added up to big stress on my body. So it wasn’t the best of weeks. And it was discouraging to feel like I was taking steps backwards. But hopefully I can get back on track with proper nutrition and rest.

Abram dressed up Great Grandpa’s Army gear.

Last week I finally decided we need to test my son for allergies. I’ve been suspicious of something not being quite right for a long time…like the past year. But I didn’t want to jump to conclusions. So I waited. But now there are just too many symptoms to ignore. And he’s getting more and more hives/red spots on his body. So I called our ped last week. I’ll probably call an allergist this week. I’m trying to figure out the best route to take. For the moment I’m going to try to at least keep him gluten and nut free.

Here is the menu so far. I’m still deciding what to make when we have company this weekend. I’ll fill that in when I figure it out. Enjoy your first week of October. Eet smakelijk!

****MENU****

S (prep lunch, soak flour, church, nap, prep smoothies, bake gf pumpkin bars)
  B – yogurt, granola, fruit
  L – cp applesauce chicken, rice, beans
  D – pizza (Justin), grilled ham and cheese (M/R/A)

M (make/can spaghetti sauce, make squash scones)
  B – smoothie, banana muffins
  D – gf spaghetti, corn

T (AKM, RKM)
  B – yogurt, nuts, fruit, muffin
  D – (quick prep) – pan seared salmon, beans, buttered rice

W (bake muffins for MomBreak and Sat., milk)
  B – smoothie, muffin
  D – pork nuggets, peas, baked potato wedges

Th (clean, church mtg, make dessert for Fri/Sat, dance – observe)
  B – toast w/ pb, fruit
  D – (early/prep ahead) – cp broccoli and 3 cheese soup, bread or crackers

F (make egg dish for MomBreak, put chicken in cp, MB, soak oats, make granola, in-laws over)
  B – hard boiled egg, toast
  D – crockpot roasted chicken, seasoned rice, peas, applesauce
  Dessert – gf oreos

S (soccer, ballet, in-laws)
  B – yogurt, baked oatmeal, fruit
  L – chicken noodle soup, gf muffins
  D – meatloaf, scalloped potatoes, squash, salad, applesauce or fruit salad
  Dessert – dutch apple pie

Meal Plans Week of 9-22-13

Toddler homeschool – letter C – castles, crowns, caterpillars

September is flying by. With all of our activities and fall preserving we have been busy, busy. And I’m feeling it. I think I need to give my feet/legs a little break this week. No kitchen work that requires me to stand in one spot for more than 20 minutes. And make sure I put my feet up for 20 minutes every day.

Last week was slightly chaotic since our refrigerator died. So we had to quickly buy a new one and transfer all the food. This led to other reorganizing in the kitchen. It put a hold on some of my projects and on grocery shopping. So yesterday I was a crazy woman trying to get things done, dealing with pears, pumpkins, squash, baking, meals, cleaning. I still have not gone grocery shopping. It’s been almost 3 weeks now. That is definitely one of our outings this week!

new rain boots

Aside from groceries we have church, kindermusik, farmer’s market, co-op pick up, dance and soccer. Friday is also Grandparents Day for my daughter. So she’ll have to go to morning kindergarten. I really don’t know how we’ll get her ready and to school by 8:25. I’m lucky if I can have her out bed and half dressed by then. We’ll probably be seeing my parents later in the day then since they’ll be in town. We might have them over for dinner. And if we feel like we just too bored/there’s not enough going on we could make a trip to the health food store or we could walk around downtown to finally see Art Prize for the first time. I guess we’ll see what the weather is like.

ready for soccer

I do have a few things I’d like to get done in the kitchen this week: hot fudge, mayonnaise, pumpkin muffins, bread, pizza dough and cookies using my antique cookie press. I’m considering making and canning a batch of salsa since that’s really easy. I have not decided yet if I’ll be doing more pears this year or if I just can’t manage any more of those. It takes so long to peel and slice pears. I stood and did 75 pears yesterday. And my legs were not too happy. So far I’ve done 7 qts. and 5 pts. of pearsauce. It would be nice to have canned pears as well. I guess I’ll see how much longer pears are available.

fresh peach pie…recipe coming

I also have some writing and reading to catch up on this week. I usually llike to go, go, go. But having some down time to read and write sounds pretty nice right now.

I continue to work on healing my body. I see signs of improvement every day. I’m very optimistic about my health. I have had some pretty bad swelling and joint pain recently. I’m sure it’s partly from being busy/active. But I have also been eating more eggs again. And I’m wondering if that’s part of the problem. So I’ll be taking a little break from eggs again this week to see if there is more improvement. Maybe I’m still not ready for eggs.

On the plus side I’ve been able to exercise a little more. Mostly just faster paced walking. It feels great to move my body and use my muscles again. And I think it is good for my overall health now that I’m weight restored and eating well.

I’m keeping the menu very simple this week. Mostly because our schedule doesn’t allow much time to make dinner. And it’ll be good for me to keep the resting trend going.

Are you taking it easy this week or are you very busy? Whatever the case enjoy life. And eet smakelijk!

****MENU****

S (church, make mayo)
  L – grill burgers, beans, fruit
  D – leftover spaghetti squash “pasta” bake 

M (make hot fudge, chop veggies, Meijer)
  D – salmon cakes, roasted cauliflower

T (make/can salsa, FM, A-KM, R-KM)
  D – (quick prep) – hot dogs, beans, fruit

W (make pumpkin muffins, co-op)
  D – (early) – grilled cheese, peas, fruit

Th (make cookies, dance)
  D – (early) – homemade pizza, olives

F (Grandparents’ Day, bake bread, dinner w/ grandparents?)
  D – pea soup, homemade bread

S (soccer)
  D – TBD

Meal Plans Week of 9-15-13

Wow, life sure is getting busy! I’m sure it will only get crazier as my kids get older. But for now this is about as much as I care to do – church, school, Kindermusik, dance, soccer,…it’s already getting hard to keep up. I’m thankful I had a couple of days last week that I was able to put my feet up and squeeze in some naps.

In the last 24 hours I’ve gone through about a 1/2 bushel of pears. There are a few left in the fridge for eating. I’m hoping to get another 1/2 bushel (or more) soon. I canned one round of pearsauce. And I’d like to do more. I also did a lot of holiday baking last week while working on a magazine article.

We have our usual activities this week. Plus I have a psychologist appointment. We have to go grocery shopping. And we have our first MomBreak meeting. It would be nice to get to the orchard again. We’ll see if we can squeeze it in. At some point it would be nice to go apple picking too.


I still have a 1/2 bushel of peaches to work through. My canner is on the stove, and my simple syrup is made. So hopefully I can get at least one round of canning in today. If I get more pears I’d like to do pearsauce and canned pears. I also need to do a round of salsa at some point. And I’d like to make more spaghetti sauce.

I’m still taking things one day at a time. Some days I feel so hopeful. And some days I feel discouraged. But I just try to keep going. I know God is doing great things.

I promise, I have a couple new recipes to share. Be on the lookout!!

I’m going for a simple menu this week. We have a potluck at church today. I have a pear crisp in the oven right now for that. I have to do several prep ahead meals this week. What are you eating? Eet smakelijk!

****MENU****

S (make pear crisp, make syrup, church, potluck, can peaches, prep smoothies)
  B – egg puff, toast
  L – at church – bring pear crisp
  D – (separate) – chili, gf corn muffins

M (make peach pie, soak flour, Dr. V.)
  B – granola bar, smoothie
  D – (prep ahead) – meatloaf, baked potatoes, squash

T (bake muffins, chop veggies, FM, A-KM, R-KM)
  B – yogurt, peach muffins
  D – (quick prep) – grilled cheese, tomato soup

W (Meijer (refrigerator broke), soak beans, refrigerator shopping)
  B – smoothie, peach muffins
  D – TBD chicken breasts, TBD sweet potatoes, broccoli

Th (boil eggs clean/restock new fridge, Meijer, dance)
  B – hard boiled egg, toast baked oatmeal w/ milk
  D – (prep ahead/early) – cp rice and beans pasta chicken salad, corn muffins, broccoli

F (make egg dish, boil egg, MB)
  B – hb egg, toast
  D – gf pancakes, bacon, peas, fruit

S (soccer)
  B – pancakes
  D – homemade pizza

Meal Plans Week of 9-8-13

September is in full swing now. Last week was our kick off week of activities and school. And it was quite a whirlwind week in my kitchen too! Lots of canning, freezing, baking and cleaning. I’m not sure I can maintain that pace each week. But I’ll try to keep up.

First day of kindergarten.

This week we add two activities to our list. Both kids have Kindermusik on Tuesdays (not really looking forward to the chaos of that day…KM, school, KM back-to-back-to-back). Both kids are so excited to see Miss Lynette and all of their friends again. Rebecca and Abram will both be starting soccer on Saturday as well. Aside from that we have milk pick up and we’ll be having dinner with one of my husband’s co-workers. I also might make a trip to the orchard to stock up on pears and peaches.

Needless to say I’ll be spending a lot of time in the kitchen this week. It’s prime canning season. I want to do one more 1/2 bushel of peaches (about another 20 qts.). I also want to start on pears and pearsauce. I need to do more spaghetti sauce and some salsa. But those will have to wait.


I need to do some breakfast food baking – breakfast cookies and maybe banana muffins. I have to make sure I have enough snacks for Rebecca to have at school. And I have an article due by the end of the week that I might have to do some experimental baking and photography for.

This does sound a little daunting. But I’ll just take it one day at a time.

First dance class.

My health update is overall very good! My body temperature is the highest I’ve ever seen it. I’ve had lots of energy. My OCD has gone way down. My anxiety has been way down. I’ve been calmer and more patient. What a wonderful change. God is doing amazing things in me and through me. I still have some swelling, and my body is definitely still healing. But I can see progress. And that keeps me going. I can’t wait to do a big update someday when I’m farther along in this process.

I tried to go for simple and practical with the menu this week. We’ll see how much energy I have by dinner time each night if I need to go even simpler 😛  What’s on your menu this week? Have a wonderful week. Eet Smakelijk!

****MENU****

S (prep lunch, church, prep smoothies, soak flour, bake/decorate cupcakes)
  B – yogurt, granola, fruit
  L – cp rustic chicken stew
  D – avocado chicken salad sandwiches with bacon, peas, fruit

M (bake breakfast cookies, orchard?, can peaches?, bake gf vanilla wafers, bake with cookie press)
  B – gf breakfast cookies, smoothies
  D – sweet and sour meatballs, beans

T (bake banana bread, FM, AKM, can peaches, RKM)
  B – yogurt, banana bread
  D – pumpkin pasta, corn, garlic toast

W (can peaches, roast beets, clean kitchen, milk)
  B – gf breakfast cookies, smoothies
  D – salmon fish sticks, baked sweet potatoes, broccoli

Th (bake bread, orchard, dance)
  B – hard boiled egg, toast
  D – (early/separate) – squash soup, bread

F (steering team mtg, make gummies)
  B – banana bread, fruit, nuts
  D – baked egg puffs, smoothies, peas

S (make/can pearsauce, soccer, dinner out)
  B – egg puffs, toast
  D – at friends house

Meal Plans Week of 9-1-13

September 1 and I’m already running behind. Getting a late start on my post after spending lots of time in the kitchen dealing with chicken broth and de-boning. I still can’t believe it’s September!!

Visiting Great Grandma and Great Grandpa’s farm.

This week the chaos of fall begins. Tomorrow should be relaxing with the whole family home for Labor Day. But Tuesday reality hits as school starts. Rebecca also starts dance class this week. We might go to a soccer open house for a potential class for Abram. And I have to go to the farmer’s market and grocery shopping.

I’m hoping to make some phone calls and do some research to make progress on hopefully being able to see a chiropractor and get a water filter for our house.

Dinner with my sister and her family.

I did manage to can my first batch of spaghetti sauce last week. I’m not sure what I’ll be doing this week. Maybe more sauce, maybe salsa and maybe peaches. Aside from that I need to soak and dry some nuts. I also got an amazing cookie press from my grandparents. I’d like to experiment with it. And I need to make my usual weekly baked goods for breakfasts and snacks.

Lots of fresh chickens…now cut up and frozen.

I also need to figure out school snacks for Rebecca. Last year we had a snack schedule so I knew exactly what they were eating and if I needed to send an alternative. This year no such luck 🙁  So I have to be sure she has an acceptable snack in her bag every day just in case.

No big update on me. I’m just taking things one day at a time. My body is still undergoing a lot of healing. I’m still in a phase where I have a lot of swelling/fluid retention. And it’s not pleasant. But I know my body is doing lots of repair work. I’m thankful for the progress I’ve made already. My morning temperature has been GREAT all week (upper 97’s, lower 98’s). I’m able to sleep well. I can focus quite well most of the time. But I know there is still some physical repair to be done.

Here is what’s on  our menu this week. What are you eating? Eet Smakelijk!

****MENU****

S (strain broth, de-bone chicken, prep lunch, church, nursery, prep smoothies, prep breakfast)
  B – yogurt, granola, fruit
  L – cp chicken noodle soup
  D – leftover zucchini pork and bean quesadillas

M (bake breakfast, make hot fudge)
  B – over night french toast bake (gluten free version), smoothies
  D – grilled hot dogs, grilled zucchini, chips and dip

T (FM, 1st day of school, soak pecans and almonds)
  B – yogurt, granola, fruit
  D – chicken, peas and rice casserole, peaches

W (can peaches, Meijer, dry pecans and almonds, can peaches, bake cookies)
  B – french toast bake, smoothies
  D – cheesy rice balls, beans, fruit salad

Th (bake peach crumble, skim cream, prep dinner, make/can spaghetti sauce, make peach ice cream, dance, soak flour)
  B – breakfast peach crumble, yogurt
  D – early – cp hobo dinners

F (freeze corn, bake gf bars, make gf goldfish)
  B – leftover peach crumble, bananas
  D – gf pancake muffins (modified to make it gluten free) w/ syrup, fresh fruit, peas, bacon

S (sleep, soccer open house)
  B – pancake muffins
  D – spaghetti