Sunday, October 31, 2010

And here comes November... Menu #1

It amazes me that November is already here. But life has been so busy and so eventful that I'm not really sure why I'm amazed... Christmas is not far away now!

On to the menu.

Sunday~ Roast in the crockpot, mashed potatoes, mushrooms, broccoli, multigrain rolls
Monday~ Crock pot Bacon & Cheese Chicken (from Stephanie, the Crockpot Lady!), rice, tossed salad
Tuesday~ Baked potato bar (cook potatoes in crock)
Wednesday~ 60% chance of rain and falling temperatures=soup! Pasta Fagioli and homemade bread
Thursday~ late rehearsal for Mom = FFYS for the boys
Friday~ Leftovers!
Saturday~ Hubby, ds#3 and me will participate in our first 5K together, so I'm leaving the day open... we'll see how it unfolds!

Sunday, October 24, 2010

The end of October as we know it...

This week promises to be an eventful and emotional week.
My baby boy turns ten. TEN.
My Marine son will be home for a week with his brothers. (That has not happened in several months.)
My Airman son comes home for a visit, then deploys for six months.


Sigh.

And the troops have to eat, so here's the plan.

Sunday~ family cookout to celebrate son #3's birthday. His request: steak on the grill, baked potatoes, tossed salad, rolls, and cupcakes for dessert.
Monday~ Jambalaya (recipe below), salad, rolls
Tuesday~ Beef tips & gravy, egg noodles
Wednesday~ another family cookout to see all THREE boys at the same time: burgers & dogs on the grill, mac'n'cheese, baked beans.
Thursday~ FFYS. Boys going to an out-of-town ballgame; son #2 flies back to base; Mom has a late rehearsal.
Friday~ either spaghetti or pancakes :)
Saturday~ probably a trip to our local fair, so lots of fattening fair food!

Jambalaya:
(A friend gave me this recipe years ago - I'm sorry that I don't know where she got it, but I can tell you it's super easy and tasty!)
Make this mix ahead and store it (or gift it) in jars, or assemble ingredients when you decide to make the dish.
*1 cup uncooked rice
*1 Tbsp onion (you can use powder but I like to used diced onion. If making a mix, use dried onion flakes.)
*1 Tbsp green pepper flakes (you can also use fresh if you're not making the mix)
*1 Tbsp dried parsley
*1 Bay leaf
*2 tsp beef bouillon
*1/2 tsp garlic powder
*1/2 tsp pepper
*1/4 tsp thyme (I like thyme, so I use a little more)
*1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

Combine all dry ingredients and store.
To prepare:
Bring mix along 3 cups water and 8 ounces tomato sauce to boil in dutch oven. Stir in 1 cup chopped cooked chicken and 1 cup chopped cooked ham (or whatever meats your family likes - I like to use turkey kielbasa). Cover and reduce heat. Simmer for 20 minutes or until rice is tender. Remove bay leaf and serve.

If you use dry ingredients, this is a nice gift with a can of tomato sauce attached; the recipient just adds water and meats of choice. Call it "Dinner In A Hurry". Add a roll mix in a basket with the jambalaya for the whole package!


Saturday, October 9, 2010

October Menu, week two

Last week's menu went almost according to plan:
we did NOT have spaghetti on Wednesday, so everything got bumped up a night, and hubby decided we should eat out on Friday, which we did.
Now, on to this week:
Sunday~ Ds#1's birthday. He will not be home, but we'll think of him as we have eggplant parmesan (eggplant is from the garden earlier in the summer; I prepped & froze it), spaghetti noodles, french bread rolls.
ACTUALLY... that was my plan, but hubby announced he didn't feel like eating eggplant parm - couldn't we have some leftover roast with mashed potatoes (which, of course, I had already put in the freezer)? So... that's what we had.

Monday~ Ball game @ 5:30. Snack, then spaghetti after the game

Tuesday~ Dinner out with a friend

Wednesday~ Pancakes & sausage. We love breakfast for dinner!
Plan amended again... Chicken Enchilada Suiza casserole, courtesy of Rachael Ray.

Thursday~ First concert of the year at school, and a ball game at 7:15. It's every man for himself.

Friday~ Chicken Enchilada Suiza casserole, courtesy of Rachael Ray. This is new for us, so I'm anxious to see how it turns out.
Another amendment: our city's annual Greek Festival is this weekend and we'll be savoring the food there!!!

Saturday~ TBA - perhaps a big family dinner.

Sunday, October 3, 2010

And here's.... October!

WOW... hard to believe that it's already October.
Two of my boys have birthdays this month. The other will deploy at the end of this month. We're still playing fall baseball, and my chorus will present its first concert of the school year.
Yep, life is busy, but we gotta eat.

Sunday~ Pasta, homemade bread with dipping spices
Monday~ Cashew chicken (I have not made this in all the weeks I planned it on the menu), rice, broccoli, mandarin oranges. Might do some egg rolls if I get to the store.
Tuesday~ 5:30 ball game. Snack before the game, soup & twice-baked potatoes after.
Wednesday~ Spaghetti, stuffed peppers (from our garden - our bell pepper plants have been PROLIFIC this year).
Thursday~ 5:30 ball game. Snack, then leftover roast w/mashed potatoes & gravy after.
Friday~ Chili in the crockpot.
Saturday~ Tailgate menu! Hot dogs (with leftover chili for topping), nachos