Menus and To Do Lists - Week of 11/15

Menu planning already! Last week just slipped by so fast. So many weeks are like that these days. But here we go - this week's menus. You can list your own menu at the Organized Junkie web site!

MONDAY

Leftover spaghetti sauce

Homemade noodles

Baked boneless chicken breast

Green beans

TUESDAY*

Soup and grilled cheese

WEDNESDAY

Roast chicken, potatoes, vegetable, gravy

THURSDAY*

Chicken Alfredo Pizza (homemade)
See recipe at end of list

FRIDAY*

Chinese Take out

(We do this once a month.)

SATURDAY

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

Biscuits

SUNDAY

Breakfast for Dinner

Pancakes, bacon, with fried egg for Jeff

I'm happy. That's an easy week for cooking! Wednesday's chicken will be stripped of meat (which will be chopped and bagged for the freezer) and the carcass used in Saturday's soup. A big pot of soup should put another three meals in the freezer.

BREAKFASTS:
Breakfast wraps (eggs, cheese, ham), oatmeal with fruit, granola with fruit and yogurt

PACKED LUNCHES:
Ham and cheese sandwiches, leftover soup, chicken salad on lettuce, yogurt with fruit.

This week's To Do List needs to involve a little more housework than it did last week (*cough*). Last week the quilting bug hit and I didn't fight it as well as I should have. You can list your own To Do List at the Domestically Obsessed web site.

• Pull out refrigerator and clean floor, wall, back of refrig.
• Clean all 3 bathrooms
• Wash Kitchen floor
• Vac upstairs, dust master bedroom
• Vac stairs, wipe down woodwork
• Vac downstairs, vac heat registers and returns
• Hang floral art in master bedroom
• Wash guest room bed spread
• Wash curtains in family room
• Dust high shelf and ceiling fan in kitchen
• Get turkey roaster from basement and run through dishwasher
• Buy new tablecloth for dining room table (the old one cannot be salvaged another year!)
• Get out Thanksgiving table decorations, candles
• Keep working on new quilt - half way there!
• Keep working on Cathedral Window quilt when watching TV
• Put box fans, hummingbird feeder in basement for storage
• New project - Christmas kitchen towels and placemats (see below)
• Hit the treadmill at least 15 minutes per day (!) or go for walk after dinner with Jeff
• Blog about it all
• Babysitting Mr. B - Tuesday, half day Thursday, Friday

That's it! Looks like it's going to be a fairly busy week.

New projects:

I found two new projects I want to do to get the house ready for Christmas. Both are easy, one afternoon projects. I have a huge stash of vintage Christmas fabrics as well as kitchen towels left from gift giving last year, so no purchase of fabric required for these.

Christmas-themed placemats for the kitchen. Tutorial is here.

And these Christmas tree kitchen towels. Tutorial is here.

I'll combine the two by putting similar Christmas trees on the placemats. Maybe some matching potholders as well?

I'm normally swimming in sewing projects this time of year.  Like many crafters, I really love the feedback (the oooooooh's and ahhhhhhh's) I get from making gifts, but because I have to mail almost all gifts out of state, I don't get to see people opening and responding to my hard work. For some reason I've still yet to fathom, last year I got ZERO feedback about the homemade items. Nothing. Na da. I know I didn't do a bad job on the gifts, so I'm not sure what went wrong. I made purses and placemats, personalized lunch bags, kitchen towels, decorator pillows, wallets, business card holders, lap quilts and more... Nothing. No acknowledgment at all. Has this ever happened to you??

So this year? My craftiness will be very much appreciated - by me! This year's holiday craftiness will be geared towards decorating my home.

And I don't mean all this to sound selfish or conceited or as if I'm angry at the recipients. I'm not. I think perhaps, though, homemade gifts aren't always as well received as I thought, and that's OK. It certainly frees up a lot of my pre-holiday time -- and now I'll have time to do many of those home-dec holiday projects I've been wanting to do for years!

RECIPE:

Chicken Alfredo Pizza

Homemade Pizza crust (or store bought)
Ragu Alfredo sauce
Olive Oil
Minced garlic
Diced chicken
Chopped black olives
Diced onions
Chopped frozen brocolli (microwaved enough to warm it up)
Feta cheese
Black pepper
Oregano

Simply roll out or lay out your pizza crust. Mix a small amount of olive oil and minced garlic, and spread it lightly across crust. Spread a few tablespoons of Ragu Alfredo sauce on crust. Distribute diced chicken, chopped black olives, diced onions, and chopped brocolli across crust. Top with Feta cheese, black pepper and oregano. Bake in 400 degree oven until crust is lightly browned (about 12-15 minutes).