This Week's Menu and Plan

WHAT'S COOKING - On Sunday I sit down and make my menus for the week. I am so lost without a pre-planned menu! For me, it saves money and time. If I have fresh foods that need to be used up, they're top priority in the menu. Every morning I look at the menu (it hangs on the fridge) and know what I have to take out of the freezer or get from the canning pantry for dinner that night.

As I write my menu for the week, I also add any necessary items to my week's grocery shopping list. When I shop, I actually stick to my list. I used to ramble down the aisles, throwing "this looks good" items in my cart, getting home, putting them away, then forgetting about them. Now that I make out my menu before going shopping, food gets used up and almost never wasted.

This week, everything is from the freezer and the pantry. There is no grocery shopping to do. Yay!

Here is this week's Menu.

Sunday

Spaghetti (c)

Meatballs (f)

Garlic bread (h/m)

Monday

Meatball subs

(leftover meatballs from Sunday)

on h/m sub rolls

Green salad

Tuesday

Out to Eat

Wednesday

Pesto-glazed Baked Chicken (f)

Rice (f)

Honey-glazed Carrots (c)(g)

Thursday

Oven Baked Cod (f)
Hot Cabbage Slaw
Green beans (c)(g)

Friday

Breakfast for Dinner

Pancakes (h/m)

Bacon

Fried Egg

Saturday
Turkey Noodle Soup (c)
Grilled cheese sandwiches

(f) = freezer   (c) = home canned  (h/m) = made from scratch (g) = from the garden 

WHAT'S THE PLAN: Sunday is our "day off". Only daily chores (make bed, put dishes away, quick clean bathrooms) are done. This morning we both decided to have an easy stay-home day. I'll be up in my sewing room, Jeff will probably watch a video and "putter" in his office. We're NASCAR fans, and we'll sit and watch the race later today, and then move on to watch a Football game. I like to have some kind of handwork while I watch TV, so I'll be finishing up a pair of socks, and probably starting another. Wonderful, restful kind of day.

Jeff and I sat over coffee this morning and discussed the upcoming week. I don't always know when he's going to work. (He's retired, but goes back to the company and works his same job whenever they need him.) I was happy to find he's not planning on working this week. Here is our plan for the week:

Monday - Thorough house cleaning. Vac, dust, cobwebs, clean bathrooms, mop all hardwood floors.
Tuesday - I have 30 lbs of cod fish in my freezer. I need to can fish chowder.
Wednesday - Riley (grandchild #3) day! Go pick him up and take him to Jungle Jim's, then home to do some yard work.
Thursday - Laundry, vac, empty all trash
Friday - Baking day - bread, dessert for the week, pizza dough for freezer
Saturday and Sunday - Free days. Often Grandchild #1 comes to spend the night.

I have a self-imposed deadline this week. By Friday, I WILL choose a paint color(s) and get some painter estimates. We are going to paint the entire interior - upstairs and down. Normally we hire painters to do it all, but to save some money, we're going to hire them to come in and just do the ceilings and stairwell. We'll do the trim and walls ourselves. The hardest part is choosing paint colors! And.. we have some BIG changes to our house to make.. stay tuned on that one. I want to get the painting done and the changes made in time for Christmas, so I need to focus on getting things done.
WHAT I LOVE: This wonderful vintage piece hangs in my downstairs bathroom. It makes me smile every time I see it.

Happy as a Lark!