Eating again...?

...no wonder you're fat!

Years ago we read of a device you could get to put in your fridge that would spew these words at you when you opened the door. We thought it was so funny. It's one of those things that just sticks in one's memory and we repeated it many times. (Maybe that's why it stuck?)

Anyway, we're eating again. And again. And again.

Here's this week's (Dec 26- Jan 1) menu plan. Breakfast and main meal. The rest of the time it's leftovers.

Breakfast	Dinner
Scrambled eggs & sausage Grits Yogurt & fruit	Chili soup Cornbread Layered coleslaw
Omelet roll Muffins	Rice with Alfredo sauce Lettuce salad Baked apples
Spinach quiche Barley	Vegetable soup Italian dinner rolls Waldorf salad
Waffles Gravy Peaches	Sheet pan dinner
Granola Yogurt	Honduras meal
Fried potatoes and eggs Yogurt & fruit	Rice and beans Cranberry salad
Creamed eggs Yogurt & fruit	Potato soup Pepperoni rolls Veggies & dip

I love how the veggies and meat are so colorful in the mix for a sheet pan meal.

I've once again linked a number of the recipes for your convenience.

You notice we have barley for breakfast? I cook pearl barley and then the next morning I fry some diced apples in butter and maple syrup, stir in the cooked barley and heat it through. It's a favorite here. Eat it with milk as a cereal.

The rice with Alfredo sauce was leftover rice and chicken. I made a plain Alfredo sauce (no meat added), stirred in leftover ham broth gravy, and put it atop the rice and chicken. Oh, so yummy!

The Honduras meal is rice and chicken, beans, cabbage salad, Central American salsa, sour cream and tortillas.

I asked my sister if these menus are helpful to her at all? Give her any ideas? She said they just make her tired. She doesn't think she could cook that much. 

I'll admit it is tiring. 

Blessings to you in the new year! God bless you, go with Jesus.

This Week's Menu

Freezer meal

I wrote this on Thursday. Now I'm editing it on Monday.

This week's menu begins on Wednesday. 

Friday evening is full of question marks. The young folk have a Christmas banquet. I thought maybe the rest of us could go somewhere to eat also. If Thomas feels so inclined after another long day of work. We used gift cards to eat at Domino's pizza. This Mama ate BBQ'd wings and garden salad while the others ate pizza. 

On Saturday we are butchering our steer with another family. Some more meat for the freezer. Yes!! More about this later.

On Sunday we are the host family which means we are responsible to make sure any visitors at church have a place to go for lunch. Instead of potatoes and burger we ate rice and chicken. Also some leftover chicken and dressing that Stephen brought home from Penn Valley. And in place of pie I made cobblers.

Tuesday (the last day on the menu) is Christmas day. I didn't think about that when I was planning the menu. It may need to be revamped. We'll have something with potatoes and burger for lunch and switch the Mon & Tues evening menus. 

All meals written with color and a line underneath are linked to either the recipe I use or a similar one. 

For the enchiladas I use corn tortillas.

Oh my! It's almost time for another menu. Tell me how you keep up with this monumental task. If I wasn't so frugal I would purchase menu plans from Eat at Home. I did that for one month and we really liked it!

Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner
Breakfast enchiladas Yogurt & fruit salad	Leftovers	Honey/Rosemary chicken Rice Lettuce salad Applesauce & cottage cheese
Scrambled eggs Bacon Yogurt & fruit salad Cereal	Leftovers	Taco soup Lettuce salad
Scrambled eggs Biscuits Tomato gravy	Leftovers	???
Overnight apple-stuffed French toast	Lebanese chicken stew Cornbread Applesauce & cottage cheese	Pizza Lettuce salad
Baked oatmeal	Potato/hamburger casserole Mixed veggies Lettuce salad Apple pie	Black bean dip Apples Popcorn
Pancakes Sausage gravy PB & syrup		Chicken tortilla soup Spinach salad
Potato/meat quiche		Beans Cornbread Coleslaw

Last Week's Menu

	Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner
Wednesday	Leftovers	Vegetable soup Cheese Apples	Potato & ham casserole Green beans Lettuce salad
Thursday	Scrambled eggs & sausage Yogurt GrapeNuts	Tomato soup w/ Hot dogs and pinto beans Cheese Oranges Cookies & milk	Beef stew Spinach salad Chunky applesauce
Friday	Breakfast burritos Oranges Yogurt	Leftovers Applesauce & cottage cheese Apples & PB Cookies & milk	Mashed potatoes Sauer Kraut Sausage Waldorf salad
Saturday	Pancakes Sausage gravy P.B. & syrup	Chicken salad sandwiches Apple cake Oranges	Chicken “enchilada” casserole Lettuce, tomato, etc
Sunday	Granola Yogurt	Rice and chicken Coleslaw Green beans Chocolates & biscotti	Egg, sausage & cheese biscuits
Monday	Leftovers  Fruit & yogurt		Turkey, sausage, potato dish Caesar salad
Tuesday	Egg sandwiches Yogurt & fruit salad		Ham Peas & carrots Potato salad

This is the basic menu plan for the week past. If you like to see what we're eating. Or maybe you need ideas. 

We had visitors for Sunday lunch so for dessert I served some chocolates and biscotti that we had been gifted. 

The potato and ham casserole was also a gift -leftover from a church potluck.

The chicken "enchilada" casserole was made with rice instead of tortillas. 

My sister brought the salad Monday evening because we were together for my mother's 70th birthday. We had the big party for her in October. Her birthday was actually Tuesday the 18th.

Y'all have a blessed day!

Conversations

I love the way family conversations flow. While eating breakfast, we watched the cat meticulously wash himself right in the middle of the living room, limbs flowing this way and that, tongue first between his toes and then swiping his heels. Matthew says, "I do believe cats are made of liquid." Quoting Calvin (speaking of Hobbes).

Melvin gave the specs of a cheetah. A cheetah weighs only 120 lbs for all his size. He's built light, for speed. Then they discussed how a cheetah raced some fast car. And how it was possible to get a cheetah to race a car. (By having it chase a fake rabbit led away by a motor.)

I asked everyone's opinion of the overnight oats. (Which in reality was barley.) Everyone liked it. Until I asked Thomas. "Meh." Oh dear! He's the one I wish to please most. But this simple breakfast doesn't please him.

Melvin said he recently heard the advice that when a man gets married he should always take a second helping of the food. I confirmed that this is indeed the way I measured my success with a dish when we were first married. If Thomas sat back after one helping and looked bored I knew I shouldn't make that again.

"I am going to have to wait till I get to heaven to eat rice and cabbage," I remarked. They wanted to know what I'm talking about? It was a food the Laotian refugees ate when they lived with my family, and as a child I really liked it. 

I've tried a few times to serve it to my family but never with success. I described it- cooked cabbage, seasoned with bacon, soy sauce and brown sugar, served over rice.

Matthew said, "I would like it!" The others wondered how he can say that. He said there's no food he doesn't like since he's grown up. This opened a whole new can of worms. Do some people never grow up? 

This is one thing I am continually grateful for is uncomplaining eaters who will eat... soup! (Most of the men in our church complain about soup.) Well, if there's any meal that is frugal it is soup. 

One mother made a remark to me at a fellowship meal that my children are probably partial to my cooking at a meal like that. (This is how most of the church children are. "Where is the food Mom made?") I said, "No, I cook simply enough that they are only glad to eat other things at church functions."

Now don't get me wrong. I enjoy making "good food". But we don't have exotic dishes or only certain foods because they are picky eaters. It just doesn't work that way at our house. We try a variety of cuisines and new recipes. So there is nothing to fear at a church dinner.

Today is a snow day. (Except it's an ice day.) We were discussing yesterday how homeschoolers never get snow days. Christopher didn't even know what a "snow day" is. 

The boys usually go to school for music class on Wednesday so Melvin said, "We DO get a snow day today, even if we're homeschoolers!" (Because the ice keeps them from going to school for music class.)

It is actually a snow day for the schools, too. The ice continues to build up on all the surfaces, making white beauty out of the brown landscape. Melvin took some pictures for me. He was out taking care of the animals and came in saying, "There are some nice pictures out there!"

He said he was standing there photographing this standing clump of grass when it suddenly decided it had had enough and gave up the fight. Down it went. Maybe it was embarrassed at being photographed?

Today I am thankful for...
...the beauty in nature.
...books to read.
...soup!