Monday, October 19, 2009

Menu Plan Monday 10-19-09


We had such a great weekend. Some friends from out of town visited and we enjoyed their company and the sun was out so we enjoyed the outdoors for the first time in weeks!

Here is our menu for this week. The items in bold are from a local source, either our garden or a local farmer.

Breakfast with repeats (we usually have a fruit or veggie with breakfast)

Baked Oatmeal (I made some yesterday while our guests were here and we have lots left over - used local pecans)
Eggs and ham
Cheese and spinach omelet
Homemade Greek Style Yogurt with maple syrup

Lunch (with a fruit or veggie)

Grilled Cheese sandwiches
Chicken Noodle Soup
Broccoli Cheese Soup
Cheese Enchiladas
Leftovers

Snacks:

Berry Smoothies (this past week, I added some lemon juice from our lemon tree to the smoothies and it added such a nice brightness to it. I'm going to try to find a local source of lemons for using when our tree runs out of lemons.)

Pumpkin Bread
Banana Nut Bread (local pecans)
Carrots and cucumbers with cheese spread
Hummus and Pita
Apple Sauce
Chips and salsa (we are down to only 3 jars of the salsa we made this summer)

Dinner:

Chicken Noodle Soup, Green Salad (we are starting to use some of our salad greens from our garden, though we still don't have a lot, so it is a supplement to what we buy at the grocery store) with feta and kalamata olives (my current salad addiction).

Mexican Lassagna (recipe from 30 Day Gourmet website for members only, otherwise I'd post a link), sauteed squash, cut up fruit

Roasted Chicken, Smothered Cabbage, carrots

Meatloaf (combination of ground turkey and ground lamb), green salad, purple hull peas (from my Dad's garden).

We've also got some leftovers in the freezer that we need to use up (lassagna and chicken quesadilla filling), so we will have those on the remaining days of this week with an added veggie or two.

Go to Organizing Junkie for Menu Plan Monday and see hundreds of menu plans.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Hobby Farms Email Newsletter

I started getting Hobby Farms email newsletter a while back and enjoy it very much (even though I don't yet have a hobby farm, lol). There are articles about farming stuff (like raising chickens) but it also contains great recipes and even decorating ideas. Here is a link to the most recent newsletter which contains a sign-up link if you enjoy the newsletter as well.

Monday, October 12, 2009

Menu Plan Monday 10-12-09


Pecans are falling off the trees now and my parents have a tree in their back yard, so we have been the recipients of many many pecans. We are shelling them as we need them and using them in lots of yummy things. We are also getting some cold, very humid weather (which seems even colder than it actually is) which is making us want soup even more than usual. Here is this week's menu. All locally grown food is in bold.

Breakfast with repeats (we usually have at least one fruit with breakfast):

Eggs and caramelized onions
Soaked oatmeal (with honey, pecans, pastured butter, cream and coconut oil)
Blueberry Smoothie (with homemade yogurt and local blueberries (in our freezer) and lemon juice from our lemon tree)
Pumpkin pancakes

Lunch
(with one fruit and one veggie):

Chicken Salad Sandwiches
Green Salad (lettuce and spinach from our garden) with kalamata olives, feta cheese, and walnuts
Leftovers from supper

Snacks:

Pickles
Chips and Salsa (we made the salsa during the summer from farmer's market produce)
Snickerdoodle Blondies (first time trying them - they look yummy!!)
Soaked Whole Wheat Bread with pastured butter and honey (I cut the recipe into fourths since this is our first try with soaked bread. If we like it, I'll make the regular recipe and freeze the extra - I soaked it yesterday and over night and plan to bake it this morning)
Carrots and cucumbers dipped in herb cheese dip (I am using homemade Greek style yogurt in place of the cream cheese in this recipe)
Apples
Cashew butter on graham crackers
Hummus and pita
Homemade yogurt with maple syrup or honey
Blueberry Smoothies

Supper

French Onion Soup (homemade stock made with locally raised grass feed beef bones) with a green salad

Gyros with tabouli (using homegrown parsley) and hummus

Pan Fried Tilapia, caramelized onions and mixed veggies, sauteed sweet potatoes

Cream of Butternut Squash Soup, soaked bread with honey butter, gingered carrots (from Nourishing Traditions cookbook)

Pizza and green salad (not sure what kind of pizza yet - we are having guests so we will make what they like)

Grass-fed Beef Burgers, broccoli, and if our potatoes from the garden are big enough, we will have new potatoes - if not, probably fries made with store-bought potatoes.

Check out Organizing Junkie for more menu plans.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Yummy Homemade Lemonade from our Homegrown Lemons!

This is all that is left of our first pitcher of homemade lemonade made with our homegrown lemons. It was so yummy! Here's how we made it:

Lemonade

1 cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice (it took 4 lemons)
1/2 cup sugar (most recipes call for more, but we like ours sour)
3 cups water

Add all ingredients to a pitcher and stir until dissolved. Enjoy :o)

Are you enjoying anything from your garden this week?

Friday, October 2, 2009

This is why I've been so distracted and not posting much anymore

Over the last six months or more, we have noticed that my mom has not been herself. She has been having minor memory issues, a little difficulty getting her point across in conversations and she has been excessively tired. At first we just chalked it up to all of the changes in her life during the last year (she retired, among other things), but when things continued to get worse, we finally realized that something more was wrong. She had an appointment this week with a memory loss specialist and is now under his care. They are running some tests and hopefully we will have some answers, or at least a starting point, soon.

Hopefully, now that we are getting close to a diagnosis, I will be more able to concentrate more on posting. I am amazed at how emotionally draining this whole process has been. Next week should be back to normal at "The Book Lady Online".