Thanks for your fun comments and breakfast suggestions on this post! HOPEFULLY my children will appreciate (and EAT) my breakfast choices for this week. I’d hate to have to pull out my trusty “back in the day” speech.

Sunday, September 27
Oatmeal, peaches
Cheesy beef and rice, steamed broccoli
Corn dog muffins, apples

Monday, September 28
Mini breakfast pizzas, grapes
Chili with cheese, carrot sticks
Chicken fajitas, tossed salad

Tuesday, September 29
Cinnamon swirl bread, cantaloupe
Pizza casserole, corn
Beef stew with potatoes and carrots

Wednesday, September 30
Whole wheat waffles
Grilled turkey ham and cheese sandwiches, tomato soup
Garlic chicken pasta, tossed salad

Thursday, October 1
Sourdough biscuits, pears
Salmon patties, hashbrowns, peas
BLTs, chips and salsa

Friday, October 2
Breakfast cookies, peaches
Beef and cheese burritos, apples
Homemade pizza, watermelon

Saturday, October 3
Applesauce bread, scrambled eggs
Cheeseburger macaroni, steamed carrots
BBQ meatballs, baked potatoes, tossed salad

Be sure to make plans now to join us NEXT WEEK for the Fall Giveaway Carnival!!! Read details here.

AND…if you haven’t picked up your FREE Preschool ideas and activities e-book, head over here to get yours!
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Visit Organizing Junkie for more menu planning inspiration.

You know what I love about this time of year? The bounty! I’ve been overwhelmed by the blessing of having so much food in my kitchen I can hardly walk or find counter space. God is so good!! We’ve been really trying to help our kids understand what a blessing it is to have so much food (and so much variety) in our pantry, freezer, trunk, fridge…

And all over our kitchen floor.  We’ve been picking apples, pears and peaches from our friend’s trees. I also got to go pick raspberries and grapes! Right now, there is fruit everywhere in my kitchen!!! Time to make fruit leather and applesauce and canned peaches and pears. Ooh, and grape juice!

Menu planning right now is SO much fun. Here’s what we’ll be eating this week with our fruit:

Sunday, Sept. 20
Oatmeal, peaches
Lasagna, tossed salad, homemade bread and butter, sweet corn, death by chocolate (guests came over!)
Leftovers

Monday, Sept. 21
Homemade soft pretzels, mock frozen yogurt
Popcorn chicken, cottage cheese with peaches, green beans
Leg of lamb, mashed potatoes, gravy, steamed broccoli

Tuesday, Sept. 22
Honey whole wheat bagels,  pears
Tuna topped tomatoes, bell peppers, strawberry-peach slushies (with raspberries!)
Chicken and rice with carrots

Wednesday, Sept. 23
Peaches and cream, toast
Spanish rice with chicken, grapes
Beef stroganoff, green beans

Thursday, Sept. 24
Crepes with jelly, milkshakes
Lamb-burger patties, tomatoes, corn on the cob, okra
Creamy mac and cheese, peas, apple slices

Friday, Sept. 25
French toast with peach syrup and whipped cream
Cheeseburger zucchini boats, tossed salad
Homemade pizza, watermelon

Saturday, Sept. 26
Scrambled eggs, hashbrowns, pears
Grilled cheese sandwiches, tomato soup, applesauce
Tacos

Based on the response from this post, I was planning on showing you how to cut little boy’s hair this week. Over the weekend, I got three boys lined up and the scissors ready. Then the camera battery died. Haircuts needed to happen anyway…but the post will have to wait until Asa has his hair cut in a couple of weeks. Instead, I’ll be showing you a “How to Make Homemade Bread” tutorial. It seems that many of you “kneaded” that tutorial just as badly as you wanted the hair cut tutorial. Thanks for understanding!
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Visit Organizing Junkie for more menu planning inspiration.

 

Matt took our boys to a father-son retreat this weekend. I had a very productive and QUIET weekend. Too quiet.  I loved it and hated it at the same time. I also had a little drama on Friday night in which I had to quickly become “the man of the house”. Yikes…I’ll tell you about that tomorrow!

Here’s our menu for the week:

Sunday, September 13
Oatmeal
BBQ chicken, buttered potatoes, steamed carrots
Quesadillas, fresh raspberries

Monday, September 14
Breakfast burritos, clementines
Tuna salad on crackers, cherry tomatoes, pineapple-orange slushies
Lamb roast, carrots, potatoes, gravy

Tuesday, September 15
Sourdough pancakes, raspberries
Spicy avocado dip with chips, watermelon
Chicken veggie stir fry

Wednesday, September 16
Applesauce bread, bananas
BLTs, carrot sticks, bell peppers
BBQ beef sandwiches, potato salad, sweet baked beans

Thursday, September 17
Scrambled eggs, toast
Chicken chef salad, bread and butter
Turkey sausage, ranch potato wedges, green beans

Friday, September 18
Strawberry yogurt dip with apple slices
Beef garden casserole, cornbread muffins
Hamburgers, onion rings

Saturday, September 19
Fruit-kefir smoothies, toast
Leftovers
Meatloaf, baked potatoes, peas

Be sure to sign up to win a jar of organic Red Ape Cinnamon!!
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Find more great menu planning inspiration a Organizing Junkie.

Here’s our menu this week:

Sunday, September 6
Strawberry bread, fried eggs
Cheeseburger macaroni, steamed broccoli
Leftovers

Monday, September 7
French toast with blueberry syrup
Black bean taco salad, cheese toast
Swiss steak served over rice, green beans

Tuesday, September 8
Baked oatmeal, bananas
Beef and cheese burritos, clementines
Lasagna casserole, tossed salad

Wednesday, September 9
Breakfast cake, applesauce
Tuna salad on toast, tomatoes, corn on the cob
Oven fried chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, peas

Thursday, September 10
Scrambled eggs, turkey bacon, oranges
Bean dip with salsa and kreme fresh, strawberry-peach slushies
Lamb chops, baked potatoes, tossed salad

Friday, September 11
Funnel cakes, peaches
Grilled turkey ham and cheese sandwiches, carrot sticks, chips and salsa
Homemade pizza, fruit salad

Saturday, September 12
Fruit-kefir smoothies, toast
Black bean salsa with chips, watermelon
Grilled steak, veggie kabobs

Be sure to vote on your favorite title for our FREE Preschool Activity ebook!!
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Visit Organizing Junkie for more menu planning inspiration!

This weekend we made a very quick 24 hour trip to KS to celebrate my dad’s 60th birthday. It was a fun time to see family even if it was only for a few hours!

A big thank you to everyone who’s been sending pre-school activity ideas and pictures for the FREE preschool activity ebook I’m putting together! SUCH great pictures! I appreciate the ebook titles ideas also…be sure to offer your title suggestions here!

Here’s our menu this week:

Monday, August 31
Whole wheat waffles, bananas
Black bean salsa with chips, nectarines
Grilled chicken, ranch potato wedges, green beans

Tuesday, September 1
Crepes with jelly
BLTs, angeled eggs, raw veggies
Hamburger hashbrowns, steamed carrots

Wednesday, September 2
Blueberry bagels, cantaloupe
Chicken quesadillas, peaches
Venison roast, carrots, potatoes, gravy

Thursday, September 3
Omelets with red and yellow peppers, orange wedges
Homemade pizza pockets, steamed broccoli and carrots
Tacos, grapes

Friday, September 4
Vanilla custard, strawberries
Black bean and rice bowls with salsa and kreme fresh
Lamb-burgers, homemade onion rings, watermelon

Saturday, September 5
Scrambled eggs, hashbrowns, clementines
Corn dog muffins, peas
Grilled steak, baked potatoes, green beans

Be sure to sign up for the Tropical Traditions Coconut Oil Giveaway if you haven’t already…I’ll be drawing a winner Tuesday!
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For more menu planning inspiration, check out Organizing Junkie!

After a very crazy three weeks (the fair, having company, canning and freezing produce, feeding the soccer team…) I think life may get back to normal this week. However, normal for this time of year is still a little nuts. There’s still more canning to do. Matt’s soccer team is off to a great start and now our own boys will start soccer for the fall season. Justus has his first practice Monday. 

After church today we had a big potluck to welcome the York College students. If you remember, I’ve been wanting to try my hand at cake decorating a little bit. Matt and the boys got me this for my birthday this month, so I played with it a little yesterday and came up with this: 

It’s not perfect. It’s also kinda boring. I need to learn to make flowers or something so that I can do more than just make borders. I also need to figure out how to have nice handwriting with frosting. My “Y” is quite wobbly. But playing with my new toys sure was fun! AND I was excited to come up with a couple of recipes that I will eventually share. One is a cake recipe using whole wheat flour and sucanat. Also, I found that my butter (no shortening) frosting recipe worked  just fine for decorating. 

I am feeding the soccer team one last time tonight. This time they are all coming over to our house for a big “breakfast”. 

Sunday, August 23
Oatmeal, nectarines
Potluck- Spanish rice, watermelon, chocolate sour cream cake, veggie tray
Soccer team- French toast, sausage links, homemade brown sugar syrup, grapes, fresh pineapple

Monday, August 24
Simple sourdough pancakes, fruit
Creamy mac and cheese, stir fried zucchini and carrots
Honey mustard chicken, baked potatoes, green beans

Tuesday, August 25
Scrambled egg sandwiches, oranges
Tuna salad, sweet red peppers, strawberry-peach slushies
Chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes and gravy, peas

Wednesday, August 26
Cinnamon swirl bread, cherries
Popcorn chicken, homemade fries, carrot sticks
Shepherd’s pie, tossed salad

Thursday, August 27
Fruit and yogurt delight, homemade oat cereal*
Salmon patties, hashbrowns, sweet bell peppers, carrot sticks
Homemade pizza, tossed salad

Friday, August 28
Peanut butter honey toast, apples with strawberry yogurt dip
Hamburgers, corn on the cob, tomatoes
Tacos, watermelon

Saturday, August 29
Homemade funnel cake
Taco salad, grapes
Tuna casserole, peas

Many of you have requested that I show you how to make cinnamon swirl bread. Be watching for that tutorial this week! I have a great giveaway for you this week too!

*I’ve had several requests for my homemade oat cereal recipe. You’ll find it in this ebook. The cereal is easy to make, SO healthy, and great for a snack or breakfast!
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Visit Organizing Junkie for more menu planning ideas.

I tell you what. A girl asks for a little advice and help around here…and she gets it. Thank you SO much for all of your wonderful meal suggestions for this week!! 

If you missed this post then please go read it for this to all make sense. The long and short of it is that I’m cooking for 21-31 people every night this week (except for Saturday). If you want some GREAT bulk meal ideas, go read all of these comments!

You have no idea how helpful you all were with your food suggestions! Made me hungry all weekend. If I didn’t choose to make your meal idea…it is likely because I needed to plan around what the team would be eating on other days when I wasn’t the one doing the cooking. You can rest assured that I will be looking back at all the comments in the future whenever I will be cooking for a large crowd!

Okay…here’s what I’ll be feeding the team (and what I’ll be feeding my family for breakfast and lunch too if I remember to feed them). I’m typing the dinners out in detail. That’s for my sake, not yours…but feel free to enjoy it (or be bored by it). The meals for the team begin with bold text.

Sunday, August 16
Whole wheat and honey zucchini bread, apples with caramel dip
Friends took us out for lunch as a “thank you” gift
BBQ beef sandwiches, corn on the cob, carrot sticks with dip, apple crisp, homemade ice cream

Monday, August 17
Whole wheat waffles with strawberries and whipped cream
Taco potatoes, applesauce
Salad bar:  greens, tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, cubed ham, shredded cheese, hard boiled eggs, peas, dressings; homemade soft pretzels, fresh pineapple and cantaloupe, chocolate chip cookies

Tuesday, August 18
Scrambled eggs, hash browns, clementines
Grilled cheese sandwiches, tomato soup, grapes
Lasagna, tossed salad (mixture of what’s left from salad bar on Monday) with dressing, french bread, orange wedges,fudgy brownies

Wednesday, August 19
Vanilla custard, bananas
Hamburger patties, green beans, strawberry-peach slushies
Grilled ham and cheese sandwiches, relish tray (carrots, broccoli, olives, celery, dip), angeled eggs, pickle spears, cherries, Lynn’s no-bake cookie bars

Thursday, August 20
Peanut butter honey toast, applesauce
Homemade corn dogs, carrots, nectarines
Tacos (Matt’s special cooked beef, corn tortillas, salsa, tomatoes, lettuce, cheese, sour cream), spanish rice, watermelon, chocolate sheet cake

Friday, August 21
Homemade oat cereal, dried fruit
Grilled chicken, ranch potato wedges, zucchini
Breakfast for dinner:  Pancakes with homemade peanut butter (if I get around to it) and syrup, sausage, scrambled eggs, grapes and whatever fruit is leftover from earlier in the week

Saturday, August 22
Cereal, leftovers, clean out the fridge, take a nap :)

In case you’re wondering…many items I’m making from scratch…but some things I’m going to just buy pre-made. Like the french bread and the buns for bbq sandwiches and the salad dressing. A girl has to have her limits, you know? :)

Oh and also…I usually do a lot of my writing for the upcoming week during the weekend. But between having a houseguest and then having more company over the weekend and doing a lot of canning and freezing and preparing for all these soccer meals…I have had about five extra minutes this weekend to work on posts. (It takes me a little bit longer than five minutes to write a post, usually.)  :)  I’ll try really hard to get some good things written for you this week, but thank you for being understanding if I can’t. I WANT to because I have so many subjects waiting to be written about. 

If all else fails, I’ll try to take a few pics of my cooking insanity marathon and do a little play by play for you. And…I’ll work very hard to come up with something better than “Oh I’m so thankful that I own a lot of 9×13 inch baking pans” for Gratituesday. :)
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Visit Organizing Junkie for more menu ideas.

This weekend has been a little bit nutso. We sold concessions at our county fair AND made a very fast trip to Kansas City for a baseball game. How did we do both, you ask? I have no idea. I’ll let you know (if)when I’ve recovered.

Oh YEAH…and also I put up six dozen ears of corn and twenty-one quarts of green beans. And dug up several pounds of potatoes. Sometimes, I think I’m crazy. (Feel free to agree.)

And guess what I just realized? Soccer season (Matt helps coach our college women’s team) starts Wednesday. I think my craziness is about to get crazier.

Here’s this week’s menu:

Sunday, August 9
Breakfast cookies, grapes
Sandwiches, chips, baby carrots, fruit leather
Out with family/friends

Monday, August 10
Simple sourdough pancakes
Tuna topped tomatoes, watermelon
Italian roast wraps, fruit salad

Tuesday, August 11
Scrambled eggs, oranges
BLTs, chips and salsa, cantaloupe
Chicken enchiladas, salad

Wednesday, August 12
Applesauce bread, bananas
Chicken quesadillas, peaches
Cookout with the soccer team

Thursday, August 13
Fruit-kefir smoothies, homemade oat cereal
Salmon patties, strawberry-peach slushies
Lasagna, tossed salad, garlic bread

Friday, August 14
Fried eggs on toast, clementines
Hamburger patties, corn on the cob, tomatoes
Picnic with our homeschool group – Taking Hearty bean casserole, veggie tray, fudge brownies

Saturday, August 15
Breakfast cake
Bean dip with chips, salsa and kreme fresh
Grilled steak, corn on the cob, ranch potato wedges

All craziness aside, I have some fun posts in the works for you this week. Like for instance…at the fair I got to thinking about how I could probably make my own healthier (and CHEAPER) version of a funnel cake. And so I tried it. And it was YUMMY! I’ll share that recipe sometime this week. 

I also figure that with all the craziness, I should spit out a random post for you. Random and crazy go well together.

Here’s to another great and busy week!

We’re all set and ready to start school Monday! I’ve been working hard this weekend to get ahead in the kitchen so that I can focus on establishing a good school routine for the boys. I made four loaves of bread (two regular, two cinnamon swirl), a double batch of tortillas, whole wheat graham crackers, crispy cheese crackers, pizza casserole, bagels and mudballs. I sliced carrots into sticks and dug potatoes from the garden (enough to last us this week).

Books are ready, lesson plans are made, house is clean, and everyone is excited! I’ll share more about gearing up for school on Gratituesday!

Here’s what we’re eating this week:

Sunday, August 2
Cinnamon swirl bread, fruit
Roast, carrots, potatoes, gravy
Nachos, watermelon

Monday, August 3 (Happy Birthday to me!)
Honey whole wheat bagels, clementines
Pizza casserole, sweet corn
Out to dinner, cheesecake made by boys

Tuesday, August 4
Scrambled eggs, oranges
Sloppy joes on homemade buns, potato salad, sweet peppers
Roasted chicken, rice and veggie stir-fry

Wednesday, August 5
Sourdough biscuits with butter and honey, applesauce
Spanish rice with chicken, grapes
Spaghetti, tossed salad

Thursday, August 6
Crepes with jelly
Creamy mac and cheese, steamed carrots, strawberry-peach slushies
Beans and rice on tortillas with tomatoes and spicy avocado dip

Friday, August 7
Peanut butter honey toast, pears
Quesadillas, apples, carrots
Hamburgers, onion rings, tomatos

Saturday, August 8
Homemade donuts
Leftovers
Grilled chicken, okra, yellow squash 

Menu Plan Monday is being hosted this week at The Happy Housewife…go check it out for more menu planning ideas!

I’m going on a tiny little trip to visit a couple of my sisters-in-law for part of this week! I’ve cooked and baked ahead a little so that the men won’t have to work too hard in the kitchen figuring out what to eat while I’m gone. Matt assures me that they’ll all be fine…but I feel better knowing that at least I can make things a little bit easier by leaving food ready to warm up.

Here are some of their choices:

• Scrambled eggs
• Cereal
• Yogurt
• Whole wheat frozen waffles
• Mac and cheese
• Hot dogs
• Zucchini bread
• Banana bread
• Honey whole wheat bread for toast or sandwiches
• Beef and cheese burritos
• Corn dog muffins
• Chicken and rice casserole
• Homemade pizza pockets

And of course, there are lots of frozen and fresh fruits and veggies  (Matt does a great job feeding the boys veggies when I’m gone. It’s very impressive.)

The funniest thing to me about when I have to be gone and Matt feeds the boys is that I’ll come home and the boys will say something like, “Oh Mom! Daddy made the BEST burritos for lunch today!” Uh-huh, he sure did. It’s okay, I’ll let him have the credit. They’re having a great time with their Daddy after all… :)

I’ve been writing ahead too, so posts will continue as normal this week. But let’s just get it straight that I wrote the posts…not Daddy. Although that would be fun sometime wouldn’t it? Maybe Matt could give a construction tutorial? I’m sure you would all find that fascinating. It would kind of give a new meaning to Heavenly Home-Makers.

I think we’ll stick with the other kind of Heavenly Homemaking, unless you start begging me for a “How to Install a New Toilet” post, and then I can make arrangements.
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Find tons of menu planning ideas at Organizing Junkie.