One thing I forgot to mention in my Ways to Stretch the Real Foods Grocery Budget post is MEAL PLANNING!! I have found it so helpful for my sanity and for keeping the budget down if I try to stay organized and make menu plans each week. 

I’ve mentioned before but I’ll mention it again, if you’re new to meal planning or would just like a little  help with menu planning organization, Say Mmm is a great FREE resource!

Here is our menu plan for the week. If you’d like to come over for some of the Cinnamon Swirl Toast pictured above, we’ll see you Thursday morning! :)

Sunday, January 16
Oatmeal, bananas
Potluck – taking Fudge Brownies, Cream Corn Casserole
Chili with shredded cheese, raw veggies

Monday, January 17
Snowman pancakes
Popcorn chicken, ranch potato wedges, peas
Italian pasta bake, tossed salad

Tuesday, January 18 -Elias’ birthday choices!
Donuts
Homemade corndogs, carrot sticks (yes, I added those myself – we needed at least one veggie today!)
Hamburgers, french fries, homemade lemon cake

Wednesday, January 19
French toast, blueberries
Tilapia, tossed salad, fruit-kefir smoothies
Egg and sausage casserole, orange muffins, apples

Thursday, January 20
Scrambled eggs, cinnamon swirl toast, oranges
Chicken noodle soup, carrots
Venison stew, whole wheat sourdough biscuits

Friday, January 21
Mini breakfast pizzas, applesauce
Tuna salad on toast, cottage cheese and peaches
Bean and rice bowls with salsa and kreme fresh, fruit salad

Saturday, January 22
Homemade honey oat crunch cereal (found in our Breakfast ebook)
Leftovers
Taco Potatoes

We were blessed to be able to pick this beautiful box full of oranges from Matt’s aunt and uncle’s tree in California. Yes, we had to pack a box of oranges and an elephant on our way home. When you’re used to eating oranges that have been trucked all the way to Nebraska…a fresh orange right off a tree in California tastes like heaven! We brought them back, dirt and leaves and all. It doesn’t get much better than that! I’m letting the juice run down my chin and lovin’ every minute of it.

Matt’s grandma has a small orange tree in her yard too, so we helped ourselves. :) 
You might see oranges quite often on our menu plan this week!

Sunday, January 9
Oatmeal, pears
Fried chicken, mashed potatoes, peas
Creamy mac and cheese, green beans, orange slices

Monday, January 10
Pancake and sausage muffins, applesauce
Sloppy joes, creamy orange coolers, carrot sticks with homemade ranch dip
Venison steak, hashbrowns, tossed salad

Tuesday, January 11
Scrambled eggs, orange muffins, bananas
Chicken veggie stew, homemade bread and butter
Spaghetti, tossed salad, corn

Wednesday, January 12
Breakfast pizzas, oranges
Alfredo sauce with pasta, steamed broccoli and carrots
Beefy enchilada bake, tossed salad

Thursday, January 13
Honey whole wheat bagels, apples
Chicken veggie quesadillas, fruit salad
Italian roast wraps, raw veggies with dip

Friday, January 14
Warm chocolate soother, toast
Potato soup, carrot sticks
Hamburgers on homemade buns, ranch potato wedges, peas

Saturday, January 15
Whole wheat cinnamon rolls (Elias’ birthday party)
Leftovers
Veggie soup, cornbread muffins

Now that we’re back in Nebraska…the snow is falling. Looks like we might get to have that Snow Ice Cream soon! (With oranges on the side.)

Take advantage of Say Mmm’s FREE menu planning services!

We’re taking one more week off before starting school up again. We’ve been traveling, so I feel the need for a little catch-up time. I’m anxious to tell you more about our travels…once I’ve had that catch-up time. Wow, we’ve had a lot of fun!

Here’s our menu…

Sunday, January 2
Oatmeal, apples
Pizza
Cheddar ranch burgers, potato wedges, green beans

Monday, January 3
Scrambled eggs, toast, clementines
Turkey and cheese melts, fruit-kefir smoothies
Potato soup, raw veggies with ranch dip

Tuesday, January 4
Whole wheat waffles, fruit
Cheesy salsa enchiladas, tossed salad
Chicken fried steak strips, mashed potatoes, gravy, peas

Wednesday, January 5
Chocolate chocolate chip muffins, bananas
Black bean taco salad, oranges
Three cheese garlic chicken pasta, tossed salad

Thursday, January 6
Baked oatmeal, blueberries
Baked potato with broccoli cheese sauce, carrots
Lamb chops, rice, green beans

Friday, January 7
Fried eggs on toast, oranges
Popcorn chicken, ranch potato wedges, peas
Spaghetti, tossed salad, corn

Saturday, January 8
Funnel cakes
Leftovers
Beefy vegetable soup, homemade bread and butter

Be sure to make good use of the Say Mmm website to help you with menu planning and recipe organization!

Well, my baby is turning six on Monday. He is incredibly excited and has been counting down the days for months (not an easy thing to do). I showed Matt a pair of new jammies I had bought for Malachi for Christmas and he said, “Is our baby really that big?” At least it’s not just me. Sigh….

Incidentally, I started this blog about a month before Malachi turned three. I wrote (way back then) about My Baby Turning Three if you’d like to take a look at how little he was (and read about what an issue I have with my baby having birthdays).

You can imagine that now that he’s (almost) six, he just loves it when we call him “our baby”. 

Aaah, I call all of our boys “my babies” every once in a while. The thirteen year old especially appreciates it. ;)

Here’s our exciting Christmas week menu! Be sure to download your free Christmas Menu Planners!

Sunday, December 19
Oatmeal, peaches
Taco potatoes, applesauce
Pizza casserole, raw veggies

Monday, December 20 (Malachi’s birthday choices)
Cereal
Hamburgers, chips, apples
Pizza (yes, the kind you buy at the store…it’s a Christmastime compromise)

Tuesday, December 21
Mini breakfast pizza, applesauce
Chicken veggie quesadillas, clementines
Toasted sub sandwiches, carrot sticks, fruit salad

Wednesday, December 22
Honey whole wheat bagels, bananas
Fried chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, peas
Dinner with friends

Thursday, December 23
Monkey bread, pears
Sloppy cornbread muffins, green beans
Chicken alfredo, steamed broccoli and carrots

Friday, December 24
Whole wheat waffles
Leftovers
Soup and sandwiches, relish tray, cookies

Saturday, December 25 (MERRY CHRISTMAS!!)
Applesauce bread, fruit
Turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, green bean casserole, bread, pie
Leftovers

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If you’re looking for some menu planning help, I highly recommend checking out Say Mmm! 
It’s a wonderful free resource to help you get organized and on your way to great menu planning!

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Learn here about how to earn free gift cards…for free! 
Don’t you love it when I’m redundant? You get that for free too. :)

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Please be sure to join us all this week for a Christmas Brunch!! 
There will be fun new recipes, craft and gift ideas and presents!!

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I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving weekend! Just in case you have a bunch of turkey leftovers, here’s a page full of yummy Turkey Leftover Ideas. And a couple for How to Use up Leftover Mashed Potatoes and Sweet Potatoes. I don’t have any recipes for your leftover pies, but I’m assuming you know exactly what to do with those? :)

Here’s what’s on our menu for this week:

Sunday, November 28
Oatmeal, apples
Cheeseburger Macaroni, green beans
Corndog muffins, creamy cole slaw, grapes

Monday, November 29
Simple soaked pancakes
Bean and cheese burritos, clementines
Cheddar ranch burgers, potato wedges, peas

Tuesday, November 30
Honey whole wheat bagels, fruit-kefir smoothies
Lamb chops, cheesy mashed potatoes, steamed broccoli and carrots
Shepherds Pie, fruit salad

Wednesday, December 1
Turkey sausage, creamy orange cooler, scrambled eggs
Sloppy Cornbread, strawberry-peach slushies, carrot sticks
Popcorn Chicken, homemade fries, green beans

Thursday, December 2
Pancake-sausage muffins, applesauce
Salmon Patties, creamy mac and cheese, peas
Chicken and biscuits, tossed salad

Friday, December 3
Cinnamon swirl bread, peaches and cottage cheese
Homemade pizza pockets, strawberry-yogurt fruit dip with apple slices
Swiss Steak served over rice, tossed salad

Saturday, December 4
Whole wheat donuts
Leftovers
Italian roast wraps, veggie tray, pears

I know I said that the Holiday Giveaway Parade was going to be LAST week, and it was. But I’m not finished posting giveaways yet! Stay tuned for more great giveaways, plus some fun Christmas posts, plus…well…I have something really exciting to tell you!

We are LOVING the wonderful Photo Books you’re creating with Picaboo!!! There are eight  more days to join the contest in an effort to win your Picaboo Photo Book for FREE! Join the fun!

Just so ya know, when you’re making Zucchini Bread on a Sunday morning for guests,
and you realize that you don’t have time to bake said Zucchini Bread,
you can nix the bread idea, turn your oven up to 400°,
put your batter into muffin tins and bake for 20 minutes. 
This tip works on Monday through Saturday too, I’m pretty sure.

Thanksgiving is going to look a little bit different for our family this year. Matt has to work all day, which means that we won’t be traveling to see family Thursday. It’ll just be the boys and me for much of the day…so instead of making a big turkey dinner, I think we’ve decided to make homemade pizza and other fun snacks, put up our Christmas tree and play games. Now that I’m over my initial disappointment, I’m actually looking forward to a fun day with the boys. Matt’s off on Saturday, so we’ll have a big meal and some great family time then…can’t wait!

Tonight, we’re feeding dinner to the YC Ladies Basketball Team. I LOVE doing this. They came over yesterday for Sloppy Joes…tonight it’ll be Chicken Noodle Soup. Since putting together the Gluten Free and Good For You ebook with my friend Kim, I have become so much more aware of how I cook. So let me just say…GLUTEN ALERT! Between making eight loaves of bread, a triple batch of noodles and four pie crusts…there’s more than just a little bit of flour flying in my kitchen. Wanna see what a triple batch of homemade noodles looks like?

Why yes I did cut some of them up and down and some of them back and forth
and some of them diagonally. It’s how I keep life interesting. 
You always knew I was a wild one.

Here’s our menu for the week:

Sunday, November 21
Oatmeal, zucchini muffins, pears
Leftover sloppy Joes, baked beans, peas
Chicken noodle soup, honey whole wheat bread, carrot sticks with homemade ranch dip, pies 

Monday, November 22
Whole wheat waffles
Homemade corndogs, tangarines
Chicken fettuccine alfredo, green beans

Tuesday, November 23
Cheese omelets, clementines
Chili, raw veggies
Lamb chops, baked potatoes, steamed broccoli and carrots

Wednesday, November 24
French toast
Shepherds pie, tossed salad
Potato soup, carrot sticks

Thursday, November 25
Turkey shaped biscuits with gravy
Homemade pizza, apples
Grilled turkey and cheese sandwiches, tomato soup

Friday, November 26
Homemade poptarts
Bean and rice bowls, fruit salad
Creamy mac and cheese, peas

Saturday, November 27
Thanksgiving/Christmas meal with my side of the family – taking a salad and a pie  :)

I hope you’re making plans to join us for Heavenly Homemakers Holiday Giveaway Parade!! The first giveaway post will go up in a few hours, or as soon as I get all the flour swept up off of my floor…whichever happens first.

OH, and as this is Thanksgiving week…I hope you’ll plan to join us for Gratituesday!!! Because of Gratituesday, we’re reminded to be thankful ALL THE TIME, but Thanksgiving week just seems like an extra special time to link up, don’t you think?

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Be sure to visit our sponsor I Love Free Things for you know…free things. :)

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Visit Organizing Junkie for more menu planning inspiration.

Yesterday was Matt’s birthday, which means that he is now “as old as I am” again. I am an entire four months older than him and he has fun reminding me of that. :)  We celebrated with Cheesy Turkey Sausage Stromboli and Peach Cobbler, two of his favorites.

Here’s what’s on the menu for this week:

Sunday, November 7
Oatmeal, pears
Potato Soup, carrot sticks, fruit salad
Corn Dog Muffins, apples

Monday, November 8
Chocolate chocolate chip muffins, oranges
Taco Potatoes with lettuce and tomatoes, peaches
Roasted chicken, potatoes, carrots, gravy, green beans

Tuesday, November 9
Creamy orange cooler, fried eggs on toast
Turkey sausage, hashbrowns, fruit salad
Chicken & biscuits with veggies

Wednesday, November 10
Honey whole wheat bagels, applesauce
Pizza casserole, tossed salad, corn
Chicken tortilla soup, raw veggies

Thursday, November 11
Scrambled egg sandwiches, pears
Italian stew with green beans
Shepherds pie

Friday, November 12
Warm vanilla soother, honey wheat muffins
Grilled cheese sandwiches, tomato soup
Lasagna, tossed salad

Saturday, November 13
Whole wheat cinnamon rolls, apples
Leftovers
Pizza

Matt almost always chooses a Peach Cobbler instead of a birthday cake (which none of us complains about). Anyone else out there pick a different birthday dessert instead of a cake?