Menu Plan 11/28/22-12/1/22: Feeding the Family

 Post-Thanksgiving exhaustion has set in.  We had a wonderful day with family.  A few family members were under the weather and weren't able to make it, and they were surely missed.  But overall, it was a wonderful day.

Friday, we spent the day decorating for Christmas.  Most of the decorations are up, but I still have to do the tree in the basement.  I may get to it this week.  Or I may not.  I'm not going to stress over it.  If it were totally up to me, I'd skip it this year.  But I know the boys love having a tree down there too.  

Yesterday was the Ohio State/Michigan game.  The outcome wasn't what we hoped for.  But we had some family friends over and J had a few friends over and despite the loss, we had a really great day.  I made 6 pounds of taco meat, and we did walking tacos. I also made nachos fabuloso and 7-layer dip. 

Today was church and after that, we took the boys to brunch.  The big boys just left for college, and we wanted to fill them up before they left. I sent the oldest back with 5 pounds of ground beef and 5 pounds of chicken thighs.  He was also gifted lunch meat, cheese, and a loaf of bread.  The Middle left with the left-over taco meat (probably around 3 pounds), walking taco bags, corn chips, potato chips, and pepperoni.  

I miss them already. I will worry for the next four hours until they are safely back at college.  Mama's always worry.  

This week's meal plan starts tomorrow because we have been eating Thanksgiving leftovers and then yesterday was the game day taco fest.  We are all full from brunch so I think dinner tonight will be something light.  

This week's meal plan:

Monday:  Dirty rice with chicken sausage

Tuesday:  Chicken Tortilla Soup

Wednesday:  Quiche 

Thursday:  Clean up Day

Today is the first Sunday of Advent.  The Advent season has officially begun.  I have Christmas shopping to finish up and even though I ordered the Christmas cards weeks ago, I still have to get those out.  That is what I will be concentrating on for now.  Plus, cleaning... and laundry.   The boys will be home again in 2 weeks, and they'll be home for a month and half.  I will be counting down the days. 

Have a BLESSED week ahead!!

The First Sunday of Advent: Be watchful and ready from National Catholic Register

Happy Thanksgiving

 I didn't post a menu plan this week.  I actually did do one, but the big boys surprised us by coming home from college on Sunday instead of Tuesday and I just enjoyed having them home.  I did put together a menu plan, but it got all switched about with the early arrival.  But all was good, and everyone has been fed.  I'm so glad they came home early.  The time is going by too quickly though.

I started some Thanksgiving prep on Tuesday and will soldier on today.  The following is our Thanksgiving menu:

Classic Herb Stuffing I make Gluten Free bread in my bread machine for the "bread" part, then cut it into cubes and toast it in the oven.  I posted a link to the closest recipe I could find online, but the recipe I use is from an older Joy of Cooking recipe book.

Perfect Mashed Potatoes from Martha Stewart.  The boys love these.  They really are perfect.  I make 10 pounds.

Sweet Potato Casserole Due to nut allergies, I leave out the nuts and add more marshmallows.

Gluten Free Gravy This isn't the recipe I use, but it's close (I do not add soy sauce, and I do add other seasonings like thyme, sage, and rosemary).  My original recipe came from a blog called Gluten Free Girl.  I don't think the blog is available anymore.

Cranberry Sauce Every year I make this.  And every year no one eats it.  It's a tradition (lol).

Green Beans with Bacon from The Hillbilly Kitchen.  Some years I make a green bean casserole, some years just plain green beans.  I'm trying this one for 2022.

Libby's Pumpkin Pie I just use the recipe on the back of the can.  I sub Ener-G egg replacer for the egg, and I use Wholly Wholesome GF Pie Shells for the crust.  Many, MANY years I struggled trying to make a gluten free, egg free, nut free crust that didn't fall apart and was still edible.  I found these shells a few years ago and never looked back.  They work just fine.

The Turkey Sometimes I use a roasting bag, sometimes I don't.  I basically I combine the butter and herbs and rub down the bird under the skin and on top of the skin.  My husband will fry a turkey too and his brine and seasonings are his own concoction.  He's in charge of that one. My baked turkey is pretty simple and classic (and yes, I stuff it... ssshhh don't tell one.  I know it's now a no-no).  This is my turkey roasting pan and I swear it does all the magic.  It's not that I'm a good turkey cook, it's that you can't go wrong with this pan. 

I hope you have a happy, blessed Thanksgiving!  

Wednesday Words: Thanksgiving Edition

 

Wednesday Words: Gratitude Edition

 

Menu Plan 11/11/22-11/17/22: Feeding the Family

Happy Monday!  It is happy Monday for me because last week I was under the weather.  Some kind of upper respiratory crud knocked me down (you can see it reflected in last week's menu).  I'm still not 100%, but I'm much better.  Some of the meals I had scheduled for last week, have been moved to this week.  I planned on shopping at Aldi last week because their Thanksgiving sales are really good, but not only was I sick, but the dog was too and I couldn't leave her home by herself for too long, so I ended up doing a Giant Eagle pick up which didn't really help save any money at all.  I will try again this week to save.   

This week's menu plan:

Friday:  Quiche, home fries, and fruit

Saturday:  Eating out for a family members birthday

Sunday:  Slow Cooker Pot Roast

Monday:  Chicken thighs, potato, veg

Tuesday:  Pizza Casserole (from last week's menu)

Wednesday:  Chicken Pastina Soup, rolls, salad (from Cooking With Mamma C)

Thursday:  Clean Up Day

Have a blessed week ahead!!

Menu Plan 11/4/22 to 11/10/22: Feeding the Family

 

This weeks menu plan:

Friday:  Meatless Friday: Baked Cod, potato, and vegetable (black bean burger for mom)

Saturday:  Low Carb Pizza Casserole (recipe from Kalyn's Kitchen) Frozen pizza 

Sunday:  Pasta, meatballs and sausage with homemade sauce

Monday:  Left over pasta and sauce

Tuesday:  Keto Taco Casserole (recipe from Joy Filled Eats) Leftovers again

Wednesday:  Quick Cajun Dirty Rice (recipe from Gwen's Nest) turkey tacos

Thursday:  Clean up day

Have a blessed week ahead!!

All Souls Day

 

All Souls Day Prayer

Merciful Father,

On this day, we are called to remember those who have died,
Particularly those who have died in the past year,
And pray for their joyful reunion with you, their loving creator.
As your son taught us to call the stranger 
neighbor, our fallen are many—

Names we will never know,
Voices we have never heard,
In lands we may never visit,
Yet brothers and sisters all.
And so we pray.

For victims of war, caught in the crossfires of
conflicts we could not quell,
for soldiersand civilians,
adults and children, we pray …
Grant eternal rest, O Lord.

For those migrants who have died seeking a
haven where they hoped to find safety
and opportunity for themselves and for their families, we pray …
Grant eternal rest, O Lord.

For victims of hunger, denied their share in the
bounty you have placed before us, we pray …
Grant eternal rest, O Lord.

For victims of AIDS, Malaria, Ebola, and other infectious diseases,
who died before adequate care could reach them, we pray …
Grant eternal rest, O Lord.

For those refugees seeking asylum from war,
who died in a land that was not their home, we pray …
Grant eternal rest, O Lord.

For victims of emergencies and calamities everywhere,
who died amid chaos and confusion, we pray …
Grant eternal rest, O Lord.

Lord, as you command, we reach out to the fallen.
We call on you on behalf of those we could not reach this year.
You raised your son from the dead
that all may share in his joyful resurrection.

In Jesus' name, we pray …

Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine,
Et lux perpetua luceat eis.
Requiescant in pace.

Amen  (from crs.org)

To find out more about All Souls Day, visit Catholic.org

-Menu Plan - 9/28/22 to 10/3/22: Feeding the Family

 I'm late on this for the week.  I had the meal plan done since Tuesday, but sometimes life gets in the way of posting.  

It has been a busy week, but a good one.  Friday, the little one had two friends sleep over.  Three 10 year olds is the most 10 olds I can handle for a sleep over.  They sure are active.  And one child kept insisting that they watch Scream.  Nice try child, but I don't let 10 year olds watch rate R movies at my house.  He actually got a little mad, but luckily the attitude changed quick enough.  Sorry, but this is not my first rodeo.

They had a nice time.  Saturday was a 10-year-old friends birthday party.  Sunday was Puppy Kindergarten and our neighborhood Trick or Treat.  Because we have teacher conferences tonight, we went to All Saints Day mass last night.  And after teacher conferences, there is basketball practice.  Whew!  It's a lot.

Trick or Treat was nice.  We actually got 25 kids this year.  Usually, we get 3-6 kids.  All of the kids aged up with my older boys.  But recently several new young families moved into the neighborhood.  It was so nice to see so many little ones. 

Halloween 2022

 

This week's menu:

Friday:  Take and Bake Aldi pizza

Saturday:  Baked chicken tacos

Sunday:  Tomato and Feta pasta (also known as Tick Tock pasta)

Monday:    Grilled turkey burgers and hot dogs with frozen fries

Tuesday:  Breakfast for dinner:  Bacon, egg, and cheese sammys and hash browns

Wednesday:  Greek Chicken Skillet

Thursday:  Clean up

Last week I shopped at our local discount store Marc's and then at Aldi.  Marc's has really good prices, but you get what they have so you can't be brand loyal.  This week I'm doing a Walmart pick up because the end of the week is VERY busy, but I made the mistake of looking at the Marc's flyer and many things that I have on my pickup are actually cheaper at Marc's.  It's painful, but I just can't add in another store this week.  Hopefully I can go back to Marc's next week.  I will try and post some of the things that I am saving on.

Last week Marc's had turkeys for 87 cents per pound.  They were Butterball or Jenni-O.  I got a Jenni-O because I needed a smaller one for frying and that was the smallest one I could find.  Aldi had Butterballs for $1.59 per pound.  Clearly, Marc's was the better deal.  

I also got my Christmas cards ordered.  We always do photo cards and this year I used Snapfish.  They have a code that will get you 70% off your cards.  Use code OCCRD70 to save.

Happy Feast of All Saints!!

Have a blessed week ahead!!