Weekly Menu - October 8th

Welcome back to another fun filled installment of my weekly menu HA!  This past week a friend, and fellow blogger, over at Everything Beautiful did a weekly menu post . . .or I should say bi-weekly post - too and she inspired me with a few ideas.  If you have never read her blog, you should!  She discusses some pretty tough and thought provoking topics.  She is not afraid to lay it on the line, let me tell you!  I've known her since high school so we'll just say that we go way back!! 

As I am working on this post, I'm sitting outside in close to 80 degree weather - Indian Summer anyone?  The nice thing about 80 degree temps in the fall is that there is no humidity and, the air is actually cooler (or is it that sun is further away . . . I never did well in science!).  Unlike the dog days of summer, my back yard is actually covered in shade already so it is a great place to relax and watch my kids play.  In light of trying to get some things knocked off the never ending, ever growing to do list, I'm typing instead of reading today :-)

Back to my friend I mentioned above.  She shops every two weeks, bless her little heart ;-)  I've tried that but it does not work for me.  By the time I get half way through the store, I'm just tossing things in the cart because I'm too tired and my list is too long!  You go girl!  She does offer some great reminders - shop the sales and take a list!!!  Like her, coupons are not my best friend.  I go back and forth with using them but I've found that often they cost me more money in the long run.  I think if I lived in an area where they did double or triple coupons, it would be worth it but right up front, I have to save more than $2.00 just to justify paying for a paper every week.  So instead, I try to focus on the sales as much as possible but also, just try to keep my recipes simple and inexpensive to begin with and that helps out alot.

So, here is what is on the menu this week!

Saturday: Our almost 3 year old is getting pictures taken on Saturday afternoon and than my husband has a concert that we are all attending so we will stop for dinner somewhere in between those two things. 

Sunday: Homemade Lasagna, garlic bread and salad

Monday:  Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup (for me) and Chicken Noodle Soup (for the kids)

Tuesday: Pork Tenderloin, Potatoes (not sure how yet - I'll wait and see how the spirit moves), and Salad

Wednesday: Taco Salad (for me) and than Taco Fixin's for the kids and Savory Rice

Thursday: Beef Stroganoff, Asparagus, Noodles, and Biscuits

Friday: Mongolian Beef and Broccoli with baked brown rice (** If the weather is nice and the leaves are falling, we will go to our favorite park to play in the leaves which would mean grabbing something quick for a picnic instead!)

Snacks and Desserts:
Apple Crisp - Something the kids can help make!
Dutch Apple Bread with Apple Butter
Paula's Loaded Oatmeal Cookies
Strawberry Trifle

The Snack and Dessert Idea I picked up from my friend over at Everything Beautiful - I was getting lazy with planning this stuff :-)  The Cookies and the Trifle I'll make over the weekend to enjoy and for lunches; than later in the week the kids and I will make some Apple Crisp; I also want to get back into making breads now that it is cooler - they are great for snacks, breakfast or to send with my husband in his lunch! (depending on how they all turn out, I promise to share recipes soon!)

Finally, I want to give a shout-out to another blog I follow called Confessions of a Homeschooler.  Once a month she shares her family monthly menu.  I decided to use it this month as a guide.  Several of the recipes I'm using this week came from her site/menu but it also helps me think of related dinners/lunches that I could make based on her list.  I decided to try this for a month and see how I do.  I was kinda getting into a rut again and was getting bored with planning meals.  I start to get overwhelmed with recipes after awhile and need to take time again to figure out what we truly love, what are for special occasions and what we need to get rid of! 

Wait, there is another finally :-) I'm back into the perfect cookie search!  I did this about a year ago and had fun with it but than, it got hot out.  I have a couple fantastic cookie recipes but so many I try we don't really care for.  I now have THE perfect Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe so I am tossing all of the others we kinds liked; and now I'm in search of the perfect Oatmeal cookie. (thus the choice this week). 

Now, that is FINALLY all for this post!

(recipes in this pretty font .  .. I promise to share later . . if they are good !)