I’m joining up with I’m an Organizing Junkie with this monthly menu. I’m a little under the weather as I type this – also had my parents here this weekend so I’m running behind on getting my May menu up. April was the first time I tried writing up a menu for the whole month.  Previously, I just wasn’t interested.  Well that mindset has completely changed.  I’m LOVING it.  Having an assigned day for certain types of foods simplifies the choosing of recipes.  Elk on Monday, Italian on Tuesday, Hamburger meat on Wednesday and so on.  You can read about it here in my post called Monthly Menu Plan for April where I explain the whole process of how I make my monthly menu plans. From…

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Last week’s menu had Great Grandma’s Beef Pie on the list.  I did finally make it and after tasting it, I wondered why I thought I’d never had something like this before.  I’m sure I have; it wasn’t near as awful as I thought it might be.  It was actually very good – more of a down-home, warm and cozy type of meal.  It probably won’t be a regular on our table but it’s not something I would completely avoid in the future either.  I actually took a picture of it. Here’s the filling… And here it is after the pie was assembled and cooked. I did make the  Pork Souvlak & Chopped Greek Salad.  It was easy to make and one that I wouldn’t hesitate serving to guests.  The…

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With Last week’s menu plan the Drip Beef and Pasta Carbonara, both from Pioneer Woman, were well received.  I have to admit that I, myself wasn’t overly impressed with the Pasta Carbonara so I’ll probably look for another version of this recipe. Because of our trip to Tucson last week, I didn’t make some of the meals I had planned; so I will be using them this week.   Monday – Great Grandma’s Beef Pie (THIS recipe shows up again.  I didn’t get to avoid this all together. ) Tuesday – Curried Spinach & Chickpea Soup – recipe found in the magazine Clean Eating Wednesday – Salisbury Steak, Thursday – Pork Souvlak, Chopped Greek Salad Friday – Carne Mechada, Rice, Beans Saturday – Hamburger Cook-out with our church at a little lake nearby…

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 With last week’s menu, I got a few keepers.  Monday I didn’t cook since I was running errands all day, so our menu started on Tuesday when we enjoyed the grilled bass with special seasonings that had an oil/butter combination brushed on during cooking, although I’m pretty sure I forgot the oil.  This was a big hit although I’m not sure if it was the seasonings or the bass being grilled. The Italian Sausage Soup with Tortellini was a very big hit and the Mexican Lasagna was really nice for a change, too.  I think the Mexican Lasagna tasted similar to having enchiladas but using black beans changed it a bit.  It was super easy to make and will be a keeper for my recipe box.  So outside of…

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I am so so happy with the monthly menu plan I put together a little over a week ago.  I didn’t have to think all week long about what Iwas having for supper and I didn’t feel boxed in by having my meals planned out.  I almost made everything on the list – we ended up having left-overs from the previous week on Monday so that threw all my meals off by a day, so we skipped Thursday’s plan of having BBQ Chicken & rice.  That worked out okay since the chicken was frozen. For today I had Beef Pie planned but some friends at our church gave us a nice amount of bass fish and so I’m substituting the beef pie for that.  Is there a reason why…

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I did it!  I actually set down and figured out a menu for the whole month of April.  The first 3 weeks went quickly but figuring out the 4th week took the longest.  As I have a tendency to do, I wrote out mostly all new recipes.  I have a weakness that way.  I have some tried and true recipes but I find that many recipes are just mediocre and I’d rather move along to something else.  Of course many times I tend to fall back on those meals I can cook easily without a whole lot of effort. What helped me the most in planning this menu was having the categories for each day in place. Sunday – a make ahead meal or something that can be…

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We’re leaving for a youth camp in Ohio on Thursday, so not much cooking will be going on this week.  Monday Supper – Tacos Tuesday Elk Steaks, mashed potatoes, artichokes (from Zachary’s garden), salad, cornbread Wednesday Leftovers – have to clean out the refrigerator before we head out Elk Steaks, mashed potatoes, artichokes from Zachary’s garden

Last week Zachary & Serenity made breakfast all week long.  They set their alarm and got up at 6a.m. and had it ready by 7!  Usually we eat at 8-8:30 so this was quite an adjustment for me.  Serenity was pretty tired by the end of the week, missing that extra hour of rest in the morning time.  Zachary is an early bird so it was not unusual for him.  This week I’m back on breakfast duty.  This week things needed to be simple since my friend and her kids will be spending most of the week with us.  We’re going to be busy sewing (besides LOTS of jabbering) so I don’t want to make things too time consuming in the food department.  Hmmm, what…

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Last week we tried a few new recipes.  The Olive Garden Salad and Dressing was excellent and is something I will make again.  The Quick Beef Wraps and Thai Cucumber Salad (both from Healthy in a Hurry by Company’s Coming) were good but did not wow me enough to want to make again – especially the Quick Beef Wraps.  I didn’t get to make the Honey Gingered Salmon on Friday since I was missing a few ingredients.  So we had broiled salmon instead.  This weeks menu notes… Monday – Beef Stroganoff (a new recipe) Tuesday – Green Chile Enchiladas (using leftover sauce), Salad Wednesday – Cheesy Chicken Vermicelli (a new recipe that Laura at I’m an Organizing Junkie tried and gives a thumbs up to), Salad, Bread? Thursday – Pinto Beans (we…

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