Menu Planning

I'm a planner...a lot would say I over plan, but I would prefer to call it being prepared (probably from Girl Scouts in my early years).  I don't over plan, I just like to know what's gonna happen in my life and I can TOTALLY be spontaneous (as my cousin, Laura, can testify to...mention I can't drive 55" to her and she'll know exactly what you're talking about).

So when I posted on Facebook, this weekend, about my having planned a month's worth of meals, gathered a shopping list and shopped for that month, there was a lot of curiosity and interest in how to do it.  So, I decided to write this blog to address all of the questions in one place.

First, if the thought of planning and shopping for multiple meals has you asking..."How?", then please start small.  I planned for 28 days...that's a HUGE elephant for someone to consume if you're only used to planning a few days or week in advance.

I use Pinterest....A LOT!  Yes, I'm addicted, but it's fun and makes menu planning and cooking so much more fun.  Also, I LOVE TO COOK!  It's therapeutic for me, which I think makes the whole planning process easier.  However, I've gotten to a point where shopping is a big pain in the tush.  People have become so rude and self-centered, and I just have no patience for it.  My need for daily therapy, though, outweighs the stress of shopping, and I have a new way of purging the shopping toxins from my system after I've had to endure the sights that no eye soap can remove, but that's a blog for another time....I'll just say essential oils and leave it at that for now.

Soooooo.......to get on with answering the questions.  No, I don't have any fancy equipment to accomplish the daily task of cooking dinner.  There is no magic formula for developing a menu that will work for your family.  Yes, I do freeze.  Yes, I do try new things and they crash and burn, but I just nix that recipe (I really need to create a Fail board on my Pinterest), and we move on to something else.  So here are my suggestions:

1.  Get on Pinterest.  Follow me if you'd like or don't.  Doesn't matter.  If you do, however, be prepared for me to Pin your food (and other) ideas....hey, it's all about sharing, right?!

2.  Get to know your computer's spreadsheet program.  I use Office Libre (which is just like and compatible with Microsoft Excel).  I create one worksheet for my menu and one for my shopping list.

3.  Determine how many days you want to plan for.  Pull out your calendar and look to see what you've got going on that week.  If you have a late staff meeting, then plan something quick and easy for that night's dinner.  Slow cookers are awesome for this and so are time bake options on ovens...do not be afraid to use it.

4.  Breakfast.  EVERYONE should eat breakfast.  It's what gives your body the energy to make it through until lunch.  Just do it.  At our house, we do one of two things....leftovers from the weekend or breakfast sandwiches, but we treat ourselves to McDonald's on Friday mornings.  There are 2 of us, the that's 8 sandwich rounds (1/person/day), 8 slices cheddar cheese, 16 oz deli ham (2 oz/sandwich).  Sandwich rounds come 8 to a package, the deli ham I purchase comes in 16 oz packages, the cheddar slices come 18 to a package.  Weekends, the most requested breakfasts are biscuits w/sausage gravy and pancakes.  I make everything from scratch, so I make sure I purchase flour and sugar every time I buy groceries.  

5.  Lunches during the school year are pretty easy because Hannah eats at school (except Rise 'n Shine Friday when we usually sneak out to have lunch together or as we have done lately, get Subway the evening before and have lunch in my classroom together).  I usually take leftovers that I have portioned out and/or frozen from previous meals.  On occasion, we will have homemade "lunchables".  Basically, it's string cheese or cheese sticks, 2-3 oz deli meat and 6 or 7 crackers (I put those in a ziploc to keep them fresh), carrot sticks and a granola bar.

6. Dinner.  This can be a huge task for some, especially if it's been a long, tiring day and you've got children clinging to your ankles about to evaporate from starvation because, let's face it, school lunches just aren't what they used to be......

Hannah is old enough, now, that she is responsible to cook one meal a week.  She is very open to learning how to cook new things and she has given me creative freedom to plan and choose simple things for her to cook.  She cooks for us on Thursdays, so I make sure to plan something really simple at least once per week.  I don't plan for specific meals on specific days, that's why I like planning more than a week at a time...more variety, more flexibility (to me, anyway).

I do, from time to time, pre-prep and freeze meals so they can be cooked immediately when we get home or can be easily thrown together, but there are some things that just can't be done that way, and that's okay, too.  I try to pair things in a such a way that not every thing we're having for one dinner takes a huge amount of time to prepare.  If we're having cheeseburgers for dinner, I will do oven fries or corn-on-the-cob so I can devote my time and attention to preparing and grilling the burgers.  I'll wash and cut the potatoes for the fries and soak them in water overnight, pat them dry, spray them with cooking oil grind sea salt over the top and shove them into the oven.  Then I can focus on the burgers.  Corn-on-the-cob can be wrapped in foil (with your favorite flavorings) and put in the slow cooker in the morning and they'll be ready by the time you get home.

7.  Freezing.  Most leftovers freeze very well, some, not well AT. ALL.  If I'm making something I know doesn't freeze well, I prepare myself to portion the leftovers to take for lunch or to have for leftovers later in the week.  A few weeks ago, I took 4 hours on a Saturday that Hannah was with her dad and prepped meals for the entire week.  I put together ingredients for hamburger stew, vacuum sealed them and put them in the freezer.  I prepped ingredients for chicken pot pie, vacuum sealed and froze them.  Cooked toppings for pizza, Ziploc and froze.  Made spaghetti sauce, Ziploc and froze.  That was 4 "meals" for 7 days because I knew we would eat leftovers for the other 3.  Some made enough to freeze for leftovers the following week (stew, chili and soup are good for this, especially, however, if it is a soup with pasta, the pasta might be a little over-done if you thaw and reheat it. Keep in mind to always cook your pasta al dente, especially if you're going to have leftovers.)

Keep in mind.  If cooking is not your favorite thing to do, keep it simple.  One of Hannah's favorite things for dinner is grilled cheese and tomato soup (which I've not yet mastered to make from scratch), so it's butter 4 slices of bread, slap on some Velveeta 2% and open a can of Campbell's Tomato Soup (I always add milk to help cut the acidity). 

Here are pics of my menu and shopping list spreadsheets I have set up on Office Libre (Microsoft Excel).

Hope this has been helpful. Happy planning!!!

Life's Afflictions

I have not a single problem admitting my afflictions.  I am a chocoholic and addicted to coffee.  I LOVE coffee. I could bathe in it!  I don't NEED coffee to wake up, drinking coffee is an extra-sensory experience for me.  It's equivalent to climbing into a hot tub after a long, grueling trip when your muscles are tight and tired and your brain has turned to mush.  Yes, it's like that.

Another of my addictions is t-shirts...I discovered this a few weeks ago as I was purging my closet of clothes that I can no longer wear or have not worn in over a year.  Half of my closet is t-shirts...I do not plan on getting rid of them...I love them...they are a part of me...oh, and 5 of them are tie-dye...yes, I plan on getting more t-shirts and you can probably bet your next paycheck on the fact that the majority will be tie-dye...the more colorful, the better.

One affliction that I'm not so proud of, but yet will readily admit to is procrastination. Sometimes I procrastinate simply because life is so busy that I can't even muster the energy to think about doing something other than sitting in the recliner and mindlessly cruising through Pinterest.  Sometimes, the thought of dealing with something is so overwhelming that my brain shuts down...THIS reason apparently, is what prompted a conversation with my 9-year-old and trying to talk her out of thinking she needs to, prematurely, step into the world of womanhood.

Hannah has been saying, for a few months now, that she needs a bra...she's NINE!  No way, no how, just, simply NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 Last summer, I had a hysterectomy and very gently tried to explain to her what was going to happen and why.  Sorry, but after the divorce and seeing her dad go through a gamete of issues, I am trying to protect her innocent childhood for as long as I can.  I'm not ready to explain all those horrific things she's going to have to deal with.  Yes, I know time flies and the clock is ticking...quite loudly in my left ear, if you must know.  Anyway, my first attempt at explaining my surgery was somewhat of a failure because she expressed concern that it was her fault. What???????  "Yes, Mommy.  If you hadn't had me, you wouldn't have to do this surgery." as the tears started to flow.  So, a different approach and all was well.

Yesterday, as she was getting ready to go to a birthday party, she just blurted it out, again.  

Hannah:  Mommy!  You neeeeed to get me a bra!

Me: No, Hannah, I do not.

Hannah: Yes, Mommy, you do.

Me:  Hannah, do you remember those tank tops I've bought for you with the built-in "bra" and how you wouldn't wear them because the felt weird?

Hannah: Yes, but...

Me: Well, a bra is going to feel 100 times more weird, so why is a bra different from those tank tops?

Hannah:  Because, Mommy, I didn't have fat boobies back then.

Me:  <> Oh, LORD, PLEEEEAAASE help me!!!!!!!!!!!! (as I side-step out her bedroom door).  Fine! Next time we go shopping, you're gonna try them on and you'll see...

I meant it, LORD, please help me!  This is NOT the part I'm ready for!!! 

Dinner and Kids Movie Night-"Garfield, The Movie"

As many children are, we are really into talking animal movies, "Dr Doolittle," the "buddies" movies, "Marmaduke," etc.  Today, the Bug pulled out one we hadn't watched in a while: "Garfield, The Movie" (rated G) with Bill Murray as the voice of Garfield, Breckin Meyer as Garfield's owner, Jon and Jennifer Love Hewitt as the veteranarian and former classmate of Jon.

My creative juices began flowing and I came up with a fun, kid~friendly menu that is also healthy and pleasing to adults. I would even get the kiddos involved in creating this wonderful dinner!  We would start by making our dessert since it is fun, messy and will give the kids incentive to create and eat their dinner.  Here's the menu:

Garfield's Gourmet Lasagna Soup
Doggie Bone Breadsticks
Veteranarian Veggies
Odie~Chow (dessert)

Here are the recipes:

Lasagna Soup (modified from http://www.afarmgirlsdabbles.com/2011/03/24/lasagna-soup/)

Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients for the soup:

2 tsp. olive oil
1-1/2 lbs. Italian turkey sausage links (casings removed)
3 c. chopped onions
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp. dried oregano
2 T. tomato paste
1 28-oz. can crushed tomatoes
2 bay leaves
6 c. chicken stock
8 oz. bow-tie pasta
1/2 c. finely chopped fresh basil leaves
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

for the cheesy yum:

8 oz. whipped cream cheese
1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp. salt
pinch of freshly ground pepper

additional cheesy yum:

2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

Preparation:

Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add sausage, breaking up into bite sized pieces, and brown for about 5 minutes. Add onions and cook until softened, about 6 minutes. Add garlic, oregano, and red pepper flakes. Cook for 1 minute. Add tomato paste and stir well to incorporate. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the tomato paste turns a rusty brown color.

Add diced tomatoes, bay leaves, and chicken stock. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil and add uncooked pasta and cook until al dente. Do not over cook or let soup simmer for a long period of time at this point, as the pasta will get mushy and absorb all the soup broth. You may even want to consider cooking the noodles separately, and then adding some to individual bowls before ladling the soup over them. This would be an especially smart move if you are anticipating any leftovers. Right before serving, stir in the basil and season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

While the pasta is cooking, prepare the cheesy yum. In a small bowl, combine the cream cheese, Parmesan, salt, and pepper.

To serve, place a dollop of the cheesy yum in each soup bowl, sprinkle some of the mozzarella on top and ladle the hot soup over the cheese.

Doggie Bone Breadsticks (from http://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/breadstick-bones/)
1 can (7 oz) Pillsbury® refrigerated breadsticks (6 breadsticks)
1 egg white, beaten
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon dried basil leaves

Heat oven to 375°F. Spray cookie sheet with cooking spray. Unroll dough; separate at perforations into 6 breadsticks. Roll each until 12 inches long. Loosely tie knot in both ends of each breadstick; place on cookie sheet (do not twist).

Brush breadsticks with egg white. Sprinkle with cheese and basil.

Bake 12 to 14 minutes or until golden brown.

Veteranarian Veggies

Really as easy as you can make it...if your family likes salad, then mix up a nice colorful salad with Romaine, baby Spinach, shredded red cabbage, grated carrots and any other veggies you like to toss in...if your kiddos are like mine and not that keen on the "rabbit food," set out a few carrot and/or celery sticks or whatever raw veggies your family might like.

Odie~Chow (aka Puppy Chow, Muddy Buddies)

If you're in a hurry, you can simply purchase the Chex Mix version Muddy Buddies, but if you've got a little more time and an adventurous side, grab the kiddos and head to the kitchen. From http://www.chex.com/Recipes/RecipeView.aspx?RecipeId=45860&CategoryId=447

9	cups Rice Chex®, Corn Chex® or Chocolate Chex® cereal (or combination)
1	cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2	cup peanut butter
1/4	cup butter or margarine
1	teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2	cups powdered sugar

1.	Into large bowl, measure cereal; set aside.
2.	In 1-quart microwavable bowl, microwave chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter uncovered on High 1 minute; stir. Microwave about 30 seconds longer or until mixture can be stirred smooth. Stir in vanilla. Pour mixture over cereal, stirring until evenly coated. Pour into 2-gallon resealable food-storage plastic bag.
3.	Add powdered sugar. Seal bag; shake until well coated. Spread on waxed paper to cool. Store in airtight container in refrigerator.

Movie Night Fun

A favorite thing to do when the weather does not allow us to be outside in the evening is to have a family movie night. We don't do this every night because we concentrate on homework, laundry and housekeeping responsibilities during the week.  Movie nights are reserved for weekends. Occasionally, we'll have an all-day movie marathon on a rainy or snowy Saturday or Sunday (or if there happens to be a snowday calling off school).

I want to make these viewing experiences more than plopping down in front of the television and shoving popcorn in our faces, so my goal for 2013 is to come up movie night themes.  Some of these will be fun, movie night themes for the kiddos and some will be more geared for grown-ups, depending on the movie of the week.  I will also try to coordinate some of the according to the season or holiday of the month.

With that said, I will take this week to plan next weekend's movie night theme after my Bug returns home and chooses our movie for the weekend.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

WOW! What an ending to this year. Back in the classroom, teaching 4-yr-olds, has allowed me time to spend with my sweet, baby girl who just turned 7! 

My Oklahoma State Cowboys had an AWESOME season and will top it off with a win at the Fiesta Bowl on January 2nd.  GO POKES!!!!!

I have a renewed desire to start writing again. I don't know where that will lead or how long it will take to get there, but my ADD brain needs some sort of outlet, so off I go into the novella world.



I want to dedicate this blog more to the activities and adventures in my classroom as well as to our family adventures. In addition, I want to determine how to "monetize" the blog in an attempt to supplement this teacher's salary.  So, to get that started, I will need to start my lesson planning for the new year.

As for today, it's laundry, cleaning house and gearing up for a family New Year's celebration complete with snack foods prepared from recipes in my new "Hungry Girl" and "Biggest Loser" cookbooks; the hubs will head to the bedroom to read and Hannah and I will probably watch a movie or two.  I'll ring in the new year by watching the ball drop around the world and top it off with finishing story #2 in "An Amish Christmas" novella collection.

Tomorrow is a new year and a new start. I go in hopeful and anxious to see what 2012 will bring.

May you all have a safe celebration and

most prosperous,

blessed 2012!

Extreme Couponing

It's the latest craze in grocery shopping...extreme couponing. I could soooo become an addict, very quickly, but thanks to inheriting my father's frugality AND due to the fact that we live 20 minutes from the closest town which has only two grocers, I am at a loss to practice the program the exact way it is intended.  I somewhat envy my friends who

live in that town and others who live in towns surrounding our little Ghost Town who travel an hour to the nearest metro area to trek from Wal-Mart to Target to Aldi to Walgreens to CVS to Rite Aid and so on... in order to maximize their booty!

I am a very organized shopper. I go through local ads, make out my menu for the weeks I'm buying for (I usually shop two weeks at a time), then I clip coupons according to what I need . . . I don't typically purchase insane amounts of one product because we simply do not have the storage space.  I once had extreme coupon envy and, therefore, was fantasizing about moving to a larger house with a full basement where I could coupon until the cows come home and store all of my loot in the basement . . . then that frugal thing kicked in and, well, the fantasy evaporated like the rain that has not gotten past 30,000 feet this summer!

You see, when this family makes a trip to the city, it's a full day . . . we start early, hit a few stores (one of which HAS to be the local Christian book store where Mountain Man spends hours on end making lists of books he wants to purchase and/or read), then we head to lunch with the in-laws, then it's back to more shopping, leaving groceries to the last stop so all the frozen goods aren't completely thawed and in the beginning stages of cooking by the time we get home.  So, needless to say, we're tired by lunchtime, then since we usually eat down-home cookin', like Swadley's BBQ, for lunch. We all know what happens when our bellies are full of good food and we're already tired . . . you get the picture! So by the time we make it to our usual grocery spot in the city, we're all flat worn out, patience is hanging by a raveling thread and when everyone goes, we have to travel down every isle in the store and make more lists of things we want to buy or put on our birthday/Christmas lists. 

Now, tack on the fact that it is summertime in Oklahoma . . . especially this summer with it's incessant heat and weeks on end of 100+ degree weather . . . the more we can stay away from the concrete jungle, the better off we all are because when this mama starts melting, everything in my sight melts . . . it ain't a purty site!!! With that said, I am happy to stick to my usual plan of shopping with the small-town grocers and say that I am perfectly content with making out my list of things I need and searching for coupons on those items. It still gives me the thrill of the hunt and the victory of a kill, yet saves me the anxiety of driving into the city with husband and six-year-old in tow, navigating through the insatiably outrageous traffic. Staying out of the city will create less traffic in the metro areas, leaving more room for my couponing friends who have hit the extreme isle with a vengeance!

So, fellow couponers, happy couponing and for those of you who have the science of extreme couponing down to an art, clip on!

Easter Weekend 2011

As I sit here writing, I can hear the rain pouring from the guttering on the front porch. It seems that I may be going through some sort of mid-life something-or-other...I wouldn't necessarily call it a "crisis" as so many do. I have no desires to run out and buy a convertible sports car or run off to Vegas, unannounced, leaving my husband and daughter behind...I can't imagine going anywhere without them, nor can a envision myself driving around the back roads of Ghost Town, Oklahoma, USA, top laid back, wind blowing through my hair as I inhale the choking clouds of dust that engulf me at every spring gust the Oklahoma plains can muster.

No, its more a yearning for times past...simpler times...times of childhood where there were no worries and each day was as carefree as the day before. Not that I want to be that young again, just that I wish I could share that time with my daughter. 

Countless Easter weekends spent on the Horse Creek section of Grand Lake O' the Cherokees with my family...coloring Easter eggs in the "kitchen" of Grandpa and Grandma Puckett's fifth-wheel; playing cards and other games inside, waiting out the rain so we could go do...something...even if it was just a walk across the highway to Bernice Point or up the hill and around to Indian Hills Resort on the Creek side of the Bridge; or simply sitting in the swing on the screened porch sipping on hot cocoa or coffee or hot tea and enjoying the quiet serenity of a good, old-fashioned Oklahoma spring thunderstorm.

Today, though, it is Easter 2011. Not unlike many other Sunday afternoons, the house is quiet except for the occasional rumble of thunder or resounding, yet peaceful snores of father and daughter lost in their weekly after church nap. It is Easter, once again, and yet it's the same...or is it?  I sit here enjoying the freedoms and blessings God has endowed our family with...a roof over our heads to shelter us from the storms that rage outside and a faithful, loving God who saves me, time and time again, from the storms that rage within.  Yes, we serve a risen Saviour who dies on the cross for each and every one of us and yet he died only for me, only for you and would have done so if I were the only one. That he loved me so much, centuries before I was even but a glimmer in His eye, He bore those stripes for me, His flesh was pierced for me, the Veil was torn for me! What mortal man would have suffered and bled and died without argument, without fighting for his own life? Any mortal man would have succumbed to death just from the torture He endured leading up to His crucifixion...all for the wrongs of another?!?! All that considered, how can anyone question His purpose, His existence? And yet, on this day, thousands of years ago, He overcame the torture, the shame; death gave way to victory so you and I could live forever!

"For God so loved the world that He gave
His one and only Son, that whoever believes
in Him shall not perish but have eternal life."

John 3:16NIV