Meal Plans Week of 10-11-09

Almost mid October already. I love fall and all the food that goes with it. I just wish it didn't get so cold so quickly. And that it wasn't so rainy. Makes it tough to get out and enjoy it. Last week was busy and a little chaotic with Rebecca having such a rough time sleeping (up late, up early, hardly napping...lots of afternoon walks to get her a little sleep). So I had a few late nights to try to keep up and even then didn't quite get everything done I had hoped. I only managed to squeeze in one different breakfast. I just didn't have time any other morning to prepare something. I have 2 breakfasts planned for this week again. We'll see if it happens or not. This will be another busy week. Lots of prep ahead and easy meals. Monday I need to get to Target. Otherwise we'll be out of diapers soon :P And Justin has council in the evening. Tuesday is the last day of our farmer's market. I ended up not going again last week b/c of the weather and timing. So I really want to get there this week to stock up on a few things. I also have to return some library books and go grocery shopping. And Justin needs an early dinner since he has to meet with his group for class work. Wed. is Kindermusik and maybe some catch up. Thursday Justin has class. I haven't planned anything for Rebecca and me yet. I'll see how things are going later in the week and what the weather is like. Maybe another trip to the library. Maybe some baking. Friday I have MOPS and I have to get some bloodwork done to retest my thyroid. Justin has council retreat in the evening. And he has council retreat all morning on Saturday. So we'll be plenty busy. And Rebecca and I will be on our own almost every evening. Which means I can't get much done. So I'm trying not to plan too much.

Last week I did a couple batches of pearsauce...1 regular and 1 apple pear. I also dried some pears. I had intended to make chocolate covered bananas, but realized my chocolate chips were getting old. So they wouldn't melt. I still froze the bananas. We'll see if I have time to do the chocolate part this week. This week I also want to start working on applesauce and dry some apple slices. I'm hoping to get a bunch of sweet potatoes at the farmer's market and freeze them - fries, chunks and pureed. And I want to get a bunch of peppers to freeze. We have a few of our own, but not enough to last the winter. That will keep me plenty busy I think. If there is extra time or I want to do a baking project with Rebecca maybe I'll make some muffins to have for breakfast some morning.

I still have to order chicken. Hopefully I'll have a few minutes to call about that this week. And I'm still researching milk. It's tempting to go for raw. But it's also quite expensive. We'll ee.

On to the meals:

S - (early workout, prep dinner, church, organize Rebecca's drawers, family time, change sheets, prep veggies for meals later in the week, freeze peppers) - slow cooker italian chicken lentil stew, corn muffins (from freezer) (lunch); chicken, corn and goat cheese quesadilla (Justin), leftover squash (me) (dinner)
M - (make applesauce, dry apple slices, Target, put away laundry, Justin has council) - cherry vanilla oatmeal (breakfast), tacos (dinner)
T - (can applesauce, dry apple slices, library, farmer's market, Meijer, early dinner - Justin has class stuff) - salad topped w/ chicken, avocado, cheese, cashews, peas, mushrooms, croutons
W - (early workout, prep dinner, Kindermusik) - maple dijon chicken over rice
Th - (freeze peppers, prep bbq lunch for Justin - he has a work thing, make chocolate covered bananas, make grahams, Justin has class) - blueberry walnut banana bread, apple slices (breakfast), salad (dinner)
F - (early workout, bake squash for Fri. and Sat. dinners, MOPS, clean, thyroid check, Justin has council retreat) - egg puffs, fresh fruit, broccoli
S - (laundry, clean, Justin has council retreat until noon, Kevin visiting) - steak, roasted buttercup squash, green beans