Skip to main content

Week 327 Menu: Last Week of Summer Break

Every blog post needs a photo, right?  We went to the Oregon Coast a few weeks ago and my sis-in-law and I went running on the beach.  We stopped for a picture.  I'm smiling, can't you tell?  

Hi everyone!  This is our last week of summer break.  My kids go back to school on Sept 1st.  I have mixed feelings about school starting.  It'll be a good thing, I think!

I went to middle school orientation for my 6th grade daughter last night and had more mixed feelings about it.  I had some flashbacks of my middle school experience, especially when I was sitting in the band room.  Weird.  I'm happy that my daughter's teachers seem really great and excited to be teaching.  But I wonder why some of the kids are trying to look and act like they're 16, when they're really only 11.  Seriously, don't grow up so fast!  

Anyway...I've been horrible at menu planning the last month or two for several reasons.
1.  My garden has been producing like crazy and I'm scrambling to keep up with all of it.  I've been blanching and freezing, and slicing and eating and trying to give away our extra green peppers, squash and zucchini and green beans.
2.  My husband has been on travel a few times.  Why make dinner that no one wants to eat, but me?  The kids didn't complain too much.
3.  I've still been trying to eat better and naturally lower my cholesterol.  Sometimes this causes my brain to freeze and I have a really hard time of thinking of things to make for dinner that don't include anything that I "shouldn't" eat.  Then we just end up eating cereal and oatmeal for dinner.
4.  We've gone on a few quick vacations in the last few weeks.  I'm still wishing that we were at the Oregon Coast (above picture).

After a really lame, late-night dinner of grab-what-ever-you-want-or-have-oatmeal after soccer practice and middle school orientation last night, I am determined to make a good menu for the rest of the week.  I'm also determined to grocery shop thoroughly for the meals and actually make them!  Wish me luck.

Menu time:

Tuesday:  fresh salmon (sweetly delivered to me from my neighbors) using this recipe, garlic mashed potatoes, fresh green beans from the garden

Wednesday:  grilled greek chicken, fresh garden veggies and homemade ranch, grilled naan from costco with a little garlic/butter (or actually smart-balance instead of butter...a little heart-healthier)

Thursday:  homemade grilled pizza, pepperoni for the kids, recreating this chicken and veggie pizza I posted on instagram a month or two ago.

Friday:  honey lime chicken enchiladas for the family and quinoa black bean honey lime enchiladas for me (I made these a month or so ago and posted a pic on instagram.  It was SOOO good!  I didn't miss the meat or cheese).  I'm going to be brave and make some green chile sauce from our pluthora of anaheim chiles from our garden.   Hopefully it's not too spicy.

Saturday:  easy night

Sunday:  balsamic beef kabobs, grilled veggies (most likely corn or green beans), grilled naan

Monday (Back-to-school Eve):  baked orange glazed meatballs, rice or quinoa, stirfried veggies (squash, green beans, sweet onions, carrots, etc.)

Phew, that was hard!  But it's so nice to have it all planned out!  What about you, what are you eating this week?  Are you back in school or still enjoying summer?

More from Jenny:
Facebook icon Instagram iconTwitter icon Email icon

Popular posts from this blog

One Hour Rolls

These rolls are amazing!  I've been making these rolls since 2001 when I was a newlywed and my sister-in-law shared the recipe with me.  The rolls are light, fluffy, easy to make and they only take one hour!  And delicious too!   I've made these rolls more times than I can count, so I've perfected the art of making them.  Here are some step-by-step instructions with pictures for you. Here's what you'll need.  I buy pretty much all of the ingredients in this recipe at Sam's club, thus the huge containers.  You need warm water, yeast, oil, sugar, salt, egg and flour. In the mixer bowl, add warm water (not hot), oil, sugar and yeast.  Mix together. After ten or fifteen minutes the yeast mixture should be puffed up like this.  Time to add the salt and beaten egg. Then mix in the flour.  (I've used a mixture of half wheat and half white flour successfully.) Keep adding flour until the dough is manageable.  It will be a little sticky, b

Don't like your house to smell like food? I've got a kitchen tip for that!

I have a smallish, one story house and if I cook food that is kind of smelly, like onions, the smell tends to linger in every room.  This is a pet peeve of mine and (also my husband's).  Over the years I've found a few ways to cook smelly food without smelling up the kitchen. Use your garage!   I use my garage quite often to cook things in.  I open the window and it airs out, especially when you open the garage door.  I'm sure my neighbors wonder what I'm cooking. I've used two different kitchen appliances in the garage:  my crockpot and my food dehydrator. Crockpot - I did this very thing today since I'm simmering chicken, onions, carrots and celery to make chicken noodle soup tonight.  I don't want my house to smell like onions all day, so I plugged it in on my husband's workbench.   Food dehydrator - when I make jerky, I plug the food dehydrator in in the garage.  I don't really want my house to smell like meat for hours

The Best French Bread I've Ever Made

This is the best french bread I've ever made.  I got this recipe from my friend, Nikki, who gave us some of this bread as a thank you for my hubby helping them move a piano.  I remember it being delicious and we gobbled it up fast.  I was intimidated for some reason by the recipe and waited a few years before I made it. We needed some bread for to make some turkey, provolone, avocado sandwiches, so I made some of this bread and it was perfect!  We sliced one loaf like they do at Subway.  Then later I made normal shaped sandwiches with the rest of the bread.  Delicious... light and fluffy and yummy! Update 2/22/12: This is still my favorite bread after making it for a year! It turns out perfect every time and it's gone in a flash! printable recipe French Bread recipe from my friend, Nikki Yield: 2 loaves   Ingredients 2 c. warm water 1 pkg (or 1 heaping Tbsp.) yeast 1/4 c. granulated sugar 1 T. olive oil