Menu October 25 - 31

Working and cooking a healthy meal everyday is tough when everyones schedules get ridiculous. Convenience foods are popular for the very fact that they are "convenient." Sometimes things change unexpectedly or you just forget to take anything out of the freezer. Planning for these emergencies is the key to overcoming these hurdles. When I make spaghetti sauce, stews or soups I always try to make enough that I can freeze a container for a future meal. Noodles are another staple that can easily be made ahead and frozen. With a few other staples (broth, vegetables and leftover meat) homemade noodles turn cleaning out the refrigerator into an excellent last minute meal.

My husband tried his hand at noodles for the first time

ready to roll into noodles

enough noodles for one batch of chicken noodle soup

We made noodles Sunday and enjoyed chicken noodle soup for dinner and filled the freezer with homemade noodles that will turn leftovers into "Why don't you make this more often?"

Menu plan 10-25 - 10-31

Monday:

Meatball Hero

Tuesday:

French Dip Sandwiches

Wednesday:

Fresh Elk Steak with Mushroom Gravy, Mashed Potatoes, Vegie

Thursday: I'm leaving town, so it's kids' and hubby choice.

Burgers and Mac-n-Cheese

Friday:

Pumpkin Carving with the Neighbors

Saturday:

Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup

Sunday:

Poulet Saute a la Herbs de Provence(from Mastering the Art of French Cooking,) Rice Pilaf, Green Beans

Don't forget to visit Laura for more Menu Planning Monday

Where does your food come from? plus Menu Plan October 18-24

It's very easy to go to the grocery store and pick neatly packaged food and never consider where it came from. Fruits and vegetables are often coated with pesticides. Perservatives are added to all kinds of prepared foods. Beef and chicken are raised in factory farms that are unhealthy for the animals being raised there, the workers caring for the animals, and the communities surrounding them. I have been fortunate enough to have friends who are generous enough to let me keep animals at their place and who are ambitious enough to take on the process of taking those animals from the pen to the plate.
We spent last weekend butchering, plucking and packaging chickens and turkeys. We will spend next weekend doing the same thing. I chose not to post any graphic pictures, but the work is dirty, and there is not an easy way to complete the process.
The payoff for the work is chicken that I know was raised outside of a cage, with no antibiotics or hormones. I was invested in the lives of these animals and equally invested in their death. My children helped and I hope they will appreciate the food on their plates more as a result of this intimate connection. Do you know where your food comes from?

Turkey and chickens roaming the barnyard.

Chicken round-up

Plucking by hand is by far the worst part of the process. We will fabricate a small mechanical

plucker for next weekend

The lighter half of this post contains this week's menu plan.

Monday: Dad's gone so it's kid's choice! Homemade Corndogs and French Fries

Tuesday: Chicken Fettucine Alfredo, Salad

Wednesday: Beer Can Chicken, Foil Packet Potatoes, Vegies

Thursday: Shredded Beef Tacos (with leftover roast from last weekend), Rice and Beans

Friday: Pork Chops with Jalapeno Jelly, Homemade Applesauce, leftover Fettucine and Sauce
Saturday: Beans and Hamhocks, Cornbread

Sunday: Chicken Noodle Soup (with leftover beercan chicken)

My Alfredo recipe is very simple. Saute shallots in butter, and cream. Remove from heat and stir in parmesan. Sometimes I saute cubes of chicken in the butter and build the sauce from their, but I want to save a little sauce for later in the week so I'm grilling the chicken and adding it at the end this time.

For more menus and planning ideas, visit The Organizing Junkie.

Menu plan Oct 11 thru Oct 17

My menu planning has continued, but my bloging has fallen by the wayside. This fall has been super busy with work and school. We have enjoyed a few weekend outings with the kids, and now have all of our summer gear put up and begin the wait for the lakes to freeze so we can start ice fishing (it's really a lot more fun than it sounds like.) The farmers markets have ended and my canning is pretty much complete, now I'll focus on making Christmas gifts, both food and crafts.

This week's menu will continue the push to empy the freezer so we can fill it with the chickens and turkeys we plan to butcher this weekend.

Monday: Mushroom Swiss Burgers, Chips
Tuesday: Rum Marinated Chicken, Sauteed Vegies, Sweet Potato Fries
Wednesday: Roasted Beef and Barley Soup
Thursday: Tamales, Mexican Rice
Friday: Roast Chicken with Onions and Potatoes
Saturday: Crock Pot Roast
Sunday: Breakfast for Dinner Eggs Scrambled with Ham and Cheese, Hashbrowns

Don't forget to visit Laura for more MPM!