Good Mornings

I am not a morning person. I'd really like to be, but I don't expect that will ever happen. To get ready for back to school, I've tried to find ways to make school day mornings a little less stressful. Muffins will do for a quick breakfast in a pinch, but I prefer fruit, yogurt, or an egg. As hard as I try, I can't seem to make the time to fix a hot breakfast, and often finding a minute to sit and eat a container of yogurt is beyond me.

I have had a surplus of fresh fruit from my co-op basket so I used some of it to make advance preparations for back to school.

I cut up a banana, some mango, nectarines, and strawberries and put them in individual baggies and stashed them in the freezer. I can use these portions to make breakfast smoothies in a snap on busy mornings. With a little planning ahead, I can even put everything into the blender in the fridge the night before. With minimal effort on busy school day mornings, I'll have a healthy, portable breakfast.

Menu for Two Weeks and a Very Short Grocery List

My last co-op basket was loaded with all kinds of goodies, and I did my best to put them all to good use.

Apple Pie with Ginger Crumble

I love apple pie and this is one of my favorites. It is not overly sweet and the crumble topping adds interesting texture.

Insalta Rustica

This simple salad combines sweet fruit and salty prosciutto and Romano cheese. The lemon and olive oil dressing is a perfect compliment.

Cauliflower and Radish Salad

This salad was a summer staple. My mother made it with ranch dressing mix. I use my homemade ranch dressing instead. It's just like a vegie tray in a bowl.

I love picking up my basket. It's just like Christmas morning. I can't wait to get home and discover what surprises I'll find.

This time, the contents included: strawberries, nectarines, cantaloupe, bananas, mangoes, plums, baby heirloom tomatoes, fingerling potatoes (I think), onions, celery, romaine and green beans. I also picked up corn and flour tortillas.

I'm trying to keep my grocery budget low and make some room in my freezer. I planned the next two weeks menus relying mainly on the things I had on hand.

Saturday: Pork Roast, Rice Pilaf, Green Beans, Apple Cheddar Beer Bread

Sunday: Bacon, Onion, and Mushroom Pizza with Homemade Whole Wheat Crust, Strawberry Shortcake

Monday: Summer Garden Tortelloni, Fruit Salad. Baguette

Tuesday: Jerk Chicken with Mango Salsa, Red Beans and Rice

Wednesday: Picnic Dinner Chicken Caesar Salad Bagels

Thursday: Noodles with Roast Pork and Almonds (using leftovers from Saturday)

Friday: Grilled Steak Sandwiches, French Fries

Saturday: Chicken Marinated in Garlic Oil, Parmesan Noodles,

Sunday: Pork Spareribs, Corn on the Cob, Baked Beans

Monday: Chicken and Corn Tacos, Mexican Rice

Tuesday: Pork Chops, Apple Sauce, Vegie, Sour Cream and Thyme Rolls

Wednesday: Burgers and Chips

Thursday: Soup (Minestrone from the freezer) and Sandwiches

Friday: Steak, Foil Potatoes, Vegie, Apple Crisp

Saturday: Carne Guisada Burritos

I only needed a handful of groceries, mostly replenishing staple items like butter, brown sugar, and milk. I also needed a few fresh produce items that weren't in my basket. My grocery bill should be less than $100.

I'm done working until the end of August so I hope to put some meals into the freezer. I'd also like to make some muffins and other handy breakfast items for smoother school day mornings.

I haven't visited the Organizing Junkie in some time, but I will try to remember to link up to MPM on Monday.

Fruit and Vegie Basket Menu

In addition to falling off the blogging wagon, I have been less diligent about menu planning. I have noticed the fallout in my grocery budget, time I waste wandering around the store wondering what to fix for dinner and the ridiculous number off times we are eating at 8:30 or 9:00 because I did not take something out of the freezer in time to get it thawed by 5:00.

Meals have not been a total disaster. We went camping over the Fourth and enjoyed many fabulous camp breakfasts and dinners. We rocked the dutch oven and made cowboy breakfast, chicken and vegies, and apple crisp. The new fridge in our camper has a freezer and we were able to top the crisp with vanilla ice cream. That was the ultimate luxury!

Cowboy Breakfast

Sausage browned in the dutch oven, topped with hash browns, eggs and cheese and baked.

We also fixed one of my favorite campfire meals, braised cabbage. This simple, hearty meal is quick and easy to cook over a campfire. In a really big skillet, cook chopped bacon and onion until the onion starts to soften. Add a head of chopped cabbage and cook until the cabbage softens. I added leftover andouille sausage. You can also add diced tomatoes, roasted green chiles, bell pepper or anything else that you have on hand.

I picked up my co-op basket this morning and started planning my menu around it. This week I received:

6 bananas

1 pineapple

carton of button mushrooms

head of broccoli

head of cauliflower

7 apricots

4 Fuji apples

3 red pears

6 plums

4 large tomatoes

carton of figs

bunch of spinach

I also ordered an Asian basket that included:

big bunch of basil

garlic

napa cabbage

bok choy

snow peas

ginger

green onions

My upcoming menu looks very interesting. One of the most best things about the vegie basket is how excited my husband gets when I bring it home. He goes through its contents and always makes suggestions for dishes he would like. He did not recognize figs and has never had them before, but he was excited to learn how to fix them and suggested the stuffed pork idea. Coming from a man who could live on cheeseburgers and steak and potatoes, I am pretty impressed.

Saturday: Beer Can Chicken, Cauliflower and Radish Salad, Whole Wheat Dinner Rolls

Sunday: Asian Buffet including Beef with Broccoli and Mushrooms, Chicken and Bok Choy Stir-fry, Pickled Napa Cabbage, Potstickers, Rice

Monday: Chicken Succotash (with leftover chicken from Saturday,) Dinner Rolls

Tuesday: Whiskey Marinated London Broil, Foil Packet Potatoes, Spinach Salad, (Rolls if there are still any left)

Wednesday: Wednesday Night at the Nic, Picnic Dinner TBD

Thursday: Fig and Walnut Stuffed Pork Chops with Apricot Glaze

Friday: Pork Burgers, Potato Salad

Saturday: Western Barbeque at the Rodeo

Sunday: Baked Ziti, Tossed Salad

We don't eat dessert very often, so I'm struggling a little bit with using the plums and pears, but I'm sure I'll come up with something. My next goal is to try to remember to take pictures of these meals and share them here!