Thursday, March 20, 2008

Snow & Menus

I just went to the door to take some pictures. I am amazed at how much snow has already melted off from this morning. The ground was covered this morning. I guess the beautiful sunshine is doing its job. It is currently 36 degrees. The high today is supposed to be 43. Here are some pictures of the snow we got.


Here are our three little calves. The spotted one is a jersey heifer (girl). The other 2 are jersey steers (used to be a boy). =) The darker steer belongs to the Wonderful Neighbors. When the snow got so deep last week, these guys just stepped over their fence and decided to wander. The cow patrol was on the alert though and got them back in.


I actually made out a menu for the month of March. It is a tool that I use. I don't always stick to it, but instead of opening the freezers and the fridge many times hoping something will jump out at me (if it ever literally did that, I would die on the spot), I have ideas right there before my eyes. =) I have done pretty good this month. My stomach was a bit weird the last couple of days. Everything I ate seemed to cause distress. I am feeling more like myself today. Yesterday, I put a ham bone and some soaked Great Northern beans in the crock pot on high all day. It smelled so good and the men said it tasted wonderful. I did not dare eat any. I had a small bowl of yogurt and some crackers. Tonight is Mexican night at our house. We are supposed to have black beans and rice. However, beans 2 nights in a row might not be the best choice.

Everyone has their own way of doing things, but sometimes by sharing, we can learn from one another. We live simply. We eat simply. A menu for a whole month is a good thing for us. I have a calendar program on my computer. I print off a monthly calendar and then pencil in the supper meals. If I had a larger family or had to feed people every day at lunch and dinner, I might do it different. To fill out my menu, I broke it down even farther. I made Monday night to be breakfast night. We have a traditional breakfast meal for supper. I made a list of all the breakfast meals I could think of. Then I choose enough to fill the Monday's on my calendar. There are pancakes, waffles, quiche, casserole, eggs - toast - and taters, etc. Tuesday night is pasta night. We have some sort of pasta dish. I made a list of those types of meals as well. I even include home made macaroni and cheese. We usually have some sort of meat with that. Wednesday night is soup night in any month where it is cool temperatures outside. In the summer, I try to come up with some sort of salad type meal or just anything goes. Thursday night is Mexican night. We love Mexican food, so we have it often. Friday night is either chili or pizza. We have been making our pizzas at home and really enjoying them. Saturday night is often a Dad meal. He likes to cook and he loves to grill in the warmer months. Sunday, we usually have a fellowship meal, so it is something that is good to share.

With a menu made up, I am able to buy ahead and not have to go to the store so often. What are some menu ideas from y'all??!!

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Oh. I was thinking that snow was on the menu. ;-)

Sharon said...

Your meal planning sounds a lot like mine. It is so much easier to designate a night for a certain type of food. One night is a chicken dish, another a beef, another soup, another beans, another pork...
I made a list of quick and easy meals also for those nights I might be too give out from the day. For lunches we usually have the leftovers.

The Sisters said...

Hi Marci,
Thanks for commenting on our blog!
Those were nice pictures of the snow that you all got.
The Menu planning sounds like a great idea.
~Have a great Day!

~Holly&Katie

VoiceInTheWilderness said...

The menu is a great idea. When we have some idea what we are going to eat, we are less likely to waste money eating out....

Plus, my children love having "fill-in-the-blank" night.

Robin J. said...

I really need to do something like this. I am barely keeping up these days. I "successfully" do cook every night, but sometimes I feel like I am just making it by the seat of my pants! I keep thinking, next week it will be slower. Unfortunately, next week NEVER is her.