MPM- The Thankful Edition

I didn't even do my menu planning till this morning. Talk about last minute! We're off to Eureka again today for Wyatt's follow up to his knee surgery. The surgery went well and I'm anxious to see what the doctor has to say today. Our visiting family left on Saturday, it was so nice to have them here for Thanksgiving.
At 6:29 this morning (which is the current time as I type,) I can already feel a negative attitude coming on. Lack of sleep last night, too much to do today=my bad attitude. I'm thankful that I can recognize it coming because it gives me the opportunity to do something about it; to change my heart.
So today, I am going to try and think on all the things I'm thankful for. If I made a list here of all of them it would take pages and pages and go on and on, so instead I'll just share a couple (in no particular order.)

Today I am thankful for my Lord. His graciousness and patience never cease to amaze me.

I am thankful for our pig barn which is finally complete. I am thankful that I can walk into the barn instead of the pen and that I'm now not having to hand feed pigs 2x/day!

I am thankful for my children, each one! What a honor it is to raise them. Someone at church asked me yesterday how many children I had (she's new to our church) and when I said 4, she exclaimed, "4?? WOW." That caught me off guard. I guess it just shows how everyone is different. My though is, "4?? that's not enough!" Children are a gift, not a burden.

I am thankful for our home. That may sound cheesy but having a warm, dry home is a luxury that many don't have. Although it may be small, it keeps us warm and close.

I am thankful for menu planning! It keeps me more organized and helps to make our day run smoother. So, without further ado, here's this weeks plan:

Monday
Soaked Oatmeal
Grilled cheese and tomato soup
Pork Chops, homemade applesauce, buttermilk biscuits, broccoli, kraut
Tuesday
Soaked Oatmeal
Brown Rice cakes with raw honey and peanut butter, banana slices
Hash, cornbread, green beans, kraut

Wednesday
Soaked Oatmeal
Chicken and brown rice soup
Whole Chicken, brown rice, broccoli, peasant bread, kraut

Thursday
Soaked Oatmeal
Mini Pizzas, sliced apples
Chicken and dumpling soup

Friday
Soaked Oatmeal
Peanut butter and Jam sandwiches, yogurt, apple slices
Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, buttermilk biscuits, home canned corn, kraut

Saturday
Soaked Oatmeal
Packed lunch with leftover sandwiches to eat on our Christmas tree cutting adventure!

Dinner out for my SIL's birthday

Sunday
Eggs, Sausage, Toast
Sandwiches and apples for the drive home from church
Individual chicken pot pies, kraut

Have a fantastic week!

Thanksgiving MPM

This is going to be one crazy week at the homestead. My folks are driving up today (as I type) and are staying for a week. Tomorrow is Wyatt's knee surgery. Thursday is Thanksgiving which equals, spending all day in the kitchen. (Wait, how is that different than most days?) Any other spare time this week will be spent working on the pig barn. We have "Swine Lake" in the pig pen right now and it's not pretty.

My menu plan is a little different this week. I can already tell that it's gonna be a doozy seeing as last night I forgot to soak our oatmeal. Looks like we're having eggs this morning......good thing we have over 3 dozen in our fridge!

Monday

Eggs and spouted toast

Tomato soup and grilled cheese

Whole Roasted Chicken, peasant bread, broccoli

Tuesday

Soaked Oatmeal

Brown rice cakes with peanut butter and raw honey, sliced bananas

Whatever my mom makes! (We'll be out of town for Wyatt's surgery)

Wednesday

Soaked Oatmeal

Chicken and brown rice soup

Lasagna, peasant bread, green salad with homemade dressing

Thursday

Soaked Oatmeal

Mini Pizzas with sliced apples

Thanksgiving Dinner (with homestead organic, grass fed turkeys!)

Friday

Soaked oatmeal

Peanut butter and jam sandwiches, sliced apple, yogurt

Thanksgiving leftovers

Saturday

Soaked Oatmeal

Tuna Sandwiches with apples

Chicken Pot Pies

Sunday

Eggs, uncured bacon, buttermilk biscuits, gravy

Leftover sandwiches, yogurt

Venison Roast, baked potatoes, green salad with homemade dressing

Remember, if you ever have any questions about my meal plan or the food specifically, leave a comment and I'll be sure to respond.

May you have w onderful, blessed Thanksgiving!

Menu Plan Monday

I've been inspired. By a few different ladies. Menu planning.

I've actually been menu planning (half way) for over a year. I was planning our dinners but that was it. I've been encouraged though to plan all meals now. I'm not sure why I didn't do it before? Menu planning has always been helpful for me at dinner so why not at breakfast and lunch too? I was so organized in the afternoons preparing for dinner but at breakfast and lunch I was always scurrying around wondering, "What can I make? What do I have?"

Menu planning not only helps me to be more organized at home (which is something I can seriously lack once in a while) but it helps me grocery shop so that I'm making less trips to town. Less trips=saved money. Less time, less gas.

This sweet lady gave me the idea to plan my kids lunches. I have the week planned out and we eat the same thing every week. Easy for me, easy for the kids. She also inspired me with these.

Here's my meal plan for this week:

Monday

Soaked Oatmeal

Tomato soup and grilled cheese

Hash, buttermilk biscuits, home canned green beans, sauteed mushrooms

Tuesday

Soaked Oatmeal

Rice cakes with peanut butter and raw honey, sliced bananas

Chicken and Dumpling Soup

Wednesday

Soaked Oatmeal

Chicken and brown rice soup with carrots

Pork Chops, spinach raviolis, homemade applesauce

Thursday

Soaked Oatmeal

Mini pizzas with homemade buns, sliced apples

Spaghetti, peasant bread, green salad

Friday

Soaked Oatmeal

Peanut butter and jam sandwiches, sliced apples, whole milk yogurt

BBQ chicken, baked potatoes, home canned corn

Saturday

Soaked Oatmeal

Tuna sandwiches with apples

Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, canned corn, cornbread

Sunday

Soaked Pancakes, uncured bacon, maple syrup

Meatloaf sandwiches

Venison roast with potatoes and carrots, peasant bread

As you can see, we eat a lot of oatmeal for breakfast. We like it and it's easy. I'm thankful that I don't have a picky family to feed. Over the next few months I'll try to get up as many recipes as I can so that you can link to them if you'd like to try them out. I always love trying someone's tried and true recipe. It rules out the question, "Will this even be good??!"