There are 75 days between now and the end of the year and only 69 (! ahem*) days until Christmas.  I don’t point that out to make you feel stressed, but only to point out there are only 10 more menu plan Mondays for 2011!

Really, don’t be stressed.

But I’ve already bought four Christmas presents.

But no stress.

And now hate mail, mmkay?

I’m happy to accounce that last week we ate the LAST meal from our August Once a Month (or, really batch) cooking.  I’m not sure why it took us so long.  Wel, that’s not true.  I do.

True Once a Month cooking would never really work for us.  It’s not because it’s not a fantastic concept, but because Big Daddy and I like to play a little more on the fly when it comes to menu planning.  It means that, on Thursday, if I get a taste for chowder, we’re having chowder.  No matter how many meals are waiting in the fridge.

BUT, some things about OAMC cooking really is great.  We all loved having some pre-made breakfast and lunch options to change up what really become mundane meals.  AND, it means on busy nights, cooking is pretty easy.  Just remove dinner from the freezer the night before and reheat.  Easy peasy.  That convenience also keeps us from eating out which is why I’m going to stock up the freezer again.  Not because I “cook for a day and eat for a month” but because it keeps us on the straight and narrow (and out of the drive thru line).

The reason I worte all of that out is because this weeks menu will be pulled (and doubled for later eating) from the fabulous Once a Month Mom website. I’ll be honest.  I don’t look for my own OAMC recipes anymore.  Tricia offers FIVE different monthly plan and I”m sure to find enough we like over there.

Monday

Chicken Parmesan Meatloaf, and scalloped tomatoes

Tuesday

Salsa chicken over rice with veggies (We’ve made this dish in the past and it’s very good.  I serve it over rice as noted above, but you can eat them in Tacos or as a sammie, if you’d choose)

Wednesday

Meatballs and gravy with crash hot potatoes and veggies

Thursday

Chicken and stuffing bake, cranberry sauce and veggies

Friday

I plan to either eat something cooked by my Daddy OR cooked over a campfire

Saturday

Fabulous brew food with some great friends.

Sunday

Sausage Potato Casserole with corn bread

This week, I will also be making a batch Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice soup to stick int he freezer in individual portions to be eaten for lunches. I’ll be making up Early Morning Power Pitas for breakfast

* did you need further proof that I’m really a 12 year old boy??

**whenever possible, I substitute healthier options into our meals.  Ground turkey instead of ground beef.  2% cheese instead of whole milk cheese, light sour cream, etc.  I’m pretty picky about taste and these small substitutions do make a difference as far as fat and calories go without it making much difference in regards to taste.

Our new floors go in today.  I cannot tell you how excited I am that the turmoil the house has been in for the past two weeks is nearly over.  I posted to facebook that I’m not sure I can withstand a major home improvement project.    Two weeks of disorder has given me a near meltdown.

However, it has left room and time to organize some other parts of the house.  Thanks to a small washer issue (we have a front loader and the drain got clogged with the detritus from our pockets.  We unclogged the drain, but put the plug back in wrong and flooded the laundry room and part of the kitchen.  Thank goodness for ceramic tile.  Big Daddy and I spent Saturday night scrubbing every inch of the laundry room and educating the Princess on the proper laundry room sweeping techniques*) and I’m pretty sure you can eat off of every surface.

I also organized our pantry…

and the spice cabinet….

…and the arts and crafts drawer and cabinet.

I think this might be launching me into a full house purge/clean/reorganize.  I’ll let you know.  I might peter out first.  ;)

The little girls and I are going to be as sparse as possible around the house today as the floorers do their job, but I made sure I made time to write out the menu plan..

Monday

Baked Potato Soup (a carry over from last week)

Tuesday

Unstuffed Pepper Bake (a carry over from our Once a Month Session done in August)

Wednesday

Garlic Cheddar Chicken and Briami (hey!  It’s been a while!  I know I sand the praises of this dinner int he spring, but I want to do it again.  You could use any combination of veggies (I may add carrots this time and reduce the amount of potatoes), but it’s warm, hearty and filling)

Thursday

Leftover Chicken and Sausage Penne from our last Once a Month session

Friday

Smoked Pizzas.

Big Daddy and I have found that while slow roasted meats like pork shoulders and brisket are AMAZING, there are many shorter smoking time meals we can enjoy on week nights.  Burgers are a favorite as is chicken but smoked pizza is not to overlooked, if you have a smoker.

Saturday

Big Daddy, the Girlies and I are heading out for some Autumn fun and will probably have dinner out.

Sunday

Perfect Pot Roast? We’ll try and see.

We’ll be working on our first set of Once a Month meals next week.  I’m not sure that cooking in smaller batches saved us much money, BUT it did save us a lot of time and keep us from eating out on nights when time was short, so I think it did save us money, from that perspective.

*The Princess is responsible for cleaning the litter box and sweeping the laundry room.  Her sweeping has been lacking and when the washer flooded the laundry room we ended up with kitty litter stew all over the laundry room floor.  Super fun Saturday night!

Big Daddy reads my blog.

So that makes this experiment less fun than it would be if he didn’t.

You see, last Friday?  it was the first day of Autumn.

Fall.

My favorite time of year.

I already wrote about why I love fall so much, but I might not have mentioned how much I love that it becomes soup and stew weather and how much I love soup and stew.

So…this week, I’ll be making, and serving, five different soups.  I’m wondering how long it takes for the Fam’ to figure out what’s going on.

Monday

Lasagna soup from the Deen Brothers.

Tuesday

Guinness Beef Stew (one of the recipes considered a favorite.  You can find other favorite recipes, at my Favorite Recipes page.)

Wednesday

Four Way Cincinnati Chili

Thursday

Quick and Easy Chicken Soup

Friday

Baked Potato Soup

Saturday

Probably out

Sunday

Another fall favorite, Caramel Apple Pork Chops.

What sorts of food do you  like to cook when the weather changes from summer to fall?

This past few weeks have been full of special dinners at our house.

Birthday.

Back to School.

Back to School

Birthday.

We’ve had one every week for the past four.

It’s not helping my diet much because no one picks poached chicken and broccoli for their back to school/birthday dinner. I don’t even pick that on an ordinary day.  Yuck.

I’m happy that my family likes my cooking and that i like cooking for them and that they enjoy picking out meals for their special days.  When they’re in school it’s hard, sometimes, to give a special day the real oomph it deserves, but a special dinner of their choosing helps a lot.

Of course, it doesn’t hurt that your Mama makes you epic cupcakes.  ;)  I’ve been blogging about baking so frequently lately, I’m wondering if I’m not missing a passion or something.  Stay tuned for more baking and blogging because I’ve bakes some more yummy things that I can’t wait to share with you.

Monday

We celebrated Littlebit’s Fifth Birthday with a dinner of her choosing.

Oven Fried Chicken and “Dirty” crock pot mac and cheese, veggies and Hi-Hat Cupcakes.  Not familar?  Stay tuned!

Tuesday

Baked Pesto Chicken* over couscous with baked parmesan tomatoes

Wednesday

Unstuffed Pepper Bake*, garlic bread and salad

Thursday

Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya*, corn bread and salad

(Yes, we eat a lot of salad.  I can buy a large container of organic spring mix lettuce for 4.99 and it feeds us for lunch and dinner all week. I can’t even feed us frozen veggies for that price)

Friday

20 minute roasted tomato pasta, garlic bread and salad

Saturday

Littlebit’s Fifth Birthday Party!  Can’t wait to share it with you!

Sunday

Something quick and easy.  We’ve had a busy few weeks with another busy one to go.  I like to “cook fresh” on Sundays (meaning, we don’t eat previously frozen meals).  It keeps us interested and keeps the food from being borning.

*Previously frozen earlier in the month and part of Once a Month Mom’s August menu plan.