Menu Plan Monday Plus To-Do's
Here we go again, with another year of menu planning and goal setting. We had a great time with our family Christmas-ing, and I have been getting some things organized around here during the few days we've been back in Minnesota. Not organized enough to have time to catch up on my blog, but still.
Unlike everyone who is cramming everything into the first week of January, I am giving myself the whole month here to catch up on reports from 2008 and think about goals for 2009. Except the immediate goals for, like, this week, which you can read about below.
Why is my first post of the year a Menu Plan Monday? Because it is so easy, my friends, which means I am actually writing something today. And because, thanks to my keeping track of these things on my blog, it made it so much easier to come home from vacation and actually have something to eat in the house.
In fact, during the days upon our arrival home and following, we at: Voila Pasta; Fish Sticks with Creamy Orange Dip; Pizza; and Chili and Cornbread, all of which were stocked (or at least the ingredients were) in our freezer/pantry. I used the leftover portion of the Creamy Orange Dip from fish night to make Tuna Salad for sandwiches (or sans bread, if you're the toddler).
This week, because I am still not organized/motivated enough to jump back into the grocery shopping fray, we will again be chowing down mostly upon "pantry cooking." To wit, you will see below the lovely banner (which represents http://orgjunkie.com, where you can find many other Monday menu plans):
this week, we will be eating:
Monday: Spaghetti
Tuesday: Vegetable Stuffing Bake, utilizing some of the broccoli originally purchased because I was assigned to relishes at Thanksgiving, which has been in our freezer ever since it proved unneeded for that holiday.
Wednesday: Bratwurst and either Pork 'n Beans or Sauerkraut (the latter, purchased from the Amana Colonies in Iowa during our Christmas travels)
Thursday: Fish (tilapia, to be specific...but I don't know specifically what I'm doing with it yet)
Friday: Pizza
Saturday: ideally and theoretically, Baked Acorn Squash with Apples and Raisins. Those squash from last fall need to be used up. On the other hand, they may be already past their prime, which is why this is only a theoretical meal. A backup plan could be Blueberry Pancakes, using some of last summer's blueberries from the freezer.
The To-Do List for the Week
• Call the guy who shoveled the driveway/walks while we were gone, figure out how many times he had to do so, and pay him
• Take down and put away the Christmas tree and decorations
• Decorate for January with snowmen (I have more than I thought, so I didn't put them out for Christmas)
• Women's group newsletter
• Listen to new CD
• call Brighter Vision
• send in batch of 2008 Huggies receipts to Caregivers Marketplace
• schedule tax appt.
• get final 2008 childcare receipts for FLEX, taxes
Unlike everyone who is cramming everything into the first week of January, I am giving myself the whole month here to catch up on reports from 2008 and think about goals for 2009. Except the immediate goals for, like, this week, which you can read about below.
Why is my first post of the year a Menu Plan Monday? Because it is so easy, my friends, which means I am actually writing something today. And because, thanks to my keeping track of these things on my blog, it made it so much easier to come home from vacation and actually have something to eat in the house.
In fact, during the days upon our arrival home and following, we at: Voila Pasta; Fish Sticks with Creamy Orange Dip; Pizza; and Chili and Cornbread, all of which were stocked (or at least the ingredients were) in our freezer/pantry. I used the leftover portion of the Creamy Orange Dip from fish night to make Tuna Salad for sandwiches (or sans bread, if you're the toddler).
This week, because I am still not organized/motivated enough to jump back into the grocery shopping fray, we will again be chowing down mostly upon "pantry cooking." To wit, you will see below the lovely banner (which represents http://orgjunkie.com, where you can find many other Monday menu plans):
this week, we will be eating:
Monday: Spaghetti
Tuesday: Vegetable Stuffing Bake, utilizing some of the broccoli originally purchased because I was assigned to relishes at Thanksgiving, which has been in our freezer ever since it proved unneeded for that holiday.
Wednesday: Bratwurst and either Pork 'n Beans or Sauerkraut (the latter, purchased from the Amana Colonies in Iowa during our Christmas travels)
Thursday: Fish (tilapia, to be specific...but I don't know specifically what I'm doing with it yet)
Friday: Pizza
Saturday: ideally and theoretically, Baked Acorn Squash with Apples and Raisins. Those squash from last fall need to be used up. On the other hand, they may be already past their prime, which is why this is only a theoretical meal. A backup plan could be Blueberry Pancakes, using some of last summer's blueberries from the freezer.
The To-Do List for the Week
• Call the guy who shoveled the driveway/walks while we were gone, figure out how many times he had to do so, and pay him
• Take down and put away the Christmas tree and decorations
• Decorate for January with snowmen (I have more than I thought, so I didn't put them out for Christmas)
• Women's group newsletter
• Listen to new CD
• call Brighter Vision
• send in batch of 2008 Huggies receipts to Caregivers Marketplace
• schedule tax appt.
• get final 2008 childcare receipts for FLEX, taxes