It's Monday, and I'm joining Orgjunkie.com in her Menu Plan Monday link-up.  But I'm taking a non-traditional approach to this task just once . . . I'm only giving you my plan for Thursday so you can either decide I'm nuts, too traditional, or wrangle for an invite.  Starred* items are gluten free and vegetarian.

Lately I have had a focus on hospitality.  I hope that it comes across at our family table.  I am truly so grateful for both families I am blessed to be a part of and this year (as most) family tops my list of things I am oh, so thankful for.  Thus, this menu.  We have one more menu item than we do people eating so I think everyone will be full!

Thursday, Thanksgiving!
Appetizers:
Carrot Cake Jam on Cream Cheese*
Regular crackers
Gluten free crackers*
Crudites* (complements of a guest)

Dinner:
Green Salad* (complements of a guest)
Mulligatawny Soup - Vegetarian base with Tofu*
Roasted Acorn Squash with Wild Rice Stuffing*
Stuffing (half with walnuts, half nut-free)
Turkey (cooked in our oil-free infared Big Easy cooker)
Mashed Potatoes*
Cranberry sauce* (with a touch of orange and Grand Mariner)
Gravy
Sweet Potatoes* (roasted; no marshmallows)
Green beans* (complements of a guest)
Rolls

Dessert
Pumpkin Pie with Gingersnap Crust
Pike's Peak Apple Crisp (with oat flour instead of wheat)
Sparkling Pineapple Soup (adults only!)

I hope your Thanksgiving is truly sweet and that you both wake and fall asleep counting your blessings!

Seasons

I cannot believe it is almost Halloween already.  Wasn't it just a minute ago I was frantically making Wizard of Oz costumes for everyone?  Oh yes, I meant to sell those costumes this year.  Ooops.  Maybe next year!

Well that was then and this is now!  After our "second honeymoon" cruise to Alaska, life was a little too chaotic for costume making.  We have an "everyday hero" theme planned for this year and all the costumes are "boughten" ones.  The Blitz will be a fireman and he loves his new boots so much he wears them 18 hours a day.  Tinkerbelle will be a nurse; her love of the medical profession started after that trip to the hospital in May.  The Captain is an army hero; our family appreciation for members of the military seems to have rubbed off on him.  Sunshine will be a police woman and Pepper, Rosie the Riveter.  So fun.  Daddy seems to usually pull off a costume at the last minute.  He's my hero everyday so maybe he can just wear his blue jeans!

We are really enjoying the autumn.  Not the weather, of course-- it's still summer here--but we are enjoying the rhythms of school and fall ball and all both entail.  The Captain is a ball player now.  Picture a little absent minded professor in center field and you've got the picture.  It is actually totally adorable and completely entertaining and I can't believe I haven't posted a picture until now.

Sunshine is back at it too; she is not always enjoying the season but things will get better.  Her team is not gelling as well as is often the case and most of her friends were on the other two teams, but all is well.  I haven't gotten a picture of her in new uniform but maybe this week.  She plays at 8:40 in the evening and apparently, my brain has checked out by then!

School is going great!  Pepper is practically a college pro now and is taking two dual credit courses, English Comp and Art History.  Of course she is also taking all the regular fare at home, math, science, etc.  She has been practicing her driving and will get her license in December; neither of us can wait.

The big news, though, is that Mamaw and Papa are here from Idaho and we are soaking up the Huntley time. That explains the radio silence of late; we are just too busy playing Bingo and Pinochle!

Hope your fall is a beautiful fall too.

Menu Plan Monday

It's Monday, and I'm joining Orgjunkie.com in her Menu Plan Monday link-up.  Enjoy!

Monday:
Scrambled eggs, raisin toast, milk
 "Snack Plate":  cheese, pretzels, broccoli florets (raw), grapes, strawberries

Pork loin (marinated in soy sauce, mustard, honey and splash of wine), noodles with bok choy, carrots and bell peppers and a "quick sauce" using pan drippings, peanut butter and a splash of soy sauce

Tuesday:
Dr. Bircher's Museli
Egg salad on lettuce, crackers, refrigerator pickles (any kind), homemade granola
Homemade Mac-n-Cheese, brussels sprouts, homemade applesauce

Wednesday:
Cereal and milk
Meat cubes, cheese cubes, pasta with pesto, grape tomatoes
(Family fends for itself tonight!)

Thursday:
Yogurt and banana
Lunch out
Too Easy Fettuccine Alfredo, green salad, cookies

Friday:
Bacon and egg cups, juice
School cookout
Potato Soup with cheese and egg dumplings, 3-bean salad

Saturday:
Scrambled eggs, re-fried beans, corn tortillas
Sandwiches
Leftovers

Sunday:
Sweet cereal, milk, grapes, bananas

King Ranch chicken, 3 bean salad, greens

Peg Bracken's Bean Salad 
from the I Hate to Cook Cookbook

INGREDIENTS

• 1 15-oz can green beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 15-oz can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 15-oz can wax beans, rinsed and drained

• 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 
  
• METHOD

1 In a large bowl, mix the beans

2 In a separate small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, sugar, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Add the dressing to the beans. Toss to coat.

3 Chill beans in the refrigerator for several hours, to allow the beans to soak up the flavor of the dressing..

Grandparents: It's "LOVE Thursday!"

 I just sent a "shout out" to our fabulous five grandparents on one of  my Adoption.com blogs.  Because of copyright laws, I can't replicate it here, but I can ask you to go over there and take a look at it, please!

Dear Hubby and Grandma

Enjoying dinner on a cruise

I am also limited to one tiny picture there, but not here so before you go there, take a gander at these snapshots.

Papa and Mamaw

(To visit the blog, just click on any of the blue words.They all head to the same place!)

Grandma (Dear Hubby's mom), Papa and Mamaw (my folks)

Papa reading to the Littles

Gram and Pepper

Dear Hubby and Grandpa

At the State Fair of Texas

Gram and Tink

Sanity - err Food - Preservation Time

My team --aka the Dream Team -- is cooking for youth again on Sunday, so my week has consisted of a lot of planning, shopping, emailing, and calling.  On Thursday morning I squeezed in a stop at Sams to pick up my pre-order for the youth and then came home to read an email that I needed to cook for 25% more people than I had planned for.  Oops.  Friday morning after I got Tinker and The Captain off to school, The Blitz and I headed back to Sams.  While there, I had a moment of inspiration and decided to stage an impromptu cooking day.

Normally when I do "cooking ahead," I make an elaborate plan, clear my calendar, clean my kitchen and fridge, check my staples, shop all at once, and knock it out in a weekend of elaborate work.  Truthfully, I don't have time for that right now.  I decided to just pile a bunch of meat in my car and see what I could make from it.

Here are the results:

I made 4 batches of Bo Luc Lac, Vietnamese Shaking Beef.  I made the marinade times 5 and dived 8 pounds of sirloin into 4 bags, dumped on the marinade and froze.  This meal is a family favorite served over salad, tomatoes and brown rice.

I bought a giant pack of pork chops and simply divided it into three.

This recipe from Family Circle for Korean Short Ribs in the slow cooker sounds fantastic. I pulled the recipe a couple of months ago so when I saw boneless short ribs for sale I grabbed them to try this one.  I made the sauce, poured it on the ribs, bagged and froze it.  When we're ready for it, we'll just thaw and dump the whole bag into the crock pot.

I cooked 16# of Boston Butt into Pulled Pork.  It takes 9 hours start to finish (but the actual work is about 20 minutes) so I actually just finished it this morning.

I had fresh ingredients from my farm box for ratatouille so I made a double batch.  Yum.  Half for tonight's supper, half for the freezer. In honor of my French friend, Mikiio, I will say that ratatouille should always be served with polenta or rice, never pasta!

I made a batch of Muddy Buddies (sans the chocolate -- it is sweet enough!) for the kids for snacks.  I also made a batch of regular Chex Mix.

Today we will make a double batch of Carrot Cake Muffins because our kids are crazy for them.  We use a standard carrot cake recipe except we cut the sugar by 1/4 and substitute whole-wheat flour for half the flour.  We do not frost them.  This makes a snack that's acceptable by my standards but sweet enough to thrill the kids. Plus, they're pretty.  Once made, we'll freeze them and bag them individually.  That makes
them super simple to pop into a lunch.

I have quite a few hot peppers so I may pickle some for the freezer.  I also have beets to pickle but will roast them first.

While I worked on Sanity Preservation, Pepper made braised chicken thighs.  She has this to a science now and it takes every ounce of self control I have not to grab that crispy skin and eat it all!  Crisp outsides, moist insides.  Oh my goodness.  We served it with Creamy Polenta, ratatouille, and steamed broccoli.

Earlier in the week we got a batch of homemade Mac N Cheese in so if I can get around to some marinara sauce and maybe a chicken dish this week, we'll be in clover.  So instead of "saving dinner," I'm really saving my sanity.

What's cookin' at your house?

Menu Plan Monday

Wheee!  It's Monday, Mamas!  I'm joining Orgjunkie.com in her Menu Plan Monday link-up again.

Monday:
Cereal and milk, fruit
Lunch - "Snack Plate":  cheese, sausages, pretzels, broccoli florets (raw), grapes, strawberries, ketchup.
Gina's Baked Ziti, Green salad, dressing

Tuesday:
Yogurt, bananas, dry cereal
PF Chang-like Chicken Lettuce Wraps (SO awesome), steamed rice, grape tomatoes, mandarin orange
Leftover Ziti, salad, dressing


Wednesday:
Pankcakes
Sweet & Sour Pork/Shrimp meatballs (Just Bento cookbook), brown rice onigiri, orange carrot flowers, steamed asparagus
(Family fends for itself tonight!)

Thursday:
Eggs and toast
Chicken curry, cuke raita, brown rice Tiffin
Baked Corn Dogs, coleslaw, Berry Fool (sweetened yogurt, layered with berries, topped with crushed cookies)

Friday:
Cereal and Milk
Boiled egg, hummus, baked pita chips, fresh veg, fruit
Spaghetti Carbonara, green beans, pudding of some kind

Saturday:

Huevos Rancheros, baked corn tortilla strips
Roast, potatoes, fresh veg

Sunday:
Pot luck breakfast!
Shrimp skewers, fried rice with bok choy

School Days

Well, it's official:  I'm a "school mom."  Oh, wait, it's not all about me?

Both The Captain and Tinkerbell were so excited to start school, they could hardly sleep.  They were eventually so tired that Tinker slept through the light coming on and I had to wake her up.  Have I mentioned that I hate waking her up because she jumps a foot high and then cries?  So I touched her gently on the shoulder and she startled and then smiled -- without opening her eyes -- and said, "Today is my first day of school!"

Here are the little cuties:

His shirt has a "5" on the sleeve -- so exciting!

It didn't translate to photos but the heart is "bling" - shiny studs

Tinker's backpack is huge on her.  Even empty, it totally cramps her style.  Funny story:  We made a big deal out of buying first day of school outfits for all 5 kids and the Littles got a (rare) choice of outfits.  On the second day of school, Tink had a huge fit because she thought she got to wear the purple outfit every day!  She will be really happy to see that outfit again next week!

The Blitz gets a ride in the stroller and we walk to school although it is almost a mile because I want The Captain to really "get" it that I am close by.  We practiced a couple weeks beforehand and now they have built up some stamina.  They are so excited to go to school, they run almost the whole way!  (And yes, I cried all the way home that first day).  Daddy tried to get some pictures which were a little blurry for some reason, but here they are.

We're frowning because Daddy was trying so hard to get a picture he kept yelling at us!

The Bigs and The Blitz won't start school until September 4th since I have a philosophical objection to starting school before Labor Day.  The Blitz does not want to go to home-school Preschool; "I don't like homeschool.  I like the gray school."   He has made that very clear.   Yet I think he is really enjoying our 3 "Tink-free" hours each day and we have both relished just chilling together every morning.  Next week I"ll get out the Preschool In a Box and we'll enjoy that too.  For now, the leisure is a big gift.

I finally did get a picture of all 5 kids; they're so beautiful -- inside and out!