Menu Plan Tuesday - Week of January 15, 2017

John's Red Velvet Cake from his birthday.  I dusted it with powdered sugar rather than frosting and it was delicious! 
I'm having a hard time believing that January is half over already.  Where on earth does the time go these days?  After putting together our budget last week, John and I are going to be extra careful to stick to the grocery and miscellaneous (clothes, household items, etc.) budgets for the next few months.  If we stick to the budget we should have a new van purchased and all the outstanding medical bills paid off in about 18 months.  We're pretty excited about that!   But that means battening down the hatches and preparing for the ride!

I inventoried the deep freeze yesterday and, after meals this week, we have very little meat left - a package and half of chicken, several turkey carcasses and a beef bone, lake fish (from a parishioner - about 2lbs), a single venison steak (from my cousin) and a package of shrimp that my parents bought us over Christmas.  We're good for vegetables - green beans, kohlrabi, corn, spinach, and tomato sauce.  I even have a few loaves of sweet bread, raspberries, cherries and a few things of leftover soup and a couple packages of mixed berries.  Canned goods are also keeping us well - lots of homemade jam and jelly (Thank you Eric at work!), canned beans, tomatoes, corn, mandarin oranges and a bit of tuna.  I have a several other things in the pantry too but it seems we're going to have to purchase bread flour and rolled oats fairly soon as we used up quite a bit of our stash in Christmas baking.

Anyway, this week we're mostly eating from the freezers and pantry this week. I did buy a pound of beef stew meat for beef-barley stew this week.  John had specifically requested this so I was happy to oblige!    Here's the rest of the menu this week:

Sunday, January 15:
    Breakfast: Yogurt with Frozen Strawberries, Buttermilk Biscuits
    Lunch: At Brother-in-Law's House - we brought chicken from our freezer for grilling
    Snack: Brownies and Vanilla Ice Cream (at brother-in-law's house)
    Dinner: Snacky Dinner in the Car on the Way Home

Monday, January 16:
    Breakfast: Bagels with Peanut Butter and Jelly
    Lunch: Tomato Soup, Toast
    Snack: Apple or Pear
    Dinner: Homemade Pizza with Chicken and Onion, Breadsticks

Tuesday, January 17:
    Breakfast: Oatmeal with Walnuts and Dates
    Lunch: Tortillas filled with Rice-Black Bean-Chicken and Tomato mixture with Cheddar Cheese (I pulled this out of the freezer for lunches this week)
    Snack: Yogurt
    Dinner: Kielbasa, Cabbage and Noodles,  Apple-Mandarin Orange-Pineapple Salad

Wednesday, January 18:
     Breakfast: Chai Spiced Oatmeal
     Lunch: Same as Tuesday
     Snack: No-Bake Energy Bites
     Dinner: Waffles with Raspberry Jam, Bananas and Walnuts, Sausages

Thursday, January 19:
     Breakfast: Eggs and Toast
     Lunch: Same as Tuesday
     Snack: Yogurt
     Dinner: Beef Barley Stew, Cornbread

Friday, January 20:
     Breakfast: Eggs, Raspberry Smoothies
     Lunch: Leftover Beef Stew
     Snack: No Bake Energy Bites
     Dinner: PB&J, Cut Veggies and a treat at the School Dance for the Children, Date Night Out with a Gift Card for Mom and Dad

Saturday, January 21:
     Breakfast: Oatmeal Muffins, Peanut Butter-Banana Smoothies
     Lunch: PB&J, Cut Veggies, Apples, Oatmeal-Butterscotch Cookies (Brown-bag at a Basketball Tournament)
     Snack: No Bake Energy Bites
     Dinner: At a Wedding

What are you eating this week? 

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