Menu Planner – Week of November 5th

I don’t know about your neck of the woods, but around these parts fall is over and we’ve moved firmly into the land of the bare trees. It’s funny, as driving just thirty minutes north still leads to a little bit of color, but here on the farm,  fall is no more…and that’s got me craving comfort food. Welcome back to the menu my warm and hearty friend…

This will be a busy week for us. Thing One’s birthday slumber party is coming up on the weekend, and there’s still lots to do to get ready. She and I are working on decorations and we’ll be making up a lot of the snacks and treats ahead of time. I’ll also be knocking out some type of cupcake for her to take to class on Friday as well as a cake and dinner for her family birthday party on Thursday.

That’s why I’m going for warm, but easy meals for most of the week.

Here’s what’s on tap for this week:

Monday

We’ve been having good luck with soups lately. They’re not something I’m a big fan of, but when it’s cold outside, a nice steaming bowl of soup and some fresh bread seems to go over really well with our family. Plus it pairs well with salad or fresh fruit which means a nice healthy dinner with very little prep work.

End of Summer Corn Chowder (Ok, so I’m a season late…)
Sourdough Bread
Fresh Salad

Tuesday

I’m going to be honest with you…I totally bailed on last week’s chicken parmesean plans. Why? Because I forgot to thaw out the chicken breast the day before. That left me with no meat in the fridge and a bunch of hungry family members wanting dinner. Thankfully, we always have individually packaged frozen tilapia on hand. That stuff thaws FAST if you put it in a bowl of warm water. So I dug up a new recipe and gave Tilapia fish tacos a try. They were a HUGE hit. The kids went nuts over them. So, I’ll share that dinner with you for tonight and will plan on making last week’s meal.

Blackened Tilapia Fish Tacos
Clementines
Green Beans

Wednesday

Mr W’s Wednesday night basketball game starts back up again this week, which means dinner needs to be early and clean up needs to be minimal as I’ll have to get the kids to bed and get ready for my office hours that evening. That means it’s time to break out the crockpot. That way I can load up dinner earlier in the morning and not have to worry about messing up the kitchen at dinner time. I’ve yet to make my super yummy, veggie heavy (bean free!) chili for Mr W, so this seems like as good a night as any for it. (Plus it will let me get a photo so I can get the recipe up on here…)

Jen’s Not so Chili
Rustic Cornbread

Thursday

Thursday night is Thing One’s family party. That means apart from the five of us, we’ll have four grandparents plus Hair and her man joining us for the evening. Normally, that would mean a big huge dinner from me…but not this night. When asked what she wanted for her birthday dinner, Thing One promptly requested “those AMAZING burgers Daddy grills!” Yay for the grill! (And the 100 or so pounds of beef we have in the freezer.)

Daddy’s AMAZING Burgers
Redskin Potato Salad w/bacon
Fresh Fruit
Fresh Salad

Friday

We’ll be on the road Friday evening, so there won’t be any dinner getting made this night. That said, I’ll be making a few different foods throughout the week to get ready for Thing One’s Sleepover. Here’s a link to a few of them.

Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Bread
Chocolate Covered Oreos

Saturday

Since we’re on the road Friday and throwing a slumber party for six girls on Sunday, Saturday evening will be Mr W’s and my chance to recover from the week and enjoy a great date night in. We’ll likely pick up a Redbox, or have a marathon game of Triopoly or Dollars and Sense and eat some yummy dinner I’ll make. We haven’t had Bang Bang Shrimp in awhile, so that one might turn up, but it’s more likely I’ll throw together some type of Asian shrimp dish…most likely the super yummy delicious Thai Pineapple Fried Rice we love so much.

Thai Pineapple Fried Rice
A nice hard cider if I can find one, maybe Angry Orchard

Sunday

While Sunday is pretty much always our lazy day, that won’t be the case this week. Since Sunday is Thing One’s actual birthday and the kids are off school on Monday for Veteran’s Day, we’re letting her have the extremely rare Sunday night sleepover. Some point in the late afternoon, the house will get overrun with five small guests and Hair and I will have our hands full keeping things from getting too crazy. I’m pulling out all my mad mom hostess skillz for this one, so most of Sunday will be spent decorating and getting food ready. That means lots and lots of “tiny” and “cute” foods. Don’t worry, I’ll take tons of pictures and put a full post together.

Make Your Own Pizza Bar
Fresh Fruit
Fresh Veggies
Spinach Salads
Tons of Bite size Desserts & Snacks
Pink Lemonade, Spa Water and Sparkling Grape Juice