By , on January 26th, 2009%
Today is a work day for me, but alas it’s also a Monday and hence the beginning of a new school week, whether I work or not! I’ve got most of the lesson plans written out, all of them thought out, and my planner is full of our menus for this week.
On Saturday I took my lunch break in the garden. A glorious half-hour with Princess of the Universe close by.
In spite of the cold, there are some things that stay green year-round. (Green plants in winter, where would I be without you?) I got down on the ground and simply admired the green.
I also took a few minutes to clean out my mosaic birdbaths. Saturday was warm enough to fill them up with water and it was so pretty! Spring, where are you?
Yes, I’m still dreaming of spring and all the blooms that are sleeping.
Repeat.
They are only sleeping.
In the meantime, gardening books and catalogs will do, as I plan the changes I would like to make for 2009.
So, Michele, I did make my way by the thrift store for a few minutes on an errand this weekend. I found a beautiful Ralph Lauren duvet cover that will make some perfectly-shabby-chic curtains for Michaela’s room. She wants her room painted green — wanted that from the start, so we are going to paint soon. She will love it! Do you like the fabric?
Well, I better get to my work desk. I don’t really want to, but I’m very thankful to have a job at home.
Oh! The menus for this week. I found some great meats on sale for this week and put them in the freezer. Planning makes like so much easier!
Monday – peppercorn, garlic pork tenderloin in the large crockpot, butter peas in the small crockpot, pasta and a tiny bit of cheese (just a tiny bit), chocolate chip muffins
Tuesday – porkchops in the large crockpot with a new steaksauce I want to try, sweet potato casserole, cooked cabbage
Wednesday – browned ground deer with beans in the crockpot and the fixin’s to make tortillas
Thursday - Chicken and dumplings, apple sauce
Friday – London broil in the large crockpot, black-eyed peas in the small crockpot, apple sauce
I’m thankful to have food.
Have a lovely Monday! Enjoy this day.
Lynn
By Lynn, on October 27th, 2008%
I helps me so much to menu-plan. I like having several weeks of good menus and shopping lists printed out and then I can easily shop and rotate meals from week to week.
Breakfast: I rarely plan out menus for breakfast, mostly because we are on such varied schedules, and also because I work three days a week. I keep individual packages of instant oatmeal, grits, and Cream of Wheat on hand for warm items. Also, there are waffles for the toaster. Then there’s cold cereal. I have two children who love cold cereal. One of those children we refer to as The Cereal King. One morning this week we’ll have overnight oatmeal from the crockpot, just because it’s getting cold and I love to wake up to something like that.
Lunch:
- Monday – Egg salad sandwiches with fresh peppergrass and rustic arugula from the garden, just-roasted pumpkin seeds
- Tuesday – BP&J sandwiches, carrot sticks and chips. (Why do children open another jar of jelly when there’s already one open in the fridge?)
- Wednesday – Turkey & Cheese sandwiches, Purple Punch (the recipe is in Five In A Row volume 4)
- Thursday – Picnic with our homeschool group
- Friday – Sandwiches TBA
As you can see, we like sandwiches for lunch. 
Supper:
- Monday – Turkey sausage, scrambled eggs, waffles with strawberries
- Tuesday – Pumpkin Soup (again, recipe is in Five in a Row volume 4) and a green salad
- Wednesday – Baked chicken with fresh rosemary and garlic, salad, cottage cheese, mashed potatoes
- Thursday – Auntie Betty’s Pasta Casserole (I saw this recipe from a blog I like to visit and will give it a go substituting venison for the ground beef), Pavlova (recipe from FIAR V. 4)
- Friday – London broil with gravy in one crockpot, pinto beans in the other crockpot, rice.
As you can see, we are having several items to celebrate October and of course to celebrate our finishing up The Pumpkin Runner . I hope for this to be a fun week!
As far as shopping this week, there are many good sales locally and we are working here to finish up our venison as Hubby will hopefully have fresh venison going into the freezer by mid to late November. His (and my son’s) hunting from last year has kept us supplied all year! Yaaay! It was a good year. I am working to stock the pantry with things for wintery rainy-snowy days.
Food Storage Tip: If you have a pair of pantyhose with runs, you can wash them, cut the legs out and then cut the foot out of each leg. Tie a knot in the bottom of each leg. Fill each leg with onions, one at a time, tying a knot between each onion then hang from a nail. They add beautiful (if not funky) interest to the kitchen and are a good way to store onions. When you need one, just cut the bottom onion off.
By Lynn, on April 26th, 2008%
I mentioned a few days ago that I had planned out our menus for last week. Here’s what we had:
Tuesday 4/22: Homemade pizza, fresh salad
Wednesday, 4/23: Chicken and dumplings, fresh salad
Thursday, 4/24: Lasagne and fresh salad
Friday, 4/25: Roast (London broil) and gravy, small red potatoes, broccoli, fresh salad
Saturday, 4/26: Left over roast, macaroni and cheese, green beans (didn’t need), fresh salad
There’s so much food in the fridge for today, I don’t even have to make the mac and cheese today! It has been so very nice to have meals totally planned in advance and have all the ingredients on hand! It has helped everyone’s attitude. Having supper ready at a certain time has helped the children not graze so much; having a hot meal ready when hubby comes home has helped him feel appreciated; and not having to wonder what in the world am I going to cook??? has helped me enjoy my days much more!
So you know what I did this morning? I pulled out all my cookbooks and recipes and cooking magazines, put them on the table to help me plan a week of menus, and then back on the shelf they went — only more organized than they were before.
Here’s what’s on the menu:
Sunday, 4/27/08: Breakfast: pancakes, bacon, eggs (save several pieces of bacon for Monday’s baked beans)
Lunch: Taco soup (crockpot)
Supper: Taco salads using fresh salad, tortilla chips and leftover taco soup.
Monday, 4/28/08: BBQ ribs (crockpot), baked beans (crockpot), fresh salad
Tuesday, 4/29/08: Salmon croquettes, tabouli (apparently no one in my town carries bulgar wheat), macaroni and cheese, baked beans
Wednesday, 4/30/08: Bread machine herb + cheese bread, chicken and vegetable soup with egg noodles
Thursday, 5/1/08: Pinto beans (crockpot), cornbread, fresh salad, London broil (crockpot) and gravy
Friday, 5/2/08 — (always feels like a date night with hubby): Marinated salmon fillets (they were out — not sure what I’ll do yet), wild rice, fresh salad, carrot cake
Saturday, 5/3/08: Left-overs
I have put together in one place the recipes I’ll need for the upcoming week and I put together my grocery list while I was making my menu plans.
You’ll notice my planner open. This week I designed a daily 2-page schedule “spreadsheet” to keep track of the things that are important to me each day. For this first week, the planner spreadsheet is just hand-written, but next week I plan to type it up so I can print them for my planner. I want this week to tweak it, so no point in typing it up just yet!
One thing I did before planning my menus is to pull up on line the weekly sales for our two local grocery stores. That helped me choose the meats to cook.
Now I’m off to the local grocery stores (and to do my monthly Sam’s trip), and I’ve got my perfectly prepared grocery list in hand!
In The Garden This Week:
Queen Elizabeth closer to being in full bloom
Queen Elizabeth bud close up
Star of Bethlehem is blooming
Wildginger (Asarum) — A beautiful shade plant
The beautiful flower of wildginger (Asarum)
A baby praying mantis
The Lady Banks rose is blooming
Orson Welles said, “A third of the food we eat keeps us alive. The other two-thirds keeps the doctors alive.”
I think it’s a good choice to shop fresh and prepare meals from scratch.
It’s also cheaper!
Have a Happy Weekend!
Lynn
By Lynn, on April 23rd, 2008%
Being back home is wonderful. If you’ve ever worked outside of your home while your heart was at home, then you would understand my joy at this first thought upon waking: Oh, I don’t have to go anywhere today…
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It’s not a matter of not wanting to work, mind you. It’s a matter of wanting to care for the home.
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I’m working on schedules — “ordering my days” — making sure that priorities are attended to, meals are on the table and the house is clean by a certain time each day. My sweet husband has done way too much cooking since I’ve been working at nights.
Today I will finish up a lot of cleaning that I wanted to get done.
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I am also enjoying planning menus and working on my grocery shopping schedule. The plan is for one trip per month to Aldi’s, one trip per month to Sam’s Club, a weekly trip to one, two, or three of our very local grocery stores. Then there’s a co-op grocery store about one mile from my home. I can ride my bike to pick up fresh produce daily if I need it. (I love saving money on gas and getting exercise at the same time.)
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Menus:
Tuesday 4/22: Homemade pizza, fresh salad
Wednesday, 4/23: Chicken and dumplings, fresh salad
Thursday, 4/24: Lasagne and fresh salad
Friday, 4/25: Roast and gravy, small red potatoes, broccoli, fresh salad
Saturday, 4/26: Left over roast, macaroni and cheese, green beans, fresh salad
Lynn
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About Lynn
I am the mother of four delightful children: a 23-year-old son, a 20-year-old son, a 17-year-old son, and a bright and bubbly 13-year-old daughter. I share an apartment home with my 17-year-old son and 13-year-old daughter. My little home on the internet is called Rose Cottage because of my love for gardening, roses, and all things romantic and Victorian. Welcome.
I'm a North Carolina girl and I love sharing North Carolina links and information. I do medical transcription from home. My hobbies include making sweet little dolls from clay who are named and have their own stories to tell. I also make old-fashioned brooches. These are for sale in my Etsy shop.
For 13 years continuously, I homeschooled some or all of our four children, but the time came that our homeschool had to be closed. It was the end of a beautiful chapter in my life. I will always be a strong supporter of homeschooling and I will continue to review books and maintain my homeschool website, The Healthy Homeschool. The Players
Lil Ol' Me
Son Daniel, 23
Son, Big Joe, 20
Son, John, 17
Daughter, Michaela, 13
Annie Fatso Beagle
My Symphony
To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not rich; to study hard, think quietly, talk gently, act frankly; to listen to stars and birds, to babes and sages, with open heart; to bear all cheerfully, do all bravely, await occasions, hurry never. In a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common. This is to be my symphony.
William Henry Channing
1810-1884
What You Do Sow a thought, reap an action.
Sow an action, reap a habit.
Sow a habit, reap a character.
Sow a character, reap a destiny.
Contact Me 
I would  for you to leave a comment, but you can also e-mail me at lynn AT thehealthyhomeschool.com
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