Menu Plan Monday--July 26th--Late Edition

* The computer was being a bugger and I was having trouble even getting to the computer** Better late than never!

This heat has ruined my motivation.  Right now, I need motivation.  We are going on a road trip in two weeks and my to-do list just got longer!

I'm scrapping my July meal plan and simply trying to empty out the freezer food  in the next couple weeks.

This weekend I could not even think about turning on the oven.

Here's what we munched on all weekend long---

Some friends gave us beautiful (and really delicious) tomatoes and a watermelon!

I made hummus, a tomato, onion & cucumber salad, and egg salad pitas.  We ended Sunday with BLT's topped with avocado.  It was all fresh and cold.  Just what a heat wave calls for!

Okay, so the computer is still being a bugger and I cannot get these pictures in the right place.  You get the picture right?  Also, baby is pulling on my dress.



Check out more menu plans at Orgjunkie.com!

Square Foot Gardening Update # 16 July 24

Yesterday I had quite a scare in the garden.  I found tomato horn worms on my tomato plants.  Still makes me shiver to even think about them!  I won't even gross you out with another picture.  Read the post here.

We are combating them in the following ways--

• My dear, brave, husband is picking them off at my command (love you honey!)
•  Horn worms don't like cornmeal--it makes their stomach explode.  Cornmeal is all over the plants.
• I sprayed the dish soap solution on all my plants too.  I heard adding vegetable oil to the solution helps too.

We will see what happens.  My husband took a couple off this evening and said that he thought the cornmeal was doing it's job.  (Yay! Clap!)

In other news, we have actually enjoyed lots of tomatoes!  We also finished up the green bean plants.

After reading about harvesting pumpkins I decided three pumpkins that were taking over the back yard were ready to be picked.

I'm actually thinking of planting more pumpkins in an area where they won't be such a nuisance. 

I'm doing a lot of cleaning up the yard right now and just trying to survive the heat.  It is very hard to stay outside for long.

I'm in the process of re-planting green beans too.  I also plan to plant lettuce and spinach in mid-August and hope for the best! 

Check out more gardens at Grow Eat $ave @ 5 Dollar Dinners.

Square Foot Gardening Emergency--WHAT IS THIS??????????

I know I should be braver than this.  I know I should see interesting things in my garden and just marvel over nature.

Let's face it--I'm not going to ever do that.  I want to see growing fruits and veggies.

Today I saw this--

Oh my--its looks like it is from the age of the DINOSAURS.

What is this.  Please help!  This indoor girl can't take this!!!!!!!!!!!!

What's on Your Plate Wednesday

Yup, I said I was going to keep it real right?

Daddy was gone, I was tired,  so we ate out.

There you have it.

Cupcake Mommie took a break.

Hoping it will bulk up my energy for the next few days!

Head over to Good Cheap Eats for more beautiful plates!

Menu Plan Monday--July 19th

I'm having fun being creative with all the bits and pieces of meals in our freezer.  


Whoo-Hoo--I'm deviating from a plan!

Did I mention we have lots of chicken in the freezer?  I'm going to need to get really creative in that department.

I think the best use of our chicken this week was grilled chicken quesadillas.   We took a leftover peppers and sauteed them along with freezer grilled chicken and cheddar cheese and threw them in a tortilla.  The result was delicious and used up leftovers!

Here's what we knocked off our list this week--

1. Grilled Chicken Quesadillas with Farmer's Market Veggies
2. Angel Hair Pasta with Grilled Chicken
3. Breakfast--Banana Bread Waffles
4. Turkey and Red Bean Burritos 
5. Grilled Hamburgers
6. Chicken Philly Boats
7. Anniversary Take Out and Mac and Cheese for the Kids :)

Here's the plan for this week--

1. Breakfast (Oatmeal Pancakes)
2. Grilled Chicken Pasta Salad
3. Chicken Bacon Subs
4. Hamburgers
5. Pool Picnic--Chicken Salad
6. Pizza (use some chicken!)
7. Meatball Subs

What are you cooking this week?  Any good chicken recipes to share?

Check out Orgjunkie.com for more meal planning inspiration!

What's on Your Plate Wednesday

Jessica over at Good Cheap Eats is now hosting a "What's On Your Plate Wednesday" to promote conversions among good eaters.

Well, I'm all about that!

As much as possible, I am going to participate with exactly what is on our plates on Wednesday.

I can plan a good plan y'all, but it does not always happen.  Life happens much faster!

Tonight's menu--Breakfast for Dinner


These Banana Bread Waffles were divine!  The texture was soft, very much like banana bread.  They had a mild sweet taste and were delicious drizzled with agave.  Topped with fresh local peaches and blueberries make them even better.

I often make breakfast for dinner when I am running low on my freezer stash of breakfast goodies.


So, What's on Your Plate This Wednesday?

Check out more dinner plates over at Good Cheap Eats.

Menu Plan Monday--July 11th

This week is our wedding anniversary so we might try to fit in something special at some point.

We'll see when we can fit it in!

It has been TOO hot for pool picnics, but I think we'll do sandwiches at home at least once this week.  We have to be at the pool in the mornings this week for swim lessons so we won't be returning in the afternoon for dinner either.

Here's what happened last week--

1.  Grill Hamburgers
2. Grilled Chicken Wraps
3. Pizza
4. Grilled Chicken with Pasta and Tomatoes
5. Earth fare--(Kids eat Free on Thursdays)
6. Hummus
7. Meatballs and Marinara w/Brown Rice

I did pretty well. we ended up getting more boneless chicken on sale and we grilled it all up and froze more. It was YUMMY!





Here's what is on tap for this week--

1. Earth fare (Kids Eat Free on Thursdays)
2. Beef Enchiladas
3. BLT's
4. Breakfast
5. Turkey and Red Bean Burritos
6. Chicken Salad Sandwiches
7. Chicken Philly Boats

I'm planning to do some batches of shredded chicken this week so I'll use some of that for dinner too.

I wonder if we'll eat all of this food.  It seems like a lot!

Be sure to check out Orgjunkie.com for more menu plans!

Square Foot Gardening Update # 15 July 10th

This is the saggy plant edition of our garden.  The heat here has been in the high 90's and my plants don't like it.

I'm hoping since all the plants have yellow leaves that it's just the heat or is there something wrong with my tomatoes?

Does anyone else have yellow leaves?

I picked the last of my lettuce and a few tomatoes.

Our pumpkin is turning yellow and I saw a couple more starting.  The pumpkin plant blocks the stairs at the deck.

Two other plants that are doing well are the basil--which took awhile to grow and the oregano.  We've loved using the fresh oregano in  our marinara sauce and in salads.

Now I really have to think about replanting.  The pepper plants are not growing very well and the beans are about to the end.

Does anyone else have good ideas about what to replant this time of summer or should I just wait until the fall season?

July Freezer Cooking Update

 I'm almost done! It has taken more than just a full day since I've had to break it up.  I still need to fit in my baking, but here's what I've got.

Shredded Chicken (Cooking on Friday, It's on sale this week!!!)
14 c Marinara Sauce
9 Hamburger Patties
2 Pounds of Bacon (for BLT's, Subs, Breakfast)
2 Pounds Meatballs

15 Turkey and Red Bean Burritos (inspired by the $5 Dinner Mom Cookbook)

10 Pounds Grilled Chicken (Batch Grilling is a GREAT idea!)
Beef Enchiladas
Pinto Beans (for Refried Beans)
Kidney Beans
Chic Peas (for Hummus)
1 Pound Taco Meat
2 Dozen Hard Boiled Eggs






And ONE Flag Cake--

Still to Come---
Breadcrumbs
Zucchini Pineapple Bread
Cookies



Check out my July Meal Plan here.

Menu Plan Monday--July 5

In no particular order, here are the meals I'm hoping to serve this week.  I did cook and freeze several meals on Saturday and I still hope to do more this week. I could not fit it all into one day this time!  I'll write an update when that gets accomplished.

I hope everyone had a wonderful, safe 4th!

1.  Grill Hamburgers
2. Grilled Chicken Wraps
3. Pizza
4. Pool Picnic--Egg Salad
5. Beef Enchiladas
6. Hummus
7. Meatballs and Marinara

Visit Orgjunkie.com for more meal plans!

Square Foot Gardening Update # 14-- July 2nd

We've got big tomatoes!

The second one in had some black spots on it--but the other tomatoes on that plant look fine and will be ready for picking in a couple days.  Can anyone share anything about the black spots.  The first tomato is a patio tomato and came from a different plant.  We've also continued to get cherry tomatoes and our strawberry plant has had small handfuls of berries to enjoy.

The cucumbers had a growth spurt overnight.

I was surprised to find this little guy among the eaten pumpkin patch--

We are getting to the end of our lettuce and the sugar snap peas are all gone. I'm trying to decided what to plant next.  I've got a few squares free! 

Be sure to check out more garden growing at Grow Eat $ave @ 5 Dollar Dinners.

July Freezer Cooking Plan

It's another month of trying freezer cooking again!  We had lots of luck in June and it did make the all around meal prep easier--especially for this little one at my feet :)

Here's what I am going to attempt to make this weekend.  We are staying home over the 4th after a very busy June. 

Shredded Chicken (for Chicken Philly Boats, Chicken Subs, Chicken Salad Sandwiches)
Marinara Sauce
Hamburger Patties
Bacon (for BLT's, Subs, Breakfast)
Meatballs (Regular and Ground Turkey)
Turkey and Red Bean Burritos (inspired by the $5 Dinner Mom Cookbook)
Grilled Chicken (for Grilled Chicken Wraps, and Pasta Salad)
Beef Enchiladas
Oven Fries (YUM--I'll post this soon!)
Pinto Beans
Kidney Beans
Chic Peas (for Hummus)
Breadcrumbs
Taco Meat

Zucchini Pineapple Bread
Cookies

Hard Boiled Eggs (for breakfast and egg salad sandwiches)

I'll be sure to post my updates.

Check out my July Meal Plan here.

Visit Life as Mom and Money Saving Mom for more great Freezer Cooking Inspiration.

July Meal Plan

 I'm hoping that we'll continue to enjoy our garden goodies this month.


July 1-3

1st-. I Have NO IDEA because we ate all of our meals.
2nd- Going to load up at Costco, we'll probably eat there :)
3rd-. OAMC Day--Eat out or Grill
 

July 4-10

1. Grill Hamburgers
2. Grilled Chicken Wraps
3. Breakfast--Oatmeal Pancakes
4. Pool Picnic--Egg Salad
5. Beef Enchiladas
6. Hummus
7. Meatballs and Marinara

July 11-17

1. Pizza
2. Spaghetti
3. BLT's
4. Breakfast
5. Turkey and Red Bean Burritos
6. Pool Picnic--Chicken Salad
7. Chicken Philly Boats

July 18-24

1. Grilled Chicken Pasta Salad
2. Breakfast (Oatmeal Pancakes)
3. Hummus
4. Hamburgers
5. Pool Picnic--Egg Salad
6. Grilled Chicken Wraps
7. Meatball Subs

July 25-31

1. BLT's
2. Chicken Philly Boats
3. Spaghetti
4. Pizza
5. BLT's
6. Pool Picnic--Chicken Salad
7. Leftovers

Come back on Friday to check out my freezer plans.  I'm hoping to have all or part of these meals in the freezer again this month.