Author Archives: Sheila

Monday Menu Planning

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Summer is here at  or at least so close I can taste it! I have to work on Monday and Tuesday of this week but then I am free!  The focus of meals will change to summer as well as to things that I can cook once and have for at least 3 if not 4 other meals. My thought is that if I am cooking then I have to make it worth my while. 

Breakfast- Saturday-We ended up eating at Rick’s in Denton as Bojangles was closed.   Sunday- Breakfast bowls  Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday Friday– find it (oatmeal, omelets, cereal and milk ,sausage, pop-tarts, and eggs.  I am planning to make banana bread at some point and also a baked oatmeal one day but we shall see. 

Lunch- Saturday-Snacks as we were at the swim meet.  Sunday-Outback for Father’s Day. The kids are not responsible for finding their own lunch. 

Dinner- Saturday-Matt and I had a date night with Sushi   Sunday- Chicken tortellini on the Blackstone ,Monday- Baked potatoes and Cucumber appetizers.  Tuesday- Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad. Wednesday-  Baked Ziti with lots to spare Thursday- Hot ham and cheese sliders with veggie tray  Friday- Tacos (I am hoping to make and can  some meat as well. 

Let the fun begin!

Sunday Garden Update

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I am declaring it Summer! Why? Because I have a sun burn from the swim meet yesterday and with two days of work left this is close enough! With that being said, it will also signal a change in my Sunday Garden updates. Basically less pictures and more description of what I am actually doing with the things that we are harvest!

But first check out this Sunflower!

almost 8 feet tall and red!

Here is a picture of the harvest we have been getting this week

And last, we decided to go ahead and pull out the flower bed of Cosmos which started out looking like this

The reason is that the squash bugs are winning.  We are at our wits end, even using seven dust to try and stop them. I am fairly certain that within 2 weeks they will have total destroyed our current squash plants. I have not been able to get as much of either squash or zucchini as I wanted so I decided to try and plant these and get some more.

I am using the paper as mulch to suppress the weeds and other cosmos from attempting to grow.  The chickens enjoyed the cosmos plants and if they don’t eat it all it will become a part of future compost for the garden.

This week I was able to get a start on stocking our freezers, I made salsa chicken for dinner which also became 3 pans of chicken enchiladas for future use. I also make a huge breakfast bowl this am and put 8 breakfast burritos in the freezer as well.   A decent start at least!

5 Things Friday

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  1. I have 2 days left before summer vacation! Unfortunately, we are still in limbo with the pool opening. Zach and Kendall have been able to pick up a couple of shifts at other pools but it is stressful trying to get everything arranged. I can’t wait for summer break to start!
  2. I am super excited about the garden this year! We are already getting a harvest and I am planning to continue to plant so that we can continue to get more of what we want. We have gotten peppers, green beans, a couple of cucumbers, dill and a bit of basil, squash and zucchini so far. We will definitely have tomatoes very soon as well!
  3. Matt and I are currently spending around 30 minutes a day in the garden. This is going to increase this weekend for sure.  I am planning to do some replanting and changing this week. First I am going to cut down all the cosmos from this bed.   It is large and pretty but I want to plant another round of squash plants as the squash bugs are winning in the back gardens. When they finally win or when this planting starts to produce, I am going to pull out the squash plants and plant a “row” of cucumbers in the middle of the bed. I really want to harvest and can an abundance of cucumbers this year. On July 1st, I am planning to pull up the spinach and plant pumpkins in the bed in front of the office.  I am also planning on adding a couple of green beans in the empty slots on the greenstalk planters and one additional zucchini in a bed in the back that has not successfully grown anything so far.
  4. I have already started to work on filling up the freezer. This week I was able to get 3 chicken enchilada meals in the freezer. I am also planning to start restocking our breakfast burritos as well. My goal will be to can one item and make ahead at least one item a week. Next week I am hopefully to get chicken, broccoli and rice casseroles made up and frozen for future use.

5. We leave for our “adult cruise in 3 weeks!

Monday Menu Plan

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The days are numbered 6 to be exact until I can begin Summer break. Our food is starting to look a little different as I am going to be focusing on two things. First cooking once and storing some for later. This is usually straight forward and simple, make 2 of most things.  Next is using up the fresh fruits and vegetables that we have. This can look like making extra zucchini bread or using a different than normal side with a meal.  The kids schedules have gotten a lot busier with football practice for Zach, a new class for Lily and hopefully our pool opening up which means both Zach and Kendall will be working every day.  One confusion I have to make is that last Tuesday, I ordered pizza for the first time since October.

Breakfast- Saturday-I made a 3 egg omelet     Sunday- Muffins from Costco. Tuesday- Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal  Monday, Wednesday, Thursday Friday– find it (oatmeal, omelets, cereal and milk, sausage, pop-tarts, and eggs.

Lunch- Saturday-Matt and I ate at Costco Sunday-Mexican
The kids are not responsible for finding their own lunch.  Monday- McDonalds ( between schools) Tuesday- leftovers, Wednesday- Lunch meeting for end of school, Thursday- Leftovers and Friday eat out.

Dinner- Saturday-Rotisserie Chicken, potato salad and veggie tray.   Sunday- Steak fried rice  on the Blackstone  Monday-  Hamburgers on pretzel buns and fruit tray.(from last week) Tuesday-Salsa chicken and Mexican rice (left-overs will be made into 2 batches of chicken enchiladas.  Wednesday- Grilled Chicken Salad Thursday-  Breakfast for Dinner  Friday- Chicken Pot pie pasta

Five Things Friday

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  1. Today is Zach and Kendall’s official last day of school.  Neither one has been to school over half a day this week. Nor has either one gone every day this week.  I have 7 days left but really only 6 as I have appointments next Thursday so I am taking that day off.
  2. We have been getting a small harvest from the garden everyday.  I have been able to freeze a couple of bags of shredded zucchini and 4 more bags of squash casserole. Zach was able to pick blueberries but they did not make it inside the house.
  3. The weather continues to be strange and on top of that our pool (community) is currently not functioning and we have yet to have a swim team practice.
  4. We have been able to obtain some wooden platelets with goals to build a garden box to grow potatoes with easy opening/dumping door. Increase the height of the greenhouse by 2 feet to allow Matt to use comfortably and as the structure for a hydroponic growing system.
  5. Lily has decided that she wants to pursue a certification that will allow her to work with immigrants. This is an answer to prayer and exciting and scarey all  at once.

Monday Menu Planning

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Summer is just around the corner. So that means that we are eating lots of fresh fruit and veggies. I am also trying to cook once and use it for different things. For example, on Thursday, I made 5 pounds of potatoes into mashed potatoes.  I froze 1/3 of that, used 1/3 for dinner and the last 1/3 will be used for dinner on Tuesday.   I will be making a squash casserole and freezing the remainder for future meals.

Breakfast- Saturday-Matt’s breakfast casserole.    Sunday- Leftovers or eggs. Monday-  Zucchini Bread, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday Friday– find it (breakfast burritos, oatmeal, omelets, cereal and milk, sausage, pop-tarts, and eggs.

Lunch- Saturday-Hibachi on the black stone    Sunday-Christo’s    Monday- salad Tuesday,-left-overs   Wednesday- eat out  Thursday- left-overs.  Friday- eat out.

Dinner- Saturday-Left-overs  Sunday- Chicken sausage and torllia on the Blackstone  Monday-  Chicken sandwiches and FF Tuesday-Cube steak, mashed potatoes and squash casserole   Wednesday- Sweet and sour chicken and rice.  Thursday- Cheeseburger on Pretzel buns with FF, Friday- Pork chops, mac and cheese and applesauce

Sunday Garden Post

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I am so excited! We have been able to harvest both squash and zucchini over the past week. I am actually making the first loaf of zucchini bread right now!  I am hopefully that we will be able to enjoy lots more of these fresh and also have enough to preserve.  I did find that we have 6 bags of squash casserole and now 3 bags of shredded zucchini.

Zucchini bed.

I cant decided if the yellowing of the potatoes is due to all the rain we have had (six inches or more in a month) or are they starting to finish?

This is the watermelon bed along with 2 volunteer tomato plants that are HUGE!

This close bed has 2 okra plants, a marigold and a couple of cucumbers. We did not get any. cantaloupe to germinate in the front bed but replanted some cucumbers this weekend. The last plastic bed has banana peppers and marigold.

These peppers are starting to look better!

Waxman peppers are really starting to look great!

This includes green beans, loofa, tomatoes and peppers.

This flower bed is stunning!  The sunflowers are over 6 foot tall in the back!

Several cantaloupe plants  are growing, I removed a very large cosmos plant from this bed!

slicing tomatoes

Amish paste tomatoes behind the sunflowers

We have removed all the snap peas and replaced with green beans. We are still getting spinach and the gum drop tomato is growing!  I am planning to plant pumpkins in this bed in July.

I am currently planning to pull all of the cosmos plants from the greenstalk on the back deck this week and plant a combination of green beans (bush), cucumbers and peppers. I will try to get pictures of this to share.   Honestly after that I am not sure how often I will continue to share these updates but I am still very hopeful and excited to see what we are able to produce this summer!