Dear sweet, sweet friends – thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your touching, encouraging, and loving comments and emails in response to Friday’s post about my father-in-law. I was alternately teary and smiling as I read through them. But more than anything I didn’t feel alone. Thank you for sharing your own stories – it’s so nice to know others have walked a similar road, isn’t it?
I thought it would be nice to share a picture of my in-laws with you. This was used in a video that Brian made for their 50th wedding anniversary in July of 2011. They are such an incredible example for us of a wonderful marriage full of hospitality, love, and laughter.
Well, on to the first of the monthly menus! I have to admit, it’s kinda hard for me to think monthly. And the last two weeks are certainly dependent on nothing coming up that would throw a wrench in the plan. But it was good for me to realize it’s just an outline and not written in stone – changes are okay. In fact, I often changed our weekly menu if something came up and we needed a quick meal or if I was given food that needed to be used or some such thing. So, here’s what our month (hopefully) will look like, dinner-wise:
Week 1: February 4 – 10
Monday- Cauliflower Cheese Soup, Sourdough Artisan, cut veg. plate (and probably leftover Superbowl finger food!)
Tuesday- “Magic” Mac & Cheese (cook the noodles in the milk and add cheese- the starch from the noodles thicken it, like magic!), spinach salad
Wednesday- French Beef Stew (I’m determined to take a better photo of this!), garlic mashed potatoes, green salad with cranberries and feta
Thursday- Life Group dinner – I’m bringing a plate of olives, pickled beans and asparagus, etc.
Friday- Cauliflower-carrot curry, brown rice
Saturday- out: we’re working at a college b-ball concession stand for a fundraiser…so, pretzels and hotdogs, maybe? *blech*
Sunday- leftovers
Week 2: February 11-17
Monday- Slow cooker multi-bean and cabbage soup, veg. plate, easy artisan bread
Tuesday- Carbonara Style Orzo, Caesar salad (with artisan bread croutons – yuuuum!)
Wednesday- Roasted turkey & gravy (from holiday sales), awesome sausage-cranberry dressing (hope to finally share this with you, even though it’s not the right time of year…), sauteed green beans, green salad
Thursday- Salmon patties, brown rice, sauteed corn & peppers
Friday- out
Saturday- homemade pizza (maybe a Greek-style with turkey from Wed…)
Sunday- Leftovers
Week 3: February 18-24
Monday- Creamy turkey & rice soup, Quick & Tender Breadsticks (I’ll make some into buns for Saturday), vegetables & dip
Tuesday- Slow Cooker Spiced Chicken, roasted potatoes, onions & peppers, Grated Baked Garlic Carrots
Wednesday- Sausage-Bean Gratins, Breadsticks (leftover from Mon), salad
Thursday- Soft Tacos
Friday- Teriyaki Salmon on noodles with green beans
Saturday- Burgers on homemade buns (made monday), oven fries, carrots & dip
Sunday- Leftovers
Week 4: February 25- March 2
Monday- Slow cooker turkey chili, cornbread, chopped salad
Tuesday- Haystacks made with leftover turkey chili (lettuce & veg. for toppings)
Wednesday- Pad Thai with shrimp, coconut-vegetable curry soup
Thursday- Spaghetti made with Roasted Tomato Sauce
Friday- Family dinner
Saturday- Family dinner
Sunday- leftovers
Whew! Have you ever planned a whole month of dinner menus?
I believe a cottage can be anywhere or anything (condo, ranch, farmhouse) as long as you have a "cottage mentality" which puts people above things, celebrates imperfections, embraces simplicity, and finds joy in everyday life. Thanks for joining me!
Yes, I do monthly menus. I’ve made a list of our fav meals, along with any unusual ingredients (things I might not always keep on hand) and refer to this when making up the menu. We are retired and pretty much stay at home in the winter so the monthly menu works fine for us. I also do a new-to-us dish every other week.
Could you give a bit more detail about “magic” mac and cheese? Sounds easy! No thickener? Pasta/milk ratio? Please elaborate!
LOVE your posts!
It’s fun to watch, Val, and makes a super creamy dish: 1/2 lb. small pasta + 2 1/2 c. milk + 1 tsp. salt; cook over med-high stirring constantly 10-15 minutes. Add 1 1/2c. shredded cheese (sharp is best) and 1 Tb. butter until melted. That’s it!
I am gonna try this recipe soon. Sounds delish & easy
The easiest format I found for planning a month is using a teacher’s lesson plan book. Nice big spaces to right and you can see the whole month at a glance.
Often i end up screwing myself what to prepare for the dinner, and you planned for the whole month awesome work jami. I think i can also adapt some of the recipes from your list for weekends.