Today is a wet, rainy and apparenlty chilly day here in South Carolina. But that's okay - we need the rain.

We have our Boys Club co-op in about an hour, so this morning I had to actually think of what to make for dinner, that would literally be cooking itself while I am gone.

In the big freezer I went and found some beef for stew. How awesome. Pulled out a pack and quickly defrosted it while I did our Sonlight reading. While I cooked up the stew beef, I put one of the pie pumpkins into the oven so the flesh (or whatever it is called) will become soft. Then I decided to try using this French Bread recipe in regular loaf pans. I normally don't bother with a bread recipe that requires it to rise twice, but I'll make the exception for today. Because we have our produce co-op tomorrow and I still have at least 2 or 3 heads of cabbage, I think I need to do something to use at least one of them. I won't have time to make up a dessert, but I think this meal will be good and filling on a beautiful rainy day.

So Monday nights menu:

Beef Stew

French Bread

Coleslaw

Here's the plan and it's always subject to change.

Breakfast: usually the same ~ eggs, bacon, toast or other carb

Lunch: usually PBJ or leftovers

Dinner:

Sunday: Lasagna, salad, dessert (served after church); soup, salad, bread for dinner after Awana

Monday: Biscuit Beef Bake, salad, fresh fruit (we had leftover lasagna, salad and blueberry pie)

Tuesday: Lemon Garlic Chicken, rice, salad

Wednesday: Spaghetti, salad

Thursday: French Stuffed Potatoes, salad

Friday: Homemade Pizza, salad

Saturday: Ham Swiss Pastry, Salad, Cookies

So it's Wednesday and I'm finally posting this weeks menu when I realized I still had last weeks in "draft" mode. Oh well, better late than never, right?

So I'm very late in getting this out and I haven't stuck to the plan exactly as written, but hey at least I planned.

Breakfast: usually the same ~ eggs, bacon, toast or other carb

Lunch: usually PBJ or leftovers

Dinner:

Sunday lunch: Stuffed Shells, salad,

Sunday dinner: Soup, salad, bread (but we had cereal - how original)

Monday: Chicken Pot Pie, salad (but we had leftover stuffed shells)

Tuesday: Savory Beef, pasta, salad (we ended up having a thrown together chicken and rice soup with some frozen peas and shredded carrots, salad and brownies - yes the brownies were a "bride" for eating the soup) CORRECTION: BRIBE, BRIBE, BRIBE, not BRIDE.

Wednesday: Tacos, refried beans, cookies (we ended up eating at church. They had lasagna, greek salad, french bread and brownies with vanilla ice cream.)

Thursday: Farmer's Casserole, salad (we are having chicken pot pie, salad and carrot cake. The filling for the chicken pot pie is mainly the left over chicken and rice soup from Tuesday. The shell part is made using a pizza dough recipe. At produce co-op on Wednesday we received these HUGE carrots -- so it's carrot cake time.) UPDATE: My guys, all of them, ate the chicken pot pie. I made a gravy using butter, flour and chicken broth. Then I used some of the leftover chicken and rice soup and that was it. Okay, I didn't make a top crust, but I did use a small can of French's Fried Onions and some shredded cheese for the top.

Friday: Homemade pizza, salad

Saturday: Chili, rolls and butter, salad and applesauce (it's a crock-pot day. The applesauce is already in the freezer too, so that will be tasty treat.) (We had taco salad).

Yes I know this is Tuesday and I'm just now posting my menu plan for Monday. But I did have my menu written up on Saturday before I went shopping. So does that get me "off the hook"?

Breakfast: usually the same ~ eggs, bacon, toast or other carb

Lunch: usually PBJ or leftovers

Dinner:

Sunday lunch: Baked Ziti, salad, cherry pie

Sunday dinner: Soup, salad, bread

Monday: Leftover ziti and soup

Tuesday: Hamburgers, sweet potatoes, salad (the sweet potatoes are from the freezer stash)

Wednesday: Tacos, refried beans, cookies (I'll need to make up some taco shells, but the refried beans are the instant kind from Bread Beckers.

Thursday: Stir-Fry Chicken, rice, salad

Friday: Homemade pizza, salad (I already have the pizza shell in the freezer, so I just need to put the toppings on and bake it for 15 minutes).

Saturday: Pork Roast, rice, red beans, applesauce (it's a crock-pot day. The applesauce is already in the freezer too, so that will be tasty treat.