It's Fall, Y'all!

Calvin at the pumpkin patch last fall!

It is officially fall! I've had my pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks to celebrate the occasion. I also have a menu plan fit for the season! We did quite well again this week, sticking with our menu options. I did end up making cheeseburgers, but that was when I realized that it was a very special day and they were quite appropriate.

In this upcoming week, I will try to keep this habit going. I've not assigned days to any of my meals, because I'm not quite sure how the week is going to play out. I do know that we had homemade sub sandwiches last night and we will likely be going out for sushi tonight (possibly with my parents). As for the rest of the week? Here are our options:

Roasted pork tenderloin
apple and sage stuffing
broccoli/peas

Cancakes!
sausage links
fruit or apple sauce

Taco bowls (think Chipotle)
tortilla chips
*this isn't Charlie's favorite thing, so I may make him a burger or something else yummy

Open-faced roast beef sandwiches
mashed potatoes
carrots/kale or spinach

Hotdogs (all natural and all beef)
baked beans
smiley fries/sweet potato tots

Roasted chicken
rice and gravy
delicata squash/something relatively healthy the boys will eat

Other things that will hopefully get made:
applesauce (from the 50 pounds of apples my Momma and I picked)
apple muffins
cupcakes
9-inch round cake (to freeze for cake balls later this month)
rice krispie treats
bread
pierogi (to freeze)
biscuits (also to freeze)

Looks like I've got my work cut out for me this week! But a good portion of this is prep and stocking the freezer for the coming weeks. Calvin and I have yet to make it to that butcher shop that I've been wanting to check out, so that is on the agenda this week too!

What are y'all having this week?

Meals and Sundries

Let's just get this out of the way now. FALL IS ON THE WAY AND THERE ARE SO MANY SQUASH AND APPLES AND WARM SPICES AND FOOTBALL AND AND AND...HOORAY!

Thank you for indulging me.

Calvin at Bryson's Apple Orchard. This is where we got
our apples for the applesauce we recently canned. 

Truly, though. I am pretty excited about the season changing. This summer was a weird one for our area. We had record rain fall, cooler temperatures, and our growing seasons were all kinds of whacked. Luckily, the apple orchards didn't suffer. We're getting a really decent late tomato crop as well. Momma and I are doing lots of canning because of it! We processed about 20 pints of tomatoes and 10 various sized jars of applesauce so far. More tomatoes and apples will be put up in the next two weeks. That should last us until spring...I hope. 

For the past few weeks, I've been making meal plans for my little household. It's helping me stay on track and on time, since we've started eating dinner a little earlier on the days that Charlie works. I'm going to start sharing my plans for each week in hopes that I'll keep this habit (and perhaps keep writing, too).

I don't have my meals organized by days, because dinner depends on how much time I have to prep/get it done, what else we've got going on that day, who feels like eating what, etc. So, in no particular order-

Meal ideas:
Elle's Chicken Franchaise
pasta with olive oil and garlic
side salads

Homemade pierogi**
sausage of some kind
applesauce (from the batch Momma and I just canned)

Tomato soup (from the tomatoes I just canned)
grilled cheese "croutons"
fruit

Turkey meatballs
roasted acorn squash and sweet potatoes
spinach for me, corn for the boys

Grilled chicken salads
garlic bread

There will more than likely be a night where I have veggies/leftovers and I'll make the boys a burger. It's a great back up plan because I know I always have the ingredients on hand and Charlie (my own, personal Hamburglar of a husband) won't complain.

Other things that must be made sometime this week:

A small batch of pickled carrots

Dijon mustard

Bread! Must. Make. Bread.
Fig bars**
Possibly a chocolate cake using a recipe a dear friend recently tried and loved

There is a local-ish butcher that I'm going to explore this week. I really hope it won't be a bust. We just don't have many farms and specialty stores around to buy local, fresh products. But I'm seeking them out! I'm tired of funding giant corporations and getting shafted in the process by poor quality and high prices. But I digress, as that topic could be a rant-fest on it's own. 

What are your culinary plans for the week?

**These are 2 new recipes I'm trying. If they work out well, I'll share them!