Menu 2014: November 3-30

Life has just been happening lately. I have been trying to catch up on the mountains of laundry.
School has taken up a little more time lately as the kids have needed a little more of my direct attention than I have been giving them. I feel very disorganized and I have come to the conclusion that this whole homeschooling thing is just not going to work if I don't get organized. I like to be organized but getting there is always a challenge. I seem to feel so overwhelmed that I just don't know where to begin. What are some ways that have helped you get organized (and then stay organized)?

Enjoying our time away :)

There I go again, getting sidetracked. Last week we had the wonderful blessing of getting away for our 10th anniversary. A dear lady from church took the kids during the day on Wednesday and then my parents drove over and kept the kids Wednesday night through Saturday morning. I had planned to work on the menu and a few other blog related items while we were away but thankfully my hubby told me that we were leaving our computers at home so that we could just focus on being away with each other. It was marvelous! I so thoroughly enjoyed just chatting, snuggling, resting, relaxing, walking, sight-seeing, eating, and, of course, sleeping soundly without my dear littles waking me. :) So I didn't get the menu finished and it's going up late, but we both needed the break. If you'd like a printable version, you can find it here. If you'd like to be able to edit the menu, here's a new editable menu.

November 3-9

• Pizza and a side salad
• Pretzel dogs, mixed veggies, and mac'n'cheese
• Pumpkin chicken curry soup
• Red curry flank steak over rice noodles
• Roasted turkey breast, glazed baby carrots, mashed potatoes, and side salad

November 10-16 - Happy Birthday to my Hubby!

• Turkey and wild rice soup (slow cooker)
• Poblano, sweet potato, and apple stuffed pork loin, steamed veggies, and side salad
• Texas Caviar Casserole (make up some Texas Caviar, then top with grilled pork chops, chicken breast, or steak, and cheese, bake for 15-20 minutes and enjoy)
• Chili and mini corn muffins
• Turkey club wraps and cream of wild mushroom soup

November 17-23 - Happy Opening Weekend, Hunters :)

• Potato Soup (slow cooker)
• Spaghetti and meatballs, steamed veggies, and side salad
• Dahi Chicken and dal over rice
• 10 Bean soup and mini corn muffins
• Pancakes or cinnamon rolls and scrambled eggs - I am in charge of breakfast for the moms and kids during opening day, one of the other moms takes lunch, another snacks, and then we all chip in to order pizza for dinner. :)
• Crockpot chicken pot pie and dinner rolls

November 24-30 - Happy Thanksgiving!!

• Honey garlic chicken, sesame noodles, and stir-fried veggies
• Pretzel-coated fish, steamed veggies, and baked sweet potatoes
• Chili dogs, fruit salad, and side salad
• Chef Salad
• This is the year that all my sisters and I, along with our families, converge upon my parents for a few days as we'll all be with our in-laws and their families for Christmas this year. So the five of us women (my mom and us four daughters) will pick different parts of each meal to prepare. We're still working on the menus for Thanksgiving so you'll have to wait till then to see what we're all throwing together. :)

If you don't want to wait till then, here are some dishes that I'd suggest for Thanksgiving dinner:

• Alton Brown's roast turkey
• homemade stuffing
• sweet potatoes
• green bean casserole from scratch
• dinner rolls or crescent rolls
• pumpkin cake with salted caramel cream cheese frosting (gluten free)
• apple crisp