So, I’m back from Vegas. Yankee Bill had a pool tournament there (his team won at state level and got to go, expenses paid, to the national tournament).
Yeah, I know, you probably didn’t even know I was gone. Blogger lets you schedule posts (a fairly new and awesome feature) so I was able to set up some things to post while I was gone. Hence the run of “Best Of” posts. I did have wi-fi in the room, I just didn’t have time to use it much.
We took a red-eye home on Saturday night/Sunday morning. The plane left Las Vegas at 11pm, and we got back home (with driving and all) at about 10am on Sunday. Suffice it to say I have been wiped out for the last 2 days. Between travel, staying up WAY to late on vacation, the time change and red-eye flight it’s been a bit hard to regain my equilibrium.
But it’s a foggy yet beautiful Northeastern morning, with promise of sunshine later. The kiddos are momentarily silent as they watch “wonder pets”, the coffee is kicking in, and I can ignore the crumbs on the floor for a few more minutes.
It’s good to be home.
It’s time to get myself organized though, and a menu plan is a big part of that.
Monday: Potato Ham Skillet, Tomato Salad, Green Beans
I just pulled a small bag of chopped ham out of the freezer, boiled a few potatoes (whenever I try to cook raw potatoes in a skillet I never get it right), chopped everything, sauteed some onions, mixed it together and browned it a bit in the skillet. Pretty yummy. The salad & beans were both from the garden.
Tuesday: Beef (Venison) Broccoli Stirfry, Rice, Sauteed Zuchinni
Did you know hunting season is coming up? And I’ve got quite a bit of venison still left in the freezer. You’ll be seeing it appear quite regularly from now on. . . Gotta make space! I’ve got a few heads of broccoli left in the garden, so I’ll throw that into a stirfry, and I’ve got a huge zucchini that has to be used.
Wednesday: Spaghetti & Venison Sausage Meatsauce, Salad, Breadsticks
Trying to keep it easy this week. We made venison sausage last fall-they are just sausage patties, so easy to fry in crumbles and add to the sauce.
Thursday: Ham, Greens, Corn, Homemade Bread
I bought 2 spiral cut hams right after Easter for something like $1.59 a lb. I cut them up into meal sized portions and froze them. So all I have to do is defrost and warm the slices. I have chard and Malabar Spinach out in the garden which needs to be picked, so those with some diced up onions, a bit of ham bullion and a very small sprinkle of red pepper flakes will make a nice side. The farmers market in town is on Thurs, so I should be able to pick up some extremely fresh corn (that’s the big crop around here for the farmers), and there will be bread/breadsticks left over from earlier in the week.
Friday: Homemade Pizza
Always a favorite at the Frugal Upstate Household.
Saturday: Grilled Chicken and Veggies, Homemade Rolls, Cherry Pie
This gives me plenty of time to get the chicken thawed, and I’ll be able to cook extra to go into the Asian Chicken salad for Labor day. The grilled veggies will be whatever is ready from the garden, and I bought 2 jars of Morello cherries while visiting my mom especially to make a pie for Yankee Bill. He loves cherry pie.
Sunday: Out of town for the day. Yankee Bill was able to get tickets to one of the final Yankee Games in the old stadium. It’s a bus tour deal where we get up early, take the bus down, watch the game, take the bus back with a bunch of smelly drunk fans, and hit the sack just in time to get up again and take care of the kiddos. Should be fun 
Monday: Labor Day BBQ at friend’s house.
I’ll probably provide homemade Caramel Corn, Deviled Eggs and my Asian Chicken Salad. There will be more food than anyone should eat, as well as a HUGE homemade slip & slide set up on the hill. Fun for all!
The rest of next week will be chaos with the kiddos going back to school!
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
That’s odd, I have trouble pan frying potatoes that have already been cooked.
I hope my hubby goes hunting this year (and gets a deer). It’s been too long since we’ve had venison.
I think it should be “WAY too” not “WAY to” late. I point this out not to nit pick but because I’m trying to build up some “credentials” as an editor!
Thank you for the menu planning ideas. Reading this has made me hungry for venison!
Mac
September’s 08′ issue of Cooking Light has a Venison Sausage and Black Bean Chili recipe that looks really yummy
Just read this….you plan sounds yummy! And I truly giggled when you mentioned that the kiddos were watching wonder pets…my sonny boy loves that show. And Diego….Diego rocks his socks off! lol
Annie-weird, when I use raw potatoes I always wind up with them too crunchy and raw in the middle. My pan must be hotter than yours.
Mac-I’ll have to get in there and fix it.
Kelly-ooohhh! That sounds so yummy.
Amiyrah-Personally I think wonder pets is DUMB-and I think it’s weird that my 7 year old will watch it, as it’s aimed at much younger kids!