Menu Plan Monday...

It's been awhile since I posted a 'Menu Plan Monday' post...but there is nothing like fall and a busy afterschool schedule to inspire meal planning. I find my day just starts so much better if I have supper made in the morning...both the prep and the assembly. That just leaves cooking time for a meal to be on the table.

Sunday~Shrimp & Wild Rice Casserole (Paula Deen recipe). Since we ate this yesterday, I can report that it was a hit with requests for an encore.

Monday~sad to say...but we ate McDonalds. Just trying to keep it real.

Tuesday~Hamburger soup....light on the hamburger and heavy on the vegetables. Served with cornbread from this month's Martha Stewart Everyday Food.

Wednesday~Roasted chicken breasts in a maple, bbq sauce with rice and green beens.

Thursday~grilled cubano panini sandwiches from this month's Martha Stewart Everyday Food.

Friday~twice-baked pototoes, basa fish and a green salad.

Saturday~Dad cooks.

Baking projects for this week:
~I have lots of frozen bananas in the freezer, so I am planning to make 2 batches of banana chocolate chip muffins for the kids' lunches.
~trying a new cornbread recipe from Martha Stewart Everyday Food.

i love my new warm...

hat! Did a little shopping at Anthropologie yesterday and picked up this hat for myself. A bit of an expensive splurge, but we are being hit with an early winter here. Woke up to blizzard-like conditions this morning with radio reports of lots of traffic accidents on the morning commute. I ran the boy to school and was toasty warm in my new hat. Hats can make you feel so...um....nerdy....to be honest, but this hat is too cute.

on Oprah's couch today...

my beloved Nie and her husband Christian are talking about their survival of a fiery plane crash that killed their pilot and friend. I don't watch Oprah often, but I will be watching today.

our new "hot" drink station...

Tyler loves hot chocolate in the morning. Somehow, making hot chocolate in the microwave just never turns out that great-lumpy with gobs of hot chocolate not dissolved. Last week, we got the Keurig Ultimage Singe Cup Home Brewing System. I first got to try this system at my parents house this summer. I instantly had "gadget envy"...and I am not normally a gadget person. The system comes with little cups filled with coffee, tea or hot chocolate that can be loaded into the machine for hot brewed drinks. It can make 3 different cup sizes and it can be programmed for a 'turn on' and a 'shut off' time. It can also provide instant hot water into a cup for other things...like soup or a tea bag. I don't drink coffee and therefore don't enjoy making it for visitors because I am never sure how it tastes, but this home brewing system takes care of that.

I made a little basket for our hot drink station with assorted coffees, teas, hot chocolate, spoons, and chocolate & vanilla sugar. The kids love that they can make hot chocolate anytime they like.

Ron loves to make himself tea in a matter of seconds. I like to make honey, hot water and lemon to drink. Yesterday, I even used hot water from the system to heat thermoses for the kids' lunches before adding soup.

Our new "hot drink" station fits perfectly into a little corner in our kitchen. Now I just need to find some people who drink coffee.

a saturday around our house.....

Hunter wanted to take on a baking project this morning...so she made these pumpkin, walnut & chocolate chip cookies. Tyler did his new Saturday chore..."poop scooping" the yard. After I took this picture, he said, "Mom! I have poop and I know how to use it." Little stinker!

After the baking project was complete, Hunter played with the puppies.

Ron was hanging on his computer for a spell. He coached a winning hockey game at 8 am this morning for the little munchkins. The score was 6-1.

I ran out and got us some chinese takeout for dinner.

And I enjoyed reading the ideas/recipes in this.

All in all, a good day.