Preparation

The whole idea behind compiling menus each week is to have the planning complete and be prepared for each week. To make your week easier and less stressful, I recommend any advance planning that works for you. I have been out of town for a large portion of the month of August, so my reserves were very low. Last weekend I had a weekend of preparation.

Let's face it - cooking takes time. I love to cook and yet I still have other ways I like to spend my time. I am also very frugal and hate paying for foods I know I can make cheaper myself. (Although I do avail myself of the occasional pre-made item. You have to do what works - eating at home with convenience foods is still better than running through the ubiquitous drive thru!) I also like knowing what is in my food. I read a post from a mom whose advice to her kids was, "If God made it - eat it. If man made it - probably don't." I have always said I want foods as close to natural as possible - but let's not go crazy! Well, Saturday night we were going out to a church function so I did not have to cook dinner so I used the Saturday for preparation for the week.

Last Saturday I made yogurt for the week. I think I have given you the yogurt recipe before, but it is so easy and so much better than store bought. It does have to sit awhile so you need to make it in advance of when you want to eat it. I also made cranberry orange bagels. I packed these in a freezer bag and put them in the freezer for future breakfasts. Sourdough biscuits are really more like rolls so I baked a batch of them to also keep in the freezer for adding to meals later in the week.

On Sunday our oldest left for his final semester of college. We decided to have breakfast for lunch so he could leave on time. It worked out well because we could put it all together after church and it is about the time he usually eats breakfast anyway. My husband is the breakfast cook so he made scrambled cheese eggs and pan fried apple chicken sausage. I cut up cantaloupe and sliced tomato. We heated up some of the sourdough biscuits and served them with honey and jam. We made hot tea. Yum!

After he left, I continued my preparation for the week and made another batch of granola.

Our middle son leaves for his first year of college later this week. I am beginning to prepare for another school year of home schooling our first grader. (Two in college - one in first grade - quite a gap, huh?) My menus will be changing because I have decided to significantly reduce the meat in our diets. I will include more meatless, seafood, and chicken meals. Cholesterol runs high in my family and I have seen mine creep upward the past few years so I am trying to make dietary changes while I can. I read this week that former President Bill Clinton has become vegan for his health. I'm not quite ready to go that far, I love ice cream and cheese too much.

Hopefully with our return to a regular schedule, I will return to regular blogging. Thank you for reading. Don't forget you can follow me on twitter: @momsweeklymenus

Until next time...