The Christmas season officially came to a close yesterday, with the feast of the Baptism of the Lord. Our school session starts again this week and we really are looking forward to it. I love vacation, but sometimes it's good to get back into a more normal schedule. The children seemed a bit tired of vacation themselves on Friday.

We have taken a look at our pantry and freezers and decided that we could cut our grocery budget fairly drastically over the next couple months, simply by being more diligent about cooking from our supply. I used to post what I was using out of our stores at the end of these posts, but the way I'm making our menus this month and next, it will actually be easier to post a list of what we bought. We will still be buying milk, diaper supplies, animal feed and some fresh produce and herbs. We really do have almost everything else that we need. I also have an Azure Standard order I'll be doing each month and we'll be getting some things from Bob's Red Mill and Trader Joe's that we needed to replenish our stores. So, this isn't going to be a huge, sacrificial cut in our budget. Our menus for at least the next two months, though, will be almost entirely made from our pantry and freezer.

• Sunday
  Breakfast: Toasted Leftover Waffles, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Jalapeno Popper Pizza*, Sliced Oranges and Apples, Cookies


• Monday
  Breakfast: Oatmeal with Raisins and Brown Sugar, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Lamb Risotto, Vanilla Pears


• Tuesday
  Breakfast: Dutch Baby Pancake with Powdered Sugar and Lemon, Apple-Apricot Sauce, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Chicken and Dumpling Casserole*, Egg Noodles


• Wednesday
  Breakfast: Oatmeal Toast and Almond Butter, Oranges, Tea and Honey
  Dinner: Vegetarian Ranchero Beans (from freezer), Rice, Tropical Fruit Salad


• Thursday
  Breakfast: Oatmeal with Raisins and Brown Sugar, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Vegetable Beef Soup, Hard Rolls, Pineapple


• Friday
  Breakfast: Scrambled Eggs with Cheese, Oatmeal Toast, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Macaroni and Cheese, Carrot Sticks, Orange Slices (an orange colored meal!)


• Saturday
  Breakfast: Baked French Toast, Chorizo, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: King Ranch Chicken, Black Bean and Corn Salad (using lemon juice instead of lime)

What is on your menu this week? If you want a recipe, ask and I will provide it as soon as I can. If there are any starred recipes, I will follow up separately with a weekly recipe round up on Saturday.

Bought:

Milk
Butter
Garlic

Labels: Family, Homemaking, Menu Plans, Tales from the Kitchen