We are back from a whirlwind week of travel. I was going to post a menu plan last week, when we first returned, but it took me so long to catch up enough on things at home and with our schoolwork, that it became more of a summary post, rather than a planning post. I did plan the menus, and we actually stuck to them pretty well, but I couldn't do much posting here all week.

Rich had a conference in San Antonio, so Nejat and I came along with him to sight see and relax while he did work. We were able to visit with some friends of ours who moved there from our state (one family from when we lived on the west side and one family from here), as well, which was so nice. As an aside, that experience proved the maxim that it is who you know. We needed a babysitter for Nejat for one event while we were there, and we asked our friends if they could recommend one, as we didn't want random people with questionable characters or skills to be caring for our baby. Well, it seemed like we'd struck out, but one of these friends managed to find someone who was willing to drive her almost 16 year old daughter downtown, to a hotel, to people she didn't know, to watch our baby. I asked the mother if she'd like us to meet her first, to make sure we weren't weirdos, since I would want that as a mother, and she said that it wasn't necessary as we had come so highly recommended from a most reliable source. Well!

Our last day there, Rich was able to do some of the sights with us, then we had a busy evening of travel, arriving home at a little after 2:00 in the morning, to a five square mile power outage, to rest a little, before packing up our kids and leaving again, that afternoon, for his mother's, to attend a memorial for his aunt, and a wedding, the next day. We literally drove directly from the memorial to the wedding. I changed in the bathroom at the funeral home.

I'd been trying to avoid grocery shopping until this past Friday, because we had so much to do for school and at home after all the traveling - I am so thankful to our friends who stayed with the rest of our children and supervised their school work while we were gone. Anyway, we were heavy on fridge/freezer/pantry ingredients last week. We are well stocked, but were pretty low on fresh vegetables and fruit, so I had to get creative. We still were able to eat healthfully, and nobody seems to have contracted scurvy. We'll be getting another big box of asparagus this week ($0.50/lb!), though, plus our normal weekly grocery shopping, so this week ought to be more of our normal fare.

• Sunday
  Breakfast: Yogurt and Toast, Milk & Coffee
  Dinner: Pizza
• Monday
  Breakfast: Oatmeal with Brown Sugar, Milk & Coffee
  Dinner: Sausage, Potato and Green Bean Hash with Fried Eggs
• Tuesday
  Breakfast: Vegetable and Cheese Scramble, Toast, Milk & Coffee
  Dinner: Three Cheese Ravioli with Meat Sauce, Garlic Bread, Salad
• Wednesday
  Breakfast: Yogurt and Jam, Buttered Toast, Milk & Coffee
  Dinner: Red Lentil Soup with Spinach, Biscuits
• Thursday
  Breakfast: Asparagus and Cheese Scramble, Toast, Milk & Coffee
  Dinner: Chicken Salad on Onion Buns, Roasted Asparagus
• Friday
  Breakfast: Granola with Yogurt and Honey, Milk & Coffee
  Dinner: Black Bean & Cheese Burritos with Avocado and Sour Cream, Salsa Rice
• Saturday
  Breakfast: Waffles with Maple Syrup, Bacon, Milk & Coffee
  Dinner: Hot Dogs, Tater Tots, Carrot & Celery Sticks

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.

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