Thank God there were numerous quick and cheap, organic, breakfast options at the Grocery Outlet this week! We are on VBS schedule, and now I get to try to rush my kids out the door every morning like the average parent who has to take kids to school. Our other challenges this week include continuing to get Alexander prepared for his placement tests to start college (concurrently with his final two years of high school)! As much as I hate teaching to the test, these tests are his ticket in so he can do what he wants, so I've been holding my nose and doing it. My little baby is grown up and it's exciting and scary and frustrating and sad and wonderful all at once.

We had a nice Father's Day with Rich. And Rich got to spend some time in our garden and in the hives, which he loves. We're hoping to improve our husbanding of our produce, animals, and property this year. In that vein, we have some friends who have been helping us tremendously on the property part and giving us advice and product recommendations. We're thrilled, because nearly six years in, our kids' play structure and swings may actually be set up in a secure and safe way! Since we'd already taken care of Rich's Father's Day present earlier this month, Rich only asked for a big pizza from a local place that makes gut buster, heart attacks on a plate and some real sugar cola in glass bottles. We also made salad so something we ate would have nutritive value. However, we learned some time back that this pizza place puts so much on top of the pizzas that you can push off the bits that are trying to fall off anyway and use them to top THREE other pizzas! So, we made pizza dough and sauce and rolled them out, sauced and cheesed them, had the oven hot and ready, and when I brought home the big guy, arranged those toppings on our pizzas and had four pretty big pizzas for the price of one with drinks and tax and tip. Not bad, and our crust and sauce is really better. Add the salad and the ice cream pucks we grabbed for dessert and we only spent about $53 for a pretty substantial dinner for 10 people, of which we still had two and a half pizzas and half the salad left for today's lunch!

Our sweet neighbors have taken pity on us for our poor fishing skills and have, essentially, taken us on as a project. They bring us fish almost whenever they go fishing now, and they also are trying to teach us so we can do it ourselves. So, we have freshly caught bass again this week. They are trying to get us some walleye, too, because we really want to try it. Dominic's birthday party is set for this weekend, we had to delay it because of our schedule and Father's Day. The reason this matters to our menu plan and the good news is that it means that dinner is party leftovers and I can just collapse after having 12 other boys aged 11-16 over in addition to our kids.

I finally, after having it on the menu several times, made the red lentil kofta. The flavor was great, but it didn't hold its shape the way we thought it should, so it ended up more like an Indian dal over our rice. Next time, I am going to put a little more of the burghul in it, and probably fry them.

Remember that the Psalms are according to eastern numbering in our daily Bible reading, also I Kings is the original designation, it is I Samuel in western Bibles (II Kings is II Samuel in the west, III Kings is I Kings, and IV Kings is II Kings).

• Sunday I Chronicles 6:34-8:40, Psalms 114, Proverbs 24:35-39, John 6:51-71
  Breakfast: Oatmeal with Brown Sugar, Bananas, Sliced Apples, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Pizza, Salad, York Peppermint Ice Cream Patties
• Monday I Chronicles 9:1-11:9, Psalms 115-116, Proverbs 25:1-5, John 7:1-36
  Breakfast: Cereal and Bananas, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Fried Bass, Ham and Kale, Grilled Corn
• Tuesday I Chronicles 11:10-13:14, Psalms 117:1-16, Proverbs 25:6-11, John 7:37-8:2
  Breakfast: Peanut Butter Toast, Sliced Apples, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Claudia's Chicken and Rice, Steam Sautéed Green Beans
• Wednesday - Feast of the Nativity of Saint John the Forerunner I Chronicles 14:1-16:35, Psalms 117:17-29, Proverbs 25:12-16, John 8:3-30
  Breakfast: Granola and Yogurt, Fruit Cup, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Salad with Hard Boiled Eggs, Garbanzo Beans, and Cheese, Fruit Plate
• Thursday I Chronicles16:36-19:19, Psalms 118:1-16, Proverbs 25:17-21, John 8:31-59
  Breakfast: Cereal and Bananas, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Slow Cooked Beef Heart, Roasted Broccoli, Scalloped Potatoes
• Friday I Chronicles 20-22, Psalms 119:17-32, Proverbs 25:22-26, John 9:1-12
  Breakfast: Yogurt and Jam, Buttered Toast, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Black Beans, Green Chile Rice, Sliced Avocados, Fruit Plate
• Saturday I Chronicles 23-25, Psalms 118:33-48, Proverbs 25:27-31, John 9:13-41
  Breakfast: Waffles with Raspberry Syrup, Bacon, Fried Eggs, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Party Leftovers

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.

Labels: Birthday, Church Year, Family, Homemaking, Homeschooling, Homesteading, House, Menu Plans, Tales from the Kitchen