The days are starting to get packed with Christmas gatherings and the menus are starting to show it!  There have been some delicious meals and others that are just thrown together to get us to the next activity.

Monday:  Tacos.
Tuesday:  Stuffed Bell Pepper Soup with homemade crescent rolls and baby peas.  I haven't done much holiday cookie baking this year so I put my energy into fresh rolls.  I would be hard pressed to pick between hot rolls or hot cookies straight out of the oven!
Wednesday:  Sweet and Sour Pork.  My version is full of veggies and roasted pork leftovers so is actually a really healthy meal.  I still love the deep fried version from Chinese restuarants better!
Thursday:  Soup supper at church.  I love the soups that the families bring...Chicken Enchilada, Taco, Lentil, Vegetable Beef...with hot bread.  
Friday:  Vacation Day!!!  Out on the town in the big city with my husband...no cooking!
Saturday:  Basque Dinner with the family.  Amazing food!  Some you need to be a little brave to try:  Beef Tongue, Spanish Rice, Flan, Codfish and Peppers...
Sunday:  Cheeseburger Skillet

I actually owe 2 weeks of menus.  They aren't exciting or interesting and actaully anything yummy on them is my husband's work on the grill.

Week 6:
Monday:  Pork tacos with all the fixings.
Tuesday:  Stuffed Pasta Shells (sausage and spinach) with green beans.
Wednesday:  Fiesta Chicken Soup - It sounds fancy but it is one of my ways of cleaning the veggies out of the fridge!  The cheese and tortillas chips on top make it kid friendly.
Thursday:  Steak and Eggs with fresh berry salad.
Friday:  Dinner in a Dish - A recipe from my husband's family...hamburger, noodles, corn, olives, tomato soup all together.  Not my favorite but a hit with the husband and kids.
Saturday:  Leftover Fiesta Chicken Soup - One of the meals that is just as good the second time around.
Sunday:  Chili - This was a camp meal!  Easy to prep ahead and full of veggies, buttercup squash and meat.  Perfect after sitting on the river fishing for a couple hours.

Week 7:
Monday:  Karen's Casserole with fresh fruit.  You will see this casserole pop up often - I make big batches and freeze it for those nights I need a quick meal.
Tuesday:  Pizza
Wednesday:  Beef Enchiladas with cucumbers and applesauce.
Thursday:  Leftovers
Friday:  Quiche - Notice the egg based meal each week?  Our chickens are going crazy and I have eggs, eggs, eggs!!!
Saturday:  Daddy Day - who knows what they ate!!!
Sunday:  Ribs with Mac and Cheese on the Traeger with beets and carrots.

I kept records of an extra week of meals just because I knew that I would mess up one of these weeks and forget to write things down.  So I am skipping a week and matching up with Thanksgiving since anyone reading might think it is odd that we had Steak and Eggs for dinner on Thursday instead of Thanksgiving dinner!

So here is the past week's menu.  The first part of the week actually happened while we were camping so we got a yummy dutch oven meal!

Monday:  Dutch Oven Swedish Meatballs with roasted parsnips and butternut squash and pickled beets.  The meatballs are my grandmother's recipe and one of my favorite meals ever!  I love that my attempt to move them to the dutch oven was successful and makes an easy quick camping meal.  

Tuesday:  A meal out at Oscar's.  This was my treat for sitting in a fishing boat on the Salmon River in November for a couple days.  I kinda regret the trip since I ended up catching my son's drink in my lap and walked out looking like I had peed my pants.  I did love that my son also discovered a love for Fettuccine Alfredo and took it up a notch when he added his side of bacon to the dish.  If your gonna go for the Alfredo you might as well go big!

Wednesday:  Leftovers but there were some really yummy ones from the camp trip.  The boys finished off the pasta while I put dibs on the last meatballs.

Thursday:  Thanksgiving Feast

Friday:  Chili and chorizos with fresh veggies.  A quick dinner before we enjoyed yummy finger snacks at a friend's bonfire.  I made caramel corn to take to the bonfire so none of us were very hungry!

Saturday:  Tacos

Sunday:  Chunky turkey gravy over mashed potatoes with broccoli and cranberry sauce.  I had to break down and use some of the turkey leftovers.  We have been eating turkey wraps and sandwiches for lunch but we weren't getting through the supply.  

Monday:  Karen's Casserole with applesauce - This is a cheesy ham, broccoli and rice casserole.
Tuesday:  Spaghetti and peaches
Wednesday:  Meatloaf, brussel sprouts and pickled beets - Sprouts sauteed with bacon crumbles...yummy!
Thursday:  Chinese Pepper Steak over rice with steamed broccoli
Friday:  Homemade pizza and green salad
Saturday:  Tater tot casserole with green salad
Sunday:  Leftovers

Monday:  Korean beef and broccoli over rice with Mandarin oranges - used leftovers from Sunday's roast to make the Korean beef!
Tuesday:  Quinoa Chicken Parmesan Soup - a new slow cooker recipe.  It has potential but needs a little tweaking.
Wednesday:  Eggs and Bacon.  The oldest was complaining about soups and casseroles.  He will eat just about everything but he prefers each item separate not mixed together.  I gave him the decision for dinner so we had breakfast!  Who can go wrong with bacon???
Thursday:  Gnocchi with sausage, peppers, onions and peas.
Friday:  Pizza at the local cafe.  Harvest has gone on for too long and I just wanted a quick dinner that the kids would enjoy.  Love a place that will rush a pizza, put on a cartoon and have a special drink just for your kiddo!
Saturday:  Leftovers.  Love this day because the fridge gets cleaned out and I don't have to cook.  Hate this day because leftovers are my least favorite meal.
Sunday:  Taco soup with all the fixings.

I know some people will question using roast in the Korean beef recipe.  I don't make a roast like my mother did!  Some will think this is a good thing, some will not.  Mom used the slow cooker and added the traditional potatoes, onion and carrots.  It does smell wonderful when you walk into the house.  

I have to give credit to my husband for perfecting the roasts for us on the Traeger.  We use a basic rub on the roast and slow cook it on the grill.  The smoke adds some amazing flavor and the low heat is perfect for cooking grass fed meats.  We always use a meat thermometer and the finished product is delicious.  It also has a different texture than mom's roast.  When cooled, it slices perfectly in the food processor for sandwiches, quick additions to stir-fry (Korean beef) or easy tacos.  It doesn't work to 

Monday:  Sloppy Joes, green beans and peaches
Tuesday:  Hamburger gravy over mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli
Wednesday:  Lentil Chili - I went vegetarian with this meal and loaded the chili with onions, peppers, and buttercup squash.  So many veggies you can hide in a good bowl of chili!  I almost always soak and cook my own beans for chili.  Lentil chili is a great alternative for the days you don't have time (or have forgotten) to soak your beans. 
Thursday:  Enchilada Stacks (Beef) - for the days you are too lazy to roll up the tortillas.  Re-fried beans and rice and steamed broccoli.  
Friday:  Cheeseburger Skillet - a version of hamburger helper but made from scratch.
Saturday:  Chili dogs at our church Harvest Festival.  
Sunday:  Roast (off the Traeger) with roasted parsnips, buttercup squash and onions. 

I am a stay-at-home mom, owner/operator of a vegetable CSA and marketing director at Red Star Ranch.  The last two titles are self-made and a mental distraction to hopefully keep me sane and make me better at the first title.  They take up some of my time but only as much as I am willing to give.  The stay-at-home mom is a job that entails two little people I love very much, many chores I enjoy and a couple that “aren’t my favorite”. 

Given my other two titles, many will be surprised that one of those tasks that isn’t my favorite is cooking and meal planning.  In my single days, I survived on yogurt, pasta, sandwiches, uncooked vegetables and the occasional pizza, taco or Chinese delivery.  Such a short grocery list, minimal dishes to wash, no one complained about how done the steak was or that the bacon was in the vegetables instead of one the side…. It was heaven!  It wasn’t an un-healthy diet, but it definitely could have been better. 

Now, I have a husband who seems to think a man should eat 3 (THREE!!!) meals a day and his sons agree.  I can’t even imagine the food that will be needed when I have 2 teenagers and a husband eating at the table!  One of the things I miss about the days when I used to work – I only had to get a dinner on the table, no lunch.  Now, I should be putting lunch and dinner on the table.  Honestly, it doesn’t happen.  On good days – Yes.  On other days – Not so much.  At the end of the summer, I noticed that I was barely getting anything on the table but had no good excuse for why that was happening.  I had the time and supplies but…

This idea started to form in my head.  Maybe if I put up on the internet for the whole world to see what I made for dinner then maybe I would focus on creating regular, healthy meals for my family.  Kind of like having a workout buddy who holds you accountable.  So, I am going to give this a try.  It may not last.  But for the 20 some people who look at the Red Star Ranch website, you will get to see what my family eats for at least a couple weeks.

Here are my guidelines on what this is and what it is not!

1. This is not a center for recipes.  Request one and I will try to get it up.  However, realize that I rarely measure while I cook and sometimes just start adding things to a pot and hope it becomes soup!  There are successes and failures (just ask my husband).
2. The goal is to put up one list each week that has one meal from each day.
3. While it is Red Star Ranch, my meals are not all about beef or chicken or pork or anything specific.
4. My idea of meal planning is deciding what to speed defrost an hour before I should start cooking (It is 2:30 and I should probably be figuring out what is for dinner instead of typing!).  Don’t expect rhyme or reason to anything on the menu.
5. I try to feed my family wholesome food.  I use as many vegetables from my own garden as possible and basically only use meat that was raised on our farm.  Very few meals involve a cardboard box or plastic packaging.  We aren’t gluten free, low fat, low carb, high protein…

I would love to hear what is going on your table!  So share and comment your favorite meals.

Here is the first week:
Monday:  Steak with crispy gnocchi and peas.  I baked a Vanilla Rich Chip cake because it was just that kind of day.
Tuesday:  Potato soup (vegetarian) with spinach salad.
Wednesday:  Ham and beans from the crock pot.
Thursday:  Turkey Pot Pie.  Love it when all of the veggies are included in the meal!
Friday:  Ham and Cheese Sandwiches with pickled beans and beets.
Saturday:  Leftovers!!!
Sunday:  Breakfast Hash.