Meal and Jobs Plan for April 20-27

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Spring, spring, you're so lovely, and so very fickle...It keeps us on our toes.  Shall we need heat today or Air Conditioning?  A little of both?  None of either?  It has been lovely, really and there's the bonus of getting to wear both some of my favorite winter things and some of my favorite summer things.  We had inches upon inches of rain earlier last week and then finished the week off with a few more inches, as well.

Planning meals has taken on a whole new twist.  I plan to make salads for supper and the temperature drops so I dig about in the freezer for frozen soup to heat.  I plan to grill and it pours rain so we pan roast.  Apparently spring this year is all about being open to change.  I need the practice, so I'm trying to go right along with it all.  

Adding to my planning woes: my freezer stock of meats is very low.  I hope we get to restock this next pay period.  I have set some money aside to use for this.  I have no idea what the prices will look like this time around.  Needless to say, I've already planned unnecessary items to be cut out of that usual purchase budget.  And then there's the new normal of one short pay period each month, there's the added challenge of not stocking up and decreasing the grocery budget for that pay period by half what we'd normally spend.  And no, we don't get to make it up on the healthier pay period.  Nothing quite like forced cooperation in lowering an already tight budget is there?

Lena asked last week about Red Black and Blue salad: Tomatoes and lettuce, slices of cooked roast or steak, blue cheese crumbles.  With sour dough croutons this is a tasty warm weather dish.  We didn't have warm weather this past week, nor the roast I'd meant to make, so this dish got bumped from our menu as well.

Just five meal plans this week.  I'll be on my own two days this coming week.

Pan-fried Sirloin Steak, Homemade Pub Fries, Thyme and Butter sauteed mushrooms, Salad

John requested the steak. I had one one pound half sirloin in the freezer, our last. I'd planned another meal entirely but it is all part and parcel of 'going with the flow'.  So I decided that menu would do fine for the next day, but we got a phone call and company's coming.  Bump it down one more spot. 

This was a very tasty meal...and those pub fries made me rethink my ideal of keeping bought prepared french fries in the freezer.  It took no more time to cook these than it does the frozen sort, and gracious goodness, the fresh flavor was so good.

Chicken Pot Pie, Coleslaw, Cranberry Sauce

 I was much amused Saturday morning to discover Trisha Yearwood making Chicken Pot Pie on her cooking program...using the same recipe I had been following for my own pot pie.  I don't make this particular recipe often but I do like it now and then for a change.

Roast Beef, Zucchini Gratin, Haricot Verts, Pear and Toasted Pecan cream cheese Salad

This shall likely be my company meal, rather than the pot pie I'd planned to make.  I never had the opportunity to make the roast beef last week.  John wants to go to early service at church, company will likely arrive before we're back home.  I shall leave the roast and zucchini dish prepped before leaving home and my company can start them cooking if they arrive before we do.

Sloppy Joes, Potato Soup, Baked Apples 

If the weather continues cooler we'll have the soup...and if not I'll make more pub fries. I'll save a bit of zucchini to go in the sloppy joe mixture which is more vegetable than meat.  It's an old weight watchers recipe that we've never stopped enjoying. We end the Feast of Unleavened bread Monday night at sunset.  I'm going out Tuesday morning to get my hair cut, so I'll pick up a couple loaves of bread at that time.

Roast Turkey Breast, Corn Pudding, 24 Hour Salad

Turkey breasts on sale at the local grocery for the Easter holiday.  Sale won't end until Wednesday so I mean to purchase a couple of the breasts to put in the freezer.  I'll just go right ahead and thaw one to use for our meal.  It will be a grand bonus for sandwiches and a favorite spring dinner as well.

Job plan:
last week:

Home:  I will sew the valances.  I will. I will. I will....I didn't but it wasn't for lack of planning or trying.  Rain means NO light in my work area making it impossible to see what I'm doing.

Finish the cleaning of the yeast from the house (Sunday and early Monday is all the time I have to accomplish this).

Prepare for Passover (Sunday and Monday only).

Get Baking and food cupboard arranged.

Now that closet is straightened up, clean floor, sort out clothes, etc.

Yard: Clean front porch.  

Bring out umbrella and chair cushions. 

DO something to back porch to make it attractive.

It turned out to be a week of frost and rain.  Not conducive to thinking of porches, umbrellas or anything else.

Booth:  Tag items for booth and deliver and place.

Extra: work on vacation plans.  I must find an interesting, new venue.  This got scrapped entirely as John needed to be available for possible CEU classes.  Those dates are now set, so this goes back on the planning list with a change of dates.

Home:  Sew those silly valances. 

Clean the cupboard shelves on the dining room wall.

Sort through my collection of vintage magazines and determine which I mean to keep, which I mean to sell. I've actually started this, but would like to sort the boxed lot of them.  I'll put those I mean to keep back on my shelves.

Yard:  Clean front porch.

Bring out umbrella and chair cushions. 

DO something to back porch to make it attractive.

Booth:  Get new items delivered to my booth.

Get out to do some yard sale shopping or thrift store hopping for next lots going into booth.

Extra:  Plan vacation now that we have dates to work with.