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Menu Plan: 01/23 – 01/29

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It’s hard to believe that the first month of the new year is almost gone already.  I don’t know about you, but my family and I are ready for winter to be over with.  It seems like it is really dragging on this year.  One of the good things about winter is that we love to have lots of soups and stews, which we have taken full advantage of it so far. 

 

Breakfast:

Lunch:

  • Sandwiches
  • Canned Soups
  • Leftovers

Dinner:

  • Sunday: Crock Pot venison stew
  • Monday: Leftovers
  • Tuesday:  Baked Tilapia with rice, green beans, & corn
  • Wednesday:  Spaghetti with sauce & garlic bread
  • Thursday:  Leftovers
  • Friday:  Shrimp Stir Fry with rice (?) and ??
  • Saturday:  Spiced Pork Chops with mashed potatoes, peas, corn, & homemade rolls

 

For more great menus this week, don’t forget to check out Organizing Junkie!

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Mmmm! Maple Candy

 

This is a new one for my family.  We’ve all grown up on snow cream:

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But, I’ve never made Maple Snow Candy.  All I can say is boy have I been missing out!  This stuff is delicious!  And it was so simple!  I followed the directions from Quaker Hill Farm and had no trouble at all. 

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It was very easy to identify the changes in stages as the maple syrup reached the candy stage.

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  Here’s the final product:

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And a couple of my family enjoying this sweet, delicious treat:

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Since it has been requested by all members of the family, this will definitely be made again!  I can assure you that this one batch will not last long – maybe not even until tomorrow!  This is just another reason to enjoy having snow!

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Let the simplifying begin!

 

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Today, I started going through “stuff”.  I got the bright idea to start with the kids’ clothes since they just got some new items yesterday.  Well, one thing lead to another, and I ended up with 8 (no that is not a typo) bags of clothing and various items, as well as a TV, to donate to our local thrift store.  The Sony box in the pic has some old speakers that are going to a co-worker of Brian’s.  Not only did I manage to get this “stuff” bagged up, but it’s out in my van waiting to be dropped off in the morning. 

Also on today’s agenda was cleaning out the fridge.  Now, I had been doing very well with staying on top of this, but have been very lax the last few months.  Thankfully, I started cleaning it out again on semi-regular basis before Thanksgiving, so I really did not have a lot that needed to be thrown out.  It was really just the last of the leftovers from Christmas, which my chickens loved!  They had their own buffet!  LOL

So, my fridge is empty of all the leftovers (still needs to be wiped down a bit), my bedroom is now semi-clean again, and the kids’ closets are not overflowing with unwanted, unloved, or too small clothes.  I hope many other people will be blessed by our donations.  Our local thrift store does an excellent job with their store, and the prices are wonderful, so I don’t mind donating there at all. 

All the laundry created by this cleaning fiasco is now caught up, and the dishes are set to wash in a few hours.  It’s nice to be somewhat back on top of things. We still have the Christmas stuff on the back porch to contend with, but that will probably have to wait until this weekend.  Brian is working 12 hour shifts and AWANA, school, and BRIDGE start back on Wednesday and Thursday, so our week is packed! 

Here’s to hopefully simplifying some more in the next week!