Monday Morning and Menu Planning

It's quiet today.  Maybe after the hoopla about the Oscars last night, the silence of the house with the kids all at school is more noticeable.  I like it, though. I like to hear the sound of the radiators warming.  I like to listen to the returning bird's songs.  I like that the click.clack.clicking of the computer keys can be heard today.  The fridge is running. The dog is sleep-breathing and I am relaxing into the hum of it all.  A quiet house is always comforting after the chaotic clamoring of the weekend falls away.

Now, it is time to write.  As I drove my children to school today, my head was swimming with new ideas.  I fought the urge to be overwhelmed by word counts and focused instead on what I wanted to say.  The book is coming together.  Four chapters are edited and now await tweaking.  Two more chapters are started and coming along.  An appendix is becoming clearer and I am beginning to let myself think that it all might actually happen after all.  That makes me smile.  

But, as eager as I am to get to typing, the minutiae of mom-life calls to me too.  So, I am sitting at the dining room table and taking care of all the tiny details that must be handled today.  Emails have been returned.  Carpools have been set.  The living room is cleaned.  The menu is written.

Want to know what we are eating this week?

Monday: Hot pork sandwiches.  Using my leftover pork roast from Sunday dinner, I throw simple ingredients into the crock pot and tonight it will be ready to eat.  I follow this recipe for beef sandwiches (but substituting pork and adding a jar of mild giardineira ).

Tuesday:  Marinated flank steak with Asian veggies and noodles.  In the morning, I will pull the flank steak out of the freezer and add olive oil, brown sugar, sesame oil, soy sauce, fresh garlic and grated fresh ginger to the meat in a zip lock bag. (I do not follow a recipe but this one is similar to what I do...) By dinnertime, it will be ready to throw on a grill pan.  I have a stir-fry veggie mix in the freezer and will serve this with noodles (shh... don't tell!  I will use ramen for this!  Cheap and easy to keep on hand!)  My kids LOVE this meal.

Wednesday:  Swiss Casserole Chicken.   I still have turkey and chicken in the deep freeze from recent meals so even though this recipe calls for chicken breasts, I will use diced chicken or sliced turkey.  With this we will have roasted Brussels sprouts and fresh baked bread.

Thursday:  Easy Taco Casserole.  My kids LOVE tacos.  I am hoping to expand on that with this new recipe.

Friday:  Fish sandwiches?  Sticking to my hopes of eating fish on Fridays in Lent, this is on the menu.  That said, Friday is my birthday... so maybe I won't have to cook?  :)

Our weekends are usually the same, week to week.  Soup for lunch on Saturday.  A big, traditional Sunday dinner.

So, what about you?  What are making this week?  Where is your favorite place to hunt for new recipes to try?  I would love it if you would share a link!  :)

I am off to make the most of this quiet Monday morning.

Blessings on your day!