I looove Fall.  The colors, the cool weather (which means an excuse to start a fire in the fireplace,) and the foods that just “go” with the season like chili and pumpkin bread.

We bought pumpkins at Walmart for each of the kids, and because we waited until they went on sale ($2.47 each for huge pumpkins!) I bought 3 extra pumpkins for me to try my hand at making puree.  I love to make pumpkin bread, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin pancakes and pumpkin cheesecake.

I surfed online a bit and found a couple of handy tricks:

• If you want to roast your pumpkin seeds (such a yummy and healthy snack) you only need to put the pumpkin innards (I know that sounds gross, but they are gross) into a bowl and fill with water.  The pumpkin seeds float to the top!  All these years I’ve been getting my hands entwined in the stringy mess, sliding out each seed, and it usually took so long that I quit before getting most of the seeds.  Yesterday I took the “float” advice from Alton Brown at the Food Network and it was only minutes until I had all the seeds scooped out.  There’s a couple of ways to roast your seeds:  on the stove or in the oven.
• If you want to make pumpkin puree (you know, what many of us buy in a can so that we can make pumpkin pie or pumpkin bread) it’s amazingly easy.  I had been told to peel the pumpkin after cleaning out the inside… uh, that’s just too much work in my mind; peeling potatoes are bad enough, but a huge pumpkin?  Huh-uh.  BUT today I found out that you don’t have to peel!  Here’s a great tutorial of this easy process.  

Pumpkins sum up the Fall season for me: warm colors, yummy foods.  Please leave a comment and share your favorite pumpkin recipe!

Mmm… I just made a batch of my mom’s Sausage Cheese Balls.  I love these things, and so does my family.  They’re an easy way to get a hot breakfast into my kids bellies, and I don’t have to cook in the morning!

I make a batch (or double it, or triple it) and then freeze them.  So the bit of time I spent today will provide breakfast for the kids one morning a week for the next month– more if I had made more than one batch!

Here’s the recipe:

Sausage Cheese Balls

• 3 cups Bisquick (or Master Mix– recipe to come later)
• 1 lb. cheddar cheese, grated
• 1 lb. sausage (turkey or pork, both work great)

Cook sausage until crumbled; drain if necessary.  Melt cheese into sausage.  Add Bisquick (you’ll need to just mash it together with your hands at this point.)  Roll into balls about the size of a walnut and place on cookie sheet.  Bake at 400* for 15 minutes.  Cool on paper towels.

*To freeze:  I put 9-12 into sandwich baggies, and then put the sandwich baggies into gallon-sized freezer baggies.  The night before we’re going to have the Sausage Cheese Balls, I take out one of the baggies and put it in the fridge.  By morning they’re defrosted and ready to be heated in the toaster oven or microwave.

This is a yumm-o breakfast that has plenty of protein, and we add some fresh fruit to round it out.

Oh, the issues with snacking.  Sometimes my kids want to eat because they’re bored or they know there’s some treat in the pantry that sounds good; but a lot of the time it’s true hunger that drives them into the kitchen.  Kids are constantly growing, and they really do need more than 3 square meals a day.

There’s 2 issues, though: 

1. Eating between meals may make them so full that they aren’t hungry at mealtime. 
2. Snack foods are often not-so-healthy.

If my kids eat a couple of graham crackers and then aren’t hungry for the chicken stir-fry at supper, their growing bodies just aren’t getting what’s best for them.  I wouldn’t serve my family a plate of graham crackers for supper, but if I let them get full on empty carbs so that they end up not interested in supper, then that’s exactly what I’ve done: served them a plate of graham crackers for supper.  It’s not like the graham crackers are terrible for them, but when a kid’s stomach is full, it’s full, so you have to be a little choosy about what goes in that belly.

What works best for our family is a basic rule: Anyone can have a snack any time (outside of an hour from mealtime or bedtime,) with the understanding that a snack is fruit, vegetables, seeds/nuts, or cheese.  Fruit, vegetables, seeds/nuts, and cheese are all very healthy foods, so if my kids don’t eat much at a meal, I know they still got valuable nutrients throughout the day.  And to be honest, they don’t get too full from these snacks very often.  Fruit digests pretty quickly, and vegetables, seeds/nuts and cheese are hard to eat a whole lot of at one sitting.     

Setting this snack rule has been great for our family.  The kids aren’t tempted by sugary treats, so they only eat a snack if they’re truly hungry; this means they’re rarely too full for meals, and they’re able to satisfy their hunger pangs when they need to. 

Now if someone could just invent a chocolate vegetable for me…

Ugh.  Easter is one of those get-togethers that is focused on the ‘big meal’ and I always end the day feeling like I ate way too much.  Which I did.  Delicious ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, steamed vegetables with cheese sauce, fruit salad, potato salad, and rolls… plus the sweets: bird’s nests, chocolate-peanut butter eggs, candy, candy, candy…  I also made a light elegant dessert I found on Delish.com: Tulipes with Raspberry Sorbet.  The little cookie-cups look like they take a lot of time and effort to make, but they were super easy and I made them the day before in a jiffy.  Aren’t they pretty? 

Although I’m not eating today, I made an appetizer supper for the family with yesterday’s leftovers of ham, cheese sauce, eggs, and mashed potatoes:  Cheesy Potato Pancakes, Deviled Eggs, and Ham-n-Cheese Tortes, all of which I found on AllRecipes and Recipezaar. 

Now for the rest of the week:

• Tuesday:      The traditional post-Easter beans and cornbread;  gotta make good use of that ham bone!
• Wednesday:  Sloppy Joes with sweet potato chips
• Thursday:    Parmesan Chicken with spinach noodles and salad
• Friday:         Leftovers
• Saturday:     Walnut Chicken Skillet with rice and salad

In case you haven’t made your own potato chips, they’re easy and soo tasty.  I use sweet potatoes because they’re higher in fiber and have a unique flavor. 

Sweet Potato Chips:  Wash 2 sweet potatoes well and slice thin.  Heat half-inch olive oil in a skillet over med-high heat.  Carefully add the potato slices and allow to cook until slightly brown, turning over to get both sides done.  When chips are lightly browned, use a slotted spoon and set on paper towel-covered plate; salt immediately.  Allow to cool; the chips will get crispier as they sit.    *These can also be baked in a low-temperature oven or even in the microwave for an even healthier version!

I’m guilty of serving a lot of the same meals, partly because I like to stick to the easy-to-fix meals that I know everyone likes, and partly because I forget about other options.  I realize I’ve fallen into a rut, and with warm weather around the corner (meaning we’ll use the grill more!) I’ve decided that now is a good time to make some changes.

Since a monthly menu can equal less time spent on menu-planning and grocery lists, I wrote down every supper I make on a semi-consistent basis.  This was harder than I expected!  I left my list out and added to it for about 3 days, coming up with almost 40 meals.  40 meals!?  We can go a long time without repeating a meal with 40 different meals to choose from, and here I’ve been rotating every 3 weeks! 

Now I have my list typed, printed, and ready-to-use when I make my menu for the week.  This gives me a mass of meals to choose from so that my family doesn’t get tired of the same old, same old.  And by checking off when I make a meal, I’ll be sure to get to the more time-consuming (yet oh, so tasty) meals that are too often forgotten, like Chicken Walnut Skillet.

Just to help get your mind going for generating a Supper Master List of your own, I’ll share my list with you.  But first, here’s my menu for this week.  We’ve got a ton going on, so I planned very light cooking for me:

• Monday–  pizza with the sitter; Date Night with Nate! 
• Tuesday–  soup & chili from my frozen stash
• Wednesday– pumpkin pancakes; sausage
• Thursday– deli sandwiches for a mini-trip out of town
• Friday–  grill brats; ginger carrots
• Saturday–  grill fish; rice; salad
• Sunday– Easter!  Ham and potatoes for me; the grandmas are bringing the rest.

Supper Menu Master List

• Chicken stir-fry
• Fish broil
• Kabobs
• Salsa chicken
• Chicken/rice casserole
• Teriyaki chicken
• Walnut chicken skillet
• Fried chicken
• Meatloaf
• Grill burgers
• Steak
• Baked potato meal
• Roast turkey
• Chili
• Autumn soup
• Potato soup
• Chicken & dumplings
• Beans & cornbread
• Lentil soup
• Multi-bean soup
• Spaghetti
• Lasagna
• Parmesan chicken
• Manicotti/tortellini
• Chicken pot pie
• Taco salad
• Nachos
• Enchiladas
• Ham roll sandwiches
• Deli sandwiches
• Meatball sandwiches
• Brats
• Sloppy joes
• Biscuits & gravy
• Pancakes & bacon/sausage
• Snack supper
• Shakespeares pizza
• Peachy chicken

 Ok, hopefully my list helped jog your memory; get started on your own!

I’ve struggled with making my menu the last couple of weeks, what with being out of town and then our computer virus.  We ended up having too much pizza!  It was a good reminder of how important a meal plan is to my family’s health and my sanity!

I spent time today, though, planning the menu and making mixes for bread and pancakes.  I even got some granola made, and am sharing the recipe with you.  It’s my mom’s recipe; it’s delish and sooo filling.  The great thing about granola is that you can add in whatever extra nuts, seeds, or dried fruit you’ve got in your pantry; it’s different every time I make it and good every time! 

JANET’S GRANOLA

6 cups old-fashioned oats

1 cup wheat germ (or oat bran)

1 cup roasted sunflower seeds

1/2 cup oil

1/2 cup honey

Mix together thoroughly and spread on 2 cookie sheets/jelly roll pans.  Bake (300*) about 1/2 hour, stirring occasionally.  Let cool and stir again before storing in a sealed container.

     *Optional additions: 1 cup pecans, walnuts, almonds, raisins, pumpkin seeds, etc.  The more, the better!

     *I also like to add several shakes of cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice

Now for my menu; this week I’m doing better than pizza :) 

• Monday:     tortellini, meat sauce, salad
• Tuesday:     appetizer supper (meatballs, cheese, crackers, fruit)  *This meal is to eat up some of the 15 pounds of cheese we got on sale at the Amish bulk foods store!
• Wednesday: burritos, nachos, fruit
• Thursday:    lentil soup, toast
• Friday:        salsa chicken, rice, tamales
• Saturday:    leftovers from the week

This week is a little crazier than usual; getting back from our retreat put me a little behind schedule on planning and groceries, plus this Saturday is Josiah’s birthday party.  I’m aiming for easy dishes– well, I always aim for easy dishes, but this week’s meals take even less prep time than normal.  Except for that Pad Thai!  I didn’t make it last week, so I’m going to try again Thursday.

The Plan:

• Monday–          cheddar muffins, eggs, and sausage
• Tuesday–          15-bean soup, toast
• Wednesday–      chicken and rice casserole, veggie 
• Thursday–         that darn pad thai
• Friday–             meatloaf, brown rice, salad
• Saturday–         chili/hot dogs/chili dogs, baked beans

Since my mouth is watering at the thought of Friday’s meatloaf, I’ll share the recipe with you.  Nate found the recipe on a bottle of a locally-made condiment, Show-Me Barbeque Sauce.  It’s the easiest and tastiest meatloaf I’ve ever made or had, and my kids eat it up!  There’s no chopping necessary; the recipe suggests adding an optional 1/2 c. onion or green peppers, but I add some dried green pepper flakes that I get from an Amish bulk foods store and a couple of shakes of onion powder and it’s fantastic! 

Show-Me Meatloaf

• 1/3 c. Show-Me barbeque sauce
• 1 egg
• 1 c. bread crumbs
• 1 tsp. salt

Mix ingredients together and add to 1 and 1/2 lbs. ground beef.  Form into loaf and put into bread pan.  Bake 350* for 45 minutes.  Add 1/3 c. sauce on top and bake 15 minutes more.

Since I’m on a 10-day commitment to eat differently, I’m changing up some of next week’s menu and serving things I’m not too interested in on the days I’m not eating much.  Hey, that’s one of the perks of being Queen of this kitchen castle!

The Plan:

• Sunday-               fresh fruit (at Small Group– pizzas)
• Monday-              pizza (kids) restaurant (me & Nate Date Night)
• Tuesday-             baked potato soup, toast
• Wednesday-         pad thai (first time for everything– wish me luck!)
• Thursday-            beans, cornbread (skipped it last week)
• Friday-                taco salad
• Saturday-             Small Group Retreat, no cooking for me!  :)

Awesome, that mess is out of my head!  I’ve got a list of groceries still to get, but the thinkin’ part is done!

Happy, Happy Valentine’s Day!  Or is it… Happy Money Day for the Chocolate, Flowers, and Greeting Card Businesses?  Oh well, I’m glad to have a day to make those I love feel special.  I try to do something for our kids pretty often, but today I spent extra effort to make my kids smile.

First thing this morning Nate and I made heart-shaped pancakes and heart-shaped sausage for breakfast; this is a more-than-special-treat not only because of the heart shapes, but also because it was prepared this morning– I’m not a morning person, so most breakfasts are made in batches ahead of time and warmed up in the morning.  The cooking with Nate was really fun, too; kinda romantic, actually.  ;)

We then spent a bit of time taking valentines to the kids’ friends.  Because we homeschool there’s not a Valentine party at school for the kids to exchange treats with their friends, so we took the treats to them!  It was fun to suprise other families, and for our kids to experience the joy of giving to others.

Supper was a very special event.  Throughout the week I gave the kids dining etiquette lessons, and so tonight they took their baths early, got dressed in church clothes, and came to a very fancy supper in our dining room.  We used our wedding china, my grandma’s depression glass, and linen napkins, plus put out the ‘extra’ silverware to make sure they could use all they’d learned.  See the beautiful roses Nate suprised me with? 

Nate and I served the kids, calling them “Ma’am” and “Sir” and they loved it.  It was so funny, they hardly talked at all during the meal; maybe I should tell them it’s always time for good etiquette!

I’m not a good cook.  I don’t love to cook, I don’t like to spend much time in the kitchen, and I don’t like to ‘try something new’ even at restaurants.  I like food, don’t get me wrong; but I like what I like, and I don’t like to spend a lot of time thinking about it or making it (and definitely not cleaning it up!) 

The good news is, I found ways to save time and energy so that I don’t have to deal with cooking as much as I used to.  Like, I make homemade bread almost every day, but I use my bread machine; I double most recipes and freeze half for another day; and I plan my menu each week.

Planning a menu each week saves a lot of time!  It may take several minutes for the actual planning, but then it saves oh, so much time all week long!  Since I can’t stand to waste time thinking about what to make, I get it all over with once and then just follow my plan for the rest of the week.  We waste less food this way, I can plan for leftovers, and I can be sure to have a variety of healthy foods for my family without having to think it all through every day.  I can’t say I always stay on the menu plan, but for the most part I do– simply because I hate to think about cooking and it’s just easier to follow directions.

So, here’s my plan for next week:

• Sunday–         Lentil Soup (at Small Group)
• Monday–        Sandwiches and Sweet Potato Chips
• Tuesday–       Chili and toast
• Wednesday–   Salsa Chicken and Rice
• Thursday–      Beans and Cornbread
• Friday–          Spaghetti and Green Beans
• Saturday–       Leftovers

Mmmm… makes me hungry already!  Since I have a Master List for Breakfasts and Lunches, they are always the same each week; I don’t have to think about those unless I choose to make something different. 

What are you having for supper next week?