We arrived home from the Congo safely. The time difference is wreaking havoc on our systems; Chloe especially since she woke up from her 3 hour afternoon nap the other day went to go potty and went back to sleep on the bathroom floor. Poor baby.

This week we’re sticking close to home, working to return to some semblance of routine.

Sunday Lunch – Stuffed Pork Loin, Pappardelle Noodles and Cauliflower Gratin

Sunday Dinner – Oktoberfest Sausages and Corn on the Cob

Monday – Pasta (Mommy has an Epicure Meeting)

Tuesday – Chicken Breast

Wednesday – BBQ Steak

Thursday – Stupendous Stew

Friday – Chinese (Yummy!!)

• Visit Menu Plan Monday for more planning inspiration and visit Wordless Wednesday for more great photos (also at Two of a Kind and 7 Clown Circus)

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Jenn is wife to one, mother of three and above all, a humble servant seeking to honor the Lord with her life. Tired Girl and Our Menu is a post from Beautiful Calling.

Last Monday was Thanksgiving here in Canada. My husband created a lavish feast by himself, while watching Chloe (2) and John (1). What an amazing man! More on that here.

Above: Cauliflower Gratin, Stuffing, BBQ Turkey Breast, Bacon & Brussels Sprouts. We also had mashed potatoes, gravy, home made cranberry sauce with a DQ ice cream cake for dessert (compliments of Nana).

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Weekly Focus: Catching up around the house after a fun week with DH being home! I also want us to enjoy the remainder of fall before winter sets in for good

Breakfasts:

• Oatmeal
• Home Made Hash browns (yum!)
• Bacon & Eggs
• Toast with Peanut Butter
• Fruit
• Yogurt (Peach or Berry)
• Cereal (Raisin Bran, Honey Bunches of Oats, Honeycombs)

Snacks:

• Gherkin Pickles
• Brianna’s Cookies 
• Cheese, goldfish crackers, raisins
• Peaches & Apples

Dinners:

Monday

• Menu:  BBQ Steak
• Plans: Errands! After spending some time purging this past week, we have a box of things for the thrift store, I also have to return something to Wal-Mart as well as Zellers. We also need to stop my my sisters and wish her a happy birthday!
• Blog: Menu Plan Monday

Tuesday

• Menu:  Stir-fry
• Plans: Visiting Forte’s Market (they have 10% off produce!)
• Blog: Super Man and the Beef Goulash

Wednesday

• Menu: Pasta
• Plans: Church tonight!
• Blog: Cupcake Cutie

Thursday

• Menu: Shepherd’s Pie 
• Plans: DH home late tonight. We’re on our own for dinner.
• Blog:

Friday

• Menu:  Home Made Sausages
• Plans: Errand to DHL in Oakville, a trip to Gymboree (with my coupon) in Burlington
• Blog:

Weekends

We don’t have any plans this weekend. I’m hoping to make a visit to our local orchard for a hayride but we’ll wait and see. I’m not planning for weekends since they are full of spontaneity and BBQ time! We generally shop on Saturday mornings at the farmers market.

• Visit Menu Plan Monday for more planning inspiration!

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Jenn is wife to one, mother of three and above all, a humble servant seeking to honor the Lord with her life. Weekly Plans & Menu: Week of October 18th is a post from Beautiful Calling.

Weekly Focus: Spending time with my DH who has the week off!

Breakfasts:

• Oatmeal
• Home Made Hashbrowns (yum!)
• Bacon & Eggs
• Toast with Peanut Butter
• Yogurt (Peach or Berry)
• Cereal (Raisin Bran, Honey Bunches of Oats, Honeycombs)

Snacks:

• Gherkin Pickles
• Cheese, goldfish crackers, raisins
• Peaches & Apples

Dinners:

Monday

• Menu:  Potato Wedges & Hotdogs, Thanksgiving Turkey
• Plans: Tidying mom’s place as a surprise since she is away. Also, it is THANKSGIVING!
• Blog: Menu Plan Monday

Tuesday

• Menu: Leftovers, Shepherd’s Pie

Wednesday

• Menu: Grilled Cheese, Roasty Stew
• Plans: Church tonight!

Thursday

• Menu: Leftovers, DADDY’S Culinary Creation Night (yum!)

Friday

• Menu: Leftovers, DH’s Home Made Sausage

Weekends

We’re heading out to a friend’s farm for some pig butchering on Saturday. Actually, DH will be out there helping…I’ll be visiting my friend. Chloe and their son enjoy playing together so it will be fun! I’m not planning for weekends since they are full of spontaneity and BBQ time! We generally shop on Saturday mornings at the farmers market.

• Visit Menu Plan Monday for more planning inspiration!

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Jenn is wife to one, mother of three and above all, a humble servant seeking to honor the Lord with her life. Weekly Plans & Menu: Week of October 11th is a post from Beautiful Calling.

Weekly Focus: Using what we have! Last week I mentioned our family was trying a new savings plan. Our grocery budget for the week is $25 during the month of October. This is going to be a bit interesting for us since we haven’t really had a budget before. Well, we’ve had an idea of what we would like to spend but never worried too much about sticking to it. I think the most important way for us to stick to our plan for the month is to have a MENU PLAN each week. Tricia at Handfuls of Purpose is actually hosting a Like Merchant Ships: Mastering Your Menu Challenge. The timing couldn’t be better! Make sure you pop by!

Breakfasts:

• Oatmeal
• Home Made Hashbrowns (yum!)
• Bacon & Eggs
• Toast with Peanut Butter
• Yogurt
• Cereal (Raisin Bran, Honey Bunches of Oats, Honeycombs)

Snacks:

• Gherkin Pickles
• Cheese, goldfish crackers, raisins
• Peaches & Apples

Lunch:

• Hotdogs
• Pasta with leftover meatball sauce
• Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
• Leftovers are a huge thing for lunches too!

Dinners:

Monday

• Menu:  Pirogues (frozen) with bacon and onions
• Plans: DH is in Toronto today so we’re on our own for dinner since he has no idea how long his day will be.
• Blog: Menu Plan Monday

Tuesday

• Menu: Chicken Stew (thighs) with potatoes and biscuits
• Plans: Scott has choir practice
• Blog: Pasteurizing & Canning Apple Cider

Wednesday

• Menu: Home Made BBQ’d Sausages
• Plans: Church tonight!
• Blog: THEY should Know Better!

Thursday

• Menu: Home Made Cabbage Rolls
• Plan: Making cabbage rolls obviously LOL
• Blog:

Friday

• Menu: Home Made Pizza
• Blog: Bike Trailer Review  with Giveaway

Weekends

I’m not planning for weekends since they are full of spontaneity and BBQ time! We generally shop on Saturday mornings at the farmers market.

• Visit Menu Plan Monday for more planning inspiration!

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Jenn is wife to one, mother of three and above all, a humble servant seeking to honor the Lord with her life. Weekly Plans & Menu: October 4th is a post from Beautiful Calling.

• Oatmeal
• Bacon & Eggs
• Toast with Peanut Butter
• Cereal (Raisin Bran, Rice Crispies, Corn Pops)

• Hotdogs
• Pasta with Epicure Pasta Seasoning
• Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
  Leftovers

• Menu: Corn on the Cob, Cucumber Salad and ???
• Plans: John-John has a play date today with his friends
• Blog: Menu Plan Monday, At the Well

• Menu: Braised Beef, Vegetable Medley, Rice
• Blog: Gratituesday – John-John is One! or Yummy Home-Made Meatballs Recipe

• Menu: Home-Made Meatballs, Spaghetti, Freshly Crushed Tomatoes
• Blog: WFMW Camping Edition

• Menu: Roasted Chicken, Mashed Potatoes and Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Bacon
• Blog: TUT Healthier Body

• Menu: TBA since DH is away
• Blog: Raising Rascals

Visit Menu Plan Monday for more planning inspiration!

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Jenn is wife to one, mother of three and above all, a humble servant seeking to honor the Lord with her life. Good Eats: Menu Plan Monday is a post from Beautiful Calling.

As promised:

Set for a Sizzling Summer: Super Summer Salad Dressing Recipe

Breakfasts:

• Cereals: Honey Comb or Corn Pops (they were on sale!)
• Toast
• Eggs & Scott’s Home Made Smoked Pork Loin
• Home Made Yogurt

Snacks:

• Raspberries
• Watermelon
• Strawberries
• Gherkin Pickles (Chloe loves these!)
• Hard Boiled Eggs

Lunches:

• Grilled cheese sandwiches (we didn’t eat them last week)
• Pasta
• Stuffed Twice-baked Potatoes (M & M…cleaning out the freezer! These were something I liked when I was pregnant but you know how my husband feels about processed foods. He won’t eat them! and we didn’t get to them last week!)
• Leftovers

Days of the Week Plan:

Monday

• Menu: Steak , tinfoil potatoes and cucumber salad
• Plans: Go visit Grandma in the hospital. We are also off to the Brantford Expositor to pick up a 1/2 price gift card. Dad is coming over tonight to help us build our garden.
• Blog: MPM Post, Teva Announcement

Tuesday

• Menu: Eating Out
• Plans: This morning is bible study with Sandy. We are working on Titus 2 Series (Secrets of a Happy Heart, Happily Married and Parenting with Wisdom). Though we are still in the first book, it is am amazing series!! We also have an out of town dentist appointment this evening. My mother-on-law also arrives from Africa tonight. Chloe will be soooo excited!
• Blog: Gratituesday: Birthday Boys

Wednesday

• Menu: Chicken and Rice Stir Fry.
• Plans: Bake Cookies: Church
• Blog: Set for a Sizzling Summer

Thursday:

• Menu: Home Made Sausages with Corn on the Cob!  
• Plans: None
• Blog: Enough?

Friday

• Menu:  Pizza Out (when we go grocery shopping we stop at a little pizza bar. It’s 6.99 for a pizza and pop and it was one of our little ‘dates’ before the littles came along and now we still do it, though it isn’t quite as easy as it was before
• Plans: Grocery Shopping
• Blog: Introduction to Miscarriage

The Weekend: Our neighborhood is having a garage sale. I am clearing out some stuff in our garage and putting it out with a donation box on the table. Any money that comes in will go to a family that could use the money. I will not be manning the tables as I will be out scoring the neighborhood for some fantastic finds!

I actually don’t plan meals for the weekend. Since my husband loves to cook and create, this is his opportunity to come up with culinary masterpieces. He’s been making ice cream on a regular basis since we got cream on sale. We’ve had half a dozen different flavours now? He’s not a dedicated poster but be sure to check out his blog for interesting food experiences!

Join in on Menu-Plan Monday. Do a post and link to here. Don’t have a blog? That’s OK, just leave a comment!

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Jenn is wife to one, mother of three and above all, a humble servant seeking to honor the Lord with her life. Days of the Week June 1-7th is a post from Beautiful Calling.

Breakfasts:

• Cereals: Fruity Cheerios or Honeycomb
• Toast
• Eggs & Ham
• Home Made Yogurt

Snacks:

• Raspberries
• Watermelon
• Apples
• Gherkin Pickles (Chloe loves these!)
• Hard Boiled Eggs

Lunches:

• Grilled cheese sandwiches
• Pork chop stew (one of my culinary ‘”Oopies” that turned out OK in the end)
• Pasta
• Stuffed Twice-baked Potatoes (M & M…cleaning out the freezer! These were something I liked when I was pregnant but you know how my husband feels about processed foods. He won’t eat them!)

Days of the Week Plan:

Monday

• Menu: Prime Rib with Mashed Potatoes & Asparagus (in season here!)
• Plans: Bunwich lunch order to make and deliver. We are also off to the Brantford Expositor to pick up a 1/2 price gift card, go to Food Basics for some sale items needed and go to the farm for eggs.
• Blog: MPM Post, Jack & Lily Announcement

Tuesday

• Menu: Home Made Sausages with potato salad and spring onion
• Plans: This morning is bible study with Sandy. We are working on Titus 2 Series (Secrets of a Happy Heart, Happily Married and Parenting with Wisdom). Though we are still in the first book, it is am amazing series!! This evening will get the final MP3 CD’s burned for my patient friend Tricia!
• Blog: Gratituesday: Faithway Retreat

Wednesday

• Menu: Shepherds Pie. The meat is already made. I just need to use the left over mashed potatoes from Monday with some cut up veggies for a quick meal.
• Plans: Bake Cookies: Christian School open house in place of Prayer Meeting
• Blog: WFMW Chore Chart

Thursday:

• Menu: Roast Chicken with seasonal Asparagus and rice. I’d like mashed potatoes but am not sure we have enough potatoes for three meals this week
• Plans: None
• Blog: Celebrate Change

Friday

• Menu:  Pizza Out (when we go grocery shopping we stop at a little pizza bar. It’s 6.99 for a pizza and pop and it was one of our little ‘dates’ before the littles came along and now we still do it, though it isn’t quite as easy as it was before
• Plans: Possibly visiting a friend with a surprise.
• Blog: Is it Broken? and Introduction to Miscarriage

The Weekend: I have to make cupcakes for Sunday for our church picnic. How fun! Other than that, I don’t think we have any plans. A nice slow pace! I actually don’t plan meals for the weekend. Since my husband loves to cook and create, this is his opportunity to come up with culinary masterpieces. A few weekends ago he made the most divine home-made ice cream!! He’s not a dedicated poster but be sure to check out his blog for interesting food experiences!

Join in on Menu-Plan Monday. Do a post and link to here. Don’t have a blog? That’s OK, just leave a comment!

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Jenn is wife to one, mother of three and above all, a humble servant seeking to honor the Lord with her life. Days of the Week: May 25-30th is a post from Beautiful Calling.

Breakfasts:

• Waffles with real maple syrup (it’s in season!!)
• Toast
• Home Made Yogurt (recipe coming later this week!)
• Honeycomb Cereal

Snacks:

• Popsicles
• Cheese, Goldfish Crackers
• Raisins
• Brianna’s Fabulous Oatmeal Cookies

Lunches:

• Fish & Potatoes (still trying to finish up the fish from the freezer!)
• Hotdogs
• Leftovers
• Kraft Dinner

Days of the Week Plan:

Monday

• Menu: Home Made Sausages
• Plans: We are off to visit Apron Ann to pick up Jen’s Apron. We are also off to the Brantford Expositor to pick up a couple 1/2 price gift cards and to pick up the plates from the lunch we delivered last week.
• Blog: MPM Post, Life Happens

Tuesday

• Menu: Shepherds Pie since I had made the meat ahead of time and just need to add the potatoes and some frozen veggies to it.
• Plans: Perfect and easy since this morning is bible study with Sandy. We are working on Titus 2 Series (Secrets of a Happy Heart, Happily Married and Parenting with Wisdom). Though we are still in the first book, it is am amazing series!!
• Blog: Swinging: Simple Summer Pleasure

Wednesday

• Menu: Perogies with sour cream and home made bacon
• Plans: Prayer Meeting
• Blog: WFMW Home Made Yogurt recipe

Thursday:

• Menu: Grilled Chicken with Vegetable Medley (a.k.a. fridge cleanout)
• Plans: None
• Blog: Romantic Dinner Post

Friday

• Menu:  Pizza Out (when we go grocery shopping we stop at a little pizza bar. It’s 6.99 for a pizza and pop and it was one of our little ‘dates’ before the littles came along and now we still do it, though it isn’t quite as easy as it was before
• Plans: Today John has his 9 month baby check up and it is also Track and Field at our church’s Christian School so we’ll head there right after his appointment. I am helping with discus this year!
• Blog: TBA

The Weekend: Chloe will be attending a friend’s 2nd Birthday Party on Saturday! I don’t actually plan meals for the weekend. Since my husband loves to cook and create, this is his opportunity to come up with culinary masterpieces. A few weekends ago he made the most divine home-made ice cream!! He’s not a dedicated poster but be sure to check out his blog for interesting food experiences!

Don’t forget to enter the See Kai Run shoe giveaway!

Join in on Menu-Plan Monday. Do a post and link to here. Don’t have a blog? That’s OK, just leave a comment!

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Jenn is wife to one, mother of three and above all, a humble servant seeking to honor the Lord with her life. Days of the Week: May 11 – 17 is a post from Beautiful Calling.

This week I did it backwards. Friday came and with that, grocery shopping. I hadn’t really looked to see what we needed and I hadn’t planned a menu. We went anyway. This weekend Chloe had to have her cereal with chocolate milk because we were out of white milk. Thankfully, the meals came together with what I purchased but this week was a real example f why I need to PLAN before I go! Duh!! Today I have to go out now because we need milk.

• Eggs & bacon (daddy made more bacon!), honey comb or corn pops.
• Mommy eats toast and OJ every morning.

Snacks:

• Chloe hasn’t been eating her meals well so her snacking will be limited and small to help her eat her meals better.
• We have apples, oranges and bananas as well as green grapes and baby cucumbers (mmm, love baby cucumbers!)
• And of course staples like gherkin pickles, cheese and goldfish crackers and raisins. The girls go crazy for those little pickles!

Lunches:

• Leftovers
  In cleaning out our overstuffed freezer – I found some Pickerel (it’s a fish for those who don’t know). Scott isn’t crazy about fish but I really enjoy it. We were supposed to eat it last week ad didn’t! (again!)
• We also have quite a bit of home-made corned beef so we’ll have that with potatoes one day.
  When all else fails, we always have a good stock of Kraft Dinner. It’s the one prepackaged food that Scott has OK’d The girls love pasta so this is always a hit!

Dinners:

• Monday: Corned Beef Hash made with potatoes and corn. We have errands to run today!
• Tuesday: BBQ Chicken Breasts, Asparagus and Rice. Bake Cupcake Order. Hope to get the front lawn raked and seeded today.
• Wednesday: Baked Whole Chicken with Roasted Potatoes and Fried Butter Zucchini. Today we deliver the Cupcake order and visit the Library
• Thursday: BBQ Pork Chops with apple sauce, Cauliflower and tinfoil potatoes & onions. Today we’re baking treats for daddy. I’ll post some great recipes later with pictures of our success.
• Friday and the Weekend: Scott’s office is involved in a big move and since he is the I.T. guy, he’s very involved in getting everyone’s computer back up and running quickly. He will be involved in that starting Friday and the poor man will get VERY limited sleep. Because of that, I plan to do some extra baking as treats for him and that when he is able to come home for a bit of a rest, I will take our little ones and head over to my parents or grandparents so he an sleep better. We will eat there or out. It’s a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants kind of weekend with no menu planned!

Join in on Menu-Plan Monday. Do a post on your blog and link to here. Don’t have a blog? Just leave a comment!

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Jenn is wife to one, mother of three and above all, a humble servant seeking to honor the Lord with her life. Menu Plan Monday April 20th is a post from Beautiful Calling.

Breakfasts:

• This week we have leftover waffles from Sunday. Pop them in the toaster – yum! We also have toast and cereal.

• Since the bunny came to visit, we have a few extra little sweet treats this week!
• We have apples, oranges and bananas as well as strawberries (Chloe loves berries!)
• And of course staples like gherkin pickles, cheese and goldfish crackers. The girls go crazy for those little pickles!
• We also have raisins but we want to be careful how many we eat since the seem to… well, pass right through them!
  

Lunches:

• Leftovers
• In cleaning out our overstuffed freezer – I found some Pickerel (it’s a fish for those who don’t know). Scott isn’t crazy about fish but I really enjoy it. We were supposed to eat it last week ad didn’t!
• Scott also made smoked sausages last week (He got a sausage stuffer!) They were sure yummy. We’ll eat those one day too.
• When all else fails, we always have a good stock of Kraft Dinner. It’s the one prepackaged food that Scott has OK’d The girls love pasta so this is always a hit!
  

Dinners:

• Monday: Spaghetti & Meatballs Tuesday: Sticky Chicken, Rice and Corn
• Wednesday: Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
  Thursday: Home Made Pizza. We’re trying out Crystal Paine’s recipe from her e-book Simply Centsible Suppers. (Didn’t do it last week!)
  Friday: Burgers out
  Weekends: Saturday we have a wedding to attend in London. How fun. I love weddings! I don’t actually plan meals for the weekend. Since my husband loves to cook and create, this is his opportunity to come up with culinary masterpieces. A few weekends ago he made the most divine home-made ice cream!! He’s not a dedicated poster but be sure to check out his blog for interesting food experiences!

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Jenn is wife to one, mother of three and above all, a humble servant seeking to honor the Lord with her life. Menu Plan Monday – April 13 is a post from Beautiful Calling.