Menu & To-Do list: Sept 30-Oct 7

Still sharing my to-do list, mostly to share how things like daily chores and projects are meshing together. Going well! As I discussed on Saturday, we made some goals for October. Notably we are focusing on finishing up the garage project this month, or at least finishing up the sorting & purging. So Mr. Moon is committing a minimum of an hour a day to the task, and we expect that to be enough for meeting our deadline. Of course, we have other projects to work on as well that simply can't wait. For example:

We have two wood piles that need tending; one for building in the fire pit, one for building a compost bin. Mr. Moon got called into work every other time we had this on the schedule, so here it is again! Hopefully it will get done this time so we can build our mighty compost system.

Mr. Moon also has some leather that needs cleaning before it becomes necessary in the cooler seasons, so that should be a fun time for him later in the week.

I'll be working on a basket of papers that needs to be sorted on our desk, writing a blog post about making mozzarella cheese and perhaps one about switching to "family cloth" or toilet cloth. I'll also be working on the disaster area that has become my jewelry "box," though everything has kind of exploded from the box. Before pictures have been taken, Pinterest has been consulted, now all I need is to find my supplies that are (I thin) hidden in the garage somewhere. More to follow on that when I finish it.

Since funds are still and even more of an issue for the foreseeable future, we're still focusing on Cheap Date Night. This week I'm actually excited to say we will be baking! Something from scratch, haven't actually decided what yet. But we will be double-dating with Mr. Alton Brown and Ms. Betty Crocker that night, and hopefully then relaxing with a yummy treat and a movie.

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But What's for Dinner?

Oh goodness, the freezers are ready to explode. We consciously decided to ignore batch cooking this week, but even better is that we managed to include something in every meal that will clear out the freezer a bit.

Breakfasts are focusing on leftovers for the hash stacker & Sunday brunch, but I've been craving beans & rice topped with eggs for a few weeks so we'll be making the beans & rice ahead of time for those days. I have homemade runny yogurt in smoothie-sized containers in the freezer, and we stocked up on organic frozen berries when they were on sale a few weeks ago, so that's set! We like to pair the smoothies with apple zucchini spice muffins we made and froze last week (or two weeks ago now?).

Lunches feature die-hard favorites: grilled cheese, quesadilla, and leftovers (this week it's seafood chowder leftovers).

Sunday: Everyone's on their own and I didn't have a meal plan for the evening. We have leftover sauteed onions and bell peppers, to which I'm going to add some pepperoni scraps, mushrooms, heat it all up and throw it over our second batch of mozzarella cheese. Mr. Moon is probably having leftover pulled pork from dinner getting bumped last night (we were supposed to have it earlier in the week but I was too sick to cook so we switched for grilled cheese and tomato soup; then it got bumped for Mum & Pops' double date night yesterday, and Mr. Moon and I just had the pulled pork sandwiches for lunch. Only enough for one left, though). [leftovers]

Monday: Sloppy Joes made from lentils and TVP has been a big hit, and we have leftovers from earlier last week that will feed at least Mum & Pops if not all of us. Rather than buying buns, we're using up some leftover hamburger buns from a party that we stuck in the freezer. [freezer; vegetarian]

Tuesday: Pineapple salmon (just open a can of chopped pineapple and pour on top of salmon, bake); steamed broccoli, and couscous--we got sick of rice with the salmon, have to change it up. [freezer; fish]

Wednesday: Split pea soup from the freezer. I'm not a fan, so I'll be cooking up a pork rib and individual frozen serving of broccoli mac & cheese. [freezer; vegetarian]

Thursday: Date night! Don't know what Mum & Pops are doing, but Mr. Moon and I will be having a special portuguese chicken dish that he makes (using chicken from the freezer), served over rice. And whatever we're baking for dessert, using up baking ingredients we have sitting around taking up space and attracting pantry moths. [freezer; backstock]

Friday: Meat-focus dinner, corned beef and colcannon. Corned beef will simmer in the crockpot all day, and for that matter the colcannon can be cooked ahead and kept warm in the crockpot for dinner on demand. [freezer; crockpot; beef]

Saturday: Good old spaghetti. Using up more backstock Prego for Mum & Pops, freezer sauce for Mr. Moon and myself. I'll be making myself some venison meatballs from my stash of deer meat my uncle gave me, and probably cut with some pork sausage for flavor. Should be plenty of thawed meat left over for my dinner Sunday night. [freezer; backstock; vegetarian; venison]

Sunday: Everybody's on their own! I'll be making a venison mushroom swiss burger. Mr. Moon will probably end up with pot pies or tamales. [freezer; meat]
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What's on the menu at your house this week? Need more ideas? I'll be linking up at orgjunkie.com for Menu Plan Monday.