It’s been a while since I’ve made these Sloppy Cornbread Muffins.
We all love them, and they are a perfect, easy, make-ahead meal.

Here is what our menu looks like for this week:

Sunday, May 20
Oatmeal, fruit
Lasagna casserole, tossed salad
Graduation parties

Monday, May 21
Whole wheat waffles, blueberry syrup
Sloppy cornbread muffins, fruit salad
Crunchy ranch chicken, stir fried rice and veggies

Tuesday, May 22
Pumpkin chocolate chip muffins, banana muffins, scrambled eggs, fruit
Toasted sub sandwiches, apples, baby carrots
Alfredo sauce with pasta and chicken, tossed salad, steamed broccoli

Wednesday, May 23
Fruit-yogurt smoothies, English muffins
Taco corn fritters, oranges
Bbq brisket, cream scalloped potatoes, green beans

Thursday, May 24
Pancake sausage muffins, applesauce
Cheeseburger macaroni, peas
Creamy crock pot chicken and rice, carrots

Friday, May 25
Whole wheat donuts, fruit
Tuna salad on crackers, tomatoes, olives, carrots
Lamb-burgers, ranch potato wedges, green beans

Saturday, May 26
Turkey sausage, scrambled eggs, hashbrowns
Leftovers
One dish meat and potato meal

Matt and the boys have been doing a great job spoiling me today, making Mother’s Day super special.  Check out the lunch I just feasted on:

1:46 pm Matt just snuck in with a smirk to say, “Apparently the eggs were supposed to be beat separately before adding the other ingredients.  Therefore, they have a bowl with 1 cup of flour, mixed with some baking powder and two eggs.  Can you figure out something to do with that tomorrow so we don’t have to waste it?”  I have two things to say:  I am both excited and afraid to see my kitchen after today.  And, I think I’ll be making pancakes tomorrow from that flour/egg/baking powder mixture.  It just makes sense.  :)

And now, back to the menu plan for this week:

Sunday, May 13
Cereal
Grilled steak, spinach and mushroom rice florentine, cream cheese corn, mystery dessert  ;)
Nachos and a movie

Monday, May 14
Whole wheat pancakes (apparently)
Chicken nuggets, peas, baby carrots
Cheesy beef and rice, green beans

Tuesday, May 15
Fried eggs on toast, strawberry coconut smoothies
Creamy mac and cheese, steamed broccoli
Lasagna, tossed salad

2:01 pm I hear beaters again.  I can not wait to find out what those boys are making.  And I also really hope that I taught everyone well enough not to pick up the beaters before turning them off first!!

Wednesday, May 16
Chocolate chocolate chip muffins, apples
Crunch ranch chicken, stir fried rice and veggies
Roast, carrots, potatoes, gravy

Thursday, May 17
Scrambled eggs, hashbrowns, oranges
Pigs in a blanket, green beans
Creamy crockpot chicken and rice, carrots

Friday, May 18
Mini apple pies, turkey bacon
Easy noodle stir fry, milkshakes
Homemade pizza, fried okra

2:07 pm The beaters are still going!  What are they making in there????

Saturday, May 19
Whole wheat cinnamon rolls, bananas
Leftovers
Chicken alfredo, steamed veggies, asparagus

2:12 pm Seriously, the beaters…still.  How long can beaters run without burning out the motor?

2:13 pm If they don’t hurry up, I’m going to have to sneak out because um…I need to potty.

2:14 pm Ah, the beaters are off!  Can I come out yet?

Apparently not.

While I’m still here in the office, I’ll show you a picture of Carrie Vitt’s (from Deliciously Organic) amazing Loaded Baked Potato Soup that we made yesterday.

Wow, that soup was good!  Matt added some dehydrated red peppers in his bowl and loved the kick.  The rest of us loved it with sour cream and cheese.  It was easy to make, and everyone in the family devoured it.  I liked that it called for chicken broth, giving me a meatless meal and a new option for stretching a chicken for six meals.  If you haven’t yet, be sure to look into the deal Carrie put together for all Heavenly Homemakers readers.  Get her amazing cookbook along with some healthy and family friendly meal plans at a great price!

2:18 pm Elias just came in to ask, “I can’t tell you pacifically, but if you were making frosting, would you use brown sugar or sucanat?”

I told him, “Brown sugar, and there’s organic brown sugar in the pantry”, but are you sure it doesn’t call for powdered sugar?”

And ‘pacifically’?  Be still my heart.  The cuteness abounds.

2:20 pm Elias came back in to say, “If you smell that burned smell, don’t worry.”

Okay, I’ll try.  ;)

2:28 pm Beaters again.  What in the world???

I’d say this post is “to be continued…”  I’ll be back later with an update on what the boys made for my Mother’s Day dessert.

Hope you’re having a blessed day.  There’s no doubt that I am.  Even if I do have to ignore that burned smell coming from the kitchen.  ;)

In an effort to treat these kids right on our final huddle night, I thought Cheesecake Brownies were in order (along with a big pasta bar).  I made three batches of the brownies to make sure there would be enough.

I have noooo idea what happened to that brownie in the bottom right corner.
Weird things like that happen in my kitchen sometimes. ;)

Speaking of brownies, this weekend was apparently the weekend of the brownie.  I went through a lot of cocoa in two days!  In addition to Huddle, there was a graduation party, and a ministry meeting we needed to go to.  I decided to take brownies to those events, and actually made one batch of brownies from a box so I could time myself to see which took longer – homemade brownies or boxed brownies.  I’ll share the results of that experiment later this week.  :)

Here’s what our menu looks like this week:

Sunday, May 6
Oatmeal, fruit
Ministry meeting – taco bar, brownies
High School Huddle – Pasta Bar with a variety of noodles, alfredo sauce, spaghetti sauce, chicken, tossed salad, bread, and cheesecake brownies

Monday, May 7
Whole wheat waffles, blueberries
Corndog muffins, fruit-kefir smoothies
Italian cream cheese chicken, tossed salad, green beans

Tuesday, May 8
Crepes with jelly, applesauce
Cheesy salsa enchiladas, tossed salad
Sweet pepper fritata, strawberry bread, oranges

Wednesday, May 9
Whole wheat biscuits, turkey sausage gravy, fruit
Popcorn chicken, ranch potato wedges, peas
Shepherd’s pie, tossed salad

Thursday,  May 10
Coconut flour muffins, smoothies
Tuna salad on crackers, grape tomatoes, baby carrots, pickles
One dish meat and potato meal

Friday, May 11
Chewy granola bars, apples
Nachos
Homemade pizza, fruit

Saturday, May 12
Scrambled eggs, oranges
Leftovers
Taco potatoes

Tonight for High School Huddle, I decided to try a variation of these Oatmeal Butterscotch Chip Cookies.  I mixed up the recipe as directed, except I added chocolate chips instead of butterscotch chips.  Then, I spread the batter into a 9×13 inch baking pan and baked them for 25 minutes.  They were a hit!

Here is our menu for this week:

Sunday, April 29
Oatmeal, fruit
Church potluck:  Pizza casserole, butterscotch bars, mixed veggies
High school huddle:  Italian pasta bake, green beans, corn, french bread, oatmeal chocolate chip bars

Monday, April 30
Whole wheat waffles, raspberries
Bbq chicken sandwiches, green beans
Teriyaki chicken and vegetables with rice

Tuesday, May 1
Baked oatmeal cups, applesauce
Corn dog muffins, raw veggies with homemade ranch
Roast, potatoes, carrots, gravy

Wednesday, May 2
Cream cheese pastry, bananas
Bean dip with chips, tomatoes, oranges
Creamy crock pot chicken and rice, carrots

Thursday, May 3
Chocolate chocolate chip muffins, apples
Chicken veggie quesadillas, pineapple
Sloppy joes, ranch potato wedges, peas

Friday, May 4
Honey whole wheat bagels, oranges
Hamburger cream cheese dip, organic corn chips, fruit
Homemade pizza

Saturday, May 5
Scrambled egg sandwiches, clementines
Leftovers
Chicken noodle soup with carrots

Anything fun on your menu this week?

In case I haven’t mentioned it already, you should know that my entire family loves the game of soccer.  Five out of six of us play, coach, and/or referee - leaving me to do what is safe and wise:  1) feed them all well  2) try to keep up with the practice/coaching/game/referee schedule as much as is humanly possible 3) cheer loudly from the sidelines and 4) for the love of everyone involved, stay far away from the soccer ball.

This system has worked well for years.  But Saturday told a bit of a different story where Mom and soccer were involved.  I had done my part that morning of feeding them all well before games, and then cheering loudly from the sidelines.  (Although it was really cold, so instead of cheering very loudly, mostly I was focused on keeping my nose from dripping.)

Because an entire morning of soccer games is apparently just not enough, Matt and the boys decided to start a pick-up game on a small field with a few of their young friends.  My kind husband then asked if I would like to join them out on the field.

I hesitated briefly, but given the fact that I am determined to get fit and thought that spending that time on the field with my family might actually be fun, I said yes.  After all, I was cold.  I figured that I could at least play for a couple of minutes so I could get warmed up a little bit.

One hour and fifteen minutes later, we decided to be finished.  Yes, for one hour and fifteen minutes, I played soccer.

Perhaps I should clarify.

On-lookers may not call what I did “playing soccer”.  It may have appeared to be more like a crazy 38 year old woman stumbling across a soccer field while occasionally making haphazard foot contact with a rolling ball.

But I’ll have you know – I scored five, yes…count them…FIVE goals.  Why yes, I did.

I’m not entirely sure how it happened, because during the entire game, even though my brain often knew just what to do, that message usually didn’t quite make it to my feet.  Generally, I felt like my feet were made of cast iron and wouldn’t budge or lift or turn the way I was trying to tell them to.  But, since I was on my husband’s team, he obviously did a great job feeding the ball right to my foot so that I could force, flick, or otherwise, fling the ball into the net.

FIVE times!!!

Oh, had I told you that number already?

I should also mention that by the end of our game, I was so tired I could barely walk.  And yes, today, I do have some bruises and sore muscles.  Playing soccer definitely uses quite a different variety of muscles than does walking, jogging, lifting, and doing work-out videos.  And the bruises.  I definitely learned why shin guards are required for soccer.

But it doesn’t matter, because I scored five!

And now, while I sit here with ice on my knee, I will work on our menu plan for the week…

Sunday, April 22
Oatmeal, clementines
Bbq meatballs, baked potatoes, green beans, sweet corn
High school huddle – Grilled hamburgers and hotdogs, chips, pickles, olives, carrot sticks, butterscotch bars (x3)

Monday, April 23
Whole wheat pancakes, blueberries
Leftovers
Tuna casserole, peas

Tuesday, April 24
Easy breakfast casserole, oranges
Beef and cheese burritos, pineapple
Taco potatoes, tossed salad

Wednesday, April 25
Chocolate chocolate chip muffins, applesauce
Easy noodle stir fry with carrots and broccoli
Barbeque brisket, cream scalloped potatoes, green beans

Thursday, April 26
Warm vanilla soother, cinnamon swirl toast
Tuna salad on crackers, tomatoes, olives
Baked three cheese chicken pasta, tossed salad

Friday, April 27
Whole wheat donuts, apples
Chicken nuggets, ranch potato wedges, peas
Tacos

Saturday, April 28
Applesauce bread, scrambled eggs
Leftovers
Turkey sausage and red bean stew, cornbread muffins

Do you realize that it has been over a month since I’ve written anything new in the No More Excuses series I began this year?  How ridiculous is that?  I do happen to have several excuses I can give you for not taking the time to write these posts about excuses, just in case you’d care to hear them.  I’m guessing you wouldn’t though.  ;)

However, without sharing my excuses, I would like to apologize.  It’s not very cool of me to start a series and then leave you hanging forever.  So this week, I will be picking up that series where I left it off.  Go catch up on all of the No More Excuses posts to read what I’ve previously written on the topic of giving excuses for not eating a healthy diet.

Ironically, this week, I’ll be writing about the excuse of “I don’t have time to eat healthy food…”.  Funny, since I’ve not found the time to write that post, eh?  :)

And speaking of not having the time – this week in our new Ask the Trainer feature, we will also be addressing the topic of finding the time to exercise.  It seems that there’s a bit of a theme going on around here this week.  How…timely.  (And wow, how super cheesy was that?!)

While I’m finding the time to write those posts, here is our menu plan for this week:

Sunday, April 15
Baked oatmeal cups, applesauce
Hoagie sandwiches, chips, apples
High School Huddle – Pulled pork sandwiches with bbq sauce, baby carrots with ranch dip, cream cheese corn, grapes, chocolate chip cookies

Monday, April 16
Pancake sausage muffins, blueberries
Healthier cheese dip, chips, grapes
Chicken fried steak strips, mashed potatoes, gravy, peas

Tuesday, April 17
Fried eggs on toast, oranges
Bbq chicken, creamy mac and cheese, strawberry peach slushies
Hamburger sauerkraut dip, chips, veggie tray, homemade ranch dip, chocolate crinkle cookies (I’m hosting Bunco!)

Wednesday, April 18
Honey whole wheat bagels, blueberries
Bean and cheese burritos, raw veggies with ranch
Lasagna, tossed salad, corn

Thursday, April 19
Banana bread, applesauce
Grilled cheese sandwiches, tomato soup, carrots
Popcorn chicken, stir fried rice and veggies

Friday, April 20
Peanut butter honey toast, oranges
Sloppy joes, potato salad, green beans
Homemade pizza

Saturday, April 21
Scrambled egg sandwiches, apples
Leftovers
Grilled steak, baked potatoes, asparagus

I hope you have been able to spend the day celebrating Jesus and his gift of salvation!  We’ve had a wonderful weekend, spending time out of town with much loved family friends.  Friday and Saturday, our boys participated in LTC (Leadership Training for Christ) in Kansas City and did a great job after all of their hard work preparing for the event.  We are so proud of them!

Now we are home, and it is time to catch up on laundry and get ready for another week of school.  We only have a few weeks left of our home school year, which is hard to believe.  I refuse to think about the fact that my freshman in high school is almost a sophomore and that we only have a few short years with him still at home.  I will not think about it.  I won’t!  (See what a good job I’m doing of not thinking about it?)

Thank you for enjoying (or putting up with me during) the Week of the Chicken last week.  The winners of the $10 Heavenly Homemakers Shop Gift Certificates are:

1) Martha: readaloudmama@
2) Theresa hennessey: Hennesseyt3@
3) Joli: ladybugstretch@
4) Ann: coxfam@
5) Nancy: nancyp545@
6) Patty: frommyyouth@
7) Bhriana: bhrianaskye@
8) Dinorah: montanamom@
9) Andrea: andreainslc@
10) Amy: jbirdwill@

Ladies, email me and I’ll get your certificate code to you so that you can get to shopping!

And now, without further ado, here is what our menu looks like for this week:

Sunday, April 8
“Birds nest” with chocolate chips, fruit
Roasted chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, carrots, green beans, cheesecake brownies
Sloppy joes, angeled eggs, ranch potato wedges, carrot sticks

Monday, April 9
Whole wheat waffles, blueberries
Pigs in a blanket, green beans
Shrimp with alfredo sauce and pasta, steamed broccoli and carrots

Tuesday, April 10
Chewy granola bars, apples
Taco corn fritters, salsa, pineapple
Leg of lamb, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans

Wednesday, April 11
Pancake sausage muffins, applesauce
Tuna salad on crackers, pineapple and cottage cheese
Creamy crock pot chicken and rice, carrots

Thursday, April 12
Whole wheat and honey zucchini bread, bananas
Turkey sausage and red bean stew, fruit and kefir smoothies
Chicken fried stead strips, mashed potatoes, gravy, peas

Friday, April 13
Peanut butter honey toast, oranges
Meat and cheese burritos, carrots, apples
Lasagna casserole, tossed salad

Saturday, April 14
Creamy orange coolers, scrambled eggs
Leftovers
Creamy mac and cheese, peas

I’d love to hear about your Easter and about your menu for this week!

Last week, I spent some time filling our freezers with some healthy convenience foods to help keep me sane during soccer season.  I’ll share more about my experiences in a few days.  Ah, but I love a full freezer!

Here’s what we’ll be eating this week:

Sunday, March 25
Oatmeal, fruit
Roast, carrots, potatoes, gravy
High School Huddle – Creamy chicken and rice casserole, green beans, dinner rolls, trail mix

Monday, March 26
Whole wheat pancakes, turkey sausage
Bison brats, fruit salad, carrots with ranch
Baked three cheese chicken pasta, tossed salad, steamed broccoli

Tuesday, March 27
Honey whole wheat bagels, apples
Popcorn chicken, ranch potato wedges, peas
Italian roast wraps with venison roast, steamed carrots

Wednesday, March 28
Creamy orange coolers, scrambled eggs
Chicken chef salad, toast
Pasta with alfredo sauce, tossed salad

Thursday, March 29
Easy breakfast casserole, oranges
Nacho dip with chips, fruit
Cheesy beef and rice, green beans

Friday, March 30
Giant breakfast cookies, bananas
Pigs in a blanket, carrot sticks with ranch, strawberry-orange smoothies
Hamburgers, homemade fries

Saturday, March 31
Whole wheat donuts
Leftovers
Swiss steak with rice

Have anything fun planned to eat this week?

Here’s what we’ll be eating this week:

Sunday, March 18
Oatmeal, fruit
Taco potatoes, pineapple
High School Huddle – Chili with fritos, cheese, and sour cream, baby carrots, ranch dressing, olives, chocolate cookies

Monday, March 19
Cream cheese pastry, strawberries
Pigs in a blanket, apple slices, carrot sticks
Teriyaki chicken and vegetables with rice

Tuesday, March 20
Mini breakfast pizzas, oranges
Taco corn fritters, applesauce
Pizza casserole, tossed salad, steamed broccoli

Wednesday, March 21
Coconut flour banana muffins, pears
Creamy orange cooler, chef salad
Three cheese garlic chicken pasta, tossed salad, steamed carrots

Thursday, March 22
Fried eggs on toast, clementines
Tuna salad on crackers, grape tomatoes, pineapple
Cheddar ranch burgers, potato wedges, peas

Friday, March 23
Peanut butter honey toast, applesauce
Sloppy cornbread muffins, green beans
Cheesy salsa enchiladas, spanish rice, tossed salad

Saturday, March 24
Pancake sausage muffins, bananas
Leftovers
Steak, baked potatoes, asparagus, cream cheese corn

Read about how I plan my menus here.

What’s on your menu this week?

Here’s what our menu looks like for this week:

Sunday, March 11
Oatmeal, fruit
Italian stew with potatoes and green beans
High School Huddle – Chicken enchiladas, tossed salad, spanish rice, chips and salsa, cookie tray

Monday, March 12
Whole wheat pancakes, applesauce
Baked potatoes with butter, cheese, and sour cream, fruit salad
Tuna casserole, peas

Tuesday, March 13
Cheesy scrambled eggs, clementines
Homemade pizza pockets, tossed salad
Bbq chicken, fried potatoes, okra

Wednesday, March 14
Banana bread, apples
Corndog  muffins, peas, carrot sticks
Chicken alfredo, steamed broccoli and carrots

Thursday, March 15
Breakfast burritos, oranges
Sloppy joes, ranch potato wedges, carrots with ranch
Lasagna, tossed salad, corn

Friday, March 16
Peanut butter honey toast, bananas and apples
Tuna salad on crackers, fruit/yogurt smoothies
Hamburgers with homemade onion rings

Saturday, March 17
Breakfast cake, applesauce
Leftovers
Homemade pizza

If you’re interested in knowing more about my menu planning method, I encourage you to read:  Why My Whole Foods Menu Plan Might Be Overwhelming.

What’s on your menu this week?