September meal plan and recipes

I have been planning our meals a month in advance for awhile now and it works well for me. Then as I make my grocery list, I just add the ingredients for 2 weeks of meals. I plan to post them here so I can keep a record for future years and also so I can remember where I got the recipes.  :)

These are just dinners for now; I'll add breakfast, lunch and snacks another time.

• Grill Out Night (this was a holdover from our summer menus):Cheeseburgers with Hatch Chilies, Oven Fries, Cob Corn, Berry Cobbler
• Chinese Chicken Salad -- ours is very similar to this recipe, except we don't use walnuts; occasionally I'll put slivered almonds in mine but we have a nut allergy in the house.

We added a Chase Cooks night to our menus this month. He is making a different soup every Thursday.

• Chase-- Golden Potato Soup; we have tried many potato soup recipes over the years but this is the easiest and yummiest.

Golden Potato Soup                        Servings 12

Ingredients:

8 cups cubed potatoes                freshly ground pepper & salt

1 cup chopped celery                 1 1/2 Tablespoons flour

1 cup chopped onion                  4 cups whole or skim milk

2 cups water                         4 cups shredded cheese

2 cubes chicken bouillon             3 1/2 cups cooked bacon or 

3 cups chicken broth                                                         ham
3 teaspoons fresh basil or Italian                                     
   seasoning

Directions:

1. In a large soup pot, add potatoes, celery, onion, water, chicken bouillon, chicken broth, and fresh basil. Season with salt and pepper and simmer until vegetables become tender.
2. In a separate bowl mix flour and milk until well blended. Add at soup mixture and cook until soup becomes thick.
3. Slowly stir in cheese a little bit at a time until cheese is melted then add bacon or ham and simmer for about 5 minutes.

• Chase -- Broccoli Cheese Soup -- this is from Ree.
• Chase -- Spicy Chicken Tortilla Soup
• Chase -- my grandma's Borscht Soup -- recipe coming in a later post
• Chipotle-style burritos, rice
• Crab Alfredo, Olive Garden Salad, French bread
• Homemade Pizza
• Nachos Grande
• Italian Layer Bake -- this was okay, not sure I'd add it to our keeper recipes
• Sausage Ratatouille -- I made this to celebrate the first day of Fall; it was super yummy!!
• Buffalo Chicken Tacos -- this has become a family favorite; we make it fairly often
• NEW recipe Queso Chicken Pasta
• Slow Cooker Barbecue Pork sandwiches, my favorite coleslaw recipe, homemade mac n cheese

Fall and Cub Scouts camp

This week flew by so fast! We had all the normal activities and added in high school bowling league for Chase and a field trip.  I also had the first meeting for my new book club. We read "Home Front" by Kristin Hannah.  I've read two other books by this author and liked them, so I looked forward to this one. I wasn't disappointed -- this was a good one.  It's about a marriage in which the husband and wife have been drifting apart. She is a helicopter pilot and when she is deployed, he is left behind to take care of their daughters. Their lives and perspectives change through the course of the book, following a couple of tragedies. I learned many things I'd never known about military families and how deeply they and their returning loved ones are affected by their experiences. I also cried through the last 3 chapters. Very well-written, moving book.

We also had a virus move through the house this week. Aiden came down with it first on the afternoon of the field trip. At first we though it was heat exhaustion, but then the next child came down with it. And the next. It has traveled through all the children now, so far sparing me and Scott. So for the majority of the week I had at least one of the kids on the couch, wrapped in a blanket. Thankfully it seemed to be quick-moving...a day or two at most.

We were so relieved that Aiden felt well enough to go camping with his Webelos troop this weekend. He had been fever-free since Wednesday night and said he felt fine, so he and Scott left on Friday and returned on Sunday. He had a great time, and Scott survived sleeping on an air mattress in a tent. :)

He got to try some new activities, like archery, b.b. shooting and rappelling.  

They also got to see a beautiful sunset and sunrise.

Chase had put an ear of corn in a squirrel feeder in the tree and it didn't take long for one of them to find it.

After church, I took the kids to a park for a little while.

As the week ends, I'm so thankful the sickness has passed and fall has begun.

Field trip to a farm

We attended a field trip with FACE this week, to a you-pick vegetable farm. All of us but Brenna, who chose to utilize the quiet house by getting a lot of schoolwork done. Good girl!

 The morning started cool, but the temperature rose quickly and we were pretty hot. We brought water but left it with the stroller instead of taking it on the wagon -- big mistake!


While we waited to board the wagons, the kids held a couple snakes they kept in tubs

On the wagons:

We picked corn, potatoes, cabbage, kohlrabi, leeks, onions,beets, carrots, peppers, tomatoes, butternut squash, acorn squash and pumpkins.

All of the kids ate some corn, but Liam had 3 ears by himself!

After we picked the veggies and hauled them to our car, we were extremely hot, thirsty and hungry. We sat at some tables in the shade to eat lunch. At least Chase, Liam and I did.  The other three still somehow had energy to go back out in the hot sun and play.

On the way out, we stopped to pose for pictures with their collection of "Cars".

When we got home and set out all the vegetables, we realized we ended up with a lot more than we'd thought!

That night, Chase made a vegetable soup recipe from his favorite chef, Alton Brown.  We gave two bags full to a neighbor and two bags to a friend. Now we're working on what to do with the rest.  :)

Roller Derby, Water Balls and Returning Son

This was a busy, busy week. School is continuing to roll along: we began our first Five in a Row book of the year -- "The Bee Tree" by Patricia Polacco. We will probably spend 2 weeks on this one. The week was also filled with Scott's bible study, my bible study, AWANA, Cub Scouts, youth group, Options and FACE. 


This was the last meeting for my summer book club -- we read Nothing Daunted: The Unexpected Education of Two Society Girls in the West by Dorothy Wickenden.     Quite a title, huh?  I had high hopes for this book as it's set in Colorado in the early 1900's. And the references to people and places here in Colorado was very interesting, and I did learn new things about our state's history. But the story itself was more like a textbook and I had to push myself to finish it. I just joined another bible study that goes through the school year, so I'm reading the first book for that right now.

I got a great deal on some fall flowers at Safeway. I've been wanting a mum plant for awhile -- seeing this in the window just makes me happy.

Conner came home for the weekend! He has been up at CSU for a month now, and this is the first weekend he's been able to get home. We bought  a nice sleeper sofa for him, since his room has been claimed. :)

We didn't tell the younger boys he was coming, so they were very surprised to see him walk in the door! Liam climbed on his lap and wouldn't move until bedtime. :) I commented that Conner should feel good, knowing Liam hasn't forgotten him. He replied that he actually felt bad, since he'd be leaving again for at least another month. I love the different bonds that form between the kids.

Oldest and youngest

We have always tried to get out on "dates" with our children individually. I had gotten some good Groupons over the summer and a couple were close to expiring, so we set out to use them. On Saturday night, Scott and Brenna went to see the "Roller Dolls" -- a nearby roller derby.  

While there, they ran into Scott's brother and our nieces.

On Sunday, Conner and Chase bowled in a tournament. Then Scott took Aiden on his "date", to a place called Miner's Maze. The Groupon I had was for unlimited trips through the maze, plus 3 other activities. Aiden has long wanted to try those balls you walk in on the water, so he was thrilled they had that there.

Needless to say, Scott was pretty tired by the end of the weekend. He's a great Daddy!

Birthdays

Scott and I have birthdays that are 2 days apart. So we tend to just go out time to celebrate. But this year since my birthday was on a Friday and his was on a Sunday, we decided we should do it twice! :)

My day began with dropping Chase off for his classes at FACE, then I picked up a couple of birthday freebies. Caribou gives you a free coffee, and Einstein offered a free breakfast sandwich.

After picking up Chase, I stopped in at Firehouse Subs for a free sandwich. That night we at dinner at Macaroni Grill -- yum!

Brenna made me birthday cupcakes, and all the kids made me amazing cards and I got a very special happy birthday call from Conner at college.  Scott brought home beautiful roses and a gorgeous gift from a sweet friend arrived all the way from Hungary.

Scott chose Red Lobster for his dinner. Chase made him a big breakfast and Brenna made a fantastic Oreo ice cream cake that I got off a couple friends' blogs (choosing joy  and jewels of my own).

These were Scott's "flowers".