Menu Plan Monday!

With the kids back in school, it's time...time to get organized & back to weekly menu plans!

Here's what's cooking at our house this week. For more great ideas, check out these great menu plans.

Monday - Tuna cakes , fried okra & grilled potatoes wedges

Tuesday - Mexican Casserole

Wednesday - Ham & Bean soup & cornbread

Thursday - Leftovers

Friday - Homemade pizza

Saturday - Chicken & Rice casserole

Sunday - Tender Pork Chops, pasta, & mixed vegetables

Tender Pork Chops

8 pork chops
1 1/2 c. flour
1 tsp. ground mustard
1 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. Lawry's seasoning salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1 small can of mushrooms

Add 1 c. flour, mustard, garlic, salt & pepper in a Ziploc bag. Add chops & shake to coat. Brown chops in oil. Transfer to a greased crock-pot. Mix soup with 1 c. water; add 1/2 c. flour & mix well. Pour over pork chops. Cook on low for 3-3 1/2 hours.

These are fall-off-the-bone tender and there's plenty of gravy for some pasta or rice on the side!

Iced Tea Lemonade

I never had a sister. With two pesky younger brothers, I fulfilled my role of as the bossy older sister...much to their irritation! When I married my husband, I "inherited" 3 new sister-in-laws - as his two older brothers were married within 6 months of us, and his younger sister was thrilled to have some female companionship after growing up with four older brothers! Three more were added to our families over the years & I am blessed with 6 sister-in-laws. (Interestingly, 5 of us do not have sisters, which is probably why we get along so well!)

Natalie is married to my brother. The brother who aggravated me, told me my breath stunk, hit me (and subsequently lied to my mother that I was the one who hit him first), and made me cry on occasion. I've decided to forgive him for his many "transgressions" since he gave me a great "sister" in the end. ;) Natalie's a great cook. I'm always a little envious how she can throw a meal together without much effort & no recipe in sight!

She recently stopped in for a visit with her boys & left this recipe behind. I'm addicted. It's becoming a regular drink @ our house. Sweet & delicious, and perfect on a hot summer day.

Iced Tea Lemonade

4 c. water
4 tea bags
3/4 c. sugar
1 can frozen lemonade concentrate
7 c. cold water

Heat the 4 c. water to boiling. Remove from heat & place tea bags in; allow to steep for 5 min. Remove the tea bags & add the sugar while still hot; stir until dissolved. In a 3 qt. pitcher, add tea, lemon concentrate, & water. Pour over ice. (If strong, can add more water.)

** If you don't have the lemonade concentrate, you can substitute 1 c. lemon juice + 1/2 c. sugar **

Not weird enough...

I'm a little weird. Okay. Maybe a lot.

I know this isn't news to many of you, but I'm still getting used to the idea myself.

I could blame it on my parents for raising me up in the jungles of Brazil. Or I could blame it on my husband for influencing me with a do-it-yourself mentality. But the truth is, I kind of like doing things differently (most of the time). Thankfully, I'm surrounded by friends that are weird like me & talk me into trying crazy things...like home-made laundry soap.

This "recipe" actually came from the Duggar family. Yep. That's the one. I guess someone with that many dirty clothes would know a thing or two about laundry soap! :) It's really simple to make (once you collect all of the ingredients) & has saved us about $2o/month on soap. Every little bit helps, right?




You only need these 4 supplies:

• Fels Naptha soap
• 1 c. Arm & Hammer Washing Soda
• 1/2 c. Borax
• 5 gal. bucket w/ lid

(The Fels Naptha I found @ Ace Hardware. Wal-Mart carries the Borax in their laundry aisle. Our local grocery store carried the Washing soda. And you can find the 5 gal. bucket @ Lowe's.)

Grate the bar of soap in about 4 c. water. Stir on medium-low heat until soap is melted. Fill 5 gal. bucket 1/2 way with warm water. Add melted soap, washing soda, & borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved & fill the rest of the way with warm water. Cover & let sit overnight. Soap will thicken. Fill a clean laundry soap container with equal parts of soap & water. Shake before each use. Pour about 1/2 c. diluted soap into each load of laundry. (I tend to use a little extra on stinky, sweaty summer stuff!)

I usually buy several bars of the Fels Naptha @ a time, as the Borax & washing soda go very far (I bought them last summer). It costs about $2 to make 10 gallons of soap.

Pantry Fare

Well, it's too hot around here to turn the oven on, I'm not too motivated to make meals, and I'm trying to save a little money...

...so the result is "pantry fare". My kids asked what that was & I told them - you look through your pantry & fridge & throw something together. Surprisingly, it hasn't been too awful.

The other night we had "birds in a nest" - a box of instant garlic mashed potatoes, topped with long-stem green beans, sausage with mushroom "gravy" (soup), and shredded cheddar cheese.

For lunch I made "pizzas" by toasting slices of bread, with leftover spaghetti sauce & topped with mozzarella cheese.

Tonight we had zucchini burritos. I have more venison in my deep freeze than I know what to do with, and the only way I can handle it is to disguise the flavor with spaghetti sauce, taco seasoning, or chili. I opted for taco seasoning, added some salsa, sauteed a zucchini & peppers from the garden, wrapped all that in tortillas & topped it with cheddar cheese.

Do you see a common theme here?

Everything tastes better with cheese on top!

We have one more week of summer & then it's time to get back to menu planning & balanced meals. Until then...we'll see what other weird "recipes" I can think up.