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Creamy Carrot and Apple Soup

Menu Plan Monday ~ It’s back!

In my early days of blogging I posted a menu almost every Monday. This menu served two purposes: ideas for you and a great way to keep me on track.

When I stopped posting the menu I would *sometimes* type one out in a word document or write it out on a scrap of paper. But more often than not, I neglected keeping up my menu plan. And truth is, I don’t do very well without a plan!

The last eighteen months or so have been very crazy. Our best intentions of eating well often failed. Many times we’ve found ourselves eating out several times a week. This has been bad health-wise. The symptoms of IBS that Joe and I had both alleviated through a real food diet returned. We often feel sluggish and icky. We’ve put on weight.

Eating out has also strained our budget. I hate to even think about the amount of money we’ve wasted on less than stellar dine out meals. I love going out for a lovely meal for a special occasion. Unfortunately those have been rare. We are in a position that we have to watch our pennies. Throwing money away on icky meals is no longer an option.

In December I started writing down a menu each week and it has helped. Deciding to post publicly again is my hope of helping us get back on track and stay there.

For the past several months we’ve been living in Oklahoma to help my parents. After living in a hotel for about a week, we rented a small house that is about half a step above a dive. 😉 The kitchen is pretty pitiful.

The first couple of months it didn’t matter since we spent almost all of our time at my folks home and I cooked lunch and dinner at their house and we all ate together. A few weeks ago their health took a downward turn and they needed to move to a 24 hour care facility. We’ve finished moving them out of their home and we now have just our tiny little kitchen in our little rental.

Interestingly rentals here do not usually include appliances. We are fortunate our place has a range but there isn’t a fridge. Our nice landlord gave us a cooler to use.  It’s working out fine and since we’ll only be here two more weeks I can’t complain. I really can’t complain because Joe has been doing the bulk of the cooking while I’ve been doing paperwork stuff for my parents (boy, there is an insane amount!) and working. I’m fortunate that my work from home job is completely portable.

What’s on the menu? We’re starting the week with a bit of chicken leftover from a whole bird baked Saturday, the bones were made into broth. I’m leaving most of the side loose to allow for decent buys at the market tomorrow. I have $35 to spend on groceries for the week so it is going to be tight. We do have quite a few pantry items (salmon, coconut milk, coconut flour, masa, oatmeal, white beans, rice and basic spices). Soups made with homemade bone broth are a great budget stretcher and provides excellent nutrition. You’ll see lots of broth based recipes in this week’s menu.

Monday

Breakfast: Savory Oatmeal
Lunch: Tamale pie
Dinner: Fasooli, green salad

Tuesday

Breakfast: Sourdough Pancakes
Lunch: Kung Fu Panda Soup
Dinner: White Bean and Chicken Chili, Winter Salad

Wednesday

Breakfast: Yogurt Parfait
Lunch: Mashed Garlicky Bean Dip with tortilla chips and veggies
Dinner: Spanish Omelet

Thursday

Breakfast: Butterscotch Rice
Lunch: Barbecue Style Baked Beans
Dinner: Stuffed Peppers, Baked Potato

Friday

Breakfast: Fried eggs and toast
Lunch:  Loaded Twice Baked Potatoes
Dinner: Sweet Potato Gratin

Saturday

Breakfast: Mushy Masa
Lunch: Left overs
Dinner: Winter Vegetable Paella

Sunday

Breakfast: No-Oat Oatmeal
Lunch: Creamy Carrot and Apple Soup
Dinner: Family Dinner at sister’s house

What’s on your menu?

Learn how to get the most nutrition from the foods you eat! You’ll love the books from my affiliate partner, Traditional Cooking School by GNOWFGLINS

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Shared at Menu Plan Monday hosted by OrgJunkie.

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