Rebecca's Hearth and Home: Master To-Do List and Menu Plan Monday

Another week has disappeared and here it is...Monday again already! I can hardly believe how fast time is moving and every day I feel a little more behind. Behind in what, I'm not sure, but I still feel it.

Purple Asters

How are you? How was your week and weekend?

Early Morning on the Tallgrass Prairie

Highlights of my week here include getting my car serviced and ready for winter, getting a big data entry project finished at work, and going with family to Wonders of Wildlife in Springfield, Missouri.

The Grands @ Bass Pro

One of My Favorite Photos of the Day - Polar Bears

Grandgirls Ruth and Hannah

(I think they measure up pretty dog-gone cute!!!)

Granddaughter Ruth Inside the Aquarium

A Mouthful of Grandchildren

Petting the Stingrays

The weekend was uneventful. I worked Saturday and spent a quiet Sunday afternoon and evening at home.

Asters

Sunday evening I enjoyed a cup of hot cocoa and a fire in the backyard fire pit; later the full Hunter's Moon rose overhead. It was a lovely evening to sit outside.

Enjoying Hot Cocoa and a Bonfire

Here's how the week ahead looks...

This week's 'to do' list...

- clean house ✓
- do laundry ✓

- clean the heating stove (undone from last week) ✓

- start weatherizing (undone from last week) ✓

- see the doctor ✓

- work ✓

- get together with family and friends ✓

- attend a birthday bonfire and weiner roast ✓

This week's menu plan...

As times goes on, I find more and more, that trying to plan out a menu and stick with it for just myself is becoming a futile business. In an effort to stick with the menu plan I, either end up having a ton of extra meals piling up in the freezer, or else I have food going to waste. Neither extreme is to my liking and It is becoming quite apparent that planning and cooking for a family, or even for just two people, is not the same as planning and cooking for one.

In an attempt to get a better handle on food usage and preparation, I think, instead of planning out a menu for the week ahead of time, I will simply share what I'm doing or thinking about the week ahead without being stuck in the rut of feeling like I have to perform and stick with the plan. Does that make sense?

Anyway, here goes...

I didn't get to the Guatemalan red beans and rice with cornbread that I had planned on last week and that is something that I was really looking forward to. So, I soaked beans overnight last night and have them simmering in the pot this morning. I've also got rice cooking in the rice cooker and plan to make cornbread this afternoon. This is a large batch recipe, but it is something that I greatly enjoy...especially in cooler weather, so I will probably focus on eating it repeatedly for lunches and supper throughout the week. I know that some people don't like eating the same thing over and over again, but I don't mind at all. What I don't consume within a few days can be frozen and eaten later.

On the days I work I will come home to a quick supper...leftovers, breakfast for supper, or I will open up a jar of my home-canned potatoes, and green beans, add some ham to it, and serve it with biscuits or rolls from the freezer.