Menu Plan Monday – July 9, 2012

It is time for the Gluten Free Menu Swap and Menu Plan Monday! Heather of Celiac Family is hosting the Gluten Free Menu Swap this week. She has picked corn as the theme. I gotta tell you my kids are THRILLED by this theme! There is nothing they look forward to more in the summer to show up on the table than the first sweet corn of the season. Mmmmm…. I wait to get corm every season until the “corn lady” arrives. The corn lady is what my son called the woman who runs the local informal farm stand on the corner when he was a toddler (just a pickup and a sign, though in the past couple years she has started brining some shade and had some of her other family members run it occasionally). She is a sign of summer for our family and we look forward to her arrival each year. She just arrived this past week, so it must be time to pick up some sweet corn. 🙂

On the chicken front, our chickens spent their first night out in their coop and NOT in our basement. Yay! Today will be the big dust and vacuum of the basement. I can’t wait. As much as I love my chickies, I am so glad they have their own place now that they have grown so much. My hubby and son really worked hard to get it ready for them. We still need to work on nest boxes, etc for them, but they have a secure place to sleep and that was the important thing. The chickens were a bit “chicken” about their new house, however, and refused to move from the glass sliding window we installed as their door. No exploring at all… When I snuck out later and checked on them I could tell they were all piled up sleeping in the same spot, waiting to get out of the strange spot, I assume. Crazy chickens! This morning it looks like they have decide to explore a little bit, but they have all stayed very close to the chicken door. Hopefully they will warm up to their coop soon after the newness wears off for them. Those silly girls… I’ll try to get some new pics up this week to show how they have grown. The chickens have been so fun for our family to keep. We are really enjoying them.

Monday: Summer orchestra/XC captain’s practice/mom works/church drama group/chicken photo shoot day 🙂

BBQ Turkey Sloppy Joes (I didn’t get to this last week), steamed broccoli and blueberries

momma’s chores: Clean outside of stove, clean toilets (together with kids), mop

kiddo chores: change hand towels in bathrooms, change dish towels, vacuum first floor

Tuesday: Summer orchestra/XC captain’s practice/soccer for both girls/clean out case freezer and update freezer inventory

Spinach and Tomato Frittata, mixed greens salad with Green Herb Dressing and Gluten Free French Bread

mamma chores: clean middle shelf of refrigerator, clean bathroom mirrors

kiddo chores: dust their rooms, sweep

Wednesday: Summer orchestra/XC captain’s practice/mom works

Stir fry (depends on what I find in my garden and what I have frozen in the freezer) over quinoa and berries

mamma chores: work on basement (sort things for donation truck), clean toaster, sweep

kiddo chores: change dishcloth, change hand towels in bathrooms, dust family room, put away and dvds or games

Thursday: Summer orchestra/XC captain’s practice/mom works/soccer for both girls

Zucchini pancakes, fruit salad and mixed greens salad with poppy seed dressing

mamma chores: mop kitchen and back hall, wipe down light switches and wall smudges on first floor, clean bottom shelf of refrigerator

Kiddo chores: clean out car, vacuum upstairs

Friday: XC captain’s practice/bake double batch of zucchini muffins for the freezer/can black berry jam

Slow Cooker Shredded Korean Beef Tacos, kimchi, cilantro cashew salad

mamma/kiddo chores: sweep porch/change sheets on all beds/do a quick tidy up in each of the rooms so we are fresh for the weekend together (and don’t forget to change the hand towels and dishcloth)/freshen the chicken coop