Meun Plan Monday

Believe it or not, I used to make menus. I would search my notebook of favorite recipes, my old Taste of Home, Quick Cooking, Kraft, (this one's free!) & Hometown Cooking (out of print) magazines, and the Internet and plan out 1-2 weeks worth of suppers.
And then....I quit.
And now....I usually don't have a plan until about 4:30...if I'm lucky.
And then...I started seeing "Menu Plan Monday" on people's blogs and thought it would be a great way for me to get back in the action.
And since I just happened to be headed to town for one of Alan's prescriptions, and just happened to be out of milk, bread, eggs, etc, what better time to make a menu and go for it.

So....here we go. I left Monday blank because winging it usually works best for Mondays. And then I found a package of brats on sale! So, remember to grab hot dog buns on the way out, and... brats! :)

Monday - Brats
Tuesday - Spaghetti Bolognese, Salad
Wednesday - Chicken Patty Sandwiches
Thursday - Crock Pot Cantonese Dinner, stir-fry veggies
Friday - Leftovers, Sandwiches

And since I'm here talking about groceries and things, I might as well tell you our trips are never dull. For one thing, instead of sitting in the basket in the forward position, facing me & Dale, Alan prefers to twist around as far backwards as possible, with the seat belt cutting into his ribs and one arm wedged against the back of the seat. Most uncomfortable looking, but the only way he will ride.
But the advantage of this is once Mom has put enough groceries in the cart, you can reach stuff. Thankfully, this is usually toward the end of the trip. Today the Reach-it Item of the Day was a bag of spinach leaves. A crinkly bag of spinach leaves. So as we headed over to the pharmacy right quick to get our prescription before checking out, Alan was entertaining himself with the crinkly spinach bag.
And it opened! The pharmacy lady saw it as it happened, so we avoided a major spinach disaster. Just about a 1/2 a cup was sprinkled over our groceries in the cart.

Dale ate it. Yes, I know. Germs, ew, ew. But he was hungry and there it was.

And how can you tell a kid 'no' to fresh veggies? Just before the spinach/pharmacy incident, we were in produce. I saw a bag of baby carrots and picked them up to put them in our cart, saying to Dale, "Let's get some baby carrots."

He grabbed a second bag and said, "Okay! I'll get some for us, too!"

(Of course, a quick lesson followed in how the 'baby' referred to the carrots, and not their eaters. It's definitely true... learning happens everywhere!)

For your own menu ideas (or if you just like to see how 'everybody else' does it) go see Laura, the Organizing Junkie for Menu Plan Monday! :)