This Week's Menu

Monday
Breaded Parmesan Chicken , rice, salad
Tuesday
Italian Stew

Wednesday
Ginger Beef Stir Fry
Rice

Thursday
Potato-Broccoli and Cheese Soup
WW Rolls, salad


Friday
Honey Hoison Chicken in the Slow Cooker
Steamed broccoli and sticky rice

Saturday Bill Gone
Girls' Nite Out to Pizza Hut
(Use that Book-it coupon!)

Sunday
Tai's Choice

Nature Study: Oak Trees: It's All About the Acorns!

I had been apprehensive about Ambleside's timing of a tree study in the winter. Who studies trees when the leaves are all off?? But yesterday, as we took our walk around the lake, I was excited to find several trees that had cones or seedpods or even fruit in early December! The best thing is MeiWei was also excited. I think my enthusiasm for nature study is beginning to rub off!

A couple of weeks ago we had stopped to pick up a few different oak leaves near the house. I have never been good at oak ID and determined to do better. Well, after reading in Handbook of Nature Study
, I found that scientists have trouble with certain types of oaks because the same tree can produce several different leaf shapes! Boy, did that make me feel better. (It's the little things, you know.)
So to really know what you're dealing with you need the ACORNS!

How To Identify an Oak Tree video

Menu Review

Well, I bombed this week with the Slow Cooker Orange Chicken . Left it to cook all day (noon 'til 6) and ended up with orange-tainted chicken bbq chunks that were half-dried and slightly scorched. It was even more disappointing because I wanted to prove to Tai that Chinese could be done in the crock. (She had pleaded with me not to try.) It showed so much promise, but alas. I gave some of it a try and Bill didn't even mind it, but it would have been so much better. Guess "Fix It and Forget It" is not always the case.
The Turkey Soup also had issues because of the rice--I substituted white for the wild--as it cooked to a gruel-like consistency. However, the flavor was still great and provided lots of leftovers for lunches.

This Week's Menu

Nov. 30 -Dec. 6

Monday
Leftovers

Tuesday
Crockpot Turkey and Wild Rice Soup
Whole Wheat French Rolls

Wednesday
Slow Cooker Orange Chicken
Sticky Rice
French-style Green Beans

Thursday
Pork Chops with Mushroom Sauce
Cranberry-Stuffed Acorn Squash
Stuffing (box with leftover mashed potatoes added)
Apple Pie a la Mode

Friday
BUNCO night!
Bringing Jet Swirl Pizza Appetizers a calzone-like pinwheel filled with pepperoni, salami, provolone, and mozzarella. Very fattening, but no one will be making a whole meal on them!! Named after the originator's favorite football team. Whatever.

Saturday
Meatloaf
Mashed Potatoes
Frozen Peas and Carrots

Sunday
Tai or Bill's choice

This Week's Menu

Big winners and losers from the last two weeks. The gold star goes to the Asian Peanut Butter Pork in the crock. DadR exclaimed about every third bite. AND everyone else--picky Tai, little picky AMCD--liked it too (Shock-a-roo!!) Full of flavor but not hot.
But the Walnut and Sage Potatoes au Gratin in the crock went flat. They tasted OK --if you could get past the look of curdled cheese and gray taters. And I'm stuck with LOTS of them. AMCD is getting fond of making "casseroles" with bits of leftovers that she swirls together on her plate and then tops with shredded cheese to be nuked 'til melted. This was a way to sell some more of the au gratins. But not much.

So now it's Thanksgiving week, but that actually makes it more difficult to plan because there are so many more factors involved: leftovers, taking food to the hostess's home, family coming and going more over a long 4-day weekend. AND it's DadR's birthday thrown in too!
Also there were several missed nights last week, leaving us with stuff that was never cooked to carry over to this one.

So here goes:

Monday: Leftover Peanut Pork and sticky rice

Tuesday : Steak on grill, mash-those-potatoes-au-gratin? (the crocked potats that didn't work out), peas or salad

Wednesday: Kansas City Steak Soup ( nice and healthy vegetarian meal before the artery-choking next day) cornbread

Thanksgiving Day: SIL will do turkey, stuffing etc. We're bringing a big green salad, Tai's Szechuan Green beans, my apple pie, and cupcakes to celebrate DadR's and Papa's birthdays.

Late night: leftover soup or pizza

Friday: I'm outta here. Tai's turn.

Saturday: DadR's Birthday: Lasagna, brown 'n' serve rolls, salad. Boston cream cake from store.

Sunday: His choice.