Monthly Menu - September

September is a great month! The beginning of school is exciting, at least in this house, and it is apple month! There is not much better in life than a crisp, tangy, fresh apple. Finally, it is time to think about autumn and all of its goodness, my favorite season. Really it is the best of both worlds, we can still get farm fresh corn on the cob, tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers, but we can also get those delicious apples.

One thing about school starting is that all of the other activities start also, which means my menu choices have to fit to our schedule. My oldest goes to work for 5 pm, and the other two have cross country practice until 5 pm. My husband comes home from work LATE, sometimes as late as 8 pm, so we eat in shifts. My goal is to have dinner ready and in the oven when I pick up the boys after practice, we will see how that goes. On top of that they have youth group on Wednesday nights and Boy Scouts on Thursday nights, and once we get to mid September, meets will be on Tuesdays. They are after school but last longer than practice, especially the away meets because they have to travel. Every Saturday there is at least one person who has an event to attend, and somewhere in there I have to schedule a family birthday party for two of my boys. And I thought life would slow down a little with my daughter in college!

01  Mon  Happy Labor Day! It is leftovers in this house, namely pasta. Some of it is from Boston's north end in the Italian section. Delicious, homemade, and very hearty. One of the advantages of having a daughter going to college in that area!

02  Tue  The first day of school! My boys have cross country practice 5 - 6:30, most inconvenient for a mom trying to make dinner. Baked pork tenderloin (no grilling, supposed to rain), mashed potatoes, green beans, watermelon.

03  Wed  rice and beans for the adults, quesedillas, watermelon, and carrot sticks for the rest

04  Thu  chili, rice, broccoli and tomato salad

05  Fri  bacon pizza bake, rice and beans for adults

06  Sat  fend for yourself (most everyone is away)

07  Sun  New England chuck roast, mashed potatoes, peas

08  Mon  pasta with Vegetable Pasta Sauce

09  Tue  chicken soup, biscuits

10  Wed  

11  Thu  

12  Fri
13  Sat  pizza
14  Sun  hamburgers, crispy crowns, store made salads
15 Mon pasta with lentil sauce, salad
16 Tue Kitchen Sink Quesadillas
17  Wed taco soup
18  Thu  eat out, everyone's on the move
19  Fri chicken nacho bake, corn on the cob
20  pizza
21  family birthday party: pulled bbq chicken, macaroni salad, baked beans, hot dogs, hamburgers, fruit salad, cake and ice cream

22  Mon  pasta with meat sauce made from leftover ground beef, broccoli salad
23  Tue cross country meet, bbq pulled chicken from Sunday on hamburger rolls, leftover macaroni salad and baked beans
24  Wed  beans and rice for us, hot dogs & mac-n-cheese for boys
25  Thu  chicken soup from freezer, sweet potato rolls
26  Fri  on the road - Durham Fair
27  Sat  food truck, then fasting
28  Sun P b'day  his choice, ice cream cake