October 2009 Menu

October 2009 Recipes

I am not finished posting the recipes but I will get it done. I feel bad that I haven't been on top of it since I promised some people I would have them up last week. I'm getting it done. This is what i have so far.

1st Grilled Chicken w/ Spicy Orange Marmalade sauce & cous cous & Brussel sprouts


3rd Meatloaf, mashed potatoes & corn/green beans

Pick your favorite meatloaf recipe. Aren't there hundreds of versions?


6th Mac & cheese spaghetti w/ veggie & salad

7th Taco Soup w/ cheese quesadillas
Cheese quesadillas are just flour tortillas grilled in a little oil in a non-stick pan with a cheese of your choice in the middle. It's really just a grilled cheese sandwhich made with tortillas instead of bread. I usually use a mild cheddar and sometimes I'll throw in some Mexican cheese mix if I have it.

9th Grilled Flank w/ Granny Smith & Smoked Cheddar Gratin & Salad

11th Pork Noodle Salad w/ Soy-Buttered Sugar Snap Peas

13th Crockpot Orange Chicken w/ Brussels

14th Chicken, Red Grape & pesto pizza

15th Grilled Salmon w/ smokey tomato salsa & yellow rice

17th Classic Minestrone Soup w/ hearty bread

18th Cranberry Pork roast w/ side veggie & rice

19th Spaghetti With Best Ever Bolognese Sauce & Salad

21st Chicken Paprikosh w/ salad

22nd Crockpot Flank Steak Stuffed with Apple, Feta & almonds w/ broccoli

23rd Jerk Spiced Shrimp & pineapple w/ skewered grilled veggies & cous cous

25th Tangy Sirloin strips (allrecipes) w/ salad & pesto pasta

27th Crockpot Jamaican Salmon w/ leftover pasta

29th Pineapple Pork Tenderloin w/ rice & side veggie

30th – Stuffed Jack-o-Lantern peppers x2 to freeze

More Great Uses for Binders

The usefulness of binders is nearly endless when it comes to keeping order with just about any kind of paper. I thought I had exhausted all possible uses for binders in my house until my friend, Denise, said to me, “Now, you DO have a binder for each of your kids don’t you?” I said, " No,” and thought that I wouldn’t know what to put in a binder for my kids. She explained that she keeps schedules and activities and medical information in her kids’ binders and I thought that was great but I didn’t have a need for such a thing. Shortly after that conversation the school year truly commenced. Oh boy. Papers from school were flying! Then, I recalled the kids’ binder idea and got some old binders out and organized some of the kids’ papers. My two school aged kids now have a binder with their name on it. In the front of their binders I put academic reference materials that are helpful to both them and me concerning how their teacher wants homework completed and returned and a letter and number chart, home address, phone number, etc., for my kindergartner to glance at. The binders also have tabs for each subject that they study in school and I have put some math, reading and writing sheets that I printed out for free from online websites behind each subject tab and some “Parent Tips” sheets that have come home for a few subjects. I now have a place to put all the religion papers that we can review regularly. I even put a tab marked “$$” so they can keep track of their bank accounts and such all in one place. Behind a “Misc.” tab we can find girl scout fliers, boy scout papers and flag football information. (A list of team members and plays their coach wants them to learn). All the papers are easily visible in those handy-dandy clear sheet protectors. It is one of those organizing projects that brought me such peace and when I showed my husband where he can find such things he didn’t laugh at my organizing for once. He nodded so as to say “Good! Now I know where to look for those things.”