Planning meals for off weeks

I am not going to make a habit of posting my menus because they are really not that exciting.  However, this last week was a bit challenging and I think it is worth making note of.  Here is what I had planned and what happened in reality.

Monday:
Chuck Roast from the farm with lots of veggies (recipe to come!)
Couscous
Strawberry Shortcake
Burritos/Soft Tacos with whole wheat tortillas, beef from the farm, lots of veggies
Vanilla ice cream with fresh strawberries and blackberries and chocolate "syrup"
(BONUS TIP: we melted some chocolate chips in the microwave and poured it over the ice cream. When you do this, you get the hard shell chocolate for a lot less money than the stuff in the bottle!)

Tuesday:
Left-overs (will someone please come up with a more glamorous word for that so I don't feel I need to add a caveat when I tell my hubby what we are having?!)
Salad with veggies I had already chopped Monday
Garlic bread
Apples and Strawberries with a creamy caramel Cream Cheese & Vanilla Yogurt dipping sauce to share with the friends

Wednesday:
Chicken and roasted carrots
Frozen Pizza (I know, I had been doing sooo well!  We ended up being out late and not eating dinner until 8:30 and at least we didn't eat out!)
something with fruit since we'll have plenty and some chocolate thrown in the mix I'm sure

Thursday:
Hummus with veggies,
goat cheese spread/dip (recipe also to come),
possibly a wheat berry salad,
I'm still thinking of what kind of sweet treat we will have (I'm not providing dinner, just snacks!)
Guacamole (I loooove avocados!)
Pita Chips and Sesame Chips for dipping
Apple Slice & Strawberries with the cream cheese/yogurt dipping sauce

Friday:
Salad with all the goodies left from the week
Stir fry with the chicken I did not cook but defrosted Wed. and all those veggies left from Thursday night


I am also loving vanilla yogurt with fresh blackberries for snacks this week!  Yum!

So you can see that I had to have a lot of flexibility with having so much going on during the week (dinner guests Monday, snack for community group Tuesday, hosted book club Thursday, and all of our usual dinners, lunches, and what not throughout the week for the family).  I think we did pretty well, and it was fun to have the additional challenge of trying to use up food for more than one meal if needed, keep it healthy, and try to use mainly seasonal and organic foods.  We did not stay on budget, but when you have something extra going on (or three something extras!) sometimes the budget has to be flexible as well!

This weekend we will be using up all of the veggie sticks that did not get eaten Thursday night (we had so much good food!) and will be heading to the farmers market Saturday to stock up for next week.  (It's supposed to be raining so hopefully the market is still open.)  I think a few more markets are opening tomorrow (if you're in Louisville see the "Find Louisville Markets" button on my sidebard for a full list of when the markets open.)

Speaking of the weekend, what are your plans? I will be working on a blog post I told you about a while ago and have not finished (I interviewed a friend who grinds her own grains), catching up on some relaxation and sewing, and spending time with my hubby and baby.