October Menu Plan 2012

Candy Corn Sugar Cookies,  Spaghetti Pie, Cheesy Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole, Braided Sandwich Loaf, Ceasar Salad,
Three Bean Chili, Orange Sesame Chicken, Skillet Pork Chops with Fried Potatoes and Gravy, Pumpkin Mousse Cupcakes

 October! Can you believe it. Love me a good crisp October. I love the food that comes along with fall, the cute kids in Halloween costumes, big round pumpkins on my porch and the crunch of fallen leaves under my feet. It’s a pretty great month, so long as I remember not to buy any Halloween candy until the last minute…big bags of chocolate bars lurking in the pantry and I are not a great combination.

I have my October Menu Plan for you today. I’ve received a grundle of emails regarding my menu plans lately, including one new reader who wrote “um, I don’t get it…why don’t you give us a dinner recipe scheduled specifically for each day of the month” and another who said “How in the world do you plan out a menu for an entire month! Give us some details, please. Show us how to do it.”

Hence, I felt a little explanation might be in order. If you have read my blog for a while, you know that I’ve posted a monthly menu plan during the first week of the month for almost 2 1/2 years now.  I post links to past recipes that my family loves and then list new recipes I am planning to work on as potential recipe posts for you all. The reasons for this are two-fold.  First, I want to highlight some past recipes that you (and I) may have forgotten about, or may have never seen. Second, it helps to keep me organized so I don’t run out of fresh new content for you all. When I am planning my grocery shopping trip, I usually list 6 or 7 of the recipes from my menu plan at the bottom of my grocery list. Then when shopping I make sure to pick up the items I need to complete the recipes on the list. I like to include a few desert and pot luck type recipes as well. You never know when your Sister or Dear Friend is going to call and say “Hey, let’s get together…can you bring something yummy?” Or, for that matter, you never know when your dear son is going to reveal to you at 9:30 in the evening that he has promised to bring 3 dozen cookies to his seminary class the next day. It’s true ladies and gentlemen. This might happen to you at any given moment. Best to be prepared. 🙂  I don’t assign each day of the month to a specific recipe simply because this life I’m running is often subject to change, if you know what I’m saying here. More often than not, when I wake up in the morning…I look at the Monthly Menu Plan I have hanging on the side of the fridge and choose something that works with the day’s schedule.

This is what my plan looks like by the end of the month. I often times scribble on recipes I would like to add, circle recipes once they are made…sometimes I even draw a mean ugly face over the top of recipe that didn’t turn out well. Ok, I just made that up. But it does happen you know. Sadly, all the recipes I try don’t magically turn out wonderfully. Just ask my kids, they will be happy to give you a complete report.  Please know, I only share the really great recipes with all of you. 🙂

I hope you enjoy these Monthly Menu Plans! I see that many, many of you print them off and that makes me happy. I hope you find them useful as I am planning to keep posting them each month. 🙂 It helps me stay focused while I chug along this food blog journey.

Here’s the plan for this month!

Mini Turkey Loaves with Sweet and Savory Red Sauce 

October Menu Plan 2012
PRINT THE PLAN, MAN

Dinner Recipes Previously Posted

  Spaghetti Pie, with green salad and Quick and Easy Breadsticks
Cheesy Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole, Green Beans
Braided Sandwich Loaf, and Ceasar Salad,
Three Bean Chili, with CornBread
Mini Turkey Loaves with Sweet and Savory Red Sauce,  Baked Potatoes
Orange Sesame Chicken, with white rice
Skillet Pork Chops with Fried Potatoes and Gravy
Hawaiian Meatballs with Brown Rice and Green Salad
Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup with Fluffy Dinner Rolls
Loaded Black Bean Soup and Fabulous French Bread
Italian Cream Cheese Chicken with Creamy Raspberry Jello Salad
Beach Street Lemon Chicken
Chicken and Vegetable Stir Fry and Breaded Shrimp
Sloppy Joes and Parmesan Potato Wedges
Chicken Cordon Bleu, and Rice Pilaf with Almonds
Grilled Turkey and Swiss Sandwiches and Green Salad with Pears and Cinnamon Walnuts

Dessert and Other, Previously Posted

Pumpkin Pie Sheet Cake
Candy Corn Sugar Cookies
Chocolate Toffee Candy Bar Cake
Pumpkin Mousse Cupcakes
Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

Dinner Recipes I’m Working On

Turkey Pot Pie and Spinach and Fruit Salad
Mom’s Southwest Cheese Soup and Fabulous French Bread
Crispy Potato Chip Chicken Casserole with Mashed Potatoes
Southwest Beef and Cornbread Casserole
Lemon Creme Chicken with Angel Hair Pasta

Dessert and Other

Cherry Pie, Lattice Style
Pumpkin Crunch Dump Cake
Cinnamon Pull-A-Part Bread
Coconut Cream Pie
Yeast Scones with Cinnamon Maple Honey Butter

Chocolate Toffee Candy Bar Cake

 Have a great day! Hope to see you back here soon. 🙂