Menu for 12/2/13-12/8/13

Christmas preparations are going to drive me batty. I've spent the weekend trying to schedule every family gathering, baking get-together, and coffee date with my friends up through the end of the year, and then I realized I forgot that Dad's family is coming in for Christmas as well.

I haven't put up the tree yet. I wanted to do it Friday but I was so exhausted from Thanksgiving that I slept in and then spent the day just being lazy.



My schedule for the week includes the usual dinner with Yaya Monday, lunch with Nana on Tuesday, and (in addition to laundry and grocery shopping) a coffee date on Wednesday. I hope I'll have time to put the tree up on Thursday. A week late isn't too bad, right?

I don't know when your family puts up their Christmas tree, but Mom has always done it on the day after Thanksgiving. Especially after my brother went off to college, Thanksgiving weekend was the only time he was home between Thanksgiving and Christmas and we always helped her bring up the boxes from the basement, put together the tree, and decorate it before he headed back up to school in Iowa. It kind of became a tradition.

About halfway through baking day with my best friend this is what my dining room table looked like.

Also on my mind is Christmas cookies. Every year I make tons and tons of cookies for Christmas. I give most of them away. I try to make a new recipe every year, but unfortunately that just adds to the stress every year. Every recipe I try seems to be so delicious that I don't want to give up recipes from year to year. This has resulted in a long list of different recipes I have to make every year rather than having just a couple of recipes and making large batches of them. I'm only counting my own cookie baking here, I haven't even mentioned the Christmas candy my cousin and I make with Nana. My staples are tea cakes (for Nana) and an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie that everyone raves about year after year. Next I added candy cane kiss blossoms (a shortbread cookie coated in colored sugar and topped with a peppermint white chocolate Hershey's kiss) and then last year it was chocolate covered cherry cookies. This year I've been asked to try orange cranberry oatmeal cookies. I'm very excited about them, but at the same time I'm worried they will add to my Christmas baking stress.

But we can't live on cookies. Here's the real food for the week.

Monday:
Breakfast- apple crumble muffins
Lunch- spicy sausage pasta skillet
Dinner- Yaya will provide dinner

Tuesday:
Breakfast- almond joy oatmeal
Lunch- leftover sausage pasta
Dinner- beef tacos and refried beans

Wednesday:
Breakfast- oatmeal chocolate chip pancakes
Lunch- leftover tacos
Dinner- pizza

Thursday:
Breakfast- bacon, egg, and cheese croissants
Lunch- leftover pizza or tuna salad on crackers
Dinner- crock pot soy and pineapple chicken with rice and steamed veggies (broccoli, carrots, and snow peas)

Friday:
Breakfast- scrambled eggs and bacon
Lunch- leftover chicken, rice, and veggies
Dinner- loaded potato and buffalo chicken casserole

Saturday:
Breakfast- cinnamon rolls and sausage
Lunch- leftovers
Dinner- chili

Sunday:
Breakfast- apple turnovers
Lunch- chicken salad on crackers
Dinner- Admiral will provide dinner