My mom saved all year (sometimes two) for our family vacations. She scrimped and bargain-hunted in everyday life, but we splurged like crazy on those trips.

One of my favorite memories comes from a picture-perfect bed and breakfast we stayed at in Canada. It was a charming cottage-style house will a full garden in the back. On the morning we left our hosts served a gorgeous breakfast feast complete with edible pansies sprinkled with sugar.

I don’t have any pansies on the menu for Meal Plan Monday (though I wish I did!). I was just reminded of that memory as I planned this weeks meals. Each opportunity to sit down with my family and talk over good food is precious to me. That experience was my first taste of what has become a longstanding enchantment with food and all that comes with it. Food is more than functional. It’s beautiful. It’s relational. It’s sacred.

It’s Monday, and already I can hardly wait to relish Thursday’s Black Bean and Pineapple Salsa. Let’s get started!

Monday

Dinner

Spaghetti from Scratch – Long simmered spaghetti sauce with rustic, soaked handkerchief noodles

Sides -

Fried Eggplant

Microgreen Salad

Tuesday

Dinner

Greek Lentil Soup – I found this on my friend Hannah’s blog. Looks good (and frugal)! We will be adding the optional chicken

Sides –

Brown Rice (Nourishing Traditions-Style)

Tangy Buttered Beets – Recipe here

Wednesday

Dinner

Roasted Chicken

Sides –

Apple-Cider Glazed Turnips – Recipe here

Brown Rice (Nourishing Traditions-Style)

Thursday

Dinner

Mexican Roasted Potato Burritos – Mexican potatoes, Mexican-style ground beef, avocado, salsa, and sour cream wrapped in a  homemade tortilla

Sides –

Black Bean and Pineapple Salsa – Recipe here

Organic Blue Corn Chips

Salad Greens

Friday

Dinner

Pepperoni and Pineapple Pizza – Using our brand-new Thin N’ Crispy Pizza Crust!

Side-Salad Greens

Saturday

Dinner

Kitchen CLOSED!!! – Out exploring a new restaurant that serves local, organic or grass-fed ingredients.

Sunday

Dinner

Potato Beef Casserole - Recipe here

Side - Steamed, buttered carrots

On a totally separate note, Katie has been practically begging me to potty train her. So last week I did all my errands, shopping, etc and as you read this I am in the middle of a potty training extravaganza. Oddly enough, Katie seems really excited about it and now that the time has come I’m not really stressed at all. Here she is hugging her new big-girl panties. I love this girl!

Check back tomorrow to see if we survived ; – )

ENOUGH about what’s going on in my kitchen (and in other rooms of our house that we DON’T COOK in)!!!

What are you making this week?