Meal plans and the week ahead

This is going to be a busy week. We're going away this weekend, so we have lots of preparation... packing, making some healthy snacks for the car, cleaning the house, etc. Its a good thing we don't have many plans early this week. We don't really have anything going on until Thursday.  Scratch that.  Kevin told me this afternoon that he has to pick up a rental car tonight.  He's headed to Ohio tomorrow and won't get home until very late.  Tuesday he's headed to Canada, but hopefully won't be home too much after regular time.  I have to attend an MDOT public meeting on our state rail plan on Thursday evening in Flint. And I'll be going out to pick up our milk on Thursday night since we can't get it Friday, but I can't go until after the evening milking at 8:30. That's about it for the first half of the week.

Then we'll be loading up and heading out around 6:00am on Friday morning. We're going to Sheboygan, Wisconsin for a family reunion with my maternal grandma's family. My grandma was from Sheboygan, but I have never been there. It will be fun to see the town she lived in, see the places I remember her talking about, and meet some of my cousins from that side of the family. I really wish we would have done this before my grandma passed away. :(

I hope we have nice weather while we're in Wisconsin (doesn't look too great now, hope it changes). My grandpa, his girlfriend, my parents, my aunts/uncles, sister, some of my cousins, and us have rented one big house on Lake Michigan for the weekend. So I just hope the forecast changes and its sunny and warm so we can enjoy the beach!! We'll be coming home on Monday next week, so no posting for me next Sunday. I'll post the plans for next week a few days late after we get back.

We've had amazing weather this weekend (finally!). Yesterday was nice and hot! Hopefully today is as well. I have about 2/3 of the garden planted at this point. I will be finishing it up today. We did a lot of yard work yesterday and will do more today, as well. We're working on cleaning up a section of the backyard so we can till it and seed it.

I took my last dose of those dreadful antibiotics yesterday. I'm very glad to be done with them. Now I can get my gut back in order. I'm looking forward to feeling back to normal soon. And I'm really looking forward to milk and cheese again! I figure I'll try them again on Wednesday. Let's hope they go over better than the slice of cheese did last weekend.

Ok, so here's what I'm thinking for meals:

Breakfasts:

• Fried eggs; bacon
• Grain-free muffins from freezer
• Fruit
• Smoothies

Lunches and snacks:

• Leftovers
• Salads
• Hard boiled eggs
• Apples with almond butter
• Raw veggies with ranch dip
• Fruit rolls
• Crispy nuts

Dinners:

• Grilled burgers wrapped in lettuce, topped with bacon, cheese, pickles; green and yellow beans
• Grilled balsamic glazed pork chops; green beans; cauliflower; peaches
• Split pea soup
• Stir fry
• Grilled marinated chicken breasts; salad; applesauce

To pack in the cooler for WI:

• Milk... Can't go w/out our real milk!
• GF power bars
• GF granola
• Yogurt
• Apples
• Fruit rolls
• Crispy nuts
• Hard boiled eggs
• Butter... I just cannot stomach the idea of not having good, quality butter
• Bacon... our contribution for family breakfasts
• Sweet breads from freezer... another contribution to family breakfasts (and a good way to use them up since we don't eat them anymore)