Meal plans and the week ahead

Our house is running a little slow this morning.  We all slept in... the heat wore Kevin and Carson out yesterday and I didn't get home from the bachelorette party until 1:30.  So it was nice to all sleep in.  The party was lots of fun yesterday.  We toured around to a couple wineries in Muskegon and then one in the north part of Grand Rapids... Robinette's.  That was the best one.  They have a big apple orchard, too.  I'd like to visit them again in the fall during apple season - it seemed like a very nice place.  Dinner at San Chez was amazingly delicious!  Yum!  I want to go back there for sure!  After dinner we went out to a few bars downtown.  We all had a great time until the very end when some conservative jerks had to say some crappy stuff to the bride's sister and her friend.  Why people can't just be nice and accepting of everyone is so frustrating.  But I'm not going to get going on this rant... :)

Today, we may make a trip to the farmers' market.  And we'll spend the rest of the day working in the house and yard. Trying to catch up still. Tomorrow is Independence Day. We may go out to the parade in Fenton in the morning. We're headed to my aunt's house on the lake for a family party at noon. And we may stay out in Fenton for the fireworks, we'll just see how the day goes and how spent we are. Wednesday I'll be stopping by the farmers' market in Lansing on my way home. Thursday I have to drop off the milk jars at Dianne's. Friday is my flex day. Kati, Tony, Carson, and I are going to hang out in the morning. We might go shopping. I have to find a dress for a wedding in two weeks, so we may go shopping to find one. Or we may take the boys cherry picking. We'll see what the weather is like. Saturday, Carson and I are headed out to Grand Rapids for a bridal shower for Kevin's cousin's fiance. I'll be stopping over at my SIL's afterwards to pick up the rest of our grassfed beef. Kevin will spend the day working on my car... I desperately need new brakes, so he'll be doing those, plus some other maintenance on my car.

Our raspberries started coming in last week. The ones we planted last year are so amazingly sweet! We all love them. The raspberry patch is now the first place Carson heads when we go outside. He loves picking berries - or anything really. He got to go strawberry picking last week with his Grandma, aunt, and cousins and just loved it! So now his first question when we are any where near the veggie garden or fruit patches is "what can we pick today, mama?"  He loves to work in the garden, helping me pull weeds, water, put compost on, and picking.  It's going to be a fun year in the garden! 

Ok, so here are my thoughts on meals this week...

Breakfasts:

• Smoothies
• Yogurt with fresh fruit
• Fried eggs with bacon
• Mini frittata cupcakes

Lunches and Snacks:

• Leftovers
• Big ol' salads
• Deviled eggs
• Apples with almond butter
• Raw veggies with pesto or ranch dip
• Crispy nuts

Dinners:

• Burger lettuce wraps; asparagus; beets; raspberries and strawberries
• Family party - burgers and hot dogs and the typical cookout food... I am going to make something, but haven't decided what quite yet
• Grilled chicken; veggies from freezer - probably broccoli and carrots; roasted beets; applesauce
• Salads with leftover grilled chicken, hard boiled eggs, bacon, cucumbers, peppers, beets, goat cheese, cherries, and cherry vinaigrette (made like the strawberry vinaigrette I posted last week)
• Grilled salmon with pesto; roasted beets; green beans; peaches
• Salads with leftover grilled salmon, hard boiled eggs, beets, cucumbers, peppers, peas, goat cheese, pesto dressing
• Misc. leftovers