I missed Menu Plan Monday this week

So, I didn't quite make the Menu Plan Monday deadline this week... add that to the list of things that I put off and missed! I actually did plan out my menu on the whiteboard in my kitchen, though, so I'm not really that much of a slacker. I even went grocery-shopping on Monday night based off of what was in my fridge, what was on-sale, and the menu I had created accordingly. Here's what I got:

Lots of delicious things, right? And only $37! There are a lot of bits of meals in that bunch, but not the whole lot of complete meals - missing the milk, eggs, carrots, etc. In no particular order, here are the meals that I'll be making with my winnings:

• Vegetarian Chili with cornbread
• Shepherd's Pie
• Fried Rice
• Beef Curry Stew (with tofu and green peppers instead of beef)
• Lasagna
• Stir Fry
• Mac-N-Cheese (boxed) with veggies
• Lemon-Ricotta Orzo
• And last but not least, veggie soup with all the leftovers!

After a much needed hiatus...

... I'm back! November just really caught up with me, and I needed to focus on getting things done moreso than keeping track of getting things done - which means I didn't keep track of my spending or food-intake, and definitely didn't keep up this blog (well... that was partly because I misplaced the cable to connect my digital camera to my computer... but whatever).

Probably the most exciting things that I did while I was away from this were to go back to Seattle for a few days to see my family and some old friends, host two friends at our apartment around Thanksgiving time, and prepare a delicious home-cooked Thanksgiving meal for Matt and myself! I don't have any pictures to share from those first two things, but I do have some nice pictures of our Thanksgiving meal (which I like to call "Turkey Day Minus the Turkey"... even though people look at me strangely when I say that!).

The whole table setting, complete with candles (totally stolen from our mantle!).

A close-up of the delicious spread!

What's included in a vegetarian Thanksgiving, you ask? Well, clockwise from the upper right corner, there are scalloped potatoes, home-made cranberry sauce, butter-topped rolls, my mom's dressing (don't call it stuffing!) recipe, roasted acorn squash, green bean casserole, and mashed potatoes. And of course, you have to top that off with a healthy bottle of red wine, because wine is inherently healthy, right? ;)