Hello everyone, I sure hope you are enjoying this wonderful fall, it is a great time to be outdoors. Not to hot with just a light chill in the morning air, what a great day to take a walk in the country. I am taking a walk to the lake this morning and plan on sitting on the dock to make my meal plan for this week. I may as well put a fishing pole in the water, who knows maybe I will catch something while I am sitting on the dock, thinking of  delicious food to serve my family for the next week. 

  Welcome to our first week in October, on a beautiful fall day. This is a great time of the year to make meal plans. We still have so many fresh fruits and vegetables available to bring to the table. I am expecting some family this next week, so I will be looking at some of their favorite meal plans to include in this weeks plan. I will be going to the farmers market to see what I can bring to the table. 

Hello everyone, I am looking forward to making this meal plan for the week. The weather is just beautiful a nice time to plan some dinners on the porch. We are working hard to get our fall garden going, we are a little late this year, but we are determined to get it done. Still so excited about family moving to our area in the near future, it will be so nice to have family near by. I am off to the Farmers Market today always a fun adventure to see what kind of fresh fruits and vegetables we can find to make our meal plans fresh and delicious!

Hello everyone, it is so good to sit down with you and make this meal plan. What a beautiful day we are having and I am totally inspired to bring some delicious dishes to my families dinner table this week. I had to laugh at myself a little today as I was preparing to start the meal plan, I have this little routine that I walk through. First I check the weather for the next week, then I take a walk, look at the garden and what may be available, a walk to the barn to see what may be available in the cold bin and back in to the freezer and  pantry. By this time I have an idea of what I have on hand then comes the fun part, looking for the recipes, I just pull up  Miz Helen's Kitchen Recipes , and let the fun begin. This may seem like a lot of prep work, but it sure beats walking up and down the super market isle wondering what's for dinner?

It is such a beautiful September day to sit on the screen porch and write my meal plan for the week. This is the time of year when everything gets back to normal around the lake area. All the summer visitors have gone back home, the schools have started and there is a certain quiet that begins to fall on the community. I am beginning the fall décor change over, the fall slip covers on the sofa and chairs, fall arrangements and pumpkins are coming very soon! I love the transition to fall foods, a little cozier and stick to your ribs kind of comfort food for our meals plans.

Hello everyone, hope you are having a great Labor Day weekend. We will be including some great Labor Day recipes in the meal plan this week. Our cottage is really busy right now as we have family visiting which we absolutely love filling the cottage with lots of good food and laughter. We will be including some great vegetables in the plan this week, as our famers markets are running over with great fresh food selections.  To All Our Friends On The Gulf Coast and The East Coast You Are In Our Thoughts and Prayers As You Begin The Recovery Journey

  Hello everyone, this is one of those weeks when I sure am glad that I am a meal planner. We have family visiting that have come to help us with a couple of big projects here at the cottage. It is very important to be organized and know exactly what I will be cooking for the next meal. I am making some of their favorites and cooking some recipes that will be easy to make for a crowd. I always get so excited about having family visit and getting to make some of their favorites! 

It is great to be back on the screen porch this morning in a little cooler temperature. Our schools have started here so we are defiantly in the transition season to fall. I look forward to spending more time outdoors now with cook-outs and picnics. I have some vegetables from the farmers market that I want to include in my plan this week as well as a couple of special request from my husband. I love the opportunity to plan special recipes for my family and friends that they really enjoy!

Hello everyone, wow I sure am glad that we have a time together to make meal plans. I talked to a group of young homemakers this past week, and encouraged them to develop meal plans for their family. Each one of them to a person mentioned how much the cost of food had gone up and how they needed to really get a food budget. Meal planning will help with the food budget and time management. I am planning some fun food for this week, I just need to get it out of my head and on to the meal plan. 

  We have really enjoyed the summer weather so far, however it is about to be August in Texas. Going into the last week of July we are watching the temps start to climb. I was walking the garden with a friend this week and explaining how most of the harvest is done before we get to this higher heat. We do still have Black Eyed Peas to pick which is unusual , but welcomed. We really enjoy our garden vegetables and I look forward every week to having fresh vegetables on our meal plan here at the cottage.

  Our cottage is really busy this time of year and I am so happy to be able to kick back on the screen porch and put together some great meal plans for the week. Our garden is not slowing down in production so we are on going with canning and preserving. We are still having amazing temperature's for our part of the country, which helps with the garden and my comfort on the screen porch! I have a very special day to plan for this week and some great recipes that I want to put on the meal plan!

It is a lot of fun to make our meal plans right now with these amazing low temperatures we are having. Usually this time of the year we are having very high temps and are confined to the house during the heat of the day, so this is great to be able to be out all day. Our garden is producing overtime this year and we are canning like crazy. Our canning pantry shelves are filling up fast. So far we have canned 65 pints of fruit and vegetables from our garden.  No doubt I will have some great garden vegetables on the meal plan this week.

Happy 4th of July meal planning week! Wow the cottage is all decked out and meal plans have been made for the 4th celebrations this weekend and what fun we will have. Like any other holiday we have some traditional foods that we like to serve around a holiday and then it is always fun to add some new recipes to the mix. We are still enjoying some very cool temperatures so the outdoor activity and cook-outs will be great! As the activities begin I will be so happy that everything is planned and organized, so I can enjoy the fun with all my guest!

Meal planning for this week of the beginning of the 4th of July celebration is always so much fun! We will be having lots of folks from the city in our little community to enjoy the parade and the country store on July 3 this year. I am making some cakes for the cake walk and bringing some of my canned goods for the country store. Our garden is in full harvest now and we are busy canning and freezing just about every day. We will be planning some traditional foods this week as well as some new recipes, lets get planning!

Hello everyone and welcome to summertime, 2021! Remember all that rain we were getting, well we could sure use some more long about now. We have a great week ahead to plan for with lots of great garden vegetables to bring to the table. We have been getting a bumper harvest this year. We have been invited to our Daughter's house for Fathers Day this year, but she let me make the meal plan so I could share with you'al and  because she wants me to cook some of the food. It is nice to be able to make the meal plans that way we all know what to bring and that it is going to be some delicious food for all the great Dad's at the gathering!

It's meal planning time, sitting on the screen porch this sunny morning getting inspiration from all the nature around us. We are getting daily harvest from our garden now, so that is a definite consideration for my meal plan this week. We have started our canning and preserving here at the cottage so we are more than a little bit busy and having so much fun and lots of really good garden to table meals!

Welcome to June at the cottage, we are making great meal plans and harvesting the garden already! I really think this is the earliest we have ever harvested Green Beans from the garden, but we got enough that we canned Green Beans this week. Our meal plan continues to be contingent on the weather, we are having historical rain for this time of the year with cooler temperatures. Come August I am sure we will be wishing we had some of the rain and cooler temperature.

I told you on our meal plan last week that I would let you know this week what we would be doing for the weekend depending on the weather. So we will be have a mix of some great sunshine and some showers, looks like we will need a back up plan. It will be a big weekend here at the lake people are so excited to be out of their homes and enjoying their life, we will all just fish in the rain! We want to remember all those who have gave their all for our country and will be taking a Quiet Time to remember and give thanks to their families.

  What a fun time to make some very special meal plans. I just helped with a special brunch for some young Mothers who didn't have family near by, it was great! We used some of the brunch recipes from my  Mothers Day Brunch Recipe Collection . I am able to sit on the screen porch today and enjoy the outdoors while I make the meal plan for next week. I am hungry today, so everything is going to look good to me, yikes I  better watch out for the desserts. North & East Texas had 5 tornados last week. Although we were in a watch area we did not have any direct damage. Thanks to all of you who sent me a message, I really appreciate your concern & your sweet messages. Thanks be to God we are all ok and so is the cottage.

  I am excited to Welcome May and of course all of you to the cottage today. I am having a special May Gathering Luncheon for some of my friends on May Day. It will be a fun event that I have been planning for sometime. We will also be celebrating Cinco de Mayo this week with a delicious Meal Plan. I am so happy that I am able to plan events and my weekly meals, this allows me to enjoy an organized life. I have been working one on one with a lady on her meal planning for her family and I can't begin to tell you what a difference it has made in their whole family, not to mention my friend is not wondering around the super market trying to figure out what to make for dinner when dinner should be going on the table. I love planning spring meals, and am looking forward to some special recipes this week.