Menu Plan Changes Last Week

Last week's menu plan was a complete BUST!!! Good thing, though, is that it was, mostly, for VERY good reason! First, I forgot that I had agreed to do a mystery shop on Tuesday and we had to go out for pizza (hehe - had to???). Then, my youngest got sick on Wednesday and we had to go to Urgent Care that evening, leaving daddy to do the dinner thing instead. She had strep, but we caught it so early that you didn't even know she was sick the next day! She had a ball staying home with me, feeling fine.

Thursday, we ended up going out to dinner, as evidenced by my prior post about how HORRIBLE our experience was at On the Border. I was worn out, the meal plan had already gone to pot, and we decided to go out (using some gift cards). It happens! That awful experience, and the following wonderful dinner at China Moon (which is located just off I-29 and Barry Road, on the access road called Prairie View, south of Barry and west of the highway - if you can, you MUST go there!!!) weren't the only occurrences that evening. My DH got a phone call from someone he knew, who offered us a deal we couldn't refuse. He GAVE us a 15 lb. whole ribeye!!!! Cool, eh?? I had no idea what to do with this massive meat, but found a video online showing exactly how to cut it into ribeye steaks. So, on Friday, DH did the cutting and we ended up with several acceptable-looking steaks.

We decided to share the good fortune by inviting my family over to celebrate my son's birthday Friday night with a free steak dinner. Amazingly, they accepted without hesitation! :-) We grilled ribeyes, baked potatoes, tossed a salad, and my sil brought 5-cup salad and wine. We had cake and ice cream and it was a very nice dinner! I have to say, though, that I NEVER expected to have actual ribeye in my home!! Heck, I can RARELY afford that at a restaurant - it's been years! When we cut the ribeye, we had enough steaks for the 10 of us last night, and we also put 4 meals' worth in the freezer (wrapped very well in butcher paper and sealed in zip-top bags!) for our family, as well as a bag of "tips" to cook one night. Not bad at all for FREE!!!

So, I'm not terribly disappointed that things didn't work out as far as the menu plan goes. It also makes it much easier for me this week, as a few of the meals will be repeats. I'm cooking the Crock Pot cranberry pork tonight and we'll go from there.

On other topics, the weather here is AWFUL!!! It rained all morning and then got icy. You can sit and listen to the pellets of sleet hitting the windows. These are mixed with tiny snowflakes. I don't know how slick it is out there, as I've not gone out yet. I'm hoping it isn't too bad. I guess I'll find out when I go to get the mail across the street. What happened to spring??? *sigh* Hope it's warm where you are!!!!