Menu-Plan Monday/Freezer Expose

If you ever want to know about a person, look in their refrigerator. At least, that's apparently the principle behind Rachel Ray's Celeb Fridge feature in her Everyday magazine. Well, I'm no Celeb, but I do have some pictures to show you. And they're not of my fridge, they're of my freezer--more specifically, before and after shots. The Before shot was taken hours before we received our beef order from Abe's dad. The After is, well, after. What a difference a quarter of a cow makes . . .

Below the photos (and don't think I didn't catch some flak for taking them in the first place), I've posted my menus for this week. We're celebrating our 5th anniversary on Tuesday by going on a double date to The Melting Pot with Tim and Beth, who are also celebrating their anniversary. I am going to wear my fat jeans to ensure I have adequate room to put all of the delicious food I intend to eat. Nothing says "Happy Anniversary!" better than cheesecake dipped in liquid dark chocolate, and a lot of it.




And in the interest of full disclosure, here's a shot of the freezer door:
This bottom shelf, here at the bottom of the door picture, is filled with venison and elk. I do not cook or eat venison. Or elk. So there it shall sit, until Abe decides to do something with it...

Also, I have 6 chickens coming from Abe's mom and 4 coming from another family. I am excited about this, because I know these chickens are hormone-free and free range, and pretty much organinc, so they're probably better for my family, but if any of you have any suggestions about how I can possibly fit 10 chickens in this freezer, I'd really appreciate it.

Now, for our menus:

Monday

Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

Salad

Tuesday

Out for dinner!

Wednesday

Steakhouse Salad

Garlic Crostini

Thursday

Been and Bean Empanadas

Yellow Rice

Friday

Homemade Pizza

Saturday

Who knows? Sloppy Joes, maybe? (I have 45 lbs. of ground beef--I may as well use it)

Sunday

Roasted Chicken (Crock Pot)

Mashed Potatoes (refrigerator)

Roasted Carrots (also Crock Pot)

P.S. There's a strong chance that one of these menus will get switched out for one of our all-time family favorites, Baked Potato Soup. I plan to post the recipe for this delicious cool-weather classic later in the week whether I make the soup or not, so stay tuned!