Another Menu Plan

It's been quite awhile since I've shared a menu plan with you all. So on this rainy day, I'd thought I'd go ahead and post what we've got going on this week.

Monday: Mike brought home pizza. Honestly, I knew it was going to be a hectic day and very hectic right around supper time - the pizza was well worth it!

Tuesday: Broccoli, Potato and Cheddar Soup with Ham. I'm making it up as I go! Actually, I'm going to scrap the potato part since I need to dig them out and it's all muddy out there right now...

Wednesday: Sage Pork Chops, Green Beans and Baked Apples

Thursday: Chicken Parmesan & Salad - it's going to be a hot one this day, I may have to revisit this plan. Although, Mike wants Italian....with a lot of melted cheese.....

Friday: Grilled Blue Cheese Steaks, Mashed Potatoes - in the pressure cooker, Salad (yes, we melt blue cheese on top of our steaks, please do not knock it until you try it),

FUSION - by way of me ;)

Do you remember when the hip word in the "foodie" world was "fusion"? Or maybe it is still hip? Or maybe it's just mainstream and that's what is expected. Well, not always in my house.

Now, I know a LOT of you think I'm pretty bold (or shall I say, exotic?) in my menu choices for our little family. And granted, sometimes I am. But the other night, I hit an extreme - even for me. In fact, the meal was so out there that I was giggling as I was making it and thinking - what on earth am I doing here?

It all kind of started on Tuesday night when I went to a potluck (or jackpot as Luke mistakenly calls it) and I brought a freshly made-from-the-garden salad. It had sliced cucumbers, sliced plum tomatoes, red onions, kalamata olives and feta in it. Now, I could have made my own dressing (and have in the past) but I have this bottled Greek vinaigrette that I really like so I went ahead and splashed that on and called it good. The salad went over really well! When does a healthy salad go over well at a potluck? And there were some excellent choices there too! It went over so well that someone asked me what was in the dressing. Busted! Just call me Miss Sandra Lee! Slightly embarrassed, I informed her of the dressing brand and variety. She was surprised ;)

So the next night, I was bent on redeeming myself. Well, that's how it turned out anyway. Here's what I made:

Pork Soulvaki
Naan with Red Onions & Cilantro (an Indian flatbread if you are not familiar with it)
Baba Ghanoush - An eggplant dip similar to hummus - hey! I had eggplant to use

Now, the soulvaki is Greek. The Naan is Indian. And the baba ganoush is Middle-Eastern from what I can tell. And melded all together, it was delicious. :)

The Tomato Florida Weave

Sounds like a great dance, huh? Or maybe a really red hair accessory? Nope! It is the way I've been staking my tomatoes for a couple of years. This year I've fallen in love with it!

So here is how you do it. You'll need:

6 foot t-posts
6 foot 1x2 wooden stakes
Twine (I prefer sisal, but there is such a thing as tomato rope out there)
Tomato plants (at least 4 - if you have less, another strategy might be more effective?)


Pound in the 6 foot t-posts at the end of your tomato rows. Every two tomato plants, drive a 6 foot 1x2 wooden stake. When you tomato plants are a little over a foot tall, start weaving!

You tie the twine to the t-post, and run it along one side of the tomato plants. When you get to the wooden stake, go around it several times, making sure your twine it taunt. Go along the next set of tomato plants on the same side as the previous set of plants. When you get to the end of the row, go around the t-post - making sure the twine is again very taunt, and do the same thing only going around the other side of the plants. To end, tie the twine on the beginning t-post. As the plants grow, you keep adding lengths of twine higher up on the posts. Sometimes I tuck in the growing branches to already strung twine.

Anyway, here are some pictures of how it looks in late July!