Menu Plan Monday

This week I have a bit of a busy week. My fridge is on the fritz (again) and I am teaching a class on Wednesday. Yeah, a cooking class, ya know, with food and everything, that you put in a refrigerator…. So, right now we are being creative. Fortunately, the class is on preparing a gluten and dairy free Thanksgiving, with a timeline, and how to do so much of it ahead, so most of my class samples can be in the freezer, ready to go. Whew! (But ask me if I am freaking out anyway…) ***Update: the fridge has stopped making the funny noise and is cooling. Woo! Hold on for just a bit longer, fridge!!

My menu reflects cleaning out the fridge and using some of the cow we have in the freezer. Head over to Laura’s site for Menu Plan Monday for some real menu planning. I am feeling a bit less than inspired for our regular meals as all my prep is for a gluten and dairy free Thanksgiving class, so meal simplicity is the key to my sanity for the first part of the week. For gluten free menus at the Gluten Free Menu Swap, see Gluten Free Goodness who is hosting this week. She picked pomegranates as the theme ingredient. Yummy. I will be picking some up to decorate our Thanksgiving table, along with various squashes and pumpkins. I love using consumable decorations for autumn. We eat like kings after our Thanksgiving feast is long over! I like to toss those tasty pomegranate bits on a salad… mmmm…. And, as pomegranate juice has such a strong color, a little goes a long way in tinting icing for cupcakes and the holiday cookies I have planned over the next few weeks, instead of food coloring.