Menu Plan Monday: Last minute decisions and farmers markets

It was a busy weekend, following a busy week, and I'm glad to be home. But that means that I did not plan out my menu plan well in advance. In fact, I finished writing it about 5 minutes ago. The upside to this is that I did not do my grocery shopping yet, so my menu plan was made keeping in mind what is in the freezer and pantry, knowing I will be picking up fresh fruits and veggies later today.

Sunday: Bacon, eggs and toast. I admit, usually when we come in from a trip on a Sunday night, I order in pizza or pick up hamburgers. This time, I picked up a carton of eggs, pulled bacon from the freezer, and we sat down and ate dinner as a family. Since my children had not been with us at the wedding this weekend, we had not sat down and eaten together in a few days. It was nice to reconnect that way.

And a dozen eggs is cheaper than burgers and fixins for four.

Monday: Hamburgers with salad. Homemade hamburgers.

Tuesday: Pork "Pernil" with cilantro-citrus adobo sauce. No idea for sides yet - whatever looks good in produce.

Wednesday: Pomegranate chicken legs with corn pudding.

Thursday: Spinach pasta ribbons with a choice of sauce: tomato for the hubby, alfredo for the rest of us.

Friday: My rescheduled birthday dinner is tonight (I'm going to Atelier, where the chef knows I'm coming with my camera.) I hope my husband remembered to reschedule his parents for babysitting (and if not - Hi C! Kids still okay to come over Friday evening?)

That seems like a good plan for the week, keeping in mind various activities throughout the week.

I'm itching to make it to a good farmer's market this week, thinking of going to the Ottawa Farmer's Market on Thursday afternoon (and again, Hi C! Want to come with me? I can pick you up on the way past.) I guess I'm spoiled for choice when it comes to farmer's markets around here. Most of them are Saturday and Sunday, but I still have alot of choices: Carp, Carleton Place, Byward, Parkdale, Ottawa Farmer's, North Gower....

While in North Bay this last weekend (the wedding was in Sudbury, but we spent some time in North Bay as well), I had a chance to go to the North Bay Farmer's Market. I was looking for flowers to be part of the wedding cake I was making for that afternoon.

As I said, I've been spoiled.

This farmer's market had about a dozen or so stalls - 3 of which involved baked goods, a majority of which had some sort of craft.

This is what I found for fresh produce:


There were one or two that had non-baked edible items, such as this stall for maple items. I stopped here with my mother while she made her purchase and I took snapshots of a few items.

I love the pretty packaging.


I never did get any flowers at the market, there were really none to be had, but at least my Mom came away happy.


Come back later today to see the pictures of the wedding cake I made, as I did end up finding the flowers I needed somewhere else.

Oh and don't forget to go see Menu Plan Monday for more menu plan ideas.