October Dinner Menus

 My favorite month of the year is upon us. I love everything about October, the crisp weather, the beautiful fall colors of the leaves on the trees, the taste of locally grown apples, pumpkins and Halloween, and three of my favorite people, my middle stepdaughter H, my oldest son R, and my college age daughter L, all have birthdays this month.
Truly this month is my favorite for menu planning as well. As I mentioned previously I have developed an October menu plan that alternates slow cooking, quick cooking, and weekend meals that yield planned overs. I have also gone heavily with fall themed food ideas, soups, stews, and harvest ingredients like apples, pumpkin, and corn. I am alternating family favorites with some new recipes from my collection of fall themed Gooseberry Patch Cookbooks. New recipes I am trying are in bold, recipes yielding planned overs are underlined, and recipes using planned overs are in italics. Four Fridays are football/marching band nights and one Saturday we are going out to dinner so I did not plan menus for those nights.

Slow cooker Pork Tenderloin, vanilla glazed sweet potatoes, green beans

Horseradish encrusted tilapia, hash browns, broccoli with garlic and herbs

Pork stir fry, steamed rice

Mom's baked pork chops, Au gratin potatoes, Harvard beets

Herb crusted eye of round roast, mashed potatoes, candied carrots

Cheesy Chicken Quesadillas, spanish rice, refried beans

French Dip Sandwiches, Oven fries

Garam Masala Salmon, basmati rice, cucumber salad

"Libby" soup (this is Vegetable soup, I was making this when I went into labor with daughter and it is now known as Libby soup), Hawaiian rolls

Roast chicken with stuffing, corn, cranberry sauce

Shrimp Orzo skillet, salad

Chicken and Noodles, garlic toast

Pumpkin-Sausage Penne, Autumn salad

Mom's Macaroni and cheese, green salad with green goddess dressing

Spaghetti and Meatballs, salad

Garlic Pot Roast, egg noodles, peas

Creamy butternut squash soup, Ham and cheese panini

Skillet lasagna, garlic toast, salad

Herb Garden Chicken, steamed rice, California blend veggies

Beef and Potato casserole, capri blend veggies

Tuna and Sun Dried tomato penne, salad

Apple Glazed Pork Roast, mashed potatoes, green beans

Bacon Corn Chowder, buttermilk biscuits

Country style Ham Au Gratin, spinach salad

Pork and Gravy Stew, crescent rolls

Pumpkin Waffles, hash browns, maple sausages