My first ever link-up to Menu Plan Monday over at I'm an Organizing Junkie!
I probably do my meal planning a little differently than most: I don't plan a particular meal for a certain day, but plan meals with what we have on hand and the grocery store sales flyer, buy the ingredients and choose what works from the list for that specific dinner. It's more like a restaurant I suppose! LOL We have a menu and pick what we feel like having that night!
And I also don't plan for a week. The nearest grocery store is 12-13 miles away. Sure, sure - it's not THAT far, but I'm super busy with homeschooling and the kid's activities and housework and our animals so I don't want to be heading to the store every week. And honesty I dislike shopping and don't want to do any more that I have too. (Blue Spruce picks up any missing ingredients, fresh fruit and veggies, and milk as needed after work since it's "next door" to the store.)
So, here's my menu for AT LEAST 18 dinners! Remember the dinners aren't in any particular order as we just pick and choose what appeals to us that night or what needs to be eaten fresh, and veggies often change depending on what we have fresh (as we prefer them to frozen). And sometimes I "double up" a meal and we have it twice or the kids ask for CEREAL NIGHT (and CEREAL NIGHT is a much loved meal for the KIDS), so I probably have more like 21 dinners here.
Dinner Menu
Honey Sesame Pineapple Chicken with Brown Rice and Steamed Broccoli
Hamburgers with Potato Salad and Steamed Corn
Baked Haddock Sandwiches (on Homemade Wheat Rolls) with Baked Fries and Steamed Carrots
BLT Pasta Salad
Spaghetti with Italian Sausage Marinara and Steamed Green Beans (2 meals)
Shake n Bake BBQ Chicken with Baked Tator Tots/Baked Potatoes and Cucumber/Pepper Slices (2 meals)
Beef Roast with Roasted Olive Oil Potatoes and Steamed Peas
BBQ Shredded Pork Sandwiches (on Homemade Wheat Rolls) with Carrot Slaw
Scrambled Eggs, Ham and Cheese Biscuit Sandwiches with Melon Chunks
Baked Haddock with Rice Pilaf and Steamed Carrots (2 meals)
Cheddar-Rice Krispy-Shake-n-Bake Chicken with Mashed Potatoes and Steamed Green Beans
Cheesy Corn and Chicken Casserole with Steamed Broccoli
Baked Fried Chicken Nuggets with Baked Fries and Steamed Green Beans
Cheeseburger Soup with Fruit Salad
Scrambled Eggs with Blueberry Pancakes
What about breakfast, lunch and snacks? Well, breakfast is usually some combination of cereal, oatmeal, toast, or homemade muffins with fruit, yogurt and/or skim milk. Lunch is dinner leftovers or sandwiches and canned soup with fresh veggies and fruit. And snacks are foods like crackers and cheese or PB, grab-and-go fruit, yogurt, popcorn, homemade snack mixes, granola bars, and even leftovers.
Oh, and dessert! How could I forget that! LOL We made dark chocolate and orange fudge the other day. It should last a few more days. We have ingredients to make cakes or cupcakes and cookies if we're hankering for something sweet.
For 21 days of munchies I spent $255.00 for a family of 5. (And teenage boys really should count as 2 people, right? LOL So, 6!) I also spent a portion of that on additional ingredients beyond the next 3 weeks such has baking supplies, spices, pasta, pasta sauces, snack bars, dried non-fat milk, and oatmeal. (Planning meals around sales and using coupons REALLY does help!) We'll need to pick up a few more gallons of milk, cheese and fresh fruit and veggies as the weeks go on though.
So, what are YOU planning this week?
wow..you are very organized!! i plan my meals too, by the Sunday circular sales....and teenage boys and all their friends definitely start to cramp the budget.
ReplyDeleteVery frugal! And it looks like you are eating well. I did my plan this week and then realized that our family needs to have two meat free days for Lent. We often eat meat free, but not one thing I had planned this week was meatless. I agree with you about teenage boys- sometimes I set my son's food down in front of him and by the time I put my first bite of food in my mouth, his is gone!
ReplyDeleteOh dear. One of my resolutions for 2012 was to get back to meal planning, but I haven't done so well with it. Your post and menu are encouraging me to get to work! I shop very differently as I have a tiny kitchen with no storage space, so I shop several times a week, but looking at how you organize your meals is getting some gears moving in my brain. Thanks....and, happy eating! :)
ReplyDeletewe do meal planning as part of our homeschool Cooking 101 curriculum :) that way - I get help and they enjoy learning - the boys are getting good in the kitchen and we love cooking together. hope to see you again on tues for "kids in the kitchen"
ReplyDelete(btw- you can't resize a url - you can copy and paste a pic or right click save a pic and then resize it and give it a new url on photobucket or somewhere - but I'm not sure if that's what you meant- I resize in photobucket or picnik)
What is it about reading menus - I love it.
ReplyDeleteYou eat healthier than we do, but we're working on doing better. It's just the 3 of us now; me, Mister, and the last of 4 kids, a 17 yr old dd. We also homeschool.