I know I haven’t done meal plans on here in a while but I need to get back on track.  I looked through the cabinets and freezer and here is a rough sketch of what we’re having. 

Sunday my aunts and cousin came for a visit so we enjoyed fresh summer foods and salads. I enjoy making salads during the summer because you can eat them for several days.

Sunday: Company is here!
lunch – tuna salad and chicken salad sandwiches, pasta salad (two different kinds), fresh mixed fruit (watermelon, strawberries, grapes, kiwi, etc), chips
supper – grilled hotdogs, grilled asparagus (YUM!), baked beans, wilted spinach with roasted peppers, leftover pasta salad, leftover mixed fruit
dessert – s’mores by the fire pit

I had the tuna and chicken in the pantry from sales with coupons. The pasta noodles were free from a sale and coupon. I purchased the chips a week or so ago during a Harris Teeter sale for buy 2 get 3 free. I got the asparagus at Sam’s. I think it was 2 lbs for around $5.50. It was enough for a few meals.  The hot dogs were buy 1 get 1 free and I had a $1 coupon.

Monday: leftovers – hotdogs, pasta salad, baked beans, chips, mixed fruit, grapes

Tuesday: pizza, sliced apples, wilted spinach
The spinach was purchased at Sam’s. They have a 1 lb container of organic spinach for less than $4. It’s a super deal!

Wednesday: breakfast for dinner- eggs, sausage, toast, fruit

Thursday: cheese and chicken quesadillas, Mexican rice

Friday: hamburgers on the grill, grilled potatoes, some sort of vegetable

Saturday: We’re probably eating out with some of my yard sale proceeds.

lunches – leftovers and sandwiches, yogurt, watermelon, strawberries

snacks – fruit, granola bars, ice cream, almonds

I have most everything that we needed for these meals. I purchased strawberries, 1 cucumber, a few Roma tomatoes, hotdog buns, a watermelon, a can of baked beans, 1 dozen eggs, milk, and the supplies for the s’mores (We used 1 bag of marshmallows, 1/3 box of graham crackers, and 1/2 pack of Hershey’s chocolate bars). I will also need to buy hamburger buns and possibly tortillas for the quesadillas.

Even though I fed extra people this week, I am still keeping my food costs low by purchasing items on sale and with coupons, using leftovers, and meal planning from what I have in my stockpile.

What’s on your menu this week?

I know it’s not Monday, but since this weekly meal planning is called “Menu Plan Monday” we’ll keep it at that.  We’ve had some inclement weather this week.  Sunday night it snowed and last night it iced, so we’ve had quite a mess here in North Carolina.  We’re stuck at home and I’m ok with that, but I’m missing the grocery deals this week.

I realize I have plenty in my stockpile to choose from so I’ll try to make due with that.  Thankfully I have some frozen vegetables in my supply too.

Sunday - corn dogs, macaroni and cheese, and fruit
Hubby was taking Alligator Girl on an outing so I needed something easy for lunch before they left. We rarely eat corn dogs so it was a nice treat for the kids.

Monday - hot sub sandwiches, french fries, mozarella sticks, green beans
We were stuck inside all day so we wanted some fun foods for dinner. Since we were frying some things, hubby also fried a few pickles and green beans.

Tuesday - ham and cheese quiche, fruit, maybe smoothies?
We ended up having potato cakes and quiche with ham, cheese, mushrooms, and spinach.

Wednesday - chicken pot pie
I have one whole chicken left in the freezer from a terrific deal at Harris Teeter. I just happened to be in the store one day when they were having chickens for $.19/lb. These chickens have enough meat for two meals.

Thursday - chicken casserole, butter beans
We’ll use the leftover chicken from Wednesday to make the chicken casserole.

Friday - something with ground beef

Saturday – homemade pizza

We are definitely under the $35 dinner budget for this week.

What is on your menu?

There’s only five days until Christmas.  It’s a busy time so menu planning is not something I want to have on my mind.  But we must eat and so that leaves me thinking of a plan.  Due to the crazy schedule this week things may need to be changed, but this is my tentative plan.

Sunday - leftover potato soup (made Saturday for lunch) topped with bacon and cheese
Due to the leeks, cheese, bacon, chicken broth, etc, this dish is a little more costly than most of our meals.  It is so delicious and we can get a few meals from it so it’s a nice treat and worth the cost involved.

Monday - Philly steak sandwiches with peppers and onions, Pierogies, apples (maybe homemade apple crisp?)
The Philly steaks were buy 1 get 1 free. This time I will use frozen peppers and onions because I purchased those buy 1 get 1 free this week at Food Lion and I had a coupon. The Piergies were purchased on sale at Harris Teeter and the apples need to be used asap.  The sub rolls were purchased today on the bakery clearance rack at Walmart.

Tuesday - tenderloin on the grill, salad, another side?, rice krispy treats, pizza, salad
The Freschetta pizzas were on eVIC special at Harris Teeter for only $2.97 each.  (Family will be visiting.)

Wednesday - Tyson chicken tenders, broccoli, rice  We went shopping because I had some good coupons to use so we stopped at Cook Out for a quick dinner.
I intentionally planned to have something easy because I will be cleaning and entertaining throughout the week.  This is the one day inbetween company.  I got the Tyson chicken tenders on sale and had a $1 coupon. We will probably use half of a bag which will cost $2. The frozen broccoli was buy 1 get 1 free and I had a coupon.

Thursday - oven fried chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans
(Family visiting.)  I got the chicken on sale at Food Lion a few weeks ago for $1.79/lb.  The potatoes are buy 1 get 1 free at Food Lion this week.

Friday - something easy on Christmas Eve

Saturday - turkey, ham, sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, green beans, corn, pie, etc.
My mom and dad will bring the ham. My brother and sister-in-law will bring the pie, gravy, and sodas. I got the turkey on sale at Thanksgiving for $.39/lb. I hope to find sweet potatoes on sale this week like I did at Thanksgiving.  Also, I hope to remember to take a picture of the sweet potato casserole this time.

Since we will be entertaining company this week, we will be going over our weekly food budget, but due to sales and coupons I know that we’ll still do pretty well. We will probably enjoy the Christmas leftovers for a few days next week which will help us get back on track.

What are you having for dinner this week?

For more weekly menus visit Organizing Junkie.

I was busy baking Christmas gifts last night and didn’t get around to posting this. 

Sunday – pizza, fruit

Monday – taco soup from the freezer (frozen from leftovers) served with sour cream, cheese, and tortilla chips

Tuesday – tatertot casserole, lentils (from the freezer), green beans

Wednesday – leftovers

Thursday – quiche, waffles, fruit

Friday – potato soup (with leeks) served with crumbled bacon, grilled cheese sandwiches

Saturday – Something easy!

One again, our family will stay on budget and eat dinner for $35 or less.  What’s on your menu this week?

I admit, I don’t like planning the meals each week.  When I was working from home I could think more about what I wanted to make each day and plan accordingly.  Now that I’m back to teaching, I need to plan ahead so that I don’t get frustrated when I come home from work.  I’ve been working hard on planning our meals from what we already have in our stockpile and it is working nicely.  I have been able to feed our family dinner for less than $35 each week.

This is a tentative plan of our meals for the week.  They’re always tentative due to scheduling or just finding a great deal on something else. 

Sunday - pork barbeque sandwiches, baked tater tots, fresh apple slices
The barbeque is from leftovers in the freezer.

Monday - hotdogs with chili, beans, maccaroni salad
Food Lion has the Hebrew hotdogs bogo this week and Walmart had cucumbers for $.35 each.  The pasta was free at Food Lion a few weeks ago. I planned something super easy for tonight because of a program we’ll be attending.

Tuesday - oven fried chicken, sweet potatoes, green beans, leftover maccaroni salad, rice, biscuits
Food Lion has the chicken breasts on sale this week for $1.79/lb. Green beans were bogo and sweet potatoes were $.28/lb before Thanksgiving.

Wednesday - leftovers

Thursday - tuna croquettes, scalloped potatoes, lima beans
The Bumble Bee tuna pouches were purchase for less than $.40 each with coupons. I will use 2-3 pouches.
This meal plan is from Friday night’s plan last week. The school was having dinner, movie, and babysitting for $5/kid so we went on a date.

Friday - tacos, beans, homemade Mexican rice, canned salsa
Ground beef is from the freezer, purchased on sale for less than $2/lb. Mexican rice can be made for about $.25.  The canned salsa was made for nearly free this summer.

Saturday - pizza?  Something easy.

What will you be making this week?

Last night we finished up our Thanksgiving leftovers.  They were so tasty and I enjoyed finding different ways to serve them.  One night we had ham, mashed potatoes, green beans, and rolls.  Another night we had ham, scrambled eggs, and grits.  And it was nice to spend less time cooking too.

For the first time ever, I made homemade pumpkin muffins from pumpkin that I cooked myself. The recipe made 32 muffins. I took them to the Thanksgiving meal, gave some away, and we still had plenty to eat this week. The kids have been excited to eat them for breakfast.

Sunday - ham, scrambled eggs, grits, fruit
Made with leftover ham from Thanksgiving.

Monday - chili
Frito Pie – fritos, chili, sour cream, tomatoes, cheese
Made from ground chuck purchased at Harris Teeter for $1.50 on eVIC. Cheese purchased really cheap at Food Lion.
Fritos $1.47 Harris Teeter eVIC.

Tuesday - spaghetti, garlic bread, salad
Made from canned spaghetti sauce I made this summer from fresh tomatoes (free). Noodles were free at Food Lion.  Ground chuck from Harris Teeter for $1.50.

Wednesday - leftovers  $0

Thursday - sausage balls, broccoli, and rice
Sausage was on sale for $2.50 and I had a coupon.  The frozen broccoli was buy 1 get 1 free at Harris Teeter and I had a coupon.

Friday - tuna croquettes, scalloped potatoes, lima beans
I got the tuna for about $.30/pouch with coupons and I will use two 5 oz pouches.

Saturday - ??? Something easy!

I will be feeding my family dinner for less than $35. What’s on your menu this week?

I’ve been working on building up my stockpile this week.  I decided I better get busy on this week’s menu planning.  I skipped last week and felt like I was wandering around in the kitchen, unsure of what to do.  I want to be certain I have everything I need for this week’s meals and I want to utilize the things in the cabinets, so I needed to get back on track (again!).  Here’s what’s on this week’s dinner schedule:

Sunday:  tatertot casserole, green beans
dessert – cupcakes

Monday: crab cakes, scalloped potatoes, butternut squash soup
Even at half price, the crab meat was a bit expensive, but we’ll make up for the cost in the other meals this week.

Tuesday: taco soup

Wednesday: leftovers

Thursday: quiche, hashbrowns

Friday: homemade pizza

Saturday: chicken tenders, macaroni and cheese, broccoli

This week, I am feeding dinner to my family of four for less than $35. I can do this by using coupons, shopping sales, and stockpiling items when they’re at rock bottom prices.

What are you having for dinner this week?

I haven’t been very successful lately at planning our menus.  Going back to work full-time has been very difficult.  Who wants to come home from a long day to homework, baths, laundry, cooking, dishes, and laundry?  It makes me tired just thinking about it.  But, I know that I need to be more organized because it makes the week go smoother. 

So far, here’s a list of what we’re having for dinner this week.  It may change, depending on sales, moods, or schedules.

Sunday – eggs, sausage, grits, toast, fruit

Monday – barbeque pork sandwiches, baked beans, coleslaw, baked fries, pear slices

Tuesday – pinto beans in the crock pot
I am soaking the beans Monday night and putting them in the crock pot (along with some ham scraps from the freezer) before I go to work Tuesday morning. I will freeze some of the leftover beans to use in future soups.

Wednesday – cheese ravioli

Thursday – tater tot casserole, green beans

Friday – something with chicken???

Saturday – leftovers

What are you having this week?

School starts back this week and so I need to get back on track with some organization on meal planning. I certainly can’t walk in the door at 3:00 and wonder what’s for dinner. I’m sure the menu will get moved around some, but so long as I have the ingredients in the house and the meats are thawing in the refrigerator, everything will be fine.

 Here what I have planned for this week:

Sunday – easy stuff (the youth are coming over)
Monday – barbeque chicken pizza and pepperoni pizza, broccoli salad
Tuesday – meat loaf, mashed potatoes, green beans, rolls   Indian food
Wednesday – spaghetti, salad, garlic bread    leftovers
Thursday – hotdogs, baked tater tots, fruit   meatloaf (menu from Tuesday)
Friday – tatertot casserole, broccoli
Saturday – breakfast casserole, hashbrowns, fruit

What are you having this week?

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Last week I found myself wandering aimlessly through the kitchen, dazed, and searching through cabinets wondering what we were going to have for supper.  I couldn’t figure out what was wrong and then I realized that I forgot to write out my weekly meal plan.  My, my, my, things certainly go smoother with a plan.

Sunday:  meat loaf, mashed potatoes, fried okra
The meat loaf was premixed and put into the freezer during one of my freezer cooking days in March. The okra was purchased buy 1 get 1 free at Harris Teeter a few weeks ago.

Monday: breakfast casserole, fresh fruit
I made some breakfast for the youth at church on Sunday and had quite a bit of grits left over. I was thinking I could use them in a breakfast casserole. It turned out pretty well. The kids really liked it. I’ll try to share the recipe this week.

Tuesday: grilled chicken salads
It’s hubby’s turn to provide lunch for the staff at his work. Usually there are leftovers and I can make a side item so that we have enough for our family.

Wednesday: Indian food for hubby and me, leftover for the kids
The kids don’t like Indian food. Every now and then hubby and I will make a special treat for ourselves and the kids enjoy their leftovers or kid friendly foods.

Thursday: pizza (birthday boy’s request)

Friday: taquitos, homemade mexican rice, black beans
I confess that these are the premade ones by Deli Mex. They’re not as good as homemade, but these were on sale at Harris Teeter. I think they were buy 1 get 2 free!

Saturday: eating out

What will you be cooking this week?

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