Menu Plan Week 2: Yay! I Have Produce!

I *actually* have my menu plan ready on Sunday!  I think that's a first (okay, maybe a second).

I picked up my first Bountiful Basket since the holidays on Saturday, and I was very excited about the contents of it!

The fruits are:  bananas, strawberries, oroblancos (a type of grapefruit), oranges, and gala apples.

The vegetables are:  Brussels sprouts, celery, grape tomatoes, tri-color carrots, avocados (is this considered vegetable or fruit?  I'm not even sure!  LOL), and little sweet peppers.


Once I saw what was in my basket, I sat down with my list of the contents of my freezer that I made last week and saw what I could use up.  I still have some broccoli in the fridge that needs to go, and I'm going to be putting together several meal parts that are in my freeze in pieces right now.


Monday:  Potato Soup with Ham and Broccoli  (I have frozen ham chunks from that Aldi deal--which I purchased before I began my "no buying any meat for 2 months clear out the freezer" challenge, as well as ham broth from boiling down the bone that I will use as the base for the soup.)

Tuesday:  leftovers  (and probably freeze 1-2 more)

Wednesday:  Chicken Alfredo  (I have two jars of sauce and pasta in the pantry, frozen cubed chicken breast in the freezer, and I will slice some of the tiny sweet peppers up into the sauce because we love doing that!)

Thursday:  Leftovers

Friday:  Gumbo (I have cooked shredded chicken in the freezer--2 packs, I will use both.  I have a frozen link of sausage in the freezer and a frozen container of chicken stock to use as a base.  Or maybe it's turkey stock.  Either way.  I'm using it up!  And I use roux from a jar.  Yes I do.  Some of the celery will go in here.  Also some onions I still have on hand.)

Saturday:  Leftovers (and probably freeze at least 2 more).

Sunday:  AWANA Night...Hubby making pancakes.


So as it is, I'm taking about 6 pieces of meals out of my freezer, preparing three large dishes with it, eating 6  meals from that, and putting at least 4 more back into my freezer.  At this rate, it is going to take quite some time to use up the contents of my freezer.  I may even be able to extend my "no buying meat" challenge for myself, because I am not even touching any of my uncooked frozen meat this week except for 1 link of sausage!

I even went out and did my grocery shopping today:  milk, bread, potatoes, and eggs.   I spent $8.38, and that could be all I need this week.  We shall see.


You can check out more menu plans over at Menu Plan Monday.