May Menu Plan Update

I told you last week about how I was trying to plan out the menu for the entire month of May.

Here was the original plan, in no particular order (crossed out the one's we've eaten):

To Cook:
Red Beans and Rice x2 (plus freeze)
Spaghetti x2 (plus freeze)
Tilapia
Cheddar Chicken x2 (plus freeze)
Chicken & Broccoli x2 (plus freeze)
Shrimp Alfredo
Chicken Pot Pie (plus freeze)
Tacos x2 (plus freeze)
Hamburgers (plus freeze)
Pork steak  (I will likely cook in bulk and freeze)
Potato Soup (plus freeze)
Pancakes x4 (we have this about once a week)
Eggs x2 (we usually do this on busy nights, and hubby doesn't eat eggs, so he finishes off some leftovers)

To Pull From Freezer:
Taco Quiche
Pork Chops
Cabbage Soup
Ham Soup
Italian Sausage Soup
Roast
Beef StewCabbage Casserole
Potato Soup



So here's how last week went:

Monday--had the tacos according to plan (also mixed up and seasoned more of the 15lbs of ground beef I'd bought and made burger patties and meatballs to freeze)
Tuesday--Spaghetti
Wednesday--Spaghetti again (and froze 5 more meals of sauce)
Thursday-stew from the freezer
Friday--Daughter's school showed Wreck-It Ralph and sold pizza/cookies/drinks for $2 per person so we did that
Saturday--Noticed El Rio Grande had T-Bones on sale for $2.99 per pound.  After the movie we were right there by the store and hubby wanted to see how they looked.  They looked good so we purchased enough for three family meals, grilled some on saturday (and made potato salad, so probably won't be making potato soup) and froze the rest.
Sunday--AWANA awards night at church and picnic afterward--church provided hotdogs.

10 burgers (2 meals), 2 bags of meatballs, 4 taco, and 5 spaghetti.  Including the 3 meals we ate from this already, thats 16 meals made in 2 days.

I'd not been remembering those two nights of eating away from home last week, and we will probably do at least one meal out with family visiting for my daughter's birthday next week.

But, this week should be pretty normal, so here are the meals from the list I plan to make this week:

Monday:  Red beans and rice  (put them on in the crock pot early this morning)
Tuesday:  Leftovers  (and freeze)
Wednesday:  Thawing large amount of chicken breast--Cheddar chicken (and freeze some)
Thursday:  Chicken Broccoli (and freeze some)
Friday:  Pork Steaks
Saturday:  Tilapia
Sunday:  Pancakes

Wow.   I just realized that I'm only putting stuff in the freezer this week, and not taking anything out.  I guess that's good to do on a pretty normal week.  And I'll probably be pulling out meals in duplicates with extra people here next week, so we will have to just see how the menu goes then.

What's your plan for the week?

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May Menu

I'm trying something a little bit different this month.   I'm going to try to plan out the meals we will eat for the entire month based on things that we have on hand and things that are on sale.  This morning I made a big trip to get some meats on sale at one of the local hispanic stores.  I spent just over $43 on 25lbs of beef and pork, as well as some cheap veggies, tomato sauce, and a 5lb bag of rice.  I will use this, along with items in my freezer, and will fill in side dishes from the produce we get from our Bountiful Baskets.

Here's the basket we got this weekend:

I plan to cook some meals and pull some meals from the freezer.  If you've been following long, you know that I can't seem to cook just one meal worth of food at a time, so the nights I do cook, we'll be eating AND adding back to the freezer.  Then I will use what I have in the freezer, and the extra deals I've picked up to plan another set of meals for next month.  That's the plan at least!


Here's the plan (in no particular order):

To Cook:
Red Beans and Rice x2 (plus freeze)
Spaghetti x2 (plus freeze)
Tilapia
Cheddar Chicken x2 (plus freeze)
Chicken & Broccoli x2 (plus freeze)
Shrimp Alfredo
Chicken Pot Pie (plus freeze)
Tacos x2 (plus freeze)
Hamburgers (plus freeze)
Pork steak  (I will likely cook in bulk and freeze)
Potato Soup (plus freeze)
Pancakes x4 (we have this about once a week)
Eggs x2 (we usually do this on busy nights, and hubby doesn't eat eggs, so he finishes off some leftovers)

To Pull From Freezer:
Taco Quiche
Pork Chops
Cabbage Soup
Ham Soup
Italian Sausage Soup
Roast
Beef Stew
Cabbage Casserole
Potato Soup



This plan will use up about half the meals already in my freezer, and add another roughly 25 to the freezer over the course of the month.  I like to keep about a month's worth in there at all times, so that will be perfect (plus I'm finishing off a lot of my cool weather food in time for summer).

I haven't worked out the order yet, not even for this week, but I do intend to do tacos tonight.  I bought 15 lbs of ground beef today, and tortillas, plus I have plenty of lettuce and tomato from the basket.  I intend to split the beef into 5 lb chunks and make taco, spaghetti, burger/meatball mixture.

I'm going to be pretty busy in the kitchen over the next few weeks, but it will be worth it to get my freezers stocked back up!

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Menu Plan 4/22

My menu's have been very hit and miss lately.  Last weekend my family was all recovering from strep, and then I came down with it too, so last week we went day by day and have a lot of breakfast food.

We had gotten a basket of produce, and were able to work a lot of it into our meals (like we made banana bread pancakes that I had found on pinterest).  We did not order our Bountiful Basket this past week, so I'm still trying to use up a few items we have on hand, and scraping the pantry and freezer until payday (friday) and new basket (saturday).

Here was last week's produce basket:

Most of this just went into a big salad, of which we have about half a mixing bowl left in the fridge.  I basically have mushrooms, zucchini, and the anaheim peppers left to use, and some apples and oranges.


So here is the plan:

Monday:  Meatballs and mashed potatoes (both from freezer) and frozen peas.

Tuesday:  Crockpot Beef Stroganoff  (I have stew meat in the freezer.  I have mushrooms.  I have cans of cream soup that need to get used.)

Wednesday:  Leftovers

Thursday:  Ham and bean soup (in freezer)

Friday:  Tilapia and I will figure out some sides (hoping the anaheims will last until then...want to stuff with cream cheese and wrap in bacon.



I'm only planning until basket day this week.


I am also planning on making zucchini bread (never tried this before) and some homemade crescent roll dough to make pigs in blankets with some little smokies sausages I got on sale.  Those will freeze well (if we don't devour them all, which we likely will) and will be great for lunches/lunchboxes.

What's on your menu this week?

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Menu Plan April 8-14

I made my menu plan last night, but I didn't post it.   I didn't post it because I knew I was going shopping today and I would likely decide to use some of the things I bought in my menu.  I didn't go ahead and plan to use the things I bought in menu because, hey, sometimes it doesn't work out like that.

Today it didn't.   I went to one of the local hispanic stores because they had a ton of good meat deals, including one on shrimp, which was a slight splurge for us, but considering they were peeled already, and the price would have been a good price even if they were not, we went ahead and got some.   I also intended to buy some ground beef and pork chops they had advertised, but in the store there were no signs for those in the meat department, so I left without them.   I also left with fresh warm tortillas, $0.99 bacon  (yeah I bought 8 packs) and $1.59 shredded cheese (ditto).

So I've changed my plans and we are having soft tacos tonight :)

I also have our produce basket we got on Saturday to work into our menu:

Monday:  Soft tacos (I intended to use the ground beef I was going to buy, but will thaw a chub of ground turkey instead.  I'm making pinto beans also, and we will use some of the lettuce and tomatoes on those.

Tuesday:  (tutoring)  Pulling a soup from the freezer

Wednesday:  (husband gone)  Pulling a beef stew from the freezer.

Thursday:  (I may be gone)  Pulling red beans from the freezer.

Friday:  Hamburgers (shaped and in the freezer) and fries (I still have a bag of red potatoes in the pantry also)

Saturday:  Shrimp Alfredo, I will add some mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, and the small sweet peppers from the basket to the sauce, and have either salad (if any lettuce remains) or asparagus on the side.   I sauted last basket's asparagus in some fresh chopped garlic and olive oil in a skillet and it was awesome.  My favorite way yet (its a new veggie for us!)

Sunday: Pancakes



I will also be attempting zucchini bread using the zucchini from the basket (never made that one before but i've heard it's good!), and I will be making up some freezer burritos and breakfast burritos using the rest of the tortillas I bought today.  Will be nice to have something different in the freezer.  It has been far too long since I've made any of those!

I think that will use up all of the veggies except the celery, which will probably get munched on with peanut butter, or I can always chop and freeze it.  The fruits will definitely get eaten.  I've ordered another basket for this Saturday (we usually do every other week) so I can't wait to see what we get and plan meals around it.


What will you be making this week?

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Menu Plan (Yes! I Have One!) And Declutter Plan

It's been a rough few weeks around here.  Almost comical looking back on it.  Nothing majorly bad, just annoying and time consuming and incessant.

I'm glad to, at least seemingly, be getting a breather, and I am going to try to get back on top of things around here.  Seems like I've just been treading water since spring break.  

But it's a whole new month now.  I'm not sure why, but new months give me motivation.  It feels like a good time to make a fresh start, and when they start on a Monday, it just seems like a little voice from Heaven telling me that now is the time.

So I made a menu plan.  On Sunday night (which is always my intention that never seems to happen).  It's pretty simple, but that's a good thing.

Monday:  Saturday I made a pot of Great Northern Beans.  I've never cooked them, but I found them marked down at Aldi since their expiration date was approaching, so I decided to give them a try.   We liked them!  Which is good because I have a whole crock pot full!  We ate them over rice and with cornbread.  We will eat more tomorrow, and I will freeze the rest.

Tuesday:  I have some leftover grilled chicken leg quarters from friday.  I also have some veggies, including a large cabbage, that I need to use up.   I'm going to boil the chicken, pick the meat off for the soup, and use the stock from the bones as the base.  I found an intriguing chicken cabbage soup recipe on pinterest that I will attempt.

Wednesday:  Leftovers.  I sure hope it's good!  (Will freeze the rest.)

Thursday:  Pork chops (pre-cooked from freezer) and roasted cauliflower

Friday:  Spaghetti from freezer

  

Saturday:  Chicken Taco Quiche from freezer

Sunday:  Pancakes

I'm continuing my trend of adding a few things to the freezer while taking a few things out each week.   This allows me to only cook 2-3 nights each week and still keep a nice rotation of freezer meals.  I usually have over a month's worth at all times, but we've been eating from the freezer a lot, and I was down to 26 currently, but that is still very helpful on busy nights!

I was also trying to make a habit of doing 15 minutes of decluttering a day.  That habit got totally derailed!  I'm trying to get back on top of that this month.   This week I have not assigned specific tasks to days, but I intend to spend 15 minutes each day reorganizing my kitchen.  Things have gotten tossed around and need to be put back in order, so I will set my timer and get to work on a task.  If I finish before my timer, I will begin another until time runs out.   My kitchen should be looking pretty good by the end of the week!

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Menu Plan Week 9--From The Freezer

I know I have been really quiet around here from quite some time.   It's just been crazy, hectic, busy, sickly times around here and a lot of balls got dropped along the way.   Well, ok...all of the balls got dropped along the way.   It feels like the whole month of February was one big flop around here, but I'm not going to worry about that.   I'm picking up and moving on.

A big part of moving on is picking back up on routines I had set in place.  One of those routines is making a menu plan.   I went the entirety of last week without a menu plan.  I did not like that.  Nope, nope, nope.

I had even gotten my bountiful basket last week, and haven't really known what to do with it:

We did have some salads and wraps, and I made 3 loaves of banana bread.

What really saved us was having a freezer full of meals.   I had been trying to plan easy meals for my husband to prepare while I was off tutoring...and last week that turned into...hey just grab something out the freezer ok?  I gotta run, bye!  But it worked.  We did eat out at Cici's on Friday night and pick up Sonic on the way home from Awana on Sunday, which is not ideal, but that's what happened....

So this week I'm trying to get back into forming a plan, but I'm also trying not to further overwhelm myself, because I have a lot of housework to catch up on and my mom is coming to stay with us on Saturday, so there's a little extra prep work involved in getting the room ready for her.

That being said, I'm keeping it pretty simple this week, and pulling from the freezer a lot (I've still got 34 meals ready to go in there!)

Monday:  I had bought some tortillas and tortilla chips and tri-colored peppers with the intention of thawing the chicken breast sometime this week and making fajitas.   Not gonna happen.  I will slice and freeze the peppers for when it does.

I decided to pull out the last tortilla soup tonight, and we will just have the chips and tortillas with that.   I even have frozen homemade salsa.

Tuesday:  I'll be tutoring.  They will pull a container of gumbo out of the freezer.

Wednesday:  Turkey Pot Pie

Thursday:  Italian Sausage Soup from the freezer and I will try to slice and fry up the small eggplant from our bountiful basket on the side.

Friday:  Tilapia  and a yet to be decided side dish

Saturday:  Burgers

Sunday:  Fried Fish and homemade fries  (I've still got a whole bag of small potatoes to use up from my basket).

I also need to use up the leeks.   I was considering just chopping them and freezer them in small portions until I needed them.  Has anyone ever tried this?  I have honestly never used a leek before, but they had a very strong oniony smell to me, so I assume that's about what they taste like.  I'm open to any advice or suggestions on that because I'm getting another basket on Saturday and they need to be out of the fridge by then.

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Menu Plan Week 7 (And A Week 6 Recap)

You may have noticed that I skipped posting last weeks menu plan.  You may have even noticed that I pretty much skipped posting last week, period!

It was a pretty crazy week around here!  And mostly unexpected at that!

Let me give you a brief run down of what's been going on.

Last week:

• Tax Refund Came  (Paid off last two payments on our Jeep!  Woohoo!)

Saturday:

• Picked Up Produce Basket

Two cabbages, huge english cucumber, huge sweet potato, spinach, cherry tomatoes, cauliflower, spaghetti squash, apples (3 lb bag plus 2 loose), 5 pears, bananas, and 13 blood oranges.

• Begin Making Menu
• Husband decides that he'd like me to end my no buying meat challenge early.

Monday:

• Went shopping.  Bought 9lbs. of ground beef, 6lbs of pork chops, and 3 lbs. of tilapia for under $30.
• Get home, put everything away, begin fixing lunch....my phone rings...
• It's the school nurse....seems the head lice epidemic going around school has made it's way to my oldest  (yeah...she's got thick curly hair and is waist length when wet...)
• Go get her.
• Still determined to get cabbage rolls made that evening....begin boiling cabbages and peeling leaves.  
• Husband gets home..leave him stuffing and rolling (one batch to eat and one more to freeze) and go to get lice shampoo.
• Wash hair.  Comb Hair.

Tuesday:

• More combing
• Notice younger one is coughing a whole lot

Wednesday:

• Return oldest to school
• Bring youngest to doctor

She was not happy about it.

• Tonsilitis
• CVS for antibiotics
• More freezer cooking  (rest of ground beef...burgers, meatballs, spaghetti sauce)

Thursday-Saturday:

• Clean kitchen and attempt to catch up on 18 loads of laundry and bedsheets.
• Antibiotics are upsetting little ones tummy.  =(

Sunday night:

• When I dropped my kids off at Awana, I heard a hissing noise....
• It was coming from my tire....=(

Add to all of that the 13+ hours I tutored last week, and you can understand why I didn't have a chance to get any posts up.   I did make a menu plan last week, and we actually did a really good job of sticking to it (besides grabbing Wendy's last night with all of the tire fiasco).

But today begins a totally new week, and I'm ready to get things back on track around here!

I will be restarting all of my habits I've been trying to form and keep up with because they totally tanked last week.

I was able to use up the cabbage (cabbage rolls), sweet potato (fries to go with our burgers), some of the spinach (put on the burgers instead of lettuce), half the cherry tomatoes (sliced in a pasta salad for lunch saturday) and about half of the fruit between snacks and lunch box.

So to use up the remaining produce, here is my plan for this week:

Monday:  Baked Pork Chops, baked potatoes  (I still have a bag of baking potatoes left from my previous basket), and sliced cucumbers.   I will bake all of the pork chops I bought last week, and freeze at least two portions.  

Tuesday:  Soup from freezer (I'm tutoring)

 

Wednesday:  Spaghetti Sauce (made and frozen last week) over spaghetti squash.   We've never tried this before so I hope we like it!

Thursday:  Quiche from freezer (I'm tutoring)

Friday:  Meatballs (made and frozen last week) and cauliflower mash  (never tried this before either)

Saturday:  Red Beans from freezer  (tutoring again)

Sunday:  Pancakes

I'm loving how getting these produce baskets is encouraging us to try new things, and we have liked just about everything I've made with the produce.   My girls get so excited to see what we get!

If you are interested in ordering a basket for yourself, you may visit the Bountiful Baskets website and see if there is a location near you.   Ordering begins at noon on Mondays for Saturday pick-up (friday night in some places) and lasts until Tuesday or until the site sells out.

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Menu Plan Week 5: From The Freezer

I  made one tiny change in last week's menu.  I realized that my dishes that I normally make and freeze my casseroles in were the larger size that I had bought last time, so when I made my shepherd's pie, I knew I wouldn't be able to make a separate one to eat and one to freeze like I had originally planned, so I just make a big one and we had leftovers, so I am moving the gumbo to this week.   I was still able to put 2 containers of beef stew into the freezer.

I have now completely run out of dishes that have lids to freeze things in, so I am trying to clear some of those out of my freezer this week.  That means much less freezer cooking.   I am still making one pot of soup to use up some vegetables though.

This is going into week 5 of my no meat buying challenge, and my freezer is still staying well stocked.   All I really have left uncooked is a bunch of chicken, a bit of country style pork ribs, and some fish, though.  I might have to get creative with those, but I think I can make it happen.

I'm still trying to be very intentional about planning meals that are easy for my husband to pull together on nights when I am tutoring and he is having to juggle dinner, homework, and making his own lesson plans.

Here is the plan:

Monday:  Homemade pizza  (using up some bell peppers and some pepperoni I bought this week...that doesn't really count as meat, right?)

Tuesday:  Ham and Vegetable soup  (I'm tutoring, but it will be cooked and ready before I leave)

Wednesday:  Leftovers  (and freeze some...3-4 most likely)

Thursday:  I'm tutoring -Gumbo from the freezer.

Friday:  Potato Soup from the freezer

Saturday:  Spaghetti from the freezer

Sunday:  Awana night--hubby making pancakes  (he actually experimented with some egg filled ones last night that were not too bad...interesting for sure!)

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Menu Plan Week 4

I am still working on my 2 month challenge of not buying any meat.  I am going into week 4 of that, and I still have PLENTY meat on hand to cook and/or cooked meat to use, and it seems like every week I put more meals back into my freezer than I take out!

After making, and consuming, this past week's menu, I returned to my freezer a large bag of frozen green beans, a large bag of cooked and shredded chicken, and 4 larges tubs of italian sausage soup.  Also, the small roast that I worried may not be enough for the one meal of leftovers I had planned, actually fed us leftovers last night AND lunch today as well.

This week I've picked up a few more tutoring hours, and the vegetables in our bountiful basket this week were more of the seasoning and flavor additive variety than the type to actually plan a meal around, so I'm keeping it pretty simple this week, and I will likely just dice and freeze these for later use.

Here's what we got in our produce basket this week.  I love it!

Here's the plan:

Monday:  Pork chops (cooked and in the freezer) with mashed potatoes (I had a 5lb bag already in my pantry, so I've got lots of potatoes to use up.  Making a big batch of these.  They freeze well!) and a vegetable.

Tuesday:  I'm tutoring---Vegetable Beef Soup (from the freezer)

Wednesday:  Shepherd's Pie using the mashed potatoes I made on Monday and some cooked ground beef I have in the freezer.   Will make one to freeze and one to eat.

Thursday:  I'm tutoring--Gumbo from the freezer

Friday:   Beef stew in the crock pot using some beef shank I have in the freezer, the very last of the carrots I have on hand, and some of the potatoes I have.

Saturday:  Leftovers

Sunday:   Awana night--Pancakes


What's on your menu this week?

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Menu Plan Week 3: Finishing Up The Produce

In last week's menu plan I shared a few things I planned to cook using parts of meals that I had in the freezer.   Surprisingly, when I took all those pieces out of the freezer, and turned them into meals that we ate for 6 nights this week, I turned right back around and put 5 meals back into my freezer--2 potato soups and 3 gumbo!

I've still got some of that produce from my basket remaining (brussels sprouts, carrots) and I picked up some produce at Aldi yesterday (spinach, broccoli, and roma tomatos), and I also still have some green beans that I picked up at Fiesta earlier last week (I'm going to blanche and freeze these for later use), so here is what I plan to do to use this stuff up, then I will be anxious to see what I get in my basket this Saturday!

Monday:  Turkey Pot Pie (from the freezer).  Take out whole chicken to thaw.

Tuesday:  I'll be cooking a whole chicken in my crock-pot.  We will eat this rotisserie style chicken, with some herb stuffing and roasted brussels sprouts.

Wednesday:  After I shred the remainder of the chicken and freeze it, I will boil the bones and use the chicken stock for an italian sausage soup.  This will use up some spinach, carrots, green beans, and roma tomatoes.

Thursday:   Leftovers, and maybe 1 more to freeze.

Friday:  I have a small pork roast in the freezer, so I will be cooking this in some gravy in the crockpot.  Will toss whatever carrots we have remaining into the gravy.

Saturday:  Leftovers.

Sunday:  AWANA night.  Hubby making pancakes.


I'm going into week 3 of my 8 week "no buying meat" challenge, and I still have plenty left in my freezer.

I spent under $40 last week on groceries.  I went to Aldi yesterday and spent $26.xx on some produce and things we were needing.  I'll be ordering my produce basket ($16.50) on Monday (for Saturday pick-up), and don't think I'll be doing any more shopping for the week (at least until payday on thursday), so I'm set to have another very low spending week.

What are you eating this week?

Want to see more menus?  Visit Menu Plan Monday.

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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.

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Menu Plan 12/30-1/6

We got back into town yesterday afternoon, and it was one of those occasions where I am truly grateful to have pre-prepared food in my freezer at the ready.  I was able to pull a nice dinner out and just make fresh rice to go along with it instead of running out to spend ungodly amounts of money on fast food yet again.  (I seriously do not even want to discuss the $20  for beignets and coffee at Cafe Du Monde!)

I know that I'm not going to have all my new year planning and preparations in place until a week into it, so I've planned a menu around my existing freezer meals once again this week.

Sunday:  My daughter asked for red beans and rice when we got in.  She was in luck!  I had one container left!

Monday:  Turkey Pot Pie

Tuesday:  Chicken Alfredo

Wednesday:  Use up the leftovers!

Thursday:  Spaghetti

Friday:  Pork Stew

Saturday:  Cabbage Roll Casserole

Sunday:  Use up the leftovers!


I also did a quick inventory of my over the fridge freezer and found some breakfast breads and a couple lunch items that we will be using up in the coming weeks, and then I will begin planning cooking sessions to replenish these things.

What is on your menu plan this week?

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Getting Back Into The Swing Of Things (+ My Menu For Two Weeks)

Last week I posted a menu, and promised some recipes, and then all was silent.   If you follow  me on facebook, you might have seen my post that my cold had taken a turn for the worse on Monday night.  On Wednesday morning I went to the doctor as a walk-in, and emerged an hour and a half later with a diagnosis of bronchitis with ear infection and a stack of 6 prescriptions to get filled!

I did little more than rest for the rest of the week.   My husband instructed me to leave him lists of things that needed to get done and he handled it all when he got home from work.  My freezer meals came in very handy because he was able to just grab something and thaw it!

By the weekend I was feeling a little bit better, which was good because we had a very busy Saturday.

By Sunday I was nearly back to normal, but my oldest daughter was not quite acting herself.   That night when we showed up at church for Awana, she got sick in the bathroom stall.  When I got her back home the husband got sick, too.   They were both home yesterday, and the husband is still home today, so my week has been a little bit off.

I am trying to get back into normal mode, while also planning to be leaving town at the end of next week.   My goal is to not have to buy any more groceries until then (I went to Aldi yesterday and bought all we should need except I think I may need more bread in a few days and that's all).

This morning I took inventory of my freezer to see what all we had left after my absence from the meal preparation scene (we also sent a few meals to a sick friend).  I still have a bunch of ready made meals, but we also have a whole lot of meat that needs to be cooked and turned into ready made meals, but I will be saving most of that for when we return.

Here's what I found in my freezer:

I also got another basket of produce this past week so that we would have plenty of time to get all of that used up before we left town, as well.

Here is what was in my basket:

All of that dark green leafy stuff on the left is 3 bunches of radishes.  There are 9 more persimmons in the front, lettuce, grapes, broccoli, yellow (6) & zucchini (2) squash, cucumbers (2), mushrooms, 3 bells, papaya and bananas (8).

I also bought 2 packs of blackberries (gone!), apples, pears, oranges, and sweet potatoes.  If we don't finish those up, they can be travel snacks, but I do have my work cut out for me!


Here is my plan:

Monday (last night):  We had eggs and toast.
Tuesday (tonight):  Meat Loaf Muffins and Mashed Potatoes (both from freezer), fried yellow squash.
Wednesday:  Hubby will grill 10lbs of marinated leg quarters (will freeze the leftovers) and salad.
Thursday:  Provencal Pork (from freezer)
Friday:  Leftovers
Saturday:  Chicken Alfredo (from freezer) and more salad  (I had lettuce from my basket, but I also have some growing in my garden)
Sunday:  Turkey Pot Pie
Monday: Chicken Taco Quiche
Tuesday:  Cabbage Casserole
Wednesday:  Spaghetti
Thursday:  Clean Out The Leftovers
Friday:  Sandwiches and fruit in the van on the road to Louisiana!


That's the plan anyways!  When we get back home it will be New Year's and I will have a ton of fun trying to cook my way through all the meat I have out the in freezer!

What is on your menu this week?

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Menu Plan 12/3

I got another produce basket from Bountiful Baskets this weekend.   It seemed a little on the sparse side, but I think that's too be expected in the winter.   I really can't wait to see the summer baskets!   I think this one might just seem to be getting used up a lot faster because we did/will use a lot of it together.

Here's what we got:

There was a small watermelon, cantaloupe, and papaya, 6 fuji apples, bananas, and 4 persimmons (those are the red tomato looking things in front--never even seen one before!).  For veggies we got a pack of mushrooms (which we don't care for, but I intend to make homemade cream of mushroom soup for the freezer), 6 roma tomatoes, romaine (I think) lettuce, broccoli, and rainbow carrots.   (I'm pretty excited to try a purple carrot!)

Now most of the veggies will just go into a big salad, and the melons we've already diced up and eaten/stored away in the fridge, and I think there will be smoothies.

I'm kinda glad there wasn't too much thought and creativity going into this week's basket (except the persimmons~more on that tomorrow!) because my husband and I have both been a little bit sick, and the house is showing that!  Because of that, I'm mostly going to be grabbing from the freezer for dinners this week.

Here's the plan:

Breakfasts:
Persimmon cookies
Persimmon bread  (recipes coming tomorrow!)
oatmeal
cereal
carrot muffins (from freezer)

Lunches:
Ramen & Chef Boyardee  (yep...after shopping and baking that was it for me!)
fish sticks
sandwiches x3  (ham, peanut butter, tuna)
salad

Dinners:
Turkey soup (already thawing)
Beef stroganoff (assuming I get that cream of mushroom made....or It's not like I don't have a can of it sitting around...)
Roast
Italian Sausage Soup x2  (cooking this one fresh, but will freeze a lot of it)
(Saturday Night church this week so perhaps eat out??)
Turkey Pot Pie


What are you having this week?

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Menu Plan

I didn't post my menu plan last week, as I had family visiting and with Thanksgiving and all, everything was just a bit left up in the air.  Except for Thursday's meal.  I had that planned out a week in advance, and I just finished dealing with all of the leftovers yesterday.

After putting 4 turkey soups and 4 turkey pot pies in my freezer yesterday, I took inventory this morning, and found that I had 51 (yes 51!) cooked meals in my freezer, and a whole LOT of frozen meat needing to be cooked!

So my menu for the next week(s) is totally from my freezer.  We plan to be out of town for some amount of time over the Christmas holidays, so I suppose I will resume some cooking after that.  But I seriously should not have to buy meat for at least 2 months.

Here is what I've written down for this week:

Breakfasts:
eggs x2
banana bread
carrot muffins
cereal x2
toast

Lunches:
Chicken nuggets x2
tuna fish sandwiches
hot dogs
sandwiches
fruit/salad

Dinners:
Ham & Broccoli Quiche
Pork Stew
Kung Pao Pork
Lasagna x2
Meatballs
Soup (of some sort, I believe I have 5 types in the freezer!)

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My Menu...A Bit Late

I really did have this menu finished up last night, I just didn't get it posted.   I did not make a menu last week, as my mom was visiting and helping with the menu/cooking.  This Friday, my husband's parents and his younger sister will be coming in town to stay next week for Thanksgiving, and I will also be picking up another basket of produce from Bountiful Baskets (I skipped last week because we were completely inundated with produce!), so I cannot wait to see what I will get and use it to plan meals for my guests.

But this week, I had just a few produce items left to use up, and them I'm employing my most loved appliance...my slow cooker!

Sunday:  We took a chicken soup out of the freezer.

Monday:  Took some pork chops out of the freezer, and I made a cream soup from some leftover spaghetti squash, brussels sprouts, and cauliflower.   It was my first time making anything of the sort, and I just sort of tossed things in the pot with some homemade vegetable broth (which was nothing more than the water that the veggies were boiled in on Saturday, which my husband encouraged me to save).   I added some milk, flour, and a can of cream of chicken, and seasoned it up a bit.   It had a strange grainy texture (I guess I should have left them in the blender a bit longer), but it tasted good.   My husband filled up on soup and hardly touched his pork chop, if you can believe that!

Tuesday:  I still have broccoli to use.   I'm going to take some pre-cooked ground beef out of the freezer, and use it and some cream soup to make a beef and broccoli stroganoff type of dish and serve over pasta.  Another made up dish, so I will hope for the best!

Wednesday:  I am going to use some beef shank from my freezer and make a vegetable beef soup in my crock pot.

Thursday:  Leftovers, and I'm sure to have some to freeze as well.

Friday:   This is the day the guests arrive.  I'm making a large crockpot full of red beans and sausage, served over rice.  I will use up the last of some corn bread muffins from my freezer, also.

Saturday:  Leftovers.   And hopefully some to freeze, also.   This is both my girls favorite meal, so I like to have some always in the freezer, and I've been out for quite a while.


What are you having this week?

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Menu Plan 10/28-11/3

I told you yesterday about my produce basket I ordered last week and picked up on Saturday from Bountiful Baskets.

I am trying to incorporate all of this stuff into my menu for the week while still using up some freezer meals  (I think I will resume cooking next week while my mom is visiting).


Here is what I have for the week:

Sunday:   We planned to eat at a local church's fall festival, but the food was overpriced so we grabbed Wendy's on the way home.

Monday:  Burgers from the freezer with yellow squash/zucchini "fries"

Tuesday:  We plan on catching a cheap movie this night (Brave is playing at the discount theater) and maybe hitting Denny's afterwards (kids eat free!)

Wednesday:  Lasagna from the freezer with roasted Brussels sprouts

Thursday:  Lasagna again with salad  (using up the lettuce, some broccoli and cucumbers, plus some tomato and carrots i still had on hand)

Friday:  Pulling some soup out the freezer.

Saturday:  Chicken Taco Quiche with garlic parmesan roasted cauliflower  (another pinterest inspiration.)


I know that this plan doesn't seem to use up everything, but after packing lunches and having some healthy snacks during the week, I think it should just about all get used up.  If not, I can always just chop and freeze!

I will also be picking up another basket of produce on Saturday morning, and my mom is coming on Sunday, and she is not a big fan of veggies, so next week will be interesting!  I'm excited to see what we get!

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Menu Plan 10/14-10/20

As I told you last week, I inventoried my freezer and made my menu plan for the rest of the month from that.  

We did fairly well as sticking to it last week, except for one night when my girls and I were at a playdate, and I couldn't get in touch with dad to get him to thaw the tilapia.  Then, the girls were saying they wanted pancakes, so that is what we did last Friday, and saved the fish for Saturday.

I've moved the soup we didn't eat to this Friday when I will not be home.

I love having everything ready in the freezer because it makes it so easy to rearrange as needed.  I will be going on a retreat with my church ladies this weekend, so the two nights that I will be gone, I have made sure to schedule menu items that should be no trouble at all for my husband to toss together.   Not that he isn't an excellent cook..just usually when he is cooking, I'm around to wrangle the children.  Doing both alone can be difficult!  ;)


So here is my plan  (I've actually already changed it due to unforeseen--though I should have expected---leftovers!)


Sunday--Lasagna
Monday--Lasagna again
Tuesday--Ham & Potato Soup
Wednesday:  Chicken & Broccoli  (in the freezer, just need to make fresh rice or pasta)
Thursday:  Gumbo
Friday:  Chicken Soup
Saturday:  Meatballs & Mashed Potatoes

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Menu Plan 10/7-10/13

On Saturday, I shared with you all about my adventures with ground beef.  I also said that I planned on using what was in my freezer to make a menu plan for the rest of the month, and I did just that!  In fact, when I inventoried my freezer, I found 47 prepared meals, or at least pre-cooked portions of meat.  I told you I'd been busy!

I'm only going to share one week of that menu with you at a time.  You might also notice that my menu is now starting with Sunday instead of Monday.   That is because I recently purchased and downloaded this weekly household planner from The Confident Mom, and it begins the week with Sunday.  (She has reduced the price to just $3 for the remainder of the year...you can get the pages for October, November, and December for just $1/month and see if it works for you!  If I like it, I will definitely be purchasing the full year in January.  It will certainly be well worth it, and I'm liking it so far!)

Ok, back to the menu!


Sunday--Last night we had leftover spaghetti from our abundance on Saturday
Monday--Soft Tacos
Tuesday--Provencal Pork  (<--- that was the very first freezer recipe I ever posted, way back in April 2010!  *sniff*
Wednesday--Chicken Taco Quiche
Thursday--Pork Chops
Friday--Tilapia
Saturday--Chicken Soup


Since I have all my dinners planned out, this week I'm going to inventory my inside freezer and see what breakfast and lunch items I have premade, and also deal with some pumpkin.

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Weekly Menu

I meant to have my menu completely finished yesterday, and I really did make good progress on it (I planned breakfasts and lunches, and even made a lunchbox planner so I could see at a glance what to toss in there without giving it much thought at the end of a busy day).  

The one thing I did not finish up was my dinner plans, which is what I usually post.  I still don't have the weekend completely mapped out, but I'm running low on meats, so I am waiting to see what sales the new ad week brings tomorrow.

So far here's what I have:

Monday:  Last night we had Meat Loaf Muffins (using the recipe described here and made in muffin tins instead of loaves--liked it better!) from the freezer, Mashed Potatoes from the freezer, and peas.

Tuesday:  Tonight I am thawing a bunch of pork chops, and I will bake them all.  After we eat tonight, I should have at least two more dinner sized sets to freeze.  I've done this before and we love them.   We will have salad with this.

Wednesday:  Soup from the freezer

Thursday:  Gumbo from the freezer  (just make fresh rice!--This is also getting taken as a school lunch in our new thrift store $2 pink Arctic Zone Thermos (which is awesome!  I'd link you, but I cannot seem to find one on Amazon..)

Friday:  Catfish  (still haven't eaten those!)

The weekend is still up in the air, but I'm hoping for some great meat deals this week, and if not, I can always pull something out of the freezer!

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