Menu Plan Monday

Bean Taquitos with Cucumber Salsa
– Everyday with Rachel Ray

Another successful week of menu planning is behind me and I am happy to announce that I am  slowly getting back in the groove of it.  I’ve even been faithful about filling out what I’m spending on my envelope.  (We’re using a few cash envelopes from the Dave Ramsey Total Money Makeover plan.)  My favorite part of menu planning is definitely the amount of savings that I am seeing in the grocery /  household budget.  We will still need to buy milk (several times) and 2 dozen eggs (Walgreen’s has them for $0.99 / dozen this week) but so far I have only spent $53 on groceries this week and will be able to make the following menu items plus have some snacks on hand for the kiddos and a few extra cans of veggies that were at a rock bottom price today.  Not bad for our family of 5.

Our Menu This Week:

Black Bean & Avocado Salsa in Corn Tortilla shells (this was a carryover from last week because one night we chose to eat leftovers)

Cheese, Mushroom ‘n Bacon Pie, Blueberry Muffins (plus a few scrambled eggs on the side for the child who would starve before she would eat a mushroom)

Bean Taquitos, Cucumber Salsa

Pasta Primavera, Bread Sticks, Tossed Salad

Taco Soup, Corn Bread

 In case you are counting days, we plan to eat leftovers at least once and are eating out one night as part of the teenager’s high school orientation.  (I’m hoping it’s not cafeteria food, but free supper is free supper, right?)

Menu Plan Monday – Lunchbox Edition

Hello!

Wow!  Christmas break really drained my available school lunch supply stash!  Last week was such a challenge that I didn’t even have enough to post about.  We are getting back on track this week though, and building up our lunch supplies again.  Here’s what my kids will be having for lunch this week:


Protein Choices (1-2 items):
Peanut Butter (in sandwiches)
Raw Almonds (not roasted or salted)
Yogurt

Fruit & Vegetable Choices (2-3 items):
Oranges
Bananas
Green Peppers
Applesauce
Baby Carrots
Apples
Kiwi

Grain Choices (1-2 items):
Bread (in sandwiches)
Cheese Nips Crackers
Pretzels
Banana Bread

Menu Plan Monday

This week is the beginning of a challenge that Scott and I are taking on.  We have challenged each other not to eat out for the rest of the month of January.  I didn’t work between Christmas and New Year’s so the budget is stretched pretty thin this month and we are going to have to plan carefully and work hard to succeed at this challenge, but it will be a good test for us to see if we can do it.  I’ll let you know each week how we do when I post our menu plans.  

Do any of you struggle with eating out too often?  What do you do to break the habit?  I’d love to hear your stories to help keep us motivated.

Here’s what we are planning this week:

Chicken and Beef Taco Rice

Scrambled Eggs, Hashbrowns, Oranges, Green Peppers

Beef Storganoff with Noodles, Corn

Broccoli Cheddar Quiche (I keep planning this but it never gets made!!!)

Enchiladas, Salad

Homemade “Wetzel Dogs” (Complete experiment – wish me luck!)

Spaghetti, Garlic Bread

What’s on your menu this week?

Menu Plan Monday

It’s time to get back to menu planning.  The holidays were great and I loved spending time with my family, but I got a little lazy with meal planning and we had a little too much “convenience” food over the last 2 weeks.  I’m making a concentrated effort to buckle down and get back on track this week.  Here is what we will be serving at our house this week:

Dinner with family friends – we are making Tacos
Broccoli & Cheddar Quiche with Brown Rice Crust, Fruit
Loaded Potato Soup, Breadsticks
Beef & Black Bean Taco Bake, Corn
French Toast, Scrambled Eggs, Fruit
Steak, Spinach & Noodles

What’s on your menu this week?

Menu Plan Monday – Lunchbox Edition

This week, my kids only have 2 1/2 days of school and I decided to let them eat hot lunch both days.  It seemed a little simpler and saved me a trip to the grocery store.  Menu Plan Monday –  Lunchbox Edition will be back when the kids head back to school, the week of January 3rd.  I’ll be adding some “at home” lunch ideas to next week’s Menu Plan since we will all be home on vacation from work and school.  If you have young kids, enjoy your break from packing the lunchbox and I’ll see you here in two weeks.

Menu Plan Monday

I can’t believe it is less than a week until Christmas!  We’ll be eating simply this week, including a few items from the freezer while we finish getting ready for holiday travel this weekend.  Here’s what I’m planning:

Monday:  Tuna Burgers, Peas, Alfredo Noodles
Tuesday:  Roast Beef, Baked Potatoes, Carrots
Wednesday:  Chili (from the freezer) Corn Bread
Thursday:  Potato Soup, Breadsticks, Broccoli
Friday:  Chip Hotdish (aka Taco Hotdish / from the freezer), Corn
Saturday:  Dinner with Family for Christmas, we are bringing slushies and snacks

Menu Plan Monday – Lunchbox Edition

Good Morning!

Only 8 more days until Christmas vacation and a break from packing lunches.  Just thinking about it puts a smile on my face.  A friend asked me this week about my system for packing cold lunch.  The link back to the original post isn’t working anymore, so here’s a quick re-cap of how our system works –

In my pantry, I have a clear plastic “sweater box” tote.  In it, I put individually packaged food items that do not need to be refrigerated, such as crackers, granola bars, dried fruits, etc.  Some things come pre-packaged and others I put into mini round containers.  You could also use snack size plastic bags, I just got tired of spending the money to have them thrown away each day.

In my ‘frig, I designated one of the drawers as our “school lunch” drawer.  In it, I put individual servings of items that need to stay cold such as fresh fruit, yogurt, applesauce, vegetables, cheese, etc.  Again, some things come individually packaged and some I have to put into containers myself.

I try to do all the re-packaging on the day I buy the groceries and generally only do it once a week.  I spend 15-30 minutes preparing and putting everything away.  Each evening after supper, the kids are responsible for packing their own lunch.  We are now moving toward packing lunches according to the guidelines below, to make sure that we have balanced choices. The guidelines also include provision for one mid-morning snack.

Protein Choices (1-2 items):
String Cheese
Peanut Butter (in sandwiches)
Raw Almonds (not roasted or salted)
Go-gurt
Hard-boiled Eggs

Fruit & Vegetable Choices (2-3 items):
Grapes
Baby Carrots
Cucumbers
Bananas
Avocados
Dried Apricots
Applesauce
Green Peppers

Grain Choices (1-2 items):
Bread (in sandwiches)
Granola Bars
Mini Rice Cakes (caramel flavor)
Cheese Nips Crackers
Pretzels
Banana Bread
Homemade Cookies

As a side note for those of you without school age kids, I often make my own lunch from the “ingredients” I list out in this post.  Especially on days when we don’t have leftovers to choose from or if I am running late in the morning.  A typical lunch for me is baby carrots, hummus, avocado & almonds.

What’s in your lunch box this week?

Menu Plan Monday

Good Morning!  I’m filling out page 2 of  my new menu planner this week.  It worked so well last week to make the menu plan, jot the things I needed down the side and then cut on the dotted line so I could run to the store.

My freezer cooking plan didn’t go as well as I planned last week.  I did get Chili done, but I forgot to double the taco meat.  I got a few eggs frozen and will try to bake a few more this week because eggs are on sale again.  I’m not sure yet what I will freeze from this week’s menu.

Here’s what’s cooking at our house this week:

Monday:  Broccoli and Cheddar Quiche
Tuesday:  Baked Salmon, Green Beans with Mushrooms, Rice
Wednesday:  Ravioli, Raw Veggies & Dip, Garlic Bread
Thursday:  Cheesy Beans and Rice,
Friday:  Beef Stroganoff, Corn, Dinner Rolls
Saturday: Scrambled Eggs, French Toast, Fruit
Sunday:  Dinner out with family after the kids’ Christmas program at church

I’ve been in a baking mood lately, so I will probably end up making at least one batch of cookies too.  :o)  What’s on your menu this week?

Menu Plan Monday – Lunchbox Edition

Good Morning!

I’m feeling good about lunches this week.  Three of the four we will need tomorrow are packed and ready to go, and we actually talked about what we were putting in them tonight.  The younger two and I even had an interesting conversation when one of them asked “What’s protein?”

Protein Choices:
String Cheese
Peanut Butter (in sandwiches or as a side for dipping apple slices)
Raw Almonds (not roasted or salted)
Go-gurt

Fruit & Vegetable Choices:
Grapes
Baby Carrots
Cucumbers
Bananas
Avocados
Dried Apricots
Applesauce

Grain Choices:
Bread (in sandwiches)
Granola Bars
Mini Rice Cakes (cheddar and caramel flavors)
Cheese Nips Crackers
Pretzels

As a side note for those of you without school age kids, I often make my own lunch from the “ingredients” I list out in this post.  Especially on days when we don’t have leftovers to choose from or if I am running late in the morning.  A typical lunch for me is baby carrots, hummus, avocado & almonds.

What’s in your lunch box this week?

Menu Plan Monday

Good Morning!  I am actually excited to make my meal plan this week because I get to use my new menu planner.  I know, it’s a little silly, but it made me smile to file out the first page.

This week I will be starting to work on some freezer cooking.  I started a new job last week and I will have about 10 days off for Christmas.  I’m looking forward to spending that time with family, but won’t have a paycheck that week so I am attempting to (brace yourself) plan ahead so I will be able to provide balanced meals without going to the grocery store.  This week’s freezer items will be Chili, Tacos, and Egg McMuffins. 

image from http://www.macheesmo.com

Monday:  Egg McMuffins (homemade), Fruit

Tuesday:  Salmon, Rice, Peas

Wednesday:  Chili, Corn Bread

Thursday:  English Muffin Pizza

Friday:  Tacos, Corn, Apples

Saturday: Steak, Spinach/Noodle Pasta, Green Beans

What’s on your menu plan this week?