Sunday, November 24, 2013

Meal Plan for November 24 -30

Wow !!!  Can you believe that it is the end of November already?  This year has been flying by.  Well, I know I am late but better late than never.  I am really sick right now so we are going to go easy this week (at least the first part).

Sunday:
B - burritos
L - Thanksgiving meal at church
D - hot dogs and slaw

Monday:
B - protein shakes
L - sandwiches
D- taco soup

Tuesday:
B - protein shakes
L - sandwiches
D - chicken leg quarters, mashed potatoes and carrots

Wednesday:
B - eggs, bacon and toast
L - hot dogs for dh, sandwich for me ( dh is off and I am working)
D - spaghetti and meatballs

Thursday:  Thanksgiving
B - eggs, bacon and toast
L - grilled cheese and soup
D - turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, rutabaga, green beans, cranberry sauce, rolls

Friday:
B - muffins
L - turkey sandwiches
D - homemade pizza

Saturday:
B - eggs, bacon and toast
L - hot dogs for dh, sandwich for me (I work)
D - white turkey chili

Dh and I love turkey leftovers so the end of this week and the first part of next will feature that.  Thanksgiving may have more dishes as I am not sure what ds is bringing.

Snacks:
chips and salsa
popcorn
zucchini bread

I will post my grocery purchase later as I need to lay down right now.  God bless everyone.

Sunday, November 17, 2013

Meal Plan for November 17 - 23

Okay so I just published what I bought last week for groceries.  So now this is what we are going to eat this week.

Sunday:
B - eggs, bacon and toast
L - burritos, salsa and chips
D - taco soup and hot dogs

Monday:
B - protein shakes
L - sandwiches or leftovers
D - chicken tenderloins, mashed potatoes and carrots

Tuesday:
B - muffins
L - sandwiches or leftovers
D - baked pasta

Wednesday:
B - protein shakes
L - sandwiches or leftovers
D - meatloaf, mashed potatoes and veggie

Thursday:
B - eggs, bacon and toast
L - sandwiches or leftovers
D - fried fish, corn on the cob and carrots

Friday:
B - protein shakes
L - sandwiches or leftovers
D - date night

Saturday:
B - eggs, bacon and toast
L - grilled cheese and soup
D - homemade pizza

Snacks will be:  apples, chips and salsa and popcorn

Last week's shopping

Sorry I have been awol.  I started working last week and I had a booth at a craft fair on Saturday and was super busy getting ready for that.

Here is what I spent last week:

Kroger - trip #1

2 bags frozen veggies
1 pkg sliced cheese
2 boxes of stuffing
1 box fruit snacks (for dd)
2 pounds of butter
2 bags of sugar
2 boxes of pasta
4 boxes of mac and cheese (2 boxes are for food drive at church)
2 bottles of ketchup
2 cans of chicken broth
1 pkg of hot dogs

Total spent:  $30.41


Kroger  - trip #2

3 boxes of frozen waffles (for dd)
1 box Kashi bars
2 boxes of stuffing (for food drive at church)
2 pounds of butter
5 bags frozen veggies
2 bags of meatballs
1 Dole smoothie (free)
10 cans of tomatoes
6 cans of Rotel

Total spent:  $34.15


Kroger - trip #3

1 bottle of fish oil
3 lbs Gala apples
3 lbs Granny  Smith apples

Total spent:  $14.05
Grand total:  $78.61

Wow !!  This is more than I had intended to spend.  Some was for a food drive at church but it was not a significant amount considering.  The apples were after we (dh and I) saw the doctor and he told dh to snack on apples not junk at night.  I thought apples were in season?  They were so expensive.  Dh loves granny smith and I love Gala therefore I got some of both.  Kroger had a great sale last week on things I needed or will need further in the month.  Therefore, I purchased extra that will balance out when I average at the end of the month.  I was completely out of butter and at $1.99 a pound I could not pass it up.  This week all I will need is milk, bread and eggs.  I still have luncheon meat for the week and if I run out dh will get peanut butter and jelly.

Saturday, November 9, 2013

First Grocery Shopping

This morning I did my first grocery shopping for next week.  I had not had time to make a full list but did know of what I had to have early in the week.  I meant to get a picture but camera had to be charged so maybe next time.

Kroger:
1 tube of Crystal Light drink mix
10 lb chicken leg quarters
1 pkg cheese slices
1 pkg luncheon meat
1 can cranberry sauce (for food drive at church)
1 cucumber
1 case of water bottles

Total spent:  $18.45
Left for the week:  $21.55

The leg quarters were 69 cents a pound and I had a coupon on top of it.  It was the best deal protein-wise this week.

Meal Plan for November 10 - 16

I just realized that I had not posted my plan for next week.  It has been ready I have been busy sewing.  Here it is:

Sunday:
B - eggs, bacon and toast
L - ham, mashed potatoes and carrots
D - grilled cheese and soup

Monday:
B - protein shake
L - sandwiches
D - chicken thighs, stuffing and green beans

Tuesday:
B - protein shake
L - sandwiches
D - spaghetti and salad

Wednesday:
B - muffins
L - sandwiches
D - taco soup

Thursday:
B - protein shake
L - sandwiches
D - fried fish, corn on the cob, carrots

Friday:
B - protein shake
L - sandiwches
D - crockpot chicken, roasted potatoes and carrots

Saturday:
B - eggs, bacon and toast
L - @craft fair (for me), taco soup for dh
D - home made pizza

Snacks:
popcorn
pretzels
chips and salsa
zucchini bread

Thursday, November 7, 2013

Planning Meals

In our ladies Sunday school class our fearless leader handed out blank weekly meal planners.  We are talking about ways to have less stress during the holiday season.  Most of the ladies looked at the piece of paper and then back at her like, what are we to do with this?  I was surprised at how many ladies did not plan their families meals each week.  We were to do plan our next weeks meals and bring it in that next Sunday.  Only two of us completed the assignment.

Is meal planning that hard?  Maybe too time consuming for some.  But hard .....  I don't think so.  I am at a different stage of life then some in our class.  My children are grown and it is mainly just my dh and I.  However, even when my children were small I planned.  It was one less headache at a very rushed time of day.  I could take out the meat the night before or even do most of the cooking before bed.  It allowed me to enjoy my children more or if I was working at dinner it gave me the piece of mind that my dh was not serving them fast food.

How do I meal plan?  Well, I inventory my proteins first.  This means going to the deep freeze or pantry for me.  I also will inventory main ingredient carbs, such as pasta and beans.  I also look in the fridge to see what needs to be used up before going bad.  If I can plan my entire two week menu on this then great !!!  If not I will in what I can then figure out how many meals I still need to plan for.  My grocery list is then what items I need to fill out the meal plan.

My inventory for this coming planning session:

Frozen:
2.2 lbs of white fish
2 lbs of ground beef
1 meal of cubed ham
1 pkg of chicken thighs
1 pkg of chicken tenderloins
1 pkg of turkey bacon

Pantry:
3 cans of tuna
2 cans of chicken
6 cans of soup
3 boxes of pasta
4 jars of spaghetti sauce

To be used up:
carrots
celery
zucchini

I need to make a two week meal plan around these items.  I will get back to you when I decide what I am doing.  We do have homemade pizza once a week and have date night on payday.  That leaves me with 11 dinners to plan.

Hope this helps anyone reading this.  This is what works for me.

Sunday, November 3, 2013

Meal Plan for November 3 - 9

I know I said I would post this yesterday but I got busy sewing .....  Here it is though and tweeted and ready for the week.

Sunday:

B - breakfast burritos
L - ham, potato salad and green beans
D - hot dogs and coleslaw

Monday:

B - protein shake
L - sandwiches
D - spaghetti and salad

Tuesday:

B - protein shake
L - sandwiches or leftovers
D - chicken, stuffing and carrots

Wednesday:

B - eggs, bacon and toast
L - sandwiches or leftovers
D - taco soup

Thursday:

B - muffins
L - sandwiches or leftovers
D - homemade pizza

Friday:

B - oatmeal
L - sandwiches or leftovers
D - dinner out with friends

Saturday:

B - eggs, bacon and toast
L - grilled cheese and soup
D - chicken,  mashed potatoes and carrots

Snacks:
popcorn
pretzels
zucchini bread

Saturday, November 2, 2013

Groceries for Nov 3 - 8

I know I said that I was going to try to stay out of the store but dh wanted some special things this weekend and dd paid me back $25 that she owed me so off I went.

First stop was Kroger:

1 small container cole slaw
1 pkg hot dog buns
1 pkg hamburger buns
1 lb turkey bacon (free)
1 lb baby carrots (free)
1 pkg muffin mix (free)

total spent:  $3.06

Next was Aldi:

2 loaves of bread
1 container artisan lettuce
1 dozen large eggs
2 cans of tuna
4 cans green beans
10 lb potatoes

total spent:  $12.40

Finally,  I went to Publix:

2 cans manhattan clam chowder
3 thin slices of taylor pork roll

total spent:  $5.53

Grand total spent:  $22.99

Not bad I think.  The clam chowder is what dh was really wanting and Publix is the only place in town that I can find it.  The taylor pork roll is a really special treat and I only get three slices at a time at Publix.  I can't get over the price of tuna now.  I had had 12 cans and I was down to one so I had not purchased any in a while.  I thought I did good only paying 69 cents a tin.  I was out of green beans and they were .49 cents a can at Aldi.

I love my freebies that Kroger sends me every couple of months.  It really helps stretch the grocery dollar.

I will post my menu for next week later today.