Menu Plan 12/7
December 7, 2009 by Jenn @ Frugal Upstate
Filed under General Frugality
Another week.
Last week’s menu plan went fairly smoothly. Of course I kept forgetting to marinate the chicken wings, so the Chinese Chicken Wings kept getting pushed back until we ate them on Thursday instead of Tuesday. I pushed the stew back to Tuesday instead. Then on Saturday instead of Fried Rice I used the leftover marinade from the Chinese Chicken Wings as a sauce, threw in some chunked up chicken breasts & frozen veggies and called it a stirfry.
Hey-having a plan doesn’t mean you can’t be flexible! At least I knew I had all the ingredients necessary for the meals on hand-all I had to do was swap around days to adjust for life.
But on to this week. It’s a pretty easy week overall. Hubs won’t be back for dinner tonight-maybe I can fill in with that “breakfast for dinner ” we didn’t get a chance to have 2 weeks back. Wednesday will be my full out errand day in town, followed by a Vestry meeting that night. I definitely better pick something that will cook up in the crockpot while I’m away and be ready to serve for that night. And Saturday Hubs and I are going out to see a dinner and a show-so it’s babysitter ready food for that day.
Monday: Breakfast for Dinner! Pancakes & Bacon
My husband isn’t fond of this as a dinner-so nights when he isn’t home are a great time to surprise the kiddos with this one! I think I’m going to count this as my “meatless” meal-after all, a couple of pieces of bacon barely counts, right?
Tuesday: Mock Chi Chi’s Shrimp Enchiladas & Salad
These are so thick & creamy that you need to even the calories out with a bit of salad! I bought some shrimp a few weeks back at Aldi’s when they had them at a good price, so I’ll use those as my seafood for the week. I haven’t made this recipe for a while, so it’s a change of pace for the family, and it will use up that brick of fat free cream cheese that has been languishing in the downstairs fridge. Bonus!
I do have to remember to get this done early-Princess needs to eat and digest before she heads off to Wrestling practice. Waiting for dinner till after 7pm isn’t really an option when your bedtime is 7:30, and eating right before you go to wrestle isn’t the best idea either. Full stomachs & folks ramming their shoulders into you are just not a good combo. So I’ve been cooking early, letting her eat around 4:30-5 pm then the rest of the family eats at 6-6:30 ish. What we do for our kids. . .
Wednesday: Chili & Cornbread
I’ve got a bunch of last year’s venison to use up, and some spicy spaghetti sauce that is too spicy for the kids. Along with some other ingredients that should make a nice chili! Also the “cook while I’m gone” aspect is perfect for my errands/shopping/meeting day.
Thursday: Baked Chicken, Mashed Potatoes & Carrots
The local grocery store has chicken 1/4’s on sale for $.59 a lb. I plan on buying a LOT. I’ll stick some straight in the freezer, but I will bake about 3-4 times what we will eat for dinner and the extra will picked from the bone and frozen in meal sized portions to make life easier at a future date. A little pre cooked meat in the freezer can be the difference between being frugal and eating at home or falling for the drive through trap!
Again, Princess will either eat early or eat something else, like a sandwich.
Friday: Pizza
Of course. We just love to make our pizza using the Pizza Hut Crust Clone recipe.
Saturday: Mac ‘n Cheese with Canned Veggies
Mama & Papa are going out, so the kids are getting quick and easy to prepare so I can leave it.
Sunday: Leftovers
You’ve got to use them up somehow!
So, how have all of you been doing with your menu planning? Is it working out for you?
Oh, and for more great menu plans, don’t forget to head on over to the Organizing Junkie.
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I did a great menu plan for this week based on a frugal ham purchase. I have been doing okay on my menu plan for about half the week, then Thursday and Friday come and I am exhausted from work, school, and physical therapy and we have been eating out!! I am hoping to put together a nice casserole for Thursday and make ham and bean soup for Friday night this week. We will see how it goes. Any one who works retail currently is probably as exhausted as I am:( Oh well tis the season and hopefully my last one in retail!!
Heather
I get around to a menu almost every week. However, I find myself buying the loss leaders when I am out shopping and build a menu from what I bought due to the fact that stores are often out of items so if I make my menu first it fails. If I make my menu after it is based on what we have at home. This week I have left over ham and betty crocker Augratin potatoes, Hormel Roast Beef meal and I will likely serve that with success rice,
Hormel Chicken meal which I will likely turn into BBQ and serve with Bird’s Eye steam corn all items mentioned bought on loss leader sales with coupons Chef’s Requested Steaks and Potato,
Birds Eye Pasta meal and or Stouffer’s Lasagna or Enchiladas . Served with Puddings for dessert also a sale loss leader and coupon. Leaving the only items to buy a bit of ground beef , some produce , milk , eggs, butter, and bread. (shopping done)
Also buy loss leaders for next weeks meals. (Hope to get some smithfield porkchops haven’t had them in awhile.)
Heather-We haven’t had ham in a long time. . . I should see if I can find some on sale. I love using Ham in casseroles, pea soup etc. . .it’s so flavorful that you can make a little bit really seem like a lot! As far as your menu plan-maybe you just have to accept that those two days are going to be terrible and either plan something super easy (scrambled eggs?) or else go the “well, it’s cheaper than eating out” route and buy some frozen meals that would work for your family & schedule.
Janet-Well, it sounds like you’ve found a way to menu plan that works for you! I happen to have a big freezer, so I can buy loss leaders when I see them and use them for later menu plans. . .but going shopping and then making your plan around it is a very good way to do it as well! Regardless of how or when you make your plan, i’m a firm believer that it really helps us all avoid waste and save money.
Chili and cornbread, eh? Sounds good to me!
Janet: Stouffer’s lasagna is always a good bet. Used to live on that stuff growing up!