In an attempt to save our money and my sanity I am, once again, going to attempt Menu Planning. Now, to make this stick a little better I'm going to post my menu every two weeks. Ok, in THEORY I am going to post my menu every two weeks. I'm hoping some of you will help me to keep going in this. I'll post the recipes, or links to recipes, along with the menu (unless it's pretty self explanatory). And, just a tip, Tad LOVES every recipe on this list so I'm pretty confident in saying that these meal choices are delicious!
I hate recipes that are too complicated, or require ingredients I have to Google to find out what they are, so everything is pretty simple.
I've designated Saturday as our leftover day, but I could easily move it to Thursday (or any other day I find my fridge way too full) and just bump my schedule down a day. You might even find you need TWO leftover days a week if you've got a lot of extra food. OR you could plan to give half your dinner to another family, and have them return the favor on another night. That's a great way to use your excess food, PLUS it's a night of no cooking for you but you still get a hot meal!
Remember to shop your cupboards & fridge/freezer before making your shopping list so you can see what you already have. Plan your side by what you have on hand, what your family likes, or what's growing in your garden (or your bountiful basket!).
Monday
Salmon
squeeze the juice of one lemon over the top of Salmon fillets
slice up another lemon and place a slice and a tab of butter on top of each fillet
wrap in aluminum foil and bake at 350 for about 15 minutes
Asparagus
Brown Rice
Tuesday
Spaghetti
Garlic Bread
line a cookie sheet with slices of bread
butter each slice and sprinkle liberally with garlic salt
put under broiler for a few minutes, checking frequently until browned
Green Beans
Wednesday
Broccoli Cheddar Soup recipe here
Rolls
Thursday
Glazed Pork Chops recipe here
Brown Rice & Broccoli (included in recipe)
Friday
Honey Lime Enchiladas recipe here
Fruit Salad recipe here
Saturday
LEFTOVERS
Sunday
Tacos
everyone has their favorite way to do tacos
we do ours with browned ground beef seasoned with lots of paprika, onion salt, & pepper
we use corn shells cooked in oil
serve with your favorite sides
Monday
Omletes
we like ours with shredded chicken or sliced ham, avocado, & cheese
top with a little ranch or salsa
Orange Slices
Toast
Tuesday
Steak
Potatoes
Corn on the Cob
Wednesday
Salads w/Grilled Chicken
We do ours with the romaine salad mix, strawberries, grilled chicken, avocado, craisins, and some Kraft Light raspberry vinaigrette
Breadsticks
Thursday
Mango-Lime Shredded Pork Tacos recipe here
Friday
Chicken Wraps
Grilled Chicken, tomato, avocado, ranch, BBQ sauce
Saturday
LEFTOVERS
Sunday
Dr. Pepper Chicken recipe here
Mashed Potatoes
We went grocery shopping this morning with the list I made after meal planning and I can tell you that our bill was 20% smaller than normal! And I wont need to do any major shopping trips for another 2 weeks. It really does pay to take the time to menu plan. Especially if you remember to use what's in your cupboards so you don't end up with 5 boxes of spaghetti noodles. It also eliminates the 3:00 panic of 'What's for dinner? Oh crap, I didn't un-thaw any meat! Crap, I have no idea! Oh well, let's order pizza.'
MENU PLANNING
It's healthier
It's cheaper
It's easier
Take a tip from Nike, and Just Do It!
It's healthier
It's cheaper
It's easier
Take a tip from Nike, and Just Do It!
No comments:
Post a Comment