We did very well following my meal plans. Three of the nights we didn't follow it but we didn't go out to eat either. We ended up being invited to friends homes these past two Saturdays so we ate there instead.
However the plan ended last night. I haven't had time to come up with a new one...so we are going to Burger King tonight.
Showing posts with label Meal Planning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Meal Planning. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Grocery Shopping & Meal Planning
Okay so I am trying extremely hard to cut the grocery bill in 1/4 (at least) for 2011. One way I read to do this (besides extreme couponing) is to try and only go to the store once a month. As I am not one for drastic changes, we are going to try to only go once every two weeks. In order to do this I came up with our meal schedule for the two weeks.
So here it is:
1/9 -- crock pot lasagna
1/10 -- chicken enchiladas
1/11 -- pork chop skillet (I've posted this recipe before)
1/12 -- chicken breasts with french pan sauce
1/13 -- crock pot chicken with black beans
1/14 -- leftovers
1/15 -- farfalle, peas and goat cheese
1/16 -- crock pot pork roast w/ apples, sage and rosemary
1/17 -- Date Night with hubby (kids will eat leftovers)
1/18 -- king ranch casserole
1/19 -- crock pot chicken tortilla soup
1/20 - ravioli lasagna bake
1/21 -- leftovers
1/22 -- my famous meatloaf (which is actually my friend Susan's recipe)
1/23 -- sesame chicken
So far, so good. We have stuck with the plan but honestly we haven't left the house so we had no choice. I will keep you updated on how it goes.
So here it is:
1/9 -- crock pot lasagna
1/10 -- chicken enchiladas
1/11 -- pork chop skillet (I've posted this recipe before)
1/12 -- chicken breasts with french pan sauce
1/13 -- crock pot chicken with black beans
1/14 -- leftovers
1/15 -- farfalle, peas and goat cheese
1/16 -- crock pot pork roast w/ apples, sage and rosemary
1/17 -- Date Night with hubby (kids will eat leftovers)
1/18 -- king ranch casserole
1/19 -- crock pot chicken tortilla soup
1/20 - ravioli lasagna bake
1/21 -- leftovers
1/22 -- my famous meatloaf (which is actually my friend Susan's recipe)
1/23 -- sesame chicken
So far, so good. We have stuck with the plan but honestly we haven't left the house so we had no choice. I will keep you updated on how it goes.
Friday, November 19, 2010
Last Day of School
So today was the last day of school for the big kids until Dec. 2nd. It is going to be a lot of together time for us until then. I think it should be great. But I am worried about how well I will really handle it. Plus I am starting to feel the holiday crunch.
I have made my Thanksgiving menu. I will grocery shop on Sunday or Monday evening. Mon-Wed, I have to babysit and it will be a full house for us. Four kids plus my three kids = a major margarita happy hour one night. Just kidding...sort of. To be honest, it has taken a while but I have a good group of girlfriends who every once in while I invite over to have a cocktail while the kids play. We just watch them, feed them dinner and sit around talking. It is a nice relief at the end of a long day. And we all need that time to talk (read: vent) with other moms so we know we aren't crazy.
I have been researching recipes but here is my menu as of right now. We will have 9 adults (possibly 10) and 6 kids.
Turkey
Stuffing (in the bird)
Stuffing (in the crockpot)
Green Bean bundles (I am skipping the casserole this year and trying something new. This is my friend Amber's recipe so I am excited to share it)
Whipped Mashed potatoes
Sweet Potato casserole (in the crockpot)
Corn (my MIL is making this; we normally make a casserole but she said she may try something new)
Macaroni and Cheese (in the crockpot, my Mom is making this with a recipe we have been making a lot and love at our house)
Gravy
Rolls
Dessert
I am still mulling this over so I will share later when I decide.
So the day after Thanksgiving, I will do my annual black friday shopping. Although I really haven't decided on many gifts yet for this year. The two big kids want a puppy and the hubby is not giving in. So I think we are going to get them a Wii but other than that we haven't picked out any other things yet.
Also on next week, we are leaving for our trip to Disney World. So excited! I have to pack our stuff next week at some point. So far the kids still don't know we are going. We have been working really hard to keep it a surprise. I also need to make our touring plans for the trip. I haven't had a chance to do that yet although I just figured out which park we will visit each day.
I just realized I have a lot to do. I need to stop writing for now and get on it. Plus I have two loads to put away. And my BP is meeting with our mentor this afternoon, so I am going to try to get there to ask her a million questions. Yes we are getting closer to launching. I can't believe how long it is taking us. I imagine everything will be up and running by the first of the year. And our other project should have some news on it by the first week of December. So exciting!!!!
I have made my Thanksgiving menu. I will grocery shop on Sunday or Monday evening. Mon-Wed, I have to babysit and it will be a full house for us. Four kids plus my three kids = a major margarita happy hour one night. Just kidding...sort of. To be honest, it has taken a while but I have a good group of girlfriends who every once in while I invite over to have a cocktail while the kids play. We just watch them, feed them dinner and sit around talking. It is a nice relief at the end of a long day. And we all need that time to talk (read: vent) with other moms so we know we aren't crazy.
I have been researching recipes but here is my menu as of right now. We will have 9 adults (possibly 10) and 6 kids.
Turkey
Stuffing (in the bird)
Stuffing (in the crockpot)
Green Bean bundles (I am skipping the casserole this year and trying something new. This is my friend Amber's recipe so I am excited to share it)
Whipped Mashed potatoes
Sweet Potato casserole (in the crockpot)
Corn (my MIL is making this; we normally make a casserole but she said she may try something new)
Macaroni and Cheese (in the crockpot, my Mom is making this with a recipe we have been making a lot and love at our house)
Gravy
Rolls
Dessert
I am still mulling this over so I will share later when I decide.
So the day after Thanksgiving, I will do my annual black friday shopping. Although I really haven't decided on many gifts yet for this year. The two big kids want a puppy and the hubby is not giving in. So I think we are going to get them a Wii but other than that we haven't picked out any other things yet.
Also on next week, we are leaving for our trip to Disney World. So excited! I have to pack our stuff next week at some point. So far the kids still don't know we are going. We have been working really hard to keep it a surprise. I also need to make our touring plans for the trip. I haven't had a chance to do that yet although I just figured out which park we will visit each day.
I just realized I have a lot to do. I need to stop writing for now and get on it. Plus I have two loads to put away. And my BP is meeting with our mentor this afternoon, so I am going to try to get there to ask her a million questions. Yes we are getting closer to launching. I can't believe how long it is taking us. I imagine everything will be up and running by the first of the year. And our other project should have some news on it by the first week of December. So exciting!!!!
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Meal Updates
Okay so the meal planning has been going well. I have not stuck to the plan 3 times so far. Twice it happened on Mondays. Both Mondays the hubby happened to be out of town which meant he wouldn't be enjoying my gourmet cooking (laugh inserted here).
On the first Monday, my MIL called. She invited us to dinner at a new(er) restaurant where the kids eat free on Monday. So in the interested of not cooking, we went. Our meals were good. The service was slow. 2 hours to get in and out with 3 kids is a little too long. At least for my kids.
Then this weekend, we had planned on eating out on Sunday but we switched it to Saturday. All was well because we ate Saturday's food Sunday. No biggie.
But on Monday, I just fell off the wagon. The little dude started complaining that his ear hurt around 1pm. By the time I was able to get in with the md. it was for a 4:45 appt. When I arrived at the doctors, I was told my appt time was triple booked. I try to never get mad when I have to wait at the pediatrician because with kids I know there are certain times when someone really needs an appt. And I have had to be squeezed in enough times to not mind. But either way, it brought us to leaving the doctors office at 5:45. I had a meeting to attend at 7, and had my in-laws coming by to babysit at 6:45. I had originally planned to have the kids bathed and ready for bed once they arrived. Instead I picked up Micky D's, shoveled it in the kids mouths, and rushed to put the kids pj's on.
Yesterday we got back on schedule. I made tilipia for dinner. Normally I bake it in the oven with blackened seasoning. Last night, I pan fried it with panko. I served it with risotto. It was my first time making risotto ever. It was pretty good but I need to tweak the recipe and try again. Next time, I'll share it. Pinkie swear.
And I am thinking about batch cooking for next months meal plan. I am really trying to stick with a grocery budget, so I need to see if I can figure out a way to make that work. I'll let you know.
On the first Monday, my MIL called. She invited us to dinner at a new(er) restaurant where the kids eat free on Monday. So in the interested of not cooking, we went. Our meals were good. The service was slow. 2 hours to get in and out with 3 kids is a little too long. At least for my kids.
Then this weekend, we had planned on eating out on Sunday but we switched it to Saturday. All was well because we ate Saturday's food Sunday. No biggie.
But on Monday, I just fell off the wagon. The little dude started complaining that his ear hurt around 1pm. By the time I was able to get in with the md. it was for a 4:45 appt. When I arrived at the doctors, I was told my appt time was triple booked. I try to never get mad when I have to wait at the pediatrician because with kids I know there are certain times when someone really needs an appt. And I have had to be squeezed in enough times to not mind. But either way, it brought us to leaving the doctors office at 5:45. I had a meeting to attend at 7, and had my in-laws coming by to babysit at 6:45. I had originally planned to have the kids bathed and ready for bed once they arrived. Instead I picked up Micky D's, shoveled it in the kids mouths, and rushed to put the kids pj's on.
Yesterday we got back on schedule. I made tilipia for dinner. Normally I bake it in the oven with blackened seasoning. Last night, I pan fried it with panko. I served it with risotto. It was my first time making risotto ever. It was pretty good but I need to tweak the recipe and try again. Next time, I'll share it. Pinkie swear.
And I am thinking about batch cooking for next months meal plan. I am really trying to stick with a grocery budget, so I need to see if I can figure out a way to make that work. I'll let you know.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Meal Plan
Okay so I have done it. I looked through my handy cookbooks (I have a lot!), my binder of recipes (more on that later) and the internet and planned my meals for the next 4 weeks. Remember I said earlier I am doing leftovers on Thursdays and crock pot dinners Wednesdays. I figure if I publish it here it will keep me honest so here it goes:
14th: chicken enchiladas
15th: going out
16th: pasta w/ butter, parmesan cheese and broccoli
17th: pork chop skillet w/ stuffing
18th: teriyaki chicken and fried rice
19th: leftovers
20th: hamburgers, hot dogs, coleslaw
21st: steak, sweet potatoes, grilled veggies
22nd: out
23rd: chicken bruschetta
24th: tilipia w/ rice & beans
25th: BBQ pork, bakes potatoes
26th: leftovers
27th: breakfast for dinner
28th: out for dinner(no kids)
29th: picnic/sandwiches at fountains
30th: meatloaf
31st: ravioli & spinach bake
1st: chicken tortilla soup
2nd: leftovers
3rd: gravy w/ sausage and meatballs; pasta
4th: meatball subs
5th: fajitas
6th: Labor Day (probably a BBQ)
7th:tostada stacks with fajita leftovers
8th: buffalo chicken lasagna
9th: leftovers
10th: make your own pizza night
11th: grilled chicken sandwiches
Wow! I can't believe I did it. Let's see if I can stick with it. All this and I did 2 loads of laundry today. It is a miracle. I think I am just being productive because I have a long overdue girls night tonight. I can not wait!!!
14th: chicken enchiladas
15th: going out
16th: pasta w/ butter, parmesan cheese and broccoli
17th: pork chop skillet w/ stuffing
18th: teriyaki chicken and fried rice
19th: leftovers
20th: hamburgers, hot dogs, coleslaw
21st: steak, sweet potatoes, grilled veggies
22nd: out
23rd: chicken bruschetta
24th: tilipia w/ rice & beans
25th: BBQ pork, bakes potatoes
26th: leftovers
27th: breakfast for dinner
28th: out for dinner(no kids)
29th: picnic/sandwiches at fountains
30th: meatloaf
31st: ravioli & spinach bake
1st: chicken tortilla soup
2nd: leftovers
3rd: gravy w/ sausage and meatballs; pasta
4th: meatball subs
5th: fajitas
6th: Labor Day (probably a BBQ)
7th:tostada stacks with fajita leftovers
8th: buffalo chicken lasagna
9th: leftovers
10th: make your own pizza night
11th: grilled chicken sandwiches
Wow! I can't believe I did it. Let's see if I can stick with it. All this and I did 2 loads of laundry today. It is a miracle. I think I am just being productive because I have a long overdue girls night tonight. I can not wait!!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)