But today starts a new week. Mondays are usually my prepare for the week day ... grocery shopping gets done, laundry gets done (and hopefully put away) and the calendar/paperwork/bills are looked at and taken care of for the week.
So my first celebration of the day was making a menu plan and grocery list for the week ...
The last few Mondays, I've approached grocery shopping a bit differently. Intrigued by this blog, The Grocery Cart Challenge, I've been trying to get a lot more specific with my meal plan and the groceries I need to carry out that plan. I don't know about you, but I often buy things out of habit or to stock up and a lot of times these things sit for a long while ... or they are only part of a meal, but not a whole meal. So, I've now started to pick 5-6 dinners for the week, 1-2 breakfast recipes and then write my list as I look at the ingredients needed for each recipe. While I don't know that our budget will be $60 or less each week, it has been close, just by buying just what we need (plus a few extras thrown in).
I also really enjoy reading the "Menu Plan Monday" found on many blogs ... I don't know know why, but it's like getting a tiny glimpse into someones life :). So, today, I thought I would share what is our menu this week:
Breakfast:
- Blueberry Scones (I made these this afternoon ... YUM! Sorry Kelly, I had to try this one with heavy cream :). Yours will be next week!)
- Banana Bread (I seem to never use the same recipe for this ... and it might be bread, it might end up as muffins :).)
Dinner:
- Pizza Bread & Pizza Sauce Dip with Salad (Based very loosely on the above recipe. I use Rhodes frozen bread loaves, pepperoni, salami & Italian cheese blend.)
- Frozen Potstickers & Fried Rice
- Pork Tacos (frozen leftovers) & Mexican Sour Cream Rice
- Spaghetti & Breadsticks
- Split Pea Soup & No Knead Bread (The soup is made in the crock pot ... and not an online recipe :P )
- Philly Cheese Steak Sandwiches & Fries(Matt's "recipe" ... these are SO good with fried onions and in true Philly style, "wit" the Cheese Whiz.)
So this week I'm armed with SIX recipes ... and besides feeling organized, do you know how much easier this makes dinner time? And resisting the temptation to just go out to eat. I have been learning (slowly) that it is so much nicer to plan to eat out. To make it something special, a break from the work that goes into cooking, a time to enjoy yummy food with family or friends. We're getting better and better (and meal planning is a huge part of whether we're successful each week) and now go 2-4 times a month!
My second celebration was the grocery bill of less than $75. I managed to save 10% at WinCo which always feels like a big achievement because their prices are already so low. I also grabbed a few good deals at Albertsons and spent $12 with a savings of about 65% ($25).
I also celebrated the fact that we made FOUR stops and got all our shopping/errands done in less than 2 hours!
And to really celebrate ... I got myself a SB Iced Tea :).
Here's to a week of little celebrations ... and if you want to join me, tell me what's on your menu?
Happy Monday!
8 comments:
I have to plan out my meals. It makes me feel like everything will unravel if that's not done. I'll start worrying about that and then one thing will lead to another and then it will be bad. Let's see this week is a pasta dish based on one I saw on the Johnny Carino's menu yesterday (that was tonight. it was good!), we're at my parents tomorrow night, taco pie, spanish rice & corn Wednesday, Chow Mein & fried rice Thursday and Pizza (homemade of course) Friday. Saturday depends on what we end up doing but there are plenty of things I can make & Sunday is usually a FFY night although this week we have a birthday party. Can you share Matt's "recipe"?
I'm impressed that your grocery bill was $75. Was that for a week? I go shopping for 2 weeks at a time and average less than double that which is good since we have double the people to feed I suppose. Right? :)
That was a really long comment. Even for me.
I hope you have a better week this week.
I always try to plan meals for the week since I do my shopping once for the week on the weekend or Monday when I'm off. I usually plan 4-5 meals, Shawn's in charge of one night when I work late and we usually get take out or eat leftovers once or twice a week. I typically spend less money this way and it makes it much easier for me to know what I'm coming home to make, rather than try to figure it out on my way home from work or after I get home. I didn't have to plan a full week this week, since I'm headed to see the preggo girl. This week we are having spaghetti, homemade pizza with spinach and mushrooms and soft tacos. I made cookies yesterday too.
I, too, do so much better if my meals are planned out. I even plan on what day I'm going to make each meal. Last night I tried chicken pot pie with a spelt pie crust. It was heavenly! We'll also be having steak with roasted potatoes & green bean casserole, taco salad, spanish rice bake & corn/black bean salad, and of course, lasagna on Saturday ;)
Made chicken and veggies (marinated in Yoshida sauce) and served over white rice last night. Tonight is dinner at mom and dads...that's about it. I need to go grocery shopping so the end of the week may be ugly when it comes to dinner!
Thanks for the links above. That grocery cart challenge blog looks interesting. I'll have to go check it out.
Yep I have to plan out meals too it just makes it so much easier when dinner time rolls around.
Lets see this week it's burritos, roast with carrots and potatoes, steak, chili and corn bread, lasagna, fiesta chicken wraps and hamburgers plus I always have those quick dinner items on hand if I don't feel much like cooking.
Hey, I thought you didn't like pea soup? Or was it just pea salad?
Love the new banner! That little birdie looks familiar. It think it's the same one I put on Bryson's valentine cards I made :D)
I loved that you shared your meal plan and I hope to check out the blog you referenced. It's just fun to see what everyone else is eating...i'm not sure why.
I must say though I do have weeks where it's not planned and like Kelly says it's just a bit more hectic.
For some reason though I don't have a scheduled time I go to the store so that's when we usually have breakfast for dinner! Thanks for sharing.
OH and how smart of you not to blog on bad weeks that's usually when I blog.... I'm trying to stop that but the other part of me wants to be real... but it's better off to remember the good times and just like you did say it was a bad week.
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