Menu Plan Week #141 - Using What We Have
Ahhh ... did you notice that I've NOT shared menu plan these past two weeks? I was away on vacation and well, it was a little difficult to plan while away ;-) We actually sort of winged it by asking each other and family members around what shall we eat this evening?
Can I just tell you how much I HATED not knowing what we were going to eat until the last minute?Those dashes to the grocery store to pick up something to complete a meal were killing me. It's a 30 minute drive, minimum to a store around those parts ... much as I loved the solitude (and sketchy cell and Internet service) I do miss the easy access to a grocery store when needed!
So, we're back. Which means, YEAH I get to menu plan! And boy, am I ever ready to get back in the groove of things again ... I've got several things that I'm looking forward to doing besides menu planning so keep an eye out!
First off, I want to get the grocery budget back under control. It hasn't been so bad the past few months BUT I need to really get focused. September is an easy month for me, financially, but big things start to kick in for October, November and December so I'd like to be a little proactive and stash more bennies away on a consistent basis. Ideally, $125 a month should be sufficient (don't you think?) and if I was to stick with that, I'd be fine. I mean, heck, that's $500 a month and it should be good! IF and WHEN I do make it to Costco, I need to stick with the simple things, such as romaine lettuce, broccoli, eggs and milk. Is there really anything else that I need from there? No, not really.
I had made it a point to clean out all 3 refrigerators before Hubby and I left town and let the kids know what was left that would hopefully be eaten up by them ... uhm, wrong. So first things first was cleaning out the stuff ... then I had to make a replenishing grocery list and go shopping. On a weekend, no less. Just so you know, HALF of my grocery budget is gone for the month. O M G. Granted, $75 of it was booze (uhm, beer for Hubby, beer for me and then I'm not sure what happened to the Ciroc but it was $34 for a small bottle! Holy crap! Then there was the $80 in ground beef and ground chicken and ground turkey ... I'm sure I have plenty in the freezers but Hubby wanted some 75/25 (or whatever it REALLY is) ground beef to mix with the lean beef for hamburgers and I wanted some ground chicken and turkey ... before you know it, I had a ton of ground protein in the cart. Joy! I definitely will be staying FAR away from any grocery stores til the weekend!
So, with that in mind, here's what we are planning for the week ahead:
Sunday - since no one but Hubby and I are home, I'm pulling some shrimp from the freezer and making a Simple Shrimp Dish. I know Hubby's going to want more so I've also got some broccoli to steam in the fridge
Monday - Labor Day and the last official party day of the summer ... burgers and dogs. Ground beef was bought Sunday, dogs in freezer. Buns were picked up at Aldis on Sunday and fixins are all in the pantry and freezer. The Boy wants to make some grilled veggies using the new skewers. Fine by me, kid! He plans to use jalapenos, onions, grape tomatoes, peppers, squash and zucchini. I'll be wrapping my burger and dogs in some yummy butter lettuce leaves ...
Tuesday - Surprise, it's Taco Tuesday ... ground beef picked up Sunday and the rest of the fixins are in the fridge and pantry! Hoping to cook up the meat Monday morning as part of my meal prep! The Boy will be in charge of the prepping the fixins. He will (I know!) use another package of the Wholly Guacamole in the freezer. I will have a simple taco salad, as always!
Wednesday - Chicken on the grill with a side of salad and leftover veggies from Monday ...
Thursday - leftovers or Sandwiches. I've got some yummy lunch meat in the freezer that I'll pull out in the morning if it looks like slim pickins ... I might also pull out the black bean soup that's in the freezer too ... If we do sandwiches, I'll be using more butter lettuce (this stuff is pretty good and holds up well IF you wash and chill ahead of time)
Friday - Most likely chicken thighs (freezer) cooked on the grill and roasted potatoes ... I need to do a post on how WE make the roasted taters as they are pretty good!
Saturday - Hubby's choice but will push him towards the T-Bone steaks we have in the freezer with roasted broccoli ... we'll see what's going on this day!
What are YOU planning to make this week?
Looking forward to sharing over at the Organized Junkie's Menu Plan Monday Party ... go check it out!
*For those of you who are curious, yes, I'm back to trying to go Paleo ... I stuck with it somewhat on vacation but can I just tell you how messed up my stomach was when I ate heavy grains (bread stuff)? Made me sad to realize that maybe that IS some of my issues?
Can I just tell you how much I HATED not knowing what we were going to eat until the last minute?Those dashes to the grocery store to pick up something to complete a meal were killing me. It's a 30 minute drive, minimum to a store around those parts ... much as I loved the solitude (and sketchy cell and Internet service) I do miss the easy access to a grocery store when needed!
So, we're back. Which means, YEAH I get to menu plan! And boy, am I ever ready to get back in the groove of things again ... I've got several things that I'm looking forward to doing besides menu planning so keep an eye out!
First off, I want to get the grocery budget back under control. It hasn't been so bad the past few months BUT I need to really get focused. September is an easy month for me, financially, but big things start to kick in for October, November and December so I'd like to be a little proactive and stash more bennies away on a consistent basis. Ideally, $125 a month should be sufficient (don't you think?) and if I was to stick with that, I'd be fine. I mean, heck, that's $500 a month and it should be good! IF and WHEN I do make it to Costco, I need to stick with the simple things, such as romaine lettuce, broccoli, eggs and milk. Is there really anything else that I need from there? No, not really.
I had made it a point to clean out all 3 refrigerators before Hubby and I left town and let the kids know what was left that would hopefully be eaten up by them ... uhm, wrong. So first things first was cleaning out the stuff ... then I had to make a replenishing grocery list and go shopping. On a weekend, no less. Just so you know, HALF of my grocery budget is gone for the month. O M G. Granted, $75 of it was booze (uhm, beer for Hubby, beer for me and then I'm not sure what happened to the Ciroc but it was $34 for a small bottle! Holy crap! Then there was the $80 in ground beef and ground chicken and ground turkey ... I'm sure I have plenty in the freezers but Hubby wanted some 75/25 (or whatever it REALLY is) ground beef to mix with the lean beef for hamburgers and I wanted some ground chicken and turkey ... before you know it, I had a ton of ground protein in the cart. Joy! I definitely will be staying FAR away from any grocery stores til the weekend!
So, with that in mind, here's what we are planning for the week ahead:
Sunday - since no one but Hubby and I are home, I'm pulling some shrimp from the freezer and making a Simple Shrimp Dish. I know Hubby's going to want more so I've also got some broccoli to steam in the fridge
Monday - Labor Day and the last official party day of the summer ... burgers and dogs. Ground beef was bought Sunday, dogs in freezer. Buns were picked up at Aldis on Sunday and fixins are all in the pantry and freezer. The Boy wants to make some grilled veggies using the new skewers. Fine by me, kid! He plans to use jalapenos, onions, grape tomatoes, peppers, squash and zucchini. I'll be wrapping my burger and dogs in some yummy butter lettuce leaves ...
Tuesday - Surprise, it's Taco Tuesday ... ground beef picked up Sunday and the rest of the fixins are in the fridge and pantry! Hoping to cook up the meat Monday morning as part of my meal prep! The Boy will be in charge of the prepping the fixins. He will (I know!) use another package of the Wholly Guacamole in the freezer. I will have a simple taco salad, as always!
Wednesday - Chicken on the grill with a side of salad and leftover veggies from Monday ...
Thursday - leftovers or Sandwiches. I've got some yummy lunch meat in the freezer that I'll pull out in the morning if it looks like slim pickins ... I might also pull out the black bean soup that's in the freezer too ... If we do sandwiches, I'll be using more butter lettuce (this stuff is pretty good and holds up well IF you wash and chill ahead of time)
Friday - Most likely chicken thighs (freezer) cooked on the grill and roasted potatoes ... I need to do a post on how WE make the roasted taters as they are pretty good!
Saturday - Hubby's choice but will push him towards the T-Bone steaks we have in the freezer with roasted broccoli ... we'll see what's going on this day!
What are YOU planning to make this week?
Looking forward to sharing over at the Organized Junkie's Menu Plan Monday Party ... go check it out!
*For those of you who are curious, yes, I'm back to trying to go Paleo ... I stuck with it somewhat on vacation but can I just tell you how messed up my stomach was when I ate heavy grains (bread stuff)? Made me sad to realize that maybe that IS some of my issues?
Your menu looks delish!
ReplyDeleteI feel ya on the grocery budget. I'll be doing a stock-up on proteins in the near future but right now it's slim pickings to keep the budget in tact. :)
Thanks Angela ... I was super glad to see that Aldis had the 93/7 ground beef at $4.99 a pound ... that's a pretty competitive price for that lean. Hoping that my protein situation is under control for the rest of the month ;-)
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