Meal planning

Ok, so its been a while...AGAIN...since I last wrote anything on here. Sorry! We have gone from a family of 5 to a family of 8 in the last 10 weeks. =) All is good though!

I thought I would share a little bit about budgeting and menu planning in this post. The grocery budget is the one area in the total budget that I feel I can make a big impact on. Also, menu planning just helps my tired brain at the end of the day to know what to have for dinner. I can just look and see what I planned and know that I have all the ingredients to make it already. We have a certain amount of money for groceries each pay check, so I need to make sure that I plan meals accordingly, and use our money wisely. So meal planning is important in our house.

For me it's a fun "challenge" to see what kind of new, budget friendly, healthy (ok, so they may not always be healthy) meals I can come up with. I also like things that are from scratch, as well as quick and easy, too. I menu plan prior to going shopping, so that I can come up with a complete grocery list, as well as, see what I can plan based on what's on sale. I do not always do that part though. I don't use coupons, either. I just don't have the time or resources for using them right now.

It's very important for me to have a detailed grocery list. It saves me from going "Do I need this? Is this almost gone?" etc. I sit down on the Wednesday before pay day (we get paid every other week, so I plan my menus for 2 weeks at a time; starting on Thursday and ending on a Wednesday.) So, on Wednesdays, I get my menu planning sheet; which is just a simple table I created in Word, that has all the days of the week listed across the top, and 3 big boxes under each day of the week, and I get a blank piece of notebook paper for writing my list. I then start filling in the blanks on my menu with meals, and I write down on my list any ingredients that I need. It's a very simple process and it doesn't take me more than an hour.

So now I thought I would share with you my current 2 week menu as well as recipes. Hopefully it will give you some new ideas; as some of these are our favorites!! =) And please feel free to share your family favorites with me too. I LOVE new recipes. I also, am always looking for good and frugal ideas for breakfast and lunch.

Thursday-
B-Cereal
L-Sandwiches
D- Hamburgers, tator tots, and fresh fruit

Friday-
B-Egg & cheese burritos
L-Mac & cheese
D-Honey chicken, brown rice, & green beans
Honey chicken-4T butter, 1/2 cup honey, 1/4 cup mustard, 1t curry powder, 1t garlic salt, In a sauce pan melt the butter, then stir in the rest of the ingredients. Put chicken in a baking dish, & por the sauce over it. Cover with foil & bake at 375 for 30 min. Remove foil, stir chicken, and bake uncovered for 30 more min. Serve over rice. I usually make one and a half of the sauce recipe for my group.

Saturday-
B-Waffles
L-Hot dogs & fruit
D-Lasagna, salad, garlic rolls (so delish, btw)

Sunday-
B-Cereal
L-Cheese roll ups
D-Eat out for bday dinner

Monday-
B-breakfast burritos
L-sandwiches
D- Eat out (we have to take a couple of the kidlets to visit their siblings & mom, and since it's right at dinner time we have to eat out on Mondays)

Tuesday-
B-Cereal
L-Sandwiches
D-Sloppy Joe's, carrot sticks, chips
Sloppy Joes- 2lbs ground beef, 1/2 c finely chopped onion, 1/2 c finely chopped celery, 2 cloves garlic;minced, 1 can condensed tomato soup, 1/4c ketchep, 2T BBQ sauce, 1T mustard, 1T white vinegar, 1/4c brown sugar, 1 1/2 t Worcestershire sauce, 1/2t salt, 1/4t garlic powder, hamburger buns
Brown ground beef, onions, celery, & garlic until meat is browned. Drain, and place back in pan. Stir in the rest of the ingredients, and cook until heated through, stirring frequently to prevent it from burning. Serve on hamburger buns.

Wednesday-
B-Cereal
L-Hot dogs
D-Butter chicken, rosemary potatoes, brocoli
Butter chicken-2 eggs;beaten, 1 cup crushed buttery crackers, 1/2t garlic salt, pepper to taste, 1 1/2 pounds chicken breast cut into chuncks, 1/2c butter cut into peices
Preheat oven to 375. Mix cracker crumbs, garlic salt and pepper. Dip chicken pieces in the eggs, then dredge in the cracker mix to coat. Arrange chicken in a 13 x 9 baking dish. Place pieces of butter around the chicken. Bake for 45min to an hour.
Rosemary Potatoes-2lbs red potatoes cut into 1in chunks. 4T zesty italian dressing, 1t rosemary, & 1/2t pepper. Toss ingredients together to coat potatoes well. Bake in a baking dish for about an hour.

Thurday-
B-Cereal
L-Mac & cheese
D-Hashbrown soup, salad, & rolls
Hashbrown Soup-1 small onion finely chopped, 3 cans chicken broth, large bag of hashbrowns, 1 can cream of celery, 1 can cream of chicken, 1 1/2 cups milk, 1 lb. velveeta
Sautee onion in a little butter. Add broth, & bring to a boil. Add hash browns and bring to a boil again. Add the soups and milk and bring to a boil. Add cheese and heat till it melts. I have served this soup in bread bowls before, it's delicious!!!

Friday-
B-Egg & cheese burritos
L-Sandwiches
D-BBQ smoked sausage, brown rice, & green beans
BBQ Smoked sausage-2lbs smoked saugage, 3/4c BBQ sauce, 1/3c water. Slice and brown sausage. Mix water and BBQ sauce and pour over sausage. Stir to coat, and simmer on low 20-30 min. Stirring frequently. Serve over rice.
Green beans-2 15oz cans green beans, 2 beef bouillon cubes, 1T worcestershire sauce, 1t soy sauce, 1T butter, 1/4t garlc salt. Mix and bring to a boil. Turn heat to low and simmer about 15min.

Saturday
B-pancakes
L-Hot dogs
D-Sticky chicken, rolls, & broccoli
Sticky Chicken- whole chicken, 4t salt, 2t paprika, 1t chili powder, 1t onion powder, 1t thyme, 1t white pepper, 1/2t garlic power, 1/2t black pepper, & 1 whole peeled orange OR onion.
Mix all seasonings, and cover your cleaned and dried chicken with the rub, inside & out. Place your orange OR onion inside of the chicken, place the chicken in a bag, and let it sit in the fridge overnite. Bake in a shallow baking pan the next day at 250 for 5 hours.

Sunday-
B-Cereal
L- Nachos
D-grilled marinated chicken, butter garlic noodles, salad
Chicken marinade- 1/2 cup red wine vinegar, 1 cup soy sauce, 1/2c oil, 2t oregano, 1t basil, 1t garlic salt, 1/2t pepper. Whisk ingredients together, and place in a gallon ziploc bag with chicken and marinate overnight.

Monday-
B-breakfast burritos
L-sandwiches
D-Eat out

Tuesday-
B- Cereal
L-Cheese roll ups
D-Taco soup (1 can petite diced tomato's, 1 can corn, 1 8oz can tomato sauce, 1/2lb ground beef; browned & drained, 1 can black beans, 1 pkg. taco seasoning (I use homemade). Don't drain any of the cans, pour everything into the pot after you have cooked the ground beef, bring to a boil, and simmer for a few min. Serve in bowls, topped with crushed tortilla chips, & sour cream), salad

Wednesday-
B-Cereal
L-Mac & cheese
D-Hamburger helper, green beans, salad