I have been trying harder and harder to find "rules" that help guide my meal planning. Some people may not function better with order and a plan, but I so do. One rule that I have been trying to abide by is choosing one meat to purchase each week. This doesn't include leftover meats. This week, I have 2 chicken breast in the freezer, a piece of beef, and a can of tuna (it was on sale a few weeks ago). So we have variety. Then I'll fill in the blanks with a vegetarian recipe and something with egg (quiche or egg salad) if I have to.
So as an example, this week's menu:
Sunday: (lunch) leftover pizza!; (dinner) leftover beef & vegetable soup
Monday: asparagus, spinach, and parmesan quiche (I am still trying to make my quiche recipe better, any thoughts you've got might help!)
Tuesday: tuna melts and baked potatoes (I add 2 hard boiled, processed eggs to my tuna salad to give it more volume)
Wednesday: pasta with homemade white sauce, asparagus and mushrooms
Thursday: bierocks (I am SO excited!!!)
Friday: chili (we're having friends over and they're getting in late, so I'll double the recipe and it will be waiting for them in the crockpot)
Saturday: (breakfast) cottage cheeze pancakes (I am going to try to leave the egg out, so Abe can have some!), turkey bacon, fruit; (lunch) we're headed to Fort Smith, so we'll probably eat a burger somewhere; (dinner) leftovers, probably of quiche or chili, maybe some bierocks?
Sunday: (lunch) leftovers; (dinner) barley beef & vegetable (this is out of my Better Homes & Garden cookbook passed down to me from Mark's mom. It's got so many jewels!)
The other goal I have each week is to keep the grocery budget under $100. I came in about $15 under budget this week! Yahoo!
So I've been budgeting and meal planning, and we can't get anywhere close to $100 without making some serious adjustments (which I'm not sure we're willing to do). Do you drink wine or beer? They are contributing substantially to our budget right now... as well as cheese.
ReplyDeleteWe do have beer from time to time. And we break the weekly budget about once a month. Honestly, I am still working on it...while the grocery bill was only $85 this week, that doesn't include anything we might purchase outside of Sunday afternoon's list, nor does it include Sabbath wine or beer. And I don't like the cheap beer, Leinenkugel's is my current fave ...= not cheap.
ReplyDeleteWhen we first started meal planning, I really had to get used to the prices at the grocery store. I don't buy organic produce, as it's way too expensive to get enough of and stay in budget. Total bummer. I buy Cabot cheese, usually one block/month. It gets us by, but I have to plan meals accordingly. And I buy fresh, shredded parm, also about once a month.
It takes a lot of planning and adjusting...2 dry erase boards and part of my brain power on Saturday evening and Sunday morning. Ha. There are a million recipes I want to try and things I want to give a go, but our number one concern is our budget...
Mmm.... I love Quiche... sadly... Seth loathes it. But I do have an amazing recipe for it if you want me to share. It's from a 'healthfood' cookbook, but I've NEVER had one that tasted better.
ReplyDeleteMeal planning I enjoy, and I can usually keep the budget to around $50 on a really good week, and 60 on a 'lots of extras' week. I HATE holiday times because they jack the prices on EVERYTHING and the grocery bill sky rockets without you buying anything extra. I guess for 3 people though it isn't bad...