Monday, November 8, 2010

Manic Meal Planning

I have been doing it on and off for the last few months... Meal Planning that is. And when I do it successfully I am always so thankful. Yes, I stay at home and one would think I would have plenty of time to dream up meals on the fly.
But guess what? My child ate my brain.
It started off slow with bouts of preggo brain. "Oh I forgot to renew my car tags." "Oh I forgot to clean the bathroom before company." Minor things that were fixable, not a huge deal. However, it has progressed into full on motherhood dementia. Like I left the water running in the sink and left the house for 2 HOURS. You read that right, for 2 hours the water in my sink ran NONSTOP. Awesome.
And guess what my least favorite time of the day is around 430... its EJs cocktail hour. And normally results in him being fussy which makes Momma fussy. And the strong desire to throw my hands in the air and yell "I just don't care.. Take-out it is" results.
Which completely counteracts my desire to be waistline and budget conscience. I started slowly with making lists on Sunday when the sales come out. Planning our meals accordingly and attempting to shop ONCE each week. No daily 20 dollar runs for dinner. I am by no means an expert but its been working. Yesterday I score $150 worth of groceries for 90 bucks by sale shopping and using coupons. And no I do not buy a bunch of junk. I am big on staying away from processed foods, the result of growing up in a Cardiologist's family. I grew up believing that salt was the devil's dust.
Because I am nice I thought I might start sharing some of my easy recipes that work great for meal planning aka if you so choose you can make ahead and heat up. But in return please share some of the goodness you make. Variety is key. I have a spreadsheet going of all my meals and it helps me lots.
Our dinners this week looks like this..

Sunday- Gumbo and Cheese toast
Monday- PW's 16 minute Beef and Bean Burritos (I use ground turkey)
Tuesday- Ginger Chicken with Zucchini and Onions (a throw back to yummy goodness that is Benihana's)
Wednesday- Kabobs (its predicted to be 80, seriously fall where are you?)
Thursday- Night out
Friday- Meat Ball sandwiches (turkey and homemade rolls)
Saturday- Deconstructed Chicken Pot pie

And that's our week, you should also know I make the husband breakfast (breakfast sandwiches) and his lunch every day. His coworkers know when I fail to send breakfast because is mood is that bad and if left him to eat lunch on his own he either skips it or eats french fries. Which is a no go when trying to diet, which he is. So my family eats ALL its meals for around 120 a week. Pretty good, huh?

So if you want specific recipe let me know and I will post it. Do you meal plan? What are your tricks?

4 comments:

Laura said...

http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/tomato-cream-sauce-for-pasta/Detail.aspx

here's a good recipe! i looked up those burritos and i'm gonna try them soon:). i meal plan all our dinners...i think it saves lots of money.

Sarah at The Stroller Ballet said...

That is amazing!! 120 a week is great! I need to get on board with the meal planning thing. I feel like it would make my life easier.

@JessEsco said...

That sounds really tasty! I totally need to do that.

Hana said...

Try www.frugalcouponliving.com (formerly frugalcouponmom.com). I used to really follow this website and would consistently save 30-50% on groceries. (Which makes it seem very silly to ever pay full price for anything while food shopping!) I've strayed away this summer, but I'm excited to have my extra fridge back now and really start stocking up on things again. Her strategy is to use store coupons+manufacturer's coupons+sale items and to buy in bulk. Sometimes you can get things for free or even MAKE money on things. (Especially with Publix...ahhhh, how I miss Publix.) Ground turkey is a staple in our house...Turkey Meatloaf has been my favorite lately. I usually whip up during naptime, let chill until dinnertime and then pop it in the oven. Great for leftover grilled meatloaf sandwiches too. Yum! It's an Ellie Krieger recipe http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ellie-krieger/moms-turkey-meatloaf-recipe/index.html