I tried having theme days for meals and planning two weeks of meals. Since I’ve gone back to work, cooking has not been happening. It’s gotten so bad, that we’ve found ourselves eating out or getting take away for breakfast, lunch, and dinner! Not good for the budget.
So, it was time to rework the menu plan again. Luckily, we have a handy-dandy dry-erase board.
Menu Planning Changes:
- I scratched out the days of the week and did away with the theme nights.
- One column is for dinners and the middle column is for the next days’ lunches (note the arrows). Having a corresponding lunch helps me plan ahead for a different lunch item for days when dinners have no leftovers.
- The far right column shows items I need to use, freeze, or prepare.
- I plan to cook the dinners in any order I please. That way, if I feel so worn out after work that the only thing I can do is warm up taco soup from the freezer, then that’s what we’ll have for dinner that night.
- I tried to incorporate/plan meals using potatoes, rice, soups, items already prepared in the freezer, pasta, and produce from the local box that we need to prepare. I also tried to make all of the meal choices from foods that we have in the pantry or in the freezer, to cut back on the grocery bill.
This week’s menu:
- fresh peas, cooked in bacon with veggies and chicken broth
- chicken cooked with Mrs. Dash, potatoes
- Spanish rice (Family Feasts by Mary Ostyn)
- Top Ramon with sausage & veggies
- spaghetti (Jaime’s Food Revolution)
- taco soup (Family Feasts)
- chicken fajita soup (Food Nanny)
As we have tons and tons of potatoes, they will be served with as many meals as possible this week. Mostly, they’ll be thrown in the microwave and topped with butter, salt, and pepper.