Menu Plan and Program

I get tired of menu planning. I get tired of cooking and trying to figure out what to make. I get tired of making the same thing over and over again. I get tired of trying something new and the food not tasting great. Sometimes I just get tired.

Then, I will find something new try and it'll make my life a bit easier for a bit. Here's my latest menu planning find.

Menu Planner 

I took the time to input our favorite dinners, side dishes and breakfasts. Then I printed out all of these options and put them in my menu planning binder. I also printed out blank planners so I can hand write ideas down. The biggest problem that I see is that I can't easily put my menu on my blog with links to recipes.

For now, I'm over my "I'm tired" phase. Here's a very basic menu planner that I created a while back. Regardless of what planner you use, it's beneficial to plan out a few meals. Check your fridge, freezers and cupboards to see what you have on hand.

Dinners will be very boring this week. I'm trying to use up what we have before we go on vacation.

1. Pork Chops marinated in 1/2 lemon juice, 2 T olive oil and 1 t. oregano. I'm still trying to come up with a good and cheap "pantry" marinade!
2. Breakfast for Dinner. YUMMY!
3. Quiche w/ whatever I can find in the house. I add more eggs to this recipe! I need to post my version
4. Chicken with Mustard Cream Sauce (Pork instead)
5. We're on vacation for a couple of days.

We have frozen peas, green beans, broccoli and cauliflower. I need to buy some farm fresh eggs though. I might hit the farmer's market at some point to see if they have anything. Last week they had greenhouse tomatoes and 1 cucumber. If it ever warms up outside maybe my own garden will grow! We have had some lettuce from it and that's it.

This morning I need to make some peanut butter oatmeal so we can eat that for a few breakfasts and then we'll eat whatever we can find the other mornings.

Check out Orgjunkie.com for more menu ideas!

Grocery Shopping & Menu Plan

Last Tuesday I went through the grocery store ad to see if I needed anything that was on sale. Then on Thursday, I stopped at the grocery store after I picked up the kids from school.

I saved $2.70 at the store because I bought the items on sale instead of at full price. It took me an extra 10 minutes out of my day to save $2.70. That is like earning $16.20/hour ($2.70 savings * (60 minutes/10minutes)). Tax Free. I could shop when I wanted to and when it was convenient for me.

I hesitated to post that I spent 10 minutes to save $2.70. That in itself is the biggest problem with our attitudes today. As homemakers, without any "paycheck", our job is to save money. Yes, sometimes we work for the "low" wage of $16.20/hour. Obviously I cannot spend my entire day "saving" $2.70 at the grocery store, but if I find little things like that to do during the day, I can earn a good hourly wage. This concept is discussed in detail in the Complete Tightwad Gazette. I couldn't find the page number this morning - Can anyone help me out with the page number?

Back to my shopping trip:

• sausage $2.00
• flour $1.50
• frozen veggies $1.00
• ketchup $2.00
• $6.50 spent

On Tuesday the 23rd after I volunteer at the school, I plan to stop by the store to buy a few more loss leaders to fill my pantry and buy some milk.

Onto the menu plan...we'll be eating a lot from my OAMC session. Good thing too because "the taxi mom" will be on duty again every day during dinner time.

Monday: Smothered Burritos (OAMC) with mixed veggies
Tuesday: Chili (OAMC) with salad
Wednesday: Lasagna (OAMC) with roasted carrots, broccoli and cauliflower
Thursday: Taco Salad (meat is in the freezer from OAMC)
Friday: plan aheads (AKA leftovers) or scrambled eggs with veggies
Saturday: fish or marinated pork chops (OAMC) with peas
Sunday: My hubs cooks! Yeah!

Stay tuned for my April OAMC plan where I am planning fewer pasta meals and including more veggies and fruit.  I plan to do my OAMC session the week after Easter.

This post is linked to Orgjunkie and Grocery Cart Challenge.

Menu Plan Monday: The Pantry

You know the saying...when you fail to plan, you plan to fail? Well in this case, I'm not making a menu plan, but I'm planning to use my pantry.

Clear as mud isn't it?!!

Oh how I love the pantry principle. I've got meat to cook, veggies in the freezer and everything I could possibly need to bake a few things. I don't have to worry if I don't have an exact plan to follow. I'm more comfortable with a plan, but I truly don't need to have one.

The only plan I have for the next few days is to cook food at home! I have a big chicken that I will roast today and some beans for bean soup. As long as I have a tentative plan in the morning then we don't go out to eat.

No food in the pantry and no plan in the morning means we go out to eat!

Menu Plan through 1/27

We get paid on Thursday the 28th, so I'm only planning my menu for a few days. On Thursday I'll buy food for our two week menu plan. I really need to inventory the food we have and write it down again. I had this all written down before Christmas, but who knows where that list went with the hustle and bustle of the season!

We had a crazy busy weekend here. With the blizzard conditions it was a lot of fun traveling to my daughter's basketball tournament that was 25 miles away! We had commitments at home on Saturday and Sunday as well so we had to drive back and forth several times. Oh the fun of living in South Dakota! The kids have a late start at school today because of the wind and temperatures.

Onto the menu plan:

• Monday: My husband is cooking. He normally cooks on Sunday, but he cheated and picked up a pizza instead. You know Little Caesars really isn't too bad - not healthy at all, but I liked it.
• Tuesday: I still haven't made the broccoli quiche yet that's been on my menu plan for a while. I keep making scrambled eggs so it just hasn't sounded good. I haven't made mac and cheese with ham or pepperoni calzones either. So it's up in the air what we'll have!
• Wednesday: Super Simple Cranberry Roast a lady on Frugal-Family recommended this.

Menu Plan Monday 1/17-1/23

To see what's cooking head on over to Hummingbird Homemaking. Apparently my brain is fried because I meant to put that on this blog. Oh well!

Frugal Menu Plan Monday 1/11 - 1/16

Last night I made fancy quesadillas and they were amazing! Here's the plan for the rest of the week:

1. Husband cooks
2. Cajun red beans and rice with smoked sausages
3. Split pea and ham soup
4. Broccoli and ham quiche here's the crust recipe and here is the quiche recipe (I add 5 eggs because we don't usually like the texture of quiche). My husband likes this a lot and he's not usually a quiche lover.
5. Cheesy Rice and Beef
6. Shrimp (leftover from Christmas) in a cream sauce
7. ??? Depends on if I go to the store or not. We'll either have pepperoni pizza or veggie Spaghetti if chicken isn't on sale.

Find other menu plans at Orgjunkie.

2 Week Menu Plan

Earlier this week I looked in my pantry for 12 dinners I could serve for the next 2 week. My husband cooks on Sundays so I don't have to worry about those. That man is magical and can make something from nothing and it tastes awesome!

Today when the ads came out I added one more thing since hamburger was finally on sale. Here's the two week menu plan:

1. Husband
2. Husband
3. Cajun red beans and rice with smoked sausages
4. Black beans and rice over tortilla chips
5. Split pea and ham soup
6. Black Bean soup
7. Spaghetti with Italian sausage
8. Manicotti (made at the same time as the spaghetti and frozen for the following week
9. Monterrey Chicken Quesadillas (these sound awesome!)
10. Shrimp in a cream sauce (can't remember what it's called - shrimp is leftover from Christmas)
11. Broccoli and ham quiche
12. Buffalo chicken spaghetti
13. Cheesy Beef & Rice (new recipe to try)
14. Greek Cinnamon Stewed Chicken (my sister said this was good)

I'm still working on what veggies we're going to have with dinner. I plan a trip to Sam's Club next Wednesday so I'll have a lot of green beans and peas.

Breakfast will be:

• Mondays: pancakes or waffles
• Tuesdays: steel cut oats
• Wednesdays: new recipe
• Thursdays: leftovers
• Fridays: scrambled eggs
• weekends are FFYS (fend for yourself)

Menu Plan Monday 12/21-12/26

In my life, the best time to make a menu plan is when I'm too busy to make a plan. I really had to convince myself this morning that it's going to help me tremendously during this Christmas week. With company coming and having a cold/no energy I realized that having a plan will help me focus my energy on other important things.

• Sunday - DH is making white turkey chili w/ roasted sweet potatoes


• Mon - B: french toast L: white turkey chili D: turkey pot pie w/ beef soup (from freezer)


• Tues - B: steel cut oats L: FFYS (fend for yourself) D: pizza


• Wed - B: scrambled eggs w/ toast L: FFYS D: DH making hamburgers or bean soup


• Thurs. - FFYS until dinner

Christmas Eve Dinner: turkey ala king and a bunch of appetizers

Christmas Day: For Breakfast I'm making an egg bake with eggs, cheese and shredded potatoes, with banana bread from the freezer. For Lunch/Dinner we're having Ham, twice baked potato casserole, green beans, challah bread

Dec 26th: we're having steel cut oats and whatever else! I'm fairly certain we'll have a lot of leftovers plus we plan to do some touristy stuff when our family is here.

Any or all of this might change at any given time, but I'm okay with that...at least I won't have to think of food if I don't want to!

Check out orgunkie.com for more menu plans!

Menu Plan Monday 12/14 - 12/20

I'm not sure what veggie I'm serving with some of the meals yet. It will depend on what is on sale at the store this week.

1. Turkey with creamy garlic pasta, sweet potatoes and peas
2. Baked potato soup with bacon, cheese, broccoli
3. Crispy lemon Beef over rice w/ carrots
4. Spaghetti
5. Bean Soup
6. Pepperoni & Mushroom Calzones or Pizza
7. DH cooks on Sunday

Next I need to work on my menu plan for company that is coming at Christmas. I am waiting for the sale ads to come out on Wednesday so I can get busy!

Menu Plan Monday 12/7- 12/13

Last week I figured out what we were going to eat for the next few weeks . I did all of my grocery shopping last Thursday, so making my menu plan for this week was easy! I looked at my calendar to see when the basketball games were, practices, and any other commitments we had, and then scheduled dinners that would work with that night.

• Mon: baked potato soup Cottage Cheese pancakes, sausage, hash browns, fruit (I changed this because we ate Stupid Easy CP Sausage and Potatoes for dinner on Saturday and ate the rest for lunch on Sunday - too many potatoes for the main meal!)


• Tues: lasagna (basketball game - will make in the AM)


• Wed: Smothered bean burritos - this is already done! Yeah!


• Thurs: Buffalo flavored turkey spaghetti - one of our new favorites!


• Fri: Crispy Lemon Beef


• Sat: Cajun beans and Rice w/ smoked sausage

For breakfast we're having waffles, steel cut oats, scrambled eggs, homemade granola and probably french toast. We'll fill in with cold cereal and/or leftovers.

Menu Plan Take: 1,200,233,423

So I can change my mind once or twice or a million times right???

Here is my very tentative plan...I am going to shop on Thursday 12/3 for food to last us for two weeks. Next week if I run to the store it will be for some milk and any INCREDIBLE, ONCE IN A LIFETIME loss leaders (yelling at myself, not you). I'm not sure that I'll have enough fresh fruit either. We have a lot of canned fruit and tons of frozen veggies though so we'll see!

Days in December (dinners are NOT in order of when they'll be served - that never seems to work out for me!):

1. Turkey Pot Pie (put one in the freezer as well)
2. Mac & Cheese w/ sweet potatoes
3. Potluck - bringing brownies w/ caramel sauce
4. Smothered refried bean burritos w/ tomatoes
5. Lasagna - which we'll eat throughout the weekend
6. DH is making chili w/ chuck roast
7. Cajun red beans and rice
8. tacos w/ burger or chuck roast and lentils - black beans on side or taquitos
9. Buffalo flavored Spaghetti w/ chicken or turkey
10. Spaghetti w/ meatballs possibly???
11. Soup - baked potato soup or bean soup w/ creamy garlic penne pasta
12. ?
13. DH cooks on Sundays
14. Black Beans and Rice or Spicy Beans
15. Chx or turkey ala king
16. calzones

All of this is subject to change depending on the sales. Last time I was at Safeway I found awesome deals on shrimp and fish so we'll see! My plan is to spend $80 on things that we need and then stock up on a few things that rarely go on sale (8oz shredded cheese is $1.00 per bag!)

Safeway 1st:

• promo deal for cream cheese? $1.00 ea? Check egg promo as well
• cereal $1.25 for mini wheats w/ my rain check and coupons $5.00
• oranges $.33/lb - $5.00
• avocado $.77
• pears $1.00/lb - 4?
• Grapefruit is 2/$1.00...depending on the size of them I may or may not get them
• Roast $1.88/lb $4-$8 (not sure of the minimum amount I can buy)
• Bacon $2
• Butter? $2
• Price of Chinese egg noodles & wrappers
• Check coffee if less than $5.99 buy
• Check olive cost (coupon $1/2)
• Check Rotel cost (coupon $.50/1)
• look for cheap shrimp & fish as well as bananas
• Total expected to spend $ 27 w/o anything past Bacon

Small local store - Lueders 2nd:

• Kielbasa $3??
• Burger (depending on meat purchase at Safeway) $3
• Boneless Pork $1.79/lb (for my "pantry" $5
• Cheese - 3 bags Italian and 4 bags pizza cheese - $7
• More shredded cheese for my "pantry" depending on how much $ I have
• 1 Block of cheese $1.25 if sharp cheddar is available
• sm miracle whip $2
• 1 tomato $1
• 1 head garlic $1
• lots of bananas $.39 - $3.00
• 1 bag onions $3
• 5 lb bag of grapefruit (if not at Safeway) $4
• Cabbage $2
• Carrots $2
• Milk $2.00
• 1 yogurt starter $.50
• Buttermilk $1.50
• Daisy sour cream $3
• Eggs either 18 or 12 med. & 12 large $3
• butter? $2 (have 3 lbs right now)
• Applesauce $2
• Salsa $3
• Popcorn $2
• Elbow macaroni $2
• Price of Chinese egg noddles
• salt $.50
• Check price of raisin bran
• Corn Tortillas??
• Farmland Sausage Roll $1 ea - get rain check
• total expected to spend (nothing past salt) $53

Total $27+53 = $80. Okay now that is funny! I hadn't added it up yet, but I knew that previously I was able to spend $40 per week on things we NEEDED for that week's menu so that's how I arrived at my goal of $80

Depending on the deals I find, I think I want to buy 2 more bags of Italian Cheese and Pizza Cheese for my pantry.

Menu Plan Monday 11/30 - 12/6

Our meals don't seem quite so boring now that I'm menu planning a little more. I am making things from my pantry, freezer and fridge, but it doesn't seem to be the same thing over and over again - which in my case is Mexican most nights! Because I had some ideas written down (from the Internet and meals I didn't make last week) I didn't have to think too hard to come up with this plan. Since I only have $35 to spend at the store this week I need to be very careful in my purchases! Thankfully, all I really need is milk, fresh fruit, carrots, cabbage and one pound of ground beef.

Planned Breakfasts:

• Pancakes (make homemade syrup)


• Steel Cut Oats


• French Toast Casserole


• Scrambled Eggs


• Leftovers and/or cereal

Planned Dinners - it's a busy week and I'm not sure when we'll be home to eat so I'll make a lot of the meals during the day and then we'll re-heat in the evening.

• Turkey Soup w/ homemade croutons (bits of bread in the freezer)


• Refried pinto beans - smothered in green chile or spicy rice and beans


• Cheesy Beef & Rice


• Homemade spaghetti or spaghetti pie


• Turkey pot pie

We have a potluck to go to one night and I'm not sure if we'll be eating here on Friday due to a basketball tournament for my daughter.

All meals are subject to change without notification

Really, it's okay if your plan doesn't work out. Seriously, it'll be okay...right?!? As Life as a Mom has stated - this menu plan is for ME. To help ME!!! Okay, it'll be okay if it's not perfect (I think).

Hop on over to Org Junkie to get more ideas!

Menu Plan Monday

Week two of my new routine. I don't like it! I don't like it at all. My menu plan last week didn't work out EXACTLY as I had planned. Deep breath in, deep breath out.

Okay, I'm over my perfectionism! Well, not really. I do see how having something written down and posted on the Internet makes me plan ahead a bit more. I didn't make two of my meals that I had planned to - the turkey soup and the baked pork chimichangas. So they'll just go on this week's menu! Brilliant idea whoever thought of it!

Actually they'll go on the following weeks' menu plan because I'm only preparing dinner once this week. On Tuesday we'll have sandwiches. Then we are outta here!

Nov 23rd

breakfast - leftover PB oatmeal
lunch - leftover pizza
dinner - veggie quiche



Nov 24th

breakfast - waffles
Lunch - leftovers that have been frozen probably chili
dinner - sandwiches, fruit, junk food, dried fruit, junk food, Doritos, beef jerky, starburst for dessert - don't we eat well when we travel?

Get other wonderful ideas over at Orgjunkie.com

Menu Plan Monday

I figured out why menu planning hasn't worked for me in the past. I've got this little issue called PERFECTIONISM! If I can't do it perfectly why bother?!? Well, because it might make my life easier.

Sooooo...in order to follow through with my babysteps here is my menu:

11/16 - 11/21 Breakfasts:

1. Pancakes
2. Steel Cut Oats
3. Scrambled Eggs
4. Whatever else I can find - cereal, homemade granola, toast, carrot muffins, etc.

11/16-11/21 Dinners:

1. Fried rice w/ sirloin & vegies
2. meatballs over rice
3. turkey soup w/ broccoli; homemade croutons and creamy garlic pasta
4. Eating at Sam's Club or Wendy's after a basketball game and before shopping at Sam's. We'll be out of town so I'm treating the kids and myself. Not sure what DH will have yet.
5. Baked pork chimichangas
6. black beans, cheese and rice over tortilla chips
7. DH cooks on Sundays!!!

This post is linked to orgjunkie.com.