Menu planning is my weak spot. I always "mean" to do it, but somehow it usually gets pushed on the backburner and left to be. Most days at around 3'ish i'm asking the kids for dinner ideas. lol! Not really the best idea usually.. ;) And... with our income dropping and our budget getting much tighter I need to really stick to our $180.00/week grocery budget so i'm not forever running out for "just a few things", and menu planning is the easiest best way to do that! So why do I never stick with it!?
I would love to be able to plan out a months worth of meals like Melissa does, or have lots of 'bonus meals' in the freezer like Debby, or even just *LIKE* to cook and come up with all sorts of awesomely delicious ideas like Cindy does!! I think I need to spend a few hours with my cookbooks and choose a few new recipes to try out. I just find it soo hard when everyone in my family has different likes/dislikes, so it's rare to find one meal that everyone likes & will eat together. Gets to be quite frustrating at times as well...
I tend to cook the same things quite often because i'm cooking for a small and fussy army here. My friend & I were chatting on Skype yesterday about meal planning 'cause I know she feels bad for me that i'm always spending 2 hours in the kitchen every night cooking & cleaning for everyone else before I even get to starting my dinner. And by that time, well i'm over it so i'd rather grab something as easy as possible than start the entire process over again. I think I need to just get over my "forever long rut", and try new things out and hope for the best. ;)
Anyways, today I ran out to grab the rest of what we'll need for the week (more or less) and I surprisingly have the menu plan done & ready to go!
Here's what I grabbed at No Frills to round out what we already have in the house:
- 2 - bags of McCain fries 2/$3.00
- Cheese tortellini $1.79
- 2 - Hunts Thick n' Rich spaghetti sauce $1.98
- Kraft Parmesan $5.97
- Pure Apple Juice $.93
- Old cheddar cheese $5.97
- Can of corn $.87
- Powdered ice tea $3.49 *Of course I grabbed the "wrong" kind and nobody likes this. Sigh.
- 2 - 650g tubs of Vanilla Yogurt $3.94
- Lunch meat $2.99
- Brussel Sprouts $1.24
- Red seedless grapes $3.47
- 2 - Mushrooms $1.94
- 10lb bag of potatoes $1.50
- 2 sweet potatoes $1.63
- Head & Shoulders Shampoo for dh $4.97**
- Baby Powder Deodorant $2.00**
- 24 rolls Bathroom Tissue $4.88**
Total $54.00
** Means these are taxable items. Tax for the 3 items was $1.54. Green means these are sale prices.
On the menu for the week is:
- Sunday: Spaghetti, meat sauce, broccoli, cake.
- Monday: Turkey, mashed potatoes, corn, gravy, buns.
- Tuesday: Chicken & fries & cauliflower.
- Wednesday: *Dallas' Choice* My 'baby' leaves for Qc. for 2 weeks, so i'll let him choose dinner tonight!
- Thursday: Breakfast for dinner. Pancakes, french toast, eggs, etc...
- Friday: Pepperoni Pizza Casserole.
- Saturday: Sloppy Joes on homemade buns.
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What's on your meal plan for the week?
Have you tried any great new recipes lately?
Any "must have" cookbooks that you couldn't possibly live without?
