Menu week 1

Ok so we are at the end of week one of only spending $10 a week for 4 weeks so that I can help our daughter fulfill an amazing dream. I have had so many people say that I should write more about the things that we are eating. Well we will see how the last week is???? I may be asking for you all to have us over for dinner?? :) But for now there hasn't been a drastic change. I really was so stocked...the only thing that I didn't have much of was toilet paper. There was NO way that I could stay within my $10 budget and buy TP so I burned my CVS bucks on TP...I know...I know.....but I will build them back up again! I saved enough to still get a few items and rebuild without coming out of my pocket!


This weeks menu was:

Breakfast....

*Whole wheat choc chip muffins( you will be seeing these a great deal as my whole family loves them and we have plenty of stuff to make them)
*Cereal....we eat alot of cereal for snacks as well.
*Pancakes
*Eggs and pancakes
*Oatmeal...another thing my kids like to snack on.
*Grits

Snacks....
*Bananas
*Carrots and celery...dipped in ranch of course
*Cheese and crackers
*Blue corn chips and salsa
*homemade muffins

Lunch....
*Cheese roll ups
*soup
*Turkey subs
*PB&J
*left overs
*Ravioli...it might have been the kind in a can?? :(
*salad

Dinner....
*Breakfast...eggs,bacon and pancakes
*potato soup and grilled cheese sand.
*grilled pork,salad, mashed potatoes, broccoli,cauliflower and carrots and rolls
*Chicken and dumplings, green beans and mac&cheese
*Roast, roasted potatoes, green peas and carrots
*Pizza....ice cream
*Quesadillas, chips and salsa and cheese dip


That is it through Friday night. It will help my meal planning because Eric will be in Haiti all next week....he eats a whole lot! :)

Inexpensive meals

I am trying to spend even less than normal at the store this week because we have some extra expenses......when you coupon you usually have a good extra stash of food so this is not really difficult. I found ground beef on sale for 1.49 a pound and I bought 6 pounds. I usually do not eat this much ground beef in a week but this week we did...are! I browned half of it and used part for tacos the first night with shells I already had on hand from a previous coupon stocking, cheese stocked from Kroger sale 2 weeks ago and free lettuce from Kroger...coupon came in the mail.... yeah!!.....the other half of browned meat I put in the freezer after I rinsed it for soup on Saturday. I rinse all browned ground meat with hot water in a colander to get all the extra fat off.


I will add Frozen mixed veggies, free last week at Publix.... Hunts Tomato sauce.... almost free from Publix a month ago and the ground beef in my freezer from the beginning of the week and some spices and make a big pot of soup tomorrow. YUM!!!

With the other half of meat I made hamburgers and we grilled them on Tuesday...Oh so good!

We also made: #1 breakfast this week...eggs, toast, hash browns, grits....I already had all this. #2 Grilled chicken veggies and baked potatoes we had this twice...all stuff I already had and I only added milk, bread and a few things that I got for almost free!

Menu for Aug. 3-9

Breakfast: Cereal, French Toast ( I made 48 extra pieces this morning for the week and froze them...I'll post the video I took this morning later :) ) Oatmeal, Grits, Toast and Eggs.

Lunch: Grilled cheese, PB&J, Turkey, egg salad dinner left-overs, Cheese roll ups, Salad, fruit, pickles, blue corn chips and baked crackers.

snacks: carrots, protein fruit smoothies ( I get my protein from Shaklee...expensive but oh so healthy and a "grand-ma treat"), apples, grapes, banana bread, cheese, yogurt, baked crackers and whole wheat choc. chip muffins.

The above stuff doesn't change very much from week to week.

Monday: baked chicken with ritz crackers, mac & cheese, salad, baked pot. and carrots

Tuesday: grilled chicken, corn on the cob, green beans, oven baked potatoes

Wednesday: salad with sliced grilled chicken( I'll make enough Tuesday for Wed. ), bread, strawberries & grapes cut up together.

Thursday: Breakfast for dinner....eggs, bacon, toast, grits, hash browns

Friday: grilled flank steak, baked pot., salad, steamed veggies, brownies (we usually have Pizza on Friday night but we are cooking for a family who's father is serving in Iraq so we wanted to make it special)

Saturday: We are going to a pool party so we will pack sandwiches & baked crackers.

Sunday: Pork Roast, mashed potatoes, steamed veggies, bread, any and all fruit and raw veggies still left

Simplify

Did I already title one like this?? I must need to do it more!!!

First I want to thank my sweet friend Hollie who took time and told me how to put in a link to other places from my blog! So I will try it now!! You can check out her blog right here.
Let me know if it works!

My life continues to be full..too full so I began to think about more ways that I can simplify. I love to cook and I tend to be an all or nothing kind of gal. I find myself dreading cooking sometimes because of the time issue. I plan everything so I always know what the weeks dinners will be so I can prepare some things during the day and not wait to do it all at 5:00. I also try to think ahead and double up on somethings to save work for later.....grill chicken for one night but make enough to cut up and serve over salad the next night, or make triple amounts of spaghetti sauce or taco meat and freeze it for later.

And still I needed to reexamine! :) I am posting my menu for you to see. I tried to look at the time it takes to make each meal and save meals that take more time for days that I have more time.

Monday....Grilled chicken, salad, baked potato and sliced apples (I would normally bake these but I am simplifying!)

Tuesday..Salad with cold grilled chicken, cold carrots(with Ranch..of course), whole wheat rolls.

Wednesday...Breakfast...Eggs, grits, toast and fresh fruit

Thursday...Tacos, refried beans, chips and salsa

Friday...Flank Steak, corn, green beans, buttered potatoes, steamed mixed veggies, rolls

Saturday...Leftovers

Sunday...crock pot....beef and noodles

Love those babies