When I posted about Squeezing the Grocery Budget 'til it squeaks, I was asked if I might share one of our two-week meal plans. So here it is! My menu plans are made so that I know I have ingredients in the house to prepare meals-but they are made casually. What I mean to say is- if I don't feel like making a particular thing on a particular day, I change days around or even replace it with something else. I decided before I posted the menu plan that I would wait until an actual two weeks had passed so you would know what we ACTUALLY ate, and not what we "planned" to eat.
After writing it all down and looking at it in one place, I realized just how much peanut butter we consume. Wow. I am off to buy stocks in Peter Pan. ;-)
Two things to keep in mind: 1) Because I am trying to lose weight, I usually eat differently than the children at lunch time. My lunches usually involve salads or soups or couscous with veggies. I didn't include these for simplicities' sake. And 2) When you see *HG, it means HOMEGROWN. In the case of fruits, however it is more home preserved than homegrown, since, sadly, we have no mature fruit-bearing trees yet.)
Oh, and I have tried to provide recipes where ever possible.
Week 1 (No payday this week so we have to eat what we HAVE, which isn't too much!)
Sunday:
Breakfast: cereal and milk (our Sunday tradition-since I am too busy getting people 'fancied' to make anything.)
Lunch: peanut butter and pumpkin butter (*HG) sandwiches
Snack: pretzels, banana
Dinner: Goulash (*HG sauce, beef, onions); bread and butter.
Dessert: peanut butter cookies (*HG eggs)
Monday:
Breakfast: Huckleberry Scones (*HG huckleberries), vanilla yogurt
Lunch: peanut butter and pumpkin butter (*HG) sandwiches
Snack: pretzels, p.b. cookie, raisins
Dinner: Taco Salad (*HG beef, onions, salsa) and tortilla chips
Tuesday:
Breakfast: cinnamon raisin oatmeal
Lunch: peanut butter and apple butter (*HG) sandwiches
Snack: peanut butter and honey popcorn
Dinner: Zucchini Soup (*HG zucchini, onions), cheddar onion biscuits (*HG onion)
Wednesday:
Breakfast: scrambled eggs (*HG), oranges
Lunch: peanut butter and apple butter (*HG) sandwiches
Snack: peanut butter and honey popcorn. Slice of cheddar cheese.
Dinner: Turkey**, mashed potatoes, sweet cinnamon acorn squash (*HG), canned pears (*HG)
Thursday:
Breakfast: blueberry zucchini muffins (*HG blueberries, zucchini), cottage cheese
Lunch: cheese sandwiches
Snack: zucchini muffin (what can I say? They like them.), orange
Dinner: Stuffing-topped turkey casserole (*HG onion, zucchini. Used leftovers), green beans (*HG) and applesauce (*HG)
Friday:
Breakfast: blueberry zucchini bread (*HG egg, blueberry, zucchini), HOMEMADE vanilla yogurt (I finally did it!!!)(*HG maple syrup), slice of cheddar
Lunch: zucchini soup (leftovers), tuna fish on crackers
Snack: banana, pretzels, marshmallows, piece of chocolate
Dinner: PIZZA night! (Tonights' options: Ham and Pineapple. Onion and cheese), carrot sticks with ranch dressing. (*HG egg, ham, onion, and pizza sauce)
Saturday:
Breakfast: dippy eggs (*HG), blueberry zucchini muffins (*HG egg, blueberries, zucchini), vanilla yogurt
Lunch: sandwiches. Peanut Butter and apple butter (*HG)
Snack: last of the pb popcorn. Bananas.
Dinner: LEFTOVER NIGHT.
Week 2 (Grocery week!)
Sunday:
Breakfast: cereal and milk
Lunch: sandwiches (peanut butter and honey)
Snack: McDonalds ice cream cones (the children were very good at a funeral viewing we attended so we treated them on the way home.)
Dinner: Turkey and Wild Rice Soup (using carcass) (*HG onion), parmesan breadsticks (*HG egg)
Monday:
Breakfast: scrambled egg bagel toppers (*HG egg, bacon)
Lunch: cinnamon raisin bread
Snack: copycat OatsNHoney granola bars. (I quadrupled the recipe.)
Dinner: sub sandwiches, orange, pretzels
Tuesday:
Breakfast: blueberry zucchini streusel muffins (*HG zucchini, egg, blueberry), cottage cheese
Lunch: cheese sandwiches
Snack: granola bars (from above)
Dinner: sausage gravy and buttermilk biscuits, peas, peaches (*HG)
Wednesday:
Breakfast: vanilla yogurt (*HG maple syrup), granola (from above) and huckleberries (*HG)
Lunch: peanut butter and banana sandwiches
Snack: air popped popcorn with salt/butter
Dinner: Potato Corn Chowder with Bacon, corn muffins. (*HG onion, corn, bacon)
Thursday:
Breakfast: dippy eggs, toast, vanilla yogurt with huckleberries (*HG eggs, huckleberries, maple syrup)
Lunch: peanut butter and pumpkin butter (*HG) sandwiches
Snack: roasted red pepper hummus (*HG red peppers) and crackers
Dinner: Spaghetti (*HG beef, sauce, dehydrated green peppers), beet greens (*HG onions, beet greens, bacon grease), applesauce (*HG)
Friday:
Breakfast: huckleberry scones (*HG huckleberries, egg), vanilla yogurt
Lunch: can 'o soup, crackers
Snack: pretzels with honey mustard dip, marshmellows
Dinner: Pizza Night! Tonights' options: BBQ chicken pizza and Three cheese. Carrot sticks and roasted red pepper hummus (*egg, pizza sauce, onion, roasted red peppers)
Saturday:
Breakfast: mini blueberry bagels
Lunch: leftover pizza (for those who stayed home from the baby shower)
Snack: leftover popcorn from shower
Dinner: Minestrone Soup (*HG- onions, beef, zucchini, green peppers, green beans) and Parmesan rosemary foccacia wedges (*HG rosemary)
Foods taken to Baby Shower:
several batches of lemonade
Ready to POP white chocolate covered popcorn
Rye Dip with rye cubes
Lemon Fruit dip and bananas
**I forgot to mention in the grocery budgeting post another good tip for saving money. Stocking up on "holiday" meats. After holidays, the meats are reduced heavily just to be rid of them. At Thanskgiving or even before when there are 13cent per pound turkey sales, I buy several turkeys to stock the freezer. You can't beat 13 cents a pound for meat, my friends. Turkey feeds us at least two times-often three or four if I include a soup as well.
Hams also, are a great buy after Easter. Which is coming up, as you know! ;-)
So there you have it. All we ate for the last two weeks. Plus or minus a few handfuls of 60% Ghirardelli chocolate chips. ;-)
