Week 1 Menu

After browsing through my pantry and trying to figure out what we might eat that doesn't require a trip to the grocery store, I came up with a week's worth of dinner menus.

1 - Spaghetti w/ jar sauce
2 - Summer Sausage w/ crackers, cheese, and fruit
3 - Canned soup w/ crackers
4 - Caribbean Bean's & Rice (from recipe on light kidney bean bag)
5 - TBD Prepared meal from the freezer (I have several to choose from)

I realized that I don't have a very wide variety of items in my pantry. Spaghetti, soup, and rice dishes will likely be on the menu every week because I have a lot of those.

There are several cans of tomatoes - crushed, diced, whole, etc... that need to be used as well. I think they will work for chili a few nights. I wonder if my husband, Bruce, will miss having meat since I don't have a lot of that stockpiled.

Grocery Shopping

I did my weekly shopping on Saturday afternoon. And this week I took a picture of my receipt! I wasn't slacking in the budget department in previous weeks, I was just slacking in the blogging department. I came in just under budget, spending $24.91. There really wasn't anything spectacular about my shopping trip.




I also planned my menu for the week.

• Monday - Spaghetti
• Tuesday - Chili w/ pork sausage
• Wednesday - Homestyle Chicken Bake (some pre-packaged thing that I found deep in my pantry)
• Thursday - Slow-Cooker Apricot Chipotle Chicken, from MGFK
• Friday - English Muffin Pizza

Exciting isn't it. I really haven't had to get into the super creative meal planning that I expected... maybe in another few weeks?

Menu Plan for the Week

Fortunately, I have some spare time this evening to get my menu plan all made up. here's what is on the menu for this week.

Monday: Meatloaf Muffins (homemade from my freezer) with Mac & Cheese
Tuesday: Beefcake au Poivre from MGFK, with asparagus
Wednesday: Broccoli Rice Quiche, using rice leftovers
Thursday: BBQ Pork with Rice-A-Roni and green beans
Friday: Leftovers? Soup & Sandwich?

I did this week's grocery shopping on Saturday. I would have waited until Sunday afternoon, but we ran out of milk on Friday and I love milk, so I had to go a day early. My total at Publix was $24.19, but I forgot to take a picture of my receipt. It's now in the bottom of my trash can so I am sure you are glad I'm sparing you the visual.

I have to confess that I did add 1 thing to my stockpile this week. Bruce really likes Gatorade and Powerade type beverages and Wal-mart had the 20-oz bottles of G2 on sale for $0.50 each. That's right, half a dollar! Normally these cost $1.50 at the conveinence store where Bruce would normally pick one up. The hope is that he will remember to keep a couple of these in the fridge and grab one before he heads out. The bottles are probably too big to pack in his lunch box though. I decided these were worth the cost because they might encourage Bruce to become more hydrated. He doesn't drink enough water. I suppose technically I have to declare myself over budget becaus I bought 48 bottles and spent $24 plus tax.

This Week

You might think that I gave up my experiment since there have been no posts in the last 7 days. But that is not the case. I have still been sticking to my $25 budget and making meals from my stash. I didn't do a menu plan (for lots of good reasons), but we did eat.

Monday - Pizza (from the construction budget since we were at HD for a LONG time)
Tuesday - Soup & grilled cheese (hubby was sick)
Wednesday - All-star Chicken from MGFK
Thursday - Spaghetti with meat sauce
Friday - Who knows what tomorrow will bring? I better go dig something out of the freezer!

My shopping trip for this week happened on Sunday evening. I completely missed the fact that Publix closes at 8 pm on Sundays so when I wandered up to the register and saw all of the front lights off I felt awful. It was a good thing I had kept good track of my totals and didn't have to send anything back. I was right up under my budget and spent $24.80. I didn't really make anything this week so there is no recipe of my own to share. I will point you to a yummy treat over at Edi's Exotic Eating Experiment. She made Apple-Cinnamon Burritos this week. I might try these for breakfast next week if I remember to buy apples.

Menu Plan Monday

Better late than never...
Monday - Pan-seared Pork Chops with Butternut Squash Raioli
Tuesday - Napolean Artichoke from MGFK
Wednesday - Soup & Grilled Cheese
Thursday - Crockpot Chicken (chicken w/ a can of petite diced tomatoes poured over top), probably to be served over rice

A pretty boring week ahead of us since we had the most exciting meal tonight already. I have an appointment next Saturday to go back to My Girlfriend's Kitchen, but I think I'll be cancelling it for a lot of reasons.

First, I still have about 4-5 meals left from last time. Second, I think I can get a better deal if I book through a e-mail offer instead of on-site. Third, I might have to be out of town anyway. Fourth, I haven't decided if going back will break my ground rules. Any thoughts?

Menu Plan Sunday & Giveaway Winner

I really didn't feel like planning a menu for this week. I'm tired and really want to go to bed, but know that without a plan, I'll be lost and more tempted to order pizza or make a quick dash to the grocery store. Well, it wouldn't be quick since Publix is 15 minutes away...

Anyway, here is my plan for the week. Somedays will probably get moved around depending on schedules, but at least the meals are decided upon.

Monday - Soup & Grilled Cheese

Tuesday - Ciao Bella Pot Roast (MGFK)

Wednesday - Spaghetti with Meat Sauce (an old favorite around here)

Thursday - Butternut Squash Ravioli w/ Pan-seared Pork Chops

Friday - Leftovers for hubbie because I'll be out of town

Now, onto the exciting part of this post! I'm please to announce that Mo is the winner of my spices, rices, and treats giveaway!

She won:

• 3 cookbooks (Delightful Deserts from Pampered Chef, All-Time Family Favorites Casserole and One-dish Meals, and 365-Favorite Brand Name Hamburger),
• 1 box of Whole Grain Rice-A-Roni,
• 1 box or organic macaroni and cheese,
• Suisse Mocha hot beverage,
• 2 packages of Mahatma rice (jasmine and broccoli & cheese),
• 2 McCormick grinders spices, and some
• hershey kisses.

As soon as she replies to my e-mail, I'll add some more sweet items based on her likes. After reading her blog I sure am glad her two little girls are okay... otherwise this food giveaway might not do them anygood!

Congratulations Mo!

Menu Plan Sunday

I am on the ball this week. I've already got my menu all planned out. Let's see how well I keep to it now.

Sunday - Pasta w/ Meatballs and Tomato Sauce
Monday - Chef Salad
Tuesday - Apricot Chipotle Pork Ribs, from MGFK
Wednesday - Shrimp Scampi over Linguini, from Rich Plan
Thursday - Chicken Fried Steak w/ Potaotoes,
Friday - Dinner out with new friends

As usual, our breakfasts will be cereal, oatmeal, or eggs and toast.

Lunches will either be planned overs, or since baked potatoes were on sale, I'll probably make some of those and take with a small box of frozen veggies.

Check out the other menus at OrgJunkie's site!

I Know Where I Get It

This past weekend I was at my mom's condo and she asked me to help her clean out her pantry (inspired in part by me I am sure). And now, I know where I get my tendency to have too much food.

She and my dad are the only ones who live there yet they were fully stocked with a ton of stuff (not as much as I had, but a lot considering my dad is gone 24 days a month and has his own pantry for trucker food). I wish I had taken a picture of it to show you the before and after. There was food in there from 2004. Now, I know I am bound to have something that old in mine too, once I get to the dark corners of my pantry, but until then... I'm going to talk about someone else's old food. :)

I really am not complaining because I ended up coming home with a bag full of food to add to my stock as well. This is okay since it didn't cost me anything other than time and the usual tiff that comes when my mom and I try to organize things together. I am almost certain that she has made some changes since I left yesterday.

Me: You have 2 whole cartons of oatmeal.
Mom: I like oatmeal; it's easy to make.
Me: But what about the 2 boxes of instant oatmeal. Aren't those easier for you to make?
Mom: I like it plain sometimes too.
Me: Okay then, I'll put the boxes stacked here, and the 2 round cartons next to them, one behind the other.
Mom: No. Put the spare oatmeal behind the cereal boxes. That way we have more room.
Me: But that doesn't make sense.
Mom: That's the way I want it.
Me: Why do you need all that space? Aren't you downsizing?
Mom: It's my pantry.

And that settled it. Of course, why the spare oatmeal? Is she afraid one will blow up and she'll need a back-up?

I tease my mom but only because as I point at her there are 4 other fingers pointing right back at me. I took her desire to get a good deal a wee bit whole lot further. Becky made a good point in her comment the other day about sales. Fortunately, I haven't had much to throw away (yet) as most of what I stashed is so full of preservatives it will last longer than me! We have typically been fairly good about eating the fresh produce I buy, except that 2nd bag of lettuce I have to get when it is B1G1 free!

Of course, being away all weekend until Monday evening, I did not get my menu planned ahead of time. I ended up eating cereal for dinner last night. I did have the foresight to take something out for tonight though - Allstar Chicken, from MGFK. I think it may be one of my favorite MGFK dishes ever! (Sorry no pictures, my camera batteries are dead.)

Better late than never, here is my menu plan for the week:

Monday - Allstar Chicken

Tuesday - Pasta with Tomato sauce and veggies

Wednesday - Breakfast for dinner! (Sausage from Rich Plan with eggs or pancakes)

Thursday - Tortilla Soup w/ black beans and maybe a sandwich for Bruce

Friday - Sweet & Sour Chicken w/ Fried Rice (hopefully using up 2 seasoning packets that I've had for who knows how long)

I'll let you know how this week's menu goes. I picked out several stashed items to use to start and make a dent in my freezer and pantry. I kind of had fun trying to find something to use!

Menu Plan Monday

Since this venture of Eating It Up is all about using up the food I already have, I thought it most wise to plan my menu ahead of time. Laura, at orgjunkie.com hosts a place on her blog for bloggers to share their menus and find new recipes. I am excited to join them this week, with the first planned menu of Eating It Up.

Monday - Napoleon Artichoke (from MGFK, "chicken sauteed with artichoke hearts, white wine, capers, red peppers and mushrooms" served over egg noodles)

Tuesday - London Broil marinated in a garlic & black pepper sauce, served with wild rice and vegetables

Wednesday - Steak Salad (to used up left over London Broil)

Thursday - Soup Potatoes (baked potato covered with soup and cheese)

Friday - Planned Overs (I'll be out of town so hubby will be alone)

Of course, my menu looks good and normal now, but wait until all I have is vegetable oil, applesauce , and peanut butter!!!

Our breakfasts are usually the same - cereal and a piece of fruit. Our lunches are either planned overs from dinner the night before or a frozen meal (Smart Ones or Lean Cuisine).