Thursday, September 20, 2007

Planning & Saving & Shopping....Oh My!

After a few hours of housework & chasing children I've sat down to plan out my shopping list. The other day I made weekly menus.......2-breakfast, 3-lunch & 7-supper menus. I have found that by shopping for only the ingredients needed for these meals and a few pre-planned snacks & desserts we save a considerable amount of $. Being that our budget is quite tight every penny counts.


I shamefully admit that I haven't been sticking to this plan for quite some time. But I am excited to start again & it is my hope that since my girls are older now that they will be a big help. Another plus to the menus is that often I am able to cook ahead of time and/or use the crock pot. I have found that crock pot meals are such a time saver! And having the meal all in one pot......genius! *grin*

For those that are interested here is a sample of a weekly menu from each meal:


Breakfast:
Monday ~ Waffles or Pancakes & Fruit
Tuesday ~ Toasted Cheese Muffins, Yogurt & Fruit
Wednesday ~ Cereal w/Milk & Fruit
Thursday ~ Homemade Muffins, Yogurt & Fruit
Friday ~ Waffles or Pancakes & Fruit
Saturday ~ Cereal & Fruit or Muffins, Yogurt & Fruit
Sunday ~ Cereal & Fruit or Muffins & Fruit

Lunch:

Monday ~ P.B. & J, Chips or Pretzels & Carrot Sticks
Tuesday ~ Homemade Spag. Sauce, Spag. & Bread
Wednesday ~ Egg Salad Sand., Chips or Pretzels & Raw Veggie
Thursday ~ Leftover Soup, Muffins or Toast & Veggie
Friday ~ Leftovers from Supper or Mac. & Cheese and Green Beans
Saturday ~ Daddy's Choice
Sunday ~ Grilled Cheese & Soup

Supper:

Monday ~ Meatloaf, Peas & Corn, Muffins or Biscuits
Tuesday ~ BBQ Chicken, Veggie, Potato?
Wednesday ~ Homemade Cream of Broccoli Soup, Cornbread & Raw Veggie
Thursday ~ Stuffed Shells, Salad or Green Veggie, Bread
Friday ~ Pizza Night! (H.M. Pizza or H.M English muffin pizzas) & Raw Veggie
Saturday ~ Hamburgers, Chips, Baked Beans, Veggie
Sunday ~ Daddy's Choice

**H.M. = Homemade

In addition to fruit, veggies & yogurt I have some snack ideas I gleaned from one of my monthly cookbooks. Speaking of monthly cooking that is my ultimate goal. I'd love to be able to pull a meal from the freezer most nights. It would help immensely with our crazy busy schedule and also help me b/c I don't' like to cook. Yep, I'm one of those. Lol.

If anyone has any other ideas to add please send them here! I'm always looking for new ideas, recipes, etc. For now it's back to my shopping list. Sweet Pea is taking inventory for me and then I will make the final draft before it's time to hit the stores!


Some good links:


Some of my favorite cookbooks:

My favorite crock-pot cookbook.

A Classic! I've used this from the time I learned to cook.


Monthly cookbook. Great planning as well as recipes. LOVE the snacks!


Good tips in this one too plus some extras in the back.



I originally found all of these except 1986 Betty Crocker, (my Mom gave that to me long ago), in the library & liked them so much I purchased them used online.





1 comment:

MOMMY said...

Ok, I must admit! I have been making my menus out and LOVING it. I just love the planning and list making and shopping. We went today and I made it to 3 stores and got everything I needed without forgetting anything!!!!

You are good though-breakfast, lunch, and dinner! I just do dinner. So, want to share your biscuit recipe? Also, do you have an extra freezer to do the montly cooking? We don't and I want one so I can start cooking for the month!!!!!

Do you guys like quesidillas or chili? Ihave some good recipes for them. Also a great sausage and sirloin bake with tomato sauce!