Michael and I have been re-assessing our finances and what we found was startling. We spend way too much money on eating out. In addition to the toll on our bank account, the habit was starting to wreck havoc on our waistlines too. I knew that there were two main reasons that I wasn't cooking our dinners routinely. 1) I didn't have an intended recipe for dinner and 2) I would grocery shop and buy stuff that might work for a meal, but because there was no real plan, I'd forget I had ingredients or worse yet, ingredients would go to waste because I didn't have a good recipe for the ingredients I did have. I spent part of my Christmas vacation formulating a plan.
Due to the fact that both Michael and I work, I only needed one month of dinners (if you're a SAHM, you will probably want to schedule your meals for breakfast and lunch too). One of the approaches that I love was assigning a "theme" to each day in order to keep meals from getting boring. Then I scoured the Internet and my cookbooks to come up with some new dishes. Here's what my schedule looks like for the first week of January:
M | T | W | R | F | S | S |
Casserole | Chicken, Beef, Fish, or Pork | Ethnic | Crock-Pot | Pizza/ Main Salad | Leftovers | Soup |
01.03 | 01.04 | 01.05 | 01.06 | 01.07 | 01.08 | 01.09 |
Chicken Florentine | Breaded Pork Chops | Spaghetti | Chicken & dumplings | Pizza | Leftovers | Broccoli Cheddar Soup |
01.10 | 01.11 | 01.12 | 01.13 | 01.14 | 01.15 | 01.16 |
Pizza Casserole | Peppered Beef Tenderloin | Lobster ravioli | Chili | Chicken Caesar Salad | Leftovers | Potato Soup |
01.17 | 01.18 | 01.19 | 01.20 | 01.21 | 01.22 | 01.23 |
Turkey Tetrazzine | Chicken Divan | Tacos | Italian beef | Pizza | Leftovers | Tomato-Vegetable Bisque |
01.24 | 01.25 | 01.26 | 01.27 | 01.28 | 01.29 | 01.30 |
Crab Noodle Casserole | Chicken lasagna | Pacific Rim Stir-Fry | Turkey Sloppy Joes | BLT Salad | Leftovers | Taco Soup |
Each Sunday (according to the cleaning schedule I'll post soon), I collect the recipes for the week, check what staples are already in the fridge/freezer/cabinets, and make the shopping list. I was especially excited this week when I left Aldi with a bill of just about $37. You read that correctly...$37! Now granted, I had chicken in my freezer, but most of the other ingredients had to be purchased. We'll see how this plan goes, but so far so good!
Do any of you have a meal plan for your household?
Yesterday we were supposed to eat Hamburger Helper with the Verpootens but I came home to a spotless house and a whole chicken cooking in the oven courtesy of Aunt Barb! There were green beans and stuffing too! It was really yummy and Tristyn ate it too...eventually...after the magician trick.
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