Meal Planning

It appears that this is a common search for many people that find my blog. So, I'm going to start this up again. I have continually done it, but sometimes my menus get (I'm embarrassed to admit) stale. I went through a stage of not feeling particularly creative, and well, gave up posting my boring plans.

As I said in a post on an earlier day, my most recent grocery run was $56. I am SO proud of that number, but it was out of necessity. We "front loaded" our foods by buying in bulk - which leaves me very little wiggle room to meet budget. $70/week to be exact. Now, I try to put two servings of fruit into my kids' lunch box every day, plus fruit at home (they're not crazy about vegetables). There's also the dairy to cook with, and that pretty much meets my budget. Now, the nice thing is that we don't eat meat, which means when I cook beans and rice all week, my husband is understanding. It's also nice that I have a WELL stocked pantry.

I plan Thursday - Thursday as that is when the new ads come out for my grocer. I plan based on sales as much as possible.

Thursday: I was recovering from an operation, so we just drummed something out of the freezer.

Friday: I've been whipped from this operation, but I managed to boil some gnocchi and toss some sauce over it

Saturday: Felt pretty good, whipped together some pasta with asparagus, lemon, and pepper, lightly sprinkled with Parmesan cheese.

Sunday: Black Beans and cilantro rice.

Monday: Leftovers (I tutor late Mondays)

Tuesday: Chickpeas and rice. I'm going to spice these up with something in my pantry, but not sure what. Curry, maybe? Make some bread for sandwiches on Wednesday!

Wednesday: Leftovers/chick pea sandwiches (chickpeas smashed with a little bit of mayo, dill relish, onions, and mustard on bread)

Thursday: Leaving this open. If I plan TOO much, I don't get to use my creative energies and then I have nothing to post on this blog. There are these vegan chickpea cutlets in Veganomicon.
I'm also curious about the lentil sloppy Joe's.

All of these dinners have been talked about - in some way or another - under the tag "What's for dinner." I highly recommend meal planning, as it really saves you from the "what's for dinner" stump at the end of a long day. It also keeps you from buying produce you don't need that ends up going to waste. You can save money by making sure you shop sales and maximize coupons. Really, in today's high cost food world, it's the best way to keep on track.

Friday: Hopefully we will go out for a "hooray, I survived the first week of school." But, if that hurricane cancels school for a day or so, I might be off all together.