Meal Plan for 8/30 - 9/4

First of all, I know I said that I wasn't going to buy anything this weekend. However, my loving husband pointed out that anything purchased this weekend wouldn't be posted until Tuesday. Which means I could do the monthly stocking run this weekend - and not be considered over budget. Moreover, the husband did our budget for the last month - and - we stayed within our food budget for the first time in a LONG time. Whee!

I'm only going through Wednesday this week because a hurricane will be off our coast Friday morning. Not sure how that will effect us, but I'll consider Thursday and Friday when/if I have power! We've got plenty of pantry food, so I will be able to whip together something in a hurry if we're up and functioning.

Saturday - Family bowling night and out to dinner. I meant to bring my camera to review a local favorite, but forgot. Next time!

Sunday - Tomato Orange Soup and Bread

Monday - Stuffed Green Peppers (I tutor, but have the say off so I can get dinner on the table).

Tuesday - Quinoa Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

Wednesday - Leftovers/whatever (I tutor). There's going to be plenty of food available for everyone, so I'm not too concerned.

Not meeting budget this week.

Yesterday, I posted that I had $84 to spend this week on groceries.

I spent $118.

Darn. I hate it when numbers don't add up. It's like, a math hell.

Anyhow, on the good side, I only have to make it till a week from Monday. My meal plan took me through to Friday anyway. Soooo...I only have to come up with food for Saturday and Sunday. On Sunday we have a party to go to, but it's potluck so that will be more difficult as I will have to get the ingredients for something. However, I still have $34 to spend. If I make something uber cheap on Saturday night, figure out something cheap to make for the potluck (or something made with things I have on hand - ooooh, homemade pita bread and hummus?) I should be okay. I have to factor in buying some fresh fruit and milk for the kids at some point this week - those babies always come first.

I should mention (lest anyone feel sorry for me) - that this budget is more out of determination than need. We pay our bills, all is well, I just have this deep burning need to prove to my husband that I can stay within our grocery budget. Mostly because I never can most months.

So, meal plan, addition:

Saturday: Something with chickpeas - I bought a couple of peppers and unless I need them for something, I think I might try stuffing them with chickpeas and rice. If not that, then I can always toss the chickpeas on some of my French bread for a sandwich.

Sunday: Party. I'm digging the hummus idea as my friend is a middle eastern nut and would love it. I just saw some pita bread recipes online, so that might be just the ticket. If all else fails, I can pull out my French bread with some olive oil and dipping herbs, as that was a HUGE hit at the last party.

Monday: OFICIALLY SEPTEMBER - meal plan to follow! Whoo-hoo!

Meal Planning: 8/22 - 8/29 (post Fay)

So, it's a good week for tomato lovers at my local grocery store. Which makes me excited to try out a couple of recipes this week. I had them "almost" licked a few weeks ago. It's time for another round.

Friday: Something yummy whenever I get hungry as the husband is off preparing for football season (he officiates high school football).

Saturday: CHILDREN FREE PARTY!

No, I'm not at all excited to hang with adults for the evening.

Sunday: Roasted Portobello mushroom bruschetta

Monday: Something out of the freezer for the husband as I tutor.

Tuesday: Stuffed portobello mushrooms.

Wednesday: Leftovers for the husband as I tutor again.

Thursday: Tomato Orange Soup with bread. Cook up some chickpeas for Friday

Friday: Something yummy with some chickpeas. Curried? Asian style?

This week I only have $84 to spend. Can I do it? :)

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.

6/26 Meal Plan

A very disappointing and uninspiring list of sales this week.

Sale items: Berries, grapes, and corn

Friday: Poached eggs over polenta with avocado and tomato Pico-De-Gallo

Saturday: Mexican Casserole

Sunday: Black Beans and Cilantro Rice

Monday: Leftovers

Tuesday: Nachos (for husband) and taco salad for myself.

Wednesday: Wing it (gasp)

Thursday: Wing it (gasp)

I saw down to plan meals, and just couldn't make it through the week. Friday and Saturday were easy because I missed a couple meals from the previous week. Then I thought about the fresh cilantro and avocados I had in the fridge. I always have black beans on hand, so those will be easy to cook up. I do have all the fixings for pizza, and my kitchen is well stocked so I know I can whip together a meal in a hurry. I think I will take a bare-bones list to the grocery store and stock up on a few extra fruits and veggies for snacking.

The problem is - after a weeks worth of training - I am not feeling particularly creative. All those creative juices are mentally in my classroom this week, and I just can't seem to get "into" my kitchen. I did make a low fat creme brulee tonight - it was "eh."

Once the weekend hits, I will probably be a bit more experimental feeling. I should make some bread this weekend. Maybe I can put a smoothie or two on my list too. That might be sort of fun to experiment with. We'll see what fun pictures I can drum up for the blog.

6/20 Menu and Grocery List

I'd like to start this with with warning you all that the menus are going to get a bit lower calorie. Being the foodie that I am, still with high flavor. Just a tad lower in fat.

Why, you ask?

Well, I'd noticed that my hip has really been bothering me lately. So, I stepped on the scale, told my hubby that I was rejoining, and that was it. Weight Watchers is an old friend of mine. The only one that allows me to eat what I want, so long as I plan accordingly. I had taken a "break" as I was feeling worn down from my work schedule and the restraints from the plan. Being summer, and the fact that the coming school year will not be bringing me the same constraints, it was time to go back. My hope is that I will be down 20 pounds by the school year, giving me plenty of motivation to cut back on the plethora of goodies that IS my workplace.

I've also recently purchased a Wii fit. HELLO!?! Where the heck has THAT been for the last three years? When my daughter was born, I was able to get into a fairly regular stroller walking routine. It all worked out fantastically. For about 6,000 different reasons that I will not bother you with - it stopped. And stayed stopped. We got an elliptical trainer, which was PERFECT for two weeks until it broke. That's when we decided to invest in the fit. I was skeptical of how well a video game system would work me. It may not be for the athlete, but a Mom who can't escape her two kids for a moment will be well served by the fit. Heck, my daughter takes the second controller and goes on runs WITH me.

So, here goes the Weight Watcher Friendly Menu:

Sale items: limes, avocados, mangoes, baby carrots, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, baby portobello mushrooms, organic salad bags.

Friday: Burritos (tortillas - no, I haven't learned to make them homemade yet - with black beans, rice, cilantro, and low fat cheese. Topped with tomatoes & avocados)

Saturday: Breakfast will be Huevos Rancheros. Dinner will be mushroom, pineapple, pepper, and onion kabobs with corn and baked potatoes. I will likely make some french bread too. And some sort of dip, although I'm not sure what yet. Dessert I plan on making a Blueberry Creme Brulee that I got from the Weight Watcher's site.

Sunday: Breakfast will be polenta topped with poached eggs along side of a tomato avocado salsa. Dinner will be leftovers, as I'm certain we will have plenty.

Monday: Salads and french bread. I think I will try to mix this up with some herbs or fresh garlic.

Tuesday: Tomato soup and bread

Wednesday: Mushrooms and gravy over cous cous or rice.

Thursday: Mexican casserole, another Weight Watchers recipe.

As we work through the week I will be sure to post wonderment! For "extra" food (and lunches) I have a simple avocado toss and mango salad.

My apologies + weekly menu

I promised you every day. I have failed.

Forgive me?

I surely hope so.

I assure you I have a good excuse. You see, my district has required that I ge "FRI"-ed and finish my ESOL endorsement. I did THREE moduals in my online courses last night. I worked from noon - 9 PM, with only the distractions of my own children. I turned off the computer and walked out of the office. Then I remembered that I was breaking my promise. I opted for bed anyway. I was just so tired from all the reading. Math teachers are not meant to be endorsed in reading. I think that class is harder than all of my master's level coursework combined.

Anyhow, as a show of good faith, I will be posting twice today. Here I will post my menu for the week with recipes attached. Next will be my "ode to Father's Day." I hope both serve to please.

Weekly menu:

Good sale items: Vine ripened tomatoes (could this be in response to the current salmonella outbreak?), grapes, raspberries, ricotta cheese.

Thursday: Leftover black beans and rice (from previous week's menu), sauteed green peppers and onions for extra vegitables.

Friday: Pasta salad, but THIS time I made it TOTALLY fat free and with no packaged goods (except for the pasta). I included olives, a tomato, broccoli, green onion, carrot, and celery. I then added red wine vinegar, garlic powder, oregano, a sprinkle of salt, and about 1/3 of a cup of water. It was wonderful, and GONE quickly!

Saturday: Frozen tomato soup + bread, will make fresh with tomatoes later in the week to replace frozen batch.

Sunday: HAPPY FATHER'S DAY! Bruchetta with Balsamic reduction, mozarella/mushrooms/and thyme, Brie and Fruit, bread, and Panna Cotta with raspberry sauce. Ricotta pancakes and ginger syrup for breakfast.

Monday: Cornbread, black eyed peas, and rice

Tuesday: leftovers

Wednesday: Fried rice

Thursday: Potato pancakes

Meal and cooking plan for the week of 5/22-5/30

This week, I was tasked with the job of feeding our family, with minimal sales and ingredients, so we can make budget. We've got $40 left (after this week's shopping). That should be plenty, even with a mid-week run for milk.

Sale items: shredded cheese (we go through TONS of this stuff), mushrooms, corn, blueberries, and not much else. Pretty disappointing sale day. So much for the "BOGO" sale my store was advertising. The best BOGO product was probably the Goldfish. And, if you have toddlers, you understand that Goldfish are probably the perfect food.

Already have: All the "standards" (flour, sugar..), lots of cheese, and salad fixin's (good for lunches on the long weekend).

Thursday (5/22): We ended up having the tomato soup that I (oops) left out the last serving of. Darn. It would have made a nice lunch. We had some store-bought bakery bread too.

Friday: Out to dinner.

Saturday: philly cheese 'shrooms. Caramelize onion (a little bit of vegan organic smart butter melted, cook onions until soft and turning a beautiful caramel color. Medium heat works best). Remove from heat and replace with large portobello mushrooms with stems removed, tops facing up. Toss in a couple of tablespoons of water to steam, and cover. Allow a few minutes, then flip mushrooms, replace the onion inside the caps, and top with cheese of choice/available. Season with salt and pepper. Replace lid and let cheese melt. Dab sandwich rolls with mayo, and place mushrooms on mayo. Squish around a bit to even out the mayo.

Sunday: Shrooms in "gravy" with cous cous.


Monday: Grilled Pizza, with plain 'ole shredded mozzarella.


Tuesday: Rice and chickpeas. I will cook the chickpeas up tomorrow following the instructions, and adding some EVOO, thyme, salt, and garlic.


Wednesday: BBQ beans and rice, inspired from this. I say "inspired" because once you make this recipe, you find that you don't need it any more and can just "kitchen sink" it. In other words, as long as I have the beans and BBQ sauce...I can make do with whatever I find in the fridge and pantry.


Thursday: Spaghetti, with the sauce probably thinned out with carrot puree. Added vitamin boost.


Friday: A big fat "?". I've got plenty of stuff in the freezer and pantry, so we won't starve. Friday is my "cleaning" night - I won't want to get too fancy anyway. My accountant (you know, the guy I am married to) said that shopping on Saturday would effectively push us into next month's budget, so that means I need to come up with something on Friday. Whatever, this will be the first month in ages we won't have gone over budget (a collective HOORAY!) I'm doing what I need to make it!

Also this weekend:

Pumpkin pancakes - tried and tossed. My griddle is dead. I thought I could make them in a pan, and the sides wouldn't cook up right. A new one should be here from Amazon within 7-10 days.

blueberry muffins - made and freezing. Adapted from the Deceptively Delicious cookbook.

Sweet potato puree - unmade, for DD recipes. Need to steam, blend, and freeze the potatoes.

chickpeas - tomorrow.

banana bread - I just discovered that I have failing bananas, need to look up a low fat recipe.

breakfast cookie of some sort - I have nothing to feed the kids for breakfast, with the failed pancakes.

I know I've been MIA lately - but given it's the end of the school year...it happens! I promise during the summer I will be posting (nearly) daily, save a vacation planned in July! Just two more weeks of school!

Meal Plan: 5/15-5/22

On sale: tomatoes, shredded cheese

In fridge: fresh mozzarella

Left from last week: Hungarian Lesco, broccoli pasta

Thursday - Caprese salad (tomato, mozzarella, and basil) with bakery bread and EVOO.
Friday - Broccoli pasta.
Saturday- Hungarian Lesco
Sunday - Friends over, Mexican food (make your own burritos/fajitas)
Monday - Salad Asian or Mexican, got the fixin's for both.
Tuesday -Tomato soup and bread.
Wednesday -Ziti (eat some/freeze some)
Thursday - Freezer or grocery store or maybe salad (leftovers?)

Hollee, Meal Planner Extrordinnare!

Well, it's been a crazy little bit round here. I'm trying to get all my "chores" done today so I can relax tomorrow and enjoy mother's day. My husband brought me home a beautiful bouquet of flowers, so I want to make sure everything around it looks just as beautiful. Anyhow, some stuff went on last night that delayed my grocery run to this morning, which delayed the outlet mall run for a couple of hours. Got it all in, starting the laundry, and I will do my weekly "zone" of cleaning. I've "invented" a new process of cleaning my house that (I hope) will serve well. If everything goes as I see it, you can expect a post within the next couple of months about my process.

In the mean time - today's post is about meal planning and grocery shopping. I said I would do it, so now I am. I know, I know - I need to get more food (and pictures) up. I will, I promise. In the mean time, I want to share a few day-to-day tips as well.

Every week, on Thursday, my local grocer (Publix) releases their ads. Now, those in Florida will likely argue that Publix is the most expensive grocer. While it does cost more than say, Walmart...it is not unbearably expensive. And, if you shop the sales it is quite affordable. I am very brand specific in a lot of areas, so for me - I know when the sales go. When the sales go, I stock up.

On Thursday evening or Friday afternoon, I start my list. It begins with a list of sale items from the circular that I find online. This week they had lots of berries and citrus on sale. They also had tomatoes, broccoli, Kraft shredded cheese (some now made with milk from hormone-free beef!), and organic romaine lettuce. I also make notes about the items I purchase that don't go into meals, like this week that includes Mott's Apple Juice (BOGO), Post cereal (BOGO), and Nature's Own Organic bread (again, BOGO - and no high fructose corn syrup).

With my "ingredient" list, I head to AllRecipes.com where I begin to search recipes. It wasn't a great week for sales, so I couldn't really get too creative with my weekly menu. In fact, I don't think I'm trying anything new this week:

Friday: I was planning on making Nachos, but didn't make it out to the store. I just made Guacamole instead.

Saturday: Caprese salad (tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, basil, EVOO, and balsamic vinegar), corn (from last week), and some bread in the bread maker.

Sunday: OUT for mother's day!

Monday: Fried rice

Tuesday: Fresh Salad

Wednesday: Hungarian Lesco

Thursday: Broccoli & pasta in a light lemon and garlic sauce with pine nuts and goat cheese crumbled in.

You can see that I really attempted to utilize whatever vegetable and fruit was on sale that week. I have friends that do monthly meal planning, and that doesn't go for me as we use lots of fruits and vegetables in our meals. Come a week later, some of the less hearty veggies and fruits are done for. Its' about all we can do to get through a week!

When I've figured out my menu, I take that and my list of sale items, and put it all into one list. I try to keep the items in categories in the order I go to the store. I keep my list in a very small (4 by 6) notebook, with a pocket in the front cover for coupons.

Anyhow, since i do the meal planning anyway - I will be putting that up on my blog. I'm finding that many have an interest in this, and maybe one of my meals might help peeps in the same area.

Now, off to clean.

Mama said there'd be days like this.

There are two main ways for the frugal cook to save a buck. These are the stockpile and meal planning methods. Of course, there is a third option of starvation - but this is a FOOD blog so let's not go there, okay?

The stockpile method involves buying hefty amounts of on sale ingredients all at once, so as to have a sort of "grocery store" right in your own home. Meal planning involves making a menu for a specified amount of time, and then shop only according to those needs. I happen to do a mixture of both these - and I will walk y'all through the entire process later this week.

However, even with my meal planning extraordinaire skills, it will happen that I run out of meals for the week. In the present case, it's because I (a) failed to plan that the tomatoes purchased Thursday might not make it to Tuesday (I will only eat very fresh tomatoes) and (b) forgot to get cabbage for the Moroccan Stew. SO, that left me with a hungry husband and no dinner.

Oh dear.

This is when having a firm grasp in the culinary saves the day.

I had some cilantro lime rice, green peppers, and corn on the cob that needed consuming before they went bad. I had some onions, pita pockets, mayo, and cheese that didn't need consumption - but were available for my use. So, I whipped up some quick fajita veggies with some lime juice, cumin, onions, peppers, and salt. I boiled up the corn, and nuked some cheese inside the pitas. Then I stuffed each pita with a teaspoon of mayo, rice, and topped with vegetables. Corn was on the side.

It was wonderful!

The mathematician in me takes great pleasure in creating something out of nothing. It's like a giant puzzle that only I can find the answer to.

What puzzle lives in YOUR pantry?

Ah...relief...

This time of the school year is just a DRUDGERY. We have 6 weeks left, and it seems like a zillion miles away. I only have one day off and two half days between now and the sweet, sweet, summer. I know I'll get there - but after weeks like this it seems like I might not.

Anyhow, took a break from everything yesterday to celebrate the return of Grey's Anatomy. Yay.

Today, it is meal planning. I still have two from last week that I never quite got to, so I will incorporate them somehow into the coming week.

At my grocer, there are baby portobello mushrooms (a vegetarian's dream), tomatoes, blueberries, and strawberries on sale. So, I found a few interesting ideas on the cooking bible. I usually fall back on my Vegetarianism for Students cookbook. It has a great, simple, recipe for shrooms in gravy over rice, pasta, or couscous. Wanted to go for something different though.

I'm going to make some blueberry muffins out of my Deceptively Delicious cookbook, a Strawberry Pie, and probably some homemade tomato soup for the freezer. It's a nice thing to defrost and eat. Red potatoes are also on sale, so I printed a couple of ideas to doctor them up too. It's smart to stock up and cook on things that are reduced in price? Why pay full price for tomato soup when I have the craving? I can buy it now, make it, and simply defrost when the yen hits.

Anyhow, I will do my darndest to actually get some pictures on this blog. Eesh. Starting to look a little bare!

I don't wanna...

Plan my menu for the week, that is.

Here's what I do every week:

On Thursday or later (that's when the ad comes out) - I go ahead an surf through the sales at the store. I take note of anything in my fridge, and I come up with recipes that will best utilize both lists. For example, at my store they have some eggplant, peppers, squash, tomatoes, pears, and corn on sale. In my fridge, I currently have a bunch of rice left over due to a planning error on my part. Too bad I already made fried rice this week.

I have a few recipes: sweet and sour kidney beans, beans and rice burritos, and a peach rice dessert that I am planning to try out. As always, I will share with my review and relevant changes. I think that will use up all my rice. If not, I've got some leftover black eyed peas in the freezer that I am sure the husband wouldn't mind me defrosting. I think I'll be out with a friend on Saturday night - so the ball and chain will definitely be on his own.

I also plan on cooking up some vegetables for puree for the freezer. Always like to keep some of that around, and I am running LOW.

As far as the recipe for tonight, Cashew Asparagus Rice Pilaf was excellent. Definitely a "will make again." However, next time I will reduce the fat in half, change from butter to EVOO, and replace the the cashews with cooked garbanzo beans. I also, very last minute, added about 6 or 7 shakes of Cayenne pepper for heat. Nice flavor (note that I also made a double batch).

We've got some family plans, so I don't have anything major planned in the way of cooking this weekend. Should be quiet! Hope yours is too!