Menu Plan Week of 4/27/2009

Monday - Ground Beef Stroganoff
Tuesday - Black Beans & Rice
Wednesday - Chicken tenders, french fries, and salad (an American Idol night tradition)
Thursday - Spaghetti, Salad, and Corn
Friday - Pork steaks, peas, and some sort of potatoes
Saturday - Chicken breast with Mushroom rice and broccoli

Breakfast for hubby is sausage biscuits that I make on the weekend and freeze for quick heating. I generally eat some fruit or cereal or sometimes a pbj.

Lunches are leftovers for me. Hubby has potted meat and other quick foods that he keeps in his vehicle since he drives all over the city.

Menu Plan Week of 4/19/2009

This menus is including a few things we may not have eaten in the same week (i.e. pork on Monday and Friday) but I had a few things to get out of the freezer. I think we will be back down to at least 3 bean/rice type meals per week. Of course, all meals will be made with enough for left overs to be frozen using our vac sealer.

Monday - Rosemary Pork loin (crockpot) with apple sauce and a salad
Tuesday - Red Beans & Rice
Wednesday - Chicken tenders, french fries, and salad (an American Idol night tradition)
Thursday - Spaghetti, Salad, and Corn
Friday - Pork steaks, peas, and some sort of potatoes
Saturday - Chicken breast with Mushroom rice and broccolli

Side Jobs = Full Freezers

Hubby had a side job today that netted a nice chunk of money. Since things have been SO tight for us lately (to the point of having to choose what bills to pay on what payday), we have been scrimping on our groceries. I swear that this has cost us more in the long run. Between running out for one particular item and ending up with 4 or 5 things and eating out because it is quicker than getting what we need. Well, you get the picture. Anyway, today we spent $170 on meat. Yes meat. That was for 50 pounds of beef (steaks, round, chopped, minute steaks, etc). That price includes the nearly 10% sales tax that we Tennesseans must pay on groceries. Broken down, it is roughly $3.15 or so per pound. Now, if it were all ground beef this would not be a good deal but for the cuts of meat we received, it is quite nice. This amount will last our little family of two for about 6 months (I will keep track). Outside of our AngelFood packages, this will be all of the meat products that we purchase.

Since we brought in all of this food, we cleaned out the freezers. I am SO VERY ASHAMED of the amount of food we lost simply by being careless in the past. I am resolved that this is not going to happen again. The silver lining to this sad tale is that my dogs and my friend's dogs will all be eating well for a while.

We have 2 frozen turkeys out there that we bought in November. Those I will be cooking over the summer months, most likely out on the smoker to keep the heat down in the house. We have two upright freezers. One is full of meats. One holds the frozen veggies and the turkeys. The next big payday (hopefully soon if it will get HOT outside), we will buy a big buggy full of frozen vegs. I don't eat many canned vegs because of the sodium and my allergies.

I also want to start making planned left overs and freezing them for a second meal later in the month. Since I have FMS, many times I cannot find the energy to make dinner. I'd like to have a ready amount of heat & eat meals available so that we won't be hitting up the dollar menu at some crappy fast food place.

That said, I am making up a menu plan for each week. I've decided to join in on I'm an Organized Junkie's Menu Plan Monday starting this week. We've got our meal plan all planned out for the week. I will be going to Aldi's tomorrow afternoon to get the few items we will need for the upcoming week's plan. Check back on Monday to see what we're eating for the week!