Due to some major life changes, this week we are just going to hold on. Grocery spending is currently at $239.29.  I am ok with this as the life change may cause the groceries to go up as well.

Breakfast- Saturday- I had grits  and eggs Sunday- Chocolate Chip Waffles Monday-Egg bites left over from camping , Tuesday,- Baked oatmeal, Thursday- muffins  Wednesday, Friday– find it (oatmeal, omelets, cereal and milk, sausage, pop-tarts, and eggs)

Lunch- Saturday- Leftovers from Panda Panda Sunday-Baked Ziti  .  Left-overs are always great for lunches and I have a stash of crackers and other snack items as well. We are also taking some prepared soups for lunches as well.

Dinner- Saturday- Chic a Fil (treated by a friend)   Sunday- Disney Loaded potato soup Monday- Magnolia Beef. Tuesday- Chicken Broccoli Casserole.  Wednesday-KFC bowls  Thursday-Cheese Quesadillas and Mexican rice. Friday- Swim party.

I talked about my word of the year “Reduce” yesterday, I also mentioned how it goes really well with my pantry challenge.  I have decided to try and include an update on the pantry challenge on my Monday Menu Post. I did make a pretty long list (65 items) of meals we could have. I decided not to share because I was not specific enough with some of the items and I will be sharing what we are eating regularly so that should help.   This marks the first full week of the pantry challenge as I did grab some drinks and chips on December 30th. We have been focusing on using up the left-overs from Christmas as well as starting to organize and use up items from my pantry. We have ran out of two items, thyme and ranch powder. I decided to add them to my Azure standard order so that I will not be tempted to shop anywhere else. So far that order is $72 and I am thinking that I can get my Amazon subscribe and save ($147) down as well so currently $250 for the month of January is the plan. You will notice that we did not use any prepared meals this week as we had enough left-overs from the party to continue to use.

Breakfast- Saturday- I had grits Sunday- I had Fried eggs and toast Monday-Egg bites left over from camping , Tuesday,- Baked oatmeal, Thursday- muffins  Wednesday, Friday– find it (oatmeal, omelets, cereal and milk, sausage, pop-tarts, and eggs)

Lunch- Saturday- Leftovers  from Smoke Pit Sunday-Brisket  .  Left-overs are always great for lunches and I have a stash of crackers and other snack items as well. We are also taking some prepared soups for lunches as well.

Dinner- Saturday- Tomato Soup (used remaining tomatoes from party and a bag of frozen tomatoes)  Sunday- Sandwiches with discard sourdough bread. Monday- Lily (Chicken pasta using the rest of our canned chicken and left-over chicken from Smoke pit)  Tuesday- Turkey pot pie (Turkey and veggies are all from Christmas party) I also made another one of these and froze for later use.  Wednesday-Spaghetti and meatballs Thursday-Eating on way to swim meet. Friday- Corn dogs from freezer.

I have started thinking about plans for a pantry challenge in January and February minus the Super Bowl Party.  I am currently working on a list of meals that can be made with items we have on hand.  I plan to share the list and the exact details in the next couple of weeks. I am also planning a trip to Costco prior to Christmas so I have started to look at what items we may need to stock up.  This is the final week of work for me for the year. Kendall and Zach have a couple of exams this week but should be all finished by Thursday.  The focus for this week is to start using up what we have and planning for eating from the pantry.  I should mention during our pantry challenge we have a Christmas dinner for approximately 30 and our Super Bowl Party which should be a bit larger maybe we will see. I am trying to make a hot breakfast a couple of morning this week due to how cold it is and the fact the kids have morning swim practice before exams.

Breakfast- Saturday-Left-overs from camping . Sunday- Left-overs from camping. Monday- Rotel breakfast casserole, Wednesday- Baked oatmeal, Thursday- muffins  Tuesday, Friday– find it (oatmeal, omelets, cereal and milk, sausage, pop-tarts, and eggs)

Lunch- Saturday- Leftovers Sunday-Panda Panda .  Left-overs are always great for lunches and I have a stash of crackers and other snack items as well. We are also taking some prepared soups for lunches as well.

Dinner- Saturday- Steaks and salad. Sunday-Chill Chili cheese and corn chips  Monday- Ham Bone Soup  Tuesday- Sloppy Joes on buns that were left from Camping, Wednesday-Kielbasas and rice (Matt is making but using some sausage we have instead of Kielbasa)  Thursday- Zach is in charge Friday- Choice will be steak fried rice or baked ziti.

The weather is making a dramatic change it is going to cold for a couple of days this week. For us that means that we need some soup!

Breakfast- Saturday- Grits or oatmeal . Sunday-  Left-overs, Tuesday- Bakery treats for Veteran’s Day  Monday, Wednesday, Thursday Friday– find it (oatmeal, omelets, cereal and milk, sausage, pop-tarts, and eggs)

Lunch- Saturday- Leftovers Sunday-Christos  .  Left-overs are always great for lunches and I have a stash of crackers and other snack items as well.

Dinner- Saturday-Hamburgers on Sour Dough Buns with chili and slaw   Sunday- Left-overs  Monday-Chili cheese and corn chips Tuesday- Broccoli Cheese soup and fresh bread.  Wednesday-Eggroll in a bowl  Thursday- KFC bowls  Friday- not sure yet. Might be a eat out night?

I am all about celebrating the small wins right now. So for me to actually get this posted on a Monday is a HUGE small win.  I have multiple meetings after school this week. Zach and Kendall start swim practice 3 or more times a week. So life is definitely not getting any slower.  Another positive is that we are still using up some quick “convenience” meals from the freezer.  I am only shopping for items we need which means we are completely out of.  I am hopeful to continue this until at least December. I will likely have to restock some meals or at least start some different things in the crock pot to keep up with the busy schedule.

Breakfast- Saturday- Sausage balls and pancakes. Sunday-  Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday, Thursday Friday– find it (oatmeal, omelets, cereal and milk,sausage, pop-tarts, and eggs)I would like to make at least one more hot breakfast this week but no guarantees.

Lunch- Saturday- Sandwiches (I did make bread for these) Sunday- LongHorn Steak .  Left-overs are always great for lunches and I have a stash of crackers and other snack items as well.

Dinner- Saturday-Matt and I ate out and the kids had chicken from Costco  Sunday- Chicken Gnocchi  Soup, Monday-Baked Ziti Tuesday- Chicken Enchiladas  Wednesday-Rice A Roni and Chicken Sausage Thursday- Probably left -overs  Friday-  Taco Pasta

2 blogs in a week!  Another success!

It has been a while since I have posted a menu  plan for the week. At least 6 weeks and maybe more. Mondays are a hard day at work for me. I am super busy and my caseload is heavy and hard and exhausting. I am struggling to keep up but I know that my attitude makes a difference.  Therefore this week, I choose joy!    I have been reading online that October is “Crockpot month”  . I am always up for a good challenge, however I am sure that I would face a revolt if I attempted to use the crock pot every day of the week. So for now I am going to attempt to use it 2x a week. We have some favorites but I also am wanting to try new things to see if they work.  My ultimate goal would be to include at least one meal a week in the crockpot. This is much easier in the cooler month but again it is great to have goals.

Breakfast- Saturday-I made myself some fried eggs   Sunday- Bagels from Costco  Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday, Thursday Friday– find it (oatmeal, omelets, cereal and milk,sausage, pop-tarts, and eggs) We need to finish up the bagels and my goal is to make a hot breakfast two days a week but this has yet to happen. But it is a great goal to have.

Lunch- Saturday- Rotisserie Chicken, stuffing and cranberry sauce Sunday- East Coast wings.  Left-overs are always great for lunches and I have a stash of crackers and other snack items as well.

Dinner- Saturday-Kids all ate out for Homecoming, Matt and I found left-overs or something.  Sunday- Potato Soup (one meal in the freezer and 5 lunches for this week.) Monday-Stuffed pepper and broccoli cornbread. Tuesday- Taco Pasta  Wednesday-Beef Raman in Crockpot (new)Thursday- Baked Ziti  Friday- new crockpot meal-

Small steps = progress!

I am not excited to return to work this week but so is life. Last week only two of the four new recipes that we tried ended up a hit.  We ended up eating out on Friday because it was just the two of us and it was just easier. This week we are going to continue to try new recipes to add to the rotation.

Breakfast- Saturday-Hashbrowns, sausage, bacon and eggs  Sunday- Apple Cinnamon Baked Area Monday- Store bought muffins, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday Friday– find it (oatmeal, omelets, cereal and milk ,sausage, pop-tarts, grits and eggs.

Lunch- Saturday-left-overs Sunday-Kimono’s  Monday and Tuesday, Wednesday-Left-overs . Thursday and Friday-I go back to work so I am going to give myself the luxury of eating out.

Dinner- Saturday-Left-over,  Sunday- More Left-overs    Monday-Sloppy joe cheeseburger pasta. Tuesday-Billion Dollar Chicken Wednesday- Poor Man Casserole  Thursday-Pesto Chicken Lasagna Friday- Slow Cooker Hamburger Helper

I have been menu planning for a long long time. I just looked back and the answer is since 2010. I actually love menu planning but it does become somewhat mandate but after 15 years most things do. Over the years I have changed up my menu planning and a week at a time works well for our purposes.  Now moving forward,  I have less than two weeks until I return to work full time. My goal for this school year is to use up as much as possible from our pantries and freezers. This should allow me to cut our grocery budget by half, less than $450 a month.  I am also looking ahead to needing to purchase another cow by next summer as well so I would like to start saving for this expense so that it does not hit so hard.  But I have to be able to plan and make meal quickly due to our busy schedule.  I recently saw on line where a person had a list of thirty meals and then they rotated through them. I am going to adapt that just a bit. I am in the process of making a list of all the possible meals that we have in the house. From that list I am going to pick a list of thirty at the beginning of each month. Then I will look at each week and rotate to make things not so boring. But before that I also have a huge collection of different recipes that I want to try. So for the next two weeks, I am not using any familiar and favorite recipes, all these will be new recipes that I can decide to include in the rotation or simply leave out. I will likely also plan to include at least one new to us recipe a month just to keep things interesting.  This is going to take a little planning but I hope that it will make meal prepping less stress and expensive in the near future.

Breakfast- Saturday-Pancakes and sausage   Sunday- Dutch/German pancakes   Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday Friday– find it (oatmeal, omelets, cereal and milk ,sausage, pop-tarts, grits and eggs.  I am planning to make a baked oatmeal for one breakfast this week.

Lunch- Saturday-Chinese from yard sale profits Sunday-Christo’s  Monday and Tuesday, I am having a salad from Sunday lunch Wednesday -Friday  Left-overs or what ever you find most days.

Dinner- Saturday-Left-over Chinese   Sunday- More Left-overs    Monday-BBQ ribs, squash casserole and cream corn. Tuesday-Beef enchilada  casserole . Wednesday- Pork Chops  Thursday-Chicken Parmesan casserole Friday-Sloppy joe cheeseburger pasta.

Here is to a new adventure!