This week I have several after school meeting that will put me home at the same time as dinner. I decided that each of the kids could take a evening to cook dinner. This makes things much easier on me. I do not have a plan for Friday because it will either be soup from the freezer or leftovers depending on my mood. Next weekend I am planning to start working on Thanksgiving appetizers and desserts, so Friday is an easy no brainer.

Breakfast- Saturday-Bacon, pancakes, eggs and toast   Sunday-Left-over Pancakes Monday-Zucchini Bread Tuesday Wednesday and Friday- find it oatmeal, omelets cereal and milk, French toast sticks, bagels, breakfast burritos and pancakes. Thursday- homemade bagels or baked oatmeal.

Lunch- Saturday-Left-overs   Sunday-Olive Garden    Monday Olive Garden take and go lunches.   Tuesday- left over stuffed green pepper for me and burger for Matt.    Wednesday- soup for me and left-over Olive Garden for Matt.   Thursday-veggie plate for me and burger for Matt    Friday- out to eat.

Dinner- Saturday-Left-over    Sunday- Bacon Cheddar Burgers,   Monday Cube Steak and mashed potatoes. Tuesday- Kendall is cooking chicken nuggets and mac and cheese.   Wednesday-Lily is cooking (she will decide that day) Thursday- Zach is cooking Mexican rice and taotais   Friday- ????

November of this year is a rare month. We do not have any games or sports practices to interfere with dinners for the entire month! I am also actively trying to keep our grocery budget as low as possible to help save money for gifts.

Breakfast- Saturday-Bacon, eggs and toast   Sunday-Tator Tot Breakfast casserole    Monday-Bagels Tuesday- Croissants, Wednesday Thursday and Friday- find it oatmeal, omelets cereal and milk, French toast sticks, bagels, breakfast burritos and pancakes.

Lunch- Saturday-Left-overs   Sunday-Mexican Restaurant    Monday-Left-over pepper steak for me .  Tuesday- left over chicken and dumplings   Wednesday- Arby’s   Thursday-lunch out   Friday- sandwich or left-overs!

Dinner- Saturday-Church dinner    Sunday- left-overs   Monday Grilled chicken and pasta salad Tuesday- Walking Tacos   Wednesday-spaghetti    Thursday- Cheeseburger pizza   Friday- Beef stew (new recipe)

Yeap this is doable!

Here is to the hope that I am going to start blogging again regularly. I hope to share more this week about what has been going on and where we are at.  But let’s start with this. Sunday afternoon/ evening we planned the weeks meals and actually got 2 of them all prepared.

Breakfast- Saturday-Bacon, eggs and biscuits  Sunday-Pancakes   Monday-Bagels Tuesday-English muffins Wednesday Thursday and Friday- find it oatmeal, cereal and milk, French toast sticks, bagels, breakfast burritos and pancakes.

Lunch- Saturday-Left-overs   Sunday-Panda Panda    Monday-Tomato soup Tuesday- left-overs Wednesday- more left-overs   Thursday- broccoli cheese soup Friday-lunch out!

Dinner- Saturday-More left-overs   Sunday-Dippin meal and/or left-overs   Monday Pepper Steak in the crockpot   Tuesday- Chicken casserole Wednesday- Breakfast for Dinner   Thursday- Chicken Burrito Soup   Friday- Pork Fried Rice

It appears that I am catching up on things. I want to significantly reduce our grocery budget from now until December. Planning and preparation are going to be a must!

Breakfast- Saturday-Breakfast bowls Sunday-Breakfast leftovers   Monday-Bagels Tuesday- Breakfast burritos Wednesday Thursday and Friday- find it oatmeal, cereal and milk, French toast sticks, bagels, breakfast burritos and pancakes.
Lunch- Saturday-Costco Sunday-Longhorn Steak house   Monday-Tomato soup Tuesday- left-overs Wednesday- lunch out for me Thursday- broccoli cheese soup Friday-leftovers

Dinner- Saturday-Chicken, scallop potatoes and green beans   Sunday-Broccoli Cheese soup. Monday-Rice and Kielbasa that got skipped last week.  Tuesday- Left-overs Wednesday- Taco Rice   Thursday- Hamburger helper   Friday- Torella

This week is going to be significantly busier than last week. The weather is starting to change. I need to get our pears preserved along with several other things. So you will notice alot of pre-prepared foods.  We did camp from Friday to Sunday so we used the Blackstone for most meals during this time!

Breakfast- Saturday- Big breakfast of bacon, eggs and toast or English muffins Sunday- sausage and pancakes Monday- Find your own. Tuesday- Pear Baked Oatmeal Wednesday- Homemade Everything Bagels Thursday and Friday- find it oatmeal, cereal and milk, French toast sticks, bagels, breakfast burritos and pancakes.

Lunch- Saturday-Cheese Quesadillas Sunday-Chicken nuggets and green beans.   Monday-I had chicken salad Tuesday- left-overs Wednesday-eat out   Thursday- salad   Friday-not sure what it will be at this point.

Dinner- Saturday-Ate at the outlets Sunday- Cowboy beans   Monday-Chicken pot pie and pear sauce.   Tuesday Million Dollar Spaghetti Pie.  Wednesday-Pulled pork sandwiches   Thursday- Chicken and Broccoli Casserole Friday-Kielbasa and rice.

Planning and prepping are working well. This week, I have alot of things already prepped so it is heat and eat!

Breakfast- Saturday- Big breakfast of sausage, bacon, eggs and toast. Sunday- bagels with choice of toppings. Monday- Find your own. Tuesday- Homemade everything bagels.  Wednesday Thursday and Friday- find it oatmeal, cereal and milk, French toast sticks, bagels, breakfast burritos and pancakes.

Lunch- Saturday-Cheese Quesadillas Sunday-Little Italy.   Monday-I had a salad Tuesday- salad.  Wednesday-eat out   Thursday- left-overs, Friday-chicken bacon ranch pasta salad

Dinner- Saturday-homemade pizza Sunday- Salsa chicken soup (new recipe)  Monday-Spaghetti and Garlic Bread   Tuesday Hamburger Helper.  Wednesday- Chicken nuggets   Thursday- Taco Bell   Friday-Hot Dogs.

This week has us on a more normal schedule. Zach has a ball game on Wednesday but we should be home the other evenings.  We do have a lot of things that need to be caught up on especially outside. The garden is on it’s last leg for the summer, so we need to clean out the beds and lots of weeds.  I did a bunch of meal prep on Saturday since we were stuck inside.

Breakfast- Saturday-Gravy and biscuits. Sunday-Cheddar Bay Sausage balls   Monday- Biscuits (steak for Matt and Zach).  Tuesday- Omelets Wednesday Thursday and Friday- find it oatmeal, cereal and milk, French toast sticks, bagels, breakfast burritos and pancakes.
Lunch- Saturday-leftovers Sunday-Kimonos   Monday-Salad Tuesday- left-pvers Wednesday- lunch out for me Thursday- salad Friday-leftovers

Dinner- Saturday-finishing up left-overs Sunday-Sausage Potato soup (decided we could start soup Sunday). Monday-Cheddar and Bacon burgers and fries. Tuesday- Stuffed green peppers.  Wednesday- Eating out after game. Thursday- Salisbury steak, mashed potatoes corn and green beans.  Friday- Grilled chicken and pasta salad.

This week, I have changed and hopefully improved our menu planning and preparation.  In addition to planning the menu, we tried to prepare as much as possible. For example, I made the mashed potatoes for dinner tonight yesterday and reheated in the oven.  The goal is to reduce the amount of time it takes to get a meal on the table to 30 minutes each evening.  It worked really well today!  This is my first full week of work, Lily’s second full week of school and Zach’s second week of football practice.

Breakfast- Saturday- Big breakfast of sausage, bacon, eggs and toast. Sunday- Biscuits with choice of meat or sweet. Monday- Find your own. Tuesday- Homemade everything bagels.  Wednesday Thursday and Friday- find it oatmeal, cereal and milk, French toast sticks, bagels, breakfast burritos and pancakes.

Lunch- Saturday-Left-overs Sunday-East Coast wings   Monday-I had a salad Tuesday- left-overs.  Wednesday- sandwich Thursday- Summer lunch, Friday-eat out.

Dinner- Saturday-Chips and dips Sunday- Tomato soup or Matt’s chill Monday-Beef stew with mashed potatoes and squash.  Tuesday Chicken Sausage Alfredo.  Wednesday- Egg roll in a bowl Thursday- Stuffed green peppers Friday-Breakfast Pizza

Every Bit Counts Challenge- It made sense for me to include this with Menu planning as they are both food related. I knew this would become harder as I started back to work. It is also harder as the garden has slowed way down as we approach fall.

Tuesday August 16th 8 cups of diced tomatoes
Wednesday August 17th Dried spices
Thursday August 18- Batch of medium salsa
Friday August 19-
Saturday Augst 20th- We finished on a new cabinet for the kitchen a
Sunday August 21st- 2 bags of cabbage for Future Eggroll in a bowl dinner
Monday August 22nd- 4 cups of Diced tomatoes.