I am convinced that one of the reason that I am doing better with budgeting especially groceries is the fact that I am now planning our meals at least by Monday. This makes it much hard to say “Let’s just eat out because I know what I want to fix and we have stuff in the freezer for the rough days. This week in general should be fairly easy as I don’t have any time at work scheduled and it really doesn’t sound like I will get any and other than driving around Amanda nothing in the evenings. Tuesday we will be going to Greensboro to get the little girls swim googles, diapers at Harris Teeter and a small trip to Costco. Wednesday is Matt’s birthday so we will be making a cake during the day as well as going out to eat somewhere for his dinner???. I LOVE the grill in the spring and summer so at least 1 if not 3 of our meals will start being based on using it. We do have to get it filled so that is another trip!

Monday- Apricot Pork chops in the crockpot, maybe a broccli rice cassrole or maybe just a fruit and veggie.
Tuesday- Steaks on the grill and a salad
Wednesday – Happy Birthday MATT!
Thursday- Grilled chicken and pasta salad
Friday- Seafood night (probably grilled or steamed jumbo shrimp, deviled crabs) side dishes will be leftovers from the week or steamed corn on the cob!

I am posting this one day late this week but am including two weeks in my planning. My life is ahead of me right now and I am trying not to stress! I am planning to get caught up on posting soon! But in the mean time. I just checked back on my plans for last week and we ended up eating Seafood twice on Tuesday We also had spaghetti on Sunday after our Harris Teeter trip with some bread sticks and cheese sticks. I ended up ordering Pizza on Friday. But that is the only time we ate out!

Plan for this week
Monday- Clean out the fridge night!
Tuesday-Hamburger Steaks with salad
Wednesday- Grilled Chicken (Matt) with slaw and potato salad or regular salad, pineapple for desert
Thursday- Tilapa (Broiled or saute) with some veggies
Friday- Chimicagas

Week of April 12th
Monday- Chicken Fried Rice(large batch with some to freeze)
Tuesday- Spaghetti
Wednesday- Pork Chops ( crock pot something or meal in one)
Thursday-Salisbury steak ( double/triple batch to freeze) rice and veggies!

I am really like posting my menus on Monday. Last week we change things up a little bit because I had a ton of potatoes that were starting to go bad so on Thursday I made a huge batch. We tried the Dion mustard beef steaks from Angel Food. They were actually ok, I broiled instead of using the grill because it was raining. I took some of the potatoes to make a Shepard Pie for dinner on Friday. This actually turned out really good and we will have for lunch several days this week. I still have a LARGE bowl left so I am thinking of freezing or making potato cakes for a breakfast for dinner night!
I am also trying something new, typing it up on Saturday when I had some extra time and schedule to be posted on Monday. Let’s hope it works.

This weeks Menu:
Monday: Ranch chicken, sweet potato cassrole, and of course mash potatoes and slaw
Tuesday: Spaghetti and Garlic bread
Wednesday: Crock pot chicken with onions and carrots (slow cooker recipe)
Thursday : Pork chops (not sure how)
Friday: Breakfast for Dinner

I really don’t feel like blogging right now..in fact I would prefer to be sleeping (naptime). But in an effort to post often on my blog and so that I actually can say I have a plan for the week, I am going to start Monday Menu Post. Last week we went off track because I realized I did not have any mozzarella cheese on Tuesday for the chicken. I guess the fact that we only ate out on Sunday was a good thing 🙂 So now on to the plan

Monday-Steaks (angel food) Leftover sides from the fridge and green beans
Tuesday -Roast with potatoes and carrots (microwavable)
Wednesday- Baked Ziti (Leftover from Saturday)
Thursday- Shrimp Scampi (Bagged meal)
Friday- Mexican night aka I have not a clue

I have figured out that by writing things down they are more likely to get done :0) so I am going to attempt to keep more of my daily life information on my blog! Menu planning is something I do alot in my head but I either forget or get sidetracked so I think that by doing it here I am be more likely to stick to it. I do realize that if I do a menu plan then I am less likely to eat out or be tempted to grab something to eat here. Both of these are really expensive for feeding the 6 of us right now. Matt and I have agreed to try and limit lunches to one out a week and one meal out a week as a family. This way we can enjoying going out to eat and it still remains a “treat” instead of expected. Also I will try and comment to remember if we liked this and if it should go in the “fix again stack.”

Monday – Sausage Apple Skillet Menu (New) Using all Angel Food (update both girls at the doctors so we ate out)
Tuesday -Chicken Cacciatore Costco Home Cooking p139
Wednesday – Chicken Pie (trying different crust)
Thursday – T- bone steaks- Angel Food
Friday – Mexican night- Taco rice, dip ???? depending on what I decided

I am not going to plan for Saturday and Sunday as these days we eat differently and I usually have one “meal” and the other two are snacks or convenience foods. This is also the most likely time we will go out to eat. Sunday is also the day that we eat at Granny and Papaw’s.