Menu Monday---November 16th

I tried to plan this weeks menu from the food we already had on hand. I didn't want to spend alot of money on food this week. I was pleasantly surprised to see that most of our meals could be done and we actually only needed a few ingredients for the rest.

I started my menu on Friday's since that is the day I go (or try to go) grocery shopping. I would like to eventually change this to a Tuesday afternoon or a Wednesday. It just hasn't happened yet.

Friday
B--Cereal
L--Left-over Chicken Chili with rice
D--Chicken Pot Pie (from the freezer)

Saturday
B--Pancakes (I made a triple batch and froze a huge amount)
L--Cheese and Crackers with Apples
D--Pizza Night (I did order this out. I have tried 3 times now to make homemade and it just doesn't taste the same to me.)

Sunday --- Jessica's Birthday ---- Menu picked out by her
B--French Toast (made extra and put it in the freezer)
L--Fruit and snacks
D--Tacos (hamburg and chicken) with Rice, veggies

Monday
B--Banana Bread (made 2 yesterday, 1 went in the freezer)
L--L.O. (left over) Tacos and Rice
D--Portuguese Soup and homemade bread

Tuesday
B--Muffins (I made them over the weekend and put them in the freezer)
L--L.O. Portuguese Soup
D--Lasagna (from the freezer)

Wednesday
B--LaMuffins
L--L.O. Lasagna
D--BBQ chicken, Rice and Corn

Thursday
B--Oatmeal
L--BLTs and Mac and Cheese
D--Chicken Stir-Fry

The only food I bought this week:
Taco Dinner Mixes x 2
Taco Cheese
Tomato
Grapes
1 box mac and cheese
ice cream (to with Jessica's birthday cake I made)
soda
butterscotch tips (planning on making cookies today)
bottled water
chips
vanilla
Nicholas' formula
milk
1 juice

I think that is it. Not bad for a family of 8!! I still could have went without a few of those things.

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Menu Monday---August 31st

Last week I made a menu, I just never posted it. There are actually a few carry over meals this week since for some reason or another we didn't make what we had planned. Those nights we did quick easy meals. Needless to say, I didn't have to spend a ton on groceries this week : )

As always, meals are subject to change according to schedule, needs or cravings. Also, I start my menu on Saturday since we usually go grocery shopping on Friday's.

Saturday
OYO (own you own)
Pasta Fazole
Pizza night---take out. Chris worked a double and I was too tired to even think of cooking.

Sunday
Donuts---my craving
Mac and Cheese
Chicken Patty sandwiches

Monday
Zucchini bread
PB & J
Calzones

Tuesday
Bagels
Chicken Nuggets
Fajitas and Rice

Wednesday
Pancakes
Grill Cheese
Chorico and Fries

Thursday
Egg Omelet
BLTs
BBQ Chicken (on grill), Potato Salad, Corn-on-the-Cob

Friday
Cereal
OYO
American Chop Suey

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Menu Planning-----Assignment 2

Toni over at The Happy Housewife is continuing her series on Menu Planning. Since I do menu plan, I thought I would join in. I am sure though that Toni could still teach me a thing or two.

This week's assignment was to come up with side dishes for our meals. This is something I already have. It could use some revising so I will take this opportunity to do so. Here is what I have so far:

Lunch Sides:
Fries
Fruit---whatever I have on hand that the kids didn't eat during healthy snack time or breakfast.
Chips---I don't do this one too often.
Veggie---carrots, cucumber
Pudding---this is to be eaten after the main component of their lunch.

Dinner Sides:
Egg Noodles
Rice
Veggie Platter---raw veggies--green & red peppers, cucumbers with or without dip
Salad
Chicken Flavored Rice----this would be the pre-packaged rice from Lipton
Mashed Potatoes
Red Potatoes---when I say red potatoes I mean potatoes with tomato sauce, onions and garlic. This is a delicious way to make a roast.
Baked Potatoes

Not sure what to add to the lunch sides. You know what I noticed about my dinner menu....veggies are missing. Yes, we do have veggies. But for some reason I did not put them on my list. So here are some sides I left off my original list:

Corn
Corn-on-the cob---summer time favorite
Green beans
Potato salad---summer time favorite
Pasta Salad
Watermelon
Chips---on grill night the kids will sometimes have chips with their hamburg or hot dog.
Carrots
Olives
Stuffing

I am sure I am still missing things. But one of the great things about having my Master List on the computer is I can go in and update it and print off a new one.

Menu Planning---Assignment 1

Toni over at The Happy Housewife is doing a series on Menu Planning. She was surprised to find out that there are quite a few people out there that don't menu plan and don't know where to start. So she came up with this series to help walk people through the process. She is giving out weekly assignments to help the process.

I do menu plan. I find when I do, my grocery shopping and budget are both under better control. The first assignment was to make a master list of meals. I already have one made up for Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner along with side dishes. I have a hard copy on my computer. I have another copy in a page protector that I make reference to when I am doing my planning for the week. Next week's assignment is to list side dishes so I will only share with you this week my master meal list.

Master Breakfast Menu
1. Cereal (this use to be the standard, now it is the stand-by)
2. French Toast
3. LaMuffins
4. Scrambled Eggs with Bacon
5. Oven Omelet
6. Banana Bread (I always make 2 at a time and put one in the freezer)
7. Blueberry Muffins (I double the recipe and put whatever we don't use the first day in the freezer)
8. Waffles (I admit it, these are store bought froze waffles. I buy them when they are on sale for $1 a box)
9. Pancakes
10. Oatmeal
11. Peanut Butter Oatmeal
12. Bagels

Master Lunch Menu
1. Chicken Nuggets
2. PB & J
3. Pasta Foozle
4. Grill Cheese
5. English Muffin Pizza
6. Pizza (frozen store bought)
7. Left-overs from the night before
8. BLTs
9. Hamburgs (on the grill)
10. Mac and Cheese
11. Turkey Sandwiches
12. Chicken Patty Sandwiches
13. Chicken Roll-ups

Master Dinner Menu
1. Pizza
2. BLTs
3. Chorico and Fries
4. Grill Nite--Hamburgs and Hot dogs
5. American Chop Suey (I believe in other parts of the country you call this goulash)
6. Sloppy Joes
7. Fajitas
8. Chicken and Beans
9. BBQ Chicken
10. Chicken Tacos
11. Chicken Stir-Fry
12 Chicken and Veggies over Pasta
13. Chicken and Broccoli
14. Chicken Chili
15. Roast--in the crockpot
16. Roast Chicken (usually Portuguese style with chorico)
17. Chicken Casserole
18. Hamburg Rice
19. Lasagna
20. Steak
21. Wet Burritos
22. Chicken Parmesan
23. Sheppard Pie
24. Chicken Pot Pie
25. Chicken Bowl
26. Hot Chicken
27. Paprika Chicken with Egg Noodles
28. Portuguese Soup
29. Pork Chops (on a very rare occasion, but I have to be out for the night because I can't stand the smell of them).

As you can see most of our meals have something to do with chicken. That is because I do not eat red meat or pork. However, the rest of the family does. Because of this, I do try atleast once a week to have red meat with the meal. On these nights I either have everything except the meat, cook up a piece of chicken for myself (as an example, when I make a roast in the crockpot I just throw a piece of chicken in there with the roast while it cooks) or I don't eat what is cooked and have a bowl of cereal (Remember my post last week on Picky Eaters---I want to be an example).

I do try to mix things up while making my menu. I try to have 1 pasta dish a week. If there is 2 I have a couple of days atleast between them. I try not to have 2 spicy meals in a row and I also try not to have 2 meals next to each other that have the same base ingredients (like 2 tomato sauce based meals).

I must be doing something right. I haven't had a complaint yet : )

Menu Monday---August 17th

We didn't get to grocery shopping on Friday due to a busy day. I did pick up a few things to get us through the weekend. We are going today. I am trying to eat as much as possible out of the pantry the rest of the week so we shouldn't need much at the market.

We are doing pretty good with the budget. This month seem to work out pretty good. I am going over numbers to see how we offically did. I know we did lower our grocery bill and we haven't starved with me only getting what I need at the market weekly. I have also found that I am throwing less food away (is there anything worse than throwing away food that expired or went bad because people didn't know it was there.).

Here's our menu for the week, which we start on Saturday's.

Saturday
OYO
Yogurt smoothies (big hit!)
Pizza Night!! Take out

Sunday
Banana bread---from the freezer
Grilled cheese with apples
Tacos, rice and veggies

Monday
Cereal
PB & J with a fruit (Zachary will make)
Grill Night---Hamburgs or Hot dogs, Pasta Salad, Corn on the cob

Tuesday
Oatmeal (Zachary will make)
Pasta Fazole
Family Night at a baseball game. Cookout included : )

Wednesday
LaMuffins (egg sandwich with turkey bacon on a english muffin)
Chicken Patty sandwich with fries
Hot Chicken, egg noodles, corn

Thursday
Pancakes (Zachary will make)
BLTs
Chicken and Broccoli over Pasta

Friday
Blueberry Muffins
Mac & Cheese (Zachary will make)
Cooks choice (after what I am sure will be a long afternoon of grocery shopping)

As you can see, Zachary is my resident kitchen helper.

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Menu Monday--August 10th

I have been working very hard to stay as close as I can to our new food budget. I set it at $700 for 4 weeks, but I think it would be more accurate to make it $800. This would break down to $100 for meats for the month and then $175 a week for 4 weeks (up from $150 a week). This will include food, toiletries and cleaning products. This will NOT include things for baby, wipes, diapers, ect. I do not feel that what we eat for the week should depend on how fast Nicholas goes through diapers. This will be a separate expense. Also, we have to pay for "special" town trash bags. This is not included in the grocery budget but a separate one.

We did go over budget this week because I bought a few bulk items this week from BJ's---box of hamburgs for the grill, hot dogs and turkey bacon. These 3 things together came to $34 but they will be used throughout the month. My goal next week is to make our menu from as much pantry food as I can so I can try to stay within budget. I think I can do it!!!

So on to this weeks Menu. Because I have been grocery shopping on Friday afternoons, I start my menu on Saturday.

Saturday
B--OYO (own your own)
L--PB & J
D--Grill--Hamburgs, hot dogs and chicken for me. Potato salad

Sunday
B--Cereal
L--Pizza (frozen)
D--Chicken Chili with Rice

Monday
B--Bagels (Zachary will be making this)
L--Grill Cheese (Zachary might be making this too)
D--Chicken with Potatoes and corn in the oven

Tuesday
B--French Toast
L--Hot dogs (they are 100% beef)
D--Fajitas, rice and cut-up veggies

Wednesday----CJ's 16th Birthday!!!!! Birthday Boy has his choice of menu for the day.
B--Scrambled Eggs with Bacon and homefries prepared by Dad
L--Chris and I will be taking CJ out to lunch after he goes for his driver's permit (Yikes!) The kids will be at home with my mom. They will have chicken nuggets and fries.
D--CJ has requested to make dinner. He will be making Chicken Alfredo and a salad. He has been asking a while to make this and jumped at the opportunity since it is HIS choice for dinner.

Thursday
B--Oven Omelet
L--BLTs, cut up veggies
D--not sure yet.

Friday
B--Oatmeal (prepared by Zachary)
L--Mac and Cheese (prepared by Zachary. He is my chef in the making---just like his Dad!)
D--Sloppy Joes with fries.

Snacks available for the week:
Fruit, Pudding, Yogurt, Yogurt smoothie, Cheese & Crackers, Ice cream, Birthday cake, Popcorn, Popsicles, Oatmeal cookies and Brownies.

Just a disclaimer---We do have fruits and vegetables throughout the day with our meals. I don't always write it in because the kids morning snack is either a fruit or a yogurt. So then at meal time, I need to see what is available for all of us to eat.

Also, we have OJ with breakfast and milk with lunch and dinner (water throughout the day).

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Menu Monday--July 25th

Time to get back on track. Last week I was exhausted from doing my niece's shower. I did do a menu last week but didn't post it. So I am back. I am seriously trying to take back control of our grocery budget.....or should I say lack of one. The first step, Menu planning. Second step, I am trying to do once a week grocery shopping vs. every 2 weeks (with alot of trips in between). I started this menu on Saturday and ends on Thursday.

All meals are subject to change---especially if I have a craving : )-

Saturday--
OYO (own your own)
PB & J
BBQ Chicken, Rice and corn

Sunday--
Cereal
PB & J (I know, again. Chris ended up taking all the kids to CJ's baseball game and I threw this together at the last second).
Grill Night. Kids--Hamburgs. Chris and CJ--Steak. Judy--Chicken (what else). Pasta Salad

Monday--
Blueberry muffins
BLTs
Chicken Parmesan, spaghetti, salad and MAYBE homemade bread

Tuesday--
Oatmeal
Homemade Pizza
Chicken Stir-fry over rice

Wednesday--
French Toast
Mac & Cheese
Chicken Chili over rice (I have been in the mood for this. Yes, I know it is July)

Thursday--
Oven Omelet
Chicken Patty Sandwiches with Fries
Dinner---not sure

Head on over to I'm an Organizing Junkie for more Monday Menu Plans.

Menu Monday---Week of June 29th

My budget has been extremely out of control lately. I feel instead of me controlling my money, my money has been controlling me. I decided to change this. Friday I worked on the budget. It is looking pretty good. Some things might need to be changed but all in all, I believe it is workable.

One of the biggest areas I believe the money is just being eaten up (figuratively and literally) is groceries. Not being prepared for meals and therefore too many stops to the grocery store really does and up!!!

So Saturday, I spent most of the afternoon working on preparing a menu for the next too weeks---breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. Then I spent 3 1/2 hours, and 3 different store grocery shopping with my oldest, CJ. I am at the point that pushing a carriage full of groceries for 7 to 8 people (mom is staying with us this week) is too much for me. Chris also did 3 stores for me on his own. He hit the meat market and Stop and Shop on his way home from work Saturday to pick up sale items. On his way home Sunday, he went to BJ's to get a handful of bulk items I needed. CJ and I hit Wal-mart, Target and Shaw's. The majority of my shopping is actually done at Wal-mart. Target is right across the street from Wal-mart and I pick up a few items there that Wal-mart either runs out of or doesn't carry. At Shaw's I picked up some sale items and a few fruits and veggies. I have a HUGE farmer's market order coming in on Thursday so I only wanted to get F & V to last me until then.

So without further ado----My Menu (which is, of course, is subject to change : )

Monday--(B)Bagels with catalope, (L) Pasta Fazole, (D) not sure yet

Tuesday--(B)Waffles (frozen), (L) PB & J sandwich, (D) Fajitas with rice

Wednesday--(B)LaMuffins, (L) Chicken patty sandwiches w/ fries, (D), American Chop Suey

Thursday--(B) Oven Omelet , (L) Dad's Choice, (D) Homemade Pizza---this will be my first attempt at this.

Friday--(B)Blueberry muffins, (L) Mac and Cheese, (D) Chorico and Fries

Saturday--(B) Pancakes, (L) English Muffin Pizzas, (D) Grill. Steak (chicken for me), corn-on-cob, watermelon, chips, potato salad and 4th of July cupcakes---yummy.

Sunday--(B) Cereal (recovering from the night before), (L) OYO (own-your-own) lunch, (D) Chicken Pastina (new recipe)

I have a long list of snacks available to the kids over the next 2 weeks:
yogurt, yogurt smoothies, fruit (usually their morning snack), cheese and crackers, fruit grain bars, popsicles, ice cream sandwiches, granola bars, brownies (Emily LOVES making these with me), chips w/ salsa, pudding, popcorn, and mixed nuts

That about sums it up.

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Supper Swap

I am getting ready to start cooking for my Supper Swap at co-op. Supper Swap....what's that? you may ask.

Here's the basis: 10 ladies (9 this time around for us) each make one meal.....times 10 (one for each family). Freeze each meal in an aluminum pan double foiled. Then on said date we bring 9 meals to our meeting place (for us it is co-op every other Thursday). Finally we switch meals. Each lady now has 10 meals for her freezer----9 that we got at co-op plus the one you made and left at home. This should cover Monday through Friday cooking. One less thing for a homeschooling mama to do.

Truth be told, this will only be our second swap. I don't have my opinion formed yet on this deal. You see, I am a chicken and pasta girl. Like literally we have chicken 5 nights a week, pasta 1 (sometimes with hamburg) and the pizza place down the street the other. Even when I do venture out and say make a roast on a Sunday, I throw a piece of chicken in there for myself. As far as pork goes, if Chris is lucky I will buy pork chops once a month for him to make on a night I am going to be out (can't stand the smell).

With the swap, there is a variety of dishes. Great if you like variety. In fact, I think Chris kind of liked it. But for me, not so great. I did notice that this time around there was more chicken and pasta.

So I guess like anything there are good points and bad to it.
Good---LOVED just throwing a dinner in the oven and then making a side to go with it.
Good---In theory, you cook once for a few hours and you have all those meals.

Bad---If you don't like a variety of foods.
Bad---After a few days of having other people's cooking I missed the way hubby cooked (that is why I still have 3 meals in the freezer from the last time around).

I will let you know in a couple of weeks how I think it is going. BTW, I need to send out a big THANK YOU to Kate from A Simple Walk because I used her Chicken and Bean recipe for the first swap (which went over VERY well). So THANKS KATE!!! : )

This time I am making 3 Cheese Manicotti. Yummy....can't wait for dinner tonight.

Menu Monday

I am not sure what this week is going to bring. Chris, my hubby, is having surgery tomorrow. He is having a deviated septum repaired. I had this done when I was 18 and I was miserable. I had my tonsils out at the same time so hopefully that is what made the difference.

I have tried freezing some breakfast food that the kids can just grab and warm up without me. For lunches I picked things that I know CJ or Zachary should be able to handle. Tuesday nights dinner will be prepared today (it just happens to taste better the next day anyway). Wednesday and Thursday's dinners are in the freezer, with Friday being an easy dinner. So here's to the week!!!

Breakfast---no particular order
Cereal, muffins (freezer), French toast (freezer), Pancakes (freezer), LaMuffin's, Banana Bread (will make today), and Saturdays are OYO (Own Your Own)

Lunch--again, no particular order
Mac & Cheese (Zachary is a pro at making), grill cheese, L.O. Soup (L.O. stands for left over), Turkey sandwiches, OYO, and Thursday is co-op day--probably Subway sandwiches (I know, in no, way-shape or form organic).

Dinners--
Monday--Taco's (This is usually on Taco Tuesday, but since the surgery is tomorrow and I wanted to have it this week will have it on Monday and call it......Manic Monday : ) I do have names for the other days of the week we have tacos.

Tuesday--Portuguese Soup

Wednesday--Chicken Pot Pie already in the freezer and ready to go.

Thursday--Chicken and Beans over Rice. This is also in the freezer. All I will have to do is make the rice.

Friday--Pasta of some sort.

Saturday--Pizza

Sunday--Roasted Chicken

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Menu Plan Monday on Tuesday

I don't know why I have brain freeze when it comes to making up my menu. I guess it is because I get worried that everyone will get sick of something I am making if I put it on the menu too much. Then there are the meals that when I do put on the menu I know I am going to get an eye roll over. I promised myself I would not go grocery shopping until it was done. Last night around 6:15 I was finally done and ready to head out the door.

Chris is having surgery next week on Tuesday the 20th. I planned next weeks menu too. My plan for next week during his recovery is to keep things as simple as possible. To do this, I will be doubling some of my breakfast meals this week and put them in the freezer. I will also double 1 of my dinner recipes to put in the freezer too. I already have a chicken pot pie in there for next week.

So Finally, with no further ado........

Breakfast (no particular order)
french toast (will make a whole loaf and freeze whatever we don't use)
pancakes (double batch---freeze some)
LaMuffin's
Bagels with cream cheese
cereal

Lunch--when I did my menu I just numbered 1-10 (for the 10 days remaining until payday) and put 10 things down. I will decide each morning what lunch is going to be. Zachary is getting pretty good at making mac & cheese and grilled cheese on his own. I am hoping to someday be able to give over lunch prep to the kids.

Dinner
Monday---I made a roast with potatoes, carrots, and onions in the crockpot.
Tuesday--Chicken and Beans over Rice (I am making a double batch of this so I can freeze one for next week).
Wednesday--Chicken Chili over rice (this is an eye roll meal)
Thursday--Chicken Fajitas
Friday--busy night. I have my month homeschool meeting and hubby is going to bringing the boys to a hockey game. Sloppy Joes with fries.
Saturday--either Calzones or Pizza
Sunday---Happy Anniversary to Us!! The kids and my mother will be having Hot chicken with egg noodles. Chris and I will be going out to dinner.

I started buying some organics this week. I hope to do a post by tomorrow about how we are going about this. So make sure you come back ; )

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Menu Monday 1/5

Can you believe that not only is it a new week but a new year! December was a huge blur. I feel like I need time off from my time off : ) I know I can't be the only one who feels this way.

So here's the first step back to normalcy, my weekly menu.

Breakfast (in no particular order this week)--oatmeal, blueberry muffins, french toast, LaMuffin's, cereal, OYO (Own Your Own),

Lunch (again no particular order this week)--mac and cheese, L.O. (leftovers), Pasta, PB&J, BLTs, cheese with fruit

Dinner:
Monday--Tacos (Yes, I know I usually have Taco Tuesday but this week we are having Manic Monday and having tacos today), rice and veggies

Tuesday--Beef Stew (if you must know, I switched this morning the tacos and beef stew. I forgot to take out the beef stew meat).

Wednesday--Chicken Soup

Thursday--First day back to high school co-op. Chorico and Chips (fries). Chorico is a Portuguese sausage. I buy the turkey kind instead of pork.

Friday--Chicken Parmesan with Spaghetti, salad or green beans

Saturday--Pizza night. I still haven't gotten around to making a homemade pizza from scratch. The closest we came was when Chris picked up a pre-made crust.

Sunday--Roast (a piece of chicken for me), potatoes, carrots, onions all thrown into my crockpot before church.

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Menu Plan Monday, December 8th

We did pretty good sticking to our meals last. Especially considering the lack of organization I had to them. You see, I had planned on going to the market on Monday (which for me consists of about 4 different stores). Chris ended up working overtime so I didn't go. Everyday since then it has been a "run to the store and I will go and do the regular shopping tomorrow". However, I never made it to the store. Chris would either stop on his way home and pick up the few things we needed for that day or I would run to a small convenience type store. Needless to say I am sure we blew the budget. But this is a new week, right : )

Last week's homemade pizza was not as homemade as I would have liked. Chris ended up picking up one of those pre-made shells. Still cost alot less than if we had ordered out.

So here goes....

Breakfast--Blueberry muffins, oatmeal, banana bread, french toast, eggs with bacon, cereal (on Sunday before church). Saturday will be OYO (Own Your Own).

Lunch--L.O. Portuguese Soup, turkey sandwiches, BLTs, grilled cheese, mac & cheese, PB&J and Sunday will either be OYO or take-out since I will most likely stay close the church since the kids are in a play at 3 p.m..

Dinner--
Monday--Chicken Pot Pie. Got this recipe from Happy to be at Home. They have a great e-recipe book with 50 recipes in it for only $4.95. Well worth the money!!! This will be my first time making a homemade crust. I will let you know how it comes out.

Tuesday--It's Taco Tuesday!!! Tacos, Rice and veggie tray

Wednesday--Red Chicken with potatoes and carrots

Thursday--Steak, baked potatoes with some sort of veggie. I am not sure what I will be having for dinner this night since I don't eat red meat.

Friday--Chicken and Bean Burritos. We were suppose to have this last week but didn't get a chance. I can't wait to have this.

Saturday--Homemade pizza. This time I am going for the homemade crust and all. Again, I got the crust recipe from Happy to be at Home.

Sunday--Cheesy Chicken Shells, salad, garlic bread.

I going to attempt at some point to make homemade bread. I am still looking for an easy recipe. I don't have a bread machine but I do have a Kitchen Aide mixer. If you know of a great recipe PLEASE let me know. I will make sure I give you credit for it : )

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