Meal Planning

Of all the many years that I've been married, and it's a lot, would you believe that I've never sat down and wrote out the meals that I wanted to cook for the week?  Normally I would just go to the store, without a grocery list, and choose things to cook as I walked down each aisle.  Our weekly meals usually consisted of Hamburger Helper, spaghetti, or a frozen Stouffer's chicken lasagna or something like that.  I must mention that we would go out to eat and get take out a lot, sometimes three or four times a week.  That's terrible, I know.  It is also very costly for a family of five, now six, to go out to eat.  So, I have definitely made some changes!

The first change I've made is to cook more at home instead of going out to eat.  A meal for two adults, two teens (which eat off the adult menu), and a 9 year old usually ranges $75 to $100 (including a 20% tip) depending on which restaurant we would eat at.  So $75 multiplied by three equals $225 a week, at the least! Also, I would go grocery shopping during the week as well, and spend $100 or more.  

Over a week ago, on a Sunday night, I sat down and planned a dinner for each night.  I had a shopping list of all the ingredients I needed for the week.  A few of the staple items I had on hand already.  We also keep venison in the freezer and substitute it for beef roasts/stews.  I used my crock pot for every dinner I planned, and I doubled most of the recipes.  Here is the cost with all of the ingredients for each meal.  This total is for six dinners.  Keep in mind I cooked double portions for these recipes, except the lasagna.  We did go out to eat two nights.  Hey, it was only two times that week!  I also bought a few snack items and the ingredients to make two dozen breakfast tacos.  I'll talk more about those later.



Monday Dinner: Slow Cooker Cheesy Chicken and Rice
http://www.southernplate.com/2010/09/slow-cooker-cheesy-chicken-and-rice-the-downside-of-being-a-swan-princess.html

Tuesday Dinner: (I nicknamed this 3 Bean Turkey Chili) Slow Cooker Spicy Beans with Turkey Sausage
http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Spicy-Beans-with-Turkey-Sausage#.UGstb21urV4.pinterest

Wednesday Dinner: Slow Cooker Lasagna
http://crockingirls.com/recipes/crockin-lasagna/

Thursday Dinner: Slow Cooker Catalina Cranberry Chicken
http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/catalina-cranberry-chicken-89628.aspx?cm_mmc=eml-_-rbe-_-20101228-_-1027

Friday Dinner: Went out to eat

Saturday Dinner: Went out to eat

Sunday Dinner: Slow Cooker Traditional "Venison" Stew
http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Traditional-Beef-Stew#.UGhxFzj2Rws.pinterest

Monday Dinner: Slow Cooker Old Fashioned Pork Chops
http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Old-Fashioned-Pork-Chops#.UGssmppTEX8.pinterest


I doubled most of the recipes, except the lasagna.  We had leftovers for lunch and my husband made plates and carried them to work with him.  I even had enough leftover from Tuesdays dinner to freeze, so now I have a meal in the freezer to use in the future.

Frozen leftovers for another night

       




That Monday morning, I cooked breakfast tacos and individually wrapped them and put them in the freezer.  These are so easy, but it was time consuming since it was my first time doing it.  My children loved having these on hand during the week.  It takes one minute for them to heat up in the microwave.  There's no need to defrost them either.  I was going to make a whole box of waffles and freeze them, but I do have a newborn who wants to eat every two hours!

• Breakfast Tacos
• Makes approximately 24
• 16 eggs
• 1 lb sausage
• 1/2 cup to 1 cup salsa
• 2 cups shredded cheese
• 24 flour tortillas (6 in)

Brown the sausage then drain on paper towel.  Beat eggs in bowl, then scramble eggs in frying pan and add cooked sausage and salsa.  Mix well and let cool.  Make yourself an assembly line with the tortillas (I warmed the tortillas in the microwave a few seconds to keep them from tearing) and egg filling.  Top with shredded cheese and fold up like a taco/burrito.  Wrap each taco individually with saran wrap and then place them in a zip lock freezer bag.  You can make these tacos to your liking by using ham instead of sausage, and even adding diced potatoes to them.

Breakfast Tacos

My next goal is to plan for two weeks of meals instead of one week.  I really don't care for grocery shopping, and I honestly don't have the time to go several times during the week.  I'm also looking for some new recipes to use, like casseroles and such.  Boxed meals get old, and it's nice to have a home cooked meal.  Oh, and Pinterest is a big help!