Planning our meals makes dinner time so much smoother for me, not to mention I'm able to maximize the food we have resulting in less food (translate money) wasted!
Breakfasts
I do not follow my meal plan for breakfast day by day. What I like to do is make sure I have the items on hand to make the different breakfasts listed. We have 15 laying chickens and are getting around a dozen eggs a day so eggs are ALWAYS for breakfast. I make waffles, muffins and french toast on my "Baking Saturdays" after checking our stock in the freezer. I've been using THIS recipe to make yogurt and Our Best Bite's cinnamon rolls recipe.
Lunches
Lunch is the same as breakfast in that we don't necessarily follow this meal plan but I have the supplies on hand. I make our bread using a DealsToMeals recipe. I love this bread recipe! I can grind whole wheat and make whole wheat bread. I can use white flour and make white bread. I can either make 4, 2, or 1 loaf at a time and it always turns out!
Dinners
Monday: I bought 4 zucchinis and 3 yellow squash a couple weeks ago and I don't want them to go to waste! I'm going to marinate and grill them using THIS recipe. Teriyaki chicken will also be made on the grill using my Dad's teriyaki marinade recipe.
Teriyaki Marinade
1/2 C water
1/2 C soy sauce
1 T vegetable oil
1 T sugar
1/2 t ginger
Tuesday: We have a few heads of romaine lettuce and a bag of spinach so we need to get eating salad, Taco Salad! I'll make taco meat by browning ground turkey (I can get it $1.99/lb or less) and mixing in a can of kidney beans. I make our own taco seasoning.
Taco Seasoning
1 T flour
1 T chili powder
1 T paprika
3/4 t salt
3/4 t minced onion
1/2 t cumin
1/4 t cayenne pepper
1/4 t garlic powder
1/4 t sugar
1/8 t oregano
Combine all of the ingredients in a small bowl. In large skillet, brown 1 pound ground turkey until crumbly; drain fat. Add taco seasoning and 2/3 C water; mix thoroughly. Bring to a boil: reduce heat to low and cook, uncovered, 7 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Wednesday: I use cottage cheese instead of ricotta because it's less expensive. I'll buy cottage cheese when it's around a $1 for a 16 oz container. It freezes well so I'll usually buy 2 or 3. I buy shredded cheese when it's $2.50 a pound or less. If I see it for $2 a lb I'll buy extra and freeze it in 8 oz portions. I make our pasta sauce using Budget Byte's Butter Tomato Sauce recipe. I'm not a fan of meat in my pasta sauce, I didn't grow up with it like that, but I have found a recipe for Italian sausage seasoning that I add to ground turkey so Ben can have his pasta with meat.
Lasagna Roll Ups
1 package lasagna noodles; cook according to package instructions, but take off one minute for baking later.
1 16 oz container ricotta or cottage cheese
2 eggs
1 lb shredded mozzarella
Parmesan cheese
1 can tomato sauce
1 recipe Budget Byte's butter tomato sauce OR 1 26 oz can pasta sauce
1 package frozen spinach
Preheat oven to 350. Spread 1/2 C tomato sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 pan to coat. Mix together the eggs, spinach, cottage or ricotta cheese, some parmesan, and 3/4 of the mozzarella cheese together. in a separate bowl, mix together the rest of the tomato sauce and pasta sauce. Evenly spread a thin layer of cheese mixture down the center of each noodle. Spread pasta sauce down each noodle, on top of the cheese mixture. Roll each noodle up, and place seam side down in prepared baking dish. Top the tolls with remaining sauce and mozzarella cheese. Loosely cover pan with aluminum foil and bake for 35 minutes.
Thursday: Who doesn't love leftovers night?! Waaaay less work for me and we don't end up wasting food! I pick Thursdays for leftovers night because our trash is taken out the next morning. If we need to throw out food, it won't end sitting in the trash can getting stinky.
Friday: The three kids have their last Book-It Pizza Hut certificates to redeem and we'll probably order another 2 pizzas using coupons. Registration for next year's Book-It program is open! We'll serve with green salad on the side.
Saturday: My sister is flying into town this afternoon and we'll be getting together with the rest of the Utah family and having a BBQ potluck. Not sure yet on what we'll be BBQ-ing, probably chicken with hot dogs for the kids! I'll make a pasta salad for our side dish.
Sunday: I was able to get a great deal on frozen meatballs at Smith's. This results in saved time for me! I prepare brown gravy and mashed potatoes to serve on the side. I will also serve cooked vegetables.
What are you eating this week?
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