Menu Plan Week of September 28th

Whew! I think that the birthday party/hurt shoulder/too much to do at work/put up R's bunk bed/deal with the masses of veggies from the garden/ clean out closets and start getting ready for fall/ deep clean downstairs/ find time for playdates and exercise/ celebrate our anniversary whirlwind might finally be slowing down just a smidge!

That means I will be posting some of this week's recipes as I go, along with this week's shopping trips. Spending the past few weeks on food has been great, but the difference has all gone to dental work, eye visits and new outfits for me, as all my clothes were getting horrendously too big.

This week's dinners comes out to a little over $30 for 7 meals for 4, along with some calculated leftovers (pork steaks) for future meals.

Monday 9/28

Southwestern steak and potato skillet $3.50

Broccoli $1.00

Tomato slices .00

$4.50

Tuesday 9/29

Chicken, white bean and orzo soup $1.75 (homemade stock)

Grilled cheese sandwiches $1.00

Caprese salad $.75

$3.50

Wednesday 9/30

Homemade beefaroni 3.00

Green beans .45

Salad $1.00

$4.45

Thursday 10/1

Chicken and black bean nachos $2.00

Corn 1.00

Oranges .50

$3.50

Friday 10/2

cheeseburgers $3.00

tater tots $.75

salad $1.00

$4.75

Saturday 10/3

Orange glazed grilled pork steaks $3.50

Au gratin potatoes $1.00

Beans $.75

$5.25

Sunday 10/4

Crockpot chili w/ cheese and sour cream $4.00

Tortilla chips .50

Salad $1.00

$5.50

Friday Night Birthday Parties?

R attended a pretty neat birthday party last night...the facility is a gym with all kinds of cool play things, and a swimming pool. For half the party, the kids swim. Then they get to go run around and climb and jump and roll and tumble in the gym. Then off to the party room for sugar (greeeeaaat, right?) The interesting part was that it was a party that started at 5:45 on a Friday night. I don't think I've ever seen that. I guess it worked pretty well, though. They had a LOT of kids show up. I guess I'm just stuck on Saturday and Sunday parties :)

Menu Plan...Errr....Tuesday....

Yep....a day late, a dollar short....the story of my life :) Here's this week's meal plan-

Yesterday 9/14
brat patties on buns 3.00
fries .75
caprese salad 1.00
$4.75

Tuesday 9/15
alfredo penne with sausage and spinach $4.00
bread .50
$4.50

Wednesday 9/16
tacos $3.00
corn $1.00
$4.00

Thursday 9/17
grilled chicken $2.00
broccoli $.75
mashed potatoes $.75
$3.50

Friday 9/18
spaghetti with meatballs $3.50
green beans .50
salad $1.00
$5.00

Saturday 9/19
cheeseburgers $3.00
green bean fries $2.00
$5.00

Sunday 9/20
homemade mac and cheese $2.50
sliced tomatoes .00
biscuits $.50
$3.00

Menu Plan Week of 9/7

Here's the plan for the week....I will post the parmesan chicken recipe later this week and will attempt to get a few others up as well. I priced the meals out for the week but don't have a total because who knows how much damage we'll do at Red Robin LOL. R's party is next Sunday so the crockpot meal will be perfect.

Monday 9/7
Cheeseburgers $3.00
Corn on the cob $1.25
Green bean fries $2.00
$6.25

Tuesday 9/8
R’s birthday- dinner at Red Robin

Wednesday 9/9
Parmesan stuffed chicken breasts $2.75
Lemon and Rosemary Roasted potatoes .75
Salad w/ red wine vinaigrette $1.00
$4.50

Thursday 9/10
Meatball sandwiches w/ marinara, peppers and mozzarella $3.25
Apple slices .50
$3.75

Friday 9/11
Chicken tostadas with salsa verde $2.50
Black beans .50
Tomato and corn salad $1.00
$4.00

Saturday 9/12
Grilled smoked sausage $1.50
potato salad $1.50
beans $1.00
$4.00

Sunday 9/13
Crockpot chili $4.00
Tortilla chips .50
Salad $1.00
$5.50

Happy Saturday

Sooo looking forward to 3 days off from work. Well, technically, I have some work to do over the weekend, but at least it doesn't require waking up at 3am! That leaves me with lots and lots of work here in the house.

• I have about 30 lbs. of cucumbers and about 20 lbs. of tomatoes that I need to do something with. Thinking relish for the cucumbers, and sauce for most of the tomatoes. I've been making salsa and also dehydrating many of the tomatoes I've already processed.
• R's 7th birthday is Tuesday and his party is next Sunday so I have planning and errands to run for that.
• meal plan for this week. Looks like I'll get one night off Tuesday because R is requesting Red Robin for his birthday. We haven't eaten out in ages, so this will be fun!
• Drawer and closet cleanout for the boys and for me. Need to make sure we are ready for the transition into fall and I can start looking for anything they might be short on. For me, it's about getting all the big clothes out of the drawers and finding smaller clothes for fall. I grabbed thicker dress pants and a long sleeve shirt earlier this week on a cooler day at 3 when I wasn't awake, and it wasn't until I was at work after a couple of cups of coffee that I realized that I was SWIMMING in my outfit. I hadn't worn these items since March, and while it was cool to see just how much I've changed in 6 months, it was also pretty embarassing because I looked like a bag lady. So much so that the next day one of the sales girls came up and asked me what size I was now, because she'd lost weight too and might have some things to fit me. LOL.
• need to spend time in my garden and start taking out plants that are done for the season. Some of the tomato plants are done, and I have to get them out because you can't compost with tomato plants.

I'm sure there are many other things I'm not thinking of, but I hope to get a healthy dash of REST in there as well!

Check back this weekend for some recipes I'm overdue on posting, including the huge successes I''ve had with dehydrating my romas. I rehydrated some this week for pasta, and they were even better than the sundried tomatoes you end up spending $5 a bag for.