Thursday, April 8, 2010

Menu planning

So I took a little time off from writing anything, huh? That's what moving will do to you!

We are all moved back in our house in Savannah and have settled in for the most part. We are waiting on delivery of our IKEA wardrobe system today and once that is put together and our bedroom is unpacked, I'll definitely feel better! The yard will take some work. There are tons of weeds and we've been pulling and raking them out for the past week!

We did start a few vegetables. My husband built me a raised bed along a portion of chain link fencing we have for our peas. We used bricks we already had and the trellis (chain link fence) was already there, so FREE! I also planted a cucumber plant that's supposedly good in small gardens and one red bell pepper plant. I have some other things planted but I think they will probably die in the heat because they are cooler weathered vegetables! Arugula, swiss chard, red cabbage.

We planted 4 tomato plants in self watering containers that my husband made. I'll post pictures on that later. Everything except for the soil and the tomato plants were FREE!


Now, on to making my life feel organized after the move - menu planning is the key! I absolutely despise not having a menu planned out. It makes things so difficult. It's such a pain to sit down and actually plan out the menu, but not really when you think about getting up in the morning, looking at your menu and know exactly what you are eating that day. Such a time saver and saves the hassle of deciding 30 minutes before meal time what you are having!

I'm not good at it yet. I want to be able to build my menu off of what is on sale at the grocery store and what is in season as far as vegetables and fruit. I'll get there! It helps save money too. When going to the grocery store, you have a definite list. You know exactly what to buy. Vegetables won't go bad before you decide to use them. Meat won't sit in your freezer for 6 months before you finally get around to cooking it. You won't have 20 boxes of pasta in your freezer because every time you go grocery shopping without a plan, you buy the pasta that's on sale, just to have on hand for a quick meal! :)


Here is my menu plan for next week. We used to only plan dinners but now that our son is here it's much easier to add lunches too!

Monday 4/12
Lunch - Tuna apple salad
Dinner - Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green veggie or two

Tuesday 4/13
L - Meatloaf sandwich (add lettuce and tomato for veggie servings)
D - Leftovers from dinner last night (yes, meatloaf 3 times in a row, but I don't mind!)
We'll probably slice up a fresh tomato to add to our veggies.

Wednesday 4/14
L - BLAT wrap - one of my FAVORITES! Bacon, Lettuce, Avocado and Tomato wrap! You take a wheat tortilla, chop up crispy bacon, add lettuce, tomato and avocado. The secret is a tiny amount of ranch dressing. SO good! We don't eat ranch dressing except for on this wrap! I'm sure there is a substitute out there I can whip up if I took the time to look!)
D - Roasted chicken, roasted carrots, potatoes and a side of green beans

Thursday 4/15
L - Artichoke chicken salad
D - Quesadillas - using leftover chicken from dinner the night before, artichokes leftover from lunch, black beans, roasted red peppers and mushrooms if you have them. Monterey Jack cheese and YUM!

Friday 4/16
L - Leftover quesadillas
D - Spaghetti with a side of green peas and salad

Saturday 4/17
L - Grape chicken salad (using leftover chicken if any left)
D - Oyster Roast at a friends house - whoohooo@

Sunday 4/18
L - Spaghetti leftovers, whip up a veggie side with whatever we have left (always keep frozen peas and beans on hand)
D - Baked Ziti, salad, something else green

2 comments:

  1. Sounds like you've got it all figured out!

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  2. Debbie Gosseck-GrooverApril 8, 2010 at 2:04 PM

    Sounds good :)

    ReplyDelete