Meal Plan

How's that for a boring post?   I got up and got dressed to work out today, then there was a severe thunderstorm and later tornado warning for my county.  I took it as a sign from God to hunker down at the house, and by hunkering down I mean: making some coffee and writing a blog post. 

Of all the skills of your typical stay-at-home mom/wife bloggers, the one I took to immediately was meal planning.  I can't really cook, sew, or clean very well, but man, I like to write lists.  I also like to budget (kind of).  When Dave and I first got married, grocery shopping was somewhat of a project for me.  I meandered down the aisles and knew almost exactly how much I was going to spend before hitting the check-out lane.  Now, I still have an idea of my budget, but most of the time, I estimate along the way and hold my breath until I see the total.  Myla is pretty much a gem in the store, though, so I don't have a great excuse for laziness.  Somehow, the only months I have gone over have been times when I let Dave come to the store with me...

Nowadays, I have moved from weekly meal planning to bi-monthly planning.  This is partly because I aspire to be like this girl (who I don't actually know in person), and because I partially read the book these people wrote.  The main take-away is this: If you go to the store less often, you automatically save yourself from the random extras you end up buying unexpectedly.  (Or, you only pick up an "extra" say, once a month, rather than every single week).

Full disclosure: My grocery budget is about $70/week right now, and has been for at least the past year.  This usually includes perishables like toilet paper, laundry detergent, etc.

Our typical meals are 4-6 servings.  We eat dinner then box up leftovers in one of our 1,000 pieces of tupperware.  A meal or two goes into the refrigerator for Dave's lunch, and the rest go into the freezer.  Dave pretty much eats every meal at least 3 times.  I only eat certain leftovers, like soup and chili-- personal preference.  I would probably be surviving solely on quesadillas if I wasn't married.  I don't know if anyone is still reading this since I haven't even posted a meal plan yet! 

There are a few things you might notice about the plan:

1. Not every meal is filled--> Yes, things come up.  Sometimes the days are juggled around a bit.  Where there are holes, we aren't starving.  We are just eating leftovers or a quesadilla.  Maybe that's just me.  Also, Dave eats oatmeal with fruit every single day for breakfast, so I don't really have to plan for that.
2. My weekend chef is usually assigned much more labor-intensive meals than I am.  He's ok with it.  
3. The "frozen lasagna" is a lasagna I made a few weeks ago and froze.  It's not Stouffer's.  I don't have anything against my friends at Stouffer's, but I think Dave does.

Anyway, here we go:

Day and Meal	Ingredients to Purchase
Tuesday, Jan. 3
Wednesday, Jan. 4 ·    Crock pot shredded beef	roast, steal coke from mom's house
Thursday, Jan. 5 ·    Salad	Tomato, nuts, lettuce
Friday, Jan. 6 DATE NIGHT
Saturday, Jan. 7 ·   Cilantro pesto pork loin, cauliflower “mashed potatoes,” broccoli ·   http://www.thepickyapple.com/blog/2011/12/20/pork-tenderloin-medallions-with-cilantro-pesto/ ·   http://www.genaw.com/lowcarb/mashed_potatoes.html	16 ounces frozen cauliflower, 2-lb pork tenderloin, 4 cloves garlic, 1 inch fresh ginger, 1 bunch cilantro, 1 cup coconut milk
Sunday, Jan. 8 (KK works Crossbridge kids) ·   Chicken cordon bleu, green beans, rosemary potatoes ·   http://allrecipes.com/recipe/chicken-cordon-bleu-ii/detail.aspx	frozen green beans, bag chicken breasts, swiss cheese slices, 6 slices ham, dry white wine, potatoes
Monday, Jan. 9 ·   Olive garden zuppa Toscana, salad ·   http://www.copykat.com/2011/12/02/olive-garden-zuppa-toscana-2/	Salad stuff, 1-lb Italian sausage, 2 large russet potatoes, 2 cups kale or swiss chard, 1-cup heavy cream
Tuesday, Jan. 10 ·   Crispy orange beef, rice ·   http://allrecipes.com/recipe/crispy-orange-beef/detail.aspx	1.5 pounds sirloin, frozen orange juice concentrate (or preserves—check reviews), fresh ginger, broccoli
Wednesday, Jan. 11 ·   Fajitas or fajita salad	Avocado, skirt or flank steak, tomato, onion, bell peppers, wheat tortillas, salsa
Thursday, Jan. 12 (Community Group @ 7:00) ·   Frozen lasagna
Friday, Jan. 13 DATE NIGHT
Saturday, Jan. 14 ·   Dave: frozen meatloaf
Sunday, Jan. 15 (KK works Crossbridge Kids) ·   Butternut squash bisque ·   http://www.thepickyapple.com/blog/2009/10/14/butternut-squash-bisque/	2-3 lb butternut squash, bacon, medium onion, carrots, celery, 2 large braeburn/gala apples, 48-oz chicken broth, chipotle sauce, sour cream, smoked gouda