Meal plan for Jan 18 –24, 2015

 

Happy Monday, yall!  How goes it, your way?  All is good here in the Cates household!

This is week two of trying the “Freezer” cooking, and I have to say I like it! The hardest part is just remember to thaw out the food the night before. I did have one snaffoo, where I had the wrong thing out for dinner so I got a late start on cooking. Other than that, this experiment in cooking has been a breeze!  So, whats my plan for this week? Well…

Bunnys Meal Plan for January 18-24, 2015

 

Sunday

Breakfast for dinner! (Family fav)

• Scrambled eggs
• Bacon
• Biscuits
• sausage gravy

 

Monday

This is a recipe I haven’t  made in FOREVER.

• Chicken Casserole – Here is a recipe for chicken casserole.

 

Tuesday

Yay for freezer cooking!  This is already made, so all I have to do is load up the bread machine around noon, and throw the pans in the oven!

• Lasagna
• Salad
• Home made garlic bread

 

Wednesday

NEW RECIPE DAY!  I’m trying to incorporate some new recipes into our diets. I feel like we have the same thing always, and even though its good food, it gets boring. So for today, we are trying something new.

• Chicken Pockets – Here is the Chicken Pocket Recipe I will be trying.

 

Thursday

Another new recipe! Whoot!  As a family, we love soups, so I wanted to give this one a try!

• Ham and Bean Soup – This is the Ham and Bean Soup Recipe I will be trying!

 

Friday

One thing is certain, we are PASTA lovers! So this week to take a break from spaghetti, we are going up some Penne.

• Chicken and Bacon Penne – You can try this Chicken and Bacon Penne recipe here.

 

Saturday

Saturday is DATE NIGHT this week! The kids will be visiting their Dad, so Mom is taking a ME DAY! WOoohoooo!

 

 

THE COST

This week, the cost was nearly FREE! I bought the bulk of these groceries LAST WEEK!  I will have to pick up some more salad stuff for Friday, but everything else was already here and most of it is even already PREPPED!  Like I say, I am LOVING freezer cooking!

 

FREE PRINTABLE MENU PLAN DOWNLOAD

If you missed it last week, here is the FREE PRINTABLE WEEKLY MENU PLAN that I shared on Last Week’s Post! I’ve made it in chalkboard, which you can laminate and write on in dry erase markers or grab it  in white for those who want to print it weekly, it will save you ink!


Click here to download the:
>>  CHALKBOARD STYLE FREE PRINTABLE MENU PLANNER
>>  WHITE FREE PRINTABLE MENU PLANNER

Thanks for reading.

For tons of other Meal Plans, check out:

Meal plan for Jan 12 –18, 2015 + FREE PRINTABLE MENU PLAN

Happy Monday, you guys! Holy crickets, who left the deep freeze open?! It is so cold outside the dogs don’t wanna go out to tink!

This is my first post of 2015 for this blog. Sometimes I get so sidetracked on updates for my wearewordnerds website that everything else just kind of falls to the wayside.  That’s why one of my goals for 2015 is to hammer down some kind of schedule that lets me work on ALL of my blog!  At this point in my life, I am really regretting separating my blogs up so the reading blog could be on its own.  Having MORE blogs means MORE work, and I just don’t have the time! So if I am updating this blog, I’m not working on wearewordnerds today. *sigh*

Anyway, I've spent the last couple of days reading up about “Freezer to crockpot” cooking.  Have you heard of this? Making up a months worth of crockpot meals, and freezing them so come cooking day all you have to do is toss them in the crockpot? I am really itching to try it. So rather than jumping all in and doing up a month at a time. I’m going to tip toe in by doing a few premade meals this week and next. Just so I can see how this goes.
Whats on our menu this week?  Well, here ya go!

Bunnys Meal Plan for January 12-18, 2015

MONDAY

We are trying something new! YAY!

• Sauerkraut & Kielbasa – recipe is here

TUESDAY

This is going to be a premade up and froze test.

• Meatloaf
• corn on the cob
• baked potatoes
• cheddar drop biscuits – recipe here

My plan is to mix it up this weekend, and freeze it in one of those “throw away” pans.  Then come Tuesday I can just toss it in the oven.

WEDNESDAY

One of our favorites

• Chicken Broccoli Fettuccini Alfredo
• Homemade breadsticks
• salad

THURSDAY

Something to make the kids happy…

• Bacon Cheeseburgers
• loaded steak fries

FRIDAY

One of my favorites…

• Teriyaki Pork Chops
• Rice
• Steamed vegetables

SATURDAY

By kids request – Mexican build your own Fiesta bar!  This was actually scheduled for another night, when the kids would be at their dads, but they asked me to move it so they would be here.

• Tacos
• burritos
• all the sides

SUNDAY

Closing out the week, I am doing one of the FAMILY FAVORITES.  Breakfast for dinner.

• Bacon
• Scrambled Eggs
• Sausage gravy
• biscuits
• hash crowns

THE COST

Once again, I am posting before I go shopping, so I have no idea what this weeks meals will cost us.  I am in the process of doing pantry inventory, and planning out TWO WEEKS worth of meals before I go shopping. I am going to start shopping ONCE A MONTH eventually, but it is going to be a learning curve, for sure. I can not WAIT to get into that new habit.
Do you shop once a month, or go weekly like I currently do? Do you find it saves you money?

*Edited to update!

 Hi guys! I just wanted to update this now that the grocery shopping has happened. I got every thing we needed for the month, minus the extra milk and bread we will need, and the stuff for salads to go with pastas (because the veggies will go before we get to them) and we spent....
......wait for it..........$320!

Thats a $430 savings over what I would have spent going WEEKLY! (we spend about $250/week!)  I can't believe it yall!
I'm spending today prepping meals to freeze, but am so happy how this partial month went FINANCIALLY!

For the breakdown of what meats and cheeses we got (since meats & cheeses are the most expensive things)

• 8 - lb bags of assorted shredded cheeses
• 4 - packs of american slices (thats one a week)
• 3 - 1lb bags of assorted lunch meats (for lunches)
• 10 - lbs 80/20 ground beef
• 2 - family packs of pork chops. (there were 8-10 chps each pack. not sure on weight)
• 6 - Polish sausage or Polska Kielbasa
• 2 - lb sausage
• 3 - large packs of little smokies (these were on a 5 for $20 deal)
• 2 - 2lb slabs of bacon (part of the 5 for 20)
• 6 packs of hot dogs (another lunch item)
• 3 packs of bologna
• 1 bag of all white meat chicken tenders (the dinosaurs, for nights Sis wont eat what Ive cooked)
• 1 ham steak 
• 2-lb of spiral hams - these were awesome little .5 pound hams. Great for breakfast casseroles, etc. Had never seen this size and they were in the 5/$20

I also found my new favorite dishwasher tabs that of course they no longer make, and devistated me (Cascade with GAIN). But a 16 pack bag was $4.98 at walmart and I found a 60-pack at family dollar store for $12! Bought TWO!

FREE PRINTABLE MENU PLAN DOWNLOAD

To celebrate kicking off the new year, I wanted to offer you a FREE PRINTABLE WEEKLY MENU PLAN!

I’ve made it in chalkboard, which you can laminate and write on in dry erase markers or grab it  in white for those who want to print it weekly, it will save you ink!


Click here to download the:
>>  CHALKBOARD STYLE FREE PRINTABLE MENU PLANNER
>>  WHITE FREE PRINTABLE MENU PLANNER

Thanks for reading.

For tons of other Meal Plans, check out:

Meal plan for this week, October 12 –18, 2014

Happy Monday, you guys!

Its so rainy and disgusting here this week. With no change in the immediate future, bluh. My meal plan for this week definitely reflects that. Lots of food to combat the dreariness of the current weather streak.

One of my favorite things about my new vinyl menu board is the MEMO area!  I’ve been loving seeing the little inspirational notes we stick up there. For my “message” this week, I wanted to focus on the negativity we sometimes fall into.

It is so easy to criticize those around you and forget that we, ourselves, are not perfect and still need work. Especially with children.  We forget they are just kids and need guidance, just expecting them to do or be as we think they should. Forgetting to take into account that they are more than just children, they are PEOPLE. Each with their own personalities and quirks. Each one different in their emotional and intellectual development. Each one, learning and adapting to change as best they can.  And they too, deserve to be accepted for who they ARE and not criticized for not conforming to the “standard norm” “mold” you expect them to be.

This week instead of thinking everyone around them needs to change, do better, be better, I want my family to focus on THEMSELVES. For by bettering ourselves & leading by example (not dictation), we influence and become the catalyst for the change.

I invite you, too, to take this on as your challenge this week.

Know that YOU are the CHANGE that you want to see. It all starts with YOU.

Our Meal plan for this week, October 12 –18, 2014 :

SUNDAY

• Breakfast for dinner

 

MONDAY

• Meatloaf
• mashed potatoes
• corn on the cob
• rolls

 

TUESDAY

• Homemade barbque
• tator tots

 

WEDNESDAY

• homemade vegetable soup (recipe is HERE)

 

THURSDAY

• Apple Baked Pork Chops (recipe coming soon!)
• Garlic Homestyle Mashed Potatoes (recipe Coming Soon!)
• Beans
• Corn bread (recipe coming soon!)

 

FRIDAY

• FEND FO YO SELF NIGHT

 

SATURDAY

• Frugal Chili (recipe here)

 

I haven’t hit up the grocery store yet. Who knows what this weeks bill will end up being.  I am in the process of organizing a closet out, and then I am going to start shopping ONCE A MONTH. I can not WAIT to get into that new habit. Do you shop once a month, or go weekly like I currently do? Do you find it saves you money?

Thanks for reading.

For tons of other Meal Plans, check out:

Meal Plan for Sept 22 – Sept 28th 2014

Happy Monday, you guys!

Its going to be a busy week for us this week, so I needed to choose meals we could easily flip from day to day as needed.

Our Meal plan for this week, Sept 22 – Sept 28th:

MONDAY

Guh Mondays, how you drain me! I wanted something simple today, so we opted for Sloppy joes since we hadn't had them in FOREVER. Jesse even helped by peeling tators for me!

• Sloppy Joes
• Fried Potatoes

Sadly, the kids weren't down for Sloppy Joes this week, so they opted for Chicken Salad

Chicken Salad (salad with shredded chicken on top.)

TUESDAY

• Chicken Brocoli Fetucini Alfredo (RECIPE HERE)
• Garlic Toast
• Salad

WEDNESDAY

Today we are celebrating! Jesse's sister has gone back to work, finishing out her maternity leave, and Jesse has gotten a new job!

WHOOT!

• Apple Baked Pork Chops (recipe coming soon!)
• Garlic Homestyle Mashed Potatoes (recipe Coming Soon!)
• Beans
• Corn bread (recipe coming soon!)
• Home made Dutch Apple Pie (recipe coming soon!)

THURSDAY

• Chicken Enchiladas (recipe coming soon!)

FRIDAY

• Fend Fo Yo' Self

SATURDAY

• UNDECIDED

SUNDAY

• Ribs
• Corn on the Cob
• Baked Potatos
• Green Beans
• Black Eyed Peas

This was a great week for us, grocery bill wise. I had all the meat on hand, so I only spent $168. I know that sounds high, but we were out of dogfood, and all cleaners (Laundry Detergent, Dish Detergent, Dishwasher tabs, Downy, and even SHAMPOO! So, food wise, this was NOT a bad week for us! lol
For tons of other Meal Plans, check out:

Meal Plan Monday – week of 9/1 – 9/7/2014

Happy Monday, you guys! Well, Tuesday – but…you get the idea. haha.

Last week was crazy for us and I have a feeling this week will be even worse. I tried to plan out an easy menu for this week utilizing my crockpot at least two of the days. So here is what we are doing this week…

Our Meal plan for this week, Sept 1 – Sept 9th, 2014:

MONDAY

Got away from me so we ended up just having:

• Harmburger helper
• salad (left overs)
• mashed potatos (left overs)
• green beans (left overs)
• sweet corn
• drop biscuits – recipe HERE, with honey butter

TUESDAY

Today is going to be an easy day. I am cooking what I intended to cook yesterday, but I hadn’t gone to the store yet. Yay Crockpot!

• Roast w/potatoes and carrots
• mac n cheese
• salad
• wheat rolls

WEDNESDAY

Another easy day. I told ya. pfffttt…

Im about wore out. I really need to go have my blood work done again I think. You know something is off when I don’t feel like cooking! Anyway. This is super simple. I just grab a bag of those frozen raviolis (they are like $2.98), some spaghetti sauce, some ground beef, and whaaalaaaaahhhhh…. Homemade ravioli. Well, sort of. I like mine with spinach and tomato. No sauce.

• Ravioli
• salad
• garlic toast

THURSDAY

This week I am going back to trying a NEW recipe every week. I hate feeling like we always have the SAME THING over and over. BAH. How boring!  This week are are trying this:

• Chicken Enchiladas (recipe here)

FRIDAY

I’ll be honest with ya. I’m not really a big fan of roast. I usually just eat the carrots and tators out of it. What I am a big fan of is THIS. I love leftover soup. I think it is amazing and could just eat on it till I popped.

• Soup (left over roast)

SATURDAY

The kids are gone this weekend, so we get grownup food! yay!

• Porkchops
• beans
• cornbread
• mashed tators

It is going to be a  good week I think. I needed a lot of stuff at the store. I swear I think we were out of everything. Somehow I only spent $140, though. So, that was awesome. You know what wasn’t awesome?  Getting up to the checkout at Walmart, and being told I had to use self checkout becauase there would be no cashiers until 7. (30 minutes). Ummm….  Dude. Do you know how short those little self checkout counters are?  And I had f*ing dogfood too. Holy crap. That sucked. I know I keep saying how much I hate shopping there and that I am finding somewhere else to shop. Seriously though, if having to check yourself out is the new thing, and prices dont DROP…. I really WILL be finding a different store. Not even kidding.

Thanks for reading.

For tons of other Meal Plans, check out:

Meal Plan Monday – August 24th – 30th, 2014

Happy Monday, you guys!

Geeze, its been so long, Im not even sure what all to talk about in this post! So I will just say, I MISSED YOU… and…well…

Rest assured that this blog is being resurrected and I will be adding tons of new recipes, photos, giveaways and more! So make sure you subscribe to not miss any posts!

ANYWAY!!

So…

Our Meal plan for this week, Aug 24 – 30, 2014:

SUNDAY

Today needed to be an easy day because we had so much running to do this afternoon. Hamburger soup was “souper” easy!  Souper. Do you see what I did there? haha. I cooked a double batch, hoping there would be enough left to freeze and we’d have a freezer meal. NOPE. Just checked the fridge and there is maybe enough for two bowls. LOL

• Hamburger Soup

MONDAY

We were talking the other day and reminiscing about childhood. We got to talking about our favorite foods and were both surprised to find out that we BOTH liked stuffed bell peppers! So, Stuffed bell peppers made the list.

• Stuffed Bell Peppers
• Loaded Texas Fries

TUESDAY

This is the girl childs FAVORITE meal, so, since she is such a picky eater – I needed to put in at least ONE MEAL I knew she would eat! haha

• Chicken Broccoli Fettuccini Alfredo

WEDNESDAY

• Teriyaki Pork Chops
• Rice
• Steamed broccoli and carrots

THURSDAY

• FEND FO YO SELF! (left over night)

FRIDAY

• Meatloaf
• Home-style Mashed Potatoes
• Corn on the cob
• green beans
• rolls

SATURDAY

We will probably grill this weekend! woohoo!!!!!!!!!

 

This was a really bad week for us grocery wise. We were out of so much stuff, we had a buggy and a half of stuff.  Nearly $400 total.

My buggy was $210 and Jesse was pushing around sale items that would be good to stock up on, and his was $164.  That’s SO MUCH MONEY!  But, on the plus… we are finally getting food back into the deep freeze.

I am working on restocking my freezer and pantry, and once I have it where I want it, we are going to try the ONCE A MONTH COOKING to see if it helps our grocery bill or not. I have GOT to figure out how to carve this bill down, yall. 

Anyway, thats our meal plan for the week!  Let me know what your cooking plans are!

 

For tons of other Meal Plans, check out:

Meal Plan Monday–21 October, 2013

Hey guys, welcome to a new week!  I have been so busy working on moving my website over from www.bunnycates.com to www.wearewordnerds.com that I really haven’t even thought about posting on this blog!  The move is done though, so now it is time to work out “kinks” and get myself on some type of posting schedule.  See, I even bought a date planner.  All official like.

Hopefully, I can get onto a good posting schedule for this blog.  I am thinking Mon, Wed, and Fri… We’ll just have to see what happens. If there are any fun “weekly memes out there that you LOVE, let me know in the comments, please!   If you are into books and reading and all that, make sure you subscribe to www.wearewordnerds.com  That is my book site/blog.

As for this Monday, welp, how about my meal plan for the week.  I’m going to try to start getting my grocery shopping DONE on Sunday, that way I can include a “what it costs” section to my plan, but I feel like poop today so that isn’t going to happen this week.  I can tell you what I plan on cooking though!

Monday

• Beef stew (recipe on MarthaStewart.com)
• Rolls

Tuesday (Jesse is cooking)

Jesse keeps telling me how amazing of a cook he is.  This week, I have decided to test that statement.  He is beaming at the thought of me trying his “home made mac-n-cheese” because he *hates* “the boxed stuff”.  Ok, Sir.  Here is your chance, wow me.

• Pork Chops
• Black eyed peas
• Mashed Potatoes
• Home made Mac-n-cheese
• Rolls

Wednesday

• Frugal Chili (My Recipe here)

Thursday *new recipe night!*

One of the *perks* of getting divorced….  Getting to try new recipes!  I found this one online, and am dying to try it!  I love penne and I love LOVE spinach, so…

• Beefy Spinach Penne (Recipe on JoyfulHomemaking.com)
• Garlic Mozerella Toast

Friday

• Fend fo’ yo’self

Saturday

I have no idea what to cook this weekend.  We’ve been being so busy on the weekends lately, that even planning for Fri & Sat at all seems like a waste of time.  So I think this weekend, we’ll just be winging it and seeing what happens.

• UNDECIDED (wing it)

Sunday

Breakfast for dinner!

• Biscuits

• Sausage Gravy

• Scrambled Eggs

• Bacon

My grocery budget for this week is $180. I hope I can hit it because literally, that is all the money I have. LOL….  I am desperately trying to figure out how to get my weekly total DOWN, because my funds are so limited ATM.  So if you have any tips, please share them!

Thanks for reading, guys.
~B

For more Meal Plans, check out:

Meal Plan + Morning Vlog, Hello Monday.

Good Morning, guys.  How was your weekend?  Mine was ok, I guess.  Started out ok, then hit a rough patch.  Yesterday was pretty good.  Started out as a lazy day, with a bit of “family fun”.  The guys played Magic, while Sis played on the internet.  Me, I obviously was in a photography kind of mood because I took some 700 photos yesterday. LOL

After that, I took off to visit my son’s Nanna.  I love that woman. SO much. 

My own mother and I have never been close. She left when I was three or four.  But Nanna… Nanna swooped in, in my early twenties as my son’s babysitter.  She has kind of filled in the Mom roll for me ever since.  She treats not only me but my kids, as her own.  I will be eternally grateful for her huge heart, forever.  Anyway…

Afternoons with Nanna are like therapy for me.  We talk about my divorce, she’s a great listener – and been through one herself, so she “gets” it.  She understands HOW I FEEL, and lets me know Im not crazy.  Well, as far as my feelings and this divorced are concerned anyway. lol
So…
Meal planning. 

This week, my week is fairly simple.

Monday
	Chicken Fettuccini Alfredo Salad Garlic Toast
Tuesday
	Meatloaf Mashed Potatoes Green Beans Rolls
Wednesday
	Spaghetti (click for my meatball recipe) Garlic Toast Salad

Thursday

• Salisbury Steak
• Rice
• Steamed Veggies

Friday

• Beans
• Cornbread

Saturday

• leftovers!

Sunday

Breakfast for dinner!

• Biscuits
• Sausage Gravy
• Scrambled Eggs
• Bacon

So, This week doesn’t seem like it will be such a big week. One “Left Over / Fend for Yourself” night, and boychild is cooking one night.  He is a master at spaghetti. Which is good, since that is his favorite meal. LOL 
Grocery wise: Not sure how much I’ll be spending this week.  Heading to the store a little later today.  The list is long, but not as long as usual – AND – there are no bigger ticket items (like detergent which is $15 now!), so hopefully, my bill wont be huge.
I usually spend around $250+ .  I am desperately trying to figure out how to get that weekly total DOWN.  Meal planning has helped a little, but if Im being honest… not that much.  So if you have any tips, please share them! LOL
For more Meal Plans, check out: