Menu Planning by the Rules

Oh forget the literal interpretation of my title. In menu planning there are no rules. I'm following the rule of not driving for at least 24 hours after my two procedures yesterday. Not wanting to be a road hazard, that is a rule I will follow. Not driving this morning (though I am back on the road  this afternoon for 1/2 a car pooling run to a bowling party) means my  grocery shop is going to be put off for at least a day, to probably Sunday evening, or even later in the week. Even if I shop tomorrow,I'm counting this shop as the first of February due to how the weeks fall. I'm ending January pretty well in the grocery department, coming in just shy of $250, which may not have been my goal at the beginning of the month, it still is $100+ lower than what I had been averaging in 2016. My new aim is to keep groceries at $300, and household at $50, for the bulk of 2017. January gets me off to a good start. We need the austere budget for February as it will be an expensive month with three show choir weekends, increased car insurance now that DD2 is 16, an honors choir concert so evening in the city with parking and dinner, Valentines Day (yep-I'm cheesy this way), co-pays and deductibles from Friday, and my end of  season volleyball party.

I'll plan a shop once I see the ads tomorrow, so my menu planning is for just what's in my stocks and is for today and tomorrow. I thought this would be using up most of the meat in the freezer, but there still will be a bag of chicken, some hamburger patties, sausage and bacon. I also have some cans of tuna and frozen Sloppy Joe's and bean soup, so if I don't make it to the store until later in the week and need to stretch farther, I sure could. We'll be out of fresh fruit, milk, and bread by Sunday night and very few vegetables other than carrots and onions, but I have canned and frozen fruit and juice, a bit of  plain yogurt, and plenty of baking ingredients, and we can easily just stop at Kwik-Trip for those basics.

Breakfast-Pancakes, with extra for Monday morning, banana oat muffins-my improvised recipe that made 12  muffins. DD2 devoured four of them! The extra muffins also will go in the freezer for grab and go breakfasts, and snacks.

Thawing hamburger for meatloaf and banana oat muffins.

Saturday lunch-DD2 and I had last of unfrozen bean soup, shared a  quesadilla, and apple slices.DH has lunch brought into work.

Saturday supper-I made rotini pasta with red sauce and mozzarella for the oven in the morning. I'll top with the last of the Christmas mozzarella, and I'll cook a couple pre-made hamburger patties instead of meatballs. I have a small loaf of French bread that has been in the freezer to serve with as garlic toast. 

Just pasta with jarred sauce, to be baked with a topping of mozzarella.

Sunday lunch-DH had cooked up a bag of chicken breasts, so I've made a chicken pasta salad (with the other half of the rotini pasta) to have with cinnamon rolls from the dough in the freezer (if I remember to take out an let a 1/2 batch rise), and oranges.
Sunday supper-I have just shy of a pound of hamburger to make a meat loaf, and will serve with mashed potatoes (instant ones DH bought a while back) and a bag of  mixed vegetables lurking in the freezer.There should be some of the French bread left as well.

Chicken pasta salad with celery and snow peas.

Snacks- popcorn, last of hummus and veggies, last of tortilla chips and black bean salsa, fruit, and the bargain pretzels. I wish I would have made chocolate chip cookies while oven was hot for muffins, but may make a batch tomorrow.

If I'm lucky, or intentionally set some aside, I'll have leftover rotini, pasta salad, and maybe even meatloaf for lunches on Monday and Tuesday. I'll boil up whatever I have left for eggs, depending on what I decide to do about shopping. Following the rules is a good thing. Staying put this morning forced me to use what I already have more efficiently.