Saturday, January 28, 2017

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.


10 comments:

  1. I hope you heal up fast and well. A well stocked pantry is a blessing at times like this. ;-)

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    1. I'm A.O.K. and sedative out of my syztem now, replaced with loads of coffee.Colonoscopy was just for screening and the endoscopy just left me with a little sore throat that's good now.Thanks for the good thoughts.

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  2. Glad to hear you're fine now after your procedures, always good to get things like that out of the way.

    Those muffins look delicious. I think I'm going to try weekly menu plans for the coming month. There are still things I want to use up, maybe not planning too far in advance will help with that.

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    Replies
    1. I can plan a day or two if menus, but after that I just do a planned list of meals based on what needs using up. This way I have flexibility but also hopefully cut waste.

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  3. Glad your feeling ok following those procedures I think you are very brave.

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    1. Preventative and early screening are new mottos. I can't cure my chronic issues, but can take more control of overall health. Now to convince DH to do the same.

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  4. Brilliant news about your January grocery success....and February is 3 days shorter! Glad to hear you're healing.
    Arilx

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    Replies
    1. Three days shorter and filled with expense, hah. I want to eat better, a work in progress, so will be planful.

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  5. Glad to hear that you're getting over the end of last week. Your budgets seem to have worked out well - congratulations! Jx

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  6. So glad everything went well - it's so important as we age to be proactive instead of reactive. I like being forced to use what's on hand - instead of going to the grocery store on Monday because that's what I do every Monday!
    (if this comment shows up twice it's because I clicked on the wrong tab the first time!:)

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