Menu's for Eating Down the Pantry

I got the alert that DD2 has an under $10 balance on her lunch account, so will need to put money in.  I did end up going to the grocery store for fresh fruit and veg, milk, bread's, and eggs on Saturday after dropping off DVD's at the library. We needed to restock the fridge staples of apples, clementines, carrots, and celery, but I also picked up bananas, a few yams/sweet potatoes, coleslaw mix, and a reduced bag of three good size tomatoes for $1.00. With leftover bacon from Christmas week, and some salvageable lettuce, Sunday called for BLT sandwiches. A few clearanced boxes of holiday themed cereal for $1 per box and biscuit gravy mix topped out this shop. While still eating down what we have, this shop brought our monthly grocery spending to $78, and should easily take us to next Sunday, with the exception of milk and some vegetables. Here's a riddle.  Why when I buy a gallon of milk, does it go bad before we can finish it, but if I buy half a gallon, we consume it in less than three days? 

At this rate, I should be under $200 for January, making up for the December blow out. I like to have meals thought out to pull together quickly, but I am not laying out day by day so can be flexible if time or mood changes. Here is what I anticipate for the week, with my convenience foods noted.

• BLT sandwiches with chicken noodle soup. I used the chicken DH brought and made soup on Saturday, getting and extra meal from the splurge. (Sunday lunch)
• Chicken cordon bleu (premade) with mashed potatoes and carrots (Sunday supper)
• Homemade chicken nuggets with sweet potato mash, fries, or wedges, coleslaw (Marie's dressing)
• Pork chops, roasted potatoes, apple sauce, vegetable of some kind
• Chicken fajita's, with rice (Knorr), onions, and tomatoes (will need to have before last tomato goes bad-so probably tonight)
• Mostacoli with red meat sauce (jar), steamed carrots
• Italian chicken (thighs), mashed potatoes, vegetable
• Biscuits and gravy (packet), sausage, scrambled eggs with juice and fruit
•  Ham, cheesy hash brown casserole (can of cheddar soup), baked beans (canned)
• Leftovers for DH Saturday or a frozen pizza while DD and I are at Show Choir out of town

We still will have  pork chops, chicken, ham, and tuna for proteins, plus a large portion of frozen soup to go into the last two weeks of January. We will have eaten down a lot of the pantry staples, and fruit, veg, dairy and bread will be needed both weeks, so my game is on to meet my impromptu January $200 goal.