This week I was determined to get back on track with meal planning and my grocery budget. Monday, I made my meal plan for the next 2 weeks and went grocery shopping. Family of 6 meal planning, not always easy.
One of the worst things for me with regard to meal planning is I get tired of making the same things over and over again, so I try to look for new ideas and toss those in with the family favorite.
I try to buy meat in bulk and split it for multiple meals. So I spend some time doing that and freezing the meat in those meal portions.
I wanted to share our menu, just for my own, "Hey, everyone in our house liked this stuff." and for anyone looking for something new and easy to toss into their own menus. I tend to be less of a measuring cook and more of a dump cook with some things especially seasonings, so any recipes I post, I just loosely follow. We add salads, veggies to each meal.
Monday:
- Poppyseed Chicken Casserole -- this is one of my all time favorite meals first introduced to me when I lived in Tennessee. Comfort, delicious.
1 can cream of chicken soup,
1 can cream celery soup,
1 C sour cream, ½ chopped medium onion,
1 ½ sleeve of Ritz crackers,
2 T poppyseeds,
½ - 1 stick of butter/margarine (softened)
Cook chicken breasts and dice/cube. Mix chicken, soups, sour cream, and onion. Spread mixture into 13x9 casserole dish.
Topping: Mix together Ritz crackers, softened butter
and poppyseed.
Spread over mixture in
casserole dish. Cover with foil.
Bake
at 350 until heated thoroughly (approx. 30-40 minutes)Tuesday:
- Crockpot Ravioli -- this is a family favorite and a framily fave too!
1 onion chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 (15 oz.) can tomato sauce
1 can diced tomatoes with italian seasoning
1 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
salt/pepper
10 oz. frozen spinach, thawed (I always use fresh spinach)
16 oz. bowtie pasta, cooked
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, shredded
1 1/2 cup mozzarella, shredded
Brown ground beef with onion and garlic. Put in crock-pot and add sauce, tomatoes, and seasonings. Cook for 6-7 hours on low. (If I'm short on time I do this on high for 3-4 hours!) Add the last 4 ingredients during the last 30 minutes of cooking and turn crockpot to high. I added the fresh spinach, pasta, parmesan and 1 cup of the mozzarella. Mix really well. Then add the last 1/2 cup of mozzarella to melt on the top.
Wednesday:
- Cheesy Chicken Broccoli & Rice -- everyone likes this except Lily, she picks through it to eat the chicken and that's about it.
2 cups of cooked chicken
2 cups broccoli florets, broken down into bite-sized pieces
1 can cream of chicken soup 2 cups cooked rice
1½ cups shredded cheese
½ cup mayonnaise
½-3/4 cup crushed corn flakes
2 tbsp butter, melted
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients and spread into 13x9 greased baking dish. Sprinkle the crushed corn flakes over the top of the casserole. Drizzle melted butter over the top. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until casserole is heated through.
Thursday:
- Beef Stroganoff-- this is one of my husband's favorite meals from growing up. I got the recipe from his mom and made it my own. He likes mine better. ;)
Friday:
- Homemade pizza-- I'm excited to get back to Friday night pizza making! Fun for the kids to help!
Saturday:
- Leftovers-- making life easy for myself and eating up the leftovers from the week.
Sunday:
- Beef Gyros-- This is a new recipe I'm trying out this week!
I portioned some of the beef from Thursday's stroganoff and a recipe for next week.
That's it for this week and so far I've been good about sticking to it and it just makes life easier! I haven't had to run to the grocery store at all and I love that too!
What are some of your favorite meals to make?
Happy planning!
