Meal Planning!

I took a little crafty break last night and started decorating my refrigerator! I’ve shared pics of my magnetic scrapbook before. I’m looking forward to adding to it as we live life. I know I have a lot more cute magnets around here somewhere, I just have to dig them up.

ANYWAY.

A couple of weeks ago I shared with you all my struggles with our food budget, and I got a lot of great feedback! I really enjoyed reading the emails and you all inspired me quite a bit. I’m happy to report that we’ve been adapting a Meal Planning system in our house. We’ve been spending less on groceries AND actually have food to make. (Have you ever gone grocery shopping and the next day thought to yourself, what the heck did I even buy? There’s nothing to eat! So annoying.)

I’ve decided that the coupon thing just isn’t for me. Sure I’ll use a good coupon if I happen to find one online, but I just don’t buy that much processed food to begin with. I had a coupon for $1 off organic celery and I was excited until I got to the store and realized that I also had to buy fancy salad dressing to get the discount. Lame. But having a meal plan for the week has helped a LOT, and I’m having fun putting them together!

Here are our 7 meals for this week.

  1. Zucchini Patty Sandwiches w/ quinoa and spinach salad
  2. Chicken, Spinach, and Mushroom Roll Up w/ corn on the cob
  3. Ham and Cheese Pasta w/ garlic bread and salad
  4. Raviolis w/ roasted brussels sprouts
  5. Lemon Pepper Salmon (Based off of this recipe) w/ rice and roasted cauliflower
  6. Chicken w/ stuffing, corn, and sweet potato cakes
  7. Burritos w/ quinoa with black beans

I don’t assign a meal to a specific day of the week because our schedules are crazy and unpredictable. I also like making more than I need for each meal and freezing half, or eating it for lunch the next day. I might even start making lunches for Shaun and the kids and night before. Often times I’ll come home from work to hear “well, we haven’t really had lunch yet.” Most days I’m usually home by 3ish so I suppose that isn’t SO bad.

One thought on “Meal Planning!

  1. I love that the spinny magnets from that game are on there!
    Your fridge is a GREAT idea. Now, I shall have to decorate mine!
    The picture should have mouse overs to cute little stories –
    like how the mountain climbers were on your wedding cake and such,
    maybe close ups of the photos and cards because the flash killed them.
    Good plan for the menu – to hold off on the dates.
    That gives you some room for spontaneity.
    Your menu looks WAY impressive. I'm such a lazy butt cook!
    Then again, I'm only cooking for myself right now.
    *grin*