Menu Plan Monday - March 2

I am so excited to be participating in Laura's Menu Plan Monday again. I've been away for quite a while, and although I have been menu planning ... there's something about the accountability that I feel when I actually publish a menu. I posted our monthly menu plan for March last week and will refer back to that often in my weekly posts.

I also want to give more details about how to make a weekly menu and baking plan actually work for busy people. One of the best things I have found, for me, is to spread out my house cleaning and baking/meal prep over the week. I used to do that Saturday morning marathon cleaning and then spend Saturday afternoons cooking and baking. That only worked when little man was so small he was not mobile. Now that we are an active family of 3, my Saturdays are far better spent with my hubby and son rather than on chores. So, enough rambling ... on with the food!

Sunday -
Breakfast: cinnamon rolls I'm going to try to use half white, half whole wheat flour.
Lunch: skillet cordon blue
Dinner: meatloaf cups (freeze half to use at end of month)
Bake: banana muffins
Prep: chicken and seasonings in crock pot before bed

Monday -
Breakfast: waffles with bananas foster sauce
Dinner: DH has praise team practice for our church on Mondays and doesn't get home until 8:00, so I try to do something that will keep or reheat well; chicken tetrazzini casserole
Bake: bacon, egg, cheese biscuit cups (double batch)
Prep: trim pork loin, season with salt and pepper - into fridge

Tuesday -
Breakfast: oatmeal with bananas foster sauce (if any is left after Monday)
Dinner: orange apricot pork loin in crock pot
Bake: chewy granola bars for little man (no chocolate or nuts)

Wednesday -
Breakfast: bagels with cream cheese
Dinner: We have church on Wednesday nights, so I'm usually always looking for something easy. One of my friends told me about this promotion at Chick fil A. Wednesday night dinner - solved! For a few weeks at least ...
Bake: chocolate chip breakfast biscuits
Prep: hot dogs and buns out of freezer

Thursday -
Breakfast: chocolate chip biscuits, yogurt
Dinner: Since I'll be working on cooking a slew of chicken this afternoon, I chose something super-easy for dinner - hot dogs, french fries, baked beans
Bake: chicken - LOTS of chicken for weekend meals

Friday -
Breakfast: cold cereal thanks to a great deal at Lowe's Foods - Rice Krispies and Froot Loops less than $1.00 per box
Dinner: my mom's birthday - at mom and dad's; I'll make dessert
Bake: brownie trifle for mom's birthday
Prep: make Greek chicken salad for weekend, shred chicken for enchiladas

Saturday -
Breakfast: DH usually always make pancakes on Saturdays
Lunch: Greek chicken salad with whole wheat pitas
Dinner: Chicken enchiladas
Bake: 2 big batches of enchiladas for Garner EMS lunch on Sunday
Prep: brown and season 1 lb taco meat, assemble hasbrown casserole

March Menu Plan

As promised ... a full month of menus from our kitchen to yours! By the way, our budget for groceries and paper products is pretty moderate at $75 a week. This allows me to stock up on good deals plus we always have enough food on hand to make 3-4 meals for new moms, sick people, etc. at a moment's notice. It's wonderful how we are able to give to others through our abundant blessings.

Breakfasts -
waffles with bananas foster sauce
oatmeal
cereal
bagels with cream cheese
chocolate chip biscuits
whole wheat cinnamon rolls
bacon, egg, cheese biscuit cups
granola bars
bacon cheese biscuits
pumpkin, butterscotch muffins
overnight coffee cake

Lunches -
DH takes leftovers almost every day and I eat leftovers at home
Little man gets some combo of chicken nuggets, fish sticks, grilled cheese, bagel with cream cheese, yogurt, homemade applesauce, pretzels, string cheese, mandarin oranges, green beans
Weekend lunches will be skillet cordon blue, beef tacos, Greek chicken salad on whole wheat pitas, and BBQ chicken wraps.

Dinners -
2 - meatloaf cups (freeze and use again late in month)
4 - homemade pizza (Friday night special in our house)
chicken tetrazzini (one for us, one to share)
3- pork loin in crock pot (apricot orange, BBQ, and one other variety)
hot dogs, fries, baked beans
chicken enchiladas (one for us, 2 to share with Garner EMS workers)
ranch chicken in crock pot (use homemade Ranch dressing mix)
chicken tacos
pan seared pork chops, butternut squash mac n' cheese
Toscano soup in crock pot (I'll post the recipe the week of March 8), Italian cheese bread
Baked pasta using homemade spaghetti sauce loaded with veggies, salad, garlic bread
Spaghetti, garlic bread, salad
40 clove garlic chicken with carrots and egg noodles
sideline sausage soup (from my freezer) with chili cornbread muffins
chicken a la king over puff pastry shells, broccoli
salmon patties, pan fried potatoes, slaw
ribs and sauerkraut in crock pot (DH's favorite!), mashed potatoes
Aussie chicken, sweet potatoes, salad
Pork egg rolls and Asian style slaw

Monthly Menu Plan

Since the turn of the year, I have tried to menu plan for an entire month rather than week-to-week. It helps me to do a few things first:

~ Take stock of my pantry, freezer, and refrigerator near the end of month
~ Look at our schedule and mark out the nights right away that dinner is not to be done at home. In March, we have a birthday dinner for my mom and I know DH and I will have at least one date night.
~ I also know that thanks to the variety of grocery stores in our area, over the course of a month each of the following will go on sale at a good price: split chicken breasts, 80% ground beef, ground turkey. Fish, roasts, and pork are more sporadic, but I try to work those in as well.
~ Take a good, honest look at the hundreds of recipes I bookmark each month and pull out a few based on prep time, cost of ingredients (no strawberries in December!), and the eating patterns of little man.

This month, I am going to incorporate some fruit and veggie purees and try to up the nutritional content of some of our faves. I will post our March menu plan later this week - recipes, links, tips, and all!

I'm Back!!!

It's been quite a while since I shut this blog down and I am feeling the urge to get back online. So, I'll give this another go. For those of you who are not familiar with my usual content, I write about how our family is living abundantly on half the income we used to make through God's grace and provision.

Enjoy!