Meal Plan 4/30

I flaked out last week on the meal plan although I assure you there was one.  We ended out the month just fine, even so I'm antsy to try something new this month.

For as long as I can remember I've grocery shopped on Mondays.  I make a meal plan for the whole week including Saturday and Sunday and buy up accordingly.  It works pretty well for the weekdays but come the weekends, we almost ALWAYS end up tiring of the plan or wishing for enough budget for a simple take out meal or breakfast out.  Still I'm weary of not buying lots of groceries when I do go because it is such an ordeal with the girls.  I truly can't fathom doing it twice in a week.  However, with Ainsley's playschool on Thursday morning Louise and I have gotten into the new routine of going shopping just us two, to get an extra gallon of milk and something fun to cook for the weekend (fish to grill if the weather's nice, a hearty roast if it's not).  I've been liking this new routine, but it's throwing my budget WAY off.

So this month I'm buying in bulk.  I just went on a colossal Costco run with the girls where I bought a 9 pound pork loin (and cut it up into roasts and chops myself!) 5 pounds of ground beef (also portioned out into 1.25 pound portions and frozen) 2 whole roasting chickens (one to roast, and other to cut up into pieces for separate meals).   I bought enough meat for 3 weeks (all month if I plan really well!) for about $45.  Other great bulk items to buy there?  plain yogurt, butter, juice, baking staples, rice, onions, bananas and apples, potatoes, frozen veggies, real maple syrup, hebrew national hot dogs, applewood smoked bacon, dried fruit, favorite crackers (and I mean only the favorites because you'll have them FOREVER).

Cost of Stock Up: $200, only $50 more than a normal weekly shopping trip budget and I don't see us having to buy anything for quite some time...ahhhh.

I am hoping that with this meat stock up and a good full pantry and freezer we should only need to buy perishables and dairy every so often.  I'll let you know how the new venture goes.  But I'm pretty excited to have the bulk of my shopping done for the month!!!

Stock Up Meals

Roast Chicken with potatoes and veggies

Fried Chicken with potato salad

Grilled BBQ Chicken with rice and salad

Chicken Casseroles, Soups, Stews

Chicken Salad on Homemade Bread

Chicken Paninis

Chicken Pastas

Meatloaf

Spaghetti

Meatballs

Burgers

Casseroles

Macaroni Soup

Lasagna

Crock Pot Pork Chili

Roast Loin

Pan Fried Pork Medallions

Sauteed Chops

Slow Cooked BBQ Pork

Pizza, Calzones

Quiches

Veggie Pancakes

Breakfast for Dinner

Hot Dogs and Baked Beans

Grilled Cheese and Soup

Eggplant Parmigiana

I'll try to take more photos of the good meals and do weekly recaps.  Here's hoping for a month of eating well and spending less!!!