I'm a mom, I have a full time job, and I've gone back to college nearly full time. My first baby step is to feed my family wholesome home-cooked meals. I am a good cook and always prided myself on having healthy, sit-all-together-meals when I didn't work. I continued as the kids got busier, and have tried very hard to keep this up after I started school again.
My first post will be a very late Meal Planning Monday. I have been pretty consistent about meal planning for about a year. When I get lazy and don't plan ahead, I spend more money, eat crap and feel more stress at dinner time. The baby step in this process is keeping better track of my grocery budget.
Monday
Beans and Leftover Ham
Cornbread (Jiffy I am embarrassed to admit)
Tuesday
Pulled Pork Sandwiches (leftover pork in freezer from Super Bowl)
Homemade bbq sauce
Betty Crocker Au Gratin Potatoes
Wednesday
Spaghetti (Frozen homemade sauce)
Salad
French Bread
Thursday
Bean and Cheese Burrito
Spanish Rice (Lipton)
Friday
Orange Chicken with Scallions
Jasmine Rice
Potstickers (Frozen that we bought on last trip to Denver)
Saturday
Didn't plan a meal for Sat because I thought I would go to the lake with Mom & Dad, but will most likely stay in town and do homework and garden prep
Sunday
Ditto. Will have to take a look through the freezer and find something.
So by Wednesday, I can already tell you, we did not have Spaghetti on Wed. My husband was home and he decided to cook so we had Filet Mignon (from the freezer, we butchered a steer in January and split it with my step-son) Crab and Mushroom Stuffed Shrimp, Baked Potatoes and Dinner Rolls. He does not buy into the whole budget/wholesome idea yet. We're going to skip burritos and replace with spaghetti, look for burritos next week.
So far grocery bill is a reasonable $31.00. Sadly most of that was frozen breakfast items. I'm not a morning person, but do make sure there is something available to eat before leaving the house. I'm happy with a whole wheat bagel and cream cheese. Hubby likes sausage biscuits, the kids like freezer waffles, toaster pancakes, etc.
Looking forward to improving my life (or failing on a global scale) with an audience.
Ginger
Somehow I did not link to Meal Plan Monday the right way, but I highly recommend visiting Laura The Organizing Junkie to view lots of meal plans. I'll try again next week
ReplyDeleteDon't be ashamed of Jiffy they are great for what they are - cheap food to feed our "starving" families he he.....Julie
ReplyDeleteAnd they're cheap and don't take up much space in the pantry! Whenever possible I make homemade cornbread,it's really not hard, but I didn't get home until after six and the Jiffy was calling my name!
ReplyDeleteI LOVE picking random days to make resolutions. Being a teacher, the beginning of the school year is a good time. Then my birthday is in April, so that's another good time. Of course, the end of the school year has so many possibilities, so that's another. Then of course there's the actual New Year's time . . .
ReplyDelete