I'm not sure if I'm going to keep up Menu Plan Mondays. I'm sure I'll keep meal planning, but the menus around my house are about to get a lot more boring. I MUST stop going over our food budget. I think part of me wants to make yummy sounding / fancy looking meals because other people are going to be reading my menus. Fancier meals tend to have more expensive ingredients (sun-dried tomatoes anyone?)...but as you can tell from the few meals on our menu plan this week, I'm tightening the reigns. I do not like how our budget looks, and this week we are eating super cheap (and then going to the in-laws). I hope some of you can relate, so maybe I'll keep posting them anyways!
While you're here, I'd invite you to check out my personal
cinnamon roll recipe that I shared over the weekend. (and if you use cloth diapers, come back Tuesday for my Thirsties' giveaway!)
Monday: Tuna Melts, Salad
Tuesday: Pasta, Salad
Wednesday: left overs
Thursday: Soup, Sandwich
Friday: (in-laws)
Saturday: (in-laws)
Sunday: Tortellini
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Org Junkie Menu Plan Monday
I can relate to this. The one week (two weeks ago) that I did Menu Plan Monday, I bought all the ingredients for the week, ended up having more leftovers than I planned and then was scrambling to use up all the ingredients before they went bad. I think I do much better planning dinner on the day of or only one day before. Plus, it works out really well for us budget-wise to make up meals as we go to make sure that none of our food goes bad. When we first got married, I would buy food for one meal, then we would have so much leftover ingredients that would go bad - SO much money was wasted that way.
ReplyDeleteThe cure for that is to not be too strict with your menu plan. In other words: your plan should really be the foods you eat normally. Don't fancy it up. It's for your family, first. You might just have an idea, or a recipe that someone else doesn't have, or has forgotten about.
ReplyDeleteThen don't stick to it to the point that you have too many leftovers to deal with before they go bad. I find that any leftovers (rarely happens at my house) can be easily put in the freezer for quick lunch (I'm the one who really enjoys leftovers, so it's mostly a nice lunch for me! The kids still get their favorite peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and I don't have to eat them!) or sometimes a nice addition to a dinner that just didn't have enough to satisfy everyone. A main dish/side dish. Hope this helps you maintain meal planning.
I would love to see you write how you are going to creatively make cheaper meals! I'm always on the lookout for 'cheap' meals that are different than the typical rice & beans, pasta or scrambled eggs!
ReplyDeleteI agree though, sometimes I try to be fancy with my meal plans and it shows up in my grocery bill! However, I agree with cottonpickinfarm, be more flexible. There are many times where I change up our meal plan. I always plan one item that is using only things from our pantry/freezer. Then, if we have extra leftovers that I wasn't planning on then I just scratch that meal and use up the leftovers.