If you’ve been hanging around for very long, then you know that I am a HUGE advocate for meal planning. Not only does menu planning cut stress from your weekly routine, but it also helps you save more by utilizing items you already have in your freezer and pantry.
The purpose for Simple Menu Monday is two-fold. First, I hope it helps you with your own menu planning so you can save time and money and alleviate stress. However, my second reason is truly an ulterior motive – I’m hoping it helps hold me accountable to my planning my own menus.
I am fully aware that it is now Tuesday, and I’m just now getting to this. My only excuse is that it’s Fall Break y’all. Well almost, but it might as well be because I’m going to visit my grandbaby and that is literally all I can think about it.
Can you blame me? Look at all that cuteness.
And since I’m going to be gone for SIX nights, I’m not menu planning this week. Well, not really. Hubs gave me a list of things he would like to make for dinner, so that’s what we’re doing. Luckily, I already have most items on hand so it’s budget-friendly too.
So last night I made this:
And tonight I’m making this with the Country Style Ribs I bought at Crest Foods last week for $1.48/lb:
For the rest of the week, Hubs will be making:
Spaghetti w/ Meat Sauce
Tuna, Mac & Peas
Pulled Pork (a guy from work sent some home with him)
Brinner (I have turkey bacon, sausage, eggs, biscuits & gravy and I’m picking up a box of pancake mix)
LAST WEEK
Monday – Slow Cooker Creamy Ranch Pork & Potatoes
I finally perfected this, but Hubs says he thinks it should have carrots so I’m going to make it again. Carrots WOULD give the images more pop.
on hand: everything
Tuesday – Po Man’s Goulash
This is a super easy, kid friendly dish that comes together in under 30 minutes. Recipe will post sometime this week.
on hand: ground beef, pork n beans, egg noodles, tomato sauce
Wednesday – Chili with Amanda’s Honey Cornbread
This is my Slow Cooker Chili using my Homemade Chili Seasoning Mix. Recipe going up this week.
on hand: prepared chili from freezer, corn meal, milk, eggs, flour, shredded cheese
Thursday – Buffalo Chicken over Rice
The family devoured this, but I didn’t have time to snap photos.
on hand: boneless chicken thighs, ranch dressing, bbq sauce, wing sauce, rice
Friday – Girls’ Night!
Whatever we want
Saturday – Girls’ Night!
Whatever we want
Sunday – Easy Stromboli
Instead of Stromboli, we had left overs on this night and I made Stromboli on Monday of this week.
On hand: deli ham, red pasta sauce, pepperoni, rhodes frozen bread loaves
to buy: provolone
For more menu ideas, check out more Simple Saving Savvy Recipes or the Aldi Meal Plans at I Am THAT Lady and $5 Dinners!
Steps for Real Life Meal Planning
1. Take freezer/refrigerator inventory – Make a list of all meats or main course items currently in freezer or refrigerator. Don’t overlook leftovers that can be recreated.
2. Take pantry inventory – Make a list of ingredients from pantry that can be used in recipes from you make often.
3. Pull recipes – Match on-hand ingredients to family’s favorite recipes and make list of needed ingredients.
4. Consider this week’s family schedule – Pencil in evening activities at the top of each day on menu planner.
5. Plan meals – Schedule easy dinners on busy nights and more complicated recipes on free nights.
I do all of my shopping based on the Pantry Principle. This means that I am regularly stocking up on pantry basics like canned goods, condiments, pasta and staples like flour, sugar, salt, honey, etc as it goes on sale. So I generally have quite a few common recipe ingredients on hand.
Most weeks, my grocery list mainly consists of school lunch items, weekly purchases like milk and bread along with sale items that I have coupons for so that I can keep my pantry and freezer stocked. I’ also always keep an eye out for meat deals.
Be sure to pin this post! I’ll update it every week with my current menu plans. I’d also love it if you would follow Simple Saving Savvy on Pinterest!