Menu Plan Monday - Week of December 30 and Pantry Challenge!
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| Birthday Dinner for My John - Crab Legs! |
One of the things that we're doing for January is an eat from the Pantry Challenge. We haven't done a ton of grocery shopping the last few weeks - picked up some milk here and there and only did one "real" shopping trip between Thanksgiving and now but for some reason, our freezers are packed to the gills (John put the stew meat I bought Saturday in our upstairs freezer - the one attached to the fridge - and said "Don't open that! Everything will fall out!") and so is our pantry and our kitchen cabinets. They're also a mess and need to cleaned out.
So for January, our grocery/toiletry/paper product budget for the month is $50.
Yep, you read that right - $50. I already put together a menu for January using what we have and we have veggies, meat/protein and starches basically covered so the only things we'll need to get are fruit and milk and anything that we see that's a really good deal! We've done it before and we can definitely do it again!
Here's what we're eating this week:
Sunday, December 30:
Breakfast: Cereal and Milk
Lunch: Breakfast Tacos, Apples, Blueberries
Snack: At the Movies (a friend gave us 4 passes to see Rise of the Guardians, so we bought
popcorn!)
Dinner: Scalloped Potatoes and Ham, Pineapple-Melon-Blueberry Salad
Monday, December 31:
Breakfast: Oatmeal with Blueberries and Almonds
Lunch: Hot Buttered Noodles with Parmesan Cheese, Oranges
Snack: Popcorn
Dinner: Homemade Pizza and Bread sticks.
Desert: Chocolate Dipped Orange Slices and Christmas Cookies
Tuesday, January 1, New Year's Day:
Brunch: Cinnamon Buttermilk Coffee Cake, Orange and Grapefruit Wedges, Baked Eggs
Snack: Yogurt Parfaits
Dinner: Swedish Meatballs, Mashed Potatoes, Tossed Salad, Pineapple-Melon-Blueberry Salad
Wednesday, January 2:
Breakfast: Oatmeal with Cinnamon and Almonds
Lunch: Apple Slices with Peanut Butter, Yogurt, Carrots or Tomatoes, Pretzels, Cookie
Snack: Popcorn
Dinner: Turkey Pot Pie, Tossed Salad, Pineapple-Blueberry-Apple Salad
Thursday, January 3, John's Birthday:
Breakfast: Pancakes with Blueberries
Lunch: Hot Lunch for Children, Leftovers for Adults
Snack:Yogurt
Dinner: Crab Legs, Steamed Carrots, Orange and Grapefruit Wedges
Desert: Birthday Cake
Friday, January 4:
Breakfast: Tropical Smoothies, Toast
Lunch: Hot Lunch for Children, Leftovers for Adults
Snack: Yogurt
Dinner: Chicken Noodle Soup and Apple Slices for the Children, Date Night Out for the Adults
Saturday, January 5:
Breakfast: Oatmeal Muffins, Orange Wedges
Lunch: Tuna Wrap Sandwiches, Carrots and Celery, Apple Slices
Snack: Popcorn
Dinner: Chicken-Wild Rice Soup, Baking Powder Biscuits, Apple-Banana-Orange Salad
A couple of quick notes:
* Eating out is a separate part of our budget and we usually only eat out once a month and then usually it's just John and I. We typically spend about $20, though we've also definitely spent less, for dinner for two, either using a coupon or going to a local place that has great soup and sandwich combos at a terrific price.
*The crab legs are what John typically asks for as his birthday present - good, fresh seafood is hard to find here in the mid-west so these come from our gift budget rather than our food budget. They're a splurge but that's a great birthday treat once a year and we usually have enough crab left over to make crab cakes later in the year too.
For more information on the what a "pantry challenge" is, visit Jessica at Good (Cheap) Eats.
For more menus visit Laura at I'm an Organizing Junkie!.
And Happy New Year!
