Menu and Grocery Spending Thoughts

Looking back the past few months, I can tell our grocery bill has been out of control. I try so hard each week to stick to a certain dollar amount but somehow it only works one or two weeks. In talking to a friend recently, I decided to give a new money tracking app a try. It’s called GoodBudget and works like the envelope system from Dave Ramsey. We did envelopes early in our marriage but in the past couple of years we primarily used a credit card, which we pay off each month. It’s worked pretty well but I easily loose track of spending. I am hoping that by using GoodBudget I can get a better visual during the month of my spending and not have any surprises the last week of the month.

Getting back on a better menu and grocery list system will definitely help in my efforts so here we go…..

Friday | Chicken Salad (Mama’s eating out with a friend!)

Saturday | Family Party – taking Mexican Coleslaw as a side dish.

Sunday | Kids Eat Free at Dickey’s BBQ – dinner!

Monday | Labor Day : Ham and Cheese Tortellini with salad

Tuesday | Beans and rice

I am going to do shorter menus this month and see how that works. Instead of buying for 7 days, just do 4-5 instead. Maybe it’ll save some money and keep us from throwing out food/wasting. I am already super frustrated just trying to be creative with meals but also choose things the boys will eat too. 

Menu | 8.1.2017

We’ve had some crazy high temps here lately. Like triple digit hot. I actually don’t mind it too much. I’d much rather be warm than cold. It does keep me from wanting to do a lot of cooking though or turning on the oven. This week my goal is to find recipes that are not only easy but summer friendly. And maybe the kiddos will even eat them too. One can hope.

Trader Joe’s fish nuggets with veggies

Have ya’ll tried any of TJ’s frozen foods? We visit maybe once a month and I usually stock up on 3 or 4 different things. They are nice to have in the freezer as back up meals. We tried their turkey corn dogs this past week and yum! We also like their Mandarin Orange Chicken and Fried Rice with chicken.

One Pot Ranch Chicken and Rice

Instant Pot Red Beans and Rice

Leftover Night!

Pizza Night – another yummy frozen option from Trader Joe’s

Looks like I am going Instant Pot heavy this week! If you haven’t added this tool to your kitchen yet, you are missing out!

And my menu went through a bit of a change on Monday night when I realized I forgot to pause Hello Fresh AND Blue Apron deliveries. So those will be our weekend meals and thankfully a friend is taking the Hello Fresh off my hands.

Took this photo a week ago when Oma was here for a visit.

Menu | Week of 5.22.2017

When I sit down to put a menu together, I usually will look at my calendar to see what the week ahead looks like, how busy it will be, what things are going on in the evenings. These all factor into how “fancy” I will or will not make the menu. Budget is also a factor. How’s the grocery budget looking? Are we getting close to the max amount I want to spend this month? How can I create a menu to be more frugal or budget friendly?

This is the last full week of May so I may err on the side of frugal and keep things simple. It’s not too busy of a week but I find that I like to keep dinners simple anyway so I don’t have a ton of prep work or cleanup. That post nap/pre-dinner can be a little nuts around here.

Gluten Free Meatloaf Muffins

Avocado Pasta with chicken (make extra chicken for a leftovers meal)

Instant Pot Lemon Pepper Salmon

Breakfast Tacos

Leftovers

I am going to keep at the meal prep for my lunches. It’s been great having a salad ready to go that I can add extra toppings to. I will probably use leftover meatloaf muffins for lunches. For James’ lunches he takes a bowl sandwich – chopped lettuce, deli meat, tomatoes and a pickle. It’s a pretty easy thing to throw together in the morning or the night before if I am feeling productive.

I’ve gotten better at making snacks for the boys too which has cut back on having to buy snack bars and other pre-packaged items. I am still making the granola bars but may try something a little different when they run out. I also made a batch of these muffins yesterday which they love.

So, that’s the menu for this week! Now that it’s complete, I am going to create a grocery list and give HEB curbside pick up a try tomorrow.
 

Menu | Week of 5.15.2017

Since Sunday was Mother’s Day I goofed off and didn’t do any of my normal things to get ready for the week ahead. Well, I pretty much goofed off all weekend and it was great. So all this goofiness led to me not making a menu, grocery shopping or doing any meal prep. We were also out of milk this morning and oatmeal. Two things my boys can’t live without. Oops.

 Chicken Lettuce Wraps

 Spaghetti with Meatballs

 Leftovers

 Pancakes, eggs and bacon

Beans, Rice, Cornbread

It’s a very basic, simple menu this week and a little more budget friendly too. I did get my lunch meal prep in today so that was good. Trying to stay on track to being a bit healthier.

Here are some photos of last week’s meals from Instagram. The salmon salad was amazing and I’ll be posting that recipe this week!

Menu | Week of 5.8.17

I have been seeing this Whole30 thing for a while now and want to give it a try this week. It’ll be a “light” version as I just want to dip my toes in a bit before committing to a full 15 or 30 days. I, of course, went to Pinterest to find ideas for meals and snacks.

The boys won’t really be doing it, I’ll add a carb or dairy to their meals as usual. James will go along with it except for his cereal needs. I am not sure I can completely give up my cheese either….

Sunday | Leftovers/Eggs (we are pretty low key with meals on the weekends)

Monday | Whole Roasted Chicken in the Instant Pot  
Will roast some veggies for a side and maybe try some cauliflower rice. 
– I can use the leftover chicken the rest of the week as well for lunches.

Tuesday | Jalapeno Turkey Burger with Sweet Potato Fries and Guacamole

Wednesday | Salmon, Avocado, Kale and Sweet Potato Salad

Thursday | Do something creative with leftover chicken…. 🙂

Friday | Date Night!

Breakfast Ideas | Hard Boiled Egg, Avocado, Grapefruit, Tomato

Menu | Week of 5.1.2017

If you are new here, you may not know that I blogged all my menus for a long time early on. It was a great place for me to link to the recipes I wanted to use and be able to access them easily. I thought I’d start doing that again. I’ll also be saving recipes to my “This Week” board on Pinterest.

I am totally in a rut this evening as I try to come up with ideas for the week. I don’t want to cook at all. Makes it hard to plan a menu. James suggested I go back into my menu archives and pull up some old favorites…..

Buttermilk Roast Chicken (easy and yum!!), mashed potatoes and peas

Chicken Carnitas Tacos

Meat sauce over pasta with fresh veggies on the side

Use leftover chicken carnitas for layered enchiladas

Pancakes and bacon

Cheesy Spinach Baked Egg Sandwiches

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This will take care of our Monday through Saturday!

Feel free to use this same menu for your week or if you need ideas!

Gallery

Menu | Week of 9.8.2014

I recently switched my grocery store day back to Monday. For a long time I was doing Tuesday or Wednesdays. I like Mondays better. It just makes more sense to go on the first day of the week and start “fresh”. Right?

I had the idea to plan some crockpot freezer meals for after the baby arrives. At least a week’s worth if nothing else. Then I thought, well maybe I should test some before then to make sure I like the recipes. So, a few of those are making it on the menu this week due to a busy schedule. 

Monday | Quinoa Chicken Parmesan

Tuesday | Calabacitas Enchiladas

Wednesday | Chinese Beef and Broccoli with noodles (find GF option – rice?) (Crockpot)

Thursday | Hawaiian Chicken with rice (Crockpot)

Friday | Leftovers

Saturday | Chicken Salad

Sunday | Eggs and Hash

Menu | Week of 8.25.2014

Nesting is in full force around here! I am ready to get things cleaned out and reorganized before little man #2 arrives! Just 14 weeks and 5 days left! Unless he comes a bit early which is totally fine by me. Also, we are going to attempt some potty training with William…he’s already very interested and excited about using his potty. Fingers crossed!

Monday | We splurged on Smashburger – yay meat!

Tuesday | Baked Chicken with Skinny Cauliflower Mac n’ Cheese (will use GF noodles)

Wednesday | Salmon One Dish Dinner

Thursday | Burrito Bowl

Friday | Spaghetti Squash Lasagna (I’ll tweak recipe a bit and add ground beef or turkey)

Saturday | Leftovers

Sunday | Baked Chicken with Garlic Parmesan Roasted Potatoes

Baking Wishlist (meaning, I hope to actually make these this week) | Puffed Quinoa Balls
Flourless Mini Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Muffins

Menu | Week of 06.18.2014

I am almost afraid to put this out there but I think the morning (all day) sickness is finally over! The past few days have been much better and my energy doesn’t seem as low. Fingers crossed I can resume normal eating habits.

Wednesday | Burrito Bowl with ground beef/turkey

Thursday | Salmon, rice and veggies

Friday | Chicken Pad Thai

Saturday | Roasted Cauliflower and Mushroom Carbonara

Sunday | Family Dinner

Monday | Eggplant and Goat Cheese Sandwiches

Tuesday | Leftovers/Breakfast for dinner