It’s amazing how one busy week can throw a kink into frugal meal planning. I fell out of the meal planning groove when I went to South by Southwest toward the end of March. When I returned, the kids were on spring break, and I headed off overnight to Las Vegas. And meal planning has been hit or miss since then.
As with all things frugal, I believe accountability can help a lot. So I’m going to post my weekly menus here on Monday. This first menu plan is from items I already have in the pantry and freezer. By starting out with items I have on hand, I can focus on buying sale items when I grocery shop, and I can continue to make menu plans based on pantry items. It’s the most frugal way to go, if you have the storage space!
My From the Pantry Menu
Monday: Soda Can Roasted Chicken, Roasted Rosemary Potatoes, Asparagus (left over from last week’s menu)
Tuesday: Grilled Stuffed Hot Dogs, Baked Beans, Grapes
Wednesday: Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup, Salad
Thursday: Spaghetti, Broccoli, Garlic Bread
Friday: Corned Beef Roast, Salad
Saturday: Breakfast for Dinner
Sunday: Reuben Sandwiches, Cold Veggies, Fruit
The only things I need to buy are fresh fruits and veggies and some rye bread for the sandwiches on Sunday.
On Saturday I scheduled breakfast for dinner. It’s a favorite with the kids, and it’s easy to swap that out for a different meal, if I happen to miss one of my planned meals during the week.
We’ll eat the Reuben Sandwiches for lunch after church on Sunday, and we’ll eat leftovers for dinner on Sunday night, making sure no food goes to waste.
Next week I’ll let you know how it went!
Do you have a menu plan this week? If not, how well do you function without one? I only ask, because it seems I am not gifted with the gene that makes it possible to eat frugally without a plan.
For more menu plans, be sure to visit I’m an Organizing Junkie!
Photo by bucklava.
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
I definitely plan my meals. Since I started doing that a few years ago, I can tell I really save a lot of money on food because I only buy what I need for the particular meals I’m preparing.
By the way, I’ve never heard of stuffed hot dogs before, but those sound really good.
Amanda @ Mommy’s Idea Book’s last blog post..David Gets in Trouble by David Shannon
I’m hit or miss on this one. You’ve inspired me. Thanks!
Servant’s last blog post..Seize the Day
Now that it’s just down to me, no I don’t plan menus ahead.
But, I do always cook extra when I cook and have leftovers all week long. Like yesterday – even tho my daughter and her family took home scads of leftovers, I still have plenty of ham, asparagus, candied yams, baked beans, potato salad and deveiled eggs. I put most of the ham in freezer bags for later meals, including the bone for soup. I made up some frozen “TV dinners” in my plastic trays for later meals or lunches at work. Breakfast this week will be a lot of eggs and maybe potato salad sandwiches, or ham sandwiches. I won’t be cooking til the end of the week, except for warming in the microwave. Luckily, I can eat the same thing for days and not mind :)
I find menu planning saves money AND my sanity. Trouble is, my husband’s hours have been unpredictable and crazy long lately. Instead of planning menus, I’ve been relying on a well-stocked pantry of go-to quick meals. (My fave boxed chili mix, spaghetti with diced tomatoes & canellini beans, etc.)
My back-up plan dinners have become our nightly ritual, at least for now!
I don’t menu-plan in the normal sense of assigning one meal to a specific day. Instead, I’ved found that keeping a running list of what meals I can make with what I have in addition to my already-prepared freezer meals works best for me. For example, I have on my list right now 5 or 6 difference meals I can make with the boneless, skinless chicken breast in the freezer in combination with what I have in the pantry. It’s easy to pull out the chicken the night before (or thaw in the microwave) and then decide the next day which recipes either I have time for or we haven’t had in a while. I keep the list in my day planner on my desk, so it’s always handy. But without that list, I’m lost! If I haven’t updated it in a while, I can stare in the freezer and pantry for an hour and still draw a blank! lol
Carolyn’s last blog post..A 10-Year Plan
Thanks for the inspiration. I have really fallen down in this area! Right now I am trying to figure out how to save and use all of the food that was leftover yesterday. I made way too much hoping we would have a crowd. We did pretty good with leftover dinner tonight but still didn’t dent Easter brunch leftovers. *sigh* I’ll learn! :)
Jemelene’s last blog post..This Week’s Prayer Focus
Great post.
I use this approach– The “Use What We (You) Have” strategy. It means eating what is in the pantry, fridge, and freezer. This means wearing the clothes in your closet. This means not spending on anything until you have or exhausted everything else first.
There are times when you get zapped with an unexpected bill or expense (like a car problem) that can wreak havoc on your budget– this the frugal approach to resolving the situation. An even more frugal way to deal with this situation would be to have an emergencey fund, but there are times people get caught off guard or have exhausted their emergency fund.
DDFD at DivorcedDadFrugalDad.com’s last blog post..Words of Wisdom: Henry David Thoreau on Work
My meal plan this week is: 1. try to eat down as many of hubby’s birthday leftovers as we can before they go bad (and maybe freeze some of the carrot cake that we don’t eat), 2. try cooking the green brier shoots I collected at my mom’s on Easter, 3. eat anything else that may go bad, and 4. stretch the time to our next grocery trip to hopefully the weekend by eating (non-instant) grits, potatoes, peanut butter, beans, rice, eggs, and any other staple foods we keep on hand that keep well but aren’t overly processed.
On a usual week, my husband might cook a large meat dish in the dutch oven which we’ll eat off of for days, but then we have our regular staple meals which are super simple, plus maybe some fresh fruits and vegetables. We aren’t really “meat and two veggies” people. We’ll have one thing at one meal, then usually another at the next, so our diets are still balanced, but cooking is a lot simpler. Of course, that might be different if we had kids or otherwise felt the pressure to put on a more varied spread.
Meg from FruWiki’s last blog post..User:Meg
Great that you are doing this. I’ve started a Facebook group called SURVIVE RECESSION http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=56461425777 which might interest you. Your ideas, links and comments are very welcome.
I usually have a plan. I definitely find we eat junkier and tend to eat out more if I don’t have a plan. Sometimes it is actual meals assigned to actual days with real shopping lists etc… Other weeks (usually the 2nd half of pay period) it is going through the fridge and pantry and making a mental note or list on the front of the fridge with meals that I can make with what we have.
chili pepper’s last blog post..So That’s What That Odd Feeling Is
Breakfast for dinner is awesome! I tried it and I’m starting to use all of the eggs that I have from the grocery store finally!