Monday, January 5, 2009

Menu planning pays off BIG

I won't ever do this post again, but I was so excited to see how menu planning pays off in a BIG way. Here's the menu for 2 weeks. I can mix & match depending on my mood.

Breakfasts- 14 total
Pancakes & fruit
French toast & fruit
Eggs & sausage (x2)
Cereal (x2)
Fruit bars & muffins (x2)
Banana Bread (x2)
Pumpkin Bread (x2)
Oatmeal w/ raisins (which I'm sure will end up being Pop Tarts)
Cinnamon Rolls

Lunches - 14 total
Nuggets & fruit
Nuggets & veggies
Turkey/veggie wraps (x2)
Taquitos & veggies
Taquitos & fruit
Grilled cheese & soup
Tuna sandwich & veggies
Turkey sandwich & fruit
Quesadilla & veggies
Bagel pizza & fruit
Slice beef, cheese, crackers & veggies (x2)
Macaroni & cheese cooked w/ veggies

Dinner - 14 total
Chicken, rice & veggies soup w/ rolls (x2)
Tacos
Chicken parmesan, salad & garlic bread
Fried Chicken, mash taters & corn on the cob
Chicken, bacon salad w/ hb eggs
Meatloaf & baked potatoes w/ asparagus
Spaghetti
Sliced beef, cheese, crackers w/ veggies (x2) - using up our Cmas stash & it's NO COOK!
Pork fried rice
Pork chops w/ creamy rice & salad
Lasagna, salad, garlic bread (x2)

I also planned out 28 snacks (2 per day), and dessert that would be served every other day. Things like cookies - I made the batter, baked enough for one day then froze the rest in perfect scoops. That way I'm only baking enough for that night's dessert. Chocolate chip muffins - I baked them all, then froze for a later snack day.

I also planned for schedule hiccups. If something happens I have extra cans of soup & a few rice a roni boxes...better to know I have another option instead of saying "Oh well, let's just his McD on the way home."

My total at the grocery store was 137.81 including tax & including one bottle of Windex, 4 rolls of paper towels & 1 stick of deododerant.

4 comments:

Becky J Erbes said...

WOW!! You are SUPERWOMAN!!!

Truly an inspiration and what a fabulous idea!

Anonymous said...

You rock Mandy. Make sure you set the timer for your hb eggs this time though. I need to do some meal planning, hey I'll plan on doing that soon.

World's Greatest Mommy said...

Acck! I so need to do this. It's been so long since I really sat down to plan the menus. Did it take very long? Just wondering how much time I should pencil in for myself.

Gitz 'n Jo said...

Oh my cow, I so want to come eat at your house. My daily meal of ramen noodles is getting old...

:)