Lemon Pie

Today is going to be the hottest day of the summer this far. YUCK. I’m all for heat, sand and sun… but schlepping around 3 kids in the heat…not so much. Looks like we could all use a cool, tasty treat.

My grandma told me about this quick and easy recipe for lemon pie this past winter and it has turned into one of my FAVORITES. It makes 6 generous servings and each serving is only 2 WW pts. Feel free to indulge!

Lemon Pie:

1 Tub Crystal Light Lemonade Mix
1 Can FF Condensed Milk
1 Tub FF Cool Whip
2Tbsp. Lemon Juice
1 Low Fat Graham Cracker Crust

Mix all of the ingredients together and pour them into the pie crust. Chill and eat! I’ve found that if you keep the evaporated milk in the fridge, your pie will set much more quickly.

Enjoy!

Weekly Menus: April 11 – 17

It has been two weeks since I posted a solid menu. This also means it’s been two weeks since we had a plan to follow at home and two weeks where we overspent our budget, ate unhealthy “filler” meals and ate out waaaay too much. Time to re-evaluate and buckle down.  I’ve been spending quite a lot of time going through The $5 Dinner Mom Cookbook so you will be seeing more and more of those recipes show up in my menus as I try to tighten the budget.

Now, I’m planning like crazy this week:

Saturday: Chicken Enchiladas, green salad
*I have a whole chicken in the freezer I’m going to cook in the slow cooker and debone. A full recipe makes a 9 x 13 pan which is too much for my family. I’m going to make 2 batches…one will feed my family and my friend Aprile’s family (CONGRATS, APRILE!!) and the second batch will go into the freezer. While the whole enchilada does freeze nicely…I may just freeze the filling in two batches. The enchilada sauce is make your own…all with ingredients I keep on hand and I purchased some tortillas at Dillon’s last week on sale, with a coupon with the idea that I would be making these soon.

Sunday:

Breakfast: pancakes, Morningstar Farms “Sausage” patties, frozen fruit
*Pancakes are from scratch, I will need to pick up Morningstar Farms patties and I have the frozen fruit mix I bought a month or so ago at Aldi.

Lunch: Egg Salad Sandwiches, carrots and ranch, chips
*I’ll give you one guess where this is coming from!  That’s right, we are using up the remainder of the Easter Eggs for salad this weekend.  I’m adding Light Mayo to my shopping list…for the first time since this summer I’m running out! I will also need to pick up ranch dressing.

Dinner: Skillet Spaghetti, french bread, green beans
*I’ve got all of the spaghetti necessities and this is a recipe I got from my grandma!  I’m going to use the recipe that I got from The $5 Dinner Mom Cookbook.  I am really enjoying her quick and yummy bread recipes!  I’m using canned green beans I have in the pantry…making way for (hopefully) my own canned beans from our garden this summer!

Monday: We will be out of town.

Tuesday: We will be back late.  I will have sandwich fixin’s on hand so we can eat a quick dinner at home.
*I will need to purchase deli meat and tomatoes.  We will use lettuce from Saturday night’s salads.

Wednesday: Salisbury steak, broccoli, homemade clover rolls
*This recipe is new for us.  In fact, I’ve never, ever made salisbury steak in my LIFE.  My friend Sarah shared this on her MomTV show Wednesday night and I thought it sounded quick and simple so I’d give it a try.  Of course, I will use venison burger which we have in the freezer already.  I will need to pick up a brown gravy packet (unless I can find a quick and easy recipe for homemade) and some fresh mushrooms to throw in (on sale at Aldi this week!).  I have rice on hand to serve this with, but depending on my grocery expenses I may purchase a package of egg noodles.  Broccoli is on sale at HyVee $0.99/head so I will pick that up and I will make the clover rolls from the recipe I found in The $5 Dinner Mom Cookbook.

Thursday: Honey-Mustard Salmon, Asparagus, Brown Rice
*This is straight from The $5 Dinner Mom Cookbook.  The whole menu idea…for $5!!  I picked up some Wild Caught Salmon at Aldi for $3.49 a bag last week, I will spend about $1 on asparagus and while I have brown rice on hand, she prices is at around $0.40 for one cup (unprepared).  I will have to pick up asparagus.

Friday: Italian Chicken Breasts, Rice and Veggie Mix, homemade biscuits
*I’ve got chicken breasts in the freezer stockpile, I will need to pick up Italian dressing.  Marinated chicken breasts is one of my favorites…quick and easy and now that its grill season we can do it out there!  I’ve got Green Giant Steamers rice and vegetable medley from a recent sale at Dillon’s.  I’ve got the basics for the homemade biscuits..and of course honey and jam to top it off!

Saturday:
Breakfast: Quiche in a Bag, Fresh Fruit, Blueberry Muffins
*The quiche is in my freezer…this one has green and red peppers, mushrooms and feta cheese.  Strawberries are on sale at Dillon’s and lood GOOD this week we will mix those with $0.39 bananas from Aldi and I will make blueberry muffins with frozen blueberries I got on sale at Target 3 weeks ago.

Lunch: Leftovers

Dinner: Homemade Pizzas
* A favorite of the kids’ I have a great recipe that I use for homemade pizza crust.  We load up with veggies ( I will pick up peppers, mushrooms and olives) cheese (I have a TON in the freezer!) and my kids’ favorite…Pepperoni.  I have some Hormel Low Fat Pepperoni in the fridge that we will use.

So here is my shopping list:

*Edit: We took a family shopping trip with my husband running the calculator while I sped through the aisles.  He was shocked to see the prices on some things!  I’ve edited my list by crossing out the things I didn’t get (too expensive…not enough coupons) and adding, in bold,  the extras that we picked up along the way.

Italian Dressing
Ranch Dressing
Asparagus
Mushrooms
Black Olives
Gallon Milk
Rice Milk 1/2 Gallon
Light Mayo
Broccoli
Brown Gravy Mix
Egg Noodles
Morningstar Farms Sausage Patties
Deli Meat
Tomatoes
Frozen Salmon
Frozen Tilapia
Bananas
Baby Carrots
Smart Ones
Pampers Pull – Ups
Chicken Breast Tenderloins (2 pkgs)
Spaghetti Sauce
Pizza Sauce
Chopped Green Chilies
Oreos

This week’s Total: $57.00
$7 over budget.

So that’s it…my MUSTS for this week…I will use whatever is left of my $50 budget to find a few items to stock up on for future use!

Because I’m nosey I want you to succeed in taking away a little bit of stress in your life… I want to see what you have on your menus this week! Leave a link to your menu for the week below!

Weekly Menus: March 28 – April 3

I’m a little late with the typing this week…but I’ve had the menu plan in place since Saturday! It is never a good sign when you start off the week behind!!

Good news for me…we are traveling this week to Omaha to visit my family for the Easter Holiday.  I’m really excited…PLUS I don’t have to spend as much time in the kitchen!!

Sunday - Leftovers

Monday - Sandwiches (Not the small kind…the italian bread, meat and loads of other good stuff kind), Green Beans

- This will be my big expense for the week.  I will need to purchase Italian bread, turkey, avocado, lettuce, tomatoes and deli muenster cheese. MMMmmmmm.

Tuesday - Tilapia, asparagus, wild rice.

- I have Tilapia I purchased a few weeks ago at Aldi.  I will need asparagus.  I have the Wild Rice I purchased a while back.  I think I will mix some dried fruit into the rice to change it up a little bit.

Wednesday – Sunday we will be out of town!  I am going to take a Quiche in a Bag (I wrote this as a guest post for Coupon Geek back in February) and the Ravioli Lasagna (tried this last week? I got the recipe from All You and my family LOVED it) along to contribute the family cooking.

So my grocery list will look a little different this week.  One thing we’ve discovered is that we also need to start buying a gallon of milk every week as opposed to a half gallon… and we will need a half gallon of the rice milk instead of the smaller size we’ve been buying.  I’m seeing my family’s needs creeping up in small increments as my kids get older.

Green Beans (on sale at Target $0.99/lb)
Asparagus (on sale at Target $1.99/lb)
Italian loaf bread
Sliced Deli Turkey
Sliced Deli Muenster Cheese
Tomatoes
Avacados
Gallon 1% Organic Milk
Half Gallon Rice Milk
Fruit Cups (To travel with)
Apples
Bananas
Frozen Blueberries (on sale at Target $2.99/bag)

I’ve found that posting my menus each week keeps me accountable to myself and my family…and my readers!  It is a great way to take just a little bit of stress out of my life; keep my family eating a healthy, balanced diet; and keeping my budget in check!  So… what is on YOUR menu this week?

Weekly Menus: March 21 – 27

Sunday - Leftovers (Our fridge is full of them!)
Monday - Roast, red potatoes, carrots, homemade dinner rolls
-Roast was on the menu last week and we didn’t make it so we’ll give it a run this week. I have venison in the freezer, red potatoes I bought last week (Get a coupon HERE for B1G1 green giant red potatoes), as well as carrots. I’m really pleased with the Clover Dinner Rolls I tried from The $5 Dinner Mom Cookbook and I have those basic ingredients on hand.

Tuesday - Ravioli Lasagna, Homemade French Bread

- This is a new recipe for me I got from the February Issue of All You magazine.  I’m going to state out front that I am NOT loving the 22g of fat in this recipe so I’m going to make some adjustments…I’m not sure just what yet.  I will need to buy the ravioli but I have spinach frozen from our garden last year as well as marinara sauce (if I’m adventurous enough I’ll make some homemade with canned tomatoes) and the ingredients for French Bread (another $5 Dinner Mom Cookbook recipe!)
Wednesday - French Dip Sandwiches, Broccoli and Cheese

- Leftover roast from Monday and homemade hamburger buns will make a great use of what we have on hand.  I have frozen broccoli/cheese mix on hand from the recent sale on Green Giant Steamers at Dillon’s.

Thursday - Chicken Tetrazzini, Asparagus

- I’ve got spaghetti on hand and chicken from a sale at Target a couple of months back.  I’ve got whipping cream left from a Tres Leche cake I made last week for a friend’s birthday.  I will need to buy some mushrooms and asparagus.
Friday - Fish Stick Tacos, Chips, Guacamole

-Gorton’s Fish Sticks are on sale at Dillon’s for $3.99/30 pieces and I have a $0.60/1 from February All You. Doubled this makes them $2.99.  I have to purchase Tortilla’s which I will also use for quesadillas one day for lunch.  I have a Mission coupon from 3-07 Smart Source.  I will also purchase cole slaw mix and adobo peppers.  Chips and guacamole will be a splurge for us but I have a $1/1 printable coupon for Wholly Guacamole.  This runs $2.50/box at HyVee and is excellent guacamole when you aren’t up for making your own.
Saturday - DATE NIGHT!  My husband and I haven’t had a date night in a looong time so I’m taking us out on the town.  Okay…maybe just to Wa…or Marisco’s…. but we’ll be out.  The kids will get leftovers…or sandwhiches…and they’ll love it.

My essentials grocery list looks like this:

Asparagus
Cole Slaw mix
Mushrooms
Apples (I’m going to make Apple Crisp!)
Tortillas
Chips
Guacamole
Rice Milk
Ravioli
Fish Sticks
Adobo Peppers
Rice Milk
Orange Juice

We have a few more splurges this week than normal…but I was well under budget on last week’s shopping.  I will stock up on cheese (the Kraft Catalina combined with the Kroger March Madness sale), French Fries (on sale at HyVee matched with B2G1 and $1.50/2 coupons), canned tomatoes and some cleaning products.

What are you eating this week? Want to share your menus?  I’m adding a Mister Linky this week in hopes that everyone will share…I would love to get some new ideas for my family as well!!

Weekly Menus: March 14 – 20

ast week turned out to be pretty much a FAIL for us in the way of planned menus.  Super Girl and I came down with an insane stomach virus that pretty much knocked me out for the week.  My wonderful husband did a lot of cooking… ate some things from our freezer….and kept the family afloat without spending money on eating out.

I did finally make it to the grocery store on Thursday and spent a whopping $62 but did some stock piling on frozen veggies and cereal as well as my normal weekly shopping.

So this week I can recycle some of our ideas from last week!  It will be a bit of a crazy week here so I will try to keep it as simple as possible.

Sunday: Brinner – Homemade Biscuits and Gravy, Sausage (real and soy), eggs and fruit salad

- We bought the gravy mix, eggs and sausages last week so we are set.  I have frozen fruit salad in the deep freeze from a trip to Aldi several weeks ago.

Monday - Salmon, Long Grain and Wild Rice, Green Beans

- I will swing by Aldi this week to pick up Salmon, I have boxes of Uncle Ben’s I will use and will need some fresh green beans. I am also out of lemon juice so I’ll add that to my grocery list.

Tuesday- Spaghetti and “Meat” Sauce, breadsticks, broccoli

-I have spaghetti on hand and will be stocking up on sauce at Dillon’s this week for $0.59/can.  I have some coupons for free Boca product that I will use to by crumbles to mix in the sauce.  This is my favorite recipe for breadsticks.  Broccoli is in the freezer!

Wednesday- BBQ Asian Chicken, Rice and Vegetables, Homemade Rolls

- I have chicken thighs from a sale at Target weeks ago, Green Giant Steamers are in the freezer from the great sale at Dillon’s these past few weeks and I’m making another go at homemade rolls

Thursday- Spinach and Gnocchi Bake, Asparagus

- This is a recipe from The $5 Dinner Mom Cookbook I’ve had the pleasure to meet Erin on two different occasions and I read her blog regularly.  I’m excited to try this new recipe out this week.  I will need to buy some gnocchi and fresh asparagus (unless its gross, then I’ll look for it frozen).  I’ve got spinach in the freezer from our garden this summer and I will make the white sauce from scratch.  I have cheese in the freezer from a sale at HyVee in January.

Friday- Venison roast, red potatoes, cooked carrots, homemade biscuits or rolls (I haven’t decided)

- We have venison in the freezer thanks to my hubby, I have red potatoes on hand as well as the ingredients to make the breads.  I will need to pick up some carrots.

Saturday- French Dip Sandwhiches, French Fries, Green Peas

- Left over roast will make great sandwiches tonight.  I have french fries galore in the freezer and some Green Giant Steamers peas.  Since its Saturday I’m going to try a new recipe from Erin’s book The $5 Dinner Mom Cookbook for make your own hamburger buns.  I’m really excited to try to be making more of our breads.

So what does my shopping list look like this week?

Asparagus

Green Beans

Carrots

Bananas

Grapes (? Depending on price and budget)

Lemon Juice

Orange Juice

Deli Turkey (lunches)

Gnocchi

Spaghetti Sauce

Salmon

Bocca crumbles

These are the items I need to make my household function this week.  Once I have shopped for these I will evaluate what is left in my weekly budget of $50 and decide what extras I will buy or stock up on!

Weekly Menus: March 7 – 13

I’m going to try to do a little experimenting this week…a few items on my menu that I’ve never tried before.  I’m going to use some recipes I’ve found on the web and see what fits with what is in my pantry…just to keep things a little more interesting!

Monday - Hamburgers, French Fries, carrot sticks and ranch

- Ok. So this is not interesting…nor unique…but it is going to be a rock star kind of day and I’m looking for simple and fast.  Venison from our freezer, french fries from the massive stock up sale price I found several months ago.  I will need to buy some carrot sticks and hamburger buns.

Tuesday - Make Ahead Spinach Manacotti, broccoli, mixed fruit salad.

- I won’t even be home for dinner on Tuesday so I thought I would make it as simple as possible for my husband.  I have this in the freezer.  I will need to buy some spaghetti sauce but will pull it out of the freezer on Monday and pour the sauce on…he will just need to pop it in the oven.  Green Giant Steamers vegetables are on sale at Dillon’s this week and next: with a coupon you can get them from about $0.28/bag. I have a bag of frozen fruit salad I got at Aldi about a month ago.

Wednesday - Asian BBQ Chicken Thighs, Green Beans, Mashed Potatoes and Homemade Dinner Rolls

- I found this recipe this past summer and made it with salmon on the grill.  (I’m desperately looking for the link to this and will post it as soon as I locate it!)We were so pleased with the flavor, it really is amazing!  The ingredients, when purchased all at once, can be quite costly.  I happen to have them all on hand…I’ve purchased them over time for various recipes.  You can often find these ingredients at an Asian Market for a much cheaper price than your local grocer.  My kids LOVE green beans…I do to.  In fact, I can’t wait until we get fresh from the garden green beans this summer.  In the meantime…I’m bored.  Plain green beans are getting old.  I found this great recipe at Savor The Thyme and will definitely give it a try! If they look good, I’ll buy fresh green beans this week…if not I will use the Green Giant Steamers.  Potatoes I bought last week for a dish and have enough remaining to make mashed potatoes this week.  I ran out of flour and sugar last week so I purchased some on Saturday night.

Thursday - Mexican Casserole

- A meal all in itself!  This is my biggest experiment this week.  I found this reciepe at Succeeding As Mom and it sounds really good to me!  It actually includes three separate recipes, one for Rice Wheatberrie Bake, one for Meatless Taco Filling, and then the Mexican Casserole recipe.  I will need to hit up the bulk section at the Merc for some wheatberrie and TVP … although I may use Bocca Crumbles instead as I have a coupon for one bag FREE.  I believe I actually have everything else on hand!

Friday - Sticky Chicken, Roasted Cauliflower, Rice/Carrots/Peas, Left Over Homemade Dinner Rolls

Saturday - Brinner! Eggs, Biscuits and Gravy, Fruit Salad

- An all time favorite fun dinner at our house.  The kids (and by kids I mean Eric and I) really like this.  We get our eggs from a farm in Topeka (someone at Eric’s office) so we always have those around….I will make biscuits and I will need to buy a packet of Country Gravy mix… I don’t do gravy very well.

So what does my “essentials” grocery list look like for the week?

Hamburger Buns

OrrowWheat Sandwhich Thins

Ground Black Pepper

Fresh Green Beans

Fresh Cauliflower

1 each Red/Green/Banana Pepper

Onion

Spaghetti Sauce

Bananas

Strawberries

Vanilla Yogurt

Orange Juice

Fat-Free Milk

When I figure out what I have spent I will be using the remainder to stock up on frozen vegetables.  The sale at Dillon’s is amazing and I can use them and use them and use them until our garden is ready this summer.

What is on your menu this week?

Weekly Menus: February 21- 27

A week of stomach bugs and long days at the office for my husband has left me with an easier task this week than most… we had lots of sandwiches and snack-type meals last week and I’ll be doing more carryover for this week’s menu.  Last week I only spent $30 on groceries and was able to put the remaining $20 towards buying chicken on sale at Target.  I’ve successfully replenished my stash!

Sunday – Baked Chicken Drumsticks, Homemade Dinner Rolls, Cooked Carrots, golden potatoes

- Drumsticks from the freezer from a sale this past summer.  Carrots from a meal I made a little over a week ago and I purchased the potatoes last week in anticipation of this being on the menu then.

Monday – Vegtarian Chili, Cornbread

- Black beans, diced tomatoes, green peppers and diced chilies…all are staples in my house.  I stock up on these things (buy the peppers fresh) whenever possible.  I have some Morningstar Farms Recipe crumbles in the freezer that I will use.

Tuesday – Venison Stroganoff, Green Beans, Egg Noodles

-Venison from my husband’s hunting adventures and I purchased egg noodles last week thinking this would be on the menu.  I have sour cream and mushroom soup on hand as well.  I will buy fresh green beans this week.

Wednesday -Leftovers

Thursday – General Tsoa’s Chicken, Fried Rice, Frozen Mixed Vegetables

- Chicken from the freezer.  I stocked up on Chicken Breasts and thighs this week at Target.  A brand I particulary like was on sale for $3.99/16oz and I had a $1/1 coupon.  Not the best price but as I said, I like this particular brand.  I have rice on hand as well as the frozen vegetables.

Friday – Brinner!! Biscuits and Gravy, Scrambled Eggs, Veggie Sausage, Fruit Salad

- I will make biscuits, I’ll need to buy a gravy mix as I’m not that creative…but there was a coupon in today’s paper…Veggie Sausage Patties are a splurge but will go on the list this week bc it is so small.  I have frozen fruit salad in the freezer I purchased at Aldi’s several week’s ago.

Saturday -Sloppy Joes, French Fries, Carrots and Ranch

- Venison burger from our freezer, I have two ginormous bags of french fries in the freezer I got on the SUPER CHEAP at Dillon’s a while back, carrot sticks and ranch dressing.  I will need to pick up some Manwhich and Buns

My Grocery List:

Fresh Green Beans

Skim Milk

Smart Ones (Freezer meals for DH and MY lunches)

Veggie Sausage Patties

Gravy Mix

Manwhich

Burger Buns

*After I see the total I will need to add some household items to my shopping list.  We need some fabric softener and trash bags for the diaper pail.

Weekly Menus: February 14 – 20

Last month went fairly well in the Hethcoat household.  We stayed on target with our menus for the most part and I think we only ordered out ONE night!  Posting my menus here on Sundays is definitely holding me accountable and forcing me to get the menus done on time.  Its helping my stress level AND my budget!

We have set a new goal for ourselves for the year: We need a new truck….we are going to get one and hope to have it paid off by the end of the year … when we plan to move to a new house!  This means I will need to be even MORE frugal then I’ve been and be very strict with our budget so we can save every last dime.  That being said… my husband and I are also going to take our honeymoon this year…FINALLY!!  We have been saving and saving and will be booking it TODAY!!  And you know what? We are paying CASH!!  A little bit of planning and saving really can pay off!

So… I’m going to continue to post my menus here on Sundays…its one little step to help our family reach our goals for the year!

Sunday: Chicken Salad Sandwhiches, Fruit salad, Pringles and raw veggies.

- Not an exciting meal but we have all of these left overs from a baby shower that I co-hosted this weekend.  It will let us kick back and enjoy Valentines’ Day as a family with little fuss over dinner.

Monday: Spaghetti, peas, fruit salad

- My husband will be working late so it is a kid-favorite night again for dinner!  I have spaghetti and sauce on hand as well as peas and lots of fruit salad from the Shower.

Tuesday: Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, corn

Wednesday: Baked Chicken Drumsticks, Homemade biscuits, cooked carrots, potatoes

- I have drumsticks in the freezer from a sale at Target this summer and I have the other ingredients on hand.  I am almost out of flour to make the biscuits so that is on my shopping list this week.  Carrots I have on hand from a trip two weeks ago and they need to get used and potatoes are on my shopping list.

Thursday: Stroganoff, green beans

- Using venison from our freezer and other ingredients I have on hand I can whip this up in the crock pot.  I can use rice instead of noodles…or, depending on my total shopping list I may pick up some egg noodles.  I have frozen green beans on hand.

Friday: General Tsao’s Chicken, Rice, Frozen Mixed vegetables

- I have chicken breasts on hand I will use along with Jasmine Rice and a bag of frozen steam-fresh veggies.  This is a great Weight Watchers meal that I discovered 3 years ago and my family loves.

Saturday: Homemade pizza

- I will make homemade pizza crust and I have pizza sauce on hand.  I will buy some turkey pepperoni (my son’s “FAVORITE” for pizza) and we will use that and cubed chicken.  I have cheese in the freezer from a good deal at HyVee about a month ago and I have Rice Cheese for my daughter that I purchased last week.  I will add mushrooms and green pepper to my shopping list.

So far my list of “needs” for the week includes:

• skim milk
• russet potatoes
• red potatoes
• turkey pepperoni
• egg noodles
• flour
• mushrooms
• green pepper
• rice milk
• yogurt
• eggs

Anything I have left in my budget I will put towards stocking up on a few items this week: chicken at Target in particular.

What’s on your menu this week?

Weekly Menus January 31 – Feb 6

For the past two weeks I’ve been posting my family’s menu in an attempt to both hold myself accountable…and stay organized as well as showing you how the principle of using coupons and stockpiling can actually work. 

I’ve been following my menus very well!  I’m rather impressed with myself.  We will be ordering pizza tonight…because I’ve been up with sick kids and am DONE for the day…but once in a while won’t break our budget.  I will carry over tonight’s meal to tomorrow.

I will be attending BlissDom in Nashville, TN this week and will be gone Thurs – Sunday.  I’m taking SuperBaby with me but Eric and the two big kids will be home by themselves.  I’m trying to keep things simple and easy to prepare this week so I’m not spending a lot of time cleaning up when I could be doing other things.  I went a little over budget ($20) last week stocking up on some things (Juice, chicken) so I have a VERY short list this week and plan to do almost no shopping: bananas, Rice Milk, asparagus, french fries, hot dog buns, deli turkey. 

How about you?  Have you planned your family’s menu for the week?  Start by looking through your cupboards and see what you have on hand…then buy the essentials and stock up on what is on sale!  You will feel more relaxed and organized when dinner time rolls around each night!

Sunday: Make ahead Spinach Manacotti

• I have spinach from our garden in the freezer and I purchased noodles and cheese on sale last week at Hy Vee.  The recipe for this makes a 9×13 which is too much for my family so I will freeze half (without the sauce) for another meal.

Monday: Foil Pack Chicken Marinara

• I have chicken breasts in the freezer I purchased for $1.68/lb at HyVee, tomatoes I stocked up on when they were $0.38/can and mozzerella cheese that was a MONEY MAKER at HyVee when it was 5/$6 with a $5 ONYO + coupons.  I got this recipe from the Kraft Website and haven’t made it before…we’ll see if its a keeper or not.

Tuesday:  Grilled Cheese Sandwhiches, Tomato Soup and Homemade Applesauce

• Daddy will be out of town so its a kid-food kind of night!  I almost always have tomato soup on hand…I like to make it up with a little milk (or soy milk) and some basil…yumma!  Made the applesauce last week in my crockpot with the apples on sale at HyVee.

Wednesday: Tilapia in mustard cream sauce, asparagus, Long Grain Wild Rice 

• Tilapia I have in the freezer I purchased on a monthly trip to Aldi ($3.99/4pieces) and I have the wild rice on hand as well.  I will need to purchase fresh asparagus this week.

Thursday: Chili Dogs, French Fries, carrots and branch (Ranch) 

• My first night away and Dad and the kids will have some “fun food” .  I have Hormel Chili I got on sale, with a coupon for about $0.30/can a month or so ago and I have veggie dogs and hot dogs in the freezer.  I will need to pick up more french fries unless I can convice Eric that he can make oven fries out of potatoes.  I bought a bag of carrots last week to make chicken soup and we can cut those up.

Friday: Left over Chicken Enchiladas

• We had these last week and I froze half of the batch so Eric and the kids could have them while I was out of town…they will be eating while I’m listening to Harry Connick, Jr!

Saturday: Shepherd’s Pie  

•  I use venison from our freezer that my husband provides for us, potatoes I bought on sale at Dillon’s last week and some vegetables and broth I have on hand.  I have one in the freezer for the fam to chow on while I’m living it up in Nashville.

Weekly Menus: January 24 – 30

Last week I committed myself to posting weekly menus on Sunday…to inspire others and to hold myself accountable!  We followed our menu last week with the exception of having more leftovers than we had planned and a family birthday party that I forgot to plan in…so I have two of my meals carry over to this week!

Sunday - Sticky Chicken, Salad, mashed potatoes, rolls

• I will use a whole chicken from my freezer stash… I bought them for roughly $2.50 ea this summer at Target.  The chickens were $4.50 and I was able to stack a $1/1 man. printable coupon with a $1/1 Target coupon.  I bought a LOT of them and stocked my freezer.  I have salad left from my purchase last week… it will need to be used today.  I will need to buy some potatoes at the store.  I’m also experimenting with some homemade rolls … hopefully I can share how those go next week.

Monday – Salmon, Lemony Rice Pilaf, asparagus

• I purchased a 4pk of frozen Wild Caught Salmon at Aldi’s last week for $3.99.  The lemony rice recipe is a new one I’m going to try this week.  I have jasmine rice on hand and will need to purchase a lemon and some parsley to round out the dish.  I will also purchase fresh asparagus this week.

Tuesday - French Dip Sandwiches, French Fries, Corn on the Cob

• We will use venison from the freezer and the leftover homemade rolls from Monday.  I have an immensely large bag of frozen french fries I got on super sale at Dillon’s a couple of months ago…and I will get corn on the cob at HyVee where it is on sale this week 4/$1.

Wednesday – Chicken Soup

• This week chicken breasts and thighs are on sale at HyVee for $0.99/lb.  I was originally going to make this soup with one of my whole chickens…but I decided to use breasts and thighs…skinless these will make less fat in the soup and boneless they will make it just a little easier.  I will buy some barely to use in the soup in lieu of noodles…I’m giving this a try as a whole grain option.

Thursday - Leftovers

Friday – Make Ahead Spinach Manacotti , green beans

• I have spaghetti sauce on hand that I bought on sale at Dillon’s and spinach in my freezer from our garden this summer.  I will need to buy manacotti shells and ricotta cheese.

Saturday -Chicken Enchiladas, broccoli, spanish rice

• Leftover chicken from Sunday’s Sticky Chicken makes great filling for these enchiladas.  Tortillas can be purchased w a coupon at Dillon’s this week.  I have tomatoes and sauce for the homemade enchilada sauce…I bought them last week on sale at HyVee…$0.38/can.  I have frozen broccolli in the freezer and Old El Paso spanish rice that I purchased on sale ($1.25/bag) with a coupon ($0.50/1) that doubled…so final price was $0.25.

There you have it.  A little diversity…. what does your week look like?  Are you utilizing the groceries and supplies you have on hand? 

Have a Happy and Healthy Week!

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