The Week's Meals, Reluctantly

Am I alone in sometimes longing for the pre-marriage and childless days of yore, being able to get away with cereal and ice cream for dinner nearly every night just because I could and it was easy?

Jacob still will go through phases where that's all he feels like eating--and I can't blame the man. After working with food all day, I'm not sure I could stomach (literally) the smell of another item by the time I got home. It does put a hamper on my meal planning, though. It is NO FUN to go through all the pain of meal preparation, cooking, and clean up just to be the only one to really eat it. Yasmeen always eats what I have, but considering that her stomach is the size of her fist, and some days she is far more ornery about what she'll put in her mouth than others, she doesn't really quite count.

And, yet, she does...because if she didn't need to eat that nutritious fist size of food I would be joining Jacob in the cereal glutton.

We've been eating out ALL summer-and we live in a small little town with very few food options, so it's not like we've even been enthusiastically eating out. We've just been far too lazy. But, it is really eating a hole in our pockets, doing absolutely nothing whatsoever that is kind to my waistline, cementing some pretty awful eating habits in the little one, and we've been subjected to some pretty questionable quality control, if you know what I mean....sooooooo, the binge is over. And I'm back at this. Ugh.

It's difficult to think of easy meals that aren't terribly time consuming or expensive and are kid AND hubby friendly.

Monday: Slowcooker pulled pork with Kaiser buns and KFC coleslaw and fruit or veggie side

Tuesday: Fish tacos (thank you Jenny)

Wednesday:These Waffles of Insane Greatness (found at Annie's Eats). I have everything on hand except for the cornstarch, which I really should have in my cupboard anyway. I'll serve with fruit (likely strawberries and blackberries) and maybe Jacob will grace us with his perfect scrambled eggs with cheddar cheese and a side of grits. Yumm.

Thursday: This Greek Panzanella salad with a cut of beef, probably tri tip or filet mignon

Friday: Maybe shrimp ceviche, but if I'm feeling too lazy I'm not above a run to Costco for $1.50 pizza and frozen yogurt. Just sayin'....

Saturday/Sunday: I dislike planning for weekends as we often are out and about or at the in-laws. So we'll eat what and where the wind takes us.

The Goal: Spend $10 or Less

In an attempt to save as much money on meals as possible this coming week, I've made my shopping list and menu plan early. Weekly ads come out on Wednesdays, which makes it easy to get things done on the weekend. This week my goal is to spend <$10 to complete weeknight dinners and <$5 to complete lunches. (Lunch is only eaten by Alex, Nathan and myself since Josh and Chris eat at school.)

Here we go:

Monday
Lunch: Chicken quesadillas. Chicken is $6/bag (about 24 pieces per bag and I'll probably use about 5 for this meal) and I already have diced fire-roasted chiles, cheese and tortillas. This meal is <$5.
Dinner: Spaghetti, salad and french bread. I already have spaghetti noodles, salad is about $2 (bagged) and I have a coupon for free french bread. This meal is <$5

Tuesday:
Lunch: Tuna sandwiches. I'll have to buy some tuna, which is on sale for $1/can this week and we'll probably use at least 3 cans. Also celery ($1) and mayonnaise ($3). This meal is about $7.
Dinner: Fish tacos. Tilapia is on sale ($4/lb), salsa ($1), avocado (2/$1), coleslaw (bagged, $2). This meal will be about $10.

Wednesday:
Lunch: Roast beef sandwiches. Roast beef from Trader Joe's is $5/package for about 10 slices. This meal is <$5.
Dinner: Chicken tenders and twice baked potatoes. potatoes are $.88/5 lb bag this week and green onions $1. This meal is <$10.

Thursday:
Lunch: Roast beef or pb&j sandwiches.
Dinner: Chili and cornbread. I already have all the ingredients for this meal in the pantry.

Friday:
Lunch: Leftover chili and cornbread.
Dinner: My day off! $5 Friday at Von's. I might buy a second meal to use for Saturday.

Saturday:
Lunch: The extra $5 meal I got from Von's. Josh has a soccer game that morning.
Dinner: I'll let Alex decide!

Sunday:
Lunch: Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, some kind of veggie. Ground beef is about $3/lb. The veggie won't cost more than $2. This meal will be about $5.
Dinner: Leftovers/fend for yourselves.

Other foods:
strawberries ($3)
bananas ($3)
bottled water ($3)

Another Week You Gotta Eat

I am so tired of planning and making dinner now that school and soccer have started. I'm also bored with the regular meals we've been having. I wish I could just order out every single day.

So I'm making a dinner plan because I should and not because I'm excited about it:

Monday: Omelettes. The boys have decided that cheese omelettes are delicious and they must eat them as often as possible. Luckily they are super easy to make.
Tuesday: Some kind of soup. Chicken tortilla, broccoli cheddar or something else.
Wednesday: Some kind of salad. Taco, maybe?
Thursday: Barbecue chicken. Oven baked.
Friday: I'm taking the day off and it's $5 Friday's from Von's. Roasted chicken, salad and rolls.

Though dinner might be boring, I'm excited to try this delicious and easy recipe for mini cheesecakes from Bakerella. There's actually a lot of things I'd like to try on this website. But only the really easy stuff.

Back At It? I think...

So it is very definitely the middle of the week-and I very definitely have not cooked one meal yet. But no time like the present to start, right?

My motto for the time being is keep it simple sister! So tonight, we will have sloppy joes and a salad, mainly because they are easy, cheap, good, and the little one likes them so she'll actually eat some red meat. Tomorrow, we will do taco salads.

Friday we are in the city with Gramme, so we'll probably do clam chowder. Saturday will probably be family date night out and Sunday we'll likely go to the in-laws.

Lunch and Dinner Menu Plan

Dinner for this week comes with help from the Everyday Food website.

Monday: Chicken pot pie
Tuesday: Tortilla soup
Wednesday: Shepherd's pie
Thursday: Veggie chili and corn bread
Friday: Sesame noodles


Also, I am now in charge of making Alex's lunch every day (otherwise he spends an arm and a leg at school), so here is his lunch menu:

Monday: Tuna sandwich
Tuesday: Left over pot pie
Wednesday: roast beef sandwich
Thursday: Left over shepherd's pie
Friday: Left over chili

Back to School Meals

Okay, so school starts again this week, which means I'll have more time to plan meals but less time to cook them. So I'm coming back full force this week. Hopefully.

Dinner menu (in no particular order):

Open-faced tuna melts and blt sandwiches. On some good crusty, toasted bread.

Steak and eggs w/grits. We bought a value pack of steak and it's waiting in our freezer. I'll scramble the eggs for the kids, but Alex and I like our eggs sunny side up on top of the meat. With swizzle sauce, of course.

Skewered orange-glazed chicken and rice. I found a recipe that used orange marmalade so I'm going to give it a try. I'll skewer some chicken tenders and baste them with the marmalade under the broiler. It only takes a few minutes to cook. Fast and easy.

Bean and cheese burrito. But I have to get it as close to Taco Bell as I can, otherwise Christopher won't eat it.

This week I also want to:

Make my own pre-made pancake mix. I got the idea from Everyday Food. That will make breakfast quicker and easier.

Make a fondant cake. I've never really been into cake decorating, but it looks simple and fun.

Try perfecting my hummus again. It's hit or miss for me. But my whole family loves hummus, even my picky eater! So I've got to figure it out!

Small Mommy: Next Week's Dinner Menu

Okay, so here's a list of dinners for this week, in no particular order (I just know that I have the ingredients!):

chicken and white bean chili
chicken and rice soup
mac and cheese w/broccoli
spaghetti and garlic bread
loaded baked potato soup
quesadillas

sides:

cornbread
salad
smoothies
jello

desserts:

key lime pie!
snickerdoodles

Southern Food and Key Lime Pie

Yes, I've been slacking on my menu planning this summer also. But-I have been spending less on food. I've been trying to use more food storage and recipes that are cheaper to make. Though I've been taking advantage of the $7 meal deal at Albertson's, which includes one rotisserie chicken, a side of slaw or macaroni salad, 4 hawaiian rolls and a 2 liter of soda. I also like the $5 Friday deals at Von's. Sometimes it's pizza, other times rotisserie chicken or sub sandwiches.

This week we are eating leftovers from our Southern supper. That includes collard greens and chicken and dumplings. I usually use Paula Deen's recipes for Southern cooking.

I also thought I'd post the ridiculously easy recipe I use for key lime pie. It's so tasty and I feel guilty taking any credit for it. It's only 4 ingredients total. The recipe can be found on the back of Nellie & Joe's Famouse Key West Lime Juice bottle.

Nellie & Joe's Key Lime Pie

one 9" graham cracker pie shell (or you could make your own-I never do!)
one 14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk
3 egg yolks (no whites)
1/2 cup Nellie & Joe's Key West Lime Juice

Combine milk, egg yolks and juice until smooth. Pour into pie filling. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes, until pie is set.

Let stand for 10 minutes before refrigerating.

Serve with whipped cream or not!

So easy. So good.

Summer Hiatus

Confession #1: I haven't menu planned consistently, if at all, in practical months;

Confession #2: I am blissfully unapologetic for it.

Somehow we've all managed to eat and most of the time the baby gets pretty healthy fare. Yes, we've begged several of our more extravagant and healthier meals off the in-laws, but hey, it's summer. I'm on vacation, damn it :) Plus, it's hot. And I'm tired. And NOTHING sounds good to me in the summer but hamburgers, fruit, salads, ice cream, ice cream, ice cream, strawberry lemonade, and sometimes pizza. So that's what we eat. Every day (slight exaggeration, but only slight.) Or cereal.

Alas, summer is almost over and fall is drawing near. Then I crave soups. And it's icky-ish outside, so I never want to leave my house...and my kitchen becomes vastly more appealing. And I cook. I have accumulated some pretty tasty looking recipes I'm dying to try....at least someday (i.e. not tomorrow, or the day after, or likely even the day after that, if you get my gist).

I'll be back when school is back in session. No, no, I don't go to school, nor do I have a child in one, but it seems like a reasonable marker for putting on my big girl pants, growing up, and eating (and spending, and cooking) more responsibly.

Dinner Menu-Small Mommy

I almost stuck to my pantry challenge last week. I broke down and bought some frozen chicken instead of using the canned because I wanted to make Christopher barbecued wings. But I don't feel too bad about it because it turns out he LOVED them. And that hardly ever happens!

So here are some dishes I will probably make in the next 2 weeks:

Chicken and white bean chili with cornbread

Meatloaf with loaded mashed potatoes and possibly fried okra. By the way, I figured out how to get Christopher and Nathan to eat meatloaf! I saw online that one mother cooked her meatloaf in muffin tins and covered them with barbecue sauce instead of ketchup. Well, it worked. Christopher loved it!

Barbecued chicken and red onion pizza on flatbread

Pasta primavera and garlic bread

Cheese enchiladas and salad

We bought an 11 lb box of medjool dates from our Palm Springs trip, so I'm going to try to find something to do with those.

I also bought a new blender today and I'm excited to start making milkshakes and smoothies.