Monthly Meal Plan Links (as promised)

Okay, here are the links to the recipes I used in this month's meal plan. If there is no link it was a homemade creation, meaning I just looked in the fridge and seasonings and threw something together - just use one of your "go to" recipes instead. Also, I sometimes find a recipe and then alter it to fit what I have on hand (or what I'd prefer to use it with) so I'll include the original link with notes on how I changed it.

Here are the dinner meals:
1. Ground beef with onions over seasoned rice with broccoli.
2. Filet with mashed potatoes & corn (sorry, the menu plan was wrong - who has broccoli two days in a row? Not that I wouldn't - I LOVE broccoli).
3. Lasagna & bread sticks (this was a Stouffer's Lasagna with store bought bread sticks).
4. Pork chops with garlic lemon sauce over pasta & green beans.
5. Flank steak with creamy rice & broccoli & cheese.

6. Chicken Florentine with orange-glazed carrots.
7. Tortilla & black bean pie with Southwestern Polenta with corn & green chiles.
8. Brown sugar & balsamic glazed pork tenderloin with fried rice & green beans.
9. Hot Dogs with sauerkraut, french fries &/or sweet potato fries.
10. Baked chicken with mashed cauliflower & corn.
11. Pizza bites (side note: these are fantastic) & wings.
12. Pulled pork sandwiches with mac-n-cheese.
13. Roasted chicken with crash hot potatoes & green beans.
14. Lasagna soup & Olive Garden breadsticks.
15. Stuffed pork chops w/corn-on-the-cob & cheesy cauliflower bake.
16. Filet with mashed potatoes and corn (my husbands favorite meal and his night to cook).
17. Tuscan chicken with cheddar & herb biscuits.
18. Burrito Bar. (I am making these flour tortillas with all the fixins).
19. Garlic shrimp over Orzo with broccoli & cheese.
20. Filipino pork abodo with fried rice & corn.
21. Chicken in creamy butter sauce with mashed cauliflower & rice.
22. Flank Steak with spicy lemon sauce, mashed potatoes & asparagus.
23. Hamburgers & fries.
24 & 25. Thanksgiving Dinner & leftovers

26. Filet with red wine butter, hasselback potatoes & cheesy cauliflower bake.
27. Meatballs with mashed potatoes & cauliflower.
28. Cocoa Rubbed Pork Chops with Polenta with corn & green chilies.
29. Tortellini w/ ground beef & bacon & bread sticks.
30. Pizza & Wings

Meal Planning

I saw this wonderful post on meal planning and decided to take a stab at it. As the cost of living keeps increasing, our family has been trying to find ways to save money. Meal planning helps you save money by keeping you from buying things YOU DON'T NEED throughout the month. When you plan your meals ahead of time you are less likely to make an extra trip to the grocery store and pick up those three of four "extra" items. This month, I've prepared the following menu and we spent $550.00 for this month's groceries (we might spend a little more - another $20 or so for Thanksgiving). Now, I do need to let you know (if you just had a heart attack) that we buy in bulk so we tend to spend more in one month but we've calculated that we are only shopping every 6 weeks so it's averaging out to be around $370/month for a family of three. Now, I will admit that there's not a wide variety of side dishes in this particular plan (my husband barely eats veggies so I have to push the ones he will eat). For your plan, just add your favorite sides and make necessary adjustments to meet your budget.



Here's the meal plan for this month and, on a side note, I print two of these - one that is kept in my binder with all the recipes for the month in sequence and one to post on the fridge. You'll notice that I have a "Defrost" memo on each day to let me know what to pull out for the next night (some things, like roasts & whole chickens need more time to defrost so you'll see they are pulled out days ahead of time).

Monthly Calendar

I use the "Weekly Meal Plan" to have a handy overview of the upcoming week. I keep it in my binder behind the monthly calendar. I just rotate the weeks out as they come up so I have easy access to notes about how I want to prepare some of the recipes.



Weekly Menu Planner

Oh, and here's the cover for my binder - if you want one with your name on it and/or in a specific color - just leave me a comment with your last name, email address and color choice and I'll send you one - ready to print.


Menu Planner Cover