So menu planning is not something I do. I have good intentions to do it and sometimes even start it but then never stick with it. This week, we are trying hard to be more budget conscious when it comes to buying groceries so I thought I’d give menu planning a try. Because this was last minute on my part, I decided to use the iFood Assistant to find recipes, add to shopping list and go shopping for 7 supper meals. The boys now eat breakfast at school, me and my man don’t eat much in the morning, leaving little man to feed and since he’s only three, it’s not too hard to get his belly full. For lunch we just eat whatever…usually a sandwich or soup or something like that so I needed to focus on supper.
Here are the recipes I chose for the week. I will probably try to take photos of each one I make and post it here, with a review of taste, simplicity of meal, and overall satisfaction.
Angel Chicken
BBQ Beef Soft Tacos
Bruschetta Minute Steaks
Crips-and-Creamy Baked Chicken
Foil-Packed Chicken Fajita Dinner
Quick Taco Salad
Slow Cooker BBQ Beef Stew
Since we were completely out of food, our food bill was $301. I’m too lazy to total the actual amount that these 7 recipes were but I’m pretty for sure it wasn’t much. The big costs came from dog food, beer, and detergent. You know how that goes…especially when you have your husband with you. Anyways, I’d love to hear how you get inspiration for your menu. Do you have a system down, do you have one I can borrow? LOL Any tips you have, I’d love to hear them!
maria says
No tips from me. I have been slacking the last 2 weeks. Since ball season started again, we’re @ the ball park for both our kids almost every night. I have cooked 2 real meals since Monday. The rest were sandwiches, leftovers, or breakfast for dinner. At least we’re not going out to eat during the week or worse…eating dinner at the ball park.
But, I love your 3 big ticket items! lol And I like that you actually spent more than $7 on food! lol I get depressed when I hear how people spend $20 on a weeks worth of meals. good for them, but sucks for me. :)
Rachel ~ Southern Fairytale says
I love the ifood assistant for recipes!!! it makes one heck of a great shopping list, too ;-) so easy!
Pam says
Ok, I start off Looking through my local grocery store ads, we have 3. I write the name of the store and what is on sale that sounds like a good deal. Then I try to come up with the dinners I want to prepare. I always have some for leftovers so I don’t plan lunch, just sandwiches for when the take them to school and of course my hubby’s lunch. Back to dinner… I make sure I have all the ingredients for what I want to cook. What I am missing goes on my list. I try to use as many sales as possible. Walmart will price match any ad. I go to the grocery store for my meat though because I don’t like walmart’s meat(sorry). I have a family of 5. My budget is $100, including detergent, paper necessities, and such. I usually stay pretty close but it is hard. Never Go Without A List. And know what you need before you leave. Thats my biggest advice.
Love your site, its so much fun.
Dorene says
Lori,
Here are a couple of places I go to when I’m trying to figure out what I should be doing for dinner, or how to use coupons, etc.
http://www.onceamonthmom.com
http://steamykitchen.com/
http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/
I just love food blogs and have a ton saved…good luck with the menu planning..we try to at least have 1 crockpot meal on our table a week as well. Good luck with the menu planning..the site you use looks great. My roommate loves using the epicurious food site app (free I think) as her download on the ipod touch to get recipes and a list.
Jeannette says
In the last month or so I have started to meal plan so I can stay on track with our budget. I have a few cookbooks that I use but I started a binder of all the recipes I get from food blogs(including yours) and online recipe sites. I am going to look through a few iPod apps to get even more recipes. Good luck with whatever wet you go.
Kim @ DomesticGeekGirl says
I use the Awesome Note app for most of my organizing. For menu planning, I made an individual note just stating the name of each meal that I can make and that my family likes. When it comes time to meal plan, I sit down with a worksheet, look at my plans for the week, and pick out meals that work with each day’s activities. (eg, When do I need a crock pot meal?). Back in Awesome Note, I can set “To Do” dates for the meals I plan on having that week. But I also pencil in the meals on the worksheet and post that on the fridge. So I have no excuses for not defrosting the chicken…right?
Umm.. but… tonight, we’re ordering a pizza. Because I didn’t meal plan yet for this week. So I can SAY i do it, but I’m not always on top of it, you know?
Here’s my worksheet, if you’re interested: http://www.domesticgeekgirl.com/2010/03/organization-day-menu-planning.html
ipod apps says
Hi there, I read your blogs on a regular basis. Your story-telling style is awesome, keep doing what you’re doing!