*September* Home-Cooked Challenge!! - Page 2

[Drummer's Wife]

I'll try...for dinners, anyway.

9/1 - cheese raviolis, bread, a huge salad, and corn on the cob.
9/2 - steak, red potatoes, salad, and fresh green beans





I am impressed with those who have so many meals planned out in advance.

[dachshundqueen]

September

Bean Broccoli Rice Casserole
Florentine Bake
Beef Enchiladas
Chicken Shwarma
Fried rice, won ton soup
Grandma's
Spaghetti and meatballs
Bratwurst
Salmon Burgers
Red beans and rice
Steaks
Chicken broccoli pasta
Lentils w/carmelized onions pasta nests
Asian noodle salad
Chicken tikka masala
beef stroganoff (nasteee but I love my spouse)
cornbread bean pie
Anniversary Going OUT
Turkey burgers
Grandma's
BBQ pork s/w
Moroccan chicken
Chili w/cornbread
Chick Fil A
Nachos
Kale w/white beans and rice
Arroz con pollo
Chicken Noodle casserole
MANwich
Chicken pot pie with biscuit topping

I plan the month then we eat whatever we feel like as long as it's on the menu, but I generally stick with the order. We do breakfast and lunch on the fly.

Liz

[beansmama]

I'm impressed with the mama's that have their menu's planned for the entire MONTH! Do you guys usually stick to it...or get bored and make something else (or go out)?

I used to plan for 2 weeks at a time - then shop for those 2 weeks (with the exception of going to the store for more fresh produce - or junk...which i'm in the process of nixing!) but I haven't been in the mood to plan lately. Maybe it's because my 6 week old doesn't give me enough time!

Lately I've just been making sure I have my staples - dry grains, beans, flour, carrots, onions, salad fixings, pasta, tempeh, tofu...you get the picture, then basing what to make off what I have. So far it's been working...I like to plan though, I'm pretty much a planning freak (lol) so hopefully in the near future I can start again!

[mommyto4grits]

Originally Posted by beansmama

YAY!:

Welcome everyone! It's great to have a place to go where people will help you reach your goals.

Should we just update our posts or copy/paste to a new post? I think most other threads do the copy/paste thing...right? Hmmm...Opinions?

Yeah, the others I have done we usually copy/paste

[~D~]

1) Lengua (from grass-fed organic beef), Pinto beans & tortillas for DH
DD had mac-n-cheese with tuna, DS had his mac plain...
2) Leftovers from DH's Lengua from last night for him, DD had Grilled cheese & tomato soup, DS had beef taquitos... I had the rest of DD's tomato soup & the last piece of the WW bread.

[isosmom]

Totally in. I don't know that I won't eat out at all, but I won't spend any money on eating dinners out, how's that? I work in a restaurant and have dinner there about twice a week.

1) polenta with fresh tomato sauce, green bean, chickpea, and edamame salad with harissa vinaigrette dessert for kids was homemade pb choc chip cookies
2) for me leftover green bean salad from last night over brown rice with arugula for the kids chicken burgers and sweet potato fries

[~D~]

Yummy, isosmom... I heart polenta!!

Does anyone have recipes to share?? I have a couple and am totally willing to share... Especially an authentic Mexican pork & chile dish, but I never wrote it down, so I have to think about how to explain it on paper
I never use recipes... but I think if I did, it might help my planning along.

[FillingMyQuiver]

Wow, I really need to get back into the meal planning.

1~ Baked ziti
2~ Baked chicken w/ sauteed veggies/ broccoli for the kids

[HappyLittleHouse]

I'm in! I'm on a strict budget this month and need to make the grocery budget s-t-r-e-t-c-h. I bought three chickens on sale and 1.25 lb. ground turkey and that's all the meat for this month, but I can usually get 2-3 meals out of each of the chickens and 2 out of the turkey, so it should work.

1. Quesadillas and a banana (Just me and the baby)
2. Turkey teriyaki burritos and grapes (1/2 the turkey, includes lunch tomorrow)

[lil_earthmomma]

Ooh fun!!!

I can do this with one exception, my very dear friend is taking me out for a special girls night dinner on saturday! But since I don't have to pay, I guess it's not going to hurt the challenge right? (maybe that's the secret, we all need to learn to mooch free dinners off of friends and family! )

I'll be back tomorrow to post my meal plan.

[milosmomma]

Oh, I LOVE this idea! I've been trying to cook double-batches of things to freeze lately. As long as I keep it up, this should be completely do-able!

Next week I'm moving from a 4p-midnight work schedule to an overnight sched. One bright point is that I'll be home in the afternoon and able to make (and eat) dinner with my family every night!

9/1 Cajun bean soup & home-made bread
9/2 Shephard's Pie (and I made more bread)

[rhiandmoi]

I'm already changing things
1) Ribs
2) BLTs (was Fish Tacos)
3) Fish Tacos (was Shrimp and Grits)
4) Spaghetti and Meatballs
5) Out of town
6) Out of town
7) Out of town
8)Shrimp and Grits

[~D~]

Originally Posted by lil_earthmomma

Ooh fun!!!

I can do this with one exception, my very dear friend is taking me out for a special girls night dinner on saturday! But since I don't have to pay, I guess it's not going to hurt the challenge right? (maybe that's the secret, we all need to learn to mooch free dinners off of friends and family! )

I'll be back tomorrow to post my meal plan.

I already get free range eggs and homemade bread from my mom, as well as venison stew when she makes it and fresh muffins and anything else she feels like... So I am totally happy *mooching* her free stuff!

She is WAAY more crunchy than me, and she doesn't even try... Next to so many others I feel like a terrible consumer

[jimblejamble]

Ooh this is such a cool idea! Thanks for thinking of it! I tend to have the same things over and over so my menu may seem a little boring. Ya know what though? It's nutrient-dense, healthy, filling, yummy, and gets the job done so I don't care. Also I'm due to have a baby around the 16th so things will probably be even more repetitive at that time.

September 2009
1 - Chicken breast with lemon pepper & seasoning salt. Steamed potatoes sauteed in olive oil with brocolli and mushrooms. Strawberry/blueberry/banana/coconut oil/flax seed/wheat germ/spinach/almond butter/orange juice/rice milk/ice smoothies and water to drink.
2 - Quinoa with Smart Balance, mixed with brocolli, and leftover chicken breast. Water to drink.
3 - Ate at friends' house - they made a salad of cabbage & carrots with "Chinese dressing" and scrambled up eggs with a bunch of veggies. Kale/flax seed/banana/orange smoothies and water to drink.
4 - Oats, flax seeds, wheat germ, and almonds soaked in rice milk (sort of a vegan muesli?) with bananas, blueberries, and strawberries, sausage, orange juice and water to drink.
5 - Chili - I used one of those "15 Bean Chili" bags (without the chili powder packet that comes with it) plus added a bag of kindey beans, tomatoes, 2 purple onions, 1 lb. ground beef, and a bunch of seasonings then ate it with toast and grated cheese and water to drink.
6 - Gonna have leftover chili...I made a ton!!!
7 - Just grazed on stuff throughout the night
8 - Fruit & spinach smoothies, broiled chicken with brocolli, carrots, and quinoa.
9 - Finished off the last of the chili, water, toast as a snack afterwards.
10 - Dinner at friend's house - homemade chicken & vegetable soup, green beans, corn on the cobb, water to drink.
11 - Oops! Chipotle!
12 - Scrambled eggs with spinach and cheese
13 - Chicken, bread, with smoothies and water to drink.
14 - Oops!
15 - Dinner at relatives' house
16 - Oops!
17 - Burritos with corn & smoothies, water to drink.
18 - Snacked on pb toast & a banana

[AngelBee]

Shyly peeking in...

[caiesmommy]

Originally Posted by FillingMyQuiver

1~ baked ziti (DH picked up Italian bread on his way home and in true DH form, also bought Chips Ahoy: )

So my dh...he went to pickup bread the other day came home with olives as well...that was a change from the oat meal cookies he brings home that we have to hide from ds(who has learned to climb the counters and quietly eat the whole box)

[caiesmommy]

Originally Posted by ~D~

I already get free range eggs and homemade bread from my mom, as well as venison stew when she makes it and fresh muffins and anything else she feels like... So I am totally happy *mooching* her free stuff!

My m-i-l always picks up our almond milk for us...it's cheaper around where her mom lives so when she goes for her weekly visit she picks it up for us and never asks for the money back

Everytime I'm at my Grandmas we go shopping for dinners for us, grandma and my aunts family..theres always leftover veg and it gets sent home with us.."oh take it dear I'll never eat it all"..But Grandma you paid for it..."But you cooked, so this is your pay!" I love my Grandma

[_ktg_]

I'm soo in on this one! : Overall we're trying to cut back - way back the # of times we eat out, but also to have more variety in our menu too.

Here goes for Sept:
1) McDonalds (what a great start!) :
2) BBQ Ribs, Corn on the Cob, baked beans
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[Alyantavid]

Originally Posted by beansmama

I'm impressed with the mama's that have their menu's planned for the entire MONTH! Do you guys usually stick to it...or get bored and make something else (or go out)?

Usually. Not always, sometimes we won't be home and we'll grab takeout. But for the most part, we do stick with it.

[CameronsMama]

JMO, but I think that if someone takes you out for dinner, it absolutely doesn't count against you here!! My mom comes over for dinner once or twice a week, so a couple times a month she insists on taking us all out to dinner to "pay back" for all the dinners I cook.


1. homemade mac n cheese
2. grilled chicken with mashed potatoes and green beans

and my rough plan for the next few days:

3. Travelling Tacos (basically just nachos, but instead of covering the chips, you layer all the beans, meat, cheese, etc on a tray, and use the chips to scoop it up and eat.)
4. Chicken with pasta in an alfredo sauce
5. Chili
6. Sausage and rice
7. Cheesy Potato soup
8. Lasagna Rolls
9. Turkey Meatballs with Garlic Parmesan Pasta

We'll see what the weather does, though, it's been warmer than usual, and I haven't wanted to heat up the house with a bunch of cooking, so I may be replacing some of those with salads and other less heat producing meals.