February meal plan- cooking with love

[zebra15]

Another tight month financially around here.  I am going to try to continue to use up 'stuff' from the pantry and only purchase necessities from the grocery store.  Since I don't have a DH or 'special someone' for 2/14 and it falls on a Tuesday I just might make DS something special that day or over the weekend.  DS has requested a special 'leap year' dinner.  Any thoughts on what the heck that means?  It would be a Wednesday dinner?  I am also dealing with swim team practice 3x a week.

*only listing dinners this month

2/1- Salad, Dinner in a bag, yogurt.  Made cookies for dessert

2/2 - Breakfast (eggs, sausage, english muffins)

2/3-  

2/4- Dinner Out

New Week

s 2/5- Corn dogs, french fries, salad

m 2/6- Salad, Hamburger Helper

t 2/7 - corndogs, tater tots, salad

w 2/8- breakfast for dinner

t 2/9- grilled cheese, nachos and salsa

f 2/10- KFC, dinner failure

s 2/11- Dinner out (coupons or Gift cards)

New Week

s 2/12  pork, potatoes, baked glazed carrots

m 2/13 Hamburger Helper, salad

t 2/14- VALENTINES? (drive thru )

w 2/15 Breakfast

t 2/16 Hamburger Helper, salad, carrots

f 2/17 salad, chef boy r dee

s 2/18 Dinner out (coupons or gift cards)

New Week

s 2/19 chicken, potatoes, veggie

m 2/20 spaghetti, meatballs, salad

t 2/21 leftovers, salad

w 2/22 breakfast

t 2/23 lasgana bake

f 2/24 corn dogs

s 2/25

New Week

s 2/26 Hamburger Helper

m 2/27 Breakfast

t 2/28 dinner in a bag/garlic bread

w 2/29 SPECIAL LEAP YEAR DINNER?

Edited by zebra15 - 2/28/12 at 5:36pm

[iowaorganic]

I really need to meal plan.  I have done it before- but haven't in awhile.  I don't think our supper meal is our biggest problem- we just spend so much money on snacks for DH and the kids!  It is all good stuff- but good stuff is expensive.  If I could get a good meal plan down- it would help to keep us home that night a week that we get bored and go out and claim to need groceries...

The kids and I have toast or french toast or pancakes for breakfast

Lunch is generally eggs or chicken and cheese quesideas (sp?) or hebrew nationals in a pinch or when they are super on sale.  Or sometimes just peanut butter sandwiches or fruit and cheese.

That said- I am in for a Feb plan :) and I will start that here...

2/1- shrimp and scallop cocktail with lasagna for the kids (the cocktail was amazing) and homemade chocolate pudding for dessert.

2/2 bacon/mushroom/cheddar stuffed meatloaf and baked potatoes with sautéed spinach

2/3 we have plans with friends

2/4 we have plans with different friends

2/5 cheddar/jalopeno/guac burgers with homemade fries and corn

2/6 Fried chicken with sweet potatoes

[zebra15]

Then include snacks in your meal plan.  For awhile I was posting all 3 meals and snacks.  Those couple months really forced me to take a long hard look at what I bought and how we used it.  I still buy snacks but I am much more conscious of what I buy and when.  Meal planning for dinner has also forced me to use up the left overs. And it's made me add salad 3-4 nights a week.  Just by having salad, and eating it while I'm making dinner we eat less overall.  Salad is the poor family's appetizer  lol

Originally Posted by iowaorganic 

I really need to meal plan.  I have done it before- but haven't in awhile.  I don't think our supper meal is our biggest problem- we just spend so much money on snacks for DH and the kids!  It is all good stuff- but good stuff is expensive.  If I could get a good meal plan down- it would help to keep us home that night a week that we get bored and go out and claim to need groceries...

The kids and I have toast or french toast or pancakes for breakfast

Lunch is generally eggs or chicken and cheese quesideas (sp?) or hebrew nationals in a pinch or when they are super on sale.  Or sometimes just peanut butter sandwiches or fruit and cheese.

That said- I am in for a Feb plan :) and I will start that here...

2/1- shrimp and scallop cocktail with lasagna for the kids (the cocktail was amazing) and homemade chocolate pudding for dessert.

2/2 bacon/mushroom/cheddar stuffed meatloaf and baked potatoes with sautéed spinach

2/3 we have plans with friends

2/4 we have plans with different friends

2/5 cheddar/jalopeno/guac burgers with homemade fries and corn

2/6 Fried chicken with sweet potatoes

[AnkaJones]

I'm working a lot Sat-Sun-Mon, so I'm doing stuff that I can make ahead as much as possible.

Sat: Baked ziti (left over from today)

Sun: Chicken Riggatoni

Mon: LO chicken riggies (yeah, I know, lame having it two days in a row, but given my work schedule we'll all just deal)

Tues: Black bean chili and bread

Wed Breakfast at night -- omlette using random ingredients

Thurs: LO black bean chili and bread

Fri: beer and homemade pizza

Lunches are going to be turkey and cheese or PB&J this week.  Breakfast options will be toast and apple butter or homemade meusli with soy milk.  And coffee.

Anka

[iowaorganic]

How do I plan fruit and nuts and whatnot for 4 kids and a warrior diet husband?  I have started making bread again- and that seems to fill them up- but my kids are bottomless pits and my DH only eats supper and protein snacks.  And he won't eat carbs- well the occasional potato serving- but never pasta and rarely brown rice.  He was doing protein shakes- and I completely flipped over the cost- and started hard boiling eggs- and that has helped- but he apparently likes the shakes.  Hard boiled eggs are cheap and filling- my egg supply has just been spotty at best.  Does anybody else go though like 8 dozen eggs a week?  Doesn't that seem a bit excessive?  We are going back to having our own layers this summer and hopefully that will help- or it will be like my milk cows in that I currently get 2 gallons a day and then have to figure out how to get them to drink that much or make cheese or something....  Good problem to have- but all I do is feed them all day long!  I don't buy any processed snacks....  (Well I take that back.  I snuck a bag of milano cookies in the cart and hid them and have one with my coffee every now and then.  Mama has to have some treats I think :)

[AnkaJones]

Yikes Iowaorganic, that's a lot of eggs.  On the other hand, they're such a cheap source of protein, and when we're having lean times I work them into the meal plan a lot to make up for the lack of meat.  Those shakes are such a rip off.  My brother is a protien guy and makes his own shakes from soybeans and eggs... could your husband cope with something like that or are the shakes he's getting "the one"? 

I agree, snacks are hard to meal plan for.  We just keep around a bunch of not too expensive, easy to prepare stuff for people to pick at when the urge strikes... anything more planned than that comes off too rigid in our home.

Anka

[youngspiritmom]

Originally Posted by iowaorganic 

.  He was doing protein shakes- and I completely flipped over the cost- and started hard boiling eggs- and that has helped- but he apparently likes the shakes. 

Can you make your own protein shakes? You can buy a big tub of protein powder (vanilla flavored or whatever) and then he can have a shake made with plain nonfat yogurt and some protein powder, and you could add peanut butter or nut butter for flavor? You could even make the yogurt yourself since you have tons of milk. We usually add a frozen banana/frozen fruit to ours, but if he's doing only protein that woudn't work. I bet with a little bit of googling you could find an awesome homemade protein shake recipe and make them yourself and save lots of money.

[iowaorganic]

We don't do soy.  But I will have to experiment with egg shakes again- the last couple he said weren't very good- me personally I like raw milk and eggs blended with a bit of sugar and vanilla and ice.  I find it refreshing :)  Yeah the eggs are really pretty cheap compared to the dumb shakes.  DH is funny.  if I make eggs for supper he won't eat them.  But if I made hard boiled eggs or deviled eggs he will eat 6-8.  That makes no sense.

I am changing my plan tonight.  Still the meatloaf- it is thawing now- but my potatoes are kind of getting old- so I am going to fry them since they aren't like baking quality...  I think I am going to make homemade ice cream for dessert.  I have 4 gallons of milk in my fridge and need some gone especially since there will be another gallon tonight....

[zebra15]

For snacks, I kinda plan for the week. I know I have : popcorn, fruit snacks granola bars etc that NEED to be used up this week. I let DS know those are the things he can choose from for snack time.  Some times I will put those things in the bowl on the counter or I will at least move them to the front of the pantry.  Other times I have things in the fridge that need to go and its yoguart and fruits etc. 

Like tonight for dinner we are having 'breakfast'  which is going to be eggs, sausage, english muffins (cuz they are getting old), I also have yogurt to add and possibly cookies for a snack later on.   I had a shitty lunch today.  I subbed and didn't take much of anything so right now I'm having a plate of cheese, old crackers and some dip that is close to exp; date. and a lonely tomato.    Dip can fix anything  lol.

For that many eggs I would be getting them from costco in the 5 doz flat. (or the 2 1/2 doz flat from the grocery).  We do eggs but not that many.  

My kid who is on swim team really can eat me out of house and home.  I'm glad he is on swim, I'm glad he is active and loves the team and does well at swim (I'm super glad his asthma isn't holding him back anymore) but man.. the food... its like the cow came to graze after practice.

[trekkingirl]

Isn't there an entire meal planning sub forum around here somewhere? This thread would probably fit there.

[Amys1st]

I love meal planning. I keep a xeroxed calendar page on the fridge and we pencil in meals a few days ahead. This is mainly for dinner. We also write in if we are gone such as this Saturday for a family night with 3 other families. We bring an appetizer and a bottle of something.

This week, We did Cashew chicken, eggplant parm (from 'takeout' or the freezer) chicken and dumplings (fed the freezer with the leftovers) and tonight we had a piece of beef tenderlion left in the freezer from last year's beef side. We served it w grilled portobello mushroom, a spread of goat cheese and a slice of tomato on top. Tomorrow the kids asked if we could go to this brick oven pizza place down the street from our house.

Since the Super bowl is this weekend, all the great junk food is on sale LOL. So I bought some shredded cheese for casadillas and our veggie box had 6 organic avacados in it. That will make a great guac this weekend!

We do a meatless night for dinner at least once a week, but we aim for twice. That could mean tofu, huge salads, veggie pizza, grilled portobellos, eggplant...the list goes on and on.

[chrissy]

I've never planned meals for a whole month at a time, but I'm going to try this month. 

Every week, I want to have at least 1 meal with fish, at least 1 meal with an eggy main dish (from our chickens), at least 1 big salad meal, and at least 1 meatless meal.

Weekday breakfasts are cereal, yogurt, fruit, sometimes scrambled eggs, toast.  On weekends, we usually have a big breakfast one day.  Lunches are usually sandwiches, leftovers, quesadillas, and 1 day a week we have Annie's mac and cheese.

Snacks are raw fruit, veggies, yogurt, nuts, pretzels, sometimes tortilla chips, cheese sticks, sometimes homemade muffins or bread.

Weds Feb 1-  BBQ pork tenderloin (crockpot), buttery cabbage, sliced raw green peppers

Feb 2-           Nicoise salad and breadsticks

Feb 3-           Kale and eggs

Feb 4-           Brown rice and black beans, with cheese, salsa, guacamole, sour cream and tortilla chips

Sun Feb 5-     Salmon patties, steamed broccoli, brown rice

dinners to add in...  crock pot roasted chicken, chicken enchiladas, buffalo chicken salad, bison burgers, spaghetti with homemade sauce and turkey or bison meatballs, waffles and eggs, homemade pizza, pizza muffins,

[onlyzombiecat]

I don't have the whole month planned yet.

sandwiches & french fries

spaghetti, salad, garlic bread

tandoori chicken, rice, salad, naan

ham

pizza

stuffed jumbo shells

pork chops, baked beans, mashed potatoes

sloppy joes, french fries

stuffed bread

veggie burgers

Dh is talking about grilling steak for Valentine's day. We have some fish in the freezer that will get used this month. There will be leftover ham that will be used in another meal.

[AnkaJones]

It might, but I like the one here because it focuses more on budget-friendly mealplans, economic issues, etc. (or at least it did last month).

Anka

 

Originally Posted by trekkingirl 

Isn't there an entire meal planning sub forum around here somewhere? This thread would probably fit there.

[greenmom4]

I have the month planned, but I only do shopping for the week. FWIW, these are all WW friendly meals because...well, if you saw me, you'd know why

Wed	1-Feb	Salisbury steak w/ mushroom gravy	green beans
Thur	2-Feb	Pizza w/ mom
Fri	3-Feb	Mexican shrimp cobb	garlic cheddar biscuits
Sat	4-Feb	Dinner at Kirsten's
Sun	5-Feb	Super Bowl @ Mom and Dad's
Mon	6-Feb	Asian glazed drumsticks	broccoli
Tue	7-Feb	Swedish meatballs and egg noodles	snap peas
Wed	8-Feb	Baked potato soup
Thur	9-Feb	Santa Fe Chicken	rice
Fri	10-Feb	unplanned
Sat	11-Feb	Baked chicken nuggets	greek salad
Sun	12-Feb	Pork chops with mushrooms and shallots	mashed potatoes
Mon	13-Feb	Broiled tilapia with tomato caper sauce	summer squash
Tue	14-Feb	Valentine's day dinner
Wed	15-Feb	Chicken Shiitake Wild Rice Soup
Thur	16-Feb	Asian pork with mushrooms	spinach gratin
Fri	17-Feb	unplanned
Sat	18-Feb	Baked ziti with spinach	salad
Sun	19-Feb	Balsamic chicken w/ roasted veggies	cauliflower puree
Mon	20-Feb	Shrimp fried rice	pineapple
Tue	21-Feb	spaghetti bolognese	caesar salad
Wed	22-Feb	Macaroni and cheese soup with broccoli
Thur	23-Feb	Carnitas	cilantro lime rice
Fri	24-Feb	unplanned
Sat	25-Feb	spinach manicotti	caprese salad
Sun	26-Feb	Peruvian roasted chicken	avocado salad and rice and beans
Mon	27-Feb	Shrimp quesadillas	tomato avocado salsa
Tue	28-Feb	Asian peanut noodles w/ chicken	cucumber salad
Wed	29-Feb	Greg's Bday!!

[greenmom4]

I should add - this is the first time in a long time that I've planned so many meals upfront.  I don't know if we'll really need this many.  But right now I'm planning on leftovers being used for lunches and a once a week (Friday) "fend for yourself" day.  I'm hoping that we'll have more leftovers and can have one or two more days like that a week...

[artemis33]

Hi Chrissy!  :)

I am continuing to base meals around the freezer/pantry and filling in with fresh produce, milk, eggs, and coffee    .....probably some other things will come up, but I am trying to keep it simple and use what we have - and make things at home if possible.  I am going to be starting some early crop seeds this week so hopefully I'll be getting produce from the garden soon!  We've still got some kale growing, a couple of small cabbages and hopefully my overwintered spinach starts are gaining some girth, but that's about it for now.  It helps so much when I can stay out of the store longer by getting my greens at home.

Wed 2/1 apple gouda sausages, potato pancakes (w/leftover mashed), salad

Th 2/2  leftover shredded pork tacos, salad  (I just had it on salad with a few corn chips)

Fri 2/3  creamed chicken and biscuits with leftover chicken  (almond flour ones for me, regular for everyone else)

Sat 2/4 homemade pizza - crust dough in the freezer from last time I made pizza (GF for me, regular for everyone else)

Sun 2/5  roasted chicken, roasted potatoes, cooked spinach or kale   **soak white beans for soup**

Mon 2/6  pork chops, buttery cabbage, applesauce  **cook white beans with ham hock**

Tues 2/7 white bean soup, leftover biscuits OR make cornbread if they are gone, cooked greens

I generally only plan up to a week and every few days I evaluate...if we are building up a bunch of leftovers I'll bump everything a day and we'll have a leftover night or if there is something that really needs to be used I'll try to work it in.   

[chrissy]

Hi Artemis!  The cabbage I made the other night was your "recipe" for buttery cabbage.  I've made it several times and love it so so much- so simple and so good!

[maciascl]

I will be back with some sort of meal plan soon. I need help!

But as for the shakes, my DH is an athlete and his post workout shake is frozen banana, milk, peanut butter, greens, and hemp protien. We buy this 3 pound bag of hemp protien on Amazon.com for $25 on subscribe and save.

[iowaorganic]

Originally Posted by maciascl 

I will be back with some sort of meal plan soon. I need help!

But as for the shakes, my DH is an athlete and his post workout shake is frozen banana, milk, peanut butter, greens, and hemp protien. We buy this 3 pound bag of hemp protien on Amazon.com for $25 on subscribe and save.

Ohhh- I will ask DH about the hemp.  How much does he add?  Does anyone else find it bizarre that while illegal to grow hemp for any reason- we can buy it in various forms?